Fun Times Through the Years at The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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Every April, the streets of Long Beach, California, are turned into a race track for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, an IndyCar race, but there are other races throughout the weekend: the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race (this is the 40th and final year), IMSA, Pirelli World Challenge, Stadium Super Trucks and Super Drift races.

We are heading to the track today, and I found some old photos of previous weekends at the race. Fridays are less crowded, with open seating, and the ability to walk around some of the pits and take part in an autograph session with the drivers.

On Saturday there is World Challenge and Indy Car practice, the Pro/Celebrity race, Stadium Super Trucks race, IndyCar qualifying and the IMSA race. In addition to the IndyCar race on Sunday there is the Pirelli World Challenge race, Mothers Exotic Car Parade, and the Stadium Super Trucks race.

Throughout the weekend, the Long Beach Convention Center is open with pit areas for some of the support races, cars and automotive displays. There is a lot to see, and with bright sunny days in the forecast, it will be a beautiful weekend for racing!

Here are some of my photos from previous race weekends.

K-PAX car in the Convention Center, 2014

Nissan GTR in the Convention Center, 2014

Racing Ford GT and a Corvette, 2008 (If only that guy was sitting!)

Autograph session in 2012 with Corvette Racing's xxx, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen

Autograph session in 2012 with Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen

Flying Lizard Motorsports Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, 2012

The Wayne Taylor Racing car in 2014

Lots of skid marks on the streets of Long Beach, 2008

Walking around, you can see the cars being worked on before the races – here Flying Lizard Motorsports in 2008

There are screens throughout the course – here during the Indy Race in 2012

Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and crew members by the car in 2008

Racing in 2011

Indy Car race in 2011

Indy Car race 2011

Have you ever been to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach or another IndyCar race? Let me know in the comments below.

Celebrating Easter Mass ON Hermosa Beach

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Kiera Reilly

Six years ago my parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Hermosa Beach, California, started a tradition of a sunrise Easter Mass on the beach. It was the idea of our now pastor Father Joe Kim (at the time he was studying to be a priest).

I attended the first year this mass was offered (I believe in 2010), and I remember being cold (nights are chilly in southern California). There was a small gathering, and even though it was overcast, it was a wonderful way to celebrate Easter, as night became day, by the water, with the waves as our music.

When I joined the mass last year, I was happy to see that it had grown in size. It was still a bit chilly and overcast, but the crowd of worshipers gathered to celebrate the risen Christ was warming to the heart. As the mass progressed, the moon faded from view and the sun enlightened the beach and our gathering.

Arriving to the beach, it was still quite dark, and the pier was still lit.

The moon lit up the sky before the sun rose from the east behind us.

The Bishop said mass and is giving his homily. As you can see, there is a large crowd.

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By the end of the mass, it was almost completely daylight (though still overcast – typical for southern California in the Spring and early Summer).

Once again this year, Our Lady of Guadalupe will offer Easter mass on the beach – 6:30 am on Sunday, March 27, at 11th Street and the Strand in Hermosa Beach. Bring your own beach chair, a warm sweathshirt and a blanket. Come join us!

For more pictures, see this photo gallery from beach side mass in 2014 by the Los Angeles Times.

How do you celebrate Easter? Does your church celebrate mass or hold services outside of your usual church?

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Amara Chocolate and Coffee Cafe in Pasadena

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Kiera Reilly

Earlier this year, my friends Lisa, Melissa and I were looking for somewhere to meet and catch up with each other. Melissa suggested a few places near her in Pasadena (California), and one of them was a place that served hot chocolate. That quickly became our pick, and we met there on Saturday afternoon.

I arrived first, and since I left the house early that morning, I was hungry. Not knowing if we would be ordering only hot chocolate or food too, I decided to try an empanada while I waited for Lisa and Melissa to arrive.

Beef empanada at Amara

It was the perfect size for a small snack, but you could also order several to make a full meal.

