Tug Boat Keeps Us Busy!

Well. . .we figured it out. Having a puppy is not easy. . .But, it sure is rewarding. Every day we watch Tug Boat grow up, learn new things, have new adventures and we can't say much more than we love our little puggle.

I have new nicknames for him every day from "Bubba" to "BoBo" to "Little Chicken". He is truly our little man and a constant source of entertainment.

Now that he has all of his shots, we happily take him to the dog park three to four times a week, he is also sleeping about seven hours a night, and has fewer accidents in the house (as I type this though, he's peeing on the floor). His favorite toy seems to be a stuffed duck given to him by his Uncle Derek and Auntie Janelle and Cousin Roscoe. He loves nutra dent bones. He can chew one for hours which gives us just enough time to clean up the mess he's made in the house. He's mischievious and cuddly, sweet and a terror all at once. Tug Boat is the prodigy of his puppy school classes, a friend of everyone at the small dog park, and knows commands like "sit" (taught to him with treats by his Auntie Smoke) and "wanna go outside". He truly is a joy. If we are this enamored with our puppy, we fear what we are going to be like with our children. :)

Surprise! Fancy Nancy turns 50!

This year was monumental. My mom (or Nancy Mom for Brendan) turned 50 in a lavish Hollywood themed celebration in San Jose. Though Papa and I went back and forth and back and forth as to hosting an indoor party or an outdoor party, the outdoor party idea (Papa's) won and in 40 degree weather, we donned our glam gear to celebrate my mom. If anyone knows my mom, they know that the "surprise" element of the party was lost along the way with the snooping, constant questioning, random interrogations, etc. However, it was a blast! We're thinking we are going to have to host another party so she'll remember. . .

My mom is the cornerstone of our family, an inspiration to all, and a constant source of love and encouragement. Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

Bi-Monthly Update - Michael Franti and the lovebirds

Ahh. . .here we are. One week away from the month of May. Things have been. . .well, busy to say the least. We've had a great time with each other, visiting with our friends, celebrating with our family, and just being blessed in general.

In February, we had the opportunity to become rebel rockersat the new Nokia Theatre in downtown LA. Michael Franti and Spearhead - check out some of their jams: http://www.spearheadvibrations.com/index2.php -- We went to this concert with our friends Brandy, Steven, and Val. It was a good good time with good good music and lots and lots of jumping around.

Our friends Steven and Brandy are getting married in June. And we're so so excited for them!

Congratulations Shawn and Katharina!

On January 31st, 2009 a very dear friend of mine, Shawn married his long time love and best friend Katharina in Coco Palm, Bodu Hithi, Maldives (check out their "destination wedding" not bad, right?? http://www.cocopalm.com/boduhithi/location.html) . Shawn is wise, and fun, and adventurous and lives every day to it's fullest and Katharina is one of the most beautiful women I know. Their happiness and optimistic outlooks on life makes them a perfect fit for each other, and you can't help but want to smile when you see their true love in action. To say that Shawn and Kat have come a long long way since they met at a dance club a number of years ago is an understatement. Their love has endured the test of time and distance and they are now living happily ever after in Vienna, Austria. Shawn and Kat, we wish you every happiness in your new adventure together, and we are looking forward to celebrating with you this summer and in Italy!

Happy Birthday. . .a bit overdue

Happy Birthday Papa!

We had been meaning to put up this post right around his birthday (Jan 14th). But as a birthday gift to himself, Papa decided to give himself a new lease on life. So instead of partying it up on his birthday, he spent his 50th (wink) birthday recovering from a heart surgery that has left him more spunky than ever. We hope that the year ahead is filled with much health, love, peace and happiness to you. Thank you for everything you do for your family. It does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. We love you.

One Year Ago Today. . .

One year ago today, my best friend, Brendan McMahon asked me to be his wife! He planned a spectacular engagement day complete with clues leading up to relaxing spa treatments, an amazing beach side dinner in Santa Monica, and brunch at a beautiful ocean restaurant in Malibu. My life has changed for the better over the past year of being engaged and now married to Brendan. Here are 35 Reasons why I love my husband. . .

