Archive for March, 2008

Those of you that know me, know that I’m a bit clumsy. I tend to trip and fall, run into walls, and knock over things. I’ve got ankles of rubber! Yesterday, after a nice dinner at Cristina’s in Southlake, I took a tumble that I guess was way overdue. How I managed to go this long without a major injury should really be the surprise. In the parking lot, I missed the step down and fell forward so fast that I didn’t even have any time to react. That was that…down I went.

I managed to skin my knees pretty badly, tore up my chin, kissed the ground with my top lip (resulting in a huge bruised fat lip), chipped a tiny corner off my front tooth (no dental problems, just a little extra personality in my smile now!), smacked my now very poofy bruised right cheek on the concrete, and oh yeah! I managed to show Southlake my hot pink underwear! Figures I’d be wearing a dress when I fell. Ahh…Southlake now not only has my sweat and money, it also has my blood and tears!

So, that ended our date night. ^-^ I fell quite a bit as a kid, but I have to say, either I’m a much bigger wimp as an adult, or I’ve never fallen so hard before. Let’s just say there was much wimpering during the cleaning process. Stupid hydrogen peroxide! Now that my body is trying to recover, it’s become pretty difficult to walk or talk. See? Who needs plastic surgery for fuller lips? Just fall on your face! Actually, I look a little like a duck at this point. Though it’s been literally impossible to snack, therefore helping my diet quite a bit! Always a gold lining, right?

Jabberwocky trying to comfort me.

So, here I sit on the couch, unable to do very much. However, I was able to take photos of the kitchen as promised. Here you go!

The kitchen in primer – a little peachy orange, Andy was tempted to leave it this color

The kitchen all painted and the china cabinet added!

I’m not sure how I’ll work through my injuries tomorrow. Talking on the phone and yelling through the drive through will sure be a challenge! Wish me luck!

For several short weeks, the weather in North Texas is going to be absolutely gorgeous. After this small window of time ends, the infamous Texas summer with its drought, baking sun, and insufferable heat will soon take over. So, we did our best to enjoy last weekend with the weather finally cooperating.

Saturday morning was spent driving up to Denton. We wanted to take Andy’s little brother, Griffin, and his girlfriend, Courtney out to lunch at the Greenhouse for their collective birthdays. The food was nice and the company was terrific. They are celebrating their 22nd on their own with a long weekend trip to Vegas. Good wishes are being sent their way! Happy Birthday Guys!

Then we zipped off to Frisco to do a little furniture shopping. I’ve been dreaming of having a nice display cabinet for my awesome china and glasses. Plus, I need the space it’s currently taking up in my kitchen cabinets. So, we took a beautiful Saturday afternoon and toured around EurWay (neat stuff), Ashley’s Furniture (not at ALL my style), Rooms to Go, Haverty‘s…etc. It’s pretty easy for me to pick out things I like. Either it catches my eye, or I keep on going. (same can be said for anything I shop for)

However, Andy and I have been coming across the same problem lately. Do you save money and buy something of less quality (all MDF, do it yourself construction, and will assuredly fall apart in 2 years) or do you spend a little more money for something of good quality (solid wood, smooth moving drawers and doors, classic design)? In the end, we picked a decently priced but well made piece from Haverty’s. It was exactly what I wanted, but silly me forgot to measure the space it’s going in. Oops! Turns out the curio cabinet (don’t know why it’s called that) is going to be just a few inches too big. It will cover the kitchen window by just a little bit. They’ll be delivering it on Wednesday, and have promised to give us a full refund and no charge shipping if I’m not 100% satisfied. We’ll see how it goes.

After our major purchase, we headed back to our side of DFW for dinner with Ethan, Anni, and David at a new restaurant that Ethan discovered. It is a Brazilian grill and steakhouse called the Chapa Grill. Turns out, it’s right down the street from our house! The restaurant was fantastic, the prices pretty decent, and the manager showered us with history lessons (Portugal once owned the world? Andy loved this portion of the evening), and the desserts are to die for! We’ll most definitely be going back, there’s so many new things to try.

I had to work on Sunday morning, yes Easter Sunday. But while I was gone, Andy was being a busy worker bee himself. In anticipation of the curio cabinet, he has started the kitchen painting project. I’ll post pictures when its all done. I do have to mention, however, our kitchen looks so much more spacious…without any furniture. Perhaps we’ll just keep the kitchen table in the living room! Keep your fingers crossed for us that the cabinet works out, otherwise its back to square one for us. Though at least the kitchen painting will finally be done!

Okay, we trudge on through my two part summary of our fabulous trip to LA. After leaving Aunt Jackie’s house, Jason and Ruth gave us a quick tour of the area. Jason was kind enough to drive us (in Ruth’s Rav4 named Ravfiki) everywhere! Trust me, navigating through such a complex area is no small feat.

