Happy Birthday to Me!

Last week I celebrated my birthday.  Hooray.  Meh.  When I was younger, this was my favorite day of the year - a day where it could OFFICIALLY be all about me, which was perfect in my quest to be the center of attention.  Now that I'm...not as young...I'm not always as keen on the day.  I think it would be different if I were happier with where I'm at in my life.  But there are currently a lot of things that I'm pretty frustrated with.  That's not to say that I'm not insanely grateful for the amazing parts of my life - like my husband, my family, my friends, my cat.  But otherwise, I'm not where I'd hoped to be by this age.  And that makes me less than thrilled to commemorate a day that really hammers home that I'm yet another year older.  Blah blah blah. 

I wanted to do something fun for my birthday to just take my mind off of things and get back into the "it's all about me and my birthday" spirit that I used to have.  So I took the day off, as did my husband, and we ended up going bowling.  I can't recommend going bowling on a Wednesday afternoon highly enough.  Particularly if you suck at the sport as much as I do (I do believe my high score for the afternoon was a 92 on one game.  Awesome! :)).  There were only 3 or 4 other lanes in use, which was great.  And at this alley, they served us food and drinks right at our lane, which was even cooler.  And since it was my birthday and why-the-hell-not, we had pizza (what wheat and dairy sensitivity?).  It was a really good time.  Here are some photos to prove it:

Of course he had to take the obligatory "Uninterested Tourist" photo

But here's how good of a time he was actually having.

And even though I'm really not a fan of having my picture taken until my stupid hair grows out long enough so I can donate it and cut it off, I obliged for a birthday bowling shot:

Later that evening we went to one of my favorite restaurants, which just so happens to be a Vegetarian restaurant (Carmelita, for any of you Seattle folk out there), for an outstanding meal and stopped by Cupcake Royale on the way home for cupcakes.  By the end of the day, aside from being blissfully bloated,  I was wishing it didn't have to end (and not just cuz I had to go back to work the next day).

HOWEVER, it should be noted that the celebration really started for me the night before my actual birthday.  Our awesome friends Michelle and Andrew hooked us up with tickets to see "Burn The Floor."  If you don't know what this is, check out the website here.  As a huge fan of the show "So You Think You Can Dance," I couldn't wait to see this, particularly since a few of my fave contestants from past seasons of the show are in the current cast.

On our way into the theater, Z says to me "Isn't that the judge from the show?  What's her name?"  Once I see who he's pointing at, I notice that it is no other than Ms. Hot Tamale Train herself, Mary Murphy!  Disregarding the strange-to-me fact that he's forgotten her name, I freak out a little at the exciting star sighting!  Turns out she's there because she's joining the cast.  I love her dearly, but can't quite imagine her in this show - I would really love to see it, though.  Oh well.  I'll take seeing her in the audience.

The show is absolutely wonderful and with the exception of the guy sitting in front of me shifting back and forth in his seat every 10 seconds (no exaggeration), it is all amazing.  Then, on the way out I notice that, for some reason, Vonzell Solomon is there.  For those less versed in the Reality Singing Competition Trivia than I, she was the 3rd place finisher in Season 4 of American Idol (the Carrie Underwood season).  So again, exciting stuff for starstruck Devin.

At this point I'm pretty amped about the evening and excited that I don't have to wake up and go to work the next day.  Michelle and Andrew have graciously invited us to the Opening Night After Party for the show, and given my excitement about all the circumstances thus far, I can't pass up the opportunity.  Particularly when we learn that the cast will be there. :)

Without making this long story much longer, I can tell you that not only did I shake hands with Ashleigh, Ryan AND Pasha, but I CHATTED with each of them!  For as much as my husband's schmoozing ability can be exhausting for me at times, man did it come in handy that night!  I was so freakin' starstruck that I knew I couldn't possibly approach any of these people.  But of course Z could.  And that allowed me to then be introduced as his wife.  Works for me!  And holy crap were they nice!  We chatted with the DiLellos about the places they've lived and where we've lived, and we gave Pasha some restaurant recommendations for his time in Seattle.  So.  Stinkin'.  Cool!  We didn't get the opportunity to chat with the other "SYTYCD" folks (not even Mary Murphy :( ) or with Vonzell, but still, being at the same party with them was pretty sweet.

