Category: Sunday Mornings

Sunday Mornings

It is a restful weekend for us. After a week filled with work, day care tours, pediatrician meetings and baby classes, we are lying low as we wait for an oncoming late August heat wave.

Hope everyone in South Texas is hanging in there. My family has first hand experience with hurricane wreckage (twice, unfortunately). It’s always hard to watch others go through it. Stay safe and dry out there, Texans. My heart goes out to you.

And now some reading material:

Let’s have a great week, yeah?

photo credit

Sunday Mornings

This last week of news has made me sick. Likely you too.

I was in the grocery store earlier this week when suddenly the power went out. I was in the back corner near the deli, milk and bread, so when the power went out it was dark (see photo above). Although only about a minute, it felt much longer before the emergency lighting came on. It was completely and eerily silent. In that moment, I wondered if this was due to some larger event and my adrenaline kicked in. “Do I know where the emergency exit is?” I thought. No one knew what was going on and yet everyone remained calm and quiet. A few people grumbled of Korea/Trump and others felt totally inconvenienced. As people began abandoning their shopping carts, it felt like a scene out of a zombie movie. In the end, it was only a major neighborhood power outage, so no need to fret. I stood in what little light came through the front doors waiting to see if I could pay for my groceries and took in the strange peacefulness of a dark and empty grocery store. That I even had a thought of more danger now seems ridiculous, but that’s how anxiety works. How sad that I even considered the worst while in the midst of such mundane tasks.

While I hoped to be more of an escape for you today, it doesn’t feel appropriate. Keeping it short with only a few links, so that you spend more of your day with someone you love.

Stay strong and be kind to each other.

Sunday Mornings

I’m spending long days watching film submissions (shorts and doc features) lately. Let’s be clear, most of these films are not comedies. If they are, they aren’t often that funny. So between that and the news lately, eek! Talk about a bleak world. To be sitting and feeling this baby kick during screening or reading the headlines only adds to my anxiety. It’s a rough world out there and finding some sort of escape amongst reality has been tough to say the least.

We’re also in the long stretch of summer and the heat is playing with my head. I’m doing everything I can to not eat ice cream regularly. I’m tempted daily to make a giant peach cobbler (because the yellow peaches here have been ah-mazing lately), but fear of eating it all by myself in one – maybe two – sittings. Something’s gotta give. Today may be the day where I go for it. What do you think?

Grab a piece of juicy fruit and take a break with some Sunday morning reading:

  • A mashup of two of my favorite things: Sesame Street and Beastie Boys.  (And yes those are clips of Follow That Bird (1985), a film that made a HUGE impact on me. Lots of crying when Big Bird is turned blue (still to this day).)
  • NPR Story Lab is looking for great ideas. Jump on it.
  • LA with its lack of left turn signals has driven me bonkers since I moved here. I want a better explanation than this.
  • ICYMI, the Academy invited a TON of new members. A few familiar names on the list which was a thrill to see. Congrats to all.
  • The Louisiana Environmental Apocalypse Road Trip. My home sweet home has always been a dumping ground. I have a love/hate relationship with the State. Curious to read more from this series.
  • Our favorite BBQ joint in Dallas, Pecan Lodge, has teamed up with Williams Sonoma for a new BBQ sauce. IF we do sauce in our house, it’s usually homemade, but may have to make an exception and try this.
  • Give me all the. frozen. drinks.
  • Excited to see Cate Blanchett as Bernadette. Read it before next year’s Mother’s Day release.

Cheers to the weekend! Thanks for reading!

Sunday Mornings

Hi friends. I’m still here.

This is what’s been going down over the last three weeks:

Last time I wrote a Sunday Mornings post, I mentioned we were in escrow on a house. The exciting update is that we closed on it and moved in. (Side story: In the eleventh hour, this blog somehow help make the closing happen. The lender needed “online proof” that I was real, as though ALL the financial statements from every client, tax, receipt, or bank statement we sent was not enough. That and E’s IMDb page. Thus the life of a 1099 worker trying to buy a house in the 21st century. Absurd.) Homeownership has already kicked us around a bit and there’s still plenty of projects ahead. (If you know a great Los Angeles-based contractor to recommend, we are in need and all-ears.)

Within 36 hours of moving, we flew to Seattle for a week of SIFF activities and my sister-in-law’s graduation from nursing school. Will be posting about the festival fun soon.

