Halloween Re-Cap

West Hollywood does not play when it comes to Halloween; the costumes are really incredibly. In fact, half of them could probably more accurately be described as floats...

 Take this duo (there was a guy in the scuba suit) and their under-the-sea masterpiece, for example.

Most people seemed to find safety in numbers...group costumes were the order of the evening.

No idea...

Again, no idea, but to be fair, these guys have something to do with a show that hasn't even premiered yet... 

These guys, I know. Sesame Street fo' life.

This guy had a cat accessory and he went around performing card tricks...

I think that Halloween is the day that all of the cologne-drenched boys at my gym work toward all year long... partial nudity was a popular costume. These guys managed to capture all of the big three: float-like costume, group effort (admittedly less cohesive than most), and partial nudity. Also - sparkles.

As if all the costume-peeping wasn't enough entertainment, they had several stages set up, and we happily bopped to Vaud and Villains' first set. With over 19 people, including a guy with a flaming tuba, on stage, it was quite a spectacle.

Gumby and Pokey prepare to get down...

And now, the best costume of the night...Mayans, complete with pyramid and Mayan calendar, carrying warning signs of the end of the world.

And then Miss Honey Boo Boo herself showed up and the "Mayans" insisted that she pose with the sign explaining her role in the apocalypse.

Tom and I decided that we need to go in costume next year, which means that we are going to have to start brainstorming now.

Happy Halloween!

To celebrate, I give you these photos that I took this summer of an actual home...in Coronado. Unexpected, right?

Week 23: Sugarland Week 24: Midgey Graduates

My new thing for the 24th week of the year was a Sugarland concert. Proof, sort of:

{You'll have to take my word for it.}

The next week, I watched my baby sister graduate from college!! That was definitely a new thing. I am so proud of her (not a new thing).

Lucy was so proud that she had herself a little sand seizure to celebrate.

Week 22: Venice Beach and Abbot Kinney

Visiting Abbot Kinney is one of the things on my L.A. To-Do List, and I crossed it off back in May.  I'm having a hard time working up the enthusiasm to write about things I did months ago, so I think that, in an effort to breathe life back into my relationship with the ol' bloggy blog, I am going to have to skip over the past couple months and get back to current time.

{Abbot Kinney}

I did, however, already go through and edit all of the pictures from our little jaunt to Venice Beach, so...  Apparently, Abbot Kinney was a tobacco millionaire who founded "Venice of America" in 1905. Despite Kinney's efforts to make Venice a center of arts and culture, it became known as the Coney Island of the Pacific. Poor Mr. Kinney. The Venice Beach boardwalk definitely maintains a Coney Island feel today, but happily, the streets surrounding Abbot Kinney Boulevard are more gentrified, filled with shops selling the work of local artists and designers. It's definitely more hipster than freak show, more plaid shirts and thrift shops than dreadlocks and tattoo parlors.  

{James Beach}

{fish tacos}

 

Abbot Kinney is famous for its quirky stores, but my favorite was this weird antique store that was crammed with stuff.

 Lots of stuff, but mostly cake stands. There were lots of cake stands.

{I think I need to start owning one of these guys.}

Lastly, the famous canals. According to Wikipedia, Kinney dug miles of canals to drain the marshes for his residential property. They also helped with the whole Venice of America vibe, I imagine.

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.