broadway bound

yesterday i learned hands on a hard body is going to broadway!!
i wasn't surprised at all because it has such a broad appeal.

i got to thinking about the one musical that i love even more
{and measure every other musical against it seems}.
it's behind the limelight: the story behind charlie chaplin

i posted on it last year.

i was thinking about it and tried googling it to see

if it was still premiering in smaller theaters around the country.
i really wanted to know whether or not this one made it to Broadway.  

eventually i landed on christopher curtis' website.

christopher was the composer and lyrist for the musical.  

i clicked here and this is what came up:

i was so excited, i hollered up stairs to c{something i ask the boys not to do}
i said "it's happening, the charlie chaplin play is going to Broadway"!!

then i did something i've never done before.

i emailed the composer, christopher curtis right then and there
congratulating him on his upcoming broadway premier and
letting him know how much his music moved me.

he actually wrote me back.

he thanked me and told me how excited he was
and suggested i sign up for his mailing list so i could
be notified when the dates are announced.
oh how i'm tempted to see it again on broadway when it shows
{it's been years since i've been to nyc}

for you out there who haven't seen this show and can't make it to nyc to see it, 
sit tight and be patient.  most broadway shows eventually travel and make their
way to your city.

the house hunt... 
~ we are still waiting to hear on one of the homes we put an offer on. {we were outbid on the other}.
there were 11 bids on it and the final offer was higher than the listing price. *whew*.
we aren't holding our breath on this other home, but we do love the street and location.

it's located in pacific beach, specifically in the crown point area,
which is a peninsula surrounded by a body of water called mission bay.
mission bay has water, sand, playgrounds, restrooms, and miles of bike/running paths
which lead directly to the beach. there is even a local owned coffee shop just around the corner.
it's a fixer, so we are hoping that it will make it less attractive to other potential buyers.

grandparents: memorial weekend

grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.
~lois wyse

grandpa gerber and sheila came all the way out from minnesota to visit over the
long memorial day weekend.  after two days of 'may gray' weather, the sun decided
to poke it's head out which made everyone's weekend more enjoyable.

after a quintuple bypass a few weeks ago, i couldn't believe how fast of a recovery
my f-i-l has made{i call him Super G}.  he looks fantastic and exercising every day.
he let us join him one day while he power walked along mission bay.
scoutie rode his bike ahead of us, and sheila, finn and i walked.

it was a packed weekend for all of us - finn's piano recital, house hunting,
swimming and going down the water slides at the hyatt pool, breakfast at to the point,
and the boys had a sleepover with grams and gramps one night.
they were in heaven! {and it was a nice treat for c and me}

power walking along mission bay

grandpa john and scout at guadalajaras restaurant

take a bow

today was finn's 2nd piano recital.
it was extra special because grandpa gerber, sheila and auntie jen
were with us and able to hear him perform the pieces he has been
working so hard on.

his two selections: little surfer girl by the beach boys and purple people eater.

{video will go here} the sound on the video we took is almost inaudible.
we must have been too far away. i will have him play his 2 songs at home
and i'll post here. lesson learned...sit closer next time!  *sigh*

finn with grandpa and grandma gerber

finn with piano teacher, nancie mclees

fashion friday: christian siriano shoes

do you know this designer?

i didn't either until i came across his fab and affordable line of shoes at payless.

before you roll wrinkle your nose, keep reading.
i used to cringe at the thought of shopping at this store too
but after seeing some great shoes on the feet of some girlfirends and coworkers

and finding out they picked them up at payless, i had to make a trip down for myself.    

it was worth the visit.
i picked up these cute heels {the la bonita braided sandal}.
they are perfect for summer.

they will go great with khaki and white dresses/shorts, even jeans.
the best part - they are comfortable.  LOVE this find. 

via

~ i'm so looking forward to this 3-day weekend.  

we have grandpa gerber and sheila visiting from minnesota! 

i'm looking forward to catching up with them and if the sun comes out, 

spending some time poolside or at the beach.  we also have finn's piano

recital on sunday. he's been practicing his bow. *grin* 

tapas

last night i met up with my sweet friend aleyda for dinner.
i think we had the evening planned for the past  2+ months
and we were really looking forward to it.

she suggested the family owned and run tapas picasso,
a restaurant in hillcrest she had been too and really liked.

this lady knows great food.
from the moment i walked in, the aroma made my mouth water.

we ordered a glass of wine and 6 different tapas to share,
which included one plate of snails!
i had never tasted them and was excited to try them.
they were delicious {and didn't have a slimy texture like oysters}.




we were having such a great time, we literally closed the restaurant down.
when the owner flipped his open sign to close, we saw that it was past 9:30pm!
we had been there since 6:15pm. {a sign of a great night}

i'm feeling grateful to have such a wonderful friend in my life,
someone who shares similar passions: travel, food, books and being a mom.
i am already looking forward to our next evening out.

