Even though it’s perennially summer in Southern California, the summer season is coming to a close and now that Wild Boy is back at school, I can’t deny the end is here. I love the Old School Blogging prompts from Elaine@MissElaineousLife and figured I’d wrap up my summer experiences here today.

summer

What was your favorite thing you did alone this summer?

FitBloggin’ and BlogFest were two of my favorite things that I technically did alone this summer (I arrived alone and left alone but I had many old friends at both events and I got to make many new ones so I never felt alone).  If hard pressed to choose a solo activity though, I’d say my Duran Duran run was my favorite alone time this summer.

 

What was your favorite thing you did as a family this summer?

It’s hard to choose one favorite thing because we did a lot things that may not have been spectacular to others but were very meaningful to me.  We traveled to Chicago and spent some quality time with friends that left the NY area soon after we did.  Spending a simple Fourth of July a friend’s house and seeing happy kids and hanging out was really perfect.

We even had a typical California beach bonfire night that was everything a New Yorker living in LA needed to be seduced by this great city.  However, if I had to choose one thing, I’d say getting the chance to watch Wild Boy perform a Hap Kido demonstration on the Dodger Stadium field and watching the game with friends was a great memory of Summer 2014.

 

What books did you read this summer?

I’ve been slacking terribly in the book reading department.  I did finally read “The Fault in Our Stars” and some nutrition related books though.

TFIOS

 

What do you WISH you had done this summer?

I wish we could have traveled back to NYC.  I miss New York in summer tremendously.  I especially miss not being able to run on Summer Streets – 7 miles of car free roads in the middle of New York is a runners paradise.

Brooklyn Bridge, running, Kick Ass 5K, RunStrongerEveryday.com

 

People are going to hate me for saying this but I do wish that there was at least one rainy day so that we could have spent some more lazy days together as a family.

 

What movies did you see this summer (if any)?

Movies?  Like in a theater?  That rarely happens any more.  I did see “Wolf of Wall Street”, “Philomena” and “Don Jon” (which I really liked despite the somewhat uncomfortable subject matter).  I caught up on a ton of television this summer.

James Spader

James Spader Now and in Pretty in Pink.

 

I exhausted my 15 Bingeworthy Shows list so I started watching Season 1 of “The BlackList”.  Seeing how James Spader has aged reminds me just how long ago “Pretty In Pink” (my favorite movie) and “Less Than Zero” really were.  I’m choosing to remember that James Spader despite liking his new TV character.

 

Where did you travel this summer?

Chicago, Atlanta (for one night), Savannah, Augusta (for 2 hours), Anaheim and Westwood (if you live in California anywhere more than 15 miles away really is considered traveling).

 

What was your favorite treat (as in dessert) this summer?

I love ice cream but I don’t eat it often.  My favorite treats that I discovered were all alcoholic – the strawberry lemonade French Press drink at Hard Rock Cafe, discovered I can drink vodka (with lots of pineapple juice and sparkling water) and I had my first real Moscow Mule in a copper mug in Chicago.

 

What did you celebrate this summer?

Duran Duran, Duran Duran Appreciation Day

Image: Mirella Stirvani

I celebrated 2 years of living in California and Duran Duran Appreciation Day with my 2nd annual 10K.  I also celebrated turning a half year older on August 14th.  I might have cried a little.

 

Did you grow anything this summer?

My hair.  My hair is long (and is need of color – damn you grey hairs – see above answer).  My hair was pretty long back in April and I haven’t cut it since then.  (PS – It’s hard to find a more recent photo of me with my hair down).

Duran Duran, Mad World

I have a black thumb and have issues growing anything that requires sunlight and water.   I will take credit for my child growing though.  He must have grown 1-2 inches this summer and at the rate he’s going, he’ll tower over me by 5th grade.

 

What is a favorite post (if you blog) that you wrote this Summer?

As you can tell, I’m not very good at picking one favorite so I’ll keep up the trend.  I enjoyed writing my 10 Women You Need to Meet at BlogHer and BlogFest posts but I have a soft spot for my post about my favorite pieces of vintage activewear.  I loved writing about why I still have a few pieces of fitness clothes/activewear.

Rock n Roll Marathon, Iron Girl, Hind, #oldestpieceofactivewear

Iron Girl hat, Hind Leggings, Iron Girl hat day of the San Diego RnR Marathon 1999 and that medal.

 I know people keep pieces of activewear for sentimental reasons and wanted to find out why but I never started a link-up.  Let me know if you think I should.

 

What is a favorite photograph that you took this summer?

My favorite photograph would have to be this one of Wild Boy entering the Dodger Stadium field to do his Hap Kido demonstration.

 

Dodger Stadium, Hap Kido, Wild Boy

 

What do you want to do next summer?

Our good friends have a family home in France.  It would be dreamy to be able to go with my family and friends.  The only time I was in France was when I was 25 and I was alone, in Paris for only two days.  If the France trip doesn’t happen, I hope to be able to travel domestically and spend at least some time doing nothing on a beach.

 

That’s a wrap on Summer 2014 for me.

If you’re a blogger, think about joining the meme and go and check out Old School Blogging by the MissElaineousLife for future awesome prompts.  She has some great ones.  Here’s one that I liked a lot – the A to Z Meme OSB post.

 

 

What was your favorite thing that you did this summer?

 

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