Huzzah Again, from the Happy Alto

As promised, here is the letter that I wrote for Professor Huszti's book.  I hope that one day I can read the letters that my friends wrote, too.  (The book wasn't available yesterday at the Open House).

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After 9 years of playing the violin, I decided that I wanted to sing in the choir when I got to college in 1985.  I had no audition piece, but somebody told me to just go in, sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee", and let the director test my range.  There he was, the Man himself, Jo Huszti. Oh, mind you, I had no idea that if I had been a voice major, I should have been terrified of him.  I was frightened enough just being a Freshman.  He was very pleasant to me, though, and told me that I was a soprano.  During our chat, I told him that I wanted to be able to sight-sing.  I knew how to sight read quite well as an instrumentalist, but I didn't really know how to do that with my voice.  He told me that he would place me as an Alto, and that would help me reach my goal.  (I don't know, maybe he just needed more altos.  Whatever).  Soon, I was singing in the Freshman Choir as an Alto, and loving every moment of it.  Being a servant at Madrigal Dinner was quite the experience: seat people, serve food in waves, don't drop the Leg of Fowle!, serve Wassail, sing about wassail, serve food, sing for the Court and their guests, serve that figgy pudding, don't let the flame touch your costume!  I remember hearing Jo talking to the Court one evening, and he was not pleased.  I remember being happy that I was not part of that group being lectured.

 

Well, of course, my time would come.  Times to be lectured, times to be not only an Alto, but also a Soprano, a Tenor, whatever voice Jo needed at the time. Yeah, sometimes a Bass.  Part of me felt like I had Multiple Voice Disorder, but the other part of me felt proud that he trusted me on those parts.  He gave me the confidence to sing whatever voice part was necessary, and oh, yes, I could sight sing like nobody's business.  Thanks for that, Jo.  I'm now able to walk into church 30 minutes before Mass, learn a song, and sing it solo in that same Mass, and actually be confident about it.  One of my fellow cantors asked me how I could do that.  I told her that it was partly due to the orchestra background, and partly because my director told me to be an Alto one day.

 

Ah, yes, I loved being an Alto.  On our trip to Debrecen in 1987, I was part of the Happy Alto trio with Shannon Hartigan (now Villanueva) and Kristina Engel.  We had already bonded before that tour, singing "Old McDonald Had A Farm" in pseudo-sign language at our choir retreat, but we bonded even more during our first choir tour.  That tour made me appreciate being an American.  There we were, young adults in Hungary, celebrating our Independence Day by singing patriotic songs on the bus after a competition.  We all wished that we could see fireworks, but Jo still had us feeling like a family because we were all together, our own big family, staying in a Hungarian orphanage and learning more than we ever would have about the beautiful country.  I have such fond memories of Hungary that whenever anyone asks me to list my favorite places in the world, Budapest is in the top 5.

 

The choir rehearsals helped us bond more than anything.  I had no idea when I joined the choir that I'd be in some kind of improv acting class at the same time.  Whenever I hear the song "Nothing" from "A Chorus Line," I grin widely, thinking of all the different types of movement Jo would have us do in order to feel the music.  Passing the football from one side of the choir to another, acting like whatever animals we were singing about (don't get me started on The Frog Moved Slowly), and choreographing "Come Sweet Death" were experiences that I don't think other choirs have.  Am I right?  Do ALL choirs stand and gently sway, pretending to be Paper Reeds by the brook?  That was my favorite, by the way.

 

As time passed, and I moved on from Mad Din Servant to Court Member to Princess to Queen(!) to Knight of Christmas, the bonds continued.  I joined California Chamber Singers because I had the need to keep singing fantastic music with great musicians.  My favorite tour as a CCS member was Spain.  We had a lot of fun on that tour, this time sleeping in a monastery.  Yeah, we got yelled at.  Let's just say that my tolerance for wine was really high after I got back from that trip. Oh, and I'm *still* embarrassed that I fell down during the "Frog Went -a- Courtin'" dance in the Basque country.  Ed, really.  You could have WARNED me before flipping me onto my butt!  (No, there was no wine involved in that incident).  I fault Jo for thinking that I could do that dance in cowboy boots, though.

