It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....

CHRISTMAS !!!

Just Call Me Martha

 I may be the worst cook in my family, but I sure can craft like the best of them!!  My contribution to our Thanksgiving this year was the place cards.  My mom was looking to purchasing some fancy smancy Martha Stewart place cards, but then I surprised her with my own creations.  I think they turned out pretty good and my mom said they were even better than Martha's.  You be the judge:

The Great Pumpkin Chase

To celebrate Halloween we decided to decorate with the traditional carved pumpkin, so it was off to a pumpkin patch in search of the great pumpkin.  We tried to find a pumpkin patch that had more to offer than just stuff for kids.  We ended up going to the Irvine Regional Park for a hay ride, maze, pictures, and food.  Unfortunately, a day before we went I came down with tonsillitis.  I wasn't feeling really well, but I decided to tough it out and make the most of the season.  We weren't able to do the hay ride as the line was too long, but we were able to do the maze, take a bunch of pictures, and find a pumpkin.

 

After finding the great pumpkin it was time to carve it.  We bought a kit which made it really easy.  We selected a design and then since I am the arts and crafts one, Mitchell decided to let me carve it.  Surprisingly, it didn't take long to carve and it turned out better than I thought it would!!  After carving, we decided to roast the pumpkin seeds.  Mitchell cleaned and boiled them and then we left them out over night to dry.  The next day I seasoned them and put them in the oven.  I didn't expect them to be very good, but they turned out to be super delicious!!  They were so good they only lasted a couple of hours before they were gone.  Yum!!  This is the first year we really had trick or treaters and we were excited to pass out candy.  We even had more trick or treaters than I thought we would.  My favorite costume was a two year old little boy in a giants uniform with the notorious Brian Wilson black beard.  It was really cute and very creative!!!  I am pretty sure the dad was more excited about the costume than the kid was about the candy.  It was Classic!!!  Well, Happy Halloween!!!

Top 5 List

Now that I have lived in LA for a few months I have decided to make a list of the top five things I love/hate about this infamous city. Let’s start with the things I love:

1. The Weather. I know this one is a big shocker. Who wouldn’t love 70 degree weather in July? It sure beats the 90 plus degree weather I am used to in the summer. However, Cali isn’t as sunny as you might think. Most days are overcast for the majority of the day. People say that it burns off by noon, but I have only seen this actually happen a hand full of times (keep in mind this is coming from the same people who think it snows year round in Utah so I guess it is all relative). I am more than okay with this as I love gloomy days. It makes me feel like I live in my favorite city – Seattle- minus the rain of course!!

2. The Beach. It is nice to live so close to the beach that you can just pick and go at a moments notice. It is funny how just sitting in sand is such a thrill. But even when we aren’t at the beach I am grateful for the cool breeze it provides daily.

3. The Ideal Movie Theaters. We accidentally came across the best movie theater I have ever been to one day when we were at the mall and just randomly decided to go to a movie. We were surprised when we walked in the theater and saw only a few couches and some oversized chairs. It was like watching a movie is a home theater but with the yummy popcorn, big screen and quality sound. The only down side is that it makes it that much harder for me to stay awake during the WHOLE movie.

4. The Movie Stars. We have only seen a couple, but the experiences we have had have been magical (see previous post about my b-day). Martin and I are practically BFFs now.

5. The Shopping. We have so many malls/shopping centers within a short distance of our house. It is so nice to have places like H&M and BCBG right down the street as opposed to a few states over.

Now on the top five things I intensely dislike about LA:

1. The Traffic. I know, I know, another big shocker. I am lucky enough to work only 3 miles away from our home, so I do not have to deal with much traffic. But, when it took me an HOUR to get home at 4:00pm my first Friday here, I was ready to drive straight back to SLC. I seriously considered ditching my car on the side of the road and walking home. It has gotten better, but Fridays still take twice as long as any other day. I also can’t stand all the honking. The minute a stoplight turns yellow people start laying on their horns like that magically gets them through the light. So annoying especially since 5-10 cars run the light anyway.

2. Parking. I was spoiled in SLC – the land of the SUV/Minivan - because parking spots were able size there. Not to mention the parking lots were nice, big, and FREE. I am so sick of paying for parking everywhere especially at the gym – so annoying. Even more annoying though is getting a parking ticket. We got one last week for a whopping $50!! I swear the parking police here are worse than the ones at the UofU and that says A LOT!!

3. The Bugs. Due to the moist air, there are about a zillion bugs everywhere including in our house (yucky). Don’t get me wrong it definitely beats the mice/spiders we had in our last place, but it is annoying to open the front door every morning and have a bug land on you. If I wanted to live amongst the bugs, I would go camping (which we all know is something I just don’t do).

