Wrigley's Birthday Extravaganza Part II

The party never stops for our birthday boy. On Friday night he had a joint birthday party with his brother, Casey (I guess I should say "combined" party instead of "joint" - it definitely wasn't that kind of a party!) Casey's mom and dad hosted the birthday bash for the boys and as you can see from the following pictures, they had a ball!

Wrigley was again spoiled with a hamburger dinner. This time though, he had In and Out Burger. That puts my McDonald's treat to shame. Here are the boys waiting to gobble up their burgers. (Wrigley on the left, Casey on the right)


I love this picture. Wrigs looks like Pac Man!


Here is an action shot of the boys devouring their burgers.


After the burgers the boys played for a bit and then it was time for dessert! Casey's mom had a special cake made at a doggy bakery in Newport for each of them and even got a little cupcake for Casey's older sister Molly, a cocker spaniel.

Three Dog Bakery

Here are the three of them scrambling for a seat at the table...


Casey and Molly know the drill as they take their seats. Wrigley's not too sure where to go, but he's careful not to step on his half sister, Molly...


The three of them patiently wait for their cake. Not much longer, just need to snap a few more photos...


"Where's the cake? Is it this way?"


"Or maybe it's coming this way?"


Alas, cake is served. Casey's piece is gone in one bite and it appears Molly has no interest in her cupcake, instead she's got her sights on Wrigley's cake (as does Casey). I'm not quite sure why Wrigley is facing the other way but he better turn around fast or his cake will be gone!


Molly's not taking her eyes off Wrigley's cake! Luckily he turns around in time to gobble it up...


He's REALLY enjoying this cake! Crumbs are flying out of his mouth onto Molly's plate. She licks them right up...


Poor Molly, surrounded by these 2 beasts eating like pigs. She continues to show no interest in her cupcake and just sits and stares at the empty cake plates.


Her cupcake is replaced with a piece of her brother's cake and it's gone in a flash!


Wrigley sneaks in to clean up some crumbs...


and then heads to the floor for more clean up, leaving Casey and Molly to clean the table...


Everyone is happy and stuffed! Casey joins Wrigley for floor clean up and Molly pleads for another piece!


Nope, no more Molly. Instead how 'bout you smile pretty for another photo? What a Beauty?!?


After all that fun and food, everyone needed a quick rest...


But that didn't last long. There was still too much fun to be had!




When we put Wrigley's leash on Casey decided to pull him around the house...



Even Big sister Molly had to join in on all the fun...


Wrigs finally had enough and decided to carry his own leash around for a while...


It was such a special day for the birthday boys and we all can't wait for next year!

Blond Moment #4972

So I was taking Wrigs for our usual stroll around the lake which is just about 4 miles door to door. About 10 minutes into the walk it's getting a bit warm and Wrig's is panting more than usual and I didn't have water with me so I figured we'd better cut the walk in half. We get to our halfway point on the lake (where the shops and restaurants are) and I decide instead of doing a full walk around the lake, we'll just turn around and head home. It didn't dawn on me til I was about half way home (from the half way point that is) that we still ended up walking the 4 miles. I'm really not this stupid, I just wasn't thinking about circumference and diameter and all that crap. Next time I want to walk half the lake I'll find the 1/4th point and then turn around.

Here's a picture of our lake that I found on the internet. But I'm a bit puzzled by it because I'm not quite sure why there appears to be a tsunami like wave headed for our neighborhood in the lower portion of the lake.

Happy Birthday Wrigley!!!

Wrigley turned "1" today and to celebrate his birthday he got a special treat at the Mcdonald's drive thru. I ordered him a plain burger (just meat between the buns), I got a grilled chicken sandwich and the two of us had a little picnic in the backyard.

Here he is sitting like a good boy awaiting to devour his birthday burger...


And here he is enjoying his first bite...


Judging from the look on his face, I'd say he enjoyed his birthday treat!!


"Someone" was not happy about all this attention on the dog and watched in utter disgust from the den...

Got Gherkins?

Thanks to everyone who braved the elements and came out last Saturday in Chicago. It was great to see all of you! I wonder how many people left Friar Tucks only to find a gherkin in their pockets, purses and hoods.









Our custom made gherkin dessert...


Here is Dennis the waiter removing a fly from a glass of wine...