 

Most of all, I credit Jo for fostering my love of music.  Silly as those improv movements were at the time, they helped me understand what it was to feel music through my whole body.  The interpretations that he shared helped me understand the music logically, too.  The physical and the mental understanding were nothing compared to the emotion I felt.  As many times as I sing the Thompson "Alleluia," I still feel the love for God in my heart, and the praise that I sing in His name.  That song is one of my favorite pieces ever.  Just two words, but with every emotion that can be sung.  And of course, the final word, "Amen," sung by none other than the Altos.  It's no wonder that whenever I hear it or sing it now, I think of us singing that song in Debrecen, holding hands with each other, wearing those cowboy outfits.  We were ONE that day.  It was incredible.

 

One day, when I was finishing up my Master's degree in Clinical Psychology, I realized that I had to come to a decision about my life.  I needed to either continue on my path as a psychotherapist, or continue singing.  There wasn't a way to have both and also have a steady income, because I was supporting myself with my day job.  I prayed for guidance.  Three phone calls happened that week, all of them asking me to sing in some capacity either in a choir or in a band or whatever.  Jo was one of those callers.  I decided to keep singing, and have never regretted my decision for a moment. 

 

Thanks, Jo, for that call.  Thank you for making me a Happy Alto.  And thank you, most of all, for your friendship, your kindness, and the love for music that you have passed on to me and many, many others.  Congratulations on your 50th year!  Alleluia, indeed.  Oh, and AMEN.

 

--SS

 

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Duh, Sherry.  The trip to Debrecen was in 1988.  The Altos are the last ones singing "Alleluia," not "Amen."  But it's still holds the same meaning to me. :)  I did get it right on the quiz that day, though, when I said that without Jo's inspiration, I wouldn't really know the meaning of "Alleluia." 

 Love ya, Bela. :)

Huzzah to Huszti, Day 2

I drove back down to UCI today to attend the Open House at the Huszti residence.  A few of my friends were already there.  Cliff had brought Cindy today, so I wanted to say hi to her.  Cliff gave me a big hug when he saw me, not realizing that this really made my mid-back feel quite a crunch, since it had been aching a little bit all week.  I winced, but didn't say anything.  At least it wasn't yucky, like my toe.  Cindy and I spoke for a little while, then I got something to eat and sat outside with Caesar and Shannon.  Caesar informed me that Twitter was telling him that the  Rockets were imploding in their Game 7 playoff against the Lakers, so I was happy. 

Pretty much the same people came to the house as attended last night's concert.  It was nice, though, to get a chance to meet the newer alumni, and look at photo albums from long ago.  My favorite was Vicki's, of course, because I was actually on that tour and could remember moments.  They distributed a quiz for those whom had not submitted a letter to Jo.   I decided to complete one anyway, even though Vicki said that my letter made her cry and, along with Roberta's, affected her literary-degree mind with writer's block.  Sorry!  

One of the alumni is now a professional baker, and made this cake and cupcakes, complete with the Tudor Rose design from the Madrigal Dinners.

Rudy texted me about how sorry he was that he couldn't make it to anything this weekend, due to his obligations.  I sent him a couple of pictures, and a couple of messages from our friends so that he would feel better.  I really missed him, though.  I didn't take pictures of people until after some of them had already left, sorry.  Here are the people I talked to most, anyway.

The Villanuevas and Vicki

I had fun reminiscing with folks, and it was especially nice to talk to Melinda and Jo one-on-one.  Being back at Casa Huszti was a blast from the past, and I felt kind of like I was home again.  I half-expected to go upstairs and try on a costume for Mad Din.  Since there won't be any more Madrigal Dinners, the costumes are up in their attic.  I said one thing to Jo about this:  "e-bay".  I wasn't serious, though.  It would break my heart to see all of Melinda and the other seamstresses' hard work be sold on the open market.  Melinda said that they would try to have get-togethers regularly, because it had been far too long, and we don't have the Madrigal Dinners as the excuse to get together anymore.  I hope that we do have a gathering at least once a year.  There are far too many awesome memories to share and too many wonderful people of whom to lose track.