I really, REALLY wanted to be "that guy" who asks everyone for a picture with them.  But I also wanted to play it cool.  So I did not get photos with anyone.  However, I played amateur paparazzo and grabbed a zoomed-in (thus the fuzzy quality) shot that includes a bunch of the folks that I (admittedly a total dork) love:

You can see Mary Murphy there on the right (not sure who the blonde is across from her).  Next to Mary, though incredibly tough to see, is Vonzell.  Behind her, standing up, are Ryan and Ashleigh.  And that's Pasha sitting there across from Vonzell with his face in his hand.  Squee!

So that was the beginning to my birthday.  It could've either been the event that made the rest of my birthday pale in comparison, or simply the start to a great following day.  Thanks largely to my husband, it was the latter.  It also reminded me in a big, giant, unavoidable way that I am INCREDIBLY lucky to live the life that I live.  And even if it's not where I'd hoped to be or want to be sometimes, it's still a life that's got some really great aspects to it. :)

DOWNSTAIRS CRAP UPDATE:

A few weeks ago, my trusty friends and neighbors, Eric and Lacey, let me know that there was another treasure downstairs.  They both discovered it at separate times and both let me know right away.  I can't tell you how much I love that I'm known as the one who documents this stuff. :)  So of course I rushed downstairs right away to find what may be my new favorite item:

If you can't tell what you're looking at, that would be an opened bag of Fred Meyer generic marshmallows.  Clipped to what I can only assume were the marshmallows taken either from said open bag or perhaps another bag of the same that would not fit back into the open bag.  Now I love me some marshmallow goodness.  But the idea of eating these just grosses me out - who knows how many people have had their hands on them and/or breathed all over them already?  Ewww.  But it makes for a perfect latest addition to my photo collection, you have to admit.

A Cornucopia of Condominium Crap

Earlier this year, stuff started showing up in the lobby of our condo building.  Random stuff.  Sometimes hilarious, random stuff.  There's a fake fireplace in the entryway and the top of it is the perfect location for folks to leave their crap that they no longer want, but feel that someone else may still want.  It's not an original idea and I can appreciate the "waste not, want not" attitude, but our building's management apparently feels it's not acceptable.  Probably since they're still trying to sell some units in the building and walking in to see some one's garbage may not make the best first impression.  It was brought up at the last Owner's meeting of the Homeowners Association and residents were told not to participate in this practice anymore.  Well, either the person/people responsible for the goody-leaving missed that meeting or they've just prioritized the sharing of their stuff over following the rules, because every few weeks it seems something else shows up.

The first 3 occurrences were the most hilarious.  Sadly, I didn't think to start taking pics until the 3rd time, so I missed out on photo documentation of the first two.  But here are reasonable likenesses of them:

First:

An industrial-sized can of Pickled White Asparagus Spears.  Like something you'd find at Costco or, perhaps more likely, a restaurant supply store.  This was easily a lifetime supply of Pickled White Asparagus Spears for about 12 people.  Can't imagine why it wasn't wanted.

2nd:

That's right, kids.  Your very own 2010 Il Divo calendar.  For those unfamiliar with the vocal stylings of Il Divo, they are the Operatic Super Group manufactured by Simon Cowell.  To my limited knowledge of them, they sing mostly adult contemporary songs that have already become popular by other singers, but they sing them in Italian.  And Opera.  It's bizarre.  Check out a sample with this take on a Mariah Carey song here.  But they're very handsome and do have a following - just not in the condo of one of our neighbors, apparently, who I'm guessing got it as a White Elephant Christmas gift or from someone with either awful or hysterical taste in gifts.  We discovered this one evening on our way out with some friends.  They claimed to know someone who would, for some reason, enjoy a different pic of these guys for every month of 2010, so they took it.  But last I heard, they never gave it away.  So either they've kept it for themselves and have a secret love of these Italian stallions, or it is sitting in a box somewhere, depriving a true fan of real happiness.  Kinda sad, either way.

