Eat, Drink, and Be Carrie

This song is a crack up!

2010-01-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

I Want One of These Things

2009-06-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

This Japanese commercial is classic and odd, but I really do want one of these bubble machines. It reminds me of the Lawrence Welk Show.

Trader Joe's Song

2009-02-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

Trader Joe's obsessives make me laugh, especially because I'm sort of one of them. This little ode to Joe's made me laugh, too.

Lost is Coming Back in January

2008-11-21T19:48:00.000-08:00

All my favorite sci-fi-ish favorite shows are returning in January, Lost and Battlestar Galactica, along with other favorite like 24 and Big Love. I might have to assign only multiple choice assignments in class to keep up with all the TV viewing. Here's the Lost promo:

Good Speech and Good Song

2008-10-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

No matter what you think about politics, you have to admit this is a good speech and a good song. Very inspiring...

Making T-shirts and a Mascot

2008-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

This week was a fun and nostalgic one. Here are my photos of making T-shirts and a mascot for the NKOTB concert.

10 Days til the NKOTB concert...

2008-09-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

Spumoni Cupcakes

2008-08-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted many of my baking escapades lately since I haven't had too many this summer. I have experimented with a few different pistachio cake and cupcake recipes leading up to a cupcake exchange I'm going to tomorrow. (I was trying to find an alternative to the scary, full-of-mixes Watergate cake that requires a box of yellow cake mix, pistachio pudding mix, and 7-up. I'm a fan of "from scratch.") I found many recipes that required one of the three mixes. I used pudding mix in my spumoni creation, which require chocolate chips. I replaces the chips with a cherry chocolate bar and created a cherry frosting. I should probably use cherry extract next time for the frosting, but all in all they taste good. Jeff gave them a thumbs up. Check out the photos:

Food Porn

2008-07-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

I really want to go to this restaurant when we visit Vegas, called Bouchon. These are the profiteroles. Yum! I wonder if I can get the recipe...

Pictures from my Trip to Portland

2008-07-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Cute YouTube Video Called "Western Spaghetti"

2008-07-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July Celebration

2008-07-01T09:06:00.001-07:00

If you're looking for a kid-friendly event for the morning of July 4th, check out my mom's and sister's blogs for info on my mom's annual Fourth of July Parade. Kids decorate their bikes, tricycles, etc. and ride the loop around the block, followed by treats.

I'm SO glad it wasn't the Sawyer ending...

2008-06-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Funny Lost Spoof

2008-06-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

My NKOTB Experience

2008-05-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

When I first heard that the New Kids on the Block were considering making a comeback, I thought it would be fun and humorous to get into the hysteria, the way one gets into the theme at a themed party. I signed up on the NKOTB website to get updates on the comeback without realizing that this made me a fan club member. One of my fan club perks was sent to me a week and a half ago by email; it was an invite to RSVP for the New Kid's final dress rehearsal at The House of Blues in Hollywood. The rules to the invitation were quite strict: no cameras, cell phones, recording devices will be allowed, you will RSVP on a first come first serve basis, and you will not be allowed a "plus one" with this invite -- ONLY YOU. My friend Allyson got the email before me and called me four times on my drive home from work to sign up quick so we might go together.

It was a while before Allyson and I heard anything from NKOTB, and we almost forgot about it. On Tuesday morning, we got an email with our confirmation for that night's show. At first we had wanted to go to see the kind of crowd that might show up -- all thirty something women who otherwise love cupcakes and SATC or a younger pop-oriented crowd? As the day went on we got a little giddier, planning our outfits and bragging to our colleagues and students. Allyson and I had been in New York when NKOTB were on the Today Show to announce their comeback, but we were toting around fifty 14-year-olds and couldn't make it to the taping. This House of Blues show was our retribution.

Driving up La Cienaga to Sunset on Tuesday night, Allyson and I rocked out to the NKOTB greatest hits, along with the new single, "Summertime." (It reminded me that I'm not that into this type of pop music anymore, but I'd make exceptions for my first teenage obsessive crushes.) When we got to the House of Blues, we got to line up in a fan club line and got a black wrist band (pictured above) that let us into the pit right in front of the stage. Inside, there were already a row of 30-somethings surrounding the entire stage, but we stood in back of them in the "second row." We spent an hour waiting while reminiscing with our line friends and drinking cosmos.

