Beginnings

Gosh, the year went by fast! 2013 came and went and although there were some happy times, I am glad to say goodbye to it and begin 2014. It’s funny how we all wait till January to set goals and plan our futures. Shouldn’t we do that throughout the year? All I know is I need and want change, both in my career and in my personal life. Here’s to 2014, a year with no regrets and exciting experiences!!

Btw, here are my fondest December memories in a nutshell (since I never blogged that whole month!).

* I just had to add this… Disneyland during the holidays is truly magical and beautiful. I had loads of fun as usual but hated how crowded it was. Anyway, when we were waiting in line at the Matterhorn, we spotted Jason Bateman and his group sneak pass all us fools in line. Then later we spotted Zoe Saldana and her husband do the same. Yes, I know these are the perks of being a celebrity but man does that blow when you’ve been standing in line for 2 hours, yes TWO hours. Jason Bateman refused to look at anyone and I believe it was because of GUILT. I’m also going to add that Jason had a Disneyland escort usher him throughout the park. I mean seriously, I like him and enjoy most of his movies but YOU AIN’T NO BRAD PITT! No one is going to hound you or swarm around you or your family.

Later as we were making our way to Space Mountain my sister and I spotted none other than Steven Yeun of The Walking Dead. That was actually my highlight since I am a huge fan of the show and let me add this too, Steven had NO escort nor did he act like he was better than anyone else. Luv ya Glenn!!

Desert fun

I’ve been meaning to post these pics taken last month from my friend’s bachelorette party. I had such a great time hanging with these girls in Joshua Tree. I would give anything to be there in that rad house and rad pool right now!

ps. Can you tell how much I luv that pretzel floaty? I bought mine from UO but it’s sadly sold out. I highly recommend buying it next summer if it comes back on sale.

Disney Part 2

I had the pleasure of going back to Disneyland again but this time however I went with some friends and got to go into California Adventure (which I haven’t been since it first opened) and have dinner at the exclusive Club 33.

We started in California Adventure first and since I’ve never been on the Tower of Terror, that was our first ride. Omg, that was sooooo fun but I’m not going to lie, it was pretty scary. One of our bags even flew up in the air as we were free-falling! After that we headed towards A Bug’s Life which was completely charming and cute. The big draw of course was Cars Land which everyone was talking about. I never saw the movie but the area where Cars Land was is reallllllly cool. The main ride was fun but I was really looking at the “fake” desert-like surroundings we were in. It looked so real that I almost believed I was out in the desert!

We had spent over 5 hours at that side of the park that when we finally made it into the main park we were only able to ride a few rides before our dinner reservations.

The dinner itself was good, not spectacular. I wasn’t overly impressed and I have to say our service was not that great. For a place that is so strict with its rules, dress codes, etc, we didn’t even get spoons when our bisque came. Our food was never explained to us (we all decided to go with the 5 course dinner), nor was our table ever cleaned off. My dinner along with two others was cold so we decided to have them warm it up. That took forever and my friend’s dinner was still cold so she sent it back a second time. The manager came by later and apologized for the problems and offered us a souvenir that you can only buy in the restaurant. I never looked in the showcase to see what was being offered but our friend Ken did. When asked what we wanted I thought to myself, “please pick the most expensive thing in the case please please please”. Ken says without missing a beat, “I would like the latte mug”. I wanted to die, a mug?!?! We were being asked on the spot and Ken kept assuring all of us that it was the best thing in the window so we ALL got the mug. As I left the restaurant I looked into the case and saw a pen set for $75, my mug…$25. LOL, oh well at least we got something. I still had a fun time and it was definitely memorable.

Mount Woodson Trail

Let me start off by saying this trail will work your buns off! I had no idea how intense this Mount Woodson Trail was when I joined my friends on an early Saturday morning. You start off by the lake and then hike up the Mt. Woodson Trail and then all the way up to the “Potato Chip” rock. Frankly, the potato chip was kinda small and I wished it was more interesting and larger. Anyway, I took a cool picture of Debra doing her “proud warrior” on it.

I had a good time despite getting at least 2 shades darker (I reapplied sunscreen throughout the hike) and getting a mild case of heat exhaustion. My buns & shins are still sore 3 days later but it was a great workout. The scenery is mostly dust, rocks & boulders, a few shrubs, and dust dust dust. We were pretty filthy when we finished, especially me since I slipped and fell on my bum!

If you decide to go, make sure to bring at least 2 bottles of water, some snacks, wear a hat, and apply plenty of sunscreen. I’m just happy to now say, “I’VE CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN!!”

Weekend Rewind

“Get your motor running…”

I had so much fun Saturday night at Hollywood Forever to see Dennis Hopper’s classic film, Easy Rider. You must attend it at least once if you live in L.A. Just be sure to bring a sheet of plastic or tarp to put underneath the blankets as the grass gets a bit moist during the night.

Yuri & Matt threw a 4th of July Hot Dog B-B-Q feast at their lovely home on Sunday. There were links of all kinds there: polish, italian, chicken, beef, tofu, you name it, they had it there. The day was filled with good food, beer games, Guitar Hero, and even more food. Needless to say we all stuffed ourselves silly all day and all night long. Later when it got dark, we had the best seats in town to watch all the fireworks since Yuri & Matt have an AMAZING view overlooking Dodger Stadium and Mount Washington.

Weekend Rewind

This weekend was nice and lazy for me. The weather was perfect and not too hot. Natty & I met up with Yuri for some bead shopping in downtown and we stumbled into a jewelry-making wonderland of a store. You name it, they have it. Dare I say it is much better than Bohemian Crystals? We could have easily stayed in there for 5 hours but our stomachs were crying for food.

Cole’s is usually yummy but we all found our dips a bit salty. Their garlic fries on the other hand was perfect. On our way back we made a pit-stop in Chinatown where Yuri showed me a fantastic home for sale. 2bd/2bath upstairs, fantastic retail/gallery space below, and a spacious studio in basement. I wished I had the money ‘cos this would be a nice investment. There are art galleries popping up all over Chinatown. Next door to the home was this cute little oriental shop which Natty managed to find a pair of cute earrings.

I took Natty back home to Mummy’s and painted my nails green with the Topshop polish Yuri gave me from her trip to London…all in all, a pleasant weekend.