Bako Life {Two Month}

Wowsers, lots has happened since I last posted about Bako Life. We have met some new friends, tried out some different restaurants and have finally moved into our new home. All I can say is, the fun never ends! Hehe...

So I decided to join Junior League and am now a provisional member. We have to go through a 6 month training before we become active so here goes nothing! I feel like I'm joining a sorority; there are 16 of is this class. The people I met at the information session were nice and this will keep me going for a wee while. We had our first event last week at the Bakersfield Country Club. It was quite formal as far as agenda went but I was still able to catch up with some people.  I came home with some numbers:) 

We tried to do some cultural stuff around town and attended First Fridays, where art studios open their doors and offer wine and nibbles, with local vendors out selling stuff on the street. Well, there wasn't much going on in those studios and the vendors were not selling many cute things. To drown our sorrows, we decided to go out for a fancy meal {Bako standards} at The Mark and it was delish! Guess that made up for the failed cultural outing.

We are starting to get invited out by some of Gerald's coworkers, so we don't have to just sit and stare at each other all night. Haha. Although, we do have some funny moments in our house considering it's just us two. Anyhow, we went to our fave bar so far, Eureka, and watched the friends boyfriend play some strings and sing some tunes. It was great!

Our friends, Mike and Trish, whom we knew in Aberdeen, hosted an ugly Christmas sweater gathering on Sunday so it was nice to meet some new folks and see some familiar faces from last weeks night at Eureka as we'll. 

All and all, life is picking up in Bako! More on the house soon!

'Tis the Season {for Holiday Lights}

One of my favorite things about this time of the year are the Christmas/Holiday lights around town. It just makes the city look prettier and festive and puts me in the holiday spirit. Aberdeen's Union street was lined up with holiday banners and I sure do miss seeing it around this time of the year. It always made walking in the pitch dark at 3pm so much more pleasant. Anyhow, we heard about the Holiday Lights at the CALM {California Living Museum} Zoo here in Bakersfield and I immediately knew we had to go. We attended an arts and culture event on Friday night in downtown bako and I wasn't completely impressed so I was hoping this would lift my spirits about local activities around town.

We drove out about 20 minutes east towards the Kern oil fields and came across the lights as we were driving up. It looked okay from the parking lot, but when we got inside, it was a different story. It was seriously like attending a Zoo of lights, which was super neat. The lights were interactive; it showed dolphins swimming, elephants shooting water, dinosaurs eating, coyotes howling etc. Top that off with a cup of hot chocolate and we had a successful night out. There were some animals you could visit as well, but it was hard to see them in the dark {kind of creepy actually}. We will have to return another time to check out the zoo itself. I left the place smiling, with spirits lifted =)

Happy Holidays Friends!

The Chiv Family

While in town, I offered to take some family photos for my cousin so they could use it for their Christmas cards. It's just the 4 of them these days, so family photos are quite rare. We decided to keep it easy and just shoot some shots in their backyard. Their pool is pretty much the entire backyard so we just did some shots around there. It was fun playing with the kids and getting cute photos of them. I love taking these kinds of pictures and capturing fun family moments. People suggest I should do this as a job, but I think that will take the fun out of it. Plus, there are a few camera things I need to learn first. I always have a hard time getting super clear shots like the pros do, so I need to master that before I can even begin to start a business!

Meet the Chiv Family! {Scott, Jadnnie, Austin, Sophie and Sunny}

Carlsbad, CA {with a touch of San Diego}

I can't way we actually went to "San Diego" because we only spent one night there, in the Gaslamp Quarters. We spent most of our time in Carlsbad, visiting with my cousin and his family. Carlsbad is the suburb of San Diego with easy access to the city and nearby beaches. We went shopping at the Carlsbad Outlets {Austin took me on a photo shoot}, went to the Carlsbad State beach, and had pizza and beer at Pizza Porto, a local brewpub in downtown Carlsbad, which was delish!

In the evening time, we went to La Jolla to visit the Children's Pool, where families of sea lions have taken up residence. It was a beautiful night to watch the sea lions play and the tide roll in as the sun set. The weather in San Diego was perfect, and I hear it's like that year round. We were able to soak in some sun during the day and enjoy a nice breeze in the evening. 

The following day, Gerald and I headed to San Diego's Gaslamp quarters to finish off our Thanksgiving weekend down south. We stayed at the W Hotel, which was very pleasant and cheap {for a W Hotel}, I might add. What sucked though, was the valet! Another $25 on top of the $120 room rate. I swear, California gets you with their valet parking. We need to do a bit more research when booking hotels now {check valet parking rate}. It was located closer to Little Italy than the Gaslamp, so we had to cab it to dinner that night, but still close enough. We were a bit hesitant walking around the streets of downtown SD. Gosh, how I miss Aberdeen's safety.

Anyhow, we found a local eatery called, Neighborhood, to dine in and then enjoyed some beers at another bar called, The Hopping Pig.  Gaslamp is like 4th, 5th and 6th street Austin, with lots of bars, restaurants, and shops all within walking distance of each other. It was actually quite a busy night so it was fun to people watch.

We barely touched the surface of SD, so will definitely be coming back some time in the near future. Of course, we will always make a stop in Carlsbad so Gerald can get some more iPad lessons from Sophie =)