Picture Perfect

Today I sat with a friend on a bench overlooking Palos Verdes/Torrance beach. Growing up, I really took advantage of the city I grew up in. Everyday during the summer my friends and I would hang out at the beach all day. We sat to the left of Alfredo's with all the other middle schoolers and high schoolers, thinking we were so cool. Going to the beach was no big deal. It is just what we did everyday. Now I am so thankful that I was brought up in Southern California and went to school in Palos Verdes. While watching the families, teenagers and dogs walk along the sidewalk, it was as if I saw them differently. I saw them in a new light. I don't know if any of this makes sense to whoever is reading this, but it makes sense to me. Today I was humbled.

I don't really support zoos- though sometimes it is for the best for some of the animals. For example some of the animals may have been injured and couldn't survive in the wild on their home. I do support what the San Diego Wild Animal Park is doing. The animal park takes endangered species from the wild and gives them a safe home, a safe home where they do not have to worry about predators attacking them and their young, and a safe home where they can breed and slowly rebuild the population of their species. As my cousin Mackenzie and I rode around on the safari tram I learned about one animal that is in danger of extinction- that animal is the Northern White Rhino. There were more than 2,000 Northern White Rhinos remaining as recently as 1960. By 1984, poaching had decimated the population. Now there are only 7 left. 7? Can you believe that? I can count the number of rhinos on my hand. The San Diego Wild Animal Park has two of the remaining seven Northern White Rhinos and all of the others are in captivity to help save them from extinction. The reason why these rhinos are so "valuable" to people is because of their horns. The center of the horns have dense mineral deposits of calcium and melanin. The same can be found in our fingernails and strands of hair. Why is it that humans are so selfish? No animals need to suffer; these materials can be found elsewhere and not at the cost of an animal. Humans and animals were put on this Earth together. We are all meant to share the planet, to help one another, to teach one another. So what can we do to help save animals like the Northern White Rhino from extinction? You can donate or show support by going to places like the San Diego Wild Animal Park whose whole philosophy is to save these animals from extinction and to increase their population. You can also do something as simple as using your voice. Our voice, our concerns, our beliefs are so powerful. They truly can will make a difference.

family bonding time

The Rooney/Gilboy clan keeps growing and growing. This summer I have been blessed with four new cousins. My cousin Sarah had a girl named Abby or Abigail, Leslie had a girl named Kennedy Reese, Anne Marie had a girl named Emma Kate and Karolyn had a boy named Dylan. This summer I got to meet three out of the four new cousins-I'm not sure when I will meet Emma since she lives in Ireland.

When my sister and her boyfriend were in town for a few days, we threw a BBQ which allowed me to meet Abby, Kennedy and Dylan. All of them are such well-bahaved babies. No one cried. They were quiet and smiley. I also got to spend another full day with Abby in Newport Beach before she went back to NorCal.

Luckily I have been able to have a fun, relaxing summer. It has been so relaxing that I have had so much free time. This free time has allowed me a lot of time to spend with the family. Family Bonding is the best! The other day I made my way up to LaVerne to hang out with the Lippincotts and Gilboys. The older cousins (Andrea, Mackenzie and myself) babysat the younger cousins (Aidan, Owen and Kiera) so that Sean and Beth could have a dinner/movie date night. The next day was fun under the sun. Andrea, Mackenzie and I went to the OC Fair during the day and Huntington Beach at night.

Now we are spending a few days in San Diego. Andrea has a conference to go to for teaching so while she is bored listening to guest speakers and what not, Mackenzie and I will have many fun adventures including Del Mar, San Diego Zoo and maybe even the science museum.

Guido....Be Italian!

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Italian filmmaker Guido in the movie Nine.



I wouldn't mind finding a talented, smooth-talking Italian.

New Inspiration

So I am finally jumping on the bandwagon- I made myself a tumblr. A few of my friends have one and one of the blogs that I follow always get their images from .

Nick Drake suggests different musicians, actors, comedians, writers, etc. to follow and one of them is Glee's Dianna Agron. I am not her biggest fan, mainly because I am insanely jealous that she once dated Alex Pettyfer.

Her tumblr gave me some new inspiration. The photographs that she posts are amazing as well as her music playlists. I find it interesting that we have similar taste in music. She has also introduced some new artists to me that will soon be added to my i-pod. She also re-introduced me to blackcabsessions.com. I haven't looked at this website in awhile and it brought a smile to my face.

Here is The Maccabees.

cruisin' the beach cities

After a fun-filled, unnecessary shopping spree with my sister and her boyfriend, I made my way up to Malibu. I was dressed for the 4th of July festivities wearing a red skirt and a blue + white striped shirt paired with gold accessories when i met up with my brother and his girlfriend (are you seeing a trend? everyone is paired up these days, making themselves "items", anywhooooo). Their friend has a key to a private beach so we went there to set up shop to watch the fireworks.

No big deal, but....Brody Jenner and Zac Efron were raving just a few feet down from us. Sicky Dicky are club/music promotors in Malibu so they provided us with music and apparently Shwayze was there DJing as well. Around 9pm the fireworks began off the barge and we were actually able to catch three shows. We could see the ones at Paradise Cove, Malibu Bluffs and the Santa Monica Pier.

Last night the family and I went to another beach city. We went to Club 555 for dinner (my sisters choice-a steakhouse which is not my cup of tea) and met up with my grandparents and mom. After dinner we went on a gondola ride around the Long Beach canals known as Naples Island. We were thoroughly entertained by the drunk man who was paddle boarding along side of us, who also decided to jump off random bridges into the water. It was a fun and interesting night to say the least.

Red, White and Blue

Red, White and Blue by smrooney34 featuring paper hats