Great party Pipers!

Last night we went to the Piper's annual Christmas party and as usual it was a blast. I brought my camera but didn't take a single photo. Not one! So I've gone online and found some pictures that reflect the atmosphere of last night's shin dig.

Di out did herself on the food!

Thanks Dave and Di, great party as always!

Today in Lost History...

"Left Behind"
Sawyer goes boar hunting with Desmond, who questions Sawyer's motives.
Juliet breaks her cover story in order to repel the Monster at the sonic barrier.
Sawyer finds out about Hurley's con; Hurley tells him leadership isn't usually something everybody wants.
Jack, Kate, Sayid and Juliet leave the barracks.
"One of Us"
When the four of them make camp for the night, Sayid starts to question Juliet, but is told by Jack to leave her alone.

R.I.P. Bettie Page

The iconic pinup died in Los Angeles at the age of 85 after suffering from a heart attack. We will never forget her beauty or her hair.

Top Chef

Okay, I'm getting caught up. This is going to be another short and sweet recap. Last week Alex packed his knives and left because he made the mistake of thinking he could whip up a Creme Brulee in an hour for a Today Show presentation and he was very wrong. Ariane won because she was able to drizzle balsamic over watermelon.

This week Ariane won again for barely cooking lamb. It looked far too pink for my tastes but apparently the judges like their lamb almost cooked. Jaime from SF got robbed! Daniel, his knives and ugly beard were sent packing for his part in the deconstructed surf and turf debacle. I think Eugene should have got the boot but I'm sure he'll be going soon enough.

Fabio continues to be Italian and adorable.

Buen retén Abuela!

My coworker Martha is a Grandma again and she will never forget the birth of this grandbaby. See, she had to deliver him herself in the back seat of her Tahoe. ¡oh mi Dios!

I haven't heard the whole story from her yet, but was told that they got lost on the way to hospital and the baby wasn't waiting so she pulled over and called 911. They told her to give Andrea a pillow and she's told them all she had was her sweater. They tell her to put that under Andrea's head. Done. So then they ask her if she has any towels and she says "no, I'm in my car". They tell her she needs something to catch the baby in, so she took her sweater back and used it to catch the baby. Oh poor Martha, she must have been beside herself. But great job Abuela!

(He looks upside down but this is the pic she sent )

Little Gabriel Angel Lopez

Born: December 7, 2008 Weight: 5 lbs 15oz Length: 18½ inches

Place of birth: off Highway 99 South in 2003 Chevy Tahoe

Time of birth: Approx. 2:35pm Delivered by: Grandma-Martha Cruz

Proud Mother: Andrea Lopez Proud Grandparents: Irineo and Martha

Later on that day...

So after skating Dora and I headed over to Sinbad's for some lunch...

There was more to lunch than just my yummy Bloody Mary, a tasty Monte Cristo and some delicious Clam Chowder were involved but not photographed.


We then headed to the Farmer's Market were there were as many street performers as there were veggie stands.


You have to love a dirty farmer.

Inside the Ferry Building.

While these looked good...

...I opted for the Gingerbread with cream cheese frosting.

Dora and I then headed to her place for cocktails and wreath making. She crafted....

...and I thought they looked better as a hat.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!

We still got it!

Had a great day on Saturday! Dora had always wanted to go ice skating at the ice rink they put up for the holidays so I braved bodily injury and went ice skating with her. It really was a lot of fun. Two downsides, the scary rental boots and the ankle pain from not skating in 12 years. As long as I took a break now and then all was well and good.

We don't need to hang on to no stinking walls!

Didn't fall once, not bad for an old broad.

Grace personified.

The wee ones skating (or not) were just too cute!

A quick bit of filler

Yes, I've been very bad about blogging, I know. It's the holidays, I just can't concentrate. So in the interests of getting something new up, I'm posting a couple of dress that I am just loving.

Victoria Beckham is like Liverwurst for me, something I assumed I would never like in my lifetime, but it's growing on me and I'm surprised that I actually like it. I love this dress! Fabulous! And with the gloves, love it. Just love it.

I can't imagine there is even the smallest level of comfort here but dammit these are wicked hot pumps.

Maybe it's unfair to put a Lily Allen pic after Posh because anyone is going to look hip-ie next to her but women have and should have curves to here it goes.

I love this little wintery number, very cute!

And almost the same wicked hot pumps.

New Promo pic

A bit heavy on the Photoshopping but they look great. Sadly, still no Frank. I'm not happy about that at all.

Is it January yet?

I'm a homewrecker!

For almost two months now (at least) there has been a spider living in the rear view mirror of my car. I call him Dude. Every morning there is a perfectly spun web from the rear view mirror to the side window that I destroy by driving to work and it's really beginning to break my heart.

See, when I was a kid I read a story in the Reader's Digest about this guy who worked the spotlight at a theater or something like that, I don't really remember that detail I just know it had something to do with lights. The story he told was how a spider had set up shop in this one light fixture and wove a web across this light every night. Every day he would get to work and have to wipe this web out of the fixture. After doing this for some time, he began to notice the webs the spider was weaving were not as intricate and elaborate as they had been at the beginning, they seemed more hastily thrown up as if the spider had either stopped caring or didn't have it in him to weave one perfect web after another any longer. The part of this story that I remember the most was when the guy says "After having so many webs ripped down, I don't know if the spider was able to make another perfect web ever again". I think about this story often when I have to tear down a spider web and it's been tormenting me particularly for the last 2 months. Dude isn't making the pretty and pristine webs that he used to and I can't help but feel responsible and just a little sad. I apologized to him once when I noticed him quickly run down the web while at a red light. He was very good about getting back up behind the mirror once I started to accelerate.

Here are some pictures of his web taken the other morning when it was particularly dewy out. Those gaps wouldn't have been there last month.