B-I-N-G-O!

On saturday my family- well part of them- came up to Nolden for cocktails and snacks then as the sky opened up and a heavy downpour of chubby rain descended we headed to south pasadena high school to play bingo!

Discovered in 2010, this bingo hall is conveniently located about a mile from our home, has a $15 buy in for 22 games- each paying out $250 to the winner!, and for some strange reason is fun- although it's not quite Vegas fun! My family had asked if I knew what I wanted to do for my birthday and I thought this would be grand.


In corner number one we had my aunt Jan, next to the queen herself my grandma, next to the original queen my mother, and a lady who often wishes she was a queen- a drag queen- Monique.

In corner number two we had the men- thats the corner I was in!


My dad, seated next to me, seated next to monkey. I guess it made it easier for all the drinkers to pass booze to each other underneath the table!- something I really need to work on.

Did anyone win some people have asked. No, no we did not. However it was fun. Unbeknown to us this night had a jackpot raffle prize of $5000, therefore every seat in the house was filled so we didn't really get to sit in a bingo circle, as its known however glad we went. Also note, they ran out of tri-tip sandwiches... we'll have to go back! Go back too because Monique and I got a free game card for playing bingo in the month of our birthdays! a $25 value! And I just must write that I like it when I get to spend time with me mom and dad- not enough of that lately.


Monkey gives up! I don't think Monkey will be going back as he surrendered somewhere between I 23 and O 71. Ironic for someone who enjoyed math more than he thought he would however could not keep up with the bombardment of numbers!


BINGO!

Among Friends

Chef Monkey in Training. On saturday we had our friends over to warm up our house yet again however this time we were fortunate enough to have borrowed a canopy and broke in the new firepit given to us by my LOVELY family.

The morning began with alex making sushi- entirely from scratch- I think about 100 pieces in all. Then he made canapes! As I watched him I thought about how much we have gotten our shit together and just how far we had come in life. Good thoughts.



Each invitation we sent out had a clue within saloon doors that led our friends to find individual bottles we had made for them.


Complete with pictures of us drinking together and poetry about alcohol, it was the thing to get people feeling right at home! On Moniques bottle it read 'To always doing sober what you say you'll do drunk' as our plans are quite elaborate at most times bar side. The back of the bottle had a label which read:

Established in 2010 La Chateau Nolden
has become known for it’s fine wine, fine food,
and finer folks. All grapes are hand picked for
freshness and stomped on by only the
finest millipedes.

Government Warning: Consuming alcoholic
beverages may cause pregnancy or blood
stains on floor. Objects in rear view mirror
may be sexier than they appear.

I also made brownies- which appeared to be a favorite- as one of the guests exclaimed- I want to have sex with these brownies! Sadly I did not capture that on film.



I was most impressed and felt loved by everyone as everyone made it- well with the exception of Ashley who had to help her cousin move. We chilled by the fire all night until the wee hours of morning and I feel the party was a success! Music screamed in the backyard which gave way to a small 80's dance club...complete with friends wrapping around the bars on the canopy strip style!


The guys!

It isn't often we all get to be together anymore as we are all busy and doing our own things in life however for one brief moment we all set schedules aside and it felt like old times.

Thanks Nolden for making our friends comfortable and I now feel somewhat whole after having our family and friends over. It will be a long week now as this has past and I am thinking who will visit next?????? Will it be you?

I love the people in my life!

:)

Vagina Weekend 2010

Us!

Ok my internet has not been my best friend lately and as my sister says to me, when are you going to just give in and pay for internet- NEVER! I answer. The beginning of this month I was honored to host our annual Vagina Weekend. Seeing as how I am 1. Broke 2. Anxiety prone as of late and 3. in a new House! I thought it be good to have my beautiful family here. It turned out to be a very relaxing time. The weekend look something like Victorian Home Tour, Followed by Wine Tour, Followed by Bingo, Followed by a MASSIVE flea market, followed by more shopping, followed by eating, followed by relaxing, followed by bonding. I was happy, yes yes I was. I love the idea of spending the weekend with me mom and sisters, Love it!



