Here you go, Doris :)
So we left Beverly Hills at about 1:30 Thursday afternoon and got into Sterling at 10:00 Saturday morning. We sat in traffic for the first hour just trying to get out of LA, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. We thought we'd pull over to sleep through the night a few times, but we drove straight through for the most part. Zach bought 2 five hour energy things because I can't drive at night while hes sleeping, I get way too tired. The second night we did pull over twice, once for 20 minutes and the second time for an hour, so we could both sleep because neither of us could drive. Not many highlights from the trip, but when we got to about Bristol, VA it was 5:30 am and we pulled over to get gas. We were 2 of the 15 or so people at the gas station and we were the only ones not wearing camo. Usually when people stare at me I wonder why.. let's just say this time it was pretttty obvious.
We hung around for about 30 minutes once we got home before we started helping my parents move. We took a break to get dinner and I got to get my hair highlighted/cut but besides that we moved until midnight that night. I woke up to Tony (our amazing helper that we hire for essentially everything) coming over at what I could have sworn was like 3 am, but it was really 7:00. My mom woke Zach and I up pretty much right after that and we moved all day again. It was ridiculous. We got back to the house from our last storage trip at 9pm after we had dropped off the rental truck to grab the stuff we needed to bring to NJ. We realized at that point that we still had a good hours worth of stuff to pack that had somehow gotten left behind. Anyways, after that whole hour of frantic packing we walked around our oddly empty house to say goodbye. No one was emotional, though - we had been expecting this day for a long time. We went out and grabbed some dinner and checked into our awesome hotel and had a great night.
Next morning, my dad woke me up at 8am. I thought he was joking. We had to drop a car off and move some packed stuff around at the place Zach's staying, drop off stuff at the moving truck place, sign the house papers and head to NJ. We got to NJ at about 4:00 and my grandparents were still in NYC with Mitch and Donna and the girls. We had a great night with them, as always.
Tuesday we went into NYC with Dana and her boys and my grandparents stayed behind (with my parents cute little doggy that I've finally met now and I swear hes just a stuffed animal). We rode the train in which was pretty fun, especially since we saw Austin Scarlett from Project Runway when we got off in Manhattan. We strolled the streets - went to the New York Public Library, got lunch at Bryant Park Cafe, shopped, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Central Park.. to name a few. Dana and her boys never go into the city so it was pretty new to them. The boys are at the age where they aren't usually impressed by anything, but they loved NYC. Mitchell asked Owen at one point if he was liking NYC and Owen said he hated cities (typical). I asked him an hour later if this was one of the coolest places he had ever been.. he said yes. Dave agreed with him when I asked him later. It was a great day. A few highlights:
-saw the building my grandpa worked in for 10 years, right near penn station
-a billboard explaining why the speed limit was 30 mph in the city - you hit a kid at 30 mph and there's an 80% chance they'll live, whereas at 40 mph its a 70% chance they'll die
-Dana got incredibly flustered when we got to the NYPL. She is a librarian so when she went in she was just amazed.
-we all forgot my mom's purse on a table outside the library, went to a restaurant and sat down for a little before we even realized it. I sprinted back and it was still there - I've always thought New Yorkers weren't as bad as people think they are - this proves it.
-Central Park still had the colorful leaves on its trees whereas NJ is about 2 weeks ahead and has bare trees
-there were guys with bamboo sticks and sting that were blowing huge bubbles in Central Park. All of us used the sticks and created the bubbles too so we stayed there for about 30 minutes and it was great. Kyla got to stand in a balloon.
Lastly... we had to run to catch our train connection and despite having a huge group including children, we all made it. Impressive.
Today we went on a hike in a nearby neighborhood that was full of Gentleman's Farms. I've been saying for some time now that I want to buy a farm and this makes me REALLY want to buy a farm... I'm just short a few million dollars. These houses were amazing.. the kind that don't go on the market and just get passed down in the family most likely. While we were there a pack of fox hounds and their owners (on horseback of course) came down the road. I'm used to my cousins' beagles so these dogs seemed HUGE. Also, every time I've joined them for the beagling it didn't seem like there were quite so many dogs in the group, but that easily could have been because they were such tall dogs. I texted Linnhe and she even knew the people, I guess its a small community. It was very fun though because the dogs came over to us.. smelled my grandma because she was sitting on the ground, tried smelling Leo because my dad was holding him.. they completely surrounded us. Very cool.
After that walk we were all so wiped out so we just lounged around the rest of the day. At one point we ALL took naps because we were just so done. Tomorrow M&D and the girls and Dana will come over for a Thanksgiving lunch. We've never done a lunch before but since Zach and I are leaving for CA Friday evening it just made more sense, plus it'll be easier for Mitch and Donna to drive back into the city if it isn't too late. Certainly not looking forward to heading back to California quite yet. Because of the moving I haven't even gotten to see my friends really, unless you could a whole 10 minute run-in with Kristen. It sucks. Guess I should start researching farms on the east coast for me to buy :) Feel free to chip in to the farm fund..
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Andddd We're Off!
We leave for Thanksgiving break in 30 minutes!! Very excited.
We're driving essentially straight through. We will probably pull over and sleep for a few hours both nights, just by laying the seats down in the back because it goes completely flat, but we aren't staying in a hotel or anything. Its going to be a challenge but I think that's going to make it even more fun.
We dropped the kitties off at Mitch and Donna's yesterday and I missed them before we even left. I'm so obsessed with those little guys. I wish I could take them back east with me, but it just won't work.
We have the good gas stations picked out and the GPS is ready, so Zach is just finishing up some final projects in the apartment and coming to get me! Yay!
We're driving essentially straight through. We will probably pull over and sleep for a few hours both nights, just by laying the seats down in the back because it goes completely flat, but we aren't staying in a hotel or anything. Its going to be a challenge but I think that's going to make it even more fun.
We dropped the kitties off at Mitch and Donna's yesterday and I missed them before we even left. I'm so obsessed with those little guys. I wish I could take them back east with me, but it just won't work.
We have the good gas stations picked out and the GPS is ready, so Zach is just finishing up some final projects in the apartment and coming to get me! Yay!
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Good vs. The Bad
Although last week was great, the weekend had its ups and its downs.
The work week went well - I didn't see my boss Thursday or Friday, and hardly at all on Tuesday. On Tuesday I got out early to babysit for Francie, and that's always a fun diversion. On Wednesday I went to a restaurant called Bouchon for Donna's birthday with her and six of her girlfriends. That was SO fun. Amanda and I were the only two not riding with the group because we live on this side of the hill (that's right, I've got some LA in me) so we got there first. This was kind of a blessing in disguise because shes one of the women in the group I've known the longest and therefore feel the most comfortable talking to, plus shes VERY down to earth. Her husband has been friends with Mitchell for years and years so I feel like I've known them my whole life. We mainly talked about my amazing laser eye surgery (as everyone seems to talk to me about the first time they see me post-op) and by the time we got through that subject the rest of the group was there. Donna seemed very pleasantly surprised to find Amanda and me waiting at the bar.
The meal was ridiculously good. The women ordered a bunch of wine, cocktails and appetizers when we sat down. I stuck to my lemonade, of course (it was great though). The only appetizer they ordered that I had ever tried before were truffled fries, so it was definitely interesting. The fries were delish, the rest I wasn't as impressed with. Lets start with the foie gras. My advice is to NOT sit next to a vegetarian/almost vegan while trying these new things. She was kind enough to tell me the horror story of how they make foie gras before I tried it. Knowing that I would never eat it again, no matter how delicious it was, because of that story.. I went for it. It was just okay. I can see why people like it; its very creamy and smooth and good spread on bread. Not worth torturing the poor goose. Next up was pate. YUCK. So gross. Like, almost-couldn't-swallow-it gross. It's worth mentioning that the people at the table who love these two items thought this was the best pate and foie gras ever. Very strange to me. They also ordered salmon tartar, which didn't get the same rave reviews from the whole crowd (not that they didn't like it, but they were dying for it like they were for the others). I wasn't impressed with that either. Same goes for the platter they ordered, raw oysters, shrimp and lobster. Didn't even bother with the second two because I know I like those, but the oysters didn't do it for me either. But, I'm very happy I tried all of it. I'm sure that all sounds negative, but it was actually a very fun portion of the meal. I love trying new foods, no matter the outcome.
Lisa had a great idea to go around the table and had everyone say how they met Donna and how much they love her. She went first, all teary of course. The rest of the ladies went and it was very nice hearing all of their stories. Her friends really love her. When it got to my turn I knew I couldn't really compare - we're family after all. I actually didn't even KNOW the first time I had met her until a few weeks ago when Donna happened to tell the story of the first time she met the whole family.. when I was six. Apparently I was tired by the end of the night and I just crawled into her lap and fell asleep on her. It was a very special moment to her, but unfortunately I don't remember it at all. So it gets to me and I was going to tell them how I don't remember it at all, but she had told me, blah blah blah. Instead Donna interrupts and says I can't talk. (In my head, I'm going "phew!") Everyone thought it was because it would be all emotional... because every.single.person. had gotten teary so far I think. Not my scene. Anyways, so she goes on to say how I can't talk so she'll talk for me. She tells them all the story (called me a little angel multiple times, thank you very much) and them somehow I'm supposed to say something after all of that??? Awkward. I essentially said how I couldn't really follow that up, but that I've now lived with Donna and I invade her home several times a week and how shes really been who I spend all of my time here with and its been great. Which is true, this has been a really rough and overwhelming move (I think its just starting to hit me how overwhelmed I am, now that I've been able to slightly slow down and think for a second) and that shes really been there for us the whole time. We would certainly be back in Virginia by now had it not been for them, but instead we've had a lot of fun.
