Viva La Coldplay!

Oh, what a weekend! Friday night was Jakey's 31st birthday party. Tim played a lot of Rock Band, I talked with a lot of people and unlike last year, I didn't fall asleep in Jake's recliner (despite the Rock Band noise. When I'm tired, I sleep!)

Saturday night we had tickets to see Coldplay at the Home Depot Center. This past spring we were watching them in a Grammy's pre-show, and I thought myself, "man, I really love Coldplay, and I loved their last album. They are said to put on a great show, so next time they are in LA, I will try to go see them." I left a message for my friend Jesus, who has seen Coldplay a couple of times, telling him that when the tickets came available, if he needed a date, I was in. WELL, Jesus called e shortly thereafter with the news that they were playing at his very workplace, so he'd be happy to get Tim and I tickets. We got floor seats for only $100 a ticket. Plus free parking. Jesus saves, indeed!

Being on the floor was AMAZING. First of all, you get to walk through all of the barriers and get a fancy wristband. You know me and jewelry... even disposible yellow plastic. We managed to stand about 50 feet back from the stage, slightly to the right. At one point during the show, the band was on this little protrusion to the right, and so we were only about ten feet away from them. The energy was great, and it was so fun just to dance around a little.

And man, does Coldplay rock. The set list was great, the singing was awesome, and we had a fabulous time. Even though me being little, I couldn't necessarily see the entire stage the entire time. Tim did pick me up a few times, and I managed to see around everyone's heads when possible.

Downsides: our area of the grass was apparently also the middle aged makeout region. We got to watch a guy in white jeans samba against his wife's hiney, and then the drunk guy in the Hawaiian print shirt who spent his time either taking pictures, texting, or talking. Or all three at the same time! He would break that schedule for a vigorous schedule of sucking his wife's face. Get a room, kids!

I am also always amazed by how much time people waste taking photos during concerts. Admittedly, I took a couple, but there were folks around us who had their cameras/iPhones blazing the whole time. If you're going to just watch the show through your viewfinder, maybe you should be at home. Also, drunk man next to me, stop dancing and almost elbowing me in my face! There are a lot of perils to being short as a concert. I think next time we go, I am going to get some platform flip flops. And perhaps a tazer.

SO: Here are the pictures!

Pre-show shot. See the guy with the backwards cap? Yeah, I spent a lot of time looking around his noggin.

When the band came over to the stage on the right side. This photo is NOT zoomed in. It was amazing how close they were!

Close up of Chris Martin singing "the Hardest Part." The next song up was "Viva La Vida," which is a recent favorite of mine. Throughout the show, when we were waiting for the band (like before their encore) or during the occasional quiet moment, the crowd would start singing the "oh oh oh oh ohhhhhhh" part of Viva La Vida. SO COOL.

They shot paper butterflies out of cannons. Those are Tim's hands.

The butterflies looked amazing uner blacklights. It was so fun!


Sideburns and I before we left the field. What you can't see (sadly) is my new feather headband. It's trapped in Tim's other sideburn.

I spent today with a friend from college, and then saw "(500) Days of Summer" with Judy (high recommend.) We also went and visited the Yogurtland that recently opened in the shopping center across the street. It's official - Yogurtland is delicious and we have given up the house hunt. Unless they are willing to put a Yogurtland across the street from a single family home on a quiet, safe residential street. I have priorities!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Oh, the return to work today. Less than awesome. It's been such a surreal and fabulous ten days. For instance, the last night we spent in LA wasn't frittered away packing or anything boring like that - on Wednesday night we went to see our final Last Remaining Seats show at the Orpheum. It was a 1930's silent film that had been painstakingly restored over the past few years. One of the major funders was Playboy founder and major cinophile Hugh Hefner. And yes, we did catch a glimpse of Hef. And then last night I got to go see one of my favorite singers at the Hollywood Bowl, playing his songs with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra as his backup band. Doesn't get much better than that. Or at least, it's having access to such cultural events that keeps me from completing disliking the smelly, traffic filled, expensive city of Los Angeles.

Here are my favorite pictures from the trip!

From our drive up to Ellison Bay. I like to call this picture "Hello, Beautiful!"

The dock in Gills Rock, site of many happy childhood memories. Like... John dragging a big dead fish into the cleaning area, Kate falling off the dock and into the water, all four of us squishing our face up against the table as Gary cleaned salmon caught on charter fishing trips. Nothing better than being 9 years old and getting a guy to open up a fish's stomach so you can see if there were tiny, half-digested fish inside.

Same as it ever was!

My favorite place in Door County. Hooray Wisconsin, indeed.

I call this picture "Mustache Alley." Tim, Dad, Grandpa C. and Uncle John.

Mom, Hailee and the twins, Phyllis and Suzie. I can remember when Phyllis and Suzie were Kate's #1 (and #2) babies.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner of champions!

The boil master and the boil masters wife. She made him that beautiful necklace.

THE BOIL OVER!

Your very own Two Bruins. Along with Tim's mustache, Foxy, Loxie, Doxie and a feather.




Parting shot of all of the kids in Door County.

Grandpa Charlie (aka Boil Master Emeritus) and all of the kids.

Me at Nelsons. Oh cheese curds, I love you. And there's bonus grandma skulking in the background.

Grandma and her girls chowing down.

Grandma and the kids.

The Miller girls reunited in Chicago before we had to go home. And all of our charm bracelets. The gold bangle I'm weaing says Etta, which is great-great-grandma Stevens name. But it's not an heirloom - I bought it at an antique story in La Crosse. I am going to pretend that it's a hand me down though.

Sconnie Nation.

Today is our last full day of vacation in Wisconsin, which is a sad, sad thing. It's been an amazing trip all around. We flew into Chicago on the 2nd and met up with mom and dad and Sara, and then crammed into a Lincoln for the six hour hike up to Door County. We spent the Fourth of July there for so many years when I was a kid, but I personally haven't been back since 2002, and Tim has never gone. It had been too long, and after a subpar Fourth last year, I put out the call that all Miller descendants should get their butts to the Door next year. And lo, it was done!

Door County is so unbelievably relaxed. The dads golfed and then were mean to each other and Juan for the rest of the afternoon. The moms shopped for trinkets and kept us stuffed full of delicious food. The kids wandered around, went to the beach and played lawn games.

The Fourth was particularly awesome. We got up and went to the parade in Bailey's Harbor, where we saw a camel and a llama, in addition to the usual floats (though not as men many in dresses as I remember.) We spent most of the afternoon at Ellison Bay, jumping off the pier and floating around, and then had the fish boil and drinks back at the house. Before we left for the fireworks, we ended up having an impromptu dance party in the kitchen and living room area, to Dad and Kate and John's iPods. It was absolutely hilarious and so fun. Then everyone quick changed into their fireworks clothes and we headed down to the docks. Being old pros, we sat on this metal loading gate right at the water's edge, and watched the fireworks explode above. It was a good show. And then back to the house for smores, sparklers and roman candles. I topped off the evening by getting Tim to swing with me in the 20 year old hammock, purchased long ago in Puerto Rico. It didn't break out from under us - what more could you want?

I also got a chance to take Tim out to Washington Island on the Island Clipper on the 6th, and we spent the rest of the time just lazing around.

On the 7th we drove over to La Crosse for some time with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Emery, who is in town. Yesterday Grandma, Sara, Tim and I drove out to Maiden Rock to visit Grandma Pat, and then we chowed down at the creamery at Nelson. Man, their food is good. Their cheese curds and ice cream are GREAT. So delicious.

Today it's off for a day of manis and pedis with Aunt B, and then everyone is reconvening at Famous Daves to eat. Hooray!

Pictures to follow...

To Infinity, and BEYOND!

It's been a nice couple of weeks. We had really good Fathers Day Weekends with our fathers, or as I like to call him, my Fajah. The Thiels went down to the pier in San Clemente and had some drinks and some foods from the sea and then mom and I helped Sara lose at checkers to dad.



Yesterday I was able to take a break from Cabaret to see one of Tim and I's ultimate icons - Buzz Aldrin, astronaut, author and all around awesome guy. Last year, we had seen the Discovery Channel series "When We Left Earth," which features interviews with the men who helped launch America into space. Together, Tim and I found a shared love for the space race. He particularly loves the technology and the engineering, and feels a commonality for his bespectacled, pocket-protected nerd comrades. I cry over the human interest stories. We watched every episode of the series, and then moved on to various other documentaries and movies, as well as reading autobiographies of various influential figures. Gene Krantz's Failure is Not an Option is a special favorite, as is Jim Lovell's Lost Moon (which was the inspiration for the movie "Apollo 13.") We've discussed in detail our favorite figures and our favorite moments, and when we were at Borders a few weeks ago and saw a flyer advertising Buzz Aldrin's appearance for his new book Magnificent Desolation we knew we had to be there. IN FACT, we showed up at 9am yesterday to buy our copies of his book. Note that Borders did not open until 10. Then I was back at the store at 4:30 to grab us seats in the second row.

