Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Hilary the Best-est Girlfriend & S.I.L ever!
Hope you have a fantastic day.

Last night, September 13, was my mother in law's birthday. We celebrated by throwing a dinner party for her at Buca in Santa Monica. It was the perfect setting because it's a loud and kid friendly place. We were fortunate to have Alston, Nancy, Charlene, Michele, Fred, Lisa along with our usual Muni, Hilary, John, Kenny, Henry, Rhys and of course the birthday girl herself Angele. We happily stuffed ourselves silly and then topped it off with chocolate cake!



September 13 is of course, as all you Twilighters know, also Bella's birthday. It would be fun to hypothesize how the Cullens would have celebrated. I did hear that Forks, WA had declared it Stephenie Meyer Day. We had quite a few Twilight fans in attendance last night and I was so happy to catch up with them. Alston and Michele have already finished the series and agree with me on the addictive properties of the book. Charlene has been too busy at work but hopefully will find time before the film comes out to finish BD. Alston promised that we shall see the movie together and I can't wait!

Lastly I would like to point everyone to the obvious. Ta Da! You are listening to my new Music Box. Most of the songs on this list are songs I've been listening to lately while reading and re-reading the series. I lifted many selections off of Stephenie's official playlists. These selections have now become current favorites and I mixed them alongside other favorites both old and new. Strangely this mix has come together to make up a phenomenal list that evokes scenes from the books for me. I get a sick satisfaction from being able to have these songs on hand at will. I say this because there are a couple on the list that are not available for purchase at least not as an MP3 file. I am eyeing Muse's version of 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' which I could easily see Edward playing for Bella. Boo hoo.

My first photo montage. I did this a few weeks ago to use as a special Rhys thank you.

Guilty!

A snapshot of Henry's first day of third grade last Tuesday.

Hello again. Yes, it's me. And yes, I've been living under a rock for the past few weeks. I'm still entrenched in the Twilight haze. I've moved onto podcasts and audio files. Needless to say am very excited about the movie and am counting the days.

I've meant to check in well before today, and for that I apologize. The kids started school last week. Though things went swimmingly for Henry, Rhys was another matter. Rhys' first day of school was last Wednesday, a fact that I was unaware of (since I thought it was Tuesday) until I received a phone call from one of the kindergarten teachers about an orientation set for Tuesday afternoon.

Once we arrived for said orientation I discovered that he was not enrolled! Slap to head! I had not been informed by anyone that I needed to re-enroll him since he had spent the last year there for Pre-K. Panic stricken I then spent the next 24 hours trying to keep from tearing my hair out dealing with the school administration and the doctor's office in an attempt to get all the paperwork in order for the start of classes the next day. I felt like I was going to have a stroke and prayed for the earth to open up and swallow me. I hate leaving things until the last minute. You see I tend to get a tad stressed out. Sigh.

So it's taken me about a week to recover, and still I'm having a few issues. One of which is getting used to this new schedule for which I am feeling immensely guilty. These long hours without the boys are so indulgent! This is the second day of their new regular schedule and I'm beginning to plan ways to fill them productively.

I spent a few hours of this morning in the Marina getting the car serviced. I decided to take a brisk stroll since it looked like it was going to take a while. Passed the strip mall and decided to try out the pomegranate blueberry concoction at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Then noticed that Barnes and Noble was open so I popped inside. A few titles that caught my eye were: 1) a cookbook designed around ingredients you can get at Trade Joe's! 2) 1001 Books to Read before you Die! Instead of getting either I left with a new mini weekly planner and the September issue of Vanity Fair with Carla Bruni on the cover. The End.

PS Here's hoping for much needed inspiration for future entries!
PPS I know. I know. Where's the picture of Rhys' first day? I will include an extra special snapshot ASAP.

Rhys Turns F-I-V-E

I can't believe that summer's coming to an end, and the boys are due back in school next Tuesday. Lucky for me I'm practically done with back to school shopping.

