lisa

  • The Best Little Kennel, Boutique Hotel & Parking Garage in Southern California

    It was a busy afternoon at the Hotel Careyfornia.  Lisa ,Joel & the boys are going to Hawaii for 9 days and I’m watching their dogs, Shadow & Oreo (named after my Oreo!).  They’re parking their car here at my place (just like Claudio is), so now I have 3 cars.  That’s kind of ironic seeing that my own car was in the shop for four months up until recently.  So when Lisa & Joel got here, I took a late lunch and we went to Jerry’s Famous Deli.  After that we headed to the airport, where, coincidentally, Vivek had just flown in from Delhi, India, by way of Seoul, South Korea.  He’s here for an internship, and will hopefully get some good news about the Project Runway application he submitted.  (I’m really hoping for a ticket to the Oscars next year Vivek, especially since you didn’t bring me a souvenir from Korea!!)  Vivek was super tired after his whirlwind trip to Korea and flight to LA, so we did a quick drive down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and the sites of Hollywood (Grauman’s, the Kodak Theater, etc.) before he retired for the evening to get a good night’s rest and start the first day of the rest of his life tomorrow!


    The obligatory pose!


    A very dangerous picture!


    Waiting for the valet at the H.C.


    “This is is the day…your life will surely change.”


    …and Pet Motel.


    Blog buddies!


    I hope this song is good luck for you Vivek.  It was playing on a fateful day in 1990 when I made a decision that would change my life forever.  It involved switching jobs, agreeing to take care of two children and moving from Chicago.  I never looked back, and I hope that this too “is the day your life will surely change.”


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
    “More
    bad news for air travelers. Earlier today, U.S. Airways began charging
    passengers on its flights for water. Even worse, the oxygen masks are now
    coin-operated.” — Conan O’Brien

  • Up Up & Away in my Beautiful Honeymoon

    Tonight we took the kids to The Great Park in Irvine.  They have a huge, tethered helium balloon that stands 118 feet high and holds 30 people.  It flies 500 feet above the park, which used to be the El Toro Air Force Base that was closed in 1999.  We timed our visit perfectly.  We only had to wait about 1/2 hour and the sun was just starting to set when we went up in the balloon.  It’s really a great park, and the balloon ride is free.  We all had a great time.

    P.S. When I was little, I was fascinated by hot air balloons, but I before I could say “hot air balloon”, I simply said “honeymoon”.  For some reason, my parents never corrected me, and as I grew older, I continued to call them honeymoons.  Once, when I was in college, I saw three hot air balloons and announced to my friends, “Look, honeymoons!!”  Suffice it to say, I was the laughing stock of the dorm.  Sad, but true!


    Best of the rest.

    Here’s a cheesy blast from the past


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
    “The
    earthquake [in Los Angeles] was powerful enough that an entire group of people
    lined up outside to see ‘Batman’ ended up lined up to see ‘Mamma Mia.’” –
    Comedian Jimmy Kimmel

  • Blog Worthy Flat Tires & Multiple Births

     
    Pehaps my last entry should have been called “One of Those Weeks”.  Continuing my streak of bad luck this week (I didn’t even mention in the previous post that my camera broke again…long sandy story), the rental car had a flat tire when I left work today!  Since Enterprise was closed already, I called AAA.  (No, I don’t change flat tires.  That’s what AAA is for!)  Lisa’s husband graciously offered to come, but AAA got there in less than 15 minutes which was great.  It could have been better though…  As he was changing the tire, I texted Lisa:



    Talk about your flat tires!

    On a brighter note, I went to two birthday parties yesterday!  The first was for my friend Luciana’s 2 year old daughter Amanda.  Luci lives in São Paulo, Brazil and we’ve been friends since 1991.  The last time I saw her, was the night of my attack in 2002.  It was so wonderful to see her and her husband Mateus under much better circumstances!  I had not met her children, Amanda and Lucas, and even though they didn’t speak English (and my Portuguese is limited), we became fast friends!

    Lucas and I spoke the language of peek a boo!


    And soon we were melhores amigos!


    The birthday girl with mamã…


    and paizinho.


    Eu te amo você ama-me


    If you’re interested in the rest, click the photo above.

    From one pizza party at noon to another at 4:00, LOL.  Cole & Tressa’s party was at the pool, and a good time was had by all.  The shark cake was a big hit!


    Doing the limbo.


    This was a $200 cake that Jennifer got for free when a friend of the baker’s called to say they had an extra cake!!  The “sand” was brown sugar and the shells were white chocolate.


    The rest of the photos can be viewed by clicking the above photo.

    Speaking of multiple birthdays…or births…Diane sent this photo of the boys last night.  Isn’t it the greatest?


    Cole, Trey, Jaden, Tyler & Carter

  • California Kids

    We had the first part of Cole’s (Andy & Tommy’s favorite cousin  ) two part birthday extravaganza tonight with all his little friends.  Part two will be Sunday.  Tomorrow, my college friend Luci is coming from Brazil for her 2 year old’s birthday party!   Lots of kids and parties…my kinds of weekend!  I have to wake up early and drive to Newport Beach, so I’ll just post these pictures (more here) now and wish everyone a nice weekend!

