Cinderella

The movie "Cinderella" has been out for weeks, but we waited until the first day of Spring Break to finally go see it and it was well worth it.  We enjoyed the brand new leather reclining chairs as we watched the wonderful movie.  "Have courage and be kind"!

The girls spent a good amount of their time going up and down

Disney Stores Celebrates 28 years

Sophie happened to get a Disney stuffed animal last night that was different than what she was hoping for, and it happened to be the Disney Store's 28th birthday where everything was 28% off storewide, so we went to Santa Monica Place to do an exchange.

The first 28 people in line got a special gift, so of course we were there at opening.

Happy birthday, Disney Store!

Opening the store for the day

Sophie's Benihana Birthday

The girls have yet to have a real birthday party since we moved to California.  So, when Sophie asked to celebrate her birthday at Benihana, we couldn't refuse.  She invited four of her classmates to join us for dinner and then afterwards, we had cake at our home.  Though some tears were shed before night's end, I'd like to think she had a good time; my kids are very hard to please.

The kids

Cheers!

"Happy birthday", Benihana style

A smile speaks a thousand words

Goofy good-bye picture

My sad attempt at a "rainbow" cake, but Paula Dean's strawberry cake recipe was the bomb!

Making a wish

Happy 7th birthday, my Sophie!

Annual meeting

I can't believe it's been over a year since Sophie got representation and since we last met with her agent Carol Lynn.  Even though Carol Lynn said her agency CESD would represent Lydia, she still wanted to meet her, so we went in for a visit.  The kids were crazy in their office, touching everything, but still the meeting managed to go well, with Carol Lynn deciding on the girls' head shots.  Oh, and we found out Carol Lynn and Sophie share the same birthday!

Kelly (Carol Lynn's assistant), Sophie, Lydia, and Carol Lynn

...And we're done

Everyone's happy with their ice cream sandwiches, which cost us $5!

Sophie's official headshot

And Lydia's.  We are in the clear for the next year...hopefully.

Going curly

Since I didn't feel like we got that perfect head shot of Sophie yet, I decided to try one last time this weekend.  This time, I thought it would be nice to curl her hair, so we experimented with my old rollers from my college years.

Before

After

Sophie thought it was a little too curly, so we'll try with a curling iron tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

And this is how we spent our St. Patrick's Day...

Sophie reading to a dog; I'm trying to help her feel more comfortable around them since some auditions require it 

Lydia's turn...she has no problems with dogs

Happy hour with the ladies at West 4th and Jane.  Yes, those are waves in my hair and it took almost four hours to get them.  $20 for a haircut and deep conditioning at the Toni & Guy school, but they care more about the training than the time. 

Flat Stanley

Trung's college's friend's daughter from Austin asked us to show Flat Stanley around for a few days since he needed to visit different states.  I think the little laminated paper guy did more than most in a lifetime!  :P

Caught a runner in mid-air

Checking out the Santa Monica Pier and then the LA Marathon

After her auditioning workshop, Sophie attended her friend Bodhi's minecraft birthday party.

Emma for the day

Sophie's acting friend was in town for the day, and her mom invited us to go swimming with them at the hotel pool.  The girls mainly played with each other, but as an only child, Emma, was fine with playing alone or meeting other kids.  We only get to see Emma and her mom Marie once every few months, so it was nice catching up and taking about the entertainment biz.

  Awesome clouds this morning.  See the plane?

Getting toasty in the hot tub

Watching Emma play their current favorite game...Minecraft!

Acting buddies

Approved head shots!

After a week of no auditions, I decided to try on last time to do Sophie's head shots.  Lydia has also been saying that she wants to go on auditions too (to earn money), so I figured we could do some for her as well.  The girls needed haircuts anyways, so I took them to the Toni & Guy learning institute for $15 haircuts.  I thought they would style their hair nice enough for the photo shoot, but the curls feel out quickly, but at least they got a little pampering and a much needed trim.

Lydia getting prepped for her haircut

Sophie is used to the "chair" by now

All ready for the shoot

After two attempts and a first round of "no-go's", Sophie's agent finally liked these pictures!

I think her hair is wild, but the agent liked it

That smile

Lydia didn't have as many pictures, but her smile was definitely more natural.

The main picture for her profile page, though everyone else liked the other one

LA Galaxy

Trung's company has an affiliation with the soccer team Chicago Fire and we got free tickets to watch them play LA Galaxy.  This was our first professional soccer game and though the kids spent most of the time playing with their devices, they were able to understand the game better than other sports when they finally did look up since they practice soccer.  

Stubhub Center

On the devices

Avid fans

It was a shut-out, so we each got a free taco from El Torito!

Brick + Mortar

I didn't schedule a Happy Hour for February because things got a little hectic.  First of all, it was my birthday month, so I was busy redeeming my free meals and meeting up with friends who wanted to take me out.  Then Trung was gone for several days skiing in Canada, and of course, I was sick the entire duration of his trip.  A short trip from my Dad and several auditions for Sophie, and just like that, February was over!  

So, I planned a happy hour for tonight at a new restaurant and hoped people didn't think I stopped going out.  Fortunately, we had a good group come and we enjoyed delicious food at Brick + Mortar on Main Street.  Afterwards, Magda and I had desserts at Sweet Lady Jane and managed to replenish our bread for another couple of weeks.  :P

 Each person in the group is from a different country, which no one representing USA!

Four free loaves and several free pastries

Kids still love Kidspace

With Lydia's basketball practice on Tuesdays for the last eight weeks, we didn't get a chance to go to Kidspace Museum this year yet.  We finally got to go today and the kids went to every station, as though they had forgotten the place.  I'm glad they still enjoy going and I look forward to going next month during Spring Break when we can spend the entire day out in the Glendale/Pasadena area.

Bikes, of course

Wiki stix glasses at La Grande Orange Cafe