Ow! My foot… and other vacation fun!

from the Mermaid House

Just returned 2 weeks ago from our second annual family vacation to Port Aransas, on the Texas coast.

It was a great trip with about 18 of us — cousins and spouses with kids, uncle and girlfriend, Mom, sister and her husband and their kids. We rented two houses that were side by side last year but this year a new house had been built on the empty lot in between.

Those of us that arrived early enough, went to the beach that evening. I

Splish splash

was out boogie boarding with some of the kids (wearing my protective water shoes mind you) and all of a sudden something poked me really hard on the side of my foot. Oh my gosh the pain was immediately intense. I motioned for my sister, who was still on shore to come out and help me. We got to the shore and I sat down and my foot, right above my shoe!! was bleeding slightly but already puffy! Was it a jellyfish everyone asked. I said no; I’d been stung before and this felt very different. Was it a sting ray was the second guess. I didn’t think so. Of course the water being not the clearest didn’t help because I didn’t see what had struck me. But at the moment I was cursing all sea creatures!

Anyway, I kind of hobbled around the rest of the evening, icing my foot off and on. By the time I went to bed that night it was throbbing! I finally took some ibuprofen (don’t know why that didn’t occur to me earlier). The next morning it was a little bit stiff and puffy but not painful, so I went about my business of vacationing.

Nick’s 1st double catch

The day we all loaded up in several vehicles and made the half hour trek to the Padre Island National Seashore to swim and fish.  We heard the was the location where the National Park Service releases Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle hatchlings several times a year and decided we would come back to witness that. We stayed at the beach several hours then made our way back to our beach houses for a little out-of-the-sun rest.

Later in the evening we went back out to the local beach and Nick

Park Ranger with baby

decided he wanted to take part in the fishing. Members of his family had tried to get him to fish in the past, but he always thought it boring. This time though he must have been enticed at the large amounts of fish being caught by my uncle, my cousins and others. Bam! His first cast, he caught two fish! And then he caught singles and then bam! Again he snagged another double!

Kayaking

Early Saturday morning, we roused ourselves in time to get back to the National Seashore and watch the sea turtles being released. It was really cool and I’m glad the kids and adults) got to watch it. We decided since we were already at the beach, we might as well stay and play even though it was only like 8 am. Never too early to go to the beach. For whatever reason though, the water at the Nat Seashore was several degrees cooler than the other beach we swam at. Didn’t even phase the kids, or the adults for that matter. The water also seemed clearer and cleaner. My cousin, her husban and their son are big on kayaking so they brought their kayaks with them. My cousin’s husband took my niece out for a short paddle out to deeper waters and they managed to not tip over luckily.

We ate, we drank, we made merry and we’re already counting the days until next year’s KBYLMP (Krause, Benites, Yeats, Loftis, McDonald and Pinson) Family Vacation!

Third Thursday Breakfast

The only thing better than breakfast, is breakfast with a purpose– networking. I’ve found that one of the best ways to get jobs in film/tv production is by getting out there and networking. So this morning I had the opportunity to attend the Dallas Producer’s Association 3rd Thursday Breakfast Club (3TBC) at the Dallas’ Garden Cafe. (By the way, the purpose of the DPA is to provide promotion, advocacy, education and networking for it’s membership.)

Last night and this morning I experienced brief moments of anxiety thinking about having to talk to strangers (remember your mother always telling you NOT to talk to strangers) but I figured I had nothing to lose and more to gain by going. This was my second time to attend the 3TBC and just as before I felt very welcome and comfortable. The DPA Vice President & Membership Chair, Will Raymond, is terrific at introducing himself to people and making them feel welcome. There were also a few DPA members that I’ve met before at other events so it seems that my anxiety was unfounded. 🙂 

About Garden Cafe: if you haven’t experienced this place yet, you’re missing out! They aren’t open for dinner so you might have to plan ahead and go before work or on a weekend but it’s sooo worth it. They have an outdoor patio you can take advantage of in nice weather. The patio is surrounded by a garden and a variety of other plants. They even have a chicken coop so they have fresh eggs for their breakfast dishes!

