For months now, I’ve been helping my husband and two friends build an epic LEGO recreation of the The Last March of the Ents from The Lord of the Rings movie. We unleashed the photos online on September 28, and then displayed it for a public exhibit that very weekend in Seattle at BrickCon. BrickCon was an insanely fun and exhausting time hanging with new and old friends. The drive up to Seattle and back was long… but surprisingly nice to just spend time with my husband and little Baxter, who came along for the trip. And our creation won Best in Show. Really amazed!

It’s been a smashing success and one of the most fun creative projects I’ve ever been a small part of. I hoped people would like it after all the hard work put into it, but never expected the reception to be as enthusiastic as it’s been. We’ve been interviewed for a podcast, made CNN and a ton of blogs, and we’re getting close to a million views on the photos.

We got the crazy idea after watching a marathon screening of the trilogy at the Egyptian Theatre earlier this year. One thing I will always love about Los Angeles is that there so many amazing revival movie theatres. Any night of any week, you can pop into theatres all over town to check out classic, cult, weird, obscure, popular, indie or new movies…

The idea was just to build one Ent. This snowballed. Quickly. It’s been a real labor of love though and came together so seamlessly. We’re pretty proud. And it’ll be on display again at a local event in Pasadena called Designer Con.

What else have I’ve been doing since my last ages ago post? Took a week long road trip exploring the California coast as well as attended several events celebrating the opening of the new Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum. Still going to shows including Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, and the members of Nickelcreek put on one of the best I’ve ever been to in my entire life! Oh, and in between all the LEGO madness, I still managed to see Duran Duran at Nokia Theatre. It always comes back to Duran Duran in the end…

Epcot was pretty but some of the pavilions were so full of stereotypes it was hard to stomach. Plus, it did have the whiff of giving people a taste of a country so they never have to actually visit it. I will say Japan had the best store and Morocco was the prettiest.

Hollywood Studios was really small. I can’t imagine anyone paying the full price of a ticket just to go that park. It would be a rip off.

Animal Kingdom was by far my favorite park. Maybe because I love animals so much, but I loved the layout, the atmosphere and the attention to detail on all the attractions. Even waiting in line was a treat because they put so much effort into all the props.

I may never make it back to Disney World, but I’m glad I made it once.

Been a very busy October so far. BrickCon started things off. Seriously fun time hanging out with old friends, making new ones, and seeing some incredible LEGO creations in person.

I built an elephant. Mr. Elephant, as I call him, which won Best Small Art Sculpture. I was so surprised. Right before I won, Remi won for his much more impressive and cool creation of Dueling Robosaurs for Best Large Art Sculpture

After perfect weather in Seattle, we headed up to Vancouver for a week in Canada. Which included 2 magical days in the Sunshine Coast. The perfect weather continued. Will post photos soon but they can never do such a magical and gorgeous place justice.

Once we returned, there was work, concerts (more on those later), birthdays, get together’s, life… almost no end in sight. Would we really want it any other way? Not entirely sure but life is swimming along pretty good right now.

Finished posting photos from our week long adventure in Southern Utah. We hiked over 40 miles, including an overnight trek through Buckskin Gulch, one of the longest and deepest slot canyons in the US.

Buckskin Gulch was incredible and my first time doing an overnight backpacking hike. We camped for the night on a sand bar in with canyon walls all around us. It was spectacular. And I not only survived the miles of hiking, but thrived.

The entire trip made us want to return to this area of Southern Utah. There are other national parks to explore, more hikes to do, and more places to explore. It’s truly an awe inspiring landscape… a showcase for how water shapes the earth in crazy and beautiful ways. Itching to return when the weather cools down again and have more time off.

But first, we picked up Baxter who didn’t make the trip with us. We missed the little bugger so much. Then we had to unpack, wash, and clean our gear and clothes. Catch up on emails, TV, and drama. And go see “Robin Hood”, which we loved. (Being that I’m a big geek about Medieval Europe history and art, this movie and “The Secret of Kells” were tailor MADE for me… SO WELL DONE!)

And, yes… also time to start a new blog. Introducing PuppyHiker.com. Ridiculous. I know.