nov. 23, 2007...  ponch and polly celebrate their 1st birthday with VIP treatment @ the kennel club LAX, while jen and i headed west for thanksgiving with the rest of the patenaudes in dallas...

nov. 03, 2007...  you've heard about it...  you've read about it-  the first episode [still very much in progress] of...

[El Fantastico Portugal y España whirlwind tour de 2007!]

update 11.28.2007:  shots of granada, our fourth stop on the tour, are posted.

sept 29th & 30th [happy 31st birthday, jen!]...
smallest barcycle [pub crawl on beach cruisers] in the world.  20 people RSVP'd and in typical LA fashion;), 3 showed up.  the theme, "golf pros & tennis hoes" made for quite the spectacle.  the itinerary included breakwater, sangria, the mermaid, and finished off with "the north end".  oh.  and a shot of ponch doing his thing.

july 27, 2007...  oahu for our one-year anniversary...
popped out to the turtle bay in oahu [where we were married] for a couple days to celebrate our one-year anniversary [yes-  time if flying]...

july, 2007...  seattle...
visiting family, the 3rd of july, brian's first game of golf, a bit of wine tasting in woodinville, the olympic sculpture park in s. lake union, all amongst a few nice meals out...

june 29, 2007...  CONGRATULATIONS ROB & NICOLE!
& welcome to the world elliot ross adams!

june, 2007..
...  just enjoying a bit of down time...  savoring what might be our last summer down here in beautiful hermosa beach.

may 21st, 2007...  CONGRATULATIONS AARON AND ZARLACHT!
& welcome to the world noah aaron patenaude-  we're looking forward to meeting in november!

may 07th, 2007..
met up with a buncha friends in new orleans for jazzfest-  click any of the images below for the low down...

click any of the images for the new orleans/ jazzfest page...

april 29th, 2007..
the 2007 international big sur marathon...
UPDATE may 11th, 2007:  uprezzed a few of the images that were begging for it.

click any of the images for the big sur page...

april 16th...  THE 2007 BOSTON MARATHON!...
well...  after all the preparation [years, when you really think about it], it's finally come and gone-  my "first" boston marathon.  despite the weather, being in boston during the WORLD's most prestigious marathon [not including the olympics], was quite an experience.  the weather reports before hand predicted snow, 50 mph wind gusts, and the worst nor' easter in 20 years.  but come race day, the weather was not too far from perfect for a marathon-  a bit of wind, with some really heavy gusts in some spots and enough rain to insure everyone would start the race with soaked feet, but overall not nearly as bad as predicted.

i followed through with my plan of running at a relatively-relaxed pace to enjoy the race.  however immediately afterwards i wondered what i could have managed, if i were pushing it...  which i've decided to do next time i run it.

to put this race in perspective, in finished #3890 out of ~21,000 runners [barely in the top 20%] with a 3:22:47 [remember i WAS holding back;)].  with a slower time in the LA marathon, i finished 314 out of ~26,000 runners [~ the top 1%].  quite intimidating and inspiring to be running in a field with so much speed. the experience has shifted my next goal towards a sub 3-hour marathon [current PR, is 3:07:53], hopefully with a sub 1:30:00 half marathon on the way, which i hoping to complete within the next couple of years.

aside from the race, we lucked out with a fantastic hotel, the copley square hotel, which had a perfect central location.  after arriving at 7AM and dropping our bags off, we hit the expo for the requisite gear [bib & timing chip] + enough boston marathon "merch." to clothe me for an entire week.  we meandered through the science museum the next day, and took a better-then-expected city duck tour [a vehicle that can drive on land and sea] the tues. following the race.

we also managed to hit a few great restaurants including sorellina, two separate legal seafood locations, the back bay cafe in the copley hotel, and we even broke down, lifted jen's ban on nationwide chains;), and stopped in at uno for a delicious pizza.

ps.  still debating whether or not to buy any of the exorbitantly-priced, yet sub-par photos taken during the race courtesy of www.marathonfoto.com.

april 6th, etc, 2007, patenaude parents go to the beach!
a nice walk on the strand friday morning followed by  a fantastic lunch @ mr. chow's in beverly hills, the getty villa, & dinner at la sosta in hermosa beach.  saturday we headed north up the beach to the kettle for brunch and pimosas, followed by a quick our of the famous chip trail [all while jen was tackling her 20-mile training run for the big sur marathon].  later on in the day we headed to rob & nicole's were jen hosted a fantastic baby shower that went off without a hitch.  sunday we stopped at poncho's in manhattan beach for some mexican food to help ease my parents' transition back to TX.  good times!

march 6th, etc, 2007, vegas... packed up the family truckster friday afternoon, fought a bit a bit of traffic, and before we knew it, we were in vegas...  after checking into caesar's we met up with julia and her man, steve, then headed off for a delicious dinner @ bobby flay's mesa grill restaurant, caught the PHENOMENAL cirque du soleil show "love" @ the mirage, popped into pure [nightclub @ caesar's] for a bit, before ending the night with some affordable gambling at o' shea's.
the next day, we hung out at the pool a bit [where the most ripped winged lions in the world reside], before grabbing dinner @ wolfgang puck's chinois in caesars, then heading over to the billagio for the "o" cirque show.

march 17th, 2007, st. patrick's day... 1st off we hit the madhouse that was the hermosa pier for for some drunken people watching, then back to la casa for a bbq with nicole and rob [who took some fantastic shots of the hounds & us (thanks, rob!)], followed by karaoke and a few irish car bombs [guiness + baileys]...

march 4th, etc. 2007...  a few test shots of the pups with the new canon SD700 IS [reading the instruction manual is obviously still on the list], a delicious pre-race meal @ ciao trattoria, a night at the beautiful standard downtown LA hotel, and a relaxed 3:23:23:00, 317th place finish [out of ~26k people] at my 3rd LA marathon [7th marathon in just 2 years].

february 17th, etc, 2007...  jani's visit...  dinner at la sosta with friends, meeting the grand dogs, a beautiful drive up the coast for lunch @ gladstone's, the getty center, a delicious fresh seafood feast courtesy of the redondo pier fish market, the obligatory stop at DSW, and a delicious lunch @ mr. chow in beverly hills...

february, 2007...  popped down to riverside for a day to watch bo [jen's brother] coach the WWU viking womens' golf team.  much to my surprise, jen assured me that none of the athletes would appreciate any golfing tips i might have;)

january 27th, 2007...  say hello to our new puppies, ponch & polly, coutesy of www.bostonbuddies.org...  [more information to follow]

january 14th, 2007...
celebrated hermosa beach's 100th birthday with some beer & fireworks down at the beach.  on the walk home, we tried to help push some poor drunkard's car off the sand before the cops arrived to bust him [to no avail].

january 9th, 2007...
in loving memory of felix patenaude, 1987-2007...  A great listener, talented vocalist, and a loyal friend.

january 1st, 2007...  new year's day @ the beach...

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