Finally, the announcer came out and that's when the screaming started. At first Allyson and I looked at each other and started laughing. Then, we joined in. We completely reverted to our 11-year-old selves. The guys came on stage after a video that no one could hear over the screaming. They sang three mixes of old and new songs with mixtures of old and new dance moves. When the came out on the satellite part of the stage we were feet from them. We put our hands up and they touched us, making us scream even more. We didn't get as crazy as the girl who threw her bra onstage or the girl who passed Donnie the note (that he read) telling him that her husband allowed Donnie to be her "freebie." The show lasted only twenty minutes, but it was worth all the hilarity and excitement.

After the show, we reviewed it with our line buddies, signed a release to be interviewed for the official video archive, and headed home. I can't believe I saw NKOTB the same month the Sex and the City movie is coming out. By the way, I didn't take off my entrance bracelets until Friday.

Sex and the City, The Movie: Coming May 30th

2008-04-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to see this movie! The trailers look awesome.

Fun Quizzes

2008-04-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed.

Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll.

You're totally weird and very proud of it.

Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way.

Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

My sister's blog had a link to a quiz site, and I started taking a bunch of them (even though I'm supposed to be making new seating charts for my students). Above were a few of my results.

I'm Jonesin' for Battlestar Galactica...

2008-03-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

This has to be my new favorite show (or maybe it ties with Lost), and I'm "patiently" waiting for Season 3 to come in the mail. Season 4 starts in less than 2 weeks, and I need to catch up. Become a Battlestar fanatic yourself. Here's a little taste...

2008-03-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here's another funny video titled, "Idiot Author's Writing Tips" from Funny or Die:

I really want to show it to my language arts class.

Funny or Die Video

2008-03-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

This video is super funny. I also think the ending song should be the new "birthday song." Rip-did-er-rip-dip it's your birthday...

LOST coming back Thursday, January 31

2008-01-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

A funny, quirky little Lost recap in 8 minutes and 15 seconds is on the ABC.com website. They really do recap most of it. I can't wait for the season premiere when we find out who leaves the island and who does not. Whose boat is it? Is Ben right? I really hope we don't lose my favorite character, the island.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Teachers

2008-01-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a long time since Halloween, but I just got some copies of these TMNT costumes Allyson and I spent so long creating. The four of us won the student vote for best teacher costume (after a little campaigning). There were some teacher bunny rabbits, but slow and steady wins the race.

Gift Idea

2007-12-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Check out this purse hook, so your purse doesn't have to sit on the dirty floor at a restaurant. I always run into this dilemma, and this is a great solution. This product is called the Luxe Link Purse Holder, found on delight.com. There are also a bunch of copycats on Amazon.com.

Holiday Shopping Online

2007-12-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

I've done most of my holiday shopping online, and I'm almost done. I found a few websites that give fun gift suggestions. The first is gifts.com, and I even made a wish list on this site to forward to family and friends, so they could get an idea about what I wanted for Christmas. A couple other gift suggestion sites are Wrapables and ThisNext.

Food Ratings on CHOW.com

2007-11-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

This guy is called supertaster, and he totally pre-emtped my idea of rating grocery store food on a blog. He tried the chocolate croissants in the frozen section at Trader Joe's this week, and I had just tried to beg Jeff into buying them when I found this part of the CHOW.com site. The site also has awesome videos of how to do cooking stuff. They're connected to Chowhound, which helps to find restaurants in ones town.

End the Strike

2007-11-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

I recently heard that if the writer's strike doesn't end soon, ABC may hold the next season of Lost until Winter 2009. I don't think I can handle that. I can definitely handle paying 50 cents more on a download, so writers can make more money. I can handle producers giving up some of their yacht payment money. I can't handle waiting any longer for Lost. Maybe I should read more...

Boobie Month

2007-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

I keep telling people about this, so I thought I should just blog about it. I love this website called ETSY. It's like the e-bay of crafting. People put their art, crafts, and handmade items up for sale. I was "surfing" around the site and went to Storque and then Craftism (craft activism). One of the items being sold and giving funds to cancer organizations and supporting awareness of breast self-exam is this crocheted boobie pin, on which you can specify the colors you prefer when ordering. The creator's organization is called Boobs and Dinks, and she also sells early detection kits that teach how to give a self-exam (for men and women.) I thought these pins were cute and funny and for a good cause.

Torrance Farmers' Market

2007-09-29T12:07:00.001-07:00

We went to the local farmers' market on our bikes again this weekend. The absence of rain brought more vendors including the croissant guy. We ate one of his chocolate almond croissants in the "food court" seating, and it was amazing. (Way better than the soggy strawberry rhubarb pie we bought last weekend.) Jeff discovered sweet limes and ate both samples we were given. The bike ride over is perfect -- flat and not too long and short with a wide path two-thirds of the way. We heard buzz about a pancake breakfast in the park but didn't check it out, as it was lunch time. My mom would have loved that.

Another good poem, this one from Poetry 180

2007-09-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Did I Miss Anything?

Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Nothing. None of the content of this course
has value or meaning
Take as many days off as you like:
any activities we undertake as a class
I assure you will not matter either to you or me
and are without purpose

Everything. A few minutes after we began last time
a shaft of light suddenly descended and an angel
or other heavenly being appeared
and revealed to us what each woman or man must do
to attain divine wisdom in this life and
the hereafter
This is the last time the class will meet
before we disperse to bring the good news to all people
on earth.

Nothing. When you are not present
how could something significant occur?

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gathered

but it was one place

And you weren’t here

From Did I Miss Anything? Selected Poems 1973-1993, 1993
Harbour Publishing

Farmer's Market + Rain + Bikes = FUN!!

2007-09-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I rode our bikes to the Farmer's Market this Saturday morning while fluffy white clouds loomed in the sky. My bike is a new cruiser, with a detachable basket (perfect for the market), and I bought it last Sunday afternoon. Jeff's had his bike for a few years but hasn't had a reason to ride it in a while. With two bikes in the family, it'll be easier. The 25 minute ride to Wilson Park was dry, but after we bought our goods (pie, fresh bread, green beans, peaches, and pears), the rain started up. While we had some lunch in the "food court" tent, the rain started to pour. We thought it was over and left, but on the way home got soaked. It ended up being really fun; Jeff said he felt like a nine-year-old, riding his bike in the rain. I made Jeff take a picture of soaked me at the end, holding the strawberry rhubard pie we'll dive into tonight.

The best tri-flavor ice cream?

2007-09-11T19:31:00.001-07:00

It's time to definitively decide which tri-flavor ice cream is the best. Jeff and I just polished off a tub of spamoni (in less than a week), which was fabulous. Pistachio is hard to find outside of Italian gelato, mixed with bold cherry and light chocolate -- it's great! Alone, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are amazing, but are they great together? Please vote for your favorite, neopolitan or spamoni, by posting a comment.

Poem I Like

2007-08-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

I heard Garrison Keillor read this poem on his Writer's Almanac feature on NPR this week and liked it. I thought I'd share it:

Poem: "To My Yugoslavian In-Laws" by Debra Gingerich, from Where We Start. © DreamSeeker Books, 2007. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

To My Yugoslavian In-Laws

If we could speak,
I would tell you that we have
trees here too, and rivers.
I know how to hammer
a nail. Transatlantic phone calls
are expensive, even for us
with our two cars, dishwasher
and American salaries. That he
will not get lazy or forget
about the ways he needed to make money
during the war, the merchandise
exchanged in dark corners of Turkey.
He is still thankful for good health.
He passes on every kiss
you tell him to give me.
I would admit that he misses
the stone beaches of the Adriatic,
he accepts the Atlantic's murky water
as part of the compromise. He thinks
Lancaster's streets are too vacant
at night and there is no place
to ride a bike. Also, that I wouldn't take
your name and will never
believe the wine in the cup
turns to blood. That he and I can't
agree on a slipcover for the couch.
That there is no perfect place
for anyone.

