"M' Lady"

Is Chivalry dead? To those that feel moved to answer yes, I relate the following story:

There we are at Ephraim and Cami's reception. Grant is the Best Man (hence the tux), and we are seated. The shoes I am wearing are causing me much discomfort and temptation to complain. Thankfully though, when packing for our trip, I included a backup pair. However, this "backup pair" was down three flights of stairs ( or two elevators) in the dungeon of a basement of the Provo Library, hidden in the trunk of a car, buried further still within the chaos that was my suitcase. I express to Grant my grievance (without a hint of grumbling) and communicate my intent to retrieve "my other shoes". As I begin to move, he stops me promptly stifling my attempt, and turns to the door. I watch him walk swiftly out of the party. One minute goes by, two minutes, and three minutes turn into eight. Finally, he briskly enters the large room and makes his way to the other side where I am seated. As he approaches, I see my relief in his hand and, as I look up, he presents me with something more. What's that strewn across his face? Is it a scowl of labor? A look of apathetic obligation? No, No! His countenance is aglow with chivalry and dons the victory of a hero!
Now, I not only challenge the belief that chivalry no longer graces the earth, but go further to ask, does chivalry equally edify the man that participates, as the woman it does oblige? I propose the answer is a resounding yes.

Or, I guess he could just be smiling for the camera?

Needless to say, I prefer the former notion.

It's time to put on your Game Face, America.

Move Over Soup Nazi

If I were a Seinfeld character, I would be The Gulper. Everytime I drink anything, I make a noise... a gulping noise. Ask anyone who's ever been within hearing distance as I am drinking something and they can attest to it. It was pointed out to me how well I would fit on the Seinfeld show by my husband while I was drinking some tea before bed. Here's how it went:

C: Gulp, Gulp, Gulp (drinking herbal tea before bed)
G: You should be a Seinfeld character (rolling over in the bed)

I have tried and tried to be more quiet as I drink, I have had numerous conversations with people about it. I don't know how to silence the gulp and therefore, I admit, I would be a perfect character for Seinfeld, the show that points out the quirks of people in every day life. What Seinfeld character would you be?

Honk if you're with us!

This picture was not staged. Grant, my adorable man, was really this happy to be taking a Yes on Prop 8 sign to the streets of Orange County, and I can't blame him. It's an important and worthy cause, something we have been anxiously engaged in promoting. We have gone door to door informing people about Prop 8 and we have stood on street corners with signs on Saturday afternoon. We have had great experiences because of the many positive responses we received like honks, thumbs up, nods of approval, and the best part, the smiles of those who support Prop 8. There were even some drivers that were curious about what it was and we were able to pass out informative brochures to them as they were stopped at the light! It's unifying for the community and we are glad we get the chance to participate in something that we believe in and that will make such a difference for future generations. My sign read, "Prop 8=Parental Rights". Another read, "Prop 8= Freedom of Speech". Click here to learn more about it and also learn about the concerning ramifications if it does not pass. Contrary to popular belief, it does not take away any rights or privileges from domestic partnerships.  Become informed about this Proposition and we'll see you at the polls!

Falling in Love

We here in Orange County are deprived of a real Fall (sorry to say it but it's true). Grant and I hardly even notice it anymore because we have been here for about 3 years (well, I grew up in So Cal, but Grant did not) and have forgotten what Fall really feels like, until today. There was a feeling in the air this morning. Waking up, Grant and I both sensed a familiar, refreshing crispness in the Southern California air. Although it does not appear to be Fall when glancing outside, the sensation of the air is subtly biting and warms our hearts. It's the way a perfect Saturday starts. It's the kind of feeling that draws you to those you love, bringing feelings of warmth and togetherness. It also draws me into the kitchen, one, to get warmer by the oven, and two, to start making the soups, meals, and desserts that it's too hot to make the rest of the year. The sounds of college football games on the TV, hints of comfort foods in the air like pumpkin, and spices. It's not very cold and the leaves definitely are not changing here on the Southern Pacific Coast, but it brings Grant and I both back to the days when we experienced Fall as it should be. We both enjoyed this season in Utah (although we did not know each other). We loved taking drives up the canyon and spending time outdoors either watching football games or hiking next to the Provo River. Of course, I have my memories of Fall when I lived in New York as a child, when Fall enchanted me in Washington D.C., and living with my dad in Virginia and visiting during Thanksgiving. Grant misses the Fall he loved in Chicago. Ahh. How we love the Fall. Being that we both are so fond of this transitional Season, it's ironic that we live in a state where Fall is extremely reminiscent of Spring, Summer, and Winter, not smoothly introducing us to Winter from Summer, but instead from Summer to a rainy Summer. We would love to be back close to the trees, crisp, cool air, and mountains one day so we can enjoy the Fall again, the way it's supposed to be. There is something calming, soothing about the Fall. Probably my favorite season. I'm so thrilled by the glimpse of it, and yet left wanting the real thing.

