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Happy Anniversary Mushu!

On September 10, 2011 we adopted our love-pug Mushu.  Mushu came to us from Pug Rescue of San Diego County.  We saw his picture on the website and after a long conversation with his foster mom we knew that he was the pug for us.  We went down to meet him and he wound up coming home with us.  We’ve never looked back, even though it’s been an EVENTFUL first year.

September

Mushu comes to live with us!Image
We had approximately NOTHING.  But a quick trip to PetCo fixed all that.

Mushu’s first visit to the Silver Lake Dog Park
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He has spent a LOT of time there ever since.

Emmy party!
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Mushu officially begins his new life as a Hollywood pug.

October

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Happy Halloween!

Mushu’s first Thanksgiving with us!

And the subsequent food coma

December

Mushu meets his Uncle Keith…and it’s instant love.

Mommy and Daddy have to go to Chicago for Christmas, so Mushu spends his holiday at the awesome Go Dog La and has a wonderful time.

All is happiness, though, when we are reunited and Mushu meets Oliver, the stuffed cow that his Grandma and Grandpa sent for him.  It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

January

Mushu is pretty excited when his mommy and daddy get engaged on New Year’s Eve.  He decides to practice his ring bearer skills.  We haven’t quite had the heart to tell him that the church doesn’t allow pug ring bearers…no matter how cute they are.

February

Ever the socially conscious pug, Mushu participates in the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Muscle Walk.

And he also finds time to attend Pug Rescue of San Diego County’s awesome Pugs and Kisses Fundraiser.

March

Honoring his mother’s South Side of Chicago roots, Mushu celebrates St. Patrick Day.

April

Hiking in Hollywood Park!

May

May was a very scary month for us.  Mushu was diagnosed with a serious bladder infection that required an overnight stay at the emergency vet clinic and surgery.

He came through with flying colors, and even managed to pull the come off ALL BY HIMSELF.

Side note: thank you so much to our family and friends, especially those who took time out of their day to come over and check on him and make sure he was eating, drinking and not lonely.  We appreciate it more than you can ever know.

June 

To celebrate Mushu’s return to good health, we took him on his first trip to the Long Beach Dog Beach.

He loved it.

In addition to beach day, we also celebrated Mushu’s fourth birthday.  Here he is with his birthday present, a stuffed skunk named Everdeen.

July

Patriotic pug.

August

Los Angeles was experiencing quite the heat wave (still is, in fact).  We’re coping the best we can.

September

In honor of Mushu’s one year anniversary we took him back to his beloved dog beach.  He had an exciting day.  He helped  Mommy and Daddy paint in the morning, went to the dog beach in the afternoon and went out to dinner at night.

He’s sleeping it off today.

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I’m pretty….(and you are, too)

Or at least my blog is.  I’ve received the Beautiful Blogger Award!  I feel so special, now.

So, the rules state that I need to tell 7 things about myself that aren’t well-known facts.  Here goes:

1.  I used to write fan fiction. Sadly, it never got me a multi-book deal like “50 Shades of Grey” but I wrote some pretty killer fan fiction for the horror series Poltergeist The Legacy.  Bonus fact: I have the first season of that series on DVD (the only one available) and the rest of the episodes saved on my computer.  Aah, geek love.

2.  I tend to develop intense crushes on fictional characters.  Brandon Walsh, Doug Ross, Fox Mulder, Josh Lyman, Aragorn…thankfully my real life taste in men is much better.

3.  I read my first “chapter book” when I was in first grade.  It was “Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Blume.  Clearly my parents didn’t believe in censorship.

4.  I want to go on a ghost hunt.  But I’m terrified that I’ll actually see a ghost.

5.  The first Selena song I ever heard was I Could Fall in Love.  It was right after she died in 1995.  Is it weird to say that a song changed my life?  Because that one sure did.

6.  My pen name: Fitzgerald was my dog’s name. He was a Boston Terrier and he was the best dog ever to live.

7.  I have never seen (or read) The Notebook.:  I know, it’s like a sin in “Girl World.”  And I do love me some Ryan Gosling.  You know what?  I don’t care.  Estrogen doesn’t effect my taste.

The next part of the award is to award the next folks.  So, in no particular order, I award the Beautiful Blog Award to:

Last Cositas Bellas

Take Fountain and Other Advice for Actors 

The Chicago DispLAcement

Enjoy and spread the beauty!

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Spanish Sonidos and Salsa Dancing

My friend April has the best taste in pretty much everything.  She has the coolest clothes, the prettiest makeup and knows tons about awesome music.  So, naturally, when she sent me some vintage salsa music that she had been grooving on lately, I downloaded it immediately.  As with pretty much everything April likes, it’s awesome.  This music is what summer sounds like, at least to me.

So what could be better than a warm Sunday night filled with salsa music, writing and wine?  How about dancing?  April popped by to visit and we wound up feeling the ritmo while the music was playing.  Well, she felt it.  I tried.

“No, Liz, you’re doing it wrong!” she corrected me as I waggled my hips.  “Watch me.  Back, together, forth, together…good, there you go!  Now hold your hands at waist level….”

I’m sure I looked fairly ridiculous, but that didn’t stop me.  In my mind, I was Selena and La India wrapped up in one package.  Now all I have to do is not trip over my own feet.

Looking silly also won’t stop me from salsa dancing again tonight.  One day, I’ll get it right.

Bonus treat: La Abril herself, salsa bombing all over Los Angeles

Double bonus treat: April’s blog: Las Cositas Bellas

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Draft 1.5

I’m a big fan of handwriting.  I can’t explain why.  Maybe it’s because I’m always on the computer for work and school.  Maybe it’s because I’m so used to the iPhone autocorrecting me that I’ve forgotten how to spell.  Maybe it’s because I just like to buy cute notebooks.

Whatever the reason, I’m glad I do it.  It gives me a chance to edit my story before anyone sees it.  I call my first typed draft “Draft 1.5” ’cause I’ve edited it but it’s still pretty rough.

I’ve realised that by the time I reach draft, oh, 10 or so it’s pretty good to go.

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A new chapter, a new blog…

Greetings, readers, writers and lovers of words.  Welcome to my new and (hopefully) improved blog.  I decided to move over here from Blogger because a) It seems like you can do cooler things with WordPress and b) I started the Blogger blog (say that three times fast) several years ago when my writing and my life philosophy were a little different.

Oh, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of humor to be found.  It’s just…darker in nature.  I still love shoes, but I’ve definitely turned into a thrifty shopper (a recession will do that to you).  I still love movies, but I’ve definitely seen the darker side of Hollywood since moving to LA and working in “The Biz.”

So there you have it.  New outlook, new stories, new blog.

New notebook.

Same nerdiness.