next week

Gonna trade this weather:


For this weather:


It is hot as balls out. Gah!

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

let's see if i can check another thing off the list

As a spur of the moment thing I decided to have a few peeps over for a summer dinner party. I'm going to TRY to keep it simple but with a flair for summery times.

The weekend is mellow so far, I think we do so much during the week we forget about weekends.

Don't forget it's the weekend.

visit a science-y museum, check

On Tuesday we checked off something on the summer checklist. We owed dad a Father's Day so we took him to the California Science Center so we could check out the Endeavour in person. 

I didn't know anything about this museum and the majority of it seems like it's a hands on place for little kids to check out experiments and stuff like that but it had a cool flight and space exhibit including a special section just about the Endeavour and the space shuttle program. They had this incredible moving footage of all the launches for all the shuttles playing in tiny little squares around the same times they would have taken off. Of course, there is a heartbreaking element to it since we lost the Challenger during takeoff and that's part of the footage.

There's a video of bringing the Endeavour to the California Science Center and when it was paraded all over Los Angeles for few days to set you up. And then there she was. Beautiful as all get out.

After the shuttle we went to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History to basically look at dead animals stuffed and mounted for our education. There were FOUR polar bears in the exhibit and we wonder why polar bears are on the endangered species list (sure they were mounted decades ago before all the global warming and laws for their protection, I'm just saying is all).

Mainly the reason we went, and come on now, let's say it together: DINOSAURS.

Matt thoroughly enjoyed himself. I've learned that boys like two things: fire and dinosaurs.

Can you believe those are old old old bones?

Anyway, if you're ever in Exposition Park, be sure to check out both the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum.

They're both very close to each other and you only have to really pay admission to the Natural History Museum, the California Science Center is donation based and you only pay $2 for the Endeavour.

golf: a love story

Next week begins the month of July and with the month of July comes a special anniversary that began last year in Colorado. Yup, I've been playing golf for a year now.

We don't go out weekly or even monthly. Lately, with copious amounts of free time we've been hitting the course pretty frequently. It's pretty easy to golf when you have a permanent built-in golf buddy but golf has opened up our world to new friends to play with. Work friends even!

I'm at the point with the game where I'm hitting the balls in the air and moving along faster than when I started but I'm still in that honeymoon phase with the sport and am happy to just go out and play and get a solid hit or two in. Any day on a golf course is a good day as far as I'm concerned, regardless of how I play.

Right now my technique is based completely on reading Golf Digest and watching people play and seeing what they're doing and trying to imitate it and the next step will be proper instruction and get a good foundation of play for the sport. I still don't know all the terms or what clubs to play depending on where the ball lands. I'm just going with practice and feel and I'd like some more knowledge to hang my sweaty golf hat on.

It is a heart breaking sport and one of a million variables and a thousand things to think about as you stand there with this stick and try to hit that ball. And maybe that's what keeps me so interested in the game because with my A.D.D. personality, it's a miracle I'm not bored with the game yet after one year. I thought for sure those clubs would sit in the garage unused, collecting dust but no, I want to take them out and hit with them. I want to play. I want to feel the highs of that one good shot.

It's a game that pits me against my biggest foe: me. I have nobody to blame for a bad shot but myself and nobody to praise for a good hit but myself. And while in life I have the habit of really beating myself up about the choices I make and things I do and who I am, out there, I am my ally. I have to talk to myself repeatedly. Head down EvY. Focus. Loosen the grip. Ignore the water. You won't hit that bunker. Breathe. Breathe.

And of course there's the bad ass factor of being a girl and playing golf. A short, Mexican girl. Do you know what reactions I get from work and boys in general when I make some golf comment? What? You play golf? You?! It's a common sight to have it be just me and the boys and you know I love that. And my goal is just to keep up with them, to be one or two strokes behind and get those balls moving to catch up to them. I know I'll never pass them but if we can be putting at the same time, that's a win.

And golf is such a gentlemanly game with rules and manners. Letting someone play through. Waiting for everyone to hit one by one. Repairing your divots. Being quiet while someone hits. I know so many things suck about golf like how dang expensive it is and how they didn't let women on some courses (that boils my water!) and how until Tiger Woods came into the sport, black people weren't allowed to play on the courses he was winning at but it's a special game. And you can't pay Tiger Woods enough money for how he's changed the sport. Sure he's made some mistakes in his life but his role in changing the game and making it accessible for people of all ages and races to play, that's something pretty remarkable. I mean come on, my people pick strawberries and here I am.

It's a great bonding experience too. Few things bond people the way sports do. Just to be out together encouraging each other, seeing each other's ups and downs, even just shutting up and playing together. A big part of why I wanted to start playing was Matt's family. His grandpa, uncle, cousin, and dad golf and I wanted to have something to share with them, some common ground. On Sunday we finally got to play with his dad and aside from being properly impressed (Papa Dan can hit 'em dude), it was such a fun thing to do as a family. Cheering each other on from our carts. High fives and fist bumps.

