Harry and the Potters

While I have my hesitations about the whole Harry Potter phenomenon, I still love a good bandwagon and have caught some of the infectious excitement of my HP-lovin friends. I started the books about 2 years ago and am currently about 1/4 of the way through #6 in an attempt to catch up in time for #7. I have come to love the characters, although the stories sometimes seem repetitive to me - but that's another blog.

So, when Adam and I were at the Mission Viejo library on Monday, we were excited to see that the world-renowned band Harry and the Potters are playing there tonight at 7 for free! Unfortunately we can't make it because of a prior commitment, thought we may try to go to the Huntington Beach show on Thursday. Anyone want to come?


Yes they're for real. A band whose songs are completely about HP and the gang. I haven't actually heard any of their songs, though Adam occasionally sings lines to me such as "We've got to save Ginny Weasley from the basilisk". Very entertaining and perfect for those of you who truly love Harry with all your heart (no names mentioned . . . Reba, Adam, Lauren). Intriguing songs from their repertoire, among others, include:

Gryffindor Rocks
The Firebolt
My Teacher is a Werewolf
Stick it to Dolores
SPEW
Luna Lovegood is OK
This Book is So Awesome
Song for the Death Eaters

Check out their website, hear them on their My Space here, and here's their tour schedule. If you're lucky, you can catch them on tour with Draco and the Malfoys, the Hungarian Horntails, or the Whomping Willows.

The Martins

After a long, tumultuous week, last week came to a great end with a long weekend for Adam and I. The fun started Thursday night as we got to see some of our greatest friends - Callen and Michael who were in Laguna for a couple of days. What a treat! Have we mentioned how much we love visitors? Callen was one of my first friends at SU, and it's such a blessing that she is still a part of my life. Let's just go ahead and say it: Callen and Michael are Californians at heart. They've always loved the SoCal and are adding a love of the NoCal, as they've been on a road trip from Oakland to Laguna.

Of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to try out my new lens, so we played around for a while on the beach! Here are a couple of favorites:


Michael was a great sport, despite being a little more interested in the fishing than the photo taking!
After I wore out their smiles, we headed to Taco Laco for seafood tacos and finished off the night with my favorite new place in Laguna for gelato - yum!


Look for more of Callen and Mike on my photoblog within the next couple of weeks - I've been posting all of my recent pics online, so you can view them under "view proofs" on my photoblog.

Christmas in June

Yesterday was Christmas for me . . . maybe for the next few of years! I got a new toy and it looks a little something like this:



The Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS - isn't it just every girl's dream come true? Ok, maybe not, but for ME it is and I love it! We went to the Witts for dinner last night, and like any good gift, I couldn't stand to part with it so I brought it along. Here are the first shots I took with it. I'm very impressed so far as it was very low light and some of these were shot as low as 1/20, etc. Yay for Canon! Thanks to all of my friends for letting me have a camera in their faces all the time!

A rousing game of MarioKart:






After MarioKart, we moved on to Jonathan's request for Bandu. We were skeptical at first, however the game proved to be more fun than we thought! I think it's pretty self-explanatory from the photos. Be sure to click on this series for a better view of Courtney's great facial expressions and her gravity-defying structure (until that last shot).



Jonathan's winning structure - he's hard to beat!

TP's the man

I am, by no means, an avid basketball fan. However, my husband's enthusiasm for the NBA, and particularly for the San Antonio Spurs, is infectious. I have my limits during the regular season, but I'm all in during play-off's.

So, as the Spurs took the Championship in 4 straight games last night, I can't help but be excited for them, and for me, as my husband's good mood will hopefully carry through to next season.

And, yes, I am a little partial towards Tony Parker. He's always been my favorite - even before the days of being Eva's fiance and the Tournament MVP.

Here's a really funny article about predestination and the Cavaliers that I just saw on Thomas's blog. I love Reformed humor.

Niece: Installment 2

This is Sydney's reaction to bubbles. How long has it been since you've been this excited about something?

Can't get enough!

I keep this photo series on my desktop and open it at least once a day. I thought you might enjoy it too.