And we can't forget Peter's birthday gherkin...


An outside shot of the fine drinking establishment known as Friar Tucks, just a couple blocks from our old condo...


Here I am getting reprimanded by the bouncer for trying to sneak a gherkin into the giant popcorn maker. If you enlarge the picture, you'll notice the gherkin in my hand.




Here is Tom getting ready to take a shot out of the lamb's ass. Ewe! That's gross!

SNOW SNOW

I got to see snow!!!




It's been years since I've seen snow fall and while in Chicago last week this is what I saw. It was beautiful. But sooo cold. It was in the 20's when we left and now, here it is a week later and my mom tells me the temp is 73 degrees! Chicago weather is bi-polar. It was great to see the big fluffy flakes though. And if it wasn't so cold I would have made a few snow angels. Instead I'll head to the beach this weekend and make some in the sand.

Homesick for Some GOOD Food

We're heading back to Chicago tomorrow and I can't wait! Finally, some REAL food.

I've really been missing the city life and of course our favorite restaurants all within walking distance from our old condo. We both worked insane hours which didn't allow much time for home cooking and went out to eat (or ordered in) just about every night of the week. I found some of our faves online and had to post the links.

For those of you living in Chicago now, indulge yourself and head over to Yoshi's for a delicious meal accompanied by the best key lime martini you'll ever have. All this served by a cheerful, friendly staff who to us, felt like family. Oh and top it all off with an espresso creme brulee and sweet glass of port. (Although the brulee is not always on the menu.) We frequented Yoshi's a LOT. It was about 10 steps from our our front door.

Yoshi's Cafe

For a cute and cozy atmosphere with some good ole comfort food, Duke of Perth was just a short walk away. Tom and I would usually order "Rob Roy" burgers and try a different Scottish beer everytime. One of the most charming little pubs in all of Chicago.

Duke of Perth

Our favorite Thai place was just up the street and we ate there at least twice a week. They had delicious Crab Rangoon and lightly fried Spring Rolls. And our favorite noodle dishes were the Drunken Noodles, Crazy Noodles, or the Spicy Chili Noodles. This place didn't serve alcohol but you could BYOB for a small corkage fee. We brought our own bottle only a few times and usually sat out on the back patio just feasting on all our favorites!

Joy's Noodles

And of course there's the Weiner Circle our favorite after hours drunken hangout. For those not familiar with this place on the North side, I can't even begin to describe it. The late night entertainment far surpasses the quality of the fare. Last time I was there I saw an Irish man strip naked (except for black socks) while dancing a jig. Other patrons began to throw their food and cold drinks on the man and I got creative and dipped my french fry in some hot steamy cheese and landed a direct hit to the man's behind. A few minutes later Chicago's finest showed up, draped a blanket over the man and then escorted him into a Paddy wagon. The crowd from inside had now moved outside and was cheering and clapping and as the wagon turned to drive off the Irish man smushed his naked rear up against the back window and waved goodbye.

DAMN! I miss Chicago!

(Oh and I forgot to mention the staff behind the counter at W.C. will swear and cuss at you the entire time you are trying to order. The rule is to swear right back and name call even worse than them! The best was the first time Tom went there, he was a little new to this but wanted to have some fun with it and walks up to the counter and the woman says to him, "What'll it be BITCH?" and Tom replies, "I'll have a fucking char dog...please?" You just have to see it to believe it.)

Weiner Circle

Pinkberry

This is my new favorite yogurt place. I went to the one in W. Hollywood and it was well worth the 60 mile drive!! If you are a frozen yogurt addict like me, I highly recommend this place. There's a reason it's called Crackberry!

Pinkberry article

Blond Moment #4,971

(You'll probably see this circulating via e-mail as a dumb blond joke at some point)

Conversation with a Pregnant Friend:

Friend: "The worst part about being pregnant is that I can't take any medicine for anything. I'm still recovering from a lingering flu and I had to suffer through it with just a couple regular strength tylenols. Didn't do much to help the mucus pouring out of my nose, swollen glands, sore throat and hacking cough.

Me: "Oh you poor thing. That would be awful."

Friend: "Yeah I'll be so happy when I'm able to load up on drugs after the baby's born!"

