new years

The Good of 2009...
moving to LA
Glee!
first trip to Las Vegas/the state of Nevada (at least one new state a year!)
being apart of a commercial shoot
LA taco stands and sushi
finally getting into Mad Men
going to 4 new major league ballparks (angels, dodgers, padres and giants)
Mizzou making the Elite 8 in March
Up in the Air
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8DCt3Lmi28 and The Office recreating it
Bon Iver at the Hollywood Cemetery
500 Days of Summer
Obama's inauguration
LA Twilight/New Moon mania
Sarah, Jennah and Karins Weddings
Bradley Cooper and Chris Pine...who knew the jerk in wedding crashers and the no name in princess diaries 2 would turn into the big stars of 09?! They look pretty cute up there on the big screen...
Miley Cyrus "Party in the U.S.A.”, you know you danced and sang along every time it came on
The end of Jon and Kate plus 8...a terrible show and i hope the media coverage of this is over in 2010
Modern Family


Things to look forward to in 2010...
more Glee!
Winter Olympics...in person??
going on a Shoe Drop
more MO friends visiting LA
yoga. It's about time i accepted the LA trend since there is a studio on EVERY block in LA
Sex and the City 2
The end of LOST
a new state and a new ball park to visit...not sure where yet
finding a new place to volunteer/group to get involved with in LA
a northern California winery trip
and some other things we'll keep a surprise till later

Happy New Year All!

May this be the year __________ (fill in the blank) finally happens for you!

Merry Xmas to All!
Hope you are making xmas 09 memories wherever you are.


PS
the above photo was made by me! it is not a card stock photo...do not be fooled

Pinkberry knows the way to my Holiday Heart...

First I fell in love with Starbucks red cups many years ago...



They are my FAVORITE thing of the holiday season.

BUT, now Pinkberry is catching on to the red cup trend...



Adorable =)

I'm back -- with photos!

Since my last blog post (about 2 months ago) a lot has gone on. So why not update with photos?!

I moved into my apartment in Santa Monica.... (one photo of our living room and a bit of the kitchen. Yes, that is CHALK BOARD paint in the kitchen!)

I have become pretty much obsessed with Glee. I was able to meet some of the cast members and go to a screening of an episode at the Arclight. Love this show!

Went to visit Emilee in Kansas City sometime in October. We had a "felicity" pumpkin carving night. My pumpkin is a ghost, hers is a mouse.

Celebrated Halloween. Work had a pumpkin carve fest...our team (shown below) took 1st place!

Went to the UCLA vs Oregon game at the Rose Bowl and went the the USC vs Stanford Homecoming game.

A group of people from work put together a 9 hole/Bar Golf Event/Night in Venice.

And I went home to St Louis for Turkey Day. Webster didn't win the turkey day bell, but they did win state!

the cousins from detroit that came to town...


I'm excited for the holiday season. I'm learning how to listen to xmas songs that sing about winter wonderlands in a city that only knows sunny warm days.

Take care till the next post...hopefully not 2months from now =)

Stone Brewery

I spent Saturday and Sunday In San Diego. While Kate was spending the day with her family, Matt and I spent the day at Stone Brewery (http://www.stonebrew.com/home.asp)

This could be one of my favorite places I have been in CA (really, its up there) It was a perfect spot. Great beer, Great food, and a Great spot to waste the day away. Loved everything about this place and hope to return back again soon.

Current Status
Working on a saturday watching the oregon game on tv from kate's family's home (where i have been staying since i came back to LA on sunday night, while we apartment hunt)

We (kate and i ) submitted applications for an apartment located on 20th and Wilshire. Its a perfect location, perfect size and there are two showers in the bathroom....yep 2 showers. I'm ready for apartment hunt 09 to be over and for us to hear back from the owner ASAP!

Last night i went to concert #1 of Bon Iver for the weekend. The show was exactly how i wanted it to be....chill, nobody sang along and the sound was perfect. The crowd was there to soak him all up and enjoy the evening.