We got to see their fabulous cliff side apartment. They have a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, extremely spacious apartment for them and their 3 kitty cats (Orie, Baby Kitty, and Gabby). About 5 minutes down the hill, there is a cliff side walking trail that I would die for! We took a quick stroll, got extremely luck and saw 2 whales playing in the cove, and took numerous photos. Can you imagine getting that luxury everyday?? I love our house, but the most scenic trail we have is Bear Creek Park…and cows. Ruth and Jason actually live just a little bit away from Trump’s golf course…if such a fact interests you. I don’t like him very much, so I’m pretty indifferent.

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We had a quick dinner at a yummy BBQ place (I don’t remember its name) and decided to call it a night, so we headed back to our hotel (Marriott in Torrance). The hotel was pretty nice, very clean (my number one necessity for a hotel), comfy bed, supplied Bath and Body Works toiletries (always a plus), and had the best smelling lobby I’ve ever been in.

Saturday morning came around bright and early, Ruth and Jason picked us up and we headed out for Venice Beach. It was such an interesting place with all sorts of intriguing people to watch.

There was the pogo stick performer. Have you ever heard of a such an artist? He was pretty amazing, to tell the truth. Just not exactly what I had anticipated.

The beach was, of course, beautiful with lots of rocks for the waves to crash upon. This made both Ruth and me think of the scene in the Little Mermaid where Ariel sings “Part of Your World” and the waves crash as she sings the last line. Hey, great minds think alike!

Ruth and I got henna tattoos, just because I’ve always wanted one. Venice Beach seemed like as a good a place as any. Not quite ready to do the actual permanent needle poking version though. But for a couple of weeks, it’s pretty cool.

We then headed for the Grove/Farmer’s Market in the actual city of LA. The Farmer’s Market has been around since before the Depression. It was a fabulous place where you could find any type of food you desired. We saw stands run by families for Greek, Chinese, Korean, Italian, Creole, Mexican, Indian, Malay food, Japanese, French crepes (a Giada favorite according to Food network), good ol’ American BBQ, pizza, burgers, salads, bakeries, fresh produce stands, and everything in between. There was stores for stickers, candles, shell decorations, hot sauces, fancy imported sodas…etc. We had a fun time just looking around. Andy and I both got Greek food, I do love a well made gyro!

The Grove, however, is a new addition. It’s a crazy expensive outdoor shopping area, where apparently one can see lots of celebrities (not that we tried). I do have to say, that they have the nicest parking garage bathrooms I’ve ever been in! The bathrooms have attendants to hold open stall doors, fold paper towels, and hand you a mint after you’ve washed your hands. What bizarre land LA must be.

After lunch, we drove around town to see the usual sights, Grumman’s Chinese theatre, the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, the Walk of fame…etc. However, I think there must have been some huge event that night, for it was PACKED full of tourists and paparazzi. So, we just took pictures as we drove past.

However, I did get a chance to shop at the fantastic H&M. I’ve always wanted to go to this shopping mecca. Beautiful clothing for a more than reasonable price. Sure, the quality isn’t as good as your name brand lines. I cannot afford the name brands though, nor would I try. I kind of see H&M as the IKEA of the clothing world. Their stuff is fashionable, decently made with cute little details, and most importantly affordable. I loved everything I found! I bought some shorts, a couple tops, and cute little orange skirt. Okay, moving past my fascination for shopping…

In the evening, Andy and Jason went to a house party for Dan Wald’s (old high school friend) 26th birthday. Happy Birthday Dan!

Ruth and I enjoyed a relaxing evening of catching up, playing with the kitties, watching Golden Girls (just like the late night college marathons we used to have), and just spending time together. I don’t get to see her often enough, so I had a marvelous time just hearing about the new things in her life.

All too soon, the night came to an end. Andy and I went back to the hotel to pack and get some rest. Ruth and Jason were sweet enough to get up at the crack of dawn to drop us off at LAX on Sunday morning. We flew back to Austin just in time to have dinner with Andy’s family at Stone Canyon Cafe.

After dinner, we packed up the puppy (who had a fantastic time at the Trommers) and headed home. So, thus concludes our short but very memorable trip to LA. If you’ve missed the last several links to our photo gallery, here it is again. Hope everyone had a good Easter weekend, and lots of chocolate bunnies were enjoyed! I’ll probably post again tomorrow with our weekend updates, not to mention I have tomorrow off. Hallelujah!

I saw this video on Kim’s amazing blog. I liked it so much, I had to re-use it on my own post. It’s quite humorous! Apparently, fashion and technology are one and the same…wish I had my climate controlled belt right about now!