Anyways, dinner came and was amazing, I got steak frites and it was probably the best steak I've ever had. I don't even know what they put on top to make it so good, but it was very different and delicious. The rest of the women loved their food too, including Amanda who ordered trout which comes with the head on (and staring right up at you). Dessert was an incredible chocolate cake. I don't know what they did to make that thing so fluffy and smooth, but it was working. The vegetarian next to me also ordered two extra desserts (a decent lemon tart and a very unique vanilla puffy thing) but the cake was the winner. Suzie had ordered the cake as well as the flowers that were our centerpiece, which of course was very emotional for Donna. This thing had its tearfest moments. Girls. I will say, though, that this dinner made me realize that I don't want to move away from Donna and the girls. They are a huge part of my life now. Well, that feeling of being certain that we'd stay here until they moved ended up only lasting about 3 days...
Donna didn't know about that dinner, or the stunning eternity ring I helped Mitch pick out her, or the trip he had planned for them and another couple to go to Vegas the next day, or the resort in San Diego for the weekend. She had joked about wanting diamonds, so she was thrilled with that and they are still the first thing I notice when I see her. Very eye catching. They went to see Love in Vegas (the Beatles show) and Mitchell said it wasn't the best show ever, it was the best THING ever. Zach and I watched the girls while we were there which went very well. Went to see Megamind, I don't really recommend it, and then got some takeout and watched TV until Keira fell asleep. I read a book to Kyla and we all slept in M&D's super comfy bed. Well, Zach got the couch ;) Got them off to school the next morning and everything went great.
Then came the weekend. Mitch and Donna got back and picked them up from school and we went to the mall and out to dinner that night. I was exhausted so I figured that's why I wasn't feeling well, so after dinner I went home. By then I was just in a fog and felt like I just had to go home, I couldn't be out anymore. The next morning Zach, Kaos and I went for a walk/jog on this path in Beverly Hills that I drive by on my way to work every morning and have been wanting to go to the whole time because its so gorgeous. We had a really amazing time. I had a stomach ache so when we got home Zach got me meds and fed me, etc. He was very good. We watched TV until he had to go to work. For some reason, when he went to work I just went into a terrible mood. All of these emotions about being overwhelmed and stressed crashed down on me. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. It kind of felt like an anxiety attack, but I was also very sad. And it all came out of the blue. It was awful. I was supposed to babysit that night and fortunately it fell through because I was just a mess. I texted Zach which helped, and by the time he got home I was feeling much better. It went away even faster than it had come, for the most part. This morning I almost went into that same disaster mode again, and for no apparent reason, but it was also when Zach left for work. I was also leaving for work right after him, so I left even earlier than expected because I just couldn't be alone. Very strange. Haven't felt that way since right after I left Radford (a very stressful time in my life).
The good news is it really made me reassess everything. I realized many things. First off, LA might just be too much for me. Things are hard out here, and I don't want to deal with it. Its very hard to realize that despite my education or success at my last job, no one out here really cares and there really aren't many opportunities for me. You always think you're going to do great things, and I'm not right now. Very disappointing. I also realized just how much of this anxiety and stress I've taken out on Zach. I don't know how on earth he puts up with me sometimes, but this breakdown definitely helped our relationship.
The next day he had to work all day. Cindy asked if he wanted to bring me with him, so I went with him and we went to Santa Monica. It was so much fun. The kids were difficult at times but we had a blast anyways. There are fair games to play and we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which was filled with Forrest Gump movie stuff and was right on the pier. We played a lot of games and stayed there a long time. It was so exhausting, but we had to stay at Cindy's house for a little while once we got back until the nanny, Marisol, got there. She had the weekend off which is why Zach had to go in. We helped Cindy go around the house and find what she needed fixed which was nice because I hadn't really spent any time talking to Cindy and we got along very well. I'm usually very shy and uncomfortable with people at first, and I have been with her every other time I've met her, but this was fine. Plus its nice to feel useful and helpful, especially when I only feel that way about 15% of the time at my job. Another thing I hate about being here, its not a good feeling.