  • Civil Twilight – “I Want the Sun Back”


    Carey Anthony

    Re: Dinner Tonight
    4 messages

    On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 8:16 AM, Carey wrote:

    This is just an idea, but what if we got something to
    eat tonight and took it to Laguna Beach and watched the sun set?  Would
    the kids be into that or no?

    Carey

    On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 8:25 AM, Lisa wrote:

    I think that’s a wonderful idea!  I could get
    subway for the boys (and for us too if that’s what you want) &
    I’ll pack a cooler of drinks.  We could put a blanket down on the grass at
    Main beach in Laguna & have a great picnic.  Gosh, every once in a
    while, you come up with some good ones!  See, that’s why you get to make
    all of the decisions!  We could pick up the sandwiches right after
    gymnastics & pick you up at your office…it’s on the way.  What time
    are you off?

    On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 8:28 AM, Carey wrote:

    Sounds great!
    You don’t have to rush though.  Pick me up whenever.  The sun doesn’t even set until 8:03, and civil twilight ends at 8:32!
    http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_pap.pl
    See you later! xoxo

    Carey

    On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 8:30 AM, Lisa wrote:

    Civil twilight?  Did you make that shit
    up??? 


    Who’s your favorite cousin???


    If the video below doesn’t work, click here.


    Laguna Beach Sunset – As the sun disappeared, Andy said, “I want the sun back!” 


    Best of the rest!

  • Taco Tuesday, Photoshopping Drool & Returning to Sender

     


    Buster (the one eyed horn dog) & Roxy

    I’m house-sitting and dog-sitting for Buster & Roxy this week and next, down in Mission Viejo.  Tonight I met my cousins and friends for Taco Tuesday at Tortilla Flats.  It was a beautiful summer night on the lake.

     

    After being impressed by Amos’ car and reading my post about The Golden Compass last year, Pang was nice enough to work some Photoshop magic (a skill I don’t have) on the picture of me sleeping through that boring movie!

    It joins the pantheon of other great Photoshopping excursions with my big head, like my most recent and topical profile photo from Tony:

     

    And the not so great ones that I did (without Photoshop), like this one for my Steroid/Rehab post:

    Or this, pre-blogging classic, when the abominable Catwoman movie came out:

    Sometimes, Photoshop isn’t even needed, like in this snapshot Rebecca took on our drive to Michigan last month,  Thank goodness the drool was covered.  And yes, I was cold.  LOL

    Regular readers of this space know that I despise snail mail.  This year, I have decided to only open mail twice a year, in July and December.  Period!  (Christmas cards are a whole other conundrum:  http://weblog.xanga.com/CareyGLY/632811811/the-christmas-conundrum.html).  All of my monthly bills are on autopay, and anyone else who I might owe money better email me!  This is the stack of mail from the past six months that I didn’t even open.  I simply wrote “RETURN TO SENDER” and “REMOVE FROM MAILING LIST”, and stuffed it all in a mailbox on my street corner today.  On some of these envelopes I wrote my email address.  We’ll see how effective my new strategy is.  At least I’m making all these companies pay for postage twice.  If everyone did this, it might start making a difference!!  (Did you know there’s one number you can call to stop all pre-screened offers of credit and insurance?  Also, there’s a # to call to opt out of all of those coupons and circulars that come in the mail.  Simply check the fine print on each item and call the number listed for the publisher.)

  • “And the Rockets’ Red Glare”

    Best of the rest

    jiazhousarcasmo‘s excellent summation!

  • T’was the Night Before Fireworks


    As I’ve recounted before, I’m not a big fan of the 4th of July (Independence Day in America).  This year should be fun though, as I’m spending the night with my cousins.  This morning we’ll take the kids to the parade and then we have a cabana rented by the lake for the day.  We’ll watch the fireworks, and then I’ll head back up to LA to greet yet another guest at the HC.  If any of you Orange County Xangans are going to be at the parade or lake tomorrow, text me.  My # is on my Facebook badge to the left. 

    We took the boys to Chick-fil-A tonight, and then took Tommy to get a birthday present.  Here are a few snaps:


    Notice the sign to my left.  LOL

     


    I love Chik-fil-A!  Instead of giving out horrible plastic toys in their kids meals, they give out CD to help kid learn another language!

     

    fireworks
    Have a safe, happy 4th everyone!

    It’s OK Or!! xoxo

  • Steve Carell’s Doppelganger, Hillary’s Not Going, Knocking With My Cousins & Muskrat Love


    Carey Anthony

    get smart
    2 messages


    From: Tony
    Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 12:03 AM

    To:
    Carey Anthony

    hey carey
    so i’ve always thought u
    look a bit like steve carell.  so i made one of my movie profile pics
    thingy for ya.  hope you like it!


