South Bay Scenes – December 26, 2016 – January 1, 2017

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Kiera Reilly

The chilly temperatures of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day continued in the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Los Angeles. With family visiting, I did not make it to the beach and outdoors as much as I normally do, but I was able to venture outside a few days and take some pictures while out walking the dogs.

Our walk on Thursday night, December 29th started late, and soon we we were walking in the dusk and then the dark along the Strand. But with so many houses displaying Christmas lights, there was something to enjoy. I realized I had not taken any photos of the decorated Manhattan Beach Pier, so I made sure to walk on the pier to capture the pretty lights.

Strands of white lights lead the way to the “tree” atop the Round House Aquarium

Manhattan Beach Pier Round House Aquarium Christmas tree lights

The Pier Christmas Tree in lights

My phone could not focus on the lights with the darkness, but I still thought they were pretty even though they are blurred.

Manhattan Beach Pier holiday lights

On the Manhattan Beach pier looking east to downtown Manhattan Beach

Looking from the end of the pier back to Manhattan Beach

The Season’s Greeting sign hanging across Manhattan Beach Boulevard was there as usual.

Season's Greeting lights over Manhattan Beach Boulevard

Looking west on Manhattan Beach Boulevard to the Seasons Greeting sign and the Manhattan Beach Pier

On New Year’s Eve, we were determined to take the dogs for a long walk on the Strand. They needed to stretch their legs, and we wanted to tire them out before the inevitable fireworks at midnight that scare them.

It was a cold and windy day. I brought their rain coats in case it started to rain, and not ten minutes after we started walking, the rain came. It was a steady rain, so even though the boys do not enjoy wearing their rain coats, it kept most of the water off of them.

Koa and Lau Lau dogs wearing raincoats in Manhattan Beach on New Year's Eve

Heading down a walk street to the Strand in Manhattan Beach

It was very gray, but the sun is peeking through on the horizon.

There was hardly anyone out on the Strand. The wind made it feel colder than it was and my hands felt very raw. Luckily I had a good rain jacket that kept me dry.

Manhattan Beach strand and flowers on New Year's Eve

Looking through the flowers to the sun on the horizon

Dogs in raincoats on the Manhattan Beach Strand on New Year's eve 2016

Koa and Lau Lau making the most of the wet, cold and windy weather on New Year’s Eve along the Strand.

Manhattan Beach Strand on New Year's eve with ships in the ocean

Sun on the horizon lights up the ships in the ocean

Snack shop on El Porto Beach in Manhattan Beach on New Year's Eve

This snack shop is normally busy no mater what time of day you walk by.

Manhattan Beach Strand on New Year's Eve 2016

The wet and windy Strand on Manhattan Beach on New Year’s Eve. No one was out!

Manhattan Beach Strand sunset on New Year's Eve 2016

The sun setting with the gray clouds overhead

It was sunny on the horizon but not where we were! Look at the light catching the tips of the plant.

Final sunset of 2016 from Manhattan Beach Strand on New Year's Eve

Last sunset of 2016

Dogs wearing rain coats on Manhattan Beach Strand on New Year's Eve 2016

The boys sporting their rain coats.

Lau Lau in the front and Koa in the back.

The next day, the storm and the clouds moved on, and we were treated to a bright, clear day at the beach. The Strand was very crowded, especially compared to the day before, as everyone was outside enjoying the day and the first day of 2017!

What a difference compared to the day before!

Manhattan Beach Strand looking north on New Year's Day 2017

You can see on the far right the snack shop is busy compared to the day before! And you can see the mountains near Santa Monica and Malibu

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.

OLG Beach Easter homily OLG Beach Easter homily 2

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?

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!

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

SBS Nov 2 2015 3

SBS Nov 2 2015 4

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.

SBS Nov 4 2015

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

SBS Nov 6 2015 2

SBS Nov 6 2015 1

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.

SBS Nov 7 2015

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.

Manhattan Beach Pier, October 29th.

Sunset October 30th.

Manhattan Beach Pier October 28th.

Warmer than usual Southern California temperatures, October 29th.

October 29 looking east on Manhattan Beach Blvd. from the pier.

Walking to a costumer party, Hermosa Beach, October 28th.

Surfer at sunset, Manhattan Beach, October 30th.

Sunset from El Porto, October 30th.

Beach life: surfers and beach volleyball, October 30th.

Waves, October 30th.

Waves, morning October 30th.

Morning, October 30th.

Looking south to the Manhattan Beach Pier and Palos Verdes, morning of October 30th.

Morning view looking north on the bike path on the Strand, October 30.

October 30 morning.

Post morning walk with the boys – a Paradise Bowl and a front row view to watch the waves.

The boys looking dapper after their morning walk on October 30.

Heading down a walk street to The Strand, Manhattan Beach, October 30th.

End of Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, October 30th.

At El Porto Beach looking south, October 30th.

Sunset October 30th looking north.

Final sunset to end the week, November 1st.

Spotting Advertising for #FriFotos

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Kiera Reilly

As I gather photographs to share for this week’s #FriFotos theme of Great Britain, I look back to a #FriFotos in June (June 26, 2015 to be exact) when the theme was Advertising. I shared a few photos from my travels in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Stockholm along with a photo from closer to home in Hermosa Beach, California. I like to snap quick photos of ads when I’m traveling – it is always interesting to me to see how ads for global brands are often the same as in the United States but in a different language. It is also interesting to spot ads that are unique to the region I am visiting.

In the Spring of 2006, I visited China for the first time. Tiananmen Square was a short distance from our hotel, and as an Olympics fan, I was excited to see this large clock counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the start of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. As you can see from the bottom of the clock, it is also an advertisement for Omega watches, the official timekeeper for the games.

Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in Tianamen Square

Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in Tiananmen Square

On this street near our hotel, I was interested to see big signs adverting stores and products, much like you would see in other large cities (New York, for example), around the world.

Street advertisements in Beijing.

I took the subway back to my hotel and saw this advertisement for the cosmetics company Estée Lauder.

Beijing subway ad for Estee Lauder.

During my 2006 trip to China, I also was in Hong Kong for a few days. The signs in Hong Kong reminded me of the huge billboards in New York City. Here is a large ad on the side of a building for Konica Minolta.

Huge street ads in Hong Kong.

Switching continents to Europe, I was struck by this simple ad in Stockholm, Sweden. It says, “Where is the clock?”

Simple ad in Stockholm, Sweden.

In the United States, it is impossible to attend a professional sporting event without seeing advertisements. The AVP beach volleyball tournaments are no exception. There are many ads courtside, especially in the courts with larger stands. This is a photo from the Hermosa Beach Open several years ago. Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May Treanor are on the far side of the court (Misty is leaping for the ball here), playing against Nicole Branagh (I think). There are advertisements everywhere – courtside, on the tents, even on the net!

AVP Beach Volleyball has ads alongside playing courts.

Here is a favorite photo from Vancouver (full disclosure – I did not share this on Twitter on the #FriFotos day). My colleagues and I always had a laugh at the Dos Equis “most interesting man in the world” ads and commercials, so when I saw this on a bus stop in Vancouver, I had to take a photo to share it with them.

Stay Thirsty my friends.

New to #FriFotos? Here’s a quick guide on the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

#FriFotos was started on 15 October 2010 by Jonathan Epstein (@EpsteinTravels). Jonathan is the President and Owner of Celebrated Experiences, a company focusing on travel to the UK and Ireland. He is passionate about photography, his favorite hobby. Each week Jonathan cohosts #FriFotos with Stephanie Diehl (@TravelDesigned), Charles Yap (@CharlesYap), and Spencer Spellman (@SpencerSpellman). Jeffrey Epstein (@jeffreyinmotion), CEO of HBIM was a key advisor in the creation of #FriFotos and continues to assist in the Forum’s growth and success.

We Ran for the Lives of Dogs

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

To celebrate Independence Day, I took my dogs Koa and Lau Lau to Riviera Village in Redondo Beach, California, to participate in the Village Runner Redondo Beach 4th of July 5K.

We were running and walking to help raise funds for Rover Rescue, a local dog rescue organization that saves dogs from Los Angeles shelters and helps them find permanent homes (my original post is here).

Koa and Lau Lau are trying to remain calm before the race starts.

Dave and I adopted first Koa, then Lau Lau, from Rover Rescue, and we admire and respect the commitment they have to find the right home for the dogs that they save. We want to make sure that all dogs find a safe and loving home.

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. Summer morning are usually like this due to the "marine layer."

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. Summer mornings are usually like this due to the “marine layer.”

I posted here, and on Facebook, and asked friends and family to donate money. Although it was a bit of a last-minute fundraising effort, I’m pleased to report that we raised $600 for Rover Rescue! We are still accepting donations. If you would like to contribute, visit the pledge and donation site here.

The group at the front is already on their way to the finish line.

Koa and Lau Lau were dressed in red, white and blue bandanas to celebrate the birthday of the U.S.A., and I wore my U.S. Soccer hat and Rover Rescue t-shirt. The boys were very excited on race day, probably because of all the people gathering before the start of the race. We stopped by the Rover Rescue tent to visit our friends there. We saw a group of runners from their vet, Family Pet Clinic of Redondo Beach, and even said hi to the vet tech who recognized them (Koa thought he seemed much nicer when he wasn’t trying to poke and prod him).

The race begins!

The race started at 8:00 am, and while everyone dashed off, we waited a bit so that we’d have more room to run – zig-zagging around walkers and runners is a bit more difficult with two dogs on leashes.

We walked and ran the course, and while we weren’t particularly fast, we sure had fun! We finished with a race time of 42:04.

Dave found us along the way and took some action photos. You can see more photos of the entire race in the Village Runner 5K Facebook page and on their website.

After the race, the boys posed for some photos.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my efforts on behalf of Rover Rescue. Koa and Lau Lau want to especially thank dogs Travis, Charlie, Natalia, Lizzie, Mario, and Luigi for their donations. It’s nice that both two and four-legged donors support us!

There’s still time to donate – help us reach our goal of $850! Click here to contribute!

We had so much fun running with fellow neighbors and citizens from all over the South Bay, and loved seeing everyone in red, white and blue. Look for us to race again next year!

How did you celebrate July 4th?

Running for the Life of a Dog

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Kiera Reilly

This July 4th, Koa and Lau Lau are taking me to the Village Runner Redondo Beach 5K where we plan to run, walk, wag our tails, get some head scratches and raise funds for Rover Rescue.

Rover Rescue is a a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue & placement of homeless dogs from Los Angeles animal shelters. Rover Rescue’s mission is “until every dog has a home.” You can read more about the organization here.

Koa and Lau Lau found us through Rover Rescue, and we can’t thank RR enough for caring about rescuing and finding the right homes for dogs in Los Angeles shelters. We want to make sure that all dogs find a safe and loving home.

Rover Rescue asks that each participant raise $200. I plan to contribute that amount but hope that with Koa and Lau Lau’s adorable photo above that some of you would be willing to help me raise more.

We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

Please click here to make a donation. Rover Rescue is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Thank you for your support!

Woof, woof,

Kiera, Koa and Lau Lau

Kiera Reilly

Planes, Trains and Formula 1

Tag Archives: South Bay

South Bay Scenes – December 26, 2016 – January 1, 2017

Celebrating Easter Mass ON Hermosa Beach

Reflecting on the “Best” of Instagram 2015

South Bay Scenes – Week of November 1, 2015

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South Bay Scenes – Week of October 25, 2015

Spotting Advertising for #FriFotos

We Ran for the Lives of Dogs

Running for the Life of a Dog

We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

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We would be so appreciative of any amount you would be willing to donate!

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