Living in Long Beach

My 365 Project–December 2011

2012-01-03T13:09:00.001-08:00

Here are my pictures for December. I still haven’t missed a day but some of the pictures aren’t great. I definitely need a new camera. If you have no idea what my 365 project is, then you can read about it here in my original post.

Naples Lights

2011-12-27T01:24:00.001-08:00

My cousin Scott (aka Ford) came down to Long Beach to spend Christmas with me. As soon as it got dark, we made the trek to Naples (it’s about a mile from me) to see all the holiday lights by the canals. As usual, some of the homes went all out with a crazy amount of lights. Many homes had several decorated trees.
I forgot my tripod and just took very quick pictures as we walked by the homes. However, there are a few that turned out okay so I thought I’d share them with you…

Although this one was very pretty, it reminds me of a display window for a shop.

This one had lots of fake snow in their display.

I guess that’s the closest thing to snow that

Long Beach will ever see!!

This one had several disco balls and disco Christmas music playing and a bubble machine. Steve Rubell would be so proud.

Of course, there were lots of animals. Pictured above are some polar bears (that remind me of the coca cola bears), a Christmas frog that I snapped mainly for my Mother, two white swans, and the last house had penguins, three flying pigs with halos and Snoopy. There were lots of reindeer. This one below was one of my favorites.

The new trend in fake trees this year appears to be vintage-looking trees with frosted tips to look like snow. I think some of them are cashmere. I liked these because they were at least a little different, instead of being really full like all the ones I‘ve seen around, they were slim.

Many nutcrackers in this window display.

I really love all the beachy Santas. I doubt that I’ll see many (if any) of these next year.

Here’s one of the big winners.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my pictures of the holiday lights in Naples!!

Classic Cookbook Challenge–December

2011-12-26T12:53:00.001-08:00

I love collecting and reading old cookbooks. So last month I created a challenge for myself to make one recipe a month for a year from old cookbooks. You can read my original post here. I also said that if anyone wanted to send me an old cookbook, then they could chose the recipe for me to make.
Well, a few days after that post I received a cookbook in the mail from my aunt.

Here she is with me and my cousin (her son) on a vacation we took to Savannah, GA in the 70’s.

The book she sent is the ABC of Gourmet Cooking that she got as a present from a close family friend back in 1963. The book is copyrighted in 1956. She selected the Quiche Lorraine recipe for me to make. She says she has made it (and many variations of it) many, many times throughout the years.

(Click on picture to bigify it.)
I was very pleased that she picked a recipe with few ingredients and that looked relatively easy. Plus, I have never made a quiche before!

But before I get to the quiche, I’d like to share the preface with you. I thought it was very encouraging so if you’d like to read it too, click on the picture to see it larger.

I pretty much followed the ingredients exactly with a few exceptions to lighten it up just a tad. I used 2% milk instead of whole and for the Swiss cheese, I used low-fat Swiss cheese for about a third of it (the rest was the whole fat version). I did use my pink piggy microwave bacon cooker, which they didn’t have back then.

Ready for the oven!

Cooking in the oven…

Out of the oven!

The timer dings. I put a toothpick in the center of the quiche and it comes out clean. I start to cut a slice and liquid oozes out of the top. It is not done at all. So back in the oven it goes – for another 20 minutes!
When I take it out again, it has totally risen, like a soufflé. I wish I had thought to take a picture because it dropped to half it height within seconds. This time it was ready!!

See how the sides have risen? Oh, you noticed that some of the crust was missing? That was me “checking” that the crust was finished. Hee, hee!

Earlier in the morning, I went to the Alamitos Bay Farmer’s Market and got some really fresh, yummy grape tomatoes. I sliced them in half and covered with Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing (one of my favorites!) But you won’t see that in the final picture because Karen and I got too hungry waiting for the quiche to finish. The tomatoes became an appetizer as opposed to a side dish!

My 365 picture of all the tomatoes…

I will definitely make this quiche again. It was relatively easy and very, very yummy. And it made a lot!

My last Stoneybrook Book Club Meeting

2011-12-15T22:06:00.001-08:00

So, the cat’s out of the bag. For those of you who didn’t already know, I am moving. To where? Well, that is TBD!! But I am moving out of my condo in January.
Our book for the month was picked by Lora, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. The thing that we all seemed to like best about it was that it was a quick read! But overall, I did like this book and would recommend it, especially if you are in a book club as it gave us a lot to talk about. But then again, we are all talkers.
Since it was to be my last book club and some of my neighbors did not know about my move, I decided to make them a little “Celine” gift. If you remember this post here, I had created a design for us to label my door and all my “French” food. I decided to revisit that design and make a Stoneybrook Book Club book mark!

First I cut the design in half, then printed them on business cards. (This took two tries due to borders.) Then I glued the cards together…punched a hole in them…and tied a piece of yarn through the hole.
Lastly, to jazz it up and make it even more Celine-like, I added a handmade pompom from the same yarn and threaded it through the hole as well.

I think everyone really liked them. And now when they are reading their next book club selection, they can think of me when they mark their page.
Also, I made a cake for Kate’s birthday. She had told me previously that her favorite is German chocolate so I made a four-layer one. (It was all made from scratch- no canned frosting for this gal!) YUMMY!!

Kate has a nursing degree so she did not blow out the candles but instead extinguished each flame with her fingers. We all thought she was odd until she explained that by blowing out the candles, one is essentially blowing their germs all over the cake. Ugh! I had never thought of that before but will from now on whenever someone blows out candles.

Pat, Patti, Karen, Lora, Kate, and Leslie: I will miss our little book club.

A week of parties–Langston & Lightning McQueen

2011-12-11T16:27:00.001-08:00

The last time I was in Nashville visiting my nephews, I made a promise to Langston that I would make him a Lightning McQueen rainbow cake for his birthday.

So the Friday after Thanksgiving, I had the boys all to myself. All three of us made the cake together. I wish I had some pictures to show you because it was all so cute (and so professional!) Desmond, who is only three, cracked his egg without getting any shell in the mixture. (Langston and I only got a tiny bit of shell in the mixture but we got it all out.) We followed all the directions to the letter and then Langston decided on the colors. We had special Wilton Lightning McQueen colors but tried to use very little of them per instructions from their mother. She prefers that their food be as natural and organic as possible.

Langston is a pretty easy going guy so he was okay with the colors being muted. We chose three colors plus the uncolored batter, which was yellow. And then we just plopped all the colors inside the pan with
a spoon. I wish I had taken a picture before it went in the oven or even more pictures of the slices. The colors were orange, seafoam green, dark yellow and then the light yellow batter. If you look really hard you can see the blue in the slice I’m holding.

We decided to let it cool overnight and then frost the next day. I made a basic buttercream frosting and then came the fun part. We determined that Langston would be the Director, I would be the Worker and Desmond, who is three, would be the Assistant. They took their jobs very seriously. Langston would refer to the Wilton picture and directions and then direct me which nozzle to use and where each color should be piped. Desmond would get the colors ready for me. Again, we made the colors a lot less vivid than the Wilton picture so that we wouldn’t have to use so much coloring. The main body color was a little harder to pipe as it warmed up so I should have made it in two batches. We worked very quickly as everyone was waiting for us to finish so that they could eat it and open presents.

I used a new piping bag filling technique that you can see here. Basically, the frosting goes into saran wrap, then you fold it over in to a pouch. You grab each end and sling it around until the ends become really tight and can be fed into the piping bag. (It’s much easier to understand if you watch the link.) This is the best tip I’ve ever had for frosting. I only had to use one piping bag for all those different colors. And it only flew out of my hands once! Eek.

When we finished the top, we decided to write Langston’s name and his age on the sides. We also wrote the number 5 in Cantonese. Langston drew the symbol for me and I copied it.

We were all very excited when it was finally complete. Desmond even kissed me!
We all gathered around, sang “Happy Birthday” and then Langston made a wish and blew out the candles. Afterwards, he opened all his gifts and then we finally got to enjoy the cake! Many people (I won’t name names) had more than one slice.

Aren’t they the cutest?

A week of parties–Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

This picture from my 365 Project sums it all up:

So, as I was saying in my last post before I got all caught up with Neely, Ann, and Jennifer (the dolls!!), this year Thanksgiving was celebrated at my little place in Long Beach. We ended up having 14 people, although one didn’t eat at the table with us because he is only 4 month old! I borrowed a table and many chairs from two different neighbors. One neighbor emptied out most of her refrigerator and freezer for me to use for the week. I also used a different neighbor’s oven for several dishes when we figured out that the turkey was sitting in an oven that had been turned off an hour earlier! Nothing like a little Thanksgiving turkey drama.
I made several copies of the dinner menu for guests to peruse before dinner.
My mother got many compliments from Tinu’s cousins about her cheese ball. We’ve all been making her recipe for years. It’s a family favorite.
She also got raves for a new recipe that she created – Blue Cheese Slaw. I am still trying to get the recipe from her. I hope she remembers how she made it. It was a HUGE hit and the first dish to be finished.
We added several dishes at the last minute so before we added them, we were afraid that we wouldn’t have enough food. Boy were we wrong. There were so many leftovers.
We made a 23 pound turkey – well, mostly Jessica and my mother made it. My father did the carving (by hand as he didn’t realize that I had put a electric carving knife right by him – oops! I guess he did it the same way the pilgrims probably did.)
I made chicken a la king using all leftovers but I adapted the recipe quite a bit so I am now calling it “Turkey a la Celine”. It was very yummy.
Another hit was my mother’s Out of This World Salad (which is actually in my Joys of Jello booklet!) She insisted on calling it Out of This World Jellied Salad. She makes it every year, usually serving it in a bowl. This year she gave her recipe to Karen, who made it in an original Jello mold. It turned out looking beautiful and tasty.
As usual, I was so busy that I didn’t take many pictures. A few of these pictures were taken by Karen and my mom posted some on her blog. She was especially happy that we found mince pie for her so she posted quite a few pictures of pies.

Here are a few pictures of the food and people enjoying it.

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving too. My nephews are posing outside my door with a picture that they made for it in honor of our big turkey. Aren’t they so cute?
Whew…only one more party to go…stay tuned!

A week of parties–Valley of the Dolls

2011-12-03T21:45:00.001-08:00

Or in other words…boy, am I pooped! (This was going to be one post about three "parties" but I got so carried away with the first one that I am going to spare you all by creating separate posts. You can thank me later...)

Since this is my last year in my unit at Stoneybrook, it was decided that we would have Thanksgiving here. Wait, first let me back up. For those of you who don’t know, I love, love, love anything Jacqueline Susann and anything Valley of the Dolls (but NOT Beyond Valley of the Dolls!!) What does this have to do with Thanksgiving? Well, I have been talking about having a Valley of the Dolls party for like for-ev-er. So, I enticed my sister to come earlier than everyone else if I finally had this party.
Due to my dwindling funds, I kept the party very small, plus a few of my friends had other plans that couldn’t change. The only props I bought were some “silver” trays from the dollar store to throw all my “pills” onto (actually candy.) I made several props that only a true movie lover would know. Only one of my friends hadn’t already seen the movie, so we each took turns acting the scene that went with the prop and I did a serious reading of the opening of the book. Great stuff!!
I made little stars out of foam board and painted them with glitter paint pens (that I had on hand!) Then I stuck skewer sticks in them and put them in a coke bottle (because Jennifer North orders coke in the movie.) These were all placed on a silver tray with dolls on them (which is also a scene in the movie with Neely.) Karen acted this scene out and added the montage scene of Neely exercising and taking dolls (while her then husband, Mel – played by one of my favorite Route 66 actors Martin Milner – shakes his head “no.”)

Sparkle Neely, Sparkle!

My sister did an awesome impression of Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson singing “I’ll Plant My Own Tree.”
This picture from the movie is from a great blog post about Valley of the Dolls and the Roman Calendar. Plus it has lots more great pics from the movie, including one of my favorites of Neely singing with her necklace accidentally encircling her “boobies, boobies, boobies…”

Lastly, I acted out the scene between Jennifer and her mother “I sent you fifty dollars last week Mother…”where she tells her mother that she will take her fur back to the pawn shop to get more money for her.

Then we proceeded to watch the movie while eating all our goodies. I used vintage Pyrex and a fondue set from the 60’s. Karen brought her vintage chip and dip set for our favorite onion dip from Trader Joe’s (read all about it on An Immovable Feast’s blog.) She also brought a vintage punch bowl set (matching ladle and cups – very fancy), in which she made a classic sherbet punch. Ahem, some us of may have spiked ours, as well. To go with the fondue was Swedish meatballs, apple slices, French bread and asparagus. Jessica requested mushroom caps and I found some freshly made at the grocery store. This saved me a lot of time from having to make one of the recipes in my vintage cookbooks. I didn’t know that mushroom caps are still popular but it turns out the Trader Joe’s also carries them frozen. I have them now in my freezer waiting for the next round of guests.

Lastly, Arlene made a requested dessert from my Joys of Jello book, the Crown Jewel Dessert. This is also known as Broken Glass Jello as seen here on The Simple Skillet Blog. If any of you want my original recipe, email me so I can send you the pdf that I scanned.

It was really tasty. Arlene went above and beyond by making the colored Jellos in the shape of circles so it matches the crazy circles in “I’ll Plant my Own Tree”!

My 365 Project–November 2011

2011-12-01T16:01:00.001-08:00

If you haven’t noticed, I have a link to My 365 Project to the left. I will be taking one picture a day, every day, for 365 days. I try to post the picture the same day but sometimes it gets posted later. However, I do take a picture every day. Some days it is hard to squeeze in a picture and others it is so hard to chose only one. I am trying to pick subjects that are not covered in my blog.

Each day is like a short online diary entry but with a picture. My life is in such flux right now and I don’t even know where I’ll be in a month. I hope this project will be a nice way for me to really appreciate each day and to look back at where I’ve been.

So, here’s the link to November’s pictures. When you get there, you can look at each picture individually if you want (or not). Most of them come with a description as well. Note that I started on November 4th so it’s not a complete month but I did not miss any days.

Book Club–Sarah’s Key

2011-11-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

Last night, we had our monthly book club gathering. This month’s book was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. When I was first invited to join the Stoneybrook Book Club, the books had already been selected for several months. A different member of the club hosts the gathering each month and for my month the book that had been preselected was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I loved this book and went on to read the other two in the series. For my first book club gathering, I added a Swedish dinner. It was really a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of my delicious princess cupcakes. They tasted a LOT better than they looked and had all the requisite layers. If you want to see the look I was going for (and the recipe), go to the cookie shop blog. This is very labor intensive but way better than the Ikea ones (which are good in a pinch.)

Plus, mine had alcohol in them!!

Anyway, I digress. The reason I give you all this backstory is that I had so much fun hosting a night to match the book that I suggested that we each get to select the book to read for the month we are hosting. And to my pleasure, the group agreed. My next book was suggested by most everyone in my family – The Glass Castle. Then when my turn came again, I chose Sarah’s Key based on my mom’s recommendation. Again, I went all out.

I created a sign for my front door and then used the same motif to create labels for all my food.

Since Sarah’s Key is in France, I labeled all the food in French (with my mom’s help, of course!)

I tried to pick French theme-food, including some French sandwiches (made by Lee’s Sandwiches – a small Vietnamese and Euro-style sandwich shop chain.) I printed very small versions of the book cover and taped them to toothpicks. I used these on a few of the sandwiches and Deli Manjoo pastries. (Click on pictures to bigify and read labels!)

I made a galette with fresh peaches. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take pictures until after the gathering so there isn’t much left to see.

Besides all the cute (if I do say so myself) labels by the food, I tried to use some French dishes. It’s hard to see in the pictures but you may notice a bowl and mug with my name on it. (Unlike America where I have never seen my name on anything except while in Vegas, in France my name is more common and preprinted on lots of stuff!! Both of these were gifts, one from my Mom and one from my grandmother, Mémère.)

I decorated by putting some paintings and pictures of France and French landmarks, stacking up some books written in French, and putting out a pile of pictures from my visits to France.

Any suggestions as to what my next book should be?

*If you are wondering if I saw the movie,…I did. And I did NOT like it.

It’s Your World, Squirrel

2011-11-13T21:09:00.001-08:00

Many squirrels reside on the grounds of our condos. They are well fed, unafraid of humans or cats, and have lots of offspring. I have many stories about these lively squirrels but will spare you for fear of becoming known as that crazy squirrel lady. Here is a picture of two of them hanging out in the tree in front of my deck. (Can you find them? Click on picture to bigify.)

They create endless hours of fascination for my cats (and sometimes myself - the young ones are so cute.) Last year they created havoc on my Halloween pumpkin.

So I after seeing this picture on flickr, I decided to copy it but with a twist. I stitched this cute little thing in a weekend and after I was done, I got the pattern emailed to me! That would have made it a lot easier but I am so impatient…

So you are wondering why did I choose the words “It’s Your Screen Squirrel”??

See below for a daily occurrence.

Thinking about all these squirrels gave me an idea when Karen made chicken pot pies. They should have a squirrel on them!

She was gracious enough to use my cookie cutter on her delicious pies!

I bet by now you are probably thinking that I am a crazy squirrel lady….

Furs with Louisa May and booze with Matt Helm

2011-11-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've watched What a Way to Go! with Shirley MacLaine and all her leading men so I convinced Karen to come over and watch it with me. As the movie progressed, I realized that it would be more fun to try wear some of my vintage furs while watching the movie to emulate Shirley and her many fur changes...
(This blog has a great post about all the different furs in the movie, with lots of pictures.)
Surprisingly, I do have many vintage furs that kinda match the movie. (I have not bought any furs in years and years and I would never buy a new fur so please no comments about that.) During this scene, I ran out of the living room and then ran back in and sat on the sofa with this very fur wrapped around my head (sans the bow.) Karen freaked.
This is a picture I took after the fact with some of the furs. The one on my head is the one that started it all.

Here are two that prompted me to get out my blue marabou.

Then I just brought them all out and Karen got into it as well!

So the plot is cute but not great and the movie is slow in areas but if you haven’t seen this movie, I’d highly recommend it IF:

a) you enjoy fashion! The budget for all the wardrobe changes was fantastic for the time ($500,000) and all of Ms. MacLaine’s outfits were designed by Edith Head. This youtube video gives you a glimpse of some of them but there is a fantastic, very risqué outfit that isn’t in this preview that you must see!

b) you love men! Paul Newman, OMG, Paul Newman. This is reason enough for me to watch the movie again and again. All the men are more attractive then I seem to remember them – even Gene Kelley! (But then by this time, I was suffering a mild case of heat exhaustion underneath all my furs so don’t take my word for it!) Dean Martin was also dreamy, which caused me to immediately rent The Silencers.

The Silencers is the first in a quartet of movies featuring the main character Matt Helm. He is supposedly a spoof of James Bond. Since Dino was so dreamy in What a Way to Go, I figured he’d have to be even better as a womanizing spy.

Ugh! This movie was awful! I think he must have been drunk throughout the whole thing. There was no plot and the acting…I hasten to even call it acting.

Oh Stella (Stevens), you annoyed me more than any female ever has on the screen.
And Cyd (Charrisse), why were you even in this movie? Your singing was dubbed and you wore one of the most ridiculous outfits I’ve ever seen.
And poor Daliah Lavi, you look gorgeous through most of the movie but your character takes such a bizarre turn. At least you went on to Casino Royale.

Would I recommend this movie?
Believe it or not, YES! The first 15 minutes are CLASSIC.
There’s a funny bit about the radio with old blue eyes. Just beware that there is almost no plot and the acting is atrocious. And if you’ve seen Austin Powers, you’ll definitely pick up some similarities. But there’s eye candy for everyone so settle in, don’t think, oh, and by all means drink lots of booze – you know – to get into the character of Matt Helm.

Classic Cookbook Challenge

2011-11-06T01:35:00.001-07:00

Over the past few years, I have picked up quite a few vintage cookbooks. I love looking through them, especially the pictures and illustrations. My friend Karen and I found quite a few Better Homes and Garden cookbooks from the 60's the other day at a thrift shop. Since we are both broke, we each only bought one. It took us forever to only choose those two. One that got away that we both wanted was Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cookbook, hint hint.
The reason I mention this is because later that evening, I started a new project called 365project. (I’ve created a permanent link on the sidebar to the left.) It’s a site where you take one picture a day and upload it. So I thought I would start by having my first picture be of a few of my most recent cookbook acquisitions. Then that got me to thinking. Besides challenging myself to take a picture every day for a year, how about if I created a cooking challenge stemming from my new, old cookbooks? And what if I managed to get some more in the process? Hence Celine’s Classic Cookbook Challenge was born!
Here’s what I am doing:
Each month for the next twelve months, I am going to make one recipe from a different “vintage” cookbook. The cookbooks have to be printed between the 1950's and the 1970's. If someone wants to donate a cookbook to me, then they can chose the recipe that I will make from it. (So here’s you chance to get rid of a cookbook cluttering up your house or pick up one at a garage sale. You can have me make something ridiculous, if you want!)
To start off this challenge, I let Karen pick out a recipe (any recipe she wanted – I did not look at the book before she picked something) out of the book she just purchased, Better Homes and Gardens Cooking for Two, first printing – 1968.

She picked a recipe called Shrimp Curry Luncheon. Unfortunately, it does not have a picture but I did scan the recipe. (You can click on picture to “bigify.”)

I looked through the book and decided to make a dessert that does have an accompanying picture, Mint Patty Alaskas. Ever since I found out Ted Baxter’s favorite dessert was the Baked Alaska, I’ve always been meaning to make one. (You know Ted, the newscaster from WJM!) Neither Karen nor I like peppermint candies so I decided to eliminate them. Then after an exhaustive internet and grocery store search for chocolate-coated ice cream patties (or any ice cream patties – for gosh sakes – what the heck are they??), I decide to make the recipe more like a traditional Baked Alaska. I also decided that I should add a classic wedge salad and Karen whole-heartedly agreed.
Lastly, the book had a page that gave me “Hints on Wine” so Karen gave me the appropriate white wine which I chilled for two hours in the fridge as directed.
I started the menu by making the insides of the Baked Alaskas. I used Black Raspberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream instead of the “chocolate-coated peppermint ice cream patties.” I let the ice cream thaw on the counter for 30 minutes or so. Then I spooned some into each sponge cake to resemble a small mound, like I think I’ve seen done for traditional Baked Alaskas.

I then put the whole Pyrex dish in the freezer. Oops! After I rearranged the freezer, I then put the whole Pyrex dish in the freezer.Next I got started on the Shrimp Curry Luncheon. What kind of name is that for a recipe anyway? It sounds like an event not a dish. Wait, did I just answer my own question?
So the first step is to cut avocado slices and brush with lime juice. Odd. I was very impressed with my avocado slicing abilities but then I just squeezed some lime juice on them and totally ignored the “brush” part of the instructions. These lime juice-covered-slices are supposed to be in a warm oven for 5 to 10 minutes, which leads me to believe that the author assumes that one can complete the next steps in that amount of time. HA! If there is a work time given in a recipe, then I have to at LEAST TRIPLE it to find my actual time. A recipe boasts that it only takes 15 minutes to make? Then I can’t make it in under 45 minutes. That’s just how I roll folks. Anyway, back to my poor avocado slices. Once I realized that they were definitely going to be in the oven more that the required 5 – 10 minutes, I lowered the temp from 300 to 250. Not sure if that helped. They tasted fine but looked like this when they came out of the oven.
On to the next steps, which take place on the stove in my “new” old Corning Ware “Spice of Life” skillet. So exciting!!!! One thing I definitely learned is that having the ingredients prepped before you start cooking would probably help with the time issues I was having. Chop, chop, chop. (Plus, I still had to chop an egg and wedges for my salad.)
Initially, the stove portion of the recipe did not look that good. And eeks!, what a lot of butter. Julia would be proud!

I think this picture looks pretty cool because if you really look, you can see the steam coming from the pan…

As a disclaimer, I should mention that Karen helped assemble the wedge salad and opened the wine. I figured since recipes were not part of my “challenge” that this would be okay. I had chopping to do People!
I thought the meal was very pretty and to me, it also looked very “vintage.” I felt like I was transported back to the Mad Men era. Karen and I both liked the recipes very much. In fact, I would make it again and think it would be perfect for a ladies luncheon or a bridge game (if I remotely knew how to play bridge!) I am not a fan of curry but the curry really worked here. It wasn’t overpowering yet kept the sauce, which has lots of butter and sour cream, from being too rich. The avocado added to the overall creamy-ness of the dish. The English muffin soaked up the sauce but didn’t become soggy. And there was just enough shrimp that you got some shrimp in every other bite or so but it wasn’t fishy tasting. Really this recipe was much yummier than I would have ever imagined just by reading it. Even though it wasn’t a huge volume of food, we were both very full after eating it.
And yes, we were full but we decided that I should continue on with dessert. I mean how can anyone be too full for dessert? I took out my divided Pyrex dish from my rearranged freezer and moved the two Alaska insides to another Pyrex dish that was room temperature. I would hate to shatter my beloved Pyrex by putting her in the oven after being frozen!!
At this point, I was following the recipe again. Karen and I were surprised how easy the meringue was to make. And it seemed like the recipe made a LOT of it. I just blopped it over each ice cream/sponge cake mound with a spoon then used a spatula to try and make some peaks.
It took three minute in the oven for them to look divine. Karen had the great idea to shave some dark chocolate on top. And then we dug in. This dessert is a winner! I will totally make it again. The ice cream I picked was perfect. The flavor combinations of the raspberry, dark chocolate, sponge cake and meringue is delicious. And to have the ice cream be cold is refreshing but it was never so cold that you had to worry about brain freeze. The sponge cake and even the fruity ice cream flavor that I picked out, kept the meringue from feeling too sweet. I think the dessert looked very elegant (or elegante as this cookbook likes to call recipes.) Maybe Ted Baxter wasn’t so dumb after all!
So I wonder what my Classic Cookbook Challenge will be for December???

Fall is finally here!

2011-11-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

My Mother has posted some nice fall pictures on her blog and my cousin,

Ken, posted some gorgeous fall photos on Facebook.

Click on pictures to bigify!

Inspired, I walked around my condo and took these photos.

This is as “fall” as it gets here in Long Beach. Some evenings I have to wear pants instead of shorts and use a blanket on the bed but then during the afternoons, shorts are still a must. But I do feel like it is slowly getting cooler.

Speaking of fall or autumn, I found a guest towel on sale at Michael’s and was inspired to whip up a cute fall towel. I have loads of thread that I have bought at Estate sales. The problem with these is that many colors don’t have any identification on them or are from defunct companies. Therefore, they can’t really be used with specific patterns.

There are several French blogs that I follow for their nice, free cross stitch designs. My favorite is Gazette 94; I decided to use one of her designs. It has everything I love – pumpkins, squirrels, mushrooms, and acorns!

I cut out the images that I wanted to use and taped them together into a long line. Then I went through all my thread and picked cute colors. On the leaf and the small mushroom, I combined two colors so if you look at it in person it is a very subtle, cool effect.

This was a relatively quick and easy project that will now be a cute hand towel in my guest bathroom for the Thanksgiving celebration I am hosting. Nice, huh?

Day of the Dead

2011-11-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

This is a tile hinging in my spare room that my parents gave me for my birthday a few years ago.

Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that takes place on November 1st and 2nd to coincide with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. I don’t remember seeing much about this holiday when I lived in Georgia but here in Southern CA, it seems to be celebrated for a few weeks. Today is technically Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead and yesterday, November 1st is Día de los Inocentes or Day of the Innocents (children).

I went to MOLAA on their free Target day to see their Día de los Muertos celebration. Of course, there were lots of booths to buy things. Then they were several altars, one (not pictured) which was for someone’s cat.

Unfortunately, I had so much fun that I pretty much forgot to take pictures. This was an interesting one about Charles Bukowski. He must of really liked his alcohol and cigarettes as they were featured throughout his altar.

Then I sat down outside (next to children making paper flowers – which is where I got the idea to make these.) There were a whole bunch of traditional dances (including the hat dance.) I wish I had taken more pictures of them as the outfits were phenomenal and there were many dances featuring only children – so cute!

Last year, I asked my parents to surprise me with some Day of the Dead items since they were in Mexico during that time. So this year, I created a little Day of the Dead display.

The cross stitch was a birthday surprise for Karen. She picked the design from the Etsy shop Bombastitch and I cross stitched it. We are still looking for a cool, edgy black frame for it. It’s pretty large and I used a much smaller weave than it called for or it would have been even larger!

My friend and neighbor, Helgard, always celebrates Dia de los Muertos. She and Karen organized the Day of the Dead skeleton making craft this year and she took us to the MOLAA event. Look how cool her front door is.

Lastly, since the skull or calavera is the main symbol for Day of the Dead, I added a few to my October display in the dining room.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

My Facebook friends have already seen these adorable and yummy Mummy Meatloaves but I had to post them for Halloween. They were delicious and relatively easy (not including the piping of the mashed potatoes) so I will make them again. Plus, they are healthy!

The secret ingredient is a grape tomato in the center of each one. I halved the recipe since it was just for me and my BFF, Karen. (And the kitties had just a little too!)
I’ll leave you with a few pictures that I took around my neighborhood. Happy Halloween to all.

Julia Child, Julie and Julia, Descoware, Pyrex

2011-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Notice the Chococat bookmark?

