Meet Franklin

He's our brand new (used) 2001 ItalJet scooter, purchased - I kid you not - from Madonna's brother. Only in Hollywood....



FYI I was wearing my Halloween costume, an early 60's "Mad Men"-esque ensemble, which surprisingly enough won the costume contest at work! I got an enormous bucket of candy (which I hope will be completely devoured at our pumpkin carving party tonight) and a Starbucks gift card (just in time for Pumpkin Spice and Egg Nog Lattes!).

Anyway, we are so happy with Franklin, and very pleased to have a scooter again - four years after our poor little blue Scarabeo met her untimely end in a tragic Golden-Retriever-releases-emergency-brake-in-parked-Jeep accident... Barring any unfortunate incidents like that I think we will have little Frankie for a long, long time!

Checking In

Thought I'd drop by today just to let you know what trouble we've been getting ourselves into this week. :)

Lots of action around here lately - I've been rehearsing & doing shows with my 2 improv groups, rehearsals also began for The Last DAys of Judas Iscariot, Chad worked 4 LONG days on a commercial for the US Census Bureau, we FINALLY sold our Infiniti (that's a drama I haven't really talked about, but lets just say we are relieved beyond measure to be parted with that little car!), now we're looking to buy a scooter as a second vehicle...

On top of everything else , we have been apartment hunting as well! Yes, after two years we are moving out of our beloved Waverly house on December 1st... which is kind of a bummer but also sort of exciting. For the first time in two years it'll be just Chad and I again! As much as I love Erika and Tyler (and I know I will miss seeing them every day when we move) I think it will be good for us to just have each other. It's been 3 or 4 years since we apartment hunted, and I'd forgotten how much fun it can be - and also how stressful. But I'm excited for where we might end up!

In random news, this is as close as I have ever come to a bald eagle.



How crazy is that?! I come out of the elevators into the lobby at work and this lady is just sitting there with a huge bald eagle on her arm! I still have not been able to conjecture why...

So that's what's happening here. I hope your lives have been filled with many many good things this week, and that you have a happy, safe Halloween! We're taking this one inside this year - carving pumpkins at home and watching scary movies with some friends. :) We learned last year that Halloween in Hollywierd is just a bit too much for us!

Farewell Midsummer (Finally!)

5 months after our first performance of Midsummer Night's Dream at Theatricum Botanicum we are finally finished! I had a fun summer (slash autumn) out there, though I must admit I did have mixed feelings about the production at times. Perhaps my experience was colored by the long drive to get out there coupled with the lack of any pay, but in the end it was a good time, I met good people and I am now at 38 Weeks on my EMC Card. 12 to go!


I have very few photos of me in my fairy get up, but I thought I'd share what I do have.

Here's a photo of the theatre itself. Really gorgeous space set right in the trees...

Now I have some exciting news: Chad and I have both been cast in a play! It's one of Chad's absolute favorites (and I love it too) called "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" - a very interesting take on that particular story that plays out in a courtroom with biblical and other historical figures taking the stand against or in defense of Judas. Chad will play St. Thomas (and other characters, he can't remember which ones - there are a million!) and I play Mary Magdalene and Mother Theresa (!). I'm really looking forward to this - we start next week!

The Loooooong Beach Marathon

4:16:04!

We did it! Our very first marathon!

Do I say it was fun? That doesn't seem quite right... it was half fun, half knee-pounding torture.... so somewhere in the middle is a word that can describe what it was. Maybe you can help me find it. My brain is still not quite cooperating with the rest of my body right now.

I am very proud of both of us for getting through to the finish line, and happy that we did it together the whole way. Even though we didn't make our goal time of under 4 hours (which was admittedly lofty for a couple of first-timers) I know for a fact that if either of us had done this alone we would NOT have finished in the time that we did. We encouraged each other the whole way to keep going, that we were going to finish, that we could push through the pain and fatigue. It was a great bonding experience, and now we can say we finished a marathon! Even if we never do it again (which is a distinct possibility) we at least did it once. And survived. :)

In fact, though the pain was 10 times worse than I imagined it would be (especially in miles 19 - 24) I find myself today in better shape than I thought I would be. Maybe it was all the yummy post race recovery food: protein shake, banana, bagel, and cupcake at the finish line, followed by deep dish pizza and pizookie watching the Hawks game at our neighborhood bar, followed by home made turkey chili and leftover birthday cake.

I say one of the nicest things about running a marathon is all the yummy food you eat guilt-free afterward. :)

To the next! Whatever that may be!

10 on 10 :: October

Finally, 10 on 10 on a weekend! :)

Side note: tomorrow Chad and I are running the Long Beach Marathon! I'll blog about it later but if you want to track our progress you can do so online in real time here!

Mr & Mrs McFarland

We had an absolutely lovely time in Seattle last weekend, celebrating the marriage of my even lovelier sister-in-law Julia to our fantastic new brother-in-law Jon!
Julia was BEAUTIFUL, it was a gorgeous sunny day and everything about the wedding was so heartfelt and fun! Nothing like spending time in joyful celebration with your loved ones, especially when we are usually so far away.

While we were in town Chad also got a chance to experience his birthday present: a tandem skydive at Snohomish Skydive! He loved it!







Absolutely incredible.

I have to admit I've been trying to come out of a bit of a funk since we got back to LA... I love and miss our families and my beloved Seattle so much! Hurry up, Christmas! :)