Baking with my New Tart Dish

2007-08-08T16:06:00.001-07:00

I'm really excited about the tart dish I found at Tuesday Morning because 1) it's gorgeous, 2) I've been looking for the perfect tart dish for a couple of weeks now, and 3) it's a brand called Appolia made in northern France. I got an awesome deal on a dish that usually costs around $60, but I got it for $25. In order to break it in last night, I made and baked a sweet tart dough and this afternoon I made a two-layered filling. The bottom is honey roasted peanuts in caramel, which is topped by a chocolate genache. All the recipes came from Dorie Greenspan's Baking. I only made two mistakes in the process: 1) I didn't "coursely chop" the peanuts -- oops! and 2) I burned my finger on the hot caramel -- dangerous! We'll be taste testing after dinner.

Cream of Tartar Allergy?

2007-07-31T09:35:00.001-07:00

Is it possible to be allergic to cream of tartar? I think this might be the cause of my allergies in recent years. A couple years ago I broke out with an all-over itchy allergic reaction after making a souffle for dinner, which called for cream of tartar. The allergy lasted a long time, and I weened myself off allergy meds so I wouldn't be dependent on them. Yesterday, I made a caramel sauce for a quickie stroopwafel. The sauce wasn't thick enough, so I added cream of tartar to thicken it. Today, I started itching. Another issue with the cream of tartar is that I used it in a copper core sauce pan. The whole pan is not made of copper, just the heating core, but I came across many warning not to use cream of tartar in copper cookware because it is used as a cleaner of copper. Ugh! I hope I don't have copper in my system. Anyone need some thick caramel sauce? Let me know if you've heard of this allergy.

Cool French black and white postcards

2007-07-28T17:15:00.001-07:00

I saw so many of these in Paris, and I should have bought more of them. I love these unique photos.

Finally, some Europe pictures to post...

2007-07-28T16:59:00.001-07:00

I worked out some of the kinks in my PC to Apple conversions of the Europe pictures, and I have these from our final night splurge. Dirty Dancing, the musical, is only playing in London, so we coughed up the cash to go. It was such a well choreographed performance, including all the movie scenes and more. I can't wait for the musical to come to the U.S. We had to go grocery shopping for breakfast stuff right before the musical, and we had it under our seats the whole performance. Kind of a funny detail to remember. We had the time of our lives...

Maybe I don't have to boycott Starbuck's after all...

2007-07-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff helped me research the whole espresso machine thing, and we found out that more important than the brewing apparatus is the grind. A burr grinder is truly necessary to make great espresso (and coffee). I decided to check out Starbuck's selection of espresso equipment, since I had over $100 worth of cards weighing me down in the middle of a Starbuck's boycott. They had a grinder sticker priced at $125, and I figured I'd get rid of my cards buying it. It ended up being on sale for around $50 -- SWEET! Now I feel like I got my $25 card back. Anyway, I bought a stove top espresso maker and already had a milk frother to make espresso drinks. We tried it tonight, and it works great!

Borders "Party" Disappointing, but Harry Potter Book Exciting

2007-07-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Allyson agreed to go to the Torrance Borders "biggest Harry Potter party around" on Friday night. Borders promised a 15 foot snake cake, which I never saw, a life size checker board, which amounted to red tape on the carpet, and books at midnight, which I didn't purchase until 1:30 a.m. I felt bad for dragging my good friend there, after promising so much excitement, but I was glad to have checked out one of the "midnight madness" parties since I don't foresee another book release party happening in the next decade (this is the last Harry Potter book, of course). We agreed that it was a cool thing to be taking place over a book, not a movie or video game. One cool moment occurred when the staff rolled out a ceiling-high stack of boxes wrapped in black paper, and everyone oohed and aahed, "Those are the books!" and starting snapping photos (I couldn't pull my camera fast enough to catch it). I've not yet finished reading the novel, partly because I want to take it slow because its the last Harry Potter. (Though I'm thinking of re-reading the series after I'm done with this one).

Can't Wait for the New Harry Potter Book

2007-07-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight at midnight! That's the soonest I can get my hands on the new book. I'm so excited / scared to find out what happens next, and I really hope Harry, Hermione, and Ron survive it. If you haven't read these books, pick up the first one and try it. I think you'll get addicted.