Also, during these last three weeks, E and I learned I’m pregnant with a baby girl. That’s the other major-life-event that’s been happening in our world. We told many of our loved ones in person or over-the-phone when possible the past two months and only recently put it on social media. Being pregnant has been a surreal experience. The news itself was somewhat a shock to us (another story for an offline convo if you’re interested). Between the house hunting and work-filled spring season, I haven’t spent a lot of time letting the news sink in. Not to say that the emotions haven’t been there, because good. lord. the hormonal shifts are real/awful. Now halfway through this pregnancy and living in a new home, this new chapter is starting to sink in …and whoa. If you asked me in January what my summer would look like, this is NOT what I would consider it to be. I am excited, but cautious. Unsettled, but hopeful. And most of the time, just trying to remember to breathe every few seconds.

I hope this Father’s Day is a good one for you and your families. If you can spend time with yours, that’s amazing. (Facetiming the Captain will have to do for me.) If not, then perhaps toast in his honor. (Cheers to you, Tim. You raised one helluva man, who I’m excited to watch become a great father himself.)

And now for a few Sunday posts:

  • ICYMI, Jessica Chastain was on the Cannes jury this year and had excellent feedback about the film selection. Get it girl.
  • Amazon buying Whole Foods is huge news. Here’s one breakdown on why it matters.
  • A powerful thought to repeat this summer.
  • Putting this recipe on the list to try, once our kitchen is completely unpacked.
  • A friend writes a great piece about post-partum body image. (For me, the whole body-changing aspects of pregnancy has been one of the most emotionally difficult parts of it all.)  Please Stop Telling Me I “Don’t Look Like I Had a Baby”
  • I caught up on This American Life during my recent flight. While we’re on the conversation of body image, an interesting listen: Tell Me I’m Fat.
  • A handful of yummy mocktails and punches to sip on your porch or balcony this summer.
  • As I consider our new house layout and what furniture works where, it means I am spending more time on interior design blogs. I feel like much of what I find is created for Pinterest and not actually liveable space. Also, it’s as though people forget how expensive all this decor can be. A very frustrating process. (Yes, #firstworldproblems.) I appreciated Emily Henderson’s honesty in this post on the “Effortless Expensive California Casual” look.
  • Have you been watching Twin Peaks? I’m loving how dark and FUNNY it is. Also, the plot is moving so incredibly slow, but I’m still fascinated. #CaseFiles Twin Peaks

More soon. Although “soon” is used loosely these days.
Hope your day is filled with good coffee, smiles and a little laziness.

Sunday Mornings

A late start to the morning in Los Angeles. But it is still morning!

As you may have noticed, it’s been a bit quiet around here this month. Life has thrown a few curveballs and this blog has sadly taken a back burner in my brain. As I hinted at two weeks ago, E and I are in the midst of two major life events. The one I feel comfortable sharing at the moment is: we’re in escrow on a house. We were originally expecting to close this week, but between delays from the seller, broker and bank, things have been pushed more than once. Sadly, it is how this (absurd) process works, but when you’re mentally prepared to leave a place (and pack half your household in boxes) only to be delayed two more weeks… By Friday we felt frustrated, defeated and majorly disappointed. There was ice cream eating.

We’ve spent the weekend refreshing our mindset, planning and organizing around a new timeline and spending it with friends and respected colleagues that we love. Last night on the much cooler west side of the city, we enjoyed a laid-back and intimate dinner with colleagues of Eric (all filmmakers, two of them writers on Homeland which created some interesting convo given the news this week – and last night’s latest.) Today, our neighbor, Brendan, breaks in his new smoker, Lil’ (shown above) and we’ll be enjoying the fruits (err…meats) of his labor. A few close friends will join us for this final BBQ in this home.

Given the situation, I’ve spent spent most of my online time shopping for appliances and researching city permits/contractors (and starting Denver submission screening and viewing Cinema Eye Honor broadcast screeners), so links are on the thinner side this morning. I’ll be sipping my coffee and reading a few myself before making cole slaw.

