Some Long-Awaited Photos

I'm just getting started; I promise there will be more. Think of this as an amuse bouche. An amuse bouche that took me an hour and a half to upload as laundry spun, the doorbell rang, and I tried to down a bowl of cereal while getting dressed.

You can get almost anything you want in New York City, but one thing we don't have is beautiful mountains by the side of the road:

Through the window of the rented car

Another is palm trees:

Venice Beach, gorgeous even when overcast

Below is Santa Monica Pier. When I look at this photo, I should remember the beautiful walk that my husband and I took to get here, hand in hand along the beach. I should also remember the stunning majesty and natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean. The happy, smiling children eager to go on the rides. The amazing skill of the surfers we saw. Man bonding with nature.

Instead, all I can think of is:

"Come and knock on our door..."

(One of the opening sequences of Three's Company was filmed here.)

Finally, here is the tiny little plastic chicken from my cosmetics drawer:

Ty thinks I should submit it to Cute Overload; what do you think? To show its scale, I have placed it next to a two-Euro coin, because the Trattoria Breve is so sophisticated and international and cosmopolitan. It occurred to me that, unfortunately, the size of a two-Euro coin is not immediately recognizable to non-Europeans. Therefore, I have included another bonus photo of the tiny little chicken, this time next to a quarter:

I even wiped off the kitchen counter for you. Never let it be said that I don't care about my readers!