Hi! How are you doing? I’m just fine, thanks for asking. I’m sorry I haven’t written on you in awhile. I really don’t have much of an excuse, especially since I’ve done plenty of new things in the last month; I just haven’t taken the time to write about them. I know you were worried about me…but I promise you that I am indeed alive and well. Don’t give me that look. If I was run over by a bus or kidnapped by a group of roving gypsies I’m sure someone would have told you about it.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Dear Blog,
Monday, March 24, 2008
Amoeba Music - Los Angeles, CA
Let’s talk about L.A. Well, let me talk about L.A. as this isn’t an interactive blog (save for the voting right there on the right…get in your votes, as the polls close soon!).
I don’t live in L.A. I never have and I can say with conviction that I never will. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but every time I go home to WI, inevitably someone will say, “Hey, how’s L.A.?” or “This is Moe, she’s from L.A.” This is irritating for the fact that Orange County is nothing like Los Angeles. For my WI friends, it’s like saying you live in Milwaukee when you live in Madison. For everyone else, it’s like saying you live in Toronto, Canada when you actually live in Buffalo, New York. I’m not saying Los Angeles is horrible and awful and I could never dream of living in a place like that…quite the opposite actually…it’s just different. It’s nice having L.A. fairly close because there’s so much going on there, even if it’s a pain in the ass getting around.
LA is not Orange County
I recently got it into my head that I wanted to drive up to L.A. one afternoon and go to Pink’s for hot dogs. I’m not sure who even told me about Pink’s, but they are apparently famous. They don’t make their own hot dogs or anything, but I guess the toppings they offer plus some weird potato pancake bun Mari was talking about are really really good and would be well worth the hour long car ride to get there. Southern California experienced a bit of a heat wave this past weekend and what’s better in heat then a good ole American hot dog? Plus my car has air conditioning and our apartment does not.
Kevin’s not a big fan of hot dogs (or mac & cheese for that matter, I don’t think he’s a real American)(ha!) so I was kind of shocked when he said he’d come with. I wanted to make the trip worth it for him so I planned a stop at Amoeba Music and a cocktail at Tiki Ti after the (hopefully) delicious dogs.
...and I used to get so excited over the Hollywood sign...
True to form, traffic getting to L.A. was murder. Kevin spent the time making fairy princesses out of the signs and traffic in front of us. I asked him to stop making fairy princesses and just take some pictures, but between the giggles of fairy princess Hollywood 101 sign and fairy princess CoExist car, he said he didn’t know how to take the frame off.
After an hour, we finally made it to Pink’s. Well, we made it to the corner Pink’s was on anyhow, and got to witness the line that not only went out the door, but around the entire building and even a bit down the block. Damn, those must be some good hot dogs if people are willing to wait an hour in line to get one. I personally do not care if a hot dog is made out of solid gold; I’m not waiting in line for one. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of the line…it was truly incredible.
The line at Pink’s left us in a bit of a conundrum. We had just spent an hour in the car for hot dogs only to be disappointed. Kevin suggested that we just go to Carney’s for dogs but I knew it just wouldn’t be the same. We decided just to go ahead and go straight to Amoeba Music and grab something to eat after.
Every time I come up to L.A., I always end up on Sunset Blvd. and will always past Amoeba Music. You really can’t miss it. I had never been inside though. It was one of those things where Andrea would say, “Amoeba is great, you should go there some time” and I would think, “yeah, I should go there sometime” but I never actually do.
Walking into Amoeba Music was like having a full on circus show of music just exploding right in front of you. It was a complete total overload of the senses. The building itself takes up most of a city block and it has an upstairs and downstairs, and a couple of side rooms. It’s L.A. and its Sunset Blvd. and there are people everywhere. Music is blasting, people are bumping into you, and there are signs and posters and neon lights, and lines going everywhere. Kevin and I walked in and kind of stood there in disbelief. We honestly didn’t know what to do, I’m sure we gave the appearance of a couple country folks seeing the big ole city for the first time look. When our eyes were able to finally focus on something, we headed over to the used CD section. I was pretty amazed at the selection. I know for a fact that if I had lived around a place like this when I was in high school, I never would have had any money. “Grandma gave me $20 for my birthday! Let’s go to Amoeba!” In the end, Kevin and I got 5 CDs for $36 which isn’t that bad.
I didn't take this picture, I got it from the web...the day we were there was 10 times busier.
After Amoeba Music we started to walk down the street heading to the Cat & Fiddle for lunch. At this point we noticed that Amoeba had their own parking garage. I’m telling you this (with photo) so you don’t end up spending $6 for parking at the Public Parking garage on the next block like we did.
Lunch turned out to be OK and drinks at Tiki Ti were even better. Have I mentioned I want to marry Tiki Ti? Oh yeah, I think I have. Anyhow, we headed back home (another hour sitting in traffic!) and finally met up with Patrick, Michele, Mari, and Gunter at the American Legion on the peninsula….where I had a hot dog. Patrick had heard our tale of Pink’s and made sure I got one.
So, to recap:
Oh, I forgot I wanted to show you where Tom Cruise hangs out:
I don’t live in L.A. I never have and I can say with conviction that I never will. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but every time I go home to WI, inevitably someone will say, “Hey, how’s L.A.?” or “This is Moe, she’s from L.A.” This is irritating for the fact that Orange County is nothing like Los Angeles. For my WI friends, it’s like saying you live in Milwaukee when you live in Madison. For everyone else, it’s like saying you live in Toronto, Canada when you actually live in Buffalo, New York. I’m not saying Los Angeles is horrible and awful and I could never dream of living in a place like that…quite the opposite actually…it’s just different. It’s nice having L.A. fairly close because there’s so much going on there, even if it’s a pain in the ass getting around.
LA is not Orange CountyI recently got it into my head that I wanted to drive up to L.A. one afternoon and go to Pink’s for hot dogs. I’m not sure who even told me about Pink’s, but they are apparently famous. They don’t make their own hot dogs or anything, but I guess the toppings they offer plus some weird potato pancake bun Mari was talking about are really really good and would be well worth the hour long car ride to get there. Southern California experienced a bit of a heat wave this past weekend and what’s better in heat then a good ole American hot dog? Plus my car has air conditioning and our apartment does not.
Kevin’s not a big fan of hot dogs (or mac & cheese for that matter, I don’t think he’s a real American)(ha!) so I was kind of shocked when he said he’d come with. I wanted to make the trip worth it for him so I planned a stop at Amoeba Music and a cocktail at Tiki Ti after the (hopefully) delicious dogs.
...and I used to get so excited over the Hollywood sign...True to form, traffic getting to L.A. was murder. Kevin spent the time making fairy princesses out of the signs and traffic in front of us. I asked him to stop making fairy princesses and just take some pictures, but between the giggles of fairy princess Hollywood 101 sign and fairy princess CoExist car, he said he didn’t know how to take the frame off.
After an hour, we finally made it to Pink’s. Well, we made it to the corner Pink’s was on anyhow, and got to witness the line that not only went out the door, but around the entire building and even a bit down the block. Damn, those must be some good hot dogs if people are willing to wait an hour in line to get one. I personally do not care if a hot dog is made out of solid gold; I’m not waiting in line for one. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of the line…it was truly incredible.
The line at Pink’s left us in a bit of a conundrum. We had just spent an hour in the car for hot dogs only to be disappointed. Kevin suggested that we just go to Carney’s for dogs but I knew it just wouldn’t be the same. We decided just to go ahead and go straight to Amoeba Music and grab something to eat after.
Every time I come up to L.A., I always end up on Sunset Blvd. and will always past Amoeba Music. You really can’t miss it. I had never been inside though. It was one of those things where Andrea would say, “Amoeba is great, you should go there some time” and I would think, “yeah, I should go there sometime” but I never actually do.
Walking into Amoeba Music was like having a full on circus show of music just exploding right in front of you. It was a complete total overload of the senses. The building itself takes up most of a city block and it has an upstairs and downstairs, and a couple of side rooms. It’s L.A. and its Sunset Blvd. and there are people everywhere. Music is blasting, people are bumping into you, and there are signs and posters and neon lights, and lines going everywhere. Kevin and I walked in and kind of stood there in disbelief. We honestly didn’t know what to do, I’m sure we gave the appearance of a couple country folks seeing the big ole city for the first time look. When our eyes were able to finally focus on something, we headed over to the used CD section. I was pretty amazed at the selection. I know for a fact that if I had lived around a place like this when I was in high school, I never would have had any money. “Grandma gave me $20 for my birthday! Let’s go to Amoeba!” In the end, Kevin and I got 5 CDs for $36 which isn’t that bad.
