a sorta fairytale

from Storyland to Stardust, it's been quite a week!

We joined our friends Frank, Patrice & Sofia at Storyland, in NH, and I'm so glad we went. It was so fun...like a smaller, less corporate Disneyworld. Owen had a blast! He loved the rides and is still talking about them. He yet again did damage to his cute little face: he ran away from us and tripped into some gravel, cutting his forehead. Not badly, but enough to leave a mark. We had dinner & hung out with F/P/S; the next morning we were in the pool. We played an "evil monster" game that involved "saving;" Frank was the monster (I was the witch/sea hag) holding Sofia, and Owen "rescued" her. Sofia is really into princesses, so of course, they had to get married! It was the running joke all morning. Then somehow, Owen said they needed blood tests--how did he know? We'll see what happens in another 20+ years!

I went to my first Yelp elite event at the Milky Way in JP. Lots of fun...I actually got up to sing karaoke, "Love Shack" w/ Russ S, who is quite an entertainer. Met & matched some people up to their profiles, which was also neat.

Tonight, Owen slept over at my parents & Tak was working, so I took myself to see Stardust, finally! It was really good. If you go in not expecting things to be just like the book, it's very enjoyable. A plus seeing the gorgeous scenery on the big screen, and Charlie Cox is perfect as Tristan. I think I may have been more excited to see the trailer for the Golden Compass, though.

love is a mix tape

I saw this book in a little while ago, and it just conjured up so many memories. I have a few books in line before I can check it out, but it inspired me to dig through my old mix tapes. Luckily many of the songs are on iTunes. Some of the music I'd forgotten how good it was, like Mind Bomb by The the. Some of it I'm not surprised is hard-to-find (Miracle Legion, Mary's Danish, the Peregrins, 17 relics) and some I'm just going to get used (Bongwater, Edie Brickell, Melissa Etheridge). Now I have to figure out how to transfer the analog to digital (something that has been explained to me many times and it just won't stick in my head). Even the mixes themselves kind of hold up after all these years, too (if I may so myself). It's funny listening to songs that have such a strong place and time association.

And last week, I saw my friend Bob, who was in Boston visiting with his family, who I hadn't seen since the end of our freshman year when he moved back to Ohio. So cool. But lately it hasn't been the kind of day that I could bail on work, either, which is huge bummer, 'cause I would have loved to hang out more.

Which reminds me, I have to burn a CD (how times have changed! or not...) for my sister's sister-in-law, who is just starting college. I think it might be stuff she'd like, too.

No. 9

Here's us in 1998 at the Silver Bell Chapel in Vegas, right after we got married. We'd just been to Comic Con for the first time, our friend Rob was with us. One of my best friends from high school, Michelle, who introduced us, flew out from LA with her boyfriend to watch us get married, too. That was it! (We had a reception a few months later.)
They didn't even ask us for ID when we went to get our license. There was an Elvis in the building, but he didn't walk me down the aisle; we did get a photo with him later.
It was pretty surreal. We left the next day for San Fran, where we hung out and partied with friends up there. (I got the dress in London with Ilona.) Looking back, there isn't much I'd really do over.

knitmas in august

Photos of the yarn haul accident I had at Circles are up on flickr. More photos to come, since I think I need some serious stash and needle management in general. I've been on the fence about ravelry.com, between the site getting up and running and my own involvement--even though it looks like a ton of fun. Oh, what the heck--I just signed up anyway. I'm probably pretty far down on the list (which is actually OK with me).

Tak's dad really liked the hat, which was nice. He's going to wait until the fall to start wearing it. (OK, so I did use the bathroom as a backdrop. It has the best lighting at 11 o'clock at night in the house.)

I'm finally knitting a sweater for myself. It's slow going, since I'm pattern & time challenged. All of my #11 wooden needles have chipped at the tips, even my nice Lantern Moon pair. Out of curiosity and novelty (and a sale at AC Moore), I bought a pair of Knit Lites, knitting needles with plastic lights at the tips. Owen immediately began waving it around like a magic wand. I have to admit that I do quite like them, and the tips are quite smooth, although I don't know if I'd actually knit in the dark. They're just a little unwieldy for travel, and they've come on a couple times by accident. I keep eying the Options needle set from Knit Picks, but I really don't need it. I'll keep you posted.

surf & turf

It has been a crazy couple weeks. We spent last weekend in Boothbay/Southport Maine, visiting my sister's in-laws with our whole family. It was a gorgeous spot, perfect weather. Ate in Boothbay, toured around the harbor, relaxed. Except when I fell down the stairs at the house where we were staying (I'm OK. The extra padding helped cushion the fall.) I even got a tan! Owen had a great time, too. He did great in the car both ways, considering it was his first big road trip.

Last week I went to my first Yelp event, an open house in a wonderful coffeeshop in the North End. The North End is one of those places that I just don't get to enough. I've also realized that Yelp is totally addictive for me. I think I wrote 5 or 7 reviews in one sitting last week, and stayed up until 3am. Silly me.

Oh! and went with Katie, Jason & my uncle George & aunt Cyndy to see Crowded House a week ago. Pete Yorn opened, and Juliana Hatfield came out and did a duet. Crowded House were very good--I love the sing a-longs. The best show I've seen Neil Finn was in Feb of 2003, it was Neil Finn with a couple other back-up musicians at Avalon, and my whole family went for my dad & George's birthday. The Harborlights/ Bank of America Pavilion show was great, too. The weather was lovely, and it's a great spot to see a show, under the tent and on the water. We all got a little goofy at the end, too.

My hair color is really fading. After doing the whole thing fuchsia, I decided it was too much and did low-lights (dark brown) myself, leaving pink parts in the front and sides. Now it looks closer to light brown and a washed out, light pink. I'll re-color the whole thing brown for a family wedding this weekend. It was fun while it lasted. Heck, I could always do it again!

optimus prime

The o-man slept over at my parents' house last night, and Tak & I got to go to the movies before his trip to NYC. We saw Transformers and WHOA it was excellent. Non-stop go go go. Sometimes the special effects were too much so that you don't know what's happening on the screen. Also a couple plot holes/wha-wha-what just happened moments. My friend Sofia has been recommending this to me for the last month and I'm so glad we saw it on the big screen.

My big OOPS for the day was I made Tak's train reservations and scheduled him to be on a train *yesterday* morning. Luckily he was able to switch the ticket over and make his train. Whew!

when the editor needs an edior

I'm finding this to be especailly true like in the long random psycho tailspin post from a couple days ago. I've edited a chunk out. Thanks for the support, too!