Wild Weekend...

I used to be quite the go go go girl.  Running from one event to the next.  Packing my schedule chalk full.  If you asked me now if I regret any of it I would tell you no.  I really don't!  After the head thing I remember my dad asking me if I think I did too much, maybe I pushed myself too hard.  I told him nope.  If I hadn't have made it through I would have no regrets.  Look at all the stuff I had packed into my 36 years!

But I am getting a bit older, and valuing time to myself much more.  I've worked meditation into myself as a regular practice now and yes I have slowed down a bit.  Just a bit.  :)

This leads into this blog.  I don't normally have weekends like I had last weekend but it just seemed everything happen to land in one weekend.  My birthday weekend in fact!  I had a show Fri night, Julie's kids party Sat, Jess's baby shower Sat afternoon, my friend Jeff's birthday party Sat night, I squeezed a lunch in to celebrate my own birthday on Sun and then a wedding Sunday evening.  I was worn out just thinking of it!  But excited all the same.

So let's start with Friday.  Terri had scored tickets for DJ Z-Trip for only $10!  I of course jumped on the chance months ago before my weekend filled up.  Doors opened at 7, show started at 8.  Terri had noticed other DJ's were playing and I was worried Z-Trip wouldn't go on until late.  People Under the Stairs was also performing and I wanted to catch them as well.  But I have noticed as of late, that certain shows - especially at The Observatory where we were going - usually didn't have the headliners go on until late.  I swear this is a new thing but my friend Susan teased me and said "No honey, they always have - we're just old now".  Touche.  We met there at 7 and saw the line up.  DJ Z-Trip didn't go on until 12:15pm!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12:15!  Who the hell goes on that late!!!  I was heartbroken.  People Under the Stairs didn't go on until 11:15.  I wanted to cry.  I told Terri there was no way I was going to make it.  Plus it's standing room only.  They didn't have any tables available unless you got bottle service.  Our friend Erika was coming down from LA so I promised to at least rally until she got there.  We decided to grab some drinks so we headed over to SOCO and had some drinks at Taco Maria.  Lovely evening.  So nice out, we were on the patio drinking wine and T had a beer with an owl on it :).  chatted.  It was nice.  Hell I was ready to call it a night after that.  We headed back to Observatory about 9:30.  We found some spots to stand down by the stage and I knew I wasn't going to last long.  I mentioned I could probably rally if I was sitting down.  Terri disappeared to see if there was any possibility of getting a table.  She comes back, motions for me to follow and led us to a booth.  In the VIP area.  I looked at her confused and when the waitress set down the bucket of ice my jaw dropped.  "You didn't!!??"  She did.  Terri sprung for bottle service.  Now let me explain this to those of you who don't understand bottle service.  You pay $2-300 for a fucking bottle of alcohol.  But what you really pay for is a place to sit, in the VIP area where only so many folks are allowed so it never gets crowded and your own personal waitress who makes sure you are taken care of.  And did ours.  She was awesome.  I do think the price is total and complete bullshit but I wanted to kiss Terri for doing what she sometimes does and splurge a surprise like that.  I of course rallied.  Our friend Jill showed up as well.  We bribed the people standing above us with our overpriced bottle of vodka to not spill shit on us and the night began.  The 3 girls made vodka drinks all night and I just bought myself one more glass of wine.   Um...no I can't mix and no I can't drink too much more due to the fact that I now half to rally until the wee hours! 
I propped myself up on the back of the booth and rocked out the whole night.  Terri never stopped dancing.  Jill couldn't stay the whole time but enjoyed what she did and Erika's mind was blown by the amazingness that is Z-trip.  This was the 3rd time I had seen him and he did not disappoint.  He was AMAZING!!!!!!  Seriously I have not rocked out that hard like I was 20 years old in a long time!  My voice was horse, my core was sore and I was grinning from ear to ear.  I didn't get home until 2:30am!  Good lord.  But it was worth every second of lost sleep.  So fucking worth it and I love Terri for making that possible!  Another epic musical night with the Pisces Trifecta!

Saturday morning.  No I didn't make it to boxing bootcamp obviously, but I was up and ready to rally through the day.  Presents wrapped, layers on, hair did, and we're off.  The rest of this blog will have a shit ton more pictures so enjoy!!!

The Presley/Chase birthday party.  Julie's kiddies are turning 2 and 4 and their birthdays are not too far apart so Julie threw a dual party.  It was beach themed and adorable.  She had it at Edison Park with a bounce house and they supposed dogs and burgers and chips they BBQ'd.  The party favors for the kiddies were sand buckets filled with all kinds of toys.  I was actually a little jealous the adults didn't get one! ha ha! 



 She made adorable cupcakes that had teddy grahams either sunbathing or floating on gummy inner tubes!

Bouncehouse and BBQ!

And of course chalk art for the kids.

 Blow out the candle on the cupcakes!  Such a cute party!  Julie does know how to pull a theme together!!  I do love this about her!