Bon Iver #2 concert is tomorrow at 6am!! The concert is taking place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. Gates open at midnight and till 6 they will have a few other people playing, show a movie and serve breakfast before the show. This will the most unique concert I may ever got to.

Trivia question of the day...
Q.what was the original school picked for the filming of animal house??
A. Mizzou!!!
who says you don't learn anything watching sports on TV?!

Back to work and back to the game -- Go ducks!

Keep your fingers crossed wherever you are that i'll have a home very soon = a place to put couches for people to sleep on when they visit!! (a win win for everybody!)

working from home today...

i'm working from the living room and notice two girls in our yard

what are they doing???

one is holding a dog and the other is picking up our newspaper (that i have yet to go out side and get) and take the paper form the plastic wrapping

she throws the paper on the ground and takes the plastic wrapping to pick up the dogs poop that is next to the other girl

now i can see the newspaper all over the yard, but at least its not dog poop

it could be worse i guess

St Louis

Home till the 20th

on the to do list...

mizzou/il fun = check
karin and bills wedding = check
taking advantage of fall beers at Schlafley
a trip to como
clayton art fest on fri night
forest park balloon race
cardinal games (in person and on tv)
all the trader joe black bean and corn salsa i can eat (why do they not have this in LA?!?!)
seeing lots of people that i wish lived in LA

good to be back =)

In case you didn't know....

TOMS and Blake were on Good Morning America Today

here is the clip, in case you missed it!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=8477918

Taco Tuesdays

bringing blogs together thanks to tacos and mr. ryan maxey!

http://www.synchronicityla.com/

a little peak into ryan and my taco tuesday lunch dates

who wants to go to oakland?!?

4 down..one more to go

after this weekend i have been to 4/5 California ball parks

Oakland is all that is left


the 4 stadiums so far....not in the correct visiting order

Anaheim, Angels

Los Angeles, Dodgers

San Fransisco, Giants (the best park for sure!)

and the San Diego, Padres


cardinals come to CA next week = 2 games?? i hope to be at!

500 days of Summer

This movie is pretty close to perfect

pay attention....

to the trendy soundtrack, Summers perfect outfits and that not one shot looks like they really are in LA.

I was convinced the whole movie, that they were filming in some other city. I have yet to see restaurants, apartments and parks, like the ones in the movie.

Where have these parts of the city been hiding from me this whole time?!!?

When i got home i did a little research and the whole movie was shot in LA.

Funny

I predict soon america (or at least all the 20'somethings out there) will love this movie

because you either are a "Tom" or a "Summer" in real life

and its good to know you are not the only one

friday at the coffee bean

i'm currently at the coffee bean and tea leaf on montana working

i'm sitting by a window and looking at a man sitting at one of the outside tables

on his table is his laptop and a lunch box/bag with his puppy sitting in it. the puppy's head is sticking out and he has zipped the other area of the bag/box

really??!!

la people and their little dogs
they treat them like accessories, not animals

***

going to see Bruno ASAP!

Best Place to be for the 4th of july....

duh

Leaving for St Louis tomorrow at 12 from LA

Home till July 7th to celebrate the 4th, see friends, family and to be apart of my friend Jennah's Wedding.

Its a busy week, but I'm really looking forward to it....even the humidity =)

what the heck?!?!

http://oscar-watch.ew.com/2009/06/2010-oscars-to-have-10-best-picture-nominees.html

10?!


i'll have to let this sink in, no comment right now...=/

***

going to the LA film festival tonight in westwood to see Paper Heart. This is the one movie I'm most excited to see this summer (comes out in Aug) so i'm excited to get a sneak peak. Since it is LA and a film festival, i'm hoping for maybe a director/writer/star FAQ at the end. Fingers Crossed.

two thumbs up/4 stars

Every summer i become disappointed with summer movies. I get tired of the action or they just seem to have no plot by the time July 4th hits.
So far this summer is off to a great start
i'm 4/4
I Would recommend all of the above movies and thought it was well worth my over price LA movie ticket to see each and every one of them.

