Bahati Foundation Cycling Team Launch

We drove to downtown…to Club Nokia for the launch of the Bahati Foundation’s professional cycling team. It was a nice party, and it’s a great non-profit (check it out here.) The founder, Rashan Bahati, has a lifelong dream of showing up at Crenshaw High (his Alma Mater in Compton) with a UHaul truck full of new instruments for the band. He was a member of the band, who later escaped trouble and became a professional cyclist.
He brought the Crenshaw choir, band and dance team with him! They were awesome. So talented. I particularly loved the stomp numbers. 🙂

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Roses

I mentioned before that I planted my uncle Dave’s favorite rose in my front yard, the Peace rose. He visited my parents one year and planted one in their yard as a thank-you gift for staying with them. I thought I could start a new tradition and plant one wherever I live as a little “peace” of him. (Sorry that was an awful pun, but I HAD to).
Peace rose:

Well this weekend I went out to get some more bare-root roses before they are all gone, and I found another “tribute rose” — the Chicago Peace rose. You may be aware that my beloved cousin Bree is in Chicago right now, and I miss her SOOOOOO much, so I thought this would be a fitting rose to plant. It’s like the Peace rose, but peach and pink instead of white and pink. Isn’t it beautiful!?

Chicago Peace:

Photo credits:

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Wish List

I am interested in what your wishes are.
Really, I am. I also want to know if you have an inspiration board (a la The Secret) and if you look at pictures during the day of things that inspire you. If I did (but I don’t want people at work to think I’m any weirder than they already do), my list would contain:
A Boston Grand Piano
Seriously if I don’t have one of these some day, I will die. Yeah, sure, I’m gonna die anyway. Whatever. I’ll die SOONER if I don’t have a piano, and my choice would be the little number below. Do I know how much it costs? No thanks, don’t tell me. 🙂

A house

This is a sample of the quaint, unassuming house I want. I’m not asking for a mansion, people! However, the price of the house below could probably buy an entire county in another state. If it weren’t 70 degrees and gorgeous outside right now, California, I would leave you. I’m serious. (Okay, maybe not, I like my family too much).
No cavities/me not being stupid
This is not really a wish…I’m not sure how one wishes for “not” something (can I wish for no war? Should I have phrased it “healthy teeth”?) but if I had not been careless and stupid I would not have to pay a dental bill of almost $900. See what being cheap when you don’t have dental insurance gets you? (I’ll do the math in case you don’t get it. 6 years of cleanings, twice a year, at $75 = 900 spread across 6 years. 6 years of not attending the dentists’s office = 8 cavities in your formerly perfect and cavity free teeth = $898 in fillings DUE ALL AT ONCE + pain and suffering). DUMB.
(P.S. doesn’t this smiling child look like J?)
A BMW 7 series
Do I have to explain this? Nah. It’s just awesome.
Canon Telephoto lens
For Josh’s sporting events and just lots of other times when I would be totally bad-ass with this lens.
Here’s another fun fact. One house + bills + our two salaries = NONE OF THE OTHER THINGS ON MY LIST. But a girl can dream, right? And I didn’t want to nauseate you with my dream to own Jimmy Choos.
So what would you add to this list? What is on your list?
Check out my inspiration posts and see more wish lists here and here.

Source (piano)

Source (lens)
Source (BMW)

Source (no cavities)
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Oh So Cal…

I love you, and I hate you.
In case you aren’t sure what this is a picture of:

It’s me, stopped at a green light because the cars in front of me have no where to go. I think I was at this light for 3 cycles of its colored goodness. You may also note that it is 5:43 or something and I should have been home at 5:30. It took me an hour to get home that night, so I still have 15 more minutes of driving ahead of me. Or not driving. Sitting. *sigh*

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Become a fan and WIN!

[this could be you]
If you become a follower of my page you can win a free portrait session!

I will be choosing numbers with random.org, so it’s completely fair. Just become a follower, then comment on this post if you’d like to enter (if anyone joins who is too far away to benefit from a portrait session I can think of something else!).
Deadline: March 30, 2010
Prize: One lucky winner will receive a 30-minute “headshots” portrait session. Perfect for grads, new professionals, or, well…anyone!
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New Kitchen!

Center island (Pepsi on the rocks for me to celebrate it)It’s a dusty job, but someone had to do it…
Yuck! How gross!

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Up in the Mountains

This past weekend, J, Koal and I went up to the mountains. It snowed, which was a beautiful sight.


Koal sleeping in the car on the way home (well he would be sleeping if I would stop bothering him)
The snow through our windsheild.
Crazy dog–paw prints in fresh powder.

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Get Well Soon!!

My thoughts and prayers are with my wonderful friend, Kristin. I hope you are feeling better soon. I’ll be thinking (and worrying) about you all day!

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Goodbye, kitchen!

In the process of the kitchen remodel, J rips it out!

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The Ugly Befores!

To begin with, the condo had no lighting of any kind wired in it…so lights on stands were all there was. The ugly bedframe was left here, and J is in the process of scraping the popcorn ceiling.

Awful kitchen: it had never been updated (and I mean since 1964) and was complete with doors that didn’t close, marble print formica counters, and some painted rod iron. Yuck. The appliances were terrible! So was this oddly placed soffit (the dark spot in the top of the photo) with a hood for the stove and very little storage. The picture above the sink? It was here too.
Wow fireplace. This is very 1970s. Look at the MESS!!

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