1. My husband rocks! He is into great (albeit, sometimes weird) music, and is a fantastic drummer

2. Brendan is one of the most fair people you'll ever meet

3. Brendan is not good at "betting" - he owes my papa two meals, and my brother a dinner

4. Brendan's TiVo is ALWAYS full

5. Brendan is a good kisser (I knew this before we got engaged, but for my parents who are reading this, we only started kissing after we got married)

6. Brendan eats everything I make (and likes it!)

7. Brendan is very good looking all dressed up and very cute all dressed in sweats and a t-shirt

8. Brendan goes to the gym with me in the mornings so I don't have to go alone

9. Brendan is optimistic

10. Brendan is fun

11. Brendan is a planner

12. Brendan makes the best BBQ'ed swordfish I've ever eaten

13. Brendan makes friends really easily

14. Brendan can eat Mako Bowl five times in a row

15. Brendan likes dancing

16. Brendan likes dancing funny with me in the living room

17. Brendan does not like to be disturbed while he's sleeping

18. Brendan loves to read

19. Brendan likes cereal

20. Brendan watches my shows with me and actually watches them so we have conversations about the characters afterwards

21. Brendan makes every effort to love my friends and family

22. Brendan likes to give back

23. Brendan is not tech savvy

24. Brendan is good at organizing and coordinating but not so good at remembering where we put checks

25. Brendan compliments my outfits

26. Brendan surprises me at work with flowers

27. Brendan is not perfect, but he's perfect for me

28. Brendan calls me throughout the day to see "how I'm doing"

29. Brendan goes along with my goofy ideas (Captain Stubing, Ugly Sweaters, matching outfits)

30. Brendan is an encourager

31. Brendan is patient

32. Brendan thinks about my well being

33. Brendan puts in the extra effort when I'm too tired to

34. Brendan believes in people's boundless potential

35. Brendan makes me want to take action

It's a Boy!

Hello Friends and Family! We have a very special announcement. . . On January 23, 2009, there will be a brand new member to the McMahon Family:

Tug Boat Willy McMahon

Tug Boat is a nine week old puggle that will be joining our happy family. We are so excited to meet him and will provide you with updates as soon as he's home. Wish us luck as we begin our new adventure as "puppy parents".

The Couple's First Christmas as Mr. and Mrs.

Mia and I celebrated our first Christmas as Newlyweds alone in our Toluca Lake Townhouse on Tuesday, December 23 (moments after I giftwrapped Mia's first gift) on the sofa between our tree and fire place (unlit). It was nice to share some alone time together before boarding our American Flight to Boston the next day to see some of our Northeast Family and Friends.

Watching the weather all week we were nervous about travel delays due to storms. We lucked out without Mother Nature getting in our way but the plane's fuel panel needed repair. For this we waited nearly an hour next to a slightly odd woman at the gate who had her mind made up that we wouldn't get out that day. Listening to her I started to wonder what it would cost to scalp two Celtics/Lakers tix the next day outside the Staple Center. Seeing as the Celts lost embarrassingly it was just another reason I was glad we actually did make our flight on Christmas Eve. I remember seeing that woman outside Logan Airport as I looked for my brother Jay who was picking us up. The woman gave me the "We made it" thumbs up.

Jay brought us to our mom's house in Watertown, MA, which is about 7 miles directly west of downtown Boston. Much of the snow had melted or been washed away with recent rains.

After catching up with my mother and brother we hit the sack.

Christmas morning we went to church with my mom at St. Patrick's where I was brought up. After mass Mia and I (mostly Mia) wrapped the gifts for my family that we had shipped.

We spent the afternoon at my Aunt Sally and Uncle John's in the next town, Waltham, MA. Unfortunately, my brother suffered a shredded tire and we had to change that in the driveway.

Minus the Celtics losing to The Lakers it was a nice Christmas. I was happy to have Mia with The McMahons in Boston this year.

While we were in town we got to see Mia's Nouno and Nouna (Godfather and Godmother) as well as her Yiayia and Papou (Grandmother and Grandfather). We spent a night at their Tewksbury home and got to see Mia's Uncle Steve and Aunt Penny's newly constructed and beautiful home.

We also saw Mia's Uncle Peter and Aunt Barbara as well as some of her other relatives.

We hit downtown Boston twice, once for a cocktail party at The John Judge Estate on Beacon Street and again later on the trip for an afternoon walk through the snowy Boston Public Gardens.

