I was determined this year not to miss summer and it turned out to be absolutely delightful with celebrations and trips to the beach! Quite possibly too much eating was involved!

It’s always wonderful to catch up with Monique Schenk, my amazing architect and we had a lovely evening at Santuari.

Instead of going to Bloomie’s for our usual smoothies, Lizzie Girl came over and we had mango smoothies before lunch on the patio. I think that’s at the top of my list of favorite things to do.

Laurie Pie came over bringing her amazing salad and of course the world class garlic bread! Kita approved of course!!!

Maggie Sharma, the Hostess With the Mostest had a delightful luncheon.

Student and dear friend Ralph Komai invited us to New Moon in San Marino to celebrate his upcoming wedding to dear Kathy. We are beyond happy for them.

With all the partying we manage to get quite a bit of work done thanks to Sophie, our new paid intern who’s quite smart and eager to learn.

Sophie was also the model for our newest project and you’ll see more of that soon.

Office Dog Kita the Akita approves.

The shipping department was kept quite busy. Inspector Kita the Akita made sure everything was O.K.

The second Sunday of each month is Carol Soucek Kings wonderful ZOOM gathering for the ‘Spiritually Creative Life’.

Besides being a wonderful place to walk Kita, nearby Brand Park has many special events. A most informative tea ceremony was held in the delightful teahouse at the Japanese Garden section of the park.

And of course being able to teach on Crowdcast and then have group discussions with students from around the world on ZOOM is a continual wonder to me.

MUSE/IQUE had two marvelous events at the Huntington Botanical Gardens this summer…The first was on the ‘other’ Carol King.

But the one that was so wonderful it brought me to tears was on the music of Bob Dylan. I’m so grateful to Cris Lutz who invited us to her table which was up close and absolutely covered with yummies. Thank you dear Cris.

I did say the beach didn’t I? Well, where better to celebrate Veronica’s birthday than at NOBU…my favorite to order being the Omakase menu….seven courses of the Chef’s choosing. Amazing!!!

First course….

And finally…

Well of course that wasn’t enough so the following week we went to the Ivy at The Shore….

They have a cannon-like birthday candle that shoots up sparklers at the Ivy.

After lunch it was time to go to the beach and celebrate some more at ‘Shutters On the Beach’.

There was so much more and I hope to continue summer at least through October! Be sure you go to the beach and put your toes in the water…it’s absolutely therapeutic and a must each year. I’d love to hear your new way of being in this time of pandemic…I know there are wonders in it for everyone! May each and every day be a double yolk day!