Shawn vs. Wild Birthday Party
Monday, August 2, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I want a kid
So I can buy one of these and put it in his nursery.
Some friends of mine in Oklahoma are having a baby and for the first time in my life I have found myself scouring the Internet for a gift. I have followed this British illustrator's blog, Paul Thurlby, for several years now and I remembered these sweet alphabet illustrations he sells. As I sit in my condo tonight and peruse the night away looking at baby shiz, I'm tempted to buy one or more of his prints and then think of a boy's name that starts with the letter on the prints that I like the most. Kinda works, eh? S, F, A, and H are my favorites.
Pretty sweet, huh?
I supposed I could name my son SHAF and buy all of them! Hmmm. I better talk that over with the future Mrs..
R: Hey future Mrs., wanna name our kid SHAF?
FM: Who are you?
R: I'm your future husband.
FM: Huh? Ok. Cool.
R: Cool!? Like you're cool naming our kid SHAF? (note, always spelled in ALL CAPS)
FM: No. I don't want kids. I'm alternative and natural like that. I do stuff like yoga and shop at Mother's. Kids will negatively affect my qi.
R: ...
FM: What's that look for?
R: Nevermind.
FM: You don't care about my qi?
R: We wouldn't be having this conversation if I still lived in Texas.
Some friends of mine in Oklahoma are having a baby and for the first time in my life I have found myself scouring the Internet for a gift. I have followed this British illustrator's blog, Paul Thurlby, for several years now and I remembered these sweet alphabet illustrations he sells. As I sit in my condo tonight and peruse the night away looking at baby shiz, I'm tempted to buy one or more of his prints and then think of a boy's name that starts with the letter on the prints that I like the most. Kinda works, eh? S, F, A, and H are my favorites.
Pretty sweet, huh?
I supposed I could name my son SHAF and buy all of them! Hmmm. I better talk that over with the future Mrs..
R: Hey future Mrs., wanna name our kid SHAF?
FM: Who are you?
R: I'm your future husband.
FM: Huh? Ok. Cool.
R: Cool!? Like you're cool naming our kid SHAF? (note, always spelled in ALL CAPS)
FM: No. I don't want kids. I'm alternative and natural like that. I do stuff like yoga and shop at Mother's. Kids will negatively affect my qi.
R: ...
FM: What's that look for?
R: Nevermind.
FM: You don't care about my qi?
R: We wouldn't be having this conversation if I still lived in Texas.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Random Picture Monday
I copying my friend Ryanne's blog 100%...but I think this is a great idea. Every Monday I'll post a random picture from the arsenal in my iPhoto library. Enjoy!
Red Whitetrash and Blue 4th of July Party 2008.
Red Whitetrash and Blue 4th of July Party 2008.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Summer, My New Favorite Season
Summer used to be my least favorite season. Winter was my favorite. Not sure why. I think it may have been that I preferred coats and jeans to swim trunks and thongs....excuse me, flip flops. (That sure has taken on a new meaning the past decade.) But over the past 5 years or so summer has far surpassed every other season. I love sitting on my patio with a book in the evenings with a cold glass of water with a fresh-squeezed lime in it looking across the the horizon at the mountains. Ok, so last night was the first time I have ever read a book on my patio and I kinda have to imagine the mountains from my patio. And I use the patio loosely. It more like a front porch where a table and 2 chairs barely fit because my air conditioner. Oh the joys of condo rentals in the slums of Lake Forest.
All this to say, summer is my new favorite season. Here are my favorite places to be. I'll call them Riley's Super Summer Hotspots.
Montage Beach for relaxing and swimming
This was the first beach I ever went to in California and it's still my favorite. Easy access, relatively close parking, clean Montage bathrooms, grocery store nearby for last-minute snacks, courteous tourists.
Gypsy Den @ The Lab for eating
The Lab is mecca for post-tween posers who have run up daddy's American Express Black card at Urban Outfitters and American Apparel...but it's one of my favorite places. And the waldorf chicken salad sandwich and vegetarian chili and cornbread rivals the best.
Fashion Island for relaxing
By far the best place to shop, browse, dog watch, people watch, dog-looking people watch, people-looking dog watch.
Coliseum at Pelican Hill for eating
Swanky hotel + mid-priced poolside restaurant = dust off your fancy clothes and grab a few dollars to tip the valet
Lake Mission Viejo for running
Yeah, it's man made and small but it's got a stellar running track around it that is exactly 3.14 miles (ironically that is also π...coincidence? Doubt it.)
and Disneyland of course. But that goes without saying. Happy summer!
All this to say, summer is my new favorite season. Here are my favorite places to be. I'll call them Riley's Super Summer Hotspots.
Montage Beach for relaxing and swimming
This was the first beach I ever went to in California and it's still my favorite. Easy access, relatively close parking, clean Montage bathrooms, grocery store nearby for last-minute snacks, courteous tourists.
Gypsy Den @ The Lab for eating
The Lab is mecca for post-tween posers who have run up daddy's American Express Black card at Urban Outfitters and American Apparel...but it's one of my favorite places. And the waldorf chicken salad sandwich and vegetarian chili and cornbread rivals the best.
Fashion Island for relaxing
By far the best place to shop, browse, dog watch, people watch, dog-looking people watch, people-looking dog watch.
Coliseum at Pelican Hill for eating
Swanky hotel + mid-priced poolside restaurant = dust off your fancy clothes and grab a few dollars to tip the valet
Lake Mission Viejo for running
Yeah, it's man made and small but it's got a stellar running track around it that is exactly 3.14 miles (ironically that is also π...coincidence? Doubt it.)
and Disneyland of course. But that goes without saying. Happy summer!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Weekend Getaway
So, a few weeks ago I went to Napa Valley for the first time. Actually, it was the first time I had been north of Bakersfield since I've lived in California. And holy crap, I don't know why I haven't been up there yet. The best way to describe it is like a California farmland. It's a perfect blend of California and Texas. You've got the open space and agriculture like Texas, with the climate and personality of California. It quickly became one of my favorite places I have ever visited.
This trip included myself, Allie, Jake and Tim.
Allie's grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Bircher, own an incredible vineyard in Napa where we stayed called Meadowbrook Farm.
I could try to describe this place, but I couldn't do it justice.
In downtown Yountville we went to this great french bistro, Bouchon.
I had the Croque Madame.
(for this Texas boy, is was described to me as a ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg)
Mr. Bircher was able to get a private tour of the Robert Mondavi vineyard. We got the up front and personal look at how wine is made. It blew my mind!
The trip ended with a charity lobster boil that Allie's grandparents hosted. We could not have planned a better weekend getaway. Great people. Great food. Great wine.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wedding
A few weekends ago I went to Dallas to be the best man in my buddy Geoffrey's wedding.
Sidenote, his name is pronounced the British way. He should spell his name "Joffrey." It would simplify his life so much more, but whatever. I have a girl's/dog's name, so who am I to talk.
The first night the guys went out to The Butcher Shop in the West End for dinner and then spent the rest of the night at the West End Pub catching up. I hadn't seen most of these guys in about 5 years.
The wedding was great too. I have never been so hot in my life. Seriously. Never. Except maybe that one time I was in Cairo, Egypt in the DESERT!
These photos are by Indie Jane Photography
Congrats Jessica and Geoffrey.
Sidenote, his name is pronounced the British way. He should spell his name "Joffrey." It would simplify his life so much more, but whatever. I have a girl's/dog's name, so who am I to talk.
The first night the guys went out to The Butcher Shop in the West End for dinner and then spent the rest of the night at the West End Pub catching up. I hadn't seen most of these guys in about 5 years.
The wedding was great too. I have never been so hot in my life. Seriously. Never. Except maybe that one time I was in Cairo, Egypt in the DESERT!
These photos are by Indie Jane Photography
Congrats Jessica and Geoffrey.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Where Animals Come to Die
Like I said in my last post, my family is crap with pets. The official death toll is at 10, but I'm sure there were a few other unlucky souls who I forgot.
• Psalty the parakeet (1988) - Dad forgot to feed him while we went to Dallas on vacation. He just fell off his little perch and died.
• Hermit crab (1988) - I never named it because I never liked it. It was a gift. It just died in it's shell of natural causes I'm sure due to an emotionally-distant caretaker.
• 2 baby chicks (1989) - I don't know what happened for sure, they just disappeared. Probably ran away together after my sister threw one of them up in the air after it pooped in her hand.
• cat (the name slips my mind) (1992) - It was a cold January night when we gave it a bath and put it in the garage. Well, wet cat + freezing temperatures = dead cat, fried-to-death trying to stay warm under the refrigerator in the garage.
• Spanky the lab/pit bull mix (1993) - taken to the dad's feedyard to be a "cow dog"...the feedyard is where our pets go to die
• Snuffy the rabbit (1993) - Accidently left him in the front yard and the next door neighbor's dog bit his head off. The psychological effects of finding that headless rabbit still affects my sister to this day.
• Andre and Peter the rabbits (1994) - Our second-go at rabbits. We left them in our side backyard in their cage and forgot about them. Peter ended up being pregnant. Finding them a week later was a bit traumatizing for me.
• No Name the cat (1995) - Yep. That was his name. After Milli's second litter, we were fresh-out of names so that's what he got stuck with. He was squashed as mom was backing the suburban out of the garage. She felt pretty bad about it.
• Psalty the parakeet (1988) - Dad forgot to feed him while we went to Dallas on vacation. He just fell off his little perch and died.
• Hermit crab (1988) - I never named it because I never liked it. It was a gift. It just died in it's shell of natural causes I'm sure due to an emotionally-distant caretaker.
• 2 baby chicks (1989) - I don't know what happened for sure, they just disappeared. Probably ran away together after my sister threw one of them up in the air after it pooped in her hand.
• cat (the name slips my mind) (1992) - It was a cold January night when we gave it a bath and put it in the garage. Well, wet cat + freezing temperatures = dead cat, fried-to-death trying to stay warm under the refrigerator in the garage.
• Spanky the lab/pit bull mix (1993) - taken to the dad's feedyard to be a "cow dog"...the feedyard is where our pets go to die
• Snuffy the rabbit (1993) - Accidently left him in the front yard and the next door neighbor's dog bit his head off. The psychological effects of finding that headless rabbit still affects my sister to this day.
• Andre and Peter the rabbits (1994) - Our second-go at rabbits. We left them in our side backyard in their cage and forgot about them. Peter ended up being pregnant. Finding them a week later was a bit traumatizing for me.
• No Name the cat (1995) - Yep. That was his name. After Milli's second litter, we were fresh-out of names so that's what he got stuck with. He was squashed as mom was backing the suburban out of the garage. She felt pretty bad about it.
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