shiny new toys.

sunset clouds.

one month ago : specialized vienna 2 bike.

two weeks ago : palm pre.

last week : 2009 volkswagen jetta tdi.

no complaints here!

whirlwind weekend to minnesota.

discovery in the minnesota countryside.

saturday. wake up at 4.30am. catch flight to minneapolis. get rental car. grab brunch downtown at the local. drive and check-in to hotel in chanhassen. wedding in carver. reception in chaska.

sunday. wake up. run. drive around the countryside taking pictures of cornfields, farms and an old abandoned overgrown chevy truck. go to the twins vs. white sox game at the metrodome (indoor baseball is weird as shit), walk around downtown minneapolis and the waterfront for a few hours, catch plane back to LA.

[minnesota photoset]

hans zimmer's "garage band"

aka reason #7382920 why i love my job.

jeffrey katzenberg introducing hans zimmer.

so.. to celebrate the opening of our parking garage extension, our lovely dreamworks CEO managed to get quite possibly the world's 4 biggest motion picture soundtrack composers to come perform for us live atop the new structure : hans zimmer, john powell, harry gregson-williams, steve jablonsky. it was mindblowing, absolutely mindblowing. they played lots of dreamworks soundtracks (shrek, madagascar, kung fu panda) as well as many of their other works (transformers, pirates, etc) and many other things at that. i can't even describe what it was like to hear the pirates soundtrack performed live - definitely the highlight of the whole thing.

[hans zimmer & co photoset]

oh, schmap!

well, look-y here. dan and i both got emails saying that some photos we took during our phoenix trip back in april are being considered for the next release of schmap phoenix. my two selections follow the email below:

:: Schmap: Phoenix Photo Shortlist

Hi Jennifer,

I am writing to let you know that two of your photos have
been short-listed for inclusion in the eighth edition of our
Schmap Phoenix Guide, to be published at the end of this
month.

...

While we offer no payment for publication, many
photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap
Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and
are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a
maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and
link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.

...

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides
www.schmap.me/emma.williams

echo canyon trail and recreation area

cosanti originals

who knows if they'll actually be used, but i thought it was kind of cool. (=

independence weekend oh-nine.

picnic blanket.

the weekend went by far too quickly!

the studio was closed on friday so we had the day off (obviously). after lunching at huckleberry (i had the grilled cheese sandwich, he had the roast beef sandwich), we spent the afternoon test driving cars since i'm looking into getting one in the very near future. i test drove the bmw 328i, audi a4, volvo s40 and vw jetta tdi - the bmw was actually my least favorite.. but nothing is decided yet so we'll see what happens. afterwards we headed out east for our usual barnsdall friday wine tasting - and it was all spanish wines this week! it was nice being able to be there for the entire time (starts at 5.30, but we usually can't make it until almost 7 because of work) and i was able to get some pretty good photos. headed to cobras&matadors, which was just down the block, to continue the spanish theme of the night with some delightful tapas. the meal was quite delightful, and between rob, dan and i we devoured the following (along with a bottle of tempranillo):

_gazpacho
_pa amb tomaquet : toasted catalan bread, spanish ham, manchego
_crab croquettes, mixed greens, chipotle aioli
_bacalao : salted cod croquetts, aioli
_grilled rosemary shrimp, smoked sea salt, grapefruit-fennel salad
_grilled marinated black angus skirt steak
_grilled mushroom flatbread, onions, 3 cheeses, truffle oil
_baked goat cheese, poached cherries, almond pesto
_socca cakes: mediterranean chickpea crepes with honey & goat cheese
_flourless chocolate cake

saturday afternoon we biked the 15 or so miles down to hermosa beach to meet up with one of dan's old college roommates that was in town for the weekend. we took the beach bike path the entire way and it was absolute madness at most of the beaches. hermosa/manhattan felt like a college beach town, except with late twenty-somethings / early thirty-somethings having house parties, playing beer bong and running around in ridiculous yet patriotic beach gear. we biked back up to santa monica as it was getting dark - skipped the fireworks in the marina since it was complete insanity and neither of us wanted to deal with it - and rented hayao miyazaki's princess mononoke to watch over a home-cooked fried rice dinner.

[independence on the CA coast photoset]

we took sunday nice and easy - a short run (because biking 30 miles is more exhausting than expected), leftovers for lunch, some shopping at the promenade and public enemies at the arclight. kind of wish i had another day to sleep in (=

hayao miyazaki in july!

hayao miyazaki (totoro, spirited away) is coming to the states in july! john lasseter and the academy are hosting him at this event and we got tickets! so excited. time to rewatch his previous (fabulous!) films, and catch the ones i haven't.

from dancer to runner.

from the dreamworks lagoon.

i've always considered myself a dancer. i still do, but i realized recently that i haven't taken a dance class in almost two years and who knows if i can even pick up choreography at this point. i also realized a couple months ago that i hadn't done any form of real exercise since starting work last summer. so i started running. and i hate running. i used to give so much shit to my friends who are runners, and call them crazy all the time. but i started feeling so gross that i had to do something, and running was the easiest and cheapest thing to do. at first i would just run a couple miles on the weekend, maybe once or twice during the week. then dan moved to a new place by the beach and we started taking 3 mile runs after work a couple times a week, plus both days on the weekends. then we designated one of our weekend runs to be a 'long run' a couple weeks ago, which was 4 miles. and we decided to get bikes this past weekend, and have already logged 12 miles on those. i've started to actually want to go running. the me-of-5-years-ago would scoff. i think i'm becoming a runner / exercise-nut. *sigh*