Friday, October 31, 2008

In case it isn't clear...

...we want Californians to vote NO on 8!!! This is CRITICAL and there is truly no good reason to vote yes on 8.

Please take 30 seconds to watch this.



For Halloween, we're thinking of going as "No on 8" -- just gotta figure out how. :-)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Dear Californians

I can think of exactly ZERO reasons to vote YES on 8. Well, I can think of a few that are filled with hate and inappropriate use of government. But otherwise, zero. Think about it.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Good stuff

Now, I don't really believe that if Obama is elected, we will no longer have hurricanes. But this is really well done, very funny and sad at the same time, and worth a watch!



It's the same actors as the original!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Pretty cool!

My cousin does good.

I kept trying to embed this video but it refused to work. So I linked to it but it just takes you to a list of videos. Click "Single mom..."

Friday, October 17, 2008

18 days 'til Election Day, part 2

Okay, so where was I?

After Vegas, we had a visit from our friend TJ McFarland, who is a singer/songwriter living in Nashville and Oklahoma and wherever else he feels like. He performed here in LA (he's on the left in the hat) and next month will head to New York City, so if you're up that way, check him out at Arlene Grocery in November.



Apropos of nothing, here's a photo I took while driving. (In California, we aren't allowed to talk on our cell phones while driving, but paparazzi-ing is entirely acceptable.) I was trying to get a good shot of a GIANT dog in the backseat of a Rolls Royce. You can kind of see that. But you can also see a very cool pic of a palm tree in my side view mirror, a reflection of my car (a Volvo), a tiny peek at the Hollywood sign (okay, okay, it's Hollywood Video) and a beautiful LA day.



Then last week, it was my turn for a birthday. I cannot bring myself to type the age that I turned. Just forget about it, okay?! It is not important! Age is just a number! It's a state of mind! It's not how old you are, it's how young you feel! Oh whatever!!!!!!

Okay, so you all know how much I loved my cousin Samantha and how we shared this insane passion for designer clothes. Well one of the things she coveted was a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. I tried and tried to find her a pair that I could afford -- but they were offensively expensive.

So imagine my surprise when, on my birthday, I opened a box that Brian had carefully wrapped in multiple layers (he even wrapped the lid of the shoebox so I wouldn't see the brand), and there in all their SARTORIAL GLORY were a pair of shiny, gorgeous Louboutins -- this season's no less!!!! I about fainted. Here they are:



OH HOLY HELL I'm just KIDDING!!!! Come on! Not only are those NOT Louboutins, I think Louboutin himself spotted them and almost gave up shoe-making altogether. "Whot is zee point?!" he cried. But then he remembered that what he really did design is beautiful, precious, and splendid. Here they are for real:



So I'm going to wear them and toast Samantha (and M. Louboutin) every time I do.

Speaking of fashion, anyone want to buy some designer dresses?! I went to the Corey Lynn Calter sample sale (no dressing rooms, no returns!), bought a ton of great dresses, and discovered not even one of them fit me. These dresses retail for $250-400 but I got em each for $50-75. Small size 6. Email for more photos, 6 dresses total. Spread the word, I gotta get rid of these things, they taunt me daily ("Hey Dellapina, ya chunkster! I saw you eat that cookie. Why don't you try me on now, hmm???").



Help me sell these or you'll all be getting size 6 dresses for Christmas.

Still on the fashion subject, but transitioning to that oh-so-scandalous topic of politics... I can say without hesitation that my bright, intellectual, passionate cousin Samantha would have been mortified at the idea of Sarah Palin anywhere near the White House. I don't want to turn this into a political rant (last time I posted political comments on this blog, I could not get Katie Couric and the New York Times to stop calling me, and it really got annoying), so I will just say a few short words. Regardless if you love McCain, hate Obama, feel Joe Biden is jejune, or really, really want Alaska to secede (okay, scratch that last one), you have got to be bothered by the idea of Palin becoming President. Not that it's a sure thing... but it's a possibility. And there is no earthly way that person is ready to run the most powerful nation in the world. No. F*ing. Way. (sorry Mom, but at least I used an asterisk)

This is the Kooba bag that Samantha wanted with all her heart. She got it, then passed away before she could really use it much. So Aunt Carmie gave it to me. I carry it with pride every day. I've adorned it with Obama pins -- I'm not necessarily wildly in love with him, but I am so intensely anti-Palin, it was the best I could do. (Oh, and if you want to say, "well she's had more executive experience than any other candidate", go ahead, but I will counter by saying my dad was president of the Burgettstown Italian Club for like, 20 YEARS -- does that "executive experience" make him qualified to run the country? F*** NO!!! [sorry Dad - for the blasting of your POTUS ability, as well as the triple asterisks].) Being mayor of a tiny town with a meth problem does not a meaningful executive make.