  • Speaking of BBQ, tomorrow Texas Monthly drops this year’s Top 50 best BBQ joints.
  • I spent much time considering a career change. Have you? It takes you on quite the emotional journey.
  • On my reading list this morning: My Family’s Slave. (With a follow-up here.)
  • Is the gig economy working? This article is one of the better reads on this topic because it actually discusses the economics around employee vs. contract benefits. The gig economy is not going away, so something has to change to serve the those in the 1099 paid world when it comes to benefits, PFL, vacation, healthcare etc. Plenty of corporations already take advantage of the labor system in that way (E and I can attest to that first hand). Something has to give.
  • Palm inspired decor from sfgirlbybay.
  • A tea towel we may need for our future kitchen.
  • Y’all. Twin Peaks tonight! E just downloaded the Showtime app for us. (And if you need inspiration for food while you watch.)

Thanks for sticking around while I figure out a new balance of blogging and life. Announcement #2 to come. Cheers to a good week!

Sunday Mornings

It’s a rainy-like, cool first weekend of May here (and apparently in Yosemite too), so I’ve only been half-productive with my time. I’m mostly dreaming of next weekend when I finally have a proper vacation in one of my favorite places in California, celebrating my one year wedding anniversary with E.

While work is in a bit of a lull, personal life has been crazy town the last few months (with various announcements to come over the next month). Unplugging – and no cell phone service – for a long weekend will help.

Before I do unplug, here are a few highlights that piqued my interested online since my last Sunday Morning post. Curious to hear your thoughts in the comments.

  • Saturn drive (err…fly) by! Anyone else look at this photos and think…what exactly am I looking at here?
  • These pretty, bright desktop wallpapers put me in a summer mood.
  • The media bubble is real. This interesting article speaks to why that is: where the journalism industry jobs are, the overall shift from print publishing to online publishing and the economics behind specialized industry clusters.
  • Currently reading: David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.
  • I have to admit, I am intrigued by the Fyre Festival epic meltdown. In event production world, it has been all anyone is posting about (besides health care, of course). My favorite piece is still Chloe Gordon’s account. Forgetting to make people sign NDAs: amateur and crazy dumb. So many awful bros making so many ignorant and ego-driven decisions.
  • Small self-promotion plug: I was honored to join the stellar programming team at the Seattle International Film Festival this year. You can check out the full lineup here, and read some of the programmer’s picks including mine, here. SIFF runs May 18 through June 11. More on SIFF to come!
  • Cup of Jo ran a great series in April with food industry experts. Here’s a summary of their favorite tips.
  • While we were multi-tasking on something random, I streamed Blank Check (1994) for Eric. I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid and man, oh man, it is super creepy. In regards to the FBI agent: what grown-ass woman would flirt with a child? And if the roles were reversed and it was a man with a 12-year-old girl – nope, the movie would not be made. Ick. Ick. Ick.
  • I missed the memo on the yellow crayon, but blue is my favorite color so I guess this trade-off is ok?
  • There are days when I’m moving through the city and think “damn, there are a lot of people here.” Like 4 million to be exact.

Cheers to the rest of your weekend… and here’s for a little more kindness in the world ahead.

Sunday Mornings

It is Earth Day weekend and nothing like a heat wave in Los Angeles to remind you of climate change! E is away for a bachelor party and I’m enjoying some quality solo time. I decided to head west for the cool ocean air.

I found myself first near LAX, at a park watching planes take off and land. It is a weird quirk, but I am strangely fascinated by watching them. Then I explored Marina del Rey, finding a spot in a park to lay down under a tree and watch boats (err, yachts) come in and out of the harbor. After the past few months, I found a close kinship with a nearby sea lion (as shown above with a buddy), who only moved once… to sneeze.

Here’s a slice of internet fodder for you Sunday reading pleasure:

  • If you like analyzing photography, this is all kinds of intriguing: “Fairytale Prisoner by Choice: The Photographic Eye of Melania Trump“
  • I need to get back to my Seinfeld evening routine.
  • I need suggestions for summer reading! I’m adding this one to my library list. What else should I add?
  • Did you listen to S-Town yet? I binged on the flight back to LA and then finished it off from the couch. What’d you think? (I loved it.) An interview with host/narrator/producer, Bryan Reed. (Also a nice reminder: make sure you have a will.)
  • I only got through about season 2 of Girls before moving on to other shows, so I have not watched the last episode or season obviously and read this article prepared for the spoilers. Valid points made and hitting home to me. I wonder how much of the ending was influenced by Apatow. Your thoughts?
  • I’ve been drinking a lot of lemonade lately as spring has sprung. This cucumber lemonade will be next.
  • Anything Men Can Do I Can Do Bleeding
  • Anna Faris live-tweeted Chris Pratt’s Hollywood Walk of Fame morning. I’m not one for celebrity following, but this was cute.
  • A little Earth Day weekend reading. Louisiana, my home away from home. This is nothing surprising to me, just a sad reminder that where I use to live will likely not exist for my grandkids to see.
  • Space Mountain is my favorite ride at Disneyland. They are dropping the Star Wars decor and going back to being just a ride in space… As long as they keep the song, I’m good.

