Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays and Cheers to a fabulous New Year!

Drowning in double bookings

Argh, why do I do this during the holidays? The next two days, this being one of them, are going to be complete chaos. I have seemed to triple and double book myself. Tonight I have to make an appearance at an open house for the nuns at work...yes you heard it right...I am going to an open house hosted by nuns. They are making bourbon balls for it. Then I need to skedadle and get myself to the gym to see my trainer about an hour after the nun open house starts...hoping I can seemlessly do this.
Then I also have to get to the store to buy food for the potluck work party tomorrow that I seem to be not only attending, but planning as well.....it does not make it a fun party for me when I have to worry about the fact that I need to go buy beverages and I must arrive early to set up and stuff like that. I think the office owes me a spa getaway after that, cause their ways are turning me into a ripe old scrooge.
I wanted to post some pictures today, but my camera was taken from my purse for a different project so I will have to update you later with all the photos that were taken over the last week.
Yesterday, I did crafts with my friend Sue and turned the house into a disaster zone. I am not sure the house will ever ever be clean after this...but it does smell an awful lot like peppermint right now so that is pretty sweet...it is like the apartment brushed it's teeth.
So, at this particular moment my head is inching toward my desk...I do believe I must leave you now in search of coffee.
Too keep you light hearted and happy, my suggestion is to go to YouTube and search for MXC Saddle Sores to see one of the funniest game shows I have ever experienced.

Why must the weekend be sooo short :(

It was an unbelievably beautiful weekend we just had....I wish it had not ended. The weather was perfect...I was in a t-shirt during most of the day and then had a nice isle sweater to wear when it got a bit crisp. Friday was spent couch surfing in the evening as I did not want to go out anywhere. The weather was windy and the sky kept spitting every so often that evening. We had some friends that went on the 12 bars of Christmas which was held that night and so we are still waiting to hear how it went. I think for the evening it would have turned out to be the one or two bars of Christmas because I would have wanted to stay inside once I got to one....but I never like the first bar they start at so I would NOT have stayed there...music is way too loud and the bartenders always look like they forgot to put on clothes....ridiculous looking short shorts. On Saturday, we cleaned up the haus and tried to write a list out of the rest of the things we needed to get done for the holidays. We then joined up with friends to have a little Xmas party and we played Wii and watched the fight between Mayweather (who I keep referring to as Merriweather) and Hatton. I would MUCH rather have seen Hatton win because Merriweather needs to be knocked off his pimp pedestal.
Our neighborhood also decorated for Xmas...this was the Santa Stop at the corner of our block:
On Sunday we strolled around the neighborhood and took in the holiday foliage such as this interesting plant that looks like it is Aloe, but seems to bloom these wonderful peaks at the end of the year.
We then went down to the Catalina coffee house to
play some supersize chess and sip some coffee. Jon won fair and square, but I think I gave him a hard time on the playing field.

The apricot bar that we shared while there was definitely tasty although we thought it was peach at first...they need to label their baked goods.

The best thing about this time of the year here in the south bay is how clear the air is because of the wind...the water was not very choppy on Sunday when we took this shot, but the news has been saying that the waves have been insane lately and that if we have a chance when the winds start to pick up we should head down and view their power.

The Holidays and Blatant Kitty Cuteness

So, this weekend I decorated the house (took all of 15 minutes) and centered myself into the Christmas spirit. My friend Sue and I did crafts and she taught me how to make little snowman. Sue's are really intricate with top hats and little bits of holly. One of hers even has cheeks that blush....very cute. Here was my try at creating a snowman...he has a gnome/elf hat on.

Jon purchased a santa hat for Woody and instead of wearing it on his head he liked to stick his head inside the hat.Stay away from my hat.We also realized that we needed to get a stocking for Woody as we have one for each of us and it would just not be fair to not include him. I promise not to blog too much about our fat cat, but right now he is the newbie in this place and it feels as if the apartment revolves around him at the moment. When you try and cook in the kitchen he is begging at your feet. While watching TV he asks you to tune into the Animal Planet channel or the Classical Music Station. When you have to leave the apartment he tries to either look really sad that you will not let him out or he will hide and try to dart out of the door. He has gotten out a few times, but everytime he gets out the door he stops to sniff the first succulent plant that is outside our door and I just scoop him up....then I carry him around so he can smell the jade plants and the pine tree and see the street a while.