I just started reading the book "As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto." Much to my surprise, I am loving it! Not only does it reveal Julia's cooking techniques and her road to publishing the first volume of the legendary "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" but it also illuminates the attitudes and political climate of the 50's. In one letter Avis tells Julia that all her friends have electric dishwashers and how horrid she thinks the whole concept is. She refuses to ever get one.

I still have a long way to go with the book but based on what I've already read, I just know I will continue to love it. I took a break and watched Julie and Julia, a movie which I taped a long time ago and never got around to watching. Do NOT watch this movie if you are also reading "As Always, Julia." From the very beginning, there are huge inconsistencies with the portion of the movie that deals with Julia Child, Avis and the publishing of her first book. And the inaccuracies continue throughout. This kind of thing drives me NUTS. I am guessing that the writers (Nora Ephron, Julie Powell) thought it made for a better movie but it pretty much ruined the whole thing for me. Knowing that Julia Child did not like Julie Powell's blog (which they do mention in the movie), it made me think that she would HATE the movie since her life was not portrayed accurately. Oh, well. She and her husband's grandnephew are credited as writers for the movie because their book "My Life in France" was used. (Julia's husband was deceased when she was working on this book, which was published posthumously.)

Le Creuset stopped all production of Descoware
after they purchased the company.

The other thing that has bugged me about the movie is that Julia Child (played by Meryl Strrep) is shown using a Le Creuset cast iron round casserole. However, my friend Karen collects Descoware so I know all about it and that it was Julia's choice. I wonder did she also use Le Creuset or is it a product placement for the movie? I did read on the web that Le Creuset sales soared after the movie came out. The movie does use the same color of pot as the popular Descoware "cherry flame" but you can clearly see that it is marked Le Creuset. In the movie, they also show this same Le Creuset casserole in the Smithsonian's display of Julia Child's kitchen. I went to the Smithsonian's website and looked at all the pictures of the actual display but I couldn't tell which brand the pot was. However, I did learn that Julia liked cats in the kitchen - just like me!

Okay, so I know I've gone on and on about this pot thing but it just bugs me that a TV show like Mad Men can try so much harder than a major motion picture. Sigh.

As a result of the movie, I have reserved "My Life in France" and "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" from the library and plan to read them soon. I may even try to cook an aspic recipe! After all, I do have a vintage ring mold that I have been dying to use.

What does all this have to do with vintage Pyrex? Well, nothing really. But I have a few cool pieces from Goodwill and one is from the early 60's. I'd like to imagine that someone made a recipe from Julia's book in this very dish!

Here is the 60's piece. Wouldn't it look great with mushroom caps in it? This piece is from the "Town and Country" Pyrex collection which was sold from 1961 to 1967.

Underneath is a 1.5 pint refrigerator dish. This is the first piece I got and I knew NOTHING about vintage Pyrex at the time. After some research, I found out that because of the rectangular stamp on the bottom and the style of the lid, that this is not from the 50's but most likely from the 70's (which is okay too - just not as valuable.) I'm not sure which way the lid fits on top as both ways seem to work.

By the way, the blog Pyrex Love is not only entertaining but a source that I use often to research older pieces, such as this one.

The last piece in my "new" collection is a 4 quart bowl from a four piece bowl set of the "daisy" collection. Here is a great ad from 1970 that shows that the set retailed for $5.95. It will be perfect for my father's famous Clam Dip (which also was Helen Gurley Brown's favorite splurge item as described in my original Single Girl's Cookbook!!)

I think Julia would appreciate that there is a cat in my kitchen! Thanks Stormy.

“She was my first cat ever, and I thought she was marvelous. ”
― Julia Child, My Life in France

The Last of Sheila and the Spice of Life

2011-10-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday nights, I sometimes go to the Friday Film Forum "...a volunteer program dedicated to the art and history of motion pictures." They show classic movies released prior to 1976. Because of them I have seen two Charlie Chaplin movies, a great Tony Curtis movie (The Sweet Smell of Success), Robert Mitchum in Farewell, My Lovely, Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid, and White Christmas on the big screen! (There are others but I can't think of them right now.) As you can see, I do gravitate to the later movies. So when I heard that they were going to show The Last of Sheila from 1973, I was very excited. (Remember, I am in to all things 70's right now!)

Well, besides this movie having lots of twists and turns in the plot, I really loved it because it was totally 70's all the way. Maybe even more than The Bob Newhart Show, my current guilty pleasure.

Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, the following things happened:

1) The mushroom lamp that is on Roger Sterling's desk in Mad Men was on a Richard Benjamin's desk.

2) Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch talked about The Sleeping Beauty Diet which is featured in the book Valley of the Dolls. (It's not talked about in the movie - read the books folks, it's a classic!!)

3) Dyan Cannon drinks a TAB! (Look for the iconic can at the very bottom of the picture, towards the middle.)

TAB

So in conclusion, I would recommend seeing this little gem of a movie, not only for Dyan Cannon's crazy, hippy 70's outfits, but for a great story that will have you second guessing "who did it" and wondering how James Coburn kept his teeth so white!

Speaking of all things 70's, I've decided to start collecting pieces of Corning Ware with the popular 70's pattern "Spice of Life." I'm sure you've all seen it as it was very popular all the way through the mid-80's. After Thanksgiving, I am going to start selling off my Pfaltzgraff and replacing it with vintage Pyrex (I will have another post about this soon) and this cute mushroom and vegetable pattern. I should end up ahead monetarily becasue my Pfaltzgraff pattern is discontinued and sells pretty well on eBay. As for the Spice of Life, I intend on only getting it at yard sales and thrift stores. I got two perfect pieces today for under $5.

I have a total of four pieces, the first piece which was given to me by my BFF, Karen! So far, all the pieces I own I have French phrases on them but it appears that many were made without any words on them as well. I do adore the French phrases.

Now you all know what you can get me for Christmas!!

Le Romarin (Rosemary) with lid is a 10x10x2. It doesn't list the quart size so I filled it with water and it took 10 quarts to fill it. Maybe this size isn't ever measured in quarts??
La Marjolaine (Marjoram) was the gift from Karen. It is a 2 quart.

Le Persil (Parsley) is a 6 1/2 inch pan.

Le Sauge (Sage) is a 2 1/2 cup saucepan with a cute pouring spout. I am thinking about using this for my gravy at Thanksgiving since I don't have a gravy boat. What do you think?

I believe that all of these pieces originally came with lids. I am hoping that all glass Corning Ware lids (made by Pyrex) are interchangeable so that I will be able to get some to fit, eventually. Also, all four of these pieces say that they can be used on the range, oven and microwave. How cool is that?

October Social

2011-10-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

We have a Social Committee for the condos where I live. This month they put on a Day of the Dead/Pumpkin Carving Party. These parties are always a LOT of fun because even though there are more than 500 units, it seems that mostly my neighbors show up. So it's like a block party or something. There are always plenty of drinks for the adults!

Some of the spooky food included cemetary brownies that my friend Maria made, popcorn in baggies that looked like skeletal hands and mice eating cheese. Of course, I used my candy corn tray again and there was a cool punch with finders and hands in it.

Crafts for the kids (and adults!) included skeleton making with wine corks, pumpkin carving and paper flowers.

Although I helped with other pumpkins, here is my Owl Jack O'Lantern. It was quite tedious but a margarita helped me power on!

I also made two paper flowers.

(You can click on any of the pictures to bigify.)

October 21st is Céline Day

2011-10-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

No, really, it is! You can find it lots of places on the web, such as here and here. According to Wikipedia, "In France name days (in French: fête) have long been very important in everyday culture and it's still traditional to give a small gift to a friend or family member on their name day."

Here is a card that my Mother gave me years ago.

Candy Corn Cupcakes for Bunco Night

2011-10-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

My good friend and neighbor invited me to attend her Bunco Night last night. (I was a substitute.) It really was a fun night with a great group of ladies! And I had the high score for the evening. Whee! Beginner's luck, I guess.

Anyway, I asked her if I could bring dessert as I wanted to try and recreate these cute candy corn cupcakes that I found on the cool blog The Sugar Turntable.

I used a chocolate cake recipe that I like because they are so light and moist (secret ingredient in them is sour cream and of course I added additional cocoa powder!!) I had never made them as cupcakes but so far every cake that I like works as cupcakes too. And for the filling, I completely made up a recipe that was delicious! Very light and fluffy. Email me if you want it!

So I started by using only cupcake liners that mimicked the colors of a classic candy corn. Once the cupcakes were baked, it was very hard to tell unless you were really looking for it.

After I made the cupcakes, I filled two test cupcakes. I discovered that the colors were too light and also that each layer needed to "set" before the next one was added so that there would be more color definition. I added a chocolate ganache to the to top and then decide that the candy corn "popped" if another dollop of white frosting was on top of the ganache. Karen was kind enough to come over and eat one of the samples right away!

I darkened the yellow and orange fillings and started working. The cupcakes had been made the night before and chilled in the fridge as that makes them easier to work with. I cut a cone shape out of the top and then cut off the bottom of the cone (to eat later!!) I used a piping bag and put in a little white. Then I put them back in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill. Then I used a tasting spoon to put in the orange filling and back in the fridge. Then I piped in the yellow on top and put the cupcake top back on and yes, back in the fridge.

With some of the cupcakes, once the tops were back on a little bit of the yellow filling could been seen. These got more ganache on them to cover up any yellow or lines of demarcation.

After I put on the ganache (which was so hot that a DROP burned my hand), I put the cupcakes in the fridge again so the ganashe would set. Then I piped two dots of the while filling on top and inserted a candy corn. Then I put them all back into the fridge to work on the candy corn tray.

For the tray, I used a plastic tray on top of a wooden tray. (My sister gave me this wooden tray a long time ago for my birthday.) I placed four candy pumpkins at each quarter point on the rim. Then I put a dot of peanut butter on the back of each candy corn and placed them up and down around the tray. I sprinkled loose candy corn on the exposed parts of the green tray. I am going to use the trays again for another party this Saturday (with fresh candy corn on the green tray of course.)

Unfortunately, I waited until I got home after the party to cut the last one open. It had been at room temperature for several hours and the knife smeared the colors. But it still looks pretty cool.

Would I make them again? Probably not. As an old boss of mine, Angelo, used to say "the juice wasn't worth the squeeze." However, I would make the recipe again with all the filling just white. They were DELICIOUS. Like a hostess cupcake but a million times better.

I ran out of the yellow filling after 12 cupcakes so for the remaining cupcakes, I just filled them with the white filling using a long Bismark tip 230. I just smooched in filling until the cupcake was bulging and some was coming up. I then covered that up with the ganache. Lastly, I used a star tip to pipe some orange frosting. The frosting wasn't cold enough when I piped it, so it collapsed under the candy corn. These were pretty simple and still quite yummy too.

Lastly, I just had to post this picture of Karen's vintage chip and dip bowls. How cool are these? I will definitely be borrowing them for my Valley of the Dolls parties!

Owls, owls, owls

2011-10-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

I guess I've always had a thing for owls. I've heard one in the trees when I lived in Georgia but I've never actually seen one wild in person. But one can dream....

Anyway, I thought I'd show you some of the owls in my home right now, besides the already mentioned owl wreath. I have many owl "projects" in the works so this is only a sampling.

The green owls were a surprise gift from a good friend. (Yes, that's me in the picture. My mom blogged about that very picture here: Wishing For Snow.)

The large owl on the wall is a bread basket. I had a clock up there but my cats kept trying to nibble on the owl, so I hastily threw him up there to keep him from harm's way. And that's where he has stayed.

The owl with the scissor eyeglasses is a recent birthday gift from my parents. It also holds string and had been hanging in their laundry room for years. And it's covering up an eyesore, a blank plastic switch plate, too!

The owl outside was meant to scare squirrels and it did for a while but now they just ignore it. This owl is all over Southern California. Oh, and my cats freaked when I first brought it home!

If you love owls, then you should check out one of my FAVORITE blogs, My Owl Barn. I visit it almost everyday. Nothing but OWLS!!

I've had the silver owl for a long time. It's not the greatest picture of it but I wanted to show how well it goes with my mod lamp. And notice my prized book by legendary Helen Gurley Brown - Single Girl's Cookbook. I'll be using it for my upcoming Valley of the Dolls party!!

The orange owl is from South America and is supposed to be good luck. A good, well-traveled friend gave it to me and I keep it over the ashes of Caj and Miska.

If you've seen me recently, then there is a good chance you've seen me wearing these earrings. I wear them several times a week. I mean, really, owls go with everything!

Cupcake Dishcloth Apron

2011-10-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

As I was doing laundry today, I thought I'd share this cute little apron that I made a while ago.

My friend Arlene got me two cute dish towels for Christmas last year. I took some organza ribbon that I had on hand, pulled out my Hello Kitty sewing machine, and tada!! A cute little apron that I use all the time!!

(click on picture above to "bigify")

Wanna closer look at the cute Hello Kitty spoons? They are from a past Yogurtland promotion.

Pom Pom Wreath

2011-10-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

My good friend Arlene started a blog Lemon & Wildwood and has inspired me to start blogging again. So over the next few weeks, I'll try to catch up on a few of the crazy "projects" that I've been doing while I am also looking for work.

In case you hadn't already heard, I am currently into all things late 60's and early to mid 70's. I saw this cute idea to make a pom pom wreath over here. However, I decided I was going to make it as cheaply as possible. I bought a straw wreath from the dollar store and vowed not to spend more than a dollar for each yarn. Ugh...I went so many places and it was much harder than I thought it would be to find dollar yarn. So I didn't really get the colors that I wanted and some of the yarn was not the greatest quality. Plus, the yarns were different textures resulting in different looking pom poms.

I made over 70 pom poms. Since I thought I would only be making 40 or so, I used my little stork embroidery scissors which ended up giving me a blister on my finger. Ouch!

But I think the final result was worth it? What do you think? I have it on my bedroom door right now but will hang it on my front door after my Halloween decorations come down.

New year, new posts?

2010-12-10T17:25:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been a long, long time since my last post. I keep thinking now that there is Facebook, does anyone really want to read my blog anymore? I am thinking that for the new year I will start new posts again. Or I may just take the whole thing down.

Stay tuned...

The City of Brotherly Love

2009-09-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

I just got this post card from my parents whose flight was delayed overnight in Philadelphia. Besides the year or so that I lived there (when Jessica was born), I've never been there...

Nice things!

2009-07-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Last week when I was visiting the Palatine store, I was happily surprised by the sweetest "welcome" sign hanging for me (and Ray, my ~~partner in crime~~, I mean, my co-worker.)

Then, today another co-worker (thanks Marlena!) surprised me by finding my favorite flavor of Orbit gum (which I look for all the time and can NEVER find anymore!!) If anyone finds packs of Mint Mojito, please let me know pronto!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

I wish I could be with you today Father. I found this old picture that I took of you (circa late 80's?)

Besides how cute you look, I think one of the best things about this picture is this mug...do you still use it? We need to find you a new one with a white beard!

My first week

2009-05-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a great first week at my new job at Lakeshore Learning Materials. I have never felt so welcomed before at a new job!! The picture above was waiting for me and another new employee when we walked in on Monday and has been up all week. Several people have taken me to lunch. We celebrated a birthday with carrot cake that rivaled Publix (I am serious & if you know me at all, you know how I feel about Publix carrot cake!!) Fridays are "snack days" where people alternate as a team to bring in all sorts of goodies to eat. Today one girl brought 4 different quiches that she made herself! Plus, there was doughnuts, mixed fruit, a homemade pasta salad, a homemade casserole (yummy), brownies, etc. THEN...for lunch today there was fried chicken and all the fixin's brought in for everyone for Memorial Day. Yes, this is all in the same day!

One thing I know for sure is that I am going to start working out every day after work. Did I mention how close the office is to me?? 15 minutes!!

I take my first trip in a few weeks to visit a new store opening in....East Cobb!! Yes!! Near Merchant's Walk. How awesome is that? Can you tell I am excited?

Happy Mother's Day USA

2009-05-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

My Mother is the best. She routinely lets me celebrate Mother's Day later in the month (May 31 or should I say 31 mai?) via Fête des Mères (French Mother's Day!!)

Since she is still waiting for my very thoughtful gifts to arrive in the mail in time for Fête des Mères, I thought I would post some pictures of Mothers...

I took this picture of Mother and Grandma

in our front yard in Marietta, GA in June 1987 when

Grandma was visiting for my high school gradulation.

I took this picture of Mémère in a cafe in La Samaritaine

when I was vacationing in Paris with Jessica in July 1981.

Back then, it was not part of the LVMH group.

Opposite Marriage

2009-04-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

Just to keep all of you in the know...I copied Wednesday's Word of the Day from urbandictionary.com : opposite marriage

The P.C. way to specify the legal union of a man and a woman, as made popular by Miss California at the 2009 Miss USA pageant.

MISS CALIFORNIA: "We live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage"

After witnessing some horrible behavior by The Donald, I refuse to watch anything that he is a part of or will profit from, so I did not witness California's great representation of our state the other night in the Miss USA contest. (Although I am being slightly facetious, Prop 8 did pass so she is indeed an example of an average Californian, right?? Uuggh... And no, she's NOT from LA!) If you want to see the video or read more about the whole debacle, click the picture to be linked to the whole report.

So was this another political rant post or a post
making fun of a pageant girl who can't communicate?
(Seriously, "opposite marriage"?) You decide.

My trees are blooming...

2009-04-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love the red puffy blooms on these trees. I am so lucky and grateful to have one of these luscious trees right in front of my condo.

I think Spring is in the air...

Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out what kind of tree this is! It's a weeping bottlebrush!

Happy Bunny Day!!

2009-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Quack, quack!!

And speaking of calendars...

2009-04-11T02:30:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, I gave to my parents and to the Ohio Thomases each a super expensive* calendar of Long Beach that is mostly pictures taken around my part (ahem, the good part) of Long Beach. This way every month they can reminisce about me and places we've been together in the LBC.

When Scott was here, we mimicked the January picture. While my parents were here, we were able to capture March and April.
Any volunteers for future months?

JANUARY (In front of the Bayshore library - 2nd Steet - Belmont Shores)

(The day we took Scott's picture it wasn't as clear as the calendar. If you look really closely, you can see the mountains in the background.)

MARCH (Rancho Los Cerritos)

Looks like we had much better sun than the calendar photographer!!

APRIL (Hilltop Park - Signal Hill overlooking Long Beach)
Obviously, we didn't take these pictures with the calendar in mind, so the shots aren't exactly the same. Can you find the oops??

*Okay, the calendars were actually free from the Gas Company, which is funny because I haven't used gas since I've lived in the LBC. (Yes, I have electric stove and electric water heater - but I digress.) I did have to drive over 4 miles to pick them up (more like beg for them) at the Gas Company...

My two nephews love...

2009-04-11T00:50:00.000-07:00

They ♥ LA! They love it!

Yikes...Yargo

2009-04-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

When I was at my parents house, I brought back a few things from my old bedroom. One of the most important was a Jacqueline Susann book that I HAD NOT READ. For those of you who really know me (and my worship of anything Valley of the Dolls ), you must be shocked. I should have warned you to sit down first. It is her first manuscript which was published posthumously. I guess I never read it because it was her first (and sadly, only) foray into science fiction or so I thought. I am not a big fan of that genre (sorry, Tinu). So I read it and I liked it - it was still a JS novel but maybe a little less sleazy and more romance novel-ly but still good. I could definitely tell that she wrote it in the 50's. (Too bad my copy isn't new...not that I could bare to part with it...)

It has been added to my wall/shrine. Believe it or not, I still have a few things to hang there!!

Flurries for my friends in GA

2009-04-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Instead of complaining that it was a little warm today (high 80's), I thought I'd let my friends and family in Georgia know that every time I look at my bunny calendar this month I think of them!!

(Click on calendar page

to see picture up close.)

If April showers bring May flowers,
then what do April snow flurries bring?
Just wondering...

My eyes, my eyes!!

2009-03-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

I know. I have no excuse. I just couldn't resist!!

Birthdays and Cupcakes

2009-03-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

My parents have been visiting with me this past week. My mother's birthday is in March and my father's birthday is in February, so we celebrated them both while they were here. I let them each request a special cupcake...Father requested a groundhog and Mother a frog (big surprise, right?) I also made a "G" cupcake in honor of Greg's birthday which was Saturday. (I ate it for him too!!)
I had a lot of fun making these cupcakes. And since they were double chocolate Kahlua cupcakes filled with a Starbucks liquor cream center, we had lots of fun eating them.

Father has a new friend

2009-03-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T01:38:00.000-08:00

My parents sent me these cute teddy bear peeps (plus, some heart peeps but I ate those before I could turn my camera on.) They are always doing the nicest, most generous things for me.
This past month I was reminded how important it is to tell the people important to you that you love them and are thinking about them. Obviously, we should do this as often as we can but sometimes life gets in the way and we put it off until later. (Not all of us - my friend Sherri and my aunt Ruth are the BEST at keeping in touch with me whether I deserve it or not.) Let's use Valentine's Day this year as a reminder to tell the people who we haven't spoken to in a while that we love them. I ♥ U!

I really was in Ohio last week

2009-02-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I went to Ohio to visit family with a sad detour to GA. The trip to Ohio was very quick and brief with little sleep (though I got way more than Jessica who works crazy long hours). All this is to say that I didn't take any pictures in Ohio. I only took pictures with my camera once and that was of Desmond on the sofa bed at my parents' house after showering (him, not me). I took two quick blackberry pictures of Jessica and Desmond on the tram at the ATL airport because Desmond was so funny every time the tram started. He wasn't so much scared but very startled. Too cute.

(Did you notice the sa-weeet diaper bag in the corner?)

I plan to go back in a few months and will take pictures then. Really, I will.

It's beginning to look like winter

2009-01-22T05:30:00.000-08:00

Today it is only in the 70's...brrrr...okay, okay, I am teasing my East Coast friends! However, it was in the mid-80's just a few days ago. Even though it feels like spring, if I look out my window (actually - sliding doors) of my condo it seems like the dead of winter. "Why?", you may ask. Because for some reason that I don't understand, the city of Long Beach has cut all the greenery of the tree in front of my view. It took them several hours and 4 men. They are continuing down the street with more trees. I know this because it is so loud.

The tree looks so sad. There used to be lots of birds in it and now it is bare. Plus, there is a street light across from me that is no longer blocked by the tree. It feels like it is daytime 24 hours a day in my bedroom, even with the curtains drawn. And with the lack of shade, my condo was still 70 degrees at midnight last night!

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles

2009-01-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, after listening to some really good karaoke at Liquid Lounge with the girls, we went to the famous Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. I have been hearing about this place ever since I first moved here - that it was a landmark and a place I just had to try. I was told that it was by LAX. Little did I know that there is also a location in Long Beach. Really, Long Beach just has it ALL!

Anyone who knows me knows that the only waffles that I generally eat are my Hello Kitty waffles.
(That is Ford's hand forking a HK waffle.)

So although I was told that I should order chicken and waffles, what I really wanted was a chicken biscuit. Like you can get anywhere in Georgia, right? Well, they do NOT have that one their all chicken and waffles menu. Never fear. I ordered side orders - a chicken breast, which I had to tear apart because it was so huge and another side order of a biscuit. Ta da! A chicken biscuit!!

Happy Birthday Jack!

2009-01-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

What happended in Venice Beach?

2009-01-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Scott aka Ford on the rocks in Venice Beach this past Saturday.Click on the picture to see it real size to get the full impact.

Rachel and Scott/Ford

2009-01-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

My cousin Scott aka Ford is visiting me this weekend. He brought along his adorable, witty, smart and beautiful girlfriend, Rachel. Here is a picture of them at Taco Surf on 2nd Street, where we ate dinner tonight (I had the usual fish taco - yummy, yummy). And yes, Scott always looks at me that way.

Jessica and baby Miska

2009-01-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

I came across this picture today and had to share...I hope Jessica doesn't mind.

Who needs a key?

2009-01-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

I have this red fireproof box that has a Master lock on it. I've had it for years and years - I think since high school. Sometime during the move from Vinings to Kennesaw, I lost the key. So I moved it back to Vinings, across the country to CA and to my new place without being able to open it. For those of you keeping track, that's over 10 years that it has been locked.

The other day I decided I was going to open it, damn it! I tried wire cutters on every piece of metal I could attempt to cut. Too thick. I tried prying off the metal enclosure but I barely moved it. Finally, I thought maybe I can pick the lock. I did an internet search and sure enough I found an instructional video on YouTube. I was able to pick the lock with a paperclip in under 3 minutes!!!

Being extremely proud of my lock-picking prowess, I took some before and after pictures. Stormy also got very excited, hence the cat food all over the floor in the background!

Happy 2009

2009-01-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

My New Year was completely uneventful. I had plans but had to cancel because I was yucky sick. So I just stayed home and celebrated with my cats and coughed and sneezed and sniffled, etc...

I hope you all had a great New Year celebration, no matter what you did. As for this blog, I know it has been a little neglected lately. I am going to try to post more regularly, really I am going to try even harder than last time! For the few of you who actually read this (and I thank you!!), I would love some input as to what you would like to see on this blog in the coming year. You can comment or send me an email (as I know some of you are frustrated with my comments procedures.)

Can you guess?

2008-12-25T22:24:00.000-08:00

Last night, I took pictures of the doors on my wing. Some of them are really festive. Can you guess which one is mine?

If you guessed this one, then you win!

Friends and parties

2008-12-24T07:31:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for all my friends this year.

Secret Santa

2008-12-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

I am so lucky that I picked Tamara for our Secret Santa gift exchange. Why am I so lucky? Because she (smartly) loves HK!!

Here she is in her main gift from me...

And thanks to Denise, I am looking forward to sitting in a movie theater with smooth feet!

Christmas Lights on a Small Tree

2008-12-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Who knew that a one foot tree could be so much trouble?? For starters, all the mini ornaments have been picked off by Stormy. So now it only has lights and garland. However, the two strands of lights are very old. Remember the kind where if one light didn't work then the whole strand would not work? Well, that's what I am dealing with. Which means that EVERY time Stormy knocks the tree over, I have to figure out which bulb has to be tightened in each strand so it will be lit again. I have now moved the tree to the spare room with the door shut. So I am not getting much enjoyment out of it. I put the tree on a timer so that at least passerbys on Bellflower would see my holiday cheer for five hours a night.

I went outside to take pictures. I could tell people passing by thought I was nuts. Turns out the tree was too low to see because of the "fencing" around my "deck." So I went inside and moved the tree up. I took another picture so you can see how feeble it looks from the street.

The other pictures are of my neighbors. They must have electricity on their decks which I do not. Maybe next year I'll call an electrician...

Ho!Ho!Ho!

Christmas Cards

2008-12-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year when I get to reconnect with people whom I haven't called back in ages!! This year I feel so lucky to have received a LOT of Christmas cards. It makes getting the mail every day so much fun. I am running out of room to display them all; if I come up with something creative, I'll be sure to share...

I got two cards from my dear friend Susan in Las Vegas (whom I miss so much). Not only a really cute Christmas Santa card, but this one from her 3-Day Cancer Walk that I had to share with you all..

Making cookies in Long Beach

2008-12-18T20:34:00.001-08:00

Christmas cookies LBC style...
UPDATE: Cookie slide show here!!

Good morning!

2008-12-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

My favorite pom pom tree!!

It's getting a little chilly here this morning. Even though I am still wearing flip flops, I needed a LONG sleeved shirt this morning! Hopefully when the sun comes out it will get better. I was planning to hang out by the pool today. I will keep you posted...

Update: It did warm enough for me to go to the pool!!

New Neighbors?

2008-11-29T11:13:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago, I saw not one but two full-size raccoons emerge from the bush in front of my deck and cross Bellflower. (I know you may be thinking "Celine, are there miniature raccoons?" I don't know, but these seemed big and fluffy.)
This morning, I saw this on my storage unit in front of my car...

(You know that this is my storage
unit if you look closely at the lock!)

This is my neighbor's...
also visited by the R's.

Good morning ducks!

2008-11-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

These ducks are amazingly tame. They walk right up to you and take food from your hand!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2008-11-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, really it is not. I am still wearing shorts and flip-flops everyday (the plus side of being out of work!) but someone forgot to tell my "Christmas Cactus" that Christmas is still almost 2 months away.

Halloween Party Pics

2008-11-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but as usual, I barely took any pictures at the parties that we went to on Halloween. After the party we hit 2nd Street, had some treats at Yogurtland and some tricks at Blondies. There were so many great hippie costumes at the party and the house was all tricked out in the era. For example, there was a mirror on the table with lines of coke - really powdered sugar - how cute is that? There was a guy who had a wig that made him totally look like Sonny of Sonny and Cher (yes, there was a Cher there too) and a Vietnam Vet and of course an afro.

Hippie teaser

2008-10-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

These were taken on my blackberry while Carolyn was getting ready. Obviously, I took the headshot myself. These don't do justice to all the accessories on my outfit, for example, the "CAL Labor for Carter/Mondale 76" campaign button. More later...peace out...

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to re-enter the early 70's this evening...I'll take some pictures of the hippie Halloween party that I am going to tonight and post them via my phone. In the meantime, please enjoy this relic from a few years ago...groovy man...far out...