In an unexpected slow down at the pharmacy today, I got to go home a little early. I’m so unused to having extra time, that I wasn’t sure what to finish first! I figured I may as well update on our vacation, before it’s too late and the trip becomes nothing but a faint memory. Let’s see…

We arrived in LA at the John Wayne Airport on Wednesday. It’s the most convenient airport for my Aunt Jackie, so we arranged our flight schedules so we could fly into the OC and out of LAX. We got a tour of their house in Newport Coast. What a fancy house! I’ve never seen faucets in the shape of…well, anything, let alone golden ducks!!

And really, wouldn’t you love to have an infinity pool and barbeque bar in your backyard?

We got there pretty late in the evening, so we left my cousins at home (Lewis – age 14 and Lynn – age 8 ) and had an extremely fabulous and posh dinner at Mastro Ocean Club with my Aunt Jackie. We all shared New York strip steak, lobster mashed potatoes (Again, I’ve never heard of such fancy food!), salmon, and veggies. There was a piano man singing and playing his multitudes of instruments in the background. The restaurant was built around a huge tree, so there was an open air courtyard where you could have drinks. A very delicious (but extremely pricey) place to have our introduction to LA cuisine.

The next morning (Thursday), we got up horribly early (for us) and headed out to the Getty Museum with Aunt Jackie. We got a good taste of LA traffic, not even rush hour traffic mind you, but it still took us 1.5 hours to get to the museum. Thank goodness for Garmins!! The museum is situated up on a hill overlooking the surrounding areas. So, we parked the car (a Mercedes S-550) and rode the tram up to the museum. It is easily one of the most fantastic views and most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. We wandered around the gardens and exhibits until our walking tour. The tour guide was an art teacher, she sounded very Italian. She based her talk on the human figure, starting with ancient Roman statues and ruins to modern day photography. It was a tremendously interesting tour, I particularly liked the photo at the end by Graciela Iturbide called “Nuestra Senora de las Iguanas“. I suppose some people just look better in hats, and some in iguanas!

Though I probably could have spent a whole day at the Getty, we needed to get back to the OC to pick my cousin Lynn up from school. We had a light lunch at Pavilion‘s (their local grocery chain – think a fancier Albertson’s with a bigger wine section), and went back to their home so the kids could finish up some homework. Then we went to the beach, Laguna Beach in fact. We had such a good time, even though the water was FREEZING! Once your feet got good and numb, the waves and sand are worth it. Lynn and Andy had a marvelous time building rival sand fort like castle volcano things.

I just had a good time talking with Aunt Jackie and squidging (yes, it’s not a real word, but it really should be!) my toes in the sand. Oh and of course Andy had to try and see how horrible of a death it would be waiting for the tide to cover you in sand.

Waiting for the tide…

Oh No! Not the pants!!

Andy just realizing that I was taking pictures…but still unashamed of tugging up his pants and exposing his stark white legs.

After a quick rinse, we headed out to my cousin’s favorite restaurant, French 75. Which by the way, what advanced tastes they have! I remember once thinking that Denny’s and the Olive Garden was the epitome of fine cuisine! We gorged ourselves on amazing French food, and ended with the richest, darkest chocolate soufflé one can imagine.

Friday morning was spent wandering around the most glamorous of outdoor shopping areas, the Fashion Island, I kid you not, that’s what it’s called. It was a beautiful California morning, so we just walked around, enjoyed another fantastic lunch, and had coffee around the koi pond. I’m sad to say, there aren’t any Texas malls that I’ve seen yet that have a koi pond, nor Kansas for that matter. We picked Lynn up from school and spent the early afternoon with her and Aunt Jackie doing whatever it is that an 8 eight year old finds intriguing:

Climbing trees, riding bikes, watching cartoons, being introduced to favorite stuffed animals…etc.

All too soon, we were passed on from Aunt Jackie’s loving care to my good friends Ruth (my awesome college roommate) and Jason (her adoring husband). I’ll post about the second half of the trip later this weekend. Again, the LA photos I took are here. I think I’m going to enjoy the rest of my unexpected night off! Hope everyone’s week is going well!

Okay, no actual updates tonight, I’m absolutely exhausted and much has to be done before work starts up again tomorrow. Just wanted to say that we got home safely and that we had a spectacular time in LA last week. I did promise pictures of our trip, so here they be! There are brief summaries and comments that I’ve made on each photo, that ways you know where and what was going through my head as I took the pictures. I hope to post actual entries later on this week, but until then, enjoy!

Jabber and I are happy to be home!

After a VERY long work week (9 day stretch), I’m using my time off to go visit the west coast! Andy and I decided a couple of months ago that we really wanted to go visit my Aunt Jackie in her new home in California. While we were at it, we also really wanted to go visit my college roommate, Ruth,  and her husband Jason. Surprisingly enough, they both live right around the LA area. We’re heading out to Austin tonight to drop Jabber off at Andy’s parents’ house. Then we’ll be flying out of Austin to LA. I will do my best to post as the trip progresses, but I’m sure as you know by now, that I’ll probably write a very enormously long post once I get back. Yay for vacations!