Our friend Pete Caruso took us and our friend's Bob Kelly and Pilar to see Boston College Eagles Men's Hoop team beat the University of San Francisco Dons in a non-conference game.

Other than my absent mindedly leaving my iPod on the plane and forcing me to deal with American Airlines baggage people, the trip was a success.

It's nice to be back in LA and we're ready to get 2009 started. I have a feeling this year will be filled with exciting challenges and opportunities. And Omelets.

Happy New Year!

Bye Bye Thomas!

On December 14th our friend Thomas left for Naval Boot Camp in Great Lakes, IL. (we hear the best time to head to Illinois is in winter!). Thomas has been a good friend for a number of years and recently decided that he wanted to change his life by joining the military and ultimately becoming a physicians assistant. We are thankful for his friendship and for his dedication to our country. He truly does have a heart for service, the tenacity of a great leader, and the compassion to care for our servicemen. We wish him all the best! See you on the other side of bootcamp, buddy!

So. . .Thomas packing up and leaving was a total bummer and we really do miss him. But on the flip side, on December 20th, we moved Smoke into her new place (which was Thomas' old place) and now I've got two of my best friends (Smoke and Tiffy) just two blocks away. Yay!

Baklava Making Lessons

Being Greek has many perks. Like the inherent knowledge that if you don't know how to cook you'll never land a husband, never make friends, and no one will ever come to eat at your house. Another perk is that I am born into a family of great chef's. . . my mom being one of them. Her baklava is acclaimed and through the years it has got her things like a husband, promotions, and various catering jobs.

We thought we would share the love with Tiffy and Val Brown so they too have the secret of Baklava making success. Though the process of baklava is grueling and requires much stamina and endurance (see Tiffany limbering up) for their first attempt they were pretty freakin' rad at baklava making.

30. 30. 30. -- not my measurements, my age!

What does one do when they turn 30 well after all their friends, has already had one big party in the same year, and has a December birthday party? Well. . .why not a wine tasting winter wonderland?

On December 13th, me and a boatload of my nearest and dearest, donned our ugliest holiday sweaters, loaded up into vans courtesy of The Santa Cruz Wine Experience, and spent the day wine tasting at various Northern California Wineries.

From a private tasting, to lunch at a winery where it actually SNOWED (thank you God for fulfilling my winter wonderland request!), to a special birthday area at another winery, we all had a great time and were a little buzzy by the time we got back to The Garrett for my birthday pizza party and ice cream cake!

I couldn't ask for a better husband (who served as the on-site event coordinator), a better family (who constantly serves as an awesome support system), and better friends (who are the best gang of lively companions).

Happy birthday to me! So far, 30 is awesome. . .and my 20's were for the birds!

The McMahon's Holiday Cocktail Party

Our first annual cocktail party was held on December 5th. This was all Brendan's doing. We bought our first Christmas tree together (a real stunner of a noble fir), and fashioned our house to look like a Christmas explosion. We then hosted roughly 40 of our friends for cocktails and appetizers to kick off the holidays! For some reason, we were having such a great time entertaining, we don't have many festive Christmas photos, but we do have photos of people having a really good time. Thank you for all who attended, and we hope to have you again next year. Hopefully we'll see each of you before next Christmas, but you know what we mean.

Gas.

As many of you know, the gas prices across the nation have been outlandish. In fact, at one point, in California we were paying nearly $5 a gallon! However with the price of crude oil dropping, we have seen gas prices drop to less than $2! I can't begin to tell you how psyched we are about this. Every time I saw gas prices less than $1.85 I would text everyone I know. On one particular day, we found gas for $1.60. . .I don't think that gas has been this low since y2k!

After the gym one day, Brendan and I were so pumped (excuse the pun) about the price of gas, that we decided to have a photo shoot at Costco. This is him, with his coveted Costco card, at the place where we've found the most affordable gas. There is also a place right down the street from our home that has consistently cheap fuel. I know, it might be a lame thing to get excited about but I was not to thrilled about potentially having to ride a bike to work. Not sure if many of you have seen me on a bike, but it's not pretty.

Thanksgiving!!

