Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

This past weekend I flew up to Seattle for my first visit since moving to California. I have been pretty homesick for the last few weeks, so it was great to go back and spend some time with a few people......including these three cute faces!! I stayed at the Hayes residence, which meant I had the pleasure of hangin' with Pip, Lincoln, and Ms. Meows. I was finally able to get Lincoln to sit still for a bit, with some coaching from his parents.

Happy Birthday, Ashley!!!

Hope you had a blast on your birthday!! Happy 29th:)

So long life of leisure!!

It has been a relaxing 2.5 months off of work! But soon it will be time for me to enter the working world again. I started the application process with the California BOP back in October, and 8 months later I finally have my California license in my hands. Needless to say, this little piece of paper was the cause of much grief and frustration for me, and I am relieved to have the whole experience behind me. Now that I am licensed, I can get more serious about my job search. Gone will be the days of sleeping in, lounging in the sun by the pool, reading gossip magazines, and watching cinematic atrocities like Coyote Ugly (shame on you John Goodman!). Admittedly, I have even sat through portions of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, as well as Hannah Montana. Side note: I don't really understand the deal with all the hype on her, but then again, I am about 20 years older than her target audience. I am actually looking forward to making the change from unemployed girlfriend to contributing member of the household and society. I am sure John is *really* looking forward to me paying half the rent!! I think working will be good for my social life as well. Being unemployed, I have quite a bit of time to think about all my friends and family back in Seattle, and how much I miss everyone. It will be nice to meet some new people and hopefully make new friends in this area. I still have a couple weeks to enjoy this rare break in the rat race. With that said, I better get back downstairs, Weekend at Bernie's is on!!

Poor little dude.....

Frank had a bit of a traumatic day today! As did I. Last night I noticed that he was limping, he didn't want to put much weight on one of his back legs. All I could think about was my previous fuzzy feline, Charlie, and how one minute he was fine, and the next minute he was gone. Needless to say, I was more than a little worried about Frank! I decided against taking him to the emergency animal hospital because he seemed to be pretty much like his usual self as far as appetite and litter box habits were concerned. He didn't seem to be in too much pain as he was still walking around, jumping up on the bed, and walking up and down the stairs, although he was definitely favoring his good hind leg. He slept right next to me all night, he probably knew I was worried about him, I hardly slept at all. I found a veterinarian clinic that was open on Sundays and made an appointment for earlier this afternoon. The above picture is of him in his cat carrier, do you see the white paw? He wasn't too happy about getting in the carrier, but he couldn't quite put up a valiant fight due to his gimpy leg:( Poor little dude!
The veterinarian clinic was only a few miles away from where we live, and it is awesome they are open on the weekends. Frank was weighed (10lbs), had his temperature taken rectally (sorry Frank!!), his heart rate checked (normal), and his teeth examined (they didn't say much about that, but I know he needs his teeth cleaned because his breath is stanky sometimes!). Then the veterinarian came in and that is when the discomfort really happened for Frank (and me). It was so hard watching the vet examine Frank because obviously his hind leg was tender and painful. He was hissing and took a good swipe at the vet's hand. The doc was having none of Frank's shite, and strapped Frank's little face in a muzzle. I don't blame him, but it was really hard for me to watch, in fact, I had to turn away, I couldn't watch. The vet couldn't find anything wrong during the examination, so they took x-rays of his hips and knees. It turns out Frank has some degeneration going on in the bones of his lower back. The vet thinks it is age related, and may have been caused by an injury to the area when he was younger (probably while he was an alley cat). I was relieved to hear it was arthritis and not something super serious like a fracture or a tumor. The vet prescribed a medication that is used quite commonly in humans, called meloxicam, it is an antiinflammatory agent. So I will be giving Frank medication for the first time in the 5 years that I have had him. I guess I should feel pretty lucky because I know plenty of pet owners who have had to give their pets many courses of medication.
The medication comes in a liquid formulation. I had to give Frank 10 drops today, 5 drops tomorrow, and then 3 drops daily on a regular basis. The drops are a honey flavor, Frank seemed to love it. I was pleasantly surprised! I put a couple drops on top of a cat treat, and he had no problems eating them. Hopefully the medication will help Frank over the course of the next few days. He is still angry at me, I think. He has been hiding under the edge of the bed for the last 3 hours. I hope he comes out soon, I miss him.

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!!