June 23, 2009

an unplanned day off

Our front door lock broke and jammed this morning. We had to take a day off trying to fix it until we finally realized that a call to the locksmith was the best solution. The young locksmith came, spent almost two hours fiddling with the lock, broke it, got the door open, and installed a new lock for us. The entire time his two phones didn't stop ringing every 5 minutes. There must be so many people with broken locks out there today.


But out of all the trouble came something good (as it usually does). I get to stay home for a change! I love being home. All afternoon, I've been sitting on the deck enjoying the gorgeous early summer weather. The pond is splashing. The birds are chirping. Children are running happily on the playground. A cute couple are picnicking behind our house. Nice to camp out on the deck with my laptop working away. The best place to work away, I say. Life is good! :)


June 18, 2009

favorite links

As my list of inspirations quickly grows, I realize it's time to start a separate page for them all. So here it is ... my go-to and frequently-updated list for when I'm in a need of a muse or two. Enjoy!

photographers

Amy Neunsinger
Barb Uil
Callie Shell
Helen Norman
John Kernick
Lara Ferroni
Philippe Cheng
Tara Whitney
Tosca Radigonda
Victoria Pearson

blogs

Orangette by Molly Wizenberg (writer)

June 16, 2009

baby dylan is here


Remember that baby shower for my friend I was telling you about? She just had her baby earlier today. Baby Dylan was born at 19.5 inches and 6 lbs 10 ounces. His mom had to drive herself to the hospital at 3:00 am because her hospital was away at a job training. But all went well. Mom and baby are happy and healthy. This makes June 16 a very special day indeed! :)

June 14, 2009

gilmore girls: how it all began

I'm on a roll with the Gilmore Girls today! :)

Even though the show was off the air (except for reruns on ABC Family) for a few years now, I still feel like it's a big part of my life. I have the entire series on DVD and DVR and watch every single rerun episode on TV. If the Hollywood folks are as smart as they claim to be, they will work hard with Amy Sherman Palladino and the cast of Gilmore Girls to make at least a Gilmore Girls movie to tie up all loose-ends. But really, I just want to grow old with the Gilmore Girls and never see this show ends. {sigh}





backstage with the gilmore girls

If you follow this blog from way back, you may remember how much I love the Gilmore Girls! The show is no longer on the air (except for rerun episodes), but I just found a series of interesting interviews of the cast on YouTube and have to blog them here. If you're a fan like me, enjoy! :)











June 12, 2009

baby shower to love


A sneak peek of my friend's baby shower a few weeks ago. She's expecting her first baby and is so excited. As one of the shower organizers, I volunteered to be the photographer. That's the best job in the world!

More pictures coming soon!

June 11, 2009

beach book #1: the time traveler's wife



So glad I picked The Time Traveler's Wife to be my first beach book this summer! I've been reading it ever since I had packed it for the Virginia Beach trip a few weeks ago. I'm totally intrigued by the two main characters and their unique love story and so I wasn't surprised to hear that Hollywood is making the movie now starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. This is one good read!

orangette

It's been a while since I last found a blog I love. So when I stumbled upon Orangette today, I knew it had to be a special day. I first listened to Molly Wizenberg on NPR when she was being interviewed for her new book A Homemade Life which coincidentally is now on my Amazon list and I can't wait for it to arrive in the mail soon! As to her blog, it will enchant you! That much I'm sure of. So ... happy reading!

June 1, 2009

sunset on the beach with david cook & company



Once again, I had a chance to be in Virginia Beach this year for the Patriotic Festival. Last year, the star of the show was Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles as its lovely bundle of energy and talent. This year we had David Cook. The crowd went crazy every time the announcers mentioned his name. The audience was 98% female!

Speaking of female, the single "girl power" for the evening was the talented Felicia Barton. She wasn't listed on the program, but was the unofficial energetic opening act for the concert. The crowd warmed up to Felicia's smiling face and powerhouse voice instantly.


By the time Matt Nathanson came on board, everyone was ready to rock. And rock the beach, Matt did! Not only that, he was surprisingly funny and charming. He repeated his name at least a half dozen times and so even if one came to the concert not knowing who Matt Nathanson was, one surely left remembering his name without a doubt. :)

As to David Cook, all night long I was waiting for him to do my favorite Billie Jean song (proudly showing my age here) ... but he didn't. Neither did he sing The Time of My Life, Permament or Come Back to Me either. There's no doubt whatsoever from the very first note that a David Cook concert was a pure rock concert. David plays the music he loves, not what we hear on the radio a dozen times a day. Since I have yet to buy any of the songs on his new CD, I didn't know a single tune that night while everyone else around me was humming along with every word. Starting with the opening act, the sound system was already terrible. We could barely hear David's voice or make out the lyrics he was singing. (Last year, they managed to fix the same problem for Sugarland after a few songs, but not so this time.) To make things a tad bit more interesting, the drummer in David's band seemed to beat the living daylights out of his drum set while violently whipping his long hair up and down all night long. At one point, I thought he was going to pass out of exhaustion or deliriousness. Thank goodness, he didn't.

As for the former American Idol champion who's been rocking his way into America's heart, bad sound system or not, he looked and sounded like a soulful, younger Brad Pitt on that stage and could do no wrong in the eyes of the female-dominated audience. Safe to say ... Virginia Beach adores David Cook!

If this little post still doesn't satisfy you (because you are such a huge fan of David Cook or at least secretly possess a healthy curiosity about all things cool), check out Marc Payne's blog. Marc is one of the two official photographers of the Patriotic Festival 2009 and he's sharing lots of details and pictures on this fun event on his blog and flickr site.