2005 Holiday Letter
Hi everyone –
This is about the latest I have ever been able to get this letter out. Partially because I was in New York and Boston the week of December 12 and partially because we have some good news to share than came in on December 16. I wanted to let you know that you can find an online version of this letter with more pictures on my blog at http://n-irvine-a.blogspot.com/
Whenever I write this, I am always amazed by the number of new families I am adding to the list. It’s a challenge to get this out every year; our list is about 120. For our friends Back East, it’s a glance at life in Southern California. For our friends here in Orange County, it’s sometimes a review. In any event, we love getting email: dchm@cox.net or dawnc1@cox.net.
Everyone is well. It was a busy year for our family and here’s a quick summary for all of you. We started our first home remodeling project in February and turned the third bay of our garage into an office/spare room. The original plans on the house we have offer it as an option, so we went ahead and had the work done. So now, out of town guests have a place to stay. It took about two months from start to finish and while I still need window treatments and one chair, the room it pretty much done. We also spent time in Palm Springs with our friends the Greenman's and visited family back east in August.
Madison is now a first grader. She just got a pair of eyeglasses to help with school work and she has more friends than I can count. Some weekends, we have three birthday parties to go to. There is always a friend (or two) over the house after school. She is a Brownie now (which means we will be knocking on the doors of all those families we’ve bought cookies from over the years). Madison scored 5 goals on our Pink Diamonds soccer team this fall. It was a great team (every player scored at least two goals) with a great group of parents and we’ve made lots of new friends as a result. Madison’s anticipation of Christmas is one of the best things about the holiday season. She attended a youth ballet performance of the Nutcracker and loved it. The next time you hear Gwen Stefani’s “Love, Music, Angel, Baby,” album, think of Madison singing every word of “Hollaback Girl.” We spent lots of time at the Universal Studios theme park. Maddie loves Disneyland and we usually stalk the princesses when we go. “Small World” is her favorite ride.
Alex is 14 now (he’s 14!) and very much the teenager. His long curly hair will remind my family and old high school friends of my hair in the 1970s (yes, the 70’s are back!). Alex is taking guitar lessons and he dramatically improved over last year. He took in his first real concert this summer with his friend Brian Pione (Coldplay) and is rarely seen without his iPod. Alex had a great year; he got a personal tour of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic (we’re barred from posting photos online) and saw many of the actual props used in all of the Star Wars movies. He was able to see Star Wars Episode III about two weeks before it opened due to his mom’s studio connections. He and I attended the ComiCon convention in San Diego and met a number of B-list celebrities, most notably, Kenny Baker (the man inside the R2D2 costume), the voice cast of Red vs. Blue (and online Halo event), Margot Kidder (Superman movies), and Aaron MacGrudder (The Boondocks). Alex also met Todd McFarlane, the creator of the “Spawn” comic books.
Dawn has had a great year as well. The big news is she is leaving the Mercury News to join the staff of the Los Angeles Times. She will cover convergence technologies, so it’s a combination of stuff the movie studio, record labels, game developers, consumer electronics manufacturers and Internet technologies all into one. Earlier in the year, Dawn became a columnist at the Merc. Besides making fun if me in print from time to time, her column worked hard to connect technology to a person’s everyday life. In addition, Dawn did some TV work on the nationally televised PBS program, “Digital Duo.” She has signed on as the co-host for the 2006 season but served as a special correspondent for the final six episodes of the 2005 season, which I think is airing now. I was Dawn’s guest at a Grammy’s Party at the Beverly Hills Hotel; we saw Bonnie Raitt, Issac Hayes, Anita Baker and Janet Reno (promoting her “Nothing But Love Songs” CD, no doubt). There’s nothing quite like a Hollywood Party. Dawn got to see the Rolling Stones from the good seats and is often invited to attend movie premiere screenings (no red carpets, but advanced showings). She is supposed to go to France in January to moderate a panel at an International Music conference, but we will see.
My business is growing and my phone is ringing off the hook these days (www.madisonalexanderpr.com). I have four retainer clients, two project clients, and anticipate signing another 3 or 5 retainer clients by January. Besides the joys of running my own business, I served as commissioner for two girls soccer leagues in AYSO (Girls U6 and Girls U7) and am wrapping up my last year of Irvine Youth Basketball (my third as commissioner); my 2004-2005 team finished in second place overall. The 2005-2006 team is short but scrappy. We are 1-3 at the moment, but two of our losses came when we were very short handed. My celebrity sightings this year include former Reds/Mariners/Devil Rays manager Lou Pinella, Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis (Goggling himself from a hotel’s public Internet terminal in Boston!), Erin Gray (Buck Rogers and the 25th Century), Judd Hirsch (at JFK), Charles Barkley (at O’Hare), and Elvira, mistress of the Dark (at ComicCon). And I almost forgot, I met Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser; which doesn’t score lots of points with my neighbors in Irvine. I am active in the community as a Legislative Action Rep for Sierra Vista Middle School and was able to get back to radio by participating in a radio spot that aired all over California against the Governor’s special election.
Again, apologies for the tardiness of the letter. I will be posting rejected Xmas card photos to the blog so you can see the kids and some tacky holiday decorations. Have a wonderful Holiday season and a fantastic 2006.
