Archive for December, 2007

Season’s Greetings!

Published by Jessica on December 21, 2007 in General. 1 Comment

Well, if you have found your way here and you have never been here before it probably means that you received our card in the mail and you are looking for those pictures and that news I told you about….

So, I may have spoken a little too soon *phew* the post office is efficient this time of year. But, rest assured…my elf is working on it and if you come back to visit in a couple of days, you will likely find that all of the news and photos you could ever want will be up on our website. 

Just be sure to visit again soon! Oh, and have a happy holiday season!

I <3 David Lee Roth

Published by Jessica on December 20, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

Ok, so I have a bit of a confession. I have a huge….massive crush on the long-haired rockers of the 70’s & 80’s.  Yes, I know. Call me crazy. There is just something about the way these daring crusaders of style grew their (often) gorgeous locks and donned eyeliner that really makes a girl go crazy.  Alright, I know you think I am kidding at this point….but it is true! 

So, anyways…needless to say…when Issa e-mailed me and asked me if I was interested in some Van Halen tickets, well….frankly….I almost jumped through the floor. DAVID LEE ROTH!?! IN PERSON!?! Oh my gosh. Someone check my pulse.

I could hardly wait for 7:30 to roll around and before I knew it *BOOM* there he was, on stage with his funny little kicks and his karate moves….and oh my gosh was he in AMAZING shape. And when he came on stage, I found myself screaming like one of those crazy women in the Beatles or Elvis film clips….

Ok, sure…his hair is gone, well…not “gone” gone…just shorter…but he still has “it”, the “it” that he had before…and believe me when I say that I want to avoid making it sound like there is any nostalgia in my praise here, because let me tell you…these guys…they are probably BETTER than they were back in the day.

This is not to, in anyway, ignore the “Van Halens” who were equally amazing. Is there anything that an electric guitar can do that Eddie Van Halen hasn’t done?  And can you tell me how a man can rock a set of drums like Alex does, without so much as breaking a sweat??

Of course, the evening had some special highlights….one of which came in the form of a mini-Van Halen, Wolfgang (son of Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie)…who, at the tender age of 16, fills out the sound of the band on the bass.  This kid is so stinking adorable I just wanted to run up and pinch his little rock-star cheeks.  Talk about a legacy! 

Now, I will be the first to admit that the only Van Halen songs I was familiar with were the ones that were the most popular.  I never owned their album, or listened to them outside of the radio or VH1…and I will be honest, there were some songs I found myself hoping they would get through quickly so I could hear all the ones I had come to hear…which were, in no particular order: Jump, Jamie’s Cryin’, Panama, You Really Got Me, and Running With The Devil….and they didn’t disappoint.

And sure, there was the usual ruckus crowd. One guy had to be carried out for being too drunk…and the row of guys in front of us were getting high…the row of people in front of them were a bunch of older thirty something men with a bunch of younger 20 something girls and they were…let’s just say, entertaining…to watch. There were middle aged people who had clearly broken out the old-school gear to come to the concert….And there was, of course, the big biker-looking seat crasher who was arguing with the poor usher, threatening to kick his @$$ when he was asked to move.

In the end, my ears will probably never be the same and I think it is safe to say that I will never engage in such self-destructive listening again….but if I must summarize, I would have to say…that if I was going to blow out my ear drums with any group, I am sure as heck glad it was the legendary VAN HALEN!

Whole Foods…Something for the snob in all of us.

Published by Jessica on December 19, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

So, I was out doing a little Christmas shopping when I realized that it was getting late and I really needed to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things.  I was really bummed that my regular grocery store was pretty far away and during rush hour especially, it’s a bit of a haul. I reluctantly settled on going into the Whole Foods next door with the determination that I was just going to pick up a few things.

Now, I have to say that–in all honesty–I have always had a bit of a…I don’t know what you would call it…a “fear” maybe of this ginormous store that proclaims to be “organic” and “green” and all these fancy fadtabulous words.  Generally speaking you find them strategically placed in big cities where there are relatively few competitors and complicated (albeit free) parking structures.

Their general lack of any real competition allows them to be as overpriced as a convenience store, and where that fails them…they plaster “organic” all over the place to explain their five dollar half-gallon milk.  Ok, yes, I know organic milk is more expensive…but there is plenty of hormone-free milk at the regular grocery store that doesn’t require you actually buying stock in a cattle farm.

Ok, look…before I complain too much let me first say that there are a lot of pluses to this place…I will grant that.  There is an abundant produce department and a wide variety of international type food options, not to mention lots of brands for people with food allergies–things that aren’t readily available at many markets. So, it’s not all bad.

