A Concert Under the Stars

Last night was a big night out for us, we went to the John Anson Ford Amphitheater and saw The Airborne Toxic Event with the Calder Quartet. Yes, we did it on a "school night"! Airborne (as I understand they're called for short) is Sevren's favorite band and he was so excited to get to see them live. We went with my brother and his fiance which made it more fun. The amphitheater has about 1,200 seats but I have to say it feels like less. The natural setting also adds to the ambiance and intimate feel.

Thanks to Zara's speed walking we ended up with awesome seats - probably 8-10 rows back from the stage in the center. It all happened so fast...The doors opened we all walked in and the next thing you know Zara was across on another aisle and down 10 rows and then standing guarding the last 4 seats of a great row. Awesome!

I really enjoyed the concert and thought they sounded really awesome. I have to say that there's something about going to a concert and not knowing all the songs that makes it a little more fun. I got to really enjoy the music and the experience without singing the lyrics in my head! The funniest thing that happened was the gal in the band (Anna) fell as she stepped backward over something, somehow she kept her violin from dropping and she popped right up and kept going. Thankfully she wasn't hurt so that we could chuckle about it!

I'm posting a couple of pics below of the night. There was "No Flash" photography so most of my shots are not totally clear and the band jumps all the time so I will um, claim that some of the blurriness is from that - you can believe it or not. I will probably add a couple more as I go through the shots and pic my favs.

If you ever have the opportunity to see these guys in concert, I say jump at the chance. It's definitely worth it!

Bryan & Zara before the show

Sevren & me before the show

The stage (so you can check out that natural backdrop!)

The best shot I have of the entire band (including the Quartet)

Fun at the Fair

We had a great time at the L.A. County Fair even if it was the hottest day of the summer! Sevren's phone was sending him "heat warnings" because it was 103 in Pomona. To be quite honest it seemed hotter than that!

Here we are taking a break in the shade!

I was a little disappointed with the vendors this year. They didn't seem to have as many good ones as last year. Last year we had almost too many brochures! This year I think we have 5. I did get a refill for my "wonder mop" plus some of their awesome "towels" for dusting and cleaning windows. And I got to go down the giant slide for the last time (more on that later)!

Observations:

1. Too many people drive those scooters and clog up the aisles in the buildings, I wish they could ban them, it'd make the fair experience way better. I guess it's them and the strollers and the giant wagons (even though as a kid it'd be awesome to be in one) although, the strollers don't bother me as much. Except for that lady that tripped me with hers...
2. Too many people wear the wrong clothing for their um, shape.
3. Vendors need to be more proactive and ask questions. Good example - After answering a couple of questions about pool resurfacing asks: "Can we make an appt to come to your house on Tuesday?" Loved it! Told him so and then said no we're not ready. Bad example - Selling solar power for homes - wasted our time talking about electric cars and how they'd raise our electric bill. Um, we don't have one and don't plan on getting one, we just wanted to know about how solar would help our house. Go preach to another choir, we're not in yours.
4. Pots and pans are not "just" pots and pans at the fair. We were HOT so we sat and listened to a demonstration of these pans. Sevren asks me "How much do you think they cost?" I say "My bet is $400 for 3 pans." I was so wrong it wasn't funny. 3 pans cost $1,300 yes there's a comma in that number! For the entire crazy set of like 12 pans it was "Just about as much as you'd pay to carpet your house" which equals $5,400. Thanks for the free plastic juicer and the hour entertainment. See ya.
5. Crazy people still win those obnoxious large stuffed animals and then carry them around. What do they do with them when they get home? And speaking of home, how do they get them there? Do they think they count so they can drive in the car pool lane?

And finally...

The Giant Slide is still as awesome as ever! Yes I spent $5 to spend 5 seconds sliding down it but man, those were some great seconds on a big yellow slide on a potato sack. Here I am enjoying myself on the ride down!

Heading to the Fair

I'm so excited! Tomorrow we are going to the L.A. County Fair's opening day. It's a buck if you get there between 10am and 1pm opening weekend. A buck?! Now that's awesome. I can't wait to hear all the crazy people trying to sell me knives, pans, mops, saws, pools - whatever! And see what crazy new stuff is out there. It amazes me how many random things get sold at the fair.

Last year we bought a "wonder mop" because our house has a lot of laminate flooring.

I gotta say I use the mop and really like it and the bonus towels (of course there was a "bonus" it is the fair after all!). I'm hoping to pick up a few more towels this year and maybe they'll have a new mop head too!

I also have to take one last ride on the Giant Slide that is being retired this year. I remember riding the slide with my dad and brother. We always had so much fun and I was so excited when I was finally old enough to ride down in the sack by myself. We seemed to always ride it at night and I always looked forward to the ride.

And finally, after we've shopped and I've ridden the slide maybe we'll treat ourselves to a deep fried "something". This year one of the vendors has deep fried Klondike bars. I tried a deep fried twinkie last year for the first time. It was good but what kills me is I spent like $4 for something deep fried that I could buy for 35 cents in a vending machine. I guess that deep frying and people employing is expensive!

I hope to have fun tales and pictures to share with you later this weekend. And btw, hurrah for the 3 day weekend!

Desk Sharing

I work from home and our cat, Chloe, loves to share the desk with me, especially in the afternoons when the sun is blasting in the window. Thankfully, I recently got a larger desk so its easier to share the space.

Here she is sharing my old desk. You'll notice that she's sitting on my notepad so I have to get her to move to write anything down.

Here she is on my new desk spralled enjoying the sun. I don't have to disturb her to write anymore.

Needless to say we're both much happier with this new arrangement.

Second Time Around

Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 tries to get something right or make it a habit. I tried blogging once before but lost inspiration. I've been looking at a number of blogs over the past weeks and decided that there's no time like the present to try again and look for the inspiration in the small things and not the big things. Before I waited for a big "a-ha" moment that I should blog about but have realized it's really the small things that can make bloggers stories interesting. So now to start on a quest to blog about the small things. And note to self don't use "blog" so much because I will end up saving this with the word "blob" instead. And who wants a blob on their first post?