Here's Lookin' at You, Kid

This past Saturday, night our town hosted the first of three free 'Cinema Under the Stars Night' events for the summer. The film was the classic, Casablanca! Kevin had never seen it, I wanted to see it again, and Bev and Ken needed something fun to keep their mind off things at work. Besides ... a free showing of Casablanca on the big screen? Who could resist that??

First we stopped at Cherry on Top for frozen yogurt since it was a nice warm night, then we walked down the street where they had the screen set up. (One of the many nice things about living in a small town is that everything is within walking distance!)

About 150 or so movie go-ers waited patiently for the film to start.
Isn't it a beautiful sunset?
Louie, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Iguana Soup Anyone??

It's been quite a while since Iguana Soup had a gig. After quite a long dry spell, the guys finally had a chance to get together and PLAY!

A couple of weeks ago Ken and his family threw a party for Bev's birthday at Ed and Lisa's house (side note of interest: it was exactly 10 years ago at this same place, for the same occasion that Kevin and I met for the very first time!) and Bev requested the music of Iguana Soup. Lucky for her we happen to have an in with this band ;o)

What fun! They jammed. We danced. We all sang. Great times. Here are a few pictures...
Me and the Birthday Girl
Let them eat Ho-Ho cake (why yes, those are medallions of Ho-Ho ... why do you ask?)
This is our friend Ian. He's a shy wallflower - can you tell?

Yummy Summer!

Yesterday when I got home from work, there was a special and wonderful package sitting on our front porch. We had a visit from Harry & David! I just love it when they come to visit - we always know that there is something delicious in store for us.

To kick off our summer with a yummy celebration, mom and dad sent us fresh Oregold Peaches and Dark Sweet Cherries from Harry & David. YUM!

Thanks, mom and dad!! We will enjoy every juicy, delicous, summery bite!!

Dad's Day

To our Dad's and Grandpa: Happy Father's Day!! We wish we could be with each and everyone of you on your special day. We love you all very much.

Later this afternoon we are going over to mom and dad's to celebrate Father's Day. We're barbecuing a turkey breast (yum!) and we'll have baked beans, grilled corn on the cob and coleslaw. Kevin and I made dessert: homemade blackberry cobbler and homemade vanilla bean ice cream! YUM!!!

Having found the biggest, most beautiful berries I've seen in years, I couldn't resist offering to make a cobbler. It's something we all love and remember fondly when grandma used to make her delicious cobblers. I can only hope that the one we made turns out half as well. I can say, it sure looks yummy! What do you think?
To accompany the blackberry cobbler, nothing beats homemade vanilla bean ice cream!

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings...

because he wanted OUT of this MESS!
About a week or so ago, mom stopped at our favorite thrift store. When she returned home, she emailed me to say that she'd found a cute little birdcage there that she thought I might be interested in, so I should stop there on my way home. Which is exactly what I did!

She's right - the birdcage itself was cute, it was all of the 'fouf' on and in it that made it less than appealing. But hey, it was only $10.00, and I can see past the fouf to the good stuff, so I bought it. I worked on it a bit yesterday and turned it into quite something different than it had been in it's former life. I liked the green that it had been, but not enough to keep it that color. So I dabbed on a color called 'light buttermilk', but allowed a bit of the green to still peak through. I like the results - it's looks kind of ... 'antique-y'. I also 'de-foufified' it and added just a bit of Spanish moss in the bottom, two votive holders with sweet little birdies on them, a cute little ceramic bird, and an adorable vintage pottery vase ... filled with fresh iceberg roses. Now that's the kind of 'fouf' I like!
(PS: isn't that the cutest little metal tray? I found it at a Rotary yard sale a couple of months or so ago. It was quite the bargain at only $2.00!)

Bountiful Harvest

YAHOO!! While I'm not quite finished with work yet, we are only working four days per week so today is my first Friday off ... so it's kinda like vacation. What am I doing? Making the most of it!

In addition to working on a few items on my room-by-room cleaning and sprucing list, I've also been working on preparing some goodies for the freezer.

On Wednesday, a new store opened in our little town. It's called Henry's and it's sort of a cross between a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods. What a madhouse! Judging by the crowd there last night, I'd say Henry's is going to do well here! Anyway, they had some absolutely wonderful deals on fruit, so I decided to stock up. Kevin and I drink a lot of smoothies during the summer and early fall, so we will definitely use up all of our stash. I supplemented the whole shebang with a few other things I found at the grocery store this morning - also phenomenal deals ... at least for our area.

On with the list. Here's what I'm processing for the freezer: 4 pounds of strawberries (.77 each), 4 containers of raspberries ($1.49 each), 4 containers of blackberries ($1.49 each), and 4 containers of blueberries ($1.49 each). Two whole pineapples ($2.99 each). And six ripe mangoes (.50 each). Oh yes, and about 8 pounds of bananas! (4 pounds for $1.00).
That's a whole lot of summer smoothies! Bon Appetit!

Spa-ahhhhhhhhh

This is Ember...

Ember is a beautiful, albeit rambunctious, one year old lab. She loves to run and play and, as is typical of most females, Ember just wants to relax and enjoy the spa. Who could blame her? According to her owner, she will spend hours in that spa! I warn you, though, when she does decide to come out of the water, you'd be smart to run for cover to avoid the spray from her shake-off!

Graduation

Our friend, Jade, graduated from high school last week. Jade is a visual artist and graduated from a high school that specialized in art. In August, she'll be on her way to Laguna College of Art and Design. Can you imagine a more beautiful place to go to school than Laguna Beach? Lucky girl.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

On June 5th, dad celebrated his 80th birthday! Can you believe it? Eighty years old. Wow, now that's a milestone!

We all gathered for a small dinner get together at Smitty's Grill. The food was delicious and the company, a true joy. After dinner we went up to the house and had cake, ice cream and opened gifts.

Happy birthday, dad!

Whew! It's Time to Start Catching Up!

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since June 1st. Then again, I can believe it. With birthdays and graduations and parties and the end of the school year and our office having to move again, this month has absolutely flown by! I don't remember any June every being as crazy, or as busy as this one.

Now that all of the busy-ness of the month is starting to subside a bit, it's time for me to start playing catch up and dive back into blogland.

Ready? Okay, here we go!

The LOCALS Gig Again!

This past Saturday night, the LOCALS had another gig at Rick's in Alhambra. They were terrific!! The band has had a few growing pains here and there, but they've held on and have become a stronger band. They ROCKED on Saturday night! There was a crowd of about 100-150 people there enjoying the show at any given time. The guys played for about 4 hours with two short breaks (Whew! That's a pretty major work out for that cute drummer up there!) The crowd loved them. They danced and cheered for every song. Kevin and I would both like to thank our many family and friends who showed up to watch the LOCALS play. We really appreciate and love you guys! (a special shout-out to Karly: I'm so glad you learned how to tie your shoes today! Thanks for sharing your adorable smile and a hug.)