I wanna live In The Heights, can we move there PLEASE?

You know that warm and fuzzy feeling that usually accompanies the phrase, "There is no place like home"? Especially after stepping off a 3 hour bus ride, 1 hour taxi, 3 hour plane-wait time and a 6 hour plane ride, you would think I would want to pull out some red snazzy slippers and go see my good friend OZ right? Well it must've been Alphaba's influence because the last place I wanted to be when I got off the plane at Bob Hope Airport is in LA. I wanted to defy gravity and take the next 6 hour flight back to NY.

Don't get me wrong there are plenty of things that I like about LA, the mountains, my cousins, new found friends, overpriced thrift stores, Yummy Cupcakes, the revolutionary spirit that still lingers from the 60's, but I miss the snarky east coast. Incredibly badly. And being in NY and Jersey for a couple of days only made it worse.

Anywho, it was a great trip. My home girls Yasmin and Bridget met us there and we had a blast seeing penguins, winning the Broadway Lottery (WICKED and In The Heights), walking in Prospect Park and having frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3. My favorite part was seeing my grandpa, who looked so healthy and happy. That part definitely gave me the warm fuzzies. I miss him so much too:(

But there is hope in yonder distance! Our original reason for jetting to NY was for a Director's Guild Fellowship Program entrance exam. If we make it past this round we have to go again for a in person interview. Which would mean seeing grandpa again! yea! SO, If you could send a prayer up to God for us that would be most helpful:) All we want is His will, it's in His will that our joy lies!

xoxo!

4 Years and Counting

Today marks another year that I have put up with Josh leaving tiny papers all over the house and forgetting half the things I tell him. It also marks another year that he has cleaned when I am too tired to move and talked to me about random things when he would really rather be watching TV.

That said, my life has been so much better because of him. His consideration and kindness for others has taught me to try to be a better more understanding person. "Try" is the operative word. But with my stank and his sweet we truly balance each other out. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend.

I love you Joshua Ray Pineda:)

My first broken bone!!!

My weekend started with our entire place flooding before we had a friend coming over for dinner. The rain didn't stop all night and therefore we were greeted with a swimming pool in our living room. Wonderful.

I thought Saturday would get better as Libby woke me up by licking my face good morning but then the handyman came at the ungodly hour of9:00AM without a phone call. Great. Now I had to wake up, get dressed, and be all polite when I really wanted to go back to bedy-bye and sleep until 12. Didn't happen.

Since I was already awake I decided to walk Libby. Usually this walking results in happy thoughts, wagging tales and all the good extras. This particular Saturday it resulted in a broken pinky finger. I was barely holding onto the leash since the Lib-ster walks pretty well and has become really friendly with other dogs in the neighborhood. I had the leash wrapped around my ring and pinky fingers, and was walking along happily when another dog came by and everything went in slow motion. First, the other dog (a bigger Lab) lunged at Libby and started barking, pulling his owner hard. Then Libby got gangster and defended his own by barking louder. The other dog didn't stop and Libby wasn't about to either so in an effort to prove his Alpha-ness, Libby proceeded to pull me halfway down the street, breaking my finger in the process.

I went to Urgent Care where the awesome Dr. Sean McLaughlin, made me totally realxed and even let me take a picture of my broken finger! If you look way at the top you can see where it is diagonally split. My first broken bone is because of my crazy, crazy dog. But I couldn't love Libby more:)

The Birds

I was forced by my crazy boss, "Hollywood" to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific and hang out at a table that, really, few people cared about. People only stopped to pick up some dum-dum's (the irony here kills me) for their kids and then walk away. Tons of times while sitting at the table random kids would walk up, not even glance at us, take 5 lollipops each, and then run like they stole something. There were a few that offered a shy "hello" and ASKED before thier gubby little paws stole all my candy, and to that end, I say cheers to the 'rents.

Well, we got a short break while doing our duty, and it is at this point that Hitchcock's film "The Birds" played over in my head. Please see the pics (sorry so sucky, they were from my cell phone) of Josh below to get a fuller idea of the Lorikeet attack.

Now here is a picture of a happy Lorikeet interaction. My poor Josh. he must be part-Lorikeet:)

Holy Cheesy Goodness!

Okay so I usually condone the "breakfast sandwich", but marvelous piece of work is a whole other story. The softest dough, meltiest cheese (yes meltiest-and what?), spiciest sausage, and fluffiest eggs all combine for one power punch of yummy-ness in your mouth. It is literally an explosion of happiness all neatly compacted into a square piece of heaven called the Sausage Piadini. The calorie count is high, but, because I am an East Coaster living on the West Coast, I could care less. C'mon I'll work it off in salsa class anyways. You can find it at the Starbucks near ABC Studios on Alameda. If you don't live in CA it might be at your friendly neighborhood Starbucks.

Best time to eat this baby is right when you wake up. It'll kill any hangover symptoms and kick the crust outta your eyes while taking you to your happy place.