Marathon Man

First off, let me start this post by stating that my fiance is a rock star. He is a freaking rock star.
He ran the Chicago Marathon last weekend and finished in great time, considering the heat, humidity, water stations running out of water, incompetence on the organizers behalf and the over 200 people collapsing due to heat exhaustion. You can read Sean's point of view of the marathon here. Here is my take on it.

Let me set the scene: it was approximately 88 F with 60-70% humidity. You walked outside and it felt like Miami. We're staying with our friends Joni and Mike in their fabulous apartment in the city. (which, FYI, is in the same neighborhood that my grandpa grew up in - they live across the street from his high school - but I digress...). So, we wake up at 5:30am, hop on the El and head to Grant Park. At that time in the morning the El was filled with runners and their cheering squads. We say our good-byes and good lucks to Sean in Grant Park. At this point in the morning (7:00 am-ish) I'm already starting to notice how sticky I'm feeling and wishing I had an ice cold water to drink.

We took the El up to mile 7 (Wrigleyville or Lake View, depending on who you talk to) where Ericka and Pepe meet us to cheer Sean on. Luckily, Sean told us that he'd be running on the right hand side of the road, so we were able to grab a spot on the same side in the hopes of increasing our chances of seeing him.

We saw the first group of runners come by at 8:30 am. The race started at 8:00 am which mean that these guys were running 4:28 minute miles. Those guys are animals - very sedate, relaxed animals, given how effortlessly they ran by us. They reminded me of gazelles - quite the contrast to the wave of runners 30 minutes behind them who were huffing, puffing, moaning, groaning and limping their way by us.

I didn't realize how exciting watching a marathon can be - it's a bit exhilarating. When I finally spotted Sean I was SO excited to see him run by. In my excitement of jumping and yelling his name to get his attention I completely forgot to take his photo. It was thrilling to see him run by. At that point I couldn't wait to head to the next spot on the route to see him, again.

The next stop was mile 21 in Chinatown, where we met up with my mom, my dad, my sister Sarah and her friend Beth. It seems apropro that we met my family in Chinatown. Every trip to the homeland (Chicago) involves at least one trek to Chinatown for dim sum. And my parents were wonderful enough to have leftovers in hand when they met up with us...

... mmm.... barbeque pork bun. Aside from seeing Sean in the race, this is the most memorable moment of that day.

At this point, Mike ran up ahead of us (or behind us??) to hop in the race and run with Sean and lead him to the side of the street that we were standing on (the left side). I got a little nervous when I didn't see Sean in the 3:50 group (his goal was to finish in 3hrs 50 mins). But, he showed up and it was fantastic! He looked exhausted and worn down, but he was still running.

After that, my parents, Pepe and I headed down to Grant Park, to meet up with Sean and Mike. (Mike kept hopping into and out of the race with Sean. Huge thanks go out to Mike for lending Sean moral support and keeping him going.)

This is Sean after the marathon.

Sean and Mike (who ran the two previous Chicago marathons).

And lest I forget about the wonderful food in Chicago. We ate at a great restaurant Saturday night in Lincoln Park where Pepe and Ericka met up with us. I had great pasta with lobster and spinach and a creamy garlic sauce. And the gellato was very tasty, too.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I want to thank everyone who came out to support Sean during the run and even bigger thanks to Mike and Joni who let us invade their space for the weekend. It was great seeing everyone and made me miss home (because it will always be home no matter how long I've lived in CA) just a little bit more.

Sweet Home Chicago

We're off to Chicago this weekend as thousands of athletes, Sean among them, descend upon the city to chase each other around for 26.2 miles.

Things to do in Chicago:

1. Visit my family. Want a quick ego boost? Move across the country, ensuring you only see your family once a year. Then, schedule a trip home and at the last minute (less than 5 days before your plane lands) call your entire family up and ask them to meet you for lunch. Everyone comes just to see you. If that doesn't fill your dark empty hole of self-pity, I'm not sure anything can.


2. Get lots of Erika time! Erika is living the dream we talked about in college - living in Chicago, in a great area of the city, with a fabulous view.


3. Load up on a weekend's worth of Yelp reviews. Between the Italian restaurant we're going to the night before the marathon so Sean can carbo-load, the bars in Wrigleyville that Erika and I will peruse, and the after-marathon feast Sean will need - I'm hoping to break 30 reviews on Yelp.


4. Run around the city with the Sean's cheering section (there's 7 of us) , trying to catch a glimpse of Sean as he runs the marathon. So far we have stops in Boys Town, Chinatown, mile 21 (or 23) and the finish line. Wonder if they give away medals for furthest run as a spectator?


5. Figure out a way to stop off at Three Happiness, have some dim sum, and not miss Sean as he runs through Chinatown. Maybe I'll ask to be seated by a window...


6. Get lots of Pepe time! So far, I've been able to see him every time I've gone back to Chicago. I want to see how long I can keep that streak going.

Wish us luck - and by us, I mean Sean. He's trained incredibly hard over the past year and despite getting hit by a car and then suffering a broken rib, he's still running the marathon. I couldn't be prouder of him.

Stormy Weather

Found it! (Gotta love YouTube.)

Martha Wainwright singing "Stormy Weather" at the concert last night. The video doesn't do her half the justice hearing her in person belting it out did.

Rufus Does Judy

Ron Rifkin (aka Arvin Sloane) loves Rufus Wainwright!

Dita Von Teese loves Rufus Wainwright!!

Bruce Vilanch loves Rufus Wainwright!!!

Santino loves Rufus Wainwright!!!!

How do I know this? Because they were all within spitting distance of me and Sean at Rufus’ Hollywood Bowl show last night. The first three were either two people in front of us (RR and DvT) or two people behind us (BV). Santino – I ran into him just outside my seat. Freaking Santino!!

Last night’s concert was more than just a Rufus Wainwright concert. It was “Rufus Wainwright Sings Judy Garland: Live at the Hollywood Bowl.” He recreated her 1961 concert at the Hollywood Bowl and it was amazing. He didn’t do ‘Rufus does an imitation of Judy’ – that you could have gotten at any of a dozen drag shows. No – he did something better: he did Rufus’ rendition of Judy songs. And it was amazing, energetic, beautiful and one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had. It’s definitely up there in my top 2 concerts. And it didn’t hurt that we had AMAZING seats. Garden seats, with all the celebrities. (Word of advice: check out Ticketmaster the two days before a show and you’ll notice that a lot of the good/close seats that were previously “sold out” are now are available.)

The big highlight: Rufus coming out in the classic Judy Garland outfit: black nylons, black heels, black hat and black blazer.

Other highlights incude:

Martha Wainwright singing "Stormy Weather" - it was one of my favorite moments of the concert. If I find it on YouTube, I'll post it.

Lorna Luft coming on stage (in a neon pink flowy dress) to belt out a few numbers. She sounds exactly like her mother when she sings. I was hoping against hope that Liza would surprise everyone - but as a faithful Page Six obsessive, I knew that Liza wasn't exactly thrilled with his "Rufus Sings Judy at Carnegie Hall" concert, so I knew that she'd never come out for this one. But I still had my fingers crossed.

All in all - fantastic night filled with Rufus, Judy and celebrity encounters.

Race for the Cure 5K

Thanks to everyone who donated money to our Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure team! While the team got together a little late we were still able to raise close to $600! Sunday's weather was perfect for a run/walk and the crowd was incredibly large. S. and T. got their run on, while me, M. and the 'pugs' walked it.

Next year we'll get a larger team together to run and walk. Maybe a catchy team name will be enough to convince people to join our team? Something like "Operation: Save Boobies" or "Team Ta Ta" maybe?

LCD Soundsystem & Arcade Fire

LCD Soundsystem + Arcade Fire + 4 bottles of wine + great friends = fabulous night

Thursday night, Sean, me and two friends went to the LCD Soundsystem & Arcade Fire concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It was a great concert. And I will forever love the Hollywood Bowl for allowing concert goers to bring in their own picnic dinners and wine.

LCD Soundsystem

• Love them. Love them. Love them.
• Personally, I thought they should have been the headliner. But that feeling was clouded by my infinite love for the band.
• The venue (Hollywood Bowl) was a bit too large for them. They’re better seen in a small club or a tent under the stars in Indio, where the entire crowd is dancing and sweating together.
• I heart James Murphy (just a little bit)

Arcade Fire

• They, like Wilco, are a band that is meant to be seen live. Their albums do not do them enough justice.
• Closest thing this heathen will ever have to an evangelical experience.
• Seeing the band incorporate French horns, trumpets and violins into all of their songs, the band geek in me wished they had been around when I was in high school.

Last night marked the start of our power-concert weekend – 3 concerts in 4 days. That’s a mighty task given that all of the concerts have us trapsing up to LA and braving crazy LA traffic. Don’t believe me? Thursday night it took us 2 hours to drive 46 miles.

Last night: Cat Power (more on that show later)

And after that: Sunday we see Rufus Wainwright sing Judy Garland Live at the Hollywood Bowl.

Our Weekend in Mammoth

For Memorial Day weekend, Sean and I decided to beat the oppressive heatwave that attacked Southern California and escape to Mammoth. We really wanted a quiet, relaxing weekend because this was the first weekend we had to ourselves in a month (where we weren't running around for some reason or had guests visiting). On one hand we talked about staying at home, laying by the pool all weekend, reading and watching DVDs. And on the other hand, we talked about going up to Mammoth, laying by the pool all weekend, reading and watching DVDs. We chose to go to Mammoth because we could stay at his Grandma's condo (thank you!!) and we only get up there once a year. So... here are our photos from the trip.

On the gondola heading to the tippy top of Mammoth Mountain. I think those are the Sierra Nevadas behind me.

I forgot how thin the air was up in Mammoth. On Saturday morning, on the walk from the condo to the car - I got breathless. It took the morning to get acclimated to the thinness in the air. At the top of the mountain I saw a guy light up a cigarette - which lead to the stories of when Dad and Jimmy went up to Pike's Peak and all the adults kept insisting they could smoke.
At the (almost) top of the mountain. My Gap shorts look suspiciously familiar... I'm getting flashbacks to summer camp staff uniforms.
Apparently Sean has aspirations to be a mountaineer.
Obligatory "take our own picture" picture. I can't tell you how windy it was up at the top of the mountain. During a couple of these poses I thought I was going to blow over.
After walking around the top of Mammoth, we weren't quite ready to go home, so we headed to the Earthquake Fault in the Inyo National Forest. Yes - that's my shadow.

This was his second choice for poses. The first was to have been called "A Crack and a crack."
Hollow tree + me = this photo.

Sunday we decided to go kayaking. This was met with trepidation given that the last time we kayaked in Mammoth (on Lake Mary) we rented a double kayak and spent the entire afternoon spinning in circles across the lake. Needless to say, lots of yelling, lots of cursing, lots of eye-rolling, and a little bit of resentment was shared that day.

So this year we decided to rent two single kayaks and sign up for a tour, as opposed to kayaking on our own. Thank god.

My first real look at Mono Lake. It's a big freaking lake. Our tour guide was Stuart (his company is called Caldera Kayaks) and he was fantastic. He's a geologist that works for the USGS, so he gave us really informative background information on how Mono Lake was formed, how the surrounding mountain ranges were formed, as well as interesting information on water rights and how Mono Lake was used as a water source for other parts of California. Fascinating stuff. Mono Lake. Those white specs are the biggest birds I've ever seen. They were larger than chickens and were all over the lake.
These are tufa towers. They form under the lake and rise upwards. Something about the alkaline level in the lake and a chemical reaction. It made more sense when Stuart was explaining it.

Our tour guide and me.
More tufa towers. If you look closely, you'll see a nest at the top of one of the towers. Oh! Best news of the day: when Stuart told me there are no fish in Mono Lake. Again, having to do with the alkaline leve. Awesome. That meant I didn't have to pretend that there were no fish in the lake.
During the winter these birds fly to South America in three days to spend their winters.
Every time I'm in one of these, I get the urge to buy one. I must say though, kayaking in Mono Lake was 100% easier than kayaking in the Pacific Ocean. But just as much fun.
This is how the rest of our weekend was spent: napping and catching up on DVDs. We finally finished season three of Homicide: Life on the Street. This is tiding us over until we catch up on Season 4 (and then 5) of The Wire - the best TV show not enough people are watching.

Engagement Party

For those of you unable to make it to our engagement party a few weekends ago, I've put together a photo re-telling of the event.

And for those of you who were there, enjoy reminiscing about the booze, the heat and the hurling china.

Place: Sean's mom's house in La Verne, CA
Time: Afternoon to late, late evening
Weather: I think the Serengeti was cooler that weekend
We arrived a few hours before the party to help set up. 100 degree heat, no shade, 15 tables, 3 tarps, 60+ chairs. See that look on my face? That's the moment it hit me: "Wait a minute - I pay people to do this." The next thought: "the next time we get engaged, the party will be in Alaska, in mid-December."

After we finished setting up, we tapped the keg, opened up some bottles of wine and the guests started arriving.
FYI - see if you can spot the future Cagefighting Champion of the World in the next photo.
Then the fun started. Courtesy of a well-known and well-loved German, we were informed that it's a German tradition to hurl china at the engaged couple while they cower behind a tarp. I kid, I kid. About the hurling - it's more of a throw. Everything else is true, though. Behold the photos.
Annie was the first to go. Which seems fair given that it's her house. And her only son. You think she enjoyed throwing the dish given the force with which it hit the ground...
And then Babe Ruth here decided the best way to celebrate the engagement of her first born was to also throw a dish. (Get it... Babe Ruth... because she's pointing where she's aiming..)

This one's for those of you who thought I was kidding about cowering behind a tarp...
Despite this look on my face - Sean and I had a great time being the target of our friends and family. It was an ice-breaker (ha! another pun!) that got the party off to a fun, relaxed, loud, laugh-filled start. Which is exactly the kind of party we wanted.
We were thrilled to spend it with our closest friends and family...
... and to eat some really good chocolate-raspberry cake!
The new family: Pat, Steve, Sean, me, Annie, Jim.

Cannot Wait

At the end of August, Sean and I (and a few friends) are going to see Gogol Bordello. I was listening to their new album today and I got SO freaking excited for the concert. Never heard of Gogol Bordello? Two words: gypsy punk.

Here's a video them live in concert. It just so happens to be a video shot the last time we saw them - at Coachella.

I <3 Amsterdam

We're back. I'm exhausted. I'll write a more detailed account of our trips and include a link to all our photos later this week. And I'm sure Sean will have a hilarious re-telling of the entire trip on his blog, so I'll link to that as well (once he writes it). For now, here are a few pictures and a few random comments about our vacation.

We arrived at our hotel around 9am. Were then told that guests check out at noon, which meant we couldn't check in until after that. So, after being awake for over 18 hours we then strolled the city for another 4 hours. But first we grabbed breakfast (and an insane amount of the strongest coffee I'd ever had) in order to fuel our dead-man-walking stroll through the city. This is me in front of a canal on that stroll.

The stroll was made possible by Rick Steves and his wonderful Amsterdam tour book. Rick was our honorary and invisible tour guide for the entire trip. Since it was our first day in the city and we had no idea where to go, we opened up the book and followed the second half of his "Amsterdam City Tour." It included a map and detailed descriptions of everything we saw on the walk. This is Sean consulting Rick during our second refueling stop (this time for tea) during our 4 hour 'let's kill time and stroll the city until we can check in' tour.

Finally, 1pm rolled around so we headed back to the hotel. Only to wait for another 45 minutes until we could finally check in. This photo explains exactly how we felt once we reached our room.

And here's one more picture from our trip. This was taken during one of the stops on the bike tour we took. Apparently I am one-half of those crazy-too-cutesy-tourist couples I'm apt to make snarky comments about.

(The windmill's name, by the way, is Bernita.)

I <3 Zappos, Part III

They sent me a thank you card. They sent me a thank you card saying they were happy to help me exchange my shoes. It was handwritten! Handwritten by the customer service rep who handled my case. Awesome.

Summer Holiday

We're all going on a summer holiday
no more working for a week or two.
Fun and laughter on our summer holiday,
no more worries for me or you,
for a week or two.

We're going where the sun shines brightly
we're going where the sea is blue.
We've all seen it on the movies,
now let's see if it's true.

Everybody has a summer holiday
doin' things they always wanted to
So we're going on a summer holiday,
to make our dreams come true
for me and you.
for me and you.

Too bad it's been raining for weeks on end in Amsterdam and it will continue to rain every day we are there. The sun's expected to come out the day after we leave. C'est la vie. Or rather, zulke is het leven. Or is it het is het leven?

I <3 Zappos, Part II

After having called their customer service department, I love these guys even more.

Backstory: those great sandals I bought? Well, one of the shoes makes a “whooshing” sound when I walk in them. I think it’s due to the fact that air is escaping from the cushion as I walk on it. I wore the sandals for 2 days and during a conversation with a friend, she said that Zappos would exchange them for me. Since the soles were pretty scuffed up (after having walked outside in them) I was wary. I talked to the customer service rep and she said Zappos would exchange the sandals (since it was a manufacturer problem) and ship them to me overnight. No charge. Awesome.

That all happened last night. When I got home from the gym tonight they were waiting at the front door. I am now officially an evangelist for this site.

In a nutshell – here’s why I love Zappos:

• Short wait time on customer service line and I called at 6:30 pm. Compared to the 30 minutes I spent on hold with my insurance company earlier this week – this is a HUGE gold star.
• Great customer service. The woman on the phone was incredibly nice, easy to talk to and very efficient. Compared to the completely incompetent nincompoop I first talked to at my insurance company last month – this earns them another HUGE gold star.
• Free overnight shipping. I love it.

Interesting side note: in the niche marketing seminar I attended with co-workers last month, more than one speaker brought up the fact that companies are scrolling blogs looking for mentions of their product. Who knows – maybe someone in Zappos’ marketing department may come across this post. If so – hello Zappos employee.

The Decemberists with the LA Phil

What: The Decemberists played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Where: The Hollywood Bowl
When: Saturday night

This was an amazing event. It was big, it was loud, it was over the top - it was freaking amazing! The first two opening acts (Band of Horses and Andrew Bird) were great and I'm looking forward to devouring their music catalogues in the next week. However, they were just the yummy, but not quite fulfilling appetizer served before the main event. This concert has been the highlight of my summer and ranks in the top 3 best concerts ever.

We had great box seats, brought in a picnic dinner and 2 bottles of wine, sat under the stars listening to great music and had one of the best nights out in a while.

Entertainment Weekly has a column about the show and the orchestra's pairing with the band.

Pitchfork mentions the concert, but their pictures are much better than its review.

Also, the Hollywood Bowl is a fantastic venue - I'm saddened that it's taken me 3 years to get there.

I <3 Zappos

I love Zappos. I love Zappos as much as I love shoes. Why do I love Zappos so much?

1. Selection. I wanted a pair of Born sandals and neither Nordstrom, Macy's or the Walking Company carried a design that I liked or my size. This brand came highly recommended by my friend S. because they're comfortable walking shoes. As an owner of enough uncomfortable but gorgeous shoes (hello Carlos Santanas!) I chose to follow her advice.
2. Quantity. I went onto Zappos on Thursday and found they had a HUGE collection of Born sandals - more than the three above mentioned stores had combined.
3. Free Next Day Delivery. The shoes arrived this morning (Friday). Did I mention I bought them Thursday?

Never Doubt Paula

OK. Lesson learned. I've watched Paula's Party enough times that I should trust the woman. So, when a recipe calls for butter - never, under any circumstances, substitute it with margarine. Ever. I can already hear Paula chastising me for doing that.

Over the weekend I made spritz cookies for a friend's birthday. The first batch came out great. But when it came time to do the second batch I realized I didn't have enough butter. I did, however have margarine (Brummel and Brown to be precise). And the recipe - in my Betty Crocker Cooky Book - called for 1 c. butter or margarine - so I figured I was safe. I was not safe. The cookies were not safe. In fact, the second batch of cookies never came to be. The dough turned gummy - it was the same consistency of silly putty. In fact, I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon the recipe for silly putty.

I've Had Worse Ideas

Since becoming engaged I have done 2 things to prepare for the upcoming wedding:

• Bought 2 bridal magazines.
• Created a wedding budget. Without any numbers in it.
• Became so overwhelmed with the potential cost of the wedding that I shut off my laptop. And thought about hiding it under the bed so I wouldn’t have to think about it again.

Ok, so I guess I’ve done more than 2 things.

Thoughts that have run through my head in the past 24 hours so far regarding the wedding:

• Can I sponsor the wedding?
• See if Jameson will sponsor the bar. Lord knows that between Sean and his dad the sponsorship would pay for itself.
• How many banners could I fit in the venue?
• Tablecards with the sponsor logo and message aren’t that intrusive.
• So we make the best man give a 3 minute shout out to sponsoring company at the end of his speech – no one’s really listening anyway.
• Portillo’s caters. And they have a location in Buena Park – even better than ordering from the one in Downers Grove.
• Potluck for a party of 100… I’ve had worse ideas.
• I wonder what Jimmy’s doing the week before the wedding. He says he’s a sous chef…
• Single-handedly find cure for arthritis so G-ma can make the wedding dress.
• We will be in Vegas in August…

Holy Crap!

We're engaged. Sean proposed to me Friday night and amid my confusion and excitement I remembered to say 'yes.'

The setting was perfect, the proposal was adorable and the thoughtfulness that went into the elaborate planning (and ruses) all illustrate exactly why I love him so much.

As for the title of this post - I repeated that phrase at least twenty times over the course of the evening after I said yes.

Radio Free Madison, Day Two

I will pay good money to the person who can present me with a solution to my problem. My problem being that I can NEVER fall asleep at a reasonable amount of time during my first night in a hotel. I've been lucky enough to have a job where I get to travel and I have yet to fall asleep before 1:30 am and have a restful first night's sleep. Seriously - spread the word to your entrepreneur friends - i'm looking for an answer.