I didn't take this picture, I got it from the web...the day we were there was 10 times busier.After Amoeba Music we started to walk down the street heading to the Cat & Fiddle for lunch. At this point we noticed that Amoeba had their own parking garage. I’m telling you this (with photo) so you don’t end up spending $6 for parking at the Public Parking garage on the next block like we did.
Lunch turned out to be OK and drinks at Tiki Ti were even better. Have I mentioned I want to marry Tiki Ti? Oh yeah, I think I have. Anyhow, we headed back home (another hour sitting in traffic!) and finally met up with Patrick, Michele, Mari, and Gunter at the American Legion on the peninsula….where I had a hot dog. Patrick had heard our tale of Pink’s and made sure I got one.
So, to recap:
- Orange County is not Los Angeles.
- Pink’s supposedly has hot dogs so good that people are willing to camp out all night just to get a taste of the salty greasy goodness.
- When going to Amoeba Music, make sure to bring a flashlight and a bag of stale bread to leave a trail with.
- Tiki Ti has not proposed yet, but I’m thinking it will be any day now.
Oh, I forgot I wanted to show you where Tom Cruise hangs out:
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Wasting my Sunday with Fairy Princesses
Oh helllllllooooo!
I will come right and tell you, I haven’t done a damn thing new in two weeks. I’m not going to apologize for it however as I haven’t gotten paid in…three weeks. And it’s still yet another week until I do get paid. I like myself some entertainment though, and will go pretty stir crazy if I don’t get it. Because Kevin enjoys his sanity (oh, and that whole loving me thing) he’s been trying his best to keep me entertained with as little as money possible. He’s so awesome. The weekend before last we (finally) pumped up the tires on our bikes and took them riding around the neighborhood (even though Kevin’s knee was still dodgy) and ended up gathering all this fresh fruit from the trees around here. It was the lemon tree that started it all. I couldn’t believe how great these lemons smelled. I’ve been using them in every drink I can think of since. And even though I don’t like avocados, I’ve been squeezing the ones we got silly waiting for them to ripen. That bruises them, doesn’t it? Oh well, I know where the tree is.
This past Saturday, Kevin and I helped Michele unpack her new apartment. For Kevin this meant disappearing with Patrick for three hours to ‘drop off a dresser’ and for me (and Mari, Marilynn, and Michele) to unpack the 847 boxes marked ‘KITCHEN’. Michele has a buttload of dishes. Even with three boxes repacked for Goodwill and the dishes that Mari, Marilynn and myself walked off with, I still don’t know how Michele managed to fit everything in that kitchen. It was a decent sized kitchen, but damn.
On Sunday I was getting a bit stir crazy. I had gotten up fairly early (after staying up until the 2AM/3AM time change because I just wasn’t tired dammit (Beth got the email that reflected this)) and basically played around the computer until I was SO DAMN BORED of that too, then took a shower, and GAAAAAAAAH I’M SO BORED WHY DON’T I HAVE ANY MONEY WAAAAAAH IT’S SO NICE OUT WAAAAA and finally decided that I would take my camera and take pictures around the neighborhood and post them all here for you guys. This meant I got out my camera and started taking weird pictures around the house using the ‘frames’ option on my camera.
The weeds I should have been pulling, and the bird seed I should have been picking up.
I had decided that before I left to take pictures, I would stop at the Harp real quick for breakfast\lunch, and then stop back over to Michele’s to bring her a housewarming gift (which would not be dishware), and then I would be off. Easy peasy.
But Kevin wanted to get breakfast\lunch too. So we split the Irish breakfast, had a beer, and had EVERY INTENTION of leaving to go to Michele’s and drop off a housewarming gift before he went back home and I rode around taking pictures.
Yummy Irish Breakfast
But then Dave and Jill showed up. We were two sips away from leaving. But Dave bought us a beer so we had to stay. After that beer, we had to buy Dave a beer back but DAMMIT, WE WERE LEAVING after that one as I wanted to get to Michele’s to drop off the housewarming gift and take some pictures.
But then Steve and Brian showed up.
And then Grant.
And then Derrick.
And then Mari and Gunter.
And finally, who walks through the door but Patrick and Michele!
“HEY! I was going to go to your house and drop off a present!”
“Well, where were you?”
“HERE! ….. You know how that goes.”
It was a sunny day and I finally admitted to the fact that I wasn’t going to be going anywhere, so I had to take some pictures to make up for it. First task for you all is to come up with the bubble sayings. I’m afraid there will be no prizes except blog mention honor. I didn't add that 'Life is fun ' by the way, that's part of the frame.
And finally, if you didn’t notice the poll up at the top right hand side of the page, now is the time to vote for your Favorite Fairy Princess.
Kevin
Dave
Brian
Steve
Gunter
Derek
Patrick
Matt, the Harp Door Guy
Michele
I will come right and tell you, I haven’t done a damn thing new in two weeks. I’m not going to apologize for it however as I haven’t gotten paid in…three weeks. And it’s still yet another week until I do get paid. I like myself some entertainment though, and will go pretty stir crazy if I don’t get it. Because Kevin enjoys his sanity (oh, and that whole loving me thing) he’s been trying his best to keep me entertained with as little as money possible. He’s so awesome. The weekend before last we (finally) pumped up the tires on our bikes and took them riding around the neighborhood (even though Kevin’s knee was still dodgy) and ended up gathering all this fresh fruit from the trees around here. It was the lemon tree that started it all. I couldn’t believe how great these lemons smelled. I’ve been using them in every drink I can think of since. And even though I don’t like avocados, I’ve been squeezing the ones we got silly waiting for them to ripen. That bruises them, doesn’t it? Oh well, I know where the tree is.
This past Saturday, Kevin and I helped Michele unpack her new apartment. For Kevin this meant disappearing with Patrick for three hours to ‘drop off a dresser’ and for me (and Mari, Marilynn, and Michele) to unpack the 847 boxes marked ‘KITCHEN’. Michele has a buttload of dishes. Even with three boxes repacked for Goodwill and the dishes that Mari, Marilynn and myself walked off with, I still don’t know how Michele managed to fit everything in that kitchen. It was a decent sized kitchen, but damn.
On Sunday I was getting a bit stir crazy. I had gotten up fairly early (after staying up until the 2AM/3AM time change because I just wasn’t tired dammit (Beth got the email that reflected this)) and basically played around the computer until I was SO DAMN BORED of that too, then took a shower, and GAAAAAAAAH I’M SO BORED WHY DON’T I HAVE ANY MONEY WAAAAAAH IT’S SO NICE OUT WAAAAA and finally decided that I would take my camera and take pictures around the neighborhood and post them all here for you guys. This meant I got out my camera and started taking weird pictures around the house using the ‘frames’ option on my camera.
The weeds I should have been pulling, and the bird seed I should have been picking up.I had decided that before I left to take pictures, I would stop at the Harp real quick for breakfast\lunch, and then stop back over to Michele’s to bring her a housewarming gift (which would not be dishware), and then I would be off. Easy peasy.
But Kevin wanted to get breakfast\lunch too. So we split the Irish breakfast, had a beer, and had EVERY INTENTION of leaving to go to Michele’s and drop off a housewarming gift before he went back home and I rode around taking pictures.
Yummy Irish BreakfastBut then Dave and Jill showed up. We were two sips away from leaving. But Dave bought us a beer so we had to stay. After that beer, we had to buy Dave a beer back but DAMMIT, WE WERE LEAVING after that one as I wanted to get to Michele’s to drop off the housewarming gift and take some pictures.
But then Steve and Brian showed up.
And then Grant.
And then Derrick.
And then Mari and Gunter.
And finally, who walks through the door but Patrick and Michele!
“HEY! I was going to go to your house and drop off a present!”
“Well, where were you?”
“HERE! ….. You know how that goes.”
It was a sunny day and I finally admitted to the fact that I wasn’t going to be going anywhere, so I had to take some pictures to make up for it. First task for you all is to come up with the bubble sayings. I’m afraid there will be no prizes except blog mention honor. I didn't add that 'Life is fun ' by the way, that's part of the frame.
And finally, if you didn’t notice the poll up at the top right hand side of the page, now is the time to vote for your Favorite Fairy Princess.
