Sit on It

So I told you that I gave my notice Monday and my boss took it well but what I didn't expect is that he can't seem to express enough grattitude for my being here for 3 years or maybe it is a plot to lure me back with presents! Since informing him of my plan of escape he has given me acupuncture (told me to come anytime for just $15 a session!), taken me out for a great sushi lunch and given me an antique Spanish colonial chair that I had admired a couple years back at his old home. I should quit more often! This is not a picure of the chair(I couldn't resist the puppy in chair, awww) but it is similar,wider, more like a Spanish colonial directors chair. Sure I tried to say no but he insisted as it was in his garage just hanging from a rafter and he said he wanted to give it to someone who would enjoy it. He aslo told me that he tossed a $4000 painting when he moved out of this home into his rental to avoid paying the capital gains taxes, he threw away the painting because he said he didn't want to deal with it, well you can understand why I am leaving as the man does crazy things like this (and my salary sucks). I would've sold it for him, for a fee of coarse. Regardless, I am loving my chair and now I have to find the perfect place for it and actually get rid of a couple pieces of useless furniture that have been taking up space. I see a yard sale in my future.

Yesterday was such a great day, I might add, not only did I get off early, eat sushi, get a chair, go hike Runyon Canyon, go to happy hour and eat a pound of crab at $7 but I also went to hang for a while with my favorite gals at Stitch n Bitch! I can always count on some great conversation and laughs with this bunch. I so look forward to our weekly gathering and I try hard to never miss a week because it is truly that much fun. You girls rock!

This weekend will be a bit of a juggling act on my part. I have friends from London and Sedona here at the same time so I can't imagine getting much cleaning in at the apartment, oh shucks I will just have to do it next weekend, oh but it looks like I already have plans for next weekend too! (yes I am the queen of procrastination when it comes to chores) I might have to entertain as that is when my cleaning super powers kick in but for now, bring on the fuzz bunnies because I'm a social butterfly and I can fly right over them with ease! Shout out to my peeps, ya'll have a great weekend! OX

Oh Happy Day!

First of all, I finally gave my notice so I will soon be free from the evil world
of the mundane and off to bigger and better endeavors. YAY, but the really important tidbit of the day is that those great guys Ben and Jerry are offering free cones all day today, everywhere! (well mostly, as some of the franchises are being stingy) You better get out there and celebrate the creamy goodness and you have till 8:00, that is about how long it will take me to pick just one flavor...Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia or maybe one of the new flavors??? The possibilities are endless and we all scream for Ice Cream!! Mmmmmm

Princess of Grace

Friday night I put on a fancy frock and at 8:00 the voice on the other end said, "Your chariot awaits you" and indeed, when I opened my door there stood my handsome escort with hand extended, we embraced and I was placed in the carriage as the court (read cars waiting to pass) patiently watched the romantic interlude, all the while praising the gentleman as the tears welled in their eyes and they breathed a sigh of relief with the hopes that this Lady was again ready to accept suitors. We arrived at Grace restaurant and were seated at the best window table as handsome bestowed compliment upon compliment, "you look beautiful" and "you look happy" as we toasted being together. Our waiter was ever so patient as he sensed this would be an all night affair and by night's end we would all be laughing like old friends. The wine flowed along with the beautifully paired dishes, each course more exquisite than the last, ending in agreement to share a favorite, strawberry shortcake and insisting the other must finish the very last bite. Three and a half hours later the evening came to a close and I was returned to my castle and as the handsome prince drove off, I was struck with the bittersweet realization that as perfect as he was in every way and how much we enjoyed each other's company, ours was a love that could never be, for his heart belonged to another............named Scott and that is the end of my fairy tale. (heheh) The End. Love you Clifford!

Who Knew?

How cool is this! Ellen brought me a shiny bag and pencil (I love all things shiny) from The Atomic Testing Museum in my little hometown of Las Vegas. Okay, not so little anymore and as much as I love visiting my family, I can't stand the place. It's hot and windy or it's cold and windy and there is nothing to do but drink, eat and shop, oh yeah and throw money away on gambling. You have to go miles to find any sort of nature and even the man made Lake Mead is being sucked dry. Sure it is a 24 hour city but I'm not convinced that is a good thing and can I tell you that Nevada is one of 3 states that doesn't require sex offenders to register and certainly doesn't share the info with the public. Now that is truly scary but I digress... When in sin city I often find myself looking for something new and iteresting and since everything is pretty new with all the old having been demolished, it is a good thing when a little of Vegas' past or dare I say "culture" is preserved for educational purposes. I bet (I'm so Vegas) there is a majority living in Vegas that haven't a clue that Mercury is still a functioning Test Site about 2 hours outside of the city. My father is a retired engineer from Mercury and my sister worked out there for years and still works for the government and I won't be surprised if one day they will both glow in the dark, okay too much sci-fi movies as a child but I also remember being fascinated with mercury as we would watch it roll around in the palm of our hands, yeah not good. Anywho, I can now add The Atomic Testing Museum to the short list of interesting things to do like the (haha) The Liberace Museum! So next time you are in Las Vegas and lose all your cash but still want something to do, go check out the Atomic Testing Museum, I hear it's the bomb..(sorry, blame the years of blazing heat on my brain)

Weekend Recap

Fun Fun and More Fun! Friday I took off because it was Good Friday and my boss would've had me work so I took the initiative to escape that hell for a day, okay it's not really hell but more like limbo in a dark cave..Anywho, I made sure it was a Good Friday by meeting up with my Friday happy hour diva, Scott and we were joined by Mai, Chris and Nadia to celebrate Nadia's new job working for a interior design studio. We love The Belmont and had about 5 orders of crab and some grilled prawn cocktails and tuna tartar and some, okay alot of wine. Good Friday indeed. (notice my fabu sweater!)

Saturday was gorgeous and I joined Mai for a patio breakfast of my favorite smoked trout with bagels and all the fixins. Mmmm. Saturday night we were joined by Tony and Greg for Thai takeout at Mai's and then we headed to Create Fixate downtown, and when we finally made it, since Greg thought he could outsmart his GPS system and we almost were going to Long Beach,(yes a new breed of men that don't ask directions but now argue with GPS, haha) we managed to meet up with another of my neighbors, Michael, and were glad he joined us as that would've been his wedding day. (had the tramp he was engaged to not cheated on him and left for another man) So we checked out all the artwork and mixed media and did a couple hours of dancing (great DJ's) and avoiding the "Blue Pants Man" who was a creepy character. I will blog a pic as soon as Tony sends them but he was something like...a middle age+ man wearing a white ruffled shirt, light blue polyester pants (with no underwear, yeah nasty) and a pair of low heel black pumps and a purse all the while cruising the place by himself and trying to rub up against women! Aaaaaah! We ran and dodged and hid but he was definately a trip and probably should be arrested. Other than that the night was great fun and we laughed so much I think I have deepened those smile lines so Sunday I decided not to smile but alas I saw the huge and delish spread (even without eating ham) that Lori had prepared for Easter and as ya'll know food makes me happy especially when shared with great friends. Yes, Spring has started out with so much laughter and goodness that I might have to get more facials and fruit acid products! So now I will have to not smile again (which is much easier at work and while keeping up with the news) until Thursday at Stitch and Bitch!

Oh No She Didn't

OH Yes I DID! This is it kids, my first sweater! Can i get a hallelujah?! It is a copy of the fabulous Michael Kors sweater that costs a lump of cash but this one only cost a lump of yarn and actually fits and I didn't even block it yet. See, here is proof that anyone can do it. All you need is needles, hands to operate needles (notice my limp hands from all the hard work) and your very own Lori to make a nifty chart out of that garble de gook that is a pattern. Thanks Lori!!
I am now looking through patterns for my next project, maybe a skirt and a cute bustier looking halter? I will be wearing the heck out of this one though but you saw it here first and be sure to click on pic to see the detail. Damn it's cute if I do say so myself. Now back to making squares for Lori for Afghans for Afghans and you can bet some squares will have some elements of this sweater pattern too!

Somethin's Fishy

Fridays at The Belmont, yep that is going to be a new song at some point. I met Scott for our hang and I was so excited that they added a couple more appetizers to the already great assortment but I am convinced they had me in mind for the 1 lb of snow crab and at the happy hour price of $7 bucks!!! It came with drawn butter, 1/2 a lemon a cracker, a little fork and moist towelette. They did it right and I might be going this week before we meet again this Friday. Yum!

