My Thoughts Exactly...

I received this email from a friend of mine. It's like the author read my diary.  These are the types of things that go through my head...

1.  Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

2.  Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself  to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by  randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

3.  I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4.  There is a great need for a sarcasm font

5.  I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one  who really, really gets it.

6.  How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

7.  I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

8.  I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

9.  The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

10.  Was learning cursive really necessary?

11.  LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

12.  Whenever someone say's "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

13.  How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

14.  I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay
 strong, brothers and sisters!

15.  While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

16.  MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5.  Pretty sure I  know how to get out of my neighborhood.

17.  Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

18.  I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

19.  Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

20.  I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

21.  Bad decisions make good stories.

22.  Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures?  Don't mind if I do!

23.  Why is it that during an icebreaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a problem....

24.  You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

25.  Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection. I finally just got rid of all the old Videotapes.

26.  There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

27.  I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

28.  While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

29.  I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

30.  I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

31.  I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

32.  Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

33.  It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

34.  I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

35.  Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

36.  Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass  everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

37.  My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

38.  I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

39.  I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

Benincosa-Fest... How to celebrate your birthday Cosa style.

As some of you may know, birthdays have become quite a big deal in my family.  I don't even know how far back this goes, but we've always had great traditions for each birthday.  Growing up with five siblings, it seemed we were celebrating all year long!

(Gina, VJ, me, Pop and Traci.)

A couple of things that are mandatory in the Benincosa family are as follows -- and this pertains to the birthday girl/boy:

* You get to pick what Mom is cooking for dinner!  Not to mention what kind of cake you want!  (Mine is always chocolate with chocolate, plus Extreme Moosetracks ice cream).  I remember having Top Ramen every year for a while until my mom introduced us to an amazing chicken taco salad, which I've had pretty much ever since.

*  Gramma ALWAYS called on your birthday and sang you the Birthday Song.  This has become more of a tradition as we now all call each other and sing.

*  After the Birthday Song is done, and you've blown out the candles, you get to stick your finger in the part of the cake that you want to be your piece!  This has become VERY fun since we have come to try and shove the Birthday Boy/Girl's whole hand in the cake ;)  I'm not sure how this started, but I'm pretty sure I may have had a part in it...  Now you have to try and do it as fast as you can so your whole hand doesn't get cake-ified!

*  The last piece of cake is YOURS!  No matter how long it takes you to eat it, it is yours.

These are the main traditions we have had growing up and still practice to this day.  But there have been some improvements to the Cosa Birthdays....

It all started with my brother when he was, I think, in high school.  He began calling his birthday VJ-fest and taught me that it was ridiculous to celebrate your birthday on just one, single day.  And thus, it has become a week long celebration!  After all, when you have several groups of different friends, you must celebrate with each of them!

The next tradition started in about 2001, but I am not quite sure.  (I had to call my sister Traci to verify, but that's what we've estimated.)  When it is time to sing the Birthday Song, everyone sings it in their own way, own tempo, and own volume.  That's right.  A few of you have even been fortunate, or unfortunate, to experience this song.  It is an amazing event to be had, let me tell you.  Just think of an orchestra warming up before a big show and that's us!

(Mom, Tiffer, Pop, Me, Ash, Gina, Traci - Some things never change!)

And so goes the birthday festivities in the Benincosa family.  AND, somebody's birthday is coming up soon!!!  (That would be me, if you didn't know)  :0D

"Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is..

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas..."

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet up with 2 of my bff's from Hawaii.  Here's the background to the trip in a quick spiel:

During Marisa's birthday celebration (with The Chippendales, might I add) there was a raffle.  Well, my dear friend Kellie won!  The grand prize was 2 roundtrip tickets to Las Vegas, accommodations and meal tickets for five whole days!  This was so so exciting, for I have never known anyone to win something this huge!!

So, after waking up at 4:30am and working a full day, I hope in my brand new car and drive myself to Vegas to meet up with my girls!

It was such a fantastic trip!  We had such a blast!  We went dancing, got hit on, didn't sleep, got hit on, walked the strip, got hit on, ate In N Out (twice), held a baby lion named Ray-Ray (17 weeks old), gambled (well, Marisa and Kellie did), got hit on, saw Cirque du Soleil's KA (UHHHH-MAZING!), and got hit on.

It was quite the whirlwind trip, but we all made it home safely, including me after only getting 4 hours of sleep after staying awake for 24 hours...  Man, I'm getting too old for this, but it was worth it!


Wittle sweeping baby wion cub.

So happy to have held a baby lion!

                                                   The boyfriend at Cirque du Soleil KA ; )

Family Portraits, Benincosa Style...

Ok, so this post is coming pretty dang late... I'm talking.. gosh, I don't even know how long ago this was... July?  I'm going to say July.  Anyhoo, the Val Benincosa family was finally ALL together again, new babies and all!  It was so much fun to have all of my siblings together once again!  (Not to mention their adorable babies, the most beautiful nieces and adorable nephew EVER!)

So without further ado...  Here are some of the pix, courtesy of Richard Nielsen (thanks again!)  Just note that they are the misc. photos:

My beautiful Mommy.

Jaiden, daughter of Tiffer and Seanie.  Nothing but smiles!

Ash and Gi proving strength.

The cutest parents ever, even after all of these years (and kids!)

The happiest Grandparents in the world!

Owen is the cutest nephew I've ever had.  Always with his cars.

The Influence of Veronica Lake...

While I was in Salt Lake City this Labor Day weekend, my sister Ashley decided she wanted to learn more about the 1940's hairstyles.  My cousin April is a hairstylist and absolutely loves these styles as well and was more than happy to teach my baby sister.

After the styling that took a lot longer than planned, due to the subject's stubborn hair (your's truly), my cousin D'Arcy proved her skills as well by snapping some shots of the fun event.  I truly have a talented family and it was such a blast being together again laughing until our faces were sore!

fun.

As you know...err.. maybe you don't.. I wake up at 4:30am every weekday to make to it to work by 6am.  Yeah, I know.  It DOES suck!

  

So anyway, I usually don't stay out too late during the work week.  Monday night was a different story.

(The first single from Aim and Ignite.  I think it's amazing when a singer can get the whole crowd to sing their own songs back to them -- sorry, it's live, but I just love this song!)

It was a last minute invite from my little sister Ashley to go to L.A. to see a band called fun. play for free.  Now fun. is fronted by Nate Ruess, formerly from one of my all time favorite bands, The Format.  The Format went on indefinite hiatus this past February and that is when fun. (yes, it is spelled lower case with a period) was created.  I never had the chance to go to The Format and I was not about to pass up fun. did I mention it was free??

I knew I wouldn't regret it.  Absolutely brilliant.  I immediately signed on to iTunes and bought the whole album.  There is a song on there named "The Gambler" that Nate Ruess wrote about his parents.  It's something I want in life.  It's a beautiful song and I suggest you find it and listen to it.

After leaving Spaceland in L.A. (and yes, seeing the fires along the hillsides), we drove to Long Beach to see the band Limbeck at The Prospector (which I HATE -- not Limbeck, but the bar).  It was fantastic!  Such a fabulous night spent well!!  And just think, I could have stayed home and slept??  Meh, I'll sleep when I'm old.

(This one is so catchy, I just love it!)

I Heart My Friend Kat...

She dances. She sings. She acts. She's a fantastic photographer. And a beautiful person. Kathleen Hennessey (http://bybubble.blogspot.com/) is an amazing, talented girl that everyone ought to know.

I first met my favorite Kat at church in Huntington Beach, CA. That's right, she's Mormon. Who knew Mormons could have such talent and amazing personalities to go along with their outer and inner beauty??

Kat recently played Elphaba in my favorite broadway show of all time, Wicked, in Japan! I really wish I could have gone to see her perform, but I was able to be there in spirit through her blog. She is currently in Montreal where she is prepping for the upcoming Cirque du Soleil Vaudeville style! This time, I plan on visiting Chicago to see the performance and cannot wait!!

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite clips of my friend Kat in her various adventures! Enjoy!!

Here is their rendition of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance." (Kat is the second from the left.)

This next one is an En Vogue Tribute and it's just so much fun! So many flashbacks, ha ha! I love this one.

And FINALLY!! Kat in her performance of Elphaba in Wicked Japan.

The second part of the clip is my uttermost favorite song from the soundtrack Wicked...