zigzags and tangents

Need input

2010-06-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

Has anyone been on vacation to Scotland? Or on an Alaskan cruise? Or to the Yucatan Peninsula?

Those are my top three vacation choices... And I need to pick one soon. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

Really?!?

2010-05-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

174 days since my last Tweet and even longer since my last blog post? How sad.

I blame Facebook... And those damn addicting games. I think they sprinkle crack in them. Why else would they be as addicting?

So what's new with me? Let me see...

We're pretty much settled into our house. We haven't done entirely too much to the house. We had the chimney repaired, purchased a new gas log, a few new pieces of furniture, hired Closets By Design, dug up the front planter sprinklers, planted a vegetable garden, and received a quote demo & rebuild the back patio. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. Hey I can actually build on those for new blog posts!

my crap, i mean scrap room.

2009-07-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

The post title is dedicated to Tony. ;-) He keeps on joking that my new office/craft/scrap room is going to be called my "crap" room. He even promised to get me a sign for the door. lol

So here it is. My own four walls that will, actually already starting to, contain my office. Or to my crafty buds, "my craft/scrap room". Crafting has taken a back burner. I hope to move it to the front burner very soon. :-) I know having my own space to decorate and do what I want with (within reason, of course) will get those creative juices flowing again. Even though I haven't scrapped in a long time, I do make cards every now and then, and I've also taken up playing with water colors.

I wish I would've gotten a shot of the closet as well. It has lots of shelves, conducive to storing a lot of craft supplies. lol Those craft supplies will be used.

I love my space. Loads of natural light as it's west facing and has two large windows, bamboo flooring, and as I mentioned a pretty kick-ass closet for storage. I was also gifted a piece of furniture for the room... A library card catalog! Yippee. It should arrive at the end of next week or so. I can't wait to get started. I will be emailing you all for some decorating ideas. Pam mentioned the color scheme at the Paper Source at South Coast Plaza. Anyone else have a color scheme they like, or some decorating ideas you like? All ideas are appreciated!

lucky

2009-07-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

That's how I feel. I really do.

Life has had a few twists and turns; however, I've come out relatively unscathed. A better person for it too. At least I think so. :-)

Sometimes I step back and can't help but smile. Life is good.

I. Am. Happy.

To top it off... We're buying a house (in La Mirada)! I've been sitting on this for a while, not wanting to post anything just in case it fell out of escrow. So far so good. We close this Friday, July 10th. We should have the keys by July13th. Very excited. Hoping sometime soon after everything has settled down, I can host a scrap/craft gathering. Which equates to a catch up session with margaritas. :-) Who's game?

Yes, I know. I suck.

2009-06-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

It's been almost five months since my last blog update. The blog post title says it all. Sorry.

Between Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, & this blog, you should all know my every move. lol FB has taken over my life. I'm addicted to the various apps. I dream of some of the games. That's pretty sad.

I need to unplug. Seriously.

But then, I'm afriad I'd die. (sigh)

what's your beauty regime?

2009-01-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

Ok ladies, and gents. I'd like to know your beauty regime, secrets, tips, do's, don'ts and whatever else comes to mind. I looked in the mirror the other day and was quite shocked at how many wrinkles have popped up.

Seriously. Mega wrinkles around my eyes.

Now, I'm not the kind to get frantic or stress over wrinkles. I want to know what you do to stave off time from showing on your face? I don't want to look like I'm 65 when I'm a very young 25, er, I mean 38. (Did you hear that dear BF? 38, not 39!)

Give it to me. I'm ready to soak in your knowledge.

We had an interesting, fun weekend. We saw a movie and did a self-guided tour of Olvera Street & Chinatown. Photos to follow...

such a hard life... not!

2009-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend passed by so fast. Unsure exactly what I did!

Friday evening we had planned on seeing The Wrestler. However we ended up having a longer than expected dinner at La Palapa del Mar in Long Beach. I had the pollo en rollado (Pan seared chicken breast rolled with prosciutto, spinach, red peppers & blue cheese, with mashed potatoes & grilled asparagus. Served with an apple raspberry reduction), it was pure deliciousness. All the flavors worked so well with each other. I'm not a big blue cheese fan either, but it worked. :) My boyfriend (BF) had the salmon (Served with grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, lemon garlic butter sauce), he said his was good as well. I give their margaritas two thumbs up as well. Quite the kick, but not overpowering in tequila flavor either. Service was good. Our waiter was a bit odd though. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but my BF straight out said he didn't like him. lol They also have various musicians. When we were there they had an Andean band playing. It may have been Andes Trance, which is listed on their website. He was good... When he played Andean music. However, when he he crossed over to flamenco (or rumba catalana) which he did a few times, he didn't seem to have the right sound. He sang a few Gipsy Kings songs, but he didn't do them justice. Friday night was topped off with a new quiet beach walk. :)

Aren't weekends lovely when you can sleep in? At the same time, you lose half of your day doing that.

Saturday night we met my BF's cousin that was in town for a conference. We (I, BF and BF's mom) picked her up at her hotel in LA and drove over to The Stinking Rose. This was my second time to this restaurant and the bagna calda was a good as I remember it being. Bagna calda is their special appetizer. It's basically garlic cloves, oven roasted in olive oil and a bit of butter, with a hint of anchovy. They serve it with their focaccia bread. For dinner I had the gnocchetti. It was ok, not bad, but not outstanding either. The first time I was there I had the sea bass which was excellent. BF had the Forty Clover Garlic Chicken, but he made sure to ask if they actually used 40 cloves. Which they don't. His cousin had the meatloaf, she said it was good. His mom had the Baked Portobello Mushroom, she said it was quite delicious. We also shared a bottle of Mac Murray Pinot Noir, tasty. :) For dessert, we shared a wild strawberry cheesecake à la mode. And on the way back, I got a good dose of reminders to be thankful for what I have. We drove through the skid row area.

Sunday was another low-key day. We slept in. :) Decided to go for a ride on his bike, but unfortunately his back tire was flat. So we stayed in, watched more Charmed, slept some more, then made dinner. Excruciatingly difficult day, huh? To top it off, my BF prepared dinner for Monday night as well. :) Such a hard life I lead. :)

start breathing [edited]

2009-01-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hola amigos y amigas.

I know I still need to share my Grand Canyon and China photos, but I just haven't gotten my act together enough to comb through all the photos, pick my favorites, Photoshop if necessary, then finally post. Doesn't that sound like a lot of work? Ugh. ;-)

Between my boyfriend and I we took approximately 4,700 pictures in China and another 600 at the Grand Canyon. Do you now understand my inertia? lol

I've kept myself busy. Small events, but fun nonetheless.

We recently planned a trip to Vegas that was derailed by snow. We weren't allowed over that first mountain right past Rancho Cucamonga. We were able to cancel our hotel and Cirque de Soleil tickets because of the snow. They were actually quite understanding. We were both surprised that both venues agreed to refund the charges. We figured Vegas is hurting enough that they don't want people not to go back.

I've also been playing a lot of Rock Band on the Wii. Can you say... "Addicted"? As in a major way. I've even been dreaming of Rock Band. Seriously. We've come up with all sorts of rock band names, most are pretty silly. Wii Roq is the one that's stuck. We must look pretty funny from the street. We all play the various instruments. Everyone, but my niece, shies away from the microphone. I personally like the drums, except my shin starts to hurt after a while. Gosh, I'm old. lol I like to read an online comic strip called xkcd. The comic "caters" to geeks, nerds, mathmaticians. etc... They have some pretty funny strips. This strip has been on of my favorites to far.
Besides Rock Band, I've also been reading. I finished Paulo Coelho 's By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. It was good. I guess I had such high expectations after The Alchemist. Don't misunderstand me, this was a good book, just not what I expected. It's a story about love, destiny, being strong, resentment, and eventually speaking up for yourself and voicing what you want out of life. This book is in a triology with Veronika Decides to Die, which I read, and The Devil and Miss Prym. The Devil and Miss Prym comes highly recommended by a friend that's a voracious reader. I may give that one a try as well. Although, that's not making my current stack of books any smaller. :)

After By the River... I read, or should I say, listened to The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. It was read by Campbell Scott. The reading was a bit dry and monotonous. However, now that I read more about the author, this is his first non-detective novel. I assume the reader, Campbell Scott, may have read his other books which his tone would've been perfect for, but for this, it just didn't work for me. Other than that, the story was engrossing. It deals with the comprehension and "fallout" of the holocaust, and with illiteracy. I became a bit uncomfortable at the beginning of the book because it dealt with the relationship between Michael Berg & Hanna Schmitz. He's 15, she's 36. All through the book Michael's love of Hannah never leaves him. Even when he's older, he still compares all his partners to Hannah. Her scent and her command over him never leave him. The book comes together as the trial commences in part II of the book. The Reader was made into a movie (trailer link), which came out last month. I may wonder over to the theater to catch it.

Speaking about movies. We caught The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas at the movies this past week. I loved it. I don't want to say too much about it because you should go watch it. The basic premise is that a young boy named Bruno, a Nazi commander's son, befriends Shmuel, a boy in a concentration camp at Auschwitz, which is near Bruno's new home. Bruno asks Shmuel why he's always wearing pajamas. Such a cute innocent kid question, Bruno has no idea how high up in the Führer's army his father actually is. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Even made me cry a bit. Worth checking out.

To top off my Nazi reading/watching, we also caught Valkerie (trailer link). I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, but he was decent in the role. It's the story of von Stauffenberg's attempt to kill Hitler and use Operation Valkyrie. I wasn't versed in Operation Valkyrie so it was a good action movie for me. I"m sure if you're well versed in the operation, it may not be.

When I'm not viewing or reading about Nazi's, I'm watching La Femme Nikita on dvd. Or should I say, I was watching Nikita. We finished watching the series a few days ago. While viewing it I vacillated between, "just kill her already!", or "I love Nikita!". Now that it's over, I miss the show. Waaaa! Although we just started watching Charmed on dvd. As a few of you know I really don't watch much tv, except for the various dvds we watch. We don't have cable... But we have alot of dvds. lol So I guess I do watch tv. :)

Also, this past Saturday I got together with a few scrapbook friends. Although, we don't scrapbook together anymore, we still hangout when the opportunity arises. We were reminiscing how long we've known each other, the various stages of life we've seen each other through, and the various highs and lows. It's amazing. This is one special group of women. We all got to know each other because of our love of scrapbooking. Since then a few have branched out and made a name for themselves in the industry or related industries. We've shared plenty of laughs, plenty of tears, plenty of phone calls, and plenty of memories. I'm honored to know these talented and funny women. I'm kicking myself because I forgot to take a picture. Here's an oldie but goody from our outing to The French General and Sweetpeas and Snapshots in LA in August of '06.
The book I'm currently reading, Reading Lolita in Tehran is very good. I started reading it a couple of months ago, but had to keep on putting it down for various reasons. Since picking it back up, I've become absorbed. There's a line in the book that reads, "A novel is not an allegory.... It is the sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the characters and become involved in their destiny, you won't be able to empathize, and empathy is at the heart of the novel. This is how you read a novel: you inhale the experience. So start breathing."

What are you reading?

bad blogger

2008-12-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

Yep. That's me.

My resolution to blog more often held up for pretty steadily through the month of October, then BLAM... I hit a wall.

I have lots of things to write about too. I still "need" to share my China trip photos and stories, my high school reunion photos, heck, I still need to share my Grand Canyon photos.

It's called procrastination... And not having a computer at home.

I've really been debating getting a lap or desk top computer for home. I don't like Photoshopping my photos at work. I just feel odd. Even though I do it during my breaks. I lost my iBook during my divorce. He "borrowed" and never returned it. I figured that's how it was going to play out. I've gone this long without a computer at home, and I don't absolutely need one, but I think it'll make working on my photos and blogging much easier. At the same time, I like not having a computer at home. I don't need the extra distraction. Believe I get distracted easily enough! lol

Life has been good though. I'm happy.

I took the following photo with my Centro cellphone camera.

i actually finished my bookclub title... in time, no less!

2008-10-29T11:10:00.001-07:00

Yep. I deserve a pat on the back. Ok, well maybe just a thumbs up.

I'm notorious for not finishing my bookclub title in time. I go to the meetings unprepared, but I figure this is supposed to be fun. I'm not going to stress over it.

It took me a while to get into Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It was a very odd book that skimmed all sorts of subjects. From an incestuous union between brother and sister (in 1922 Smyrna) to prohibition, from the 1967 race riots to hermaphrodites. Did I say it was odd? Yep. I sure did.

I geek out when I read books, and sometimes write little "cheat sheets". Normally timelines, characters, relations, etc... I kind of needed it for this book. There was a part in the book where Desdemona Stephanides is having a conversation with her brother, Eleutherios ("Lefty"). They state that in Turkey, and elsewhere, it is illegal to marry your brother but not your third cousin, and since they were siblings, but also third cousins, it must surely be ok. Huh? What? How were they siblings and third cousins?! I missed it. I didn't feel like going back to read where that previously came up.

Middlesex won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003. Even though it took me a while to get into the book, I really had a hard time putting it down afterwards.

All through the book Cal refers to her, er, I mean his brother as "Chapter Eleven". I kept on wondering why Cal called him Chapter Eleven, and I never did figure it out. Even after I was done with the book. Now as I read Wikipedia's description, it alludes to the reason. D'uh!

Overall a good book. I'm glad I read it.

On to my next... By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho. I became interested in Paulo Coelho after I read The Alchemist. The Alchemist is a book about following your dreams, and even though you may end up exactly where you began, the journey is normally a grand one that shouldn't be missed. Setting aside fear and uncertainty is a big theme in most of his books. His themes can be a bit trite, but every now and then even though they are trite, they manage to hit you in a different way... At least I think so.

Wiki states that By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept is the first part of Coelho's trilogy "On the Seventh Day". The other two parts are Veronika Decides to Die and The Devil and Miss Prym. I read Veronika Decides to Die, I guess I may read The Devil and Miss Prym soon. lol

I have so many books in my "in the processing of reading" and "to be read" pile that they were literally falling over. I had to remove them from my nightstand and put them in my bookcase.

I feel like Henry Bemis in The Twilight Zone episode Time Enough at Last. Except the only thing preventing me from reading is work, various hobbies, laziness, sleep, eating, life, you know the regular stuff.

Happy reading to all!

can I get a napkin please

2008-10-23T13:38:00.001-07:00

bowling, oktoberfest, & invite making

2008-10-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

That's what consumed my weekend.

