My Morning Music

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

2010-10-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

I watched this YouTube video few months ago but on Monday night I showed Jason and some of our friends because they never saw it. This kid lip synchs a lot of different songs and also sings songs - but I do not recommend listening/watching those...its painful.

The kids face expressions kill me! So funny! Enjoy!

Here is another one of my favorites - this guy is hilarious! He definitely would be fun to dance with.

Champagne Super Nova - Oasis

2010-10-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

Wow I haven't heard this song in awhile - I'm shocked I woke up with this song in my head.

Champagne Super Nova

Today is our anniversary! I thought I would wake up with a song that reminded me of our wedding - but no. Oh well. I'm gonna post some of my favorite pictures of Jason and I. Nine years ago in Maui, Jason and I took the plunge. We got married a month after 9/11 and there were hardly any tourists on the island so we kind of had the island to ourselves. I'm being extreme but thats what it felt like.

Before we got married we were both stressed getting prepared for a destination wedding - plus add the fact of the anxiety of getting on a plane a month after 9/11! The boys all had action plans ready to implement if some craziness occurred. I think the queue word was 'bull ride'. Hilarious! I did feel a little safer that I had Jason, my dad, my brother and my brother-in-law Jamie all on our plane.

I was not nervous at all about getting married until the day of the wedding. I woke up at 5am with crazy butterflies in my stomach. Which was so weird to me because this is the moment I wanted so badly. Thankfully my best friends parents knew that it was normal to be nervous and came bearing gifts of tea and muffins in the morning. I was so happy to have my best friend Jodie there (my mom calls her 'my blonde daughter'). She kept me laughing and kept me calm all day. We got to the hotel where we were getting married and staying for our honeymoon and then my sisters came - all was good. Just needed all my girls. My mom was under extreme instructions to stay out of my room-she stresses me out (sorry mom). But her and my dad snuck in to see me which was totally fine...until my dad started to get emotional and then I had to kick him out so my make up wouldn't run down my face. Didn't really matter though...my dad and I started to immediately cry when he had to walk me down the aisle. I was so proud of myself too because I thought - wow I don't think I'm gonna cry at all! We were getting married in a garden and I was walking over the bridge where my dad was waiting for me and I was so concerned with not falling on my face because I had some crazy pink shoes on underneath my dress - then I realize that I'm absolutely going to fall on my face and I look up and say "Dad come get me!" As I do that I see that he is crying. I lost it.

My dad walked me up to Jason and he had the most serene look on his face - he was so relaxed. It totally freaked me out. I am the one who never really worries too much because Jason worries for the both of us - I am the one calming him down for all the horrible things he thinks will happen. I said to him "Why are you so calm? You are freaking me out!" He just said "I'm having a great day - Mike and I went snorkeling this morning, had champagne with my parents - all is good." Then I was good - I was so happy Jason wasn't nervous - maybe that's why I was nervous...I wanted him to be as happy as I was and...he was so I was good.

We were married by Jodie's dad John. It was very special. There is a picture of us that was taken right after we were married and we looked so happy and relieved. Our reception was by the beach - it was beautiful! We were taking sunset pictures on the beach and we kept saying to each other - 'are you kidding me - this is beautiful!' It was more beautiful then I ever imagined.

All of my closest family and friends danced all night and had a blast!

So 9 years later - we still laugh together, enjoy each other's company, talk football over a nice dinner and I still want to kiss him all the time - I guess I love the guy. Jason knows the best and worst of me and still wants me to snuggle up next to him - I'm a lucky girl!

We have gone through the hardest times we have ever had the past few years and I love that we still want to spend time together. I love the fact that I'm still excited to get dressed up for him and want to surprise him.

So...happy anniversary baby! You are my best friend and I love you always.

9/25/10 - Up All Night Sleep All Day - Slaughter

2010-09-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much going on a week now of minimal sleep. I'm up all night and all day. I woke up yesterday morning with Up All Night Sleep All Day in my head and while getting ready I started to think about my sister Tabi.

Tabi loved the hair bands - but so did I. I'm not sure if she had this album and but I will say whenever I hear a Cinderella song I think of her. I think I shared a room with all of my sisters and brother at one point in my life. When my little sister Missy was a baby my dad made a big bunk bed with a trundle bed for us - it was the biggest bunk bed I have ever seen. He carved our names into the bed and we absolutely loved this bunk bed. It was so big and sturdy that we pretty much used it as a jungle gym. It became the Starship Enterprise, a pirate ship, an airplane, a school, an apartment, Swiss Family Robinson's tree house, etc. My little nieces use it now for their bed and I love it because Addy hangs a solar system she made from the bed and she always wants to show me her room and her bed. A few months ago I watched the girls and in the morning we all snuggled in the lower bunk bed and I thought it was so special. I love that my dad made something that we can all use and pass to our kids. I actually even used it for a bit when I moved out on my own. I used the top bunk and had my desk underneath to conserve space in my room. I know my dad loved it.

Funny story about Tabi and the bunk bed. We moved a lot when we were kids. I actually liked it because it was change. I know my sister Tabi liked it too. When we stayed at a house for awhile - we would get an itch to change things up. So we would switch rooms, switch the room around or even switch roommates. I can't remember if Tabi was actually sharing a room with me or not, but she always used to help me switch my room around when I wanted to. She always gave me good ideas on how I could change things up. The problem was - the huge bunk bed. It was almost impossible to move. Nothing was impossible for Tabi - she was like "We can move it - no problem". So just for a moment picture two girls trying to move a huge piece of furniture. I was I think maybe 65 lbs and I was on one side pulling the bunk bed which I know was not doing anything. Tabi was pushing with all her might and then leveraged herself on the wall so she could push with her arms and legs. All of the sudden "POP!" Tabi's butt went through the wall! We were dying laughing and I helped Tabi to get her out of the wall - then realized 'Oh crap Dad is gonna kill us for putting a hole in the wall!' Tabi always coming up with something quick decided that I could use a poster she had to cover up the hole. It was one of those 80's style posters that was a collage of things and the center was a girls face. My cousin had this picture - it wasn't this bad but you kind of get the idea. It was also in the most random place on the wall. We thought for sure my dad would notice - but no he didn't.

(You know you want this picture in your house - it's so emotional. Haha!)

I think a year or two later we were moving up to Santa Maria and Tabi and I didn't know what to do - my dad would end up seeing the hole and we would be grounded for the rest of our lives. So everything was out of the house and that poster was still there. We were in the room when my dad took the poster off - we almost died. We frantically told my dad what happened and all my dad was doing was laughing. He said "Why didn't you tell me - I would have fixed it?" We were so relieved and my dad laughed about that for awhile.

Everyday - Buddy Holly

2010-09-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

There is a commercial on TV that is using this song and I couldn't get it out of my head the whole day and last night while hanging out with a buddy I heard Stand By Me and I told him that the whole entire Stand By Me album reminds me of a trip I took with my grandparents when I was 9 or 10. My grandparents took me and four of my close in age cousins to Scotsdale and Tucson, Arizona.

My grandma (aka Tutu) is a very particular lady. She required that we all matched all the time. She did this to my dad and his brothers when they were little so she continued on the torture to her grandchildren. She had 15 grandchildren so stop for a moment to think of the family pictures of all of us kids...yep we were all matching!

Tutu called my mom and informed her of all the outfits that she needed to get for me so I could match my other cousins. She then told my mom that for the airplane trip I needed to have a white shirt, white sweater, white keds type shoes, hair in a pony tail and pink shorts. So when we went shopping the good mom she is, she let me pick out whatever pink shorts I wanted. So I show up at the airport ready to on my first airplane ride and the look on Tutu's face was horror! I did not choose the right color pink and I looked different than my other cousins. As you can see at the picture above that my cousins had light pink shorts on and since my mom let me choose whatever pink shorts I wanted I chose the bright pink shorts with the stripes on the bottom - damn I'm hot! So needless to say the trip didn't start out well for me - Tutu did not like that I was "always trying to be different". But my cousin Amy Lee didn't put her hair in a normal pony tail - she was rockin' the side pony tail. Tutu loved it! Being different for her was ok. She had no idea what she did to all of us girls. We had to wear a side frickin' pony tail for the rest of the trip!!! Thanks Amy!! Oh another thing to point out in the picture is that we all had to have animal purses. Summer had the pink pig, Amber the purple elephant, Sarah had I think a blue hippo, I had a yellow dog and I don't remember what Amy Lee had. My cousin Sarah and I pretty much made fun of Summer and Amber's purses because it was a pig and Amber's elephant trunk would hit people's butt from behind. Seriously a lot of laughs from that!

The whole trip in the rental car we listened to the Stand By Me soundtrack. We all sang out loud and giggled at our acting out each verse of every song. Little girls - they are just silly. Here are some more pictures of us all matching.

Too HOT for words...right?

One of these days - I believe the yellow dress day - we wanted to wear our hair in a regular ponytail and everyone was too scared to go ask Tutu. So being the only one that wasn't that scared of her I go and ask. On my way over to their hotel room I was thinking how dumb everyone was for being scared to ask to switch up our hair - it's a frickin' pony tail!! Well... I got yelled at. Even though I explained multiple times we ALL wanted to wear a regular pony tail - she didn't believe me. "There you go again Chrystal - trying to be different! You are just like your mother!" On the verge of tears I said in most respectful voice I could (because I really wanted to scream at her) "Fine we will wear our stupid hair in a side pony tail and... I'm glad I'm like my mom!" Then proceed to get my ass out of there as quick as possible because her eyes turned red and steam started coming out of her ears.

Now I'm really setting this trip up like it was the worst trip ever - it really wasn't there were some times - believe me. We spent most of the trip laughing and having a good time. My cousin Sarah and I were always getting in trouble because we were laughing and making up songs about our other cousins. Let's just say the most famous song we ever wrote together was following the tune from Belinda Carlisle's song Circle in the Sand. The song we made up was not very nice...but hey I was raised by a dad that made up songs all the time. It's in my blood! All of the fights and getting in trouble drama only lasted for a little bit and everyone was snapped back in a good mood because thats what you do in a big family right?

Here are the pictures of us at our happiest on the trip. Swimming and going to water parks! We got to wear our own non-matching bathing suit! We were in heaven! Of course I got the raised eyebrow from Tutu because I wore a bikini - but hey as my cousin Sarah says of me "I think you were born with a six-pack - why not show it off!" We had so much fun at the water parks and swimming at the hotels we stayed at. One of the tube slides we went down I seriously was going so fast I flipped over the entire tube - I thought I was going to land on my head! I was completely silent the rest of the ride down. No more screaming.

This picture is my favorite picture of us and my Papa Roy. He was so handsome - we all used to tell him that too. He was the most affectionate with us - Tutu was too sometimes but I think she liked that we would be affectionate with her. It's funny how sweet he was with all of us when I think about it because he was the oldest of 8 boys and pretty much helped raise them and raised 4 boys of his own - then most of his grandchildren were all girls except 4 boys. You would think he would not know what to do with all us girls - but he loved us and we all knew it.

All in all great memorable trip. Enjoy!

Tougher Than the Rest - Bruce Springsteen

2010-09-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

This whole entire album 'Tunnel of Love' by Bruce Springsteen is great! It reminds me of being a kid and working with my dad during the summers. My dad loved The Boss but I think his favorite album was Tunnel of Love because he listened to it the most.

Jason and I took a few days off to relax and spent some time with some good traveling buddies. We sat outside listening to music and our friend was talking about how he has been obsessed with Bruce Springsteen lately. I asked him if he ever heard the Tunnel of Love album and he said he had it on his iPod but never listened to it. I immediately changed what we were listening to and changed it to The Tunnel of Love album. It brought back so many good memories and I was shocked at how I still remembered most of the words of every song. I was standing there dancing and singing while Jason and our friends sat there staring at what a nut job I was. I was doing my best Bruce Springsteen moves for everyone and my friend said all that was missing was a crazy gypsy next to me. I said 'yeah and playing barefoot!' In the end he agreed with me - it's an awesome album.

