Seasons Greetings from LA

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I just got back to New York after a lovely week in Los Angeles enjoying the sunshine and Thanksgiving festivities. It was a wonderful week with the whole family and really fun to watch my 15-year-old Bichon Frise, BJ, try to cope with Rheana, my sister’s 2-year-old Puggle who visited LA for her first time. Some cute pictures will come in the next few days. Even though I was only in LA for a short time it reminded me how much I love Los Angeles, and I decided to come home a week early in December to spend some time exploring my old home. Then I’m off to Puerto Vallarta so expect some tropical pictures and fun reviews to come your way.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving being over is now its time to start celebrating the holidays! Christmas and Hannukah will start to flood the streets and make its way into our lives! I always wait till now to break out my awesome christmakkah music mix and now it will be playing on my ipod 24/7 so expect pictures in the next few weeks to be infused with their merry spirit!

I posted a photo of Manhattan Beach a few days ago where I spent my Thanksgiving on a lovely walk with the family. I highly recommend this walk to anyone who wants to be by the beach, but not walk on it (no sand in shoes!) and likes to look at gorgeous houses and really beautiful flowers! Enjoy some pics below!

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Los Angeles Zoo, Griffith Park

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As part of my ongoing series Animals in Captivity I try to make it to as many zoos as I can.  Whenever I head to a new city the zoo is one of the first places I would like to go.  I go to the zoo all the time in New York, as a member of the Central Park Zoo I try to stop by at least once a month.  However I had not been to the Los Angeles Zoo in 4 years- since the day I got my D2X as a graduation present from high school.  I’m back in Los Angeles this week and thought I would head over to check it out. 

It’s just as fun as I remembered and I highly recommend it for a fun excursion in LA, you can make a day out of it and go on a hike in Griffith Park and see some animals in the wild like coyotes and hawks.  As always some of my tips and tricks:

  • Wear bug repellent it gets buggy!
  • Go early in the morning the sun is best for taking pictures and the animals will be active and hungry.
  • Even though the zoo closes at 5pm all the large animals go in to their enclosures for the night at 4pm so you’ll want to plan to leave around 4 as there is nothing left to see.
  • Wear comfortable shoes and bring a jacket!  There is a lot of walking to be done and it gets cold later in the day during winter!
  • Ask the zoo keepers questions, they are there to help and know a ton of information and can really enhance the zoo experience by giving you a little education about the animals.
  • Check the website ahead of time for any special events like seasonal extravaganzas for Christmas and for feeding times for the animals.

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