Starbuck's Boycott

2007-07-18T12:02:00.001-07:00

So, I'm kind of annoyed at Starbuck's right now. I get a lot of Starbuck's cards from my students throughout the year, and I was thinking about putting them all together to buy an espresso machine. I saw one on sale for $250 at a local store. I brought my cards to a store to figure out how much money I had to work with. One of the cards (pictured here) my student bought for $25 did not register as having any funds on it, and I had just pulled it from the packaging. I called the 1-800-STARBUC phone number to inquire, and Starbuck's central could tell it was purchased from a local Safeway and never activated by the Safeway personnel. They could not activate it, though. They told me I had to give it back to the gift giver to take to the store to activate. I obviously can't do that, and I don't think any person who received a gift can either. Starbuck's offered to send me some "complimentary drink certificates," which I declined since they won't help me purchase my espresso machine. I don't think I'm going to get that machine at Starbuck's; the $30 one at Target is looking more attractive now. Maybe I'll give my stack of cards to charity or something.

Making Stroopwafels

2007-07-17T15:12:00.001-07:00

Here's my first attempt to recreate a treat I discovered in Europe. We found stroopwafels in Amsterdam, so I looked them up online and found a recipe. The recipe requires making a yeast batter that I portioned into little balls (using my Pampered Chef cookie scoop), and then I pressed the dough balls in my waffle cone iron. The other half of the recipe is a thick caramel sauce that I scooped (with the same Pampered Chef cookie scoop, after washing it) between two wafels like a waffle caramel sandwich. I think they turned out well, and so does Jeff. Find the recipe on Diana's Desserts (the link is available by clicking on the title of this post). Next up, some French pastries...

Travel Report #2

2007-07-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

I never had another chance to post on the road -- I was too busy having fun. It's weird to think that the first post I did was in an internet cafe near Leicester Square on the night they found that first car bomb right near there. We had just seen Avenue Q -- so great. I'll give a few highlights of the trip.

Leamington Spa: It was great staying with a fabulous family who opened their home to us. I loved playing American football and British rugby with the boys. (Kristin and I brought back rugby balls from Lilywhites -- a sports store). Visiting the Cadbury factory was so cool -- it smelled like baking brownies the whole time. Watching British shows like Dr. Who and Coronation Street was great, too bad we don't get Dr. Who over here. We saw the Leamington Spa museums and Warwick Castle, including the Ghost Tower where ghosts jumped out of dark corners at you -- I almost peed my pants. We had a chocolate tasting at the house that Kristin and I loved.

Amsterdam: I was disappointed that Amsterdam was so rainy and cold the time we were in the city. The one day we went out to Zaanse Schans, a working Dutch village / museums, was our only non-rainy day. We saw cheese making, wooden shoe carving, and a working windmills there. In town, we saw the van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank house, the Dutch Resistance Museum, a diamond cutting display, and the Heineken Brewery tour. We ate enormous pancakes and stroopwafels (like two flat, round waffle cone sandwiching caramel or syrup) and we stayed in a boat hotel -- the Botel. Vondelpark was too rainy to visit -- too bad.

Paris: I have a new appreciation for Paris. This city offered the best array of cheap food on the trip. Of course, if Kristin and I had had the funds to sit down at five star restaurants in every city, we could say they all have fabulous food. Paris has fabulous food at every level -- the corner cafe, the street vendor crepe, the boulangerie baguette and gooey almond crescent. Wow! Plus, the art blew me away, and we only saw a small bit of it. The size of the Louvre is so immense and the building is a piece of art itself. Mona Lisa was OK, but turn around from her and see "The Wedding Feast at Cana," an enormous, grand painting for a better view. I love the Orsay Museum best because the building, an old train station, allowed for natural light through the opaque glass to show onto the Impressionist painting. I really love Gaugin more than before and the primitivist painters were my style as well. Next trip to Paris, I'll make my way to the Rodin Museum, filled with sculptures. We also climbed the 700 stairs to the Eiffel Towers second platform, climbed the nearly 300 steps of the Arch d'Triomphe, climbed the 400 stairs of the Notre Dame (to get heavily rained on during our 5 minutes at the panoramic view level). We saw the inside of Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, the outside of the Pompidou center and its famous fountain. We walked the Champs d'Elleises (spelling?), bought shoes, and shopped around town. Kristin loved Paris the most. I got over the French attitudes after being yelled at by the bus station lady, and I have a new appreciation for the city.