Sooo.. long story short, it was a great week and weekend. Not only was it fun (minus the breakdown) but I think the rough parts actually will really help me in the future. I know something is wrong with my life here right now, but that it has nothing to do with my relationship and that my relationship is actually much better than I've been giving it credit for lately. Now I just have to figure out what to do to get me out of this slump.
The work week went well - I didn't see my boss Thursday or Friday, and hardly at all on Tuesday. On Tuesday I got out early to babysit for Francie, and that's always a fun diversion. On Wednesday I went to a restaurant called Bouchon for Donna's birthday with her and six of her girlfriends. That was SO fun. Amanda and I were the only two not riding with the group because we live on this side of the hill (that's right, I've got some LA in me) so we got there first. This was kind of a blessing in disguise because shes one of the women in the group I've known the longest and therefore feel the most comfortable talking to, plus shes VERY down to earth. Her husband has been friends with Mitchell for years and years so I feel like I've known them my whole life. We mainly talked about my amazing laser eye surgery (as everyone seems to talk to me about the first time they see me post-op) and by the time we got through that subject the rest of the group was there. Donna seemed very pleasantly surprised to find Amanda and me waiting at the bar.
The meal was ridiculously good. The women ordered a bunch of wine, cocktails and appetizers when we sat down. I stuck to my lemonade, of course (it was great though). The only appetizer they ordered that I had ever tried before were truffled fries, so it was definitely interesting. The fries were delish, the rest I wasn't as impressed with. Lets start with the foie gras. My advice is to NOT sit next to a vegetarian/almost vegan while trying these new things. She was kind enough to tell me the horror story of how they make foie gras before I tried it. Knowing that I would never eat it again, no matter how delicious it was, because of that story.. I went for it. It was just okay. I can see why people like it; its very creamy and smooth and good spread on bread. Not worth torturing the poor goose. Next up was pate. YUCK. So gross. Like, almost-couldn't-swallow-it gross. It's worth mentioning that the people at the table who love these two items thought this was the best pate and foie gras ever. Very strange to me. They also ordered salmon tartar, which didn't get the same rave reviews from the whole crowd (not that they didn't like it, but they were dying for it like they were for the others). I wasn't impressed with that either. Same goes for the platter they ordered, raw oysters, shrimp and lobster. Didn't even bother with the second two because I know I like those, but the oysters didn't do it for me either. But, I'm very happy I tried all of it. I'm sure that all sounds negative, but it was actually a very fun portion of the meal. I love trying new foods, no matter the outcome.
Lisa had a great idea to go around the table and had everyone say how they met Donna and how much they love her. She went first, all teary of course. The rest of the ladies went and it was very nice hearing all of their stories. Her friends really love her. When it got to my turn I knew I couldn't really compare - we're family after all. I actually didn't even KNOW the first time I had met her until a few weeks ago when Donna happened to tell the story of the first time she met the whole family.. when I was six. Apparently I was tired by the end of the night and I just crawled into her lap and fell asleep on her. It was a very special moment to her, but unfortunately I don't remember it at all. So it gets to me and I was going to tell them how I don't remember it at all, but she had told me, blah blah blah. Instead Donna interrupts and says I can't talk. (In my head, I'm going "phew!") Everyone thought it was because it would be all emotional... because every.single.person. had gotten teary so far I think. Not my scene. Anyways, so she goes on to say how I can't talk so she'll talk for me. She tells them all the story (called me a little angel multiple times, thank you very much) and them somehow I'm supposed to say something after all of that??? Awkward. I essentially said how I couldn't really follow that up, but that I've now lived with Donna and I invade her home several times a week and how shes really been who I spend all of my time here with and its been great. Which is true, this has been a really rough and overwhelming move (I think its just starting to hit me how overwhelmed I am, now that I've been able to slightly slow down and think for a second) and that shes really been there for us the whole time. We would certainly be back in Virginia by now had it not been for them, but instead we've had a lot of fun.
Anyways, dinner came and was amazing, I got steak frites and it was probably the best steak I've ever had. I don't even know what they put on top to make it so good, but it was very different and delicious. The rest of the women loved their food too, including Amanda who ordered trout which comes with the head on (and staring right up at you). Dessert was an incredible chocolate cake. I don't know what they did to make that thing so fluffy and smooth, but it was working. The vegetarian next to me also ordered two extra desserts (a decent lemon tart and a very unique vanilla puffy thing) but the cake was the winner. Suzie had ordered the cake as well as the flowers that were our centerpiece, which of course was very emotional for Donna. This thing had its tearfest moments. Girls. I will say, though, that this dinner made me realize that I don't want to move away from Donna and the girls. They are a huge part of my life now. Well, that feeling of being certain that we'd stay here until they moved ended up only lasting about 3 days...