3rd:

By this time, I realized I'd been missing out on some golden opportunities, and finally thought to take a pic.  I think it's nice that they offer a pair for both before and after Labor Day.

I lost track of the order I've taken the rest of the pics, but here they are:

Hopefully someone was able to get some help from this.  Made me wonder if the person giving it up had successfully faced codependency and was moving forward, or if they gave up trying.  Is their offering of this book a way to be anonymously needed by someone else?  I'm sure I'm thinking too much about it...

If Z hadn't scored a free, big calculator when the mover left it as we moved out of our place in NYC, I think he would've been all over this one.  He likes big calculators.  That may somehow be Freudian, come to think of it.

Day planner, anyone? 

Pretty self-explanatory.

At least the previous magazines could provide some useful info.  These are just garbage.  I'm not saying I didn't look at the headlines and think about grabbing one to read, I'm just saying...

These are cat toys.  And a mat to go beneath a cat food bowl.  This one makes me kind of sad after I laugh, because apparently something happened where a cat no longer needed these things.  I prefer to think that the cat just had a different taste in toys and decor, not that they got rid of the cat or that he/she went to live on a farm...

(Special shout-out to our neighbor and friend, Eric, who spied this one day and, knowing of my photo collection and fearing that I'd miss this, sent me the pic.  I do believe he and his lovely wife, Lacey, also sent me another pic of something they found in the lobby once before, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was or where that pic is...)

This is a bag of cat food cans, which initially worried me, given the above pic of the toys.  But the note says "Please help yourself.  My cat won't eat."  So if we're to assume this is from the same person, hopefully the cat who didn't like the above toys is still alive and well, just a finicky eater.

It'd been a while since anything had shown up.  I often find myself feeling a bit of nervous excitement as I enter the lobby, hoping that I'm going to find some new bit of comedy gold.  But I don't usually find myself hoping that there's going to be something I might actually want.  That all changed yesterday.

Z had the day off and texted me a picture of the latest drop-off he discovered.  At first glance, it was mildly funny but mostly just exciting because something new had been added:

But then I looked more closely and realized that one of these books was actually one that I've been wanting to read!  I had a brief flash of hesitation before quickly texting my husband back to ask him to pick up "the one with the dog on it" ("The Art of Racing in the Rain").

I'm not sure where that leaves me in all this.  Can I still make fun of the situation if I'm now actively taking part in it?  I mean, I'm not leaving stuff there.  And I don't know what happens to the stuff when it's not taken by someone who actually wants it, anyway.  Things are never there for long and I have a hard time believing that some of these things are so desirable that they are snatched up immediately, so I imagine building management gathers and discards anything they find.  If I didn't take that book, wouldn't it likely have ended up in the garbage?  And it's a hardcover book with a solid reputation that's in like-new condition - not a pair of used, white high heels or a bag of cat food.  So it's not weird that I took it, right?  I can still make fun of the other stuff, right? 

Well I plan to, regardless.

And if I get any more pics, I'll be sure to share them here.

What's Been Shakin', Bacon?

I know it's been months and months since I've updated this blog.  I'm occasionally reminded of that fact by someone who actually thinks to check it every so often, only to find the same old post.  But usually I'm just reminded by myself whenever I read the blogs of others, who seem to have the time and motivation to update regularly.  I suck at updating this, I know.  I've just lacked the motivation.  And I figure since the only people who read this anyway already know what's going on in my life, what else can I possibly provide of interest?  However, for the sake of those spammers who love to leave comments on my blog in Japanese, I shall update you on some stuff that's been goin' down around Sea Town.

