My Most Excellent Emmy Adventure

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...will not grace the studio of my dear husband, the Big Bison. Well, not this year, at least.

We are back from our trip to smokin' hot Los Angeles. Smokin', because the skies were full of not only smog, but the smoke from the wildfires burning on the hillsides north of Los Angeles. Hot, because they were having temperatures around 105º while we were there.



Can you see the plumes of smoke from the wildfires rising up on the hills on the left in the distance?

Baby, it was hot!!!

We went to LA because the Big Bison had been nominated for a daytime Emmy for a piece of music that he did for the Today Show, promoting their newest hour of coverage. Unfortunately for us, his piece did not win the Emmy, but we are still thrilled that he was nominated in the first place, realizing that it really IS an honor, just to be nominated. Anyway, that's our story, and we're sticking to it! :-)

Care to hear some of the details?

Well, OK, twist my arm... ;-)

We arrived on Friday around noon, and picked up our PT Cruiser (which the BB called a piece of junk) at the car rental place and cruised on down to Huntington Beach, to meet my friend Cheri. Isn't she gorgeous?



Since you are techno-savvy enough to be reading a blog, I'm sure it will not surprise you to know that this was the first time I have ever laid eyes on Cheri in my life, even though I call her (true enough) my friend. Cheri is a friend I met through the Sonlight forums, a homeschooling forum I frequent on line. In the old days, meeting a friend like this would have been called having and meeting a pen pal. Julia Child had one in her good friend Avis, who was largely responsible for snagging Julia a publishing deal for her masterpiece, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". So, if Julia can have a pen pal, I can too. I have met some of the finest people I know through the internet: friends who were initially emaginary, who became near and dear to my heart in a virtual kind of way, and who ultimately, I met in real life, and they became even more dear to me. Just like the velveteen rabbit. Only different....

So, anyway, we met Cheri in Huntington Beach because it was halfway between LA and her house. We met at an In 'n' Out Burger restaurant, a place I ate last year in June when I was at a Big Fat Meetup of 50 other emaginary Sonlight friends. You'd think there was nowhere else to eat in southern California, huh? But it was AWESOME to hear what God is doing in Cheri and her family's life, and maybe next time I'm back, we'll have some more time to spend together, and I'll branch out a bit in my culinary adventuresome-ness.

Then the BB and I drove down to the pier in Huntington Beach (and that is the Goodyear Blimp that you can see up in the sky in this picture, by the way)


and strolled along, sniffing the briny air, enjoying the ocean breeze, and watching the surfers do their thing.



What's not to love? Does this bring back any memories to any of my Sonlight friend/BFM Huntington Beach fellow attendees? It should! Yvonne, Rosie, Kristi, Bethany, and Chloe, this shot's for you, in memory of some specific mental souvenirs I have of each of you the evening we ate there:



And this is a freebie, just because I like him, and he put on such a show for us.



We took the long way back to LA, and checked into our wonderful hotel, which had been recommended to us by Cheri, who is very knowledgeable on such subjects, having worked in management of a very prestigious one in Beverly Hills at one time. We stayed at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA, which was about a block or two away from The Westin Bonaventure, the hotel where our Emmy ceremonies were to take place. The Biltmore is an older hotel, and stunningly gorgeous. Their service was the best! Our room was lovely, and really, I just can't say enough nice things about the place. I would go back there in a heartbeat!



Our room had a canopy bed, an incredibly comfortable mattress, a fluffy duvet... Here I am enjoying the wonderfulness thereof:



We were staying on the Club level, which gave us access to free hor d'oeuvres and drinks...which became our Friday night dinner. Awesome! Platters of cheeses, crackers, breads, prosciutto and salamis, assorted olives, veggies, little quiches, and eggrolls and on and on. Yum!!! My favorite things to eat!!!

Then, on Saturday morning, we decided to avoid the stress of driving around. This was my idea - the BB wanted to go to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, I think, but he acquiesced to my desire to keep it simple.

So, since we are from a different time zone, we woke up early, and breakfasted at the Club Level again, since that was a part of our package. I loved the pain au chocolat (that's a croissant filled with a chocolate bar) and the yogurt with fresh fruit and granola: Birchermuesli to my Swiss friends. And then, it was on to a walking tour of downtown. We walked up Grand Ave., past the skyscrapers,



and the Walt Disney Concert Hall where the LA Philharmonic plays. We toured that later, after we went






to the Cathedral-Our Lady-The Angels.

This must be my year to tour the cathedrals of the nation. Since May, I have visited and LOVED Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and now this incredible cathedral. I really recommend ANY of these grand houses of worship as a wonderful part of your tour of any of these cities. The Big Bison snapped some great pictures inside, and I'll just share a few of them with you:

Here, inside the sanctuary, we saw this man in worship. I hope no one will find this photograph disrespectful: for us, it was a very beautiful, holy moment.