My Life's Soundtrack

Today: "Dunder Mifflin, the people-person's paper people.... Dunder Mifflin, the people-person's paper people." As sung by Darrel, Kelly, Creed, and some others. I just watched the episode and I really got into the R & B jam. Now it's stuck in my head but I kinda don't mind.

More from AZ

This was a little teaser on our way up to Sedona. Those painted are definitely in the vortex.

This poor mountain. No matter where it goes, it always has a dark cloud hovering over (even though the only place it goes is nowhere.)

We didn't have a lot of time in Sedona because we planned for a day trip and had no idea how much stuff there is to do here. They even have hot-air balloon rides! With our limited time we managed to see a few cool places though.
Here we are in a little place called Tlaquepaque. It replicates a traditional Mexican village and has all these original art and clothing boutiques. Also, it is known for some of the best eats in Sedona. Very unique and picturesque. They even had a guy playing the very romantic Spanish guitar which I absolutely love. That's why Grant and I are standing so close in this picture. We only get this close when there is a Spanish guitar playing, so that's how you know I'm not just making it up.

Here we are riding the free trolley from one side of Sedona to another. Was this a pose? No. There was a Spanish guitar playing on the radio. Those trolley drivers were very helpful and gave us some great recommendations.

This is a grapefruit tree on the temple grounds that I thought was kind of cute. Forbidden Fruit-esque. (It seems like most temple grounds have something like this for some reason)

The Temple grounds outside the Visitor's Center also had this little cactus garden where they had about 10 different cactus variations and little wooden signs to tell what each one was called. I never realized how many different sorts of cactus there are and they all look different, too.

This was shot underwater when we went scuba diving in the ocean off the Arizona coast. Just kidding, but doesn't it look like it could be underwater or something?

The beautiful Mesa Arizona Temple. It's architecture looks like similar to the Temple in Oahu, Hawaii. I think they were built around the same time(with such a classic design in my opinion.) The foliage is a bit different on the grounds, however. Cattails instead of... I don't know... Acacia?

Caught in the Vortex

What the? As we were planning our day trip to Sedona, AZ, we were reading this list of suggested activities. I'm reading things like, "go on a day hike with a trained guide, take a pink jeep tour on one of the many trails, rent an inflatable kayak and float down the Colorado River..." and I'm thinking, "Wow, this place sounds really cool" and then I get to the phrase, "Take a spiritual, healing tour into the Vortex". I was like, "what?! What the? What is that? That sounds weird". Then Grant went on to explain to me how the place is known as like a worm-hole or something into the Universe that holds special spiritual powers that heal people. Interesting. Well, needless to say, we went and miraculously I was healed. Unfortunately, I will never know what I would have been ailed with because now, I won't get it. But really, we had a really great time, even though we didn't make it to the vortex, danget. Not to knock the mystical stuff. I mean, it's interesting and who knows, there might be some truth to it? Still, it was very beautiful. We had a ton of fun and we are for sure going back. It is worth checking out. This is a picture of the mountains or "rocks" that inspired Grant to declare, "It looks like a Filet Mignon". Yeah Grant, it kinda does. This particular shot is of a filet smothered with sauteed mushrooms.

An Announcement

You are invited
to the celebration for

Nancy the flexing Cactus
and
Grant Richman Lippard

on the
23 of September in the year 2008
as they celebrate their love.

Actually, this looks more like a prom picture pose.

Magic Fairy Dust

Best product for zie hair. Anne got this Bumble and Bumble hair product from the place she works at called Hampton Salon. My hair is so oily that I can't heed hair stylist's advice and not wash it every day because I can't stand it after one day of not washing it. It loses all personality and makes me look just plain dirty. Some women can totally get away with it, but not me...until now. When I spray it on my roots, the oilyness totally disappears! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still showering every day, just not washing me hair every day :) This product has made it possible. It adds volume and oomph to otherwise dead hair. It's easy to use, although it does have color in it so you have to be careful where you spray it but it is totally worthy of a check it out this. It comes in 5 colors: Platinum, Blondish, Brown, Red, and Black. Anyone looking for a product to add volume and a fix to oily or dead hair, this is it! Bette Midler calls it "backcombing in a bottle" from what I hear so there you go. It's worth the money.

