goodbye 2016

So 2016 ends in a few hours.... while most people are under the impression it was a totally suck-ass year overall based on all the amazing people who died this year and the election insanity, in retrospect, my own life was actually okay.

One part of it was, in fact, AWESOME -- I became a real auntie for the first time (I will be one for the second time in January when my new niece is born!) and it's been amazing, because this little guy is the absolute light of our family and my life right now. Seeing Kaden grow, and now starting to babble and roll over and recognize and understand things is so fun. I can't imagine my life without him!

I also had a bunch of great adventures and accomplished an altered version of about a third of my 2016 Vision Blog (hey, better than nothing!) ... 

I finished these books, which included four from my original "to read" list + two new ones....

+ I also read Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, by Mara Wilson, who I had the pleasure of interviewing back in the day when she was a child actor starring in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda. She even fondly mentions one of our Disney Adventures photo shoots in the book, which was an awesome surprise! (The book is now being borrowed by my Disney Adventures wrangler La Lizzz, thus it's MIA in this photo ;)

I didn't go to Hawaii or another "tropical" locale like I wanted to, but I did go to Santa Barbara for my birthday weekend and finished 2.5 of the books above (finished The Interestings, started and finished Best Year of Your Life, and started John Taylor's auto-biography).. and I got my gorgeous view!

I also got a ton of gorgeous views on my Sunday Funday adventure to Santa Rosa Island with Linda and James. The Channel Islands are right in our backyard here in Southern California, and they are beautiful! Can't wait to visit more of them in 2017!

And while, I didn't make it to Europe, I did travel Internationally... to Vancouver. It was a relaxing, fun trip with my fave positive person Cwennen. The city was BEAUTIFUL and its food delicious!

On the "did not accomplish" side of the "vision blog" to do list, I only wrote (soon-to-be) 30 blog posts this year, and did not order my new front door yet. January 2017 - I swear! 

And on the sad suck-ass side, a lot of bad stuff did happen this year. One of my best friends has been dealing with an inner ear issue since June that affects her vision and makes her dizzy and exhausted. Four of my friends lost a parent this year. My childhood friend lost her son. And there seemed to be more and more senseless acts of violence taking innocent people too soon...

The one that hurt the most was the murder of Christina Grimmie, who was shot by a deranged "fan" while signing autographs after a show in Orlando on June 10th, the night before the massacre at Pulse nightclub, also in Orlando. Most of you probably knew her from being on Season 6 of The Voice. I knew her from the YouTube video game show she hosted for my team at Disney.com in 2014. I met her twice, and she was so sweet and full of life. She loved video games and she loved making music. The fact that some guy could walk into her show with a gun and shoot her four times still makes me SO MAD. This world is just insane...

Then there was the fact that entertainers who have been part of my life forever have started dying... cancer, drugs, heart problems. It was just so sad... the music world was hit hard first - David Bowie, Glenn Fry, then Prince, Leonard Cohen and shockingly George Michael on Christmas Day at the age of just 53. And in the last half of the year, actors I grew up watching on TV and in movies - Gene Wilder, Florence Henderson, Alan Thicke and Carrie Fisher - passed away as well, all shockingly without any advance warning or time to prepare. So, so sad...

A few days ago, I decided to make what I'm calling my "FU2016" playlist, filled with my favorite songs from the musicians I loved that we lost this year. (Note: I love Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"... I just don't love his voice, thus the Justin Timberlake/Charlie Sexton version below. They are both still alive and well. #knockonwood)

Some of my playlist is sad but a lot of it makes me want to dance, which brings me to this video that my sister posted a link to today. It will also make you want to dance, and is a loving, positive tribute to all these great people and the joy their talents brought to the world... enjoy!

And now it's on to 2017... I'll talk about that tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to go get a cocktail, because I just saw this and really need one. God help us all in the New Year... we're gonna need it! (And @alexandergold, you're my new hero!)

the best three months

So, three months ago this amazingly awesome little love bug came into the world and changed our family forever.

This is Kaden Michael, my as-of-today three-month-old nephew. He lives in Las Vegas with his mom, my little sister Kari, and his dad Lorenzo. And I have been extremely remiss in documenting his amazingness here. But I am going to let myself off the hook for lack of baby blogging because I've been too busy hanging out with him whenever I can, showing off photos of his cuteness to anybody and everybody, and spoiling him with cute outfits and musical sing-along play mats. (I also hereby freely admit that his first Christmas and first Birthday gifts are already purchased and stashed in my guest room.)

I've been a pseudo-auntie to a few (well at least 7) of my friends' kids over the last 12 years, and I love those kids a lot, but it's nothing like what I feel for Kaden. I've started driving four hours through the desert just so I can sit on the sofa and hold him. When my sister texts a new photo of him, it immediately brightens my day. When he gets fussy on Facetime, I want to go to him and comfort him. And I am already planning for his first LA Kings game in the 2020-2021 season when he's four. (He, of course, already has a Kings onesie and a Bailey binkie, but by then he will have a kids-size Drew Doughty or Anze Kopitar jersey. He may live in Vegas and they may be getting a hockey team next year, but he it going to be raised a Kings fan and will understand icing before his 8th birthday... mark my words. )

Here are a few of my favorite of the 125+ photos and videos I have of him on my phone. We're so lucky to have this little guy in our lives now :)

1-day old in his Foo-rific fashion, courtesy of Auntie Kim

The photo that drove my dad to buy a 2nd house in Vegas to be closer to Kaden

Happy Kaden on my visit to Vegas last weekend (Auntie Kim just changed his poopie diaper ;)

LOVE! #cheeks