Weekend Wrap-Up: 6/8-6/9

June 10, 2013June 11, 2013 | leftylex

Hello good people ! I’m taking a quick break from the San Diego Indie Craft Market Highlights to do my usual Weekend Wrap-Up; and, just in time to touch on something very near and dear to my heart… the theatre!

On Saturday, I headed solo to the Old Globe’s White Theatre to watch Be A Good Little Widow. Yes, solo. I am a loner. I remember when I was a high schooler thinking, what kind of loser goes to the movies by herself? Let’s flash forward 11 years and I’m comfortable enough to attend the theatre solo. My how we change!

Once I found my seat in this rather small theatre, I took a look around at my fellow patrons. I noticed the same thing about this audience that I do about nearly every audience that I attend… I was practically the only person under age 50 and definitely the only non-Caucasian! Why, why, why young, non-white people do you not attend the theatre? I do not understand this! Husband and I generally attend the theatre with our favorite couple, the Lacortes, who happen to be Filipino and the 4 of us are generally among a very small handful of “minority” attendees. The only time that this was not the case was when we attended Allegiance which was a musical about Japanese Americans… so as you guessed, there were primarily Asian American attendees.

I’ll probably soapbox this topic in the future. I will leave with this thought however. Many people who follow this blog would be self-proclaimed “supporter of the arts”; we believe in living and/or supporting the handmade lifestyle. However, is the stage not an art form that is worthy of support? Are those actors not artists? If you’re an artist, then you’re an artist and I always leave the theatre feeling connected to the actors because what you are witnessing on stage is just another artist pursuing his or her craft… in front of hundreds of viewers. Enough semi-soapboxing!

Be A Good Little Widow was fabulous! I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I had snot running down my nose, I laughed, I wiped away tears and more snot… you get the picture. While the cast consisted of only four actors, it was superb. The language was a little much, but the emotion that the story was able to evoke from you was amazing. If not for the fact that yesterday was the final performance, I would definitely recommend that you see it.

After the show was over, I waited by the stage door to congratulate and thank the cast. This is a practice that I like to do as frequently as I can… I’m such a creeper! I liken this to getting a positive feedback review on Etsy when you sell one of your most prized products; you want to know that the person receiving that item truly enjoyed it. Thus, I like to let the actors know just how much I enjoyed their performance(s).

(I love passing through the beautiful gardens of Balboa Park. Isn’t the photo above just divine?)

On the drive home, I listened to the soundtrack of Miss Saigon. This is a quite common occurrence for me, I always listen to musicals in the car; Wicked, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd, etc. Yes, I’m a theatre geek! I get it and I’m not ashamed to say it. I dare you to listen to the entire soundtrack of Miss Saigon without breaking out with chicken skin (goose bumps) all over your body. Impossible! The magical voice of Lea Salonga (Kim, the female lead) is something that everyone should experience. Ah, I love her! And you do too… she’s the singing voice of Princess Jasmine and Mulan. See, I was right, you love her too!

(This. Happens. Every. Time.)

Sunday was largely uneventful. We attend church, visited the family, and…. watched the TONY AWARDS!!!! You know, the Tony’s? It’s the Oscar’s/Grammy’s for the Broadway world.

The Tony’s was wonderful. I live for this stuff. I now want to see Matilida the Musical and Pippin very badly! My thoughts on Kinky Boots? Eh, not sure. Cyndi Lauper is a little too out there for me. Has anyone seen it? What were your thoughts?

Have I thoroughly theatre-geeked you out yet? Oh well! Happy Monday, folks!

Weekend Wrap-Up: 5/18-19

May 21, 2013May 22, 2013 | leftylex

What a weekend! This was the first full, stitch-free weekend that I’ve had in months! I did not touch a single needle! Hmm, let’s reword that, I just made myself sound like a junky! I did not stitch one single stitch. There, that’s better.

Saturday was a full day. After teaching my aerobics class, I spent the day (almost exclusively) with my baby brother. I would like to mention that yesterday was his 16^th birthday and I am in utter shock that he is already this old! I love him so much and I am always so proud of him.

We went to the North Park Festival of the Arts to check out the North Park Craft Mafia.

but specifically, Kate of Small and Great Crochet!

