Casa Del Sol

Keep in mind that this is not the main house, but a guest house.

Even the ceilings are detailed to perfection

I think I might stay in town, these accommodations are terrible

Hearst Castle

Ever since seeing Citizen Kane in college, I have always been interested in seeing what Hearst Castle looked like.

Although it wasn't the reason we stayed in San Simeon, it was definitely something we wanted to do while we were there.

What the heck is Hearst Castle and Who was William Randolf Hearst?
To make a long story short he was a media tycoon and Hearst Castle was originally built so that people could be accommodated while camping. (Now that is my kind of camper) See information about him and the "projects" he built on the mountain. What I think is even more super cool is that after all of these architects turned him down it was finally a woman, there were not many woman architects those days, who built the castle. Read about her here.

Hearst had a very interesting life and surrounded himself with interesting people. Like Charlie Chaplin, Delores Del Rio, Cary Grant and Joan Crawford. And his very public relationship with Marion Davies, who is buried around the corner from me at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. On the tour we saw some silent home movies of Hearst and his guests.

I will give you a photo tour.

(Pictured above is the Neptune Pool. Just to give you an idea of how picky Hearst was, that pool was re-designed a few times and ripped out and re-designed at least a few more times)

Day 2

Day two was a jam packed day. First we started our day going to a vista point to see Seals. Here is a video, of the seals. They don't really do too much and it kind of looks like a seal massacre.

One thing I noticed about Northern California by the beach is that it is extremely windy. Please mute this.



After watching seals laying there we decided to get up and go and drive to Ragged Point, which is the gateway to Big Sur. Which is where the 1 runs teetering between the ocean and mountains, here are some pictures.




Now it is off to Hearst Castle.

Crazy!

My life has been a bit hectic lately. I have been preparing to start my new job next Monday. Yes you heard it right, I finally got a job. The one I wanted.

One of the most frustrating experiences in my life has now finally come to an end, and I hope that it is something I wont have to do again in a really long time.

Now back to the ocean, seals and San Simeon.

San Simeon

We chose to stay in San Simeon because of it's proximity to 3 places.

1) Big Sur
2) Hearst Castle- which I will inundate you with pictures later on
3) Wine country

San Simeon is a mere speck on the coast, but is quiet and cute. Mom and pop places abound and be careful, because everything closes, by 9:00-9:30 p.m. Which is strange to this city girl.

Our hotel The Orchid at San Simeon was super cute and reasonable and walking distance to the ocean. Here is an ocean video:

Note: It was really windy so mind your speakers.

Coffee Break

Pit Stop: Morro Bay

Morro Bay is this cute seaside town that looks like it landed on the wrong coast. It is most noted for this gigantic rock. I wish I could have said more, but we just stopped for coffee.

Today Is my birthday

Happy Birthday to me.

Blogger has this new feature that allows you to schedule posts ahead of time so even though I am out and about enjoying my birthday princess day a la Asher, you will still get posts like I am sitting in front of the computer.

Neat huh.

I don't know what we have planned yet, but I hope to blog about it later.

You've got to fight... for your right.... to polka!

Pitstop: Solvang

I have wanted to stop at Solvang since the ladies at my ex-work talked it up as a romantic getaway spot just on the edge of wine country. Solvang sits on the one side of the Santa Inez Valley, which is a great wine region that isn't as far away as Napa or Sonoma. Solvang was founded by Danish settlers who were escaping the harsh winters of the midwest ( I am there with you settlers)

The entire town is modeled after a Danish village windmills and all. Here is a picture of Asher doing a windmill impression. This town is very cute and does not have a single Olive Garden, Starbucks and McDonalds. Many restaurants offer smorgosbord, aebleskiver and wine tasting rooms. I didn't do any of those things because there was still a long drive ahead of us. In fact the title of this blog comes from a bumper sticker on the window of the one German restaurant in town called the Heidelberg Inn. I had the Heidel Burger.

Everyone should fight for their right to polka, I think that the world would be a much better place.

Here is a picture of me trying on shoes.

The Drive

So in effort to enjoy my last few weeks of unemployment. (I might possibly have had some good news from one place, maybe, possibly perhaps. I'll explain in person, it is kind of strange.) Asher and I took a vacation up north to San Simeon.

Traveling out of Los Angeles makes me realize how small the city is. You go from skyscrapers and traffic congestion to open prairies and traffic congestion. This was taken perhaps a half an hour north of Los Angeles.

back in the action

I have taken the time lately to enjoy my unemployed status by doing a little traveling and other fun stuff. Hence the break from blogging.
Before I begin my picture posts of my trips and different California locales, I want to give you my celebrity sitings as of late.

