my goddaughter is cuter than your goddaughter

Kate - June 2009

me? 31? no!

As if staring 30 in the face wasn't bad enough, this year I had to accept the fact that I was no longer just "30," but rather "in my 30s." Yuck! However, instead of dealing with this ugly, nonsensical fact, I chose to ignore it by escaping to San Diego with six of my girlfriends where we could dance the night away to 80s music. Soungs logical, no?

After arriving at our hotel, the lovely Embassy Suites San Diego, we walked to the Gaslamp District for lunch and then swam/laid in the sun for the afternoon. As the afternoon wore on, we took turns showering and then in a continued effort to deny our advanced age, we played a mature game of "I've Never," in which the punishment was drinking rum and coke out of a coffee carafe ... classy AND fun!

Finally around 10pm came the moment we, er I, had been waiting for - Tainted Love, aka the greatest 80s cover band EVER, took the stage. Oh wait, let me back up. I happen to have a very mature and understated crush on the band's guitarist, who goes by the stage-name Chi Chi. Since it was my birthday, I decided to live it up and ordered a custom "I *heart* Chi Chi" shirt to wear to the concert. While waiting for the band to take the stage, a security guard came up to me and handed me something ... and that something happened to be an autographed Tainted Love cd that stated "Nice Shirt! Chi Chi." *Swoon*

Once the show started, I recieved not only a happy birthday greeting from the band, but Chi Chi dedicated his (one and only) song "Sunglasses at Night" to me. I swear to god, I felt like I was 13 and at a New Kids on the Block Concert. Chi Chi really is the best!

But you know what, as cheesy as it seems, this birthday was one of my best because it involved some of my most-cherished girlfiends, laughter, good music, and dancing. So what if it was a little immature? Sometimes, I think we could all use a little more immaturity in our lives :)

a rafting we will go ...

After last year's successful rafting adventure, my sisters and I decided we would tackle the American again this year. We also decided that we should subject their boyfriends (Zach and Jesse) and Zach's sister Sarah to it as well. After a quick "how-to" lesson from Steve, we were off:

This year's trip was faster and more intense than last year at the water-level was higher and thus the speed of the river was faster. These pictures will serve as my witness:

Once we made it through the rapids, we floated (and swam if you were Zach) down the river to the beach, while sampling all flavors of Club Cocktails, available at your local 7-11. Note to self, DO NOT try the martini flavor!

All in all, it was another good day on the river - and Zach, Jesse, and Sarah can now officially call themselves a member of our family.

happy mutha's day!!!

1978

2009

Happy Mother's Day to my mama ... Christine, Beautiful Lady, Mutha, Kris, Mom! ... and most importantly, friend.

xoxo

here comes peter cottontail ...

Although I have had other things on my mind, I did want to post an entry about Easter. Typically, Easter is not a big deal to me or my family ... well, for the past few years anyway. When we were little, my mom would dress my sisters and I up in fancy (matching) Easter dresses, complete with gloves, and we would go church and put flowers in a cross. Then, we'd follow up our morning of religion with Kids Incorporated which my dad taped on the good ole' VHS. Awesome.

This year, Molly and Zach decided they wanted to host Easter in their new townhouse. My mom, Lindsay, and I thought that sounded fun so we agreed. However, what was originally a seven person gathering quickly turned into 20+ when they decided to include all of Zach's family as well. I volunteered to fly up on Thursday afternoon to help out.

When I arrived in Sacramento, it was pouring rain, but we soldiered on and went to pick up chairs from Zach's work, and then had dinner at Panera Bread ... yeah, we know how to party. The following day Zach got a hall pass, which included golfing with his buddies, so while Molly worked, I made two dozen edible bird's nests ... which we handed out as favors:

Molly had a long lunch so she and I went to Jack's and then ran some errands. After I dropped her back at VCA, I made two dozen red velvet cupcakes for Easter dessert. Needless to say, I was pretty sick of baking by the end of the day. That night, Molly and I originally planned on going to dinner and a movie, but after running some more errands, we decided to grab a Papa Murphy's pizza and stayed home painting her dining room, living room, and master bedroom. It was actually kind of fun.

The next morning, Zach stumbled home and fell asleep so Molly and I went shopping ... basically, I was her bitch in Old Navy running all over the store while she tried on different dresses in the dressing room. We came home and put second coats of paint on the walls, while Zach went to run errands. After some cleaning and arranging, Zach drove Molly and I, and his sister-in-law Jennifer to Midtown for happy hour at L Wine Lounge. The lounge was awesome, and we sat on the back patio which overlooks a large courtyard which was hosting the Second Saturday Art Walk. I don't know if it was the warm weather or the light-up hula hoops at the art walk, but was what supposed to be happy hour soon became let's drink five glasses of wine and eat dessert. Needless to say, when Zach came to pick us up, we were feeling no pain, as evidenced by the picture below, taken on our walk back to the car:

The following morning, we somehow rallied and were ready to begin hosting the day's festivities at 9:30am. We had TONS of food and lots of good company. In the morning, Zach's two nephews, Diego and Matteo, and niece Jillian decorated Easter eggs which was so funny to watch. They each donned one of Zach's plaid shirt (each with two pockets, not one!) to dye the eggs. Diego, being the oldest, was very patient and worked hard to dye the perfect egg, which Jillian would then pick up from the drying rack and dump back into another color :)

After the eggs dried, the Easter Bunny hid them and the kids had fun trying to find them all. Sadly, they thought there was an unlimited supply and wanted to continue hunting no matter how many times we told them there weren't anymore. After that, the big kids headed to the park for an adult egg hunt. Our eggs were filled with alcohol, condoms, Sierra Nevada ... and if you were lucky enough to win one of three golden eggs (which I was) ... candy and a $50 gift card to REI!!!

We then returned back to the house and eat until we were sick and played Wii. After cleaning up, my mom dropped me off at the airport, but I didn't stay for long. My flight was overbooked and delayed so I took the $290 Southwest offered and hightailed it back to Molly and Zach's where I feel asleep at 9:45pm. A perfect end to a perfect three days with my family!

goodbye maddie ...

Maddie's funeral was heartbreakingly beautiful. Both of her parents spoke, and I admire them for their courage in doing so. At the end of the service, everyone was handed a purple balloon - in honor of Maddie's favorite color and the official color of the March of Dimes - and on the count of three, we all shouted "Maddie," and released our balloons. Right as we let go, a gush of wind came up and took them all away ... it was a beautiful sight in honor of beautiful little girl who touched so many people's lives.

madeline alice spohr

Tomorrow is Maddie's funeral. I am going with two friends, and while I am excited to see everyone, wish it was under much, much, much happier circumstances. I don't know how I am going to react.

For those of you who would like to know more about Maddie, and her amazing parents, here is a link to a story that appeared on KTLA Channel 5 last night and a story that appeared in the Sunday LA Times.

Please keep the entire Spohr family in your thoughts and prayers.