Some of the Pasadena Fire Fighters
In between yard work, I spent quite a bit of time fabricating my first ring creation. I ran into a few road blocks, but somehow I figured it all out. I am quite happy with the way it came out. I used a beautiful turquoise cabochon from the Turquoise Mountain Mine in Kingman, Arizona. It is amazing how much work (soldering, cutting, bending, hammering, etc) goes into making one little ring!
Eric Lamaze of Canada has ridden Hickstead to the gold medal in Olympic equestrian individual jumping.
Lamaze won a timed jump-off with Rolf-Goran Bengtsson of Sweden on Ninja, who took the silver in Thursday's competition.
U.S. rider Beezie Madden on Authentic won the bronze.
Lamaze and Bengtsson were among 10 riders with clean rides in the first rounds, but they were the only ones to cleanly finish the second round.
Bengtsson knocked down one rail in the jump-off, while Lamaze went clean to win the goldThis is one of the best and most unique products of its kind on the market. Chinese herbal medicine has treated injuries resulting from the martial arts for centuries. To prevent injuries, formulas were developed to strengthen tendons and ligaments. Since horses’ tendons are the most vulnerable part of their bodies in many sports, we have developed a liniment to help strengthen the tendons and ligaments. This is based on old Shaolin temple formulas for strengthening the bodies of martial arts practitioners. Use it to strengthen tendons and joints prior to athletic events. Rub onto the horse’s tendon area on a daily basis, especially for 3 to 5 days before a competition or a hard ride. Precautions: During pregnancy, do not apply to lower lumbar spine. Discontinue if blistering or skin irritation occurs. Very sensitive skinned horses may react to it. Do not cover with plastic bandage.
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The U.S. has won the gold medal Monday in Olympic equestrian team jumping, knocking out Canada, which has taken silver.
Norway has won the bronze.
The U.S. got clear rounds from their first three riders in the jump-off. One Canadian rider knocked down a fence, and since Canada only had three riders to the Americans' four, that clinched the U.S. gold.
The U.S. also won team jumping in 2004 in Athens and has two returning combinations on the 2008 team, McLain Ward on Sapphire and Beezie Madden on Authentic.
Ian Millar, riding in his ninth Olympics, forced the jump-off with a clear round on In Style. The team silver is Millar's first Olympic medal.
Chad and I had a fun-filled day. We drove the Corvette down to Laguna Beach to the Sawdust Festival. It is an enchanting outdoor canyon paradise adorned with waterfalls, eucalyptus trees and talented art and crafts people . I bought a cute little pearl and sterling pinky ring. We had a nice walk back to the car and then drove down PCH to Newport Beach to visit Trey. We met him at the popular and crowded Sharkee's and had Fish Tacos for lunch. Yum. After lunch we headed back home to get ready for Dinner at Buca Di Beppo. Kim A. & Pete, Gary & Lauren, Dave, Kim T., Chad and myself got to sit in the "Pope Room". We enjoyed Ravioli, Chicken Parmesan, and a Margarita Pizza. We were all pretty tired from a busy weekend, but it was a nice time. Justin and Paul stopped by while on duty. I capped off the night catching up on some of the Olympics.
I started out Saturday morning with a lesson from Patrick. Kylie was tired, but I'll take that any day over wild. We then went out for a quick shopping trip to Macy's to get Chad something to wear for Jen Sofia's wedding. A group of us met at Kim's to caravan out to Villa Amodei, a most gorgeous place for a wedding! It was a warm, charming and stunningly beautiful villa in Somis. The experience was unforgettable. The property was very private with no visible neighbor or blemish. There was so much joy and celebration in the air. It takes you away. The flowers were breathtaking. Far from the business-like feel of a hotel or country club. It was a very romantic evening as the the sun set over the orange groves.
The food was out of this world delicious....During the cocktail hour I only had a couple of the appetizers, but the Blue Crab Cake topped with Mango Salsa was yummy and so was the Tomato Comfit with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil on crostinis. We then were seated and on each of the long tables were Assorted Bruchetta Italian Antipasto Assortment of cheeses, Italian ham, salami, grilled vegetables. Then there was a course of pasta followed by the main course of Beef Wellington (Beef tenderloin baked in a puff pastry with wild mushrooms & foie gras served with a port wine sauce) and Braised Baby Carrots French Green Beans with Shallot Butter. There was also a chicken entre which I did not try.
Party, party, party......
Birthday Bash #1 (Saturday)....
Group birthday party at Justin's....kegs and margaritas, drinking games, water gun fights, jacuzzi, lawn games, synchronized swimming, cake fights, lots of fun, and good friends.
Birthday Celebration #2 (Sunday)....I rode in the morning (of course). Then to Beverly Hills with Chad, we stood in line to get Sprinkles cupcakes (yes, they are worth it). My favorite is red velvet. We then got a slice of pizza at Frankie & Johnnie's of Beverly Hills, New York Pizza. It was delicious, best pizza I've had since I've been in CA! Thin and crispy, I had a white pizza slice. After we walked around Rodeo Dr, went in a few stores, Tiffany's and Kitson.
Off to Charlie & Tana's in the evening. Kirsten & Stacy were visting from Tacoma, WA. It was great to finally meet them! Mike & Gigi and the kids were also there. It was a full house of fun!
Birthday Dinner with Dave on Monday. Dave took me out for a fantastic sushi dinner at Dena House on my real birthday. I had crispy spicy tuna, salmon sushi, Ono, a Vincete roll. Yummy!
Gina Miles, a member of the United States 3-Day Team, just won an individual silver medal in the 3-Day Event at the Beijing Olympics. She competed against 70 individuals, including her own team members, Phillip Dutton, Amy Tryon, Karen O'Conner, and Rebecca Holder.
On the first day of the 3-Day Event, Gina placed 10th in Dressage. In the cross-country portion, she placed 5th, and on the final day, she placed 2nd in the show jumping phase.
This is a great start for the United States in the equestrian events. We are all looking forward to seeing more from the United States Equestrian Team!
Great Britain was well behind the two leaders and took the bronze in Tuesday's final.
Germany's Hinrich Peter Romeike clinched the gold for Germany with a show jumping round on Marius that dropped only one rail.
He followed Megan Jones of Australia on Irish Jester who also dropped one fence. Germany and Australia were only one rail apart after the grueling cross-country phase Monday and held those positions for the medals.
After the team round, the obstacles were raised and the riders then jumped again to determine individual medals with the result once more in doubt until the end. The top eight riders were separated by a score of just one dropped rail, which counts for 4 points.
Miles went clean in both rounds and moved from fifth to second, while Cook also had two clean rounds and made the podium after starting the evening in 10th.
Had a nice dinner with Missy & Kim. We went to La Grande Orange. It was good, I had my usual Ahi Tuna Tacos (sushi grade ahi, grilled rare, with chipotle aïoli) and we shared a bottle of Holy Cow (2006 Charles Smith Wines "Holy Cow Merlot" - Columbia Valley PURE MERLOT! Sweet cherry, pipe tobacco, and spice. Cool stone, smooth as velvet, and TASTY!). Kim & Missy both ran into several people they knew from High School. One thing that is pretty unlikely for me.
Our friend Dan Claridge (Chad used to work at Alhambra FD with him) graduated from the tri-city academy (Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank) as a lateral new for Glendale, so we went out to Carmine's to celebrate. We are always up for a reason to get together and celebrate! We got to catch up with some old friends from Alhambra FD.
Chad and I went to see Todd Witt and his daughter Chelsea in a play last night. Center Stage Inc presented All Shook Up at the Pasadena First Church of Nazarene. All Shook Up is based on William Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night, where a girl dresses like a man to get closer to the man she loves. Lorraine's longing for the forbidden love of Romeo and Juliet, and Dennis using a sonnet to win his lady love, are inspired by the magical atmosphere of Shakespeare's romantic comedies. Although the musical is not about Elvis Presley, 24 of his most famous songs are used to tell the story.
The singing was quite good, there were alot of talented people which made the play very entertaining and enjoyable. It was also quite funny. I was thinking some of them could crush American Idol contestants!
Recommended! You will leave the theater with a song in your heart and a smile on your face. There are six more shows this weekend. For more information call Center Stage at 626-297-4758.
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