Friday evening we decided to finally go bowling, and we picked Westminster Lanes. We had been thinking about it for quite awhile now, but always opted to do other things instead. So off we were, with our enthusiasm and our backpack crammed with "illegal" drinks. :) illegal = homemade margaritas We decided to go one their "Rock and Bowl" night. Which includes unlimited bowling between 9pm-1am, loud music and a lively crowd. The bowling price was good considering you can play as may games as you want. The price is $16.00 person and a shoe rental fee of $4.00, so basically $20.00 a person. You have to have a minimum of four people per lane to have the lane to yourselves. If not, you run the risk of sharing a lane with strangers. They gave us our own lane even though there were only two of us, but she did say that if they did sell out, we'd be moved and have to share. We ended up bowling eight frickin' games. Yeah, no wonder my thumb was sore and aching to stop. This was nothing like Wii bowling. lol

Speaking of Wii bowling, we did some Wii bowling at my sister's. Saturday night she hosted an Oktoberfest get together. Really it was more of a "Come on over, we have brats and beer. And Wii!" gathering. That was fun. Michael, my sister's husband, got nailed in the elbow by his sister as we played a foursome of Wii tennis. I like to watch people play Wii boxing. The controls on that game seem to suck, but it's funny watching people play.

Sunday was a low-key day. We caught up on our presidential debates that had been sitting on Tivo for a while. We watched a documentary called Up theYangtze which followed two teens as they worked on a cruise ship that sails the Yangtze. Which happens to be the same ship we sailed on. :) Caught up on Dexter. All along I was making these invites for my mom's surprise 60th bday party. This invite is a bit unfinished. I went on to ink it a bit more as well as added some parenthesis stamps on the ends of "fiesta".

Well that's about it. How was your weekend?

inspired... kinda

2008-10-17T17:44:00.001-07:00

My friend Pam has great taste, as well as being a pretty awesome human being. She has this penchant towards all things white. And not in a racist way, but a decorative color way. :)

She's the queen of organization. Kinda makes me feel second rate when I walk into her beautifully organized and decorated home. Even Brooklyn, their golden retriever, is white.

Anyway, I was referring to Pam because she's pushing herself to blog more often. To blog about everyday occurrences, not just those special little moments. I feel like if I have to wait and only blog about those special little moments, I'm never going to blog! So I'm taking a cue from Pam and I'm really going to try to blog a bit more often. I'm often told that if someone wants to know something about me that they have to read my blog or my Myspace page. I say, just ask me... or read all about it here. :)

Let me leave you with a few photos from China. These were taken on my cell. I still haven't organized my camera photos. One day, I promise.This is their typical bottled water delivery method. Crazy, huh? Not just to small shops, but to the airports as well. As we were approaching the Shanghai airport I saw one guy with 10 bottles on his motorcycle. You ask where the 10th bottle was situated? Between his arms. Yes!

I loved seeing the kids in these traditional baskets. You saw women using them in the larger cities as well as the smaller ones. This was snapped in a Toys r Us in Beijing. As we walked around, we saw a couple in their late teens playing with a karaoke type of toy, the guy had the best laugh. I tried getting him on video, but he stopped before I was able to switch over.

I now say adieu with one of the many signs I was able to capture. I loved coming across some of these signs. They made me chuckle each time. Remember... "Protect the nature. Please use less paper."

Have an awesome weekend!

20 yr high school reunion

2008-10-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ugh. Has it really been 20 years since I graduated from JGHS? A whole 20 years?! Jeez. The photo above is from our senior powder puff game. Good times. Good times.

I'm horrible at keeping in contact with people... As most of you know. Unless I have an easy way of contacting you (blog, email, text, etc) I'm bad at picking up the phone and calling people. I always have been. I think that's why I never kept in contact with all my high school friends. I'd get a card from them, or a phone call, but I'd never return them. How sad.

I've been making the extra effort in returning calls and emails though. Really, I have. I guess it's really more that I'm "forced" to now. lol Since accepting to be on the reunion committee I've had to return a lot of emails and calls. Unfortunately since we dragged our feet entirely too long with the reunion process we had to go with just a get together instead of a full-blown reunion. We'll have a company ran reunion for our 25 year anniversary. For our 20 yr, we're just having a party. At a bar. At a small dive. Yep. A bar. lol I guess it could be worse. Oh well. It should be fun seeing all my old friends. Friends that I'll promise to keep in touch with but soon will fade again.

Let me leave you with a few more high school photos. Please keep the laughter to a minimum. I'm the one in the red cap and gown. I went to my senior prom with my friend David. He was such a sweet guy. I always wondered what became of him. Well I just found out. He's very local, as in Seal Beach! He works for Merrill Lynch as their Resident Director and Wealth Management Advisor. *edited: Right after I submitted this post, my office phone rang. Guess who it is?! Yep. He got my number from one of the other committee members and decided to give me a call. He's stressed, but doing well. He's been married for 9 years, and has two little girls. The best part of this committee is catching up with long lost friends. Life is good.
Awe. I love my old high school friends. :) Good times. Good times.

$8.10 S&H for a $1 item. Really?

2008-10-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

So does Paper Zone really think they can get away with charging $8.10 for a $1 sale item? Really? Really? Show me a person that would pay that price. Please.

I wonder how many sales they've lost because of their ridiculous S&H prices?

I received an email from Paper Zone advertising some card & Valentine kits for $1 each. I perused their website and decided on a few items, fair prices, not great, but fair. I added a few kits, some Cutter Bee scissors, and an ink pad for a total of $21.98. I then hit the S&H calculation button. $13.18. Really? $13.18 for those few items. I thought it was too much, and mind you, none of the items were heavy. I then removed the scissors and ink pad from my cart and recalculated the S&H. $12.41. They're charging me $12.41 for paper, not a lot of paper either. I still thought it was ridiculous. No where on their site does it give you a breakdown of S&H charges. Hmm, I wonder why?

I proceeded to remove each item 'til I only had one small card kit left. One kit. Once small kit. One small, light, card kit. It's listed for only $1.00. One measly dollar. S&H is $8.10 on that one small, light, card kit.

Bite me Paper Zone.

you snooze, you loose

2008-10-08T10:19:00.001-07:00

Jeez.

5 minutes.

That's how long it took for Kelly Rae's original artwork to sell out on her Etsy shop. 5 frickin' minutes. Poof! All gone. And none for me. :(

I've been purchasing several of her prints for friends and family over the last couple of years. I love her artwork. I can look at her pieces for several hours and still find something new in them. Don't know why, I just love them. I had been contemplating by a few more of her prints for myself, but figured I'd splurge and buy myself an original. Something to make me happy. Something I can stare at and be content. So I made sure to put it on my calendar, with a 15 minute warning window. As dumb luck would have it, my short morning meeting became elongated and I was stuck there 'til 9:57am. That meant I had 3 minutes to dash across campus and sign into my Etsy account. It wasn't enough time. :(

I made into my office and online by 10:01am. The original paintings went on sale at 10:00am exactly. There were only three originals left by the time they came up on my screen. I quickly scanned all three and one of my top choices was still available, so I put it in my cart. I was feeling jazzed. An internal Snoopy Dance of sorts was happening. By the time I clicked the purchase button, it was gone. Another Kelly Rae admirer had snatched it up.

I looked at the other two left, then within a few seconds those were gone as well. :( I sat at my desk in awe. Saddened, but happy for her success.

I posted on her website that trying to buy one of her original pieces was harder than buying Depeche Mode tickets in the 80's! Seriously.

So here I sit with an empty cart.

china or bust...

2008-09-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

... Is what my suitcase reads.

See you in 17 days. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures. :)

countdown to china is on

2008-09-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Holy Smokes! This is actually happening. We're actually going to China!