Jo had scheduled a Men in Blaque recording session at the house, but that wasn't going to happen anymore, what with everyone there and key people missing.  Eliza's letter to Jo just happened to be rewritten lyrics to "Modern Major General," and she didn't even know that MiB was going to perform it last night.  They sang the new lyrics to Jo, and they were outstanding.  My favorite line had something to do with Jo teaching in "a master-planned community."  Jo thanked us all for the great weekend, reiterating his thoughts from last night.  One thing he said was that he was fortunate in his life to surround himself with quality people, who give the opportunity for quality experiences.  I suppose that it's the secret to living a fulfilling life.  Yeah, I teared up again, especially when he got emotional.  Aw, Bela. :)

I talked to Jo about when he actually found out we were all going to come to his house today.  He said, "7:30 this morning, when Melinda told me that we had to sweep the patio."  Great job, Melinda!  I'm glad that he was so surprised.  This was a wonderful weekend to cherish forever, much as I already do with the people I've met through UCI choirs, thanks to Joseph Bela Huszti.

Huzzah, Mr. Huszti, Huzzah!

Today my college choir director, Joseph Huszti, celebrated his 50th year of college teaching.  The UC Irvine choirs had a concert tonight, so Jo's wife Melinda and a few alumni planned a surprise for him.  They sent out a request for letters and notes to dedicate to Jo, and did some organizing to get as many of us as possible to attend the concert and surprise him.

Professor Huszti has been one of the greatest influences in my life.  I was happy to send a letter to be included.  It will be a separate blog post in this 3-part series regarding the events of this weekend.

I've kept in touch with several of the people that I met in UCI choirs, and still see several of them at various times during the year.  The camaraderie is still there, the laughter still prevalent, and the common love for music and our time are always in our discussions.  This night, however, would be a different vibe.  Well, at least I hoped it would be.

I arrived a few minutes late, and didn't really know where I was going: at least, I didn't know how to get there, because there were buildings being constructed in the path that I would normally take. There were also a couple of bridges that hadn't been there when I was a student.  I called Shannon and she led me to the rehearsal room where everyone was congregating.  She was standing there with Melinda and Vicki, trying to flag me down.  Ah, Vicki.  It was such a delight to see her happy face.  Melinda looks great!  I was happy to be there, knowing what we were about to celebrate.  Shannon told me to brace myself because it was going to be a little bit trippy for me inside the room.

At first it didn't seem like a big deal, since I didn't recognize the faces of the newer people.  Then I saw the friends that I see once in awhile: Jeff, Yoko with her new short hair, Kristy, Kristine and Caesar.  There was John, passing out the octavo for the Thompson "Alleluia."  I looked around the room a little more, and the Villanuevas and I compared notes.  "Is that Tony Lien?" Caesar asked.  OMG, yes!  His hair isn't long anymore, but his face is still the same.  Shannon had to point out people to me and tell me their names.  Names like Eliza and Holly and Lauren.  I felt like I was holding the magic mirror in "Romper Room":  "I see Carlton, and Russell, and Margie, and Andy and ... wait.  Do I actually *know* that person, or do I just recognize them from Madrigal Dinner?"  Then I wondered where all the people were that I had seen on the email list.  At one point, I wondered who the heck Kristi was talking to: is that person a soprano or an alto?  Then I realized, "Duh, Sherry, that's John's wife.  She never sang with us."  