Kate is an amazing crochet-ista (yup, that’s a word, just invented it). I fell head over heels in love with the cutest little colorful amigurumi bear. Guys, it is seriously the cutest thing ever. I am 29 and I honestly just wanted to hold it all day; it’s that cute.

Kate’s space was so inviting and cheery. It was quite worth fighting the beer garden mob just to check out her wares.

Kate actually dyes her own yarn! You should check out the rest of her amazing yarned-goods on her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/smallandgreat

We walked around the fair for quite a bit checking out all of the eye candy. I even came across a fellow stitcher! She had quite a few Downton Anbbey inspired pieces, which I absolutely adored!

After the fair, my bro and I headed over to (my most beloved) Balboa Park for an Air Force Commissioning Ceremony. We had some time to kill prior to so we photographed a few soon-to-be-listed Lefty Lex products…

And then we toured the Rose Garden. The flowers smelt amazing! And we ran into about 137 couples taking pre-prom photographs. I know that I’m not a teen anymore, but I’m also not 52; so when exactly did it become common for high schoolers (or their parents) to hire professional photographers to do photo shoots pre-prom? Weird.

We then headed to the Spreckles Organ Pavillion where we watched the SDSU’s ROTC Class of 2013’s Commissioning Ceremony where our long-time family friend, JR, received his commission as Second Lieutenant! JR and his family have lived next door to my parents for at least 11 years, so I have seen this guy go from a pudgy little middle schooler to high school football player to college graduate/Air Force officer. I am immensely proud of him! Whether he knows it or not, he’s been a great example to my brother as he too wants to join the AF after college. I’ll truly miss him and wish him the best of luck as he heads overseas.

I love this kid!

Sunday was fabulously uneventful as Husband and I did nothing more than attend church, visit with my sisters for a bit, and shop. Just the wind-down needed after Saturday’s hustle and bustle. Hope you’re weekend was equally enjoyable!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Mother’s Day Edition

May 14, 2013May 14, 2013 | leftylex

I’m not gonna lie, I do not feel like blogging today. That being said, blog I must so here we go! Nothing out of the ordinary happened on Saturday. All the usual tasks: teaching my aerobics class, shopping, cleaning house. Nothing fancy.

For Mother’s Day my siblings and I decided to have a little family picnic at Balboa Park. Sisters Dee and Jeri were MIA for the day’s events, but Sisters Sam and Andi, Vince, Husband, Daddy Lex, Puppy Bosco, and yours truly were in attendance to celebrate Momma Lex. And. It. Was. Hot! Thank God, we were able to find some solace under a lovely tree while eating, but the heat was brutal in sunny San Diego this weekend! After chowing down, we spent about two hours walking around the park.

Post lunch we hit the International Cottages. If you’ve never been to Balboa Park, the International Cottages are exactly that: international cottages. They are little houses that represent various countries from all corners of the globe. I was holding the puppy at this particular time of the day, so I didn’t tour each house, but I did venture into the following: Spain, France, England, Puerto Rico, USA (which was ridiculously lame), Iran, Ukraine, and (my favorite) China!

China was especially awesome because there was a young girl inside who would write your name in Chinese characters for you. I briefly explained to her our plan to adopt a daughter (I tried to sneak that in without Husband rolling his eyes because he still wants to adopt a son) from China and that we want to name her Jia which means health and beauty. She was so genuinely happy to hear of our plan and quickly began writing but told me that she would translate Jia to mean “elegant” and “lucky”. Fabulous!

This is now one of my most treasured pieces of paper. I highly doubt that she will know how much I am going to study this. I absolutely love it! And best of all, she was left-handed too!

Can we pause for a moment to adore the cuteness of Husband? This is his cheesy smile and it is my favorite! Sister Sam got in on the action too. I think that even Bosco was trying his hand at Husband’s smile as well.

We purposely stumbled upon a flower show. Momma Lex is a giant gardener, so we figured that she would quite enjoy the work of fellow gardeners. Aren’t these amazing? I want to stitch them all!

Overall, I think that mom enjoyed her special day. And she deserves it. I know that even at the even though I am all grown and married, I can still count on my mom to be there whenever I need her. Love you, Mom… even though we all know that Bosco is your favorite child!