Me: "I can't imagine living without motrin. If I were ever pregnant I don't know what I'd do because I get the WORST menstrual cramps and I pop 5 or 6 motrin at a time. I seriously don't think I could go without for 9 months."

Friend: "Um...Laura?"

Me: "What? (long pause) Ohhhhh, Duh! Ok, nevermind."

My perfect day....

It's not my intention with this post to piss anyone off in the midwestern or northeastern states. Instead, it's more of an attempt to give those of you suffering from frostbitten fingers and frozen mucous membranes a mere glimpse into the not so distant future. The last few days have been summer like out here. Temps have been in the mid 80's, with bright blue skies and a warm gentle breeze. As far as 2007 goes I have to say Friday, February 16th was my perfect day.

Here is a recap of my summer day, dated 02/16/07:

Awake to dog kisses at 7:30am. Feed the animals, make coffee, get dressed and ready to start the day. Clean out the garage of all the stuff that I've been carting around for 10 years. Load up the car (Wrigs included) and drop it off at the Discovery shop. (I'm sure cleaning out storage tubs in the garage wouldn't register high on the perfect day meter for most people, but for me it is like a 500 pound weight has lifted from my shoulders and just adds nothing but glory to my day!) Wrigs and I eat breakfast at Corner Bakery where I enjoy my favorite: swiss oatmeal with a sweet crisp and an extra hot latte. Run a few more errands, home around noon and realize it's getting a little warm outside. Change clothes and take the dog for a quick walk.

About 12:30 now, back home again, catch one of my favorite episodes of I Love Lucy and then start to weed in the back yard. Feel the sun beating down on my neck and shoulders. Change clothes again, now wearing a tank top and running shorts. Back to weeding, step in dog poop. No big deal. I have shitty shoes on anyway. This doesn't affect my perfect day. I continue to enjoy the sensations of the summer day. The warmth, the blue skies, the yellowness of the sun, the flowers in bloom. I take in all the sights and...smells. Decide to clean up the rest of dog poop in the yard. Several minutes later, I'm back to beautifying my back yard. Work on pruning -not sure if that's the correct term here, more like hacking away at branches on the orange/lemon hybrid tree. Start to get thirsty so I pick a few oranges and lemons and head inside to make an orange-lemonade. (sidenote: One of the benefits on having your own fruit tree is that you don't have to scrub your gems with antibacterial soap and warm water. For this I am grateful and this is a definite plus to my perfect day).

While inside making my refreshing summer drink, Tom comes home early from a business trip. We have the whole afternoon together so we both head outside and work on weeding and shaping up the front yard. We have all the tools, wheel barrow, bark chips, etc. spread out on the lawn while we each work sections of the yard. It's now HOT outside. Like 87 degrees but no humidity, just a warm gentle breeze every so often. I cut some flowers from our haphazard wildflower collection and head inside to put them in water. Wrigs is pining to join us in the yard so I decide to bring him out for a summer picnic and we both lay down and enjoy the simple beauty of the day. Tom continues to weed and whack but Wrigs and I decide to take a quick nap while blanketed by the sun's rays.


Oh, and don't think Chumley was devoid of any fun that day. He stayed inside the house peeping out the window from time to time while sitting inside a tire. Yes indeed. A good time was had by all.

I don't mean to complain but...

it may be 75 degrees outside, but our house is still COLD!!! And poor little Chumley has been sneezing for almost a week. He sounds like one of Wrigley's squeaker toys on it's last leg. Since Chumley doesn't do very well at the vet, I'm going to go without him and describe his symptoms and see if the Dr. can offer any suggestions to help Sir Sneezy. I'm actually going to take Wrigley in for a weight check and refill his heartworm and flea and tick meds, so it will be a fun filled visit for both of us. Wrigley LOVES to go to the vet. Even after 2 horrible surgeries, he still bolts out of the car and rushes up to the front desk awaiting kisses and hugs from all the staff. He always knocks the credit/debit key pad device off the counter and one time he had pressed his paw on the pad and changed all the prompts to Spanish. I guess that's not such a big deal, seeing we live in Southern California.

Eerie Similarity

I've been reading a lot about Anna Nicole's life and death and discovered something that we have in common. We share the same birthday, November 28. But that's not all. Her son was born on January 22, which is the same day as my husband's birthday. Am I the only one that thinks that's a little freaky?