This song is definitely not my favorite song off the album but I woke up with it in my head - so...here you go.

Other songs that are pretty darn good is Tunnel of Love and Brilliant Disquise.

Quiet Little Voices - We Were Promised Jetpacks

2010-09-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Love the band name - love the song.

Jason and I heard this song a couple of times this weekend. One of the times we were headed to go see a friend that just came back into town. She moved back to Texas to start up a restaurant. She is so funny - she moves back to El Paso and is already guest hosting a radio show every few weeks, raising funds to save an old mission, and is participating in city council meetings. Who does this? Only Maya. If you are interested in hearing her guest host - she is on the "The Lisa D Show" on KHRO 1150 AM and you can stream it live on www.talkradio1150.com.

I also heard this song before I went up north to see The Dark Crystal with my family. At the Mann theatres in Oxnard and in Agoura they show old movies - I'm not sure if they do it at all of them. The movies are every Thursday and they only cost $6. My sister Tabi told us all about it and we have all loved the movie The Dark Crystal so we decided to make it a family evening. Of course because I'm a total geek I loved this movie a lot more because it had my name in it. Anyways the movie friggin' rocks! It is a Jim Hensen and Frank Oz movie and I love it so much I even like watching 'the making of The Dark Crystal'. It is pretty amazing.

It was great to see it with my niece Addy and all of my family. We laughed at all the parts we quote all the time. Addy was trying to talk to the animals like Keira was in the movie - it was hilarious. It was funny to see her laughing at the parts we did as kids too. Towards the end of the movie Addy snuggled up next to me, put her arm around my neck and her head on my shoulder. She is so sweet and I will always remember that night.

Oh yeah - Aughra - she is hot!! Jason didn't want to see this movie because he said it was terrifying and would probably give him nightmares. I will say some of the parts are still pretty scary.
I will leave you with another band that kicks ass!! The Podlings! Watch it I promise - you won't be disappointed.

Causing A Scene - Ghostland Observatory

2010-09-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

My obsession is back for Ghostland! This weekend I woke up with 2 different Ghostland songs in my head. Let's dance people!

This weekend we tried a new restaurant in our neighborhood called Haldi Root. Amazing Indian food!! Seriously everything we had was amazing. I'm not the sort of girl who finishes her plate because I don't like the feeling of being full so I only eat until my tummy feels good. I stuffed myself with this food. We started out with an appetizer called Chicken 65 - deelish! It was spicy chicken with peppers and red onion mixed with a spicy sauce. I'm still dreaming about it.

For dinner I had Chicken Lasooni which is garlic chicken on a bed of white & red onions and I paired it with saffron rice and garlic naan. I was in complete food heaven! Jason had another chicken dish and I can't remember the name and it was good - but mine was better!

They had two belly dancers there for entertainment - which was fine - but the owners 4 year old daughter was the one who stole the show. She wanted to be out there with the belly dancers as well so she copied all of their moves and when they dropped their little shawl thingy she picked it up and did her own moves. She was adorable.

We had Chocolate Samosas and homemade pistachio ice cream for dessert. No pictures for the desserts because we inhaled them. The chocolate samosas where like chocolate filled wanton's - I actually said that at the restaurant and Jason just gave me the look of 'come on Chrystal - did you really just say that out loud'. Well - they are! The pistachio ice cream was pretty good - not as good as the chocolate samosas though. Basically - you can see how happy I was the whole evening by this picture.

My friend told me next time to try the Olive naan bread. I love green olives so I think I might want to go back tonight and stuff my face again! By the way the guy sitting next to me in the picture was by himself and was basically staring and listening to our conversation the whole time - which basically consisted of how friggin' good the food was - but I kind of felt bad for him so I tried to strike up a conversation and invited him to eat with us. He seemed offended and did not want to carry on a conversation - oh well so much for trying to be nice!

Let's carry on with my other obsession - Ghostland Observatory! This one is called 'Shoot 'Em Down'! Enjoy!

Silver City - Ghostland Obsertavory

2010-09-02T11:22:00.001-07:00

Last night I drove over to my friends house for a BBQ and I was listening to this song. It was a warm summer night, I had my window down driving listening to a great song. I love summer nights in the valley.

A few years ago Jason and I worked together on a kids movie. It was my first time working on a film and I was nervous - not only because it was my first time working on a movie - but I was going to be working with my husband. I was scared we would want to kill each other by the end of the project. Surprisingly we had so much fun working together and it was sad when the project was over. We actually became closer during that time. I don't recommend that for every couple - but it was nice to know that we enjoyed each other's company even at work. Everyday we would drive down to Hollywood listening to Ghostland Observatory - we both were obsessed with this band.

I love the singer of this band because I love his style - I believe he is 100% American Indian and wears his hair like one. He wears hippie clothes and has two long black braids on either side of his head - love it! Maybe because I have a little Indian in my heritage is why I love him - but ask most Americans - they will say they have some Indian in them as well. My grandpa used to tell me I had small Indian eyes like him. So I liked to think I was more Indian then the rest of my sisters and brother (NERD) and when my cousin had a Disney character party I came as Tiger Lily from Peter Pan because it was the natural choice. I wish I had a picture of that but...I will just show you a picture of the band.

I couldn't find a better YouTube video with this song. Oh well - Enjoy the song!

American Girls - Counting Crows

2010-09-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

I've never been a huge fan of the Counting Crows and I try to hide the fact they I do like some of there songs. One song that I like and I heard this weekend was American Girls. I think what makes the song is Sheryl Crow singing back up with him. I actually never knew she sang with him on this song but my friend Cliff informed me of this when we heard it this weekend.

We actually went to go hear his band 'Out in the Woods' play on Monday night. He plays with a couple of Jason's old buddies. It's funny because when I first met Cliff and his brother Charlie I think they were 15 and 17 years old. When I started to date Jason it was basically me and the boys. I had moved down south and didn't have a lot of friends so they accepted me as one of their buddies. I made Cliff be my honorary girlfriend and he still is down to this day. It is nice to see him all grown up and doing what he loves.

He was a little nervous before the show - so I had to give him some hugs.

Here is Cliff and Ron playing. Since it was a small venue they decided to only have them two play. Click here to check out their songs on FB.

So onto my morning music - American Girls.

Another Year under my belt...

2010-08-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well I don't celebrate my birfday but today is my birthday. I am (gulp) 33 years old (gulp). Every year when I was a kid my dad would tell me the story about the day I was born and the two weeks before when I fooled them into thinking I was coming. Those were the days when they shaved you before birth and since I didn't come when I was supposed to my mom got a little irritated-which I totally understand. It was August in Oklahoma...my mom is pregnant with an itchy crotch after being shaved. Sorry mom!

My parents were really hoping for me to be a boy because they already had two adorable little girls. My name was supposed to be Jacob Todd. So I popped onto the scene and my dad said he said 'shit' when he saw I was a girl. Then he said "I felt sooo bad that I said that because you were the cutest tiniest thing." Like I said when I was a kid my dad would tell me this story. Most times I would go to work with him and he would say "Hey come over and be my girlfriend" which meant sit in the middle section in his truck. Then he put his arm around me and would tell me the story and then tell me how much he loved me. They named me after my great grandma who my dad was really close to and loved dearly. My mom thought there was something wrong because I was so tiny because she was used to having big babies - my sister Tabi was 10 pounds at birth. But the doctor assured her I was healthy - just tiny.

Well 33 years later I'm still little and never usually on time - some things never change.

I decided to look up a picture for you all to tell you how I feel today.

I know what you are thinking...what the hell is that! It is something from a David Lynch film is what it is! I showed Jason this picture telling him this is how old I feel and he asked me three times with horror on his face "What is that?" "No...really...what is that?" "Chrystal...what the hell is that!" It is an old haggard lady.

Your welcome for the nightmares you are sure to have from this.

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

2010-08-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday

Who knew Beck was good campin' music?

2010-08-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a relaxing long camping vacation. I love camping! My parents upgraded to a 5th wheel trailer so they gave us their old one. It is perfect for us!

Tuesday night I headed up to my parents house with Lucy and listened to Modern Guilt by Beck. Let's start this campin' trip off right!

It was the first time driving with a trailer so I was a bit nervous but I did great! I followed my dad down to Ventura matching all his turns. Dad: "Make sure your turns are wide and slow down before you normally would in your car." My dad does not have a mid western accent at all but whenever my sisters and I recount something my dad has said to us we say it like my dad is from Oklahoma.

We get to our normal spot in Ventura which is a first come first serve campground and it is completely full. AH!!! So we checked out a few other spots and they were all full! I thought school was back in session - geez! We ended up going to Ventura RV Resort which can be seen from the 101 and I always remember saying to myself "Who would camp there?" Well - desperate people wanting to camp by the beach thats who. By the time we got set up at the site we were starving so we headed into town for a quick bite and shopping for the trip. We stopped by Jersey Mike's for a sandwich and I have only been there once before and wasn't impressed. Maybe because I had a wrap and that is not something they specialize in. My dad said "You have to get a sandwich Mike's Way it's amazing!" So being the good daughter that I am I listen to my dad and get a turkey and provolone sandwich Mike's Way and had them add a few peppercini's on top. It was deeeelicious!! I pretty much inhaled my sandwich. I will definitely be returning to Jersey Mike's. During our pig out fest at Jersey Mikes my parents and I were trying to figure out what to make for dinner. My dad suggested burgers and I suggested hot dogs. Then my mom said what about hot dogs and mac & cheese! Our eyes lit up and we all agreed that the best way to start our camping trip dinners is to go the WT way with hot dogs and mac & cheese.

Jason came up shortly after our lunch and met us at the market. I have never in my life been to a grocery store that was locked up like Fort Knox. I mean I understand that some of the liquor is locked up - but even the mixers? I'm not joking...all this store was missing was a metal detector.

Back at the campground we all took a walk to the beach and it was the first time taking Lucy to the beach so I was interested to see how she would react. She ran around like crazy and would follow you close to the water but did not want to be touched by it. It was hilarious seeing her little legs running in the sand - she didn't look like she had any.

We had our first dinner camping and it was so delish! I can't remember the last time I had hot dogs and mac & cheese! Why is camping food so much more delicious than food you cook at home? I guess cause you cook things over the fire...but even the mac & cheese was pretty amazing.

The next day my sister came up from Oxnard with my niece's and we played in the pool and spa. We at first were in the spa with the girls and this guy who worked at the RV Resort came up and the conversation went like this:

Weirdo Guy: "Hey are you guys from America?"

Us: "Yes"

Weirdo Guy: "Do you guys read English?"

Us: "Yes" - I start to realize this guy is being an a-hole so I start to give him the death stare

Weirdo Guy: "Well can't you guys read that children under the age of 18 are not allowed in the spa?"

Us: "No, sorry we didn't see the sign."

Weirdo Guy: "Well I guess we need more signs."

In the meantime my niece Addy books it out of the spa and is already in the pool and Mia is holding onto my sister for dear life because the guy looks like a chester. Then he proceeds to tell my sister how much he loves little girls! Creep a-hole!! For the rest of the trip my nieces didn't want to go anywhere by the pool because that creepy guy might be there. Ergggh! I was pissed so I taught my niece Addy to put her fist up and say "Why I outta!!" My sister thanked me later because Addy was using that statement on her later on. Oops!

That evening Jason taught the girls how to marinate tri-tip - he is such a good uncle. The tri-tip was amazing and we had corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Can I say again how great food tastes when you are camping?

Unfortunately Jason had to go into work on Friday so my parents and decided to spend the day up in Ojai and exploring the area. I'm getting Lucy ready to get into my dads truck when a lady and a little girl with a golden retriever and some little dog came walking by. I had just let go of Lucy's leash to pick her up when she ran over to the dogs barking. The little girl got scared and picked up her dog. My dad picked up Lucy and apologized and the older lady was glaring at me. First of all she was the one with the golden retriever and should she really be worried that a dachshund chihuahua is going to hurt it? Anyways she wouldn't stop glaring at me while I'm putting Lucy in the car. If you have read my previous blogs you will know that I have a hard time holding my tongue when morons are around. So I screamed "What are you looking at!!" She looked horrified and finally looked away. I then apologized to my parents for the outburst and my mom was just laughing. She said "you sound just like your father." My dad just said "hey I apologized I don't know what else she wanted." No harm done with the parents so we were free to have a great day.

With that said...a little more Beck to keep the partying going.

We headed to Ojai for breakfast at Cafe' Ojai Emporium and my mom and I shared a breakfast burrito. It was really good - if you are in the area I would recommend it. We then stopped by Bart's Bookstore which is an outside bookstore that my mom and my sister have been raving about for years and I have never gone there. I ended up buying 5 books.

Boone's Lick by Larry McMurtry (the guy who wrote Lonesome Dove - which I want to read as well)
Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes (My mom said this was a good book and I got this for 50 cents)
The Wildfire Season by Andrew Pyper (hey I live in California)
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Jason rolled his eyes when I showed him this purchase)
How the Irish Saved Civilization (My dad read this book a few years ago when we went to Hawaii and said it was a really interesting book)

After burning in the hot sun looking for books we were ready to explore. We headed up to Wheeler's Gorge to check it out because not only have we camped there when we were kids but my dad did and even my grandma camped there when she was a little girl as well. It brought back memories but there definitely was not a lot of water in the river. We were driving over a bridge that is usually covered up with more water and my dad stopped to show us a rock that he and his brother Tim took a picture in front of as kids. Next time I will be better with pictures.

We then headed back for the big family BBQ at the campsite. Both my sisters and their husbands were coming and Jason was coming back up after work. This time we made London Broil, Seely potatoes (which are to die for) and the famous Aunt Julie salad. Seely potatoes are prepared by putting onions, garlic salt and butter (oh and potatoes) in foil and then they are cooked over the fire. Deeeeelish! Basically again I was in food heaven! It was a family get together that went well! None of us started to fight, scream, leave crying or anything - good times!!

The next day we packed up and went to Buellton to camp. Weird place to camp right? No. It is a genius place to camp. When you check in they give you 4 warm chewy cookies and if you have a dog they give you dog treats. They have 'Make your own ice cream sundaes' on the weekend from 3-7:30pm (they have every fixing you can imagine). They have a pool and spa where children are allowed. Right down the street you have the Hitching Post and A.J. Spurs. This place also offers Wine Tasting tours where they will pick you up at 11 and you visit 4 wineries, have lunch and they drop you back off at 4:30. Sounds pretty darn good to me!

Saturday night we ate at The Hitching Post because it is amazing and we always go there with my parents nowadays. They have one in Casmalia that we usually visit, which I like a little bit better because it really has a down home feeling more than the one in Buellton. But the food is amazing no matter what location. We devoured two marinated artichoke hearts with 'magic dust' in I think if you count out the talking time - maybe 5 minutes.

My mom's side of the family is a card playing family and all of us girls adopted this right away. So card playing is essential when you go camping with my family. My sister Heather taught my parents this game Slappy Seconds which is soooo much fun to play! Even my dad and Jason play it. I don't feel like explaining the rules - but lets just say all you do is laugh (or if you are my mom pee your pants cause you are laughing so hard).

Sunday my parents left to go back home but my sister Missy stayed and we laid by the pool and then we all went wine tasting in the afternoon in Solvang. The first place we went to is called Presidio and I noticed right away that I knew the guy who was helping us because we went to high school together. Of course no one remembers me because I looked like I was 10 years old in high school. I said did you go to Righetti? He said very quietly 'yes' - which I thought was kind of weird. Anyways, long story short I told him we went to school together and he didn't remember me at all so I felt like a loser and then to top it off he thought my husband was 8 years younger than me. So not only does he not remember me but I am the old hag (cougar) with a younger guy. Then he proceeded to hit on my little sister and I will say he was taking an interest in Jason as well. Missy and I were arguing who he was into more - she thought Jason. The second winery I loved even more because you are allowed to bring your pets there. Carivintas Winery works and donates to non-profit organizations like rescuing animals and every bottle of wine has a picture of the animal that they or the organizations they donate to have rescued. The wine was delicious but the hit of the day were these brownies that had a thin layer of white chocolate on top...oh lord they were so good! We ended up buying a few bottles a wine at each place.

I was really sad to leave Monday morning and return to the grind. On the way home I was listening to Beck feeling really relaxed so I leave you with this song. Kind of a bummer song - but...oh well. ChemTrails.

P.S. I promise to add pictures next time. :)

Sleepyhead - Passion Pit and an extra one for ya

2010-08-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

I've had this song in my head for a few days now - but I will add one in at the end that I woke up with on Saturday morning.

I'm jealous. My sister saw them recently and I could have seen them last year with my friend and of course like an idiot I didn't.

This brings to mind a video I recently saw from my friends post on facebook. It was a wedding video that this couple put together and I guess there were a lot of people giving them crap about it and being mean. People are so dumb. I thought it was the most adorable and creative wedding video - I loved it! What a nice thing to share to their kids, grandkids, etc. What do you think?

On Saturday morning I woke up with the Randy Travis song "Forever and Ever Amen". When I was little this was another song my dad used to play all the time. My sister Heather danced with him at her wedding to this song...then my grandpa cut in. But maybe because he didn't have any daughters to marry off he wanted the experience. Plus Heather was his first grandchild to get married. Ok he is forgiven.

A few years ago my family celebrated my sisters 10 year anniversary with her by going to Oahu for 2 weeks. It really sucks huh. Anyways we stayed in a huge house on the North Shore which was amazing (but the huge bugs in the house were not). We ended the trip by staying in Waikiki for a few days. The first evening there my mom, my sister Missy, Jason and I all went down to the bar to watch people sing karaoke. The great thing was that my mom was getting hit on by the guys at the bar. It was amazing to see my mom get all giggly and I know what she was saying in her mind (mom correct me if I'm wrong) "Yeah baby! I still got it!" Needless to say this was the first time in my life that I saw my mom get tipsy. I mean - she had a shot of tequila. It was hilarious and we had a blast. Then Missy and I decide to sing a song for my mom - Love Shack by the B-52's. We put in our name and Missy decides to start telling everyone in the bar that we are going up to sing and that they really need to cheer for us. The place was packed - she literally talked to everyone. People were stopping by us at the bar saying "Hey! We can't wait for you guys to get up there!" Butterflies in the stomach and I might either throw up or... Thanks Missy.

Let me start off by saying that the only time I sing is in the car because music drowns out my horrible voice. The DJ calls our name and we start heading up to the stage - people are all clapping and screaming. So I decide to put on my best man voice and take the guy lyrics and then I realize Missy is just standing there laughing while I'm singing. She said "I forgot the lyrics"! Read the lyrics biatch! The best thing to do when you suck is to dance around and act like you meant to be horrible. Anyways we just ended up jumping around dancing and singing - we had a blast. We even had people dancing in front of the stage. To top off the great evening I get a text from Missy later on saying "Mom can't stop laughing and farting! Best night ever!" Good times.

The next day we decided that we needed a repeat of that night and this time we were gonna bring dad and sing a song for him. We head down to the bar for karaoke and there are hardly any people there. Now I really want to throw up - but we brought our dad so we put our name in to sing Randy Travis "Forever and Ever Amen". It definitely was a repeat of the night before that Missy just stood laughing while I sang my best man (with a country twang) voice. But this time she said "I don't know the lyrics!" Again, we started dancing around - this time amazing western style jigs. Even though I wanted to die I had a good time and my dad loved it!

I hope y'all had a great weekend!

Mutha 'uckers - Flight of the Conchords

2010-08-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how much I love this show. I will say that the shows towards the end of the season weren't as funny as the ones in the beginning. A few weekends ago Jason and I were headed back from hanging out with friends and he said play whatever you want. This is a treat because he likes to be the DJ in his car and my car. So I decided to play a few songs I wanted to hear then switch it to some silly songs we haven't heard in awhile.

Enjoy.

By the way...is anyone as excited as I am that Flipping Out is on again? Jeff Lewis is my kind of sarcastic humor.

Electric Blue - Icehouse

2010-08-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Oh wow! I'm taking you guys back to the mullet days of the 80s! You know you love it! So last night Jason and I were sitting at dinner and this song popped in my head. I have no idea why because I haven't heard this song since I was a kid. I decided to embarrass my husband and started to sing the song to him at the restaurant. He just said, 'Oh, I think I remember that song.' Nothing shocks him anymore.

I think my sister Tabi had this tape when we were kids. At least I thought of her when the song popped in my head. Now I had a lot of nicknames as a kid - but Tabi had the best name of all to insert to any song. My sister Heather and I would be listening to whatever song and insert Tabi's (or just 'Tab') name into the song. One of two things would happen:

1. Tabi would have dead pan face trying not to smile

2. Tabi would have dead pan face and think of how to beat you down in the next 5 seconds

If the second option came into effect you needed to run your tush off to the bathroom because it was the only room in the house (except my parents room) with a lock on it. You DID NOT want to get caught by Tabitha because she would make you feel sorry.

Bed Intruder Song

2010-08-01T13:48:00.001-07:00

My friend Sasha posted this amazing news clip yesterday on Facebook. It is hilarious! The subject of course is very concerning but the girls brother is amazing. I think most people have seen it by now as it is an internet sensation. But if you are the few that have not seen it yet please click here NOW!

As I said yesterday we went to visit some friends in El Segundo. We had a great time and we of course had to watch the YouTube clip on their TV to get the full impact of the humor. We then found this video where these fine young gentlemen turned this news clip into a song.

Enjoy. I know this song will be in my head for DAYS!

We Own The Sky - M83

2010-07-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Don't have much a story for this song. Jason showed me this song on one of our trips up to see my parents about a year ago. It's a great song. The part I woke up with in my head was after 3:00 on.

We are headed out to breakfast then over to El Segundo to visit some friends. The last time we hung out with them I had that weird experience when that lady put her foot in my stall and started rubbing her toe. If anything crazy happens you will be sure that I will tell you guys!

Have a great day everyone!

World In My Eyes - Depeche Mode

2010-07-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

Depeche Mode has to be my all time favorite bands. I loved them since I was a kid. It is still something me and my older two sisters bond over. The last time they came into town we all called each other and planned to see them. At another time I will tell you a story about that concert. Let's just say at the end of the night my husband said "You completely lost it". Feel free to refer to the 7 things about myself I listed a few days ago to get a little insight about how I feel about being trapped.

On with today's blog.

Depeche Mode was my first concert. It was actually supposed to be Erasure but my mom saw an MTV News update where they were dancing around the stage with tutus on and she freaked. My sister saw Erasure later on (after she left home) and said they weren't as good in concert but it was still fun. I was so happy that Depeche Mode ended up being my first concert!

Let me set up the story for you. I was 13 years old and completely in love with David Gahan - I even sent him a fan letter with my 7th grade picture. DORK! Anyways I even remember what I wore. I wore black shorts with a little black belt and a white rayon shirt with huge buttons (oh good lord)! That shirt quickly was replaced by the DM t-shirt I quickly purchased at the concert. I curled my hair and tried to look super cute at all times because you never know if Dave Gahan has eagle eyes and could see me all the way in the yellow section of Dodger Stadium.

Anyways this concert experience still makes me smile. Right before they were going to come on it started to rain and everyone started to scream louder for them. So right when the music for World In My Eyes starts a friggin' bolt of lighting streaks through the sky right behind the stage. Everyone in Dodger stadium went ape shit. I'm not joking. At 13 - this moment was the most exciting point of my life. I felt like crying, but I didn't because I am super cool. The rest of the evening I screamed my lungs out to every song and danced with my sisters. My sister Heather at one point leaned over to me and said "You know all the words to every song! I didn't know you like them this much! You are cracking me up!" I looked at her like "DUH! Of course I know all the words!" Then I immediately went back to snapping my fingers and singing my heart out to Dave Gahan!

Enjoy!