My major “beef” with this place is the generally pretentious aptmosphere.  I mean, for the love of all that is holy…it’s a GROCERY store….but, these people seem to want to think that they work in the trendiest new jazz club/coffee bar/world market ever invented.  The aisles are oddly laid out, and really cramped….seemgingly in an attempt to “buck the system” of the larger, more spacious grocery stores.  The lighting is dim, accented by the dark brown…well, dark brown everything, really…and the really silly choice of placing a “wine bar” and “tea station” just adds to the pretentiousness of this store….really? a wine bar?

I think the thing that gets my goat the most is that this place puts itself out there as the healthy food store option and it is likely that the prices and the culture of Whole Foods will alienate a lot of people who want to make healthy lifestyle choices but quickly realize that they can’t afford the price at the checkout stand or they will find that even if they can afford to pay that conformity to a certain standard seems to be a “must”. 

Well, I know this isn’t much of a post. I am pretty tired, I have had quite a long day….but my bottom line in this is that I will stick with my friendly neighborhood farmers market and leave Whole Foods to the people who want to pay big money to make themselves believe they are doing an ultimate good by their family and the environment…when the same can be done for much less “green” on a smaller level of “production”.

Products I Love: Your Memory Lane

Published by Jessica on December 18, 2007 in Products I Love. 0 Comments

Ok, so….once again…as I said…I am perusing the internet and looking for fun and unique products out there when I came across www.yourmemorylane.com. Now, it’s not cheap….not by any stretch…but what a beautiful, sweet, thoughtful way to commemorate an anniversary, birthday, or retirement….

I really don’t know how to describe the product in this post other than to say it is a framed print of a “street” that includes a variety of keywords and symbols commemorating important people, places or things…like events….in a person’s or in a couple’s life….from their wedding to their dog, this one print can hold a lifetime of memories….soo cute! Check it out.

A “Truly Me” Website… www.perpetualkid.com

Published by Jessica on December 18, 2007 in Websites I Love. 0 Comments

Ok, so there is this tradition in my family that we kind of give unique gifts…gifts that the person doesn’t think they want or need but when they see it they realize that they don’t know how they ever lived without it. 

The idea of this is that it truly is ”the thought that counts”….to find these kinds of gifts, you really have to go out of your way and put a lot of energy into it. In the end, you don’t have to spend a lot of money…something small and cute, or useful, or funny…

Anyways, through perusing the internet I found this website and it has just those kind of items–the ones where there is something for everyone and the items are truly thoughtful, unique and good for a smile: www.perpetualkid.com and it has some of the most witty, sarcastic and interesting products that I truly feel speak to who I am as a person….here are a few of my favorite things from that website, however, I encourage you to visit for yourself….

Romeo & Julienne Cutting Board 

Cassette Tape Dispenser

Mini Tape Gun

Pink Flamingo Mini Plant Ornament

ABC* Cookie Cutters

Lush Sponge Gloves

Spoon Pillow Rest

The Nail Salon…

Published by Jessica on December 17, 2007 in General. 1 Comment

I really should be heading out the door right now but I was just putting my hair back in a ponytail and I winced in pain as the band slipped over my raw cuticle and I felt like I needed to complain, just a bit and just for a second….

On Saturday, my cousin-in-law and I had some time to kill before dinner and the show that we were going to see and so we went and got some pedicures and since I needed a fill, so I just got it done at the same time.  Now, let me first say that everytime you go into this store “Happy Nails” (it is a chain all around orange county…probably more like a franchise…) and you ask for a pedicure…and you stick your feet in the warm soapy water, they hand you this laminated piece of paper with a lit of their “add ons”….for *only* 10.00 more you can get a cooling mask and exfoliation and all this good stuff…but trust me, not worth it….so, I generally politely turn them down and they don’t ask again…they kind of know that people aren’t really interested…

However, on this particular day…or perhaps it was this particular salon…they gave me the hard sale. I had to find three different ways to say no thank you to the same question and then I realized that they must have some kind of quota because my “no’s” were joined by a chorus of other “no’s” all around the salon…

And it didn’t stop there, that wasn’t it….then it was “5.00 for dead skin removal”  or “15.00 for a flower design” and each time I had to turn something down including the three times I turned down the extra pedi package, I swear she got a little rough with me!

So, now…here I am…with a couple of raw cuticles…realizing that I had been in the den of the nail mafia without even knowing it….

I think I am going to find another salon….

If you see only one movie this holiday season, well…see two.

Published by Jessica on December 17, 2007 in Entertainment and Movies. 2 Comments

Ok, so I tried to make some bold and sweeping comment about the film I saw last night, Juno….how it is the best film of the season and possibly the year–but in the midst of an otherwise fairly poopie run of recent films, there are two standouts….and not just small improvements on the otherwise fairly dreary filmscape…but movies that achieve excellence in their own right without needing to be compared to their lackluster alternatives. 