Next summer movie on the list to see...The Proposal. I love Ryan Reynolds...a lot. Way too cute.

PS
check out the Away We Go soundtrack

C is for Conan

One of the many reasons I decided to stay in LA past the internship was because Conan O'brien would begin taping The Tonight Show starting June 1st.

I have always been a big fan and never had the chance to see him in NYC. So i figured if I was still around in LA for the summer my odds of getting tickets to a taping would be good.

Tomorrow that small goal/dream comes true

I'm going to see a Conan Taping!!

I'm going with Cliff Mitchell (friend from high school and Mizzou) and we're pretty pumped. A drive to burbank and waiting in line for over an hour is well worth it.

See you tomorrow Conan...and andy....and max...=)

Part 2 of living in LA

Susan left this week and i am officially house sitting for the summer now.

The joys of the week have been...
having my own closet again
knowing that there will always be hot water from now on when i shower
and having a fridge where i do not have to section off my own shelf with all of my food with my name on it.

This is the first time I have lived by myself, so I don't know how i will continue to enjoy my own space after a few more weeks of this. I'll just have to keep busy.

currently watching: a lot more tv.
The power of dvr is amazing and with Conan being back I have felt guilty all week for ignoring Dave. I have no idea how this new late night talk show choice is going to be worked out.

currently reading: The Year of Living Biblically. So far, it has been really entertaining. I wish i was in a bookclub right now to discuss it.

currently listening to: the new Mat Kerney cd. I picked up a few cds at a Target outside of San Fransisco on my way back to LA on Saturday and I have not turned this one off yet.

I also reached another level of adult hood this week...I joined Netflix.
I don't know why I have always seen this concept as some kind of adult luxury -- but i have.
I figure i may have more time now to finally get into some shows i have always wanted to watch, True Blood, Mad Men and Weeds, joining Netflix seemed liked the best option.

Also, for the first time LA weather is not living up to it's perfect reputaion. I have learned another LA phrase; June Gloom. It has been in the 60's all week and yesterday we even had a thunderstorm. Thunder is rare here and everytime i heard it, i thought it could be another earthquake instead.

I'm trying my best to find time to get to the movies, but i have been working everyday since i got back from my trip with my parents. I want to see UP at the Disney Theater on Hollywood Blvd and Away We Go opens tomorrow here in LA

Back in STL one month from today for the WG 4th fesitivites and Jennahs Wedding!

Our day in Monterey

Best news of the day = we didn't get in the car and drive anywhere!
But, we did get on a boat
We went whale watching today and we're quickly reminded that North Cal is not as warm as Southern Cal.


Seals everywhere!

One of the whales we saw

I'm on a boat

Pic of the fam...i'll have to photo shop my face into the open circle later

best meal of the trip was dinner at the fish hopper! Great food and a great view from our table.


Back in the car tomorrow to drive to our last stop....San Fransisco! We have tickets to the Giants and Cardinals game tomorrow night.

Go Cards!

Hearst Castle and driving up the coast to Monterey

Another Day!

We left Santa Barbara this morning and the first stop was the Hearst Castle. It was well worth the stop and a pretty amazing place to visit (yes chrisite, more people should make this a CA destination) The whole Bindbeutel family was impressed.







We continued on our drive up the coast and stopped to take some pics along the way (laura would not get out of the car, so she is missing from these) The view was amazing for the entire drive.



We are now in Montery (once home to callie hansen) and have all decided to stay here till Friday.

Day 4 or 1 of the Bindbeutel Family Vacation

Yes, my family has been in CA for four days now, but this is the first day we have all been together.

My mom and sister spent Sunday and Monday at Disneyland, while my dad and i stayed in the Venice/Santa Monica area.

Today we left the LA/Anaheim area and are at our first stop...Santa Barbara.

It's a pretty perfect area of California. I now wish i would have made this trip a long time ago. We had lunch at the Cold Spring Tavern (http://www.coldspringtavern.com/menu.html) The rest of the day was spent walking around down town and spending way too much money at the farmers market. Anything my dad sampled he had to buy.

