Birthday Boy

 
Tod had a birthday recently and I wanted to get him away from home/work because it's really important for his brain to have a break from being creative every once in a while. He totally loves being creative, but it's mentally exhausting to have all these wild ideas bouncing around his brain and then being forced to come up with wild ideas for someone else and then having them tell him to change it and have it done by a certain deadline, etc. As his art manager, I try to schedule breaks into his busy life and also make sure he's constantly exposed to things that will inspire him. I love my job!!! ;)

He couldn't miss much work so we just took a quick over-nighter vacation. We left from Union Station in Los Angeles and rode The Surfliner up to Santa Barbara. The train ride was interesting. The first hour or so stretches through some pretty gritty and grimy parts of Los Angeles. Once we were out of the city, though, it was exhilarating. The train runs right next to the coast. It was Tod Heaven.

Just look at that view and proximity to the ocean!

Upon our arrival we ate a delicious meal and then stayed at a gorgeous hotel, which we had to walk to because we were carless, but SB is a great walking town and if it wasn't, the shuttle is only 25 cents. We also walked to the end of the gigantic wharf and smooched a little.

 
The next day we cruised over to the zoo. This might seem juvenile for a couple of grown ups, but as I mentioned previously, it's vital to keep Tod inspired and he happens to draw an inordinate amount of animals at work, so it really wasn't that bizarre for a couple of kidless adults to be cruising around the zoo. Toddles brought his sketch book and loved observing/drawing the crazy caged creatures.

Woah - gnarly ant eater! And who named that animal anyway? We don't call monkeys banana eaters...

These little dudes were hilarious.

So cute!

 
The SB Zoo offers giraffe feeding, which I couldn't resist - partially because I knew Ana would flip out over it. She's a little obsessed with giraffes. I was wishing she could have been there to experience it herself.

Once back in LA, we hopped in the car and headed over to Sunset Blvd to the House of Blues, where our favorite band was playing a free show.

Very short clip of a very good cover they played.

Tod's kids came to stay with us a few days after the trip. He has them convinced he turned 58. They're cute, but a little too gullible!