I stole this picture off Darci's Facebook page and want to include it, in case you need a reminder of how beautiful Samantha is (and Dena and Darci are obviously babes in their own right).



Finally, I leave you with something cute. I need it to cleanse the palate after my Palin rant (oh before I forget, Brian anagrammed her name: "has anal rip" or "a plain rash"!!). Anyway I heard some noise outside my sliding door. I thought perhaps it was a thief, who scaled the trees and landed on my patio, trying to get at the valuable goods we store out there (like a rusty bistro set, a fetid cooler, two gigantic truck tires, and an empty bottle of Cholula). But no! It was this little guy.



See!? Los Angeles does have wildlife other than Lindsay Lohan! Come visit, our couch is very comfy and we'd love to see you.

18 days 'til Election Day

Hello family and friends. Hope you all had a good summer and are easing into Fall. People out here sometimes say they miss having seasons. Huh?! First of all, we definitely have seasons -- I had to wear long pants the other day! And second of all, would anyone REALLY miss snow?! C'mon. ;-)

Anyway we have no major news to report but here is a collection of crappe we've done over the past two months.

Brian turned 31! For his birthday he got a camcorder and a really nice dinner with me and his parents at Wilshire. Of course he had a steak. For dessert they served donuts!! And they were nice enough to swirl some chocolate on the plate, to form the words "Hogpy Boifoday" which is, I think, Polish for Feliz Navidad.



In case you hadn't noticed, a major theme of this blog is what (and how much) we EAT. Yeah, I try to diet all the time, but I fail frequently. We went to the Santa Monica BBQ Festival. They stamped Brian's hand as a signal to mean "do not serve this man any more meat, he has had more than 19 times the recommended daily allowance."



Brian has taken up the hobby of fly fishing with GUSTO. He ties his own flies (they are so cool, despite the massive amounts of feather debris that litters our dining room) and heads out to a nearby-ish river most weekends. In fact, that is where he dropped his IPHONE! Some fish somewhere is confused by the vibrating, colorful, inedible, alien disk. Here are some pics of Brian and his dad Jim fishing in Maryland.





In September we headed to one of my favorite spots, Las Vegas! And this was no ordinary trip to Vegas. See, for the previous couple of months, my "BFF" Katie's husband, Jamie, was working on a surprise trip for her 30th birthday. She knew she was going somewhere, she just didn't know where -- and she sure didn't know I was gonna be there too!

We had a ridiculous amount of fun, as evidenced by this photo of our first night in town. We chose to go the Cheesy But Hedonistic Tourist Route, and drank huuuge, steaming, tropical drinks at "Kahunaville." Lucky us, there was a "bartender flair" competition going on. Woo hoo, Tom Cruise in Cocktail!!



Poor KK had a toothache! That's okay, we discovered that with enough alcohol, you won't even FEEL your teeth anymore.



We had a fantastic dinner at Tao, where we received some VERY ominous fortunes.



And finally, one more big surprise for Katie -- tickets to see the Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil show. WHOA, it was fantastic! My cousins Nancy and Berni, my Aunt Deanna and my mom went in June and raved about it. So we checked it out and yes, it lived up to the hype. Here's a little sneak of what we saw -- this was during the song "Octopus's Garden" or as I call it "I'd like to be... under the sea..."



When we left the show, we were solicited by a photographer to buy INSANELY overpriced photos of ourselves. Feigning disgust, we stomped off... only to admit defeat and turn back around and buy them! They were just too nice -- big and glossy, and somehow, magically, they made Brian's shirt look like it was nice and pressed! Believe me, it reeeeeeally wasn't. Anyway I will try to scan it but for now, here's a pic of a pic (oh my goodness if that isn't the chintziest thing I've ever done on this blog...).



This post is getting WAY too long so I will continue in a moment, in a separate post!!