In addition to taking some photos at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, we also stopped by some train tracks in LA recently.
I thought I’d share at least a few of the photos I took that day.
I like how gem’s dress went with the colors of the graffiti.
That’s all for now. Enjoy!
Last month we celebrated the gem’s birthday by celebrating the last day of her twenties! She wanted to do something that reminded her of her twenties (although we modified for out appropriate ages).
We started with Jell-O shots! But as it was a work night, we started early… and used champagne. gem gave me the calorie count too, because that’s what’s important now, haha.
Dave & Buster’s was the perfect location for the celebration. We started with dinner (after snacking at her place). When gem couldn’t decide on a dessert, Edward and I insisted on ordering two.
Squeezing into a photo booth, we did our best to all get in the frame. The birthday girl’s best wasn’t good enough. You’ll notice she’s the only one not visible in any of the photos.
Round two was better. Now we can see gem! We’re a really gorgeous bunch.
gem played some Kung Fu Pando Dojo Mojo by following along with Po and punching the sensors. She was a lot better than I was! We also played a few rounds of air hockey, some trivia, and my favorite – Pac-Man Battle Royale.
I think Anela’s ready to play professional football after this. She seemed to get into it! I played a game with Anela that involved hitting lit up sensors faster than your opponent that was pretty fun. gem and I also played a DDR knock-off. I didn’t catch the names of any of those games. Edit: Thanks, YouTube! It’s called Gridiron Blitz!
After D&B’s, we headed back to gem’s to eat some macarons. We split them five ways, hence them looking all cup up and ugly here.
It’s not a birthday without “Happy Birthday” hats! Most of us even sat up for the photo…
Even some of gem’s stuffed friends joined in the celebration by wearing hats.
Speaking of hats, my gift to gem involved hats in a way. These are characters from Jon Klassen’s “I Want My Hat Back.”
Okay, this is embarrassing. “I Want My Hat Back” is a children’s book that gem and I both like. I already had voices for every character, so performing it as a stick puppet was the next logical step. You should support Klassen by purchasing it from Amazon or Barnes and Noble!
It seems to me that gem ended her twenties with a pretty terrific night.
Back in January, I visited the snow for a fun and chilly afternoon. Anela wanted to do a photoshoot in a new, purple dress she made. She invited gem to take photos, and I took a few as well. I don’t want to post many or show off the dress much. I’ll let Anela make any edits and decide when to release them, but she said I could post these. This was my favorite shot.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes of the photographer at work! gem’s so tokidoki’d in this photo. I love it.
Anela took this of gem and me. Is it too nerdy to admit that gem reminds me of a jedi?
Awkward selfie time. There were some better ones, but I thought this one was funny. There were also some far, far worse ones that I thought the girls wouldn’t appreciate being posted.
gem took this photo of Anela and me. Thanks, gem!
We’ll end the post with this derpy little snowman we found. This was only my second time seeing snow – both thanks to photoshoots of Anela. It was a fun day!
A few weeks ago, gem and I went to see Suburban Legends at Lake Forest Palooza. While they were playing, I ran into Tazy!
gem and I also danced with All the Way Jay of the Maxies! It was his birthday!
I had to get my photo with the legends themselves too!
On a different day, I was an extra at a filming of a movie called The Big Day. Suburban Legends did some music for the movie, so they were there hanging out. It was pretty awesome. We even got to be in a promotional music video!
gem wins the awesomeness contest though for getting a picture with the band… with her ukulele… on stage! Yeah! I don’t want to post it because she should get the pleasure of sharing it herself. Fun!
This weekend I went to a Blacklight Run with gem and Anela! It was totally fun; we got covered in paint, glow powder, glow sticks, and good vibes! This is what we looked like at the end of the night.
We jogged a bit, but mostly we walked and talked while enjoying the party. Periodically there were stations where staff members would throw more glow powder on participants. 
Of course, you can also grab handfuls of the powder and throw it yourself!
I got fairly covered.
At the end of the run was a big, glowing party with a DJ and tons of glow powder and glow sticks!
It was fun!
This guy was pretty sweet.
Anela looks like a neon flower child. I love this.
I think you have a little something on your face.
Watch out, gem!
I have no idea who these two women are. Nope.
Despite not being super close the party, the cars still got covered in glow powder.
These were taken the next day in the light.
When we were done with the Blacklight Run afterparty, we headed to my place to watch a movie and eat. I dropped gem off at her place to shower and then picked up tacos from Del Taco. The guy at the drive through said something like “what the…?” when we pulled up. We were still pretty glowy. We took the tacos back to my house, and once we all showered and gem was with us again, we popped a pizza in the oven too. gem brought two homemade ice creams, a cookie from New York, and a tasty new kind mashed potato creation. Anela’s bar results came out this weekend, so I had baked her a pie – either to eat in celebration or in which to drown her sorrows. Luckily it was the former, because she passed on her first try! 
She said she preferred “ooey gooey berry” pies, so that’s what I tried to bake.
Here’s Anela with her celebratory pie. It turned out delicious, and everyone enjoyed it. Hooray! Congratulations, Anela!
It was an awesome night with full bellies and happy memories. Thanks to gem and Anela for making it so epic!
Last night I had dinner at The Playground in Santa Ana to celebrate Edward’s birthday. I’d heard great things about the restaurant, so I was pretty excited. I’ve been trying to save money, and I also heard it was expensive, so I was hoping it’d be worth it. But how could I say no to birthday meal with one of my closest friends?
Jan Enters The Arena With A Steam Bun Challenge 8 to be a judge / 4ea tried & true. pork belly steam bun, forever unchanged.
Everything’s meant to be shared, and you can order in waves. The first thing we tried as the “Jan Enters The Arena With A Steam Bun Challenge 8 to be a judge / 4ea tried & true. pork belly steam bun, forever unchanged.” Yep, that’s the whole. I feel like it’s worth including the full detail from the menu here. The Playground has a menu that changes daily, but the pork belly steam bun is a staple that’s permanent. Jan, one of the chefs, wants to change it up. You can order the original or you can pay more to be a judge – you get one original and one of Jan’s new ones, but you have to provide feedback. We got two orders of judege orders and shared so we could all try it. The classic has guacamole and radish (so not exactly what you’d normally expect anyways) whie the new one Vietnamese-inspired with spicy… something… I can’t remember or tell from the picture now… and cilantro. I can think of a few close friends who wouldn’t like that, but all four of us agreed – Jan’s new dish wins! It was delicious!
Grilled & Chilled Wagyu Picanha Salad, Butter Lettuce, Yuzu & Seka Hills Olive Oil Dressing, Compressed Persimmons, Blood Orange, Cilantro, Radish
Next up was this salad. What are these words I don’t know? Wagyu are a variety of cattle breeds, including Kobe, known for high quality beef. Obviously. And picanha is a popular Brazilian beef cut. Honestly, the salad was one of the my least favorite items on the menu, but that’s mostly because of how awesome other things were.
Brussels Sprouts Caesar, Jalapeño Dressing, Cotija, Tortilla, Cornbread Crumble, Radish
Holy crap. I think this was the best thing I tasted all night. Can I figure out how to make this? Maybe? It was amazing. I’m going to try to reverse-engineer this.
Pan Roasted Wild Mushrooms, Goat Cheese Cream, Fried Acorn Squash, Hazelnuts, Dried Cranberry, Crispy Sage
This was pretty tasty, but it paled in comparison to the amazing Brussels sprouts.
Maple Glazed Pork Chop
The pork chop came out next. Just look at that thing! They recommend you only order it if you have four people. gem carved it up for us, and man, was it good. That maple glaze was dripping with deliciousness, and I was sure to swirl each bite around in the glaze left at the bottom of the plate.
Brunette Downs Grass Fed Braised Beef Cheek, Brown Butter Toasted Farro, Kabocha Squash Puree, Shaved Apple, Pecan, Rocket, Jus
I didn’t realize how amazing beef cheek was. The beef just fell apart in my mouth and practically dissolved. Poor Edward was getting full at this point, but I devoured it.
Passion Fruit & Guava Sorbet
Honestly? Kind of meh. But it worked well as a palate cleanser between dishes.
Hazelnut Cake, Orange Blossom Tea, Toasted Coconut, Pineapple Ice Cream
This was the dessert I really wanted, and I’m glad we ordered it. It was tasty, but it wasn’t the dessert winner in my opinion. That honor went to…
Black Mission Fig Sticky Toffee Pudding
…the toffee pudding! Amazing. Can I cover it in Brussels sprouts and stuff it with pork chop and beef cheek? No, that wouldn’t be a good idea? I guess that’s why I’m not a chef.
This might have been one of the best meals I’ve ever had. In addition, the service was great, and the staff was very friendly. So, maybe I didn’t a great job saving money and not eating out, but it was certainly an awesome meal.
As an added bonus, here’s a photo of me and Carrie! You’d think there’d be one of me and Edward since it was his birthday. There is actually, but it wasn’t on my phone, so Carrie wins. Thanks for the fun meal everyone!
Edit: Carrie gave me this great photo of Edward and me!
In September, gem, Anela, and I went wakeboarding with my parents and brother. I was a bit slow posting photos from it, but I wanted to make sure to get these online.
The ukulele survived the trip unharmed!
Here’s my mom with Anela and gem.
Pete looks pretty happy with his boat here! This might be our last wakeboarding trip, because he wants to get rid of the boat. Maybe he won’t manage to sell it, and we’ll get to go out again. It’s already November, and it’s best to sell it when it’s still the best season to go out on the boat. I don’t mean to root against him selling it or anything…
gem took a few photos of Anela at the back of the boat while Pete worked on the engine.
Shes pretty much looking right at Pete here, so I’m sure he said something hilarious – typical Pete.
Here’s our rescue team! First there was the Rescue Anela, but then Rescue gem joined her!
We were all in varying states of injury, so there was actually much less wakeboarding than usual, and slower wakeboarding at that.
Here’s some evidence that there was indeed some wakeboarding at least. – Anela wakeboarding.
And here’s me wakeboarding. I tried touching the water a few times. Less than graceful, but so what? I don’t think it’s in the video, but they wanted me to switch hands turn around while wakeboarding. It didn’t go so well, but I still had a great time wakeboarding that day!
After we finished wakeboarding, we headed to Michael’s (after a brief detour to a pet store). I like this photo quite a bit. We ended the evening with both Eiswelt Gelato and Yogurtland and then some Super Mario Maker. It might have taken me a month and a half to post about it, but it was a fantastic day.
Happy October! While I didn’t get as much reading done in September as I wanted, I did a lot of other things. I took 30 yoga classes in 30 days at Purple Yoga, which was fun! When I realized I was close, I decided I could totally do it. And it was easy!
I also got the New Student Special at Atomic Ballroom, giving access to unlimited classes for a week. I took 24 dance classes and went to 12 dances, including evenings at Atomic Ballroom, Folly at Dapper Day, and dancing in Downtown Disney. You can see a lot of wristbands in the photo at the top. Alicia took this great photo one of the nights we went to Atomic. Yoda tried to squeeze into the photo too.
I don’t know who Cynthia is, but I’m stealing Luke’s Snap since I’m in it too.
I tried 6-Count Lindy Hop, 8-Count Lindy Hop, Salsa, Country Two Step, West Coast Swing, Country Line Dancing, Collegiate Shag, Bolero, Foxtrot, Milonga, Argentine Tango, Cha Cha, and Charleston classes. I already like Lindy Hop, and it’s still my favorite, but I found that I really enjoyed Argentine Tango and Country Line Dancing too – all for completely different reasons. Oh, and I might have tried to belly dance too. There’s totally no video. Thanks gem, Anela, Luke, and new friends for making the week fun! I ran into old friends and acquaintances and met a lot of new, cool people at Atomic too.