And apparently my laptop's possessed. While typing that last paragraph my cursor jumped into the middle of the paragraph on it's own and i ended up typing sentences in the middle of other sentences. It happened five times. In one paragraph.

Today was spent inside the Convention Center hearing a variety of speakers talk about niche marketing. I loved it. Maybe you wouldn't.

Cool thing I learned today: i belong in a niche that I didn't even know about: foodie travelers. There are companies within the travel industry that focus on culinary tours. How perfect?!? I eat my way through vacations - why wouldn't I want to take a vacation based entirely around food? Can't wait to google it and find some of those tours.

Radio Free Madison

Given that I lived in the Midwest for the first 24 years of my life, spent (practically) every summer and three-day weekend camping in WI, and logging an upteen number of hours driving between Minneapolis and Chicago during college - it's amazing that this is my first ever visit to Madison, WI.

Verdict: It's nice. It's Wisconsin - what else is there to say.

I'm here for work and will be here until Thursday morning. I'm looking forward to eating out at the various restaurants around the hotel and eating my way through this trip with my co-workers. Tonight I had seabass stuffed with strawberries. It was light, fruity - delicious.

The Clash Rocked It

New favorite venue: The Casbah in San Diego.

It's small, it's dark, it's AWESOME. For you Angelenos (sp?) reading this - it's about half the size of the Troubadour - so it's super intimate.

We saw The Black Angels there Sunday night. This was my third time seeing them and this is by far the closest we've gotten. It's going to be hard to go back to the Wiltern or the El Ray.

Random observation: when did Pabst Blue Ribbon become the drink of choice for the hipster SoCal boys?

I <3 BRMC

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club + The Black Angels = Fantastic Night

Location: The Wiltern
When: Last night

Best part of the night: Seeing both BRMC AND the Black Angels. The surprise for us is that the Black Angels weren’t suppose to be at that show. But since the original opening band had to cancel, the Black Angels filled in. Fantastic show. My (new) idea of heaven involves seeing these two bands play for eternity.

Second best part of the night: Great seats. Let me just say that there is no bad place to stand in the Wiltern. But, last night we managed to grab a table right behind the soundboard so we were able to sit AND have an unobstructed view of the stage. Awesome.

Third best part of the night: the idea of grabbing a donut after the show at one of the many 24 hour donut shops that litter southern California.

Worst part of the night: biting into the donut I’d been eagerly anticipating all night long only to realize it was dry and stale.

Random sighting of the night: Seeing the Griffith Park fires up close, as we were on the 10. We could see the flames and the huge cloud of smoke that rose from the fires and blanketed the downtown-scape.

Coachella 2007

Favorite acts

1) LCD Soundsystem

2) Arcade Fire

3) Amy Winehouse

4) The Decemberists

5) Gogol Bordello

6) Brazilian Girls

7) Lily Allen

8) Jesus and Mary Chain

9) Arctic Monkeys

10) Cut Chemist

11) Peter Bjorn & John

12) Kaiser Chiefs

Biggest Surprises

1) Gogol Bordello. it's raucous gypsy rock - what's not to love?

2) Lily Allen. After seeing Amy Winehouse with her powerhouse voice I was sure I was going to be disappointed with Lily Allen's set. I was wrong. It's unfair to compare the two. They're in two different leagues and make two different kinds of music. Lily Allen's was very dancey and fun. Amy Winehouse's voice was reminiscent of Ronnie Spector.

3) Lemonheads. Can you believe Goldenvoice arranged to have the Lemonheads play in the same timeslot as Rage? They set Evan up for disaster. But it was cool to be 1 of 150 people watching them play, as opposed to being 1 of 60,000 watching Rage play.

Disapointments

1) Air. I left Lily Allen's set because Sean REALLY wanted to see them. He'd been talking all weekend about seeing them. We show up and 30 minutes after their set was suppose to begin, they still hadn't started playing. 2 minutes after we left, they started playing.

The next group isn't quite a disappointment, they're just not at all what I was expecting:

2) The Good, the Bad and the Queen. They'll have to go in the same category as M. Ward. Love the album, could listen to it forever. But when I see them live I just want to close my eyes and take a nap.

Sad I had to miss
1) Interpol
2) Kings of Leon
3) Tokyo Police Club. This week's Gilmore Gils referenced them at least 5 times. Wish I could have seen what all the fuss was about.
4) Rufus Wainwright. Luckily, we're seeing his "Judy Garland Live At Carnegie Hall" show at the Hollywood Bowl in September. Can. Not. Wait.
5) Rodrigo y Gabriela

Big Thumbs Down (aka: I will never pay to see these guys again)
1) Peeping Tom

Sadly, Danny Devito Watch 2007 was a failure. Sean and I had ZERO sightings. Although our friend Todd saw him onstage when he introduced Peeping Tom. Next year, Danny. Next year.

My 1 celebrity sighting: Adrian Young - of No Doubt and Tim Olyphant's 'sports reporter' replacement on Indie.

Wine Country

Over the weekend Sean and I went to Temecula wine country as part of a friend's birthday celebration. While California's known for it's heavy hitter of wine country (Napa) and Sideways did its fair share of tooting Santa Ynez's wine country horn, Temecula seems to be the Little Engine That Could of California wine country.

Here's a rundown of our day:

Pick-up: A shuttle picked us up at a hotel in Temecula. Shuttle riders consisted of: birthday celebrators; middle-aged women looking to get loaded; and a young couple escaping their child (aka celebrating an anniversary).

