A Wicked Night

Last Tuesday night, Alyson took me to see Wicked at the Pantages. It was an adventure in every sense. It started with Alyson not being able to find her car keys after we got off of work. She retraced all her steps with no success, so she called her next door neighbors, Sara and Pauly, to get her spare key. They were going to meet us for dinner and the show. They had a plan to take the train from North Hollywood and meet us at Vert. Sara called to tell us Pauly forgot Alyson's key in the car and missed the train. She also heard from another passenger that there was a bomb scare at the station at Hollywood and Vine, which is across the street from the theatre. Alyson tried to find out if that was true by calling some friends, asking them to check the news, but we couldn't get anymore information. Sara showed up at the restaurant and we waited for Pauly. He mistakenly took the train to Hollywood and Vine, but called to say that there was no scare, no police around. Who knows what that was about?? He arrived at the restaurant finally and gave Al her key. We ate and chatted and went down to the train station to take the train to the next stop -- Hollywood and Vine. We waited until 7:55 -- curtain is at 8 -- and....NO TRAIN. As we ran up the escalator to try to catch a cab, the train arrived. We ran back downstairs, caught the train and rode the 3 minute ride to the theatre. The tickets were at will call, we grabbed them and were shooed through the lobby and up the stairs. We sat, out of breath, just as the lights went down and the curtain went up. Whew!!!

We had great seats -- front row balcony in the middle -- and, I have to say, the show was fabulous. It's a real spectacle and very entertaining.


I hadn't been to the Pantages in years. It is a truly magnificent theatre. Sara knows one of the cast, Melissa Fahn, so we went backstage afterwards to say hi. Melissa is a beautiful, charming, talented actress, who graciously gave us an incredible backstage tour. We saw the set pieces, viewed the theatre from the stage, saw all the costumes set up for the fast changes, went downstairs to the orchestra pit and the wardrobe and wig areas. It really brought back memories (I have a BA in drama and spent part of my career in wardrobe). She was also in the original Broadway cast and told us lots of stories of her experiences. It was a magical evening.

I didn't get home until after 1AM and spent most of last week recovering, but it was definitely worth it.
And the Lost and Found at work had Al's keys. All's well...

Milestones

I knew I would miss the odometer on my car turning to 100,000. I didn't miss it by much. It still runs fine and hasn't cost me a fortune in repairs and I can't afford another car right now, so I will watch it pile on the miles.

I got a parking spot at work!! It only took 1 1/2 years to wait for it, but I got it. I think I got it...this is my name, isn't it?


Milestone #3 -- I got on Ravelry!!!! If you knit or crochet, you must check out this site. It represents a world wide community that you can look at what they are working on, what they have in their yarn stash and all the things others have made with a specific kind of yarn. It's amazing and I've only begun to explore it all. I'm in the process of putting all my yarn and needles on my account. It will take a long, long time. (It's all on my Flickr account, if you are interested...)

As far as projects go, I finally finished the sock I was making when I started this blog. Check out my blog from January(!) called Slow Socks.


Of course, I didn't realize that I would need more than 1 skein when I started, so I crossed my fingers and went back to Abuelita's. They have moved up the block on Mission to a bigger store and I hadn't been yet, so it was all perfect. They still had the yarn! So on to sock #2.

Another milestone: Bella actually sat on my lap! She took off when I tried to pick her up, but I'm encouraged by her progress.

What a weekend...

OK, it started on Friday night. Alyson and I went for drinks and manicure/pedicures at our favorite place, Polished in Burbank. The women in there are all wonderful and do a great job for not breaking the bank kind of money. The drinks were at Outback, which is across the patio and they were delicious.

Saturday was the The LA Library trip with Madge, Marie, Patty, Mary, ,Jillian , Annette and Barbara. It was a lecture by Stephanie Pearl McPhee, introduced by my bff, Ellen. She was great, Stephanie was great and all my pals from SnB West Hollywood and Pasadena were great. I bought some cat bookends in the gift shop (I love gift shops) and joined the Library Support Foundation. I hadn't been there since I was in high school (a long, long, long time ago) and hadn't seen the new incarnation. It is beautiful, much different than the homeless haven I remembered. Of course, there were homeless there, but I hope they are reading as they seek shelter from the heat or cold. I highly recommend a day trip to check it out. Since joining the foundation, I will now get newsletters and notices of upcoming events. Brit called while I was in the gift shop with Ellen and offered to pick me up in her little MG convertable. What a treat! It was so much fun to be zipping around LA in such a sexy car! We stopped at Pinot at the Library for drinks and a snack. It's a lovely restaurant facing the library's gardens. And the food and drinks were spectacular. We then took off for an art show on Sunset, which was pretty much a bust. Although we did get to visit her pal, Craig, at his tattoo shop. Always fun.

Today Brit and I were Cat Nippers. 100 feral cats spayed and neutered. I'm exhausted. I am her assistant with the vaccines. I did get to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. Love to Karn and Mark, who organize the whole thing. It's quite the operation, pardon the pun.

And, of course, the exquisite bella -- please pardon the mess. I told you I WAS BUSY ALL WEEKEND!!!

Bella's behind

Bella's behind, originally uploaded by mjl4952.

Not very attractive, but here she is...

Last Night

This is a farewell to my Pilates studio that I've been going to for at least 8 years. My favorite trainer, Amanda, is leaving and I need to take a financial break from private lessons. It was just me, Amanda and Heather last night -- we've been together (with Jackie) for about 5 years. Bye, bye for now...

We had our second Bollywood night at Jackie's on Friday. We saw Krrish with the gorgeous Hrithik Roshan. (He is really worth checking out.)




Next time we are planning a day trip to Artesia to see a film in a Bollywood theatre. And have lots of food. And (maybe) buy some more saris.

I chased Bella around the house, but she refused to pose. I only got a very blurry, dark photo of her behind. Maybe tomorrow.

Remember me?

I realized I had only posted once in August and I've a lot to catch up on. I'll start with the most recent first. Yesterday Brit stopped by to take me with her to King's Western Wear on Lankershim. She likes the shirts and boots and I came along for the ride.


Of course, she didn't find anything and I found an amazing deal on a pair of ankle boots. Originally $98, on sale 75% off!! They cost me 25 bucks! And aren't they the cutest?


Brit has great boots, too.


I talked to Rosalie over the weekend. She asked if I could make a baby hat for one of her co-workers. Whether it is a boy or girl she doesn't know yet, so I made it out of some yarn Estelle gave me -- it didn't have a label so I don't know what it is. It's multicolored blue, purple, green shiny stuff and I think it turned out pretty good. I got the pattern from One Skein. First I used my hand as a model...


Then I found another model hanging around the house...


I also finished my Clapotis shawl and found another willing model...


I'm still working on a baby blanket -- really a big spa cloth! --but it is pretty boring and the perfect thing to bring to SnB on Thursday. I brought it last week, but forgot to pack another skein and ran out of yarn. Ellen just happened to have a couple of projects in her bag to keep me busy. I should do that, too! The whole Tom Sawyer and the fence thing.

Brit couldn't resist taking some portraits with my new camera, a Sony Cyber-shot, bright blue! I love it. Here is her work...



Today I bit the bullet and ordered a new computer. Mine is about 8 years old and is getting very slow. I got an iMac and can't wait!! I also went out with Alyson and bought more shoes...it's a sickness, I know. (But aren't they worth it?)


Alyson and I wrapped up the day eating green tamales and drinking pomagranate magharitas at El Cholo in Pasadena. What a weekend!

Bella is being very shy tonight, so her photo will have to wait.