Vegas, Baby!

Clark and I went to Las Vegas this week to visit my dad and stepmother. They flew all the way from Hawaii but did not come to LA or San Diego to see their daughters, no - they went to Las Vegas! Of course they did, Hawaiians are crazy for Vegas. But luckily we had the chance to go meet them and spend some of my dad's hard-earned cash in the slot machines! This picture above is me and my best friend from high school, Adrianne. We were inseparable in high school but we haven't seen each other since. A lot of life has happened in between but now she lives in Vegas and we were able to meet up for brunch. She looked great - exactly the same as high school! We had such a great time at brunch and I was able to meet her adorable children too! I hope this is the beginning of more visits with her.

This picture is Clark, me, Beth (stepmom) and Dad. We were in front of the Hilton Showroom waiting to see Barry Manilow in concert. He was absolutely amazing! He is such a class act. Really connected with his audience and band and put on a great show. I highly recommend his concert to anyone because we all know the songs - after all, he writes the ... "Songs that Make the Whole World Sing"!

Music and Passion was the title of his concert and it was very fitting. Even at his age, he was spry and active and really worked the stage. You could tell he was completely passionate about music. And he sounded amazing - his voice was strong and steady. No lip syncing like today's entertainers :)

Clark and I at the concert. My dad about had a heart attack that I wasn't more covered - sorry, dad!

Me and my daddy at the concert.

Dad and Beth

Mr. Manilow shaking his groove thing - he really did shake it! He definitely made me a "Fanilow".

Feelin' Good

Since I shared before I figured I would share again that I have lost 28 pounds so far! I'm kind of stabilizing now (mostly because I love cookie dough too much) but I'm not gaining so that's great! Clark has lost 30-something and he looks hot (tribute to Paris Hilton).

I hope you are all doing well, my friends! Have a blessed week!

Incredible Wedding!

Okay, Tracey Clem, so you are right! There has been stuff going on in our lives over the past month. Just last weekend we traveled to the Central Valley for a wedding. My co-worker/office-mate/best work friend was getting married. This was the most amazing wedding - it was actually 4 days long! Let me tell you a bit about it. Friday night they chartered 3 motorcoaches and took us into down San Luis Obispo for a concert. Susan and Chris love concerts! Then this picture is of Clark and I on Saturday at the Edna Valley Vineyards. We took the motorcoaches there for wine tasting, tours of the winery and a full dinner! It was absolutely beautiful as that entire area of California gorgeous! There were many very sweet and some not so sweet but quite funny :) speeches made about the bride and groom.
Sunday was the wedding at a resort cliffside. It was a beautiful, sunny day - perfect for a wedding! The ceremony uniquely blending Jewish tradition and faith with the creative and personal touches of the couple. In the end, the guests all pronounced them husband and wife which was really cool! This picture is Clark and I at the reception. The reception was outside in mini-tents but as you can see it looks like it was indoors! There were actually working chandeliers over each table. The dinner was five courses with a different wine for each course. I got to sit on this cool couchy seat.
This is the beautiful bride after an evening of dancing and partying. I can honestly say that she and Chris looked like they were having the time of their lives. They clearly had a blast which is the most important thing! They were absolutely celebrating their love and their life together.
This is Susan and Chris - he has so much energy! At this point they were busy doing disco era dancing to a funk band with these incredible wigs. What fun! We feel very honored to have been invited to such a beautiful and special day. I wish them infinite blessings and as they travel around the world for the next year, I pray safety and wonderful adventures over them.

Yosemite!

So this was my first trip to Yosemite! My friend, Amber, who grew up right there will be appalled to know that until last weekend, I still had not been in Yosemite! It was gorgeous and the perfect time of year to go because the waterfalls were flowing and the weather was nice. Clark and I camped in our tent which was really fun - if you know me well you might be surprised to know that I love to camp. But...I don't love to hike. I have to admit, hiking is not my forte. Well, I like the places we hike TO but I don't like the getting there part. Unlike my dear husband, Clark, who loves the journey. I wish I did but I don't - I'm glad he married me anyway!

Me and Clark resting when we reached the top of Vernal Falls. My body hurt so bad and a squirrel tried to steal my lunch right out of my hand! Stop feeding them, people! A girl's gotta eat.

He's just so cute!

Tiffany Continued - Finally!

When you go to church in Malibu, you gotta have La Salsa afterward! Yummy!

Tiffany and Matt came to visit awhile back and I haven't had a chance to finish writing about it all! We had so much fun and it was so good to have an old friend in town. It's great to be around people who have known you at different phases of your life and have fun memories. She is such an incredible person with a beautiful heart and a beautiful smile. One of these days I might finally get to Nashville to visit her! Matt went to law school with us too but now he's off galavanting in Arizona. I think it might be time for him to move back to California!
Here's me and Tiff at Venice Beach. The sunset was so incredible - she took literally like 35 pictures. We had a great time.

This last picture is with SUE! We met her and Todd for dinner in Irvine. The Irvine Spectrum is about half way between San Diego and Thousand Oaks so we have been trying to make it a regular get-together place. But things keep getting in the way...we'll make it happen soon!

Had to Share

I just need to put it out in the universe that I have happily surrendered 18 pounds in 5 weeks by cutting my carbs. Feels great!

T-Fo in da house

My dear friend, Tiffany Fox, came to visit me last weekend. She and I became great friends in law school. We bought special slippers for studying and hid them in the card catalogs in the library; we played nerf tennis in the study areas; we did ALOT of hot-tubbing and listening to BB Mak. Those were the days, the days of misery with Tiffany being one of the bright spots! We also lived near each other in Venice. Sue and I lived in #203 and she and Lauri lived at #203 down the street! We particularly enjoyed watching the six hour Pride and Prejudice (I highly recommend this to any female reader and I highly do not recommend this to any straight male reader) and we made many late night runs to Diddy Riese (incredibly good and inexpensive ice cream sandwiches in Westwood - also highly recommended for any and all genders).
So Tiff came to visit from Nashville and our friend, Matt Simunds, came out for one night from Arizona. We went to Malibu Seafood (at Matt's request); the Pepperdine Heroes' Garden

Clark has to do comments for report cards so I will finish later :)