Bob Harper-Trainer for the Biggest Loser
Craig Ferguson- who is now the host of the Late Late show, but you might know him as the boss on the Drew Carey Show, or that cute movie Saving Grace.
Eve- a female rapper, who has a clothing line called Fetish. (Don't try to look that one up, you will be unpleasantly surprised.)

I could have seen the guys from Entourage last week because they were shooting in front of my apartment, but I was in San Francisco and I would rather see my sister than Adrian Grenier any day.

Now begins the picture posts.

untitled

From grayness to a heatwave, sometimes you just have to love Los Angeles' commitment to diversity.

Thursday was the beginning of a new heatwave that should last until Monday or so. Yesterday I watched the Lakers win the series, just to sit in air conditioning. That is how you know that it is hot, because I watched a sporting event.

I might have some good news on Monday, keep your fingers crossed.

Gray as far as the eye can see

This past week has been a bit odd in Los Angeles. It has been gray for about a week and I fear that June Gloom has come early. Also, it isn't helping my mood at all.

I noticed that there hasn't been too many photos in this blog as of late. I know that when I have gone to put pictures in, blogger has had some issues.

Here is a picture that I would have put in the Earth Day post:

(This is me in Japan at the Huntington Gardens.)

What I have been up to:
Movies: I have seen a lot of movies lately.
Forgetting Sarah Marshal- A pretty standard comedy, predictable, but I enjoyed myself the entire time
Baby Mama-SEE ABOVE
My Blueberry Nights- Not as bad as everyone said it was, kind of a Wong Kar Wai 101 for American Audiences
Iron Man- I enjoyed it, I wasn't expecting too much since the comic book genre has been pretty disappointing

Reading: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Well, I think that is all I have to report.

Happy

Mother's Day!!!

enough already

I don't usually write anything political on this blog, but I just wanted to say that I just want a democratic candidate to be chosen already. I don't care who, just pick one.

This is going to go on forever.

Another family member shares

One of my five very best experiences happened in 1958 during my senior year at Northwestern. I was job hunting for a position in Chicago and the Placement Office on campus was THE place to land fabulous job interviews. The main man there was quite well known around various campuses in the U.S. and, luckily, I snagged an interview with him and started my search. As I was majoring in English Literature, his view of the perfect job for me was as a secretary (administrative assistant these days) in some top notch corporation. Not at all to my liking. He and I had several sessions where he sat behind his desk and read various positions to me and continued to ignore my pleas for a more interesting and exciting job. No go ! He felt I should have a nine to five secretarial job and that was that.

Dejected, I let things go on hold for a few weeks until one day, just after lunch, I found myself walking past the Placement Office. Without much hope I went in and asked HIS secretary for another appointment. She said, gloriously, "Would YOU like to see the job description folder yourself?" My brain blew up in a Fourth of July Whoop-De-Do frenzy, and I grabbed the folder. Five minutes later had a name and phone number that would, literally, change my life. There was a market research company looking for a Traveling Field Secretary---someone who would travel around the United States and hire and train a field staff to conduct grocery store audits and conduct lengthy at home interviews for the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). Good salary and all travel expenses paid. What was I waiting for ? Within the week I had and interview and, in my mind, had the job. I never went on another interview even though it was only April and I wouldn't graduate until June 16th. I just knew I had aced the interview and the job was mine.

And it was mine !

Want to fly? Want to drive? Want to take an overnight train? Any mode of travel was mine. Want to attend meetings in D.C., LA, New York, Boston? My choice as well. Want to stay in fancy hotel suites and conduct interviews? O.K. Want to travel for weeks at a time and fly back to Chicago when needed at the home office? My job accommodated all of these choices. Want to see the country? I did and I didn't have to join the Army either. I worked in Leadville, Colorado, the two mile high small town in the Rockies where there was a famous silver mine. One town in Kentucky was so remote I have to ride a horse into the area to find someone to conduct the audits. That trip was really over the top but, truth be told, name almost any small town or city of any size and it is likely that I have been there.

-Grandma Karen

Thank you, this inspires me to keep going in my job search. It has been such a struggle to find a job right now. I am taking a few day break, just because I feel really down and it is coloring everything in my life, but I am going to come back more determined than ever, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.

Young @ heart

If you are only of the few who will have access to this film, I recommend seeing it.

lately

It has finally cooled down in L.A. I know that many of you commented to me that you saw that it was in the 100s here on the news. That news was all true. It was very hot and I spent most of the time in the one air conditioned room in the house.

Over the weekend I got to experience my very first TV show taping. It was for the next season of "Last Comic Standing" If any of you aren't familiar with the show click here . It was a lot of fun, we practiced clapping, Standing Ovations, and how not to look at a camera. Unfortunately the theater we were in did not have air conditioning. I did get to meet some other mid-westerners and we chatted about "The Cities" (They say that no one here knows what they are talking about when they say that) I also cannot tell you who won, I have been sworn to secrecy.

note on a prior post:
If you have seen the 4 Minutes video from Madonna, you will see that JT is wearing a blarf. I am telling you they are every where.

Other than that, I am still job hunting. I wish that at the 3 month mark I would have had a job by now, but I guess the world has other plans for me.

Email me if you can. I get bored sitting here submitting resumes and waiting for people to call.

I have a way with the stars

I went to the last show of the Groundling's Swimsuit issue. If you are not familiar with the Groundling's it is a comedy theater, that produces comedy sketch shows. Many of its cast members have ended up on Saturday Night Live or other iconic comedy shows/movies like:

Phil Hartman (the main theater was renamed in his honor)
Chris Parnell
Jennifer Coolidge
Cheryl Hines
Will Farrell
Lisa Kudrow
Paul Rubens (Email me if you can name his alter ego)
Adriane Barbeau
Pat Morita

Here is my story:
As I was going up to our seats in the theater, very much like a movie theater, I did not realize that there was an additional small step to the row. (It didn't help that someone's purse was in the way.) I hit the step, pitched forward and almost fell in Kristen Wiig's lap.

That is me, tripping over and running into celebrities all across Los Angeles.

The show was very funny and many times I almost fell out of my chair. These people should be writing for SNL. Melissa McCarthy , who played Sookie on the Gilmore Girls, was in this cast and not since Chris Farley have I seen physical comedy so brilliant.

So I recommend going to see the Groundling's shows, you never know who you'll "run" into. (wink, wink)

A family member shares

A few weeks ago I asked you to share your top life experiences. Here is one from my Aunt Beth:

When Nick was just a little boy (about 6) his great-great-grandfather, William McKinley Nicholas was dying of stomach cancer at the age of 96 or 97. I had a meeting down in Miami where he lived with Nick’s great-grandfather, so I made arrangements to go to their house to have lunch and spend some time. Will was too sick to get out of bed, so I crawled in bed with him and spent about an hour snuggling and listening to him tell me stories of his life. He told me of some of the changes he had seen in the world since his birth in 1896. Can you even imagine? The widespread use of electricity and telephones, cars, airplanes, rockets, computers. To experience life during most of the 20th century must have been unbelievable especially when looking back at it.

I will never forget this wonderful moment in my life. I can only hope that it was in any was as special to him as it was to me.

Thank you for sharing your story.

Happy Earth Day!!

Today is Earth Day. It is confusing sometimes to know what you can do to help. Especially with all of the different magazines that are coming out with Green issues. Many of the suggestions in the issues are pretty expensive, like $2,000 coffee tables. Here are some things some normal people can do today:

• Buy energy saving light bulbs.
• Buy canvas grocery shopping bags and keep them in your car so you do not forget them. Most grocery stores are selling them at the check out counter, including Target. If you would like some go here , here and here .
• Make your toilet use less water by dropping a big rock or brick in your toilet tank. The object displaces water and makes your tank hit the fill line faster, therefore using less water.
  
• Walk or ride a bike today.
• Sign up for online bill pay. Not getting your statements in the mail not only saves tons of paper, but protects your privacy.
  

These are just some suggestions to help you. Happy Earth day.

What are they wearing-blarfs

The pashmina type scarf is everywhere here and LA women think it goes with everything. Seriously 8 of of 10 women are wearing a blarf. (I didn't come up with that word, I read it somewhere.)

So if you want to be LA for a day, take your pashmina and wrap it around your neck a few times. It goes well with leggings, miniskirts, jeans or a prom dress.


Go blarfs!

a little bummed

So, some of you have heard that the job I wanted at the museum is a no go. Budget issues, but I would have had the job. I feel like budget issues are following me around. My last two jobs also went under. I have been unemployed 2 and a half months. Although I have had a great time going to museums, parks, movies, helping Asher film, I really just want to go back to work.

happy thoughts

Think happy thoughts I have two interviews one Monday and one Tuesday.

what I have been up to-a yummy way to partcipate

I had the chance on Monday to be one of the people to try Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor ONE Brownie Cheesecake, which is my new favorite. Not only because brownie and cheesecake is one of the best flavor combinations since chocolate and peanut butter, but proceeds from its purchase goes to support ONE .