 

From the kiddie party I headed straight for Jessica's baby shower.  It was at her sisters house in Seal Beach.  After dealing with beach parking and I made my way down the street.  When I entered the backyard I was handed Mardi Gras beads that looked like pearls.  I was told this was part of the "if you cross your legs someone can steal your beads game".  I smiled and promptly gave my beads to my friend Brenda so I could be comfortable.  Jessica is having a boy but Jessica still loves her girly stuff so they threw a Breakfast at Tiffany themed shower.  Tiffany blue for the boy.  Cute. 

 They did the diaper change game, since I have never changed a diaper on a real kid let alone a stuffed toy I opted out.  But got a great shot of Scottie:

Jess had a lovely time and got lots of adorable goodies!  I try not to oooh and aaahh at these things but this tiny cowboy boots were pretty freakin precious!

I was proud of my gift.  She registered for this monkey towel ( I kind of want one in my size) so I got her that, then a monkey stuffed animal in a monkey bag with a monkey card. 



Little Kurt is going to look fantastic.  Shower check.  Ran home for a 20 minute power nap, changed then off to Bistro 400 for my friend Jeff's birthday bash.  I didn't take any pictures and I didn't stay late because by 8 I was pretty much done.  It was a lovely time, I got to visit a bit with Jeffy and some of the other boys then I went home and was out by 9:30pm.

Sunday!  My birthday!
So, I threw out a quick email to my family and a few close friends inviting them to Shiki for lunch to celebrate my birthday.  I'm one of those rare people who actually likes to celebrate myself.  Yes - birthdays mean presents and food and friends.  I mean what's not to like!  Plus Shiki is easy because it's big and the manager is nice and people can have sushi or not and it's well...mainly just easy! ha ha!  It was perfect.  We all met at noon.  T, Dad, Amber, Mom, Liz, Susan, Libby, Hailey (Her 1st big girl lunch), Robin, Cori, Shane, D and Maryanne.  Perfection.  The manager gave me a pair of beautiful chopsticks from Japan and they brought me a big piece of cake.  We all ate and drank and enjoyed ourselves and I got presies!

From here - home to change and get ready for Lauren's wedding!!  It was taking place at Summit House and I'm not gonna lie  - I was excited about the prime rib I had ordered as much as I was celebrating Lauren!  Jill was my date, she met at my place and off we went.  The wedding was outside and all the bridesmaids wore converse as did the bride.  Adorable.

He kept stroking her hands which I thought was so sweet!!

He's got two daughters and she had the sweetest speech for them during the ceremony.

After the ceremony we had cocktails and passed appetizers for a bit and were to sign Jenga pieces as a guestbook.  Awesome.

The reception was fun.  Food was BOMB.  My prime rib was perfection.  There were quite a few speeches, they did the mom/son and dad/daughter dance, 1st dance, bouqet and garter toss and that was pretty much it!  We had a fun table and I danced one 80's song with Angela!


Our cute take home favors.

 This was the best man.  I thought he was adorable but couldn't muster up the courage to try to flirt with him.  I seem to have lost what little skill I had when it comes to talking to cute boys.  Sigh.

I could not be happier for her!

 I took Monday off work to

Quite a Sunday Funday...

So two of my dear friends Terri and Erika and I all celebrate our birthday's right near each other.  We have celebrated our birthdays together quite often actually, the highlight of course being the ginormous Club J.E.T. (Jami, Erika, Terri...get it) red party some odd years ago.  We lovingly refer to ourselves as the Piscean Trifecta.

E lives up in LA, so getting the three of us together is always a bit of a challenge, but luckily the lovely Miss E had a hair appointment in Santa Ana yesterday and we all decided to meet up at Chapter One in downtown Santa Ana.  I'm not a huge fan of the food here, only because these gastropubs tend to have really funky foods and I can get a little picky when you are serving things I have no idea what they are.  But that's just me.  Otherwise the place is pretty cool!  They have an awesome Sunday Brunch deal where you can get unlimited champagne for $6 with a nifty little thingie holding 5 different types of juices.  When we arrived the wait was over an hour.  We almost peaced out, but 3 stools at the bar opened up and none of us were in any hurry so we snatched them up and decided to wait it out.  So glad we did!!

E got T and I each a beautiful fragrant bouquet of lavender, I bought our 1st round of drinks then T ended up covering the rest of the tab.  We chatted and caught up and I got the bartender to snap this shot:

As we sat at the bar we noticed the singer was catching our attention.  Often.  He was playing all sorts of covers, blues, rock, jazz etc and making up lyrics as we went.  He was also going around the restaurant to tables singing to people, including their names and/or situations into his songs and making everyone around laugh and smile and clap.  The guy was awesome!  We came to learn he calls himself Rabbi Blue and this man is legit! 

We got ourselves a table and during the break he came over and chatted with us a bit.  We of course told him we were celebrating our birthdays.  He found out T and E were singers.  He was absolutely charming.  He asked if we had any requests and I promptly said "The blues!"  He looked me and laughed.  "Really?  You a blues fan girl?"  Hells yes I told him.  We chatted a bit about the Doheny Blues Festival and he promised to impress me.  He then talked T into coming up later to sing Unforgettable with him.