Ahhh. . .Thanksgiving! Quite possibly my favorite holiday! And this was the first Thanksgiving that Brendan and I spent as husband and wife. Many of you will remember that his last Thanksgiving was spent at the Holiday Inn a few blocks from my house. . .which I believe is what might have coaxed him into marrying me.

On the morning of Thanksgiving, Brendan and I, as well as our friends Cassi, Jimmy, Meredith, Allison, Susanne, and Kate all participated in the Turkey Trot 5k & 10k that took place in downtown San Jose. The eight of us earned our Thanksgiving meals that day!



We had a great time visiting with family and friends over the long weekend. We also found out that our cousin's Neel and Manjari are expecting a baby in 2009! Which means we'll have one more person at Thanksgiving next year!


This is my mom with her famous bird, Dolly Parton. Not to be confused with Dolly Patron which was the preferred tequila for this years turkey and tequila shots.

Lucy and Steve Get Married. . .

I met my friend Lucy at a church retreat about five years ago, and from the start, I knew our friendship was going to be a good one. Lucy and I then attended the same core group known as the "Baby Ruths" and have had lots of love and laughter over the past few years. Lucy is some type of spacecraft astronaut telescope engineer. . .I'm actually not quite sure what she does, it's top secret, but if world domination is ever on her mind, I'm sure she has it under her belt. She's always had a really busy schedule so I didn't think much of it when I hadn't heard from her for a couple of months and one day, I opened my email and it said "Hi guys, I'm in Canada, I met a boy, we're talking about getting married. . ." (she attached the photo of the guy and not knowing anything about him, just that he was cute, I gave her my stamp of approval.)

Cut to a year later and here we are on the church steps of Lucy's wedding!! And it could not have worked out any more perfect: her company was bought by another company based out of Canada (no need for a job transfer!), and she's going to be living happily ever after with Steve who is just the nicest guy and has a HUGE heart for Lucy.


I've never been to an Armenian wedding before and I'm holding my Armenian friends to blame for not warning me ahead of time of all that goes into planning these feasts and fetes.

First of all, the food. . .this was our table BEFORE we arrived. Seriously. . .just the "appetizers". We had no room for our glasses. . .and then they brought out GIGANTIC trays of meat and rice, and more meat. Armenian weddings = elastic waistbands.

Next, the special effects. . .my friend Rebecca can be seen here showcasing the goblet of shrimp and smoke. . .

and they danced their first dance as husband and wife in what looked like clouds. . .

We wish Lucy and Steve all the happiness in the world on their new adventure as man and wife!

Happy Birthday Val Chicken Val Brown!

Our friend Val Brown recently got one year better! We celebrated her birthday dive bar style at a local place that looked un-appealing from the outside but was a slam dunk on the inside. Val got a huge draw of people at her party and it was a really fun night. I offered to make her birthday cakes, while Smoke filled in with the decorations, and her friends Rebecca and Stephanie brought the appetizers and good cheer. There are a million reasons why we love Val and we are very thankful to have such an awesome friend like her.

Habitat for Humanity. . .

Brendan has always been saying, we should volunteer for Habitat for Humanity! Our friend John Judge used to run the Habitat for Humanity in Boston and Brendan has had the opportunity to serve the organization many times in the past. I've always been interested in volunteering for the organization, so we picked a weekend and got busy building. I was also enticed to do this good deed because a pair of "new shoes" came with the deal. . . as an FYI to folks, there are no "cute" construction boots out there. Our friends Vanessa and Troy also contributed to the build that day.

We arrived in Pacoima, CA very early and were shown a previous build site, we then signed waivers - in which I thought I was being pretty clever when they asked me for an emergency number and I wrote in: 911. Once we went through a short orientation, we were sectioned into groups. Troy and Brendan went to do some cement laying and clean up, and Vanessa and I built bird houses that were going to be painted and used in an upcoming Habitat Fundraiser. I actually surprised myself and was a pretty good builder after the first few defective birdhouses. Vanessa is also pretty awesome at building and I credit that to the fact that her and her husband did an entire bathroom remodel on their own. I'm also pretty whizzy with a circular drill! A few times, I saw Brendan looking at me envious of all my crafty skills while he had to cart trash and building supplies across the construction site.

It was a great day of giving back. And Brendan treated the four of us to lunch at an authentic taqueria!