October's Girlfriends Dinner

2008-10-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we had another fun Girl Friends Dinner. This time I was the host. I served mixed green salad with walnuts, cheese, and strawberries with a very calorific poppyseed dressing and cheese toast. For the main course there was campanelle pasta with choice of regular pesto or dried tomato pesto and shaved parmesan, homemade pumpkin "lasagna" (oops, I forgot the nutmeg but it was still okay) and mixed vegetables (green & yellow beans, carrots & cranberries) in a herbed butter sauce. For dessert, there was a 2 layer carrot cake with maple nut frosting (all homemade - the cake had a secret ingredient - butternut squash!) and homemade zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Oh, there was also my standard appetizer of spinach dip in a rosemary olive oil bread "bowl" with raw veggies. And of course, lots of wine.

We celebrated Carolyn's upcoming birthday (and Kate brought lots of presents for my birthday since we didn't have a September dinner - thanks so much K!) Later we all headed to Blondies and took some cake to Phillip and celebrated his birthday. There we saw a human piñata. I wish I had taken more pictures but I always seem to forget. If any of the other girls took some, I will post them later.

So for all of those concerned about my dinner, it was a success. (Oh, and a shout out to Simon and Marlisa who let me borrow their pan for my cake!)

Sunken Treasure?

2008-10-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

Can you see it??

On the way to shopping, I stopped on PCH to look into the bay (I think it may be the Los Cerritos Channel?) and I found a sunken treasure...

Someone went through a lot of trouble to get this shopping cart down there. The whole area is gated off.

I wonder how many people have noticed it?

Just vote no...and congrats!

2008-10-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, there appeared to be a wedding rehearsal going on in front of the Greek church by my condo. So cute. As I rounded the corner, I couldn't believe my eyes. On the church lawn is a sign to vote NO on Prop 8!! If they know the sign is there (or better yet, put it up themselves) then a big YEAH to the church. Even though the rehearsal appeared to be a different-sex couple, it is nice to see a church stand up for equal rights.

If you are interested in Prop 8, you can read about it here. Okay, if you clicked the link then you caught me; this is how I feel about Prop 8. A nonpartisan version is here. Basically, Proposition 8 is a CALIFORNIA initiative to change the CALIFORNIA constitution so that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in CALIFORNIA and therefore eliminates the rights of same-sex couples in CALIFORNIA.

Why do I keep typing "CALIFORNIA" in all caps, you may ask? Because the only two people I know who are for Prop 8 (eliminating rights) do not live in California. The whole country seems to be concerned about this issue for us. In fact, the biggest monetary contributor to the campaign for Prop 8 is from CT. Out of the top 10 largest contribut ors, only 2 are from CA.

There are lots of ads here on TV, most which are misleading and have false claims. An example is if you vote "no" on prop 8 then "gay marriage" will be taught in public schools to your 7 year old. Now, I normally do not talk about politics in this blog because I have many conservative friends whose views differ wildly from mine. I respect the right of each person to have individual views and I would not want conflicting views to impede on my friendships. However I feel VERY strongly about this.

It would be one thing if marriage was only a religious freedom. From what I understand, there is still freedom of religion in the USA. (I know, I know, a little too heavy on the sarcasm Celine.) If so, each couple could have whatever type of "marriage" ceremony that they feel is right for them without involvement or concern of anyone else. However, marriage is a legal bond with legal rights that go along with it. Just ask my business law professor at LBCC; he would love to tell you all about it! Never having opted to get married myself, I don't proclaim to know a lot about the legal ramifications of marriage. But I think that it matters when you are visiting a spouse in the hospital - I think a spouse gets more privilege than a boy or girl "friend" does as they are not considered "kin". (Any doctors out there know?) Taxes, citizenship, division of property go along with marital rights. (Yes, if you can get married then you can get divorced. You would think all attorneys would be against Prop 8!)

I've heard people saying that they are not against homosexual relationships or civil unions. That they are not prejudiced. That they have "gay friends." But they are against same-sex marriage and are voting for Prop 8. So without coming out (no pun intended) and saying it, they are in fact saying that they do feel the legal rights of homosexuals should be different and less than the legal rights of heterosexuals.

Now back to the 7 year old learning about same sex marriage in school...

First of all, this is false. "Not one word in Prop 8 mentions education, and no child can be forced, against the will of their parents, to be taught anything about health and family issues at school. California law prohibits it, and the Yes on 8 campaign knows they are lying. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley has already ruled that this claim by Prop 8 proponents is “false and misleading.” The Orange County Register, traditionally one of the most conservative newspapers in the state, says this claim is false. So do lawyers for the California Department of Education." All the facts vs fiction can be found here.

Secondly, so what? Are children to be shielded from the knowledge that people of the same sex can not only love each other but be in love with each other? Is it so horrible that people love each other and want to be together? Children don't need to know any more than that. Just as children don't need to know why Mommy has a French maid outfit in her closet or a lot of other sexual things that I will leave to your imagination. With all the horrible things going on in the world today, this is what we are worried about our children learning? Really?

So again, normally I do not blog about my views on this site (and whoa, I have many!) but this is one that I feel so, so, so strongly about. A very recent poll shows that Prop 8 will probably pass. So all those marriages will be invalidated. Sorry Ellen. Sorry to some of my recently married friends.

In 2008, how can there be so much hatred and intolerance still in America?? Think about it. What if one of your rights was taken away? What if it was decided that anyone with a cleft chin, like me, could no longer get a driver's license? (Maybe not the best example for any of you that have seen my car recently!) Just as random and discriminatory.

Lastly, since I've gone all out on this post, let me leave you with this last political clip...

Thanks to all those who read this far! Please feel free to post or email me any comments.

Have you voted yet?

2008-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

I am waiting until election day so I can vote in our club house. Fortunately for me, if it is too stressful I am just steps away from our hot tubs and saunas.

A few weeks ago, I called to see if I could be a pollster (okay, the official title is "pollworker" but I don't like the sound of that!) but ALL the slots in Long Beach (the 5th largest city in CA, 34th largest in the nation - in case you were wondering) were already taken. As a side note, I wasn't "volunteering" because of good will but because it pays well and I thought it might be interesting.

Since I have had some extra time this year, I have really delved into our issues, I mean, propositions. We get an official 143 page voters' guide to read. Crazy, isn't it? I don't remember getting that from the state of GA. Later, I got a supplemental guide (15 pages) and then of course, the sample ballot (65 pages) for my district which includes the LA and Long Beach props. And this is only the official, government, nonpartisan stuff. Phew!

I do know that one relative from a battle ground state
has aready put in her vote...shout out to RF!!

What do you like with your yogurt?

2008-10-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Strawberries, blueberries...sushi?

This restaurant just opened on 2nd Street in Naples.
I haven't had the courage to try it yet!

Susan trains and meets the mayor

2008-10-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

A quick shout out to Susan who is training for her upcoming breast cancer walk (there's still time to contribute to her!!!)

The mayor of Las Vegas came up to her and asked if he could have a pic... How cool is that?

It's a beautiful day to be Living in LBC!

2008-10-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

Water is still expensive in Long Beach

2008-10-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to my original post, last night around 2:30 am I was awakened to the sound of a tidal wave. Okay, not really. It was just a sprinkler next to my unit where the cap had come off. Water was shooting up like a fountain in Las Vegas. If I had had any, I would have played a Celine Dion song from my deck to make the experience complete for the occasional late night passersby! The good news is that I called security and they were checking it out before I could put on shorts and grab my camera. The bad news is that I didn't do a good job taking a picture, security didn't seem to be concerned "as it is only water" and lastly, my HOA dues are still over $350 a month...

Blast from the past

2008-09-29T21:27:00.001-07:00

This pic goes out to my homey in Cerritos, JW...

Fun times in Modesto!! Tru dat.

Ah, thanks!

2008-09-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

A cute email "postcard" from my mom...

Savannah 1975

2008-09-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

In a birthday card to me, Ruth included a post card that I sent to Grandma from Savannah in 1975. It appears that Ruth wrote the address for me. Ah, a trip to Savannah with no seating charts to write out! Pure bliss. Even though I was only 5 (almost 6 - as back then it was great to be OLDER!!), I can still remember it as one of my favorite vacations ever. It took me a while to decipher my handwriting on the back of the post card. It says:
Dear Grandma I caught many sand dollars Jim got a sunburn on his legs Celine

The drawing appears to be me looking through a window in a brick house. It is a little disturbing as it appears that I am trapped in the house with a steel door (no knob or handle to get in) and only one window. But I appear happy. Maybe it is an artistic interpretation of the house/museum on the front of the post card.
Thanks Ruth for sending this to me!

The Little Mermaid Says:

2008-09-26T00:35:00.001-07:00

Dildo Newfoundland

2008-09-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the last postcard from my parents' trip from Dildo Newfoundland. My Mother writes that the name of the town may have come from the Basques from Bilbao Spain & was somehow changed by the native Indians. I tired to do some online research and found that the name may have come from: Spain or Portugal, or an algonquin tree, or the shape of the headland that forms the harbour. So, there you go. I have no idea. Nice postcard though and supposedly, Dildo is a great place for whale watching.

Here's some more info on Wikipedia:

Saint-Pierre & Miquelon

2008-09-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Okay. I'll admit that before my parents told me about their trip I had no idea where this was. Of course, I do now!

View Larger Map

Here is the postcard that they sent me from there. It says "ARCHIPEL DE SAINT PIERRE ET MIQUELON - Plongeon sur la rue Abbe Pierre Gervain"

My parents wrote on the postcard that it is the Long Beach of the far North! That it is the same in many way except for the people, language, architecture, money & weather. Guess I'll have to check it out soon!

Lastly, even though I stopped stamp collecting when I was around nine years old, I couldn't help but notice the great stamp on the postcard so I scanned it too...

Please get the FACTS

2008-09-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

As usual I am behind in posts and have a few that I will work on over the next few days. Why am I behind? I have been immersed in all the media coverage of this presidential campaign.
Between being unemployed and worrying about my condo going into foreclosure, I am pretty much a national statistic.

