Buy the sky and sell the sky and lift your arms up to the sky.......

Last night I saw one of my favorite bands, REM, play at the Hollywood Bowl. It was amazing! I fell in love with the band all over again. Kari was able to get us great box seats (Thank you, Kari!!!). We weren't so close that we could see sweat beads drop off Michael Stipe's face, but we were close enough to make it an incredible experience. The sound quality at the Hollywood Bowl is just awesome, I don't think I have ever been at a venue where the band sounded so clear. The National opened, as did Modest Mouse. Both were good, but REM definitely stole the show. They played a great mix of old favorites, along with songs from their recent release, Accelerate. They played my two favorite songs of all time, Fall On Me and The One I Love, so I was super happy. Admittedly, I have never been a big fan of the song What's the Frequency, Kenneth?, but I am now. I think I must have just missed the boat initially on that song. Anyway, it was an amazing show!!! I am looking forward to going to more shows at the Hollywood Bowl!!
Here is a shot of the Hollywood Bowl. We were sitting in the box seat area, around the middle left.
We saw a few famous peeps while we were at the show, as well as some folks that just looked really important (read: kinda douchey).
Celeb sighting #1: Mary-Louise Parker. You may know here from her current show on Showtime called Weeds, which supposedly is partially filmed in the Santa Clarita area where John and I live.
Celeb sighting #2: Mary-Kate or Ashley. Apparently there was an Olson twin sighting, but admittedly I was using the restroom when it happened. Kari described it as a mess of hair and big sunglasses. We aren't sure which twin it was.
Celeb sighting #3: Connie Britton. Okay, so some of you are probably like, who the heck is Connie Britton? I used to watch the show Spin City all the time (1996-2002), and she played Michael J. Fox's secretary on the show. I guess recently she played a character on the show Friday Night Lights.

Getty Museum......Take Four!!

Apparently I love the Getty Museum! Today I went there for the 4th time with John's mom, Charlotte. It is always so beautiful when I go there, and each trip it gets better and better. We managed to tackle all four pavilions, which was quite surprising. We focused on the European paintings, and just did an overview of all the other things (antiques, French furniture, and decorative arts). The outside garden center was amazing, as usual. The picture above was taken at the south pavilion, that is downtown Los Angeles in the distance.
Little trivia for the day....what is the state flower of California? You are looking at it, the golden poppy. I tried to take some close up shots of some flowers, but none of them came out very well. I need to get a better lens to take close up shots.
Charlotte loved the poppies as well. We decided it would be a great job to be a gardener at the Getty. It always seems so peaceful and calm.
The picture above is in front of the water feature by the West pavilion. We spent about half of our day outside, and enjoyed a nice lunch under the shade of an oversized umbrella.
I'll try and refrain from doing any more Getty posts for awhile. Chris is coming to visit in mid-June though, and I am sure we will check out the Getty at some point during her visit:) I will try and focus my photos on something else for that trip, like the outdoor sculptures or something along those lines.

Yule log!!

Since it was my birthday this weekend, I made a cake I had never made before. It was originally a jelly roll recipe, and I modified it to be chocolate with a cream cheese butter filling. It was delicious, and I'm pretty sure everyone that had a piece enjoyed it!!


It was an awesome Memorial Day weekend! I had a spectacular birthday, and it was great hanging out with Jon, Ashley, Corbett, Jessie, Kari, and John!! I am already looking forward to next year! Santa Barbara is such a chill place, John and I will definitely go back soon.

Beach cruisers and more booze.....

These are the super fun beach cruisers we rented for the afternoon. Can't wait to get my own beach cruiser! I'll definitely post photos once I get it. Ours were lime green beauties, they are all over town.
Here is John and his 4-wheeled buggy, he loved it!! It was a little slower than the rest of our bikes, but he kept up really well, even through a couple hills.
On the way back from Montecito, we stopped at the Cabrillo Bathhouse for another drink. Serious vacation mode here people!! The afternoon was amazing, the sun was out full force, and I think we all managed to get a little pink, some more than others:) We hung out for a bit, soaked up the sun, and watched a guy take a full on shower with soap and everything, it was a glorious afternoon.

Drinks at the Four Seasons

Santa Barbara 2008.....day 2! On Saturday we all woke up around 10am, went to breakfast, then headed down to the beach for a great afternoon of biking and cocktails! We rented some beach cruisers, John rented a 4-wheeled buggy type of bike, and we took a leisurely ride along the beach and up in to Montecito. The ride started out a little suspect because of some rain, but soon the clouds parted and revealed one of the most gorgeous afternoons of our trip. We stopped at the Four Season hotel in Montecito for cocktails, it was beautiful. Rooms apparently start at $700 a night, and if you want an ocean view it is upwards of $3,000 a night. Oprah has a spread nearby. Pretty incredible place. We had a great time making fun of eachother while boozin' it up, a favorite pasttime!! I can't remember what my cocktail was called, but it was Ciroc vodka, fresh smashed red raspberries, with a splash of champagne. Delicious and refreshing!!
After cocktails we checked out the view of the beach across the street from the hotel. It was such a sunny, gorgeous day. I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was pretty much a kick ass afternoon!