I also wanted to give a shout out to my girl Rhonda! She shared her morning music with me and I love it!! It's the Munchkin Land song from Wizard of Oz. We were chatting this morning and I said "Remember when you had to wait to see this movie on TV?" It was always a family event for us. I think they showed it around February every year (I could be wrong). But I remember one year my grandparents came down to watch it with us. We would make popcorn and get blankets and eagerly wait for it to start. I loved those days when you had to wait for movies - they made them so much special.

If you guys have morning music - please share!

Side note

2010-07-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! This is not my normal update but I have to tell you what I have been waiting for and STILL have to wait for! MAC has partnered up with Disney and will be coming out with a Villians Collection! Woo-hoo! The villians featured are Cruella De Vil, Evil Queen from Snow White, Maleficent, and Dr. Facilier (I haven't seen the movie with him though). This collection will be available this September and I will definitely be buying a few pieces in the collection! The names alone are amazing, "Sinister", "Strange Potion", "Bite of an Apple", "Dark Deed", "She Who Dares", "Briar Rose", etc. That Malificent mineralized eyeshadow duo is calling my name! And who has the best red lips ever - the villians! Can't wait to try this stuff out! Here are some pics!

The Dress - Blonde Redhead

2010-07-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well sorry kids, I love this song but it is kind of depressing. I was obsessed with this band about a year ago and could NOT stop listening to them. I am very excited though because they are playing at the Music Box (aka Henry Fonda theatre) in November. Anyone wanna go with me?

My deepest fear has always been that once people get to know me they will not like me. It's something that I have had to face and deal with. Now if you don't like me I could care less! I think that is the good thing with getting older - you realize you don't have to put up with bull crap and find relationships you want to nurture and grow and others that can be thrown away in the trash. Sounds kind of harsh but true. My thirties have been a roller coaster but I have found that even though I can see things that I can improve about myself - I like who I am.

Anyways this song reminded me of my insecurities and how life, experience and the support of good friends (and a good man) can help you get over them.

Thoughts on the video?

Blog Award!

2010-07-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone I was given a blog award! Woo-hoo! Thank you Danielle from 'So Here Is What You Missed' for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award! To my 8 followers - if you are looking for another funny and interesting blog - please check her out!

So here is the deal, once I get the award I have to do the following:

1. Thank the award giver.

2. Share seven things about myself.

3. Nominate new award winners and let them know.

Again, thank you Danielle for the award! I will take you out of for a cupcake sometime soon!

OK on to the seven things about me. Why do I find myself stumped? Hmm...ok here we go.

1. I LOVE football! I can't tell you how excited I am that football is almost here. Just to know that training camp is starting I get butterflies in my stomach. This is the kind of person I am at football games and sometimes watching the games in the comfort of my home. Sorry mom.

I lumped this into my love for football. My dream job = NFL/ESPN reporter. Come on, be honest, I would be SO much better than this chick! Of course I have to pick the worst picture ever. I actually really like her but I just want her job. :)

2. I have an obsession with make-up and skin care. My friend calls me a product junkie and she might be right, but there is a reason why people ask me when they are looking for a new mascara or foundation. I've tried almost all of them and I won't steer you wrong. No wasting your money with me baby! I've already wasted my money!

3. Tell me a good fart or poop story and I will be happy and laughing for days. Sorry it's the truth.

4. I still have my Bitty Beans and I will NEVER get rid of her. I think she was my first doll. She had a little opening on the back to show her butt- so cute! I had her packed away for a long time and when Jason and I moved I found her again and I realized something - her eyes are the ones I doodle all the time! For as long as I can remember when I am bored (school, work, conventions, etc) I draw eyes. I picked her up out of the box and I was like 'Oh my gosh it's your eyes I have been drawing all these years!' Weird huh. I love her.

5. If you trip and fall in front of me most likely I will want to laugh. I of course have learned that is really mean so I will wait until I know you are OK.

6. I am extremely claustrophobic so if you are ever trapped in an elevator with me you need to beware because I will most likely windmill punch everyone until I feel like I have enough room or until I pass out.

7. I used to HATE to be picked up as a kid! I was so tiny in school that other kids used to pick me up and run around with me. It made my blood boil. Funny thing is that when my family would go on trips and we would get back late I used to pretend that I was asleep so my dad would pick me up and put me in my bed. It was one of my favorite things. Nothing like a good daddy.

I pass this Versatile Award onto the following:

From Beneath the Butterfly Grove

Anything Fits A Naked Man

Carahamelie Writes

Turn This Mutha Out - MC Hammer

2010-07-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

Umm you don't want to know why I woke up with this song in my head. I think this came out when I was in sixth grade - I'm not sure, but me and my friends and school would practice MC Hammer dance moves on the quad during lunch. Are you slowly realizing I might be the coolest chick you know?

I Wanna Be Your Man - Zapp & Rogers

2010-07-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah baby - this takes me back to my high school days. After leaning like a cholo at North side Santa Maria parties we would bring it on down and dance to jams like this. The guys at these parties weren't embarrassed to sing to you while dancing with you. I remember the first time we went to a North Side party, we were certainly not dressed appropriately and it was different than any party I have been to. I loved it though! I remember thinking I love that they are playing all this old music!

We lived initially on the South end of Santa Maria (or Orcutt/O town) and then ended up moving right outside of Santa Maria to a little place called Tanglewood (or the Wood). You would never think this little small agricultural town was so gangsta. Most of the parties we had gone to played all the new music like C&C Music Factory (oh yeah baby gonna make you sweat) and head banger hits of the day like Metallica and Nirvana. But if we were having parties my sister Tabi and I would always try to bring it back a bit and throw in some 80's hits and people would stand there staring at us while we and some of our good friends were the only ones dancing. So I appreciated going to parties where people loved old songs. That is how the North side parties were. They listened to all the songs my Aunt Mo used to listen to when we would go visit her and her friends.

My first slow song with a guy at a North side party was Always and Forever and he starting singing. At first I was like wow this guy really likes this song. Then I looked at him and he was staring at me singing the song! AHHH! I was not ready for that! This is the dancing I was used to - you barely talk to each other because you are embarrassed that you are that close to each other and if you make eye contact, you quickly look away. Ok so...it may have been my nerves but I was never really comfortable getting close because I felt like a nerd. Don't get me wrong I loved slow dancing because I was not allowed to date until I was 18 so any chance to touch boys I was all for it! But I have to be one of the most awkward people known to man if I like someone or if I think they like me. Ask my husband. To top off the weirdness during this dance his breathe was getting progressively worse because he kept trying to get his face closer to mine. I started to lean my head away as far as possible and looking for my sister Tabi to give her the "HELP" face. But Tabi - Ms. Comfortable in every situation was chatty Cathy was some other guy she was dancing with. Thanks. But bad breath and all I always had a blast.

This song also reminds me of one my favorite comedies - Pootie Tang. If you have ever seen the movie you are probably saying "That is the dumbest movie in the world". I don't know but I think it is funny. Especially the part with this song. I cant' find the clip of it on YouTube - but I will show a little trailer for Pootie Tang So dumb - but kind of genius?

This is the Day - The The

2010-07-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

This song always reminds me of my sister Heather. My sister has always been a big influence on me growing up. She was my idol - everything she did, I did. If she was wearing her a hair a certain way I would do the same. I used to love when people would call me "Little Heather". She never thought I was annoying or irritating - she is such a good sissy. I swear to god our 8th grade spring pictures we look almost identical - even though it was 4 years apart we were wearing a similar shirt and hair style. Of course Heather looked more put together, I was always a little frazzled looking. Probably because I had just finished playing kick ball.

Like I said in a previous blog update she used to make us tapes of the music she was listening to. She was always thinking of us or my parents. She is our family organizer. If we are going on a trip we can sit back and relax because we know Heather will pretty much plan everything. I know she gets irritated at that sometimes but, honey you do it so well!

I remember the year after she got married she planned to do a video for my parents anniversary. We helped her get pictures together of my parents and us, although I don't really remember doing much. She planned it all out, putting the pictures in order and to what music. Danielle, do you understand now why you remind me so much of my sister! It was the best thing I have seen and heard. The music really made the video. The songs she used was:

- Maggie May - Rod Stewart

This is my parents song. The video showed pictures of them as kids and them together when they were dating - which was not very long. Horn dogs!

- Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Mellencamp (the Coug)

This part of the video is showing when they had Heather and moved out to the mid west when they were 19.

- We Are Family - Sister Sledge

Of course showing the three older girls - Heather, Tabi and finally ME!

- Young American - David Bowie

This song was dedicated to my younger brother and sister. They seriously have the cutest baby pictures! Jake looked like a doll! He was the only one of us that got my dad's big blue eyes. His baby girl Ava looks just like him - she will be a beautiful girl. Missy on the other hand had these big red lips as a kid and she was never in clothes. So her pictures consisted of maybe a diaper, her 'nene' (blanket) and her big red lips. Quick story about Missy's lips. She went to spend the day at my Grandma's house one time and my Grandma got mad at her because she thought she put lipstick on. My Grandma was rubbing the crap out of her lips to try and get the lipstick off and Missy was yelling "Grandma it's just my lips!" So funny!

- This is the Day - The The

My sister ended the video with this song with pictures of her wedding. James was now a new member of the family and I think for me watching this part of the video I felt our life was changing because all of us were getting older and we were going to start moving on with our lives and adding more people to our family. I remember thinking, "We are gonna need to add to this!" Now to think about then to now our family has gone through many many changes and it is still changing. Man, I think we need to do an updated family video! We can leave out the assholes along the way though.

The thing that has been constant is that we all still love each other. I was watching a show with a lady who has a bunch of brothers and sisters and she said "We fight a lot and we love a lot." I thought that was very true. My sister Heather said something very similar about us, she's a smart lady.

I leave you with this song to enjoy.

Brother Louie - Stories

2010-07-19T09:14:00.001-07:00

We just started watching Louie CK's new show on FX and it's funny but not as hilarious as his stand up is. Not much of a story there.

I will tell you a story of what happened yesterday. This weekend I pretty much bummed around for two days and enjoyed doing nothing. I went in the pool everyday and it was amazing! Yesterday I thought I would read a little outside and then when I could bear the heat no more - jump in the pool. I decided to take out my little Lucy with me. I walk outside and I see my father in law has put out nuts to feed the squirrels. Side note - they have done this for years and the squirrels are obese now and the nuts also bring rats as well. Disgusting.

Anyways, Lucy sits by me like a good puppy and then ventures to do some backyard exploring. She heads straight for the nuts because she is never full of having treats. She ate two nuts and then I jumped up and realized they were macadamia nuts. I grabbed her and ran into the house and asked my mother in law - "Did you guys put out macadamia nuts outside?" She said, "yes we are trying to get rid of them."

I was fuming. For those of you who do not know what a dog can or cannot eat. Macadamia nuts is a no no. So I calmed myself and went to my computer to see if I should immediately take her to the vet or what. So of course everyone says - call your vet. I call the Pet Emergency Clinic because it is Sunday and my vet is not open. I go over the details with the lady and she says they cannot say what to do because it is poison ingested from 'people food'. Huh? She gave me the number to the Animal Poison Control. I start to get nervous.

Jason knew I was upset and tried to calm me down but I just blew - 'Why would you put stuff outside that is poisonous to dogs when you have dogs that go outside!! If you want to get rid of stuff - throw it away!!' He was smart and just walked away to talk to his parents.

I call the Animal Poison Control and had to pay $65 just to talk to someone and see if I should take my dog in or not. I again go over the details with the lady and she said the vet if it was her dog she would stay at home and monitor her. She said I can expect the following:

- Vomit & diaherria

- Macadamia nuts affects the brain so she may become quiet and have a hard time walking or the use of her hind legs.

- Tremors

At this point I have a lump in my throat and am scared because I don't want to see Lucy go through this. She told me the symptoms when I need to call them back because it is more serious (ie. cannot stop vomiting, cannot get up, really bad tremors). She also said because nuts are high in fat in 2 to 3 days I can possibly see her start vomiting all over again because she has pancreatitis and for that I need to take her in. Good times.

