Go Here and Do This: Puppet Edition

When Lucas was about 3

Paul took him to see

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

It was a fantastic thing for two reasons:

1. It was proof positive that Paul

was a creative and fun loving parent

in ways I hadn't thought of

(yes I was a little jealous).

and

2. After that day

Lucas forever remembered

"Downtown Los Angeles"

and all of its 

magic and buildings and wonder, oh my!

For about 2 years

if the city was in his eyeline,

he was shouting,

"DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES!"

Sadly,

after 40 years and a gazillion sets of wonder-filled eyes,

the theater is near bankruptcy

and is currently up for sale.

Good ol' Bob says

if he loses the theater,

he'll take the show on the road,

but without the ambiance of that old theater

it just won't be the same.

Tickets are only $15

for all humans

over the age of 2.

It's been on my to-do list

for the Jamester,

but I just never got around to it.

Now we MUST go.

Go Here and Do This: Weekend Edition

I have the priviledge of knowing and loving

a few insanely talented people.

Friends and family

who sing and dance and sew and draw

and blow my mind.

This weekend is chock full of
their amazingness,
so without further ado...

Beginning this Friday and lasting 10 performances,

Gregory Cesena aka my brother
is starring in

Theater Out's production of Dog Sees God.

It's the Peanuts gang

as tortured teenagers.

Go. See. It.

Here is the poster.

Here is my handsome brother when he was in "The Laramie Project"

Saturday night we

(me, boys, Nana, the whole crew!)

will be square dancing and cake walking

at

Paul's cousin Mike

and his band Triple Chicken Foot are playing.

And let me tell you,

earlier this year we went to one of their square dances at The Echo

and it was seriously one of the MOST fun things I have ever done

(even though Paul and I totally messed up on our solo).

It's kid and pocket friendly

and I cannot sing its praises enough.

And of course we love to support Mike

because he is awesome

and the band happens to be

Los Angeles' Best Folk Band.

Just sayin'. 

Sunday is the

Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival

which is as awesome as it sounds,

and the whole clan will be at the

Long Beach location,

as our sweet and wonderful Dana

will be selling her

Snax and Snake wares.

My favorite.

It's a grand life with folks like these.

xo.

Friday Fotos 5/11

My favorite Fridays are the ones when James is home.

If I could freeze time I would ya' know.

Mommy...I'm spying.

Today isn't one of them,

but since Sunday is Mother's Day

I get to pick him up tomorrow at 6:00pm.

Last Saturday was the Super Moon,

(which I think every moon is kind of super)

so we made sure to 

take time and stand

in Nana and Grandpa's backyard

This picture does it no justice. 

We had binoculars which...like whoa!

Lucas got new Tae Kwon Do gear

which he promptly tested out on his little brother.

He tests for his green belt tonight.  I love him. The End.

Unless you live under a rock,

you know "The Avengers"came out.

Which...

totally loud and obnoxious and adventuresome.

So...

of course the boys wanted to go.

I mean...how could I say no?

Paul and I

didn't let Lucas watch these

sorts of movies when he was younger.

But in James' case...

he gets to ride

his big brother's

coattails a little.

How could I say NO?!?!?!?

So we went

and waited HOURS

(seriously we got there at 10:30am

and couldn't get a show until 1:45pm)...

Waiting in line sucks man.

But it was

totally worth it,

and they were totally pumped,

and now my days are filled

with listening to them bicker about

who gets to be Captain America.

Sunday I missed my guy

who was working all weekend

and so I distracted myself

by getting busy and making pies.

I use Martha's recipe 

with the exception that

I use 2 kinds of apples.

Granny Smith

and whatever looks good at the moment.

Anyway
the pie spilled all along the floor of my oven

which made for delicious smelling smoke

and a lip-smacking pie.

Win-win.

I also bought him his favorite ice cream.  And then promptly ate it.  Oops.

The rest of the week was:

sunny lunch hours,

mind blowing espressos,

a President saying what I already believed,

Lucas designing his own comic strip,

and Muffins with Mom this morning.

My cup runneth over.  Forever and ever amen.

Happy weekend

and happiest of Mother's Day.

xo



Friday Fotos 5/4

I got out of work Friday and sought out someone to fix my hair.

