leftovers

Mom by our front door on Christmas Day. I may have mentioned this before, but technically the Twelve Days of Christmas begins on December 25th. In this day in age, most people are so relieved once Christmas is over, it's unfathomable that you would want to then celebrate the holiday for 11 more days! That's why I decided to end mine, rather than starting it, on Christmas Day. We woke up in the morning and immediately I had to start getting everything ready. Dylan had set his alarm to wake me at 7am so I could put the breakfast casserole on in the crockpot, and luckily I got to go back to sleep for a couple more hours. Once I woke up, I had stockings to stuff and cookies to bake! Mom, Dad, Adrienne, Brandon and Angie came over shortly thereafter and joined Dylan, Robbie and I. We all finished up our last minute stocking stuffing and gift wrapping and had brunch together. Then we all started our Secret Santa opening. Borrowing from the method we used at my work's Secr...

Today was a very crazy, fun-filled day! Several years ago, we started a new holiday tradition of spending a day with Dylan's nephew, Connor, and Connor's mom, Jennie. We get together to help Connor build a gingerbread house, while we visit and sip champagne. It's so much fun and it's great to be able to have some holiday time with someone much younger than us. Everyone knows that the holidays are much more fun with kids around. This year, we had a hard time figuring out when everyone was available to get together and one of the only times we could do it was today, even though it was the first day my family was going to be here visiting, so we just decided to make it one big celebration. In the morning, Dylan, Adrienne and I got up and went to the valley to pick up my parents and we went last-minute gift shopping at the Fashion Square mall in Sherman Oaks (where I finally finished my shopping) and then to the grocery store to get almost everything we'd need for th...

There are several stages of holiday anxiety, from the minute the decorations start appearing in drug stores and the songs start playing all over the place. Then's there the shopping, the cooking, the party-going. And if you're like me, and you live far away from most of your family, there's anticipating the reunion - either of them flying here or me flying there. This year, my parents and sister are flying out to California, as they have done many times before, to spend the holidays with us. I'm so excited! The apartment is ready, I have the main ingredients for the traditional Yuletide Eve stew, my presents are all bought and wrapped under the tree, and the fresh pine wreath is hung on the front door! Tonight my parents land at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank around 11 p.m., which is in less than an hour! My brother is going to pick them up and then we'll meet at our friend's house who is kind enough to let my parents stay in her home while she's away ...

So, the title of this post is pretty dramatic. However, looking back, I can't really remember anything dramatic ever happening on December 25 in my experience, and for that I feel very fortunate. Obviously, it's a day of the calendar just like any other day of the year, and disaster or tragedy can strike at any time. I do know of friends who have lost loved ones on Christmas Day, but luckily I haven't. If you just google " tragedies on christmas day " you'll find that there are people who report on and catalog all kinds of horrible holiday happenings. Really, aside from receiving some unwanted gifts, or not receiving the gift I wanted the most, I've never had something awful happen, and generally the holidays have always been great because I've always been able to celebrate them with family and/or friends. There have been a few Yules after I moved to LA when I didn't get to see my family at all, but at least I was able to be with Dylan and his ...

With such high hopes and expectations, it's only natural that the holidays are often marked by let-downs, disappointment, and heartbreak. Leading up to the arrival of my family and the excitement of the impending holidays, I'm going to bring it down a notch for the next few blog entries and focus on the darker side of the holidays. When you're a kid, you're pretty specific about what gifts you want for Christmas. Usually, you have put a lot of work into your list, double checking the catalogs and aisles of your favorite stores making sure you've selected only the most desirable of toys and presents. I would carefully dole out my wishlist, making sure to assign the low-price items to those who would be giving me gifts for the school exchange or the 4-H secret santa, reserving the moderately priced ones for close friends, siblings, and cousins, and of course requesting the finest ones from my parents and ol' St. Nick. I thought making things simple and direct ...