Since the "let's go to China" talk started, I thought, "Ok, something may prevent us from going, but I'm still DAMN excited about the possibility." Then as the time started to draw closer and things were going as planned, I started to let my mind wander and really start to get excited, but I always managed to reel it in. I tend to go over pending events over and over in my mind, then that's all I can think of. I become extremely focused on the event and the days go by soooo s-l-0-w. I've managed to push the China trip to the back of head, but it would surface every few days. Now that the trip is right around the corner, I'm starting to feel the pre-trip anxiety of "will I be able to get everything that needs to get done?" lol All trip related plans are done. Now it's just packing and deciding if I prefer to hassle with heavier luggage and pack the clothes I want, or keep it to lighter luggage and only a few outfits. What a dilemma! ;-) We'll be visiting Beijing, Yichang, The Yangtze River, Chongqing, Xi'an, & Shanghai. Ain't that a mouthful?!

I guess it's about time I posted the video of my fall into Angel Creek in Phantom Ranch, on our Grand Canon trip.

I.O.U.S.A.

2008-08-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen I.U.O.S.A., get your butt to a theater. I throughly enjoyed it.

I knew we, the USA, were overextended. I knew we were in a trade deficit. I knew we were facing real trouble with Social Security. I knew it all, but this movie places it in a nice little package for you and slaps you in the face with the facts. Our debt to foreign countries was the biggest shocker for me. A total and utter wake up call.

A few parts of the film felt sensationalist(ic?). Even though the film was billed as non-partisan, there were also a couple of points that felt party or campaign-ish. Overall, a great film to see.

We saw the film last night in Huntington Beach. After the film there was broadcast (from Omaha, Nebraska) Q&A session with:
Warren Buffet (thought to be one of the world's greatest investors),

Peter Peterson (once the US Secretary of Commerce, and has served under various Presidents),

David Walker (once Comptroller General of the US, and current CEO of the Peterson Foundation),

William Niskanen (Chairmen of the CATO Institute & was on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors), &

Bill Novelli (Chairman of AARP & creator of the Divided We Fail campaign)

During the Q&A session we picked up the fact that the four other men seemed hesitant to disagree with Buffet. I mean, who in their right mind is going to disagree with a man that's been heralded as such a "genius"?

I developed a secret crush, or not so secret now, on David Walker. He seemed very passionate.

If you're interested, here's the PDF transcript from last night Q&A session. Happy reading!

Speaking of reading... I actually finished my reading for my book club on time!

word

2008-08-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

I found this awesome little website that turns your words (or blog, for that matter) into a word cloud.

I played with it for a few minutes and came up with my China word cloud. You can change the direction of the words, the size, color, etc... It's pretty nifty, and fun.

And no, I didn't choose China as my topic because of the Olympics, it's because I'm finally fulfilling a dream and heading there next month. Words can't describe how elated I am about this trip. I have to constantly stop myself from thinking about it. I am so very thankful for this opportunity. It's truly amazing. Amazing.

scrap supply giveaway

2008-08-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

**Edited to remain on top. New posts below.**

***Pam you're the winner! :) Are you still on Silver Fox? If so, I have your addy, if not, email me please.***

I've been making every effort to clean up my scrap/craft "area". Well not necessarily "every" effort, but I have been trying. The problem with that is that I start to go through all my supplies and I become inspired to start creating, but I can't since it's supposed to be clean-up time. Ugh.

I recently gave away a large box of supplies, don't fret, they were older embellishments and paper, I knew I would never use. I'm going to start going through my newer supplies, and I know I'll have some more things to give away. I purchased a few things from Elle's Studio on Etsy, but I know I'll never use all of the tags, so the giveaway will include some of those as well.

Who's interested?

Simply leave me a comment on this post, include your contact info (email) if you do not have a blog. I'll pick the lucky recipient on Friday, August 8, 2008.

sweat it out

2008-08-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

What's on your workout playlist?

I'm getting bored of the music I have on my iPod. It seems I haven't changed it up in a couple of months, and I'm bored of the same music. There are a few songs on there that I'm planning on keeping on my new playlist, but most I want to replace.

I've always enjoyed:
Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot
Hey Boy Hey Girl by The Chemical Brothers
Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice (ok, stop with the eye rolling!)
If You Want Blood by AC/DC
The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim
Rollin' by Limp Bizkit
Holier Than Thou by Metallica
I'm Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys
Blister In The Sun by Violent Femmes

What do you recommend?

question and answer photo mosiac

2008-08-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've seen these photo mosaics all over and had never bothered to make my own. I figured I had a few minutes to kill this morning waiting for an online meeting to begin so "why not?"

I grabbed someone's question and answer set (sorry, don't recall the website). You basically answer the questions, then go over to flickr and run a search that contains your answer. You then pick a photo from the first page of the results and add it to your mosiac. I used Big Huge Labs' Mosaic Maker, a rather easy app.

Here are the questions and my answers:

1. What is your first name? cristina

2. What is your favorite food? mexican

3. What high school did you attend? john glenn hs

4. What is your favorite color? black

5. Who is your celebrity crush? brad pitt

6. Favorite drink? long island iced tea

7. Dream vacation? scotland

8. Favorite dessert? german chocolate cake

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? happy

10. What do you love most in life? family and friends

11. One word to describe you? clever

12. What's the first name of the last child you spoke to? jessica

13. What was the last thing you ate? blood pressure medicine

14. If you had to change your first name, what would it be? addison

15. How are you feeling right now? content

16. Your flickr name? cristina arroyo

As I as perusing flickr I came across Cut Paper Love's cut paper illustrations. She's an incredibly talented paper artist. Very cute stuff.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Mini-Ayurvedic Facial

2008-07-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

So I'm going to make every effort to blog more. I'm also making an effort to take more picture... That actually include me! I was trying to think of what to blog about as I had my hand on face and realized I hadn't given myself any type of facial in a-g-e-s. So the light bulb went on, DING!

I've given myself this facial a few times, and my sister and sister-in-law have also both tried it. It's a pretty economical do-it-yourself facial... If you can find the ingredients. I live relatively close to "Little India" in Artesia, CA and I had a hard time tracking down the garbanzo bean powder, which is also known as chick peas. Trying to hunt it down is a story all in itself. Most of the time I just received blank stares when I asked for garbanzo or chick pea flour. Then finally a man stepped in did some translating. Anyway, here's the how to..

I forgot to add that you should really use an old t-shirt when doing the facial because you'll end up with yellow stains. And don't plan on going out, because you skin takes on a yellow cast for a few hours... You've been warned! :)

Mini-Ayurvedic Facial

by Grace Wilson, IntentBlog

The garbanzo flour is mildly scratchy, gently exfoliating the skin, and helps to draw out fluids and debris from the pores. Turmeric has antibacterial properties.

Supplies needed:
1 – 2 tsp simple cleanser (mixture of three parts garbanzo flour to one part turmeric, you can make a larger quantity and keep it in a zip-lock bag)

Pot of boiling water
Tea towel
Rose water in a spray bottle
Five drops oil (sesame for Vata, coconut for Pitta, safflower or sunflower for Kapha)
Optional: a drop of essential oil for your steam (lavender, eucalyptus, rose geranium); a drop of Tea Tree oil for oily skin

Directions:
Put a small pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. You only need a cup or two of water. While it heats, begin the facial by cleansing your face.

Put one to two teaspoons of the simple cleanser in the palm of your hand. Add a couple drops of water and mix with your finger to make a paste. Apply the paste to your face and throat, and using your fingertips, gently cleanse and exfoliate the skin with small circular strokes. Rinse with warm water.

Sit at a table or desk with the pot of boiling water on a pot holder or trivet right in front of you. Drape the tea towel over your head to make a steam tent. Lean over the hot water and allow the steam to envelop your face. This will help to open up your pores and relax your facial muscles.

Close your eyes and breathe long and deep. Sit and steam for two or three minutes, or as long as it feels comfortable. This is a great opportunity to indulge in some aromatherapy, so as an option, consider adding a drop of your favorite essential oil to the boiling water.

