Shauna, Katie and Holly...wood!

Holly and I took a twenty-four hour excursion to L.A. to visit one of my best friend from high school, Shauna (aka "Cha Cha").

We stayed Wednesday night at Shauna's cute apartment in west Hollywood. Thursday morning, we ate breakfast at a little cafe called Aunty Em's. It was one of those cute, hole in the wall restaurants with mismatched plates and silverware and food that could rival any five star restaurant...and win! They had deep fried french toast, which was out of this world! They also had cute little cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, which we may have taken to go... (and consumed while still in the parked car outside the restaurant!).



Open-faced breakfast sandwich above; honey orange french toast below.

While eating breakfast, we discussed dream "alternate careers." One of mine would be to start a little place like Aunty Em's with my sisters. Only, it would be called, "Katinanna's" (shout out to Shauna, who came up with our restaurant name). Anna and Tina would be the chefs and I would be the interior designer and manager. I'd love writing the menus, visiting with the "regulars" who come in every week, choosing centerpieces, deciding what will hang on the wall and what our ambiance should be. Of course, I'm romanticizing the whole thing and completely ignoring critical (and unpleasant) tasks like bookkeeping, dealing with angry customers, PR, etc. But it's my fantasy and I'll create it however I darn well please.

Shauna suggested my mom donate some of her children's books for a reading corner. She said off the back of the bakery, I could teach private voice lessons. We could even open a dance studio that would host local community talent. Someday...


We had the opportunity to visit Pasadena and take a driving tour of where the Rose Bowl will take place tomorrow morning.


We found a Holly street in Pasadena, just like the one that inspired the name of Holly's blog in Austin, TX!


We also visited the incredible Huntington Library and gardens, which I never even knew existed. I was mesmerized.

My favorite stop was at the Desert Gardens. There were hundreds of different kinds of cacti that I didn't even know existed. It was beautiful.




Shauna (below) is standing in front of one of the lovely lily ponds!


We next visited the Chinese gardens, which were fabulous. I was so excited to find an entire area dedicated to bonsai trees! I don't think I've ever seen one in person before. My sister Tina would have loved seeing them because she collects miniatures. I found them fascinating.





In the library displays (where I didn't deem it appropriate to take pictures), we got to see a Gutenberg Bible, a King James Bible, and other preserved documents like letters dating back hundreds of years. This place was librarian heaven, and one of my best friends (who happened to be with me on this trip) happens to have a master's degree in library science and currently works as a librarian at a graduate school. As is quite evident, this was the perfect way to spend the day for all of us!

A person could spend days reading every single card on every single document and learn endless things about America's history in that place. They had an exciting display on the African American contribution to American culture in the early 20th century. It was so cool!

There was even more we didn't have time to explore, but I would love to go back again. And again. And again. Those who live close can sign up to be members, and visit whenever they want. That would be ideal! There really is so much to do and see that one day does not give the place due credit. Even going at different times of year would make it a whole new experience because places like the rose gardens are seasonal.



Moral of the story: My friends are awesome and so are the Huntington gardens.

Shiny Little Surrey with the Fringe on the Top

Today, we had all eight of us together for the first time...ever! It was a wonderful day enjoying an absolutely gorgeous, perfect day in Santa Barbara.

First, we went to the beach and rented the biggest surrey they had available and crammed all eight adults on it with six people pedaling. We had some adventures crossing the busy intersection between the rental store and the bike paths. We have three kinds of people in our family when it comes to adventure...

1) The rebels without a cause (Shana and my dad),




2) The strict rule followers (my mom, Joe and me),




3) and the ones who kind of play both sides of the coin (Tina, Jer, and Anna).


For example, my mom and and I were mortified when my dad and Shana even suggested riding off a curb with our enormous family bike. But they won and off we went. And it might have been a little fun. I felt so edgy!

My dad was in charge of ringing the bell!

We stopped to stretch our legs and meanwhile took some "couples" pictures.

Shana and Joe:

Tina and Jer:

Scott and Estella:

All the single ladies:

All the kids...6 so far!

We went to the tide pools in the early afternoon and it was absolutely amazing!









There were sea anemones everywhere! They are so squishy. "And I shall call you squishy squishy and you shall be mine."


Tina and Jer were taking so many engagement type pictures that my mom and I decided to get in on the fun!


Shana and Joe had to leave for the airport after dinner, but I'm so grateful for this one precious day we all had together in 2009. Next stop...Tina and Jer's wedding in July!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

I told my sister-in-law that I didn't think my family really had any family traditions at the holidays. As Christmas Eve and Christmas day progressed, I learned I was so wrong it was embarrassing!! Our holiday festivities are so similar from year to year that they're practically scripted.

Christmas Day Tradition #1: On the night before Christmas, we used to all sleep in my brother's room and make him sleep on the floor while the girls took the bed. Now that he's married, we opted to put that tradition away and save it for our own children :-). Anna still came downstairs and slept in my room until 6:30 a.m. when I woke up and turned on the light to read, at which point she moved to Christina's room.

Christmas Day Tradition #2: We trek upstairs after we wake up Christmas morning and go sit on our parents' bed. Our dad brings up the stockings from downstairs, jingling the bells around the necks of the stockings. As kids, our parents would have to set a time for us to wake them up. It could never be earlier than 7:00 a.m. This year, for the first time ever, our dad came down and got US at 9:00 am. and said they were going to start Christmas without us if we didn't get upstairs in five minutes!








Check out the bed head. Gotta love it!

Shana's Christmas morning socks from her mom!

Christmas Day Tradition #3: After we open our stockings (always the best part!), we all line up in age order on the stairs (we fudged it a little bit on the age order this year, and I'm not telling how...) before we go in to where the presents from Santa are waiting.


Christmas Tradition #4: We all go in and open our gifts from Santa, then take turns opening gifts from our grandparents, aunts, and each other.





It's also basically a tradition that my brother gets a huge jar of pistachio nuts, which he and my dad consumed all morning.


Christina did a cross-stitch for my mom of her favorite scripture (which, of course, made my mom cry!). My younger sister puts me to shame with her craftiness.

Christmas Tradition #5: We make orange rolls for breakfast.

Christmas Tradition #6: We go see a movie on Christmas day. We always wear as many of our new little presents as possible, in the form of scarves, jewelry, sweaters, etc. This year, we saw the Princess and the Frog.

This year on Christmas, we did a couple new things as well. For example, we did some crafting for a few hours before the movie. Shana revolutionized the making of the flower clips by using my mom's big jar of buttons (great idea, Annie!) and a needle and thread (they stay together better that way than with hot glue). Shana has promised to teach us how to make Christmas ornaments using leftover tissue and ribbon (stay tuned).

These are Shana's creations (above). My creation is below. Shout out to Lane Farr who inspired the leaves.

We also watched family home videos. After watching myself, I was exhausted and slightly embarrassed. I was SO full of energy and didn't see a problem with flashing my underpants to the world. Thankfully, some things DO change and I think I have calmed down slightly (which could be debatable) and become more modest (hopefully no debate necessary).


And, this morning, the day after Christmas, we visited our family's favorite breakfast nook: The Summerland Inn Cafe!