Are we doing this right?

Vince's Quarantine Cute

What's this world coming to?  I had to dye my own hair and Vince bought clippers and cut his own hair.  Yikes!

Samosa Zoom Class with family

These potato and pea samosas came out fantastic.  Especially with the cilantro sauce. Yum.

Easter Sunday

It may be cold and dreary out but my heart is aglow with love and friendship.  Look what Eiko, Chris and Sophie brought us!  We visited for an hour outside in the yard - 10 feet apart and wearing masks - but it was really nice to see friends.  Miss everyone so much.

Bluer than blue

One of the unexpected pleasures from the quarantine is that the sky is the most beautiful blue I've ever seen.  No cars = no pollution.

Breakfast Club April 11, 2020

Thank God for modern technology.  I'm now teaching my students over Skype and Zoom and my breakfast club is still going strong every Saturday morning.  

Baking the day away during the shut down

When you're stuck at home you bake.  I wanted to put all the goodies in one place so here's a  compilation of the baked goods I've made during the grand shut down...this is over weeks, not all made at once :)

Looks like I got the bake just right on this banana bread.

I made these last week.  Thank God for freezers so I don't feel compelled to eat them all right away.
Apple walnut crumb top muffins.

Spicey chocolate pudding with coffee and cinnamon.

 Having a virtual breakfast with Mark and Rick.

We've also been walking A LOT.  It's one of the only things you can do and since it's spring I've been enjoying everyone's gardens that are full of colorful flowers.  I really want to go see the poppies in Antelope Valley but not sure if we'll get there this year with the lockdown.  Damn :(

Easter Sunday -  Cooked and baked most of the day.  They came out pretty good.

I also made tahini dressing and a veggie casserole.  Forgot to take photos but you get the idea.

Today's amusement - 4/22/20  Oatmeal chocolate chips

Playing with the cat has its consequences

We play this game with our cat Roma where we put her on the washing machine to give her medication.  After we give her medication we let her jump on Vince's back and he gives her an elephant ride on his back in to the bedroom.  She loves it and is only focused on jumping on his back when we give her her meds so it takes it off her mind that we're shoving liquid down her throat.

Well...the whole jumping thing went horribly wrong the other day.  Vince bent over but was too far away.  Roma tried to jump but slipped and this happened...

The next day I told him that he needed a better story.  Since we're in the middle of the corona virus and supplies are short I thought this was a better story.  He got in a fight over toilet paper!!!!  Ha ha, so not Vince, he would give the damn toilet paper to a stranger, but it makes a funny photo :)

Rancho Mirage for a quick get-away

It's amazing how a quick trip out of town can renew the spirit.  We escaped to Rancho Mirage for an overnight stay and went on a special House Tour of Sunnylands.  Can I just live there please?

 The first thing we did (after lunch) was go to the Palm Desert Museum where they had a very emotional photo exhibit about racism in America.  Oh boy, kind of sad so I really enjoyed our walk in the museum gardens afterwards.

Vince pondering what we just saw...

We checked in to the Omni Rancho Las Palmas.  A nice golf resort.  This was the view from our room.

 We had dinner across the street at Acqua at Riverwalk. I thought about my friend Steve who works for Cinemark.

 Dinner was yummy.

Sunset was beautiful.

 The next day we had breakfast (Blue Ember, delish) and then shopped in the Paseo for a short time before going to our tour of the Sunnylands Home.  I want to live there!  You couldn't take photos inside of the house but the garden was very photographic.

 Welcome to our desert hide-away!

Demo Day with Hillary Ahn

Look at that happy face!  Our team had a blast recording Hillary's demo.   It nice to get in the studio and record after so much practice and prep.  

Bubble Up!

What The Constitution Means To Me

Truly one of the best shows I've ever seen.  Genius play!
Lucky us, Bette won the lottery and at the last minute we went.

Fun President's Day Weekend - Pasadena, Palm Springs sunshine, shopping, the musical "Ballroom" and Bubble Room

California Dreaming....70 degrees and the flowers are all in bloom.  Spring is in the air even though it's only February.  I just had a facial at Burke Williams in Pasadena so we stopped at one of my favorite little parks...Arlington Park.  It's full of native plants and flowers.  It makes me happy just being there.

The next day...
Mark, Rick, Vince and I drove to Palm Springs and enjoyed a delicious brunch at Spencer's then did some antique shopping before we saw a beautiful performance of "Ballroom."  A lovely day in the desert.

On President's Day Vince fired up the bubble room and we had several people come over and take photos.  Mark got in on the action too:

Mom and Uncle Bob in Santa Barbara

Finally got up to Santa Barbara for a visit with mom.  The sun was shining, it was about 75 degrees and the air was delightful.  Heavenly.

Mom opening presents:

 The light of life shining over us:

Talking Tacos with Matt MacDonald

We filmed a "Talking About Tacos" segment with filmmaker Matt MacDonald.  Wait until you see how he eats tacos!

While we were hanging out in the back yard I noticed this whole world that was growing between the bricks beneath our feet.  Here's a close up: