Travel Tips

Some non-sense thoughts on my travels..

·       Never use points for free flights…hoard them for upgrades.  First-class is the only way to fly

·       If you can afford it drive and park at the airport. Nothing sucks more than getting off the plane and waiting an hour for the bus.

·       Don’t splurge on the car wash at the parking garage.  Convenient, yes worth the money, absolutely not.  They do a horrible job.

·       There is no such thing as hovering when using the airplane loo

·       Men will pee on the floor…turbulence isn’t bathroom conscious, so make sure you pull up your pant legs

·       The omelet is the best breakfast choice by far…unless you detest mushrooms

·       With the above in mind the biscuit is also the better choice…just say no to hard bagels

·       If you place your laptop on your seat when you get up your bum is nice and toasty when you get back.

·       Splurge on the 12.99 wifi.  It’s entertaining and just plain cool.

·       Hotel lotions and shampoos are a waste…use ‘em and leave ‘em

·       However…When you are out of toilet paper back home and realize you will not get home before midnight and stopping at the store is not an option steal a roll from the hotel.  It will make you giggle on the inside

·       Don’t hate layovers…appreciate the chance to get drunk with complete stranger in the same boat

Wicked

Having been a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz since I can remember, and also being somewhat of a closet opera/musical nerd I have been wanting to see Wicked since it opened...

Although I don't remember the first time I saw the movie, since I don't ever remember not loving it, I can remember being 7 or 8 and sitting in my small twin bed with my fisher price cassette player listening to a taped copy of the movie The Wizard of Oz. Not only was I listening, but I was fiercely transcribing every word in my notebook so I could recite the show from heart. My ultimate goal was to convince my very small, very private. very Christian school that we needed to produce this amazing work of art. Needless to say that was never going to happen, but I was very much a dreamer at that age.

I had wanted to see the show when it was in Los Angeles back in 2008-2009, but it seemed like everyone I knew had already seen it and didn't care to fork over the dough to see it again. This is still a mystery to me as I would pay to see it several times over, but as I admitted earlier I am a music nerd and apparently my friends are not (insert side note to get new friends). But to my surprise, ok not surprise because I always seem to find these things out, I got my very own tickets to see Wicked for my birthday a few months back.

I was off a 12 hour turn around trip to Vegas and hadn't slept in 30 hours and counting but I wasn't going to let that detour me...as tired as I was I loved every minute of the show. The comedy was cheesy, the music was amazing, and the story was incredible just as it should be. Multiple times I found myself smiling and crying as it was truly one of the best shows I've ever seen live. I'm no stranger to musicals and operas and while I usually like most of them I can rarely say I wasn't ready for it to be over.  After all 3 hours is a long time to be sitting.  

But not this one.  It is as good, if not better than all the hype. 

This is not your typical Rogers and Hammerstein, and it wasn't written in a time where you have to use words like Bequeath and Henceforth to understand the plot. I mean come on...spoiled rich girl gets stuck rooming with the green weird girl, people floating around in bubbles, a love triangle where the typical girl doesn't get the boy, flying monkeys, talking goats, magic spells awry, good is evil, evil is good...What's not to love?

Because I knew you...I have been changed for good 

My Lucky Streak has ended

Every so often my job pays off in the form of hockey tickets.  There have been a few times this past season where I'm handed 2 very nice placed seats.  This past Monday was no exception.  Corner section 9th row.  Now I'm not a hockey novice.  I know very little about the positions, rules, etc.  But I do love the speed, the excitement, the fans, and the very rugged men.  What can I say...I'm a man's man kind of girl. 
This Monday's games against the Dallas Stars was a first for me though in my LA Kings hockey tradition in a few ways.  First of all, I've always gone with someone much more knowledgeable about hockey than I.  Secondly, they've always won!  
Being that I recently lost my hockey companion I decided to entice my very sports hating roommate and bestie to go with me through promise of eye candy and beer! It worked of course so we set off on our first hockey girls night.  The great thing about her is that she completely plays along.  She may not know what's going on but she cheered, she walked under the sign on the way to Staples (a very winning tradition in the past), and she yelled at the players in true hockey fan fashion. 
I've also never really gotten there early enough for warm ups.  Usually I'm fighting traffic 'till the last minute or fighting crowds at LA Live to get there just in time for the game.  It was great.  I got to see my very favorite new King Penner up close and personal and even though the blood is better for me on the ice than off, I got to witness a very close and scary puck to the head moment compliments of the guys standing next to me.  At least he has a good story to share with his buddies!
All and all it was fabulous right up until the first 2 minutes of overtime...where they lost.  I was bummed to say the least. In the few games I've been to over this season I've never seen them loose in person.  I liked thinking that I was some sort of lucky charm.  Bubble has been officially burst. 
C'est La Vie, I'm off to another game on Thursday and I'm hoping my lucky charm status will be restored.  GO Kings GO!

I love this pic...What's on my finger?

Even though the camera wasn't cooperating...How can you not think hotness???

Coffee

A little over a year ago I purchased the greatest thing ever...My Keurig coffee maker. I loved waking up to my 12 oz personal brew of coffee. I was in heaven. Whenever I wanted coffee or green tea I just popped in my little k-cup of goodness and had instant gratification in as little as 2 minutes.
Then it happened...It stopped...just stopped...I was so perplexed. I was actually an hour late to work because I was frantically trying to figure out what happened and did everything I could think of to try and fix it. Didn't work.
So in lieu of the above my very lovely friends got me a gift card for my birthday last week so I could replace my coffee maker with the mother of all Keurigs. My mornings are happy again.

Birthday

Today is my Birthday! I celebrated this weekend with some of my close friends. We first started off at The Village Idiot. A very pub like place in Melrose. Kind of cool. I'm not extremely up on beer, but I wanted something different.
The menu was entertaining...Pies, No Face, Two Legs, Four Legs, and No Legs and the food was quite good as well. My drink not so much, but that's OK as I managed to spill it on my boyfriend sitting across from me. No worries, he had fast reflexes.
After supper, as they referred to it, I got to try my first Heavenly cupcake from Bake you Happy. It was delectable! Then we promptly walked down to The Groundlings show.
I had never been to a comedy club before but it sounded fun...like Saturday Night Live skits. There were some funny parts...not sure I'd go back, but I laughed. They included one of my friends in their skit and he even got a little ass action.
Overall not a bad weekend.
I got exactly what I wanted....WICKED tickets. I'm extremely excited and cannot wait!
However, I've seemed to make it through the whole weekend without a single picture. I guess I will just have to remember years to come from this post alone.

Sleep

I find myself unable to sleep much lately. It's really only been the last few months, but it is starting to really effect me. In the past it's always been because of work. Too many issues not enough time in the day. But lately it's been about life.

What do I want...why do I feel so unhappy? It could be that the last 5 years have been completely devoted to work and devoid of human contact, other than the Israeli programmer type. I moved here 5 years ago thinking that my life was finally taking off. I had a great job and I was starting over on this amazing journey.
Unfortunately I soon realized that no one really wanted to do anything but work, so I followed suit not wanting to disappoint my new boss and his expectations...It worked. I have tripled my salary and my boss has on many occasions told me we never would be here if not for me.

So now I lay here in the dark...Alone...and I realize it hasn't only been a few years. It's been 5...and I have very little to show for it personally. The money and the job didn't make me as happy as I thought it would.

So a little late, but here are my 2011 goals:

1. Update resume and seriously consider other professional options in life. (i.e. New City)
2. Go to NY City at Christmas time.
3. Venture out of my comfort zone and meet new people.
4. Don't love someone who can't/won't love you back.
5. Write more as I find that my mind has actually stopped running in circles this very second.

Zzzzzzzzz...

Happiness

Webster's defines happiness as...oh who are we kidding no one defines words using Webster's anymore.

Wikipedia defines happiness as a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.

As I ring in the New Year I can't help but reminisce on the past year and my accomplishments or as it turns out my carryovers to 2011. Being that 2010 was the first New Year of my actual 30s I had learned in my 3 decades on this earth I really didn't do well without clearly defined and measurable goals.

Such as my goal in 2009 (notice my use of the word goal and not resolution as that word bothers me for a reason I have yet to completely define) to be happy. Since I wasn't unhappy, as I had yet to cut my wrist, I figured my new adult goal should maybe work more with the components of happiness rather than the overall state of mind. So, I chose the most important one to me at the time, LOVE.

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment, according to our good friend Wiki. Since it had been 5 years between my last at bat with love I figured it was long overdue. So how does one accomplish this goal in 2010? Why Match dot com of course. While I am quite shy and, as I have learned through this experience, kind of boring compared to others this was the only way I knew to make a solid effort in my attempt at LOVE.

Turns out, not that great of an effort! After a few short phrases in an email and a couple of mind numbing phone calls, I agreed to go on actuals dates or as I like to call them outings with these...men. I've never spent so many hours wishing I could find a family emergency to get to. Talking about their cars, their hobbies, their diseases, their likes and dislikes. Is this really what this has come to? ...and yes, I said diseases... I don't care that you favorite color is blue. That is not going to score you a date. Neither will the fact that you drive a beamer that you most likely lease and spend way to much money on. Or...that you had cancer and had one ball removed. Now although the cancer thing did get the sympathy vote from me, seeing as how I am not completely heartless, it's not fair to play that card on the first date! It's nearly impossible to know someone or even know if someone is worth investing time and effort into, let alone like or love in such few encounters. Unfortunately for this guarded heart gal it is even that much harder to be waived through and I just don't have that much free time.

So as I look back and see that I actually did find someone to spend most of my 2010 with (no thanks to you Match) I'm deciding that love is really not the most important thing to me after all. You can be happy without love. Happiness, although isn't measured through conventional methods, can be measured by internal barometers. Did I laugh more than I cried? Did I make positive memories that will last me a lifetime? Did i make it through with more achievements than regrets?

2010...you were a great year. I hope you have set the precedent for 2011.