When the holiday season rolls around, my kitchen usually starts rocking. However, due to numerous blunders and flops in recent years, I've decided to minimize my pre-holiday treat making. I have no problem with the meals that I like to cook for the holidays, but it's the candies that have always given me trouble. My mom used to have a seemingly never-ending list of candies and treats that she would make each year for the holidays. Maybe she rotated them out and only did a few, but to me, it seemed like she would make all of these. Every year! My grandma Strecker had a few of her own that she always made too. Here are the candies of Christmas that I remember the most! Peppermint Bark - My mom now claims she had no "recipe" for this (much like other dishes and confections I ask her about) but I remember her making this once in awhile. The main reason I remember is because she would buy the big chunks of white chocolate - and I LOVE white chocolate! Cherry Mash - ...

Yesterday I wrote about all my first cousins on my father's side of the family. Today, I will be writing about the cousins on my mom's side, which is a much shorter list, but also is the side I have been more close with growing up because of our proximity to each other. In general, the cousins on the Hendershott side of the family were at almost all holidays and family celebrations, whereas on the Strecker side, it was only the really big ones. The Hendershott side was much smaller, closer in age and miles, and thus more tight-knit. In fact we all lived about 2 miles from each other for much of our childhood, and when the youngest, Caitlyn, was born, we moved to Hays which was where she lived so then we were very close to her. Here are my cousins on my mom's side: Brian A. - Brian was a few years older than me and I always looked up to him. He was great at sports, good-looking, always had a girlfriend, and had a great sense of adventure. He used to always try to scar...

The holidays were always time when I got to see a lot of my relatives; some that I saw often already, but others who I rarely got to see. Most of my cousins were older than me, and they seemed so cool, mature, and smart to me! So I always liked getting to hang out with my cousins and have great memories of the games and shenanigans some of us would get up to. Here is a tribute to each and every one of my cousins and what they mean to me! Beginning with my father's side: Steve A. - He is definitely the cousin I am least acquainted with, most likely because he's the furthest removed in age from me. I know he was sort of the golden boy when he was young because he was the first grandchild on the Strecker side. By the time I was born though, he was already an adult and I didn't ever get to see much of him. I've heard that we have very different political and sociological viewpoints. Jill R. - I do remember Jill being at holidays at Grandma and Grandpa's but again...

Trees are the ultimate symbol of Christmas. I don't want to get into the history of it, but suffice it to say, in my lifetime, the holidays have always involved a decorated tree in the home. When I was little, our first tree was a fake plastic one. The branches and needles were this thick green plastic that I still remember vividly. It was quite a process to assemble the whole thing. We would put it up in early December and had the decorations stored in the Amana Microwave box. The earliest lights I remember were multi-colored and were surrounded by clear plastic "flower petals." I loved that tree even though it was very cheap looking by today's standards what with those thick plastic "pine needles." Eventually, we bought another fake green tree that was slightly more realistic looking. That was probably when I was around 10 or so. Through the years we collected more and more ornaments, but Brandon and I developed a rivalry over our favorite ornament...

Dad Helping me unwrap my gifts at Grandma & Grandpa Strecker's. After last year's commitment to post a blog entry each day, I've understandably been pretty absent this year. I think I've averaged one blog post per month. To end out the year, and to pay tribute to my second favorite holiday season, I am going to write each day from now until Yuletide, also known and formerly referred to by myself as Christmas. Each day I will touch on a different topic either relating to the holiday season, or completely unrelated. Today, I will recount the typical holiday seasons of my youth. At school, we would all be very excited about the arrival of Santa Claus but were busily concerned with things like the winter musical or concert, the gift exchange, and all the tests and assignments we'd have to finish before the break. At home, I would anxiously thumb through the pages of the JC Penney catalog, dog-earing the pages that had the toys I hoped so desperately to find under...