Donna didn't know about that dinner, or the stunning eternity ring I helped Mitch pick out her, or the trip he had planned for them and another couple to go to Vegas the next day, or the resort in San Diego for the weekend. She had joked about wanting diamonds, so she was thrilled with that and they are still the first thing I notice when I see her. Very eye catching. They went to see Love in Vegas (the Beatles show) and Mitchell said it wasn't the best show ever, it was the best THING ever. Zach and I watched the girls while we were there which went very well. Went to see Megamind, I don't really recommend it, and then got some takeout and watched TV until Keira fell asleep. I read a book to Kyla and we all slept in M&D's super comfy bed. Well, Zach got the couch ;) Got them off to school the next morning and everything went great.
Then came the weekend. Mitch and Donna got back and picked them up from school and we went to the mall and out to dinner that night. I was exhausted so I figured that's why I wasn't feeling well, so after dinner I went home. By then I was just in a fog and felt like I just had to go home, I couldn't be out anymore. The next morning Zach, Kaos and I went for a walk/jog on this path in Beverly Hills that I drive by on my way to work every morning and have been wanting to go to the whole time because its so gorgeous. We had a really amazing time. I had a stomach ache so when we got home Zach got me meds and fed me, etc. He was very good. We watched TV until he had to go to work. For some reason, when he went to work I just went into a terrible mood. All of these emotions about being overwhelmed and stressed crashed down on me. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. It kind of felt like an anxiety attack, but I was also very sad. And it all came out of the blue. It was awful. I was supposed to babysit that night and fortunately it fell through because I was just a mess. I texted Zach which helped, and by the time he got home I was feeling much better. It went away even faster than it had come, for the most part. This morning I almost went into that same disaster mode again, and for no apparent reason, but it was also when Zach left for work. I was also leaving for work right after him, so I left even earlier than expected because I just couldn't be alone. Very strange. Haven't felt that way since right after I left Radford (a very stressful time in my life).
The good news is it really made me reassess everything. I realized many things. First off, LA might just be too much for me. Things are hard out here, and I don't want to deal with it. Its very hard to realize that despite my education or success at my last job, no one out here really cares and there really aren't many opportunities for me. You always think you're going to do great things, and I'm not right now. Very disappointing. I also realized just how much of this anxiety and stress I've taken out on Zach. I don't know how on earth he puts up with me sometimes, but this breakdown definitely helped our relationship.
The next day he had to work all day. Cindy asked if he wanted to bring me with him, so I went with him and we went to Santa Monica. It was so much fun. The kids were difficult at times but we had a blast anyways. There are fair games to play and we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which was filled with Forrest Gump movie stuff and was right on the pier. We played a lot of games and stayed there a long time. It was so exhausting, but we had to stay at Cindy's house for a little while once we got back until the nanny, Marisol, got there. She had the weekend off which is why Zach had to go in. We helped Cindy go around the house and find what she needed fixed which was nice because I hadn't really spent any time talking to Cindy and we got along very well. I'm usually very shy and uncomfortable with people at first, and I have been with her every other time I've met her, but this was fine. Plus its nice to feel useful and helpful, especially when I only feel that way about 15% of the time at my job. Another thing I hate about being here, its not a good feeling.
Sooo.. long story short, it was a great week and weekend. Not only was it fun (minus the breakdown) but I think the rough parts actually will really help me in the future. I know something is wrong with my life here right now, but that it has nothing to do with my relationship and that my relationship is actually much better than I've been giving it credit for lately. Now I just have to figure out what to do to get me out of this slump.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Another Work Week
So here's another Monday. So glad the clocks rolled back because I definitely am enjoying the extra time in the morning.
This weekend was very fun and was once again spent primarily with Mitch and Donna. Friday Zach and I hung out just the two of us - we went to Lankershim which is a nice tree-lined street with shops and restaurants. We found a store I really loved and ate at a great bakery. I immediately wanted a job there so I could eat all the dessert after the place closed down, but the guy working there told me it seems great until you go to bed with a stomach ache literally every night. So there goes that. We also went to a great froyo place called Twirl. I had been craving Menchies and this place was actually just as good.
Saturday morning we drove around a little with the dog to see all of these crazy things I had been wanting to take pictures of. Then we grabbed lunch in Chinatown with M&D and the girls. I thought we were getting dimsum but we got regular Chinese food and it was amazing. We walked around for a while after that until it started to cool down outside. It was exhausting for some reason so we took naps before heading over to Donna's for dinner.