I’m looking forward to the next DPA event; hope it’s tasty!

Summer Lovin’

Last week’s freakishly cool weather must have shocked my plants (or maybe not; I’m not a horticulturalist) because my Cannas in the back yard had their first bloom and my Althea in the front yard finally started blooming.

Canna

Althea

We had a pretty laid back 4th, except for this…

Before

After

Nick had to work Friday so when he got off, we hopped in the car and drove down to the farm in La Grange to see my mom. We enjoyed visiting with her and did some work outside for her. Sunday morning, we got up and headed to the tiny town of Dubina (oak grove in Czech) for the local church picnic at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church. (This church is one of several of the famed Painted Churches of Texas.) They had a delicious lunch fundraiser of fried chicken, sausage, potatoes, sauerkraut, peaches and the dessert of your choice. The always popular Shiner Hobo Band also entertained the large crowd for an hour or so!

Hooray for birthdays

Me and my niece Addie

My birthday is officially tomorrow. Because I have such wonderful friends and family, I was able to start celebrating early.

Last Thursday at the monthly book club meeting we had our usual dinner followed by delicious chocolate mousse cake from Panini Cakes in Dallas and hilarious greeting cards! Myself and two other ladies were the honorees but we all felt very special. I knew we were having cake, but I didn’t know I would be the recipient of funny cards.

Anwyn and Nick did some coloring

On Saturday, Nick and I traveled down to Austin, where we met my mom and my sister and her family. I got to pick the location, even though my B-I-L was also a birthday boy and I chose The Hula Hut on Lake Austin. Upon arriving and being told we’d probably have to wait an hour and a half, we went next door to Abel’s on the Lake. Our buzzer for Abel’s went off about 30 minutes later and just as we sat down, I received a text from the Hula Hut saying our table over there was also ready (oops, forgot to remove our name from the list). Our dinner was tasty though somewhat slow getting to us and we chatted and enjoyed ourselves while we waited. Of course we also had a nice view of Lake Austin and the boaters tying up to come into the restaurants. I could have stayed longer, had another beverage and just watched the boats and would have been happy.

My bff’s son Graham

After leaving the restaurant, Nick and I headed to San Antonio to make a quick stop to see my college bestie Hillary and her family. I love seeing how her kids have grown and of course catching up on all that’s going on in their lives. Best of all, I got a soccer pic of her oldest son to adorn our fridge!

Sunday morning my mom and I got up and met another bff (one I’ve known since 6th grade) for breakfast. She actually lives in Utah but was visiting her parents for the weekend in San Antonio. I wish I had remembered to snap a quick pic of us but I didn’t. Her 3 boys are bundles of energy! Her oldest, Liam, drew me this shark pic… more art to adorn my fridge.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings with it, but even if it’s nothing, I feel very blessed to know I’m surrounded by

Shark by Liam

people who love me thissssssss much!

Girl Rising

My friend and I went to a movie screening a few weeks ago of a documentary called Girl Rising. It’s basically the story of 9 girls from around the world and their struggles with getting an education and just being girls. These aren’t just any girls though– they are extraordinary! Each of the nine girls was assigned a writer from her home country who then helped put the girl’s story into words.

The documentary includes voice performances from notable women such as Kerry Washington, Meryl Streep, Alicia Keys, Cate Blanchett, Selena Gomez; and notable men such as Liam Neeson. They girls all share a common thread– they have all had to fight their way through adversity because where they are from, females aren’t regarding as highly as males and in some cases they aren’t regarded at all, especially when it comes to education.

I highly recommend you see this doc if you have the opportunity; it made me truly appreciate and be grateful for the relatively easy time I have had getting an education! You can check the website for screenings or even sign up to captain a screening. (I was lucky enough that I could attend a screening captained by Kim “Cookie” Nguyen, who was kind enough to treat the whole theater to cookies!)