We got our food.  I opted for the Duck Fat Fries since I did eat earlier with my gramma and wasn't in the mood for any of the other funky combos and we weren't shy with the wine and champagne.

Rabbi Blue started his last set and sure enough opened it with a shout out to Jami - the girl with the old soul and proceeded to shred a version of Thrill is Gone.  He came over to our table and blues'd it up!  I loved it!!!  T caught this shot that is a new fave:

When he finished up my cheeks were hurting from laughing and smiling so much and man could that boy play!!!  He then pulled T up and they sang a fabulous duet of Unforgettable.  I think the restaurant was surprised when T belted out the lyrics like a pro.  (There were some unfortunate gals attempting to sing earlier).

Of course it was an awesome show.  He continued on with the rest of his set, walking around the restaurant again, singing to people, even following one girl to the bathroom with her posse running after him snapping photos.  At one point we were grooving along and I realized I didn't see him.  Holy Hell the man was outside across the street!!!!!!  I was dying laughing.  We heard him perfectly inside!  The people he was messing with outside seemed to be good sports.  But he's pretty familiar in the area since he plays there every Sunday so I'm sure they knew.

He finished his set and chatted with us again before he packed up and left.  We tipped him well and took his biz cards.  He was truly a treat!  The man can play!!!!  It turned out to be such a fun entertaining afternoon into evening.  I of course had a great time with my girls and we were treated to a surprise of fantastic entertainment!

The waitress brought us a birthday dessert - a candle for each of us!

We promptly devoured it and then headed outside for a little walk around.  We snapped this last shot and chalk this up to a perfect Sunday afternoon!!!

Valentine's Day...

Today is Valentine’s Day.

I realized this morning while I was taking a shower (where most of my mind wandering happens FYI) that there are all kinds of ways people handle Valentine’s Day and I found myself chuckling in the shower.  What made me laugh even harder was when I saw these people (exactly as I suspected they would) post their thoughts on Facebook or come tell me in person or via text or email exactly what I talk about below.

So let's begin:

There are the bitter angry single women (some men, but mostly women) who hate Valentine’s Day and will spew off all kinds of Anti Valentine’s messages, fuck love, etc.  I admit – I was this person for a few years.  I found myself drowning in a bottle or two of wine, crying that no one loved me.  Not too many tho thank goodness, as I usually chose to turn my bitterness into a party or into humor but I did have my dark moments.  But I’m talking about these folks who post stuff like this:

There are the over the top couples who feel the need to post their love all over the place and have zillions of red and pink stuff delivered to each other at work so they can show off their love and they buy into all the Hallmark stuff and fawn over each other to the point where all those around them would like to feed them to the hippos.

There are the other couples, that are equally annoying in my opinion, that make it a show on how much they don’t celebrate Valetine’s Day and don’t buy into the commercialism and that Valentine’s Day celebrates the St. Valentine Slaughter and look how cool we are because we are so anti and political.  Shut the fuck up.  You’re just as bad as the fluffy folk.

 

There are the perfectly normal couples that may or may not buy each other flowers or give a simple gift or just acknowledge the fact that it’s a day to celebrate lovers and they do.  No show.  No nothing.  These people rock.  Luckily these are most of the couples I know.

There are the single gals (again some men but mostly gals) that accept their singledom with pride and throw parties and “Galentine’s” and celebrate with friends. I'm glad to say I used to usually go this route. 

Then of course there’s a huge part of the world that just looks at today as any other day.

Here is what I would like to say:

Who cares if it’s Valentine’s Day?  Don’t buy into the commercialism or do.  Buy flowers for someone or don’t.  Who cares.  Does it really affect you all that much?  Why not take it as a day to celebrate love.  Love for whom ever – your family, friends, significant other, cats, food, wine, the earth, just whatever you want!  Just celebrate love!  Yes of course we should celebrate love every day but let’s take Valentine’s as the official holiday day to say “Yay Love!”  I’ve had a great day so far.  I bought little Valentine’s that the kids usually buy to give out in school (remember that?!) and handed them out to co-workers.  Of course they were kitties and dogs.  I have received some great goodies from other co-workers as well! 

My dad and I went to lunch today and he said he thinks Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate the one you love – your significant other.  Although he did buy me a box of Reeses Pieces per my request for Valentines.  I got cards from my mom and my gramma.  I plan on spending tonight with one of my best girlfriends having dinner with her and her mom then watching Buffy reruns.  Celebrating our friendship.

I guess what I’m trying to say here, is don’t make such a big deal about it.  I think too many people but too much emphasis on the whole thing.  I’m on a really interesting journey now in life, dealing with things differently, seeing things in a new way, and best of all learning to really let go.  I just wanted to share because I did find my little list amusing and the few folks I’ve shared it with got a chuckle so there you have it.

Happy Valentine’s Day my friends!  However you my choose (or not) to celebrate it.  I choose to celebrate love.  Love is a beautiful thing.