Kevin
Dave
Brian
Steve
Gunter
Derek
Patrick
Matt, the Harp Door Guy
Michele
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sorry, so sorry...
To all that I saw yesterday and promised a new entry to read on Tuesday, I apologize. I got a little behind in errands and Kevin's broken\sprained foot and dinner and laundry and...well, you get the picture. Not wanting to leave you totally dry until tomorrow, here's this. It's an oldie but a goodie:
See you all on Wednesday!
See you all on Wednesday!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” and Wine Tasting - Temecula, CA
So here it is, the eve before my first day of a new school (or job, but I’m having the same sort of ‘first day of school’ jitters) and it’s raining outside and I just don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve had the last 11 days off of work….of any work. I put in my two weeks notice at my old job but since I’m going to a ‘competitor’ they had me work three days of the two weeks and sent me on my way. After being at my old job for over 3 years (my longest professional job to date) my head wasn’t ready to leave so suddenly and I certainly didn’t prepare myself for 11 days of doing whatever the hell I wanted. Believe it or not, I’m a bit of a planner. I spent the first day of my unplanned vacation just sitting on my ass wondering what the hell to do for the next 10 days.
Kevin was thankfully with me for my unplanned vacation. He (unfortunately of course) had knee surgery on my very last day of work. Due to the pain and swelling, the doctors didn’t let him come back to work until last Friday. Although Kevin is in a lot of pain and does a lot of ‘ow ow ow’-ing at unexpected times (and expected times when I slap his knee for being cheeky forgetting that it’s the bad knee) it’s been nice having someone to do rounds of “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” with.
By the first Saturday the only thing I could come up with to do with Kevin’s limited ability was go to Temecula. I’ve wanted to go to Vegas for awhile but since Kevin detests gambling I haven’t been able to convince him to go. Temecula is about 80 miles away and has a casino, but it also has loads of wineries. I had my in. I booked the hotel for Wednesday and laid out the wineries we were going to go to, including 2 for 1 tasting coupons for each one and made sure the casino wasn’t too far away from the hotel and had a couple coupons for lunch if we got there early enough. Like I said, I’m a planner. Unfortunately I’m not a ‘remember’-er and forgot about my call-in jury duty before I booked the un-refundable hotel room.
Every day before Wednesday I called in at my needed times with crossed fingers and toes that I wouldn’t actually have to go in and serve. By Tuesday I got the recording that I had to call in on Wednesday at 5 PM. I figured that even if I called and had to come in on Thursday morning, we could still go.
So go we did. We left at 10 AM Wednesday morning thinking that we would run into traffic on the 91 (there’s ALWAYS traffic on the 91) but surprisingly it wasn’t so bad. We were checked into our hotel (the handicapped room again which Kevin swears is what happens when you check into a hotel too early) by noon. Oh, I forgot to mention that due to all the billboards for Pechenga (which is the casino in Temecula) on the drive there, Kevin was constantly saying “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” I’d be talking about something serious, like global warming or the new shirt I just bought, and all of a sudden he’d go, “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” Then I’d mention that I might have to pull over to a gas station to go to the bathroom and he’d go, “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“What would you like to eat for lunch?”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“It’s raining, but it might clear up later.”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“Aren’t those mountains pretty?”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“How’s your knee feeling?”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“Can you please stop saying ‘Pechanga’?”
“Pe-CHANG…..oh, ok.”
…..
“OK, you can say it.”
“No, it’s alright.”
“No, go ahead. I know you want to.”
“I don’t have to say it.”
“But you want to. Go ahead, it’s alright.”
……
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
After checking into the hotel and grabbing a bit of lunch at a little Mexican place (this side note is for Kevin only as he would be the only one to get the joke: “Do you have any hot sauce?” “Yes.” “……” “Can we have some?”) we headed out to the first winery.
They knew Kevin was coming...
Most of the wineries in Temecula are located off of Rancho California Avenue. There’s a few more off of side roads, but since we figured that we wouldn’t be able to go any more than six of them, the offerings on Rancho Cal Ave. were just fine. Plus, I had the coupons.
The first place we stopped at was La Cereza. The winery was dead which I chalked up to it being 1 o clock on a Wednesday. The bartender at La Cereza had zero personality and I was starting to wonder what the day had in store for us. Typically when you go for a tasting, the bartender will explain where the grapes for that particular wine comes from, the flavors in it, how many barrels were produced, so on and so forth. This guy poured the wine and just stared at us almost as if he was expected us to explain the wine to him. It was a bit unnerving. I typically like to savor the wines (this is also a good trick so you don’t get too hammered on wine tastings) but we started slamming the wines down like we were in a Spring Break body shot competition.
The next winery, Maurice Car’rie was a lot better. The tasting room reminded me of an old farmhouse with a bartender just as ancient. But he was friendly and explained the wine like he was supposed to. I was tempted to hand him an application for employment at La Cereza.
We ended up going to four more wineries, Falkner, Miramonte, Callaway, and Mount Palomar. Mount Palomar ended up being our favorite. One of the best things about wine tasting is striking up conversations with the groups of people at the tasting with you who are basically out having fun and wasting the day away just like you are. Because it was Wednesday, we really didn’t see that many people. Most of the people we did see weren’t really interested in talking to us. Except at Mount Palomar. Not only were the wines delicious, the bartender friendly and gracious on a few free pours, but we ended up talking with a couple from New York. The husband was a New Yorker who gave a lengthy speech on why he doesn’t like people from Long Island and the wife was actually from Trinidad and was definitely getting knackered on all the wine. It was a great time and I would recommend Mount Palomar to anyone who asked. They also had a fantastic patio which I’m sure in the summer is awesome to hang out on.
After the wineries, we ended up going to a place called Aloha because the bartender at Mount Palomar mentioned they had a great happy hour. And they did! Three beers, and two very large appetizers were $21. The New York couple must have had the same idea because they showed up at Aloha shortly after we did. We hadn’t seen them in a couple hours and by this time the little wife from Trinidad was hammered. It was pretty funny.
We reluctantly left the New Yorkers to go to “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” After losing all my money there, I wish we had stayed at Aloha. I shouldn’t say that…I lost the $40 I came in with, then lost Kevin’s $40, then won $140 dollars at a video slot machine in the bar waiting for Kevin to come out from the bathroom. I gave Kevin $100 then lost the $40, then got $60 from the ATM (as Kevin wouldn’t give me any of the $100…smart man) and lost that too. So (let me add that up)….I guess I lost $40 when it was all said and done and Kevin lost nothing. I guess that isn’t so bad. We still should have stayed at Aloha.
After “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” we grabbed some to-go food from Denny’s and went back to the hotel. It was an awesome time and I think for the close proximately it is to us, we’ll probably go back to Temecula again soon. Oh, and call-in jury duty? Yeah, I completely forgot to call 5 PM on Wednesday. I remembered at 6 PM Thursday night…sweating bullets I called the number and found out that my group never had to come in and they were since released from calling in. Wooo!
Kevin was thankfully with me for my unplanned vacation. He (unfortunately of course) had knee surgery on my very last day of work. Due to the pain and swelling, the doctors didn’t let him come back to work until last Friday. Although Kevin is in a lot of pain and does a lot of ‘ow ow ow’-ing at unexpected times (and expected times when I slap his knee for being cheeky forgetting that it’s the bad knee) it’s been nice having someone to do rounds of “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” with.
By the first Saturday the only thing I could come up with to do with Kevin’s limited ability was go to Temecula. I’ve wanted to go to Vegas for awhile but since Kevin detests gambling I haven’t been able to convince him to go. Temecula is about 80 miles away and has a casino, but it also has loads of wineries. I had my in. I booked the hotel for Wednesday and laid out the wineries we were going to go to, including 2 for 1 tasting coupons for each one and made sure the casino wasn’t too far away from the hotel and had a couple coupons for lunch if we got there early enough. Like I said, I’m a planner. Unfortunately I’m not a ‘remember’-er and forgot about my call-in jury duty before I booked the un-refundable hotel room.
Every day before Wednesday I called in at my needed times with crossed fingers and toes that I wouldn’t actually have to go in and serve. By Tuesday I got the recording that I had to call in on Wednesday at 5 PM. I figured that even if I called and had to come in on Thursday morning, we could still go.
So go we did. We left at 10 AM Wednesday morning thinking that we would run into traffic on the 91 (there’s ALWAYS traffic on the 91) but surprisingly it wasn’t so bad. We were checked into our hotel (the handicapped room again which Kevin swears is what happens when you check into a hotel too early) by noon. Oh, I forgot to mention that due to all the billboards for Pechenga (which is the casino in Temecula) on the drive there, Kevin was constantly saying “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” I’d be talking about something serious, like global warming or the new shirt I just bought, and all of a sudden he’d go, “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” Then I’d mention that I might have to pull over to a gas station to go to the bathroom and he’d go, “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“What would you like to eat for lunch?”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“It’s raining, but it might clear up later.”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“Aren’t those mountains pretty?”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“How’s your knee feeling?”
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
“Can you please stop saying ‘Pechanga’?”
“Pe-CHANG…..oh, ok.”
…..
“OK, you can say it.”
“No, it’s alright.”
“No, go ahead. I know you want to.”
“I don’t have to say it.”
“But you want to. Go ahead, it’s alright.”
……
“Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!”
After checking into the hotel and grabbing a bit of lunch at a little Mexican place (this side note is for Kevin only as he would be the only one to get the joke: “Do you have any hot sauce?” “Yes.” “……” “Can we have some?”) we headed out to the first winery.
They knew Kevin was coming...Most of the wineries in Temecula are located off of Rancho California Avenue. There’s a few more off of side roads, but since we figured that we wouldn’t be able to go any more than six of them, the offerings on Rancho Cal Ave. were just fine. Plus, I had the coupons.
The first place we stopped at was La Cereza. The winery was dead which I chalked up to it being 1 o clock on a Wednesday. The bartender at La Cereza had zero personality and I was starting to wonder what the day had in store for us. Typically when you go for a tasting, the bartender will explain where the grapes for that particular wine comes from, the flavors in it, how many barrels were produced, so on and so forth. This guy poured the wine and just stared at us almost as if he was expected us to explain the wine to him. It was a bit unnerving. I typically like to savor the wines (this is also a good trick so you don’t get too hammered on wine tastings) but we started slamming the wines down like we were in a Spring Break body shot competition.
The next winery, Maurice Car’rie was a lot better. The tasting room reminded me of an old farmhouse with a bartender just as ancient. But he was friendly and explained the wine like he was supposed to. I was tempted to hand him an application for employment at La Cereza.
We ended up going to four more wineries, Falkner, Miramonte, Callaway, and Mount Palomar. Mount Palomar ended up being our favorite. One of the best things about wine tasting is striking up conversations with the groups of people at the tasting with you who are basically out having fun and wasting the day away just like you are. Because it was Wednesday, we really didn’t see that many people. Most of the people we did see weren’t really interested in talking to us. Except at Mount Palomar. Not only were the wines delicious, the bartender friendly and gracious on a few free pours, but we ended up talking with a couple from New York. The husband was a New Yorker who gave a lengthy speech on why he doesn’t like people from Long Island and the wife was actually from Trinidad and was definitely getting knackered on all the wine. It was a great time and I would recommend Mount Palomar to anyone who asked. They also had a fantastic patio which I’m sure in the summer is awesome to hang out on.
After the wineries, we ended up going to a place called Aloha because the bartender at Mount Palomar mentioned they had a great happy hour. And they did! Three beers, and two very large appetizers were $21. The New York couple must have had the same idea because they showed up at Aloha shortly after we did. We hadn’t seen them in a couple hours and by this time the little wife from Trinidad was hammered. It was pretty funny.
We reluctantly left the New Yorkers to go to “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” After losing all my money there, I wish we had stayed at Aloha. I shouldn’t say that…I lost the $40 I came in with, then lost Kevin’s $40, then won $140 dollars at a video slot machine in the bar waiting for Kevin to come out from the bathroom. I gave Kevin $100 then lost the $40, then got $60 from the ATM (as Kevin wouldn’t give me any of the $100…smart man) and lost that too. So (let me add that up)….I guess I lost $40 when it was all said and done and Kevin lost nothing. I guess that isn’t so bad. We still should have stayed at Aloha.
After “Pe-CHANG-gaaaaa!” we grabbed some to-go food from Denny’s and went back to the hotel. It was an awesome time and I think for the close proximately it is to us, we’ll probably go back to Temecula again soon. Oh, and call-in jury duty? Yeah, I completely forgot to call 5 PM on Wednesday. I remembered at 6 PM Thursday night…sweating bullets I called the number and found out that my group never had to come in and they were since released from calling in. Wooo!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Diva Dish - Brea, CA
There are three different ways I can start this entry. They are as follows:
So where does that leave us? It’s basically an entry without a beginning. Well there you go. This is what happens when I start to slack in my regular writing.
On Sunday afternoon (notice, I’m just going straight to the middle part) I went on Orange Country Register’s website, looked up events for that day that were less than 30 miles from my house, and decided that I would go to Brea to see a one man comedy tribute show to his mother called Diva Dish.
The website describes the show (in case you don’t feel like clicking that link and watching the little video) as:
I ended up leaving the house an hour early so I could go grab something to eat before the show. I ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory. I’m telling you this so you don’t make the mistake of going to the Cheesecake Factory in Brea, CA on a Sunday afternoon and order the soup\salad\half sandwich plate. The salad was limp, the soup lukewarm, and the sandwich bread so tough it cut the roof of my mouth. I went ahead and ordered the cheesecake, because you know…the CHEESECAKE Factory…but found that it was frozen solid. I should have complained, but I didn’t. Instead I’m just going to pan the place on the internet for all the world to see.
Don't eat here please.
I didn’t have too much time after lunch to make it to my show, but thankfully the Brea Civic Center was practically in the same parking lot as the mall (and hence, the Cheesecake Factory).
This next picture has nothing what-so-ever to do with this entry, but if you click on it to blow it up, you can see one of the many reasons why I love California in winter. Palm trees with a backdrop of snowy mountain tops. Oh yeeeah. Because I know my dear friends and family in Wisconsin have been dealing with relentless snow (15 inches on Wednesday indeed!) and bone chilling cold (-7 this morning when I looked) I honestly (I do, I swear!) feel bad in mentioning the 80 degree heat wave we’ve had here the last few days. But it has been beautiful and it makes the sting of paying over double in rent to my WI counterparts a bit more bearable.
Wish you were here. No really, I do.
So yeah, the show….I don’t think I have to mention that I was the youngest person there by a fairly long shot. As well, I didn’t know the layout of the theatre and ended up getting a seat in the 2nd row on the aisle. The theatre was small enough that the 2nd row might as well have been ‘on stage’. Most of the show was rather entertaining (I really wish you’d click that link and watch the video because me trying to relate one of the stories isn’t going to cut it) but there were….a couple singing numbers. If you know me at all you have to know how much I hate musicals. And when the man started singing, because I was practically on stage, sometimes he would be looking RIGHT AT ME. Of course I was trying my best not to grimace (I really really HATE musicals) so I kept having to look away and stare at the floor. Which made my neck hurt. I can’t exactly go around panning (I like that word today) a show about a man’s dead mother can I? I’m not the devil you know. I liked the ‘dish’ about Marilyn Monroe. I liked the ‘dish’ on Lucille Ball. I liked the ‘dish’ on Ethel Merman. I hated the singing. I hated the ‘doing the last scene of some play with my dead mother’ with the use of modern technology. But since most of it was funny stories, it was good enough for me to sit through it all. I’d give it a solid 6 out of 10. Maybe a 7 if I was sitting farther back.
A very illegal photo I took of the stage I was practically sitting on.
I think I’m going to start a website called ‘Ban the Music in Musicals’. Anyone with me?
- Tell you about the weirdness of living in close proximity to Los Angeles (but not IN Los Angeles as I’ve tried to stress to people before) and therefore having encounters with more-than-NOT-famous people…
- …or tell you about how growing up I used to be in a bunch of plays, both junior high and high school…
- ...or the anecdote in which I mention how all my friends out here are older than me, that after I wrote it out, wasn’t even amusing enough to warrant a ‘hmmmm’.
So where does that leave us? It’s basically an entry without a beginning. Well there you go. This is what happens when I start to slack in my regular writing.
On Sunday afternoon (notice, I’m just going straight to the middle part) I went on Orange Country Register’s website, looked up events for that day that were less than 30 miles from my house, and decided that I would go to Brea to see a one man comedy tribute show to his mother called Diva Dish.
The website describes the show (in case you don’t feel like clicking that link and watching the little video) as:
- Most people only get to see Hollywood stars on screen. Luke Yankee got to see them up close.
As the son of Academy Award® winning actress Eileen Heckart, Luke Yankee got up close and personal with some of the biggest stars the world has ever known. This live, multimedia event is like a fabulous party with the biggest stars from Broadway and Hollywood.
I ended up leaving the house an hour early so I could go grab something to eat before the show. I ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory. I’m telling you this so you don’t make the mistake of going to the Cheesecake Factory in Brea, CA on a Sunday afternoon and order the soup\salad\half sandwich plate. The salad was limp, the soup lukewarm, and the sandwich bread so tough it cut the roof of my mouth. I went ahead and ordered the cheesecake, because you know…the CHEESECAKE Factory…but found that it was frozen solid. I should have complained, but I didn’t. Instead I’m just going to pan the place on the internet for all the world to see.
Don't eat here please.I didn’t have too much time after lunch to make it to my show, but thankfully the Brea Civic Center was practically in the same parking lot as the mall (and hence, the Cheesecake Factory).
This next picture has nothing what-so-ever to do with this entry, but if you click on it to blow it up, you can see one of the many reasons why I love California in winter. Palm trees with a backdrop of snowy mountain tops. Oh yeeeah. Because I know my dear friends and family in Wisconsin have been dealing with relentless snow (15 inches on Wednesday indeed!) and bone chilling cold (-7 this morning when I looked) I honestly (I do, I swear!) feel bad in mentioning the 80 degree heat wave we’ve had here the last few days. But it has been beautiful and it makes the sting of paying over double in rent to my WI counterparts a bit more bearable.
Wish you were here. No really, I do.So yeah, the show….I don’t think I have to mention that I was the youngest person there by a fairly long shot. As well, I didn’t know the layout of the theatre and ended up getting a seat in the 2nd row on the aisle. The theatre was small enough that the 2nd row might as well have been ‘on stage’. Most of the show was rather entertaining (I really wish you’d click that link and watch the video because me trying to relate one of the stories isn’t going to cut it) but there were….a couple singing numbers. If you know me at all you have to know how much I hate musicals. And when the man started singing, because I was practically on stage, sometimes he would be looking RIGHT AT ME. Of course I was trying my best not to grimace (I really really HATE musicals) so I kept having to look away and stare at the floor. Which made my neck hurt. I can’t exactly go around panning (I like that word today) a show about a man’s dead mother can I? I’m not the devil you know. I liked the ‘dish’ about Marilyn Monroe. I liked the ‘dish’ on Lucille Ball. I liked the ‘dish’ on Ethel Merman. I hated the singing. I hated the ‘doing the last scene of some play with my dead mother’ with the use of modern technology. But since most of it was funny stories, it was good enough for me to sit through it all. I’d give it a solid 6 out of 10. Maybe a 7 if I was sitting farther back.
A very illegal photo I took of the stage I was practically sitting on.I think I’m going to start a website called ‘Ban the Music in Musicals’. Anyone with me?
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Date Night & Restaurant Week - Newport Beach, CA
It’s been one hell of a week and I’ve got a lot of things I want to get out of my head so I’m apologizing in advance if this entry is a bit scattered. Quite admittedly, my thoughts are not at all in a good place so I might come across a bit complain-y rather than funny and I apologize for that too. I’ve found over the years that writing is therapeutic when I’m trying to work something out and maybe that’s what I’m hoping happens here. I apologize for that too, especially for dragging you all into it. Oh, and I don’t have any pictures which really sucks. I might have to steal grab some off the internet just to add some color.
Where to begin? Well, to start off with, I vowed to myself on New Years Day that I would make an effort to get a lot of stuff I find an absolute hassle to deal with to just get it done already. These hassles I’m referring to almost completely involve medical and dental professionals, most of whom I have a complete aversion to, especially medical and dental professionals in the State of California.
I made a dental appointment, for example, after having nothing but bad experiences with dentists out here. In 2000, I almost went to small claims court with the first California dentist I saw. CA dentists are really that bad. In Wisconsin, when you are a new patient and you go to a dentist for a cleaning, the following happens: you get X-rays, and then you get a cleaning. You’ll probably get a fluoride treatment too if you ask nicely for it. In California, it’s a lot different. First of all, the only dentists your typical work insurance will cover are new dentists fresh out of dental school and typically fresh in the country. Another thing that is annoying is the obvious way that CA dentists try to extort the insurance companies. If you are a new patient in CA, the following happens: You go in for X-rays and an examination of your teeth and gums. Then you make an appointment for a ‘deep cleaning’. After the ‘deep cleaning’ you make another appointment for the ‘cleaning’. After the ‘cleaning’, you make another appointment to get one of the following, usually made-up procedures done, like gum treatments, invisible cavities, or whitening. Anything at all to make you give them more money. This is also the reason why it takes 4 months to get the first appointment.
So I made the appointment (I mentioned before that I was complain-y, right?) and figured out a way to get in sooner than the 4 month wait list. I told them my insurance was running out (lie) and that I had to get in sometime in the next two week. Not surprisingly, I got an appointment the very next day. Since I had X-rays done at another dentist 6 months ago (but couldn’t afford his prices to continue seeing him) I told the current dentist that I wouldn’t need X-rays because even if there was anything there, I wouldn’t be around to take care of it (lie) and please could I just get the cleaning. She, all of 28 and Indian, agreed. This is where I finally learned that a CA ‘cleaning’ is just a ‘polish’ and the WI cleaning that I was so accustomed to was actually the ‘deep cleaning’. Now, of course, I have to find a new dentist in the next 6 months to get a real cleaning. I am a bit grateful that I only got the polish though as this dentist was terrible. She missed half my teeth with the polish and kept squirting me in the eye with the cleaning tool. I hate to think of what would have happened if she had a sharp pokie instrument in my mouth.
OK, got that rant off my chest. Now on to the fun stuff…
One of the new things I did this past week was have Date Night. Kevin and I have been dating for close to 6 years now and save for the couple dates we had back in high school we’ve never really gone on a proper date. You all know we went on a couple dates in high school right? Quick update if you didn’t…I was 14, he was 16, we went on two dates…one to a school play, the other to a movie (Fletch Lives) then coffee…then he never called me again the bastard. He claims now that he had thought I was too goody-goody and he didn’t want to corrupt me. First of all, I think that’s a big ole lie to make me feel better but if it isn’t, he should have just waited a year. Just saying.
So yes! Date Night. We started off at what is slowly becoming one of my favorite restaurants if I could actually afford to go there on a regular basis, Billy’s at the Beach. It’s a high-end Hawaiian Fusion type place and they have the most awesome steaks. With your meal comes a salad, and instead of coming out in a little plate, it comes out on a lazy susan type thing with all your add-ons (onions, mushrooms, hearts of palm) and dressings in little dishes around it. Any place where I don’t have to utter the words, “Ranch, no onions please” when I order my salad is a good place. With dinner, drinks, coffee, dessert, and tip our bill was a hefty $150 bucks. We spent close to two hours there though and it was well worth it. After dinner we had, what I can only describe as, really full bellies. Tongue in cheek I suggested that we take a long walk on the beach, but that’s actually exactly what we did next. We parked the car on the peninsula and walked along the boardwalk for an hour or so. We looked (inside) at all the fancy houses and I kept making jokes about running into a dead body in the sand. After the walk, we had a couple cocktails at the Shamrock and called it a night.
But wait! There’s more….
It was also Restaurant Week in Newport this week! Every year around this time, about 70 or so restaurants in Newport Beach\Corona Del Mar participate in Restaurant Week. Basically they offer a 3 course meal for $15 per person at lunch and $35 for dinner. Most of the restaurants are pretty fancy places that normally charge $15 for a small salad. I couldn’t turn away from a chance to eat at a couple of these fancy places…it’s really the only time I could normally afford to do so.
The first place we hit was Arches. Arches is a Newport Beach institution and has a reputation for being one of the most over priced places to eat in the area. Kevin and I mistakenly walked in there one time not knowing this and were guilted into ordering an appetizer plate of $16 crab cakes. It came with 4 crab cakes that were very small. Kevin said that they were pretty good -not $16 good, but good. I had pretty high expectations for Arches during Restaurant Week, so I blame myself for being pretty disappointed. For $15, we got a micro-caeser salad, a super skinny piece of chicken in a lemon-caper sauce with pasta, and cherries jubilee (aka: ice cream with a couple of marinated cherries). It was tasty but I don’t think it justified $15 and I certainly don’t think it justified the normal price they charged for this meal.
Not to be deterred, the next day we went to Rothschild’s for lunch. I don’t expect anyone to remember, but Rothschild’s was one of the many places we hit for the Corona Del Mar eating tour last year. Rothschild’s gave you a little bit more variety in their Restaurant Week menu than Arches. I ended up getting the minestrone soup, meat cannoli, and tiramisu. Kevin had the bruschetta, chicken, and gelato. The apps were great, the main course was ok, and the dessert was absolutely fucking fabulous. Sorry to swear there, it was just that good. I ate all of mine and admittedly stole quite a bit of Kevin’s. The desserts themselves were worth $15, I swear. I want one (or both) of them right now.
I had wanted to hit a couple more places for dinner but Kevin kindly reminded me that even though it’s not as expensive as usual, it’s still expensive. He’s so smart. Maybe one of these days I’ll go on a dessert tour though. Rothschild’s tiramisu is first on that list.
Gah. You know what? I feel better. I had a couple more rants stored up in my head but after writing this all out, I don’t feel so…rant-y anymore. So, you know, you all got away a lot easier than I thought you all would.
I’ll be back in a week or so. This weekend is pretty low key…the rain is falling, the cat is curled up in a little ball by my side, and Kevin is playing video game on my other side…it’s just a good weekend to stay in and do….not much at all.
Where to begin? Well, to start off with, I vowed to myself on New Years Day that I would make an effort to get a lot of stuff I find an absolute hassle to deal with to just get it done already. These hassles I’m referring to almost completely involve medical and dental professionals, most of whom I have a complete aversion to, especially medical and dental professionals in the State of California.
I made a dental appointment, for example, after having nothing but bad experiences with dentists out here. In 2000, I almost went to small claims court with the first California dentist I saw. CA dentists are really that bad. In Wisconsin, when you are a new patient and you go to a dentist for a cleaning, the following happens: you get X-rays, and then you get a cleaning. You’ll probably get a fluoride treatment too if you ask nicely for it. In California, it’s a lot different. First of all, the only dentists your typical work insurance will cover are new dentists fresh out of dental school and typically fresh in the country. Another thing that is annoying is the obvious way that CA dentists try to extort the insurance companies. If you are a new patient in CA, the following happens: You go in for X-rays and an examination of your teeth and gums. Then you make an appointment for a ‘deep cleaning’. After the ‘deep cleaning’ you make another appointment for the ‘cleaning’. After the ‘cleaning’, you make another appointment to get one of the following, usually made-up procedures done, like gum treatments, invisible cavities, or whitening. Anything at all to make you give them more money. This is also the reason why it takes 4 months to get the first appointment.
So I made the appointment (I mentioned before that I was complain-y, right?) and figured out a way to get in sooner than the 4 month wait list. I told them my insurance was running out (lie) and that I had to get in sometime in the next two week. Not surprisingly, I got an appointment the very next day. Since I had X-rays done at another dentist 6 months ago (but couldn’t afford his prices to continue seeing him) I told the current dentist that I wouldn’t need X-rays because even if there was anything there, I wouldn’t be around to take care of it (lie) and please could I just get the cleaning. She, all of 28 and Indian, agreed. This is where I finally learned that a CA ‘cleaning’ is just a ‘polish’ and the WI cleaning that I was so accustomed to was actually the ‘deep cleaning’. Now, of course, I have to find a new dentist in the next 6 months to get a real cleaning. I am a bit grateful that I only got the polish though as this dentist was terrible. She missed half my teeth with the polish and kept squirting me in the eye with the cleaning tool. I hate to think of what would have happened if she had a sharp pokie instrument in my mouth.
OK, got that rant off my chest. Now on to the fun stuff…
One of the new things I did this past week was have Date Night. Kevin and I have been dating for close to 6 years now and save for the couple dates we had back in high school we’ve never really gone on a proper date. You all know we went on a couple dates in high school right? Quick update if you didn’t…I was 14, he was 16, we went on two dates…one to a school play, the other to a movie (Fletch Lives) then coffee…then he never called me again the bastard. He claims now that he had thought I was too goody-goody and he didn’t want to corrupt me. First of all, I think that’s a big ole lie to make me feel better but if it isn’t, he should have just waited a year. Just saying.
So yes! Date Night. We started off at what is slowly becoming one of my favorite restaurants if I could actually afford to go there on a regular basis, Billy’s at the Beach. It’s a high-end Hawaiian Fusion type place and they have the most awesome steaks. With your meal comes a salad, and instead of coming out in a little plate, it comes out on a lazy susan type thing with all your add-ons (onions, mushrooms, hearts of palm) and dressings in little dishes around it. Any place where I don’t have to utter the words, “Ranch, no onions please” when I order my salad is a good place. With dinner, drinks, coffee, dessert, and tip our bill was a hefty $150 bucks. We spent close to two hours there though and it was well worth it. After dinner we had, what I can only describe as, really full bellies. Tongue in cheek I suggested that we take a long walk on the beach, but that’s actually exactly what we did next. We parked the car on the peninsula and walked along the boardwalk for an hour or so. We looked (inside) at all the fancy houses and I kept making jokes about running into a dead body in the sand. After the walk, we had a couple cocktails at the Shamrock and called it a night.
But wait! There’s more….
It was also Restaurant Week in Newport this week! Every year around this time, about 70 or so restaurants in Newport Beach\Corona Del Mar participate in Restaurant Week. Basically they offer a 3 course meal for $15 per person at lunch and $35 for dinner. Most of the restaurants are pretty fancy places that normally charge $15 for a small salad. I couldn’t turn away from a chance to eat at a couple of these fancy places…it’s really the only time I could normally afford to do so.
The first place we hit was Arches. Arches is a Newport Beach institution and has a reputation for being one of the most over priced places to eat in the area. Kevin and I mistakenly walked in there one time not knowing this and were guilted into ordering an appetizer plate of $16 crab cakes. It came with 4 crab cakes that were very small. Kevin said that they were pretty good -not $16 good, but good. I had pretty high expectations for Arches during Restaurant Week, so I blame myself for being pretty disappointed. For $15, we got a micro-caeser salad, a super skinny piece of chicken in a lemon-caper sauce with pasta, and cherries jubilee (aka: ice cream with a couple of marinated cherries). It was tasty but I don’t think it justified $15 and I certainly don’t think it justified the normal price they charged for this meal.
Not to be deterred, the next day we went to Rothschild’s for lunch. I don’t expect anyone to remember, but Rothschild’s was one of the many places we hit for the Corona Del Mar eating tour last year. Rothschild’s gave you a little bit more variety in their Restaurant Week menu than Arches. I ended up getting the minestrone soup, meat cannoli, and tiramisu. Kevin had the bruschetta, chicken, and gelato. The apps were great, the main course was ok, and the dessert was absolutely fucking fabulous. Sorry to swear there, it was just that good. I ate all of mine and admittedly stole quite a bit of Kevin’s. The desserts themselves were worth $15, I swear. I want one (or both) of them right now.
I had wanted to hit a couple more places for dinner but Kevin kindly reminded me that even though it’s not as expensive as usual, it’s still expensive. He’s so smart. Maybe one of these days I’ll go on a dessert tour though. Rothschild’s tiramisu is first on that list.
Gah. You know what? I feel better. I had a couple more rants stored up in my head but after writing this all out, I don’t feel so…rant-y anymore. So, you know, you all got away a lot easier than I thought you all would.
I’ll be back in a week or so. This weekend is pretty low key…the rain is falling, the cat is curled up in a little ball by my side, and Kevin is playing video game on my other side…it’s just a good weekend to stay in and do….not much at all.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Aids in Africa Exhibit - Garden Grove, CA
You know, every time I haven’t written in awhile, I say to myself, “well, you’ve been awhile posting, but don’t mention it in the blog…no one cares.” But every single time I haven’t posted in awhile I still feel obligated to mention it anyhow. Like a formal apology of sorts.* *Which reminds me of a mere half hour ago when I had to eat crow to a customer who I sincerely was trying to assist but I ended up screwing up the information I gave them and they called me on it. Nothing says ‘Bad Day/Need Beer’ like uttering the words, “I give you my sincerest apologizes and regret any misgivings you may now have regarding technical support.”
