Author: Stef McDonald

Posted on

Final All-Girl Surf Day of the Season

Join Rebecca Heller , author of SURF LIKE A GIRL, and PERFECT DAY SURF CAMP for the last all-girl surf day of the season. Come learn to surf in an all female, non-competitive and girl friendly environment. Sponsored by Roxy!

Who: All the ladies (ages 17 and up, please)
When: Saturday, August 29
Time: 9 – 11am (Please arrive by 8:45am)
Where: Santa Monica Beach, Parking Lot #9 North of the Pier
What to bring: Wear a bathing suit and sunscreen. Bring a towel and water. We will supply wetsuits and foam surfboards.

Cost: $80

Click here for details and email information.

Posted on

Mary’s Cookbook: Cheerio Treats



During a recent family visit, my goddaughter Mary revealed to me that she was working on a cookbook and asked if I wanted to help her. Actually, she told me she would let me help her, you know, if I wanted to. She’s seven and told me that she already had lots of recipes (so it was really my privilege to be able to help). After a meeting on the matter, I was in–and “Mary’s Cookbook” became “Aunt Stef and Mary’s Cookbook.” We wanted to get right to work and started with ingredients in the house. Our first test recipe was for Cheerio Treats. A long time ago, I told Mary, I remember seeing a recipe on the side of a box of Cheerios, which was like Rice Krispie Treats but with Cheerios–and peanut butter melted in with the marshmallows. “That sounds awesome,” she said.

Cheerio Treats

2 tbsp. butter
1 box of Cheerios
1 bag of marshmallows
1/2 cup of peanut butter

Melt butter in large pot, coating bottom and inside.

Add marshmallows and stir until melted.

Fold in peanut butter and blend with spoon.

Fold in Cheerios and gentle combine.

Spoon into baking dish.

Cool and serve.

Posted on

Good Luck Dolphins

I went out surfing last week in Venice with a new surfer girl. Jillian is the niece of a friend and was visiting from the East Coast. She’s a teen and had taken some surf lessons, popping up on her soft board in the white water for a few days. The water was pretty flat on the morning we met for our surf and she was sleepy-eyed and quiet, saying only that she wanted to chill on the beach for a while. I convinced her that we should paddle out past the breakers and see what we might catch. The waves were few and far between, but the water was warm and it was a pretty morning. Then, up popped the head of a sea lion within feet of us–and this woke Jillian up fast. Shortly after that, we spotted dolphins and and she was all smiles. Me, too; I never tire of seeing dolphins out in the water. I told her that I believe it’s good luck when you see dolphins swim by. Is that true? she asked. I told her I made it up but believed it. “Well, I’ll bet it’s good luck somewhere,” she said. Good answer. I agreed and told her that it was good luck in California if you saw a dolphin in the water. . . The photo above comes from Lisa Denning, whose gallery of dolphins can be found here.

Posted on

Cool Surf Band Video

Via Boing Boing: a video from the Japanese surf band The Royalfingers. The video is hilariously bad (check out the fierce Godzilla-like creature battle!) and the song makes me want to get up and join the beach dance party about two minutes in. So fun.–Stef McDonald

Posted on

U.S. Open: Go, Courtney Conlogue

Sweet sixteen, indeed: Courtney Conlogue is only 16 years old and took the top prize at the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. A $10,000 prize for a day of surfing–yes, definitely sweet.

And, just for fun, here’s Kelly Slater’s perfect 10 wave from the competition: