A So Cal Girl in the Desert

On Tuesday evening we brought home a new puppy, much to the dismay of Kermit. My husband named the new puppy NASHA, which stands for "Not A Siberian Husky Again." You see, he's always wanted a Husky, but it would just be cruel to have one in AZ. I lean more toward the scruffy mutt types.

Nasha was born on July 4, 2005 in El Paso, Texas. We found out through the rescue group that the closer you are to New Orleans, the more animals there are to adopt and the less number of families there are to adopt them. So along with the Katrina animals, cities are sending as many puppies as they can to other states for adoption. Nasha came over with some Katrina puppies and she was in need of adoption. One family in AZ said they would adopt her, but then decided they wanted a dog with shorter hair. Geez! She's just about three months old, and a total spaz. Our ankles are bloody, and Kermit has been behaving like a cat, living on all elevated surfaces where she can't reach. We love her! Kermit will! Here are some photos for you to kiss...

For those of you who share my desire for straight hair and have to deal with the frizzies as I do, I have to announce that I have discovered a miracle hair product. Well, actually, my sister, Dana, has introduced me to it. When she told me to try it, I said "yeah, yeah, sure." I mean, I've tried EVERYTHING, so why should this be any different. Dana said that her hairdresser neighbor uses it exclusively and has hair like Eva Longoria. So I figured maybe it was worth a try.

Man! This stuff works great! So all my gal pals...BUY THIS! It's called Repair & Shine Silk Solution, Hair Toys Texture. It was thirty bucks for a twelve ounce bottle, and it's worth every penny. I can blow dry my hair straight, and it stays straight! It's shiny and bouncy! It's great. The bottle says you can even use it on your face "before make-up to achieve even application," or it can also be used as a make-up remover. Odd, huh? I haven't tried it for that, yet, and I don't plan to, but let me know if anyone out there does.

Those of you who know me know I'm a pretty smart girl. You also know that I'm prone to moments of complete and shocking lapses in common sense, which we call "pulling a Kristen." There are a couple of these I have pulled lately that just can't go without mentioning.

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased one of those cheapy digital watches at Target so that I would have something to time myself when I'm out walking dogs. I haven't had a digital watch since I was ten (I know, no excuses). So after wearing this plastic thing all day, it started to bug. I took it off and placed it on my desk while I worked on the computer. Then I picked it up to see what time it was, and it was broken!!!. The face read LO:E, and the seconds were counting off nonsense...ZO, LI, P8...my cheapy watch went haywire! I pushed all the buttons at random, and nothing fixed it. So I handed it to my husband and said "Honey, my watch is broken. It's making nonsense. Can you fix it please?" He simply flipped it over and handed it back to me.

Amazing, isn't it?

Then yesterday morning my husband called me on his way home from dropping our son off at school. He said he was about ten or fifteen minutes away from home. About a half an hour later, I started to get a bit worried, so I called him to make sure he was okay. "Hi Honey. It's me. Are you okay?" He laughed. "Yeah. I'm fine. But you could have just knocked on the door." Huh? "Are you home?" I said. "Where are you?" He asked if I was serious. Then I heard the bathroom door open. Apparently I was so absorbed in what I was doing that I didn't remember him coming home and talking to me before he went into the bathroom. Kinda funny, because my question "Are you okay?" was still appropriate for the situation.

Last night on our way back to Chandler from Maricopa, we saw the most amazing thing in the sky! Before I knew what it was, I described it as a huge spotlight shining in the sky toward a multi-colored spiral cloud. Weird, huh? We pulled the car over on the 347 along with a lot of other drivers. We thought maybe a fire, or something.

When I got home, I signed on to my trusted 85239.com forum, and someone had posted a link to the story on azcentral.com, which is where this photo is from. The first line of the article reads, "No, the War of the Worlds didn't start in the Valley Thursday night." It turns out that the lights we saw were actually a colorful exhaust plume left by a military research satellite launched from Vendenberg Air Force Base in California. The reason for the satellite launch is classified. People from Central and Southern California, as well as people from parts of Arizona reported seeing the launch. Amazing!

This past weekend I went back to L.A. It was weird. It felt like going home and being away from home at the same time.

My friend, Alyssa, picked me up at the Long Beach airport on Sunday morning, and we went to here house for a bit. I got to see her kids, which was great. They are so fun and cute. Alyssa and I had planned for me to come out about a month ago, when Virginia, another friend (we all worked together at JDA) announced she was having a bon voyage party at her place. Virginia is temporarily moving to Switzerland. Nice! So Alyssa and I decided I would crash the party as a surprise. And it was a surprise. Alyssa walked in ahead of me and said "I brought a friend...hope you don't mind." When I walked in behind, Virginia didn't even recognize me. I think it was one of those moments where the thing is completely out of context so you don't even realize what you're looking at. Once she saw it was me, she was very surprised. What fun! Her party was really nice. It was great to see the people I've missed, and great to meet some of Virginia's non-JDA friends I've been hearing about over the years. She provided a really nice spread, and we all hung out and talked.