Lavender and rose geranium are great for the skin as well as relaxing and uplifting. Eucalyptus is great for clearing the mind (and the sinuses) – particularly beneficial if you’ve had a recent cold or sinus condition.

After steaming, rinse your face with lukewarm water, and pat dry with a towel.

Put three to five drops of oil in the palm of your hand. (If you have oily skin and are worried about applying oil to your face, add one drop of tea tree oil to the facial oil in your hand.) Before applying it to your face, spray your face with rose water.

While your face is still damp, apply a light layer of oil, and spend a minute or two massaging and rubbing it into the face and neck. The extra minute of massage will help bring oxygenated blood to the facial tissues, keeping your face looking vital and fresh.

And I thought Cristina without an "h" was bad enough

2008-07-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

I remember as a teen joking with friends about naming our future kids odd names. Names like Elvis, PinCushion, or Zoink!. Those were jokes. If I ever had children I knew I would give them names that I wouldn't mind growing up with if I was in their shoes. I wonder if Tulula's mother thought the same thing? "Tulula" it self isn't a bad name, but when you add "Does the Hula From Hawaii", now that's just plain cruel.

I wonder if Violence and Bus Shelter are changing their names as well?

My sister-in-law always joked, kinda, about naming my niece "Boomshieka". We all pretty much told her we'd cause her bodily harm if she did. Thank goodness she settled on Celeste Isabel instead.

My cousin, who lives in Mexico, named her son "Iñaki" which is normally used as a nickname for Jose Ignacio, which is a Spanish name. Her husband is from Spain and his name is Jose Ignacio, but goes by Iñaki, pronounced \i-nə-ˈyak-ˈē\. So they figured cut out the middle-man and just call their kid Iñaki. Most people have never heard of the name and ask them to spell it. Oddly enough the definition of his name suits him GREATLY, if by "fiery" they mean brat. lol Their second son didn't get it much easier, he ended up with "Iker", pronounced \i-ˈker\.

My sister's name is Socorro, pronounced \sə-ˈkȯr-(ˌ)ō\. Merriam-Webster has the audio pronunciation of Socorro. Socorro is my dad's middle name. It is typically a male name. Unsure why they decided to name her that. My father's mother's name is quite unique as well, it's Praxedis. I assume the pronunciation would look something like \ˈprä-ˈhā-ˌdis\.

What are some "uncommon" names in your family? They can be ethnic or just plan unusual.

* I couldn't find the pronunciation of a lot of these names online, so I had to piece them together.

Alive!

2008-07-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

I say I'm alive because there were a couple of times during our Grand Canyon experience where I thought I was going to die. Really. I did.

A few things I learned on this trip:
* It’s Kaibab, not kabob.
* Gizmo, my mule, is a grump, but a sure footed one at that.
* I now understand why it's called the the Hail Mary corner.
* Don't hand someone your camera as you're getting into a very slippery creek, especially if it has a video option. Although, a video of you slipping is better than a wet camera.
* When the mule wrangler tells you it's a grueling ride... It's a grueling ride.
* DUDE = deposition, uplift, downcut & erosion
* How to tell the difference between a California condor and a turkey vulture.
and
* I love the Grand Canyon.

On vacation 'til July 16th

2008-07-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'll be the one grasping her hands tightly around the mule saddle horn thingy. (Yeah, like I know what I'm talking about!) All I know is that the Grand Canyon has been on my to do list FOREVER. I get to finally visit. Joy! :)

Oxnard Strawberry Festival frivolities

2008-07-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

So the long awaited Oxnard Strawberry Festival photos have arrived, i.e., my friend sent me copies. I think he got sick and tired of my asking. ;-)

I may have recalled this story to a few of you, but let me say it again. We arrive, after having a relatively easy time finding parking, so the day was looking good. lol We enter through the back gate, near the children's rides. LOADS of kids everywhere. We finally make our way through the swarm, er, kids. And there, facing us is the bungee jump crane. I nervously eye it. I believe this is where he catches my eyes. He then proceeds to say, "Hey, you mentioned that you've never bungeed, and that you'd be interested in it." I hesitantly say "Yes." He then says, "No better time than now. We're here. It's here. Just do it." Nike would be proud. I hemmed and hawed a bit, considered the price, and oh, death! And he was right. No reason to say no.

As soon as they started suiting me up, my stomach did a few quick flips. Thank goodness he wasn't nearby to see the hesitancy in my face. He had gone off to stake out a good photo spot. :)

Well when I'm in the cage at the very top. The guys says, "Ok Miss. I'm going to open this door, and you''re going to step out on this here platform. No matter what you do, DO NOT LOOK DOWN. 60% of the people that look down at this point, do not end up jumping." So what does this bonehead do? Yeap. I catch myself a glimpse of the tiny people far, far, far below me. My stomach does some more flips at this point. The guy continues, "As you step out on to the platform, you're going to place your hands on these handles, and I'm going to close the door behind you. I'll then unlatch the safety harness from the cage, and you're only be connected by the bungee. You're going to lean forward and when I count to three, just let yourself go. You don't have to jump, just let gravity do it's thing.". Bonehead looks down again. I sudden have to pee. lol So he continues, "Ok, Miss. Ready? One. Two. Three!" Pause. Bonehead doesn't budge. "Miss, you were supposed to let go when I said 'three'." I say, "I know, but I wasn't ready yet." He then says, "Ok. I'm going to count down again, but you really need to jump this time, we can't stay up here forever." I look at him and say, "Don't rush me! I'll jump when I'm ready. Besides the girl that was on here before me took like a whole 5 minutes!" Yeah, that was me rationalizing my fear of jumping. I should have apologized to the guy for snapping. He then says, "Will it help if I push you?" At that point I realize I was being lame, and I just needed to let go. I say, "It's not necessary. Let's count." In unison, "One. Two. Threeeeeeeeee!" I'm now free falling. I have no solid ground below me, well yes I do, but far below me. I hear rushing of air. I feel my hair flailing. I open my eyes because I realized they were practically sewn shut. I then instinctually bring my hands to my face to cover the fact that I'm falling. It all happened so fast, yet I felt like I could count the minutes of my descent. I then told myself to remove my hands from my face. That I was missing the best part. It was awesome.

The rest of the day was good. Very hot. I think we almost melted. We had a few frozen lemonades, some yummy treats, of course the mandatory kettle corn, and lots of interesting people watching.

Nothing beat the bungee jump. IT WAS AWESOME.

Holy Skinny Cow Batman!

2008-07-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

I just discovered Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and they are deliciously fab-u-lous!

I had seen them in the grocery store, but I always thought, "Ugh! Those can't be good. They probably taste like cardboard." You ask, "Hey Cristina, how would you know? Have you ever eaten cardboard?" To which I'd probably respond, "Why no, I've never actually eaten cardboard." :)

Anyway, I digress.

Yes, my friend. I finally bought a package of the ice cream sandwiches and I wanted to kick myself for waiting as long as I did to finally try them. I think I had an ice cream big O standing in my kitchen. lol You think I kid?

The nutritional information isn't too bad either.

Serving Size: Sandwich
Calories	140
Calories from Fat	15
Total Fat	1.5g
Total Fat Percentage	3%
Saturated Fat	0.5g
Saturated Fat Percentage	4%
Cholesterol	1mg

Although, Skinny Cow is a funny name... It's still a cow. lol

**Edit - IMHO the Skinny Cow vanilla ice cream sandwiches are better tasting than the chocolate ones... Even though I normally prefer chocolate. The chocolate ones had more of an artificial taste to them.