The Nose Cozy

I've received a few e-mails from people curious about my home made nose cozy - what it looks like, how it works, etc.

So, here it is...



I'd also like to point out that this is probably one of the most unflattering pictures I've ever taken, but for the purpose of showcasing the Nose Cozy, I pushed aside my pride.

2 simple things that I DREAD

Going to the bank. Getting gas in my car. Why? Because inevitably something goes wrong. I'll start with the bank.

The closest drive up bank from my house is 7 miles away which is about a 15 minute drive. Maybe I've seen too many bank robbery movies, but I've always preferred drive up windows as opposed to long lines inside the bank. It just makes me nervous. I look at everyone suspiciously and if I can't see both hands at all times, I start to panic. So I opt for the drive up window even though the service at my bank is deplorable. I dread it because after one incident I am certain the bank employees see my car coming and frantically flip coins (I'm sure they have plenty lying around) to see who will have to wait on me.

This particular time was before Christmas and I was rushing around doing last minute things and stopped to make a deposit and get some cash. I had rung the teller button several times to no avail so I just sat and waited and waited. SEVEN minutes go by and still nothing. I quickly beep my horn. Nothing. A few more quick beeps, nothing obnoxious, just fast little toots to make them aware of my presence. Still nothing. It's now been TEN minutes and I watch as my gas indicator light flashes on "E". I become more frazzled and start saying "Hello? Hello? Hello?" while pressing the call teller button at least 12 times. Still no response. I can't take it anymore and I can feel my patience level bubbling over so I just BLAST my horn non stop. The sound is deafening and starts to hurt my ears so I roll up my window and then begin to laugh while I'm doing this because I think to myself, "Oh my God, this is what a psychopath must feel like!" I keep the horn blowing for a good minute and then stop. I wait a bit and STILL NOTHING!

Now I'm afraid I'll run out of gas so I shut off my car. I sit for about 30 more seconds and then start round 2 of horn honking hell. This time I let the horn go for so long that it makes me dizzy. I am craning my neck to see if there is any movement whatsoever in the bank and then finally a man comes rushing to the window. He does NOT look happy. I lay off the horn and try to regain some composure. I can't hear what he's saying so I start to tell him that I've been waiting for almost 15 minutes and then realize my window is up. I try to put it down but it's not working and then I remember I shut off my car so I turn on the ignition and then put down the window and tell him that I've been waiting for a long time and am about to run out of gas. He barely lifts his head to acknowledge me and then another bank employee rushes to the window, looks at me and then turns away. The man says nothing to me as he finishes up my transaction and I thank him as I collect and count my money. Once I drive off I can see him shaking his head while talking with the other employee who ran to get a look at the horn honking psycho. Oh well, I think. Let them have their laugh at my expense. It's not like they know where I live.

This was not my intent with this post. I was going to talk about what happened TODAY but instead I relived that whole debacle and I'm too worked up to blog about today's episode at the gas station. What I'll do instead is just cut and paste the e-mail I sent to my friend about it earlier. It's much more concise and to the point. I tend to ramble on this blog anyhow. So here is part of the e-mail:

---Oh and I went APESHIT at the gas station today. First I went to the bank, waited at the drive through you know how I love that. Literally have .08 of a tank of gas left. I stop at the gas station on my way home and I try TWO pumps, BOTH OF WHICH WERE NOT ACCEPTING ATM CARDS!!! I WAS SOOO PISSED! The gas station was sooo crowded so I'm pulling away from one pump that didn't work to pull up to another pump while other people are waiting and already thought I got gas but I didn't because the BLASTED THING DIDN'T WORK!! I was trying to tell these people that I still hadn't gotten gas and I had to use the other pump but my voice was not loud enough (lost it from screaming during Superbowl) so people are cutting me off and giving me dirty looks and literally veins are popping out of my neck as I'm trying to explain but no one can hear me!!! I SCREAMED F*CK THIS!!!! But it was like a mouse whisper and I got back in my car and drove off, still on empty. OMG I am getting mad again.
OH and there is more to the story. It's that time of the month and my 'you know what' was coming out and I was in a mad rush to get home and---

I think I'll end it here. Sorry to any fellas who may have been reading that last bit. But it's a part of life for us ladies, no sense denying it. Also helps explain my impatience and irritability.