I get off the phone and Jason is waiting there with a worried look on his face because he sees all the notes I took from my conversation. He said, "Is she gonna die?" That made me smile a little because he shared my over active worry. I went through what the lady said and assured him that I'm sure she will probably just be sleepy tonight because she only ate two. Meanwhile Lucy is acting normal and chasing a fly around the room. To me this was a good sign. Jason said his parents felt bad and thought I was mad at them, which I initially was but in reality Lucy could have snatched a piece of chocolate from me. It was an accident - I'm over it. So, I go out and talk to his parents and assure them that I'm not angry and I tell them what the lady told me. Jason's mom proceeds to tell me all the 'poisonous' things she fed her dogs for years and they never had any problems and finds it interesting that everyone says that they are poisonous now. She said I come from the day when you give your dogs left overs. I said yeah I never knew all the things that could be bad for dogs - but there are reasons that vets are saying they are bad for dogs - so I want to stay away from them. At this point I'm getting irritated again because I feel she is saying I'm overreacting and that it's no big deal and that everyone focuses on the 'horror stories'. I just walked away.

So about an hour passes and Jason's parents wanted to show us something on the TV so we go into their living room to watch. I brought Lucy and she was running around like normal. Jason's mom said 'Wow, call the ambulance she is really sick'. Stay calm. Geez isn't there some laundry I should be doing? Hmm - I leave with Lucy.

Throughout the night Jason's dad goes about his business and has to go through our section of the house to do it - but thoughtfully comes and checks on Lucy. She is still going nuts - no bringing her down. He says 'Yeah she is really sick - maybe she needs some more nuts'. Boiling. Maybe I'm just sensitive - but shut up!!!

I seriously believe macadamia nuts for Lucy is crack. She was running around like I have never seen her. Really, really jumpy. Around 9:30 I was filling up her water and she was just sitting there being a good puppy and she started shaking and twitching. I screamed for Jason and he ran in she finally stopped but I was scared. He was like calm down Chrystal - she is gonna be fine! I lost it once again. I really needed release some anger - maybe punch someone, good ol' hair pull or a nice pinch. Instead I just went and read a book to get away. Lucy snuggled up next to me.

Lucy was sleepy at her normal time and Jason and I ended the evening on good terms with Lucy between us on the bed.

I am friggin' exhausted. But I like this song.

Filet O' Fish

2010-07-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

So the other night Jason and I were on our way to hang out with friends and we had talked about getting in their pool. I told Jason we should get them a ridiculous child swim ring so we stopped by CVS. I went down the isle with the swim stuff and Jason went down the other isle with the kid toys. I hear Jason gasp then say, "Chrys! You need to get over here immediately!" There was almost half a row of these talking/singing wall fish. It was singing a Filet O' Fish song that apparently was in a McDonald's commercial awhile back. This friggin' song will NOT leave either of our heads now! Jason can't stop laughing about it and wants to get it for our house so when his dad gets up to let their dogs out it will scare the crap out of him or make him laugh. I don't want it because selfishly I believe this will affect my wonderful blog. I know that if we have that in our house - as funny as it is - my morning music will end! Seriously - watch this below a few times and tell me that you can't get this song out of your head! Jason and I have been singing and dancing to this song for 2 days now!!

I Can Talk - Two Door Cinema Club

2010-07-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

Love this song! We were on our way to hang out with friends last night when this came on the radio. So I immediately start car dancing (exaggerated arm movements with hair flips). Poor Jason - he is just used to this by now but I'm sure its embarrassing. He is so good to me - he knew I loved this song and he put it on my iPod but I never knew until last night.

This video reminds me of how dirty my room was growing up and sometimes what my 'hang up' clothes pile looks like. I hate hanging up clothes. The video also reminds me of how much I loved and still love making tents out of sheets and blankets. The last time my nieces came to my house I made up a tent in my living room and we played "Tornado". We were all screaming 'Oh no the tornado is coming!' while I shook the sheets. Mia had to go save Uncle Jason and Lucy from storm and then we all huddled together until it passed. There were about 10 tornados that came through my living room that day. I love those little girls!!

Too Many Songs

2010-07-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

I woke up with a lot of songs in my head this morning. I had a huge fight with a friend that I knew was going to happen sooner or later. I thought that I was going to be upset but I actually feel FREEDOM from the drama! This person was all up in my grill and needed to "extract the rafter from your own eye" (to quote the Bible - right back at ya sweety)! Have you ever had a person in your life that is just sucking the life out of you and nobody understands why you are friends with them? Well, I had one of those. But after the blow out I said hit the road!

Anyways I wanted to leave you with a song that was in my head when I went to sleep snuggling with my sweet puppy Lucy who tries to dig in closer to me constantly. I'm like 'honey you are as close as possible!' She was so sweet and has the cutest face. The song 'Baby Mine' from Dumbo came to mind. I know I'm a nerd but I love her so much. Anyone who can see that part and not shed some tears or at least get a lump in their throat has no heart! I have seen that movie a million times and I get choked up every time I see it.

West Coast - Coconut Records

2010-07-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a weekend update. I woke up to this song in my head this morning at 3am when I abruptly woke up to the smell of smoke in my parents guest bedroom. I sat up and made sure that I wasn't dreaming - yes it smelled like smoke. So I jumped up and opened the door and the rest of the house did not smell like smoke, so I was smelling around the room like a hound dog and woke up my poor husband who basically just fell asleep and he did not smell anything. At this point I couldn't smell anything either. I felt like a dumb ass. So I laid back down and smelled smoke every once in awhile and Jason still couldn't smell it. So I came to a conclusion. I was dying. I pictured that I was going to be on the next "Monsters Inside Me" or some scary TLC show. This is the interview I made up in my mind:

Interviewer: When did you first know something was wrong?

Me: I started smelling smoke randomly and no one ever smelled it!

Interviewer: So what is the final diagnosis?

Me: I'm dying of a smoke parasite that is living in my brain and it is slowly deforming me.

Then it cuts to pictures and videos when I was happy and normal.

Then while I laid in my parents old bed I realized something - I am a nut job. Then I started thinking of the bed that we were sleeping in. My mom had this bed I think since she was 15 or 16 and it was my parents bed for years. It was a double bed and my dad was so tall that he had to hang his feet over the edge of the frame of the bed. When my parents finally got their California King my dad said he had a hard time adjusting because his feet were not hanging off the bed. I always thought that was hilarious. I'm surprised that their bed was never broken by us. When my parents would go out to dinner we would run into their room and twist around the bed posts like it was a Magic Mountain ride. We never had a problem finding fun. So, my sister and I ended up sharing my mom's old bed when we were in high school - Tabi was 16 and I was 14. My sister Tabi was never someone that you could get to laugh easily and when we started to share a room I needed to have her think I was the funniest person on the planet because my sister Heather would always laugh at the silly things I would say. Tabi was different. So I needed to use drastic measures. The top of the bed posts could be removed and used as fake microphones for my serenades to Tabi. One of the songs that finally got her to laugh was the famous "Because she" song. Don't ask me the lyrics because I used to just walk around the room holding the top of the bed post like Frank Sinatra making up lyrics, but the whole point of the song was to explain what Tabi was doing or not doing - the start of every lyric started with "Because she...". Confirmation = nut job.

Jason played this song a few times on the way up to visit my parents. We then started talking about how cool Jason Schwartzman is. I said "Yeah he's hot." Jason almost swerved off the road and looked at me and said "What! You think he is hot!" I said, "Well he is not like Christian Bale or Brad Pitt hot or anything but - yeah he's hot". So then I listed the below items of why I think he is hot:

1. Great personality (because I know him so well)

2. Dresses cool and has good style

3. Musician

4. Love his movie selection and characters

He finally understood my thinking.

I got to see my Grandpa a few times this weekend as well. He has been sick and is in an extended care facility until he finishes up his antibiotics. It was so good to see him. Sitting and talking with him, my Grandma and my mom I realized why I am the way I am. My grandpa sat there talking about his favorite songs and why he loves music. I told him about my blog and he said "You are like me! I wake up with songs in my head too! I love song lyrics and melodies." We sat and talked about musicals and his time in Navy. He has been through so much but I really believe he will outlast us all! He is really the energizer bunny. I promised him to be a good granddaughter and visit him more. He said, "Make some time for the old guy." Umm....stab to the heart.

On a food point which my friend TILTE will love. We went to the Hitching Post in Casmalia for dinner on Thursday night and stuffed ourselves with the most amazing food! Their artichoke appetizer is ridiculous and I dream about it. I had a 5oz Filet and a baked potato. Everything was delicious! I don't know how my parents don't go there every night!

By the way - the smoke smell was from a trunk that my mom had in the room. It was my sister's when her massage room caught on fire from her dipshit partner who left the candles burning. The company cleaned the trunk but you can still smell the smoke every once in awhile. We were there for 4 days and finally smelled it on the last night. So you will not see me on the next episode of "Monsters Inside Me" or TLC. Whew!

Here is the song:

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Life of Brian

2010-07-09T09:49:00.001-07:00

Don't ask me why this song is in my head because I actually have never seen this entire movie. I of course have seen this part of the movie and thought it was hilarious. 'Life's a piece of shit - when you look at it!'

I just recently in the last year saw the entire Monty Python's Holy Grail. It was the movie Jason would put on with his buddies at the end of the night and I always fell asleep. These movies are the favorites of Jason and his buddy Adam. I think it is better to watch it with them because of how much Adam laughs. It is the same experience I have when watching Young Frankenstein with my brother - it is so much funnier because he laughs hysterically at the below part.

I think my sub-conscience knew I needed some comedy today. "Hello handsome!"

I love Gene Wilder!

Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Guns & Roses

2010-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yes I know mom - Bob Dylan wrote and sang this song. But of course I have a good story that goes with the Gun & Roses version. Well I guess it is really not my story - it is my sister Heather's story. I hope you don't kill me for this H.

Heather moved up to Santa Maria before we did and as she always does, made friends immediately. She was dating someone at the time but of course she is beautiful and the Santa Maria boys didn't know where to get. She was adored by all of them.

She told me that one time she went to one of her friends parties and this guy asked her to slow dance to Knocking on Heaven's Door by Guns & Roses and she accepted. The guy was basically drooling over her the whole time and all of the sudden - HELLO!! - she knew he was very happy. The guy was obviously proud of it because he made no effort to back away. She also said he had a creepy smile on his face. EWWW! After the song was over she ran away from him and told her friends and for the rest of the evening they were singing to her "Knock knock knockin' on Heather's door!" She was mortified.

The best part about this story to me is imagining my sisters face. When she is shocked or disgusted she is like me in the fact that it cannot be hidden on her face. I'm sure her eyes were huge and her mouth pursed and in her mind she was saying "SICK!"

I can't stop laughing!!

Alejandro - Lady Gaga

2010-07-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Wow - two Lady Gaga songs since I started this blog. Yesterday I was a make-up artist/hair stylist/photographer extraordinaire. I did a mini photo shoot for Alice Nakamura who is in the Japanese pop band Triple P. She is a very sweet girl and I had so much fun doing her make up and taking her pics. She is a very good model and the photo shoot went really smooth. Below are some pics of us in action.

Here I am waiting for the shoot to begin.

The below Mercedes is Justin Timberlake's. He was in the building we were doing the photo shoot in. Dr. Dre was supposed to show up later as well - but I didn't get to see either of them. Oh well. I had to look like a geek next to his car .

Gary took a picture of me in action.

During our photo shoot her iPhone rang and her ring tone was Alejandro from Lady Gaga. Made me smile.

Tuts Mah Barreh

2010-07-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you Sasha for getting this song stuck in my head. It will take days to get this song out of my head.

At work, when we actually had people who worked there, we used to send funny YouTube videos to each other and this was one of the gems that was sent. It is hilarious! I love that he does gestures through the song.