Bingo! Obsessed older ladies fighting for some confusing form of connecting the dots- not at all like the bingo you remember!


Mt Rushmore Flask... Best find!


Authentic Knights of Columbus Hat- say what $50 bucks?!

Good times Ladies! Good Times.

Slow Cook Weekend

I set out to do more when I moved and I feel this weekend was good for it, well today anyway. I busted out the slow cooker and the slow cooker recipe book I got about ten years ago from me mom and actually used it. The trouble was- well two things really. I could never use the cooker because well frankly I was lazy and it took the food too long to cook but mostly because I had a dog who liked to eat everything and I was always afraid she would jump onto the counter to eat the stew! I wish she would have- I miss her terribly in a neighborhood so full of dogs. I met a puppy from across the way today, a small black rot mix of 12 weeks old. The woman who owned him didn't speak English that well and I know my Spanish sucks so I guess I got off lucky otherwise I would have figured out where she got him and gotten myself one. He ran around our house for awhile and pee'd on the floor and both Alex and I thought, maybe we should puppy proof the house a little more first.



Anyway, so now my chowder it's in it's finally stage- I give you corn crab chowder, damn this house smells good. I also did a bit of gardening this weekend, well I guess I call it that. I half assly pulled up the weeds in the front garden and laid down potting soil, wet it, and threw wild flower seeds on it. I hope something grows. Who knows. I got that specific mix because the package boasts it invites animals and hummingbirds, bring it!



And alex helped me put these up tonight. To give our little home on the prairie some more pizazz we got gingerbread wood cut outs for the porch. Cute! Now I can follow up my monday off with a mint julip on the porch.

Hello.

Ready Set Go - 2010

It's been awhile since I posted on here as much has been going on. The holidays are over and as I sit on the couch in backyard with the warm sun on my back it feels good. I finally broke in Nolden having all my family up here at once. Now it feels more like a home than a house and my nausea is slowly subsiding.



The house warming began with a Mexican feast we felt fitting since we now live in Highland Park which is, I'm guessing, about 90% Latino families. For Christmas my dads mother in San Diego gave me the china set she purchased in the 1950's when she got married so Monkey and I used this to feed to fam. You know the house wasn't as small as we thought, everybody fit!!! It was cold and raining outside so the patio was off limits but we threw some extra chairs in the front room and boom- party!



Bodhi and Zoey were right at home going through all my pirate treasures and I taught them how to load and shoot flint lock pistols and though they were only props they didn't know it! Suckas! It was just so nice to look around at everyone here and a feeling of calm and happiness came over me as we played games in the front room- it kinda made up for all the bullshit and stress it took getting into this place.



New Years was held at the Prine house- the place I still call home- and that was also nice. When everyone is here- San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Davis, and we pile into Agnes I get a feeling of calm and togetherness..sure it could have been the liquor however I opt to believe it was family! We had karaoke lobster steak and nasty joke telling fire side in the backyard till 3:30am, yeah I'm proud! Good times! Yes it is true that as we are related to each other we sometimes cross the line however it's great to no 'that's not concerned off limits!'.



When I think about 2010 I think about taking a vacation- my road trip partner pictured above. I didn't take a vacation in 2009 and sometimes that in itself I find amazing. The plan is to route an adventure up to South Dakota and stay in Deadwood for a few days, stopping by the brothels in Nevada, ghost towns, Corn Palace, and also hitting up Casa Bonita in Colorado - a monkey request- on the way back down. Maybe June or May?

Well I am now off to research what types of plants to get from Lowes so I can start working on the front lawn- currently it is my ashtray but I know we have to step it up! It's currently 63 degrees at 10am and a high of 80 is scheduled, ah California winters!

Welcome 2010 and thanks to family that helped me get here-- you know who you are!

cheers!