John was our rehearsal director, and we sang through the "Benediction," which was written by Peter Christian Lutkin for the chapel where Jo sang during his undergrad years.  This would be sung at the end of the program.  I already got teary, thinking of how beautiful it sounded, all of these people coming together, blending beautifully because we were all trained to blend by the Man himself.  I mentioned it to Shannon, and she handed me a tissue for later, knowing what saps we both are.  Then we sang Randall Thompson's "Alleluia," which is sung by EVERYONE who sings in Jo's choirs.  It's pretty much his signature piece.  I was really glad that it was John leading us in this, because I don't trust this song with many people besides Jo and him.  It's one of my favorite pieces in the whole world, not only because of its beauty, but also because of the memories it evokes in me.  So, yeah, I teared up more after the first bar, and decided that reading the music was useless anyway, so I sang it from memory. 

John gave us the particulars of the evening, and our little group decided to go to dinner at Steelhead Brewing Company.  Well, lo and behold, the other groups went as well, so we pretty much took up all of the big tables in the bar area.  Yoko showed us pics of her twins (I told her that she'd be a bad mother if she didn't have them with her to share), and we reminisced and tried to figure out the people's names at the other tables.  Cliff came in and said hi, and I told him that my favorite memory of him is when he accidentally ate a chili pepper when we were in Korea, and perspiration started pouring from his head, his face turned bright red, and we wondered if we should have John call an ambulance (he was the only Korean-American in our tour group).

We then returned to the Concert Hall, now named "Winifred Smith Hall."  It still looked the same inside, with the same organ that we used for the Vivaldi "Dixit Dominus."  Ah, I remember almost falling off of those stairs when I fell asleep (while standing up) during rehearsal that one day.  The ushers were trying to save seats for the choirs, but so many people showed up that they had to give up those seats for the spectators/choir alumni.  Perhaps they should have charged money to this event so that they could help pay for the air conditioning, because it was warm in there.  We were seated in the top row, and I looked around the room.  There was Roberta, sitting with Shannon (Roberta was impressed that I remembered her full name).  There's Mickeal!  AAAAHHH!  Then Amy O walked through the door.  Then I saw Kathy Grant, our freshman choir director.  Oh, there's Barb!  OMG, this was getting overwhelming.  The concert was about to start, so  I went to the restroom, and when I returned, I accidentally scraped my pinky toe with the door, which really hurt and made shades of red onto my shoe.  Owwww and ewwww.

The concert began a little bit late due to the seating situation (the ushers were allowed to open the door to the lobby area so that people could listen from there).  Jo came on stage, and later he told us that he did recognize John, but figured that he was just there to watch because Jo had emailed him about the concert.  The lights were too bright on him, and he didn't realize that there would be many more familiar faces in the crowd.

Jo led the Chamber singers in a Brahms piece and Bach's "Lobet den Herrn."  Then the Women's Chamber Choir sang.  It was the conductor Matthew Martinez's MFA recital, and he did a great job.  They blended really well together, and the music was beautiful.  I especially loved the Brahms Folk Songs.  

The Men in Blaque took the stage, and we saw John's cue and all walked from the audience onto the stage.  Jo was shocked and overwhelmed.  There were at least 50 people on the stage, looking at him and smiling.  Since it was Melinda's doing, she had written a little script.  Jo's brother was on stage, representing the first choir that Jo ever conducted, in 1946.  He was 10 years old then. A woman was there from the University of Delaware days.  Another woman was there from the Boston U days.  And yet another woman was there representing the Tanglewood days.  John was the representative, along with most of us, of the UCI days.  I started to cry, and so did Shannon.  Wow.  This man has quite the history.  

Highlights:

1956 - 1966 Bakersfeild College, Director of Choral Activities

1966-1972 University of Delaware, Director of Choral Activities

1972-1977 Boston University, Director of Choral Activities

1973 -1977 Tanglewood Young Vocalist Program, Director,  Conductor

1977 - present: University of California Irvine, Director of Choral Activities

• 1946 Conducts 1st concert in Lorain, Ohio with the Summer Orchestra playing Beethoven Symphony #2
• 1947 First church choir at age 11 in the Hungarian Reformed Church, Lorain
• 1955 Won first choral competition as Director of Lambda Chi Alpha Choir at Northwestern University's May Sing
• 1965 Conducted the first American choir to win Europe's oldest and largest choral festival, the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales.  Ecumenical Medal from Pope Paul VI.  White House Rose Garden performance for Pres Lyndon Johnson
• 1972 U of Delaware Concert Choir takes 2nd prize in Mixed Choirs at the Eisteddfod
• 1978 Started the UCI Madrigal Dinner, which continued for 30 years
• 1980 ACE award for "A Madrigal Festival" for Cablecasting Excellence
• 1997 UCI Chamber Singers win Youth Division at the Eisteddfod
• 1998 Founded Men in Blaque
• 2005 Address & Master Classes at Korean Music Teacher's Assoc
• 2006 Men in Blaque win 2 Silver Medals at the World Choir Games in Xiamen, China
• 2008 Women of the Choir win 1st Prize at the Eisteddfod, one of 5 choirs in the Choir of the World Concert

His many International Tours were also listed.  I was a member of the 1988 (Hungary, Poland, Austria), 1992 (Korea) and 1995 (Spain) tours.  Really?  It's been 14 years since Spain?  Wow.

Jo was presented with a photo album containing photos of all of the choirs he conducted.  He was then presented with the big notebook of letters that were collected.  Then John asked him to conduct us in the Thompson.

Jo made sure that we could all see him, of course.  Then we got the pitches, and I got emotional, but tried to hold back the tears.  It had been over a decade since he was my conductor for this song, and I could feel the work that we did on every note, every chord.  I could picture us in Hungary, holding hands and singing at the Bela Bartok Festival.  But through all of the memories and the notes, the only time I took my eyes off of Jo's face was to look away before the tears would start running down my face.  (And, of course, they're flowing as I write this).  It was AMAZING.  The love on all of our faces must have been evident to everyone that was still left sitting in the audience.  I could see the pride in his face with each correct dynamic swell, each breath taken, each "Alleluia."  And when we came to the end, I barely had the breath to finish the last "ah," he held it out so long so that he could savor the moment.  Then the tears flowed from my face, as they did on Shannon's and pretty much all of us sentimental folks.  

Jo thanked us, and talked to the audience for a bit.  He was amazed by the diversity of the people on stage.  He was clearly very touched, and had to hold back because he was about to crack.  He said that the best thing about being a college choir director is that you get to surround yourself with wonderful talent and wonderful people.  He acknowledged Melinda, though he didn't know where she was sitting.  He said that he wouldn't be a conductor without the people that follow him, and that we create the beautiful music that he leads, otherwise he could just be waving his hands around in front of people that couldn't make such music, and he wouldn't be as lucky.  He quoted Lou Gehrig and said, "I am the happiest man in the world today."  

But he had more concert to get to, so he pointed at his watch, and we went back to our seats.  The Men In Blaque performed, but cut one of their songs due to time constraints.  Their first song was my favorite "Ave Maria", by Franz Biebl.  This arrangement had a trio of voices singing against the rest of the choir.  Beautiful.  I liked all of the songs that they did, and Ben Johns' solo of "Modern Major General" was fun, especially with the rest of the choir doing some choreography.

We then sang the Benediction, and I wondered how Jo must have been feeling.  Completely touched, I'm sure.

The concert ended with the Mozart Vespers, sung by the Chamber Singers.  I was irritated by soloists sing hard t's.  It's Latin, people.  Use the dental t's, please.  

Kristi and I found Mickeal afterward and convinced him and his wife to join us at the reception in the rehearsal studio.  There they had name tags for us, and we had some dessert.  Our group talked to Jo for a little bit, and he said that he couldn't believe all the people that were there.  He said to me that I send him a nice Christmas card every year, but they haven't sent any out in a few years and he felt bad about not keeping up.  Actually, a few people mentioned the fact that my cards are usually the first one they receive every season.  I guess my reputation continues. :)

After talking to a few people, I left so that I could go home and take care of this pinky toe of mine.  I was sad that Rudy had other obligations and couldn't make it.  He would have loved this, as I'm sure many people would have, had they been able to be there.