4. The Lack of Chain Restaurants. I know my brother would kill me for saying this but it is true. I am definitely more of a chain restaurant person, heck I even prefer store bought items over homemade 90% of the time. It is just the way I am. Seriously, is it too much to ask for a Chili’s within 20 miles of us?

5. Cash Only. So not only do we not have chain restaurants, but the restaurants we do have are stuck in the 90’s. Seriously who carries cash these days? I guess only those who expect to pay for parking EVERYWHERE.

So there you have it – LA anyone?

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we were invited to go to  the Hollywood Bowl for a concert and fireworks with some of our fellow UCLA friends.  This is the first time that either Mitchell or I have been to the Hollywood Bowl and despite the traffic, it didn't disappoint.  We decided to take the park and ride bus so we wouldn't have to deal with driving and finding parking.  Unfortunately, there was an accident on the freeway right by the Hollywood Bowl so it took us nearly TWO hours to get there so we missed the first 20 minutes of the concert.  I was more than okay with this because it was classical music concert which is definitely not my favorite genre of music.  But, the finale of the concert was fireworks to the Hallelujah Chorus - AWESOME!!  It was only ten minutes long, but it was AMAZING!!  It is definitely a place we would like to go back to and next time maybe we will bring a picnic. P.S. sorry about the quality of pictures - I tried to get a picture of the Hollywood sign, but it didn't work.

Pismo Beach

This past weekend Mitchell and I decided to take a much needed vacation and head north to Pismo Beach.  After a 3 hour car ride complete with traffic, ocean scenery, and sunshine, we arrived!!  At first we took things easy and watched the World Cup, but after the USA lost, we decided to go enjoy the beach. After finally finding a parking spot, a random guy came up to us and gave us a free parking ticket (score!!  I am so sick of paying for parking everywhere I will gladly take a free spot anyday!!).  After we parked, we walked up and down the streets looking at the shops then we found the candy store.  This store was part of the reason we came to Pismo Beach because it was owned by Mitch's uncle.  I say "WAS" because little did we know, but apparently Mitch's uncle doesn't own it anymore.  We found this out from the current owner and Mitch's uncle's former partner.  Mitchell recognized him so he struck up a conversation, but things quickly turned awkward when he informed us that Mitch's uncle no longer owns the store and in fact owns another store at a different beach.  It was clear something has happened there, but we decided to bypass anymore awkwardness and just get outta there!!  But first, we bought some of the famous salt water taffy and I was glad because it is DELICIOUS!!  Then we finally made our way down to the beach.  It was quite windy and cool so we just walked around and went out on the pier, but we did see a guy building an amazing castle on the beach - so cool.  After about an hour things started warming up so we decided to take advantage and lay out on the beach.  It was delightful because since it was on the cool side, the beach wasn't busy at all.  That night we ate at a great steak house called McClintock's - so yummy!!  All in all it was a great trip and I am glad we went!!  Too bad we had to come home!!!

Me and Martin

On the way home from celebrating my birthday, Mitchell and I decided to stop by a burger joint by our house for a quick bite to eat.  It is a small little establishment, but it is well known for having great food.  We walked in and who was there waiting for his food?  None other than one of my favorite actors - Martin Sheen.  He was all by himself just chillin'.  The booth next to him was open so I snagged it, but we didn't want to bother him while he was eating so we just sat there eating.  I kept trying to conspicuously monitor his eating so we could catch him on his way out, but before we knew it he was done and on his way out.  We didn't want to run out after him so we just decided to chalk it all up to a nice star sighting.  When we finished our food we walked out to our car and who was walking out of the bathroom at that exact moment?  That's right Mr. Sheen.  Mitchell was kind enough to go up to him and ask him if I could take a picture with him.  He said "sure, bring her on over here!"  I walked up to him and he shook my hand, asked me what my name is and wished me a happy birthday.  We posed for our picture then he turned to Mitchell and asked him if he wanted a picture with him too and of course he said yes!!  Unfortunately we only had Mitchell's blackberry (hence the poor quality) and I had no idea how to take a picture on it so Martin told Mitchell to "go on over there and show your wife one it is done!"  I figured it out and took the picture.  If you notice Mitchell's head is cut off, but I didn't want to make Martin stand there and take a bunch of pictures so I just went with it (sorry Mitchell!!!).  Then Martin wished me a happy birthday again and we were on our way.  What a nice guy!!  If you couldn't tell this made my birthday!!!  I was so excited I could barely sleep that night.  If you watched the West Wing you might understand my fascination with him.  If not, then just know he is a nice guy and enjoy the pictures!!  Who knew he is so short?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

This last weekend was my 27th birthday. This year I decided I would make my own cake. I wanted a cute cake so I decided to try and make fondant. I made it from scratch and used food coloring to make it the perfect shade of pink and yellow. Then I made a flower and yellow and white pokda dots and bam I had a very cute birthday cake. It was a lot of hard work, but it turned out great and it even tasted good!!