Romeo and Juliet... by some giggling junior high kids

2008-07-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

I was perusing my niece Samantha's MySpace page and came across a video she and a friend Lauren made. Sam is Romeo*, and her BFF** Lauren in Juliet.

Sam is into drama. She's actually quite good. She's had the lead role in several of her school's plays as well as some roles in community theater. Her latest role was of Annie. I wasn't able to make it to that performance but I hear she sang and acted her heart out. You turn a camera on and Sam's instantly in front of it. Hence, my nickname for her, Sam the Ham.

Their video made me laugh. It actually made me very happy to know she's able to be 100% herself in front of her friends. At the same time, it made me realize how much she's grown since they moved to Temecula.

* Samantha recently got braces, so you can hear her struggle with pronunciation now and then. Kinda cute.
** In case you're wondering, "BFF" means best friend forever.

Moving my body, aka exercise... I think it's finally sticking.

2008-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I think this exercise routine, or non-routine, I have going is finally sticking. I started off small. A 20-30 min walk 3 times a week, and I've gradually increased it. It also helps that I have a deal with a friend. We both have pedometers. We agreed to walk 10,000 steps a day.

Ok, so I've increased my walking to almost daily. I sometimes slip on the weekends and don't get anything near 10,000. I expect that every now and then, and don't get down on myself.

So now I'm walking a minimum of 5 times a week for 50-60 minutes. I walk at a medium pace for 5 mins, then at a brisk pace for 5 minutes, I then alternate between jogging and brisk walking for the next 30 mins. I follow it up with a cool down phase of medium/brisk walking for 10-15 mins. I got the idea from an article called The Couch-to-5k Running Plan. Recently the Zen Habits blog also posted an article called How to Go From Sedentary to Running in Five Steps. It's not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. I thought I'd be gasping for air, clutching my throat after each walk. But I'm not. I'm quite surprised. Do I sometimes wake up sore? YEP. Is it worth it? YEP. Overall I'm feeling much better. I do have to push myself, that's for sure. But it seems to be getting easier.

For the last two years I've worked on getting my cholesterol down . I was in the higher end of "normal", it's gotten a lot better. I'm now working on lowering and stabilizing my blood pressure. Hypertension and heart disease runs pretty high in my family. I realized if I want to live past 60, I need to work on it now. No more putting it off.

So that's what I've been up to. Nothing majorly exciting, but kinda life saving. :)

moving sucks.

2008-06-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

Well, not the actual part of moving and change, but the boxing up of crap. How the hell did so much stuff fit into two small rooms? I swear, it's magic.

I'm moving things from two rooms into essentially 2.5 rooms, and we're running out of space. Serious. How is it possible to run out of space? Enough crap, er stuff, was tossed or donated too. I just don't get it.

My obituary will read...

2008-06-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

"She ODed on Etsy"

How flippin' cute is this birdcage necklace? I want to eat it up, that's how cute it is to me. lol

Or what about this cute squirrel one?

I'm on a total jewelry binge. Especially necklaces. You can never have enough. Kinda like shoes.

Yum. Love the colors in this fused glass pendant. So pretty.

I've been in a tree kick lately too. I like the look of a solitary tree or flower. So that makes this tree pendant right up my alley.

I need a napkin. I can't stop drooling over this bracelet. I'm just in love with it. I love the vibrant colors, but I think it'll look awesome with a jet black background as well. Decisions, decisions. Oohhhhh... With a matching necklace. I'm so in trouble.

dental pain wimp and jewelry love

2008-06-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Geez. Who would have known I'm such a dental pain wimp. I feel like I'm constantly wincing from pain.

I ended up having my bottom two wisdom teeth, as well as an extra premolar extracted. Ouch. Pain wasn't too bad initially... Then the anesthetic wore off. It'll be a week tomorrow since they were extracted and the pain seems just as constant. Maybe not as severe, but just as constant.

Well, at least I no longer look like a chipmunk.

So what do dental wimps do to pass the time when they're supposed to be working? You guessed it! They go on Etsy. I swear, I should just hand over my paycheck to them and PayPal.

My favorite lastest finds:
"loved" sterling & quartz double strand bracelet
sterling & brass spinning ring
candy dot ring
aluminum spiral pendant
celtic budding spiral pendant
groovy flower pendant
spirals heart pendant
spring peepers bracelet
black pearl necklace

I need to stop. I want it all.

I need to stop. I need to stop. I need to stop.

What doctor is left?

2008-05-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

I've seen my GP.

I've seen my Ob/Gyn.

I've seen an allergist.

I've seen my dentist.

I'm seeing an oral surgeon tomorrow.

I'm seeing a dermatologist in a couple of weeks.

What kind of frickin' doctor is left?

I know it could be *much* worse, but it feels like I've been living in doctor's offices as of late. I should also be thankful that I have access to all these medical people. I am, but it's difficult to smile and say "thanks" when your mouth is being stretched open.

the mother of all posts (so far)

2008-05-14T16:40:00.001-07:00

I mentioned I was going to comment on a few activities a couple of posts back, but never got around to it.

Let's see...

I caught a sketch comedy show called All About Walken at Theatre 68 in L.A. That was an extremely fun show. If you're a Christopher Walken fan, keep your eye out for this show, you won't be disappointed. There were several highlights for me, from the improv part of the show to the chick that impersonated DeNiro. One highlight definitely wasn't my falling down a very short flight of stairs after I was "dragged" on stage. Oh, and did I mention, not only did I fall, I pretty much took a nose dive into the front row? But rest assured, the only thing damaged was my ego. All that was asked of me was to put on a "Walken" wig, walk out to the middle of the stage, and deliver my best "Wow!" ala Walken. The lights would then dim, a stagehand would run out to grab my wig, and I then was to walk back to my seat. Easy, right? Yeah. Uh. Not. Well, uh, it was very dark, and I was very clumsy. My heel clipped the top stair and I was airborn. The guys that stopped my fall, aka, the ones I landed on, were quite nice. They at least complimented my "Wow!" I guess situations like these make the best memories, and stories.

Next was the Santa Ana Art Walk. If you decide to attend, I recommend printing the Artist Village map, you'll definitely refer to it often. We had a fun night. Some very cool galleries to peruse. Some were extremely crowded whilst others stood unvisited. Various musical acts also set up along the alleys and building entrances. I loved the Cent Gallery. He had some beautiful fused glass pieces on display that made my mouth drool. lol So cool. Loved how he displayed the various stages of his glass artwork.

The Cherry Blossom Festival followed. We wandered around a bit. It was a much smaller festival than what I had imagined. We eventually wandered over to the Stage Plaza area and saw a taiko group perform. The group was mainly all women, I believe there was one male. Your chest vibrated from the drumming, kinda cool. We then ate at some Korean restaraunt at the Stage Plaza. It was ok, not great, service lacked. Oh, we did eat some Pink Berry though. I had been wanting to try Pink Berry for quite sometime. It was ok. Different. Much sweeter than regular yogurt. We walked around more afterwards. Kettle corn was delicious. Jeez, I love that stuff. I did get a very pretty blue, almost denim colored, glass pendant with looped sterling sliver wire inside. It reminded me of the fused glasses pieces we saw at the Cent Gallery.

I attended the America's Family Pet Expo at the Orange County fairgrounds. That was quite a bit of fun. Plus I gorged myself on kettle corn. Yummers. I think my favorite part was seeing Splash Dogs. Some of those dogs got some major air. Also realized that some people really love their cats. Some of these cats had mini-mansions set-up. Fifi has it good.