Although I wanted sipping chocolate, I needed some caffeine, so I decided to try a cacao latte, but I had choices as to how dark I wanted the chocolate in my mocha to be, a choice I never had before! I am a big fan of dark chocolate, so I ordered my cacao latte with the 61% dark chocolate. According to Amara’s menu, the chocolate is paired with Guatemalan espresso. It was the perfect combination of chocolate and espresso flavors with a hint of sweetness.

Amara Cafe’s dark chocolate mocha – note it’s already half gone because I was too excited to drink it before taking a picture!

While waiting, I realized that Amara Cafe was not simply a pastry cafe but a Venezuelan cafe – the empanadas on the menu was one clue. There was a selection of the usual sandwich combinations, but at the register, an ipad displayed photos of other menu items. One thing that caught my eye was a tortilla that seemed to be covered with beans and plantains. There were also churros on the menu! I did not expect that. I knew I wanted to order some but decided to wait to see if Lisa and Melissa were interested in sharing some too.

Melissa arrived next, and while she was looking at the menu, she too noticed the tortilla photo and was intrigued. We decided to order that to share and learned that in addition to the beans and plantains there was beef and cheese as well. It is called an arepa, a Venezuelan corn flat-bread. We ordered La De Pabellon which included the arepa, shredded beef, white cheese, black beans and plantains.

Pasadena pancake

When it arrived at our table, we split it between the three of us (by this time Lisa joined us) – it might make a main entree for dinner, but with both beans and meat, it is pretty filling for one person for lunch. It was delicious – the sweetness of the corn tortilla and plantains balanced nicely with the meat and beans. So, so good!

After finishing that, we had our next big decision – how many churros to order, and with what sauces? We decided on six to share with dark chocolate and nutella sauces.

Pasadena churros

Churros con chocolate -mmm the perfect morning, lunch, mid-afternoon or late night treat!

We were all surprised by this little cafe in the heart of old town Pasadena. While there is typical cafe fare, the Venezuelan menu items – especially the chocolate – give it something to stand out. Read more about Amara’s chocolates on their website.

The space is small, but we were able to find a table with ease to enjoy our orders. There was a steady stream of customers coming in for food to sit and eat or a drink to have on the go.

I would recommend visiting this unique cafe and trying some of their Venezuelan delicacies and chocolates!

Amara Cafe

55 South Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105
info@amarachocolate.com
Phone (626) 744-1765
90 min Free Parking

Hours

Monday: Closed
Tue-Thu: 8.30am – 7pm
Fri – Sat: 8.30am – 10pm
Sunday: 9:30am – 7pm

Have you ever visited Amara Cafe? What did you think? Do you have a favorite cafe for chocolate, churros and/or coffee? Share your favorite spot below in the comments!

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The 2016 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona – My Trip via Social Media

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Kiera Reilly

Rolex24 start

It was a quick weekend trip to Daytona Beach for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona at Daytona International Speedway. Here is a quick re-cap of the weekend based on my social media posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook via Storify.

Has anyone attended a long endurance race – either 24 or 12 hours? Let me know what you thought about the experience!

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Reflecting on the “Best” of Instagram 2015

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Kiera Reilly

Here are my best nine Instagram posts from 2015:

Best Nine

A week or two ago, I noticed people posting a photo collage on Instagram with the hashtag #2015bestnine. I googled and soon learned how to discover your best nine photographs you shared on Instagram that garnered the most likes.

It is quite simple – visit http://2015bestnine.com/, type in your Instagram user name, and the site searches your posts and compiles the top photos in a collage you can post to Instagram, share to Twitter or save as an image. The site also compiles your total number of likes (5,332 for me) and the total posts you shared in 2015 (299 – almost one per day!).

I was surprised to see my results – all the photos are from right here in southern California – and it was fun to remember the story behind each one.

