A Great Grabirthudaytion

A lot has been happening around the ol' Anderson homestead! I've decided to bring you the news in the form of a Q&A.

Is Tim graduating this month?

Yes!

When will he graduate?

Three days ago.

Oh! Neato. Is it true that he had some sort of "graduation show"?

Yes. He displayed some of his final projects on what they called his "grad wall," in what they called the "Entertainment Design" room at Art Center. Here, I took some pictures!

Tim's wall is on the left (he painted it black for contrast):

Grad show lasted for two nights, and it gave industry professionals, alumni, friends, and family an opportunity to peruse the graduates' work:Here is Alejandro, another Illustration/Entertainment Design grad: Tim politely chatted with the strangers who examined his artwork and took his business cards: And here is our friend Kate/Tak's wall (she graduated too!): How was graduation?

It was very rainy... and wet... and cold... and slightly muddy. But the ceremony was GREAT. Here's the (rainy, wet) tent:

Tim is officially a Fall 2009 graduate of Art Center! (At least that's what the program told me.)

The tent filled with people:

Here is the keynote speaker, Frank L. Ellsworth:

But this is what I stared at most of the time:

I've never been to an art school graduation before, so I didn't know what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the two giant screens on either side of the stage were for displaying the artwork of the graduates as their names were called. Case in point: a product design grad:

An illustration grad:

Another illustration grad:

A transportation design grad:

Finally it was Tim's turn! (He chose this piece to display.)

He got hearty handshakes from both Ann (the Illustration department chair) and Scott (the Entertainment Design chair):

And voila!

Afterwards, I got a picture of him with Syd Mead, an industry great:

... and with the amazing Scott Robertson:

... and with the stunning Jean Anderson:

Here are (most of) the other Illustration/Entertainment Design graduates, with Scott:

I'm so proud of my hot artist husband:

Ahem... so what are Tim's future plans?

He was delighted to get a job offer from the company where he interned, Luxoflux. (Hooray!) They're in Santa Monica.

What's a Luxoflux?

I'm afraid I do not know.

Are you going to move?

Eventually. We're considering Santa Clarita or Thousand Oaks at this point. Although it's a pain, Tim will be able to commute until we can find a nice place that's a little closer to the office. Fortunately, we have the luxury of being able to take our time, since he's within commuting distance here in Pasadena.

How does Tim feel about being done with school forever?

I'll let him tell you himself. I'm forcing encouraging him to write a blog post or two this week, after Weston and I leave for PA.

Is what they say true, that you turned 29 on the SAME day that Tim graduated?

Yes, what they say is true. Grabirthudaytion.

How did you celebrate?

I received my first-ever breakfast-in-bed, and then I attended the ceremonial conclusion of my husband's schooling, WITHOUT a toddler to chase and entertain. (THANK YOU DANIELLE & BEN!!!) Later, I went out on a date with my husband to Ikea and California Pizza Kitchen, again WITHOUT a toddler (let me clarify, whom I adore) to chase and entertain. (THANK YOU LAUREN!!!)

Wait... are you telling me that you celebrated your birthday without any cupcakes?

Ha! As if. First I (strongly) hinted to Tim that I really wanted to try THIS beauty from Dots -

The hazelnut crunch cupcake:

LOOK at all that NUTELLA inside!!!

Then, I was ever-so-delighted to find that the Cupcake Fairy (I love you, thank you) had delivered THIS beauty -

The chocolate caramel cupcake (with sprinkles of sea salt on top!):

OH. MY. YUM:

You mentioned before that Cafe Rio was opening on Monday morning. Did you go?

YES!

I'm assuming you took pictures... what did you take pictures of?

DISAPPOINTMENT.

Yeah, the website was WAY off. The restaurant isn't even opening until Monday the 21st at the earliest (according to that sign). Sigh. My rumbly tumbly (rumbling for a Cafe Rio salad) will have to wait until after PA. But don't worry, the day wasn't lost. We visited Disneyland, too! The Disney magic helped to wipe away my tears. :-) (Haha!)

So, you're going to Pennsylvania for Christmas?

Yes. Tim and I are leaving on separate days, but we're looking forward to a fun and chilly holiday with the fams and PA friends.

Are you going to make another awesome Christmas card this year?

We've been majorly slacking, but I told Tim that that should be one of his blog posts after I leave. The pressure is on, because now I've told the millions of you who are reading this blog, too. (Good luck, honey. Don't forget to make it awesome.)

Finally, did you watch Sing-off on NBC tonight?

YES!

It seems like your kind of show. How much did you love it?

Like, THIS MUCH. I really hope that Noteworthy wins!!! (I'm totally biased... Cassie comes from my stake!)

Are we done here? Do you have any other irrelevant thing to add?

Nope, this is highly relevant: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!