I love this shot as well, taken from the front of the sanctuary. If you look on the sides, there are tapestries hanging that depict saints (including their names) both from this present time, and saints from days long gone. It reminds me of the great cloud of witnesses who are always with us, surrounding us, a part of our forever family, cheering us on.



I love to think about them, since my parents and the Big Bison's parents are a part of that cloud of witnesses.

In the basement of the cathedral is the mausoleum: it is large enough to hold 6000 saints who have gone on to be with the Lord, but at present holds the remains of only around 400 souls. So, if you have a hankering to have your remains reside there someday, you can get your reservation in now. It is an absolutely beautiful place. Much to my surprise, we stumbled upon the crypt of one of my favorite movie stars of all time, the man who so perfectly played the role of Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird". Note the look of mourning on my face. Sorry, the spot just above Mr. Peck is already reserved...I could make jokes, here...but I won't....






And then, it was time to come back to the hotel, rest for a while, and then shower and get ready for our BIG NIGHT OUT.

Frankly, I'm getting tired of writing, and I bet you're getting tired of reading, too. How about I save the Emmy Ceremonies themselves for my next installment?

Sooze and Julia

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Yesterday, my friend and I went to see the wonderful movie called "Julie and Julia". It is the story of a young woman who decides to cook her way through Julia Child's classic cookbook: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", and blog about her experience as she goes.

I went with a dear friend to whom I have given a cooking lesson or two, and who shows up faithfully every year to help me and my kids ice sugar cookies at Christmas. She and I have lots in common: we love Jesus, we love to laugh, and we love my kids. But one thing that binds us ever so sweetly as sisters is our deep, passionate and abiding love for FOOD. So she was the PERFECT friend with whom to see this movie.

This movie was even more meaningful to me since I just got back from seeing a mock-up of Julia's kitchen at the Smithsonian when I visited there last week. Julia just feels like she's come to life for me recently.

So today, I wanted to write about

My TOP REASONS FOR LOVING THIS MOVIE:

1. Meryl Streep: The woman is an absolute wonder. Honest to gosh, I really don't know how she does what she does, but she practically became Julia Child.

2. The food: Meryl Streep said she gained 15 lbs while filming this movie. I totally understand how and why.

3. Julia Child's joie de vivre: it's absolutely infectious, even if some of her pronunciation of certain French words absolutely sucked. The French don't really care about that if you are enthusiastic about all things French - especially the food - which Julia was. Watching Meryl Streep portray Julia Child as she sucked the marrow out of the bones of life, and licked her oily fingers following the experience: well, it was absolutely inspiring. I want to live my life like that.



4. Stanley Tucci portraying Paul Child: How can a diminutive, bald man be so incredibly sexy? First, I noticed his calm self assurance, and the twinkle in his eye. But even more importantly, he loved his Julia passionately, he believed in her infinitely, and he fully supported her dreams. Now, that's sexy!!!

5. The love story between Julia and Paul: They may have looked like the Odd Couple (Julia was a bit of a giant) but they were a match made in haute cuisine, and knowing that she married later in life, and was still a virgin when she married him - well, watching them enjoy each other madly, passionately, completely... it reminds me to enjoy the incredible gift that God has given me in my gorgeous husband. There are no dress rehearsals in life, and none of us are getting any younger.

6. Blogging: this comes in as a fraction of the story line, but since I do it, and have struggled with the narcissism involved in the whole process, I enjoyed this aspect of the story

Finally, this wasn't a part of the movie, but I was pondering the whole thing a bit in church this morning.

As Christians, Jesus told us that He came that we might have life, life to the full.

Who is better equipped to live life exuberantly than a Christian? We've been forgiven and we know that a glorious destiny awaits us. Yes, we grieve for the pain and destruction that we see in this world, but have we not been given the most glorious freedom in Christ to enjoy life while we love others? And this was the quality that I loved about Julia: her overwhelming zest for life and love for others, that spilled out of her naturally, wherever she went. She brought joy into the lives of those she touched. (At least, the Julia that Meryl Streep played in the movie did.) I want to be that kind of person wherever I go: someone who exudes life and love, and has life to the full.

So, if you haven't seen it already, grab a friend who loves to cook, or who at least loves to eat, and go and enjoy "Julie and Julia". You may find a little bit of the Julia in the movie rubbing off on you, too. And to mix culinary mavens and metaphors a bit, "That", as Martha Stewart might say, would be "a good thing".

P.S. If you saw it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Vanity Fair

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On the front end of telling this story: there will be no pictures of me. I'm just sayin'. The reason why will become apparent by the end of my tale.

And really, this is probably one of those "you had to be there" stories.

But I have been popping in to various stores, trying to find a formal dress for the Emmies. Did you like the way I casually mentioned that one?