The title of the post is a Scritti Politti song but in reality, July is already here (and almost half-way over - how did that happen?!?!) The month kicked off with a bang because on June 30th the Traitors and I had a show at Que Sera in Long Beach, performing at our friends Crush's record preview party. They played all new songs and it was a fun night! After we played, my friend Brad aka Swivek performed and I helped out on stage with the backing tracks. Brandon, Me, Myles and Elene on stage at Que Sera. Photo by Luther Orrick at Double Agent Photo . That night after the show, Brandon went to LAX to pick up our sister Adrienne who arrived around midnight! I didn't get to see her until the next day for lunch, when I met her, Angie, Dylan and "the other Adrienne" (Pearson) at Kabuki for happy hour! Me and Adrienne at Kabuki for Happy Hour - in the Sunset/Vine District! After work, we all went over to Brandon and Angie's where we met mom, who Brandon had just pic...

It was a really nice Thanksgiving! Brandon and Angela kindly volunteered to host the festivities at their place, and to cook the Turkey, so I got to do what I love the most - cooking the sides and deserts! I got up and started cooking while we had the Macy's Parade on in the background, just like when I was a kid. We were really excited because Kylie Minogue was in the parade, performing "Get Outta My Way," which is the song we cover in the Traitors. Thanks to DVR we could rewind it and watch it a couple times since it went by so quickly. I made an awesome Bacon Oyster Stuffing that I found the recipe for in Real Simple magazine (which I had a trial subscription to), green bean casserole of course, and a real pumpkin pie - not from a can! Dylan made the sweet potatoes and he did such a good job! It was a really fun group, we had Dylan's mom, and our uncle Ronnie, along with our friends Rick and Melodie. Adrienne P. and her boyfriend Quinn came a little later and...

I got up and around shortly after noon. Dylan was rushing me around because he wanted to go pick his mom up and stop by the grocery before getting to his Aunt Renee’s at 2pm for our Faux Thanksgiving celebration. We ran a little late, but we got Robin picked up and stopped to pick up mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and champagne. We arrived at Mark and Renee’s just shortly after we were supposed to be there. It was just the five of us, plus Dylan’s cousin Shadaya and her daughter Michaela. Renee put out crackers, cheese and other appetizers that we enjoyed while we drank champagne and visited. Then dinner was served - Renee made a spiral ham, potatoes au grautin (we ended up not needing the mashed potatoes we brought), green beans, rolls, and of course more champagne! We had a lot of fun, especially with Michaela, she is so sweet and she is to the age now where she just likes to run around and be funny, to entertain all us “grown ups.” After Shady and Michaela left, ...

We had a BID renewal meeting for Sunset & Vine at the YMCA and after that, Sarah and I went to Larchmont to get coffee at Peet’s. I also got a tin of tea leaves for my ice tea maker. I told Dylan that if anyone asked what I wanted to Yuletide this year, to just tell them I want good loose-leaf teas. If I could get enough tea to last me through 2011, I would be happy! Angela and I decided we would have a chili night, so I texted my mom to get her chili recipe. As a kid, my mom used to make chili often in the fall and winter, and it was usually one of the first signs of fall. Back in western Kansas, chili soup is traditionally accompanied by cinnamon rolls - even in the schools - but apparently people in LA have not heard of that, so we decided Angie would just be in charge of some type of bread to serve with it and I would make the soup. As I was leaving work, I told Kerry about my plans so she asked to look at the recipe and she suggested I add cumin to it, whi...

I got up early in the morning to take Adrienne to LAX. Her flight was really early, but I didn't want to go back home and try and sleep for just an hour or so, so I went right into work afterward. I got there so early - obviously I was the first one there. It was actually kind of nice being there so early before everyone else. At 8:30, Brian and Sarah came in and Brian said how weird it was the there were already 3 of us there that early. We had a couple meetings in the afternoon, including a Hollywood U meeting which is a collective of all the post-secondary schools in Hollywood. I was really tired after the meetings were over, so I ended up leaving a little before 5pm since I had come in so early. Adrienne texted that she got home safe, so that was good. I think she really had an amazing trip, I know we all had such a good time while she was here. I was so tired when I got home, but instead of trying to sleep I ended up playing this game on the iPad, Angry Birds, which I...

