january dumpin’

i know, i know.  i’m terrible at blogging these days, even though i still take pictures of everything i do with the intent of sharing here at some point.  and now that pandemic is damn near five years old i really don’t have any valid excuses other than pure laziness.  eek.

and here we are, already halfway through february and i just barely got through my 2024 recap post in one piece.  and so i’m going to try something different and attempt to do, at the very least, a monthly roundup of what we’ve been up to.  we’re always doing stuff that really do deserve their own posts, so i’ll try my best to get around to doing those more frequently.

new year’s was really low-key for us this time around - we didn’t go out, didn’t throw a big party, but there was a good reason for that.  due to a whole host of crazy circumstances, the old lady and the old man moved in with us.  it’s a very full house now, and we’ve shuffled things around a lot, but honestly i love having all my kids under one roof. i’m not sure that teddy shares the sentiment, though.

i got really tired of constantly putting my readers on and taking them off and dropping them because i’d push them to the top of my head.  and so i ordered my very first pair of old lady progressive glasses.  i still can’t get used to them and aren’t wearing them all the time, but they’re cute:

here’s the 2024 family christmas ornament, which i didn’t put a photo in until i was packing up all the decorations.

part of the shuffling around of all our stuff led us to finally redo the garage - the open beams have been drywalled over, all of the walls are painted white, epoxy coated the floor and while you can’t see them all here yet, there are cabinets on every wall now to hold all of our stuff.

boot camp continues! we celebrated our first anniversary with matching shirts that made our trainer cackle out loud.

do you remember the elaborate birthday parties i’ve been lucky enough to be invited to over the last couple of years - costumes required, gorgeous home and grounds, full-on dance party, great food?  the theme this year was disney, with the birthday girl dressed as maleficent from “sleeping beauty.”  for her grand entrance, they’d gotten the man who’s the voice of disneyland to record the announcement.  it was incredible and (obviously) my favorite of her parties so far.

the hub took me to a local costume shop to find something to wear.  i knew there would be a ton of princesses like cinderella and snow white, minnie mouse, you know.  but when i spotted a queen of hearts costume, i knew that was the one for me.  and as predicted, i was the only one.

look at her cake!

i tried to put teddy in a cute kirkland doggy hoodie and he was not having it.

i tried a class at a nearby studio called the method lagree - it was kind of like a reformer pilates class on steroids.  i was pleased to find that while it was a pretty tough workout, my bootcamp training served me well and i was able to hang with the rest of the regulars.  don’t ask me if i’ve been back since, though.

the old lady and i had a fun afternoon at disneyland for the kickoff of the lunar new year festival.

i had some fun outings with my friends.

we went to eataly for lunch one day with the kids, and then to philippe’s for some delicious french dips another day.

i had a self care evening and scared the dogs with my face mask.  ahahahahahahaha.

and then i scored a ticket to the jennifer hudson show for a taping that several cast members from general hospital were appearing at.  they’ve already aired the episode and i totally got mike wazowski’d - i was always just across the aisle from the audience members they showed onscreen.  d-oh.  i still had a great time though, so that’s all that counts.

and that was my january!  bring on february fun!

2024 recap shake-up

i couldn’t let the new year go by without my annual recap - but much like my blog in general over the last couple of years, i’m running behind.  eek.  like, i think i still have the entire 4th quarter of 2024 to write about.  oh well.  

and this time, i think i’m going to change it up and just recap month by month.  seems like a good idea.  anyway, here we go:

january:

lots of fun with friends, a 5K at disneyland with the old lady (plus a bonus meetup with my friend dailygluttony), the beginning of the 7ish at 7ish sunday boot camp, morning walks with the hub, dance classes at millennium dance complex and a barbie-themed birthday party

february:

a teddy photo shoot, fun crochet projects, chinese new year in chinatown with the bean, super bowl fun, sweethearts night at disneyland, more coffee dates with the hub and a VIP experience at universal studios with the kids

march:

solo days at disneyland (which also led to another quick meetup with dailygluttony, ha), crocheted dog sweaters for juney and stevie and reluctantly modeled by teddy and cocoa, joining the viral mini trader joe’s tote bag craze, celebrating our first boot camp birthday, family time, cheering the bean on with friends and the hub in their first season of discus and shotput events and trading the tesla in for…another tesla

april:

the hub’s birthday, meeting lana parrilla (aka once upon a time’s evil queen), a visit to luna luna (the forgotten art-themed amusement park), the bean becoming a licensed driver and getting their ears re-pierced, a weekend at the beach, ditching the stanley cup for an owala bottle, sitting in on a paleyfest panel with the cast of “loki,” hello kitty night at dodger stadium, a wedding with the hub, more solo disneyland and the most delicious hostess cupcake copycat recipe ever

may:

quickie getaway to la jolla, l.a. county fair with the kids to find how my wares placed in the textile competition, cocoa’s turn for a photo shoot, “the traitors” event with my friend trish, the old lady’s birthday, mother’s day snacklebox and breakfast from the bean, castle selfie with my favorite cast member, justin timberlake at the forum, a new truck for the hub, the good mythical tour and the bean’s last day of sophomore year

june:

saying goodbye to the dogs and the hub and then heading to a bucket list trip to japan with the bean with a pitstop in seoul for two days of all things BTS, tokyo disneysea and disneyland (of course), lots of shopping and eating, then one day home before taking off again to new york city to drop the bean off at columbia university for a theater tech summer program, squeezing in a broadway show and a visit to the slime museum and then going home for some quality time with the hub, followed by an insane 24 hours where i flew back to nyc, picked up the bean and headed back home (with a quick stop in dallas where MIL took us for some texas bbq)

july:

lots of disneyland, trying out the hailey bieber smoothie at erewhon, lots of working out, hours in the pool, fun brunch at the tam o’shanter, the bean’s first job (at in-n-out!), a movie date with the bean’s oldest pal

august:

the annual general hospital fan club weekend, a visit to an old school burger joint out in the inland empire, a few fun crochet projects, a long-awaited brunch with old friends, a late night out in the desert to watch a meteor shower, a nick jonas movie premiere with the old lady, more disneyland, bruno mars date night with the hub, olivia rodrigo merch shopping, the bean’s first day of junior year, a girls’ trip to vegas and filipino heritage night at dodger stadium.  whew.

september:

it was, of course, birthday princess month.  there were lots of celebrations for me and then we capped off the month with a full day-long blowout to commemorate the bean’s 17th birthday.  i made the greatest homemade sandwich ever and sweated through my 100th barre class.  the hub and i also got to visit the bean at work before they quit to concentrate on school.  and then there was karaokefest with the gang, a fun date night with the hub to l.a. for a lainey wilson mini concert and q&a session and a stop at a chappell roan pop-up for the bean.

october:

the bean turned seventeen and we decorated their car, went out for sushi dinner and opened presents. we also attended chainfest where we sampled elevated dishes from a number of chain restaurants (and spotted bj novak, one of the founders of the event). poor teddy was forced into a photo shoot with me.  i tested the waters with an elf sweater advent calendar (spoiler: it failed), i attended the annual shadow day at the bean’s school, took them for their first hong kong cafe experience and snuck onto campus to take pictures for homecoming.  sunday boot camp classes continued.  brunch with my friends.  and a bucket list item: a visit to graceland in memphis for another general hospital convention.  closed out the month with a visit to disneyland with the old lady and then the bean dressed up as an astronaut for halloween.

november:

celebrated the dodgers world series win at their parade in downtown l.a.  put up the christmas tree (on november 2nd, ha).  election day.  annual family photo shoot.  cookies to celebrate the old lady’s oldest friend’s engagement (and her fiancé’s milestone birthday).  crocheted an emotional support pickle and a granny square that will be added to a canopy at this year’s l.a. county fair.  attended a fiber fair with the bean and their bestie.  tried a recipe for the viral dubai chocolate bar (which is DELISH).  silly photos with cocoa.  thanksgiving and friendsgiving, and this year’s advent calendars (which featured items hand selected by me and the old lady).

december:

super stoked to fit in the ol’ wedding dress for wan-niversary 19.0. embarked upon a new journey of homemade dog food (so much cheaper and super healthy for the doggies). attempted the viral wrapping paper dog photo shoot (fail).  gingerbread hello kitty cookies for the annual holiday hoorah (at the tam o’shanter again, a new tradition).  day drinking with the hub.  solo disneyland trip to see all the holiday decor.  fun event at school with one of my besties.  celebrated christmas with my mom and stepdad at a rooftop restaurant in DTLA.  RUM CAKE.  christmas eve with family and christmas day with my own little family, complete with a one-night-only visit from pixie the elf.  another hong kong cafe with the bean.  engageaversary date with the hub and, and rang in the new year together.

so much good stuff, all smooshed in one amazing year.  and now we’re almost a month into 2025 and while january seems to be going on forever, i know it’s going to be another fantastic year.  i can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.  happy new year, everybody!