Thanksgiven

For the last few years, we've attended some kind of orphan's Thanksgiving. Lots of people out here don't make it to see family for the holiday, so little groups of friends get together and make a family for a day. We've had good times at these, but after waiting to eat for hours with a bunch of mostly strangers last year, we decided that this year we'd have Thanksgiving at our place. For the first time ever.

It was just the two of us, and it was the nicest, stress free day. I planned a lot of food I wanted to make, had Z do the dirty work of doing the shopping, and had everything prepped and ready to go for Thursday morning. I made 8 dishes in all.

Sweet potatoes with pecans, thyme, and parmesan (the winner of the day)

Linda's mashed potatoes (a close, close second)

Sauteed celery root

Green beans with almonds

Bourbon cranberry compote

Quinoa tabouleh

Acorn muffins

Acorn squash with fresh orange juice and cardamom

Dessert was Trader Joe's pumpkin ice cream, followed by watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox on the floor by the bunnies.

It was a quiet day. We said our thanks. And I conquered my first Thanksgiving in the kitchen.

Shoot me now

Yes, yet another round of headshots. Hoping this is it for a while. The feedback from my old headshots was that they weren't pretty enough. Thanks, Hollywood! Glad I came to this crazy town with a sense of self. I see how people get messed up here.

Anyway, here is a quick sampler of the new shots. The goal was more glamorous. I've never worn so much eyeliner in my life.

I did get some fun tips from the hair and makeup gal. Beckers, I have new trade secrets for you!

The Cruise to Nowhere

I got quite a surprise a couple weeks ago. Zach told me a few weeks in advance to mark 2 particular days clear on my calendar, but that's all he would say. The week of he told me to pack a bag for overnight. Turns out he had planned a special, one night...

CRUISE!

The Cruise to Nowhere leaves from Long Beach. It goes out to sea and back, but you get the fun of being on a cruise, which I had never done before. Many points go to the husband for this one.

Here is a photo of the $10 photo they make you take and then try to sell you on the boat. Can you tell who's not so into the mandatory photo?

I've described it as going on a trip with everyone you've every seen at the mall, but we had a great time despite the other landlubbers. Definitely a good day for people watching!

We saw and heard seals at night from our private balcony (!), had dinner at a delicious French restaurant, walked all over the ship, and enjoyed lazing in our cabin.

sassy in the elevator

We can now say we've been to nowhere and back. There's no one I'd rather go there with.

Gooseberry

So behind on here. I'll try to catch up...

I had a hen party a few weeks ago. I asked everyone to bring something slightly decadent to share. Ladies came with champagne, brilliant tarts, chocolate, and cheeses. When I was at the store, I smelled something light and sweet in the produce section. Turns out it was a fruit that's housed in a thin, papery little lantern. Now that's decadence! You can see them scattered in the photo below. They are called gooseberries.

That night, Zach came home from a long day of gathering gooseberries of his own on the paintball field. I like my gooseberries better!

Oh, the wind and the rain

We survived another year of marriage, you say? It's off to Big Sur!

Having now gone to Big Sur for 3 years in a row, it's officially tradition. The drive is nice, we always find fun new places to explore, and the views are unparalleled. I can't believe all this exists just a few hours from us. It's beginning to feel criminal that we don't go more often...

The last two years we stayed at a place called Treebones in a yurt. This year we wanted to use our new camping gear, so we stayed in the same location, but at a campsite. This meant we still had great views, but there was a shower, restroom, and lodge that serves 3 meals a day, so we didn't have to rough it too much.

The lodge: where Zach beat me at many, many games of backgammon.

Our first day was gorgeous weather, and we spent the day around our campsite, just reading, painting, and enjoying the weather. But that night. Oh, that night. The world turned cruel. Huge storm with rain and high winds that rattled our tent all night long. We were tucked in there and howling like little girls as the tent violently shimmied back and forth. I mean violently! The tent was making so much noise from shaking and flapping that it was hard to sleep. We assessed the damage in the morning, and found this:

The stakes had been pulled out of the ground by the wind!

We counted our blessings and headed back down the coast for tamer tales.

Like these.

Can't make the trip without watching the seals!

Then for a relaxing dip in at a mineral springs. If Swiss Family Robinson made hot tubs, this would be it!

Our last day we hit an outlet mall.

L: Hey, you should come take a look at these shoes. It's buy one pair get two pairs free.

Z: Wow! That's so cheap!

L: It's an outlet.

Z: Is that an outlet thing? Really good deals?

L: That's the whole point of an outlet.

Z: Are there any outlets near us? We're going there all the time now.

We have a convert!

Our final stop was at a vineyard and winery (thanks, Garmin!). We did a tasting and had a tour, including the wine cave.

Survey says: best trip yet!

Now to go back during whale season...

More pics here.

I forgot the funnest part!

Before the redo, I made up this little design sheet to take with me when I was out a-hunting for things. I knew I'd been looking all over and for a period of several weeks, so I made this sheet to keep me from getting distracted by pretty things that didn't really fit with what we wanted. It's easy to lose sight of your vision when new pretties appear--this little page kept me on track. We didn't end up with the actual pieces from our sheet, but it served as inspiration.

New Room

A couple of months ago I had the bright idea for us to convert one of our rooms into a teaching space. I didn't take a before photo, but here's what is looked like last Christmas:

After selling or making over almost everything in the room, here's what it looks like now:

Bonus: We have enough clear space that I can exercise in here.

Zach setting up for his inaugural class...

America's tiniest bathroom got an update, too...

Punky Punkin

On Saturday, my friend Tiffany and I headed an hour outside of the city to attend...

a pumpkin festival!

Why drive an hour to pick out a pumpkin? Because this was the only place in Southern California where you could pick your own off the vine!

Do you see any vines? Neither did we.

My guess is that some college students with trucks were drafted to plop the thousands of pumpkins in this field.

But anyway. We had fun.

We had the pancake breakfast. We scared children in the corn maze. We resisted buying handcrafted birdhouses and snocones.

I did come home with a lovely punkin.

And the bunnies got a treat, too.

Pumpkin Festival, you provided a good punkin and lots of people watching. Too bad no vines.

Party Hard

The Fairy Godmother and a bunny at Emma Alita's* dress-up birthday party.

Do you like my wand?

* Emma is 4 and the daughter of a grad school friend.

3 years!

We're planning to head back up to Big Sur next month for our annual anniversary trip, but last night we had a lovely little dinner at home to celebrate.

I couldn't resist using my little leaf cutters for our appetizer in honor of the many leaves at our wedding!

New Hair

The Bridge Abridged

I'm not quite sure why, but I really wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I knew it was close to Battery Park, so I started walking in that direction. I came upon the South Street Seaport where I had been on my last visit. The bridge was near! I would just walk to the base and then go across.

Not that easy. I underestimated how enormous the bridge is, and the on-ramp is actually blocks and blocks back into the city. More walking. Starting to regret the sandals. But I made it.

The pedestrian bridge is above where the cars go.

Brooklyn

When I finally made it to Brooklyn, I happened upon a TKTS booth and picked up a ticket for Billy Elliot. I HopStopped it to Times Square where I had a tasty vegetarian dinner at Zen Palate.

I rested my barking dogs for a few, then went up the block to see Billy Elliot. My mini-review: it's a great show if you want to see dancing. Not so hot on the acting, music is just ok. But the dancing is electric! And it's got a lot of humor, too.

So:

brunch

poo

Battery Park

Staten Island Ferry

Brooklyn Bridge

Zen Palate

Billy Elliot

I'd call it a full day. Me and my blisters spent another night in Astoria with Michelle. I knew that I'd be visiting some friends out of the city the next day, but I had no idea what we would stumble upon..

A bird's still gotta bathe

Feeling satisfied that there were trace amounts of poo in the pipes of the theatre's sink, I made my way to Battery Park.

Battery Park is at the southern most tip of Manhattan. There are several monuments and lots of green space. I'd heard of it, but never been.

I wandered around for a bit, and it wasn't before long before I came across this:

Leave it to me to come all the way to New York to sit and watch some birds. But really, it was one of the most memorable moments of my day. When people saw that I had stopped to watch them, they stopped to watch them, too. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, a bird's still gotta bathe.

