Pickle's Ballet Recital

This past fall, right after Pickle was potty trained, she expressed a huge interest in ballet but I thought she was too young to start. Just for fun, called a local ballet school and was surprised to hear that they start as young as three--so I signed her right up!

And she has LOVED it!! She goes every week and never misses a lesson, plus the neverending amount of cute ballet outfits and kept her very happy (and us in the Poor House).

A couple weeks ago, the session ended with a very over-the-top ballet recital that featured the whole school in very ornate costumes and dramatic music. It was right up Pickle's alley! Apparently she loves performing on stage!

Here are a few pics of her Big Night:

Here she is dressed and ready to go. I realized this looks very "Tiaras and Tantrums" but she had to wear makeup for the stage lights. As you can see, she loves makeup...

Here she is at home before her performance with Gooser:

And here's one of Gooser because he looks so handsome!

And here she is after her performance with her bouquet:

Finally, here is the actual performance! Pickle is the one that barges out out of the line and ends up third from the right. She's also the one that shouts out the line "Quiet!." It's pretty cute...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxMhTCotM8Q

P.S. I know I keep harping on how irritating Blogger has been lately--but I'm really hoping someone can help me with this! When I upload (download? I can never get that straight...) photos and try to arrange them in the post, I used to be able to click on the pic and then drag it down if I put the cursor on the "down arrow" of the little window. Now it won't do it so it's nearly impossible (and way too time-consuming) to get the pic where I want it. Any advice??

Oh, the Guilt!

I can't tell you how guilty I feel for abandoning my blog. Let me say that part of it is the nature of what's happened to Blogger and how DIFFICULT it was for me to add pics which, as you know, is a big part of the blog.

When I was trying to do that last post for L.A., it took HOURS to get it done because of the new makeshift system for photos and I basically gave up out of anger. I don't know if it's better now and I'm almost afraid to try. I also doubt anyone is still reading...and I don't blame you!

It seems my comments are taken over over by weird Asian characters and that makes me sad, bt tonight I got a comment on a long ago post (about the weird caterpillar I found in my backyard) and I was going through old posts to respond, I was reminded of all the fun posts I used to write! It was like, wow--this used to be good! And then I felt guilty...

So I'm about to run out the door for my oil paintimg class but felt impelled to write something even though I know no one's reading. In fact, that might be a good thing, as I can be more stream of consciousness and just punch some stuff out which is maybe just what I need to get back into this...

I am also taking an "illustrated journaling class which is fun but requires a lot of writing which, frankly, I have been WAY out of practice with.

I'm not going to promise to keep up with things here--because it seems like when I do that, I never post again! So I'll just say that I do miss writing and I need to get back in the swing and there are a LOT of fun/cool things that have happened since that last post in L.A. that wish I had written about.

Must go to oil painting now! Miss you all!

I Love L.A.!

We're in L.A.! It's so nice here...If I didn't live where I live, I would live here for sure.

We arrived yesterday but I didn't blog because A.) I was crazy tired a B.) I didn't have a cable to download my pics. But today ending up being so exciting that I'm not even going to bother with yesterdays pics--the plane blah blah blah, Pinkberry, gallery, dinner....actually it was really fun--so maybe I will show those pics later? But onto today...

Here are the kids ready to head out bright and early:


Our first stop was one of our old standbys: Nate and Al's Delicatessan. The kids like it for the Yoo Hoo!

Here's the Pickle:
Highlight of the day: As we were walking into the restaurant, who was walking in right behind us? None other than Larry King!! It was exciting to see him, but we didn't have a chance to say anything as he made a beeline for his table to join his entourage.

The kids were begging me to say hi to him but I told him that no--under no circumstances could they approach him at his table. That the ultimate in rudeness! I said maybe if he was leaving at the same time we were they could talk to him.

But it was time to go and we all headed out, but I got waylaid by a phone call and by the time I got to the front of the restaurant none of my kids were in sight. I saw Don and the two little ones outside and turned around to find Andy, Teddy, Patrick and Larry King laughing it up at his table!!

I walked up semi-mortified and Larry was asking the kids all kinds of questions--as nice as can be--and then suggested we go outside and take some pictures! Which we did! Here's the kids with"Uncle" Larry:A little closer up:
The expression on Pickle's face is hilarious! She's like who IS this guy??

Then I joined the party:

He was seriously the nicest guy! He wanted to know all the kids' names and ages and when on about what a beautiful family we had--VERY nice man!


So after all that excitement it was time to visit Grandma. Here are the kids outside her house:
Grandma with some of the kids:

I love this pic of Pickle and Grandma!

