Adventures with Mal & Eric & Karl

It has finally happened, Ez and I have finally got a dog. His name is Karl, he is a French Bulldog, born Nov. 21st 2010. I am completely in love. We got him yesterday and we are very happy parents.

Being this is my first dog ever, I have learned that things I thought came naturally to dogs do not, for example, going on a walk. We start to walk him and it is like walking a cat. He will walk in what ever direction he wants and then just sit down and will not move unless you pick him up.

He is quite the character, but how could he not be with that face.

That's all for now but don't worry, there will be more Karl to come.

I am Flipping Out

I have discovered something that I want to share with all of you out there, it is the television show Flipping Out. I mentioned that I enjoy this program in a past but I feel I need to explain why this show is so great.

Flipping Out is a reality show about Jeffery Lewis and his design company Jeff Lewis Design, Jeff is an interior designer and in the first season he flips houses (hence the name, Flipping Out) as the series progresses he does less house flipping and more remodeling and redecorating. Just seeing what Jeff can do to a house is reason enough to watch the show but that is not why I watch it, I watch it because watching Jeff and his staff interact with each other is one of the funniest things in the world.

Here is a list of some of the characters and why they make the show great;

Jeffery Lewis


Jeff is super talented but a little crazy and totally OCD. He is so funny although sometimes not on purpose. He yells at his employees all the time and has fired all of them at least once but usually lets them come back. That makes him sound like a mean person but he really is not, he just has really high expectations. I am slightly obsessed with him and would give my right arm to work for him, even if it means getting yelled at every day.

Jenni Pulos


Jenni is Jeff's administrative assistant. She looks just like Elaine from Seinfeld and stands up to Jeff when he is in the wrong. Jeff and Jenni make quite a team.

Zoila Chavez

Zoila is Jeff's housekeeper. She is always talking back to Jeff and always calling him crazy. It is a dream of mine to one day have a housekeeper just like Zoila.

Monkey Lewis

Monkey is one of Jeff's many pets, but he is my favorite. He is just a big fur ball and lays around all day. Look at how sweet he looks in that picture above laying in Zoila's arms.

Basically if you have Bravo you need to check out Flipping Out, I don't think you will regret it.

Take a Look, It's in a Book

I recently read a book titled High Fidelity. The book is about a man named Rob who owns a semi-failing record store, the book is not specifically about the record store but more about Rob's life and his past and current relationships. The book is filled with, as they call it, "desert island, all-time, top five" list. I love lists (as anyone who has read this blog must know) therefore when I read this book chock-full of lists it delighted me.

In honor of Nick Hornby (author of High Fidelity), I am listing my top 5 books read this year.

5. The Shining by Stephen King
This book is very entertaining. I found it more creepy than scary but if you are a bit of a fraidy cat you might want to steer clear because it is intense.

4. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Not only did this book inspire this post it also entertained me immensely. The book if funny, charming and a quick read.

3. The Hunger Games (1, 2 & 3) by Suzanne Collins
I am counting these three as one book because lets be honest you read one you will read all three. Great story that is gets you hooked right from the beginning. I must say that the third book was a bit of a let down but that does not change the fact that these books are a must read.
Oh and team Gale all the way.

2. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The book is about a group of students attending Hailsham, a boarding school in the country side of England. It has a bit of a twist to the story so I am going to give you any more information than that, but I would highly recommend this book. It is thought provoking and completely heartbreaking. So so so good.

And my number 1 book of the year is
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I have already dedicated an entire blog post to how much I loved this book so rather than going into my love for this book again you can just read the post http://malanderic.blogspot.com/2010/07/mals-book-review.html.

If you like reading, or even if you don't, I would recommend all these books, of course you don't have to take my word for it (Reading Rainbow reference).

back in the 801

Last weekend I flew home to see my new niece Sofia. The trip was such a success. Sofie, or as I like to call her Spider Monkey (Abbey hates this because apparently in the Twilight movie Edward calls Bella a Spider Money) is so adorable. I made a stuffed animal Owl for the baby in an attempt to be more crafty and to use my Christmas present, which was a sewing machine.

Here is the Owl I made. Ashley had a bird theme going on for the baby so I thought this would fit in perfectly also I thought this would be pretty easy being that it was basically a pillow with eyes.

Here is Baby with Owl. She looks a little creeped out by it, but I think they will grow to love each other.

Here is Baby with Auntie Mal. So cute.


And here is Baby trying to look intellectual. Before anyone calls child services because we are putting glasses on a baby, I will just let you know that the glasses are not prescription.

The trip was a complete success and it was great to see the fam, but I am happy to be back in 65 degree weather.

The Bruins and a baby

This last Saturday, the Bruins were playing Arizona State in Tempe, so Mike (Eric's dad) came down and we all went to the game. I guess ASU does not have a very good basketball team so we were able to get amazing tickets for not very much money. Our seats were first row right behind the announcers.

Here we are at the game. You can see the ASU cheerleaders behind us, and no disrespect but they had the worst uniforms.

Mike and Eric, one enjoying the game, one nursing his iphone after it was dropped in a cup of soda.

Look at those two lookers behind the announcers. Mal and Eric on FSN.

It was a really fun game, it ended up being really close and went into over time but the Bruins pulled it out in the end.

Saturday had an even bigger event then the basketball game (hard to believe, I know). My sister Ashley and her husband Ryan had their baby.

Sofia Kristina Pedersen was born at 11:55 on January 29th. I am going to SLC this weekend to see the baby so there will be more info and pictures to come.