THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

(click photos to enlarge)

What's so special about these boots and jacket?
Bill had to go out and buy them because
we're going to the Sierras for a week during
the Christmas and New Years holidays
and it's literally freezing up there in the mountains
and being a guy and living in southern California
he didn't have them!
I on the other hand, being a woman,
am always prepared so I have ten of each to choose from .
But now we're wondering —
are we nuts to want to freeze our butts off building snowmen
instead of floating   in our pool in the warm sunshine?
Maybe .... stay tuned .... we might change our minds!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011

Go see this movie... it has it all!

It's a true baseball story I'll bet you never knew that'll hold your attention from start to finish.

There's Brad Pitt who you could look at even if he didn't say a word but he does and this is his best role ever.

Then there's Jonah Hill who you maybe don't know (I didn't) but who you'll never forget after seeing this movie.

Then there's Philip Seymour Hoffman who owns every character he ever plays and this movie is no exception.

And finally there are the rest of the characters you genuinely like and care about including a little girl you'll wish were your very own.

Go see it... you'll walk out of the theater saying WOW! and wishing they made more movies just like this.

SATURDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 10, 2011

Chelsea and me and Suzanne
(click photo to enlarge)

A yummy Christmas brunch on the patio with wonderful friends.
We hadn't seen each other in over 4 months
so being together was a special treat.
Bill and Randy, Suzanne's husband, were with us too
and the cool morning turned into a warm afternoon
so the day was absolutely perfect.
Great friends, great food, and great weather.
My Christmas wish come true!

SATURDAY NITE, DECEMBER 10, 2011

Tonite was date nite, dinner and a movie, and wow did I ever pick a good movie!

This is about the politics of politics, a thriller with all the twists and turns of a pretzel.

It's obvious who the good guys are, but then you wonder if the bad guys are really bad guys, and then you ask yourself what constitutes bad anyway?

Ryan Gosling is superb as a young and inexperienced (you think) campaign manager's assistant, and the ever-so-handsome well-spoken George Clooney is the perfect presidential candidate, and Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman are cunning campaign managers who go toe-to-toe and ultimately reveal the behind-the-scenes politics of politics.

Notable is George Clooney's directing, and the acting along with the in-your-face close up camera work is mesmerizing. You don't dare blink.

This is a movie that's going to get a lot of Oscar nominations so go see it. You'll really like it.

And you will NEVER guess the ending!

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011

My husband is starting to savor the thought of retirement and he's beginning to do some of the things he's always wanted to do.
Never too late, you know?

So this afternoon he texted me and said he'd just joined Gold's Gym.

I texted him back and said, "Are you going to become a hunk?"

He texted me back and said, "Yes. So you can get rid of the hunk photos you've got saved on your computer."

I texted him back and said, "Ok, Handsome."

But ladies, have you ever seen the Absolut Hunk?

Look at this.
Click the photo to enlarge it.



Seriously. Do you think this is something I'm going to trash?

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2011

Anarbagh Indian Cuisine
22721 Ventura Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA 91364
818-224-3929
www.anarbaghindiancuisinewoodlandhills.com

Indian food — exotic spices and wonderful flavors that, growing up in Minnesota and Nebraska and New Mexico, I never experienced or even thought of.

Bill and I have wonderful friends from India, Vinay and Vindu, who've lived here for years so they know all the best places to go.

Tonite we went to dinner at Anarbagh Indian Cuisine. This restaurant is rated as the best Indian food in the Los Angeles area by the LA Times and the LA Daily News and there's no doubt — it is. The service is excellent, the booths are big and tall so your dining experience with friends is spacious but cozy, and the food is de-lish-ous!

One thing I really love about eating Indian food is that it's perfectly acceptable to take pieces of naan (Indian bread) and lap up the various sauces until there's not a drop left. You should see me. I do this with great gusto!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2011

Another yummy-in-your-tummy Christmas brunch with friends
John, Karen, Rick and Angela
and once again, I made my to-die-for baked French toast casserole.

Here's a good photo. Click the photo to enlarge it. It's super easy to make so if you'd like to try it yourself, you can either or find it in the Recipes section of my website.

We ate until we were stuffed and then sat back and chatted for hours! The lump under the little blue blanket on the floor is Andi who crashed with a full tummy too.


(click photo to enlarge)
The little dog in Bill's lap is Abby our neighbor's dog.
We babysat her for a week while her family went on a skiing trip.
Abby's adorable, a perfect little dog in every way.
She fell in love with Bill and lived in his arms or his lap.
She even slept curled up in the curve of his tummy.


Cute cute cute!


Abby lives with a cat so she thinks she's a cat too. She's a fearless little acrobat and easily climbed up on the divider wall between the dining room and the living room. Look at the expression on the face of "Bill the Protector." He wasn't at all sure Abby was safe up there.


Not only was she safe but she decided the top
of the living room sofa pillows were a great place for a nap!

CHRISTMAS, 2011

Merry merry Christmas from Bill and me and Andi and Augie
Our 2011 Christmas card

CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24 2011

Bill and I and Andi drove to Dad's house in San Diego yesterday, and today was a much needed sit-back-and-relax day. My brother Jeff was flying, and my sister Carol stayed in Austin to enjoy her first Christmas in her new house, so Bill and I and Andi and Dad and my sister-in-law Julia celebrated Christmas Eve together.

