She's a Magic (wo)Man

Last Friday night Def Leppard and Heart played at Shoreline. They both looked and sounded great but Heart won the prize for most unforgettable concert moment of the evening -- and perhaps the entire 2011 Shoreline Season. 

Ann and Nancy were playing an excellent cover of The Who's Love, Reign O'er Me and lo and behold rain drops started falling and lightening crossed the sky. It was magical and AMAZING! Kudos to the Wilson sisters -- and of course Mother Nature -- for the perfect timing.

nancy and ann wilson at shoreline

basketball and perspiration

Miss Muffet is working on her jump shot

Natalya played basketball with Coach Lauren yesterday. They played outside and it was pretty warm. On the way home Natalya said, "Mama — I think I'm sweating in places where a girl shouldn't be sweating!"

She really has a way with words sometimes...

It wasn't in the Cards -- again...

Stanford Seniors Jeanette Pohlen, Melanie Murphy and Kayla Pedersen fight for a loose ball

I can't believe it happened again... another trip to the Final Four (that's four years in a row!) and another loss. 62 - 63. Ouch! Of course there were a couple of bogus foul calls on Stanford in the last couple of minutes -- that didn't help matters. But the Cardinal blew a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left. What happened? The Texas A & M defense was more than the Stanford Women could handle. 

I'm so heartbroken... but to put things in perspective, I'm not as heartbroken as the time we lost the 1997 Finals to Old Dominion... that was the worst! It was also the first time Shmoopie ever saw me cry over a basketball game. This year's loss is probably just the second worst loss. 

Thanks for another (mostly) great year Stanford!

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Miss Muffett came home from school with white-out all over her hands.

Me:  What's with all the white-out on your hands?

Muffett:  I painted it on my hands on purpose when I was in class.

Me:  On purpose?

Muffett:  Uh huh. It makes it look like I've been working hard.

Miss Muffett in San Francisco with a "P" shadow

2010: What Happened?

I was woefully lacadaisical this year in posting to my blog so before I write about 2011, let me recap the year that was 2010.

We celebrated Shmoopie’s 50th birthday in March with a party at the beach in Aptos, CA. We stayed at a resort called Seascape. Andrea’s parents and their partners came as well as her sister Karen and her family. All of the planning was worth it because the weekend went off without a hitch and Andrea was really pleased with her birthday weekend. She ate her annual bacon and eggs breakfast surrounded by her loved ones. We got really fun party favors for the everyone who attended: reusable shopping bags with a cartoon drawing of Andrea printed on them and the phrase Would you trust your mental health to this woman? (She’s a psychotherapist.) Everybody loved the bags!

In early April my folks treated our family as well as my brother’s family to a week at a resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary there. Everyone had a blast! The weather was great and we did lots of fun activities like jet skiing, zip lining, boogie boarding and just plain being lazy on the beach. The only down side of our Mexico trip was that it happened to coincide with the Women’s College Basketball Play-offs. I still can’t believe I told my parents that it was okay to schedule the trip during play-off season! I must’ve been multi-tasking when they asked me.

My brother Eric and me in Mexico

Shoreline Amphitheatre was my home away from home for the summer. I finished my 24th season there. Highlights of the season included meeting Elvis Costello, the return of Sarah McLachlan and Lilith Fair, and meeting the American Idol Finalists. Their publicist is an old friend of mine so she invited Natalya to hang out with the Idols before the show. When I asked Natalya if she wanted to hang with the Idols her eyes bugged out of her head. She was speechless (very rare). Needless to say, Natalya had a blast backstage with the gang (and so did Andrea and I). The Idols were really sweet to Natalya and talked to her about following her dreams etc.

Hanging out with the 2010 American Idol finalists

Natalya spent her summer days at school (Bowman is a year-round school). However, she did spend one week at the Stanford Women’s basketball camp. I was just as excited for her to attend the camp as she was -- maybe more so. She had a great time and got to meet and play ball with some of the Stanford players. The week of intense basketball definitely improved Natalya’s game.

Natalya and her favorite Stanford basketball player, Kayla Pedersen

We took Natalya to Disneyland for her ninth birthday and after that, began our search for a dog. We’d promised Natalya several years ago that she could have a dog when she turned 9 -- so we had to make good on our promise. After weeks of searching we rescued “Olive”. She was 4 months old; a Lab-Basenji mix. We really lucked out because she’s a fantastic dog. Very sweet and well-behaved for the most part.. We’re taking her to puppy classes and having lots of fun with her. Now if she would just stop chewing everything in sight life with Olive would be perfect.

