David Lynch and Donovan!

So, two Sundays ago (after Church of Craft), David and I trekked down to Hollywood via the Gold and Red Lines to see if we could score some stand-by seats for the David Lynch/Donovan event at the Kodak Theatre. This was the last stop on a three city tour they were doing to promote transcendental meditation. Hooray! We got in. And we also got to see the neat Kodak Theatre.

And here I am after the event in front of the poster. The David Lynch part was great. Laura Dern read him questions from the audience, he responded, and a man at the piano played brief improvised pieces to accompany the answer. Very cool. The Donovan set was also neat but more of a mixed bag. (There were some songs that neither David nor I could stand. Others were great.)

But just as a sidenote, when I hear American Idol contestants scream, "I'm going to Hollywood!" on the commercials, I just don't know if they realize what they're getting. Maybe I'm just spoiled that I can hop on a subway and go there anytime I like. Too bad we got out too late to eat Thai food. Next time...

Bumper Crop at Church of Craft

We truly had a great turnout at the last Church of Craft meeting on Jan. 21. It was getting packed in the back room of The Coffee Table--packed with crafty goodness, that is. Of course, it's taken me awhile to post this, so people's names have flitted from my mind. My apologies to those people who get shafted. I swear it's nothing personal.

This is Charlotte who was making the most adorable froggy cards. She also had a lot of neat gadgets that we all oohed and ahhed over. And here's ____ with Ben. They were both fiber types who met at a yarn store. (How sweet is that?) She was making cute crocheted monkeys (I did tell her about my monkey nightmare), and he was at work on a sock. Ben also brought in this neat device that one of the other attendees puzzled over and finally figured out. (She thought it was for colored knit work.)

Here are two people whose names I've forgotten and Susan. Susan brought supplies to make fun felt flower pins. I was sorely tempted to join in the fun, but as you'll see below, I was hard at work on something else. Susan always has such neat ideas to share.

And here's Reverend Allison working on a lovely shawl and Christy of getcrafty.com fame working up her own felt flower.
Finally, here's me with the monstrous laptop bag, Joyce holding up her F**K cross-stitch, and Joyce's friend Misty knitting away. There were others there, but obviously I don't have any pictures of them. Thanks again, everyone. You made my afternoon!

Laptop bag update: major knitting operations are complete! Now there are ends to weave in, and I have to sew the whole thing up and felt it. But that's the easy part, right? I hope this one turns out better than the one I did for my parents. Always knit up and felt a test swatch, I say. Otherwise, you never know what you're going to end up with.

Vegas, Paris, Ice in the Desert

For my birthday last week, we went to Vegas for one night. I was especially excited because we hadn't been there at all since October, 2005. I was suffering from withdrawal. Thanks to the benefits of traveling in January, we were able to score a reasonably priced room at Paris. Yea!

Guess who's coming to Paris. David Hassellhoff in The Producers! We'll most likely see Spamalot when it arrives in Vegas, but come on, it's David Hassellhoff. (The German professor at Coe had a big poster of David H. in his office. It was hilarious.)

Here's me playing The Munsters 2 cent machine. For any concerned parties, I was supervised at all times on the gambling floor, had a specific and small gambling limit, and was quickly whisked away at the first sign of my eyes glazing over. I have my Grandma Chelo to thank for the gambling gene.
Yeah--this machine at Bally's--it sucked. I really think it's a worse money catcher than the others since it's right at the entrance between Paris and Bally's and practically screams, "Throw your money in here!"
This is the huge wooden horse that's in front of the F.A.O. Schwartz store at Caesars Palace. It's hard to tell, but that's me at the bottom by the leg. We went into the store and were tempted by the large stuffed monkeys.
In addition to lots of walking, a bit of slot action, and trying to stay warm (yes, there was ice on many of the casino lakes), we ate at two buffets. My favorite is still the Paris breakfast buffet because the food quality is great, there are lots of choices, and they have good coffee. Plus, if you time it right (as we did), you can go for a bit of breakfast and then stay for a bit of lunch.

I do love Vegas, but I only ever want to stay for a little while. It can be a very depressing as well as exciting place. I'm so glad we didn't end up getting married there!

Just Like Old Times

So, when we were in New Mexico for Christmas, we had the great pleasure of seeing my best friend Josh who lives in Madrid, Spain. We hadn't seen him for almost two years (we traveled to Spain in Jan. 2005 to visit him--ah, Granada!), so we were all ecstatic.

