Tribute to Fathers Day

Picture Entitled "What Dad's do with kids action figures"

Got this picture emailed to me this weekend and thought it was appropriate for a post on Fathers Day. For the only daughter in the family I thought it was hilarious cause this seems like something my dad and brothers would appreciate.

Happy Fathers Day Dad! Love you!

Opposum, Oh Possum

Apparently I shouldn't have been fretting about what to write about last week... something crawled up to my lap.. or into my laundry basket...again...

So Alycia told me that she saw something in the laundry room (is this sounding vagly familar?).. not sure what it was.. but she promptly high tailed it out of there as soon as she saw something fuzzy in the laundry basket. She's always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Next day...I braved it.. and went out there and sure enough an opposum had curled up next to the dryer.

So I went online to see what kind of advice they have for a situation such as this.. and found the opposum lovers crackpot club..

Just in case your up for some facinating reading here are some of the gems I came up with When you type "what to do when there is an opposum in your garage" into google (keep in mind that this is only searching for 2 seconds.. who knows what else is out there)

"I wouldn't get to close to it because it could have rabies. Get a Labrador dog and he will do that opossum in! Your problem will go away if you get a Labrador Dog."--Yet another reason to get a dog.. perhaps the main reason?

"Opossum in your garage: If an opossum wanders into your garage, it will also wander out. If you need to, you can encourage it to leave by making a trail of food leading out. Once you are sure the opossum has left, just shut the door."--Shut The Door! Now why didn't I think of that?

"They rarely have rabies and actually help to “clean up” your yard since they eat pests (cockroaches, rats, snakes, spiders, snails, slugs) and dead fruits from trees. The opossum will likely be moving on in short order and will not be of concern. "--Pest Control.. unfortunatly opposums are still pests?

"Just give them a chance. You might enjoy the benefits that they have to offer you. After all, they not only help control pests but are also living time capsules"--Still not invisioning where this is going.. time capsules?

And my personal fav:

"Opossums are solitary, reclusive animals that often are not understood or appreciated and the result can be traumatic and disastrous for them. Because they are basically defenseless, despite giving the appearance of being able to defend themselves, they have often been the target of unnecessary cruelty, especially in urban areas. A better knowledge and understanding of opossums and the benefits of having them as neighbors are essential to a peaceful coexistence."--More words are hardly necessary

And the visual... friend or foe.. you decide...

Here Kitty Kitty

So a friend of mine just emailed me a bunch of pictures from the last couples months... FINALLY.. I had been begging for a couple weeks at least.

Anyhow in the batch was the one above.. I was at a Farmer's Market in Santa Monica and they has an adopt a pet section... and aparently I got really into it...making kissy faces to the cats and all... and the sad thing is I don't even remember doing this!

Wish I could have taken a pet home... maybe some day when I'm older and can handle that kind of responsibility or when I get a backyard... one step at a time :)

Kicking off June 2008 San Diego Style

San Diego is the Best! This is how I kicked off June 2008...beach walk and sunset at La Jolla Shores. Sometimes I still can't believe I live here. :)

Cupcake Bliss

So Designer Cupcakes have been all the rage lately.. so much so that I even named my wireless network Cupcake (how’s that for super cutesie?!)…if you haven’t heard about the cupcake craze.. it’s time to get educated.

But for all those that could care less…the cliff notes version: there have been know to be Bakeries in swanky places like Beverly Hills (Sprinkles) and New York City (Magnolia Bakery) were you can get ONE normal small size cupcake for $3.00 or more.. I know I thought it was insane too. Yes I admit I have fallen prey to these places…I have been to Magnolia Bakery and the cupcakes really are good.. I don’t know about 3 dollars good.. but you’re also paying a premium for the designer reputation and bragging rights… so I'd like to think that evens it out?

Well I volunteered to make the dessert for my friend Lisa’s Bridal Shower BBQ (That’s all the rage now too.. j/k). And I decided to spoil my friends and went all out at Williams Sonoma which has the “Sprinkles” Cupcake Mix.. which is like $14 a box (personally I think they spend a lot of that on the sleek packaging which is a cylinder, not a flimsy cardstock box like normal cake mixes… See above picture comparison and tell me what you think). I did my decorative frosting job on these babies and even frosting monogrammed them for the Bride to Be. (Ya I know I went a bit overboard)

And to that end I had a lot of extra frosting... so bright idea...why not make some more cupcakes for Break the Fast tomorrow for church (Break the Fast is a potluck type get together right after church on the first Sunday of each month). Well I wasn’t about bake designer cupcakes for a potluck free for all (Each bite of a Designer Cupcake has to be savored!) so I made the normal cake mix variety but I decorated them almost identical to the cupcakes for the bridal shower sans the monogramming. My roommate (who saw me bake the bridal shower batch but never actually saw me make the imposter batch) was convinced that these were the real deal (until she actually ate one.. she is a dessert conisuier) and she ended up telling some of her friends that these were the famous Sprinkles brand best cupcakes ever... which was awesome... they were gone in millisecond. … behold the amazing power of branding or some really fancy frosting.

And that is how I spent my weekend in Cupcake Bliss

Shorebird... Come in Shorebird (Hawaii 8)

A little background: previously in the week, Lisa had dubbed herself the “Scandinavian Pepper” because she is so fair (most likely of Scandinavian decent some where down the line) and she had gotten a little sunburned on one of our excursions. I think I nicknamed myself the Hawaiian Turtle.. because Pam was saying something about how I had been pretty low key, go with the flow, on the trip (which I some how translated into slow and steady hence the turtle reference). I think I called Pam the Pink Flamingo because she had gotten a little sun as well and there were Flamingos at our hotel wondering around, must have had them on the brain.. Do I have to have coherent thoughts on vacation?.. anyhow we all had these funny nicknames by the end of the trip.

I don’t know if I can appropriately convey this on blog format and it might be one of those things where you had to be there.. so maybe this is just to preserve my memory of it.. so bear with me

One night we called for reservations at the Shorebird restaurant. (I feel like I keep mentioning food.. apparently we did a lot of eating.. I definitely feel my clothes a little tighter). Some how the name of the restaurant coupled with our nicknames struck a funny bone while Lisa called for reservations. It sort of felt like we were in a old black a white spy movie where we would be the spy taking in code. I could just imagine a Humphry Bogart type voice saying.. Shorebird.. come in ShoreBird.. this is the Scandinavian Pepper…. The Pink Flamingo and the Hawaiian Turtle have landed .. oh and can you get us a table with a view.. and make it snappy. Poor Lisa was trying not to laugh as she tried to get the reservation out while Pam and I were trying out our best impersonations of our spy voices…Shorebird.. come in Shorebird.

Aren’t we all still kids at heart.. I won’t tell if you won’t

Happiness is Shared Memories

I was bargain hunting in TJ Maxx today and was looking in the housewares section and ran across this frame with the quote “Happiness is Shared Memories”. I didn't buy it but.. it did cause me to reflect on my life.. and how lucky I am that not many of my memories are that disagreeable (or maybe I have selectively chosen not to dwell on those today).. in any event…usually I’m not the sappy type.. but…

To me Happiness is really a function of being able to connect me life with others. I don’t think I can ever say enough that I love my family and dear friends and how meaningful all those relationships are to me. I’m so appreciative that my life is shared with such wonderful people and that my memories are full of shared love, laughs and great experiences and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that many more great times are ahead.