~ on the homefront:
c and i put an offer in on two more homes today.
both are in pacific beach, and one just a block away from where we used to live.
we aren't holding our breath as one home already had 5 offers in on it and the other
had just come on the market and will probably get the same.
we should know in a few days.

a day at the doctors

the boys had their annual physicals last week
{i always schedule them together which makes it easy}

i wasn't able to take them because of a conference i was attending,
so christopher took them and even snapped this photo for me.

because scout will start kindergarten this fall,
he had to have (4) required shots.

he was anxious the morning of, and later i learned through finn
that "a few tears came out of his eyes", when he got poked,
but he didn't cry out loud.

he tried so hard to be brave and we reassured him he was brave.
{finn was lucky, he didn't need any shots this year}

i should really include their stats with their birthday posts,
but since i haven't been doing this, i'll just share here:

Finn, 8 years
weight: 47 lbs
height: 47 1/2

Scout, 4 1/2 years
weight: 37 lbs
height: 42"

cute teacher present

i found this adorable owl project while searching for teacher gift ideas last week.

via

i'm not sure what came over me because i'm not one of those scrapbook/crafty moms,

but this was so stinking cute, i read the step-by-step tutorial to see how the designer did it.
it didn't seem too difficult so i'm gonna give it a go. 

i picked up two generic boxes of oatmeal at target, some random papers and flowers

from michaels and hope to start this project in the next few weeks.
if it turns out, i'll be sure to share!

~ it's a beautiful weekend here in san diego, and we're taking full advantage of it. 
c is at the beach with finn, and scoutie and i are heading to a park for his preschool pal's birthday. 
he's excited because she will have a jumpy.  he takes after me in his love of bouncing.
{have i mentioned i am getting a trampoline for ME when we get a house}

fashion friday: stripes

i love stripes!

they are versatile {you can dress up or down}

they are timeless {think coco}
they are fun {think silly socks, beach towels, and fruit stripe gum}

audrey tautou in coco before chanel

you think stripes make you look fat?
think again.

they can actually help balance a body out if you wear the properly.

read more here on how to wear stripes.

~ c's been out of town for the last few days so things have been a little
busier than normal with me doing drop offs and picks ups from school.
it's a treat for all of us to do something outside our routines.
(i even let the boys SLEEP in my bed last night} shhh!

my memorable mother's day

i hope all the mommies out there had a wonderful mother's day!

this momma had a memorable one.
my day started at 6am {before the airplanes started flying}.
two little rugrats swung open my bedroom door singing happy mother's day.

finn had a pad of paper in hand and said i'm ready to take your breakfast order.

i hugged them and gently let them know this momma was really tired and would
like them to come back at 7am.  they lingered, too excited to go away. *sigh*

then i did something i never do in the mornings....
i offered up my kindle fire and phone to buy myself another hour of rest.
{i was desperate}

shortly after 7am, i climbed out of bed and announced
that i was going for a nice run before i started my day.
finn grabbed his pad and pen and took my breakfast order before i left.
my order: (2) waffles, a half of a banana, some grapes and a coffee.

when i arrived home, finn met me at the front door and asked me
to close my eyes and to go upstairs and get into bed.
there was no way i was getting into my clean bed all sweaty from my run.
{he agreed to let me take a 5 minute shower first}

i took the quickest shower of my life, threw my hair back in a pony,
and jumped back into my bed.  finn walked in with this tray in hand,
dad had the coffee, and scout had a handful of cards.

they boys were beaming, SO proud of the breakfast they made.
it was all prepared by finn and scout {minus the coffee}.
in the hour i was away, i learned they snuck off to starbucks
to get my favorite drink - a chai latte. it sure hit the spot.

i opened and read their sweet cards and got a kick out of the
All About Mom questionnaire finn filled out at school.
my favorite responses were:

• What's the smartest thing your mom ever told you?  everything
• I know my mom loves me because... she sings to me
• What do you think your mom was like before she had kids? lonely
  {this last one had c and i in stitches}

scoutie's card to me was decorated with pretty plastic gems
he was so happy to give it to me....he had tried several times
during the week but i insisted he wait until mother's day.
{i'll post here later this week}

c asked me if there was anything special i wanted to do and i said
i'd love to try stand up paddling. it's something i've been wanting to
try for a while {i even put on my promise me list}

so that's what we did.

we waited until mid day so it was warmer, grabbed lunch at taco surf,
and headed over to mission bay for a picnic. c had gone before so he
chose to be the official camera man and videographer for the afternoon.

i had planned on going solo and the little boys kayaking, but scout insisted
on joining me and 20 minutes later finn jumped on the board too.

for the most part, they sat like little buddas on the front end while i
paddled around the bay, but later finn crawled through my legs because
he wanted to ride in the back.  whew!  {we didn't flip it but it was close}.




a fellow paddler was kind enough to snap this family photo of us.

it was a full day for all of us and i went to bed exhausted,
but not before thanking the boys for making my day so special.

i feel lucky to be the mother of two beautiful little boys,
to have wonderful mother-in-laws in my life, and to have a mom who
has taught and continues to teach me to cherish motherhood.

mother's day 2012

to all you wonderful mommies out there,
and especially to my mine,
may your day be filled with lots of love and laughter.

via

fashion friday: pajamas

so i've posted before about how i'm a SUCKER for cute pajamas!

they don't have to be a well known brand.
i try to avoid anything with a visible logo.
i recently put back a boy's polo shirt when i noticed it had a ralph lauren logo on it. {ugh}
i ended up with a polo that looked just like it {minus a logo} for half the cost from the children's place.

and purses,
don't get me started on those overpriced bags some woman drool over.
i just don't get it.
i appreciate a good leather bag, i just don't need to have a name on it.
i actually prefer it not to have one because that's not the message i want to send.
things are not what i value.

brands/logos, perms and tanning beds are three things i left behind after high school.

i digress.
i do appreciate well made things - bags, shoes, and even clothing,
and i'll spend a little more if i know they will be used or worn often.

i found these short john pjs in a mini boden catalogue i got in the mail.
i have no idea why i got on their mailing when i've never purchased from them.
anyhow, i was glad it arrived.

since finn is growing out of all his clothes {he is officially in size 7}
i had a reason to purchase these fun pjs.

via

they are perfect for a southern california boy,
and 2 sets come in a package.
{which make them more affordable}

they are so stinkin' cute i want to send him to school in them,
but unless it's pajama day, it's probably not a good idea.
{hopefully he can still fit into them next year}

for next week's fashion friday post,
i promise to share something that can be worn by an adult.

teacher appreciation week

via

i don't know when the official teacher's appreciation week is,
because finn's school celebrated last week and scoutie's school
is celebrating this week. i can't tell you how much i am looking
forward to the boys going to the same school next year where their
the school holidays, breaks, and special events will all be the same.  

so for the last several days,
the boys and i have been coming up with simple ways

to show their teachers that we really appreciate all their hard work.  

we've been baking, filling big mugs and pretty chinese take out containers
with chocolate chip cookies and other goodies, and including handwritten notes.
{scoutie would write notes all night if he had more teachers - he loves to write}

since we've moved into  the month of may and the school year is winding down,
finding a summer sitter has been the main thing on my mind.
i'm getting a little stressed out about it, and need to get an
advertisement posted soon or all the best students will be snatched up.

finn has told me he would prefer go to camps for the entire summer,

but i explained that he will only doing 2 or 3 because of the cost.

{they start at $250/wk and go up from there}. *sigh*

a full-time sitter for scoutie and full-time camps for finn is too expensive.

so between finding a good summer sitter and finding a home,

i haven't been able to think much about anything else.
my preference is to find a home before the start of the school year.

weekend with the bennett bunch

the gerbers finally got to meet the bennett boys this past weekend.
their parents, jen and michael, moved away from san diego before they arrived.
i'll just say, they are the sweetest and cutest little guys ever!

so how did we keep 4 boys entertained?
when they weren't in the invention room,
we were out and about.

finn was anxious to show keith his favorite place, the science museum,
so we spent half a day in balboa park exploring the museum 

and then enjoying a picnic lunch under a shade tree.
(temps have been in the upper 70s lately - so nice}.

scout {4}, keith {3}, finn {8} and george {17 months}

we also squeezed in time at the hilton beach and pool,
and us parents tried to keep our distance from the water cannons
{mr. bennett unfortunately got too close}

the highlight for me was just watching little georgie play in the sand.
he reminded me SO much of finn at that age.
we literally lived at the beach on the weekends.
{and jen was there with our family for alot of 'em}

now, she has her own little beach baby, and a talkative preschooler.
they live at the beach too all summer, just on the other coast.