Last weekend we closed the production of the first play Zaki and I have produced as our own theatre company.  Crazy.  It's something we'd thought about doing for years and we even applied for a grant so we could have some money to do it.  Imagine our surprise when we actually got the grant and then had no excuse but to follow through with it!  The play was "Sixteen Wounded" by Eliam Kraiem (who is, incidentally, super cool, as he sent us an email, wishing us a successful run and when we sent him the positive review we got from the Seattle Times, he responded again with more well-wishes.  Kick ass!).  The show deals with what we referred to as the "human side" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - not the politics of it.  We wanted to do the play and then host talk-backs afterward where people could discuss any issues/ideas/concerns/questions/thoughts that came up for them.  Keep in mind we'd picked out this play a few years ago.  We had no way of knowing that the Gaza floatilla raid would end up going down less than a week before we opened.  And while I most definitely am not happy about the floatilla raid and don't feel right using the word "lucky" as it relates to us, if it had to happen, it was pretty convenient for our purposes that it happened when it did.  Because suddenly more people were paying attention.  And it turns out we really wanted people to pay attention!  There was a time during the process when, I'll be honest, I was not sure I wanted to promote the piece.  It was rough.  And we didn't know how it would turn out.  Also, long story short, we had to replace one of our lead actors 1 WEEK before our first performance.  Insanity.  Yet somehow the universe said "Don't worry, lil punkins, I got this" and not only did we pull it off, we pulled it off in a crazy-successful way.  The response was amazing from the get-go, word of mouth spread, we got a great write-up in the paper, we had full houses the 2nd weekend and on the final night, after adding folding chairs and packing in an extra 10 people, we still had to (sadly) turn away 30+ people who wanted to see the show but had nowhere to sit.

Here's a pic of a scene with me and Z (Photo courtesy of Mike Hipple) (and this was taken during a rehearsal - the fake prego belly looked more real before the show opened, just so ya know):

It was an incredible experience on all counts and we learned so much from every aspect of it.  And now the bar has been set very high for us for any future shows we will produce.  But for the time being we're enjoying having a bit of a respite.

And it comes just in time for the World Cup.  Ah yes.  That little thing.  That soccer tournament that the rest of the world basically shuts down for over the course of a month that I'd never known anything about until 5 years ago because I live in the US where we are too good for silly sports that the rest of the world obsesses over.  I learned about its importance (hell, its existence) 5 years ago when Z and I started planning our wedding.  I learned that if it was to be held around the summer of 2006 it was going to need to be early or late enough in the summer so as not to interfere with the World Cup.  "You're not serious?" I said to my foreign-born-and-raised-so-he-has-worshipped-every-second-of-every-World-Cup-since-he-was-born husband-to-be.  Oh boy was he serious.  Thus, the reason we got married on Memorial Day weekend - the festivities and any potential honeymoon would be completed by the time the first kick-off took place.  And if it hadn't been, I might not have had a groom standing in front of me to say my vows to.  So here we are again, 4 years later.  I am now a season ticket holder for our MLS team (Go Sounders!), so it's fair to say my appreciation for soccer has probably multiplied by 100 since 2006, and I'm more interested in the Cup this time around.  And I'm cheering and booing just as loud as the next (foreign) guy during the games the US is playing.  And I'm following the scores.  But I'm not getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to watch 2 countries that I have no connection to compete.  Just show me the highlights and tell me the score once I'm up, thanks.  But anyway, if you want to discuss So You Think You Can Dance with me (which normally I'd be ALL OVER right now), you're probably gonna have to wait because currently, our evening TV time is being consumed by DVRd soccer matches.  Oh - and if you know the score of those matches that took place after we left for work - don't ruin the score for my husband, he wants to be surprised. :)  As frustrating as it can be at times, it's actually pretty cool the passion that he feels for it - and that the rest of the world apparently feels for it.  I feel rather connected with the rest of the planet's inhabitants, knowing that those of us paying attention to the tourney are, in fact, the majority, in spite of what some US haters might have you believe.  And, as a good, "America-hating" liberal, if there's one thing I like more than anything, it's feeling "above" my fellow countrymen.