And here's a portrait of Pickle:

OK--I want to post more pics--(we had dinner at a fun place that had five kinds of ketchup that I want to show you) but what up with Blogger? It's a nightmare to get the pics in the order I want! They won't scroll! I'll try to figure it all tomorrow--so that's it for today!

Not A Great Way To Start The Day...

This morning was the usual hectic frenzy that it always is--trying to get all the kids clothed, fed, organized and out the door at varying times depending on their schedules.

Teddy and Patrick had to go in super early for choir practice, Andy had to be in early for something or another, Gooser was going in a little later and Pickle was still sleeping because of the stupid time change.

As I was getting Gooser packed up and ready, Teddy called and said that Patrick fainted at choir practice.

I rushed Gooser out the door and into the car (luckily my cleaning lady was here with Pickle) and started driving to school like a maniac.

As I approached a corner where I could get a view of the school, I could see all kinds of emergency vehicles with flashing lights parked in front and I went into a full-blown panic.

When I turned the corner so I could pull up in front of the school, there was a solid lane of congested traffic going in the same direction I was going--so in my crazed state, I drove down the wrong side of the street honking non-stop. Nobody was going to get in my way!

Except someone did. Some stupid old man who clearly could tell I was in distress came through the intersection and down the same side of the street, blocking me. I was honking and screaming and gesturing for him to get out of my way and I think he quickly understood that this was NOT someone he wanted to mess with and backed up.

Good thing for him--because I swear I would have pulled him out of that car and backed it up myself.

As I approached the school, I saw no less than two ambulances, two fire trucks and two police cars. I was so panic-stricken that I could actually feel the years coming off my life. In fact, I think I had a flash of a picture in my mind of the Grim Reaper laughing and peeling pages off the calendar of my life.

I'm not even sure what I did next. I think I left the keys in the car, screamed for Gooser to get out and started running toward the school. Meanwhile, they were rerouting all the kids to an alternate entrance to make way for the emergency people.

Inside the school, paramedics were everywhere. I ran toward the nurses office (where someone told me Patrick was) and one of the paramedics stopped me at the door saying "Are you the mom?"

I think he thought I was going to be his next patient because he was like "Woah! You need to stop and take a deep breath."

When I got into the room I saw Patrick lying down, looking as pale as a sheet. They were doing some tests like blood sugar and blood pressure and trying to explain to me what happened.

I guess the choir director thought he was having a seizure, but the paramedics didn't think so because he didn't have the symptoms that typically follow a seizure. In the end, they chalked it up to a fainting spell due to the heat of the lights (they were practicing on the stage) and maybe standing for too long. As far as anyone could tell, he didn't hit his head--and if he did, he hadn't hit it too hard.

Since he checked out ok, they didn't think he needed to go to the ER and thought he would be better off going home and lying down--so that's what I did.

Later in the morning I took him to the pediatrician to have him checked again and he basically agreed with what the paramedics had said. But, of course, if it happens again (and please! I hope it doesn't!) more tests will have to be done.

He seems okay now--not dizzy and his normal self. But I have lost at LEAST five years off my life!

I'm Baaaaaaack!!

Oh my poor little neglected blog. I'm sorry blog! And if by off chance someone is still reading this--I'm sorry to you too. I just fell off the face of the Earth...

I don't really know what happened...first it was the move and the start of school, then the holidays...then I think I just got lazy! Or more like out of the routine--and once I got out, I just stayed out.

First of all, thank you to anyone who has emailed or commented that they miss my blog--I appreciate it!! I feel sad that all the crazy things that happened (and there have been a lot) have not been documented on here. My hair was blue! But now it's back to pink...Pickle cut off half her hair! And it still looks awful (think Billie Jean King circa. 1974). There was an all-school lice outbreak! But due to my super lice-repelling skills, my kids didn't get it.

And a lot of things that weren't hair-related happened too!

I actually haven't been a total slacker--I got really into some artwork and sort of threw myself into that project and tried to use as much down time as possible on it. It involves photography which I have printed very large and on watercolor paper--then I paint, embroider, draw--whatever! on it.

Here are a few examples that I just submitted to a show (cross fingers for me please!):
"All the Single Ladies""Jaundice"


"Miracle-Gro"

"Manifest Destiny"

Hope you like them!

So here goes the blog again--but one thing I'm going to have to change is that I think I need to add a "captcha" (is that the right word?) to the comments. I know it's a pain, but unfortunately, my comments have been taken over by weird stuff written in Asian languages that I'm pretty sure are links to p-o-r-n-o sites. So sorry creepy Asian pervert types! You are no longer welcome here!