The highlight was our Christmas Eve dinner which was extra fun because everyone contributed whatever tickled their taste buds at the moment.


I lovelovelove this photo of Dad and me!


Julia the chef! She always makes her red and green holiday salads (in the purple and blue bowls in the photo below) and it wouldn't be Christmas without them.


Isn't this a cute photo of me and Julia? We have such a great time cooking together in the kitchen!


After dinner we opened Christmas presents and no one had more fun with this than Andi. Look at the anticipation!


Andi with her green squeaky ball, a Christmas gift from Hanh, our friend in Vietnam (see September 2011).


Dad opening his Christmas present from me with Andi longing to help.


Julia opening Bill's Christmas gift to her, a Scentsy fragrance warmer. When we went to a cat show last August, Bill met a lady, Vicki Davis, who's a distributor for Scentsy warmers and he thought they'd make great Christmas gifts for our friends and family and he was so right. Everyone loved them!


Bill wearing his Titleist visor, a Christmas present from Julia who always thinks of the BEST gifts.


Me with my "to go" coffee cups, another BEST gift from Julia. I could live without anything but coffee so leave it to Julia to find a gift I can take with me and then toss when I'm done.


Julia — I couldn't love her more and wish we lived closer!

CHRISTMAS MORNING, DECEMBER 25, 2011

Christmas morning — my Dad and my Andi

CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 25, 2011

I HATED THIS MOVIE

First of all, there are two kinds of movies I don't like — war movies and prison movies. The title of this movie is War Horse. Duh!!! What was I thinking!!!

Well, I guess I was thinking it was a Steven Spielberg movie, and it had gotten great reviews, and it was rated PG-13 so it was something you could take your kids to see if you had any. So how disturbing could it be?

VERY! The war scenes were horribly graphic, and the animal brutality was heart-wrenching and it got worse and worse as the movie went on until near the end, I wanted to throw up.

I hate animals being hurt more than anything else in this world and I wanted to leave, but my husband and my dad and my sister-in-law didn't hate the movie as much as I did, and we were in an old theater sitting in the middle of an aisle with so little leg room that people would have had to stand up to let me pass and I didn't want to disturb everyone, so I just sat there being miserable.

And the story? When it wasn't about the madness of war (think Apocalypse Now in 1914), then it was unapologetic schmaltz from one act to the next. I'm not big on schmaltz-y movies either, but I hated the miserable plight of the men and horses so much that I found myself eagerly anticipating the next schmaltz-y scene. Awful. Just awful.


1) Don't go see war movies or prison movies
2) Don't go to old theaters with no leg room
3) Sit in an aisle seat so you can leave if you want to

CHRISTMAS EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 2011

After the movie, Dad and Bill and I went home and got Andi , then we went to Julia's house for the most wonderful, light-hearted Christmas dinner. She made a mouth-watering crockpot pot roast with loads of veggies, a cranberry salad, a lime salad, a tossed green salad, bread, and of course champagne. It was quite a feast!


Me and my Andi Pandi
(click photo to enlarge)


A very merry Christmas toast


And another merry Christmas toast


Julia the chef


Julia's gourmet chocolate-dipped strawberries


Jeff got home from his Paris trip the following morning and he stopped by Dad's house wearing my Christmas gift to him, a t-shirt from The Lazy Dog Café, our favorite local dog-friendly restaurant.


A really, really great photo of Jeff!


Christmas wouldn't be complete without a photo of Jeff and Dad.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2011

I LOVED THIS MOVIE
it's not for everyone
but I loved it!

There's a reason Steig Larsson's book became a worldwide best seller. We never encounter such evil in our own lives so it's horrifying and compelling to read about. Also it takes place in Sweden, not America, so the backdrop is interesting. Then, as you slowly peel the onion and discover the complex and twisted murder story, you totally identify with Lisbeth Salander who is someone you'd never come across in real life much less have anything in common with.

Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander in the original 2009 Swedish version of this movie is outstanding and you can't take your eyes off her.

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in this 2011 American remake is outstanding and you can't take your eyes off her either. Not since 2003 when Chalize Theron became Aileen Wuornos in Monster has an actress so transformed herself into someone who is so completely the antithesis of who she is in real life. As Lisbeth changes from scene to scene, each variation is gruesome and off-putting and you can't not look. She'll definitely get a best actress Oscar nomination and I'd say she will win.

(Ok, so I need to see a shrink. Why I can watch movies about blatant evil and sadistic murders and torture and violent rapes, and why I can NOT watch movies about war and animal brutality without almost throwing up?)

READ THIS BOOK
GO SEE THIS MOVIE
AND GO SEE THE ORIGINAL VERSION TOO
You can read the book and see both movies and never be disappointed even knowing the story line and the characters. This is exceptional writing, screen writing and acting at it's best!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2011

Not only is today New Years Eve but it's also our 25th anniversary! It was a fun day to get married and it's a fun day to celebrate an anniversary because, being New Years Eve, everyone else is partying too so it always feels like everyone's celebrating right along with us!


This is our 25th anniversary photo, the only one that came out remotely good, not great but still cute, especially of my handsome husband!

Our lives have changed so much in the past 25 years and we're really fortunate that we've changed together so life keeps getting better and better. I've said this so many times and it's never been more true than today — if I could stop time right now, I would!
(well, maybe not because 2012 is going to be fun-tabulous!)

Thank you, Handsome, for 25 incredible years!

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