My dear husband, the Big Bison, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy award, for a song he wrote that was used in an ad for the Today Show, called "There's More Today". Getting nominated for an Emmy doesn't happen every day. And we're pretty sure he hasn't won, because his main competition is Kermit the Frog singing, "I Still Believe in Santa Claus". How anyone could hope to win over Kermie and Santa is practically sacrilegious, so, we're not holding our breath.

But, this Saturday is our 22nd wedding anniversary, and wow - how often do you get nominated for an Emmy? So, we're going to LA at the end of the month for the Bison and Sooze's Excellent Emmy Adventure, and we're pretty excited about it.

And even though his award is NOT given out during the Sunday night televised portion (for which balcony tickets cost $500.00 each) but rather during the Saturday night too boring for TV portion, (called the Schlemmy's by Kathy Griffin) we're STILL excited about it! So, since it's a black tie event, a dress must be procured, right?

So, yesterday, I took my dear daughter who is 11 years old shopping with me, and we went into David's Bridal.

And may I say, the lighting in there just stinks.

But, anyway...

I had tried on about 6 dresses, and let me tell you: there is a reason that most dresses end up on the Clearance rack. Know what I mean???

I am normally a bit of a clothes horse: I can wear lots of styles, or at least, I used to think I could wear lots of styles...I am being disabused of that notion by the clearance rack, however. Bad styles, bad colors...

There was this one dress, that looked a little sleazy, but it was my favorite shade of fuschia, and I have learned that you have to be a bit of a risk taker when it comes to clearance racks, and sometimes you find the diamond amongst the rhinestones. So, with my dd waiting outside the changing room, near all the mirrors, I endeavored to try on the fuschia number.

I have chosen the word "endeavor" with some care, because this was no easy feat. There was no zipper. There was elastic and spandex involved. All the wriggling and shimmying I was doing caused me to break a sweat. Which made it even harder to get into. And I began to be reminded of sausage: as in, I was the meat and the dress was the casing. But it was such a becoming color! My very best color! And my dear daughter out in the waiting room had been pleading for me to try it on for the last 5 dresses.

Finally, I got it over my head, shifted and shoved various portions of me around within the tube, and slowly and cautiously opened the changing room door. I had no mirror within MY cubicle of a dressing room (Which store designer made THAT decision???) and there was (I am not making this up) a small multitude who had gathered outside my changing room door. Some family was fitting two of their teenage daughters in bridesmaid dresses, and they were ALL out there - the mother, the bride, the sisters, the sister's friends, the nieces, the nephews, and several toddler boys, making airplane and truck noises, playing tag and crack the whip.

Things had gotten a little chaotic.

So, here I am, sheathed in a fuschia colored body condom, (with a big rhinestone studded Pilgrim buckle at the waist - like any self-respecting Pilgrim is gonna wear rhinestones OR fuschia) mincing along like Morticia on her way to dance the tango with Gomez. I was stuffed into that dress, and on display for the very LARGE family to ogle.

My dear daughter, who is very sweet, and very tactful, said, "Ooooh, Mom, that's a beautiful color! But, um, I don't think so. It's just not....right. "

So, I minced à la Morticia past the Mongol hordes, back to my dressing room, excusing myself as I crowded past and between them, and closed the door, attempting to heave a sigh of relief. If only I could have breathed, I would have, too.

And then, I began to extract myself from the casing/body condom.

I made a little headway, and the sweat broke out again, as it began to occur to me that there was NO. WAY. IN. HECK. I was ever gonna get out of that dress. I simply could not extract a shoulder, nor an arm. Initially, I considered panic. But then, I got tickled at the absolute absurdity of the situation. And I started to laugh. And laugh. It seemed a better choice than panic. All I could think was that I HAD to have a pair of scissors to cut the thing off of me, NOW!!! But there was no way I was willing to pay money destroying the afflicting pink imprisonment device.

So, once again, I cracked the dressing room door, and called my daughter's name, and thankfully, she heard me over the din of the two little boys who were by this time re-enacting the bombing of Baghdad.

I was not wearing, um, a brassière, since the dress was a strapless number, and I worried about asking her for help, remembering the oft-neglected Bible story of Noah and his sons seeing their father nekkid, and thinking that perhaps if she saw me she might be scarred for life, and require years of therapy. But kids: I was DESPERATE. So, covering myself as best I could, I apologized for dragging her in there, and begged for her assistance.

She helped me out with just a mild tug or two over my head, and out I popped, freed from my pink prison. She carefully and discreetly slipped out of the dressing room, while I got dressed. And as I was hanging the dress back up, I noticed the size on the label of the dress: SMALL. I can assure you, I am NOT a small.

Later, my dear daughter reassured me that she had seen nothing, and was NOT scarred for life, and we laughed our way out of the store.

The things we do for vanity....
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