The presentation was amazing. Buzz is 79 years old, and may have lost a step or two along the way, but he's an incredibly sweet, funny man. His new book is partially about his journey to the moon, but also, about his battles with depression and alcoholism - things that were extremely taboo when he was suffering in the 1970s. He's now got 30 years of sobriety, is in an incredibly happy marriage, and out to help others and tell his story. I love him so! We were able to get our books signed and meet him, and it was really the thrill of 2009. When we left, Tim and I both looked at each other and were like, "we met Buzz! We just met Buzz!" We were like four year olds on Christmas morning. It was SO COOL. I only regret that I didn't get a better picture of Tim and Buzz (the Borders ladies were pushy!)

Now if I could only meet Jim Lovell and Gene Krantz... I would truly be over the moon!

This weekend Tim is off to play video games, and I am off to sit on the couch by myself and read books and be a hermit. It will be a beautiful thing. I have a couple of open houses to see - hopefully I will find Tim and I's house. Man, this househunting... keep your fingers crossed!

Buzz, sharing some awesomeness.

Signing Tim's book

Me shaking his hand. I cannot WAIT for the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing this summer!

Things I Love.

A current list.

1. Rhinestones - par for the course.

2. Cabaret - Tim and I went and saw a screening of it through the LA Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats program. I just fell in love with the movie (and young Michael York, naturally.) It has singing, it has dancing, it has a love story, it has a fight against the Nazis! It's just like the Sound of Music, but with additional adult themes. Clearly, a winner. The Last Remaining Seats features are great - they had Michael York as the special guest, talking about making the movie and about preserving historic LA landmarks, so that was really cool. Since I hadn't seen the movie yet, I didn't know that I was in love with his character from the film, which is good, because then I didn't yell out "I am in love with a younger version of you!" Probably for the best.

3. The Los Angeles Theater - site of our movie, and an amazing piece of architecture. The theater itself is huge and gorgeous. The bathroom stalls are all done in different kinds of marble. There's a little nursery done up with circus themes. And they let us go into the projection room and out on to the roof! It was a really fun evening.

The inside of the Los Angeles theater

The entryway.

View from the roof.

4. Bottega Louie - it's a few blocks from my office and the site of many a coffee break. Tim and I met there for little appetizer plates last night. I cannot praise that place enough. I want to have every birthday party at that restaurant for the rest of my natural life!

5. The new Dave Matthews Band album - DMB makes me feel 16 years old, or like some overgrown hippie with a hacky sack, but man, I love the new disc. I have been listening to tracks 2 and 6 at full volume for the past two days, every chance I get.

6. Cat children - see below.
(they hate being held together... I mean, Lulu hates being held at all. But I think holding two kitties is HYSTERICAL.)

We continue to househunt for a new home for the cats. Nothing has been good enough so far, but we continue to pester our realtor and drive around judging various homes for sale. Someday we will find something in a nice enough neighborhood, with enough space, that doesn't look like a crime scene inside. SOMEDAY!

Now I have to go watch Cabaret, streamed from Netflix. I forsee myself watching every day for the rest of the week.

The Sting, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Here are some of the funny things to come out of this week.

1) Thory is four years old. We think. We don't know his actual birthday because he didn't come with a birth certificate, but I've always liked to assign birthdays to my cats so that we could celebrate a little (it started because we knew Sparky's actual birthdate and felt bad because Jackson never got a party with a donut... so we gave him a pretend birthday and he got party treats too.) Thor's "birthday" is May 25th. We forgot to celebrate this year, and so I told Tim that we'd make a big deal out of yesterday. I told Thory several times "today might be your birthday! Happy birthday!" and I gave him some kitten treats and we petted him a bunch. When Tim came home, he said "happy might be your birthday!" and then picked up Thor and stared him straight in the face and goes "I am going to cut you open and count your rings!"

2) This week was also apparently movie week. On Wednesday night we went and saw the Sting at the Orpheum theater in downtown LA. The screening was sponsored by the LA Conservancy, which works to save historic building and landmarks in LA. They are a cool organization, and it was a really fun event. We got there early, had a booze drink at the bar next door, stood in line for awhile and chatted with docents and then grabbed our seats. The theater is amazingly beautiful and it was fun just to walk around and check things out. Before the show, they had historian/entertainer Charles Phoenix do a little bit, and then they brought out the Oscar winning writer and producer of the movie, and chatted with them for awhile. We learned stories about Paul and Robert. I was waiting for Robert Redford to emerge from the wings, but no dice.