It was mom and dad's last day in LA, so after Dylan and I left work work they got their stuff packed up and then Brandon came and picked them up and brought them to Hollywood so they could see my new office. Of course, we're moving our offices up two floors soon, so this won't be my office for long, but at least it's the same building. I showed them around and introduced them to Brian and Sarah, and then took them next door to the W Hotel, which I had never even been to. We took some pictures there and some outside, and then we walked down to Sunset/Vine and had coffee and snacks at the cafe in the Borders Books. We sat there and just hung out and visited since they were going to have to leave soon to get on the plane home. It was sad saying goodbye, since this time I really am not sure when the next time I'll see them, but I told them I'd try to come home in the fall. Mom was really good and didn't cry hardly at all! Then I went back to work. It was m...

It was quite the day - my very last day at the Media District. I went into HPOA in the morning so that I could have the afternoon to work with Jim and finish the newsletter - the last newsletter I'd be doing for the Media District. It's so weird when everything is you do is "the last time" you'll do it. It was kind of hectic cause we had just found out that Jim needed to be out of his office by next Tuesday, so we had gone over to Hollywood Center Studios to look at his new office and then we went up to Susan's to work on the newsletter. I ended up pretty much finishing the newsletter myself cause I didn't have much time. Jim had done a couple stories himself so I finished up a few more and got it all formatted and put together. The only thing left was that Susan needed to proofread it and then Jim would just have to click 'send.' Then he would just need to format a printed version and mail out to the database. Hopefully I didn't leave h...

This morning I had to get up really early and make it to the Arclight by 8am for the Hollywood Economic Summit. It's an annual event that's put on by the Chamber of Commerce. I had gone to it once years ago when I worked for the Media District and Mary Lou was still there; she was always much more involved with the Chamber Events so when she was my boss, we were always going to meetings and luncheons with the Chamber. I knew quite a bit of people there, so I tried to talk to them all and let them know about my new position. Then Brian from my office showed up so I just hung out with him and he introduced me to some of our board members. The summit was pretty interesting. There was a lot of information in a little amount of time, but most of it was pretty positive about how Hollywood is weathering this economic depression fairly well, and that things are starting to turn around. I had a dentist appointment right after that, so I had to run down to Larchmont as soon as the su...

Usually the day after my birthday is kind of sad and depressing, but I didn't have time to be mellow this time because my mom and dad are coming to visit today. Work went pretty well. I'm still just trying to balance between the two jobs and the transition right now, which makes it difficult to really focus. Jim and I have a lot of things we still need to cover and time is running out. After work, I tried to finish the cleaning that Dylan has been madly doing over the past few days, so there wasn't much left but it was still pretty significant. Brandon called around 9 to say he was picking mom and dad up at the airport, so Dylan and I hopped in the car and drove over to Brandon and Angie's place. We got there just a few minutes before they did, so it gave us time to catch up with Angie and see all the work she has been doing out on their patio, which is so beautiful - great spot to relax. Mom and dad came in and we all hugged and sat down and chatted and then Angie ...

It was father's day, so Brandon and I were walking out to his car because I thought I left my bag of clothes in his car (I didn't; it was in Dylan's). While we were walking down the hallway in the Riviera, we both called dad to wish him a happy father's day, but Brandon beat me to the punch and I got the voice mail. Brandon put me on the phone with dad when he was done, but dad thought he was supposed to hand the phone to mom so I just ended up talking to mom but then the call was dropped. Then Brandon and I went to this deli in the casino to get some food; I got some spring rolls and a slice of coconut cake - yummy! Dylan, Brandon, Angie and I got our swimsuits on and went down to the pool for the afternoon. It was pretty sunny and warm, but there was also a nice little breeze. The pool was pretty nice and we had a good time relaxing. Eventually, Luther and Andy made it down but they were wanting to go eat at a buffet so they didn't join us. After the pool, Bra...