I would have had a chance to see Ben and Jerry, a children's choir, and a program about ONE, but the time on the invite was wrong and I think I showed an hour too late.

Star sightings- the I will never wash my eyes again edition

I had a couple of pretty serious star sightings lately. I won't say where, because this place isn't somewhere you would expect celebrities to be seen. I hate the jerkerazzi, I almost got knocked down by someone running down 3rd Street just to get a picture of someone, I am not sure who, I left the premises as soon as I could.

I digress.

Anyway, when I was out and about, I saw Orlando Bloom (Many of you may know him as Coey of Minsk's celebrity crush) and his lady friend Miranda Kerr.

I also spied Demi Moore.

Not bad huh, for girl who hasn't really been going out so much. I will never wash my eyes again.

Have you noticed?

On the upper left hand corner is a feature I added on my blog. I have labeled it as Guest Book, but really it is a stat counter that people use to see who is visiting their websites. It has been great to see that people are reading my blog. Some are as far away as Scotland.

I am confused a bit by some of my visitors. For example who is coming from Saginaw. MI and Bilouxi, Mississippi. If you are these people send me an email.

April is National Poetry Month

Did you know that April is National Poetry month? Well, it is.

Since it is, I commissioned a poem from one of our family poets and finder of the fountain of youth, my grandfather. Here is an especially relevant poem from him about the dreaded April 15th.

THE TAX MAN COMETH

The ides of April are soon upon us
Again we go through the IRS form fuss
There’s got to be a more just way
Adopt a fair tax program some people say


But that program is fraught with many woes
The lower income folks will pay through the nose
While the upper group will really score
Keeping more of their income, and more, and more


And tax attorneys would be out of work
H & R Block would also go into the murk
Jobless IRS agents, what would they do?
With no one to hassle, who would they sue?


So fair tax may not be the way
An equitable way to make everyone pay
Would be to put all citizens on welfare
And let everyone share in the same despair


With a new tax code simple and fair
Where everyone gets the same kicked derriere
The new form would read as easy as sin
“How much money did you make last year? Mail it in !”

David E. McGrain
April, 2008

Have you done your taxes yet? I haven't.

Whirlwind

I can't believe it is already Saturday. I haven't felt time go by so fast in such a long time.

I felt that my interview on Monday went very well. Unfortunately they will not be making their decision until the end of this month. A friend commented that it might be an April Fool's joke. Perhaps.

I just spent the last couple days on a whirlwind tour of Los Angeles. We had a friend in from France. Although he has visited a few times, there is always so much to see that hasn't been seen before. This time we tried to watch the sunset at Moonshadows (Some of you may have heard that name before, it is where Mel Gibson drank it up before his drunk driving arrest) It was too cloudy to get a view of the sunset, but we did watch some dolphins play for a few minutes. I tried to get video of them, but of course by the time I got the camera ready, they disappeared.

Our friend was amazed at how many European chain stores there are in L.A. I had no clue.

Yesterday was a driving tour of Downtown, we hit the Music Center which holds the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry (pictured) Chinatown, Santee Alley and the jewelery district. It isn't often that I go Downtown. Then it was off to the Getty to catch a couple exhibits before closing time. I love the new exhibit California Video. If you are in town and have the chance to go, it is great.

So that is what I have been up to I guess.

Happy...

Birthday Dad!!

Monday

Think happy thoughts on Monday, I finally have an interview.

What I am up to- End of March

Things have been a bit boring on the blog front. I wish I had star sightings to report, but alas I have been a prisoner in my apartment waiting for employers to call. A watched pot never boils, but it seems whenever I am not with my phone it rings. So since Thursday I have been sitting here staring at it. I think when I finally get a job, I will get a new phone because I have grown to loath the thing.

What have I been up to lately?

Wednesday...
night I participated in an anti-war vigil with Asher. It was great and we had a lot of support from passers by. The honking was non-stop and I am sure that it didn't make the diners at Pizzeria Mozza very happy. (I haven't gone there yet and although I like Mario Batali and the Bastianich family, I have heard that the service is not the greatest. Go in ready to spend money, if you aren't they will shame you into leaving.) Anyway, the vigil was a great experience and I hope that in five more years I wont be back at that corner for the 10 year mark.

On the home front.....
I have been getting to some of the art projects that I have wanted to get to. Including finally painting our bedroom. First a disastrous red and finally a nice toasted almond color. Sometimes at Home Depot, people aren't so willing to give out information regarding paint.

Other than that I am preparing for a visit from Asher's friend from France, who will be visiting next week.

I think that is it.

Currently watching: The Tudors Season I
Currently reading: White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Yummyist website ever

If you are cooking for Easter tomorrow and you are looking for something a little different to cook check out The Pioneer Woman Cooks! The most mouthwatering website ever.

It includes step by step photo directions as well as the recipe at the end.

Ree, the author of this blog and "Confessions of a Pioneer Woman" was an urban cowgirl in Los Angeles who is now a mother of four living on a cattle ranch somewhere in the middle of no-where, Check out both blogs if you can, but Pioneer Woman Cooks is the only one with recipes.
Note: Don't look when you are hungry.

World Water Week

I am not sure if you knew, but this week is World Water Week.

For more information click here

Find out how you can participate in making clean drinking water for everyone a reality.

200

This is the 200th post of my blog. I hope you like reading it as much as I like writing it.

200 posts ago I moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and started this little blog to keep you all posted on what I have been up to. Since then I have visited a lot of places, from Larchmont Village to Utah. Took day trips to Seal Beach and Santa Barbara.

Since then I have seen Michael Vartan, David Anders, ?uestlove, Lisa Marie Presley, Kirstie Alley, Jim Belushi, Dave Navarro, Rachel Griffiths, Justin Chambers, Giovanni Ribisi, Nia Vardalos, members of No Doubt, Tony Shaloub, David Krumholz, Paris Hilton and more that I can't remember.

I have brought you a lot of features like Here are the Places in My Neighborhood, What are they wearing and some best of L.A. picks.

Let me know if you are still hanging in and reading this thing. You know where you can always reach me.

Here's to 200 more posts.

I shared one of mine, now you share one of yours

A couple posts ago, I shared one of my top life experiences. I thought it would be fun if you shared one of yours. I would love to have this blog be more interactive w/ the family and I thought this would be a great way to do that.

I will be taking submissions for unforgettable experiences. Please submit them to my email address.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

One of my top 5 experiences in life...and so it goes

Last Sunday my book club met to discuss Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I don't usually chat about my book club online, but I will make an exception. The reason why this book club was so different and blog-able is that we met with a bookclubmate's grandparent's book club. Their youngest member was 79 and oldest was 95 years old (and boy was that 95 year old as sharp as a tack) We planned for both of our book clubs to read this book and meet together and discuss.

For those of you who have not read the book, briefly, it is about an author who wants to write a book about his experiences in WWII, especially the Bombing of Dresden. The book becomes a book about war, coping with life after the war, with a bit of science fiction thrown in.

What was great is that all of the people in the other book club lived through WWII, we had three people who fought in the Pacific Theater and many of them shared their stories. From what it was like to be there, to getting letters from soldiers that had sections blacked out by censors. Some of the stories were difficult to hear and because we talked for almost 3 hours straight hard to repeat every one. One of our members works for a radio show and we hope that it will be a segment that will be on air. I will keep you posted.

I really don't think I will forget this ever.

We decided to meet every few months to discuss a book. I can't wait for the next meeting.

and so it goes...

What I am up to again

I have been submitting to a lot of jobs and haven't had too much luck, which has got me a bit frustrated. To keep my mind off of being frustrated, I have been doing more to explore Los Angeles and its surrounding areas.

Huntington Gardens:
The Huntington was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington when he signed away his San Marino estate for non-profit use. It is now home to gardens, a gallery and Library. It is a beautiful place and is so expansive that you couldn't possibly see it in one day.

Here are some photos.




Chinatown:
I finally went to Chinatown and had dim sum, something I have wanted to do for a long time. It was a lot of fun and I ate too much. I left my camera at home unfortunately. Having dim sum is a strange, but great experience. Having a team of people stroll around with carts that you can pick food off of, is a great invention. You eat instantly.

Another LA institution that I had the chance to eat at is the Apple Pan I think I just had that the best burger I have had in LA. It reminded me of my Lion's Tap days in Minneapolis. I didn't have room for pie, but I am definitely going back.

Still reading the books and I can say that the only movie I liked recently is Annie Hall, which I had never seen.

Day 6- Cabo San Lucas

We didn't really get to explore Cabo like we did the other ports. We met up with mom's friends and I got to use more Spanish in this port than the others. All I can offer you in the way of pictures are these pictures of the sunrise.