Speaking of dinner, last night.. wait for it.... Donna and I cooked dinner. For those of you who don't know.. Mitchell cooks literally every single night. I babysat the girls in the afternoon and Donna showed me a Turkey dinner recipe when I got there saying she wanted to try it. Mitchell had a rugby game and met Zach, me and the girls up at BJ's (an amazing brew house with great deep dish pizza) so I mentioned to him we were going to cook. He couldn't believe it. Long story short, it turned out really well. Also surprising, the girls were incredibly well behaved when I watched them - didn't get in a single fight, played together the entire time, and didn't even watch TV for a second. Keira melted down later in the day, but that's to be expected.
Completely unrelated - I found these great new construction townhomes in Raleigh that are incredibly affordable. I can definitely afford them if I can get approved for a loan, which might be hard with my age and the fact that I moved here so there will have been 3 job changes in 2 years. However, if I can get approved for a loan and I am still convinced its a good area and everything over the next several months, I will probably buy one. I can't imagine leaving the little girls and M&D, but it could be a great investment. So I'll be looking into that pretty nonstop for the next oh... 6 months :)
This weekend was very fun and was once again spent primarily with Mitch and Donna. Friday Zach and I hung out just the two of us - we went to Lankershim which is a nice tree-lined street with shops and restaurants. We found a store I really loved and ate at a great bakery. I immediately wanted a job there so I could eat all the dessert after the place closed down, but the guy working there told me it seems great until you go to bed with a stomach ache literally every night. So there goes that. We also went to a great froyo place called Twirl. I had been craving Menchies and this place was actually just as good.
Saturday morning we drove around a little with the dog to see all of these crazy things I had been wanting to take pictures of. Then we grabbed lunch in Chinatown with M&D and the girls. I thought we were getting dimsum but we got regular Chinese food and it was amazing. We walked around for a while after that until it started to cool down outside. It was exhausting for some reason so we took naps before heading over to Donna's for dinner.
Speaking of dinner, last night.. wait for it.... Donna and I cooked dinner. For those of you who don't know.. Mitchell cooks literally every single night. I babysat the girls in the afternoon and Donna showed me a Turkey dinner recipe when I got there saying she wanted to try it. Mitchell had a rugby game and met Zach, me and the girls up at BJ's (an amazing brew house with great deep dish pizza) so I mentioned to him we were going to cook. He couldn't believe it. Long story short, it turned out really well. Also surprising, the girls were incredibly well behaved when I watched them - didn't get in a single fight, played together the entire time, and didn't even watch TV for a second. Keira melted down later in the day, but that's to be expected.
Completely unrelated - I found these great new construction townhomes in Raleigh that are incredibly affordable. I can definitely afford them if I can get approved for a loan, which might be hard with my age and the fact that I moved here so there will have been 3 job changes in 2 years. However, if I can get approved for a loan and I am still convinced its a good area and everything over the next several months, I will probably buy one. I can't imagine leaving the little girls and M&D, but it could be a great investment. So I'll be looking into that pretty nonstop for the next oh... 6 months :)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Halloween Weekend and Warmth!
This weekend was a lot of fun. Friday I don't really remember (hence the point of keeping this blog, because that was only 3 days ago..) but I don't think we did anything. I didn't work much last week but I was still in major need of some relaxation. Isabella is super sweet and sent me a Godiva care package for my eye surgery so I think I just enjoyed a fair amount of that Friday night.
Saturday we went to the mall in Santa Monica that they recently renovated. It used to be all indoors and then you could walk outside to 3rd street which is also a very popular and touristy destination for all of its shops, restaurants and street performers. Now they've opened up the indoor part of the mall so its essentially this very cool looking, multi-leveled outdoor mall. We wandered down to 3rd Street for some lunch and went into a bunch of cool shops. I found this new store, Cotton On, that is originally from Australia and New Zealand and it has awesome stuff. Also, Donna's sister had bought a bunch of stuff from Victoria's Secret while she was in NYC and most of it didn't fit so she gave it to Donna to return so she didn't have to be bothered with it. So we went and returned all of it and had $171 to spend in Victoria's Secret for ourselves. We split it in half and picked out what we wanted.. It was awesome. I didn't even know that was the plan for the day so it was a great surprise. Zach got a hoodie he loves from Quicksilver and we all loved our lunches (all of us except our arteries) so it was a great trip.
Afterward we went back to their house because Mitch said he was going to make Gumbo for dinner and that he would have plenty to share. You just don't turn down Gumbo. Or Mitchell's cooking for that matter.
Donna started dying my hair that night but its going to take another application before its the exact right color. It didn't come out that orange or anything, so I'm okay being out in public until she can do the next step fortunately. We were going to fix it yesterday afternoon, but time got away from us and it was Francie's party before we knew it.