Yesterday I was doing Sasha's make up and she said 'I feel like singing that song that Asian guy sang on YouTube - do you know what I'm talking about?' Then we both sang "I will hunt chu down!" Then she sent me the video so we could laugh!

I can't help but laugh! "I will give you plankton!" "Come on and give me water dessert!"

Michelle - The Beatles

2010-06-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

This song always reminds me of me Ma. One memory in particular is us painting together in her 'artist studio' in the backyard. I like to think of my mom as a controlled free spirit. She is very grounded in her beliefs and sometimes was even stricter than my dad - but in everything else was kind of a go with the flow of her feelings kind of person. My mom and I had a hard time getting along - most of the time she irritated the crap out of me and I'm sure with me rolling my eyes at her all the time - I irritated her too. But my mom really tried to connect with me. She would really look for ways where we could enjoy each others company. She knew I loved watching ice skating on TV so she got tickets for us to go see Christie Yamaguchi perform and we spent the whole day together. It was awesome. Another time was what I mentioned above - painting with her in her studio.

When we lived in the valley we had a huge backyard and the side yard near my parents bedroom was a shed/studio. My mom jumped at the chance to use this space as an artist studio. My mom starting painting when we lived in Kansas and hasn't stopped since. She would paint scenes on canvas, huge saw blades, old milk cans and stuff. She asked me one day if I wanted to come and paint with her. I of course trying to be difficult said, "I don't know how." She just smiled and said, "I will teach you - come on!" She set me up next to her and gave me something to paint - a little gray & pink stuffed animal mouse in an antique silver champagne glass. She taught me not to look at my canvas when drawing - look at the mouse and glass - follow the lines with your eyes and your pencil will draw it. I was blown away that it worked! I looked down at my canvas and saw that I drew a mouse in a glass! Then she set me up with paints and I was good to go!

We sat there painting and listening to music. We listened to mixed tapes my mom had that of course had The Beatles sprinkled in here and there. She would come over and check out my painting ever so often and kept giving me confidence that I was doing good. These were moments for my mom and I to connect and I appreciated so much for her doing that for us. Even though we had some rough points in our relationship these little moments we had always smoothed them over.

Weekend Music

2010-06-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning was The Bird and the Bee song "Polite Dance". I first heard this song a few years ago from my lil sis Missy when we went to Hawaii. We drove around in our PT cruiser we called Pete sharing music we were listening to.

Saturday night my friend came over and we had a girls night. My friend is getting married and she needed ideas on hair and make up. She is a strictly eye liner and chap stick kind of girl so I needed to help branch her out to the foundation/blush/lipstick world. She looked gorgeous if I do say so myself. Here is another little something a

bout me - I love make up. My friend walked into my bathroom one time and said "Oh my god you are a product junkie!" It's true - especially with make up. I always loved watching my mom put on make up. I became obsessed when I was 11 years old watching my sister Heather get ready. She wore black liquid eyeliner and I loved watching her putting it on because of her technique. She would rest her hand on her jaw bone to help get her line perfect - it was amazing to me and I still use this technique today. Who knew that years later my sister would come to me to do her make up for special occasions when her black eyeliner inspired me!

Sunday morning I woke up with California Girlz by Katy Perry. Stop laughing. Katy Perry taps into my girlie side of me. I saw her open up for No Doubt and she had the cutest outfits and there were strawberry decorations everywhere! Loved it! This video is her in CandyLand. This was my all time favorite game as a kid. I would just stare at it forever wishing I lived in CandyLand. I loved everything about this game - the pictures that told a story or actually what my imagination came up with, the gingerbread men (I was always the red one), and of course my favorite - Princess Lolly! Her curly pink hair, violet eyes with long thick eyelashes - I wanted to be her! I would come up with stories that Lord Licorice and Molasses Swap were the bad guys and Princess Lolly was always the one that saved the day.

Funny story about Sunday. My cousin was watching her niece Jiselle and she wanted to come to my house and swim. Jason told Jiselle she could come over only if he could throw her in the pool. You should have seen her eyes light up - she was so excited. So we go outside and the cautious husband that I have asks her and us a billion times "You sure you can swim?" before throwing her in the pool. He throws her in and she is hooked - she has him throw her in over and over. My cousin's husband Adam decides it is his turn to throw her in. I don't know why but I just thought it was a bad idea and I wasn't the only one. My worry wart husband says not only once to Adam, but multiple times "Adam, now throw her in the pool - not over the pool". Again Jason says - "Adam I'm not sure you know your strength dude - be careful!" I swear to god if Jason and I ever have kids we will end up having either Bubble Boy or Amelie.

Adam takes a hold of Jiselle and throws her up and by the time she returned to earth her body was laying flat and she belly flopped on the water. It was such a loud smack that all of us screamed! Poor baby was blinking her eyes and you could see the pain in the them. She tried to take it like a champ and say it didn't hurt but she did NOT want to be thrown in again.

Shockingly, after the belly flop she wanted to go in the house. I turned on cartoons for her and Yo Gabba Gabba was on. So to make her happy I danced with her. I'm such a sucker. Yo Gabba Gabba creators are from a band I loved in high school, the AquaBats. I still love their silly songs so it was no problem for me to dance to the songs. One of my favorite songs from The AquaBats is 'The Cat with Two Heads'. The main reason for that was because of my lil' sis Missy. This song always made her laugh hysterically because the cat screeching in the background. I'm picking her up tomorrow from the airport. Guess what song I will have queued up for her!

This Charming Man - The Smiths

2010-06-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

This song always reminds me of the first time I got to have my own room. If you are from a big family you know how exciting it is when you get a space of your own. Being the middle of 5 children I never had a problem sharing. I mean just imagine 5 kids and one bathroom. Maybe because I grew up with everyone all up in my grill and didn't know any better, but I was perfectly happy with my little edge of the mirror getting ready for school.

When my sister Tabi moved out I was sad that she was moving away but so excited to finally get my own room. In our old house we had an interesting set up. We had a 4 bedroom house but one of the bedrooms was what my parents called the maid or nuns quarter. It was off one of the bedrooms and was very tiny. The roof slanted down so in some parts you couldn't stand up all the way, which really was not a problem for me because I could fit in it more than the rest of my family being the midget that I am. You may ask yourself - why would anyone CHOOSE the smallest bedroom in the house? Let me explain:

1. You could hear my mom & dad coming so you could hurry up and hang up the phone with the boy you were not allowed to talk to.

2. It was like a little cave and felt away from the rest of the house

3. It didn't matter - I finally had my own room!

I remember the first week I got my own bedroom I woke up in the morning and I went out in service and came home so excited to clean my room. Don't choke. I know, can you believe I actually wanted to clean!! I walked into my room put my Smiths Volume I album on (the one with the picture from East of Eden) and started to dance, sing and clean around my own room! This Charming Man was the first song. I did this many mornings when I throw on that CD and my BFF Jodie and I would get ready for whatever we were going to do that day.

Aww - remember when simple things like getting your own room made you happy! Good times.

Party Train - The Gap Band

2010-06-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

For the past month Jason and I have started a tradition that started shortly after moving back to the valley - Margarita Mondays! We have switched it up from Sol la Luna to good ol' El Torito. Last night we headed over to El Torito where I basically just eat chips and salsa for dinner with a chicken soft taco ala carte for dessert. Every once in awhile I switch it up with a chicken tamale - I am so adventurous. You would think that El Torito would have some Mexican songs playing to really get you in the mood to eat some Mexican food but no, they had an 80's channel on. We got to hear Erasure, Simple Minds, The Stray Cats and The Gap Band.

I grew up listening and loving The Gap Band. We used to listen to 'You Dropped the Bomb on Me'...baby, all the time. I always thought the video was rad - wow those crazy colors were something a 5 year old had never seen! Ah, remember the days when MTV used to play videos. Another one of their great songs was Party Train. I always loved this song and I remember telling my sister Heather that I it was my favorite Gap Band song and she just smiled at me and said, "It's Dad's favorite too." My dad was never the one to bust a move on the dance floor to his favorite songs because he was too embarrassed. But as we all got older he got over his embarrassment and wanted to have fun with us. I remember at my best friend Jodie's wedding, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun came on and my sisters and I were dancing. My dad came and danced with us and said 'I'm sick of being embarrassed - I'm 50 years old and I'm dancing!' He is so cute!

At my little sisters wedding she played this song and it was so awesome to see my dad out there dancing to this song with my mom.

Now I have never seen this video before today. It is now my favorite video. It has everything you need - soul glow, man in speedos, cheeseburger Eddie, boogaloo shrimp moves, a trojan warrior, high cut 80's bikinis, village people look-a-likes, roller skating and a man with a huge beard. LOVE IT!

Shame - Avett Brothers

2010-06-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have woke up with this song in my head for the past few days now. I heard this song last year from my friend Susan. Her friend/boyfriend/confused boy showed her this song when he wanted to say he was sorry. She came into my office and said listen to this song - I think he is trying to say he is sorry. Many mornings we would sit and talk about our crazy families and boys. It makes me miss the days when our office actually had people in it. Now I pretty much work from home and only go into the office a few times a week because there is no one there to talk to. Sasha and I try and coordinate when we go into the office and where we will eat for lunch so it won't feel like a waste going in.

My lil sister went to see the Avett Brothers a few months ago and got to take some pictures with them. I think I spotted a little drool in the corner of her mouth - she loves them!

Bad Boys - COPS Theme song

2010-06-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was going to take Lucy for a walk but then I decided to take her to the dog park. It is not technically a dog park but people pretty much made it into that. However, there are signs everywhere saying you need to have your dog on a leash and pretty much no one does. So, there I am sitting on a park bench enjoying the summer day with Lucy by my feet watching dogs run around chatting with another dog owner. By the way, why do I only remember the dog names and not the owners name? The dog's name was Cooper. Oh well.

So all of the sudden I hear people screaming for their dogs and people running around like crazy. So I put Lucy on my lap because I think it is a mountain lion or coyotes or something that are about to attack the dogs (I know I'm drama). I look over and there are two park ranger cars driving full blast through the park with their sirens on towards us. People are scrambling like roaches in the light to get their dogs on the leash. Lucy and I just watch in amazement while the following occurs.

The first car drives toward a big group of people trying to put their dogs on a leash and start giving out tickets. The tickets are $150 per dog that are not on a leash. The other car (a van) starts driving after a guy and his dog who are running full blast toward the parking lot. The passenger of the van jumps out and starts running after this guy. The van then starts to drive after the guy through the park and then realizes it will try and beat him to the parking lot. The van proceeds to do donuts in the park to turn around and get to the parking lot. There is dirt and grass flying everywhere while the van is weaving in and out of the trees! I mean it was like they were going after a murderer. By the way there is a playground right by here and people often sleep under the trees for afternoon naps in this park where this van decided to go ape shit. It was like watching a mixture between COPS and Reno 911. It was amazing and way over the top!

I'm waiting for the next reality show on TLC or A&E - "The Park Rangers of Serrania Park". They mean serious business.

My friend said that they family that I yelled at a week ago there probably called the rangers to complain. Let me explain a bit. Umm, there are times in my life that I get irritated at dumb people - children included - and I feel the need to tell them exactly what is on my mind. I took Lucy to the park about a week ago and once we got there she did her business. Now mind you, there are doggie poop bags at the park. While Lucy was doing her business this family at a picnic bench is watching Lucy (weirdos) and the mom says "Let's see if she picks up after her dog." My blood starts to boil. I then start to walk to the bag holder so I can pick up her 1 inch turd and the 9 year old child proceeds to yell "Pick up after your dog!" Anger took over and I said "I'm going to get a baggie! Mind your god damn business and shut the hell up!" The family just stared while the mother continued to blather on about me. I then said "You are raising little assholes like yourself!" Sometimes I feel like I have a problem, but other times I feel like I don't because she did not say one word after that.

So it may or may not be my fault for the shake down at Serrania park but it was really entertaining and I sang Bad Boys on the way home.

