Little Monkey Brown

SHANGHAIED

2010-04-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Shanghai, here I come.

BIRTHDAY TOUR 2009, STOP #1

2009-04-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

We got back from our Disney cruise in the beginning of January and immediately launched into Michayla's whirlwind Birthday Tour 2009.

The tour opened at The Little Gym in Bay Ridge. The theme was Abby Cadabby. Michayla takes gymnastics at The Little Gym and loves it. Everyone there is fantastic.

Michayla and her girlfriends (no boys allowed unless they were brothers of girlfriends) had a great day playing at the gym and then chowing down on some pizza and cake.

DISNEY DOPPELGANGER

2009-04-05T19:00:00.001-07:00

And then it was back to Disney World, where Michayla came face to face with her doppelganger. Mulan was thrilled to see Michayla. I mean, how many kids dress up like Mulan, let alone a cute as punch kid from the actual country?

Mulan was great!! She spent a ton of time with Michayla. They chatted, compared outfits, and became quick friends.

DANCING WITH MICKEY AND MINNIE

2009-04-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

And if a full day at Castaway Cay wasn't enough, that night Michayla took center stage with Mickey and Minnie and brought the roof down

A DAY AS CASTAWAY CAY

2009-04-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

Michayla had a full day at Castaway Cay. Bike riding, dancing, and overseeing the sand castle project.

CASTAWAY CAY 2

2009-04-04T14:54:00.001-07:00

And hanging with some stranger characters.

CASTAWAY CAY

2009-04-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hanging with a couple of characters on Castaway Cay, Disney's private island.

RELAXING AT SEA

2009-04-04T14:48:00.001-07:00

As the sun rises over the Caribbean, Michayla and Mark seize the day.

A FRUITY DRINK

2009-03-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a drink on board the boat.

TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME

2009-03-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

After meeting a couple of Princesses and a -- what exactly is Alice? -- Michayla decided to dress up as Mulan and hobnob with the Princesses as an equal.

NICKI'S BIRTHDAY

2009-03-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Nicki's birthday at sea. Here Michayla and Nicki pose with Nicki's special birthday dessert and -- hey wait..!!!

HANGIN' WITH THE DUCKS

2009-03-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Michayla met Donald and Daisy Duck. All went well until Donald ate Michayla's head.

BRING ME BACK HOME ON ITUNES

2009-03-18T17:28:00.001-07:00

My song, Bring Me Back Home, is now available on itunes!

If you can spare the $0.99, please download it. If you could also rate it (ooo, 5 stars would be fantastic) and write a short review I'll be eternally thankful.

All of this will help me get on the itunes radar and hopefully be a featured artist.

Thanks so much. And if you can help me spread the word that would be great.

You can use the lame link below to go right to the song. Seriously, can't Apple come up with a better link?

NEW YEAR'S AT SEA

2009-02-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

Our first night at sea was New Year's Eve. Michayla enjoyed some mushroom/truffle soup and then hung out with some stars.

PARTY AT SEA

2009-02-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

Michayla shaking her groove thang at the castoff party on the lido deck.

CRUISING

2009-02-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

For Nicki's birthday, we took a 4-night Disney cruise. Ensign Michayla models the clunky lobster bib.

THE CASTLE - DAY AND NIGHT

2009-02-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

MY KINGDOM

2009-02-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

If the Mary Tyler Moore show starred a small Chinese girl and was set at Cinderella's castle.

CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW AND PIRATE MACK

2009-02-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

Michayla is personal friends with Captain Jack Sparrow and Pirate Mack.

OH CANADA

2009-02-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

The first place we visited in the World Showcase was mommy's country, Canada.

A CLOSE SHAVE

2009-02-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

Mark grew a beard for his show. After the last show, we came back to the hotel room and Mark shaved. Michayla sat and watched the entire time. As Mark's beard came off, Michayla would say, "Daddy's coming back."

HOTEL DECORATIONS

2009-02-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

Nothing says Christmas in Florida then snowmen and palm trees.

ONE TIRED PRINCESS

2009-02-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

FRUITY DRINK

2009-02-28T19:14:00.000-08:00

It's never too early to learn the beauty of a fruity drink out of a pineapple.

*Mark has lost three of those Princeton hats.

OSTRICH SHELLS

2009-02-28T19:12:00.000-08:00

Here's Michayla making a Christmas ornament out of ostrich shells at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

MULAN

2009-02-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas Dinner at the Swan Hotel with our dear friend, Philip Nolen. Michayla wore her Mulan dress. And then our camera battery died.

It was a character dinner. Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto were there. Michayla turned to us and said, "Maybe I should go around to the tables and tell the kids I'm Mulan."

SAY CHEESE

2009-02-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

At the Wilderness Lodge with the King of the Kingdom.

HAPPY GIRL

2009-02-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day at Disney World? What's not to smile about?

DADDY'S GIRL

2009-02-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

Michayla hadn't seen her daddy in six weeks.

RAINBOW

2009-02-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

As we were about to get on the boat at Fort Wilderness, we were blessed with this beautiful rainbow.

PONY GIRL

2009-02-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

November and December, Mark was in Florida, starring in his show The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. We spent Christmas Day at Disney World. Here Michayla gets to ride Cinderella's ponies

PRINCESS CHARMING

2009-02-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

Michayla charming the pants off of everyone.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

2009-02-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

Michayla's cousins came up from North Carolina and helped her put together a gingerbread house.

SNOW QUEEN

2008-12-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

The day after the Holiday Show, Michayla had a dance recital. She was a snowflake. She told us she was the Snow Queen, but we didn't tell the other kids.

HOLIDAY SHOW 2008

2008-12-16T14:08:00.000-08:00

Michayla's school put on their annual Holiday Show. Her class sang Winter Wonderland and Havenu Sholom Alechem. And like a true performer, she took a wee nap before the show.

TINK OR TREAT

2008-11-06T09:08:00.001-08:00

This Halloween Michayla went as Tinkerbell. It was a toss up between Tink or Amy Winehouse.

CBS MONKEY

2008-10-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

HEY BABY!

2008-04-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Yes we know this is out of chronological order.

This is Michayla's spring show. Her class of 2-3 year olds sang I'm a Believer and Hey Baby, I want to Know, if You'll be my Girl.

A case of Tsingtao to anyone who can discern a melody.

Next year: tripod!

MICHAYLA'S ORPHANAGE

2008-04-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

I just came across this video of Michayla's orphanage.

WAKE UP CALL

2008-03-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

The girls (and one dog) wake-up the lazy one in the group - Mark.

INSIDE THE DOME HOME

2008-03-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Food, WiFi, Drinks, and Lot of Guitars

THE DOME HOME

2008-03-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Idyllwild for a long weekend with the Usual Suspects. No ordinary house for us. It was a weekend at the Dome Home.

NO SWIPING, SWIPER

2008-03-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

Then it was time to kick back for a little Dora the Explorer. Michayla isn't very fond of Swiper -- okay, she's scared to death of him. So there was no looking when he was on the screen, but Grace would tell Michayla when he was gone.

BILLBOARD'S TOP 40

2008-03-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

The next 15 minutes they formed a band and wrote a hit single.

SMART ART

2008-03-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

Within the first 15 minutes, Grace and Michayla had already created an artistic masterpiece.

CHEZ REYNOLDS

2008-03-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

We went to Los Angeles for Mark's birthday and for a little R&R. We spent our first night with our friends the Reynolds. Michayla was very excited to see her old friend, Grace.

NEW YEAR'S THROUGH THE AGES

2008-02-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR - NYC STYLE

2008-02-07T11:38:00.001-08:00

Nicki ended up being the chair of the FCC-NYC New Year's Banquet. They hadn't had a banquet in 5 years, so we brought a little bit of LA with us to the night. The biggest hit of the night was when all the kids jumped on bubble wrap to simulate firecrackers going off to ward of the evil demons.

IS THIS THING ON?

2008-02-07T11:31:00.001-08:00

And then we squealed in fear as Michayla used the telescope as a microphone and tried out her lounge show on us.

AND A BIT MORE PRINCESS

2008-02-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

The Princess theme spilled over to home. Michayla squealed when she opened her Dora the Explorer Back Pack. But then --

A PARTY FIT FOR A PRINCESS

2008-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Michayla is currently under the power of the Disney Princesses and wanted to have a Princess party. So we unrolled the princesses for her in-school party.

MICHAYLA'S ORPHANAGE

2008-02-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

As most of you already know, China has been crippled by a series of freak snow storms. The damage so far has been estimated to be at $7.5 billion.

The hardest hit area is the Hunan province, and in particular -

the city of Chenzhou, where 1.2 million have been without electricity for eight days.

Chenzhou is where Michayla's orphanage is located and it is the hardest hit orphanage in all of China. According to Half the Sky

Chenzhou CWI, Hunan – still facing the most difficulties of the orphanages we’ve reached. They’ve had no electricity or running water for 8 days and there is almost no possibility that power will be restored before New Year’s Eve (the 6th of February.) Because of the blackout, the hospital is closed. The banks are closed so staff is contributing personal funds to buy food, coal and diapers. Prices are skyrocketing as all roads to Chenzhou remain impassable. Families in Chenzhou are now rationed and can only buy 4 packages of noodles per family. The Civil Affairs Bureau delivered 3 sacks of rice to the institution. They are using candles but the cost per candle has gone from 20 cents to 5 yuan (70 cents) per candle. They are using coal to keep warm but the price of coal is skyrocketing.

Half the Sky is a non-profit organization that strives to ensure that every one of China's orphans has a caring adult in her life. They have set up an emergency fund to help those affected by the snow storms. We are extremely grateful to Half the Sky and to the orphanage for all they did for Michayla. So please give if you can. If you can't give, please spread the word. Thank you.

MICHAYLA'S 3RD BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-01-19T20:36:00.001-08:00

Michayla celebrated her 3rd birthday at Two Boots Brooklyn, a great pizza place in Park Slope (The neighborhood where Mark's dad grew up).

The party menu consisted of chef hat decorating, followed by pizza making, a little play time, the eating of the pizzas, and then the cake.

THE FRUIT DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE

2008-01-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

Nicki's mom at Michayla's birthday and Nicki at a Princess birthday party.

NO BOYS ALLOWED!

2008-01-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Michayla insisted on an all-girl birthday party. No boys! Sort of the opposite of the He-Man Woman Haters Club.

First up, the decorating of the chef hats, which turned into a marker orgy.

THE MAKING OF THE PIZZAS

2008-01-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Michayla made her Italian grandfather very proud.

WHAT COLD WEATHER?

2008-01-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

Emily, one of Michayla's babysitters (and an actress in the American Girl show) came to the party to get the kids up and moving while the pizzas were cooking. Now, in LA, weather was never a question. It's always nice. Not so much in Brooklyn. But Brooklyn kids scoff at cold weather.

THE ADULTS

2008-01-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

AND THEN THE CAKE

2008-01-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Michayla. We love you. Momma and daddy.

BALLERINA

2008-01-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

Michayla has started dance classes and loves it. Here she performs Swan Lake.

DANA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

2008-01-19T19:49:00.001-08:00

We're convinced that everyone in Michayla's class is a January baby. Here we are at Dana's birthday party, which featured the world's longest puppet show.

MICHAYLA WARHOL

2008-01-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

Michayla's smiley face bathtub period.

HATS OFF TO YOU

2008-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a bag makes a fetching chapeau.

TURBAN

2008-01-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

A CONDO OF HER OWN

2008-01-19T19:11:00.001-08:00

Nicki's parents gave Michayla the world's largest doll house. We need to rent a semi toget it back to Brooklyn.

THE JEPSTER

2008-01-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

And the holidays wouldn't be complete without a visit from Aunt Julie Ellen.

UNCLE STEVER

2008-01-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

Steve Myers, Mark's best friend (and best man at our wedding) and his family made a holiday visit, as well.

And Steve's wife, Mary, created Macadamia Brittle Nut Ice Cream. She's a smarty boots food scientist. God love her.

THE BUSKING LIFE

2008-01-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

Michayla took her one woman show on the road and entertained the tourists at Grand Central Terminal. Note the diva bow Mark taught her. We're doomed.

REUNION

2008-01-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

Michayla at the time of her life when she finally got to see all seven of her cousins at one time, as Mark's entire family got together for the first time since we became a family.

CHRISTMAS MORN'

2008-01-18T20:49:00.001-08:00

Michayla cleaned up with the Christmas presents and we all agreed that when it comes to gifts, Christmas kicks Chanukah's butt.

TRIMMING TANNENBAUM

2008-01-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

We lugged the tree home (not nearly as romantic as the movies make it seem) and it was time to trim the tree. Not having much of a collection of ornaments, we used dreidels and Chinese take-out boxes.

WHICH TREE WILL IT BE?

2008-01-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

We tromped down to the local nursery a few days before Christmas to pick out a tree. Michayla was in charge. And with the help of Sebastian, she picked out a great tree.

Michayla Holiday Show 2007

2007-12-21T12:32:00.001-08:00

Michayla's very first holiday show.

HOLIDAY SHOW

2007-12-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

FCC HOLIDAY PARTY

2007-12-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

We went to the FCC (Families with Children from China) holiday party at Power Play, a gymnastics school. Michayla had a fantastic time and particularly liked the trampoline.

FLAPPER

2007-12-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

SCREW PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY

2007-12-21T11:34:00.001-08:00

PRINCESS PARTY

2007-12-19T09:15:00.001-08:00

We drove across the bridge and into Staten Island (eww) for a birthday party for one of Michayla's school friends. The theme was Princess. Michayla went as Cinderella. Nicki went as every evil stepmother. Michayla didn't care so much for the supervised games. Mostly she wanted to eat, check out the swag, and eat cake.

WAKE ME WHEN IT'S FUNNY

2007-12-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Michayla went to the Big Apple Circus with her fairy godmother, Debbie, and her fairy godmother's daughter, Bailey. She had a spectacular time, ate circus food, and thought the clowns needed more rehearsal.

HANUKKAH

2007-12-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the first night of Hanukkah with a rousing game of Dreidel Dreidel. And like any good Jewish girl, Michayla got a cash register and some chocolate.

SNOW. OY

2007-12-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

December arrived and so did the snow. Oy. How Mark misses Los Angeles.

NUTCRACKER

2007-12-15T12:08:00.001-08:00

The day after Thankgiving we drove down to Princeton to see the Nutcracker at the McCarter Theatre. Not the best production we've ever seen but Michayla loved it. It especially loved being with Mark's dad.

THANKSGIVING

2007-12-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

Nicki's parents, Mark's parents, Carol, Charlie and Carol's dad all came over for dinner. We were so excited and thankful that we barely took any pictures.

XANADU ON ICE

2007-12-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

After the parade we strolled over to Bryant park to watch the skaters. It was so unseasonable warm that the skaters needed flippers.

MACY'S DAY PARADE

2007-12-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Nicki's old Columbia University classmate, Steven Chaikelson, we were able to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from inside and above the masses. Michayla squealed with delight when Dora came floating by.

THANKSGIVING EVE

2007-12-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving Eve we went up to the upper west side to watch the Macy's Day Parade balloons being inflated.

NYC MARATHON

2007-12-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

Marathon weekend was a blast. Our apartment building had a party and like true New Yorkers we lined the street, Dunkin' Donuts in hand, and cheered on the runners. We were right at the 5k mark and all of the elite runners not only ran right by us, but all of their drinks were carefully placed on tables in front of our place.

BROADWAY

2007-12-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Before Broadway went on strike, Michayla went to her first Broadway show: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Here she is before the show and reading her playbill on the subway home.

TRICK OR TREAT

2007-12-15T10:58:00.001-08:00

Halloween was a blast. Our good friend, Carol, made Michayla's Little Mermaid costume. We went trick or treating on the upper westside with our dear friends Mark and Liz and their daughter, Gabriel, and her friends. It was a star-studded event but Michayla stole the show.

GREAT PUMPKIN

2007-12-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

After pumpkin carving, we settled in and watched the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

JACK-O-LANTERN

2007-12-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

The carving of the jack-o-lantern was a family event. Nicki drew the face, Mark wielded the knife and Michayla sorted the seeds.

EMPRESS

2007-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

It's good to be the Empress.

DOWN ON THE FARM

2007-12-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Nicki and Michayla enjoyed a day at Terhune Orchard while Mark was in Los Angeles recording the music for his new play, China - The Whole Enchilada.

The highlight of the trip to the farm was a picture Nicki took of Michayla on our first trip to Terhune's won first prize in a photo contest!

THE BUBBE SEAL OF APPROVAL

2007-12-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

ONE LAST TASTE

2007-12-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

FINAL STEPS

2007-12-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Place frosting on cupcakes, sprinkle rainbow jimmies liberally.

MMM...FROSTING

2007-12-13T12:52:00.001-08:00

PREPARE THE FROSTING

2007-12-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

BAKE THE CUPCAKES

2007-12-13T12:49:00.000-08:00

CUPCAKES

2007-12-13T12:30:00.001-08:00

Then mix the batter, prepare the tins, taste the batter, then...taste the batter again, pour in the batter, taste the batter again, and then...are you sure there's no more batter?