UCLA Bruins Bball

In our family now-a-days, no trip is complete without some true UCLA spirit. Our holiday trip was no exception. Of course the whole family got into it- from blue and yellow t-shirts, to Daniela leading the cheers from center court!! Why not throw in a Joe Bruin Bear suit into the mix while you're at it. Rather one-sided, UCLA had no problem dominating the game, we had plenty of opportunity to watch Dans lead cheers (below) and "furry" lex give hugs!! (second photo below)

MaryAnne's Bachelorette!

My darling MaryAnne got hitched over two months ago, and I cannot wait to go visit her this holiday season. For now, I wanted to post several photos from my kitchen of delicious cupcakes, a la bachelorette theme, that I made with my sister (and ironically the help of her boyfriend).

Enjoy!

A Hamann Family Christmas

Christmastime tends to be a season of traditions...and that is no different in my family. For as long as I can remember, and as it turns out, for the last 40 years, the Hamann Family Christmas has been celebrated on Christmas eve. Some of the evening festivities have changed as the cousins grow up and the family morphs ever so slightly. However, many traditions remain the same. This year our count was 21- ranging in ages from 10 years to 84 years old.

We all meet up at Oma and Opa's home in sunny Huntington Beach. The tree has shrunk so that the ever-growing pile of gifts can fit underneath. An entire wall is dedicated to the stockings- and more would be necessary if the whole family were to make it down one of these years. Going in age order, my mom and our immediate family of five spent a few days and nights preceding the festivities- and got to enjoy the Huntington Beach Pier. My Uncle Walter, Aunt Julie and cousin Luke (10), drove in from Ojai. My uncle Martin, aunt Lisa and cousins Claire, Noah and Sophie made it, as did my uncle Eric, aunt Kim and cousins Emily and Alex. Finally my Uncle Ernie and aunt Kathy rounded out the bunch. That meant that 17 people were missing to make the Hamann Family complete.

Other traditions include having plenty of sweets and this year, Lex, Dans and I decorated cupcakes as Wooden Toy Soldiers- much to everyone's delight.

As expected, Oma made her traditional ham and so we had to balance that out with very delicious seasoned vegetable skewers-well received by the rest of the family.

Opa greeted us all with Pisco Sour- a definite must. (I hope he remembers to bring me back a bottle of Pisco from his Peru trip in January!!)

We sang every religious Christmas song in the traditional fashion in the song packet. Plenty of rosy cheeks and good Hamann Family cheer!!

the big sur 1/2 on monterey bay

on nov. 15th my parents and my sister lex came down for a short visit. my parents were fantastic cheerleaders and moral support and paparazzi while Lex and I ran the 1/2 marathon.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and thousands of people had come out both to run and support. The race was literally in my own backyard. Everyone stayed the night at my apartment. We then woke up the next morning and after a good breakfast, and with Mom and Abba bundled up, walked the 2 blocks to the starting line. The course ran through downtown, along the coast trail, through Cannery Row, up into Pacific Grove (right past my salsa dance studio) and on past Lover's Point and Asilomar and Pebble Beach. The run out was about 9 miles, making the return feel nice and short. My favorite part was the last 2 miles from Lover's Point back to the Central Plaza at Fisherman's wharf. There were plenty of cheering spectators and I got my burst of energy for some perfect form sprinting towards the end.

With the race over by nine thirty, we enjoyed the rest of the sunny day at Point Lobos- the ocean water was gorgeous and the rock formations were fascinating.

sappy, yet incredibly serene

Since beaches in California are all considered public access... as long as you start from a publicly accessible location (Lex knows that one), I wanted to test the theory with my beach.  With the wharf as one starting point I began walking north along the sand- ultimately towards Santa Cruz.  I didn't get that far.  Walking through sand is slow going.  Especially since after a mile up the gentle silty soft sand gives way to rough, uncut large-grain, sink-your-feet-in sand.  Plus I knew that going out as far as I could would only be half the battle...I would eventually have to return!! So, I just ventured out a little over four miles and once you pass the "swimming" beach (known for its calm waves and easy access parking), and the two hotels/condo sites, there really aren't any people out and about.  Instead I found some incredible bones- skulls, vertebrae and femurs that had washed up on the sand, along with some incredibly gorgeous dunes and powerful and lovely crashing waves.  