Olive at the park

And finally, a moment I will never forget,  the Stanford Women's Basketball Team beat the UConn Huskies on December 30th at Maples Pavilion. The win ended UConn's record-breaking winning streak of 92 games. Shmoopie and I were so elated by the win that we opened our New Year's Eve bottle of champagne a night early to celebrate. Go Cardinal!

Stanford celebrates its big win

that's rock n roll

Peter Frampton in the 1970s

I ran into some people at a party the other night who knew I worked at Shoreline. While we were chatting they asked me about some of my "memorable Shoreline moments"... here's the first in a series:

A few seasons ago we had a show with Journey, Peter Frampton and John Waite. I was standing in front of the stage with the photographers waiting for Peter Frampton to start his set. The lights came up and Frampton started playing Show Me the Way. The rookie photographer next to me pointed his lens at the old guy playing guitar but didn't take any shots. Instead he leaned over and said, "let me know when Peter Frampton is on stage."

I yelled over the music "that IS PETER FRAMPTON".

Priceless.

Peter Frampton is still rocking

this is the thing...

Natalya with Michael Jackson's star in Hollywood

A couple of weeks ago we had Miss Muffet's parent teacher conference. At Bowman, each student participates in their conference. The students prepare ahead of time and bring some of the work they're particularly proud of to show to their parents.

In her oh-so-Natalya way, Miss Muffet presented a science project and described it as, “this is a thing I did and I learned that this is the thing that’s part of that thinga-ma-jiggy.” 

Just imagine how proud Mishy Mama and I felt after the presentation :)

KFC

Miss Muffet made quite a discovery. On the way home from school yesterday she said, "Guess what Mama?! When I stick my fingers in my armpits and then smell my fingers it smells like chicken!"

Still not sure how to respond to this one...

2010 is our Year of the Dog

We just celebrated a two-month anniversary with our dog Olive. She's a Basenji/Lab mix born in Taiwan of all places. A rescue group in Southern California works with a rescue group in Taiwan. Apparently there's a major stray dog problem there -- lucky for us because otherwise we wouldn't have Olive!

We started looking for a rescue dog in September and made a connection with a dog via Doggie Protective Services. They accepted our application and helped us find "Melina" a one year old Basenji/Lab mix. Needless to say, Natalya was off-the-charts excited about meeting Melina.

Unfortunately, when we got to the adoption fair at Pet Food Express we were told that Melina had been adopted the day before.  Poor Natalya! She was heartbroken. She ran out of the store sobbing. Andrea ran after her and I stayed with the Doggie volunteers. They told me to hang around because a litter of black puppies was coming in. The problem was that we didn't want a puppy :)

Then the puppies came in. Three of them. Two girls and a boy. They were about 5 months old. Natalya got permission to get into the pen with them and Olive (named Malika at the time) walked right over to her and started sniffing and kissing her. The other two dogs ignored Natalya. So let's just say that Olive chose Natalya. Two hours later we were back home with the newest addition to our family: Olive Peterwak!

olive's first day at home with natalya

Season Number 24 Comes to an End

Just finished season number 24 at Shoreline. I still love working there and hanging with all of my Shoreline peeps. We've all known each other for quite awhile now!

Highlights from this season:  

Live 105's BFD. Always a fun day. Loved hearing some of the "new" bands.

Lilith Fair: The Wilson Sisters rocked the house and I watched their set with some old pals from my early days at Shoreline (Lynn and Sabrina). We had a blast! 

Rihanna: Great stage show and she sounded even better. I strolled past her backstage and was surprised by how tall she was... even without the high heels! Worked with a crew from yahoo! News to do a story about the Shoreline's efforts to be green. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN13tKIBQOQ

American Idol Live tour:  Did a press conference with the Idols. They were all really nice kids (yes they are kids -- very young). Got to bring Natalya in so she could meet the Idols. She was thrilled of course :)

ZZ Top:  The guys still have it. It was really fun to hear the old ZZ tunes again. 38 Special played too and they sounded like they hadn't aged a bit. Fun to hear Hold on Loosely -- a song that my band used to play back in high school.

ZZ Top:  Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard

Bridge School Benefit:  Always a highlight. Got to meet Elvis Costello this year. He was really sweet with all of the Bridge kids. Seemed to be enjoying his time at Shoreline. Sir Elton John was masterful. And it was an unexpected treat to see country music legend Ralph Stanley. He's 93 years old and can still wear rhinestones proudly and put on a show. I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Pearl Jam again (they've done the Bridge many times) but their sets this year were superb. Probably the best I've seen from PJ!

