best day EVER.

today was the greatest. and sadly the only photo-documented proof i have of the day is this picture:



i had been having panic attacks for five days straight, waiting for my trusty american idol email to come through and offer me free tickets like it has the past two years. however, despite the fact i registered four different email addresses this year, i had nothing as of monday night. totally sad.

THEN my friend heather called last night and said SHE had gotten the email! only thing was, hers was for seat-filler tickets, not actual tickets to the show. whatever -- we are always up for an adventure. so, i rearranged my work schedule, called up my fellow idol-loving friend dana and booked it to the nokia theater this afternoon. [literally. i made it from cypress to downtown in 20 minutes. world record.]

dana and i met up with heather and her friend marissa and waited outside for a few hours with our fellow seat-filler friends [no cell phones or cameras allowed, sadly]. i was skeptical as to what would actually happen to us inside the theater -- in theory, seat-fillers wait in the wings and then swoop in to fill seats for ten minutes while important people use the bathroom. imagine my surprise when the planets aligned and i ended up in the fourth row for the entire show -- and then my heart just about stopped when they filled the rest of our area.

picture this: me. fourth row. the only people between me and the stage -- the 11 idols already voted off, plus kris allen's cute wife and parents. um, yeah. i almost died. the WHOLE show i just sat and stared at these people i'd been watching on tv for the past five months.

we high fived, we waved, we chatted. the idols were delightful and friendly -- they really look like a fun bunch of people to hang out with. and just in case you're wondering, allison does NOT bleach her hair blond before dying it red. i interviewed her myself.

we also got to see a ton of actors and former idols -- david archuleta, ruben, carly, melinda, justin, etc. katie holmes carried her alien baby in for one adam song and then left. anthony hopkins & wife hugged kris' parents and said they loved him. celeb spotting is fun. oh, and i hope kris wins tomorrow...but both guys were good.

today was everything i hoped for :)


p.s. did anyone else catch glee after a.i. tonight? i think i am going to like that show...any pilot that includes a rockin a capella version of "don't stop believing" is definitely on my good list.

new hobby

typically i'm all about the paper-related crafts, but being around so many pasadena friends who dabble in sewing projects i've become intrigued by all the things you can do with a sewing machine. my mom sewed when i was little -- yes, my sister and i often rocked matching handmade outfits as children -- but gave it up by the time i was old enough to pay attention, and because i was always in band i never had room in my schedule for typical junior high electives like home ec. there you have it -- i am a bit behind the curve in the domestic area, but i can totally bust out some john philip sousa on my flute :)

anyway, my boss came across a sewing boutique in silver lake called sew la. they offer sewing classes and private tutorials for any level of sewing expertise -- including a class specifically for beginners. this was for me! i wanted to learn the BASIC basics of sewing machines to see if this is a hobby i can pursue, and they fully delivered.

tracy, jolee and i met in silver lake on saturday for our little class. there were only eight students and one teacher, and we each got our own sewing machine and paid a little extra for some fabric and a mini sewing kit [this was helpful because prior to that day i had no idea what a bobbin was]. we learned all the basics of the sewing machine and sewing in general, then we practiced stitching some muslin -- and THEN we got to sew our own little tote bags.

i was immediately fascinated by the sewing machine. those things are amazing! it was so cool to load up the little bobbin, see how the thread ran through the machine, and watch how all the little mechanisms worked together once i pushed the foot pedal. whoever invented that thing is a genius!

i started out a little rocky -- uneven stitching, crooked lines, etc. -- but got the hang of it pretty quickly. check out that pivoted corner!



here's me, working away at my machine:



our bags turned out very cute and jolee and i decided we will use them as lunch bags for work. hers is on the left, mine's the right:



the sew la shop was super cute -- like most things in silver lake, it was super tiny but had a lot of character. i had fun browsing through the patterns and different sewing supplies. check out these cool fabrics -- so many fun possibilities!





and here we are with our finished projects. i think both tracy and jolee never imagined they'd get into sewing [i tell them mormons are naturals at crafting, but anyone can try it out! ha], but i'm really glad we could all take the class together and have fun while we're at it. i have great co workers :)



the end! i love my bag and i can't wait to make something else. my birthday is coming up in july and i plan to ask for donations for a sewing machine :)

the dreaded campout

so, camping wasn't quite as bad as anticipated -- but i guess we earned a smooth event after all the drama that went on during the planning stages. you'll recall i don't like to blog too much about work stuff but i HAD to talk about this one.

basically, we created this campout to give journalists the chance to see the latest and greatest camping gear [including a brand new camping-sized generator from my lovely client] IN ACTION. most of them were pretty stoked to be there and laughed at me when i said it was my first campout. we partnered with some other companies to give the journalists more bang for their buck (i.e. multiple story ideas in one place), and of course all of them were tough adventurous outdoorsman. let's just say i wasn't with my typical crew -- but that's one of the things i love about my job, being able to meet all sorts of different people who i would most likely nevvvver meet in my regular indoor-girl stationery-loving california life.

