Week 21: New Camera and Week 22: The Troubadour

I'm having that problem again - the one where I am so far behind on the ol' blog that I avoid it entirely because even thinking about it just makes me feel guilty and overwhelmed, which is too bad really because I really enjoy it when I'm doing it well, which is not now. Obviously. Anyway, these "new" things are now several months past and not so new anymore, so I'd just like to get caught up and move on, real quick and dirty like.

On the 21st week of the year, way back in early May, I bought myself my first serious camera, one I have been eyeing for over a year now. The Olympus that my parents gave my for my 29th birthday was the best gift I have ever received since it started me on what I hope will be a lifetime of hobby.  I had gotten to a point with my photography, however, where I felt like I wanted to make a step up from the entry level camera. I lusted after this Nikon for at least a year before I finally pulled the trigger and bought myself this little present.

My new thing for the 22nd week of the year was a visit to the Troubadour, the iconic music venue where Elton John, the Eagles, James Taylor, Carole King, Fleetwood Mac, and countless others paid their dues.

We went to see Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. I have no idea what a grambler is, but the show was fantastic. Sadly, my new camera was not allowed in, so my only evidence of my inaugural visit to the Troubadour comes courtesy of Luella (that's my phone's name, in case you've forgotten).

Ms. Bluhm and her Gramblers are not only great musicians, they also seem like great people. I am basing this solely on the fact that they do fun things like record covers of Faith while driving around in a van...

                         
In fact, they also recorded cover's of Hit Me with Your Best Shot, Material Girl, and Islands in the Stream, and myriad other easy listening classics. I really want to ride in that van.

Week 20: Malibu State Park

A few weeks ago, Tom found a list of local "swimming holes." I thought swimming holes only existed in Mark Twain, but apparently they also abound in Los Angeles County. In any event, we ventured to Malibu State Park to check out the swimming hole, and this being L.A., the outdoor set of M.A.S.H.

Since it's been over a month now since we went, I am just going to dump a bunch of pictures on you. Suffice it to say, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. What was less lovely was the Wednesday morning that I spent at the DMV after losing my license on the aforementioned Sunday afternoon, but that is another story entirely. Anyway...the M.A.S.H. set was cool.

I want a horse.

After about a six mile hike, it was swimming hole time. For Tom anyway.

{debating}

{going for it}

Final analysis? Malibu Creek State Park is a lovely oasis in the middle of the city. M.A.S.H was a terrific program. And Hot Lips Houlihan is a fabulous (albeit slightly sexist) character name. Hurrah for state parks and Hot Lips!

 I was just going to warn you to avoid doing a Google image search for Hot Lips Houlihan because time, or more accurately, the plastic surgeon, has not been kind to her, but then I thought, I've seen it, and I shouldn't have to suffer alone. Avert your eyes if you don't want to tarnish your memory of Nurse Houlihan.

Ah, we can't go out like that. Happily, Hawkeye has aged much more gracefully.

To sum up, go to the Malibu Creek State Park. Do not do Google image searches of tv hotties from the late seventies.

Week 19: Spring Decorating

 Unlike most people who use spring as a chance to clean, I opted to add to the clutter by making totally unnecessary butterfly garlands! This was more a product of my inability to sit still and just watch TV than anything else. Also, I have a tough time throwing magazines away, and this project was perfect for justifying my collection of back issues of O, Real Simple, Shape, Elle Decor, Better Homes and Gardens, Traveler, and The Atlantic. Note to self: consider cutting back on magazine subscriptions.

Anyway, as Tom and I vegged out one evening last month, I whipped up a bunch of these guys. I got the idea and instructions here (how I came across a German blog in the first place is beyond me). In case you aren't fluent in German...

Find a colorful page and rip it out.

Cut out a 10cm x 7cm rectangle and an 8cm x 8cm square (those wacky Europeans with their crazy metric system!).

 Diagonally fold both pieces accordion-style.

Stick the rectangle on top of the square and connect them. I used floral wire.

Do that 10-12 more times, and - boom - butterfly garland!

