The view from my bed

 The travel bug always shows up at the most random times.

My mover and shaker personality starts to show up and I feel the need to GO.  It doesn't matter where, but I just need a change.

It helps that the next couple of weekends we have stops in Aspen and then two consecutive stops in South Beach, Miami.

It's such a bummer that they pick the most undesirable places to visit.  Psych!

So with that, I depart this Friday for Aspen and return home Monday.  Then I shoot off to Miami on the 8th, down to Puerto Rico on the 11th, and then back to Miami on the 15th.  I should be back in LA sometime around the 18th....that is unless I decide to make some other stops.  However, I am sure I will be ready to come home to my new little apartment in Hermosa.  The view from my room puts a smile on my face every day.

There's nothing like finishing a day, laying in bed, watching the sunset light up your bedroom with a cool ocean breeze blowing on your face.

I must have done something right in a past life to get this lucky.

I think it's safe to say that I live in the most incredible place in the world.

Nights like these make me want to curl up with a warm blanket, my best friend, and a great glass of wine or a Cinnamon Dulce Latte from Starbucks and just talk.

I don't think it's possible to sound like more of a girl after that statement

...."and just talk."

I even want to throw sand in my mouth after saying that....but I meant it.

My mother is such a peach..

...Literally...

Every year she always manages to do some silly/unusual things.

One of those things consistently being the adoption of a peach tree in Fresno.

She even names the tree.

The countdown in our household is not in preparation for a great family gathering to celebrate Christmas or for the celebration of a birthday.  The countdown in our household is in preparation for my parents to drive to Fresno and pick peaches in the sticky heat with their peach team "Peach Esprit De Corp" (self-proclaimed) which they have assembled.

I poke fun because it's so out of the ordinary yet such a Cindy Beck thing to do, but when it comes down to reaping the benefits of the peach themed feast that shortly follows her peach picking outing, I couldn't be more thrilled.

My mother usually sticks to the basics such as the standard peach cobbler and her legendary spiced peach preserves, however, this year she explored the realm of peachiness via peach salsa, peach chutney, spiced peaches, peach crumble, and spiced peach preserves.

All 700 pieces of fruit have been consumed.

Now that's impressive.

Chelsea and I have been trying to mix up practice a little to make things interesting and keep our job fun.

Luckily, we have made some new friends who play volleyball and BBQ every Friday and Sunday up in the Hollywood Hills.  This house just so happens to have the most ridiculous view I have ever seen.  We are so high up overlooking all of LA that we have helicopters flying below us.  Not to mention that walking into this backyard, without fail, has been like walking onto a movie set portraying the stereotypical idea of Southern California: big house filled with incredibly muscular attractive men and petite little models playing beach volleyball and laying by the pool.

I have never loved beach volleyball more than I do on Fridays and Sundays.

Chelsea and I ended up having to forfeit our semi final match to Norway.  The heat ended up being far too much to handle.

At the beginning of set two, I turn off the net only to see Chelsea dive for a ball and start convulsing on the spot due to a heat stroke.  In full on panic, I ran over and hoisted her into my arms to get her out of the sun. After an afternoon in the hospital, we somehow managed to help her have a full recovery.

It was a terrifying way to end our tournament but luckily we got on a flight that night and headed back to America.  

With a pretty terrible start to our day, we were both pleasantly surprised with an absolutely successful day of traveling.  We lucked out with our flight from Ulsan to Seoul with not only the ability to change the flight without paying a change fee but the plane was also completely empty.  Once in Seoul, Chelsea and I batted our eyelashes and flashed a little leg to an upgrade to first class on our flight from Seoul to LAX.

12 hour flight?  In a chair that reclines into a bed?

NO PROBLEM!

So maybe our day didn't start off too well, but a near death experience surely isn't anything that can't be fixed with a reclining lazy boy chair, gourmet meals, and little fuzzy slippers to use when going to the little girls room.

Oh, and most importantly, even with the forfeit under our belts, we managed to pull off our best finish yet and little bit of green in our wallets.

Here are a couple action shots from the tournament thus far.

We are slowly improving and gaining confidence.  Facing Korea today in a few hours.

WISH US LUCK!

Chelsea and I have been craving greens, vegetables, fruits, grilled chicken, or anything fresh.  All of that good stuff we eat at home is almost impossible to find over here in Korea.  So today we decided a field trip to the city was in order for some Starbucks coffee and a good salad.

Anything to have a bit of normalcy right now.

We stumbled upon B-Stove cafe in downtown Ulsan where we found this grilled chicken and mushroom salad with a balsamic glaze along some green tea and two Americanos paired with free wifi.

We could not be happier.

They even served us our checks with these cute little postcards and clothes pins.

It is now 3 hours, 2 salads, 2 Americanos, 3 green teas, and 10 emails later and we are already planning a time to come back tomorrow.

It truly is the little things and a good cup of coffee that can absolutely change my day.

Happy August!!

I'm sad because it means the end of summer is coming closer but I am so thrilled for fall.

Festive decorations, flannels, and the best holidays of the year are coming.

Nights snuggled up by the fire with a good book and lots of family time are also on the list of must-do's for the changing of the seasons.

I know I might be jumping the gun a bit but I'm just so excited!