RAYNA JEAN ENGELMAYER..woohoo I'm a "Tante"

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!! Rayna was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 12th, 2006. She weighed in at 8pounds 10.4 ounces and absolutely beautiful. She's definitely an Engelmayer...a little Hairy, stubborn to come out and hungry! :) Congratulations to JENN AND RANDY!!!! We're so happy to have a new addition! Love you always!

A Baby and more to come!

Look like January 12th will be the day of my Niece's Birth...so let's all hope for a smooth delivery!!!! I'm so excited to be a Tante (Aunt) and to go and see her! :) She's already very very loved...

BACK IN LA!!! :)

I arrived back in LA, late on Wednesday night and began auditioning again on Thursday morning…a nice welcome back I think.. ☺ The day after that my friend Laura flew out to visit me and to run the Orange County Marathon!!!! She did an amazing job! It was held in Newport Beach was great and her family even flew out for the day to be at the Finish Line with her! We enjoyed a couple of days of touristy LA stuff…though also enjoyed the company of a couple of my friends. AHHHH yes and we had a blown out tire on our way home after the Marathon…yikes quite the experience! Luckily we were able to get off the Freeway and into a car dealership, but five men watched us trying to get this freakin tire off! The bolts were quite tough…eventually they did helps us but it was not easy. One of the guys randomly serenaded me in German after finding out that I speak German. Luckily, it wasn't a song from the Sound of Music! Seriously, I was standing there with a wrench in my hand being sung to after having been awake for 15 hours already at that point a blown tire. The Guys ended up being pretty nice and helping us after a while – even invited us out for Sushi…yeah no, that wasn’t about to happen.
I dropped Laura off at the Airport and am going to settle into being here for a couple of weeks before I leave again to see my “about to be born Niece” in Minnesota!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We enjoyed a pre party dinner at Zvonko's...which I don't really have many pics of, but hopefully someone I know will send me some :)


The boys and I went to the China Club in Times Square this year. Our VIP Status got us…hmm what did it get us…ah yes a table and a bottle of Champagne…though we still had to “take care” of the bouncer in order to pass the mile long queue to get into the club. We had a great time though…drank a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of Champagne, danced and even had one of our own get kicked out…so I would say that it was a stylish entrance and exit into the New Year. ☺ I slept most of the next day…hmm a bit of recovery was necessary after eating a Hot Dog from Gray's Papaya on 72nd St...the best Hot Dog, but maybe not at 4am. :)

In Between...

Lucas and I played “tourist” in NY this time though. We went to the Guggenheim, the Christmas Market in Union Square, the Natural History Museum, and also enjoyed a lovely MTA Strike which meant a daily 10 mile walk for Lucas…lovely huh?

Christmas...

The Market...
Ah the Tree. :)




I spent my Christmas in NY this year which was lovely! I have to say that other than Vienna, there is no better place than NY at that time of year. Much like last year, we walked around the City to see all the Christmas Sights, but rather than decorating a “Christmas Tree” we decorated a “Palm Christmas Tree”. It was quite lovely…the chocolate that hung on it though was eaten very quickly. ☺ Each year there is a Christmas Market in Union Square which is cute...though it's definitely not the same as a "Christkindlmarkt" in Vienna...mainly that we wandered around for an hour and there was no alcohol! Is it really Christmas without a warm Alcoholic Beverage...maybe. :) I feel like I already wrote about that though...

HOLA! :)

Hello my lovely family and friends! Yup, you may have guessed, I still don't have internet at home...but hey better a late update than none at all...right? The Holidays are over...though I have to say it didn't really feel like "the Holiday's" this year...it kind of snuck up on me and then it was over...but there was quite a lot in between all that. :) Soooooo, here we go:

Yea a baby is coming!!!

The Guest of Honour (Jenn) with the proud Grandma's (Oma) and Tante Victoria




Yup, that's the corsage!!!! Cousins, Auntie Di and Second Cousins...yeah we're close to the same age!

My wonderful Aunties (Diane and Linda) put on an amazing Baby Shower. I was the leader of games and corsage making but they did an incredible job! It was definitely one of the longest baby showers I have ever attended (4 hours, 5 if you count goodbye's!) but was well worth it! Mountains of Gifts and hey this will be a very loved Little Girl! The Countdown begins...

I flew back to Los Angeles that night to basically decorate/move in to my new place. Anyone who spoke to me the last few weeks knows about this drama...but hey at least it's all finished now and yes, I do have carpet and a Fridge and Stove!!! Woohooo!!!

I'm in NYC for the Holidays and will post pictures from there!!! Wishing you all a Happy Holiday and great slide into the New Year! Love, Victoria

Ahhhh...Minnesota!

Dawn on the Left and Nate and Alecia on the Right
Lifeguard Monkey Boy. :)

Hello! I spent ten days with my family in Minnesohta. :) This is actually on my last evening before heading back to Los Angeles. I surprised my lovely friends by bringing a bunch of baby products and with the need to make a corsage for my sis n'law's Baby Shower. Who thought it would be a good idea for me to make a corsage?? Yeah, I'm not crafty. However, my friend Dawn is amazing and had it finished within 30 minutes! Oh and it was pretty...well, that may be an overstatement. :) There's so much to catch up on that I've decided just to mention a few things and move on. The Shower is next...

It appears that 3 Weeks is Average...

So, apparently I write approx. every 3 weeks...hmmm will having the internet change all that? We shall see...I'm currently back in NY, on my way to a Christmas Market in Union Square so on that note:
TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY:
I WISH YOU A HAPPY CHRISTMAS/HANUKKAH and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Love, Victoria

Just a cool photo...

This just tells you how cold it was in Fargo! Steam rising from the horses, people and the carriage!

Melanie and Tom's Wedding

The Ceremony and Reception

Mel and Tom Cousin Heather

Mel and her niece Isabelle Mom and Dad at the reception

Mom with her Violin Father of the Bride with Aunt of the Bride (Deane and Diane)

My beautiful Cousin, Melanie married Tom on December 3, 2005. I just want to wish them the best of luck in their life together and say CONGRATULATIONS! The Ceremony was lovely as my Mom and Dad played the processional (they're musicians by the way) . The entire evening was beautiful. 325 people joined them in the Avalon Reception Hall and danced most of the night. :) The best part of the evening for me though was after everyone had left we met up at the hotel. It was 1:30am and a few people including the bride and groom, sat in a small room eating pizza and actually got a chance to chat. It was so nice to actually have time to talk with them and hang out. Some of my most favourite people were there, including Nate and his lovely girlfriend Alicia, my brother Steve, cousins Melanie, Tom, Abby, Heather and Paul...Sadly my other brother Randy and his wife Jenn couldn't make it to the wedding. We missed them but hopefully the 300 pictures we have will show them everything. Here are just a few pics....