We had a very exciting last few days with Rhys turning five. Thursday started lazily enough with the boys occupying their time in front of one screen or another. Late that morning Rhys received his first present (or rather second as we decided we were getting a PC for them since they've been fighting over the other one), a few dozen balloons from great-grandmother Muni! He was so excited as you can see from these snaps I took of the moment.


Afterwards we lounged around snacking until Auntie Hilary came up. We made a date to catch an afternoon viewing of the 'Clone Wars' at Howard Hughes. At the theatre of course we had to supply the bday boy with his requisite popcorn and coke. The boys had a blast, though Hilary and I entertained thoughts of ditching them to sneak into 'Sisterhood'. We just looked at each other and shrugged at the conclusion of the film after realizing that 90% of the movie was one long fight sequence. We concluded the big day with dinner at Islands and home for presents.


Over the weekend we caught 'Walking with Dinosaurs' at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The boys were thrilled.



The dinosaurs were amazing and more than once Rhys became a bit tense burying his head against my shoulder to block out a terrifying maneuver or sound made by the 'monster' creatures. Soon after the intermission I noticed a handful of kids dozing in their seats including our little birthday boy.


It was a little sad that they missed the awesome TRex. This gal was so loud I was shocked she didn't wake the slumbering kids. Rhys woke up soon enough for a dip in the pool and pizza at Aunties!


This is the first year we haven't had a big blow out birthday party. I felt very guilty. Kenny was ecstatic (granted it wasn't his birthday). Ever since we've had kids the spectre of birthday parties and Christmas have loomed like dark clouds upon this house. We have a very extensive extended family and everyone tends to go a little overboard so you can imagine the avalanche of gifts the boys are swamped with every birthday and Christmas. And when you add on top of the new mix all the toys that already live in their room you can imagine how relieved we were to dodge a little bit this time around.... but still what's a birthday without presents?

leaping into the twilight zone

I've been away too long, and sadly it wasn't until today that I missed it just a little. Did I mention that my laptop went on the fritz when I tried to plug extra usb ports in last week? It got all confused and blew a gasket. It was out for about a week and just got home. Other than that mishap I've been having a great last two weeks just lazing around soaking up the summer, or would it be more appropriate to say that the summer is making me soak? Never in all my summers in Los Angeles has it been so humid.

Rhys is smack in the middle of his first swim lessons and he's taken to them like a fish to water!


Last Wednesday I squeezed in a photosession with Dena, Brady and Brian showed up during the last part! In addition to being a music editor Brian is a superb musician! Here see for yourself at River City Gang.

The boys are wrapping up their camp experience today and so goes my solitary time until school starts. It was a really nice break for me. It's the first time in 8 years I've had long continuous stretches of time to myself. How have I been spending it you may ask. Well my original plan was to clean, purge and reorganize, but as we all know plans have a way of running away when things pop up.

In this case it was my catching the segment on Stephenie Meyer on Sunday Morning two weeks ago. Up until that moment I had seen the book series around the stores and had heard the commotion the film trailer created when it debuted at ComicCon, but had been too engrossed in other things to investigate.

After seeing the segment I was determined to read the series. I was lucky that the fourth and final book came out that past weekend. That Monday I ended up driving cross town to purchase the series from three different locations because for some reason the third book was in high demand. I spent the following several days devouring all four books. I read through them so quickly that I know I wasn't able to savor the experience the way that I should have. I was so desperate to find out what was going to happen that I sped through the thing like wildfire. I felt I really cheated myself when I reached the final chapter of the final book, and all I wanted to do was read it all over again. This is the first time I've ever felt the need to re-read what I've just read. As I'm forcing myself to go slowly this time around I find myself speeding through again, and may have to go for a third round. I can't explain it. Sure there are books that I've loved and have re-read, but usually I'll read them again at a much later time.

