Hello all you lovely Janeite friends! I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have you in my life. 🙂
I ended up being so busy in April that I didn’t have as much time as I’d like to spend reading and blogging, and let me tell you I missed it bad. Real bad. It definitely showed me how much blogging and connecting with other Jane Austen/Austenesque lovers means to me! I’m glad it is now May and I don’t have as much keeping me busy at the moment!
But what was I busy with in April you ask?
Well, we went on a trip to Southern California and it was amazing!!! Completely amazing! There is so much to do there and each day we got into something completely different! And as always, I thought it might be fun to share our photos with you! 😉
In San Diego we spent some time visiting seals, riding horses and Segways, and feeding giraffes and rhinos!
Sadly, we couldn’t take these little piggies home with us!
Next we enjoyed the beautiful California weather in Laguna Beach and Santa Monica and rode a tandem bike for the first time.
And after spotting some of our favorite stars on Hollywood Boulevard we saw a spectacular concert with one of our favorite film composers, Hans Zimmer!!
While in California I had the immense pleasure of meeting some very special people for the first time…
I was so excited to spend some time with Candy of So Little Time and Dung Vu! We had a great morning exploring a humongous bookstore and talking about Jane Austen, reading, and blogging! These ladies were just as lovely and awesome in person as they are online!
And then later that day I met Syrie James!!!
I’ve been an admirer of Syrie’s for so many years!! It was so awesome to finally meet!! I love that we both thought of wearing Jane Austen shirts for the occasion!
Mr. Bingley and I had the best time with Syrie and her husband! Truly such wonderful people. 🙂
On our last day we took a tour of Warner Brothers Studio and it was amazing! Let’s see if you can recognize some of the sets and props we saw…
*sigh* We sure did love our time in California! Definitely a place we hope to return to again soon! Hope you enjoyed our pictures, my friends!
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Want to know what Austenesque fun I’m getting into this month?
…here is what’s on this month’s
Austenesque Agenda:
~ TO READ AND REVIEW ~
~ FEATURED AUTHORS VISITING THIS MONTH ~
Lory Lilian – May 8th
J. Marie Croft – May 22nd
Sara Marks – May 29th
I’m so happy May is here! I’ve got so much reading I want to do!
What are you looking forward to this month?
Meredith, the pictures are awesome and I love your reading selections for the month. Happy May! Jen Red
Thanks, Jennifer! 🙂 I appreciate you checking it all out! I’m excited to get a lot of reading done!
I loved your photos!!! So glad you had a good time. It is good to have you back and in the saddle. It looks like you have a great month planned. I look forward to seeing your posts. Blessings!!!
Thank you, Jeanne! 🙂 It was such a fun trip, but we are true hobbits that love the comforts of home! <3 Hope you have a wonderful month!
Fantastic photos! I must say your trip for the most part sounded like one I would have also enjoyed. Feeding the giraffes and piglets looks so heart warming. So glad you shared with us. I have not read Modern Persuasion but have read the other books on your agenda. Good choices. And welcome back to this coast.
Thank you, my friend! We enjoyed every moment of the trip, even though we both had a bit of a cold! I loved the animal encounters!! That was definitely one of my favorite parts!
I can guess why you haven’t read Modern Persuasion yet, it isn’t going to be released until the 29th of this month. 🙂
Well that would explain it…besides the fact that I concentrate on P&P variations…laughing.
I hope next time you’ll make it to northern California and see some of the wonders of nature around here!
Us too! We’ve heard great things about sequoias and other fun places! Such a big state!!
Oh, Meredith, you had a lot of fun in California!. I´m very glad you enjoyed those days with such beautiful beaches, such cozy piggies and visiting Warner Bros Studios. Was the pergola the one of “The sound of Music” when Liesel danced with Rolf?. And, the sofa… I think it´s from “Friends” isn´t it? LOL, it´s really fun to visit the settings of the films and series.
And, well, how good you met Syrie James as well as Candy and Dung. By the way, the bookstore you visited seems very original with the bending pile of books!.
The May Agenda sounds very promising, thanks for keeping this beautiful “window” to literature and conversation!
We did, Teresa! I’m so bummed it is so far away! I’d love to go there again soon! Good guess, but the pergola isn’t from The Sound of Music! I would totally love to visit that set! That’s one of my favorite movies of all time! You are correct about the Friends couch though! The bookstore was super creative! We hunted and hunted for some JAFF though, and couldn’t find much except Bridget Jones and Longbourn. 🙂
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, my friend! Hugs!
Your California trip looked amazing!! Those photos looked like you guys had such fun! And I’m so excited for you to read “The Darcy Monologues” this month. Your print ARC was the first sent out–hot off the press! Love that it will hold a place in your Netherfield library.
Thanks, Christina! It was a blast! I’m so very excited to see your dream realized and to hold it in my hands! Thank you for the honor of doing a review! 😀 It will definitely hold a special place in my nook!
Awesome pictures of your wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing. Love the curved arches of books.
Thank you, Carol! It was definitely one of the most interesting bookstores I’ve been in!
