Got a gift from my late grandfather in the mail today
10 May 2012 6 Comments
in happy spurts
My grandpa giving me a gift. Perhaps this was a Rolex or keys to a Porsche.
He bought me my first diamond when I was a freaking BABY! And it’s not like it was a tiny diamond, it’s almost the size of my half-carat engagement ring!
I also remember one time my grandpa called me up and said that my (10th, maybe 11th?) “special birthday gift” was on its way to me and — oh no! — he hoped that he had poked enough holes in the box! So, obviously, I got super duper excited about the awesome animal-type present that was on it’s way, only to open up a freaking Audubon print!
Of course, I love it today. That’s it up there on the left, over the miniature piano. It looks perfect in my apartment… but what a strange gift to give a kid!
Today I got a package in the mail from my mom. She recently stumbled upon of some things my grandfather bought for me as a child. It was a small package containing A LOT of gold jewelry, including this necklace:
Apparently he purchased this for me in Hong Kong when I was little. It’s also, yet another thing, I would probably have turned up my nose at as a child. Who needed jewelry when there were toys to play with!? But today, I LOVE IT! It’s absolutely my new favorite piece of jewelry.
The gifts he gave me as baby-Megan were clearly more for for adult-Megan — becoming decor for my grownup apartment, and delighting the 30-something who loves gold jewelry. Sometimes I wonder if that man had some sort of sixth sense that he wouldn’t be around for my adult years and purchased accordingly.
Though that thought really makes me smile, I’d totally trade all these gifts to have kept him around for longer. I miss that guy.
An extraordinary day
15 Jan 2012 6 Comments
in happy spurts Tags: dad, driving, VW
Yesterday was one of those beyond wonderful, life-affirming days. At one point I even started making a list of all the great things that had happened. Here’s the boring run-down of an extraordinary day…
I got to wake up and have breakfast with my mom AND that guy I married. This may sound lame, but I never get to spend much time with either of those people. So it felt really great to be hanging out over cups of coffee and pieces of toast.
Peezu and Jack tired after a day of playing.
I went with my parents to visit my grandmother and help her get ready for her home re-do. I brought along my dogs and they got to play in a yard for the first time since June! There was lots of running like crazy, lots of rolling around on the grass and lots and lots of playing fetch.
Gen getting some last minute work done on what makes her tick.
In between playtime and grandma time, my dad and I finally picked up Gen, the VW bug. I filled out another check for good ol’ VW Joe, who felt so bad that I was spending so much cash that he didn’t even charge me tax this time.
Dad drove her back to my grandma’s and while on the way back, on her first time back on her feet, I watched as a guy riding a really super vintage motorcycle pulled up next to my dad, took a long look over his shoulder at Gen and gave dad the raised “right on” fist. It was an adorable moment that got me really excited about how fun Gen’ll be to drive.
Ah, driving! Ready for the best of the best of my day? More
Boston terrier floral arrangement
01 Jun 2011 4 Comments
in happy spurts, silly Tags: ayla, dogs, elsa
The Best Week Ever blog posted these photos of floral arrangements shaped like dogs. And it reminded me that I never blogged about the most amazing floral arrangement I’ve ever seen! These dogs are cute and all, but our housekeeper of 15+ years did it first:
And this is Ayla, the dog she modeled her arrangement after:
Elsa completely surprised us all. We had no idea she could do that! Even better, the reason she made that floral arrangement was because she was so happy that she was officially adopting Ayla from us. Ayla had always lived in our family home, but about a year into owning her it became clear that she was really Elsa’s dog.
My 13-yr-old self’s dream come true!
09 May 2010 6 Comments
in happy spurts, maui Tags: maui
At the 4 Seasons bar with the drink flowers in my hair.
I love having pink hair. I got to meet Adam Sandler yesterday because of it! And he actually flagged ME down to get MY attention. Holy cow! I never thought THAT would happen. For those of you that don’t know, Adam Sandler was my first REAL BIG celebrity crush. I think I created the first “best of [name your individual SNL actor]” video when I would watch SNL with a remote control in my hand, blank tape in the VCR and hit record as soon as I saw him on screen. I still have that VHS tape with tons of Adam Sandler clips with missing beginnings.