Vineyard 1: Callaway Winery

Favorite Wine: Chardonnay

Happy discovery: Viognier - it's incredibly fruity (hints of pear and peach). Delicious.

Callaway was my favorite winery of the 4 we visited. Tasting room had lots of natural light coming in from windows on 3 out of 4 walls and skylights, views of the mountains and vineyard, helpful staff, really good crackers.

Vineyard 2: Wilson Creek Winery
Claim to fame: Almond Champagne. Delicious.
Happy discovery: Chocolate port served in a chocolate shot glass.

This is the Disneyland of wineries. It's all show, no substance. Owner's family is from Pasadena. Sounds like they came into some money, got tired of working and hopped on the wine bandwagon after Sideways came out. The grounds are beautiful - picture perfect. But all winery profits obviously go into the grounds, rather than the grapes. I thought the whites tasted sour and the reds were too tart.

My Favorite Moment

Vineyard 3: Longshadow Ranch
This too seemed like it hopped onto the wine bandwagon. As a ranch, it was great. As a winery... let's just say it was good as a ranch.

Word to the wise: Stay away from the White Merlot.
Happy Discovery: 2 dogs and 2 baby goats.

Vineyard 4: Cilurzo Vineyard
Favorite Wine: Bordeaux Blend (for a white wine drinker like me, this was HUGE discovering a red that I thoroughly enjoyed).

Happy Discovery: Cilurzo Vineyard has a nice duck pond at the top of a hill that looks over their vines. This duck pond is home to the World's Fattest Duck. It's the one sitting down with his head nestled into his body. This picture does it no justice. It would have been better if I'd gotten into the shot to give you some size perspective - but you know my history with ducks. It was better I stayed far, far away.

And that concluded our trip to Temecula wine country. We didn't get a chance to drive to Fallbrook to check out Tori Spelling's new B&B - but we'll make it down there eventually.

I Have No Idea

Location: Melrose Ave in West Hollywood - near the Pacific Design Center.

The first two are easy: two werewolves. Person number two seems to be some poor girl stuck in an upside down whisk. The third person? Homeless person or person dressed as homeless person.

Yes, Grandma - this is apparently what people do in LA on a Sunday afternoon.

Planet Earth

My new favorite show for the moment is Planet Earth. Or as Sean likes to call it "Mortal Stab Wounds From Around Our Dying Planet."

The Discovery Channel is airing a show call "Planet Earth" and it's fantastic. Each hour long show is dedicated to a specific topic, such as Great Plains, Shallow Seas, Desert Plains and so on. One of our Discovery Channels (I think there are about a gazillion variations of Discovery something) is HD. So the show looks AMAZING on our tv. And you know me, show me bright shiny colors and I'm hooked.

Contrary to what Sean says there is very little maiming. He just happens to sit down at the couch at the exact moment the "kill or be killed" fights for survival are on screen.

The most important lesson I have learned from watching this show: I will NEVER go swimming in the shallow seas of Indonesia. There are swarms of attacking sea snakes that feed on the fish that live near the coral reef. Watching that segment on tv gave me heebie-jeebies that I'm still trying to shake off.

Coachella Smackdown

With Coachella only 6 weeks away and the Coachella lineup on my bulletin board at work, I'm starting to prepare my mental "must see" list for the weekend. While I'm excited to see a handful of acts (I'm talking to you Brazillian Girls) I'm really looking forward to seeing Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen in what I have dubbed the "Battle of the Naughty Brit Ingenue."

They're both Brit pop stars who are tabloid darlings across the pond due to their saucy attitudes and penchant for illegal self-medicating ways. (trying to keep this as PG because, well... you know the title of the blog.) Luckily they're playing on different days so there will be no Sophie's choice making there (in a weekend that will be filled with those type of choices). And I'm sure this was a conscious scheduling decision made by show managment.

If you haven't listened to either of these girls I suggest you do so now.

Best Invention Ever

The reusable hot/cold gel pack with ankle guard. Because of this fantastic little device, I can ice my sore ankle and work at the exact same time. Or, if my muscles are feeling tight, I can heat the gel pack and apply gentle heat to the area. It's freaking amazing. Although I have to wonder if my impression of this device is clouded by the slight ache that has become an ever present annoyance in my life for the past 9 days.

I Strained A What?

Saw the doctor this afternoon. I've been reluctant to see a doctor - I mean, it's just a sprained ankle, right? Well, after having no less than 6 people ask me "have you seen a doctor, yet?" I acquiesced. Most notably because because the ankle is still super swollen (it's at least twice the size of my left ankle and it's swollen in weird places) and my foot/ankle is all kinds of shades of blue and green. So the doctor looked at it, poked it, looked at it some more and poked it some more. Had a few x-rays taken. Turns out I strained a tendon. The remedy: doing the exact same thing I've been doing for the past 5 days: ice, elevation, rest. And ibuprofen. The swelling's suppose to go down in 2 weeks and be completely gone in a month.

Thing #1 I learned today: wrapping an ankle in an ACE bandage does absolutely nothing. According to the doctor the ACE bandage does nothing to help the ankle heal.

Thing #2 I learned today: it can take up to a month for swelling to go down. A MONTH! Crazy.

Who Said the Universe Doesn't Like Revenge

5 minutes after this picture was taken...

... I tripped and sprained my ankle. The culprit...


... these shoes + unfamiliar patio = sprained ankle.

Maybe the universe is getting tired of me only doing weird poses whenever someone snaps a picture of me and Sean. And making me trip was its way of getting back at me.

P.S. Thank you Carlos Santana for making a pair of shoes that made the world stop when I saw them at Macy's.