What A Crying Shame - The Mavericks

2010-06-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

I got a text from my sister Heather yesterday laughing about this song. She said she just downloaded a song that my dad would blast is his truck. Not just any truck - his new black truck! A little something about my dad - he is very particular about his trucks. He is a Toyota man now for his work trucks but he used to be a Chevy truck man. He still chooses Chevy to pull the trailer for camping trips. Now, here it what you need for your Chevy truck:

1. Cragars

2. Lift the back of the truck higher so when you have your equipment in the back your truck will be perfectly straight and even out - no sagging trucks in this family!

3. Good stereo

4. Always washed and clean with rims shiny

Anyways, my sister said "You have to listen to it. It's so dad! I think you'll laugh when you imagine dad rockin' out to it!"

I haven't heard this song in such a long time - but it is so my dad! My dad loves country and even though all of us try to hide it - we do too! My mom always would blast her music in the car and it didn't matter what song it was. But we always knew when my dad really liked a song because he would play it a lot and play it loud. It was really cute. We used to look at each other and smile while in the car because we knew my dad was quietly rockin' out.

Empire State of Mind - Jay Z & Alicia Keys

2010-06-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night I went with my girlfriends to see Sex in the City 2. Yawn...Boring!!! The best thing about that movie was the clothes. Wait only some of the clothes. There was the good, the bad and the spikey metal shoulder pads. It was like a long fashion show. There was no story and so many parts that were bad I was embarrassed the people in the movie. Actually there was a part in the movie I liked - when Liza Minelli sang "Single Ladies". I have a soft spot for Liza because of Judy Garland and Arrested Development. Oh and because she beat the crap out of her husband - I mean you don't get to hear that everyday.

Gary Indiana - The Music Man

2010-06-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

My grandparents (on my mom's side) loved musicals. So I grew up knowing all the songs to all movie musicals. Last year I went to Kauai and could not stop singing "Bali Hai" from "South Pacific". When we were kids my grandma lived a few hours away and it was always a treat to go and visit her. Here was the itinerary for the trip and you tell me you don't want to go stay with her.

- Go to the market and get whatever treats you want.

- Have popcorn and ice cream sundaes with as much chocolate syrup as you wanted.

- Getting the softest blanket ever and snuggling with Grandma on the couch.

- Watching old movies or musicals whilst snuggling.

One of the favorites was The Music Man. I loved seeing Opie from The Andy Griffith show (one of my Dad's favorite shows) sing a song. I don't think anyone from my family can hear Gary, Indiana without singing this song. When Michael Jackson died they were talking about where he was born - Gary, Indiana - and...immediately singing the song.

When we moved to Santa Maria we were finally living close to my grandparents. So, my Grandma started a Friday night movie night for all of us girls. She would pick an old movie for us to watch and supplied all the sodas, popcorn and ice cream required. She also didn't want any of the other girls our age to feel left out of this fun time so she would invite our friends and other girls in our congregation. At first I was thinking - hey back off girls - this is MY Grandma! But then I realized how nice my Grandma was being and I thought it was cool of her to do that. So this is what I did on Friday night. I curled up in a snuggly soft blanket (which I later kicked off because it was too friggin hot) and watched The Music Man. Made me think of my Grandma and how much I missed her.

The songs in this musical are funny and stick in your head. Over the weekend my puppy was doin' her business outside and I started singing "ShiPoopi" to her. But of course after a bit I changed the lyrics to 'Sue poopi-ed Sue poopi-ed". I feel like my Dad most of the time laughing at my own jokes. Good times.

My Can't Buy You Class - Countess Dipshit

2010-06-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Another one of my embarrassing things that my husband hates is I love watching train wrecks which is Reality TV. I can't help it. So I watched the Season Finale to The Real Housewives of New York last night to the point when "The Countess" released her hit song "Money Can't Buy You Class". It is so horrible I will not even link it. So of course I woke up with this horrible song in my head. Why is it that the worst songs take FOREVER to get out of your head! But I will say my friend and fellow blogger helped me today by posting this gem in her blog. I mean if we are talking "Class" - I believe this drummer has got it! Thanks Sash!

How Soon is Now? - The Smiths

2010-06-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

I grew up with two older sisters so I always had a strong love of 80's music. My sister was always playing Depeche Mode (our favorite band), Erasure, The Smiths, The Cure, etc. When I was in high school up in Santa Maria we had a lot of friends that played music and had their own little cover bands. Our friend Tim had a great voice and sang all the old U2 songs. We used to go to a lot of parties where the bands would play. I remember going to a party at my friend Skeeter's house where this band played. We knew the drummer really well because he was in love with my sister. But my sister had eyes for the singer. I remember her saying "That's Jamie". All the girls liked him because he played guitar and sang Cure and Smiths songs. She went up and introduced herself and we took pictures together like he was a celebrity. I was happy for my sister because it was the first time I really saw her like someone - she had the Eye of the Tiger for Jamie! She had a lot of guys chasing after her because she was so pretty. I thought Jamie was cool cause he had a Marilyn Monroe shirt on. Here we are - I'm the shorty in the front.

My sister will probably kill me for putting this picture up - but hey it's a good story. Her and Jamie have been married for 12 years and have 2 beautiful baby girls.

I'm uploading this video because Morrissey stole my dance moves.

5/31/10: No One is Gonna Love You - Band of Horses

2010-06-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

I love this song. When I first heard this song I knew my boy would love it too. Every once in awhile we spend an evening just listening to music. He plays his favorite songs and I play mine. I know this will be included in the next one of those evenings. Enjoy.

5/30/10: Sexy Chick - Akon/David Guetta

2010-05-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Don't laugh.

I told you - I wake up with some weird stuff in my head in the morning. But this song is really fun to dance to. I actually haven't been dancing in awhile...hmmm I think the last time I went dancing I went to the Beauty Bar with my friend Sasha, Jason and my cousin. It was an eventful evening to say the least. My cousin decided to see if Mentos really was the Fresh Maker! We saw a guy that looked exactly like Wes Welker from the New England Patriots and Sasha and I danced the entire night. I think the moment I realized what a good friend Sasha was going to be for me is when she asked me to go request "Push It" from Salt N Pepa. Friend for life.

Airplanes - B.O.B (featuring Hayley Williams)

2010-05-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

I really like B.O.B. although I think his first song "Nothin' On You" is played out. I don't want to listen to it so I won't get sick of it. As you will come to see with my morning music my taste has a wide range. I was happy to wake up to this song. I really like Hayley Williams of Paramore as well. She has a very beautiful and powerful voice for being a little chick. I'm a little chick as well but I have a very small voice, that is... until it comes to football. Then my lungs come out to play. I couldn't find a video for this song so it was the best audio I could find on YouTube.

I have always been the one in my family to love hip hop. My friends would laugh at me because they never knew how much I liked hip hop until we went out dancing and they would see I knew every song out there. My friend would say "How do you know all these songs?" But she was not someone that listened to the radio. My morning commute would consist of listening to the radio - mostly hip hop or listening to Howard Stern or Adam Corrolla when 97.1 Talk Radio still existed. Does anyone else think that Adam Corrolla is hilarious? My sister Heather and I would stay up late listening to Love Line on her bad ass boombox! Good times.

2010-05-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you to my good friend of Things I Like To Eat for providing this to me! If you guys have not already joined her blog please do. She is a great writer, funny and sarcastic = amazing. I was honored to get the "Plastic Joy Award"! Don't ask who designed this award because I don't know. But I did play barbie's like this when no one was looking.

Once you receive this prestigious award you must name 5 characters (NOT the actual celeb) that you would like to provide some serious smooches to.

5. King Leonidas - I have never been the girl to like big muscle beef cake guys. However, I drooled throughout the movie 300 at Gerard Butler's amazing body. It helped to see his perfect booty and to hear his Scottish accent.

4. Indiana Jones - I have had a lot of crushes on movie/TV characters in my life but this has been the longest crush. I loved the Indiana Jones movies and seeing Harrison Ford's tall lean body and his cute side smile through out the series was enough to make a little girl go crazy. Even when he turned bad in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and was about to lower his girlfriend into lava - I still thought he was hot! Even though that movie scared the crap out of me and I wanted to close my eyes - I couldn't! He was just too hot and sweaty.

3. Richie Tenenbaum - I love Luke Wilson in general. His brother Andrew as "Future Man" in Bottle Rockets is also pretty hot. But Luke is just so cute and sweet. He won me over completely when he played Richie Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums. Who else can rock the 70's style better. Love the brown suit paired with sweatbands and dad style glasses. As you will see in my #1 smoocher I like guys who are in love with a tinge of obsession.

2. Patrick Bateman - Christian Bale is completely gorgeous to me. Patrick Bateman embodied a lot things that I look for in a man.

- Cares for his body and does masks to care for his clogged pores

- He loves the hits of the 80's

- He loves returning video tapes (I can't remember to return them. See we are a perfect match)

1. Jett Rink - I still have a picture of James Dean playing Jett Rink in the movie "Giant". This movie is one of my favorite movies. Jett Rink was a farm hand wanted a better life for himself. He was obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor (who wouldn't be) and was so intent on making a lot of money so she would notice him. He was alcoholic and loved her for the rest of his life. See I told you - I like weird guys.

The Impression That I Get - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

2010-05-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

Ugh - I hate this song. I'm NOT going to link a video to YouTube so you can enjoy this song because I hate it. Don't get me wrong I have always been a fan of ska - however this band was NOT the bands I liked. I loved The Specials, English Beat, Selecter, The AquaBats, etc. I get irritated every time I hear this guy's raspy voice because I think of his dumb face. I just watched Step Brothers the other day and the movie ends with this lame song. However the movie is genius and I wish I woke up with "Boats and Hoes" in my head. I will link it so you can enjoy this. Mom don't click it - I know what you will say "that is offensive". Yes it is...but it is funny and it is better than the lame song I woke up with in my head.

More Than A Feeling - Boston

2010-05-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

Ok so I haven't posted in a few days because I have not had any morning music. I have had to work late the last few nights and I had trouble sleeping. No sleep = no music and grump attitude.

I have so many memories connected to Boston's More Than a Feeling it is ridiculous.

Driving around with my brother screaming this at the top of our lungs, playing Rock Band with the family and just killin' it, and too many more memories to list. This song was not only played in our house all the time but in my aunts and uncles houses as well. We all grew up listening to 70's rock and this song was I think topped the charts in my family. Every weekend when my parents, specifically my dad wanted us to get up he would play music - excuse me let me correct that - blast music so we would get up. Never worked for me because I could sleep through an earthquake as a kid (I really did). Let me explain a little more about how it was growing up not only for me but for my cousins as well. It was essential to have an amazing stereo system. My parents and my aunts and uncles on both sides of my family always had the best stereo systems. We could all live in a hell hole or live in rags but we had a rockin' stereo system! So yes every weekend my dad would get us up with blaring music and this song was always on the playlist. My dad would mix up the playlist as a kid but once I got into high school he pretty much had a standard Saturday/Sunday morning playlist.

One of these days I will share my dad's weekend playlist so stay tuned!

I Want You to Want Me: Cheap Trick

2010-05-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to visit a friend in El Segundo. After a yummy BBQ at their house we went to see a cover band at the Lighthouse Cafe' in Hermosa beach. One of the songs they covered was "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick. Thus the reason I woke up with it my head this morning.

However, I would say the experience I had in the girls bathroom is more blog worthy. If anyone can explain what the hell this means it would be great.

Ok, so I go into the girls bathroom and there are two stalls - normal right. I go into the stall and right after another girl walks in and goes into the other stall. I am in the stall doing my business and the girl in the next stall puts her flip-flopped foot in my stall. I thought, hmm...ok that is weird - but whatever, maybe she doesn't know her foot is in my stall. Then she slowly takes her finger and starts rubbing her toe nail! Over and over again - not her toe....her toenail!!! So I am freaked out and hurry up to get the hell out of there. I am moving at the speed of light to wash & dry my hands so I don't have to see this creepy toe rubber and then she bursts out of the stall with a big smile on her face! I almost screamed and I ran out of the bathroom. I'm sure she saw terror in my eyes!