Sorry guys--I hope you're still out there!

Christmas Card 2009

Remember my idea for our Christmas card last year? The four seasons? I liked it so much, I decided to do it again!

My friend Tricia did a great job on the beautiful designs you see around the photos. She has an Etsy Shop and I highly recommend using her!! She will make some amazing cards (anything--invitations, announcements, thank you notes) for you!

Anyway, this will be another accordion-style card--starting with...

Winter:

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

And then I wanted a pic of our new house as we are also using this as a change of address card!
I'm SO happy with the way it turned out!!

Oh--and I already have a cool idea for next year's cards! Do you think it's too early to start working on that??

House Pics Part Two!

Well I finally got some semi-decent pics of the upstairs of the house--so here goes!

First off--some detail of the stairway. Isn't it beautiful?
The landing at the top of the stairs (Remember my giant clown? He found a nice home up here!):
And another angle:
Pickle's room--it's very...PINK!
Another view...you can see her "princess throne" on the right.
Gooser's room:
This is the playroom/guest room. Still need to do some work in here like curtains, etc.
I had this sofa-bed recovered (it was a MESS before) and I'm very happy with the turquoise velvet!

Master bedroom--notice the fireplace so it's all romantic up in there! Still stuff to do in this room too--curtains and whatnot.
This is the back staircase:
And this is the room that made me want the house--the linen room!
My sheets and towels have never been so organized!
Here's a pic of a hall--exciting!
Now on to the third floor where Andy and Teddy are sharing a room. You can't really tell in this pic, but it's a pretty big room!
Patrick's room:
And check this out from the third floor bathroom--cute little clawfoot tub--it's pink!!
And I'm throwing in one more pic of the dining room because it looked pretty messy in that last batch of pics!

Thanks for checking them out!!

Top Chef Dinner!

Ooooh--the dinner with Radhika was FUN and DELICIOUS!

We arrived at our friends' house and Radhika and her chef posse arrived shortly thereafter. Her posse was cute by the way--one chef guy is her boyfriend and I do'n't know what the other guy's story was, but he was cute and he carries a "chef purse" which contains chef tools that can be used as weapons in case of a mugging.

Anyway, the chef team got to cooking and we hung out with them for awhile in the kitchen, but then retired to the living room with our friends and another couple and some crazy drinks called Whirling Tigers.

This dinner was so cool because Rahdika brought everything--the dishes, silverware, glassware--everything! They set the table and we hung out until it was time to eat.

The first course was a fun Indian-style take on grilled cheese--the menu called it "Chef Rad's Surprise." It was layers of the Indian bread(nan), gouda cheese , olives and fresh basil. Just really, really good!

Plus it was very Top Chef-esque because once the food was put down, Rahdika would appear and give a little explanation just like on the show!

The next course (plus we had seconds) was a tomato-curry soup with sesame crisps. I could have eaten this until I exploded!

Next up--a scallop "sandwich" with sour dough bread and a perfectly seared scallop. According to Rahdika, it's better to undercook rather than overcook a scallop--just so you know!

The main course was filet crusted with mint and pepper and served over creamy bacon-truffle potatoes. OMG!! Plus there was a cool yogurt-cucumber sauce on the side.

Dessert was ginger-vanilla creme brulee with blackberries and ginger crisps. Probably the best creme brulee I've ever had (and I've had a lot...).

Plus there was wine that Radhika nicely paired with each course..It was a great time!

But the best part was after the dinner when Radhhika and her guys joined us at the table and we gossiped about Top Chef!!

In a nutshell:

--Tom Colicchio is nice and very honest and helpful when he's critiquing the food.

--Padma is very "confident" with herself and very striking in person. Apparently all eyes are always on her if she's in the room.

--Gail Simmons is very nice and helpful--Radhika seemed to like her a lot.

--Fabio from last season is a jerk even though he seemed nice on the show.

--Stefan is a nice guy even though he seemed like a jerk on the show.

--Apparently Marcel isn't half bad.

--When you're kicked off of Top Chef, you go stay in a penthouse and are paid until the show is over.

--Radihka is writing a cookbook.

--She is also planning on opening a restaurant in the next few years.

--She is very pretty in person and has a cool diamond nose piercing (which, by the way, Don thinks would look stupid on me.)

Now for some pics!

Me 'n Radhika:
Group shot (I don't know why we're posing in front of a giant tv?):
Getting the gossip from Radhika:
Rahdika and her posse (again with the tv!):
Fun, fun evening!! I can't wait until her cookbook/restaurant appear--her food is amazing!!