My sister, Dana, picked me up at Virginia's place, and we were off to Moorpark, where she lives. It took us about an hour and a half, but we didn't mind because it gave us a chance to catch up. The rest of our evening was spent eating junk food (she said ice cream and Magic Shell was the vegetable) and gabbing. It was so nice to see her!

Monday morning we woke up and before taking showers or anything we went straight to Dana's favorite pet store, Healthy Pet, in Thousand Oaks. We were so excited! My sister and I are the only people we know who could spend hours in a pet store and not drive the other person crazy, so we're great pet store shopping companions. She's really gotten to know the guy who owns the store, and he has helped her lemon-of-a-golden-retriever, Hannah, a great deal. We shopped and shopped, and we ended up spending a FORTUNE. I won't tell you how much. I got Kermit and Rosie Rose tons of treats and things. Kermit's haul included a beer bottle toy that has a water bottle in it to make a crackling noise, vanilla flavored cow cheeks, greenies, dried duck breast, a flashing collar light, tuna biscuits, and a "Dog-on Television" DVD, which he loves to watch. Rosie Rose came away with a harness and leash especially designed for guinea pigs, new gourmet food, a talking treat dish, "just apples" treats, and a shreddable box with honey treat inside. Do I spoil my pets? Naw! My boys got t-shirts. Dana and I went back to her place and relaxed for most of the afternoon before going out for a great sushi dinner. I have yet to find a good sushi place in AZ, so I was very happy with the meal. After dinner we went back home and my sister got me hooked on this really great crappy and embarrassing-to-admit-you-watch show. She made me promise I wouldn't tell, so I must keep my sister pact--sorry!

On Tuesday we got ready and went to Beverly Hills for lunch (plus I had a Dr. appointment). We ate at Kate Mantalini. I had never heard of it, but my sister said it's really famous and all the stars go there. We didn't see any...oh, well! I had a great sandwich. Grilled Portabello with goat cheese and grilled lemon. It was fantastic! After some shopping at a nearby beauty supply store, it was off to drop me off at LAX. We were a bit early and were discussing what to do to kill some time, when I spotted a furniture store called "Casa Sweet Casa." I said, "Pull over! We have to go in there," since my husband and my decorating style is Spanish/eclectic. Let me tell you, I wanted to buy every single thing in the store! The designer gets antique doors from Mexico and makes them into all types of furniture. I ended up purchasing a king size bed. Yes! I bought a bed without my husband. I was a little nervous to do so, but it was too beautiful! I couldn't pass it up. If I have anything to say about it, we will be purchasing the rest of our home's furniture in that store, as we can afford it. I could spend a trillion dollars in that place. David, the designer and store owner, was a great help, and he said he could help us design our spaces and make custom furniture, or help us choose pieces that would fit best within our space. I'm sure he would! He could see the fire in my eyes! I only bought the bed because I want my husband to go back with me to pick out other pieces for the bedroom...we'll certainly need a dresser and nightstands. Woo-hoo! What a find. When I told my husband what I did, he was a little put-off at first, but once I described the store and showed him the pictures, he was almost as excited as me. We were in the market for a rustic/Spanish style king-size bed, and I don't think we could have done any better.

I was sad to leave my sister when we got to the airport. We had so much fun together. It was odd to be flying out of LAX to go home. I've been flying into LAX to go home my whole life. It was sad and happy at the same time. This trip made me realize that I really miss my family and friends and certain aspects of L.A., but there are other aspects of the area that I am glad to get away from. And I am so happy to call the Phoenix area home.

I'm known among my friends as the one who has really weird dreams. In the past few years, I've noticed that they seem to come in clusters over a few days--at least the ones I can remember. Then for the rest of the time I seem to be dream-free. Maybe it's hormonal or something. Right now I'm in the middle of one of the dream periods. Here are some recent samples:

FISH POO

This one I had a couple of nights ago. I was at my Dad's house (he passed away a little over three years ago) in the bathroom. I was going to do my business, but then I noticed that the bowl part of the toilet was loose (the part that in real life is just a continuation of the base). I tried to fix it, but it came off completely, and flooded the whole bathroom with about an inch of water. (If you're eating right now, you may want to save the rest of this post for later.) In the water was a ton of human poo and hundreds of fish––goldfish and white angel fish--all gasping for air. I had this dilemma about what to do. Whether I should try to save the fish or just try to clean up the whole mess and flush it down the toilet, fish included. What would I do with all the fish? They were looking at me, swimming around, gasping. It felt really helpless, and it was disgusting. I remember thinking how dirty the fish must be, and wondering how, if I did save them, I would ever get them clean. All the while my Dad was coming in and out of the bathroom acting frustrated with me.