Quick notes

Just a quick note to let you know two things:

1) If you happen to read the comments on my blog, be very careful. People are using comments as a way to spread nasty computer viruses. I am doing my best to block or erase comments that are potentially dangerous.

2) Start sightings in the last week are:
Alex Kingston
Jennifer Coolidge

Think good thoughts, I am waiting to hear from a few jobs.

The Flyers

I wasn't sure if I should name this post "The Flyers" or "A Job I Would Never Like to Have"

Follow the pictures to see why. (Note: the top is 86 feet tall)

What I have been up to-Reading and Movies

Reading:
I have finished two books so far this year; The History of Love (Strongly recommend), Sharp Objects (Thought it was going to be bit trashy, which it was, but I liked it) and now I am reading Nancy Drew: Girl Slueth and Waiting: True Confessions of A Waitress.

Movies:
As well as helping Asher shoot his latest YouTube endeavor. I have been watching a lot of movies. My most recent venture out to a movie theater was to see Be Kind, Rewind which isn't getting the best reviews, but I really liked it. It was a very quirky heart warming film. It is totally up my alley, but I am afraid that if I recommend it to you, you might think it is just too weird. To be honest it reminded me a lot of Batteries Not Included which I liked when I was a kid.

Also, I saw "Definitely, Maybe" (Cute and a different spin on the romantic comedy) "Babel" (If you don't think it can get worse it does, and then gets worse from there) "Girl 27" (A great documentary about the early hollywood and the ways it was not as glamorous as people thought. Not for the youngins) Now I am into season one of the "Flight of the Concords", which is also quirky in my type of way.

Speaking of movies, I didn't hear from anyone about Oscar picks. How did people feel about the Oscar show? My highlights were when Marion Cotillard from "La Vie En Rose" and the people from Once won.

If you haven't seen either of these movies, I thought they were great and they are both out on DVD and if they are not part of your netflix queue add them now. (What do you know, "Falling Slowly" is playing on my itunes.)

This is how I think they can make the Oscars better.
1) I think that they can not televise the winners in the short film categories. Maybe 10% of the population gets access to see these films. I live in L.A. and the only time we get to see these films are after the awards show.
2) Televise only the winning song from the best original song category.  

3) Let more than one person talk when they get an award for a group. It is their award too, not just the extroverts.

What do you think? Email me.

By the way, 6 more entries and I am on my 200th post.

What I have been up to-Visiting

I have been trying to enjoy Los Angeles in between submitting for jobs. Today I went outside to enjoy the unreal weather and saw Jonah Hill and Nestor Carbonell . It has been close to 80 for two days.

Visiting:
I have had the opportunity to visit a few Los Angeles landmarks since I have been laid off. Including:
MOCA : (Museum of Contemporary Art) I saw, for free, the Murukami Exhibit A lot of you might not know who he is, but he recently collaborated with Louis Vuitton to make those classic handbags a little more colorful and fun.
The Getty :
Also free, the Getty has a very expansive and famous collection of art, including Van Goghs, Irises. I was there to see to see the Graciela Iturbide exhibit. I love Mexican photographers, they are my favorite. (At left is me pictured at the garden at the Getty.) I need to make it back there, because we barely made a dent in the Getty collection, plus they have all of these great events.
Griffith Park : I have gone hiking/picnicking about three times to Griffith. Each week the burnt area of the park looks better and better. By the way the Larchmont Wine and Cheese Shop has the best sandwiches this side of Robertson.

Speaking of visiting, I had a family visit by family last week. Beth and Katie were here last week on a road trip up the California coast. We met in Santa Monica and had dinner and chatted. It was so great to see them. What the February!?

I still haven't made it to Pinks, but I hope to visit it soon.

That's enough for this post. Up next Reading and Movies .....

Day 5-Mazatlan

Day 5 was our second day ashore in Mazatlan. I have to stop myself from calling it Mazdalan (for some reason)

Mom and I decided to have a girls day and do some shopping and beach time in Mazdalan, I mean Mazatlan.

First Stop: Baile Folklorico Show
As part of our tour we were whisked across town by cab to the Aztec Theater to see a baile folklorico show. Pictured left is the Mexican Hat Dance. We were also treated to an indigenous group called the Papantla Flyers, pictured right, who will be getting their own post next.

We winded our way through the maze of countless stalls of pottery, jewelry and other trinkets. We ended up buying jewelry, pottery and trinkets. Then onto the resort for free lunch, free drinks and beach time. It was great to relax and hear the ocean. I say hear because our view was obstructed by the wall of street vendors that lined the barrier that the resort had set up. It was also hard to get down to the water to cool off, because once you stepped out into the barrier, vendors descended on you like something out of a zombie movie.

