photo.jpg, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

Tim and I have this weird way of finding money to hit the Smoke House in Burbank! It’s kind of spendy and it’s a steak house, so we don’t have too many choices. But we love going there and for some reason, I always feel like I am on vacation. I doubt that makes sense to anyone but me!

I also was invited to a bridal shower for a friend, Lee. It was an amazing shower. She’s such a great person – and I’ve never seen such an outpouring of love! I think it really speaks to what a great person she is. The theme was naughty and nice. The best part for me was the food. There were two tables full of different salads – that was the nice part. Then, there was a dessert table – that was the naughty part. It was really fun!

We were in Portland last week and I was not feeling well so I have no pictures! That’s a bummer.

Tonight is the Oscar’s! I can’t wait. I haven’t seen too many movies. But “Up in the Air” was my favorite of the films we did see. We almost saw “Up” last night, but got caught up in this amazing documentary on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. So I’m even more behind than ever!

I just attended the Amateur Photography Contest at the Burbank Library and I won an Honorable Mention in the live color animals category. I was super excited! This was the first contest I’ve ever entered. When the picture of Edie and Ollie came up, the audience said “awww” all at once. I went by myself! Tim could not make it. I almost asked my friend Judy, but I didn’t know how it would be and I hated to take up her Thursday night. The contest has a lot of categories for kids and that made it extra fun.

P021810PS-0379, originally uploaded by The White House.

I really like this photo. If you have a chance, you can read about their meeting on any news site. The Dali Lama was very impressed with President Obama.

Edie and Ollie, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

This is crazy, but I decided to enter this picture in an Amateur photography contest at the Burbank Library.

Speaking of photography, I bought a new flash! I save $10 every paycheck and it finally added up to enough to buy a nice flash! Thanks ML for all your help!

P020610PS-0187, originally uploaded by The White House.

Isn’t this picture amazing? I have the White House as a friend so I see all the pictures they post. This one was very pretty. I believe they are going to get 2 more feet of snow!

MoniShanaTimJoe MidTimes09, originally uploaded by Mpopp.

Joe took this photo when we went to the Medieval Times. I really like it and had to share!

IMG_5399, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

Yesterday, Joe, Monique and Brenna stopped by to have brunch. We tried to get together before Christmas, but it didn’t work out. We had a really nice time. We have not hung out with Brenna for a long time. Usually we see her in passing as we go out, but we got a good couple of hours with her. She is so adorable and sweet! Monique’s birthday is not until next week, but we got a birthday cake for her. It was a really fun, relaxing day!

I am so excited! We are going to see Prokofiev’s Cinderella ballet performed by the Joffrey Ballet Company tonight. I got an amazing deal on seats. I also got us reservations at this cute place near the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for dinner. I love the ballet more than almost anything live. I can’t wait. Tim is a big fan of Prokofiev so it was not hard to sell a ballet night to him!

View from my office!, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

After all the storms that we had, it finally cleared up yesterday. All day, we had amazing rainbows, but this one was the best. You could see it end to end! My iPhone didn’t do it justice!

Flying to Portland, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

I found a few photos on my phone that I decided to upload. We took this when we flew to Portland at Christmas.