Santa Barbara 2008!!.....

John and I arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Santa Barbara at around 1pm on Friday, May 23rd......my 31st birthday!! Happy Birthday to me!! It was a great day, seriously. John woke up early and made me breakfast in bed! Bagels with cream cheese and lox, orange juice, hot cocoa, and a piece of birthday cake.....what a great way to start the day! We left Valencia at about 11:30am, took HWY 126 west to Ventura, then headed north on HWY 101 to beautiful Santa Barbara. I fell in love with the place, so gorgeous. We pulled up to the Holiday Inn Express on W. Haley, and were pleasantly surprised that is was such a cool place! We will definitely stay there the next time we visit. The hotel was located less than a block off of State Street, which is a main drag through town packed with tons of bars and restaurants. Once we unpacked and got situated in our room we walked down to the beach and had lunch at an amazing local favorite at the marina called Brophy Bros. Awesome food. I had grilled mahi mahi, but the best part about the meal was the clam chowder. It was the best chowder I have ever had! After we filled up our bellies, we headed back to the hotel. John hadn't slept too well the night before, so he took a nap. Kari arrived at the hotel and gave me a call around 4pm, and we decided to head out onto State Street and get a drink. We ended up at a cool little tequila place called Sandbar, great happy hour, 2 for 1 margaritas! We caught up with eachother, enjoyed a couple margaritas, and headed back to the hotel to meet up with John, the Barrs, and the Foils. It was great to see everyone, we went out to dinner at a great restaurant on State Street (I can't remember the name), then walked around State and had some drinks at various bars along the way. Apparently the tradition the first night in Santa Barbara is to walk to the beach at night, then walk back and get a piece of pizza at Uncle Rocco's. Tradition was broken and we ended up just getting pizza at Uncle Rocco's. We saved the beach for Saturday and Sunday. My favorite part of my first day in Santa Barbara? Watching Kari get seriously freaked on the dance floor by some dude 5 to 10 years our junior. Two words: dry hump. Two more words: totally awesome. Luckily she survived the ordeal, and it will go down in the books for this trip!!

More shots from the Getty Museum.....

This museum is amazing! Kim posted some great pictures on her blog, definitely check them out!!

It's been a great week.....

Casey and Kim were here!! I was so excited to have visitors from Seattle! I've been pretty homesick the past couple weeks, so they came just in time to put a huge smile on my face. They arrived on Monday afternoon and stayed until Thursday morning. On Monday we just kicked it around our house, I showed them our neighborhood, we had lunch and beers, hung out by the pool for an hour or two, then we rounded out the evening with an awesome grilled dinner courtesy of John. On Tuesday we headed out to the beach. We drove down to Santa Monica, then took the Pacific Coast highway up to Malibu. We spent a little over an hour at Zuma Beach, then went in to Malibu for some super good mexican food at a place called Howdy's. I will definitely be going back to Howdy's, delicious. On our drive back to Valencia, I managed to burn my driving arm, I still haven't quite caught on to the fact that I need to be putting sunscreen on other parts of my body that aren't my face. On Wednesday we went to the Getty Museum. I love that place!! I have been there three times now, and I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of all that there is to see there. Probably because I can't get myself to go inside for very long! The architecture is amazing, as are the gardens. I have included some photos of the museum, although they don't really do the place justice. It is a must see!!
The museum sits atop a huge hill, the view of Los Angeles from the Getty is awesome. You can see a bit of the view in the above picture.

I'll post some more photos.......

My new favorite website

Hilarious. Someecards.com.

Welcome to the world, Atticus!

At 9:22pm on May 14, 2008, the cutest baby in the entire world was born. His name is Atticus. I will get to meet this little man on June 5th, and I can hardly wait!!

Suck it, California!

Let me rephrase that....Suck it, California drivers!! Let me tell you a story..... So this morning I figured out where the local DMV was, drove down there, and picked up a copy of the California Driver Handbook. I've been checking it out a bit today, I think I'll take the written test next week. As I'm thinking about driving in California, I decide to call my insurance company to change my address and see how much it will cost to get car insurance in this great state. Wait for it.....my car insurance just doubled. Yes, let me repeat that for emphasis, DOUBLED!!!! Can you believe that? There must be a bunch of lunatic drivers driving the rates up here compared to my beloved homeland of Washington. Washington: 1, California: 0. Peep game.

Livin' la vida SoCal......