Week 18: Settling In

Now that we're coming up on almost a year in L.A., I decided it was probably time to hang some things on our sad, empty walls. Obviously, I have hung things on walls before (beginning, probably, with a tapestry and my parents old records in my inexplicable 8th grade hippie stage), but I have never hung things up in Los Angeles before... I know, it's a stretch, but take it or leave it, it's the new thing for week 18. It is slightly more legit, however, because I used a new strategy for creating the gallery wall effect.

Thanks again to the magic of Pinterest, I came across this idea a while back and decided I should give it a go in hopes of avoiding the ridiculous excess of nail holes that usually results when I try to hang pictures unsupervised. I generally end up with about three times as many holes as are strictly necessary. Pinterest seemed to have the perfect solution though, so I got out my parchment paper and started tracing the frames I wanted to hang. Apparently, however, I did not pay close enough attention to the directions because I traced my frames and then cut them out instead of laying them all out on one big piece of paper. This was dumb. It makes way more sense to do it like the nice lady in the example.

Anyway, I taped my paper templates to the wall and pounded nails in the (mostly) appropriate spots. There were a few adjustments necessary because of spacing issues (which would have been avoided if I had followed the dang directions), but I'd say I only ended up with 10% more holes than required.

Week 17: Pinterest Project

On Week 17 (way back in April), I had to run to Michael's for a non-fun, non-crafty reason (specifically, I had to buy 5x7 envelopes for work), but when I took a lap around the store, I found some inspiration in the toy section. Technically, I didn't so much find inspiration as I was reminded of something I had pinned a while back. You see, according to whomever decides these things, brass animal figurines are the hotness right now. Meaning - if I were the type of person who "styled" her home (and, trust, I wish that I were), I would definitely have some sort of a brass animal figurine placed just so on my credenza (naturally, I would have a credenza), or bookshelf, or coffee table...

{ 1 - 2 - 3 }

Apparently however, these delightful, albeit totally nonfunctional, brass animals (branimals?) are pricey, so the internet is full of examples of people making knock-off versions. This is all to say that when I spotted a rubber giraffe in the clearance bin at Michael's, I knew that he should come home with me. This wasn't the first time I have turned a Pinterest pin into reality, but it was the first time for this particular craft (if you can call it that), so I decided that it could count for my new thing of the week. Now, pay attention because this is a blink and you'll miss it type of "craft."

Start with a giraffe. My giraffe is called Melvin, but I don't think it matters if your giraffe has a different name.

Introduce him to some spray paint.

 

Go to town.

Place Melvin (or Phyllis or whatever...) atop a pile of books and call Elle Decor or House Beautiful to see when they would like to come over for the photo shoot.

Week 16: Country Concert

I'm not sure why keeping up with this has been such a struggle lately. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I am easily distracted... I have started to write this a half dozen times, but then a thought buzzes by and I am off on another tab working on something else. Well, sometimes working, sometimes looking at photos of micro piglets hugging strawberries...thanks, Jaime!

{I mean...seriously. Have you ever?}

My friend the internet does present some unique hazards that are particularly dangerous for someone with my highly distractible nature and desire for constant innnnpuuuut (Johnny 5? Anyone?). See. Right there. I just did it again. I felt the need to verify that I am correctly remembering the adorable robot from the '80s classic, Short Circuit, so I turned to YouTube and lost four minutes watching clips. It's a problem. I really do identify with Mr. 5 though, which is, of course, an issue in itself.

                          

Annnnyway, point is, I am going to try to update more consistently because I really do like being able to look back and see what I was doing and thinking at this time last year or two years ago. For example, I'm sure that when I look back on this particular post in a year or two, I will be proud to reflect on the amount of time I once spent thinking about the ways in which my life and personality overlap with that of a fictional eighties robot... Moving on.

I have actually kept to my New Year's goal of doing something new every week, so I have some catching up to do. So, after a ridiculous digression, here's a brief summary of my new thing for week sixteen, which was like a month ago at this point... On April 15th, Tom and I went to see the Zac Brown Band in Irvine.

This was the first time I had ever seen this band, but it was also the first country show I had ever been to, a fact that I find rather surprising considering the amount of Garth Brooks and Mary Chapin Carpenter I listened to in high school. Although, at that time, I am pretty sure that I kept my country music habit on the DL (do people say that anymore) while trying to convince myself that I liked the Grateful Dead more than I actually did. I have matured since then and am now an out, if not quite proud, country music listener. The guitarist plays Yamaha, so we had killer seats.

