dream loud

when i picked up the blogging again a couple of weeks ago, i mentioned doing a photo shoot with a photographer i’d met via twitter.  his name was brad young, and i’m just so sad that he passed away this weekend from a car going the wrong way on the freeway as he was on his way home.

i’d chatted with him a bit via twitter before i actually met him, and when we met up for my hour-long shoot he gave me a little more of his backstory.  when he moved to california from the east coast, he just kind of fell into acting - booking a job on his very first audition and just continuing on from there.  he landed small parts on shows like grey’s anatomy, charmed, boy meets world and felicity.  and he told me how he got to do some stunts, which he really enjoyed.  he was also a huge advocate for keeping art and music programs in schools, often donating his time and efforts to make sure that students of all ages have access to creative outlets.

it was really interesting listening to his stories, from his acting days to the many celebrities he’s photographed and his regular appearances on red carpets for all kinds of premieres and events.  he was so friendly and candid and humble, downplaying his achievements while also encouraging me to get out there and give the background acting thing a try.  

he talked about his visits home to see his brother and family, how much fun he had with them, and also how much he enjoyed having the freedom to pursue his passions.  and he really seemed to love his life and what he was able to do every day.

here’s a few of the shots that came from that shoot - and i can tell you with 100% certainty that the only reason they look good is because brad was magical with that camera.  he managed to capture me at my best, with none (well, not too much) of my awkwardness or self-consciousness coming through.

so many people have posted tributes to him since the news broke, and it’s clear from their words how much he was loved and will be missed.  it’s just too bad that so often, we don’t get to express those feelings until it’s too late.  

rest well, brad.  thank you for sharing your talent, kindness and enthusiasm with us.

may milestones all over the place

 the rest of our may was full of all kinds of silly stuff.  like, this was the bean’s final art project - a giant fish modeled after a funny pencil case they’d picked up on our trip to japan last summer:

inside his mouth there were more handmade props - an anchor, a water tower, a shipwreck.  it was all really cool and very detailed and i’m sad i didn’t get pictures of them, but suffice to say the bean was given a very well-earned A on the project.

the old lady had been given one of those hollow chocolate bunnies for easter that had just been living on the counter for a few weeks.  we decided it was a good idea for her to snap the head off, pour some coffee in and chug-a-lug.  comedy.

my “7ish at 7ish” sunday boot camp crew took no breaks for mother’s day.  and for our efforts, our trainer brought flowers for us.  we give him a lot of shit (which he takes very good-naturedly), and we were amused that his wife was the one who brought them into the gym, but we also thought it was a very sweet gesture.

the month of may has always been about the old lady. she doesn’t love her birthday like i do, but this year it was different because it was a milestone.  i still can’t believe my firstborn is a full thirty years old.

of course, we turned to our favorite bakery to order a cake for this most special occasion.

the old lady’s most favorite thing to eat in the whole wide world is pasta, so i turned to instagram for ideas on where to take her.  i remembered a restaurant in l.a that she’d sent us in the family group chat that supposedly makes the best red sauce in the city, so i looked for the post and somehow managed to score us a reservation for that weekend.  it’s called donna’s, and when we arrived (right when they opened for business!), there was quite a line for walk-ins.  without a reservation, we’d have had an hour wait, easy.

it’s cute inside, and we had a nice table right in front of the bar.

was it really the best red sauce like, ever?  i’m not sure about that, but we did enjoy our meal.

on another day, we headed out to the americana in glendale and came across the dr. jart pop-up.  i’d seen it posted on social media and over the weekend they’d had some crazy long lines, but because it was a random weekday mid-morning, we walked right in.  scored a few samples, some snacks and a fun drink:

my cousin’s daughter - the one who’s a week older than the bean - graduated from high school this year.  she’d opted to go straight into kindergarten while the bean took a year of TK, so she’s always been a year ahead in school.  i picked up this cute hello kitty plushie to give her:

and about an hour before i left the house to head to her graduation ceremony i managed to put together this fun sign that was a decent size but not too big that it would be confiscated by security.

it’s still so amazing to me that these kids are so grown-up, because weren’t they just toddlers yesterday?

this year also marked my beloved gram’s 100th birthday.  ONE. HUNDRED. YEARS. OLD.  amazing.  and isn’t she cute??

and to end the month, we busted out the ol’ chalkboard to commemorate the last day of junior year.

and as soon as the last day of school was done, they got packed up to go on a fun road trip with their boyfriend and his family.  they were gone for about a week, flying up to seattle for a night before hopping in the car to check out a couple of national parks and do some hiking.

it was a good month, may was.

only slightly better than a participation trophy

after years of going to the l.a. county fair in sweltering september heat, it’s been a nice change to be able to enjoy it in the springtime splendor (ahhhh, so cheesy).  but for real…may is a much nicer time of year for walking around the fairgrounds.

the hub isn’t really a huge fan of the fair, so when i scooped up discounted tickets for opening weekend it was just me and the kids.  i’d even managed to score a free parking voucher, so on this early day of “may gray,” we headed out to pomona.

i pointed out this sign to the bean, who shuddered at the long-suppressed memories of cheer competitions.  

we walked through a couple of the shopping expo buildings, but emerged empty handed.  it’s kind of a bummer that the days of finding fun random items at the fair seem to be over - it was always one of the best parts of going.  right up there with delicious fried snacks and visiting cute farm animals.  although it was interesting to come across an exhibit of old typewriters - for me, it instantly brought to mind countless days throughout my childhood of writing stories and typing up reports for school.  for the kids, it was like a glimpse of the past, in a time before home computers and laptops and smartphones, like something out of an old movie.  wow.  that makes me feel ancient.  i might as well go and put on my high-necked dress and sit for an oil painting.

and then the kids decided i’d been tortured long enough and we headed into this building to see how my handcrafted entries had fared in their competitions.

i had pulled out some leftover yarn at the last minute to crochet this tote bag, and while i hadn’t been super thrilled with the finished product i turned it in anyway.  and because i knew it wasn’t my best work, i wasn’t surprised to see that it hadn’t won any top prizes.  in fact, it’s the fact that this thing took even 3rd place that has me convinced that everything submitted at these competitions wins something.

my dress actually took second place!  one of the front princess seams isn’t perfectly lined up from the bodice to the skirt, which was a glaring error in my eyes but apparently wasn’t offensive enough to be knocked down to last place.

we found planty and the caterpillar in the same display case.

and i’d totally forgotten that i submitted this tote in the handmade purses category.  it’s a really simple tote bag, lined but with no interior or exterior pockets, but it still won a 2nd place ribbon.

just outside, we came across a whole low-rider exhibit.  it was fun to walk through and see all of the cars on display, and i wondered if the owners of these cars actually leave them at the fairplex for the duration of the fair or if they take them home every night and bring them back in the morning.  i didn’t really care enough to ask about it, so i guess i’ll never know, heh.

they’d announced the list of artists for this year’s concert series a few months before, but none of them really caught my interest.  i was surprised to see that they’d moved the venue from the grandstands to the field area, but i guess they’re doing some major renovations to that area.  maybe next year.

we caught a glimpse of the budweiser clydesdale horses as they paraded through the fairgrounds, and then stopped to see one of their dalmatians.

we’d just missed one of the pig races sessions, but we got to see one of the baby goats that were being shown.

the dubai chocolate craze made an appearance here too, courtesy of the afters ice cream booth.  like most offerings of this nature, it was pricey and just…meh.

i tried to get the old lady to try this with me, but she refused.  she loves pickles AND she was fully pregnant at the time so i figured she’d be good to go but as i often am, i was proved wrong.

cathy’s cookies, on the other hand, was a no-brainer.

and then on the way out, i grabbed this:

a few days later, the hub surprised me by suggesting a day date…at the fair.  color me shocked.

as you can see, the weather was a lot brighter that day.

and while i hadn’t been successful in finding it on the first visit, i was super stoked to discover that the fried cream cheese on a stick actually was available.  i know it sounds gross (the hub definitely thinks so), but it’s so good.  and only offered at the fair!

i took him to see all of my competition entries (without sharing my theory that everyone gets a ribbon, ha) and he was impressed and proud.  and he said that he wanted planty after the fair was over so he could keep him on his desk at the office.  considering he makes endless fun of my granny hobbies, i considered this high praise.

we got lots of steps in as we wandered around the entirety of the fair, visiting the few animals who were present, looking at the flowers, stopping in at the beer garden.  and then we found this funny frog-shaped structure and stopped inside to sit down for a minute.

and that was the end of our time at the l.a. county fair for 2025.  next year, i’m planning to work a little harder on submitting nicer entries for the crocheting and sewing categories and see if i can’t score myself a pretty blue ribbon.

of course, i say that every year and every time i end up rushing through some pieces at the last minute that are cute but flawed.  we’ll just have to see how motivated i get in 2026.