As some of you may know, I’m making mustache napkins. Staci and I are obsessed with ’staches, right now. I want a domain for our mustache creations. It was going to be mustacheambush.com, but alas, it is often mistaken for something else when spoken. I’ll let you figure that out for yourself. Anyway, here are some available domains. Let me know what you think, and if you have a better domain name (that is available) please let me know! Oh, and I know that I have to take pictures of the napkins! I’ll post them asap.
Well, you see, Kim is from Kansas and has always wanted to be Dorothy. We fulfilled her wish this year and made quite the ensemble. I bought my costume and Brendan’s, but managed to make some key pieces for Angie and Derek. I made Angie’s good witch skirt out of my wedding dress underskirt, and helped her with her awesome crown. I made Derek’s mane and he added a wig underneath that really made it awesome. We finished up our make up and costumes and headed to LACMA for their Halloween Costume Ball. We made quite an entrance and more than a dozen people wanted photos of us, highly unexpected. It was interesting to see all of the costumes, and we found some good photo ops. We also checked out the Villians and Heroes Exhibit and were turned away at the Haunted Museum because someone was injured. Not sure what happened there. We missed the costume contest, and there wasn’t much music to speak of.
After the party closed at midnight, we headed to a party in the hills that Karlyn and Rick invited us to. It was off the chain! Open bar and dance music, we were set and lasted into the wee hours. I drove the drunkies around in Derek’s huge pickup, but all was fine, and we made it home safe and sound.
Kim and Rico hosted the 4th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. Everyone was a winner this year! We had fun gutting and carving the orange globes, and we sprayed them with Pumpkin Fresh to make them last. Not for long though. Brendan and I lost ours on day 3.
“What a great idea!” I exclaimed. “Let’s go meet Damon and Tricia in Mexico.”
July 16 – A month later we were on our way. After much BS with Mexicana airlines, (Don’t ever book with them. They charged us 4 times and we are still waiting to get our money back!) we made it to Cancun. We grabbed a cheap rental and headed south. After a pit stop in Playa del Carmen for some provisions and a few wrong turns, we made it to Casa de Gatos in Akumal. It was a condo in a small gated courtyard, and we happened to be the only guests. We ate at the hotel next door that had an Italian restaurant called, Que Onda. It was ok, and we were tired.
July 17 – The next morning we grabbed snorkel gear at the scuba place on Half Moon bay and hit the lagoon that was only a block away from the condo. Yal-ku was amazing. It’s a lagoon with fresh water springs that meet the ocean. It creates a weird, blurry mix of water at times, but it was refreshing and had lots of fish. We took a break and went home for lunch. Then, headed back for a little more lagooning. We peeled ourselves away to go check out the bay. I’m glad that we did! There were a few turtles swimming close to shore that let us photograph them. We’ve never swum with turtles and these ladies were huge and very passive. So cool. We went to dinner on Half Moon bay at a place called La Buena Vida. It had beachside tables and even tree houses and hammocks. We hung out there and enjoyed fajitas sin queso and Brendan had some Negro Modelos. A successful day.
July 18 – “Ok, we have to go to the Mayan ruins.” We were going to get an early start, but that turned into a slightly later start as we slept in. We drove to Coba which touts the tallest Mayan temple, a thing to be conquered for sure. We decided to forego hiring a guide and just wing it ourselves. So, we thought we were headed towards El Grande, but we went to another part of the town. It was great though, and we saw a temple that has some of the color remaining from their paintings. We’re trudging back towards the entrance, again foregoing a rickshaw ride or rental bikes and walking (what were we trying to prove?), and we here a guide say that El Grande is that way. Well, at least we’ve got good information, now. There behind the trees, El Grande reveals itself. O.M.G. We got some Gatorade and our second wind and started the climb. It wasn’t too bad. I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath. It’s really cool to make it to the top, and there was a nice breeze coming around the side of the temple. I’d like to the see the backside of the temple. I imagine it’s quite a drop. Oooo, they should have Mayan temple bungee jumping. Ok, maybe not, but still. Brendan had a little heat exhaustion, but we found a restaurant outside and refreshed.
Next, we had to decide between cave snorkeling or the beach. The beach won, and we headed for Tulum. There are also ruins there, but we were ruined out. Gorgeous beach and some small waves to play in, heaven.
July 19 – Time to leave Akumal. We decided to stop in Playa del Carmen and do a little shopping, lunch, and beach before we headed to the all inclusive, Excellence resort. But, wait, what’s this, why are there two police officers waving us over. Ahhh, they’re pulling us over. We’re you speeding? After some explanation in Spanish we ask if he speaks English, and he says, “Poquito.” So in a Spanglish conversation about where we are staying, going, and when we are leaving, the officer asks when we are going to pay the ticket. “Where do we pay it?”
“If you pay in Playa del Carmen, 1000 pesos. If you pay, now, 600 pesos.”
I immediately understand and get my wallet. Brendan asks, “Tengas dolores Americanos.”
With a grin he says, “Si, si. $60.”
Well, it’s better than dealing with a ticket in Mexico, and I think you call that a shake down.
The Excellence was drinking, swimming, eating, drinking, eating, sleeping, swimming, drinking, massage, hydrotherapy, more eating, drinking and swimming…you get the picture. Having Damon and Tricia there was the best part. We very much enjoyed it, and if you’re into all inclusive I would recommend it. We were glad that we had done some exploring before feeling tied to the resort.
July 21 – A last dip, a last drink, and a last meal. Off we go. We had a great time, and we had a layover in Mexico City. Flying in was crazy. It’s sprawling, huge and so compact. Quite a site and overwhelming even for an Angelina like me. Well, we made it home, for a day, then our next adventure. Stay tuned…I’m a little behind.
So my friend, Staci, and I are little obsessed with mustaches. She just had a birthday, and I gave her a set of mustache napkins that I made. When you wipe your mouth, you have a mustache!
I picked colors that she likes in 4 shades of a denim material, and sewed up some napkins based on a size we have. Then the fun part, I’d already drawn up some ’staches in Illustrator, so I cut out the shapes out of black faux fur. So funny. I may have to back some and make disguises!
Next, with the help of Brendan, I cut out fusible webbing to fit behind them. I ironed them onto the corner of the napkins. Turns out that they need some whip stitching to really hold them in place, but I love them.
My latest FINISHED project. Incredible that I finished something!
This was in Tara on Main St. in Santa Monica. They’re having a Store Closing Sale, and Brendan was able to haggle a decent price. The base was an Indian wheat grinder. They made the pillow top for it, and I was able to make a cover for that and add the button to the middle.
I actually stuffed and covered a button that I took off of Angie’s shirt. I cut a circle out of batting from a jewelry gift box, and cut a larger circle of the matching fabric. Then I threaded the button with a long ribbon (to pull through cushion) and gather-stitched the edge of the fabric to enclose it around the button. I had to use a metal skewer to poke a hole through the whole cushion, LOL! I taped the ribbon to another skewer and fed that through. It worked! I secured the ribbon on the other side with a knot and a safety pin to keep it tufted and to allow me to take it out if I need to wash the cover. The button was decidedly too big for her shirt, but now it’s perfect for the ottoman. LOVE that!
I put in a zipper in case I need to wash it. I always have to refresh myself on how to sew a zipper, but it worked out with only one seam ripper incident. Seam Rippa’ to the rescue! I’ll skip the zipper install, but let me know if you need help with one.
Niko likes it better without the button, but she was spending too much time on it, anyway. I didn’t get a photo of her on it, unfortunately, but now, we can enjoy it, too!
I have to give Brendan credit for finding this. Really amazing what this guy can do with his bike. There are a few videos of Danny on youtube, but I like this one. It’s like he’s a parkour traceur on a bike! (Parkour is something for another blog, perhaps) Nice camera work and editing, as well.
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Some of you may know of a place called Holy Guacamole. It’s on Main St. in Santa Monica. If you don’t know it and you live in LA, you should. It’s just a little joint. You have to order and pick up at the cashier, but damn, their food is good.
Being a vegetarian, I’ve been restricted to a few menu items. A few years ago, I had an idea. In an instant, I was ordering all of the makings of my favorite Mexican meal. Veggie tamale, side of beans, side of rice, guacamole, and a flour tortilla. Brendan looked quizzically at me as I created the masterpiece. BTW, he’s made claim to the creation, but don’t listen to him. So, take half a side of beans, half a side of rice, a veggie tamale (broken up), guac and salsa rolled up in a giant tortilla and wrapped in foil. Voila. The best burrito, ever.
It has to do with the awesome tamale sauce (hold the cheese for me) that Holy Guacamole uses. All the ingredients are great, actually. I wrote a detailed note to the owner, Joe, a couple of months ago. I explained that he had to try it and put it on the menu, but alas it is not there. I am forced to prepare it myself. Feel free to recommend that they offer it. I think it could put them on the map. “Home of the Tamale Burrito!”
Listen to my very great friend, Angela Howe, talk about what Surfrider is doing and accomplishing. She is the legal director for the National Chapter of Surfrider Foundation. There’s a link to listen to the show on this site for Treehuggers International on 94/9
It’s a great conversation about the many battles that Surfrider is fighting such as offshore drilling, beach fills, Saving Trestles, plastic bag legislation, and smoking bans on beaches.
These are from our trip to Maui for Jen and Albert’s wedding. We only stayed a few days, but we really soaked it in. We stayed on the Napili Shore at Napili Sunset. It was Right near the beach, and we loved having a kitchen.
The wedding was on Friday at the Olowalu Plantation House. Frickin’ perfect. We danced through the night and recovered on the beach the next day. Saturday night we went into Lahaina for drinks and dinner. It’s very touristy, but they do have a lot of restaurants on the water.
Sunday we took off exploring. First, we drove North a little ways to Honolua Bay. It’s known for its snorkling and good surf when there is a swell. Luckily it was good conditions for snorkeling. It was beautiful, lots of fish, and a bay surrounded by cliffs and the rain forest. After some debate, we decided to go back to the hotel and get a late check out and eat lunch.
Then, we were off to find a hike. Mind you, we kind of knew where they were, but after not being able to find the hike close by, we decided to throw caution to the wind and go in search of the acclaimed 13 Crossings hike. I had conveniently left all the maps and directions in the condo, but we didn’t think twice about stopping to get them. Luckily, I did “remember” that the hike was 7/10 of a mile past mile marker 7 on hwy 340. We kind of pointed ourselves in the general direction and just took what roads would get us there. We drove right past the trail, but realized that it had to be the stream inlet that had barbed wire and a “NO TRESPASSING” sign. Apparently, you should ignore these types of signs because they are just to prevent lawsuits. Anyway, it was indeed the right hike. It was so fun, and we had it all to ourselves! I’m so glad we went for it. 13 crossings across a stream to a tiered waterfall. Too bad it was too chilly to dive in. Next time.
We also ate dinner in Paia, twice. It’s such a cute town. We want to go back there. The first night we ate at a vegetarian thai/vietnamese place called Fresh Mint. The waiter loved telling jokes, and the food was great. Then before we flew home, we ate at Cafe Mambo. We shared the falafel and the tofu fajitas. I really liked the teriyaki tofu with caramelized onions combined with the traditional Mexican toppings. Definitely want to make that sometime. Note to self.
Listen to my very great friend, Angela Howe, talk about what Surfrider is doing and accomplishing. She is the legal director for the National Chapter of Surfrider Foundation. There’s a link to listen to the show on this site for