The Great Big Wonder

This month was BUSY. I accepted a contract with Catalina Express Magazine, started a new term (full of troubles) at work and I was a busy bee with little time to myself. I LOVE being busy, I don’t know what to do when I’m not. Thankfully, I did a lot of new things this month however, food fell flat for me this month. I had ZERO time to bake or cook but I did visit several new restaurants.

Let’s get started, join me on this monthly journey.

#25 LAFC GAME (Activity)

For my first new thing this month my coworker took me to an LAFC Soccer Game. I grew up in a house where soccer was never on, baseball and football dominated screen time. Learning this my Brazilian coworker treated me tickets and explained the game to me. I had a lot of questions. The crowds energy is just outstanding. The fan section sang and danced the entire game and I’m still wondering how they did not collapse after all of that movement. Soccer, sorry football fans are WILD. LAFC won 6-1 against a Canadian team. I was a little upset at how quickly the game ended as an avid baseball fan I’m used to 2+hour long games roasting in the sun and taking in the smell of beer and hot dogs. The 90 minute game left me wanting more. Now I’m a fan and I MUST go back.

#26 Jeep Eco-Tour on Catalina (Outside)

Oh my gosh, Catalina Island is absolutely beautiful. Prior to booking this magazine gig, I had never been and let me tell you that was a mistake. Catalina is so pretty and such an interesting island. As part of my assignment I was able to tour the island’s interior and see buffalo, native plants and amazing sea views. I’m a huge nerd for history and plant stuff so I fully enjoyed the tour. We spent three hours traversing Catalina’s backcountry learning the islands natural and not so natural history from our naturalist guide. The cherry on top was coming across two buffalo herds along the road. Our guide said he hadn’t seen that many in one day in a while. I totally recommend joining an eco tour if you’re ever on the island.

#27 Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Gardens (Things to See)

The next week while on Catalina I visited Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Gardens. I have this weird soft spot for botanic gardens. I think it has something to do with my family outings to the LA Arboretum as a young girl. I love plants and nature, ecology, and gardening. The Memorial and Botanic Garden on Catalina is a sweet escape from the hustle and bustle (if you can call it that) of Avalon. I spent the morning wandering the winding dirt paths through the garden enjoying the endemic plant species that call Catalina home.

At the top of the garden is the behemoth Memorial, beautiful and tall. The tiles in the memorial are made from Catalina materials and clay, the marble is from Georgia and the blue flagstone that lines the staircase and terraces is Catalina flagstone mined in Little Harbor and it’s beautiful. I felt like I was walking into King’s Landing or a fairytale castle as I ascended the steps to the top of the memorial. For only 8 bucks it’s one of the cheaper activities on the island. I 100% recommend it if you enjoy the outdoors.

#28 Italian place (Food)

I LOVE Italian food, it’s one of my favorite cuisines to indulge in. It might be a problem. One day this month, my parents and I were hungry and looking for somewhere different to eat. After arguing in the car about where and what we wanted my dad suggested a restaurant that he and my mom had driven by a while back. I’m glad that he did because since then we’ve visited twice. It’s a small family-owned restaurant in San Dimas called Pozzetto. The pasta was delish and the pizza was good too, although. I’ll admit it was a little burnt on the bottom. It was nice to find spot owned by a family to support. Since I’m a huge, small business gal I’m all for shopping and eating locally.

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What do you have planned for this your new things? Join me in the challenge to do 52 new things (one new thing a week) for the year! Tag me on Instagram @thegreatbigwonder, so I can see what you’re up to and comment you new things below!