Anywhoo…
We were having Lahaina Lemonades at the Four Seasons before we headed down to the shark attack beach. My mother, Shanon and I were sitting at the bar in my favorite outdoor restuarant when Adam Sandler and his daughter came in. Wow! Okay that’s cool. Got a little thrill. Anyway, go about my business… the business of getting drunk off my favorite mixed drink. When all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I see Adam waving his hand. I look over wondering if he’s asking me to get the bartender’s attention when he yells, “You’ve got a big fan of your hair over here!” And he points to his daughter. AW! And so we continue a little yelling thing back and forth for a second and then it’s done. WOW! That was cool!!!!
Then, the entire time we’re seated at the bar, I notice that his daughter keeps staring at me, like kids often do with my pink hair. So I start making faces and messing around with her. So I made her a flower thingy for her hair out of our pretty drink flowers and an olive stabber and went over to present it to her. She’s shy of course, but Adam is MORE than enthused to see me approach. As I walked up to his table he said, “Wow Sadie! Look who’s coming to say hi!” I never in a MILLION years would have thought that Adam Sandler would be excited to see me. Life’s funny.
I gave her the flowers and then Adam asked me to tell her how I made my hair pink. And then he shook my hand and said thanks for coming over, “she talked about your hair for like 15 minutes.” Wow. Adam Sandler had a conversation about ME for 15 minutes. Seriously.
The 13 year old girl in me was SQUEEEEEEEEEing in her pants even though I was playing it cool. Almost too cool. I kinda wish that I had asked for a picture with the both of them. But the memory is good enough for me. I love that Maui makes things like that possible.
Here’s a picture of Adam and his daughter. How freaking cute is she!?…
Adam and Sadie playing in Maui. (Photo courtesy of Zimbio.com)
Seattle here we come!
17 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in happy spurts Tags: aaron, ariel, coco, glitter sale, seattle
We bought our tickets to Seattle last night and I’m super excited! Aaron and I will be going with our neighbor/amazing friend Coco. We call it our first “Finley-quist” family vacation. (Coco puts the “quist” in “Finley-quist.”)
I’ve never been to Seattle before, but a know a shit-ton of people who live there, including my “boss” — yes BOSS, I got an offbeat promotion — Ariel. And I’m super excited to see her again, but this time in her massively prego stage. The last (and first) time I saw her she had just begun her pregnancy and was barely showing.
The reason for our trip is this thing called the Glitter Sale. Apparently for two days in November, the Goodwill in Seattle puts out all their amazing glitzy and glamorous clothes, shoes and jewelry. Coco goes every year and gets some amazing formalwear to show-off at all her holiday parties. And these clothes are usually sparkly and amazing and all on the cheap, since it’s Goodwill. So, this year I shall accompany her and see what I can find. 
Anyone who I know in the Seattle area is more than welcome to join us. I believe we shall be arriving early and camping out for the opening. I haven’t done that since… well, I’ve never done that. So it’ll be cool to have as much company as possible.
Found: Photos of Aaron
16 Oct 2009 4 Comments
in happy spurts Tags: aaron, bands
Okay, get your love-induced gag reflexes in check and please indulge me as I take a moment to swoon over the photos I found of my husband today…
How freaking HOT is/was he!? These photos were taken by a photographer friend of our, Ellen Tunney, at a show for the now-defunct band “Joe Lies” at the now-defunct Sea Level record store.
I love finding old photos of the guy, it makes me so happy. I should actually start a regular feature of “Found Photos of Aaron” because he has had some crazy looks in his younger years.
And as proof, I leave you with one of my favorites…
Yeah, that’s Aaron on the left.
WOWEE ZOWEE!!!!
19 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in happy spurts Tags: bands, pavement
Boring recount of an awesome evening.
28 Jul 2009 4 Comments
in animals, happy spurts, sharks Tags: aaron, awesome sea creatures that aren't sharks, videos
Do you ever have those unusually awesome days and think, “today should’ve been my birthday.” I have those every now and then. Yesterday was one of them…
Aaron and I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific on Monday for a late night screening of a Shark Week program about the Greenland Shark. It was such a good time and something we rarely do, public gatherings and the like. At one point some kid nearby did something annoying and i jokingly complained and Aaron said, ‘hey, you’re the one that wanted to go out in public.” So since it was such a rare occasion, I thought I’d take a video to try and capture the moment in time…
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give a dog a bath
26 Apr 2009 2 Comments
in happy spurts Tags: dogs, jackson, pitbull
Who knew there would ever be a day that giving my dog a bath would make for one of the best Saturday nights of my life.