"Brains!"


The resort was great and I loved the authentic Mexican food. Pineapple tamales are good. Here is a picture of mom and I underneath a palapa on the beach owned by the resort. You see them everywhere in Mexico. I would like one for L.A. Did I mention it is 80 degrees today.

Oscar picks?

I know a few of you will be watching the Oscars on Sunday. I think that there were a lot of great films this year. I am really having a hard time thinking about who will win on Sunday. I am wondering who you would vote for. See an official ballot here .

email me at eyemheer2@yahoo.com

Day 4-Yelapa y Mahauitas

Back to the trip again before I forget.
(This will be a heavy picture post)

Day four was the first stop at Puerto Vallarta. We chose to take a tour that left at 7 a.m., which when we signed up for it seemed perfectly reasonable, but when it came time, 7 a.m. seemed a bit too early.

We boarded the Catamaran to Yelapa y Mahauitas and saw something very unexpected.

Thar she blows!!!

(If you open this one up, you can see the whales eye)

This is just a few of the whale pictures I took. We were able to spend a lot of time whale watching. There were a few times that we got pretty close. From what I understood, this much whale activity so early in the morning was really rare.

This is a resort by where our catamaran stopped to snorkle. We did not snorkle, last time I snorkled with so many people, the view of the fish was obstructed by bright white backsides under water. We decided to enjoy the view from the ship and saw a lot of fish anyway.

After snorkling we headed another few minutes to a town called Yelapa. This town is only accessible by boat and just got electricity three years ago. They already have internet. As well as our hired tour guide, we also were accompanied by the oldest living resident of the town named Agupina, who is around 90 years old.

(The waterfall that provides the town's water)

(This is a picture of one of the resorts you can stay at)

On the way back was a going home fiesta, I danced, I laughed and I know that if ever I needed to get away from it all, I could just call Osvaldo.

Busy Busy

Sorry for the gap again in updating the old blog. I have been working really hard on the job search.

In star sighting news, I ran into ?uestlove on Valentines Day. I am sure many of you do not know who he is, but if you remember an earlier post of mine, I referred to him as "The Bomb"

I guess I could have had the opportunity to redeem myself and tell him how talented I think he is, but I just kept my mouth shut. I probably would have blanked and said:

"I think you are neat."

Keep your fingers crossed, I have five jobs out in cyberspace.

resumes,cover letters, references oh my!

I have been working hard getting job application materials ready. It is so very hard to write about how awesome you are in one page. It doesn't help that I am modest. When all is said and done this week, I hope to have 4 out the door.

On a star sighting note I did happen to see Justin Chambers who I think, although I have not watched the show is more handsome than McDreamy or McSteamy. Maybe because I am attracted to crazy. Anyway. He was just driving along Beverly.

If you do get the chance, let me know how you are doing. Email me at eyemheer2@yahoo.com.

Now back to the Mexico trip.....

In case you needed something to make you smile

I don't have too much to report, I am job hunting and helping Asher plan for a comedy show about the political race. In my busy weeks between Christmas and the cruise I forgot to post some very important and funny photos/movies of EDB. This one is sure to make you smile. Sorry, that you have to lean to one side. It won't let me rotate the movie unless I go and buy Quicktime Pro for $30. Which I am not going to do at this juncture.

If you do happen to have Quicktime Pro go to:
Window
Show Movie Properties
and from there you can rotate and edit.

Anyway, here is a movie of EDB, doing what he loves best, BOWLING! Shown here with Nancy J. and Mom. Commence the leaning to one side.






I will post more pictures of the trip later this weekend.

Day 3

A little wind, more sea, some land and a whale sighting.


(If you zoom in really close to this picture, you can see the whale blowing out water. This is close to Cabo San Lucas)

You might be hearing more from me these days

I am not sure if you have heard, but I was laid off from my job a week ago. You may ask yourself, why I was laid off because I worked at an advertising agency. Well, unfortunately all of our clients are homebuilders. ALL of them. If you watch the news at all you will know that industry is not doing well. (I saw a story recently about homeowners burning down their houses to get insurance money) I am one of 7 who were laid off in the last four months.

Having never lost a job before, I was bummed out for a couple days, but now I feel pretty good about it. I know that sounds a bit odd as well, but I am getting paid to find another job. A better, more creative, higher paying job perhaps. I am very optimistic.

I would get out my "Discover me" sandwich board and march outside of Paramount, but unfortunately Paramount is a bit crowded by marchers for the WGA strike. Which I hope ends very soon. There was a rumor that it would be ending this week, but it is almost
Thursday and I still see marchers outside.