Mommy did you just run over a cat?

Kids say the darnedest thing…

Nick and I went to Austin over the weekend to see my niece Anwyn play soccer. We have previously watched her sister Addie and Autumn play games in their sports– Volleyball and Basketball– so I didn’t want to leave a niece out!

So Saturday at noon we watched Houston (Anwyn’s team) play against Vancouver or some other city named team. After the game we went and got burgers at a little join called Sandeez and then took the kids to get Frozy’s Shaved Ice.

Anwyn and Autumn had appointments for hair cuts later in the afternoon so I decided to tag along. After the hair cuts, we headed home, but first we had to make one last stop at the liquor store for a refreshing grapefruit vodka treat. I was seated in the front seat next to my sister and as she made a left hand turn to go to the store, I made this awful tire screeching noise, both to irritate her and just because it’s fun to makes noises. I guess my imitation of squealing tires wasn’t the best because one of the twins in the back seat pipes up and says “Mommy did you just run over a cat?”  Hahahaha… kids are so cute! We all had a good laugh when I explained that I had made the noise.  As we were leaving the store, turning back onto the main road from which he had come, the same twin (I think) said “It’s a good thing that cats have nine lives, even though this cat only has 7 now.”

“Seven?” I asked, thinking she had miscounted.

“Well yeah,” she said giggling. “We ran over it once coming into the parking lot, and again when we left.” OMG this kid is hilarious!

Bucket List

There seems to be a lot of death in the world lately; first at the Boston Marathon, then with the explosion in West. Late last week I found a high school classmate passed away from colon cancer. Sunday afternoon some girls that pledged my college sorority were killed in a car accident that killed an acquaintance from Dallas…

The point I’m getting to is that none of these people probably woke up and thought to themselves “today was my last sunrise.” That’s got me thinking about living life to the fullest and thinking about what I want to accomplish before I depart so I’ve started writing my Bucket List.

In no particular order, here are a few things I’ve thought of:

1. Ride a camel in Abu Dhabi

2. Go on an African safari and see Victoria Falls

3. Ride an elephant in Asia

4. Leave a lasting legacy

5. Hot air balloon ride

6. White water rafting through the Grand Canyon

7. Eat pizza at a sidewalk cafe in Italy

8. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef or at least visit

9. Summer weekend in the Hamptons

10. Hike part of the Appalachian Trail

and this one’s a maybe 11. Skydiving

Better get started on my list asap!

Dallas Goes International…Film Fest, that is

This year marked the seventh year for the Dallas International Film Festival and the sixth year for me to be a volunteer. I volunteered the inaugural year the fest started as the AFI Dallas Film Fest but then last year I didn’t make the time to volunteer. This year I was slow to get on the ball and didn’t sign up for any shifts until last Thursday. My first shift was working as a host at the Festival Lounge, located in the spot formerly occupied by Lemon Bar in the West Village. It was very, very slow when I arrived at 8 until about 9:20-9:30 when several screenings let out. The lounge was a place where festival pass holders, filmmakers and talent could go and chill out, have a free drink and grab a quick snack. So basically my job was to make sure people had the right badge to get in and make sure there wasn’t any empty bottles or trash laying around. Not exactly challenging but I met a few nice volunteers and clocked out around midnight.

Most of the years I’ve worked the festival, I haven’t taken the time to actually see a film but this year I decided to try and see at least one. So Friday’s line-up showed an interesting documentary about the 1998 Miss World winner and her struggle as a rape victim (which happened shorlty before she was won the crown). Ten years after the worst incident of Linor Abargil’s life, she was finally ready to speak about what happened to her and she has gone on to become an advocate for other victims’. Brave Miss World was soo moving and well told that I highly recommend you see it if you can. More information about the doc can be found at this site www.linordocumentary.com.