I have friends who feel strongly on all sides of the issues so I will not use this blog to try and sway anyone to my thoughts about the candidates. (However, I will be happy to let you know my thoughts if you email me!!)

What I do want to stress is that no matter which way you end up voting, please take the time to get the true FACTS of the candidates' past records and current platforms. There is a lot of misinformation swirling around out there and some of it is even being propagated by the parties and mainstream media.

One site that I recommend is factcheck.org. They are nonpartisan and nonprofit. They list inaccuracies with both campaigns so no matter which side you are on, here you know you are getting the FACTS. (If you go to the home page today, you will see that the most recent posts are fact checking Republican convention and ads. This is only because it is most recent. Keep scrolling and you will see fact checking for Democrat ads too.)

Again, I have spent a lot of time reading about both sides and am happy to share my thoughts if asked...

Newfoundland

2008-09-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

I just got this postcard today from my parents. Looks like they sent it on the 26 of August. They said they didn't see any icebergs this trip but may go back next year in April when there may be some.

Although icebergs appear gigantic from shore, 7/8 of them remain below the water. Formed of pure ice, their white appearance is due to many tiny air bubbles reflecting white light.

Greek Festival

2008-08-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the 59th Greek Festival at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church behind my condo. Some of my friends came over and we all walked there together. It was fun and cheap so I'll definitely go again next year. Heck, I may go for a few hours tomorrow!

Click here for a slide show that I put together if you are interested. If you hit the little arrows in the bottom right hand corner of the slide, this will open full screen and you can read my witty comments (info on). Hit the arrows again and it returns to this view. Very easy, eh?

Sorry about some of the comments about the dancers while video taping...

Cookies

2008-08-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine has had a tough week or two (I luv ya T!!) and I wanted to do something that would show her that I was thinking about her. So I decided to make cookies for her and her family.

From. Scratch.

I think the last time I turned on my stove was Christmas 2006.

I snapped a few pictures of the process and outcome. No animals were harmed or baked. And if anyone is reading this who ate the cookies, I did thoroughly clean out the stove after my cat sniffed around in it.

Seriously, these were the best cookies I've ever made AND the best oatmeal cookies I've ever tasted. I found the recipe online here if anyone else wants to try them. If you make them, let me know if your prep time is really 10 minutes!!

Want more? Slide show here.

Misty Update

2008-08-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

Update to previous post here.

Dixie Cups

2008-08-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

Isn't funny how something seemingly innocuous can bring back a flood of memories?

My friend Carolyn sells real estate in her spare time. Tonight a few of us helped her do some cleaning in a house that she is selling. When I cleaned the bathroom, I saw these "Dixie" cups hanging in the bathroom. I immediately thought of my Grandma's house on Merchant Avenue. When I was a little kid staying with her, I loved brushing my teeth because it meant that I got my own Dixie cup, each time!! I haven't seen these since. One of my other friends said that her Grandma had them in her bathroom too.

Before and after

2008-08-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ah, the joys of being a home owner. Yesterday, I happened to look up at my air conditioning unit in the ceiling (the main piece is on the roof) and noticed that it looked like this:

Click on the picture for an up-close view, if
you think you can stomach it!!

So, I promptly went to the hardware store (betcha can't guess which one!!) and bought new filters. Did you know they are supposed to be changed every 3 months at a minimum?

I remember that the last time the filter was changed, it was because my father did it for me. During that visit, he also helped me paint my bedroom. So I looked at the date on the paint can label: Aug 16, 2006. A little more that 3 months between changes, huh?

If my father had been here to help me (read: do it for me) with my filter this time, it probably would have been the correct size and not jammed up in the ceiling right now...did any of you notice the difference in the sizes before now?? Maybe a better question would be, do any of you even care?? : )

Never thought I'd see the day...

2008-08-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

when gas was under $4 a gallon in LA! I'm going to fill up while the getting's good!

Surfing's the source...

2008-08-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

In case any of you were planning to visit me and bring your surf board along, read this on The Consumerist about airlines hiking up the fees to carry surf boards.

Okay, okay, you got me. I just wanted to have a reason to post this picture that they have. Did you know that there is going to be a Point Break sequel...written by the same guy who wrote the original? Yes, it is true!!

Lastly, a bit of sad news...the actor who spoke the immortal line "Surfing's the source...", Christopher Pettiet, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2000. He was 24.

Beach Volley Ball GOLD

2008-08-22T01:25:00.000-07:00

Long Beach's Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh win Olympic Gold Medal in Beach Volleyball.
Read all about it here in the Long Beach Press Telegram...
Congrats ladies!!

UPDATE: Looks like Misty is going to be on this season's Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Now, this isn't a show that I normally watch but...I think I may check it out this season. Unfortunately, I can't vote for my home girl Misty...any of you who have known me a long time will know who I (and Susie Q too!!) am rooting for...

Hi, I'm testing the...

2008-08-15T17:20:00.001-07:00

Hi, I'm testing the new Jott to see how the functionality works, and how it ends up posting to my blog. So listen to this, if you like it go to www.Jott.com and it's pretty cool. Later, over and out dudes. listen

Powered by Jott

I have been a subscriber to Jott for a while now but forgot about it over the last few months. (I used it frequently when I was driving a lot at CSD.) I was totally playing around with the message above (disclaimer: it is a really lame message off the top of my head.) If you are interested, you can listen to the message and then see how Jott transcribed it and then Jott posted it to my blog! (It was posted in under 2 minutes from the initial phone call!!) As you can see, the transcription was a little too perfect!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-08-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

Remember I said that I would be creating some old posts?

The Sunday before Independence Day, I went to The Beach House restaurant in Laguna Beach to have brunch with some friends. Unless I am pressed for time, I always take the scenic route to Laguna (PCH all the way). On the way home, I snapped some pictures of these cute dolphin topiaries dressed up for the 4th. I think they were in Newport Beach.

Fast forward to August in Ohio...when I was walking to the Clintonville market in Columbus. I snapped a few pictures of this house, where they are still celebrating the 4th!

Introducing Desmond

2008-08-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

My second nephew is no longer called TBD!! He has been officially named Desmond Mathew Kegham Thomas. Here's a picture of him when he was at the hospital and using the pseudonyms "Z", "TBD Baby" and "Wiggle Worm."

I'm on Facebook

2008-08-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

While I was in Ohio, Tinu convinced me to join Facebook. From what I've read, it's becoming more popular than MySpace (Gene!!). It is definitely addictive once you are on it but the majority of my friends are NOT on it. I searched every name and email address I have to make sure I didn't miss anyone. I did connect with some people who were old friends (Star, Andrew) and a few high school buds (Melissa, Bill). Evey time I connect with a "friend" it is so exciting until I realize that Tinu has 92!! You can click on the my new Facebook module on the left (under the weather) to go to my Facebook page.

More than feet

2008-08-11T15:39:00.001-07:00

In case you actually wanted to see a picture of my new nephew, here is one where he and his mother coordinated outfits for a trip to the doctor.

What's in a name?

2008-08-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am sure most of you know that I now have a second nephew. He was born on July 30th and as of today his name is still pending. I was affectionately calling him "wiggle worm" when I was in Ohio but he will likely grow out of that nickname shortly.

"That which we call a rose by any
other name would smell as sweet."

I'm baaack!

2008-08-11T12:57:00.001-07:00

Wow! When I was in Ohio last week, Ruth said that she could not pull up any posts past June. I looked into it and discovered it was because I haven't posted anything since then. So, I sincerely apologize to anyone who regularly reads this (all 5 of you - ha!) I have lots of things to post about so over the next week, I will start randomly adding them.
The day I left for Ohio (July 29th), there was an earthquake in Chino Hills, CA. Chino Hills is in an area that I call the Inland Empire. It is about 35 miles away from me. See the map below.

View Larger Map

Anyway, it was a 5.4 I think. Not too big but big enough that people in Long Beach could definitely feel it. When I had my layover, many people from all over the US had either emailed or texted me to call home. Thanks to everyone for their concern. Everything (except my coat closet) in my condo was fine. I didn't even discover it until this morning. I guess the weight of all my heavy coats (sniff, sniff - that I never get to wear here) was too much when combined with the movement. Boring damages, I know...

This is as much as I could open the door.

I am guessing you can figure this one out!

What is a Kolache??

2008-06-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

And it isn't a medical procedure!!

Do you know what it is? All my peeps in Houston are shocked that I've never heard of it or eaten one. (Btw, I still haven't. Maybe next time!)

www.kolachefactory.com

Viva la France (en Houston)

2008-06-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I had a really long, long frustrating day of travel. Once I finally got to my hotel, I walked to the Galleria Mall in Houston (which comforts me up a little at the get go because they have a Neimans and a Saks) but what did my sad little eyes see???

One of my favorite GA restaurants (beside Waffle House and Krystal's, of course!)...

The only thing that was a little sad is that they didn't have any Linzer cookies - so GA people can continue to bring (or send, hint, hint!) them to me when they visit.

(click on the pictures for links)

Pink Plane

2008-06-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this plane Monday in Salt Lake City and had to snap a pic for my friend Susan.
If I had a plane, of course I would paint it similar to this. I am sure most of you who know me know I would have to add HK's picture on it too!!

Anyone know anything about this plane? Is it for breast cancer awareness?

Update!! Read all about it here: delta.com

Still in Houston!

2008-06-18T22:17:00.001-07:00

Gas is cheap in Texas

2008-06-13T14:49:00.001-07:00

This was taken yesterday in Dallas. This is for you, Kathy!!

Drinking at HOU

2008-06-13T14:08:00.001-07:00

Okay, since this is a work trip, I am not actually drinking alcohol but I could be drinking if I chose to...ANYWHERE in the airport. People are enjoying bottles of beer and margaritas while they are waiting to board the plane. Crazy, huh?

HOU

2008-06-13T13:54:00.001-07:00

I am sitting in the Hobby Houston airport (they have 2 airports here in Houston, in case you didn't know!) Isn't this a cute set of water fountains?