Saturday, May 23, 2009

We're Buying a House!

It's official, the Flinns have bought their first house. Sean is putting his English degree to use and is keeping a more detailed account of the process on his blog (part 1 and part 2). Me, I'm a fan of bullet points, so here are some fun factoids about the house.

1. This is what it currently looks like:
2. This is what it will look like (2nd from right):

3. No more 2-butt kitchen for us! Come Christmas time, that island will be covered in cookies.

4. It's near a blimp hanger. 5. After signing all the paperwork we went to Memphis for celebratory (and bottomless) mimosas.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

OMG - can I please have one?



Since a baby isn’t on our agenda in the immediate future, I think I may talk Sean into getting one of these guys in the meantime.

Picture source: San Francisco’s Zoo baby gorilla page

Monday, May 11, 2009

One Sentence Review – Rufus Wainwright

When: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Where: House of Blues – Anaheim

Took the stage in customized Mouse ears, voice sounded amazing, enjoyed the playful banter with crowd and a tribute to my favorite lady, Bea Arthur (who’s not your f-ing grandmother), and I remembered why I’ve already seen him 4 times and will never ever miss him on tour.

Also – the 'where' should be amended from House of Blues – Anaheim to House of Wainwright. His sister, Lucy, accompanied him on several songs and for the last song of the evening, his dad, Loudon, joined them on stage – it was awesome.

Lessons in House Hunting

Day Two of house hunting was 100 times more successful than day one. Here are a few things I figured out from the day we spent looking at homes in Costa Mesa.
  1. All houses smell the same. It’s a weird, but distinct, combination of stale air and musk.
  2. I’m convinced that there are people living amongst us who were raised by wolves, based on the state of disrepair and filth some of the houses we visited were left in. How on earth were these people able to buy a home, while Sean and I are struggling with it? (Answer: interest only loans and ARMs).
  3. I can only describe our real estate agent in one word: batty. She seems super knowledgeable about real estate and selling/buying properties (she’s a pretty aggressive sales person) – but man alive, is the woman insane. Whether it was asking us for umpteenth time the terms of our pre-approval from the c.u., or insisting on taking us to see “educational” properties (i.e. properties that were at least $50-$75k over our budget – just so we could see what we were missing, thereby ‘educating’ us on how much more house we could get for more money) – I spent most of the day admiring my husband for the restraint he showed in not strangling her.
  4. Falling for a house is very similar to falling for another person. You’re willing to overlook the small annoyances in favor of the more important, and impressive, qualities.
  5. Who knew I wanted a large kitchen? Not me. Especially since I only cook 3 times a year – and those dates all correlate to a major holiday. But apparently, I’m a big kitchen kind of girl; so much so that not having a large kitchen is a deal breaker for me.
  6. It’s true – you know the MINUTE you walk into a house whether it’s right for you or not. Despite how much construction and updating your real estate agent insists you can do.
  7. Second sign you know you’ve found the right house: you compare every other house you look at to that particular house.
  8. Looking for a house has only fueled the baby fever.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Coachella Round Up

Coachella! Woo-hoo!! My favorite 3 days of the year. The Whip reared her head a few times but just to keep everyone on somewhat of a schedule; the beautiful people kept the Rock Garden hopping; the Beershoe was invented; and we discovered we had a ninja among us. We’ll all be hard-pressed to fill the void left in our hearts, but are looking forward to doing it all again next year.

Sean did a MUCH better round-up and review of the acts, being the darling rock critic that he is, but here's my take on the weekend for what it's worth.

No one act really stood out as my favorite, or the best, act of the entire weekend. I just saw a lot of really solid sets from really solid bands.

Favorite Acts of the Weekend

Solid Sets, Had Fun (no particular order)
  • Thievery Corporation
  • Franz Ferdinand
  • TV on the Radio
  • Peanut Butter Wolf
  • Crystal Method
  • Chemical Brothers
  • Groove Armada
  • Christopher Lawrence

Wished it hadn’t been so f-ing hot so I could have stayed and listened longer
  • Amanda Palmer. Super self-possesed broad; felt less embarrassed about drinking straight from wine bottle after seeing her set. .
  • Brian Jonestown Massacre. I’m glad I at least sat through a few songs because the universe rewarded my venture into the 100+ degree weather by having Zia from Dandy Warhols take the stage. Totally worth sweating through my ENTIRE outfit to see that.

Best new finds
Peanut Butter Wolf
Etienne de Crecy
Late of the Pier. Benefits of having beer gardens set up near stages – you can still discover new bands while doing absolutely nothing.

Worst Act of the Weekend
Crookers. O. said it best: it’s like the 909ers found techno. And then ruined it.