Little tidbits about Josh:

• I've known him since I was in 7th grade and he was in 6th.
• We were in various church choirs and other groups together growing up.
• We once had a New Year's Eve party at his parents' house that involved an entire helium tank.
• He makes fun of Greta the cat because she's fat. Shame on you, Josh!
• He likes the color combination red and purple.

Anyway, here we are in front of the semi-new store in downtown Farmington called Andrea Kristina's. It's a cool bookstore/coffeeshop that--believe me--was sorely lacking during our formative years. (There's even a Starbucks in town now, too. We also went there. We were well caffeinated. Josh, though, had trouble ordering at Starbucks because he didn't know what Venti meant.)


This is a bride mannequin in one of the store windows on the same block as the coffeshop. Tell me--do they really think her crazed expression is a selling point?

The last night we were there, David, my parents, and I went to Josh's parents' house for dinner. We had a great time. Here's David talking to Don, Josh's dad. (I had "Mr. McDowell" for high school chemistry. I remember a lot of stuff blowing up in the lab thanks to my rowdy classmates.)

And here's Josh with his mom, Karlene. I had "Mrs. McDowell" for two years of junior high English (7th and 8th grade). She's definitely one of the first people who turned me on to poetry and the possibilities of the written word. She was also very strict when it came to grammar, so I probably owe her for my side editing work as well. I remember having to do a speech in front of her class. I was so nervous and shy that I fidgeted a lot. Her comments included, "Leave hair and ear alone." God--I can still quote it! She's the best.


I can't wait for Josh to move back to the US so I can see him more often. And maybe he can get Greta to stick to a diet.

Christmas in New Mexico

David, the cats, and I had a great time in New Mexico for Christmas. We ate good food, spent quality time with my parents, took Lucky the dog for walks even though it was really cold, and got to open presents. Oh--and we went to a candlelight service at the church my parents attend. I ran into some people I knew when I was in high school, and they commented that I hadn't changed at all. I was a bit appalled until David and my mom and dad pointed out that I should take it as a compliment that I didn't look OLD. I guess...

Here we are in front of the tree with Lucky. He's such a great dog even though he drools over the cats when we visit.

My mom and dad and Lucky. Aren't they cute?

Okay. I just realized this is a very Lucky-heavy post. But it's only because when we visit the cats have to stay in the study while Lucky gets the run of the house.

Here's my dad wearing the gloves I knit for him. I thought they would be done for his birthday in January last year, but it didn't work out. I did instruct him to wash them by hand in cold water since they're wool. I hope he listens!

And here's my mom holding up the lacey thing I knit (the one that was originally going to be the veil on Knitty Gritty). You can really see the detail in this picture. Yea!


In other Christmas news, I got my sewing machine, a Kenmore from my dad. Yea! So far, I've made David a pair of sleep pants and did a deconstruct/reconstruct project with a too tight skirt. I'll post pictures of that soon. It was great fun just cutting stuff up and then sewing it all back together again. Maybe I won't be much of a pattern girl after all. (I get frustrated with that tissue thin paper.)

So, that was Christmas, more or less.

We're from California. We can do whatever we want.

And that includes blogging about the December holidays in mid-January (okay--it's too late to even say mid-January, isn't it?). My goal this weekend is to actually get my holiday cards sent. Let' s see if that happens.

So, on to actual content. David, Thomas, Greta, and I drove to New Mexico for Christmas this year to see my parents. We left after work on a Friday, and traffic until almost Barstow was awful. (40 miles in 2 hours!) We made it to Kingman, AZ and stayed at a Motel 6. Now, here's where the title of this post comes from. There were some really loud, obnoxious people who kept us up until past 1:30 because, well, they were from California and they could do whatever they wanted. (Seriously. David heard one of the girls say this as she was shreaking about a beer run: "I'm from California. I can do whatever I want." So, that's become our new favorite phrase. Except it doesn't work so well when you're in California, surrounded by other Californians. Then it would be chaos, right? Anyway, here's Greta at said Motel 6 (couldn't they have slightly thicker walls? My god!) sniffing around and looking glowy.

The next day we made a brief stop in Seligman, AZ, home of the Snow Cap. Sadly, I've never actually been there when the Snow Cap was open, but it's still really neat looking. This sign was on the side.

And here I am in front. If you ever find yourself between California and New Mexico, I recommend that you drive through Seligman, if only to see what it must have been like driving Route 66 back in the day.


Fast forward past Christmas. Now we're on our way home (750+ miles all in one day). Here's a sunset just near the AZ/CA border. David did a great job of capturing this as we were traveling at 70 (or more) miles/hour.
And, finally, here's Thomas looking out into the night. I like the composition of this picture (again, thanks to David).


Next, Christmas, family and friends...