After the screening was over, the lights came back on and the hostess who introduced the film, brought the directos, Cecilia Peck, up front for a Q & A session. Before she began the session, she thought it only right to introduce her guest who also watch the film with us — Val Kilmer!! I was sitting a few rows behind Batman and I didn’t even know it. Apparently he was in town for the fest and because he’s starring in a play called Citizen Twain at a local theater.

Friday night, I decided to sign up to be a “Macguyver,” a sort of floater/jack of all trades, which means your assignment for the night was TBA. So basically my assignments for the night included delivering festival programs to different theaters, making plates of food for the projectionists (people that play the movies up in the booth), standing around a lot and helping to tear down the Red Carpet after an event. Not the most glamorous of nights but got to chat with some cool volunteers and festival staff so it wasn’t a complete wash.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival and I’m promising myself I will see at least two films!

International Day of Happiness

The United Nations has declared today the first ever International Day of Happiness. Along those lines, I’ve decided to examine what makes me happy every day and this is what I’ve come up with…

• Working out– whether its going to CrossFit FCH, which I wouldn’t necessarily say makes me happy initially, but I do feel a sense of satisfaction after getting in a good workout, or shakin’ my groove thang at Zumba!
• Going to the movies! I’m looking forward to seeing several that are coming out soon!
• Reading– right now I’m reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer (also the author of Twilight) so that I can go see the movie next week.
• Being outdoors, enjoying the beautiful Texas springtime. I’m very happy that I live within 5 miles of White Rock Lake, which has lots of parks, trails and beautiful views– if I woke up to these views, I’d never be unhappy. Today I enjoyed a long walk, just enjoying the scenery at the lake while I tried to dodge multitudes of cyclists.
  

  Rowers at the lake

  

  Spillway

  

  White Rock Lake
• Being with my two dachshunds Roxie and Zoey!

  

  

  

  
  
• My friends and family always make me happy!

  

  

  Mom & I at the screening

  

  
  
• Planting flowers and shrubs around our house makes it seems like spring!

  

  

  

  
  
• Last but certainly not least, my hubby makes me very happy!

  

  

  First glimpse of the beach

  

  
  

The McDonald’s Do Dallas

Dad’s high school graduation

I had the pleasure last week of having my mom visit me for a few days. Last Wednesday actually would have been my dad’s 76th birthday and I didn’t want Mom to spend it alone.

While she was here, I got to play tour guide and tourist. Last Thursday, we took the Dallas Trolley Tour and I actually learned about the city I reside in. We covered a lot of ground in our 75 minute tour– we drove over the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge, saw the steers in Pioneer Plaza, and found out where the infamous Clyde Barrow worked at a candy shop in the West End. After our trolley tour, we made the mile trek over to the newly opened Klyde Warren Park which sits atop Hwy 75.We indulged in lunch from one of the food trucks set up at the park and just enjoyed the beautiful March weather. I had been wanting to visit the park and eat from a food truck for a while now, so I finally could cross those off my bucket list. It was really pretty exciting to see all the cool places that have shaped Dallas history, even the site of JFK’s 1963 assassination.

That evening, we attended a WomeninFilm.Dallas screening of Women In Film and Television International Showcase, a compilation

Pioneer Plaza

of short films commemorating International Women’s Day. There were short films from all over the world, including Dallas, the director and producer of which were on hand to talk about their film after the showcase was over. They shared the ups and downs of producing their short but you could tell it was something they really loved.

Mom & I at the screening

Friday afternoon, was equally as exciting. Mom and I went to see Oz The Great and Powerful. The Wizard of Oz is one of my all time favorite movies so I had pretty high expectations of the new Oz and it really lived up to them. The movie was just really cool and very well cast. Of course, the magic really came to life when Oz stepped into the new world of Oz and the colors on the plants and objects really just popped!

The rest of the weekend was just spent hanging out and catching up. It makes me sad that my dad is gone but I’m thankful I still have my mom and we can continue to make memories together…