Here's a pic I found online (I like to add pics to keep you awake. You're welcome) of some kid blowing the much-maligned vuvuzela and rooting for the wrong team:

What else...

Oh, so our piece of crap car finally got paid off a few months ago.  Hooray!  Oh, the plans I had for that money that had been going to a car payment.  But the car gods had different plans.  They apparently are rooting for the repair shop owners and their extended families to go on an all-expense paid vacation sometime very soon, so we've been cursed with our car continually breaking down.  Cooling system issues, mostly.  Such a monumental pain in my derriere.  So it looks as though, rather than continually shelling out 100s of dollars for repairs of the same stupid thing, on top of car rental bills, we may be getting a new car.  We're also thinking of leasing instead of buying.  Since our current piece of garbage is a 2004 and ran great for about 3 years (right around the time the warranty ran out, of course), we're thinking maybe it's not such a bad thing to get a new vehicle every 3 years.  So we've been test driving some cars lately.  We'd originally thought we'd go with the can't-go-wrong Civic, or maybe even the Corolla (cuz all that recall stuff is done now, right?), but we've since narrowed it down to the Hyundai Elantra or the Mazda3.  I think we're leaning toward one over the other, but on the off chance that anyone reading this blog has any opinions on the subject, please do share.  Oh - and to the Japanese spammers: if you could type your opinions in English, that'd be easier for me to use.  Smooches!

Speaking of the car, we were also inducted into what is apparently the brotherhood of true Seattleites recently when we had our car broken into.  After attending a play at the theater where we would soon be putting on our own play (a troubling omen that fortunately did not prove to be foreshadowing), we returned to find the passenger window shattered and the contents of our glove box and arm rest storage strewn about the seat.  They found Z's ipod touch and that's all they took.  They ignored our satellite radio receiver (although it looked like they may have tried to take it but couldn't figure out how to disconnect it) and they ignored our GPS.  What, our GPS isn't good enough for you?  Thieving snobs.  Anyway, we really were very lucky, all in all, only being out the ipod and the cost of the deductible on the window repair .  Still, it sucked.  I guess maybe I should feel fortunate it hasn't happened to me before, as I know a lot of people my age who have had to deal with it multiple times in their lives.  It's all relative, I suppose.

Ummmm...

I went to Boise for the weekend before we started rehearsals for the play.  That was nice, in spite of the fact that I somehow managed to throw my back out in the middle of the weekend.  Regardless, I got in some good "mom time" and some good "grandma time" and also some good "Eli time."  I'd love to post some pics for you to see that he continues to be the cutest boy that ever there was, but since I can't, you're going to have to continue to take my word for it.

Oh!  Speaking of cuteness - we went to NY a few months ago to meet our first niece, Lilly Zelda Greif!  Z's sister, Nina, spawned this little doll and while we didn't get as much time to spend with her as we'd hoped, we look forward to dousing her with more love at the next possible opportunity.  We got a video of  her laughing the other day and if that's not the best sound in the world, I don't know what is.

Here's a pic of her wearing the onesie that her Uncle Zaki and Aunt Devin got for her a few months ago.  Cuz we plan ahead. 

And see how I've tied multiple topics of this blog together in just one adorable picture. I'm awesome like that.

Ok, I feel like that's ample.  I tried to make it long (for a change, when it usually happens by accident) to make up for all the months you, my faithful following of 3 readers, have had to endure without a blog update.  I'd like to tell you that it won't be so long between this and the next one, but let's all try to be honest with ourselves about that, shall we?  You'd be wise not to get your hopes up too high.