Plus, as I am looking for jobs I have more of a chance to write on my blog, which I wasn't really able to do so much anymore.

So in summary, I am very optimistic and excited to let you know more about my life here.

Day 2

My parents 35th wedding anniversary took place on the second day of our trip. Don't they look cute?

Day 1

I have a lot of pictures to share from the cruise to Mexico. So here we go a picture journal.

We left the Port of Los Angeles at about 4:00 p.m. Here is us toasting our trip.


If you look closely you can tell that I once again do not have my eyes open. An affliction that many of us in our family possess and the same disease that has kept me from being a super model all of these years.

Here is a better picture with me and Dad on our way back from dinner with my eyes open.

I am back stateside

I hope you enjoyed the SAG awards last night, it is probably the only award show you will get to see this season. I was hoping that when I got back from a week at sea that the WGA Strike would have been resolved. No such luck.

I am back and will be posting pictures from the trip. I have some editing to do mainly from the whale watching we were able to do in Puerto Vallarta. I hope to make them look more like whales and less like specks.

I hope to post again more regularly starting Wednesday.

two years

Today is my two year anniversary of living here. I am celebrating by packing for a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with my parents. We leave Saturday and I couldn't be more excited to relax and sip girl drinks for a week.

I hope to post more when I get back, but for a quick Evan fix, please look at the following pictures from 2006 and 2007 Christmases.

Star sightings a two week recap

1) On Larchmont a couple weekends ago I saw Neil McDonaugh.

That same weekend I saw Ron Jeremy (Please do not make me explain who he is. Please do not look him up if you are under the age of 18, if you catch my drift.) Note: I know him from VH1 appearances.

I also think I spied Frankie Muniz.

There you go, my two week recap.

For your consideration

I am sorry for the break again. I was so hyped up to post pictures of my christmas with my family but my time between returning to L.A. didn't seem long enough. Also, I am on this apartment pursing and packing for my trip kick.

One thing I would like to note, that has been taking up my time is that Asher was selected this year to vote for the SAG awards. (Who knows if they will be televised, due to the Writer's Strike, now in its second month) So far we have received Into the Wild, Hairspray and a ticket to There Will be Blood to look at. We ended up seeing There Will Be Blood and I can honestly say that although the acting was amazing (With the exception of Little Miss Sunshine's Paul Dano) and it was a beautiful movie to watch, I felt like I was just watching time pass without rhyme or reason. And I think it is one of my most disliked movies of the year. Let me know what you think, because I heard that a lot of people liked it.

I'll let you know how the other ones go.

Cold

I tried to prepare myself for the cold. I tried to think about how cold it used to be, but nothing cold possibly prepare myself for 15 degrees. The whole trip home floated between 15 and and 22 degrees (which some people tried to convince me was warm) It isn't.

Happy 2008

I have been back for a week now and I am finally re-adjusted, unpacked and ready to post again.
I am going to upload my pictures today so I will be ready to picture post.

Hope 2008 is going well so far.

Goodbye 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Hope your 2008 is great!

Star sighting and a tangent

Last week when I was Christmas shopping, Asher and I ran into Kirstie Alley at Anthropologie.

I wasn't as lucky as Asher, who last night went to see a screening of Francis Ford Copolla's new film Youth Without Youth with a Q & A with FFC at the end. How lucky. He also ran into the stars of one of my favorite movies this year Control (Sam Riley and Alexandra Maria Lara-she is in Youth Without Youth) Asher liked the movie a lot, it is a very artsy movie, reminiscent of Italian and French New Wave, so expect to not understand it at first viewing. (like 8 1/2, I had to watch it twice)

Speaking of Asher, he was featured in a British comedy website called < href="http://www.channel4.com/4laughs/feature/4laughs_a_day/nov/nov28.html"> 4 Laughs
I guess one of their writers found him on Youtube and featured his Transformers spoof. You can she that spoof as well as other videos at www.youtube.com/asherglaser

There you go star sighting and a tagent.

I am getting new Neighbors

I can't wait, we are totally going to be BFFs.

What I have been doing lately

Cleaning.

One thing about Los Angeles that you do not consider when you move here is how dusty you how gets from smog (car pollution)

I feel like I am constantly dusting something and vacuuming up stuff.

Lately I have been on an anti-clutter rampage, but am overwhelmed by the fact that first you must lay out all the clutter and then decide what to do with it.

Since I have been inside a lot I haven't seen any celebrities.