It’s really great to get away, and makes getting home that much lovelier. Loved the pictures. Loved seeing you on a horse, a Segway (always thought that would be a blast!,) at the Zoo…omg the baby piggies!, the people you got to see!!, and the BOOKSTORE, wow. Very excited about your agenda, the books AND your guests. Lori Lillian, yay. The others are new to me and that’s exciting too.
Hi Michelle! Segways are so much fun! This is our third time being on them and we love it so much! It is a great way to see all the sights of a city and save your feet! 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed our trip! I’m looking forward to this month’s guests and reads too! Hoping I get to read a lot!
Meredith,you and Mr Bingley certainly seem to have had a ball!!! Delighted to hear it!!!
Can’t wait to read your thoughts on Brenda’s new book,Lory’s new labour of love and not forgetting The Darcy Monologues!!!
Happy reading and thanks for sharing!!!
Hi, my friend! We sure did! I’m almost done with Brenda’s book, enjoying it so much! I can’t wait to get to the other reads on my list!
Hope you enjoy a wonderful month!
You certainly had a busy and fantastic month in April. Lovely pics. I’m dying to know what the Jane Austen Project is like. Will be interested in your review.
Thanks, Teresa! I did, but it took a while to recover from it all! 😉 I will be reading that this weekend! I see that Syrie James is quoted on the back, so I’m optimistic!
It looks like you had a fantastic time in California! I’m so glad! I was thrilled to meet you in person!! Thanks for making room for me in your travels!
Gilmore Girls gazebo?! Love seeing your pictures! Happy Reading!
Hi Candy! 🙂 It was so great to meet you after all these years! It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!
You are correct! 🙂 Hope you are enjoying a wonderful month!
Ahhh, thanks for sharing your pictures and recap of your SoCal visit. Neat to meet friendly folks you know from on-line.
Oh, nice line up of books and authors you have visiting. And maybe it will be nice enough to read some of your review books outside this month. Happy May, Meredith!
I love that our trip gave us the opportunity to meet some new friends! 🙂 It made it all the more special.
I am definitely hoping to read outside….a lot!
What a wonderful trip! Thank you for sharing!!
So fun that you continue to meet JA Fans all over! I love that we met here in Seattle!
Happy May! Today is our first day of sun!
Thanks, Joy! 🙂 I know! I’m hoping to continue to meet so many JA fans in our travels! It is so much fun! Hope you enjoyed the sunshine!
Looks like an amazing trip you guys had! Even better that you managed to meet up with some online friends that you’d never met before. Thanks for sharing your photos with us.
Your reading agenda looks fantastic. Sadly, I’ve not read any of them but they’re all on my Wish List, especially The Darcy Monologues. Looking forward to reading all of your reviews.
Thank you, Anji! I quite agree! 😉
I hope you get the chance to read one of these books soon!
What an amazing post, Meredith!! Thanks for taking us with you on your wonderful travels and OMG those stars on Hollywood boulevard!!! (One of them in particular 🙂 ). So glad you had such a wonderful time with Dung Vu, Candy and Syrie James! I’m looking forward to meeting Dung Vu in person myself. Not long now & can’t wait!
I love the books on your May agenda and I’m thrilled to see ‘The Darcy Monologues’ on that list, along with Brenda and Lory Lilian’s delightful offerings. Hope you’ll love them all. All the best and have a great time xx
Hugs, Joana! I appreciate you checking it out! 🙂 LOL! It was so fun to spot the stars on Hollywood Blvd, like a giant word search or hidden object puzzle! I had to take photos! Oh that is so exciting for both you and Dung! 😉
So far it has been a great reading month, can’t wait to read the rest of the books on my list!
I can’t wait to meet you in person as well Joana! I’m so excited and counting down the days!
What lovely photos. You obviously had a lovely time. I have read Lory’s wonderful book and loved it. The angst level was luckily not too high for me to cope. I know Lory found it a challenge to include it but she succeeded so well. I know you will also love it Meredith. I look forward to reading your reviews on Brenda’s book which I have but haven’t yet read and The Darcy Monologues which I have pre-ordered and can’t wait to read. Happy May!
How exciting to meet Syrie James!! The daughter of one of my dearest friends used to give tours at Warner Brothers, and I should have gone up there and taken a tour with her while we could! 🙂
I see that you all enjoyed La Jolla, the Gaslamp Quarter, the Wild Animal Park (I know it has a slightly different name now, but all the locals will always call it the Wild Animal Park), the Zoo (my sister-in-law is one of the bus tour drivers there!). I hope that you were able to visit Balboa Park and see the Old Globe Theater; I’m heading there tomorrow for an event called Thinking Shakespeare and I can’t wait!
I need to get up to LA more; we San Diegans avoid LA like the proverbial plague because we love the hometown vibe we have here, despite the fact that we’re the 8th largest city in the US. 😉 But I have yet to see the Walk of Fame (yay for Colin and Emma, my favorite actor and actress!) and many other LA landmarks. We basically go up north for one reason: Disneyland. 🙂
Anyway, I’m so glad that you had a wonderful trip, and I’m glad that you enjoyed San Diego! 😀
Warmly,
Susanne 🙂
Love your pictures! So glad you had a great time in Southern California and it was great spending the afternoon with you and Candy. Hope you’ll be able to travel out west often as we have so much things to see and do!