Every November I go to one of my favorite craft shows called Felt Club.  I have been going to this show for about five years now.  This year I picked up the cutest terrarium from Rad Megan as a Christmas gift for K.  I brought it home and fell in love with it. So, I decided to buy another one through Rad Megan’s online store.  Unfortunately she did not have any more of the glass globe terrariums, but I did find some glass globe terrariums at another online store.  Awwww the internets….

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I know I want my next house to be either a spacious modern loft or a cool Prefab Home.  Within the next four years, my dream is to find property and build or renovate an old commercial building.   Look, if I am gonna dream….I am gonna dream big.  I have been watching the new lofts that are quickly springing up in the Downtown and Hollywood areas of Los Angeles.  Now, I have yet to walk into any of the offices and ask for a tour so I can be a “looky lou” and pretend I am a potential buyer.  Not, that I would necessarily move to Los Angeles, but it is pretty much the closest area where they are building these types of modern industrial lofts.

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The culmination of our jammed packed weekend ended in a Los Angeles Kings hockey game versus the Philadelphia Flyers.  We had Jacob and Jordan join us for the game and they were finally able to meet the Snodgrasses.   The rental was only a few blocks away from LA’s Metro Rail so we took the red line to the Staples Center and saved ourselves 20 bucks for parking!  Los Angeles is dragging behind other large cities when it comes to public transportation, but hopefully in the years to come we will see improvements.

This was our first time at Staple Center.  The last time we’ve seen a game in it was at the Forum.  Damn, how time flies.  We brought the Kings good luck that night….the Kings won the game in a shoot out 2 to 1.

Click here for pictures of game…

Jordan Snodgrass hooked us up with tickets to the world famous Magic Castle, Located in Hollywood.   I have passed this mysterious castle during trips to Los Angeles for as long as I can remember.  You have to be a member or be invited by a member of the Academy of Magical Arts to get in.  Members include qualified magicians, movie producers, writers, magic historians or supporters of the Academy of Magical Arts.

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Jase and I are not big TV watchers.  There are only a few shows that we will consider watching these days, one of them being “Three Sheets” hosted by Zane Lampery.  In short, Zane travels to cool places around the world to drink with the locals.  He finds out their drinking customs and the clever part, their hang over remedies.

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Hi Mom, it’s me Geri.

I wanted to tell you that Jase and I made tamales last night with the boys. You would have been so proud. Jase has been working hard to prefect the recipe for his Serrano Chili Cheese and Chipotle Chicken Tamales. Both turned out great! Dad would have loved it. We decided to roast the Serrano Chilies, which gave them a good “kick.” We also threw in some fresh corn for added texture. I wish you could try the Chipotle Chicken Tamales. We used a secret concoction of spices that gave it just the right flavor. Not to hot, yet not to mild. The boys are really becoming experts on their tamale wrapping, we made 25 pounds in only about four hours. Oh Mom, as soon as the steam comes out of the pot and fills my house with the glorious smell of fresh masa and chili, I am 13 again back at home trying so hard to spread the masa “just right” with one hand just like you use to.  I feel you.  I hear your sweet voice.  But somehow it rings so clear in my head during Christmas that I can feel you standing right next to me in my kitchen.  Thank you for teaching us this beautiful tradition.  I miss you.

Click here for pictures of Tamale making…

Here is a short movie that I created from dozens of 20 second clips taken on my tiny digital Sony camera.  All the clips were taken from secret spots, park benches, counters, bushes, and inside my purse.  Jase was a great sport since we had to do multiple takes to capture the right shot.  The song in the film is “Manhattan” from the album “Once Upon a Summertime” by one of my favorite artist Blossom Dearie.

Click here to watch the movie…

We spent our final day with our good friends Scott and Regina. We strolled through China Town, SoHo and Wall Street. It was great to talk about all of our adventures and make plans for a return trip.

Click here for pictures of our seventh day in New York City…

It was well after 11:00am before we finally woke up, which wasn’t enough sleep when you think about it.  We decided to take it easy.  Our plan was to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art located on the East side of Central Park and then visit the Empire State Building as the sun was setting.

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What an epic walking adventure through Brooklyn Day Five turned out to be.  Geri and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, through Brooklyn Bridge Park, through historic Brooklyn Heights and along its promenade, to the Old Stone House, around the Green-Wood Cemetery, and through Williamsburg neighborhood where we found a great pub.  If that wasn’t tiring enough we decided to go to the Village Vanguard for some great jazz music and have a fantastic Japanese dinner at Hagi’s at 2:00 am.

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