Tomorrow will be the day to look at scrapbooks and videos and stuff at the Husztis' home.  I want to see what people have written.  I didn't get a chance to peruse that book at the party.  I did, though, see pictures of Jo and Melinda in their own college days.  Jo had sideburns!  I love it!  I can't wait to see more old pictures and laugh.  Oh, boy.  I can almost guarantee that my embarrassing moment of not-gracefulness will be shown.  G-r-e-a-t. ;)

2008: Leap Year in Review

This has been a year of ups and downs.  Lots of the latter, really, so I can't really do a "Top Ten."  I don't want to do a "Bottom Ten," because I also like to keep myself from being depressed.   Instead, here are my Most Memorable Moments of 2008.

Moments in Pop Culture

• Favorite Movie: "The Dark Knight" 
  
• Scariest Moment in Film: Tie between The Joker's "Watch me make this pencil disappear." in TDK, and Steve Coogan's Karate High-Kick while wearing a caftan in "Hamlet 2".
  
• Funniest Moment in Film: "What do YOU mean 'you people'?!"  -- "Tropic Thunder"
  
• Best Original Song in Film: "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" -- Hamlet 2
  
• Favorite Comedy Series: "Big Bang Theory"
• Favorite Drama Series: "Mad Men" 
• Favorite Brush with Hollywood: S.G. remembering me in absentia
• Most Exciting Comeback: NKOTB
  
• Tina Fey in absolutely everything she did
• Favorite Awards Ceremony Moment:  Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart discussing prunes
• Mascot of the Year: Gloomy Bear

Moments in Sports

• Michael Phelps, 8 times over
• Celtics vs. Lakers World Championship Series
• Kobe FINALLY getting his MVP for regular series play in the NBA
• Mirai Nagasu winning the National Figure Skating championship

Moments in World History

• OBAMA
• Gas Prices going way up, then going way down
• Bail Out ad nausea
• Rachel Maddow becoming the "It" girl of political punditry
• Yet another war in the Middle East: Israel vs. Hammas

Moments at the Disneyland Resort

• Best All-Day Experience:  Team Clueless at MouseAdventure
• Favorite Line of the Day: "This is on the house." -- Linda, at Small World Mall, 5/20/08

Moments in Dining

• Favorite Drink Experience:  Allen getting Them Chew Balls
• Best Restaurant Discovery:  BASIL

Moments in Drum Corps

• Favorite Uniform:  Blue Devils corps' awesome pants with the half-tail
• Favorite Formation: The Troopers Train
• Favorite Visual Moment:  The breaking of the heart & subsequent killing in Phregiment's show
• Favorite Musical Moment/Horns: Phregiment's Mellophone solo during their ballad
• The Only Acceptable Spoken Word during a program: "I AM SPARTACUS!"
• Favorite Spectator Moment:  "A LOT!" -- Brady, at the Rose Bowl, upon seeing the many corps members at his first drum corps event
• Favorite Moment in Finals: The announcement of BD winning the Silver
• Theme of the Year: Violence

Moments in Rockapella Trips

• Most Relaxing: Spa treatments at the Wigwam Resort
• Best After-Show Activities:  Pillow Fights at the Wigwam Resort
• Best Show Moment: A cricket landing on Scott during "People Change"
• Best Spectator Moment:  Brady's outburst at his first show "NOOOO!  DRINK!"
• Best Meet and Greet Moment:  Kevin pretending to play the blues on his harmonica at the Wigwam
• Trip of the Year:  Wigwam Resort (edited on 1/4/09 from original Las Vegas)

Moments with D'Saints

• Saddest:  Mama passing away
• Scariest:  Mom's fight with lung cancer
• Most Heartwarming:  Brady finally saying my name, and repeating it about 50 times in a row
• Best Performance While Inebriated:  Sherry and the 50 States at Thanksgiving Dinner
• Funniest:  V's confusion between Jeff Bridges and Jeff Daniels

Thank you to those of you who made me smile this year.  Thank you to those of you who were there for the rough times.  But most of all, thanks to all of you for holding special places in my heart.  You are what made me NOT want to leap over this year.

