LA is home to large billboards EVERYWHERE. Over the past week new billboards have been going up all over town and I think they are HILARIOUS. I have no idea what the people of Mattel are up to, but I love this marketing campaign of Ken trying to win Barbie back. In case you did not know, Barbie dumped Ken a few years back for some Australian surfer (who knew?!). Enjoy the following pics of my daily humor while driving around town...

i'm ready for Glee to come back...

Not to brag...

I know its cold in 99% of the US, but in LA its perfect. January could be one of the best months to be in LA. My love/hate for LA is all LOVE during this month! I'm VERY grateful to be here and to not be in MANY other areas of the country.

The traffic and cost to live here is all worth it when you get to enjoy being at a beach bar while you watch a football playoff game and a current temperature of the stadium comes up on the screen and it reads 8!!! degrees.

This photo was taken tonight during sunset in Manhattan Beach, I have not seen the sky so colorful in a while. Had to share the pic...

Fortune Cookie

I had Chinese Food for the first time in a long time the other night

Call me superstitious, but for as long as I can remember I really have built up the fortune cookie moment of the meal.

Its a very simple tradition

The waiter drops a handful of fortune cookies onto the table along with your check. You grab one and crack it open, and inside you find what could be a tiny piece of paper of hope/fun or a tiny piece of paper that will let you down.


what cookie to choose????
its the risk you take


For me the fortune cookie is almost magical. Not that I really put my faith in a cookie, but its a fun gesture to think what the paper reads could come true.

The cookie i selected read;

Your independence shall lead you to new adventures

Not a bad fortune to set the tone for 2011. I like to think this will be the year of adventures!

Cheers to my independent self and the New Year (20 days later...=)

work shut down and we all went to Mammoth!

January Playlist

1. The Girl -- City and Colour
2. 5 years Time -- Noah and the Whale
3. Sleeping Sickness -- City and Colour
4. Valeria -- Glee Cast
5. I'm Going Down -- Vampire Weekend
6. The General -- Dispatch (back on tour this summer)
7. When We Are Wild -- The Red River
8. Have I the Right -- Vampire Weekend
9. If I Ever Leave this World Alive -- Flogging Molly (getting ready for the concert in March)
10. Missed the Boat -- Modest Mouse
11. 75 and Sunny - Ryan Montbleau
12. Gone in the Morning -- Newton Faulkner

AshBash '11

One of my best friends, Ashley Ward, came to visit me this weekend. She was nice enough to include LA as one of her many stops on her Xmas holiday break from her life in the Czech Republic.

Ashley and I met at Mizzou thanks to a Spring Break trip to Jamaica in 2004. Years later and MILES apart she still has stayed one of my favorite and very important friends in my life.

She came with a very short agenda for her trip; to eat, drink and see the beach.
Easy enough.
I drove her all over LA, we made a few beach stops, took advantage of one of the many pedi/mani places on Main Street, went to an improve show on Melrose, figured out sitting at the bar wherever you go is the best spot to be and I taught her that brunch is the most important meal of the day in LA.
She was even able to have a "celeb" spotting at brunch on Friday...Eric Dane/aka McSteamy from Greys Anatomy.

Thanks again for coming to see me AshBash!

Happy 2 years living in LA to me.

Next to Normal

Last Friday night I went to my first musical by myself. Thanks to the following clip from the 2009 Tony awards, I have been waiting for Next to Normal to go on tour ever since.

I figured not many people i know would be interested in going/want to pay for the ticket and why do you really need a buddy to sit in a theater???

The only funny thing was when the woman next to me realized I was there by myself, she kept trying to include me in conversation with her and her son. Before the show...during intermtion..after the show. Was she trying to set me up? Did she feel sorry? Who knows, but I was fine sitting there by myself.

It was a great show and I'm glad I didn't let it leave town without going. Next to Normal will be on tour in St Louis this April FYI.

Starting 2011 Off Right

I am not a fan of New Years. I have no idea where the dislike for New Years has rooted from, but for as long as I can remember I have never been a big fan.
Till this year...
Somehow I was lucky to know all the right people who had connections to Rose Bowl events.
I first was offered a Rose Bowl parade ticket from my friend Whitney.
Followed by my friend Justin's team (Wisconsin) making the Rose bowl and him planning a tailgate.
Then magically this past week I was offered a ticket to the game thanks to a connection from work.
I don't think I could have done/attended the Rose Bowl any better.
I have grown up watching the Rose Bowl on the TV and have a memory of my mom wearing a Michigan State Rose Bowl sweatshirt for as long as I can remember. I knew this day would be a big deal.
The day for sure lived up to all the hype this city builds it up to be, and how I had pictured it in my head from years on TV.
But for real, the Rose Bowl is a marathon of a day....
4:45am alarm went off to drive to Pasadena
5:30am parked/viewed the floats lined up on the street in the dark/stood in the longest coffee line ever/made the walk to our seats located on Orange Grove
8:00am the 2hr!!! parade starts (I think I'm now officially good on parades for a while)
11:15 walked to the stadium to tailgate
2:00 kickoff (go TCU, my big 12 soul is still safe from having to root for the big 10...minus Sparty)
7:00 walk the 3/4 miles back to my car
8:30 get home
= Rose Bowl 2011 day is over and I'm passed out by 9

Random Parade note...
A float broke down in front of our stands during the parade. A person next to us informed us that if a float does have to be towed, the float is fined $15000 and they are not allowed to be in the parade the following year. That float is officially on the Rose Bowl black list. (picture below of the float being towed away)