Cali Day 4 & 5

Sunday...another sunny day....I absolutely LOVE this weather. I went with Amy to the church she used to attend while living in Cali and then we drove over to Malibu to enjoy lunch. We went to this place right on the oceanfront called Dukes. We had a little wait to sit outside but it was so worth it :) The view was great and the seafood was delicious. We drove back through the Pacific Palisades and Brentwood...I love looking at all the homes in the hills. We enjoyed a relaxing late afternoon by the pool at Patrick's house and then we all headed to a movie that evening. Just a relaxing Sunday.

On Monday, we once again enjoyed the perks of Patrick's connection because he scored us "Front of the Line Passes" for Universal Studios. We did a backlot tour and a couple rides. It was so fun and took some pictures below:

I love being in the hills and all the viewpoints

You can see the Warner Bros Studios from Universal

We grabbed an early dinner at Outback (Amy and Patrick's favorite restaurant) and then made our way to the Griffith Park Observatory. Talk about an amazing view of the cities. The actual observatory was closed but it was still great to be out in the amazing weather and to see all the views.

Griffith Park Observatory

You can see the Hollywood sign in the distance
Spectacular view of downtown LA

One last shot of the Hollywood Sign on our way back home.

I actually had the best vacation that I have had in a loooong time. I rarely gave a seconds thought to work stuff and pretty much had my blackberry off (well at least the sound was off) the whole time. The weather was perfect and I really felt relaxed despite all our fun activities. I definitely hope to get back out there again! I think I left my heart in Cali.....

Cali Day Three

I am serious when I say that I can totally get used to this sunshine thing every day. It ROCKS! We headed out this morning to cover some shopping ground in Los Angeles by starting at The Grove. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast outside of course at this restaurant called The Farm. I had the most delicious french toast and latte that I think I've ever had. That's the best fuel for shopping :)
We then headed straight to Nordstrom's and lucky for us it was their annual Half Yearly sale. I got a great deal on a pair of shoes and picked up a couple other things in their BP department. I also had to visit The American Girl Place and got something fun for my niece. Mostly I just enjoyed walking around the outdoor mall. From there we drove over to the Beverly Center (another mall) to hit H&M but I was surprised to not really find anything that I really liked. I did pick up a fun necklace and bracelet. From there we drove over to Robertson Blvd to check out some of the boutiques. It was fun to walk the couple of blocks and pop into stores like Kitson and Lisa Kline. All of this shopping had worked up our appetites so we decided to get a late lunch at Barefoot Cafe. We once again took advantage of outdoor seating and enjoyed their brunch menu including $5 mimosas. After refueling, we made the drive to Beverly Hills, down Rodeo Drive and all the way to the Sunset where we came upon the infamous Beverly Hills Hotel
We got back home earlier than we planned so we vegged around and then got ready for a night out on Sunset Boulevard. We had reservations at 7:15 at hotspot
Ketchup and we scored a table with a view...view of the Hollywood Hills to be exact. It was perfect...great people, food and conversations.

Amy and her friend Patrick (our great host)
Amy and I at Ketchup

The night was young and we decided to venture a couple blocks and check out one of Amy's favorite bars called Skybar. You have to check out the link to see how amazing this bar is....nestled uptop a building with a fabulous view of the city, we settled into comfy seating up in the bar area and enjoyed the evening. We also got to have a bit of a celebrity sighting by seeing actor, Michael Vartan seated at a table next to us. If any of you watched Alias then you know him as character Michael Vaughn. If your like me and never watched Alias, you might recognize him from a movie called "Never Been Kissed" where he played the love interest of Drew Barrymore. Nevertheless it made the night fun.

Patrick and Amy enjoying the evening at Skybar

Amy and I enjoyed our little bungalow at Skybar

Cali Day Two

I could most definitely get used to sleeping with the windows open and waking up to blue skies and sunshine every day. Why can't we have great weather like this in Tennessee?!? Oh well....today we drove up to Santa Monica to get some beach time in. Of course we grabbed a quick coffee at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and then walked to the beach. This picture was before we crossed over to actually get to the beach but you can see the Santa Monica Pier.
You can't really see through the smog but this is looking up the coast to the town of Malibu.

And this would actually be the fun from my towel were we spent about 2 hours in the sunshine. What a beautiful day at the beach and I finally have something that resembles a tan :)

From the beach, we drove up Wilshire to eat lunch at one of Amy's favorite places The California Chicken Cafe. I have a yummy salad with chicken and she enjoyed a wrap. I have been in CA before and everything tastes so much better....more fresh for sure. We got home around 2'ish which was the perfect time to take a nap. Nothing says vacation like being able to take time out to nap. This vacation has been so good and much needed.

Of course you don't want to sleep the vacay away, so we got up and dressed and headed to Burbank to pick up her friend Cindy for a night out in downtown LA. We went to this great place called Edison . It was such a cool place and we were able to partake in this thing they do on Friday night's called "Friday Soup Kitchen". This entitles you to $.35 cocktails and tomato soup and grilled cheese. Deliciousness!

Cali Vacay Day One

I can't even begin to tell you how great it was to wake up to nothing but blue skies and sunshine :) It doesn't get much better than that....well sleeping in too was nice, especially with the time difference. Amy and I walked a couple blocks to enjoy breakfast at Marmalade and then came back to Patrick's (Amy's friend and our most gracious host) so she could take a quick conference call and I got ready for the rest of our day.

Today's Agenda: Hang with Patrick at Warner Bros. Studio (his employer) in Burbank and attend a live taping of The Ellen Degeneres Show. Patrick gave us a great tour of all the back lots which included seeing what's left of the ER Ambulance dock and the many cityscape's that have been used in shows like Dukes of Hazard and Gilmore Girls. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch at the studio cafe and then we headed to our tv taping. Patrick used his connections to get us VIP tickets to the show. We were greeted with a goodie bag of Ellen souvenirs and personally escorted to the holding area. The show was such a fun experience and the guests appearances included author, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Queen Latifeh and musical performance by Rob Thomas (former Matchbox Twenty frontman)...and of course Ellen's wife Portia de Rossi was there as well watching the taping. It was just a cool experience.


From there we left Patrick who needed to get some work done and Amy and I headed over the hills to the Hollywood Area. Here are some pictures:

Amy and I with the scenic view of LA behind us

The infamous HOLLYWOOD sign
Mann's Chinese Theater

Legendary Roosevelt Hotel

Home of the Academy Awards

We did a little shopping and then headed back to Patrick's house. I got to eat the yummy In & Out for dinner as we made our way back to Sherman Oaks. Tomorrow our agenda holds a visit to Santa Monica and the night life of downtown Los Angeles with some of Amy's friends. Vacation is GOOD so far!

Magic Trick

I guess you could say that I've been a bit of a magician lately as some people feel like I've perfected the disappearing act. I'm not going to lie....I have felt like disappearing lately as life has been a bit blah as of recent. I haven't really felt like blogging or talking or hanging out with people and work has been so insanely busy this month, that it hasn't left me much time to think (which is probably a good thing).

So my vacation comes at a perfect time. I am checking out of work for almost a week and am heading to California...the LA area to be exact. I am flying out with my friend Amy (who lived in LA for about 9 years) and we are going to see the sights. This trip comes at a perfect time :) PTL!

Insanely busy week.....

Well I think this week has been better but honestly I couldn't really tell you because I have been so consumed with work stuff that it hasn't left me with much time to stop and think about anything else (maybe that's a blessing in disguise). And maybe it hasn't really been all that busy, it just feels busy because it's been awhile since I've had to work 11+ hour days. Whew....I am wait out of practice and with Friday right around the corner, I'm feeling a little exhausted!

I probably could take tomorrow off but with two events next week and new things to-do each day, I am hoping to only have to work half the day tomorrow and then I am heading back to Indiana to be with my family, to celebrate Mother's Day with my sister, Holly, Mom and Grandma and will also be visiting my Grandpa. I'll be home in time tomorrow to catch my niece's soccer game at 5:30 and look forward to just hanging with the family the rest of the weekend.

NOT a great week....

I am so glad that I have made it through this week....it's not been the best of weeks so naturally to see it come to an end...well it couldn't come soon enough. I had such a great time last weekend with my friends in town and accomplishing the Country Music Half Marathon. Its never fun to say goodbye to friends but it seems like after dropping my friend off at the airport, things slowly started to overwhelm me.

I found at that my grandfather who has been experiencing the onsets of Dimentia and Alzheimers for a while now was fast approaching the point where he was going to have to be under constant care (ie. nursing home) thus putting my mother under a great amount of stress because she is the Power of Attorney for both her parents and these decisions weigh heavy on her. But to understand the whole picture, you'd have to know my grandparents. My grandparents have been sweethearts to each other for the past 64 years. They truly embrace that "can't live without each other" kinda love that I pray to one day find. It breaks my heart to think of how this transition affects my grandmother and my grandfather, regardless of his state of mind. I have spent much time in prayer for our family this week and am trying to find my peace in HIS arms.

And if that is not enough, I then had some "boy drama" get dumped in my lap. Mind you, I am NOT in a relationship with any boy, so the fact that there is even drama that I would have to deal with is almost laughable. My emotions are already heavy because of the stuff my family is dealing with so clearly this was neither the time or place for me to try to sort through said drama. I'm not even going to dive into details but the fact the "drama" gets this much space on my blog is RIDICULOUS! All I will say is that without trust and honesty, a friendship cannot exist, let alone a relationship.

This weekend comes at a time when I really need some rest....emotionally, mentally, etc. I don't have much planned so that helps and I think some "alone" time will do me good!