Yes, those are flowers on my toes. This morning I indulged in a manicure and pedicure. It was heavenly. There is something very relaxing about soaking your feet in sea salts and reading celebrity gossip magazines. Is Jessica Simpson still hung up on John Mayer? I don't know US Weekly, please divulge. Are Audrina and LC on the outs? Not sure, but I think I'm about to find out. While enjoying my relaxing soak and scrub, I couldn't help but look at the feet of the gentleman in the chair next to me. Holy sh!t, he had some wickedly calloused feet. The woman asked if he wanted the callouses removed and he said yes. Little did I know what kind of a visual treat I was in for. She squirted some gel like clear liquid into her hands, covered his feet with the gel, then wrapped his feet in saran wrap. About 5 minutes later she took off the wrap, and started filing. This woman was super hard core because seriously, I had to look the other way. That gel must be equivalent to battery acid, because there was serious skin peeling away from this guys foot. It was like watching a snake molt. Totally gross, but fascinating, all at the same time. Eww....I still have a visual of the pile of skin shavings in my mind. And his foot? It was like rebirthed. Shiny, new, pink skin, just waiting to experience the world.
As you can tell, I have officially sunk in to the life of an unemployed drain on society. I wouldn't use the term maggot quite yet, I am still a moral, respectable person. I'll bring it all back here in a few weeks, don't worry.... But for now? I'm going to enjoy my time off:)

Wanted: Mach 3 Turbo

It is no secret that a lot of females get their eyebrows waxed, myself included. Frida was a beautiful woman, but her brows? Not so much. So I have been on the hunt for a respectable salon since I arrived here. It has been a couple months since I've had my brows weed wacked, so I figured it was time for me to take the hunt more seriously. Yesterday I found a cool place a couple store fronts down from our private mail box place. Everything looked modern and clean on the inside, so I took the chance. I have never had a horrible brow waxing experience, but I have liked some more than others.
So I go into the back waxing room, and the lady is super nice. I can't understand a word she is saying, but she has a smile on her face, and we are speaking in the universal language of hand gestures and one word answers. Everything is hunky dorey until the end when she asks me, in plain English, "you want upper lip done?" WTF? Excuse me? I'm sorry, say that again. I tell her no, but then I'm all in my head thinking.....do I have a mustache? Have I had a mustache and never noticed? Have my friends been laughing behind my back for years about my mustache? Do they have a nickname for me that I don't know about, like Genghis, or Handlebars, or Fu Manchu? I'm crossing my fingers no. I don't want to end up looking like this guy......

When I went to pay, the wax was only $15 dollars! And it was a good wax! I used to pay a lot more than that it Seattle. I guess I can handle a bit of verbal abuse and self esteem slam for a $15 eyebrow wax:)

Venice Beach

John and I spent the afternoon exploring all that Venice Beach has to offer. Beach? Check. Densely populated street vendors? Check. Entertaining street performers? Check. Random, crazy people? Check. Possibly the best people watching in California? Double check!! We arrived around noon and strolled down Ocean Front Walk, taking in the sights and smells along the way. It was awesome until I had to use the public restrooms. Yikes. Not good. I will have the vision of the restroom burned in to my memory for quite awhile. Note to self: do not drink coffee while driving to Venice Beach. I'm sure I'll get over it, but I'd like to get a full physical and gynecological exam as soon as possible.
John and I enjoyed lunch, beers, and more people watching at an outdoor cafe at the north end of Ocean Front Walk. There was live music and plenty of dogs for me to go ga-ga over. This little lady was sitting next to us. She was just chillin', taking in the scenery.
Can't read the sign? Let me clear it up for you. It says 'eat shit and die satan'. I'm not sure what was going on in this street vendors booth. The general theme seemed to be peace, love, earth, faith, and poo eating by the underlord. Any way you slice it......awesome.
Check it out! It is C3PO and R2D2. John and I found these super cool Star Wars characters at a shop. There are constructed out of nuts and bolts, and other tiny pieces of metal. They had other characters, but these ones were by far the coolest.
More Venice Beach to follow.....

Venice Beach is like a bakery.....

Your pies are everywhere!! Ladies, I am always thinking of you, and I was able to pick out some yummy pies for you all today. Does pieing via blog count?

This intriguing man was standing on top of a number of milk crates, holding a bow in one hand, and two rubber "magic" snakes in the other hand. The loin cloth is especially for you Kim. I'm not really sure what his schtick was, but whatever he was doing, he wasn't drawing too much of a crowd. John and I gave him a dollar because I took his picture. He's almost nude people, holding a bow and two rubber snakes. He needs the dollar more than I do.

This dude was covered in all things gold, and what you can't see in the picture is the gold stuffed dog lying in front of him. He sort of reminded me of street performers I had seen before in New Orleans. Basically covered in one solid shimmering color, standing incredibly still. Kinda creepy, kinda cool, and totally Gina's pie.

This guy is not your pie. John and I stopped to watch him and some of his friends perform some super cool break-dancing and other tricks. Pretty sweet. I could have watched them all afternoon.

Joose art

I never thought I would see art made out of a 20oz can of Joose. Venice Beach showed me that yes, Joose art does exist. When I saw the Joose airplane, I couldn't help but think of this guy.......

We saw some other alcohol related items, including this t-shirt.......
Stay classy Venice Beach.......