The Target Sweet Shop!

Every now and then we have the opportunity to work events for Shirley Girl, which is an event management company out of New York. The head of the company, Daphne, always lets us know when she is in town and when she's got events that need to be staffed. We usually have the opportunity to work a pretty sweet gig, and make some cash. This particular event was the PS Arts Event in Santa Monica that works to bring Arts Education back into local public schools. Our job on this particular day was to work the Target Sweet Shop. . .essentially we were handing out 2ft. tubes of candy to little kids and then helping them make scented candles in the shapes of pies, cakes, tarts, etc.

As many of us know, too much candy and little kids do not mix, so imagine two feet of candy and ten thousand little kids. . .yikes!!

However, the BEST part of our day, or my day at least, is when I watched my otherwise very smart husband, EAT a candle. YES, he ate one. We aren't quite sure what he was thinking (other than the fact that he must have been dilusional from hunger) but he bit right into a blueberry looking tart and then got mad at Smoke and I for not stopping him from eating it. . .(clearly, the briefing session we attended twenty minutes prior when we were asked to "make sure the kids don't eat the candles" was not on Brendan's mind). Here we are, all happy, after the "candle incident".

Baird has a birthday!!

In November, we had the opportunity to celebrate our buddy Baird's 50th birthday with him and a group of our friends, his awesome wife Leslie did a great job with his party and it was so great to see friends that we had worked with at Indymac. Baird, if you are reading this, I know I promised to send you your birthday photos. . .you'll get them before your next birthday!

Madonna and the UCLA Bruins!!

In early November, we went to see the Madonna concert (above, Brendan is "vogue-ing"). We were coaxed into this concert two days before the date by our friend Vanessa. Vanessa is a HUGE Madonna fan, and when I mean HUGE, I mean, Vanessa just saw Madonna in Canada the Saturday before this Thursday concert and was willing to brave the LA mobs to see her again. This concert turned out to be a great performance with guest apperances by Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. . .holla!! We left this concert very tired and also very impressed at Madonna's stamina of both jump roping double dutch style and singing all at once. As you can tell from the photo below, we had prime seating. . .

That same weekend we also had the pleasure of tailgaiting and attending a UCLA Bruins football game with our friends Kelly and Scott. We bbq'ed brats, played a marble game (that I can't quite remember due to the bottle of wine that was drank by yours truly!), ate some touchdown cookies, and just had an all around great day. Kelly and Scott are awesome as is their beautiful baby daughter Evy.

As a "game highlight" we had a little girl sitting in front of us who developed quite a crush on Brendan. . .not just a cutesy little girl giggly crush, but a type of fatal attraction type crush that had me slightly concerned. At one point, the little girls father tried to pull her off of Brendan (after she had given him a few kisses) and the little girl started screaming "NOOOOO DADDY NOOOOOO!!! I LOVE HIIIIIIIIIIIIM!" When Brendan told the little girl that I was his wife, she did not look pleased and then told him "No, I AM YOUR WIFE. . ." Though she might be four years old, she is very persistent and knows what she wants. All Kelly and I could do was sit there and laugh. Poor Brendan. In the first photo, he is posing with his new wife, in the second photo below you can see the little girl thrashing around as her dad just pulled her away from Brendan.

Lots of fun stuff. . . .

okay okay okay. . .we know it has been a while since our last post, but between settling into married life, and writing thank you notes, we've had little time to blog. . .so we'll give you the highlights of the last few months of 2008. . .

Halloween marked our first ever houseguests: My parents. They were on very good behavior during their stay at hour home, so we are going to let them come and visit again. On Friday we hosted my family, Smoke, Thomas, and Tiffany for a Halloween Feast. . .on Saturday we visited my brother in Manhattan Beach. My brother claims he "cleaned for five hours" prior to our visiting his place, as you can see below my parents idea of clean and Sanjay's idea of clean is a little different. . .

On Sunday, we met up with my Uncle Deepak and Aunty Vina in Venice Beach to have a great little brunch at a place called Joe's. Papa and Uncle Deepak have been friends for years and years and years. . .and though I believe my parents had fun staying with us, they decided that during their next trip to LA, they were going to stay with Uncle Deepak. . .he has a wine cellar.