Business Phone:
(310) 285-3506

Mailing Address:
Soup To Nuts Music
P.O. Box 4775,
Culver City, CA
90231






Cali's Photos

Wish you were here...




Cali and her sister, Miss Easter Bunny, went to the same hand-waving school, it seems...

I always look forward to playing and singing
for the kids and grown-ups at the annual
Easter Brunch at the
Mary and Joseph Retreat Center
 in Rancho Palos Verdes!


Modern-day Cave Girl.  Halloween 2001 at the Canterbury in Palos Verdes
(see the bones?)
 

July 4, 2002
with the splendid folks
at Casa la Merced


 

Thanks to Sandy Gill
(what a talented artist)
for this
wonderful and personalized holiday card



 
Bye Bye 2002...  Hello 2003!
The New Year's Eve Party at the Canterbury
(that's beautiful Maria joining me in the "wave").



 
This is the big holiday
party at Belmont Village
in Hollywood, December 2004.
Look like Santa is ready for
a vacation in Hawaii.
I'm thrilled, however.
It's too fun to sing about
"Winter Wonderlands"
and "Jingle Bells" when
it's 85 degrees
down the road at
Hollywood and Vine!

Bruce, resident photographer
at
Woodbridge Manor
in Irvine, gets creative
with Photoshop.

                                                               







Christmas/Hanukah 2002.
Well, this was a once-in-a-lifetime gig,
entertaining from the "waiting area"
at Nate and Al's Deli, in Beverly Hills, 
for the "Senor Negro Fishing Club,"
and all the other early morning diners. 
I can't believe I look so perky at
8:00 in the morning.  Lots of coffee
and bagels, I guess.









Do you remember the Lerner and Lowe Musical "Gigi"...
and that joyous scene where Leslie Caron
is singing "The Night They Invented Champagne"???

Well, we had our own little moment of tipsy ebullience, right there in Long Beach, minus the hard stuff...

Getting wacky at Covenant Manor in Long Beach
Special thanks to Rob Gordon for the vid-picks

 
                                             This is Bill Wyckoff, one of my                   Christmas fun at the Gardena Elks Club.
                                        treasured music teachers and mentors.                   The stuffed elk was not celebrating...
                                                                                                                 

 
April 2004, it's my honor to be part of the big celebration
honoring hundreds of volunteers, the local heroes, of Gardena,
at their Annual Volunteer Dinner.

 
                                     Audience participation (my favorite part of the show)                  Two new Gardena friends!

                                      


            My husband Craig, brought me to his 6th period American History Class,
            at Venice High School, as "show and tell."  My assignment was to sing some
            of the great songs from the late 30's through World War II, without putting
            the kids to sleep.  "Hip-Hop," I'm not.  But we had a good time and his
            students tried very hard to be polite as I sang this "dinosaur" music.  My husband
            is a great ukulele player and we did a little duet (yes I play uke too), on the
            great song Aloha Oe (that explains the lei around Craig's neck), along with a
            history lesson.  The song was written by Queen Lili'uokalani in 1878...
            on the back of a horse.  Bet you didn't know that!




These photos are from my show for St. Judes at Leisure World, Seal Beach in May 2004.
 On the left are "The Two 'D's" and me.  In the middle I'm trying not to trip on patch cords.  And to the right--well, it's "The Cali Wave."


Love that "audience participation"!

                                                   
My adopted Uncle Hal (visiting from Washington D.C.),                                                     One of my favorite people in the world, Marion P., at her
Tracy (the assistant Activities Director of Avalon of Cerritos                                              82nd Birthday Party.   We go back 25 years to the
--and limo-driver-to-the-stars-extrarodinaire)                                         
                                wild and woolly piano bar nights at the Airport Century Inn.
and me, before the big Father's Day Show, June 2005.


                                  
                   "Spasibo" and "Gracias" to the residents of Geneva Plaza                                                                  Lady Bug Halloween at The Canterbury
                                             in Santa Monica, California                                                                    with Joey and Katie, singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"  


Cali and her husband Craig (the teacher) at the
2006 Venice High School Prom

                

                          
Playing the ukulele and keyboard at Marcia and Jerry's 50th Wedding Anniversary Bash in San Pedro.  What a blast!!!


      
Canterbury Halloween Party 2006!  Poodle Skirt, ankle socks and "meata balls!"  Yum Yum


          
              That's me doing the "dirty work" while witches, Karen and Maria look on.                                                     Happy News Years -- 2007!


Two more baby boomers hit the big 6-0 and looking absolutely fabulous!
Peter and Tanya asked me to play at both of their birthday parties.
Maybe they'll adopt me into their wonderful family!  Spasibo!