Francie and Rob (hippie and Elvis) are the couple I babysit for. They have 4 kids that are amazing and they're just the perfect family. It's almost disturbing how perfect they are. Anyways, every year they throw a party at their house for their friends and their friend's kids. Everyone gathers there for Rob's famous cosmopolitans and some appetizers/pizza before they all head out to go trick or treating together. Zach and I showed up towards the tail end of that so we could go door to door with the girls, and even though we only knew a few people there it was a ton of fun anyways. Mitch and Donna have the coolest friends. And, of course, there was delicious food.
Kyla dressed up as a Greek Goddess ("naturally" - as some random lady in a parking lot said when she asked Kyla what her costume would be) and Keira was Little Red Riding Hood. They were both adorable. I put one some butterfly wings and Zach was a bum and didn't wear his costume. Super lame. Anyways, trick or treating here is a wholly different experience. The entire elementary school all goes to the same few streets. The streets are PACKED with kids and their parents. Also, a lot of people do parties ahead of time like we did, so the kids are in huge groups as are their parents, and most of the parents are walking around with Solo cups in their hands. The people decorate like crazy. I don't even want to know how many thousands of dollars they spend on it. The best house was one of Donna's friends, The Bobbits or something. The husband is one of the most famous set designers in LA and he goes all out. This year you could see the house from down the street because it had a huge movie screen up on a pole flashing scary images. Then you get to the driveway which was flanked with two 20 foot tall pharaohs or something. Next to the driveway is a massive (bigger than real life probably) dead cow and a convertible that has a skeleton (holding a beer bottle..) in his hand. Caution tape all over it. You walk in the driveway and there is 15 foot long coffin that looks like its made out of concrete. To the left of that is a little graveyard surrounded by a metal fence. Fog was billowing out of there and there were a lot of things getting lit up. So you're looking at all of that and children all dressed up and creepy looking start popping out from behind the graves. Real children. And they will yell at you, etc. They even followed one kid who went up to them and said he wasn't scared of them. To the right of the huge coffin is another huge dead animal, this time a horse. Behind the horse is a hearse that has a coffin sticking out the back and a dead guy is peeking out of the coffin. There are also gigantic statues of gargoyles, panthers, everything. As you keep walking among other random decorations you get to this big tree in front of their house. They had several bodies hanging from the tree. That was probably my favorite part because it was so creepy. They had every detail down perfectly. They even lined parts of their property with huge fake boulders that looked so real Mitchell had to stand on them to realize they were fake. If I can do Halloween like that when I'm a parent, I'll consider my life a success.
Other houses had awesome things too, but none compared to that. The girls did have to skip a few because they were scared almost to tears. One guy dressed up as an ape and sat next to the candy table in his garage and him moving made Kyla terrified. Another house had a huge column type thing next to their front door and one of the people hid behind the column so you couldn't see him til you got to the door and he would just stand there in his mask staring at you but hardly moving. Kyla kept telling him to "stop!" Another house had really loud metal music and huge demons all over their property.. had to skip that house. Lastly, one house had a graveyard next to their sidewalk and a little girl was like army crawling around it and would come over to people as they walked by. So good.
We planned on going to the West Hollywood parade afterward, but it had gotten colder and we knew the crowds would be huge by then so we skipped it. Well, it was probably primarily just because we were SO exhausted from the trick or treating. We got to Francie's at 6:30 and were back at Mitchell's by 8:30 but it was still sooo exhausting. Zach rode by Santa Monica Blvd since its just a block away to see the costumes and by the time he got home from that he was ready to go straight to bed. Kind of disappointed we didn't see it, but at the same time going with the kids was probably way better. Keira told me how much fun it was to go with me there which made it so worth it.
This week the weather is going to get into the 90's. Today is the coldest day of the week at 86. Love it. Also, we are going to Palm Springs this weekend so it'll be even warmer there. The house we go to there is so amazing and the pool may be even better, so we're looking forward to that. Plus, I need a weekend away from that dog. He's eating all my stuff.
Saturday we went to the mall in Santa Monica that they recently renovated. It used to be all indoors and then you could walk outside to 3rd street which is also a very popular and touristy destination for all of its shops, restaurants and street performers. Now they've opened up the indoor part of the mall so its essentially this very cool looking, multi-leveled outdoor mall. We wandered down to 3rd Street for some lunch and went into a bunch of cool shops. I found this new store, Cotton On, that is originally from Australia and New Zealand and it has awesome stuff. Also, Donna's sister had bought a bunch of stuff from Victoria's Secret while she was in NYC and most of it didn't fit so she gave it to Donna to return so she didn't have to be bothered with it. So we went and returned all of it and had $171 to spend in Victoria's Secret for ourselves. We split it in half and picked out what we wanted.. It was awesome. I didn't even know that was the plan for the day so it was a great surprise. Zach got a hoodie he loves from Quicksilver and we all loved our lunches (all of us except our arteries) so it was a great trip.