Creating Our Own Happiness

If you're reading my blog you probably already listen to NPR. Which means you probably know about "Morning Edition." Which means you also probably know about the segment "This I Believe."

I didn't get a chance to hear Wayne Coyne (he of the Flaming Lips) recite his segment on NPR, but I heard about it the following day on a completely different radio station (thanks Joe Escalante!). I really liked it and wanted to share it with you.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7572601

My New Toy

I welcomed iPod number 2 into my life yesterday. This doesn't mean I love video iPod any less. It just became a nuisance bringing that to the gym and having it weigh down my arm when I was on the treadmill. (ha! I say that like I actually go to the gym on a regular basis!) This little guy weighs nothing and just clips onto my shirt. Who wants to start the betting pool on how long it'll take before this thing comes flying off my shirt and goes sailing across the gym?

Now if I can just figure out how to put my workout playlist onto this little bugger.

I'm Back

After spending 8 days in Indianapolis (with an unexpected layover and stay in Dallas) I'm finally back home! It feels good to sleep in my own bed and be surrounded by my own stuff. I think what I'll miss the most is having my bed made for me every day by housekeeping... wait, that happens at home (substitute the word housekeeping with Sean). So, what I will miss most is coming home every night to find 2 chocolates on my pillow.

Rather than write a novella-sized recap about the week, here are a few things that I can remember. As the cloud of exhaustion clears from my head and I recall other funny or memorable moments, I'll add to this list:

• Walking to dinner Tuesday night I was reminded why I left Minneapolis for Orange County: I saw a guy scraping ice off his windshield and digging his car out of the street. Looks like the snowplow came through and cleared the street. Too bad his car was still in the street.
• Carrying a box cutter in my back pocket during set up was the best idea ever. Next year, I'll take the Gerber tool. (Do you hear that? That's the sound of my dad beaming and realizing that I am in fact his daughter.)
• Indianapolis does not plow its side streets!!! According to the newspaper article I read, the city does not make it a habit to regularly plow side streets. So when the mayor made an announcement saying they would (due to the horrendous storm that hit the city) it made the paper. Do these people not have family or friends in Chicago? Mayoral elections have been lost due to unplowed streets. People of Indianapolis - rise up! Demand that your streets be plowed!
• After 8 days of setting up and working the show, the connection between my brain and my mouth slowed down to a crawl. I would think of the words in my head but they wouldn't quite come out of my mouth. I sounded like a drunk 3rd grader speaking a language that wasn't native to my tongue.
• My brand new show pants from Banana Republic? Great. Cramming a walkie talkie, box cutter, cell phone, chapstick, keys and pen in the back pockets of those same $100 pants? Not so great.
• Some how my body found a "college lifestyle" reserve somewhere hidden within the recesses of my body. Even though I only had 2 hours of sleep the previous night, I was able to function like a put-together, well-rested, competent adult. I haven't been able to function on no sleep since college. I have NO idea how I pulled that off.
• Sleeping in a hotel room 8 nights has completely dried my skin out. My skin was never this dry when I lived in Minnesota or Illinois, so it's not the winter weather that did it. Next time I travel I'm going to bring my humidifier. Seriously, my skin is so dry it's scaly. Any suggestions?
• I found another dim sum buddy! Although I think I freaked her out because, and these are her words, I'm 'hard core.' Hard core = getting to the restaurant before it opens to stand in line for 30 minutes (as opposed to getting to the restaurant an hour after it opens and waiting in line for 1 hour and 30 minutes).

All in all, we had a great a show and I'm pleased with how it all turned out. I'm happy to be home and sleeping in my own bed.

My First 5K...

... has lead to participating in one 5K every month.

Sean and I participated in the Pacific Shoreline 5K this weekend. He ran it, while I walked it with my friend M (who can really book it even though she's pushing a stroller with 70 lbs worth of kids in it). It was a lot of fun. And somewhere between the walk from the banana stand to the shuttle back to our car, Sean convinced me to participate in one 5K every month with the intention of eventually running every one.

I'll keep you posted.

Why I Love LA

Random celebrity sightings.

This month's random celebrity sighting:

Saturday night we went up to LA to see the M. Ward concert. As we were waiting in the valet line for the car Jason Lee walked right past us and stood in the same valet line. What makes these random celebrity sightings so cool is the fact that we have them at venues and events that we go to on a regular basis - most commonly at concerts. There's something utterly cool about seeing someone you see on TV at a concert for a band you listen to all the time. Like, seeing Sandra Oh stand in the same line you're in to see Thievery Corporation (random celebrity sighting #1).

The Countdown's Begun

Three days in the desert.

Over 30 hours of some of the coolest music you've heard.

Hours of dancing in the dj tents in 100+ degree weather.

Getting to the main stage 1 hour before the band you want to see comes on, suffering through the band that's currently on, all because you want to stand next to the stage while your band plays.

Can't wait.

FYI: we can't get the condo we had last year. :-( So if you know anyone in Palm Springs who'd like to house 4-6 adults for the weekend...let me know.

Of Course I Do

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

6 Year Old Me Is Ecstatic!

My Little Pony Live

It seems the universe hears my wishes... the timing's just a little off.

Another example: When I was 11 I would have loved to see Debbie Gibson in concert. I saw her when I was 22 in "Cabaret" instead.

Celebrities Are Attention Whores

My new favorite (reality) show is VH1's Surreal Life Fame Games. And it's timing is perfect considering that my reigning favorite reality show (until Tim Gunn and his magnificent vocabulary comes back), Top Chef, is winding down.