How do you really feel about Jason Mraz?

The Gnome carried out by the artist in the beginning of the show.

The guy that gets to say, "I play the bongos, man".

The stalker photog that caused much concern when the people next to us told us he took more pictures of us than the actual performer on stage. Afterward, he got our names to put in some publication... hmm. (Hope we're not found dead soon)

The only girls with free tickets in the very front row (thanks to some confusion with the tickets that other people had our exact same seat, the only seats available were in the front row danget) that didn't know every word to every song.

The only guy Anne has wanted to see in concert and somehow was able to come upon free tickets to his show randomly. Jason Mraz. Thanks Annabee for taking me!

Summer with Sir Isaac Lime

This summer, I was acquainted with some old, but great friends. How good it was to see Strawberry Short Kook again. Also, Poncho Punch hasn't changed at all. Here they all are.

• Louie-Bloo Raspberry
• Strawberry Short Kook
• Sir Isaac Lime
• Poncho Punch
  
• Alexander the Grape
• Little Orphan Orange

Do you know them?

Decapitated

I was just remembering when Grant cut my head off on our honeymoon.



Good times.

So, Grant's sister Kelli came to visit us from Chicago and we did a lot of stuff that I had actually never done before but have been wanting to do. We went kayaking in Seal Beach, we went to Visitors Night at UC Irvine's obvervatory (where we saw Jupiter and 3 of it's moons through a telescope and it really looks like it has lines on it that all the pictures show, come to find out they are storms going on... pretty cool). One of the highlights was when we went up to LA to an Ethiopian restaurant called Rosalinds. It was 5 stars or 2 thumbs up or 4 diamonds or whatever. Amazing. The food was sooo good, combining spices like ginger, jalepeno, and garlic and infusing the meats and vegetarian dishes with the most wonderful flavors. I loved the chickpeas and lentils. Instead of utensils, you hold pieces of this thin bread between your fingers and you scoop it up. It was such a unique experience and cheap too. We were all full off of their combo that was 16 bucks! We all loved it and we are really anxious to go again soon, which we will be doing. It is right next to the Grove too, so we went and walked around there for a little bit. I always love it when visitors come because it gives us an excuse to PARTAY!

Perfect for Parasols

Any idea where you might catch a scene such as this?

At Target's Symphony in the Cities, of course.

A couple weekends ago, Grant and I attended a free symphony at Irvine's Heritage Park. We set out our blanket on this perfect grassy hill and enjoyed the music amongst families and grandmas with parasols. They played music that we all recognized whether it be from old cartoons or Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure. Also, there were some featured singers and they performed a few songs from The Sound of Music, and towards the end, some sing along patriotic songs. One indulgence was to actually go up to the stage and conduct a song with everyone else that can't fight the urge to start waving their arms in the air when there is a live symphony present. (I totally do it.) The conductor disappeared and there the symphony played to our flailing hands. Next year, we are going to bring a picnic which they encourage you do. (We were running late so we didn't get a chance to stop and get any snacks.) Also, it only lasted maybe a little over an hour so it was just long enough to hold our attention. They have done it four years in a row and every weekend they have it at a different park. A very fun cultural experience, and it's free, so there you go.

Adventures in Gabbaland.

Anne and I had an escapade in Gabbaland! Foofa invited us (through our TV screen of course) to enter Yo Gabba Gabba behind the scenes and see the set where they film the whole thing and we got to play in the props and also watch Emma/Foofa do some voice overs, sing some songs, and do an interview as Foofa. She is so perfect for the part. She does the voice and plays the part in costume. We were introduced to a whole bunch of people who work on it, including the producer. The offices are decorated so well. Everything you would expect from the Yo Gabba Gabba team. It was a really fun experience since I had never done anything like that before. Thanks Emma, I mean Foofa, for showing us around Gabbaland and doing a Dancey Dance with us. (Here are some photos of Anne being sucked into Gabbaland through our TV screen. Freaky. I'm glad I was there to get the photographic proof.)

"Cal, I'm going to Gabbaland to wash my hands. I'll be right back... maybe"

"Anne, come back! Come back!!"

Pardon me

Like any RV that realizes its potential, the "INTRUDER" sends a message to all who come within reading distance. This vehicle enters and exits our non-suspecting neighborhood on its recreational whim, and while we (me and mine) enjoy deciding what we can learn from this title, I'm sure some dwellers sense a literal tinge in its statement. I wish to ponder on the importance of this message because aren't we all intruders at some time in our lives? Why else would there be a need for such phrases as, "Pardon me" and "Excuse me" and even "Sorry"?( And by the way, why do we say these kind of things with their french counterparts that sound like "Par-done moi" and "Excu-say moi"?) There are a few different ways in which we intrude. A popular intrusion is simply just to disrupt someones groove if you will. Simply doing something that causes discord within their very being, creating a feeling of awkwardness and possible confusion. We orchestrate awkward moments (some do on purpose), causing someone stress over how to respond or simply how to avoid the conversation/confrontation/interaction altogether. Many of us are literal intruders, forcing ourselves on people in their homes, conversations, driving lanes (guilty), TV shows(guilty again), dinners, sleep, when they're "in the midde of something", or free time. Although we are most likely not aware of it thanks to social graces, we're all seasoned intruders and in this we are all united. Consequently, being an intruder isn't as bad as it seems. Just a little something to think about. Possibly this RV is simply displaying that which we all are, demanding societys attention toward the part of ourselves that we try to deny, ignore or justify. Or maybe this statement is, in effect, saying "Look, I don't care how much room I'm taking up and I don't care whose room it is. I'm intruding hello! I'm going where I want to go, when I want to go, in this big RV. So, if you don't want to get hurt, get the eff out of my way." Regardless, it is something we should make ourselves aware of.

This won't let you down

Have you guys seen this? I stole this from my friend Heather's blog. I just couldn't resist. It makes me laugh every time I see it. I thought that I would represent, give a shout out to Heather for making this all possible, and thank every one for this opportunity. Watch carefully for the dancing in between the lyrics.

Yo-Ho Yo-Huh?

It was mid-day when my little sister Bailey (who is 8) showed me the project she had been working on. It was this felt rendition of a blond pirate girl ( about 8 years old judging from the length of the hair and size of the head in proportion to the rest of the body and lack of legs as a metaphor for dependency). I said, "wow Bailey. You really have a talent. I've never experienced felt looking so dang-darn realistic." (She enjoys when I talk like a complete idiot). Our interaction continued when I ritualistically asked if I could have it for keeps, falsely believing again that because she handed it to me to show me, it should now be mine. Bailey proceeded right on cue with the rolling of the huge blue eyes, (I'm convinced she designed her eyes to be so gigantic so that the rolling of them would cause the rolling of heads. What else could she need eyes that big for?) as she instinctively replied, "no", snatching the felt art from my hands. I never saw the "pirate" or her again, until...

A few hours later, I am on my way downstairs and happen upon a pirate scene. Now, I have never happened upon pirates in their free time before. It has always been in formal settings, either when they're at work on the Pirates of the Carribean ride at Disneyland or when they are "playing it up" in film, like in "(insert name of pirate movie here)". Always stealing, swearing, drinking... Arriving upon this calm scene, I had to ask myself, "Are they felt?" But no! They were real and they were really there. This surreal happenstance really opened my eyes to how pirates are really no different from us. I mean, in their spare time they like to do things like:

think about real issues

read children's books

just hang out low-key

(and this one really surprised me)
they even lounge in laundry baskets very similar to the way you and I creatively used (and use) laundry baskets (as beds, sleds, etc).

I don't know how Bailey managed to pull it off, but she really taught me something that day. Pirates, felt or not, are really nothing to be intimidated by. They are just like us "non-ship-riding, non-treasure-stealing, non-red and white stripe-torn-clothing-wearing" people. Really, the only thing that separates us is what we do for a living, what we wear, and the way we talk, the time period we live in, the material we're made of, yada yada. Because if you got us all together during our free time, we'd all be chillaxing the same way!
PS. I've never said or written before, nor ever will say or write again, the word "chillaxing" or any form thereof.

It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy

This year's theme for the OC Fair was "Say Cheese" which we did, a lot. We had a grand time including riding a rockety roller coaster almost to our demise. How fun it was to have Brittany, Danielle, Kiffy, Mom, Bailey, Levi, Todd, Anne, Grant and I all together for some fair play which we did until midnite when the fair closed. Until next year when we'll do it all again! (Are you guys in?)