Friday Felicities

Making me happy this week:

*weekend dates

*citrus
I can't get enough. Yet another reason why I can't imagine living anywhere but the Golden State.

{tangelo - after school snack}

{tangerine - dessert}

*poetry
Nerd alert. The last issue of O magazine (double nerd alert) was all about poetry and the power it has to articulate our common bonds. People write it off as stuffy, dull, and pretentious, and some of it surely is, but some of it is also incredibly simple and universal. Point is, I'm trying to read some new-to-me poetry every night. I'm going to be through my poetry collection soon, so it looks like a trip to the used book store might be in order. Any recommendations?

Here's a poem in honor of the aforementioned citrus. (Click to view larger.)

*The Princess Bride

I love this movie. This week I showed it to my students, 80-plus Mexican-American kids who were born almost ten years after it first came out. I was a little nervous about showing this sentimental favorite to my decidedly unsentimental students, a group who routinely turn up their noses at the idea of watching any movie that is not rated R. I was also worried that a movie made in 1987 might come off as cheesy and dated. All my worries were unfounded, however. The kids seemed to genuinely like the movie, and many of them asked to watch it again the next day. Although, that probably has more to do with avoiding actual work than anything...

Either way, Westley, Buttercup, Inigo, and Fezzik made me very happy this week.

Friday Felicities

So many things to be happy about this week...

*Lucy=puppy Prozac! I don't have any data to prove this, but anecdotal evidence supports my theory that it is impossible to be unhappy whilst cuddling a baby animal mammal (fish and birds prove difficult to cuddle and are not reliably adorable, even as babies). Cuddling might not even be required, I think that mere proximity to a baby mammal serves as a pretty significant mood elevator.

*Coronado's ability to retain its small town feel despite the fact that it is minutes away from a city of over 1.3 million makes me happy. On my way home from a lovely afternoon visit with my parents and Lucy, I held up traffic to let a lovely duck couple on their evening walk pass by. No one honked.

*Lots of sun and temperatures in the upper seventies have made it feel like summer around here. The roses outside of the main office at school have exploded this week. They smell even better than they look, thereby making my frequent daily trips to the copy machine, restroom, etc a welcome break from the slightly less pleasant smell of hormonal teenagers (That's redundant, isn't it?) who have just completed a two hour PE class.

*Yet another thing to be happy about - trying out trendy, impractical shoes on the cheap. Heading out for a date with the hubs tonight, so I decided to swing by H&M for something snazzy for the evening. Since I'm spending an evening out of my slippers, I might as well go all out with unnecessary zippers.

{See ya, slippers.}

I Love Lucy!

My parents finally brought home the black lab puppy that they have been planning for since they moved back to San Diego almost three years ago. Continuing in our family's black lab naming tradition, the new addition has been named Andalusia (Lucy for short) in commemoration of a recent trip that my parents went on.


She seems to be making herself right at home.

She is already quite popular.

Procrastination

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.  ~ Mark Twain

All of my grades were due on Monday. On Sunday afternoon I had approximately sixteen pounds of ungraded papers in my bag, so logically, I decided to bake. 

{pumpkin muffins with pecan streusel topping}

 

Friday Felicities

Things that made me happy this week:

*the anniversary of Midgey's birth

*celebrating the anniversary of Midgey's birth with delicious sushi

*the way that spring mediates the battle between winter and summer
Even in the supposedly seasonless clime of Southern California, I can feel the winter-summer tension of the mid-March battle for dominion.

One minute summer is winning - the roadsides are covered in wildflowers in full bloom, longer days invite evening walks, strawberries and tangerines have replaced swiss chard and mustard greens at the farmer's markets, and the stores are practically giving away daffodils.

At other times, winter takes the lead - the rain pours down, temperatures don't crack sixty (I am still talking San Diego winter), the weatherman predicts more snow in the mountains, scarves and boots are legitimate clothing choices, and an evening fire seems like the perfect way to fight the chill.

*mid-week movie and wine nights
I headed up to Long Beach for a conference on Wednesday. So, knowing that I wouldn't face a gaggle of needy adolescents the next day, I stayed up late on Tuesday to enjoy my husband, a silly movie, and a heavy red...

Happy Birthday, Midgey!!

My super fly, ultra-smart, singularly sweet, gorgeous baby sister turned 21 yesterday. Being far more sophisticated and mature than I was at 21, she did not go out and get sloppy drunk at her first legal opportunity. Instead, we celebrated Shack-family style with wine and reflections and stories and laughter all wrapped up in a dining experience. 