I hope your day has a little sunshine and wildflowers in it today. Enjoy a little mother nature if you can!

Sunday Mornings

Texas, here I come!

My suitcase weighs 49.5 pounds. It is packed to capacity. The other bag is full of shoes. Why a bag just for shoes? Because when you stand on your feet for 12+ hours a day (sometimes running into a theater) one or two pairs of shoes for two weeks is not going to work.

I’m ready for more BBQ and breakfast tacos, familiar faces and a big Texas sky. Plus Whataburger. I’ve been craving it all week.

Keeping it short and sweet on this travel day. Here’s a few odds and ends that have been on my mind lately:

  • A new podcast from the crew of This American Life and Serial! S-Town is here on March 28. I’ll be binging on my flight post-festival, until then no spoilers please!
  • Face palm.
  • ICYMI, Cate Blanchett & Richard Linklater start shooting the adaptation of Where’d You Go, Bernadette this summer.
  • I was sad to hear of the passing of Amy Krouse Rosenthal earlier this month. In case you missed it, grab some kleenex and read one of the of her last (beautiful) essays.
  • One of the tricks about finding a place to live in LA is figuring out how far you are from the freeway or airport, both as a convenience and for all the noise/pollution. You can look up your neighborhood here: National Transportation Noise Map. #NoiseNerd
  • More science to geek out: Scientists Catch Star And Possible Black Hole In A Rapid, Dangerous Dance. Space. is. so. crazy.
  • Late March/early April is FULL of great film festivals. Kudos to all my friends out there making it happening with amazing lineups this year. Indiewire (which use to have larger coverage of film festivals in general) has a post that gives a run down of some announcements.
  • This Tropical Strawberry Hibiscus Rum Spitz cocktail looks so deliciously bright and colorful.
  • This: “At the root of this is the American obsession with self-reliance, which makes it more acceptable to applaud an individual for working himself to death than to argue that an individual working himself to death is evidence of a flawed economic system. The contrast between the gig economy’s rhetoric (everyone is always connecting, having fun, and killing it!) and the conditions that allow it to exist (a lack of dependable employment that pays a living wage) makes this kink in our thinking especially clear. “

Enjoy this lovely spring day! Thanks for reading!

Sunday Mornings

Hello hello.

It has been a week. A being-hit-by-a-bus-multiple-times-and-from-different-directions kind of week. There was gelato. At least two pints of it. And Apollo 13. We watched both out of a remembrance of the late, great Bill Paxton (who I met briefly through my work in Dallas) and because when things are going crazy, it’s nice to watch something where literally everything went wrong – IN SPACE – and people survived. Yes, the movie still holds up. I still think it is one of Ron Howard’s best.

Short and sweet today. A few internet highlights to enjoy with a glass of ice tea:

Enjoy the day. Hope you get to take a nap. I will be!

Sunday Mornings

Here’s the thing, I had my full dose of winter the last two weeks. I walked through a blizzard in Utah. I’m all good on snow and cold weather for 2017, thank you.

Even though it is January, I returned home with an overwhelming urge for spring. I’m eager for spring colors, blooming flowers and Easter dresses. Yesterday we went out for an afternoon treat that seems more suited for warm weather: non-dairy soft serve ice cream. Since my health situation has made me lactose free the last eight months, I haven’t done much ice cream lately. That’s been tough because before this situation ice cream was one of my favorite desserts. This was definitely a decision stemming from my spring fever. Mexican Hot Chocolate with caramel sauce for me and thai tea coconut for E. It was delightful. A great escape with one bite.

Is it bad that I’m rushing through the year when it has only just begun? February and March are always a blur due to work deadlines, so I feel like I’m already looking ahead to April. How else do you slow down?

The internet was overwhelming once again this week. Too much to keep up with. Here’s a few highlights for your weekend reading pleasure:

Be good.
Be kind.

Cheers!