In a blackout of
"holy-shit-i-live-in-the-world's-most-predictable-box-get-me-out!"
I had grabbed scissors and taken to my tresses.
There were casualties and some serious damage control was necessary.

I found Salon Pure and sweet Scott
who righted my wrong
and only laughed at me a little.

Afterward I stumbled upon Semi-Sweet Bakery
which changed my life with sugar, mint sweetened tea,
and adorable packaging.

The heaven on the left are called "ding-a-lings"

and they are homemade, airy, delicious Dingdongs

(or so I guessed from the miniscule taste Lucas shared with me).

I wanted to stop into a brick and mortar flea market on 6th

but they were closed.

Only in the Arts District.

Saturday morning was for Lu's tae kwon do,

scrapping charred dump cake from a cast iron pot,

and packing away camping gear.

For getting lost on Etsy and falling in love with these.

It was for doing homework (Lucas) and reading in the shade (me).

Shortly after this photo was taken I told him to finish his work or go to bed.

He chose nap. Smart man.

Saturday evening was for campout themed birthdays

(happiest of birthdays Mr. Noah!),

hot dogs and s'mores

and terrifying adventures in sky lantern-ing.

When I wasn't fearing for our lives the sight was quite wonderous.

Later we spent time on the couch

watching Bob's Burgers and dozens of movie trailers (Thanks Apple TV!).

Sunday I worked a charity event for my old restaurant 

which let's be honest, 

slanging margaritas at a Southbay Food & Wine Festival

isn't much work at all.

FYI: Demi looks fabulous and I got bangs.

Sunday night was for cranking out the last of the boy's homework,

getting him showered and off to bed,

and heading out to L.A. with my favorite guy .

Super Soul Sundays at The Short Stop?

Yes please.

When was the last time we danced together?

A long time ago.

In another lifetime.

The week was:

Spying on jesters in their natural habitat,

greek yogurt and granola heaven,

Katy Perry dance parties,

and May Day coffee dates because the protesters had clogged Downtown

and I worked from home.

"Worked" as in I checked my email in-between hanging out with the Jamster.

It was for feeling meloncholy and uncomfortable.

Restless.

Bogged down with the

"Is this all there is?"-es

and

"What do I want?"-s

I was at a red light after work when I heard the music.

There he was in his brown suit,

briefcase put down,

Florsheims on the foot pedals.

People had stopped to hear him play.

I pulled over and sat in the red for as long as I could stand

before my fear of getting ticketed won out.

30 seconds free of the bog.

More I'm here

than I want.

Friday Fotos 4/27

When I said I take a gazillion pictures I was not kidding. 

So here's a re-cap of our week...

James came home Friday and got to work on a new toy.

Thanks for the "Batcave" grandma and grandpa!

I stayed up all night getting ready for Lucas' party.
Baking this and frosting that.

In an effort to be more organized (read: less of a basketcase)

 I had baked these 3 days in advance and planned to frost them the night before.

Unfortunately I'll be resurrecting my all-nighters next year.

Frosting = YUM

3 day old cake = Not so yum 

These I made the morning of.

Here's a picture of the world's best frosting.

Marshmallow fluff is a key ingredient. 'Nuff said.

I hid a whoopie pie mid-party and ate it later that night after the kids had gone to bed.

I may or may not have lied about that directly to my son's face.

Don't judge.

The day could not have been more perfect. 
Sunshine, friends, family,

and about 30 different Quinceneras being photographed at the park. 

Free fashion show.

Sunday Paul and Lucas embarked on a camping adventure

while James and I went on a fantastic date.

We love LACMA!

And for all of you parents out there, NexGen is like the best idea ever.

James was inspired by the Russian avant garde. 

(I'm only half-joking.  He "sketched" for 30 minutes.)

Photo Credit: Micah Cordy

We painted, created "found" art and saw Metropolis II.

We made pinwheels and posed for a picture.

Afterward we found one of these and my little one tinkered away.

I have the strangest feeling I'm being watched.

'Twas a magical day.

The week brought this...

and this...

And here we are at Friday again.

We got love and sun and fun on the horizon for the next few days.

Happy weekend everyone.

P.S.

How can my life be anything less than magic when I've got this...

XO