We caught a play called Rehearsal for Murder at Heritage Park in Santa Fe Springs. It was a community play alright. The main character was actually quite good. He looked extremely natural on the stage. The others... Well if you've ever seen Waiting for Guffman, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I finally got around to attending The Renaissance Pleasure Faire at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale. It's something I've wanted to do for years, but never found anyone interested enough in attending. I had a fantastic time. The weather was great. The people were all so friendly. I definitely want to go back next year, and hopefully for a longer visit. I ate one of those humongous turkey legs, seemed to take almost an hour to finish it, if not longer. Oh, I also got a henna tattoo of a faerie, she was purdy. It faded entirely too quickly though. All in all, I had a great time. I'm sure the "jug o' wine" we carted around contributed to the festivities.

This past weekend I went to the Juanes concert at the Nokia Center with my very dear and lovely sister, Socorro, aka The Sacster. She bought the tickets and wanted someone to go with her. How can I turn down free concert tickets? :) Concert was sold out. Crazy hyped up fans everywhere. What caught my attention was the various languages you heard everywhere. I figured I'd mainly hear Spanish and, of course, English. There were people speaking German, French, something that sounded like Czech, and Japanese. All seemed as enthused to see Juanes as their Spanish speaking counterparts. Note: If you ever catch an event at the Nokia or Staples Center and are looking for a convenient restaurant before the show, you should try Roy's Hawaiaan Fusion Cuisine or Morton's, both are on Figueroa, blocks from the Nokia or Staples Centers. You can park in the lot on the corner of Figueroa and 8th, walk a few feet to your restaurant, and then take the complimentary shuttle to the centers. They suggest tipping the driver about $3-5 a person each way. After dinner at Roy's Socorro and I had a stretch Hummer limo to ourselves on the way to the Nokia Center. Very cool. Then we caught a "luxury van" on the way back. It was all sooooo much easier than fighting traffic. Parking, plus tips, cost the same as parking near the center. If you ask me, that's the way to go each time. :)

Wow. This is an extremely long post. I guess it's time to stop. Ciao.

JGHS Class of '88 Reunion

2008-04-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yep. You read it right. Yours truly has to finally admit her age. ;-) Unless you're really bad at math, you've figured out my age, or something close to it. lol

I was contacted by a few close high school friends asking if I was interested in being on the reunion committee. I figured, why not? I was supposed to be on our 10yr committee, but had to back out of the commitment.

I attended my first meeting last week. We met at a restaurant in Norwalk. Well the meeting was relatively short, but our chatting and drinking lasted several hours... Well into the night. As a matter of fact, we, Jeanette and I, were asked to vacate the restaurant as they wanted to leave. lol We had a such a great time catching up. The time literally flew by. Then we went outside, and continued to chat. It was fun.

I'm excited now. I think it'll be fun to see everyone I lost contact with, even though I probably won't stay in contact with them after it's all said and done. Well except, for a few people.

Want an 80's flashback? Check out our prom friend's photo, from left to right Marina, myself, and Jeanette. I had to swipe the photo from Jeanette's MySpace page. :) Check out my prudish peach colored lace covered sack, I called a prom dress. OMG. And marvel at my updo, decorated with baby's breath. Although, I must admit I received many compliments on my hair that night. That was a very fun night. Wowza, memories I hadn't recalled in a number of years just came flooding back. Fun times.

What are some your prom memories?

You know what?

2008-04-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Life doesn't suck.

I've been counting my blessings lately. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where you can walk down the street and not worry about major violence. Yes, violence can occur anywhere. I'm talking about non-stop violence.

When you can take a stroll down to the beach, stop at one of your favorite local restaurants for a quick bite, walk over to a local cafe and play pool whilst drinking your favorite alcoholic concoction while chowing on buffalo wings... Life doesn't suck.

Movie scoop.

2008-04-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a few weeks since I last updated this little blog of mine, I guess it's about time for an update.

I've been to the movies several times since my last post. I've seen Juno, Persepolis, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The Counterfeiters, and 21. I may have seen a couple of other films, but these are the only ones that come to mind right now. My favorites were Juno, and The Counterfeiters. Although, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days comes in close behind.

I found Juno to be quirky, yet still intelligent. Juno was excellently portrayed by Ellen Page. I enjoyed watching Michael Cera, cast as Paulie Bleeker, since his role in Arrested Development. Don't get me started on Arrested Development, that was a seriously funny show that was excellently acted.

The Counterfeiters was quite enjoyably dark, if that makes any sense. It's basically about a Jewish counterfeiter, Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch, who's arrested and sent to a concentration camp. Sally's skill is soon discovered and he's "drafted" into making counterfeit currency to weaken the economy of Germany's allied opponents. Soon enough one of Sally's fellow counterfeiters, Adolf Burger, refuses to use his skills to assist the Nazi's. Sally finds himself in a moral dilemma. He has to decide between turning over Burger for sabotaging their counterfeit efforts, which means certain death Burger, or allowing the delay of the counterfeit ring, which will also bring death to everyone involved. The end of the movie was particularly hard for me to watch. Seeing the emaciated figures on the screen reminded you of the terrible things that actually happened.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, like The Counterfeiters, makes you fully realize how lucky we are for living in a westernized country. This was a very stark, gritty movie that dealt with a late-term abortion. Otila's friend Gabita needs to receive said late-term abortion. Gabita seems to almost refuse, or shut down, to take on the responsibility of all the details. Soon Otila finds herself finalizing all the details, which means a much more active role in her friends abortion. All the while you realize what kind of risk they're both in. Definitely not for the faint of heart as some scenes are considered to be pretty graphic.

Besides movies, I recently also caught a sketch comedy show called, All About Walken at Theatre 68 in L.A. this past week. It was great. I finally got around to the Santa Ana Artwalk, and the Cherry Blossom Festival Southern Califormia. Also another trip to The Getty Villa, as well as wine tasting in Temecula. I'll go into those on my next post.

Ciao.

Another Etsy update

2008-03-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Double ugh.

I need to block Etsy.

And maybe eBay as well.

I caved and bought myself a Princess and the Pea necklace, kind of an inside joke. I also purchased some cool magnetic steel cable chokers. I purchased some very cool individual stones a while back but had been searching for a necklace to put them on.

Then on to eBay.

I've been wanting a new phone, but I refuse to extend my current contract another 12/24 months for a measly $25/$75 off the phone price. After speaking to a friend and his want of a new phone as well. We started our eBay search. Good prices, at least compared to the carrier website. Now, I definitely want a new phone. Waaaa.

I want. I want. I want.

Etsy will be the end of me.

2008-02-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to separate myself from Etsy. I just love, Love, LOVE so many of the artists. Ugh. My pocketbook is going to revolt soon.

I love Kelly Rae Roberts collages. I recently purchased In Her Hands and Heart by Heart, both are birthday presents for my sisters. Uh, hoping they don't read this.

Today I purchased some chic date tags, scalloped journaling circles, 2008 calendar tags, lined journaling circles, happy birthday/party tags, and some doodled heart tags. I'm hoping once I get these puppies in my hand, I'll be inspired to scrap more.

I'm really digging dazeychic's prints as well, very simplistic and clean. Her Little Trio, Be Still, Bliss in Red, Tickled Pink, and Anything But. All very pretty.

I'm contemplating 2 Beige, One Grey Flower by Heavens Earth. I figure if it's still there in another day or two, it was meant to be mine. If not, I'll just kick myself later.

On a side note:
I'm finding myself drawn to dandelion clock images more and more often.

Gotta jet, work calls.

Hoping everyone has a relaxing weekend!