Here's to hoping that 2009 will have more Ups than Downs, more Smiles than Frowns, and more Mermaids than Clowns. 

Yeah, I've lost it completely. 

UCI Choir Alumni Summer Gathering 2008

Back in college, besides my roommates, my closest friends were the ones that I made in choir. I had always enjoyed singing, but didn't have the time in high school to get involved in their choruses, because I was focused on orchestra at the time. When college came around, though, I decided to try out for choir, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. Not only did we form great bonds spending time making beautiful music, searching our souls for the emotion that each piece presented, but we also bonded during our tours to other parts of the world. My love for music was nurtured with these friends, and I know that had I not made the choice to sing, my life would be really, really different right now. I think I'll blog the details about that at a different time, though.

After graduation, I kept in touch with these wonderful friends, and we still get together a few times each year, for different activities. This is the second year that we've had an outdoor gathering at the home of Shannon and Caesar, whom met in choir and got married and are highly representative of the kind of bond that we all formed in college. There we were at the beginning of their dating years, and we sang at their wedding, and they are just really great people.

I arrived a little bit early, and so did another friend and her family. Little by little, the party grew, and we were happy to see a friend whom was usually out of the country on business during our gatherings, so it was a special treat to have her there. She wasn't the only surprise: two of our friends showed up with very prominent bellies, and we were told that their babies are due a day apart. One of them is expecting twins!

We had a great time eating, drinking (well, the non-pregnant ones of us anyway), catching up, marveling at how much the kids have grown up, and saying how it can't possibly have been almost 20 years since we were all singing together. I really needed the laughs, because I was sad that Bro and family will be moving away today. I think that it was God's way of reminding me of all of the wonderful friends that I have here to keep me smiling.

Thanks, guys, for a great time, especially to Shannon and Caesar for being such fantastic hosts. (That tri-tip was tres yummy!) Our next gathering will probably be full of oohs and aahs over little baby boys, and I look forward to it!

Girls Day with the UCI Roomies II

Jen had another free day, so we went back to l.a. vie. I had my nails done (my toes were already pretty), and the other three gals had pedicures. I had requested a "Natural Nail" treatment, which consists of a seaweed scrub and paraffin wax, so my hands were wrapped in hot towels and plastic, which would have been OK, had there not been a delicious, fresh-baked chocolate chunk cookie placed in front of me. I was able to enjoy it later with the refreshing hibiscus tea. They had also spread out brunch items such as cheese/crackers/meats, and some yogurt. If you're there on one of the specials days, brunch items are included with your treatment. On other days, there's just the cookies and drinks, but it's still very nice.

In the cabana next to me was some woman that I couldn't see from my vantage point. She was with her two little girls, whom were adorably dressed as if they had just gone to church, or maybe they were going to a party, because when the woman stood up, her attire did not look at all like something you would wear in a place of worship. My goodness. A gorgeous man came into the salon to talk to her, and my manicurist mentioned that they are a beautiful couple. All I could see was that he looked like he was probably a model. Well, then the woman was done, and she got up to go (in 5-inch high heels, nonetheless, if not more than that), and Jennifer noted that the woman was, indeed, a celebrity. I don't remember her name even though Jennifer told me 3 times, but apparently she was a Playboy Bunny, and used to be married to Lorenzo Llamas. I wanted to shove a few of those cookies in her mouth. She was too skinny, but we felt very much L.A. at the moment.

After our nails were dry, we went to lunch at Barefoot on 3rd Street. They were serving brunch, which made me happy since I love breakfast. Apparently an incident occurred between a family and one of my friends while I was in the restroom, and my friend advised me that the woman was using her child's stroller as a battering ram. The host asked if we'd like to sit in the patio near that baby, or on the other patio, and I jokingly said, "Well, since the mother tried to kill my friend with her stroller, we'd prefer to sit on the other side." One of the servers nodded at me told me it was a good choice. I guess that the father either overheard us, or the server advised him about my comment, because he walked over to us to check if everything was OK. So I had embarrassed my friends again. Ah, the joys of being in my presence! :) We noted to each other that only in L.A. are the waiters gorgeous enough to be models. I mean, DAMN.