So, the office today will be quiet because the grand opening of our new clinic in Hawthorne is happening today. It is a great thing that this place is opening because it will help to relieve some of the excess amount of people that come into the ER to get treated.

Busy holiday busy

So, I should have posted sooner, but I have been working, working out, and trying to stay ahead of the holidays. Took another spin class last night and thought I was about to go into the white light during the class, but luckily slowed down and got through it.

I have not done decorating at home just yet and I am still trying to pin down all of my holiday shopping, but I am keeping up with cleaning on the place. I feel like I have to clean a lot more now that we have Sir Woody, so we vaccuum often and I am now addicted to the cleaning supplies from Mrs. Meyers. I especially love the Lemon Verbena and I believe I am mopping the kitchen floor more often because of it. http://www.mrsmeyers.com/
Thanksgiving was fun as we ended up spending it with some friends and cooking a full thanksgiving meal with plenty of potatoes, turkey and stuffing. I had a full four days off from the office which was magical except that I always feel like I have missed quite a bit when I return. The plants in our office were looking pretty sad, but that was about it. During those four days I pretty much did nothing. I was a human slug. The best kind. I slept, ate, watched TV, and mopped the floor.
Monday was my friend Tiffany's birthday so we went out for dinner. We ate outside and it turned out to be so nice with just a jacket and sweater. That same evening I had my training session with the trainer and he worked my muscles out so much that when I got home to get ready to go out for dinner I thought I was not going to make it...and I certainly felt like I was not going to eat anything, but of course as soon as we got to the restaurant, I was ready for some food and felt fine.
So, today in the office is pretty calm and not too much is getting done in my department....I suppose I should do something while I am here.

Hotel Hoppin'

So, this last weekend Jon hopped over to the Fairmont Hotel for work and I decided to drive up and join him there on Saturday night since I had an event on Sunday at said hotel that I was attending.
The Fairmont was much more luxurious than the other place downtown and everything was monogrammed with little Fs. Jon thought this was fantastic and thought that the hotel should give him these items for free since his last name obviously starts with an F...therefore these items MUST be meant for him. I dined on a CPK salad for dinner and went shopping along the 3rd St. Promenade and then retired early. The next morning the line started up for the Sassy City Girl Sample Sale which is what I had registered to attend a while ago. The line was out the gates of the hotel and down the street...I had no idea how popular this was. The sale was held in several rooms in the lower section of the hotel (basement) and so it was mighty crowded down there trying to see what each of the designers brought. I did some holiday shopping...hence I will not say what was purchased at said event, and then my friend Sue and I left at a reasonable time before our heads exploded from the crush of mad shopping ladies.
After the sale we went to Barney's Beanery for some chow and then did some necessity shopping at the Target in the evening. I found out that night that if I spend a full day shopping, my brain as well as all of my muscles turn into a type of jiggly pudding. Monday at the office was hard to get used to, but I got through the day and today has been a little better and I do wonder if it is not due to the fact that this is a short week due to the holiday of massive mashed potatoes.
On Monday night I went and met with my fitness trainer who worked out my arms until I could not move them anymore...somehow I was able to drive home that evening, but this morning I could not grab the cereal box off the top of the refrigerator and needed assistance. Tomorrow night I plan to punish myself somemore and go to the spinning class again. It is my punishment for eating two pieces of chocolate out of the Sees Candy Box that someone brought into the bloody office. I hope everyone has a fabulous massive mashed potatoes day! Cheers, e

Weird bikes and my Midweek Moroccan Getaway

Ok, so this last weekend & week went by too fast and I am once again at work on a Friday. Everyone knows that a lot of work does not get done on a Friday so I decided I had better update everyone on the events here in LA.