It made me feel like I had to do some serious pondering, reflecting, big picture kind of stuff, instead, I sunned topless and watched a hawk circle in the sky.  

On the return, I met up with a fisherman who was chatty, and since I had neither seen nor spoke to anyone all day, I enjoyed his company for a while.  He baited his line with the sand crabs he had just caught on the foamy shoreline, then threw in his lines.  I have been surprised that there are so many fisherman along the shore, casting their lines into the breakers.  I mean seriously, what insane fish is going to be catapulted and summersaulted through crashing waves?? Well after about 40 minutes, and nothing more than a tangle of seaweed in the line, I felt vindicated and headed on home.

predictable poser

On the bike/pedestrian trail that takes central coast visitors along the water from Lover's Point in the south all the way to I have yet to discover, there is always plenty to see.  There are many shops that dot the path, plenty of surreys to avoid, dog walkers, sea birds, crashing waves, kayakers, glass-bottom boat tours, summer camp kids in matching t-shirts, and many informative signs that give history and scientific information about the local area.  One of these sign posts, just past the Wharf, is all about Harbor seals.  Every time i have passed that sign, there sits the sometimes photogenic, yet always present representation of the harbor seal.  He sits, or more lies there on a tiny rock, above the water, flexing his core muscles to keep both tail and head out of the water (although you cant see the abs engaged because, like many of us, there is the tell-tale layer of fat that obscures the muscles).  Yet every time, he or a comrade takes post at that very spot.

saturday and sunday

Usually the sun doesn't fight for dominance over the grey overcast skies until at least 11 am or noon.  Therefore my "sleeping beauty-like" slumberings are justified and I can have a long, leisurely morning without any regrets of missing out on a "beautiful" day.  I know that at some point I should also appreciate the cold, windy, grey mornings for all they have to offer.  But two words: summer and well, SUMMER! 

However these last two days, the cold mornings have been non existent, instead the sun starts shining bright and early.  Even the night skies have been cloudless and star-studded.  The result??  Surprising heat throughout the day! And of course it was the perfect weekend for plenty 0f tourists to flock to the wharf and beach.  Saturday morning the trails were already crawling with people.  There was an out-rigger boat race competition on "my" beach, an arts and crafts faire in the central plaza, and I did an "on the spot" Zumba demo with a friend of mine at a Health and Wellness fair.  Continuing to enjoy the day's unusual weather, Romica and I hit up the ever-famous (although I knew nothing about it, nor thought i would even like it) Monterey Blues Festival- conveniently located a combined half mile walk and event shuttle stop away from my apartment.  I met Romica a couple months ago when she began coming to my classroom to teach my students ballroom dancing.  She is charismatic, outgoing and the students loved her.  We had talked about joining forces and going dancing, she promised she'd teach me more than the basics that the students learned.  As it so happened, she was the friend I ran into earlier at the wellness fair...turns out she is a zumba instructor as well and was really pumped that i could do a demo dance along with her!! 

It also turns out that i enjoy blues music!! The festival drew TONS of people, not your average Salinas/Monterey folk, so definitely some followers from farther away...many bay area folk, actually.  The music was lively and some of the audience members even more so.  Plenty of dancing up in front of the different stages.  My favorite was a swing/big boogie style band and Romica taught me some west coast swing dance steps.  We also joined in on a big group Electric slide during one song.  

Sunday it was time to enjoy the heat on the sand, near the waves.  The thing i love and hate about monterey is the breeze.  Its always blowing... but today, I loved it because it kept the otherwise very warm day, at a good temperature.  I was able to enjoy my book, my music and some people watching.  The beach was swarming with people and dogs, however by walking down about half a mile, i can always find a clear piece of sand that gives me some quiet and peaceful space.   While I worked on a tan, dont worry, this time i had lathered myself in sun screen, I noticed that it was just this bay that was enjoying the beautiful sun rays.  Up towards Santa Cruz and down towards PG and Big Sur, were shrouded in fog.  I got lucky today.

first photographic attempts

on abba's suggestion, i started carrying my camera around with me.  now that i have my feet under me, so to speak, having lived here about 10 days, i will attempt to capture it to the best of my ability.  what better place to start with than the beach, and what better models than the plethora of seagulls that abound this ocean town.