From what I can gather, Surreal Life Fame Games is made up of old Surreal Life cast members. (Grandma - the Surreal Life is a tv show on VH1 where old tv stars and pop stars live in a house for a few weeks and basically get drunk, get weird and get on each other's nerves. All while cameras are following them.)

So far, my favorite person on the show: C.C. Deville. Of Poison. I'm not a Poison fan. And I never was. Which is why this is so surprising. And I'm not too sure I would have been a fan of C.C. while he was in Poison. But, now that he's sober - he's fantastic! He's my favorite person on the show right now. He makes me laugh, but I think that's unintentional. I don't think he's trying to be funny. Best thing about C.C.? His reason to be on the show: he's a whore. (Those are his words, not mine.) I love the honesty and the nonchalant tone he used when admitting it. I have no idea what the show's about at this point. But I'm sure there's a winner. And I hope he's it.

Speaking of unintentionally funny: Vanilla Ice. Oh, I'm sorry... his name is Rob Van Winkle. And according to Brigitte Nielsen (another guest in the house) - she and Vanilla Ice use to be an item. Weird, I can't figure that out. Anyways, I'm watching Ice talk about something and he just reminded me of someone other than himself. And then it hit me. I feel like an introduction is in order. K-Fed - meet your future.

It looks like the games are starting (something involving A-list and B-lists). I'm going to start watching and I'll get back to you with other random thoughts on the show.

Another Point Of View...

To read Sean's take on the situation, check out his blog www.myspace.com/sflinn and click on the "Hostage" entry.

Cops in Protective Armor Really Do Look Like GI Joe

This past Saturday was going to be the 2nd annual Groble-Flinn Holiday Cocktail Party. For some reason, though, the universe did everything in its power to prevent it from occuring:

Monday night - I realize the oven doesn't work. Spent an hour trying to figure out how to relight the pilot light, called dad to talk me through out. Then realized - I don't have a pilot light. I have an automatic ignitor (?). Call landlords to send over repair guy. Why the hurry? I have 3 different cookies to bake before Saturday night - where we expect to have approximately 25 people over for the party.

Tuesday - repair man is suppose to come to house. Wrote down wrong address, couldn't get in touch with landlord. Will reschedule, he says.

Wednesday - no repair man. I'm a bit frazzled, realizing I'm going to have to bake 3 different types of cookies in one night, as opposed to spreading the cooking out throughout the week.

Thursday - no repair man. Freak out because half of the items on my menu require the use of an oven. Come up with Plan B - make appetizers that can be fried or nuked. Go to C & D's house to use their TWO ovens to bake cookies. Am up until 1:00 am baking.

Friday - repair man comes. With the wrong part. Can he come back tomorrow morning? *sigh* Yes.

Saturday morning - repair man comes. Fixes oven. Hurray! Except I no longer need the oven because all of the menu items are either served cold, cooked in the crock pot or fried in wok.

Saturday 10:00 am - 7:00 pm - make fruit kebabs, pasta salad, spinach dip, meatballs and sausages and spend an ungodly amount of time making thai potato pancakes (fyi - the amount of work that goes into making them does not equal the satisfaction you get from eating them. easier just to buy the frozen ones and nuke em.) Run out to the store because I need more mini sausages. Moved the dining room table to the side to make more standing room. Discovered that the carpet's FILTHY - to the point that I'm disgusted by it. Send Sean to Target to pick up an area rug. Oh, and we scrubbed the condo to the point that it sparkles.

At 8:00pm I'm FINALLY ready to start the party. I've made it past all the roadblocks the universe has thrown me. I'm victorious over the battle with the universe to hold my Cocktail Party. Right???

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1386435.php

Apparently, when the universe doesn't want you to throw a Christmas party, you don't get to throw your Christmas party.

What Went Down:
At 8:15 I receive a call from my friend S (this is abbreviated):

S: What's going on?
Me: What do you mean?
S: They won't let me into your condo. I'm at your pool and can see your porch, but they won't let me in.
Me: Who? What? What do you mean?
S: You don't know what's going on? Your condo is crawling with cops. I just had a gun in my face.
Me: ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
S: I'm going to find out what's going on.
Me: I'll call the police station. (Which ironically - is right down the block from the house).

Situation: the complex is crawling with police in full on protective gear and armed with automatic weapons and sniper rifles. The police aren't letting anyone into the complex. Which means all of our guests are being told to turn away. Sean goes outside to talk to a police officer. Here's the phrase, "sir, stop walking RIGHT NOW." Sean freezes, puts his hands up, takes a step forward and hears the cocking of a rifle. At which point he explains who he is and asks for the cop to explain what's going on.

Long story short: A man killed his wife, barricaded himself into their condo and told police he'd shoot at any police who approached the building. The police believed the man to be delusional. They couldn't see him inside the condo and were afraid he'd get out. He shot at the cops. At 11:30pm the cops went into the condo, where they discovered the man had killed himself.

We didn't learn any of this information until late Saturday night when a friend of Sean's, B, called us. Apparently, after B realized he couldn't get to our condo, got chummy with a cop and listened to the whole thing go down over the police radio. And he kept us informed with half hour-to-hour updates.

The crazy thing (although, what isn't crazy about this situation) is that we had NO IDEA this was going on until S called me to say that cops were preventing her from coming to the condo. The police made no effort to alert anyone in the condo complex that this was going on. Save for the condos directly next door to the delusional's condo.

And this being Southern California, the news of a murder-suicide didn't make any of the news stations or papers save for a short article in the Orange County Register. But when you're competing with stories about men taking people hostage with a samurai sword and men stabbing their mothers 70 times - a murder-suicide seems somewhat quaint.