The Chmielewski Family
This is about the latest I have ever been able to get this letter out. Partially because I was in New York and Boston the week of December 12 and partially because we have some good news to share than came in on December 16. I wanted to let you know that you can find an online version of this letter with more pictures on my blog at http://n-irvine-a.blogspot.com/
Whenever I write this, I am always amazed by the number of new families I am adding to the list. It’s a challenge to get this out every year; our list is about 120. For our friends Back East, it’s a glance at life in Southern California. For our friends here in Orange County, it’s sometimes a review. In any event, we love getting email: dchm@cox.net or dawnc1@cox.net.
Everyone is well. It was a busy year for our family and here’s a quick summary for all of you. We started our first home remodeling project in February and turned the third bay of our garage into an office/spare room. The original plans on the house we have offer it as an option, so we went ahead and had the work done. So now, out of town guests have a place to stay. It took about two months from start to finish and while I still need window treatments and one chair, the room it pretty much done. We also spent time in Palm Springs with our friends the Greenman's and visited family back east in August.
Madison is now a first grader. She just got a pair of eyeglasses to help with school work and she has more friends than I can count. Some weekends, we have three birthday parties to go to. There is always a friend (or two) over the house after school. She is a Brownie now (which means we will be knocking on the doors of all those families we’ve bought cookies from over the years). Madison scored 5 goals on our Pink Diamonds soccer team this fall. It was a great team (every player scored at least two goals) with a great group of parents and we’ve made lots of new friends as a result. Madison’s anticipation of Christmas is one of the best things about the holiday season. She attended a youth ballet performance of the Nutcracker and loved it. The next time you hear Gwen Stefani’s “Love, Music, Angel, Baby,” album, think of Madison singing every word of “Hollaback Girl.” We spent lots of time at the Universal Studios theme park. Maddie loves Disneyland and we usually stalk the princesses when we go. “Small World” is her favorite ride.
Alex is 14 now (he’s 14!) and very much the teenager. His long curly hair will remind my family and old high school friends of my hair in the 1970s (yes, the 70’s are back!). Alex is taking guitar lessons and he dramatically improved over last year. He took in his first real concert this summer with his friend Brian Pione (Coldplay) and is rarely seen without his iPod. Alex had a great year; he got a personal tour of George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic (we’re barred from posting photos online) and saw many of the actual props used in all of the Star Wars movies. He was able to see Star Wars Episode III about two weeks before it opened due to his mom’s studio connections. He and I attended the ComiCon convention in San Diego and met a number of B-list celebrities, most notably, Kenny Baker (the man inside the R2D2 costume), the voice cast of Red vs. Blue (and online Halo event), Margot Kidder (Superman movies), and Aaron MacGrudder (The Boondocks). Alex also met Todd McFarlane, the creator of the “Spawn” comic books.
Dawn has had a great year as well. The big news is she is leaving the Mercury News to join the staff of the Los Angeles Times. She will cover convergence technologies, so it’s a combination of stuff the movie studio, record labels, game developers, consumer electronics manufacturers and Internet technologies all into one. Earlier in the year, Dawn became a columnist at the Merc. Besides making fun if me in print from time to time, her column worked hard to connect technology to a person’s everyday life. In addition, Dawn did some TV work on the nationally televised PBS program, “Digital Duo.” She has signed on as the co-host for the 2006 season but served as a special correspondent for the final six episodes of the 2005 season, which I think is airing now. I was Dawn’s guest at a Grammy’s Party at the Beverly Hills Hotel; we saw Bonnie Raitt, Issac Hayes, Anita Baker and Janet Reno (promoting her “Nothing But Love Songs” CD, no doubt). There’s nothing quite like a Hollywood Party. Dawn got to see the Rolling Stones from the good seats and is often invited to attend movie premiere screenings (no red carpets, but advanced showings). She is supposed to go to France in January to moderate a panel at an International Music conference, but we will see.
My business is growing and my phone is ringing off the hook these days (www.madisonalexanderpr.com). I have four retainer clients, two project clients, and anticipate signing another 3 or 5 retainer clients by January. Besides the joys of running my own business, I served as commissioner for two girls soccer leagues in AYSO (Girls U6 and Girls U7) and am wrapping up my last year of Irvine Youth Basketball (my third as commissioner); my 2004-2005 team finished in second place overall. The 2005-2006 team is short but scrappy. We are 1-3 at the moment, but two of our losses came when we were very short handed. My celebrity sightings this year include former Reds/Mariners/Devil Rays manager Lou Pinella, Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis (Goggling himself from a hotel’s public Internet terminal in Boston!), Erin Gray (Buck Rogers and the 25th Century), Judd Hirsch (at JFK), Charles Barkley (at O’Hare), and Elvira, mistress of the Dark (at ComicCon). And I almost forgot, I met Hillary Clinton at a fundraiser; which doesn’t score lots of points with my neighbors in Irvine. I am active in the community as a Legislative Action Rep for Sierra Vista Middle School and was able to get back to radio by participating in a radio spot that aired all over California against the Governor’s special election.
Again, apologies for the tardiness of the letter. I will be posting rejected Xmas card photos to the blog so you can see the kids and some tacky holiday decorations. Have a wonderful Holiday season and a fantastic 2006.
The Chmielewski Family
posted by Dan Chmielewski at 9:41 AM
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