It started as a lonely night. My husband went to play at a friend’s house and I stayed home alone for the first night since I’ve been sick. I was bummed and feeling anxious. And then Jackson actually asked to have a bath! (Seriously… how many of you know a dog that actually asks for a bath? Well, if you know my dog Jackson, then you at least know one dog that does.)
So Jackson hops into the tub and just gives me the look that says, “I’m so f-ing stinky even I, a dog, think that I stink.”
So I start the bath and climb in myself, because when bathing this dog you’re BOTH getting a bath. Jackson’s so good. I get him wet and then soap him up while singing the “Your A Stinky Dog” song. After a minute he wants to shake — I tell him not to, and he holds back, even though you can tell it’s SO unnatural for him. And then when he’s all washed up and before I let him out of the shower I tell him, “okay shake” and he just goes to town!
After the bath, Jackson tears around the apartment soaking wet while I hop out of the tub covered in stinky dog hair and chase him around with a towel trying to get him dry before he succeeds in rubbing his wet-dog smell all over the couch and chairs. And all the while I’m laughing so hard that my sides hurt! Finally Jackson submits to the toweling down and, smiling ear to ear, pants and squirms on the floor. When he’s had enough of that it’s up and sprinting back and forth a few more times just because he thinks it’s fun, until I can get him wrangled up in the towel again.
When he’s finally dry it’s my turn to bathe. And all of a sudden I’m smiling ear to ear just like my dog and I can’t remember when I’ve been this happy. That silly, wet, stinky, pit bull makes me so damn happy!
Why Blog, indeed?
03 Apr 2009 Leave a Comment
My favorite author, Glen Hirshberg (pictured left. photo taken from his Facebook page because I hate his “author” photo), has started a blog and I couldn’t be happier about this. After already consuming everything he’s published, I get a thrill every time he posts something new because, to me, even reading a single Hirshberg-written paragraph is like a starving person getting a morsel of food. Of course I could really go for a nice big steak, but I’ll take a few french fries instead to tide me over until the main course arrives.
Anyway, his newest blog gave me a “happy spurt” for several reasons — The first was because it was perfect timing, I’d been having a rough day and very few things help me forget about life’s problems more than reading something of his. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read The Snowman’s Children to get my mind off of something. Not to mention the fact that I happened to be reading American Morons when Aaron was attacked by a shark. That got me through some harrowing hospital times.) The second was because he mentions ME in the blog, first, before the rest of the huge list of people who support him. (I’m wondering if the list was written in order of annoyance.) And the third was because he blogged about blogging, and for some reason, I love when people do that. It’s so Postmodern.
Hirshberg writes, “Why blog? Why, especially, about something so grueling, nonsensical, and potentially even humiliating as trying to sell a book you somehow decided was worth 14 years of your life?” Or, in my case, why blog especially when it’s about something so uneventful as my life, or the lives of many other people that sat down and started to write a blog? He calls it “chattering into the void” which is a really apt way of describing things like blogging and Twittering. And it’s both what I love and hate about doing both of those things.
I hate void-chattering because it feels exactly like that, mindless and pointless chattering into the ether. There’s no instant response, unlike a conversation. But I love it because, if I’m lucky, I can get several responses, sometimes from people I didn’t even know read anything that I write! Or like the reason Glen gave in his blog, “Well, when’s the last time you were likened to a bighorn sheep, for starters?” Turns out one of his readers creatively and apparently quite accurately compared him to a bighorn sheep in a comment on another one of his blogs.
Blogging can be lame mindless and un-inspirational chatter, but it can also be a means of connectivity, of idea exchange and a revealer of surprising facts about you and the world that surrounds us.
So blog-on Glen. And as much as I may inspire you, you’ve also inspired me (and many others) more than you will ever believe with all your void-filling “chatter.”
Aloha there, I'm Megan Finley. I'm a 30-something girl, living in Los Angeles with that guy I married and our rescued pets. I work online (a LOT) for the 
