Author: Michael Pellegrini

We arrived in Las Vegas yesterday and had a nice dinner at my mom’s house with family and friends. Today we spent the day at my uncle Bob’s place swimming and playing pool, then we went to Gold & Silver Pawn on the strip to see the home of one of our favorite tv shows "Pawn Stars." Tonight we’re heading out to dinner with friends. I also got a call from my good friend Shawn today who recently got engaged. He asked me to stand up in his wedding, which I was honored to agree to. He’s getting married in early June in Vegas so I’m sure that will be great. It’s been a really nice day!

Monday will mark the beginning of the 26th week of Jessica’s pregnancy. This means that we are closing in on the third trimester! She had a checkup with the doctor this week and everything is looking great. We’re looking forward to Monday because we have a three-day weekend together and we’re spending it in Las Vegas at my Mom’s house. We try to go to Vegas every other month or so because we always have a place to stay and it’s only a five hour drive from San Diego. Plus Bruno and Bella love playing with all of my Mom’s dogs. Business has picked up at both of our restaurants for the end of summer so it will be very nice to get away for a few days and relax. Definitely looking forward to spending some time by the pool 😉

Well today was an interesting day. A little history might be necessary to fully explain this story. My dad had a good friend named Woody that he was close with for many years. I remember hearing lots of funny stories about him when I was growing up, the best of which was the time Woody and my Mom decided to have a race in the parking lot. Woody won the race… while running backwards. Cracks me up every time. Anyway, Woody was also very good friends with a guy named John Lamont who I’ve worked with for years at El Gaucho in Seattle. Unfortunately Woody passed away earlier this year and John and his wife were by his side for all of his final days. When Jessica and I were getting ready to make a visit to Seattle for her birthday in April, John asked me if I could do him a favor. As it turns out, one of Woody’s dying wishes was to have part of his ashes scattered at the Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego, and since I live in San Diego, John asked me if I would mind taking care of that. Obviously I said I would be happy to do it, so John brought me Woody’s ashes and I mailed them to myself in San Diego. We then had to wait until the track opened, which wasn’t until late July.

Today we went to the track to do the deed. We weren’t completely sure how we were going to do this since we didn’t exactly have permission, but we figured if we went into the infield we’d be able to get it done without being noticed. We rode the motorcycle up to the track, which was a good idea because you get front row parking and it’s free. While on our way into the track, Jessica walked right by the station where they were checking bags and purses and she didn’t even notice the man asking her to stop. She kept walking and he just let it go. I got a kick out of this. Once inside the track we headed to the infield and found the perfect final resting place for Woody. As the horses were coming down the final stretch of the day’s first race, I opend the bag and tossed the remains over the fence. Unfortunately there was a problem. I completely forgot that the ashes were double bagged! Several swear words followed as we looked over the fence to see a small ziplock bag on the ground filled with Woody’s ashes.

First I tried reaching through the chain link fence but there was no way my arm would fit. Finally I decided to climb the fence and reach over to grab the bag. This was tough since there were employees in the area but I was able to grab it without being noticed. We then headed to a different part of the infield to give it another try. We found another good spot and I was successful in spreading the ashes. Jessica was standing downwind of me and I saw some of the ashes heading her way but she was far enough away that it didn’t get on her. After accomplishing our mission we left the track and had a nice lunch in Del Mar. Hopefully Woody’s wishes were granted. It was certainly a memorable day for us!

Yesterday Jessica was able to purchase a ton of clothes for Ava from a woman who’s child had outgrown them. She came home with an entire wardrobe for $25. Unbelievable. At this point our unborn daughter has more clothes than I do. We also recently purchased a crib and a hutch. Her bedroom is coming along nicely and will be more than ready by the time she comes home. The good news is that we don’t need to think about buying her anymore clothes until she’s at least six months old.

Our niece Anna is visiting us for a few days and we’re having the greatest time. Yesterday we spent the day walking around mission beach, taking Bruno and Bella on a walk, playing soccer at the local school, going out to dinner at Jessica’s restaurant, listening to the seals bark at Seal Cove in La Jolla, getting yogurt at YogurtLand, and playing games on the Wii. Today we went to the beach so Anna could try boogie boarding for the first time. Afterwards she had fun burying me in the sand. Below are a few pictures from our day at the beach.

Today I launched a website on search engine optimization, or SEO for short. I’m working on putting together a portfolio of design work and I wanted to do something with a professional look that would showcase my technical writing skills as well as my knowledge on SEO. I’m really happy with how it came out and think that it will be a nice part of my portfolio.

Click here to check it out.

Today we launched the new and improved version of our family website. The idea was for it to have more of a fun, playful, family sort of vibe and I think we captured that nicely. This new site will also serve as a much better portfolio piece for me to show to propsective employers. Hope you enjoy!

I went surfing at Tourmaline Beach this morning. Tourmaline is one of the most famous longboarding spots in California, and luckily for me it’s only a mile or two from our house. I caught my first wave and paddled back out beyond the break to wait for the next set. While sitting there on my board looking out to see, all of the sudden a full-sized adult seal popped up from under water, literally less than six feet from me! It startled me, and for a second I was worried that it might be aggressive, but there was nothing to worry about. It just layed there on it’s back and looked at me. Several other people noticed the seal and started commenting on it, but no one was nearly as close to it as I was. I playfully splashed it with water a couple times and it didn’t seem to care one way or another. I then tried to paddle over to get a little closer and it swam away. A few minutes later a big set came through and I caught the biggest wave I’ve had in a while. Nice way to start my day.

My sister Dana and her husband Brad were in Southern California this weekend for a work conference so I rode my bike up to Temecula Wine Country to meet them for lunch today. I’d never been out there before and was surprised at how beautiful it was. It was a bit hot to be on a bike with a leather jacket and gloves (100 degrees) but more than worth it to be able to visit with them. I’ve still got my fingers crossed that they will end up moving down here after Kallan graduates from High School. Tomorrow we’re heading to the beach with friends for the day, so it should be a great day off!

Today is my 31st birthday. Obviously 31 isn’t any sort of big birthday but it’s exciting for me because it’s the last birthday I’ll have before my first child is born. Since it’s a Saturday and we both work in the restaurant business we decided it would be silly for both of us to take the night off to celebrate, so we’re just going to celebrate on Tuesday instead. The plan is to head up to Beacon’s Beach at Leucadia State Park for the day and hang with friends, surf, boogie board, etc. I think the craziest thing about being 31 is that it’s been a full decade since my 21st birthday. While working at the Tractor Room last night the whole staff decided to sing “Happy Birthday” to me at midnight, which was equal parts cool and embarassing. Hopefully we’ll have some good pics to post to the site after Tuesday. Also keep an eye out for a whole new family website. I’ve been working on a redesign that’s coming along really well…