With crow all over the place, I shall begin, though rather embarrassingly. I did do something new this weekend, which was to attend the AIDS in Africa exhibit at Crystal Cathedral this past Sunday. Unfortunately there isn’t too much to say about it, other than it was really good albeit short, and they don’t allow cameras inside. The pictures I have here are gathered from the Orange County Register’s website. Basically you are handed an iPod shuffle and some headphones when you first walk in. The guide speaking on the iPod gives you the name of a single child (out of 4), and you walk through the exhibit looking at this child’s photos and learn, eventually, whether or not they got AIDS or not. They even have a mock clinic set up where you hold out your hand and get your test results. It’s pretty powerful, and I’m not ashamed to say I cried a bit. But the whole exhibit takes no more than 20 minutes to walk through, that is, if you decide not to write a message on the prayer wall and\or listen to AIDS relief workers tell you ways to contribute.
I’m also embarrassed to say that I had an opportunity to go up to Long Beach on Sunday night to attend the Amazing Race Family/Friends/Fans party (that actually had a few of the reality star cast members there) but I got tired (read: lazy) and decided not to go. Now that would have made some great pictures.
You may be wondering what the hell I HAVE been doing, since it’s pretty obvious that I haven’t been updating here…so I’ll embarrassingly tell you…..I’ve been watching TV.
That’s right. TV. Big glorious flat screen TV. Kevin and I pooled to together the generosity that was ‘Christmas presents from family’ as well as a few of our own dollars, and ordered a Sony Aquos 37” flat screen television from Amazon. We ordered it the Friday after New Years and obsessed about its whereabouts for a week. And when I mean obsessed, I mean obsessed. I was on the Amazon site every hour on the hour. We called the shipping company every day to find out where in the country it currently was (which was mostly Reno, NV). It was suppose to be delivered to us on January 15th…we couldn’t wait that long. When we called and found out it was in Los Angeles, we fought Friday afternoon traffic (I say that blasé, but anyone who has ever lived in Southern California knows the pure hell that that statement is), endured the crazy over-fanatic security guard, and saved off hunger pains just so that TV would be snuggly in our living room for the Saturday afternoon Packer game.
Of course, any time you buy something that needs to be plugged in, you need to actually set it up. It doesn’t magically unwrap itself, put in the proper cords and wires, and tune in to the newest episode of ‘House’. Noooo, it needs help. I told Kevin that I would let him do everything…stay out of his way…cover my ears when he cursed too much. But I couldn’t stay away. It was new technology in the house, I had to touch it. As Kevin says, I’m for the tornado method of unwrapping everything right away, figure out as much as I can on my own, then try to locate the discarded manual under the pile of styrofoam and twisty-ties when I get stuck. He’s the keep everything in box while he reads through the directions and carefully pulls things out one by one as he needs them way. Yeah, I know, yet we get along so well….except of course when we are setting anything at all up\putting something together…which is how we got in a fight Friday night. And when I say ‘fight’, I mean ‘overreacting because we are both frustrated’. Basically I pulled out the power cord directly from the TV while it was powered on and I got overreacted-yelled at by Kevin and I overreacted-huffed away while he was still talking. We made up quickly and I’m proud to say that we were both on the couch Saturday afternoon watching the Packers kick the Seahawks butts in glorious HD. Seriously, it was like it was snowing in our living room it was so awesome.
Out with the old...
...in with the new.
And that’s what I’ve been up to, and also a reasonable explanation why I haven’t posted in awhile. I’m making it a goal to make the upcoming weeks a bit more interesting for you all to read so stick around, it will get better.
With crow all over the place, I shall begin, though rather embarrassingly. I did do something new this weekend, which was to attend the AIDS in Africa exhibit at Crystal Cathedral this past Sunday. Unfortunately there isn’t too much to say about it, other than it was really good albeit short, and they don’t allow cameras inside. The pictures I have here are gathered from the Orange County Register’s website. Basically you are handed an iPod shuffle and some headphones when you first walk in. The guide speaking on the iPod gives you the name of a single child (out of 4), and you walk through the exhibit looking at this child’s photos and learn, eventually, whether or not they got AIDS or not. They even have a mock clinic set up where you hold out your hand and get your test results. It’s pretty powerful, and I’m not ashamed to say I cried a bit. But the whole exhibit takes no more than 20 minutes to walk through, that is, if you decide not to write a message on the prayer wall and\or listen to AIDS relief workers tell you ways to contribute.
I’m also embarrassed to say that I had an opportunity to go up to Long Beach on Sunday night to attend the Amazing Race Family/Friends/Fans party (that actually had a few of the reality star cast members there) but I got tired (read: lazy) and decided not to go. Now that would have made some great pictures.
You may be wondering what the hell I HAVE been doing, since it’s pretty obvious that I haven’t been updating here…so I’ll embarrassingly tell you…..I’ve been watching TV.
That’s right. TV. Big glorious flat screen TV. Kevin and I pooled to together the generosity that was ‘Christmas presents from family’ as well as a few of our own dollars, and ordered a Sony Aquos 37” flat screen television from Amazon. We ordered it the Friday after New Years and obsessed about its whereabouts for a week. And when I mean obsessed, I mean obsessed. I was on the Amazon site every hour on the hour. We called the shipping company every day to find out where in the country it currently was (which was mostly Reno, NV). It was suppose to be delivered to us on January 15th…we couldn’t wait that long. When we called and found out it was in Los Angeles, we fought Friday afternoon traffic (I say that blasé, but anyone who has ever lived in Southern California knows the pure hell that that statement is), endured the crazy over-fanatic security guard, and saved off hunger pains just so that TV would be snuggly in our living room for the Saturday afternoon Packer game.
Of course, any time you buy something that needs to be plugged in, you need to actually set it up. It doesn’t magically unwrap itself, put in the proper cords and wires, and tune in to the newest episode of ‘House’. Noooo, it needs help. I told Kevin that I would let him do everything…stay out of his way…cover my ears when he cursed too much. But I couldn’t stay away. It was new technology in the house, I had to touch it. As Kevin says, I’m for the tornado method of unwrapping everything right away, figure out as much as I can on my own, then try to locate the discarded manual under the pile of styrofoam and twisty-ties when I get stuck. He’s the keep everything in box while he reads through the directions and carefully pulls things out one by one as he needs them way. Yeah, I know, yet we get along so well….except of course when we are setting anything at all up\putting something together…which is how we got in a fight Friday night. And when I say ‘fight’, I mean ‘overreacting because we are both frustrated’. Basically I pulled out the power cord directly from the TV while it was powered on and I got overreacted-yelled at by Kevin and I overreacted-huffed away while he was still talking. We made up quickly and I’m proud to say that we were both on the couch Saturday afternoon watching the Packers kick the Seahawks butts in glorious HD. Seriously, it was like it was snowing in our living room it was so awesome.
Out with the old...
...in with the new.
And that’s what I’ve been up to, and also a reasonable explanation why I haven’t posted in awhile. I’m making it a goal to make the upcoming weeks a bit more interesting for you all to read so stick around, it will get better.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
It's a Wonderful Tur-Duc-Hen! *Christmas Entry*
I didn’t think I’d be here until after the holidays, but after having the Christmas that I had, I simply couldn’t resist. Plus, I did something new, or rather ate something new, so I figured that it’s only appropriate to share it with you all.
As you may know, I had my family out from WI this past week as Kevin was gone in WI to see his. A couple days before Kevin left he surprised me with a tur-duc-hen that he had special ordered a few weeks ago from Louisiana. He had it delivered to the Harp so I had no idea what he was up to until he had me go pick it up.
For those who don’t know what a tur-duc-hen is, it’s a de-boned chicken shoved into a de-boned duck that shoved into a partially de-boned turkey. I have to use the word ‘shoved’ or it loses its humor factor. Oh, and in between the shoved birds is a layer of stuffing with Creole sausage. Yum. Kevin and I had wanted to get a tur-duc-hen for Thanksgiving or Christmas the very moment we heard of its existence. However, by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas came around, we had forgotten to order it in time and had to settle for a boring turkey with nothing what-so-ever shoved into it. Kevin getting the family and I one for Christmas was the most awesome-est present ever. The only sad thing was that Kevin wouldn’t be around to enjoy it.
After opening prezzies Christmas morning (I got the Harry Potter movie box set…*squeal!*), I went ahead and put in the tur-duc-hen. I didn’t tell the family what we were having and up until I pulled it out of the refrigerator, we all simply referred to it as the ‘mystery meat’. They were pleasantly surprised that we weren’t having ostrich or buffalo balls.