                 
Halloween 2007 at the Canterbury as the Hot Flapper Mama!                                           Private Birthday Party for
No, that is not my brain on the piano...                                                                                 a hot 85 year old "beefcake"!



MY SUMMER VACATION --  AUGUST 2005
Punalu'u, O'ahu, Hawaii  


My husband and I stayed on the windward shore of O'ahu, far far away from the frantic crowds in Honolulu and Waikiki. 
We were sort of in the middle of nowhere, in the tiny and exquisite community of Punalu'u. 
Most of the time, we had this magnificent beach all to ourselves.



               
One afternoon, we checked out the famous Ala Moana Shopping Center to compare prices at the Ukulele House.  Pretty upscale for my tastes.  I prefer dressing up as a pineapple, thanks to the Dole Plantation Tourist Trap and Train Ride.  We skipped all that, snapped a couple pictures and went to the bathroom.  To the right is the view from our condo.  Looks like a beautiful sunset, right?  Wrong!  We are on the east shore.  We awoke every morning to watch the sun rise over the Pacific.  What a splendid way to begin the new day.

                  
Well, it doesn't get any better than this--sitting on our sixth floor balcony, strumming my new ukulele that I bought from the the fine folks of Ko'olau in the fine windward community of Kaneohe.  So now I play the uke on my gigs too.  Meanwhile, back at Ala Moana--we ate lunch in the food court with about a thousand other people and I was ready to take that Shiatsu massage home with me on the plane.  Crazy busy, but we had some of the best Korean Barbecue ever.  Speaking of food--the windward and north shores of O'ahu are festooned with "shrimp trucks" that broil, bake, fry them shrimp any way you like them.  It's good messy eating!


        
In the bucolic Valley of the Temples we found this dazzling replica of a Japanese Buddhist Temple, set against the velvet, verdant folds of the Ko'olau Mountains.
 A few days later, we explored Waimea Valley.  We walked through ancient villages and botanical gardens to reach the "promised land" -- a genuine waterfall and swimming hole.  If it wasn't for the sign that warned about some pesky bacteria that lurks in the water, I would have jumped in, dress and all.  Waimea Valley is right across the highway from the surfer heaven of the world--Waimea Bay, which is immortalized by the Beach Boys in the song "Surfin U.S.A."   It is a stunning crescent-shaped beach with itty bitty waves in the summer.   But beginning in November, the big boys arrive, along with the big waves and the big traffic problems. 

Alas, sky-rocketing gas prices and congested highways are part of this island paradise, too.  But, we found the people of the windward shore so warm and generous.  For example:  One morning, while I was enjoying some alone time by the beach, a handsome woman, well into her eighties and one of the permanent residents of our condo building, walked right over and offered me a paper napkin filled with freshly sliced pineapple.  "This is too good to keep just for myself and I have to share it.  Would you like some?"  Aloha Spirit.  That's what it is.  Even the street signs in the little towns along Kamehameha Highway remind the commuters to "Drive with Aloha."  We can't wait to get back. Mahalo Nui Loa.



MY SUMMER VACATION  --  August 2003
Arcata in Humboldt County, California and my College Alma Mater, Humboldt State



August 2003, my husband and I went on a sojourn--I'll call "Nostalgia 101"--visiting my college alma mater, behind the redwood curtain in Northern California--Humboldt State University.  I haven't been back since I graduated "umptiti-dum dum" years ago.  In the photo upper left, I'm leaning over the balcony of our room at the Best Western Motel in Arcata, wearing one of my original "Humboldt State" T-shirts.  In the middle picture, I'm stocking up on more fashion wear at the HSU bookstore.  The picture in the upper right is taken at the computer room of "Humboldt Internet."  My husband and I are so addicted to checking our email that it's just plain pathetic, but at $2.00 an hour, definitely a cheap thrill.  


                                                                    









Here's my dorm, Chinquapin.  We were known as the "Chinquapin Chicks," and I had a very bad habit of hiding in the closet during the fire drills at 2:00 in the morning, while other more obedient students gathered on the grassy lawn below.  

This photo to the left is a longer view of my home sweet home, away from home.   We were just steps from a vast redwood forest where I'd lose myself for miles, hiking the mountain trails past  ancient trees, abundant ferns and sparkling streams.
It was a splendid place to live and go to school.









Believe it or not, I was a pretty shy kid and playing the piano--this very piano in Redwood Hall--helped yank me out of my shell and into the big world.  I loved the academia and graduated with honors, but truly, all I wanted to do was play the piano,  sing and write.  So, all these years later, I've come full circle, and am one of the lucky ones who makes a living at something she loves.