Fruits of my imagination

   Cute + slightly disturbing = 

Random Hallmark Moments: the Lone Star State

   A "quick" twenty-hour day (door to door) down to Dallas on a work trip, to sit in on some focus groups. I was so bleary-eyed from waking up at 4:00 am that I didn't take many photos, but here they are, in all their glory:

Lone Star breakfast

License to Mess with Texas

Perception Analyzer... I could have some fun with THIS!

The calm before the storm

Guess what I'm playing...

Hint: it has triumphant Taiko drums:

Watermelon-seed-spitting contests:

And stacks of Shiba Inu snatching helicopters:

And, oh yeah, it's so loud it sends all the pets scattering.
たいこの達人 (Taiko Drum Master)!

Big Breakfast

   I'm really impressed with Forest Suites! It's a very short walk from the gondola and shops, restaurants, & a grocery store; they gave us a FREE upgrade to a 2-bedroom condo (Brett scored this), meaning that I have my own room & bathroom, and no one has to sleep on the couch; and they have a huge breakfast spread--also free! Perfect for loading up right before we hit the slopes.
   Rafael made it in late last night (and not without some airport shenanigans), but we're all good & we're excited to get up there this morning! :)

Kiwano

   I love shopping Whole Foods produce for their unique selection. This is a kiwano. It's spiky and dangerous. Eat it before it eats you!!! And how much does Mr. Kiwano look like the Eyezon plush I created for the Max Toy show???

Random Hallmark Moments: Ice Cream Day!

    Laurie ordered up a freezerful of ice cream as a reward for our team's hard work over the summer. Lemon sorbet, frozen Greek yogurt (strawberry), Drumsticks, Haagen-Dazs bars aaand...

   Coconut sorbet served in a coconut shell = maximum awesomeness!!! It smells like suntan lotion! Mmmm... And the empty coconut can be worn as a lil' coconut hat. A yarmulke, if you will.

   And just in case my mom is reading this, YES, for the last time, I DO have a real job, and I DO work very hard, despite your doubts. No need to call Don.

This just in:

Thanks to Gina for the tiny banana—and for kicking off my week off with fun!

I'd write a song about this, but nothing rhymes with "orange"

On our first afternoon in Sarasota, Steve & Michael took us to lunch at a little place overlooking the Gulf, then to pick fresh Honeybell oranges right off the tree! They showed us that you can eat them by making a small hole in one end & squeezing the juice right into your mouth.

I am not normally a big orange fan, but they were CRAZY-GOOD.

Steve does the work, while we enjoy the fruits of his labor:

A little woodpecker was spying on us:

We (meaning Steve) picked a bag full of oranges in just minutes:

Pretty sure I'll never get scurvy after THIS trip!