My most liked photo (in the top left of the collage) is from a calligraphy workshop this fall in downtown LA at the Design Love Fest studio. I have followed Lauren Essl’s feed, @BlueEyeBrownEye, for a while, and I was excited to be able to participate in one of her workshops. I took the introduction to calligraphy class, and I learned enough to address all of my Christmas cards this year with calligraphy!

From Lauren Essl’s Blue Eye Brown Eye introduction to calligraphy workshop at Design Love Fest in Downtown LA

The middle column of my photos is from right here at home – almost daily walks along the Strand in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach are always Instagram worthy. The middle photo is with a Paradise Bowl – delicious acai and pitaya bowls that are perfect after a long walk along the beach! Sometimes it feels redundant to keep posting photos of the beach at sunset, but every time I am there, the scene is so beautiful I have to take another picture!

Paradise Bowls are the best after a long walk/run on the Strand.

Another beautiful sunset in Manhattan Beach

Below the calligraphy post in the first column are coffee photos, both from Two Guns Espresso in Manhattan Beach (they also serve coffee at the Manhattan Beach Yacht Club at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier). Nothing makes me happier than a delicious espresso, and Two Guns makes the best Flat Whites around! These photos make me miss visiting Caffe Luxxe in Brentwood – my office used to be close to their San Vicente location, and I enjoyed stopping in for a cappuccino (and sharing it on Instagram) before going to the office (n.b. they roast the beans for Two Guns).

The column on the right is food – the top is a chicken sandwich from the Free Range LA food truck. They were in front of Stumptown Coffee in downtown LA, right around the corner from the Design Love Fest studio where I took my calligraphy class! Since Free Range LA says they are #ChickenGawds, I had to try one of their sandwiches. I had the “classic” but they allowed me to customize it by adding some of the “original” slaw. Mmm, mmm, good!

The original sandwich from the Free Range food truck. It was huge - I didn't have dinner that night.

The classic sandwich from the Free Range food truck. It was huge – and oh so good – I didn’t have dinner that night.

The bottom two photos are from a blogger gathering at Gloria’s Restaurant and Bar in Huntington Park. Thanks to Chef Turok (Brian Menendez) for organizing the event and inviting me. The food was delicious, the margaritas yummy (they created three different ones for us to sample), and the mariachi music was fantastic!

Enjoying the food and music at Gloria’s!

The mango chamoy margarita at Gloria’s

2015 was so much more than these nine photos, but it is fun to share things daily and then see what resonates the most. It will be interesting to see what I post this year, and which ones become favorites. Have you discovered your #2015bestnine? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy New Year! Here’s to a great 2016!

Visiting the LA Auto Show

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

The LA Auto Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center (South Hall entrance).

Last weekend, Dave and I visited the LA Auto Show on Saturday. Through Dave’s membership in the Audi Club, we were able to enter the show an hour before it opened to the general public. What a treat to see and take photos of the different car manufacturers displays without crowds of people!

The LA Auto Show is at the Los Angeles Convention Center and is open through Sunday, November 29th, and show hours are 9:00 am – 10:00 pm daily. There are cars to suit everyone’s interest, an aftermarket hall, and opportunities to test drive some vehicles too.

Here are some photos of the cool cars we saw.

We first explored the Audi booth, or rather, we made a beeline to see the new Audi R8 in the Audi booth.

I event sat inside for a little bit – there’s a surprising amount of head room (not an issue for me, but for those with taller builds, I imagine it would be quite comfortable).

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Here are the displays.

BMW:

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Mazda:

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Cadillac:

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Acura:

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The new Acura NSX was on display with a screen above showing the overhead view.

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When I walked by the Alfa Romeo area, most of the cars were still covered, but this 1968 33 Stradale was unwrapped and gorgeous.

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The 1965 TZ2 was also uncovered and looking fantastic.

Alfa Romeo 1965 TZ2

The Maseratis were also still under wraps but slowly emerging. I love the look of the Maserati front grill, and their trident logo is iconic.

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We briefly ran through the Mercedes booth, stopping to take photos of this.

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And the SLS

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We left the South Hall and rushed over to West Hall, hoping to see the Ford booth before the show opened. We wanted to be able to ogle the new Ford GT before the crowds came. It did not disappoint in person!

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Both the race car and the street car were on rotating stages so you could see the car from every angle.

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It was really interesting to see the back and look under the car to see how the air flows beneath it. We can’t wait to see this race!

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Although I am not crazy about the yellow color on display, the lines of the street model of the Ford GT are beautiful.

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After staring at the two Ford GTs for a long time, we looked at some of the other Fords on display, like this Mustang GT 350r which Dave declared is, “my next car.”

We went outside to test drive the Fords. Ford had an Explorer, Edge, CMax, Focus and Mustang to test, but in order to test the Mustang, you had to drive another car first. Dave tried the Explorer and I drove the Edge. Both were nice comfortable rides and handled well on the short drive around Los Angeles’ city streets.

We both drove the Mustang – it has eco boost which makes it not as front heavy as usual. There was also a paddle shift option on the car, which I tried for a small section but it didn’t have the same feel as the manual transmission I am used too, so the Ford representative switched it off.

After our test drives, we went back into the hall to see the Fiat booth – I love the Fiat 500s, and was also interested to see new Fiat Spiders on display.

We took a quick glance at the Dodge Viper.

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We left the south hall and went to see the Porsche display, which was in its own contained area in Petree Hall. Not surprisingly, it was very crowded.

The 911.

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It was nice to see the race 919 Hybrid FIA World Endurance Champion car on display.

While I was adding money to our parking meter Dave visited the Galpin Hall and saw the Aston Martin from Spectre…and didn’t take any pictures of it, or tell me about it. I love the beauty of Aston Martins and am bummed I didn’t see any.

In the After Market Hall, there were some modified Lamborghinis and Corvettes on display.

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Of course I spotted some original Abarths – modified by Madness Autoworks in Signal Hill (Long Beach). They are so tiny compared to the modern versions!

This is only some of what is on display at the show. There are literally hundreds of cars to see, to sit in, and to test drive! It is fun to see the new cars the manufacturers are showing, and also to compare different makes and models of cars if you are in the market for a new one.

It is the last weekend of the LA Auto Show, so head downtown and check it out!

Manhattan Beach Pier Lighting

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

Last week, Manhattan Beach hosted their 21st Holiday Open House and 26th Annual Pier Lighting. It was a relatively warm night, so I threw on a sweatshirt, put the boys in the car and drove down to join in the festivities.

Local streets were closed in downtown Manhattan Beach, and as we parked and started walking, we saw many other people headed downtown as well.

Most of the stores were open until 9:00pm and were decorated for the holidays. Many had snacks, treats and drinks inside, but since the dogs were with me, we were only able to window-shop.

It was a festive atmosphere as the streets were filled with adults and children of all ages enjoying the shops, carolers, and music playing outside.

York Town on Manhattan Avenue. I liked their wood houses and white light display.

The window display for the Rolling Hills Flower Mart featured a ‘living’ flower dress, but all these children cared about was the snow that was falling outside.

It’s snowing!

Snow dance.

Carolers wandered the streets singing holiday songs. Here is a group in front of Manhattan Beach Creamery.

I reached the intersection of Manhattan Avenue and Manhattan Beach Boulevard and saw the traditional “Season’s Greetings” sign across Manhattan Beach Blvd., but the tree and the pier was yet to be lit.

Looking west toward the pier – waiting for the tree lighting.

And then, promptly at 7:00 pm the lighting began – it took less than a few minutes, but you can see there was a large crowd to watch.

Looking west and there are no lights yet…

Then the trees lining the pier and the ‘pier tree’ were lit.

And then everything!

I continued walking around to see more of the holiday windows.

A snowy window-scape at Dacha.

Lush and festive floral displays at Growing Wild.

The windows at Udderly Perfect featured an old-school TV.

In the Metlox complex, Waterleaf had pretty stars hanging in their windows.

I love Fringe, the new store on Manhattan Avenue. They also have a location in south Redondo. How cute is this oven display with cookie ornaments?

Bo Bridges Gallery seemed to be having quite a party inside the studio. This striking photograph of the Eiffel Tower was touching in light of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

Manhattan Denim decorated their windows with disco dancers. They kept moving so it was hard to take their picture. I want a wig like that!

At Katwalk there was a large elf blowing kisses to all who passed by (and obliging selfie-takers).

Prizes were awarded to the best window designs, detailed here in The Beach Reporter. Rolling Hills Flower Mart won “Best Overall.”

There is a beautiful photo gallery, also by The Beach Reporter, with more images from the tree lighting.

It was a fun night to be out enjoying downtown after dark, although I wish the holiday season started after Thanksgiving!

South Bay Scenes – Week of Nov 15 – 21, 2015

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

The week started with cool (cold for southern California) nights and high winds. We didn’t take the dogs to the Strand then, as the sand was blowing and would get in their eyes. Later in the week, the temperatures rose, and it felt like summer during the day.

Surfer on the beach.

Late afternoon sun.

Clear skies.

Down by the water.

Portions of the bike path were closed due to the sand blown on the path.

On Wednesday night, Manhattan Beach hosted the annual tree-lighting ceremony and open house downtown. The temperature was warmer as I was comfortable walking around with only a sweatshirt.

: Looking west toward the pier – waiting for the tree lighting.

: The tree and the pier is lit!

And the nights, while cooler than in the summer, were still California temperate. But you can see the days are very warm! We traveled downtown for the LA Auto Show on Saturday, and it was much warmer there.

: Friday night and still warm in Redondo Beach.

: Very warm in downtown LA on Saturday, but cold weather is on the way.

But as you can see, cooler weather is on the way – just in time for Thanksgiving!

South Bay Scenes – Week of November 1, 2015

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Sunday afternoon, while walking the dogs to the Redondo Beach dog park, it was very windy, and then it started raining and dark clouds loomed overhead. We kept walking and the strong winds seemed to push the storm to the east and suddenly as we reached a high point on the street I saw a rainbow and then a double rainbow! Everyone at the dog park was taking photos of the rainbows. SBS Nov 2 2015 2

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Nov. 3, 2015

More crazy storms in the late afternoon. You can see the dark clouds looming at sunset.

I saw this pretty butterfly sitting on our bougainvillea.

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We finally experienced some fall temperatures – or LA’s version of fall temperatures – and bright, clear skies.

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Saturday night, after I walked the dogs, I saw this bright blue-ish light in the sky. At first I thought it was the moon behind clouds but there weren’t any clouds in the sky. It was so odd, that I went inside to get my phone to take a picture. It doesn’t look like much, but apparently it caused a bit of panic and lots of social media postings.

Apparently the Navy test launched a trident missile from a submarine off the coast. News reports earlier in the week reported that the flight patterns in and out of LAX would be changed for “military operations,” but I didn’t put two and two together when I saw this light burst. There are better pictures of the sky on KTLA‘s site and more information on the launch via The Los Angeles Times.

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South Bay Scenes – Week of October 25, 2015

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

Enjoy scenes from the South Bay (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach) for the week of October 25, 2015.

The first half of the week I was in Austin, but when I returned home, the weather was still warm although the nights are finally starting to be cooler. The sunsets and early mornings were beautiful at the beach. There was a high tide warning in effect in the morning, and there were bigger waves which the surfers seemed to enjoy.

For the first part of the week, sunsets were slightly after 6:00 pm, so the days are much shorter than in the summer. On Saturday night the clocks “fell back” an hour for daylight savings time, so tonight the sunset was at 5:00 PM.