The Counter

If this photo from the recent Santa Monica blog made you excited, then you're in luck because last night we found out that The Counter is opening in Summer '07 in Irvine next to the new Chick-fil-a. Can life get much better?

Tag, I'm It!

Although I am prone to ignoring this type of thing, I'll definitely make an exception for this one. I've been tagged by my sister-in-law, among others, for this dining meme that seems to be spreading like wildfire. Since this one is food related, I'm happy to oblige and list my top 5 local restaurants. I've only been here a year or so, but it's been a year of good eats!

First, to clear things up:
meme: n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

So here's my 5 OC restaurant list, in no particular order. I won't say top 5 favorite, as I don't like commitments like that, but 5 restaurants that I like in general.

1) Roy's: Adam and I discovered the glory of Roy's on our honeymoon in Hawaii. It's "Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine" - how can that not be good? I think that the Maui location was the second of this chain, but we just discovered this spring that there is a Roy's at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Excellent. Their seafood is amazing with really rich and unique sauces. Of course, no trip to Roy's is complete without the Chocolate Souffle - yum! I just checked the locations and there is one in Atlanta, for you Southerners!


2) Wood Ranch: Wood Ranch in RSM feels like a little piece of home to me with really great barbecue, vegetables like sweet potatoes and mac & cheese (yes, I consider that a vegetable), and rolls! My friend Abbie works there, so sometimes we get to bump into her!


3) In 'N Out: What can you even say about this? Clearly its the best burger fast food of all time and a reason in and of itself to visit California. If you've been keeping up with the Platt's CA trip blogs, you know that they went 5 times in their 8 day trip. Cheeseburger, animal style, with a diet coke and if I'm lucky, a chocolate shake. Yes, please!


4) Chipotle: Chipotle is my favorite that I've found so far for a good burrito. It's a Moe's-style establishment with fresh (sometimes organic) and rich ingredients. Their burritos are huge, and are even better if you order lime chips and guacamole to go with them! There have been multiple rumors of one coming to the beloved Foothill Ranch, though so far we haven't seen any evidence of it. I still have my fingers crossed. Be thankful if you live near Lexington, Atlanta, Orlando, as all of those locations already have Chipotle. I read an article recently that it's the fastest growing fast food chain (it's more like medium-paced food to me) in the country.


5) BJ's: As I've gotten older, I've come to love pizza more and more. Seems like it should be the other way around, but I feel like I could eat it at least once a day and never get tired of it. BJ's is a great Chicago-style pizza place with tons of great variations - white, BBQ chicken, etc., etc. Yum. And, of course, who can resist their Pizookies. Basically it's cookie dough in a dish - baked about 75% of the way - served hot and with ice cream. I love the Laguna Beach location!

I've lost track of who all has and hasn't been tagged, but I'd love to hear from Melissa R (Bham), Courtney G, Cathi, and Ryanne (OC), & Abby (Louisville).

What a find!!

So, as I mentioned previously, we had quite a find when we made a visit to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

We saw a game and puzzle store and thought it might be fun to walk through to look at their puzzle selection. As we perused the aisles, my eyes fell upon the most glorious sight: a little thing I like to call the best board game ever. The Settlers of Catan!



We are eternally grateful to our friends the Blomquists for introducing us to this little gem. It was originated in Germany and has since been translated into many versions and languages. We've searched high and low for our very own version and finally found it (it was right next to the rip-off version called Settlers of Canaan - oh, those silly Christians. I read about it and the point is to get as many bricks in the wall of Jericho as you can).

I liked Settlers from the first time we ever played with Sarah and Daren. Even as the board was being placed, I immediately was drawn to it. How could you not love a beautiful, graphic playing field such as this?


While it is a little too complex to explain on here, we describe it as a cross between Monopoly and Oregon Trail. Yup, how sweet is that? We played 3 times while the Platts were here and then once this week with Daniel and Lindsey. Let me know if you are intrigued and we'll schedule you into our Settlers playing calender.

All hail the Lord of Catan (currently Daniel R until someone can de-throne him)!