Peohe's hooked us up with custom, celebratory menus.

{photo credit: MoShack}

And the waiter played along and carded the Midge.

{Photo credit: MoShack}

There was much posing and documenting of the evening.

{Photo credit: waiter man}

{Photo credit: MamaShack}

 Dinner ended as dinner at Peohe's must - with lava cake.

Twenty-first birthdays, however, are extra-special and thereby require multiple cakes...

{I just realized that this picture includes: Mom, Dad, birthday cake, funky head scarf, and champagne...what a lucky birthday girl!}

Happy Birthday, Midge! 

{Cry baby no more!}

Cape Mayhem

On Saturday afternoon, the sun defied expectations and came out to shine on a little outdoor fun. The residents of Cape May Avenue in Ocean Beach acquired the requisite permits and closed off their street to host "a free event celebrating community and music."

OB being OB, there was a wonderfully diverse group in attendance. The street was packed with dreadlocked hippies, skinny jeaned hipsters, stroller pushing mamas, homeless vets, scruffy musicians, cholo types, and free spirits galore. At least fifty percent of those in attendance were accompanied by a canine companion. Bigs was my favorite.

{Bigs}

 

 

Drinking and dancing all afternoon necessitates some sort of non-liquid sustenance, and that need was easily met by the fabulous Green Truck, a 100% organic food truck that runs on vegetable oil and solar power. 

They also use compostable utensils and plates which are added to the food scraps in the compost bin underneath the truck. The resulting compost is delivered to the farms where they source their ingredients. Seriously cool.

Happily, in addition to being food for the planet, the food was also good for my mouth. I think I won with my grilled mahi tacos, but Tom insisted that his chicken pesto wrap was top notch. 

Bigs was also a fan of Green Truck's offerings.

Then, of course, there was the music.  Tom has been playing with Melly Frances and the Distilled Spirits for awhile now, and they put on  a great performance under a small tent at the end of Cape May Ave.

Once the sun started to set and the temperature dipped to the mid-fifties, I wimped out and headed home, but I'm told that Tom and Devin wrapped up the night with some crowd-pleasing covers that even had the police tapping their feet when they came by to enforce the 10pm curfew. All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday.

Friday Felicities

Things that made me happy this week:

*  being finished with car shopping 
Car shopping is the worst. Let me rephrase, shopping for a certified pre-owned Prius the week after    Japan was devastated by natural disaster and oil prices pushed $105 a barrel while on a limited budget and in possession of taste that does not believe in budgets - that is the worst. The only good thing about driving all over creation last weekend looking for a car was getting to meet up with Tom's brother and his girlfriend for dinner at The Library in Santa Monica. That reminds me - sweet potato fries also make me very happy.

{Santa Monica Boulevard}

* my new car
The good news is that all that car hunting paid off and I now drive a super-cool spaceship car. Most importantly, in purchasing a hybrid, I have earned the final merit badge and am now a full-fledged yuppie.

*Tom
Of course he makes me happy every week, but he went above and beyond this week. He called all the dealers and did all the talking to the awkward salesmen (had I been on my own, I probably would have bought the first car I test drove because the guy was super nice and I felt bad for him because he seemed particularly sad and desperate).

Tom also took my ridiculous demands (leather interior, navigation system, sunroof, less than 20,000 miles, 2010 or newer, previously owned by a B-list celebrity or reality star, etc) in stride and let me realize on my own that some flexibility might be required. He didn't even roll his eyes once. In addition to his endless patience, I am also particularly grateful for the fact that he relieved me of all negotiating duties; I would certainly have paid at least $5,000 more just to avoid the awkwardness of having to bargain.

As an extra bonus, he makes silly faces and those also make me happy.

While I'm at it, his random guitar-playing strolls around the apartment make me happy too.

*pets that cost less than five dollars and require minimal upkeep
 I got a little distracted on my errand to Staples, wandered into Petco, and came home with this guy...

I asked Tom what we should name him, he reflected for about two seconds and came back with... Spanky. 

*hilarious babies on youtube
Someone posted this video on Facebook this week, and I've since seen it a bunch of other places. It makes me laugh every time. It's a 59 second mood lift, something we could all use as we try to wrap our minds around the tragedies that seem to be stacking up at breakneck speed around the globe.

Enjoy!