Look for the Brown Eyed Blondie!!

Doug shot B Camera which means he shot pretty much everything that doesn't have people in it.

WE WON!!

By one point. it was white knuckle the ENTIRE time and then they pulled it out in the end 18 to 17. Fire Rules!

Basketball Roundup!

Well, for the first time in our family we are going to A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!

Sophie's playoff game on Saturday was so exciting!! It was a total nail biter and we went back and forth between, "we're winning" to "we're loosing" at least 10 times. The score was that close the entire time. Sophie rocked defense. Because this was her first year playing It took a while to figure out just where she fits in with this team. But she has emerged one of their best defenders. The second the other players cross that half court line she is "all up in their grill," as Uncle Rossy likes to say. She's fast and plays like a brick wall.





The Championship game is on Tuesday Night. Go FIRE Go!!


Owen's division is hilarious to watch. Oh, it's so cute. He doesn't really get the point yet but when his coach yells "Defense" he knows just where to stand and he stretches his arms out really wide. Sometimes he'll do the little defense shuffle. I die at that one, it's so funny. My favorite is the thumbs up we get as he runs up and down the court. So, the good news is he doesn't hate it. He really likes it, which is something Moms worry about when they force their kids into things.




Then again, he's a Chamberlain. It's in his blood.


And finally, Spurs. What a week to be a Spurs Fan! In games that rival sophie's playoffs in excitement and intensity, they sent the Phoenix Suns home crying. We were all going crazy down here. Then yesterday they won Game 1 of the series with the Jazz. Me thinks we may have two championships trophies this year!! Go Spurs Go!

Ha ha ha ha.

I was at Target today and was browsing through some of their clothes. I love their Go! campaign where they bring in designers from all over the world to design a line for Target. The line is only on sale for about 2 months and then they change it to a new designer. They usually have funky stuff. Today i found this super cool shirt by Patrick Robinson. It's a beigy-taupey sheer fabric with satin stripes sewn down the front, like a tuxedo shirt. It was so cute so i brought it home.

Sophie takes one look at it and says,

"wow!!...are you going to a rodeo?"

She was totally serious and that is totally sad for me.

In this pic it looks so ugly but i still think with the right outfit it could be fun. Like boots and a hat, maybe.

Oh, Williams Sonoma, you temptress.

I really, really want these. I think the rules of the universe state that after 12 years of marriage you get to replace all of the wonderful crap that you got for your wedding. Actually, i got pampered chef pots and pans so i can't complain too much, but i'm ready to upgrade. Wouldn't all of my future yummy salads taste so much yummmier if they were made with these?? I think so.

It's Salad Season

Have you ever been to a ward dinner or family reunion or any type of pot lock where everyone brings something to share with the group? There is always one dish sits there untouched. Maybe it looks ugly or smells wierd or simply has ingredients that look like they shouldn't go together. I've been there before, i've seen that happen. Sometimes I was the one that actually brought the dish to the party. I know, how sad. Unfortunately, cooking is not one of my strengths.

I was looking at pictures from a friends recent family gathering and there are people smiling and eating and scooping out food on to their plates and chatting and just having a grand time. And just looking at these photos gave me a little nervous pit in my stomach. Isn't that crazy? I didn't even have a food assignment at this particular party and i still got anxious. What if my thing doens't get eaten and i have to leave with the bowl still full? It's like having a yard sale and hauling as much stuff back into the house at the end of the day as you did that morning. It's the worst form of rejection. (And no, that last thing has never happened to me, i was just guessing.)

I actually did bring something to a reunion once that just sat there. I can't remember what it was but no one was interested, so i ate a ton of it and then I kept going back and secretly scooping more on to my plate and oh so descreetly walking past the garbage and dumping it so i could go back and get more just to toss it. Isn't that stupid? My food issues have grown into a full blown complex, i swear. I need professional help. I'm asking for some cooking lessons for my birthday and if that doesn't work I've got the therapist all lined up.

Anyway, the weather has been awesome and every BBQ on the block is singing its mating song. It's looking for it's salad. And sooner than later I'm going to have to ask, "oh, well, what can i bring?" And someone is going to say it... those inevitable, dreaded words, "What about a salad?"

So, i need your help. I need your tried and true super yummy salad recipes. Any kind. macaroni, potato, pasta, spinach, whatever. You can post here or email it to me. The world will thank you. Or at least my family and friends who are subjected to my daily attempts at something edible.

p.s. I hate Martha Stewart and her perfect looking salads.

Soph's Bday Part 2

So i got out of doing the food fight this year. I'm sure it'll come back around next year and hopefully i'll be prepared by then. We did end up doing a girls night at the mall. I know that sounds a bit attrocious but Sophie was given a $50 gift card to build-a-bear so we took a few friends, dropped Owen at a friends house and headed out for an all girls event.



Her build-a-bear of choice. She named him Dude. She bought the cheapest animal so she could spend more on clothes. She burned through the $50 pretty quickly and put bday money from the Grandmas to good use.



After we hit the Cinnebon. We watched the guy make 3 or 4 batches. Once the dough is rolled out, they spread probably 2lbs of butter on the dough before they put the cinnamon. Holy Cow! No wonder they're so good.



And then, of course, to the nail salon for a little pampering for the girlies. They chose their nail colors and sat down. The lthe lady gave them the flowers and rhinestones for free because it was a bday party.

My favorite exerpt this week. A bold statment from a london based research company.

"The most effective personal climate change strategy is limiting the number of children one has," the report says. "The most effective national and global climate change strategy is limiting the size of the population."

And I thought using cloth napkins was enough.

Happy birthday to SOPHIE

She is now 10 years old and can no longer eat on the kid menu. She had her friend Luba come over and we swam and then went to "The Stand" for dinner. There was a big gathering of our friends happening anyway so we took a cake and some candles and joined them for a little impromptu party. I'll get some pics up later today. She got a skateboard and helmet from Grandma so we bought her some skater shoes and elbow and knee pads. she's pretty good already. We all had a great time. Last night, however, "the stand" wasn't so nice to Doug and he threw up for the first time in 26 years.

The Low Down on Spiderman 3.

The whole experience was hilarious, actually, starting with the dress. 5 hrs before we were to be at the premiere, i still didn't have anything to wear. At 5:15, after nearly 2 hours of shopping I was in a dressing room at Lord and Taylor on 5th Avenue with a bunch of dresses all over the floor and doug is calling me saying, "I'm at the hotel, where are you? We need to leave in 1 hr." So i'm starting to hyperventilate and i finally put on the dress i ended up buying and fell in love with it. Robyn was like, "no way, it's way to casual." But there was nothing else and i just had to go for it. So i bought it on the 3rd floor ran down to the first floor and tried to find some shoes. Doug's texting me, the sales people are slow as snails and they didn't have my size. I ended up buying the size 7, a half size too small, and then i ran up to the 8th floor and bought a girdle and ran back down 8 floors and out to the street.

I tried to get a cab but i was on the wrong side of a one way street so i just started running. And i ran and ran through the city with my bags on my arm all the way to the hotel on 45th street. I got upstairs and jumped in the shower and was out the door in under 30 minutes. It was crazy. If i wasn't so stressed i could have felt the cinematic beauty of the situation, but oh well.

The premiere was in Queens and when the cab dropped us at the corner there were about 1000 pepole waiting in the will call line and countless onlookers cramming the streets. There was a giant truck hiding the red carpet so i couldn't see anything or anyone but every so often i'd hear the crowd go crazy for someone. And as VIP as i was feeling, we ended up waiting in the will call line with everyone else, i guess we weren't VIP enough. It was fun, though. We chatted with a lot of people in line.

The 15 theater mulitplex was rented out for the premiere and every single screen was showing Spiderman. There must have been at least 800 people exiting into the same hallway. My thought was, if something happens at the back of this crowd and people start pushing...we'd be trampled. It was so packed.

The movie is fun. It should definitely be on your summer hit list.

The greatest part was the afterparty. There was an enormous line that i skipped because i slid in with famous frank's family as they we're heading inside. The party had great food and music and dancing. It was mayhem around James and his family's table. Everyone wanted to say hi and shake hands and try to instigate some kind of relationship with him. the best thing i heard was from this slightly frazzled, graying, 40-something who reached out shook his hand and said, "he buddy, let's meet soon. let's get something working together. I'm a the top of your list, buddy, the top of the list." What the heck does that mean? hmmm.

Anyway, I finally scored a seat which was perfect because my little shoes were killing me. I sat down next to his grandma and chatted with her for a long time. She's the one in the turtleneck dancing with doug while he jumped up in the air. She was super sweet and she told great stories. We got to talk to a lot of people but i didn't see many celebs there either. I saw robert duvall briefly, if that gets anyone excited. Oh and one of the Dr's from ER during the late 1990's. A bit of a let down on the celebrity watch, but that's ok. The whole experience was so much fun.

So we hung out and chatted with friends and danced and ate and then went home about 1:30am.

Earlier that day Doug and i started taking the "jumping" photos. We got bored with smiling in front of stuff so we just started leaping. One of the girls I met at the premiere was also in Doug's tribeca movie and she was so much fun. She totally got into the jumping photo thing as did Producer Vince.

Here are some shots of us trying to do the jump pix just right.

great shot of Owen for yo gabba gabba

Doug took this photo for his friend that was doing some segments for a new kids show called yo gabba gabba. It'll be on Nickelodeon this fall, i think.

More NY

These are pics from our last day in New York. We woke up early, like 9:30am, and met Bart and Robyn at Grand Central Station. We took the train to Soho and had breakfast at a place called Cafe Habana. I had the best Huevos Rancheros EVER and they served corn and yummy yummy pork. so good. we shopped a little...the Paul Frank shot is for Sophie, PF's greatest Fan. We bought tickets to see Hairspray that night and walked and walked from one neighborhood to the next, eating and shopping and taking more "jumping" photos. It was really great. We finally ended up at Central Park for a little carriage ride and some ice cream before heading to the show.

Goodbye New York

We're at the hotel getting ready to head to the airport. doug is on his way to Ohio and I'm heading to Vegas to pick up the kids and drive back to LA. Doug is taking the pics with him so most pics will be posted after the weekend. I do have some good stories and will post this great Owen pic in the meantime.

So Long!