    From: Carey Anthony
    Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 1:05 AM

    To:
    Tony

    WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love it!!   You’re the best!!!
    I’m
    also a huge Get Smart fan (I loved the original TV series, it came out the year I was born, 1965), and you’re not the first person who’s
    noticed the Carell resemblance.   Thank you so much.  And thank you
    for not thinking I look like Dewey Cox!!!!    If I knew PhotoShop,
    you would definitely be my Brad Pitt! 

    Thanks again!

    Carey

    Speaking of not knowing PhotoShop, I created and wrote this today after reading David’s entry about Hillary and listening to Jennifer Hudson’s latest single (which is quite catchy) on her website:  www.jenniferhudsononline.com.

    Sung to the tune of “And I Am Telling You, I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls

    And I am telling you
    I’m not going.
    This is the best race, I ever ran.
    Even though he’s a black man,
    No, no, no, no way,
    No, no, no, no way I’m not livin’ in the White House.
    I’m not not livin’ in the White House.
    I don’t want to be beat.
    I’m stayin’,
    I’m stayin’,
    And you, and you, you will elect me.
    Ooh, you will elect me.

    And I am telling you
    I’m not going,
    Even though the rough times are showing.
    There’s just no way,
    There’s no way.
    We’re not part of the same place.
    We’re not part of the same time.
    We don’t share the same blood.
    In fact he’s a black guy.
    And time and time we have not much to share,
    No, no, no,
    No, no, no,
    I’m not wakin’ up tomorrow mornin’
    And findin’ that Bill’s not even there.
    Darling, there’s no way,
    No, no, no, no way I’m not livin’ in the White House.
    I’m not not livin’ in the White House.
    You see, there’s just no way,
    There’s no way.

    Screw Martin Luther,
    Yell, scream and shout.
    You can say what you want,
    I’m not gettin’ out.
    Stop the convention,
    Push, strike, and kill.
    Just like Ralph Nader,
    There’s no way I will.

    And I am telling you

    I’m not going.

    This is the best race, I ever ran.

    Even though he’s a black man,

    No, no, no, no way,

    No, no, no, no way I’m not livin’ in the White House.

    Oh, I’m not not livin’ in the White House,

    I’m not not livin’ in the White House.

    I don’t wanna be beat.

    I’m stayin’,

    I’m stayin’,

    And you, and you,

    You will elect me.

    Oh, hey, you will elect me,

    Yes, ah, ooh, ooh, ‘lect me,

    Ooh, ooh, ooh, ‘lect me,

    ‘Lect me,

    ‘Lect     me,

    ‘Lect     me,

    ‘Lect     me.

    You will elect me.

    This still gives me goose bumps when I watch it.  I remember seeing it at the Arclight when it first came out.  There were a bunch of celebrities in the audience, including Whoopi Goldberg and Ron Howard.  Everyone stood up, in the middle of the song and started applauding until it was over.  It was the first time I’d ever seen that happen in the middle of a movie!

    Lisa and I took the boys to Costco tonight to finally return my third camera.  They took it back, no questions asked (2 1/2 months after purchase), and gave me cash.  Gosh, I love Costco.  (The only thing that bummed me out was that my SD850 (that I spent an addition $100 repairing) was on sale for $275 and it came with a free flatbed printer scanner!!)

    After shopping we took the boys at met Joel at Pei Wei, where they both tried their hand at chopsticks, with a little help.


    Andy and his knock knock jokes.  LOL.
    By the way, check out YouTube’s new annotation feature.  It’s not available yet for embedded videos, so take a look here:  http://youtube.com/watch?v=gJ8XpEHrjQg

    When I got home, this little fella was blocking my way into the garage.  I got out of the car to try to shoo him away and he was hurt and moving really slow.  I felt kind of sorry for the ugly bugger, and directed him toward the bushes.


    I know it’s not a muskrat, it’s a possum, but it gave me the opportunity to post this ridiculously cheesy song from the 70′s.  LOL


  • Speaking of Faith

    The Flying Spaghetti Monster (also known as the Spaghedeity) is the deity of a parody religion called The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and its system of beliefs, “Pastafarianism” The religion was founded in 2005 by Bobby Henderson to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. Because intelligent design
    implies the existence of an intelligent, but not necessarily omnipotent
    or omniscient designer, some, like Henderson, argued that this designer
    could, in fact, be anything imaginable. (Source: Wikipedia and  Haochi)


    Cole had his First Communion this past weekend.  It brought back many memories of my own First Communion as well as some of the more ritualistic things I actually enjoy about the Catholic Church.  Coincidentally, on the way home, NPR‘s weekly religion show “Speaking of Faith” departed from their usual format to “listen to a spectrum of lay Catholic voices on the force of vast and ancient tradition on their lives, the way they struggle with it, the sources of their love for it. Even to be a “lapsed Catholic,” we hear, is a complex state of being.“  It was really interesting, and helped me understand some of my current struggles with religion a bit better.  At any rate, it was a beautiful day, and Cole seemed to have a great time!