Whatever the reason I have to admit that this series has really captured my imagination as no book(s) has been able to do in a very long time. It might have to do with the subject matter. I have a thing for vampires that began way back in my childhood Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Tom Cruise and who can forget George Hamilton? Barring Gary Oldman whose turn as Dracula in Coppola's version just repulsed me, I love my vampires. You are dealing with a girl who wrote her first term paper on the topic inspired by Ann Rice's Interview with the Vampire and the Vampire Lestat.

I'm rabid with excitement for the movie's release in late November over Thanksgiving break. Until then I'll have to satisfy myself with the books and trailers. An added bonus in these times of excessive information I was all over Stephenie Meyer's site and have discovered a deep love for the band Muse. She has ingeniously posted playlists for each book! There is the song 'Hate Me' by Blue October that I still can't get through without shedding a tear. And Collective Soul's 'Tremble for My Beloved' pretty much sums up my feeling for the series. Brilliant.

Girls Gone Shopping

Soooo sick. I feel like a walking zombie today. Hot. Cloudy headed. Stuffed nose. In a word: dreadful. Actually it began the day before yesterday, the day of the latest So. Calif. earthquake. At 11:40am I was standing in the dining area of our home thinking a large truck was driving past, not realizing that an earthquake was making the light fixture sway and the dishes rattle and me feel so swoozy.


This miraculously was a far cry from last night. I was more than functional. Met the girls at the Grove for dinner and some shopping. Have been feeling a bit more inspired so brought along my camera hoping for some fun shots. Boy did they deliver.

Shopping was a slow meandering trek all over the Grove, while dinner was at a French restaurant on the Farmers Market side. While the everyone ordered salades I ventured into the unknown with my first taste of coq au vin. It was tres tasty!

After posting my last entry yesterday I sent a short note off to Jackie Huang of shadowbugs.com and he replied with a very nice hello back and included a link to an animated short he made called Birdon. (Thanks Jackie!) It's a very well done piece. Enjoy!

Long Time No Post: San Diego & Beyond

It feels like forever since I've posted anything. I'm constantly reminded of this everytime someone emails me asking 'what's goin' on?!' It's been so long in fact that I don't really even know where to begin. Thankfully I have my handy dandy photos to help jog my memory.

Okay so when last we left off....


Kenny was getting ready for his book signing at the Golden Apple on Melrose. Thanks to everyone {Burrell, Gus, Vel, Nicolette, Mike C, Mike M, Angele, Hilary, Lisa and everyone else I didn't mention cause I forgot your name. Sorry but you know who you are!} who were able to make it. We know it was a tough mid-week engagement, but we really appreciate you coming out for moral support!


We had an exciting time at the signing. That night I left early with Rhys to meet Kenny. I came down with the extra books and to help set up, but what actually happened was Kenny set up and I kept Rhys in line.


Hilary was gracious enough to come up extra early and stay at the house to meet Henry who was coming home early that evening from sports camp before driving down to meet us at the signing. Got all that?


Unfortunately Rhys decided to fall asleep just prior to our leaving and woke up as soon as I tried to move him into the car. He was up and there was no lulling him back to sleep. He was pretty well behaved in the beginning but things quickly went south with the passing of each hour. By the end of the evening he was racing up and down the aisles wired on his poison of choice Coca-Cola.


The subsequent days after the signing involved a lot of thinking on Kenny's part trying to decide whether or not to make the trip down to San Diego for ComicCon. The fact is that the ComicCon has progressively gotten bigger and bigger, and unless you plan well ahead it is next to impossible to get a booth. This time last year Kenny hadn't even anticipated having the book done much less ready in time for the July convention. Boy was he wrong! Anyhow we ended up going down, not once but twice. It was that much fun!

On Saturday we dropped the kids off with Hilary and John, and while they enjoyed a weekend of fun in the sun and delicious meals prepared by Auntie, Kenny and I made a peaceful trip down to San Diego. We got there in record time and with a couple of hours to spare before it officially opened at 9:30. We strolled the streets looking for breakfast



and were in awe at the multitudes that were already roaming around the venue.


Once we got into the main exhibition hall, I was both relieved and sad that the boys were not with us to experience it all. Just think Disneyland on it's busiest day and you'll know exactly what I mean.


It really did feel like Halloween in July most of the time.


On the one hand there was so much eye candy in every aisle {and fun stuff to do as the larger studios and companies spared no expense in erecting the most elaborate booths complete with game and viewing areas promoting their latest products} that you knew would just knock their socks off, and on the other so many people you would have had to handcuff them to you in order not to get lost.




Oh well there always next year. Better get those cuffs ready. I can't wait! Hopefully have a booth, and some rooms, or better yet rent a house for the week!

We bumped into Stephen Silver character designer for Kim Possible, and David Colman character designer for the Cleveland show also a co-worker of Kenny's. Here's a picture of David and Kenny in front of David's booth.


I was completely taken with Jackie Huang's shadowbugs. It was one of the few things I actually purchased during our trip.


They are the most amazing little bug sculptures. The set I finally settled on were of superheros which included Bad Bug (Batman), Huulk (the Hulk), Fe26 (Ironman), Lady Bug (Wonder Woman), and Super (Superman). So Cute! It wasn't until afterwards that I realized I should have had Kenny take a picture of me with the artist at his booth. Jackie also had the most amazing display fixture for his work. Comprised of cardboard from a large Ikea carton, glue and paint it was the most creative example of recycling at it's best. You can view this on Jackie's site which I've linked above.

In the midst of this madness the boys were lucky enough to have a two day swimfest








and we celebrated John's upcoming birthday with a fry-fest put on by chef Hilary. It was a wonderful afternoon spent with friends and family. We even had the pleasure of finally meeting Selena and her fiance Mike!



Finally as of today the website is still in progress. It's been a mad last couple of months for Kenny juggling work, family life and the extra circulars (book, promotionals and squeezing all those summer blockbusters in each week). Here's hoping that the site will be up and running in a few weeks.

And oh yeah, there was a tremendous earthquake yesterday. The biggest since the Northridge quake! We are so thankful that there was limited damage and no one was hurt.

Hands Free, really?

The other day on our way to picking Rhys, up I had the misfortune of driving behind a man who skirted the issue of handsfree by talking through the speaker of his phone. He held the phone up to his lips {Lets pause here for a minute. Pause. How in the world could he justify this manouver as safer than actually holding the phone up to his ear? It would be another issue entirely if he had placed the phone down -thus qualifying for the term "Hands Free"!} with one hand as the other steered the wheel of the car. He was the poster child for people who cannot and should not multi task, much less try to start by trying to drive and talk at the same time. He was weaving so badly and driving so slowly you would have thought he was drunk. I was really upset by this mainly because I was dumb enough to let him cut in front of me. So it's true no good deed goes unpunished!

a Golden Book Signing

Last week Kenny was invited to participate in a group book signing hosted by Golden Apple. He'll be there to promote his new book 'Stop Making Crap'. The store is located on Melrose and this event is set for next Wed., July 23 from 6-9p, so if you're in the area definitely drop by to say hello. He's been working extra hard, the book is slowly making its way to the light of day. It can be found at at various indpendent stores across town and the website is being pieced together. I will give everyone an update once that is up and running.

happy birthday Kenny

This afternoon after lunch and some shopping with my parents we came home and I broke the key to the front door trying to get the door open! The darn thing has been giving us much grief for the past couple of weeks, making itself more and more difficult to turn the bolt. I guess the stress from turning it so hard finally wore the metal down on my key because it began to contort in the scariest manner until it broke into two. I was left holding onto one end and the other stuck in the key hole! Yikes. Catastrophe! Luckily I was able to devise a plan and Henry carried it out to perfection thus allowing us back into the house. Hip Hip Horray for Henry!

Happy Fourth

We celebrated the Fourth with a casual BBQ with our extended family at my parents house. It was topped off with some fireworks courtesy of Jamie which ended the day perfectly!