Now to be totally honest, the Zac Brown Band is not that country. Imagine if Lynard Skynard and Jimmy Buffet had a love child and that love child grew up to form a band with his college buddies...it's kinda like that. They sound something like this:

                           
And this:

                          
So, yes, I realize that this is more pop than country, but their bass player is legit.

{His beard alone has to give them some serious southern street cred.}

Anyway, the show was a lot of fun, and I would definitely see them again. There was plenty of bopping and stomping to be done, plus they played The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and that's always a good time.
                              

Week 15: Caine's Arcade

Last Friday, (after a little wine) I finally watched this video:



Did you watch it? Seriously, go watch it. It's ten minutes long - you have ten minutes. See? I mean, have you ever? Anyway, I just watched it again, and I am still so in love with it. Caine's enthusiasm, his dad's willingness to let his kid run amuk all over his shop, how Nirvan is all, "heck yes, I want a fun pass," the way all of those strangers came out to make Caine's dream come true...the whole thing just fills me with love for all of humanity. If I'm this effusive about it now, dead sober, you can imagine how a few glasses (ok a bottle) of wine would intensify this feeling of love for all the world. I was basically Ebeneezer on Christmas morning after watching this thing...

Want to know the best part? When the Caine's Arcade website was first established, they decided to try to raise a little money for a scholarship fund for Caine's future education. The initial goal was to try to raise $25,000. As I write, the PayPal widget on the website shows that a total of  $179,271 has been donated to help fund Caine's education (a move to a private school now and savings for college later). And, actually, it gets even better - the Goldhirsh Foundation has agreed to match donations to the scholarship fund dollar-for-dollar. These matching funds will be used to establish a separate Caine's Arcade Foundation that will "help find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in young kids." The interweb can be such a force for good - it's not all cat videos and cyberbullying after all!

Anyway, point is, I watched the video and decided that Tom and I needed to make a pilgrimage to East L.A. to get ourselves a fun pass. The next morning, I held on to my tipsily arranged plans and looked up the website again to get directions to Caine's arcade.  Lo and behold (who says that?), they had scheduled a block party for Saturday since the arcade would be closed on Sunday because Caine was going to be making his First Communion... I mean, really. Could this kid be any more adorable?

{source}

We weren't the only people who decided to come check out Caine's Arcade. You could feel the goodwill in the air.

The line to buy a fun pass stretched down the block, so we hung out for a bit, signed Caine's guest book, and headed home.

All in all, it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. In addition to the rare opportunity to see an arcade made entirely of cardboard, I got a glimpse of an L.A. that I never get to see.

Week 14: Easter Fun

Tom had to stay in L.A. for the Easter weekend, so for last week's new thing, I used watercolors and washi tape to make him an Easter card that I hid (along with a Reese's peanut butter egg) for him to find on Easter morning.

While poor Tom soldiered on alone in L.A. for the holiday weekend, I attended an absolutely divine brunch hosted and prepared by Jaime. Giada better watch her back, between the home renovations and the fierce cooking, Jaime is prime for her own HGTV/Food Network show.

{Yumbo!}

 

 

We got a defective egg coloring kit (for shame, Paas!), so we improvised with food coloring. I think our eggs looked pretty awesome when all was said and done.

On Sunday morning, we went to Mass, posed for pictures in our Easter finest, hunted for eggs, tore into our Easter baskets, and stuffed our faces with hard boiled eggs, cinnamon bread, and jelly beans. Despite the fact that my youngest sister is 22, our Easter traditions haven't changed since we were all under ten, and that is exactly how I like it. I only wish that my brother, his wife, and Tom could have been there.

The aforementioned Easter photos were priceless this year because my dad inadvertently photobombed the picture of me and my sisters. When my sister checked her phone to see how the picture had turned out, she broke into hysterical laughter and started to pass the phone around until we all collapsed in uncontrollable giggles. It was the best.

 Here's a close-up for you. There are no words for how much I love this picture.

Happy Easter and a joyous spring to all!