Back to London: Our final visit to London had us skipping sleep for a few last activities. We spent the morning finding Dirty Dancing musical tickets, which was our trip finale. What a fun show, with amazing dancers and Johnny the lead had a body that made you think you were at a Chippendales performance (along with all the screaming, feasting women in the audience). The woman who played Baby did it so perfectly. We also took in Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and the Tate Modern that day. We stocked up on Cadbury for a few months to ween ourselves off it. Our trip gets an A for fun and memorable times, a D for weather (at least it wasn't a heat wave, though), and an honorable mention for sketchy bus rides in the middle of the night.

Travel Report: London (and a little Chicago)

2007-06-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

We're leaving our first stay in London tomorrow to head to Stratford and Leamington Spa, but we've had lots and fun and crazy things happen to us so far. During our eight hour layover, we headed into the city of Chicago to see the city. An hour in by subway brought us to flash flood central as buckets of rain came down. We persevered, deciding to buy an umbrella and forge onward. Two under an umbrella meant our cameras stayed dry, but we got drenched. We saw a bit of Millenium Park, ate some Chicago food, and talked to some locals before heading back, soggy. Almost two hours of delay for our flight met us at the airport, yet we made it to London by 11:00 am on Wednesday.

Another hour-long tube ride brought us into the city, where we found our "dorm" stay, which is sparse but works. We got out of the cramped room to be met by another flash flood, circa London, while exploring Westminster Abbey area, seeing the Houses of Parliment from the outside and on Westminster Bridge. We walked along the Thames where only Star Wars fanatics were out, and got a little more soaked. Why does it always rain on me? We grabbed a pub dinner before heading in, jet-lagged and ready to sleep.

Thursday met us bright and early, so we headed to Tower of London. We saw the Crown Jewels and took a Beefeaters tour. The Tower was great and full of history. We had lunch in St. James Park and walked to see the outside of Buckingham Palace (right near our dorm). Kristin took a run along the Thames, while I took a quick look in the Tate Modern. We had dinner at Covent Garden and took a look at the spectacle. After dinner (and a yummy waffle), we headed to Leicester Square in the mood for a possible show. We turned a corner and found a huge crowd in front of Avenue Q. We asked about tickets and got some. It's Sesame Street with a little sex, depression, and closeted homosexuality. Plus, they defined the word Schedanfraude. If I didn't spell that right, you can laugh at me.

We're off to Stratford and Leamington Spa tomorrow. Wish us luck and no more rain.

Travel Tip #2

2007-06-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

GET YOUR PASSPORT BEFORE YOU GO!!! I just got mine in the mail today -- cuttin' it close... These are some ecstatic pictures of me, my passport, and my travel gnome.

Travel Tip #1

2007-06-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

The travel books are helpful, but they aren't helpful in packing light. As Rick Steves suggests, tear out the pages you need and take those with you. Rick Steves says to paper clip the chapters together and give them away when you're done, but I like to get a 5 by 8 inch 3-ring binder to put them in. I turn pages easily as opposed to fumbling through loose pages. In my handy photo, you can see the comparison of four Europe books to the binder of pages I'm taking with me.

Lots of new babies

2007-06-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a blog to pay tribute to all the cute babies born to my family and friends in the last year. I've been to more showers and hospital waiting rooms in the last few months than ever before. Here are some photos of the three girls and one boy new to our world this year (I painted the RHCP onesie.)

Embarrassing Moments

2007-06-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

I had something really rare and really embarrassing happen to me a couple of weeks ago. For a few days, I didn't want anyone to know about it because I felt so stupid. The more I look back on it, though, it was sort of funny. It made me think back to the top few embarrassing moments in my life. Picture last week's moment: 8th inning of the May 25th Dodger game after a Dodger dog, a margarita, countless peanuts, and the 7th inning stretch, I was discussing the Lost finale that was airing at that moment with my friends next to me. All of a sudden everyone sitting close by was standing, awaiting a foul ball coming our way. I dreaded this moment, having been smacked in the head by a foul baseball/basketball or two. I did my best earthquake duck, knowing that standing would only lure the ball to my awaiting nose. Then I felt it, "Smack!" on the back of my head, and then my friends saying, "Oh my gosh, did that hit you!" I didn't want to pick my head up; I wanted to die sitting there in my seat. The worst part was that some loser behind me grabbed the ball after it bounced off my head and claimed he had "caught it". Whatever JERK!