jolee and i arrived to find out lake arrowhead campsite looking like this:



and we turned it into this instead:





we flew journalists in from all around the country, let them sleep in RVs [more than one person has informed me this does not constitute actual camping, but whatever -- i only showered once the whole week so i consider it official!] and arranged product demonstrations to let them check everything out.

one morning we orchestrated a breakfast cookoff -- i've never seen so many people so competitive and excited about cooking. we set up a table of supplies like this -- i felt like i was staging my own episode of top chef :)



that was my favorite meal of the campout -- probably because i didn't have to cook it!



here are all our journalists, lined up to present their goods:



one of our partner companies was a camping cookware company, specializing in all sort of camp stoves, grills, etc. the PR rep who attended was an amazing chef and one night he whipped up three different flavors of dutch oven fruit cobblers for us. it was SO delicious -- until a MOTH flew in my cobbler. i totally freaked.

another hazard of camping: bugs. in addition to the moth, i saw a whole bunch of mosquitos and other annoying bugs but utilized a trusty can of bug spray after i got bit the first time. on our last day, one of the co-sponsors found this little guy -- of course, the co-sponsor was fascinated and i was tooootally grossed out:



in addition to the fact that i was totally out of my comfort zone, this event was a little tough just because it was a LOT of work to create a media-friendly campsite in the middle of nowhere. jolee and i worked 17 hour days, three days in a row, making sure everything was set up, media were happy, clients were happy, etc.

BUT, on the last day, while the journalists and staff were involved in product demos and everything was already set up, we got to have a little down time. i sat in my cabela's recliner next to the campfire and ate cookies and caught up on emails -- it was super relaxing and even kind of fun. maybe if you actually get to go camping to relax and enjoy nature, it's not so bad.

thursday morning after dropping the journalists off at the airport and packing up the campsite, i got to go home. a shower has never felt so good! i've been working on catching up on my sleep ever since.

in case you were wondering, b was busy while i was gone as well. he got a $250 ticket for not renewing his train pass; he provided free babysitting; he got a filling and racked up some dentist bills; and he summarized american idol via text messages for me. i was excited to come home and see him.

and as a side note, i actually ended up with some pretty sweet camping gear. b is super excited and already talking about planning a camping trip for this summer to use it -- but i said i need a little while before i'm ready to go out into the wilderness again :)

baaaack

i survived! i'll blog about the campout shortly. it was a smashing success -- all clients and journalists were happy, i saw no bears, i got only one mosquito bite, i took only one shower -- and i am SO glad to be home.

but in the meantime...american idol! guess i was a little off in my predictions [though, DUH, adam lambert is in the final two...and i still think allison is better than danny], but i'm nevertheless excited for the finale. i happen to have a large stash of delicious snacks leftover from the campout, so i'm considering hosting an a.i. finale party on wednesday night. let me know if you want to come :)

off to the wild frontier.

we had a fun weekend.

yesterday --
we saw star trek and i loooooved it. i was never really a trekkie person [though i do remember watching a lot of the s.t.: the next generation with my dad growing up, which threw me off during this movie. where was the guy with the headband over his eyes, and the klingon dude? oh yeah, i get it. this is the 60s version!] anyway, thought the movie was awesome. great action/adventure, great character development, great cinematography. i highly recommend.



i cut my bangs. by myself. first time. i was sort of nervous to do so, especially when i saw the huge chunks of hair that began appearing in the sink, but it was MUCH needed -- i was a little too one-eyed, even for my taste. here is my before:



and my after -- i can see!



we laid by the pool, played with some cute kids, went out to dinner [why is it that whenever we try to find a new restaurant we always end up back at saladang song? some things are just not as good as your comfortable, delicious standby. plus it's mango season so the sticky rice was off the hook!]. yay for saturdays.

today --
went to church. loved that i got a m-day plant along with all the mommies because they gave them to "all women over 18." yesss.

cooked dinner for my mom...and dad and bro, who drove out this afternoon. on the menu: carne asada tacos, homemade salsa, black bean & corn salad, mexican rice and fried ice cream for dessert. i sort of made up the salsa recipe and it was SO. GOOD. like, so good i'm eating it as i type, and i usually have a rule about no food after 10 p.m. mmmm. i am proud of myself for making it.

and now the main point of this post --
"you just seem like sort of...an indoor girl." -- leonardo dicaprio in titanic
tomorrow i am embarking into the wilderness. i've been planning a campout [an event for one of my clients] for the past three months and it has been super challenging every step of the way -- but i'm excited for it to finally come.

at the same time, i am terrified -- as i am every bit a NON-outdoors woman. i've camped three times previously in my life, all of which were at girls camp where i had all meals, sleeping accomodations, etc. provided for me and i only went so i could hang out with my friends. this is waaaay different as i will be responsible for the entire thing, not to mention the fact that i'll be working the whole time so there's a whole different pressure to make sure all goes super well.

my idea of camping involves bears and axe murderers, so i'm hoping that by sleeping in an RV this week i can avoid both of these. i'll give a full report upon my return on thursday, but until then -- i'll be checking email on blackberry all week so feel free to send notes of encouragement, friendship or reinforcement :)

midweek staycation

this week b and i took two days off in the middle of the week as a little pre-summer vacation.