So do you think I over reacted? Does anyone else in this world think it is weird that a woman puts her foot in another woman's stall and starts rubbing her toenail slowly with one finger!!!! Why does this crap happen to me!!!

5/23/10: Close Call - Rilo Kiley

2010-05-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

Rilo Kiley's "Close Call" reminds me of my little sis Missy (aka: Freakshow) because she introduced me to this band. She has the song "Silver Lining" on her phone when you call her. We all have this thing in our family where we share the music we have been listening to. My husband and Missy always find the best music. So whenever we are all together they ask each other - "So what have you been listening to lately" or "Oh my god I have to show you this band!" Missy usually comes equipped with burned CDs for us or we send her on her way with the music Jason found. I feel so proud when I get to show them a cool band I found! Yes!!! I'm cool! nerd.

We have been sharing music since I can remember. When my sister Heather first got married she used to make me and my sister Tabi tapes with the music she was listening to. It was the greatest gifts! Missy a few years ago made each of us a personalized CD with songs that reminded her of each of us and some special songs she wanted to show us. She even made a CD cover with a picture of us together. I thought that was so sweet that she do that for each of us.

Music has been something that has been a healing salve for my family. There are many nights that I sit on Jason's lap when we are having a rough time and we just listen to music. I know that my lil' sis has listened to Rilo Kiley and the numerous other bands she has showed me to get her through her hard time. I'm missing my Missy.

Lucy Sue - Written/Produced/Performed by Me

2010-05-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

About six months ago I finally convinced my husband to agree to get a puppy. So we went to Newbury Pet Store. This was recommended to me by two of my friends. This guy owns a pet store and for years has been rescuing dogs from the Bakersfield dog pounds. So we went on a Thursday night and checked out the dogs he brought back. There were two dogs that caught my eye at first and my husband said let's take the night to think about it. So Friday morning we headed back up there and I was trying to make a decision between the two dogs when my husband said, "Hey did you check out this puppy over here?" In fact I did and I let her lick my fingers but the dog next to her was a yapper so I walked away. So I looked at this cute face again and I asked if I could take her out. She was so excited and licked me to death! It was a match made in heaven! She was adorable! She was 3 months old and is a dachshund/chihuahua mix. So we chose her and I got to pick her up the next day.

Lucy Sue McGillacutty has changed our lives to the point we don't know what we did without her. I have always been a "cat" person because I had kitties that snuggled with me and I didn't think anything could be better. I didn't think I could have the best of both worlds. For example, Lucy is snuggled up next to me while I am writing this and every once in awhile giving my knee cap a lick. I guess it looks like it needs it. I also can train her to sit, lay down and stay which I could never do with my kitties. However, all my training goes out the window when she goes to grandma/grandpa's - she gets snacks for just being cute. She has been able to make us smile through some really difficult times I we love her so much!

So I made up a song for her. It just came to me. Here is why I make up songs. My dad used to make up songs ALL the time! During the summer when school was out we used to take turns going to work with my dad. He is a pool man. I have so many stories from those times it's ridiculous. But here is a little gem for you: My dad made up a song about Fritos to the tune of "Cielito Lindo". "Ay ay ay ay Chrystal loves Fritos corn chippers. She loves them she does, she loves them she does. She loves Fritos corn chippers". But of course insert any one of his children's names in that song. I thought it was hilarious. If we are ever at a place that has mariachi's my dad always requests that song and then says "hey Chrystal, sing along with me!" My dad is silly. I think that is one of the reasons I think my husband is hilarious - he makes up amazing songs. I'm sure they will make it up on here one day.

Anyways, I made up a song for Lucy based on the America the Beautiful song. "Your beautiful for Lucy Sue and you are snuggly too! You lick on me and bite on me...I think your crazy too!!!!!" I know...embarrassing right. So, this is the song I woke up singing.

5/20/10: No More Lonely Nights: Paul McCartney

2010-05-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

I actually do know why I woke up with this song in my head. On Monday I went to one of my favorite SF Valley eateries – The Pizza Cookery. By the way, their garlic rolls are amazing! Anyways I was inhaling one of their amazing garlic rolls and adding butter to every bite (you can’t not) while “No More Lonely Nights” came on. I said to my friend, “Awe, this song always reminds me of my Aunt Mo.” She said, “Who is it?” I almost choked on my garlic roll and said “Hello! Paul McCartney!” Then I have to remind myself that not everyone was raised like me. My mom used to have a game for us when were driving somewhere, “Name that artist”. We had to name the artist preferably before they started singing. Most of the time I sucked at this game. I knew all the words to the songs but never could remember who the artist was. I mean, I knew the staples in my family – The Beatles, CCR (Creedance Clearwater Revival), Steve Miller, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the “Coug” (John Cougar Mellencamp). But my mom liked to throw out some obscure songs that we have heard of but most likely didn’t know who sang them. Hi mom, I’ve 7 years old how I am supposed to remember this is a Steely Dan song. I think it was an excuse for all of us to shut the hell up in the car.

So this song reminds me of my Aunt Melissa, or Aunt Mo, or just Mo. My Aunt Mo was my fun and silly aunt. When we lived in Kansas she would take us across this creek (I remembered it as a river) for picnics. The neighbor across the way had a crazy horse and I remember one time she took us across the way and the horse went nuts and started to charge us. Just imagine a bunch of little girls screaming bloody murder and my aunt dragging a 3 year old by her arm (me) through the creek to get away. Good times. She also was the aunt that would think it was funny to punch us in the leg to give us “dead leg”. I remember telling her “I’m 5! I’m too little!” She would just laugh. But hey those are funny memories to me. She also used to let me sit on her lap and drive her little Toyota truck on the freeway at night. It was awesome! Anyways, she used to have slumber parties for all of her nieces. She had games for us to play the entire weekend. One particular slumber party she had was right after she got married. She just got a video camera so she would shoot us dancing and doing skits. She will kill me for saying this but she had us shoot her lip-synching to songs for her new hubby, Don. We called him “Dunkle Don”. She did two songs that I remember – one “You Better Be Good To Me” by Tina Turner (that album was like the sound track for that weekend) and “No More Lonely Nights” by Paul McCartney. She was all decked out in brown corduroys a brown plaid shirt and puffy brown vest (the Back to the Future kind). It was awesome! I think we kids all have a great sense of humor and can laugh because we were allowed to be silly and things were not taken so seriously. When we all get together we always end up talking about that slumber party and how much fun it was and then end up making fun of Aunt Mo for the lip-syncing…I think it is just getting her back for all the “dead legs”.

5/19/10: Your the One that I Want - GREASE

2010-05-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

You can’t have this song in your head without wanting to do the little hip dance! I think this movie is another movie like Dirty Dancing – girls just love it! My good friend actually told me and another one of our friends a few months ago that she hates Dirty Dancing and we both said “WHAT!” I’m still shocked. By the way if you are near the LA area, the Hollywood Bowl has movies they play during the summer months. One of them is Grease and another favorite is Sound of Music. Basically it is one big sing-a-long fest! People get into it and dress up and everything. Now I have the Disney Sing-a-long song in my head. Good times. Not sure if anyone used to watch those but they were awesome. I’m irritated with the new Sing-a-long videos because they changed the intro song. Lame.

Ok onto an embarrassing story. When I was 14 we moved from LA (SF Valley) up to Santa Maria. It was a big change for us. Especially for my sister who is 2 years older than me. She was moving in the middle of her high school years. But looking back at it – it was a great thing to experience. We were used to living in a place that really did not have a sense of community and you really needed to be careful if you were walking to the corner market. “Do not cross Topanga to go to Thrifty’s!” my Dad used to say – which sucked in the summer time when we wondered where the hell the ice cream man was. Santa Maria was a small town where there was always a party or a BBQ happening and you could feel safe walking across town to your friend’s house. Of course we had to act like it wasn’t cool to live in a small town and told everyone how much cooler LA was. We were such bad asses. But in reality spending those years in Santa Maria was awesome. I met some of the greatest people who I am still close to.

So one summer we heard that there was a big party being planned and there was going to be a talent show. So some of my friends and I decided we wanted to do a montage of music down the years (50’s, 60’s, 70’s). We did costume changes and everything. By the way this is also during the time where you had to piece the songs together on a blank tape – thank god I didn’t have to do that. I don’t have the patience for that. I can’t remember all the songs we did but here are the ones I remember – Yakety-Yak, Respect, Staying Alive and we ended the great musical dance montage with You’re the One that I Want. We had 4 girls and 3 boys in this production-I loved that these guys did this! Their parts made the show! I’ve heard that there is a video of our show and I definitely don’t want to see it because the production I remember in my mind I’m sure is way better than reality.

5/18/10: Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

2010-05-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ok so this is a bad start to my blog. I got up to check my email and facebook this morning and it changed my morning music! Now because my sister posted a video of these guys in Oregon University doing Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance – I guess this is the song that is now stuck in my head. But like I said. I always have good stories/memories related to songs.

So a few weeks ago my sister had to go to Palm Springs for work. I agreed to watch her girls. She has two very sweet, adorable and hilarious little girls. The oldest is 5 and youngest is 3. On the way down to my house I put on Lady Gaga for them because they LOVE to sing to her songs! So all the way down to my house I realized that my 3-year-old niece knew every single word to Paparazzi and looked completely adorable singing. I had to play it 3 times because I couldn’t get enough. My 5-year-old niece likes to be dramatic with her face while singing. She really gets into it. This is the girl who I swear can watch a movie one time and can quote the movie. Ridiculous. Anyways my favorite quotes from the girls were the following:

1. My 3-year-old niece was talking in her sleep and said “No! I don’t like baby eggs!” What the heck was she dreaming about!

2. We took the girls out to lunch with my husbands work friend who recently had a baby. My 5-year-old niece said to her husband “I like your hair, but I don’t like your attitude.” It was hilarious!

I love watching my nieces grow up and see their little personalities come out. It is good to see that we are building music memories together as well.

Morning Music

2010-05-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

I’m sure I cannot be the only one in the world that wakes up with music or a specific song in my head. For a long time now I have been thinking I should write down the songs that I wake up with so I can laugh about it later or so that I don’t forget. I guess it is like people who write down their dreams so they don’t forget. I have always loved music. I don’t play an instrument but tried to play the piano as a kid. I hated my teacher and I have a problem with following through on things. I grew up in a house that always had music playing, sometimes in all rooms of the house. I come from a big family – not Duggar’s style – but I am the middle of 5 children. I know I know – ugh the middle child. But my mom says I’m a unique middle child because I was the baby of the family for a while – then the middle child – then the oldest for a while. So I’m definitely all over the place and if you are a close friend or family you know how true that statement is for me.

Anyways, back to music. Not only was music always playing at our house, it was always playing at my both of my grandparents houses. I have the greatest memories of my grandpa (my mom’s Dad) watering his roses in his short shorts, a white t-shirt and flip flops dancing around to Frank Sinatra blaring in their backyard. All the while my grandma in her cute summer time bathing suit cover up getting us kids drinks, snacks and whatever we wanted. We also used to go to the beach every Monday with my other grandparents (my Dad’s parents) during the summer and we would all sing a long to the music that Tutu (grandma in Hawaiian) chose. Her favorite was Patsy Cline. We would all pile in the “Pickle” or the “Little Red Wagon” (their two VW buses) and sing all the way to the beach. Tutu in her fully color coordinated outfit – bathing suit, visor, flip-flops, towel – right down to her ice water cup all matching! My grandpa in his white V-neck t-shirt and coordinated shorts to whatever Tutu was wearing. Don’t even get me started on how she made us all match. My eye is twitching now!

All these memories have music tied to it. I have always realized that a lot of my memories even down to today have music tied to it. So most of the time when I wake up with a song in my head I think – why the heck did I wake up with that song in my head! I will sing it in my head for half the day and think about what it reminds me of. So this is why I’m starting this blog – to write down the music memories or just funny stories of friends, my family & me, or just to entertain you with the weird songs that I wake up with.

I hope you enjoy.