My analysis: I think this dream has a lot to do with my feelings about Katrina. I've been really interested in donating to an animal rescue cause, as that's something really near and dear to my heart. Perhaps the fish represented all the people and animals that have been affected by the wrath of the hurricane. My feelings of trying to help but having it feel so hopeless make a lot of sense. And the foul water requires no stretch of the imagination to see the connection. My Dad acting frustrated with me probably comes from feelings of always wanting to please my father and feeling like I wasn't doing quite enough...me asking myself what my father would do in this situation. He'd probably be pleased with me for wanting to help with Katrina, but might question why I would choose to help animals when humans were in need. I guess I'm struggling with that, myself.

A NEW BOYFRIEND

Dreamed a couple of nights ago that I was dating Vince Vaughn.

My analysis: Too much US Magazine lately.

CAN'T GET TO CLASS ON TIME

Last night I dreamed that I was back in high school. I had a schedule that looked much like a newsletter, and I had a ton of books and papers, but no backpack to hold them in, so carrying them was a struggle. My first class had Coach Kelly (my high school cross country coach, English Teacher, and Graduation Europe trichaperonene) as the teacher. First, I couldn't find the class, then when I got there late, only seats that had very little room between me and the next person were available. Coach Kelly was teaching us about Europe ipreparationon for travel (just like he did in high school). I sat down in one seat, but had to move because the A/C unit was just over my head and was so loud I couldn't hear him talk. Each seat I moved to had the same problem. Eventually he let the class out, and I hadn't heard a word he said. I walked up to him to apologize for being late, and hwhippeded out this letter and was complaining about how a student had written it to him and how it was unacceptable. I remember there being a crude drawing of a woman's head at the top of the letter. He was bitching all about it, and I had to walk away to get to my next class. I got in one of those janitogardenerer carts...like a small flatbed. I sat in the back with all my books piled around me, and my sister, Dana, was driving. We got my schedule out, and I was supposed to go to room 200. We couldn't find it and drove all around over and over...

My analysis: I really can't figure this one out. I guess maybe I'm feeling a little lost and confused. Maybe about what to do next in my business. I'm really not sure! My sister has been really supportive of me, so that's probably where she comes in, but other than that...

If anyone has any theories, I'd love to hear them! Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!

I can't believe it! It's colder outside than it is inside this morning. I just got back from walking my dog, and I was cold in my usual t-shirt and shorts! I seriously have not been cold since we moved here over two months ago, unless you count the times when my husband turns the A/C up too high. After our walk this morning, I checked my weather widget and it says 63º. Wow! When I walked in the front door I felt toasty warm again. Welcome Fall!

Drove by the house this morning and saw a guy drilling holes into our window frames. I gave him a wave from the car, then walked over to him. Real friendly guy from Brinks Security. He asked me "Are you the proud owner?" I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was drilling holes all over the house for fun. The better for bugs to get in, I say. Turns out he was installing all of the window security alarms today and will install the phone lines and cables tomorrow. We weren't going to get a security system, originally, but then they sold us on it when they said it can be as good for keeping things in as keeping things out. It brought me back to my teenage years when after several successful escapes out my second story bedroom window I came to find it nailed shut with about fifty nails one night. My dad never said a word. The nails spoke for themselves. I don't think I'd have the patience to do all that, so my husband and I decided that the added security of keeping our future teenagers in at night, coupled with keeping the boogeyman out was a wise investment.

When we took Lee to see our house the other day, the electricians were just finishing up for the afternoon. They accomplished a lot, and Lee was brave enough to ask if we could go upstairs. They said yes! And we did! Here is a picture of our living room ceiling (taken from downstairs), lighting design courtesy of my father-in-law.



And here is the master bedroom...



This photo is taken from the loft over to the ceilings above the kitchen...



It was such a thrill to go upstairs! I'm sure we weren't supposed to, and the electricians probably had no authority to allow us to do so. Thanks, Lee!

My best friend is visiting from California! Yesterday we were out and about all day and had such a great time.