~ and while us mommies and kiddos were spent from our long day out,
the daddies headed to the turquoise bar in pacific beach to see their college
buddy rich's band, headshine.

hands on a hardbody

my post title caught your attention didn't it?

it's the title of a musical that opened at the la jolla playhouse this week.

this picture was on the advertisement that arrived in my mailbox.

what's unique about the LJPH is that every

play performed here is an original and new work.

you won't find les miserables, cats, or mama mia showing here.

so my first thought after seeing this picture was

the production was going to be some type of footloose musical -
full of young studly cowboys dancing and singing on stage. 

as i sat reading the program before the show started,

i learned it was anything but. 

the story is based on a documentary about real people

who enter a contest put on by a car dealership as a way
to gain publicity and sell cars.

in a small town of texas,
24 contestants {whose names are pulled from a hat}

have to keep their hands on a truck, the hardbody.
whomever does it the longest, drives home with it.

typically this contest can last up to 4 days,.
it's a crazy concept to most {me included}
wanting a truck so badly to endure sleep deprivation.

a group of creative talents found the story so interesting,

they brought it to life again on a stage.

i experienced a whirlwind of emotions - sadness, shock, laughter,

awe, anger, and happiness as i learned of each character's motivations
for entering the contest.  the audience learns their story through music.  

and not just typical broadway showtune music.
this production had such a variety: rock, bluegrass, gospel, r and b,
ballads, and yes, a few showtune-like songs. 

the la jolla playhouse did it again - Fresh and Fantastic theater!

***************************************

~ been a busy week at the gerber casa.
i met with my book girlies on monday night,
and i've been doing tons of kid shuttling because c's been busy with tennis.
HTH's season ends next week and the boys have had matches every night
this week.  wed pm was the first time he's been free in 2 weeks which is
why we were able to have a date night. he's enjoying every minute of it.

tomorrow our dear friends jen and michael and their 2 little boys will

be visiting for the weekend. since my pack n play days are over, 

i borrowed one from a coworker and c set it up in the invention room

for their one year old, george. 

let the weekend begin!

gone with the wind

no, i don't think i will kiss you although you need kissing, badly.
that's what's wrong with you. you should be kissed and often,
and by someone who knows how.
- rhett butler

oh i love these lines from the movie.

a few weeks ago
when the boys were digging through our collection of dvds,
finn pulled gone with the wind out and asked if it were any good.
good?! it's AMAZING was my response.

it had been probably 10 years since i had last watched it.
i was long overdue so i took it and dropped into my laptop
that afternoon as I was folding 4 loads of laundry.
{finn watched bits and pieces, but the love scenes turned him off}

it took me 2 weekends to watch this almost 3 hours and 58 minute movie.
but i finally got through it.

i had forgotten how brilliant this movie is -
the music, the cinematography and the acting.
it was so ahead of it's time (was released in 1939)
and despite it's years, it was still easy to watch.

the cd jacket said it won 10 academy awards
and, adjusting for inflation, that's it's the highest-grossing film ever.
i wasn't surprised - it's an epic film in every sense of the word.

and rhett butler,
was there ever a greater anti-hero?
i can't think of one.
he's handsome, mysterious, street-smart and unconventional.

he seems to be the first {and only} person
who ever could get the better of scarlett in a verbal duel.
all throughout the movie, there's hints of what he is capable of
for a woman he loves but. he would move the earth for her.

unfortunately, scarlett discovered this too late.
no one can forget rhett's famous last words to her,
"frankly my dear...

as i was gushing over the movie to c,
confessing my love of scarlett, rhett and mammy {scarlett's caregiver}.
he asked me if i ever read the book by margaret mitchell.
i could hardly believe my answer was "no".
it's one of my favorite older movies.

right then, i declared i was going to read it this year -
squeeze it in between my monthly book club reads.
last night i purchased the ebook for my kindle fire,
i'm one step closer.

i'm very excited!