Pasadena Doo Dah parade

Today we went to the 36th annual Pasadena Doo Dah Parade...a spoof of the oh-so-famous Rose Parade that graces the exact same street each year. 

The parade organizer came to speak at one of my classes last year, and my interest was piqued immediately. I knew I had to go check out the parade where the wackier, the better. There apparently are no rules...only that you be very ridiculous and random.  

And instead of throwing candy like at normal parades, people threw tortillas. 

It's kinda like Halloween for hippies....or maybe what's it's like to use hallucinogenic drugs. 

Anyway, it was awesomely weird:

some cute spectators of the weirdness

these guys were grilling hot dogs to deliver to the crowd, while this scantily clad skateboarder zoomed around happily with his hula hoop. 

There was a whole band of middle aged men with kids toys they had hooked up to amps. Probably my favorite. 

i also loved the guys zooming around in little cupcake cars

um, i think you mixed up your categories...

I was browsing a maternity clothes giveaway on a blog and came across this model on the maternity  website:

Plus-size maternity

Really?? if she's plus-size, what would that make me?!?!

What's even more disturbing is that if you click on the link to the plus-size maternity page, she pops up again, but.....where's her baby?!?!?!



And again i insist...why is waify girl in the plus-size section??

feel that jazz!

Yesterday Elvis and Suzy and I went to a free jazz festival at Caltech...check out this smooth dancer! Watching him was the best part of the whole show! Until he got creeped out by Elvis taking a video of him and went behind the bushes....

Elvis has to go back to NY tomorrow for the last time EVER! He will be back for good in 2 weeks...hallelujah!

Here are some more pictures of our silly goose from this weekend:

We also went out to breakfast with these dear friends for one of the last times for a while...what are we gonna do without you guys in Pasadena?!?! 

strawberry pickin'

Easter weekend

This Easter weekend was extra special because Elvis was here with us after being apart almost a whole month! We didn't do a ton, which was nice and relaxing. Took him to the airport again today, which is probably my least favorite thing in the whole world to do, but he will be back to spend the weekend again in 2 weeks.

making torrejas with Elvis...a traditional easter dish in ES which is basically french toast that is then soaked and cooked in a sauce made of milk with sugar cane candy and spices. YUM. 

easter egg hunt...this picture does no justice to the chaos!

Happy Easter!

Easter lunch out with some of our friends from El Salvador who now live in LA

kinda creepy bunny at the Easter fest at a nearby park....have you seen this website of even creepier bunny pictures???
http://www.happyplace.com/15235/the-creepiest-easter-bunny-photos-ever-taken

Marcieeeeeeeeee!

After the Shelleys left on Friday, I went to pick up my dear friend of many years Marcie! She and I met in Guatemala in 2002 and went back together in 2003 and she visited a couple of times in El Salvador as well (including our wedding!) What a great gift to be able to see each other after so long and to pick right up where we left off.

I feel so blessed to have had so many dear friends visiting lately, especially since i was right in the middle of a 4 week without Elvis stretch and it was getting mighty tough! (ps I get to see him in one week!)

Suzy loved Marcie instantly (may have had something to do with the crafts she brought for Suzy to do!) and it was so fun to enjoy good food, chai tea, LA and everyday life with her this past weekend!

Thanks Marce for coming and for your support and encouragement!! Love you!

we explored LA via the metro on Saturday, and here is the beautiful Marcie in front of Union Station

Bump!

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come again soon!

fun with the Shelleys!

Despite the fact that this week was the week before final papers are due for this quarter, it has been an awesome week filled with awesome visitors that I haven't seen in a loooong time. First, I'll catch you up on our visit with Josh, Danielle, and Harvey who were here. What a blessing to get to spend time with their family and finally catch up for real for the first time since college! Suzy had a ball playing with Harvey and practicing her big sister skills =) And hanging out with the Shelleys + the McPhails felt like a little college reunion! So fun! 

are these two cute or what?!

Malibu Beach...thanks Kel for taking pictures!

what a cutie!

our week involved lots of parks and picnics!

keeping busy

I'm thinking that the key to keeping my mind off of how much I miss Elvis is to keep busy. With Suzy and school, that's normally pretty easy. But we have been so thankful for so many friends and neighbors who have invited us to dinner, offered to keep Suzy for me or just helped out in random ways. For example, I got in my mind today that I needed to change the color of our bed skirt, but didn't realize until I was halfway into moving the mattress what a terrible idea that was to try by myself. So thankful for my friend Christy who showed up and helped me out!

Christy also invited us to Huntington Gardens last week....a beautiful, massive space of gardens, art museums, and an old estate. Remember the wedding planner when J-Lo broke that statue? Yep, filmed there! It's 207 acres big so we only saw a small portion. Suzy loved it though!

playing in the children's garden

loved this rare flower/tree. it said it was some kind of magnolia??

can you tell from the angle that Suzy took this picture?

chinese garden