And of course, bonding with this guy. I dunno a lot of husbands that consider it a treat to have the wife come along on the golf course and he does. He actually wants me around!

I think I was talking to Ali about why I enjoyed this oh whitey of rich white people sport so much and a big part of it is that right when I'm about to hit the ball, I think of nothing but Hitting. That. Ball. Work and life and the world all melts away when I'm out there, vanishes like a golf ball into the bushes. My mind takes a break from the world when I just grip it and rip it.

And that's why I love golf. 

Well, that and the outfits.

the bur from the hill

The other day we went to the driving range up near where we live and it goes up the hill that overlooks the city of Burbank. The sun was setting and I took this panorama shot.

I had no idea there was such a neat little spot for a view of our town.

Have we mentioned enough how happy we are here? It was scary to leave behind the place we loved so much but this is home now and we wouldn't have it any other way.

This weekend is all about golf. At 1pm today a gal pal and I are doing 9 holes and tomorrow Fatz, Dan, Matt, and myself are doing 18 holes up in Lost Canyons Golf Course. I'll be breaking in my new golf shoes today so they can cut it with the boys tomorrow.

Wish me luck! Have a great weekend everybody.

today's to-do list

As you know, I take summer very seriously. It's like a religion to me. Because of all the outings and activities, the house hasn't gotten the lovin' it's been needing which is kinda the point of this blog. 

So... after me and Jillian do our thing, today we're planning on tackling the shed since it's a crazy mess out there and doing some yard work. The bush in the front turns out not to have been dead and is actually all pretty now.

Do you guys want posts of my summer activities? I'll recap the wedding and other things if you want.

the grey purple-y room, or, have i made a huge mistake?

The reason for the big guest closet organization was because I wanted to take care of something else...

BAM, painted it. I wanted to surprise Ambre who was coming to town with a newly painted guest room. And then she couldn't come into town so surprise Am, here's the room you were gonna stay in!

Here's the thing though. After I'd prepped it and everything and started cutting in the paint, I had a freak out about the color. Holy crap what am I thinking?! Did I just make a huge mistake? The paint color is purple-y gray and the furniture is gray. And the bedding. Gah! Freak out! By then it was too late, I had to just keep going.

It's actually just light enough to contrast with the furniture so it's not as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong about the paint color itself, I freaking lurve it. It feels a little drab but maybe, that's okay since I wanted to de-girlify the room and having it muted like this sorta works?

There's so much I put off doing because of the lack of paint like hanging things and finally installing the anti-tip brackets to the cabinet and the dresser. Much needed in earthquake land friends.

I hung up the Los Angeles alphabet print, it's perfect in there twofold.

And despite them being perfectly darkening, these curtains have gotta go.

They're almost identical in shade to the furniture in the room. No likey.

The inside of the cabinet looks the same as when I first set up the room. Half decorative for guests, half for the nieces.

Lyla and Angie somehow know about this room because when they come to visit they go right in here and head for the toy box and the cabinet. I love that they know the house, it's just what I wanted.

Ali got me this globe as a birthday present. It's a globe made of Los Angeles landmarks, does that chick know me or what?

The rest is pretty much the same.

Did you know I put magazines under the dresser? It felt empty under there so I went for it.

I keep a dockable alarm clock with an iPod in it. It has a few playlists I felt would benefit all.

Luggage rack and chair where you can throw your clothes.

From this angle the color works well with everything in it.

Bottom drawer has the sheets for the bed.

The top drawer has the guest towels.

I'm not repainting. If we ever have a kid, we'll repaint it to their gender. Alice would have a blue room.

Ab stole an old Disneyland flag for me.

I won't put anything above the bed. Maybe I'll try my hand at making a headboard.

And we added this lovely bit of art in here. You know you wanna stay here.

It's nice that it's all ready and good to go. One less paint can!

Be our guest be our guest, da na na na na na na.

the guest closet lives

In preparation for summertime guests, I finally spent some time in the guest closet. It's a LOT better.

I can see! Things!

I have a boatload of stuff for the nieces so they all ended up in here. Blocks and such, a telescope that sucks butt.

My mother in-law retired from teaching and she donated stuff to the niece pile too.

Especially a MASSIVE collection of books, which I unboxed and put into this bookcase that was formerly in the office and I learned that I'd been using it wrong and it was leaning on it's side.

 Anyway, there they are on display.

 Please don't ever buy me children's books. I'm seriously set for life. Plus the ones in the cabinet!

And again, the best thing is being able to see the floor again. Woo hoo.

We did something else to this room too...