Our biggest event was also the most touristy. We visited Taliesin West in Scottsdale. Taliesin West and Taliesin, located in Spring Green, Wisconsin, are considered to be two of Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest works. I always thought Taliesin West was simply a home, but it is actually a complex that had studios and a campus for his architectural school, in addition to personal quarters. By touring the facility, we got to see first hand what Wright's organic architecture is all about. This was the first time I had ever seen one of his buildings, which is really sad considering I have a degree in art history and a bunch of his buildings are in Southern California. Let me tell you, the pictures you see in the books don't do it justice. Particularly interesting is the fact that we could only go inside a few of the buildings because most of the buildings are still used as the Winter Campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (currently has 13 apprentices) and living quarters for the students, the international headquarters for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and the site of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives.

Our tour guide, Don, told us that Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the first snowbirds to come to Arizona, meaning he was here only in the winter, while he stayed at his Wisconsin site during the summer. For this reason, he considered Taliesin West (designed between 1937 and 1959) to be a temporary "camp" and built it so that it could be partially broken down before he, his family, and students vacated the premises when the weather got too hot to handle. The walls are mostly constructed of indigenous stone and wood, and most of the roofs were constructed of canvas that could be removed. It took him thirty years to acknowledge the permanence of the campus and he said to his architects, both men and women "Boys, make this place more permanent." He originally wanted to use only materials that came from the region, but his wife insisted on glass in the open areas so that "critters" could not get inside. The property sits on over 600 acres of land now owned by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The land was purchased by Wright in 1937 for $12.50 an acre.

Our tour guide pointed out the flaws in the buildings' design as well as Wright's triumphs. For example, most of the wood he used was redwood, as it was abundant and inexpensive at the time. He didn't realize that redwood is not a desert wood and would soon rot and deteriorate. The school's apprentices that maintain the building now replace the wood with fir. His "Garden Room," which served as a living room, had a leaky roof, so he built interior rain gutters down all of the beams that would allow the water to drain. This is the only one of his buildings you will find that "experiment" as Taliesin West and Taliesin are the only projects he took on where he was his own client. Another client would have found the leaky roof unacceptable and would have had him fix the problem rather than get around it somehow. The campus is actually filled with these types of experiments. We also toured his private office, his living quarters, and his two theatres. Wright felt that people should live in nature, not just watch it out of windows, so none of his rooms were connected by indoor hallways. His rooms were connected by outdoor pathways and courtyards so he and his visitors would be forced to go outside when moving from room to room.

In addition to the buildings, Wright designed almost all of the furniture. He felt that the furniture in a building was part of the architecture, not an afterthought, so when he designed a building he would also design the furniture and lighting. He would then add a few select "found" pieces, mostly to add curves and soften a room. The tour was great because we got to sit in the furniture and touch everything. It was not like a museum at all...nothing was roped off.

We had such a great time. Even Little B enjoyed himself, and asked the tour guide some really thoughtful questions. I was impressed because I thought he would be very bored and mischievous. He paid attention for the most part. I was also proud of him for being brave enough to ask questions. I asked him how he felt when he was speaking in front of all the people (all adults except for one two-year-old). He said "I felt a little nervous, but I just pretended it was just me and the tour guide and the rest was just all black and there were no other people."

Keeping with the Frank Lloyd Wright theme, we then went to the Arizona Biltmore for refreshments. It's in Phoenix, about 30 miles away from Taliesin West. We enjoyed the view and had a cocktail. Even Little B sucked down a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Yum. With our new knowledge, we all played the "point out the Frank Lloyd Wright" design elements throughout the hotel and grounds. Total dorks.

From there we went to Richardson's, one of the best places to get authentic southwest food. We shared the roasted garlic appetizer, the aroma from which we're still enjoying this morning as it escapes our pores. The descriptions of the dishes on the menu aren't very comprehensive, which is one of the fun aspects of the place. You have a general idea of what you're getting, but there is a large element of surprise. The roasted garlic surprise was that it came on a huge platter and was enough garlic to feed a family of ten. It wasn't just garlic. It was elephant garlic. With that came a variety of roasted chilis, asiago cheese, jalapeño hollandaise sauce, and croustini as the foundation for serious spreading. We're all getting ready to go to the gym right now, and I feel very sorry for any others trying to work out. We STINK!

Then we took the BF to Water Works, where we took some nice photos and got wet because it started to rain. Since I've written all about this place before, I won't bore you with the details again.

We then took Kermit to the Bark Park. He had a blast, and Little B got every name of every dog, kissed every one, and got dogpiled. It was a nice cool (95º) evening for bark parking. Kermie was so excited he barfed (the usual), but this time it was at the park rather than in the car. We got in the car after the park and my husband said "Geez! Did we leave leftover food in here?!?!?" We all started cracking up. Nope. It's the garlic. Ha! It's a good thing we all ate it, or we'd be in some serious trouble. I really hope there's no one at the gym this morning.

Yesterday was so great and exhausting that today our plan is to swim and lay by the pool and do nothing else. Happy Sunday!