So, as I said…Juno…ah-may-zing….Really, there is nothing more that can be said.  I have to admit that going in I was a little nervous because, as regular movie goers, we have probably seen the same gosh darn preview for this film somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 times.  “That ain’t no etch-a-sketch. That’s one doodle that can’t be undid, Home-skillet.” Said by Rainn Wilson in his guest appearance as the nosey convenience store clerk where Juno acquires her three pregnancy tests and gallon of Sunny D to generate enough pee to take said tests.   I would have to say that I agree with most of the reviews that say that the Gilmore Girlesque exchanges in the beginning of the fim are a little intellectually taxing and what’s more, we’ve seen them all…to the point that we could probably quote the entire beginning of the movie without ever having seen it in its entirety.

However, that being said…the dialogue is quick and concise…and although a bit overblown at times, quite purposeful.  But, no matter how smart or how fast the exchanges are between characters, it is the things that aren’t said that tug at your heart…there is no screaming or yelling when Juno announces she is pregnant, disappointment? sure, but that’s to be expected….actually, it went over rather well considering….there wasn’t any soapbox anti-abortion message but, rather (as one reviewer aptly put it) there was the conveyance of the idea that there is a right to choose, not a right to make only one choice…

And what’s more, there is humor and sensitivity and warmth…not the exchanges between characters…but in the quiet spaces….and I would have to say that those moments of quietness…the ones where the only thing that can be said are the things for which there are no words….those are like daggers (for better or worse) straight to the heart….and it is done with such skill and such art, that you half expect to leave the theatre and be able to call Juno on the phone…she feels so real…everyone feels so real….and that’s a nice touch considering that most of the films now are about superheroes and superhumans….sometimes, it is really nice to just be able to relate.

Now, I don’t have a ton of time to discuss Enchanted…however…there isn’t a whole lot to discuss. It’s a film for all ages, cute for the little ones (except for the big scary monter at the end) and hysterically funny for the big kids. A cartoon princess and the love of her life (for the last day) have found each other and are to be wed but for the wily ways of the wicked step-mother…who lures the princess to the edge of a well and pushes her in, where down she falls straight through space and time and the universe, only to come out on the other end as a real person in the middle of New York City….her prince finds out about the scheme and comes looking for her….promptly followed by the wicked step-mother…and the three embark on a comical game of go-seek in the big city….

I think the film’s most clever move is contrasting the ideals of the cartoon character with that of the average New Yorker….where, for many…New York is a “magical place”…anyone who has stayed there  long enough to see the dirt and grime and crime realize that, for all of its legitimate charms, it is not one big Disneyland….but…for those of you seeking the fairy tale ending, it’s there…it is probably just not what you might expect.

Well, that’s all…both are in theatres and when they aren’t in theatres anymore you can order them On Demand or through Netflix or whatever you do nowadays.

Protected: My Christmas List

Published by Jessica on December 15, 2007 in General. Enter your password to view comments

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Rules of Housekeeping: A Flat Surface Must Gather Crap

Published by Jessica on December 14, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

Why is it that a flat surface in a room must collect all of the miscellaneous stuff that ends up, throughout the course of the day, in that room.  There are times that I look at our ”Breakfast Bar” and wonder at the menagerie of items that have collected–items I am not even sure that there actually is a home for (which is probably why it is sitting on a breakfast bar)… Take now, for instance, on this surface sits: a pair of scissors, a set of adaptor heads for a laptop cord, a canister air fresehener, sunglasses, lipgloss, a screwdriver, a coffee mug, a small dishtowel, the whisk from my stand mixer, two electric christmas candles….ok, so maybe these things do have a home….

I guess it just feels like a collective mess, and I am wondering where my: muglasscissorseshenerichristowel drawer is.  I will have to sort them out one by one. 

Cold feet, warm heart….

Published by Jessica on December 14, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

Ok, so I know that for those of you in the colder climates this complaint seems insincere but there is a chill that creeps into the house during the night when the air is much colder and then, it just lingers. Not to mention, of course that we can’t take a hot steamy shower without setting off the smoke alarm and therefore we find that we are forced to open the window in the bathroom to make sure that the steam has a place to go….brrrr….nothing like stepping out of a hot shower into a drafty bathroom….

Anyways, we are fairly reluctant to turn on the heat because–heck–it’s So. Cal! We’ve seen colder….however, after running around and doing everything possible to try to stay warm, I realized that I was just too cold to function and broke down to turn on the heat…and while it helps, there seems to be precious little I can do to warm my little tootsies. Oh, how I wish I had a fireplace right now.  I would curl up like a cat with the bottoms of my feet facing the flames and take a nap.

Any suggestion for warming my doggies?

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