We sat at our table and were given a little bread basket with tasty loaf-type bread slices inside. I ordered Healthy Joe's Scramble, comprised of egg whites, ground turkey, spinach, mushrooms and onions, and it came with O'Brien potatoes and toast. It was delicious, and I now want this for breakfast EVERY Sunday. Of course, that's not actually going to be possible, given the fact that I'd need to drive to L.A. for that, but perhaps I can make my own recipe. One of the Jens asked what "O'Brien potatoes" are, and the other Jen just told her they were Irish. We're very helpful gals.

Christine also opted for breakfast, and had the cheese omelet with goat cheese and...mushrooms? I can't remember what else was in there. The Jens each ordered salad, because their favorite types were on the menu. Jennifer ordered the chopped cobb, and Jen ordered the chinese chicken salad, stating that the cashews made it very tasty. We all enjoyed our meals very much, and were quite glad that we had chosen that particular patio because the baby was not in the happiest of moods. When we retrieved our car from the valet, the family was also getting in their car and further annoyed us by taking way too much time and blocking our way out.

After a few wrong turns due to my directions being in the other car, we went to MILK. Although a gracious friend had brought over some of their delicious desserts for me just last week from being there for the restaurant's special event, I really wanted to share the place with these gals. They weren't as nutso as I was about everything there, but that's OK. I had the Banana Dulce De Leche ice cream, which was splendid. I also ordered a couple of pastries to go, and was amazed that the ice cream they gave me survived all the way back to my house, thanks to the ice pack in the bag.

We had another wonderful day, even though I ruined the polish on my nails before brunch ended. Thanks for the decadent day, ladies!

Girls Day with the UCI Roomies

One of my friends was able to get the day off from the rest of her family, so some of us went to a fancy nail salon in West Hollywood, l.a. vie l'orange hand + nail spa.

It was more expensive than I'm used to paying, but this was more like a spa experience than a regular salon, and they served us beverages, such as water (which, like a spa we go to, is flavored with fresh cucumber and oranges)/iced tea/hibiscus tea, and they also baked fresh cookies while we were there, which made us all more hungry for lunch. At least when I went here, I was prepared for how much I'd be spending, unlike that time we were in Reno and there were no prices marked anywhere, and the women basically ripped us off.

Here, we sat in individual little cabanas (Christine's word), yet we were still able to talk to each other. That might have annoyed other people there if they wanted a quiet atmosphere, but we were the only ones there for most of our appointment time, so we didn't really disturb anyone. Their basic foot soak contained stones and rose petals, and it smelled really nice, and they have their own small line of lotions/body wash. The technicians were friendly, and mine had even memorized half the names of the nail polish colors, which was quite impressive. She heard me tell my friend that I wanted a different color than what I had chosen, and when she heard the kind of color I wanted, she promptly had one of her co-workers bring the exact shade that I was thinking of, requesting it by name.

Afterward, we went to Orso, and had a tasty Italian meal. Their menu changes every day, but you can check the New York page on their website for an idea of what they serve. We were seated in the (enclosed) patio area, and they had heatlamps on, so it was very comfortable. They weren't particularly busy due to the time of day, we were served promptly, and the food was tasty. One of the servers had a little bit of an attitude, but he wasn't our main waiter, so that was OK. I split a plate of Insalata Caprese as well as Pizzetta Elba with one of my friends, and we enjoyed our food, as did our friends whom had pasta dishes.

If we had more time, I would have led them to MILK for dessert, but alas, one of us needed to get home, so I just told them about it instead.

I had a great time with you gals! Thanks for helping me get my mind off the stressors in my life. I was happy to relax with all of you.