this and that

first of all - new layout/banner. finally! it was about time, i think i had the old one up since may.

moving along:

- happy halloween! we have another hour over here. we wanted to carve one of those, but since our designater pumpkin carver lives in san diego and we couldn't fit in time to do it while she was home over the weekend...this mini pumpkin dessert thing will have to do.

- they picked up a few pages from me about a month ago, and i discovered last week that it would be used for this. supercool. i loved when they did a book like this a few years ago (back around when i first began scrapping). i want to lift some of the other pages too!

- this really hit me. he wrote it just for the commercial. they picked the perfect person to write it.

- loving them. i had to go and pick up their album immediately after hearing them open for dashboard (i was, however, a fan of his old band). i also found a cool section of their website, where he posts up shots he took with a polaroid. love his perspective.

- will be hanging out here saturday. always good times at DD.

- hooked on this this season. finally. i really couldn't get into it before for some reason, but man, it's HILARIOUS. i'm, however, not so impressed with this this season. what is up with all the new characters? urgh.

- not quite sure what to think of this. oh yeah, baseball offseason has definitely begun.

and now...pictures from this weekend:

(i have a thing for lollipops)



he was a houseplant/tree. it was seriously the best costume ever. except for when i had to sit next to him on a ride and his leaves kept poking me.




cat burglar. haha. she also had an acoomplice.


these were these cool spotlights. unfortunately, they were really hard to shoot because they moved around pretty fast.

i was little red riding hood. i'm rather upset that i had no pictures of me on my camera, which means i have to harrass someone else for them. haha.

california adventure was pretty fun - it was my first time there. i'm not sure if i'd pay full price for it, or go there on a regular day, but "trick or treating" around the park was amusing. whoo.

have a good one :)

it's that time again...

yep. studio calico kit time.

i say this every month, but i adored this kit. april and scarlet just keep getting better and better at putting together these kits (next month is going to be good too)! i wish i had more time to play with this one! here are my LOs:






the rest of the DT gallery was pretty amazing, so if you need a dose of inspiration, i recommend that you check it out.

this weekend consisted of: target. a kiddie jumper. pigtails. little red riding hood. cat burgulars. houseplant/trees. california adventure! crazy drops. weird coasters. apple crisps. trick or treat stations. "acorns." birthdays galore. portos. tweed flats. a pretty dress. baybay. dave&busters. horse racing games. appetizers. mango berry drink. procrastination.

pictures later :)

have a good one! :)

somebody else's song

back from san diego.
what i did:

*chase these two around the beach:





yeah, i think he thinks i'm crazy now (sorry, dan). but hey. if i chase you around with a camera, that means i like you.

* decided we were getting old and that jumping pictures would tire us out, so instead trying to get a "picture in picture."



it's kinda fun. try it!

* ate. a lot.


all you can eat sushi (good stuff too), kobe beef burgers (yum), burritos from coti's, among other things.

* hung out with them:

(that's ben, the 2nd guitarist, and bryce, the bassist. both of lifehouse. rick, the drummer, was MIA)


me and jason wade are like BFF now. i kid. but we got to chat. i don't even remember what i said. he asked how i was (!) and i had him sign my CD. the other guys too (i actually talked to them first). i was in line, and judy (who didn't go to the show, but stood in line with me until she went to meet another friend) spotted them again (she was the one who spotted them at the LA county fair). i ran over, got my pictures (no baby that distracted them this time!), and got my CD signed by the three of them (this could've happened last time too but i totally forgot i had it with me). it was sweet. they're such nice guys. i love that. it totally makes me want to support them even more.

* had the front row experience.
it was amazing. i never, ever, want to stand anywhere else ever again. it's just different. everything was SO close. everything sounded really awesome. the show was amazing. my 4th show and the best. i really enjoyed myself, forgot the fact that my feet were killing me, went crazy, sang and screamed, and lost my voice. good times. no pictures from the show because the house of blues is anal about cameras, and i didn't even try to sneak one in (i just had judy take it with her when she left). next time i have to do front row AND take pictures. with that distance, i would've gotten awesome shots even with the point and shoot (is it bad that i kept thinking that the whole time?)

* meanwhile, the rest of the crew was eating this:

i'm jealous. but they saved me some. and since they were babysitting my big camera, they took some photos like i would. ha.

i do love san diego. this weekend went by entirely too fast.

on a sadder note, those wildfires in so-cal have been CRAZY. luckily, where i am right now is fine. but we were in the middle of the san diego ones. we were out to lunch on sunday by the beach, and it was lovely and nice...and all of a sudden the sky got weird and it started to smell like smoke. i smelled the smoke while i was in line for the concert and it started to bother me. there was ash all over the cars. UC san diego cancelled classes today and tomorrow. my friend's boss called and told her not to go into work today because their building got evacuated. and dan's place got evacuated. on the way home, we just kept driving through smoke. nuts.

have a good one :)

being sneaky

(click for bigger)

as always, i loved this kit. is it just me, or does it get better each month?
out on the 28th :)

i updated the MMM blog yesterday...here's my post.

off to san diego for the weekend. on the agenda: the beach, jumping pictures, burritos, all-you-can-eat sushi, extraordinary desserts, and lifehouse...apparently the concert is going to be webcast on live nation at 9 pm PST...maybe i'll be in there. ha. i have a million things to do before i go, so i better get started on the to-do list.



have a good one :)

remember to breathe.

so. this is the concert i almost didn't go to. but omgosh - i'm freaking glad i was able to go. tonight was awesome. the orpheum theatre was gorgeous, and i loved that it was really small intimate (it was a lot smaller than i'd been expecting. our row J seats were pretty good, and we were pretty much center). chris carraba rocks my world. the opening bands were ALL awesome (and there were 3)! it was just an all-around awesome lineup and a great night.

(my photos got progressively worse as the evening went on. PSA: digi zoom sucks. stick to optical if you can. booo.)

john ralston


this guy used to play guitar for chris carraba a few years ago. he started his solo project. he was great. i bought his CD after his set. we were going to get it signed, but were confused about where they were setting that up, so we didn't. oops.

augustana


augustana was one of my big discoveries this summer, so i was thrilled when i heard they were going to open for dashboard! they were SO good - dan's vocals were just amazing. he was awesome on piano too. anyway, when i think of augustana, i think "mellow," but they managed to rock out as well. it was cool. i didn't dig his outfit, but their set was awesome.

jack's mannequin



i was a fan of andrew mcmahon's band, something corporate (which is on hiatus at the moment), so i was really curious to see what jack's mannequin was like. i can't believe i never checked them out before. they were awesome. really really awesome. he started off with some really pretty ballads, and built it up into some more up-tempo stuff. i seriously loved everything they played. he even threw in an old soco song, which made me happy.

dashboard confessional






the main attraction. i have to say that the atosphere at a dashboard concert is just amazing - everyone seems to know every word of every song, and everyone sings along. love that. there's so much energy in the crowd, and it's so incredible to be a part of that. chris carraba's vocals just shine live. he went back to his acoustic roots for this tour, which thrilled me because i LOVE dashboard acoustic. i was kinda bummed that he didn't play "the brilliant dance," which is one of my most favorite dashboard songs, but it was okay because he played the most amazing 10-minute version of "remember to breathe," which is another one of my absolute favorites. it. rocked. my. world. period.

have a good one :)

recent happenings.

portos. october birthdays. caribou coffee granola bars (yum). lemon bars. lemon cream pie. french onion soup. deadlines. heroes. medium cokes. "lunch party." zacharys craving. top dog craving. missing norcal. in ranbows (radiohead). mojoless. long time no sees. sims bullying. rain. cold day. tempura rolls. target. are the rockies ever going to lose again? scary movies. chests, eyebrows, and everything. ga ga ga ga ga. flickring. "me so sad" (that was so hialrious). missing wednesday photo days. "several days to die trying."

anyways. just a random update.

oh and it turns i will be seeing dashboard...tomorrow (wednesday) and i am pretty stoked. yeah, i'm turning into a concert whore, but i think i have this thing for live music.

it's been a bit chilly here he last couple of days - makes me want to crawl into bed and stay in the covers. and read. or scrap. and make french onion soup (which i did).

here's a random fun photo from the other day:


have a good one :)

wincing the night away

who: the shins
when: oct. 7
where: the greek theatre, LA


(so i had to bring the point and shoot today and i totally missed my nikon. sigh. this photo is dedicated to linda because she was sitting even further away and she has a little crush on james)

oh man, the shins...where to start...they ROCK my world. seriously. i think james mercer is absolutely brilliant, guitar (and harmonica) skill-wise, and songwriting-wise (especially that. look up some of his lyrics, it's like poetry that shows up in english class). he's also hee-lari-ous ("what's up los ange-leees!" he also had a fake start of one of their songs in the encore that had something to do with toilet paper. i was dying.) they're one of my absolute favorite live bands - another one of those that i can see over and over again and not get over their amazingness. seriously (i am *so* seeing them again...next time they tour). everything just comes across 100x better live and james's voice just comes across really strong. they're awesome. that's all i can say. if you like them and have never see them live, i strongly suggest that you go see them. like now.

the one thing that irked me was the crowd. i think i really hate LA people sometimes. first of all, a lot of people were sitting in their seats like rocks. the whole front section was up, but not our section. the music was totally making me want to rock out, and i was getting antsy because i really wanted to get up and move around. this happened at the LA county fair too (except i got up anyway). what. the. crap. grr. the other thing - people started leaving before the encore. only in LA do people leave a concert early to try to avoid traffic. all i can say is that they missed out BIG TIME because they shins did an AMAZING cover of pink floyd. best moment of the night.

i got to chat with this girl today -


we started off as BDFs (best dodger friends), but the dodgers totally disappointed us this year, so we are now BSFs (best shins friends). hehe :)

will update about other happenings later, but i'm just pumped about the shins right now.

oh, and here's a page for HMITM-


have a good one :)

ETA:
this is killing me right now. he's fricken hilarious. love it. this is why i adore the shins.


and this. was. AMAZING.

yay and nay

yay:
- souplantation chicken noodle soup. the best.
- the shins on sunday. linda will be there too.
- san diego later this month. hooray for coti's, the beach, and oh yeah...seing them.
- scrapping fun:



from the last couple of days. i'd been in sort of a funk for the last few months (i blame the weather still), and i think i'm finally coming out of it.
- the sims. actually that could also be a nay, because it sucks up my time.
- these. i'm bad. i know. but judy tempted me. and they were on sale.
- dashboard's new album chris carraba seriously makes me swoon. i want to go to their concert, but i had to pass. wahh.

nay:
- the post office. nuff said.
- ticketmaster. their fees are outrageous. ughhhh.

hm. i guess that is all.
have a good one :)