Over the weekend it was balmy and gorgeous outside so we went and visited Charles and saw his new fun vehicle purchase. He purchased this new bike from Honda...that is most bizarre and must get him a ton of stares on the road. It looks kind of like a snowmobile and somewhat like a motorcycle and somewhat like something I have never seen before. My first impression was that I would nickname it the bee...the bumble bee. Here I am trying out the cushiness of the seat and seeing just how one sits on this oddity:

This week was then started on a good note with not a whole lot to do at the office this week, but prepare for the upcoming events that will happen in the spring and to print my new 2008 event calendar brochure that goes out to all of our donors and friends. Jon was attending the LA Auto Show in downtown Los Angeles, so I decided to get out of the South Bay and stay with him downtown at the funky hotel that they were put up at. They were staying at the Figueroa Hotel which was once a YWCA. The hotel has since been redesigned into a funky getaway. They did not have the money to update the bathrooms or the actual ammenities, but the hotel itself has so much character that it redeems itself. The floors are concrete that has been painted in warm colors and added to with colorful tiles and artwork.

The room was small and cozy and it was pretty hot downtown that evening so I opened up the windows in the room and read the book I had brought with me. Then when I got a little hungry I went to the famous Pantry diner to eat at the counter.

I had a delicious grilled cheese (ohhhh bad on my diet) and listened to the students who kept coming in to get to go items. I guess their spaghetti and meatballs dinner was the popular choice, but their breakfast all day also enticed me.

On the way back to my room, I noticed a fire escape door open and took this shot of the pool and the downtown skyline before heading off to bed.

oooh my bum

So, last night my friend Michelle and I took a spinning class....it was pure torture. My legs really do not hurt that much today, but my bum is aching and my shoulders would like to detach themselves from my body.
Michelle exclaimed "Never never never again" after class and I just remember cursing the instructor as she kept yelling "peddle faster...raise that resistance." I did cheat a little bit and I do not think the resistance on my bike was up to what it was really supposed to be.
On the other hand I did get introduced to the Hermosa Beach 24 hour fitness which is much much nicer than the Torrance one...although it is a bit more of a meat market than the Torrance one is. On Saturday I will be trying out the kickboxing class which is Michelle's favorite. I am excited about that one. I have decided to also use the spinning class as my reminder that I should not have that piece of cake.....such as, if I have that piece of chocolate cake I will have to take another spinning class. I believe I will totally eat a piece of celery instead and skip the spinning.
Woody returned to our house after one night out! He apologized and finally let us know that he is pretty much a wuss in the outside world, where they do not have treats, or laser pointers or a good wire brushing which are some of his favorite things. He now does not spend all of his time in the pots and pans cabinet, but has taken to sleeping on the stairs or under the dining table.
This last weekend was nice and easy going. On Saturday we found ourselves at a baby shower for some friends who are expecting a little boy, and then I went shopping on Sunday which of course is so dangerous these days as I have found myself to be quite a little shopping maniac....I would never believe that I could become one of those, but it has happened.
From now on, I promise only to purchase xmas gifts. Ohhhh I am so behind on that.

Message from Captain Woodruff III

I dare say my good friend, I do not weigh 30 pounds, but am a rather light 15 pound kitty. I finally let that human Erin lift me onto the scale to show her that I am not as chuncky as they all think. My time here has been good and not all that horrifying. I was given a nice welcome gift of a katnip mouse that I have licked to death and they seem to feed me the same as my old friend Larry the Harley guy. I do miss Larry and hope that he did not let me go due to my asking him everyday for a Harley of my own. He insists that they do not make a helmet in my size...yeah right...I have heard that one before.
Last night was Halloween and I decided I would make my escape. The humans had visitors and were chatting downstairs while I was planning my getaway. I hid under the guest bed and listened while they visited with the little human named Elise. The couple that came over was Sean and Suzie Hansen. I caught them taking this photo of Erin with the small human dressed as a pumpkin.
I planned my escape around the pumpkin that they carved for the trick or treaters. It was very small and so I thought that my plan would not work, but those humans are not always as smart as they think. All week I have been letting them know my plans, but due to the different dialect that I speak they had no idea what I was talking about. The Erin Human had gone to bed and so I knew that she would not be a problem. The Jon one is a bit easier to trick and so I waited until he went to go and make sure that the pumpkin's candle was out for the evening and I made the mad dash between his legs and out into the wild. He tried to coax me back into his domicile, but I was not falling for that one. I may come back if I cannot find a place that suits me or maybe I will never come back...who knows. They had already given me the nickname The Fridge and I was highly offended that I would be called that...as I do not like anything they have in their fridge, but I may miss them and show up one day once again. Stay tuned for further details.

