We went out to the Grove last night in LA and thought I would share some of the holiday spirit with you. After a fantastic dinner at Maggianos, we went for a romantic walk down Christmas lane. Unfortunately Santa was out for the evening which was probably a good thing for him since my list is pretty long (I swear she says fingers crossed I have been a good girl this year). Again due to the restrictions of this website I will have to make this a double post to include all my pics. I could not just narrow it down to 5 as hard as I tried!

I took a quick trip up to our fair state capital to visit some friends. During my 4 day jaunt I managed to take in quite a few sights, but the most impressive one was Sutter's Fort. This fort, maintained in its original condition, allows visitors to see exactly how the pilgrims lived. As a matter of fact they even allow some visitors to experience it. The reason I was so enamored with my visit was the fact that people (a school class to be specific) were working and living there for a couple of days without any modern assistance. They lived just as the settlers did with only the same tools and necessities available to them.

I mapped several of my pictures simultaneously this time to see how they would plot out on the map. You can see I managed to cover quite a bit of area during my brief visit.

Juvenile diabetes mellitus is now more commonly called Type 1 diabetes. It is a syndrome with disordered metabolism and inappropriately high blood glucose levels due to a deficiency of insulin secretion in the pancreas. More and more children are being affected by this horrible disease everyday but organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) are working hard to raise awareness and find a cure. On November 4th, thousands gathered to walk for a cure. The money and awareness raised on this day will go a long way towards helping children inflicted with this disease. For more information about the race for a cure, please visit the JDFR website: http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=100694

I was able to snap a few exposures as I walked for a cure. Once again I am amazed how my movements did not affect the images snapped. The colors are so sharp and true to life; I could not be more pleased with my shots. This time I zoomed in on the GPS map details so you can walk along with my photos.

I can only attach 5 photos to this blog post, so I will add another post to with the rest of the shots.

Trick or treating with my nieces was the highlight of my Halloween. The Santa Monica decorations were spectacular and the ghouls and goblins were on their best behavior. Ashley was the perfect Cinderella as you can see from the pictures below. The night was cool and clear and we ended it with witch hunt at the Santa Monica pier.

Even in the darkest of conditions the Sony Cyber-shot comes through with crisp true-to-life pictures. In a creative twist, I took a picture of every house we visited and mapped out our route when we got home. For the privacy of the residence I have opted not to display that map, but rather a high level map with a single image on it so that you can see what I am talking about. It is possible to zoom in and see the exact street, but for this first post I am keeping the distance.