Currently we are taking a small break in our hotel room watching the cardinals vs brewers game Thank You ESPN!!! This is the first Cardinals game i have seen all season!!!

Tomorrow we are off to Hearst Castle

*pics*

where we had lunch, the cold spring tavern. It reminded me of YL's camp, Frontier Ranch.


the view from the drive to and from the cold spring tavern



downtown Pasadena...there was a farmers market going on when we were there. The bag my dad is holding is full of the best cherries in CA. The same cherries Emilee and i bought when she was in town at the Santa Monica Farmers market = the cherry lady gets around

Happy Saturday

I'm waiting for my parents to arrive in LA right now at Susans house. Around me our suit cases and garbage bags filled with my stuff from the intern house. I have not unpacked anything and have had no idea where anything has been all week. I just washed a load of clothes and have been only wearing whatever was in the basket. I have no idea where all this stuff came from, I swear I only brought 2 suitcases with me....whoops.

Here I am one week after the internship has ended, still in LA.

Really, I did not think I was still going to be here when I visited St Louis in March. I had my whole summer planned and all intentions to come back, but then the AT&T commercial launched and I started to LOVE TOMS.

Everything just fell into place from there.

Susan's movie got green lit and she needed a house sitter for the summer = Me.

A short term job developed in the customer service department/online store and the rest is history.

I am one of 4 interns that decided to stay in LA. I'm anxious to get settled into my new style of life and see what it's like to not live and work with 14 other people. I keep joking that the Real World is over and we are the spin off show from the original cast.

The last two weeks have just been unreal and a ton of fun...
*I went to Las Vegas for a random weekend get away to see Dave Mathews and Jason Mraz (most random two days/weekend of my life)
*Came back for our last three days of work
*Celebrated the end of our last day at a Karokee bar on Wilshire (so not my typical scene, but was one of our best nights out)
*Went back to Disneyland last thursday (a gift from TOMS)
*Packed up all of my stuff and said goodbye to my roommates
*Emilee came to town! She was my first LA guest, so i tried to pack in her 5 days with as much as I could think of. A highlight was going to a Jay Leno taping, even if I am a loyal Dave/Conan Fan. She for sure got the full Cali experience by being here for the 5.0 Earthquake on Sunday night.
*Worked for three days
* Had my hard drive crash. Good news is MAC is fixing it for free, Bad news is everything will be gone. Pictures, Itunes, etc = GONE. I went and had a beer right after that news to help cope with the lost/news.
*Developed a huge crush on Kris Allen. Why did i not know about this guy?? I would have been watching American Idol a lot sooner
*and now my parents are on there way to spend a week together driving up the coast from LA to San Fran, where i will go to my first Cardinals game of the season at the Giants stadium Friday night (marking another life goal off of the list)

After I get back from that trip my summer LA life offcialy starts. I'm looking into trying to take a class (cooking? art? surfing?), anything that will help to maybe meet some new people.

this city has never felt so big

cheers to the summer!

This is it!

Last day as a TOMS intern....



tomorrow we are off to disneyland
and starting saturday people start to move out

3 days till Emilee is here
10 days till my parents are here for our family trip up the coast

more to come for sure

realtiy tv

randomly i was emailed tickets to attend a taping of Dancing with the Stars for Monday afternoon. I left work early with Katie and we drove down to CBS studios. Over all it was a pretty funny experience. I am not a huge fan of the show, and knew very little about who was even left dancing this season. But, I did have fun. It's interesting to see a LIVE show be taped and to be apart of an audience in that way.



my other brush with the stars this week happened at dinner tonight. A few of us after work went to Don Antonios on Picco for taco night. When we walked in one of roommates was saying that there were cameras set up all over the restaurant. Don Antonios is famous for being a local spot on MTV's The Hills and i started to joke that Heidi and Spencer must be here. At that moment Heidi walked right past us on her way to the bathroom. For the rest of dinner you could see the couple being taped and all of the producers/directors camped out a few tables away watching it on their little tvs.


oh hollywood....