Just one more coal for the fire sir...

So, I am freezing in our meatlocker of an office. The building that I work in would benefit from a complete demolition....it is old, nasty, has no windows and was built during a period of ugly architecture. Very ugly architecture.

I keep thinking that I will turn around and see Scrooge holding a bag of coal in the corner saying, "One piece for the whole day...that is all you get."

This weekend the sky finally cleared up. The onshore winds finally kicked in and blew the ash and smoke away and there was blue sky! On Sunday, went for a bike ride and ended up in Riviera Village where we went and had lunch at the Petit Casino...a little french restaurant that has pretty good crossiant sandwiches. I went next door after that to look at Xmas cards at a little boutique called Card de a. They have the best cards for the holidays. I cannot believe I am already shopping for the holidays. I do not have any of my gift shopping done at all and I am afraid it might once again get down to the wire and I will get all freaked out that I have not gotten the right gifts...it happens every year.

This weekend we also had a trial run with a kitty in our house. I am not sure that I would call Woody a kitty as he is more like a 30 pound dat or cog....he is enormous and what is weird is that I do not believe all of it is due to weight...it is more like he is a muscle builder cat. Anyway, my new nick name for him is my "fat fraidy cat" because he is so scared of everything. He searched out the living room and then opened the bottom pot and pan cabinet in our kitchen and hid out in there most of Sunday afternoon.

He finally came out while I was sitting on the couch reading and he sat at my feet. He gets along fine with me, but I wish he was more of a lap sitter....maybe he just feels self conscious about his weight and that is why he would not join me on the couch.

So, I am hoping that he is ok at the house today, I just found out from someone that it is hot outside so I have an odd feeling that Mr. Fat Fraidy Cat is once again in the pot and pan cabinet. He seems to like it in there, so as long as he is happy I am good with it. He is our cupboard kitty.

The Sky is falling

Yes, in fact the sky is falling in flakes of ash...everywhere. So, Southern California is surrounded by fire and even though I live far away from the fires, they are causing chaos everywhere. The sensors that let meterologists know that it is raining keep letting them know that we are in a rain storm....only it is not rain, it is ash. This morning when I got to my car it was covered and now I can actually see little white flakes in the air. They are saying we should try to stay inside and breath only filtered air. Hopefully for the people that are near the fires we will be able to get them under control soon. They leave fantastic sunsets, but the damage that it has already left with over a hundred homes destroyed is just unbelievable.

It may be hard to see, but the photo above is the table on the patio...covered in ash...if you look up at the top of the table near the lime tree (that has actual limes on it-yeah!) you can see the one spot where there was a candle sitting.

In other news this week, I am trying to eat healthier and make more veggies. I made my first spaghetti squash last week and it was a hit...we will do that again soon.Unfortunately, I also decided that this week would be a good time to clean out the cabinets and start using some of the food that was stashed in there. I found a spice cake mix, so of course I decided...why not...let's make an October cake. I made it last night and as you can see enjoyed two pieces before it went off to the fridge.

My last weekend was one of relaxation and doing absolutely nothing in terms of cleaning up or any work type stuff. I rode my bike to the library and checked out some books and then picked up some buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes from Whole Foods (whole paycheck) and watched some movies....The Queen (made me want some Corgis) and Cold Comfort Farm (most bizarre and I think they cut out some needed scenes).

Jon on the other had was in the middle of no where in a desert sand storm on his manly camping trip:

Poor truck got stuck: On his way back on Sunday, he almost did not make it due to some of the fires. Here is a view of what he had to drive through on the way back.

Lazy Pink Weekend

So, I have been hard at work trying to get ready for this conference that we finally had on Friday of this last week. Everything was done in pink and brown for the Women's Wellness Conference and the theme was Power of Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. We had over 500 women attend on Friday and our keynote speaker was Ann Jillian. I was not so sure how she would do, but she gave a fantastic speech and kept tying in our hospital and Breast Center so that was good.
Our office has been inundated with pink and I think I am finally ready to get rid of it all...here are a few of the items we had at our conference.Norah flew in on Saturday to stay with us before work on Monday. We spent the afternoon relaxing around the South Bay and hanging out at the pier where Norah tried the largest pinball machine...unfortunately Hercules was not working that well and needs some TLC from the Fun Factory Folks.The next day we took the long road (Mulholland Dr.) toward downtown to drop Norah off at the Westin Bonaventure and stayed to have a drink in the revolving lounge on the 35th Flr.
Work on Monday was back to normal. Wrapping up after the conference and figuring out all the money. I went grocery shopping after work and due to the pomegranate conversations I had with Norah, I had to get this local large pom at the grocery.There was also an interesting package from Mom...and it was a good thing I saw the return label on the package, otherwise it would have been so strange to have gotten this squeezy brain scull. Jon just love's it.

