A Housewarming

Our friends, Aaron and Jessica, have bought and are nesting into their first house and we were lucky enough to be invited to the housewarming party last Saturday! We braved the elements to get there (it had been pouring buckets for about two days in a row, and in case you haven't heard, Pasadena floods a little in that kind of weather) and it was totally worth it to be able to hang out with Aaron and Jess and Matt and Natalie. Here's some of what we drove through on the way over: There was a really good turnout at the party--lots of friends and family and people from work came out to celebrate with Aaron and Jess. They had a ton of good food and some really tasty spiked punch that Jess claims to have just 'thrown together'. Here is the only picture I could get of her and Aaron together:

Matt, looking classic as always...

Brian and Natalie demonstrating how inebriated they are NOT...yet...

With the exception of Jess's grandfather in the background, all of these people about to do a shot are teachers:

Aaron letting Matt feel his warm breath in his ear, and Matt liking it...

Aaron says, "Thanks for the hooch!"

Natalie and I cozying up in the garage for a photo:

Nothing Says Easter Like Drinking and Fighting

Last weekend, on Easter, Amy turned 21. We went out to eat downtown at the Spaghetti Warehouse for a late lunch and had third row hockey tickets, right behind the opposing team's bench. (I have since vowed to sit down here for more games, because it is a completely different atmosphere.)

Julian, Amy and Penny at lunch.

Amy and her fiance, Julian.

The other side of the table.

Birthday Tiramisu!

At the game, there was one good fight and the Aeros won the game against San Antonio, which sent them to the playoffs! It was a really exciting game and I can't wait for next season.

Happy with the seats!

Hockey fight!

Amy & Chilly, the Aeros mascot.

We win!

To Kill a Ruellia

When Brian and I bought this house we are living in now, I was very happy with the landscaping out front. The plants were all mature and very healthy. Over the past year and a half, we have decided that maybe they're er...too happy. One of them in particular comes to mind. Ruellia, aka Britton's Wild Petunia or the Mexican Bluebell, was taking over the front bed at an alarming rate, despite having been aggressively pruned back. Then the entire plant began to fall apart from the middle outward and just looked sloppy, as well as completely obscuring a poor defenseless boxwood. It had to go.

Fortunately, I had the ideal conditions for azaleas in their spot, so it was settled. We dug out the ruellia to the best of our ability and the azaleas went in:

They are a little smaller than the other mature plants in the bed, but once they fill in, I am sure they will be wonderful.

As I suspected when we dug them up, the ruellia continue to be a problem and are quite invasive. Here are new shoots coming up around my baby azalea bushes:

So this weekend the nasty plant put in by the obviously sadistic previous homeowners will be painted with the most concentrated, deadly RoundUp I can purchase without a license. And I will keep repeating this process until it is all gone forever.

On a fun plant note, we have inadvertently been propagating sago palms on one end of our driveway, thanks to what I have determined is our hussy female sago. I am also going to attempt to dig these up and pot them until they become established and possibly plant them in the backyard or give them away to friends or family who might want one. There are three of them--here they are at the base of my tramp plant: