So my dad was able to get us into another stamp unveiling this year. I was pretty "eh" about this one because it wasn't at Disneyland. My dad was trying to get me excited about it by saying "Carl Reiner is emceeing the event!!!"....psh...whatever...who is Carl Reiner.

Something you should know about me. I'm a huge Ocean's 11 fan. I dunno why. I think the one-liners fit into my sister and my sense of humor so perfectly that it was basically a match in heaven. Plus, Clooney, Pitt, and Damon in the same movie...comeon'!

So we get into the event, I'm noticing a lot of famous people, newscasters, critics, and then I see...Carl Reiner...AH! It's Saul from Ocean's 11. I smacked my dad "Why didn't you say SAUL was gonna be here!!" I'm sure he just rolled his eyes at my stupidity. I wanted to smack myself up the head. I knew the guy sounded familiar.


Recognize this guy? Ya, he stood next to me with his point and shoot trying to get photos of Carl Reiner...ha!




Here we are at the big event, talking about how great all these old tv shows were blah, blah. I'm sitting there giddy as a preteen meeting Hannah Montana. I was gonna meet Saul and the only thing that kept popping into my mind was the line "Hey Saul! It's me! From Saratoga Springs" from Ocean's 11. Finally I get my chance to meet my hero and the 79 year old was obviously needing a break from all the attention and ducked back stage. I coulda hunted him down but he's an old man! I have standards and morals! I was just so excited to be there anyways.
I did get to meet the 16th generation Lassie and here's a fun fact for you out there in Internet land...Lassie's character, although a girl puppy (or a Bitch in technical terms) has always been played by a male dog. Male dogs are bigger and have a nicer coat according to her/his handler...psh. Whatever.
My dad had to finish business before we could blow the joint and so I decided to go have some fun with the statues out front...
Two beautiful redheads (one cast iron) in one photo...the odds....
I kinda like this guy...

Alright Saul, I couldn't get a real photo op with you so I'm just gonna take one!

On our way to the restrooms I spotted this photo and decided I wanted another photo with Saul. He doesn't realize it but he loves me :)

We are just killing time but man I loved this guy's work.

I don't care how famous of a puppet this is...it still freaks me out. (I have a thing about puppets.)

So the red carpet is just hanging out with no one on it....PHOTO OP! I shoulda been in pictures!
Sorry for the over self indulgence of photos but hey, I'm a drama kid....this was a pretty cool deal for me...

(P.S. I know that Carl Reiner has had many more accomplishments in his life besides Ocean's 11, including the 2000 year old man which I know and almost as obssessed with. It just blew my mind that it didn't hit me before when I heard his name)

The 4th almost 2 months later...

So this is a bit late, but whaddya gonna do? I have the pictures on my computer so you get this blog. For the 4th of July we went to the beach house and watched the Newport Beach boat parade. There were some cool boats....

and some odd boats...(that is an actual woman for the statue of liberty).

But we all got a kick out of watching the show...

There was food, games, and intense demonstration of the correct way to administer a falcon punch...way to go SIL.

We had a great day of summer fun. We got tipsy and ended up blowing our Disneyland firework plans off to stay at the beach house and watch the Newport Beach fireworks...it was actually decent.

i love him.

It's all in the family...

I'm one-of-a-kind. (That's a nice way to say weird.) My family and I are "one-of-a-kind". We have fun in whatever we do and we are just silly. My sister and I are the strangest of the group. I'm 24 and she's 21 but we are both still 8 and 5 goofing off. Some very distant relatives were in town and so we took them to a place that distant people want to go when they are in California...DISNEYLAND! (Hey! It's what I would want to do if I was distant.) So off we go to Disneyland as a family, something that we haven't all done in a long time.


Needless to say...it was interesting. Especially since the two people we took to Disneyland were both under 14.



My touchstone...I love/hate her. She's my sister...what else would we be?



See? Love/Hate.


I never eat at Disneyland except for snack food (i.e. churros) so I was shocked when I saw Arroz con Pollo on the kids menu. Totally made my day...

We love to have our picture made...

I am my father's daughter. Same exact persons....

Our entire family (including cousins from Ohio...)

I have no idea if long distant cousins had a good time, but my sister and I did. I hope we don't scare them off...but we are what we are...strange. And I love us that way.

Put the lime in the coconut...

Came across this recipe for a frozen strawberry margarita pie recently and since I love margaritas and the temperatures have been crazy here, I decided to give it a whirl. I was determined to do the crust in a spring form pan to make it look pretty but it was a huge pain in the arse. If I was in a time jam...I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a premade crust from the supermarket.

(Forgive the harsh shadows, we don't have the best lighting in apartmentville)
I was very generous with the tequila and since you don't bake the sucker, whew...nice buzz off a few slices of cool pie. It made for a good time at the beach house when I brought it. It's super simply and very yummy.

Strawberry Margarita Pie

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

6 tbsp. tequila

1/4 cup triple sec

3 tbsp. fresh lime juice

Zest of one lime

2 cups heavy cream
For garnish:Fresh strawberries

Lime slices or wedges

Directions:

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the parchment, as well as the sides of the springform. In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add the melted butter and toss with a fork until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the springform pan and evenly cover the sides and bottom of the pan with crumbs (use the bottom of a ramekin to even the bottom crust). Bake in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the filling, combine the strawberries, sugar, condensed milk, tequila, triple sec, lime juice and lime zest in the bowl of a food processor. Process until completely smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Transfer to a large bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add one third of the whipped cream to the puree and gently fold in with a rubber spatula. Stir in the remaining cream.
Pour the filling into the crust, cover, and freeze until firm at least overnight. To remove the springform sides, wrap a towel soaked in hot water around the outside of the pan for 10-15 seconds. Carefully remove the sides of the pan. Before serving, garnish with fresh strawberries and lime slices as desired. To serve, slice with a hot, dry sharp knife, wiping the blade between slices.

Here we go again...

Let's try this blogging thing again shall we?

...good.

So if you remember this, you'll remember that I started a quilt for my mother in law. Well, I was a bad daughter in law and never got around to finishing it. I had a lot of hang ups that caused the delay but now that we were nearing her birthday again I put my foot down determined to finish the thing.

...There were times of doubt and hesitation about this mission I undertook but with a Starbucks in one hand and the support of my loving Mr. Bumblebee....low and behold...

I'm a quilter!

I loved so much how this quilt turned out that I actually hesitated giving it to loving MIL. However she deserves it and I hope she loves it as much as I did.

I'm working on a quilt square for a new cousin in the family...theme for my square is cupcake...stay tuned for details...