Saturday I met the ladies for Stitch and Bitch at Farmer's Market for a couple hours and then went home and got some spring cleaning in while I awaited Anna's arrival. She came down from the Big Bear mountain when everyone else was heading up to get in some late season snowboarding and skiing and we went on some errands. We stopped at a friend of hers for a little while and I was in awe of the salt water tank. Not only did it have tons of colorful fish (our favorite was the half purple half yellow fish Anna named the Laker Fish but the fish were for the most part camera shy) but the amount of....well I'm not even sure what to call them all. Animal or vegetable? They are living and feeding on little bits in the water and reproduce but they don't have eyes or brains etc...or do they?! At any rate, a truly impressive tank and the fish must enjoy looking out over the San Fernando Valley all day too.

So later we went to my house and picked up snacks and laundry (hello, house with good washer and dryer) and went to house sit, in the garden, with wine. Another Big Bear friend of Anna's came over and we had more snacks and wine and it was such a relaxing evening that when we went inside to watch the Ab Fab marathon my sis gave me, well I got through one more episode than Anna who was sawing logs after one. Good times.

Bees and CareRats

Yesterday was my short day to work and I went home to change into flip flops because it was so nice outside my toes wanted some air. My roommate came in from outside buzzing (hehe) about the huge bee hive across the street. I said maybe a queen landed and all her subjects were following her but he insisted it was a hive. I decided to check it out on my way to get the mail from the house I am sitting at. Yep, them there is some bees and they looked pretty cozy. I am not sure if that was a hive or not because I wasn’t going to shoo them away to check. I don’t think it is a hive due to the fact that I have lived across the street 10 years and I would’ve noticed as well as the neighbors surely would’ve seen it before and had it removed as they have children and my neighborhood is heavily trafficked with pedestrians with dogs so leaving a hive 2 feet off the ground and 3 feet from the sidewalk is not smart, which brings me to my next statement. My neighbor is not smart. As I was trying to take a good picture of the (possible) hive, there was a woman with a scowl on her face staring at me like I was standing here naked so I looked over at her and said “HELLO” and she just mumbled and stared so I said “It’s a camera” and she said “what are you doing,” duh woman “I’m taking a picture of the bees” I said, she continued to scowl and then said “you didn’t ask my permission” can you freakin’ believe that! So I said, “These are your bees, really?” of course she just mumbled and I took the picture and then I walked past her saying I have lived here 10 years and have never seen bees and then I closed it with, “Don’t get stung!” and she continued to mumble until I was gone. I can’t Beelieve her nerve, doesn’t she know you get more with honey than sour grapes and beetween you and me, what a Beeotch!!
Now about the Rat(s). With Spring and all the rain we have been having, the flora and fauna is outside in full force and if you live in my building, I’m thinking there is a critter making a home inside my wall but that is yet another story. This story is about my walk home from work on Wednesday just after the rain had stopped and the sun was slowly drying up the last couple days worth of water. I was almost to Santa Monica when I caught sight of a critter sitting in the middle of the sidewalk and as I approached it it just went about it’s business not even noticing I was there. I knelt down and checked it out and it was a baby rat and he was eating tiny little pieces of leaves in the crack of the sidewalk. Now I know how people feel about rats and I don’t especially like to see a rat running anywhere as they tend to do and I especially don’t want to be face to face with the giant New York subway rats as that is not a myth people, they are ginormous but I really don’t hate rats or mice or opossums. They don’t freak me out. As a kid I had a hamster (so cute and smart) as a pet and a mouse and I am the one who catches the spiders and puts them outside. I also tread carefully on my walks so I don’t squash snails and I have rescued plenty lost pets and strays. Apparently I also had this attitude as a small child and my mother had to pick me up and get me away from ant holes, hey I just wanted to play with them. I was often chasing butterflies and the fuzzy black caterpillars that turned into those alien looking locusts that would buzz hours on end in the summer but lets get back to the baby rat.
Baby rat was not hurt and he was not afraid, (possibly because I was wearing a faux fur vest that day) so I put my hand out and he just sniffed and looked at it like “are you my mommy?” so I didn’t want him to wander into the street and get squashed so I got him into my knitting bag so I could move him to a patch of ivy up the street but he was too quick and crawled back out of my bag and that was it. The hopes of getting him out of harm’s way were dashed and he was just imprinted with a fear of humans. He scooted his fuzzy self off behind a restaurant, which is probably where the rest of the litter lived anyway. Sorry little guy but that fear might keep you alive. The end…you can now close your mouth and go wash your hands.