Muay Thai fight

Last night, my friend Patrick had his second muay thai fight.  We used to train together in Krav Maga (he even came in to beat me up in the sparring on my Green Belt test last year), but his passion was always more for the fight than the self-defense element.  He left our training over the summer and went to a muay thai academy to focus more on that.

He won his first fight a month or two ago, and last night, he won his second.

An evening at La Descarga

Last night, we celebrated a friend's birthday at La Descarga, a Cuban rum and cigar bar in Hollywood.  So.much.fun.  It was a classy affair—ladies in cocktail dresses and men in jackets. And of course, I enjoy any chance I get to feel a little Lucille Ball-esque...redhead at a Cuban rum bar, close enough connection to Lucy/Desi.

First of all, when you get into the door, you're led upstairs to a little room...and enter the main bar room by walking through an armoire, pushing a few hanging guayabera shirts aside. You step through onto a raised platform that reminded me of a theater catwalk, then down the metal spiral stairs to the main floor.  We were a large party, so we had a reservation for a table and bottle service, and we were escorted to our corner.

So.  Bottle service.  It's a Cuban rum bar, so of course we went with rum.  A $300 bottle of rum.  Fancy glass pitches of soda and a glass of limes were also delivered to the table, but the rum was so smooth (with hints of vanilla and cinnamon) that most of us drank it on the rocks.

Every hour, there was a short burlesque performance, and the dancer can really move.  I was so impressed with her quick footwork and swinging of her hips.  She was obviously a trained dancer.  We sneaked off to the cigar lounge after the first performance, and though I didn't partake in that, it was quite a sight to see another retro room filled with dressed up people.

After we finished the bottle, there were a few more cocktails and a lot more fun with friends.  It was such a great group of people, and of course we ladies took turns dancing to the latin music with our birthday boy.  So.much.fun.  We already were asking who has the next special occasion so we can have an excuse to return. Because, you know, you kinda need more reason than "just because" when you order a $300 bottle.

Recess for grown-ups

Last night, a group of my friends got together to watch the UFC fights...and afterward, Dave suggested we go play at his gym.

I promise, this was more fun than it initially sounds.

Dave's gym is Monkey Bar Gym, and it is like playing at recess in elementary school. Except we're grown-ups...playing with monkey bars, oversized tires, and other fun toys.

Gym?  Or playground?

Hula hoops!  Like recess!

A Belated Happy 4th!

Wow, I'm late with this. So, um, Happy Independence Day!

I LOVE the Fourth of July.  From the time I was fourteen or so, until I was eighteen (and no longer in the area in July), I'd spend the holiday in Washington, DC—right on the west lawn of the US Capitol.  We'd always get there super early (9:00am?) to camp out for a spot just to the left of the stage they set up for A Capitol Fourth.  Most years, we'd also go the day before for the rehearsal.  During the full day of waiting around, my sister and I would disappear elsewhere on the lawn to take pictures and goof around.

Rehearsal day - July 3, 2005

Now that I'm an "adult" and live on my own (and not on the east coast), I've had to find other things to do. This year, I started the day off with a stop at a friend's pool party in Calabasas. After two hours or so, I left with another friend to meet a third friend for a beach day.

We cut through the canyons and ended up at a nice little spot in Malibu.  Veronica specifically chose this stretch of beach for the seafood restaurant across the street.

  

After our late lunch, we laid out in the sand for the rest of the evening. The plan was to stay until it got dark, and watch Santa Monica fireworks down the coast.

We brought out Apples to Apples and played a never-ending round, which resulted in some awesome pairings.  As the tide came in, Veronica and Jeremy claimed to see a seal not too far out...but I swore it was just the rock we had seen protruding from the waves earlier. (I wish I could say I knew it was a seal, because I love seals!) We ended up calling it a day around 7:00pm, as it was getting colder and we could no longer see very far down the coast.  Fireworks-viewing wouldn't be successful.

However, when I got home, I went to my rooftop and saw over 180° of fireworks shows across the horizon.  There was a big one close by, as well as other shows farther in the distance, all across the valley.  I even synched up Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture from my iPod during the finale of the big nearby show.  Super fun "chill out" day.