Leave it to me to find this next:

Yes, a turkey, schritching around for some grub.

I left the birds behind for more adventures. On my list of things to do in New York were get on the water and get above the water. The Staten Island Ferry is free you, say? Ok! On the water!

the pier by ferry

on the harbor

everyone scrabbles to one side of the ferry sardine-style to see her

there she is!

Now for above the water...

PAWF!

Technology has greatly advanced since I was last in New York 3 years ago. Many of the subway trains have been outfitted with an electronic tracker that displays the next 10 stops, and there is an iPhone app called HopStop what provides precise walking/subway directions. This saved me a lot of time and brain space and looking like a lost tourist.

This turned out to be my only full day without rain on the trip, so I'm glad I spent it out and about on foot. I had bought a ticket to a Fringe show before my trip, and after a lovely brunch with Michelle and her boyfriend John, I HopStopped it over to the East Village for the show. Time was tight, but I knew that with HopStop on my side, I would skip right over. I got out of the subway station, got my bearings, and headed off. I was looking down at my phone to confirm that I was going in the right direction when PAWF! My right foot had found something warm and custardy. And brown. I howled an expletive (you can do that in New York) when I looked down and saw my toes (I only packed sandals, if you'll recall) covered in fresh and creamy dog poo.

A nearby construction worker offered me a paper towel.

"I saw the lady who left that," he said.

I'm assuming her dog left it, but I knew what he meant.

"Well, she'll get hers," I said. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but she'll get it."

"Yeah," he said. "She will."

He suggested that I could go into the pizza shop across the street to clean up more.

Into the pizza shop. Which of course didn't have a bathroom. When I explained what I stepped in, the guy said I could come behind the counter and use the sink. So there I was, behind the food counter, where food is prepared, near food, removing my sandal, touching the faucet, washing off my foot and hands, and did I mention that I was behind the food counter? This couldn't have been sanitary.

I finished up and raced towards to theatre. I was 6 minutes late. That's about how long it takes to step in a pile, discuss the principles of karma with a construction guy, and violate sanitary codes in Vinny's Pizza. It's Fringe policy not to admit latecomers. I couldn't see the show.

"I'm late because I stepped in a pile of dog *@%#."

The box office does not make exceptions for poo encounters. Not even a look of sympathy from the box office.

I stewed in the lobby. I silently cursed the woman and her runny-butt dog. Then I went into the theatre's bathroom and gave my sandal another rub down for good measure. Back to the lobby for more silent cursing. This time the box office got it.

Then I took a breath.

I started to wonder if I had left any piles for other people to step in.

I decided not to to let the Pile of 2010 ruin this otherwise perfect New York day. I had plenty of other things I wanted to do. But what about the money I had already spent on the ticket, a cornerstone argument in my silent rant? My donation to the arts that day, I decided.

HopStop and I were off on other adventures...

My pleasure

This year on Father's Day, Dad sent Christina and me a gift. Each of us got a check with specific instructions. Mine were to use the money for my personal pleasure. Of course I was tempted to doing something practical like put in into savings. As smart as that sounded, it did not seem pleasurable. I thought about new clothes or taking some kind of class. What really sounded pleasurable was getting out of LA for bit. New scenery, old friends. Voila! New York.

Checking baggage did not sound pleasurable. I endeavored to pack everything into a backpack and purse for my 5 day trip. As it was August, and not, say, January, I was able to do this with room to spare. Mom wanted to know what on Earth I packed, so here 'tis:

1 pair sandals

1 pair jeans

1 dress

1 skirt

1 over shirt

6 tank tops

2 scarves

undies

jewelry

Next time, I'm bringing one more pair of shoes :)

My first night there, I met up with Jenn, a friend from grad school. We had dinner at a dynamite vegetarian restaurant near Union Square.

Jenn & my trusty backpack

Then I joined my friend Michelle and some of her friends at a secret bar on Restaurant Row. It's a secret because there is no sign or advertisement for it--you just have to know it's there. The place is small and cozy; you'd think it was someone's apartment if you didn't know better. Sean Hayes knows better, and he sat at the table across from us.

I stayed with Michelle in Astoria that night, and slept like a rock. Good thing, because the next day I would walk countless miles...