All sorts of crafty goodness

2008-02-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

So lately I've I'm been getting the bug to be crafty again, whether it's paper crafting, crocheting, looming, or drawing/painting. Also been wanting to break out my camera more often. I take this as a very good sign. I normally only want to creatively express myself when things are "on track" or I'm happy. I can honestly say, I'm happy.

I'm planning on posting my completed projects. I would post all my work in progress but there isn't enough cyberspace for them.

I was crocheting with a friend yesterday and I hopped from project to project. I started off by attempting to get a little further along on a granite colored scarf I started looming about 1.5 years ago, my sister has been waiting patiently. I then switched to a black beanie on another loom. Then to a brown and blue (earth & sky) scarf I was crocheting. I was about to hop to my fourth project a pastel (Buttercream Ombre) colored purse project, but decided that I should really concentrate on one project at a time. I went back to the black beanie and finished it off. Yippee! Yes, the beanie is black, but I had to tweak the contrast so that the details would show in the photo. That's what I get for using my cameraphone.

I also made my aforementioned friend a gift. I had seen Catherine Swan's paper butterfly works quite a number of months ago, then Ali mentioned her on her blog. It reminded me how much I loved them. So I gave it a try, but with the Martha Stewart heart craft punch instead. I really like the way it turned out. I think he did as well.

I've also tried my hand at drawing. I suck. Enough said about that. lol I'm going to keep at it though. I figure I can't get any worse, right?

The "D" word sucks...

2008-02-15T15:48:00.001-08:00

And no, it's not Donut. ;-)

I don't believe I've mentioned this to anyone outside of my immediate family and/or work, but I'm getting a divorce. Shocked?

Ed and I officially separated July 31, 2007. Yes, 6.5 months ago, and you all are barely hearing about it. It's not something that's easy for me slip into a conversation. "I went to the Getty Villa the other day, it was such a nice day, oh and by the way, I'm getting a divorce." Or "I got a new car in September and I'm getting a divorce." Yeah, no easy way to say it.

Most of the time I see people and the topic at hand is so light and cheery that I don't want to bring it down. Ok, that's a bit of a lie. It's just that I don't like talking about it much, because then I feel I have an obligation to go into why the divorce had to happen. How my relationship with my soon-to-be-ex became a platonic relationship. The financial hardships we faced made communication that much harder. And the stbe's stubbornness led down this path. And no, all the blame doesn't lay on him. **Or is it "all the blame doesn't lie on him"?

I don't want to get to much into it here, if you're curious, give me a call or send me an email.

For some reason, we see divorce as a signal of failure, despite the fact that each of us has a right, and an obligation, to rectify any other mistake we make in life.
-Joyce Brothers

I decided...

2008-02-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

I'm going to make every attempt to update my blog on a frequent basis. Well more than just one post a year. :) Let me start off by sharing some recent, or not so recent photos.

heart-shaped hydrangea flowerhead from my mother's garden
06/02/07, Nikon D100, aperture priority, 60mm, F/4.8, 1/320 sec exp

my niece Selena
06/22/07, Nikon D100, aperture priority, 28mm, F/3.5, 1/90 sec exp

a building somewhere in Los Angeles
12/02/07, Nikon D100, aperture priority, 85mm, F/5.3, 1/500 sec exp

a column at The Getty Villa
02/02/09, Nikon D100, aperture priority, 55mm, F/4.5, 1/800 sec exp

blue sky above The Getty Villa
02/02/09, Nikon D100, aperture priority, 300mm, F/6.7, 1/250 sec exp

I'm in love...with a French General. ;-)

2006-08-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, you heard me right, I'm in love with a French General. Well ok, in love with the store French General. This tiny little store will overwhelm your senses with it's fabulous colors and scents.

We headed down to LA, I guess I should say we headed up to LA, Saturday for an afternoon of shopping. Our first stop was the above mentioned French General. First off, this is a total destination store, there's no way this little tucked away store can rely on someone just driving by. Unless you knew what you were looking for you'd never find this little paradise of a building. Oh by the way, you have a clear view of the Hollywood sign from it's entrance. The building is small; however, it has enough stuff to keep you looking for hours. Unfortunately we arrived just as they were closing their back room for a jewelry class. That was a major bummer since I was in the market for some unique chunky beads. We had a total of three minutes back there, not even enough time for a quick overview of the room. The rest of the store was lovely. The fabrics were so amazingly beautiful. I'm ready to take up sewing so I have a reason (i.e. excuse) to buy these fabrics. The textiles ranged from a linen color to deep reds. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. The soy candles infused with esseantial oils smelled heavenly. I purchased the milk thistle one...yum! Can't wait to light it.
I also bought some clear glass flower buttons. Unsure what exactly I'm going to do with them, probably use them in a bauble bracelet.

Pam bought a tin of these vintage glass pearl beaded flowers. We all were able to buy one from her. Yippee.

Ellie bought a card of some sparkly clear buttons as well and let us buy some from her as well. Unfortunately this image doesn't do them justice.

I'm bummed I didn't buy some of the fabric remnants. I have a few LO ideas running through my head. that would have looked good with the fabric.

After visiting the Franch General we headed over to Sweetpeas and Snapshots..."where your creativity blossoms". A cute shabby chic scrap store that also has a room for crops and they host some uber cute tea parties. I was hoping to see some more vintage embellishments, per their website, but that was kind of lacking for me. It was also quite warm in the store, unsure if they don't have air con or if it was broken. I did find the Technique Tuesday's Funcuation stamps, something I had been wanting to purchase. Also picked up some cute black and white ribbon, along with some large chipboard flowers.

Oh wait, before arriving at Sweetpeas and Snapshots we were looking...for several miles...for a place to eat. It was quite funny. We couldn't find a place to eat that was on our side of the street. Ugh. lol We finally settled on a Taco Bell, as it turns out it's an outdoor Taco Bell which was quite noisy. But fun nonetheless.

Post Turkey Day Blahs

2005-11-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Well not all days were blah, just most.

Friday was a huge blur. My crazy ass sister and sister-in-law decided the were going to fight the mass throngs of Day After Thanksgiving Day Sale revelers. Yeap, they were nuts. My sister-in-law has two little girls, C & S. Since shopping on Friday was going to be utter chaos I agreed to watch my nieces while they went shopping.
(Tangent... How the hell can a 1 1/2 year old toss and turn non-stop for 4 freaking hours and wake up looking like a beauty queen with a halo of prefectly coiffed curls? I just don't get it. I barely turn on my side and I wake up with a frizz ball as a head.) I spent the rest of the day in a post tryptophan haze. z z z zz zzzzz Oh wait, I did bake 96, yes 96 pecan square cookies for a Christmas Cookie Exchange Party I was attending Satuday.

Saturday woke up rested and watched TV most of the morning. :) Gotta love cartoons. Attended the afore mentioned Christmas Cookie Exchange Party. It was ummm, cute. Got some awesome cookies and some not so quite awesome. As a matter of fact I think one of the cookie batches someone made was still raw. uugghh! I wouldn't doubt it because it's the same girl that showed p two freaking hours late!

Sunday was another blur of a day. I realized that I can't get much "work" done around the house when I watch tv. Watched six episodes of Inked. Each time I go to Vegas I plan on getting a new tattoo, but as you can imagine gambling and drinking always manage to keep me occupied. I love Inked, the cast is funny. I did manage to also watch a holiday craft show that inspired me to get my ass down to Michael's Arts and Crafts. I'm planning on making some cute tabletop sparkly snowmen.

just.me.

2005-11-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd place a photo of myself on here. I really need to learn how to modify this page a bit more. I guess I have some HTML reading in my near future.