A thawed tur-duc-hen should take about 4 ½ hours to cook. Kevin had warned me that it is easy to dry out the bird(s) so I took plenty care to baste it every 45 minutes. I have also never basted anything before, so I guess that’s a non-exciting new thing as well.
The tur-duc-hen ended up taking 5 hours to cook all the way through (as indicated with my brand new meat thermometer) and when it came out it looked delicious regardless of what my father’s finger is indicating.
Everyone loved the tur-duc-hen, even my step-mother who didn’t have hers until the next day due to the illness of drinking the Bloody Mary’s I prepared for her. Sorry Mom! We accompanied the meat with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (Kevin, there was nary a serving of green bean casserole left when dinner was over…you are the only one in the ole US who doesn’t like G.B. casserole! Hee hee), gravy and rolls (a typical Midwest dinner without a speck of non-dressed vegetable in sight). It was excellent.
After dinner, my dad stayed at home with our still very ill mother, while my brother, sister, cousin and I went down to the pier to meet Patrick and Michele for a Duffy ride. If I thought I was having fun before, I was about to be blown away.
Things started out simply enough. We cruised around the bay for a few hours, drinking wine, eating cheese and crackers, talking and looking at all the fancy houses decorated with Christmas lights. It was fairly quiet on the bay and with all the tur-duc-hen in my stomach I became really relaxed to the point of sleepiness…but in that good way.
About an hour or so in, we ran out of wine. There was no place on the bay to stop and get more, so instead we floated over to Michele’s parent’s house where Michele’s ex-husband’s boat just happened to be.
“You have to be really really quiet”
“Why?”
“We’re going to steal some wine off of the boat.”
So Patrick and I became the official pirates of Newport Beach. Except there wasn’t any wine on the boat so we took some Bailey’s and Kaluha instead. Michele wasn’t happy with our plundering so she snuck into her parent’s house for wine and the most delicious eggnog I’ve ever had.
After another hour or so, we floated past the Balboa Bay Club and noticed that they were indeed open. Even though we weren’t dressed properly, we went in anyhow and had a couple cocktails courtesy of Patrick. We talked with the gay bartender, Stephen (who gave my brother and my cousin free beers but not my sister and I), and watched Michele sing with the pianist. We might have been having too much of a good time as the manager kept giving us the stink eye the entire time and looked a bit too relieved when we finally left.
We floated around for another hour (Michele had tried to head back but all of us, included Patrick, pleaded for just another 20 minutes more on the boat) and finally docked. My car was parked at the Shamrock, so we all decided to go in for a cocktail courtesy of me.
Michele and Patrick were pretty tired so they left right after their drinks were done. My sister, brother, and cousin who are all in their early twenties wanted to stay, so stay we did. We ended up talking with Finky and Nads most of the night.
It was at the Shamrock that my sister taught me the Christmas Tree Dance. The video explains most of it (with the actual dance of course) but I’ll describe it as well. The dance goes as following: First you make the tree, then you hang the garland, then you put on the ornaments, then the star, then the presents, then you chop it down and take it to the curb. It’s an awesome dance as Maggie will demonstrate below (even though the music isn’t optimal for it).
At about midnight, we took a cab back to my house. Of course the KIDS (they yelled at me before for calling them that but I don’t care) didn’t feel like they were done so we walked over to a very dead Pierre Street Annex. I made the KIDS fill out Lotto ticket slips for me (didn’t win a thing by the way) while my sister did the Christmas Tree Dance with the DJ. Thankfully the bar closed after about 40 minutes of us being there and we finally went home to pizza and tur-duc-hen.
Best. Christmas. Ever.
As you may know, I had my family out from WI this past week as Kevin was gone in WI to see his. A couple days before Kevin left he surprised me with a tur-duc-hen that he had special ordered a few weeks ago from Louisiana. He had it delivered to the Harp so I had no idea what he was up to until he had me go pick it up.
For those who don’t know what a tur-duc-hen is, it’s a de-boned chicken shoved into a de-boned duck that shoved into a partially de-boned turkey. I have to use the word ‘shoved’ or it loses its humor factor. Oh, and in between the shoved birds is a layer of stuffing with Creole sausage. Yum. Kevin and I had wanted to get a tur-duc-hen for Thanksgiving or Christmas the very moment we heard of its existence. However, by the time Thanksgiving and Christmas came around, we had forgotten to order it in time and had to settle for a boring turkey with nothing what-so-ever shoved into it. Kevin getting the family and I one for Christmas was the most awesome-est present ever. The only sad thing was that Kevin wouldn’t be around to enjoy it.
After opening prezzies Christmas morning (I got the Harry Potter movie box set…*squeal!*), I went ahead and put in the tur-duc-hen. I didn’t tell the family what we were having and up until I pulled it out of the refrigerator, we all simply referred to it as the ‘mystery meat’. They were pleasantly surprised that we weren’t having ostrich or buffalo balls.
A thawed tur-duc-hen should take about 4 ½ hours to cook. Kevin had warned me that it is easy to dry out the bird(s) so I took plenty care to baste it every 45 minutes. I have also never basted anything before, so I guess that’s a non-exciting new thing as well.
The tur-duc-hen ended up taking 5 hours to cook all the way through (as indicated with my brand new meat thermometer) and when it came out it looked delicious regardless of what my father’s finger is indicating.
Everyone loved the tur-duc-hen, even my step-mother who didn’t have hers until the next day due to the illness of drinking the Bloody Mary’s I prepared for her. Sorry Mom! We accompanied the meat with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (Kevin, there was nary a serving of green bean casserole left when dinner was over…you are the only one in the ole US who doesn’t like G.B. casserole! Hee hee), gravy and rolls (a typical Midwest dinner without a speck of non-dressed vegetable in sight). It was excellent.
After dinner, my dad stayed at home with our still very ill mother, while my brother, sister, cousin and I went down to the pier to meet Patrick and Michele for a Duffy ride. If I thought I was having fun before, I was about to be blown away.
Things started out simply enough. We cruised around the bay for a few hours, drinking wine, eating cheese and crackers, talking and looking at all the fancy houses decorated with Christmas lights. It was fairly quiet on the bay and with all the tur-duc-hen in my stomach I became really relaxed to the point of sleepiness…but in that good way.
About an hour or so in, we ran out of wine. There was no place on the bay to stop and get more, so instead we floated over to Michele’s parent’s house where Michele’s ex-husband’s boat just happened to be.
“You have to be really really quiet”
“Why?”
“We’re going to steal some wine off of the boat.”
So Patrick and I became the official pirates of Newport Beach. Except there wasn’t any wine on the boat so we took some Bailey’s and Kaluha instead. Michele wasn’t happy with our plundering so she snuck into her parent’s house for wine and the most delicious eggnog I’ve ever had.
After another hour or so, we floated past the Balboa Bay Club and noticed that they were indeed open. Even though we weren’t dressed properly, we went in anyhow and had a couple cocktails courtesy of Patrick. We talked with the gay bartender, Stephen (who gave my brother and my cousin free beers but not my sister and I), and watched Michele sing with the pianist. We might have been having too much of a good time as the manager kept giving us the stink eye the entire time and looked a bit too relieved when we finally left.
We floated around for another hour (Michele had tried to head back but all of us, included Patrick, pleaded for just another 20 minutes more on the boat) and finally docked. My car was parked at the Shamrock, so we all decided to go in for a cocktail courtesy of me.
Michele and Patrick were pretty tired so they left right after their drinks were done. My sister, brother, and cousin who are all in their early twenties wanted to stay, so stay we did. We ended up talking with Finky and Nads most of the night.
It was at the Shamrock that my sister taught me the Christmas Tree Dance. The video explains most of it (with the actual dance of course) but I’ll describe it as well. The dance goes as following: First you make the tree, then you hang the garland, then you put on the ornaments, then the star, then the presents, then you chop it down and take it to the curb. It’s an awesome dance as Maggie will demonstrate below (even though the music isn’t optimal for it).
At about midnight, we took a cab back to my house. Of course the KIDS (they yelled at me before for calling them that but I don’t care) didn’t feel like they were done so we walked over to a very dead Pierre Street Annex. I made the KIDS fill out Lotto ticket slips for me (didn’t win a thing by the way) while my sister did the Christmas Tree Dance with the DJ. Thankfully the bar closed after about 40 minutes of us being there and we finally went home to pizza and tur-duc-hen.
Best. Christmas. Ever.
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