Thanks to my pal Tim Mosenfelder for the great photos :)

Sir Elton John

Ralph Stanley

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

a dancing partner

Yesterday Shmoopie and I were in the car with Natalya and she asked us if we were going to get married. We explained that when we're "allowed" to get married we would.

Natalya:  Who are you going to invite to the wedding?

Me:  Family and friends.

Natalya:  So I'll be invited?

Shmoopie:  Of course!

Natalya:  Can I bring someone?

Me:  Sure who do you want to bring?

Natalya:  I wanna bring a hobo.

Me:  A hobo? Why a hobo?

Natalya:  So I'll have someone to dance with.

We made Natalya ride her bike to see Wicked -- her broom was out of gas :)

so close and yet...

I've been putting off posting this entry, enjoying my time as the Queen of Denial...but I must face finally the truth. My Stanford Women's Basketball team lost the NCAA Tournament Championship game to the University of Connecticut 82 - 73. We (yes "we") only lost by 9 points. A smaller margin than any team that has lost to UConn in quite a while. We were even ahead at half-time with a score of 20 - 12. But alas, it wasn't meant to be :(

No. 2 Seed Stanford played No. 1 Seed UConn in the Championship Game

The final game was even more excruciating because Shmoopie and I were in Mexico and Mexican ESPN didn't show any of the women's games. We had to "watch" the game by standing next to our new friend Alfonso in the hotel's Internet Cafe -- which was a line of computers at the back of the Sport Bar (singular). Alfonso found a game-feed on the web somehow and the three of us sat in front of a laptop and waited for the screen to refresh every 30 seconds or so. Like I said:  excruciating. The second half was much more painful than the first. That's when UConn pulled ahead of Stanford; Jayne Appel got hurt and then UConn put the hammer down. Andrea and I were SO disappointed -- so was Alfonso -- he was invested too!

Stanford Senior Jayne Appel throws a pass

Thanks for another great season my Cardinal Ladies and farewell to Jayne Appel and the other Seniors. It was awesome watching you develop as players over the course of four seasons. It's hard to say goodbye :(

We'll be back at Maples Pavillion next season ready to cheer you on and welcome the new players.

Go Stanford!!!

Reunited and it Felt So Good

A couple of weekends ago I met my BFFs from my Michigan State University days for a little reunion. We stayed in San Diego and had a blast! There was much talking and much laughter. It was so good to be together again. Here are some quotes from the weekend (I'll let you guess who said what...):

• When I buried the first cat...
• Duck tape is his best friend.
• You look really sad -- did people magazine not come today?
• I've only been here when it's packed.
• The word **** is like #### to me.
• I don't understand a word you said.
• Right now I just want you to know that I feel like I'm in another country.
• I only stalled once.
• You gotta have some kind of twitch.
• I have trouble crossing the street.
• Sorry if I gave you whiplash.

Susan Straka, me, and Susan Gaines in San Diego

happy new year!

natalya in michigan with her red and green braces

Natalya and I made a fruit smoothie the other day.

Me: What do you think of the flavor?

Natalya: It’s a little off-balance but not too bad.

Here's hoping that 2010 is a balanced year for you and yours!

another gem from natalya

Natalya and I were looking at a website today that outlined some of the things that happened over the course of 2009. She was particularly interested in the Michael Jackson stuff so we scrolled through the MJ photos. Natalya stopped at a picture of Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson together and said, "Wow... this picture is cute... and kinda gross at the same time."

Out of the mouths of babes...

Feeling Thankful

Natalya has been talking a lot about her cousins and how excited she is to see them next month. So I've been sharing childhood stories with her (edited versions of course!) about my cousins and me. My brother and I had great relationships with all of our cousins. However, we had particularly close relationships with the cousins on my mom’s side of the family. We all lived within 20 minutes of each other and were close in age as well, so we were together a lot.

my brother and me with our cousins and grandparents

Thanksgiving day with my cousins was always a blast. We spent a lot of time picking on the youngest member of our group: April Melinda (sorry April)! Nothing delighted us more than agitating April to the point where she ran from the kids’s table to the adult’s table and tattled on us -- which was when the five of us collectively shrugged our shoulders and claimed complete innocence.