it was only a couple of days but it is AMAZING how happy we were with our little break -- i love having a weekend right in the middle of the week! however, i will admit that when it's as hot as it has been around here, sometimes i am glad i have to be stuck in an air-conditioned office for 10 hours a day -- i felt like i was sweating the entire two days. but that's okay! i'll take what i can get.

we know how to party, too. wednesday we spent the day at disneyland, thanks to my awesome friend karla -- we followed her down there and went on a few kiddie rides with her and owen and paige. d-land is a whole different place when you're there with kids; it was cute. then we spent the rest of the day on grown up rides with niki & matt, two of our favorite people:



we had a total blast -- lines were short, sun was hot, rides were fun. i got drenched on splash mountain, and for the record i still ADORE soaring over california. we ate all our favorite treats like dole whips and giant pickles.



for some reason, i have stopped trying to take pictures at d-land -- maybe because we've been so much the past few years that i don't try to document the park anymore. here's the best shot i got of me & b -- you can see the pirate ship in the background and that's about all i can offer you as scenery.



the park closed early at 8 p.m. but we were tired and ready for dinner around 7 p.m. i wore my trusty converse tennis shoes and had some comfort problems starting around lunchtime, but powered through because i mean HELLO we were at disneyland! unfortunately, i could barely walk by the time we hit downtown disney on the way back to the car -- and on the way to dinner i took off my shoes to find one full of blood. awesome. i am also in possession of a 2nd degree sunburn on my neck...so i guess our day at d-land was successful.

day two we ventured to the huntington library, a famous museum and conservatory right here in p-town that i had never been to (though both my siblings went there numerous times on school field trips; apparently i got shafted in that area).



it was free day (thanks again jean for the swap-a-roo on tickets!) and we had fun exploring all the different gardens. i'll admit i was a bit skeptical of this place because it's big draw is it's botanical gardens, but it did NOT disappoint. we saw some beautiful and unique plants and flowers:



craaaazy plants that resembled alien life forms (this one reminded me of jack and the beanstalk -- please note b's miniature stature in comparison):



mostly i just felt like i was walkinng around in jurassic park all day, which is totally fine with me because that movie is toward the top of our 10-favorite-films-of-all-time list. the place was just so relaxing and peaceful and beautiful and i loved it!

jp waterfalls:


japanese garden:


uber foliage:


the funniest part was that we ran into people we knew just about everywhere we went -- we saw four friends from our ward in pasadena and five friends from our old ward in l.a.! what can i say, we mormons love free stuff.

oh, and of course -- reinforcing the hypothesis that i have the mental capacity of a five-year-old, being unable to choose appropriate footwear at ANY time -- i chose to wear flip flops that i'm still breaking in. by the end of our two hour visit i was required to walk barefoot back to the parking lot because my feet were hurting so bad -- i now have huge gaping, oozing blisters on both feet. yes, double awesome. i suck.

anyway, we spent the rest of thursday swimming in our pool, eating ice cream, going to target, ordering pizza, watching 30 rock, wearing shorts -- and it was a thursday! i could seriously get used to this lifestyle. isn't that what all you sahm's do every day anyway? :)

by the time we headed into work yesterday [on a friday! woot] we were totally relaxed and ready to hit it again -- for eight hours, of course, before we hit the real weekend. yessss.

we love living in such a fun place with so much to see and do. what the world needs now is less perez hilton and more staycations.

it's monday.

it's monday -- blah! -- and here are some things i have been thinking about.

1.) one of the 15-year-old girls i teach at church, kylee [who, incidentally, recently started a quite stellar blog] makes me laugh. last week we were talking about her new boyfriend and she called him "man candy." this conversation ensued:

me: why do you call him man candy?

k: because boyfriend sounds too weird.

me: how about "BF"?

k: no. i try to refrain from abbreviating words outside of texting.

i still laugh when i think about that. oh, kids these days... [and yes, i text her during the week to communicate. that's just how we roll i guess.]

2.) LAist did a cool story about the 70th birthday of union station, with amazing pictures. i love that place and admire it daily as i walk through; thought these images did a great job of capturing it. [apparently it's been in lots of movies but the only one i can think of off the top of my head is pearl harbor.]

here are a few of my favorite pictures from the story:

3.) we had quite a nice weekend. we cleaned the house, watched movies, made some cards, ran some errands. we FINALLY grocery shopped. but on saturday morning i had a mini-breakdown because we had a completely unstructured day. the only thing i HAD to do that day was show up at souplantation for dinner at 5 p.m. to meet our friends...so at 9 a.m. i freaked out, sat on the floor and told b we NEEDED to plan our day. i don't do well when i'm not planned out. b looked at me like i was nuts, told me it would be okay, and left to help some friends move a piano. i cried a little, got up and ran three miles and then felt better. maybe i am crazy.

4.) i wrote a guest post for gypsy feet, a random blog all about feet. my least favorite subject. so they humored me and told me to write about how much i despise feet :) check it out here.