I'd never seen the movie before and really enjoyed it. Plus it was just such a fun experience. We have two more movies that we're seeing through the Last Remaining Seats program, and then also found out about a screening of the King and I put on by the Alex Film Society. So we have tickets for that now as well. I was thinking to myself in the car the other day "I wonder where they keep the dress that Deborah Kerr wore in the big dance number? I would like to see that in person." If anyone has a lead, let me know. I also (after browsing through the LA Conservancy site) want to go out and tour historic homes and buildings. In another life, I'd love to live in one of the historic/converted loft buildings in downtown.

Then last night we watched Sylvia, which we'd gotten from Netflix. Verdict: Sylvia is a movie for girls who majored in English. I enjoyed it... I recognized the poetry quoted... and meanwhile my little engineer friend asked me if Ted Hughes was also famous. Umm... yes.

Funny - I read Sylvia Plath in an American poetry course I took my second year of college. On the first day of class, our professor walks in. He's this 60-something year old guy in a turquoise blue suit, cowboy boots and white hair in a ponytail, and his first words to the class are, "today I thought I was spraying my hair with hairspray, but instead I sprayed myself with bathroom deodorizer, so if I smell weird, that's why." Okay sir. Now let's start talking about all of those quirky, suicidal confessional poets! Oh, college.

3) We have exactly zero plans for the weekend. I have never been happier in my young life. Seriously. Other than my usual trips to the gym, I look forward to lazing around and taking naps. Also, cooking some delicious food and possibly watching movies. Maybe reading a book or two. Or some poetry by a kooky old poet. The sad thing is that I am out of new magazines. My greatest pleasure is, after reading fashion and lifestyle magazines, to cut out all of things that I thought were pretty or striking. Dresses, coats, shoes, accessories... and then I tape them into a big blank book for reference in the future. And also, because sometimes it's nice to look at pictures of pretty things. My mom is clever enough to make some of the things she likes, especially knitting and jewelry wise, but I mostly end up scouring ebay and etsy. This weekend though, I am fresh out of magazines, having just finished cutting up a Lucky the other day (verdict: Lucky magazine is lame.) I also finished off my first big blank book, so it's on to a new friend. The first picture I taped in (of course) is a girl in a sequin dress.

Here's a couple of pictures from the fabulous Orpheum Theater:


The guy playing the organ was 13 when the theater opened... in 1926! He still plays really well for someone his age.

When the movie started, these lights dimmed blue - it was really pretty.

Want to know how fun I am? This is what Tim found when he came home tonight... at 6:45pm. I am elderly.

When I woke up, I promptly annoyed the cat. For reference, her made up birthday is in November, and she'll be six this year.

Memorial Day

We've had a nice weekend. Saturday night we went out with Ma and Pa Ford for Eileen's birthday. We went to Splashes, where we also celebrated her birthday five years ago. I remember thinking how nice it was that Tim's parents were inviting me along, because Splashes is a classy joint, and Tim and I were just dating then - we weren't even engaged yet (as far as his parents knew!) I have a picture of us from that night on our fridge, and now we have another one to add to the collection.

Plus the Lakers won, and that always makes Eileen happier than any swanky dessert options.

Yesterday we went a BBQ hosted by some of Tim's long time family friends. I managed to eat two hot dogs, which makes ME happier than any swanky dessert options. It was nice to visit with everyone. I hung out with three year old Carly Rose and her 11 month old, 27 pound brother Drew. He is a healthy little heavy. I had to drink a beer to prove to the moms that I am not incubating live young (hanging out with such cute kids gives me a little baby fever though, I will admit.)

Today we just relaxed, which was MUCH needed. Since March 21st, I have spent at least one day of my weekend out of town. Sometimes in La Crosse or San Francisco, but mostly just a lot of time spent driving between Los Angeles and Orange County. Much as I love everyone, it gets OLD. I am a lazy old homebody and I like sitting on my couch until I force myself to shower at 3pm. Okay, 5pm. But I do put on clean pajamas after I shower, so that means something, right?

Tonight we went into Westwood, which always makes me feel old. There's a lot of vacant retail spaces, and I was genuinely sad when I found out that the Rite Aid that I frequented much as an undergrad was closed. We had sushi and then went to see "The Boys," which is the BEST movie I have seen in 2009 (Tim says I only think so because I haven't seen Terminator.) It's about Bob and Dick Sherman, two brothers with incredibly different personalities and sentiments who worked together to create many of the Disney songs that we all know and love. During the two hour documentary I literally teared up ten times - getting misty over my childhood memories.

I would also like to recommend Whoppers covered in Reeses peanut butter. I bought some at the grocery store, but then had to throw away half of the box to keep myself from just pouring them down my gullet. But the next road trip I take? I am buying some to fortify myself.