There were many other great bonding moments growing up with my cousins: like the time we thought it would be a good idea to turn off all of the lights in the basement and throw stuff at each other in the dark. Someone got hit with a coffee can and ended up with a nasty head wound. Our first response to someone getting hurt was strategically planning what we were going to tell our parents. It was one for all and all for one.

I also remember the creation of the boogie step. I'll spare you the disgusting details but at some point we decided that the second to the last basement step at each household was the boogie step. We were forbidden to step on it. To this day, when I’m going down the basement steps at my folk’s house I skip the second to the last step from the bottom.

When my Grandmother passed away I fully comprehended the bond that my cousins and I shared. I couldn't have made it through the grieving and loss without the support of my cousins. I'll never forget how I felt when the six of us served as pall bearers and carried our Grandma's coffin at her funeral. Our parents were a little concerned about us having this responsibility given the loss we were suffering. But we wanted to do it — it just felt right somehow. On that cold Michigan January day, sharing the experience of losing our Grandma, I realized just how incredibly special the bond with my cousins was.

And now I am witnessing my daughter’s growing relationship with her cousins. She absolutely adores my brother’s boys. They accept each other fully and they love being together. It warms my heart to know that Natalaya's life will hold the same experience as mine: a strong bond with her cousins.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! And especially to my cousins: Rodney, Vicki, Kelly, and April — I’m so thankful to have grown up with you and for the bond that we share!

my 23rd season at shoreline comes to an end

The Official Bridge Benefit Pumpkin

Wow! Another season is over. This one really flew by. Lots of festival-type shows meaning lots of photographers and press to deal with: Live 105's BFD. Mayhem. Cruefest. Rock the Bells. Warped tour, etc.

Highlights: The Killers stage and lighting design; No Doubt; seeing old friends at The Bridge School Benefit; Gavin Rossdale's set at the Bridge (more on that later).

Lowlights: Getting screamed at by the Security supervisor from Coldplay (it was about something really stupid).

The Bridge Benefit 2009 - Overall it was a fairly quiet Bridge weekend. I enjoyed Adam Sandler's set on Sunday. His cover of Powderfinger with Neil Young was fantastic! Gavin Rossdale's sets on both days were amazing. That guy can sing. And talk about stage presence... His cover of Prince's Sometimes It Snows In April was chilling. Gwen Stefani is a lucky woman!

Gavin Rossdale aka Mr. Gwen Stefani

My Shoreline partner Laura Parks, with awesome photographer/ friend Barry Brecheisen from Chicago (and me)

say what?

Natalya and a friend at the aquarium

Natalya has a nasty blister on her left palm. She spent too much time on the monkey bars at school. Last night I was putting a fresh dressing on her wound and we had a funny conversation.

Natalya: are you going to use goose tape on my hand?

Me: Huh?

Natalya: You know -- goose tape.

Me: Do you mean "duck tape"?

Natalya: No. I mean goose tape.

Me: No. I'm using this tape and the other tape is called "duct" tape not "duck" tape.

Natalya: Oh. Then why does everybody call it "duck" tape?

Me: Because when people say "duct" it sounds like "duck".

Natalya: And what about when people say "goose"?

Me: Umm -- it sounds like "goose" doesn't it?

mastercards and milky ways

Natalya strikes a pose at the San Francisco Pride Parade

Earlier this week while driving Natalya to her summer day camp I noticed that she was unusually  quiet. (She usually serenades me in the car with the latest Radio Disney hits.) I looked back at Natalya and she appeared to be deep in thought.

Me:  What's up Natalya? What are you thinking about?

Natalya:  Candy.
And -- credit cards.

Me:  Huh?

Natalya:  I said candy and credit cards.

Me:  Oh. What about candy and credit cards?

Natalya:  Can you use credit cards to buy candy?

Me:  :)

natalya finishes first grade!

natalya and her dance partner jacob wait for the music to start

Natalya finished First Grade yesterday. We're really proud of her. The last few days of school were jam packed with parties and performances. The entire First Grade at Bubb School participated in an International Dance performance one evening. Natalya and her dance partner looked great together and of course, Natalya wasn't nervous about performing in front of over 100 people :) She really seemed to enjoy herself -- and we certainly enjoyed watching her!

natalya shows us why we could hear her voice over all the others

jacob swings his partner

When my brothber and I were kids, my parents took us out for ice cream after we finished the last day of school. I've continued that time honored tradition with Natalya.

natalya enjoys her ice cream sundae after school
(and mom waits for the chocolate and sugar to kick in)