Afterward we went back to their house because Mitch said he was going to make Gumbo for dinner and that he would have plenty to share. You just don't turn down Gumbo. Or Mitchell's cooking for that matter.
Donna started dying my hair that night but its going to take another application before its the exact right color. It didn't come out that orange or anything, so I'm okay being out in public until she can do the next step fortunately. We were going to fix it yesterday afternoon, but time got away from us and it was Francie's party before we knew it.
Francie and Rob (hippie and Elvis) are the couple I babysit for. They have 4 kids that are amazing and they're just the perfect family. It's almost disturbing how perfect they are. Anyways, every year they throw a party at their house for their friends and their friend's kids. Everyone gathers there for Rob's famous cosmopolitans and some appetizers/pizza before they all head out to go trick or treating together. Zach and I showed up towards the tail end of that so we could go door to door with the girls, and even though we only knew a few people there it was a ton of fun anyways. Mitch and Donna have the coolest friends. And, of course, there was delicious food.
Kyla dressed up as a Greek Goddess ("naturally" - as some random lady in a parking lot said when she asked Kyla what her costume would be) and Keira was Little Red Riding Hood. They were both adorable. I put one some butterfly wings and Zach was a bum and didn't wear his costume. Super lame. Anyways, trick or treating here is a wholly different experience. The entire elementary school all goes to the same few streets. The streets are PACKED with kids and their parents. Also, a lot of people do parties ahead of time like we did, so the kids are in huge groups as are their parents, and most of the parents are walking around with Solo cups in their hands. The people decorate like crazy. I don't even want to know how many thousands of dollars they spend on it. The best house was one of Donna's friends, The Bobbits or something. The husband is one of the most famous set designers in LA and he goes all out. This year you could see the house from down the street because it had a huge movie screen up on a pole flashing scary images. Then you get to the driveway which was flanked with two 20 foot tall pharaohs or something. Next to the driveway is a massive (bigger than real life probably) dead cow and a convertible that has a skeleton (holding a beer bottle..) in his hand. Caution tape all over it. You walk in the driveway and there is 15 foot long coffin that looks like its made out of concrete. To the left of that is a little graveyard surrounded by a metal fence. Fog was billowing out of there and there were a lot of things getting lit up. So you're looking at all of that and children all dressed up and creepy looking start popping out from behind the graves. Real children. And they will yell at you, etc. They even followed one kid who went up to them and said he wasn't scared of them. To the right of the huge coffin is another huge dead animal, this time a horse. Behind the horse is a hearse that has a coffin sticking out the back and a dead guy is peeking out of the coffin. There are also gigantic statues of gargoyles, panthers, everything. As you keep walking among other random decorations you get to this big tree in front of their house. They had several bodies hanging from the tree. That was probably my favorite part because it was so creepy. They had every detail down perfectly. They even lined parts of their property with huge fake boulders that looked so real Mitchell had to stand on them to realize they were fake. If I can do Halloween like that when I'm a parent, I'll consider my life a success.
Other houses had awesome things too, but none compared to that. The girls did have to skip a few because they were scared almost to tears. One guy dressed up as an ape and sat next to the candy table in his garage and him moving made Kyla terrified. Another house had a huge column type thing next to their front door and one of the people hid behind the column so you couldn't see him til you got to the door and he would just stand there in his mask staring at you but hardly moving. Kyla kept telling him to "stop!" Another house had really loud metal music and huge demons all over their property.. had to skip that house. Lastly, one house had a graveyard next to their sidewalk and a little girl was like army crawling around it and would come over to people as they walked by. So good.
We planned on going to the West Hollywood parade afterward, but it had gotten colder and we knew the crowds would be huge by then so we skipped it. Well, it was probably primarily just because we were SO exhausted from the trick or treating. We got to Francie's at 6:30 and were back at Mitchell's by 8:30 but it was still sooo exhausting. Zach rode by Santa Monica Blvd since its just a block away to see the costumes and by the time he got home from that he was ready to go straight to bed. Kind of disappointed we didn't see it, but at the same time going with the kids was probably way better. Keira told me how much fun it was to go with me there which made it so worth it.
This week the weather is going to get into the 90's. Today is the coldest day of the week at 86. Love it. Also, we are going to Palm Springs this weekend so it'll be even warmer there. The house we go to there is so amazing and the pool may be even better, so we're looking forward to that. Plus, I need a weekend away from that dog. He's eating all my stuff.
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