In homage to this embarrassing moment, I thought I'd list a few others:
1) The many times I peed my pants while laughing too hard, spanning through college.
2) While running to show my elementary school friends my new birthday present teal stirrup pants, I tripped, ate it, and ripped a hole in the teal stirrup pants.
3) While walking home with a high school cool girl to practice a dance we were in together, she decided to take a short cut through the drainage ditch. The three foot leap over the drainage gunk would have been easy without an enormous backpack and ballet flats. I slipped on the stepping stone and fell backward into drainage gunk galore.
4) Driving the Oldsmobile Omega next to some hot guys, while my friends turned up crazy, attention-getting music and ducked.
5) More that I've since blocked out of my memory.

New Trip Mascot

2007-05-30T20:18:00.001-07:00

I know I've already written about my school trip mascot, Peavis, but today I found a perfect mascot for my summer trip to Europe. Taking Peavis to Europe didn't seem practical since it is not a school trip and he/she is huge, so I've been contemplating making a trip mascot for a few weeks, since all the hotel and transport plans are pretty much done. After going to Paul's Photo to buy a lens cap (long story involving my little brother selling me a video camera), I puttered around Tuesday Morning next door. Fortuitously, I found GNOMAD there, a figurine meant for travel with a tracking website included in the package. I'll have to rename him, of course, but I think I've found the perfect four-inch companion for my cousin and I to take to England, Amsterdam, and Paris. That Amelie movie had a traveling gnome...those Parisians will love him so much they might steal him from me. Gnomad, I'll never trade you for a really good croissant.

Home Improvement Meltdown

2007-05-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

Maybe starting a blog during home improvement was a bad idea. I haven't posted all week because I've been busy picking out outdoor lighting fixtures, new doorknobs, screen doors, etc. Our 80's looking house desperately needed an upgrade from it's red, white, and blue exterior, so we sandblasted the claw-like beige stucco off the house, got a smooth coat of mocha-ish stucco, and we're awaiting the veneer stone to cover the previous brick. This upgrade is long overdue, but stressful, and I think it's totally excusable that I had a little meltdown on Tuesday. I mean, after the phone and cable lines got disconnected twice, along with ample mess everywhere, I couldn't make anymore decisions. I just wanted to sit and watch a little TV, which wasn't working at that moment. Thank goodness the cable was fixed before the Lost finale on Wednesday. The mess and fret and meltdowns are going to be worth it in the end, when that ugly blue trim is gone for good.

SJP Bitten Clothing Line

2007-05-20T11:27:00.001-07:00

When my husband said to me, "Carrie Bradshaw is on Oprah, do you want me to Tivo it?" I said, "Sure, sounds good..." I figured she was promoting a new movie or something, but I found out that SJP has a clothing line through the Steve and Barry store chain. The first place I heard about Steve and Barry's was on an HBO Real Sports profile of Stephon Marbury's Starbury basketball shoes that cost only $14.95. SJP's line features items for less than $20, from jeans to coats to cute shoes. The Bitten line also offers sizes 2 to 22, which is ground breaking. Now, I'm going to have to take a field trip to Buena Park, Culver City, or Orange to the closest Steve and Barry store after the June 7 introduction of the SJP line.

Everyone needs a personal mascot.

2007-05-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

I recently chaperoned a group of eighth graders on a trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City. The middle school mascot is a Sea King, so in homage to the school and the movie Bring It On, I made a spirit stick out of a cardboard tube, paint, foam, and googly eyes. The stick has a sea king and queen on either end and is painted with the school initials, PVIS. Our Gettysburg guide called him Peavis and the name stuck. Peavis made the trip more fun and gave our boring tourist photos some spice. Everyone deserves a spirit stick or their own mascot, be it a garden gnome or an image printed on matching shirts, especially on a trip or outing.