rose bowl festivities

I know the Badgers didn't win in the end, but Jesse and I still had fun attending some of the Rose Bowl festivities this year, especially the Rose Parade. We're not always in town for New Year's, so I am glad we took advantage of the opportunity this year - it was really fun to see. And of course, we enjoyed having lots of Wisconsinites around town for the few days leading up to the parade and game. In full disclosure, I don't really follow the Badgers in the same way I follow the Packers, but I'm always a fan of anything having to do with my home state.

A sea of red at the Badgers Pep Rally at the Santa Monica Pier a few days before the game. It was a very, very foggy day. The pep band played, and they interviewed some of the players on stage.

Jesse, Yuki, and Bucky. Lots and lots of people stopped to say hi to Yuki. Someone who stopped to pet him said, "Oh, this must be the big dog that people are talking about." He loved the attention, and we liked chatting with the other Wisconsinites.

Badger train! We parked at Union Station and took the metra to Pasadena for the Rose Parade. We were not the only ones with this brilliant ideas.

The floats were so fun to see! Apparently people camp out on the sidewalk starting the day before the parade to get good spots. We showed up just before the parade started to come by this spot and I was very happy with how close we were.

The Trader Joe's float.

The Badger float.

renegade round-up

I love going to local art shows in Los Angeles. Usually around this time of year, Jesse and I go to Unique LA, held in the fashion district. This year, we decided to check out the Renegade Craft Fair in the Los Angeles State Historic Park instead. It was a little smaller than Unique LA, but I thought it was nice that it was outside and that some of the artists were from outside the LA area. Of course, part of what makes Unique LA so great is that all of the artists are very local. And the food is better at Unique LA, meaning overall, Unique LA wins, but I am glad we tried something different this time around.

There was a nice view of the city, especially as the sun was setting.

Some of the artists' booths.

This was the cute booth for Eri Sugimoto, a Japanese ceramics artist.

Tangleweeds jewelry made of metal and leather - yup, I got one.

I love the colorful patterned earrings on colorful patterned paper, from Cookie and the Dude.

We got a small version of this print from Misha Ashton. Jesse always like prints of roller coasters and ferris wheels and the like. We also got a small print of some Japanese gates in Kyoto. (Photo from Etsy site.)

I like maps and I love Wisconsin, so I was super excited to get this print from Paper Parasol Press (photo from Etsy site). They also have prints of other states, including California, and some awesome holiday cards.

Card from Ilee Press, which had some very pretty things. (Photo from Etsy site.)

Mehoi had the cutest earrings and things. (Photo from website.)