And I did squeeze in two tragedies by Euripides and some of The Aeneid as well as picking up Super Mario Maker. My body’s ready for tomorrow’s vacation! Time for Michigan with Duncan! I’m going with him on his yearly trip, leaving Friday and returning a little over a week later. Plans include a cottage, dinner with old friends, Canada, Niagara Falls, and Detroit – a nice combination of staying busy while also resting. Let’s go!
My favorite podcast, My Brother, My Brother, and Me, recently had a entire episode sponsored by Totino’s. That’s hilarious all by itself, but the episode was pretty great. One fan wrote to the show discussing how he prefers to pan-fry his Pizza Rolls.
“A few years ago I brought home Pizza Rolls to discover my roommate had broken the toaster oven. At the time, we didn’t have a microwave, and I didn’t want to wait for the oven to preheat. My solution was to grab a frying pan and some extra virgin olive oil and fry my Totino’s Pizza Rolls! They came out great, and now that’s the only way I prepare my Pizza Rolls. I cannot think of another podcast more suited for this anecdote.”
I’d be crazy not to try it, right? Last Friday was Pizza Day as The Aquabats would say, so it was the perfect day to try it out. Thanks to gem and Anela for helping make the video and eat delicious Pizza Rolls with me!
And the results? gem and I both preferred pan-fried Pizza Rolls. I thought they were awesome! We were in agreement that baked were next and microwaved were the worst (but still totally worth eating). Anela preferred baked over pan-fried but agreed that they were both better than microwaved. Well, two out of three isn’t bad. Thank you, Totino’s, McElroy brothers, and mystery writer to the show!
The OC Night Market was last weekend, and I ate so much. But first I looked at these cute crocheted buddies!
And these! Super awesome!
Someone took a sweet boobsnap of Jon. Who was it? No one knows. But it wasn’t me. And actually I do know.
We started our eating adventure with garlic crab fries and a hot dog with nori and spam. We got in line for more deliciousness, but the line was taking forever. After ordering, Duncan and I decided to grab food somewhere else while Jonathan and gem waited for our food. On the way to our soup inside a roll things, Duncan took my picture in this Instagram prop. He also found $10 on the ground. I think he won.
It took an hour, but we finally got our food – delicious pork belly in that gloriously soft and wonderful bread. Yeah, it took a while, but honestly, I’m also there to socialize and have fun, and that’s exactly what I did while waiting.
We also managed to eat sushi nachos from Samurai Burrito and a pork taco before getting to dessert (my favorite).
First up for dessert was the Horchocolata Delight from Orion’s Cookery, consisting of chocolate mousse, horchata tapioca pudding, dulce de leche dipper, and cinnamon-sugar whipped cream. Yeah, it was delicious. I bet I could eat chocolate and tapioca puddings together to simulate it!
After that, I had a Dirt Cup from Ice Cream Garden LA. The dirt cup is ice cream served in a plastic plant pot, covered in crushed Oreos to simulate dirt, and topped with a gummy worm and a sprig of mint. Amazingly cute and very delicious to boot! Not shown was my final dessert – some of Duncan’s funnel cake.
gem decided to work in the Hug Deli, which was a really interesting booth. They have a menu of various hugs – the Warm + Fuzzy Hug, Bear Hug, Beverly Hills Air Kiss hug, Gangsta Hug, The Long Uncomfortable Hug, and the Group Hug, each priced at two compliments. If no one’s working the booth, you can walk inside, put on the apron, and start serving up hugs! You can find Mikey’s Hug Deli on Facebook!
Rather than get a hug from gem, Duncan went to the other guy. At least he got a hug!
gem did really well. It was fun listening to people work up the courage to order a hug. One guy seemed a bit shy and wasn’t sure what compliments to give. His friends were talking about her smile.
“Tell her she has a nice smile.”
“She does have a really pretty smile!”
Pretty cool.
I was a little hesitant, but I had to get behind the counter too.
I only got one order. Thanks Duncan! I gave him a huge hug and swung him around a bit. His compliments were that he liked my chest hair and that I had nice glasses. You too, buddy!
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