Camping

Camping last weekend in Ojai was a blast. We drove up on Friday and first went to the original camp site that we booked called Wheeler Gorge. It was gorgeous and had a creek running right through the camp site. Unfortunately due to the large Ojai fire that they recently had, they had restricted campers to only use a propane stove to heat anything. So, plan B, we drove back into Ojai to see if we could find a different campsite. Luckily we met up with a county park ranger and he let us in on a little secret...regarding a camp site that had just been reopened and since it was county you could have fires.
We set up the tent and opened the krispie treat...the largest krispie treat we could find, don't worry I ended up sharing...a little.We were so close to downtown Ojai that we drove down for a fancy coffee in the morning and drove around to see the sights...like Edith's Walnut Factory and tons of horse ranches. I have decided that I would like to have a Lipizzaner pony...they are born usually brown or black and then turn white.


Our friends came up on the Saturday morning to join us. Then the four of us hung out with Terry (our camping pet turkey). Terry was so bold. He would walk right up to you and hung out at our campsite the entire time we were there.

One thing Terry did do that got him into a bit of trouble with us, was after drinking some beer from a plate, Terry jumped up onto our friends car and left a huge scratch with his talons. Bad Terry.....Bad.

Argh....Talons.

We were so glad we did not pack Turkey bacon...we would have probably have felt too guilty to eat it.
Saturday afternoon we toured around the Ojai area and tried to find a place to go swimming. We found a fresh spring by the side of the road and also stopped at this place that said it had hot springs, but also stated that it was private property. When we asked, Jon was greeted by a suspicious man in white pants...you know what that means....drug dealer. They were probably growing pot and opium plants near the springs...that is my theory.
So, back to the camp site to have dinner and hang out by the camp fire, where I finally split my camping pants. This is right before I threw my camping pants in the trash:Thank goodness I had extra jeans. That night I slept like a log and the next morning we made a huge breakfast with pancakes, TONS of bacon, and eggs with peppers and potatoes.
Oh, and before I forget...I did not style it too much for the photo, but here is my new haircut with all the layers that I like.

More from two weekends ago

So, not much has happened this weekend just yet. I went and got a haircut at Floyds today and then bought some tape to cover an old tennis racket handle. Last weekend we got together with friends down at the pier for some Najas time. We got down there right after sunset as you can see from this pic of Sue taking a beach shot. Najas is always the same, although I wish that the band would not play so much because they are so loud that you have to shout over them.Other than that night it was a pretty calm weekend. Went to a movie that was funny, but had enough bad language for a lifetime...Superbad. Then on Sunday we had friends over for a BBQ and tried to stay cool in the heat. I did get a chance to show off some of the stuff I bought while Shannon and Nicole were in town. I now have a huge hobo purse, and a fancy new perfume called the Angels of Florence. It was pricey, but I have been wanting to purchase a scent from the famed Santa Maria Novella. It is a perfumary that was created by Monks in Italy. The scent that I bought was created to raise money to restore some of the famous artwork in Florence that I unfortunately will probably never see because I spent so much money on this perfume. :(
I also received TONS of compliments on the gorgeous earrings that Nicole gave me as a gift for her visiting. It was so nice of her and she has the best taste. I should actually hire both Shannon and Nicole to be my personal stylists...they would rock and highly approve of the new haircut that I got which I promise to post a picture of soon...gotta wait to get the camera recharged again. In the book world I finally finished the new Harry Potter while hanging out on the hammock and I am hoping to check out the library on Monday afternoon to replenish. Tomorrow I have volleyball and Manhattan Beach plans. Take is easy and enjoy this warm weather at the end of summer while you can.