"Tell Me Something Good..."

Another successful weekend!

Friday after work, Charlie and I met at Sharkeez (my favorite sports bar) in Manhattan Beach for dinner, drinks, and sports. The best part about Sharkeez is their drink specials (two-for-one happy hour in this case), and they have a free chips and salsa bar. When I got to the bar, the Giants and the Cardinals were in the second inning of game 5. By the time Charlie got there, the Giants were winning, and we were both starving! We ordered buffalo wings (Sharkeez has the best wings), taquitos (which ended up being okay), and the queso (which is also a favorite of ours). Halfway through the Giants game, the Lakers game came on. I got to watch two of my favorite teams play side by side. Many happy hour rounds and a Giants win later, we had to skip out on the second half of the Lakers game to head to Hollywood.

It seems like every week one of us wins concert tickets. This week was my turn! I won us a pair of tickets to Allen Stone (Charlie's new favorite artist) at The Fonda Theatre. Not only was I excited about attending Allen Stone's show, but it was also the opportunity for me to see yet another new venue in Los Angeles. The Fonda is a historic 1920's venue with a 1,300 capacity. Needless to say, it was a pretty intimate show. And let me tell you, if you've never heard of Allen Stone before, you are surely missing out. He is only 25 years old and an extremely talented church-gospel singer turned professional musician. He played mostly original stuff, but he also threw in Chaka Kahn's "Tell Me Something Good" (and nailed it!) and also did a very unique version of Bob Marley's "Is This Love?" (Which you can view here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKCL0zBy5WE). After an incredible show, we waited in line to meet him! Not only is he a great performer, he is also a very humble and genuine person. Thanks for a great time, Mr. Stone!

Saturday turned out being a very mellow and relaxing day. We slept in, which was very much needed, and lounged around for the majority of the morning. Charlie needed to hit an ATM, so we rode our bikes to Hermosa. While riding, we worked up an appetite, so we rode our bikes back to El Burrito Jr. in Redondo. Because El Burrito is so greasy and fattening, I very rarely eat it, but Oh.My.God. is it good. It's my favorite "fast food" Mexican place. Charlie got a deluxe burrito (stuffed with beans, rice, lettuce, and steak, topped with sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and a red sauce) and I got my absolute favorite, hard shell chicken tacos with a side of rice and beans. We were so completely stuffed that we rode back home and both took naps on the couch! Although I wish I could have lounged on the couch all night like Charlie, I had to get up to make dinner and get ready to babysit. I've been picking up babysitting jobs lately to save up cash for Christmas (going to Peoria) and Colorado (going to Phil & Amanda's wedding in February). The family that I watched on this night was a family that I've kind of started to be a regular sitter for. They have two kids, a boy who is 4 and a girl who is 2, and live in Hermosa Beach. I watch the two kiddos and their 7 year old cousin for about 3 hours. After babysitting, Charlie and I were going to go see Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers at Saint Rocke. Unfortunately, we were both beyond exhausted, so we opted out. However, we did get to watch the show from the comfort of our own home through IROCKE. If you still haven't signed up for IROCKE, do yourself a favor, and go do so NOW. http://www.irocke.com/

Sunday, ohh Sunday. Charlie got up early to work while I headed to the grocery store. We met back up and went to Kohls, Best Buy, and the Halloween store. We still haven't figure out what we're dressing up as, *sigh*. Anyway, after a busy morning and early afternoon, Charlie did some more work while I got ready and started my 'Sunday Funday'. About 4PM, we were headed downtown LA for the Lakers game. We went to my go-to pre-game spot, Yardhouse, for beers and appetizers. We got an order of nachos which were okay. I've definitely had better food from there before. Charlie also got a mini peach cobbler. After watching about 5 innings of the Giants game, we headed over to Staples Center. Now, I've been to many Lakers games in the past couple of years, but this was in particular was very special to me. Yes, it was a pre-season game, and yes, we lost, but it was Dwight Howard's first game with the Lakers. How cool to actually be at Howard's first game! Although they did lose, Howard ended up with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks. That's pretty impressive for a guy who had back surgery 6 months ago and hasn't played in a real game in even longer than that. Just like at every other game, I had a blast. Yelling, drinking, taking pictures (even though we were in nosebleed seats) ...it was yet another successful night at Staples Center.

Hooray! I actually updated my blog just one day after the weekend ended. For those of you following along, that's a pretty rare occurrence these days. This week is looking to be another long one, starting with game 7 of the Giants vs. Cardinals as well as the Bears game tonight.

Have a great week friends, family, & followers :)

Ramble On

Once again, I have been slacking. It's been a little over two weeks since I last blogged, and as always, we have been super busy. I suppose that's why I haven't taken the time to sit down and fill you all in.

When I last wrote, I said that Charlie and I were going to Saint Rocke to watch the Bears game. We did just that! It wasn't too eventful of a night. We got steak nachos, a bacon and pear flat bread, watched the game, chatted with some of the employees that we know, and called it a night.

Me & some fellow Bears fans @ Saint Rocke

The next day, Tuesday October 2nd, we celebrated our first official anniversary. I say official, because we have two anniversaries. We celebrate the anniversary of our first date as well as the anniversary of the day that Charlie officially asked me to be his girlfriend. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to celebrate twice a year?! ;) Since we both had to work on our anniversary, and we are trying to save money, we decided that we would celebrate at home that night. I got home from work later than Charlie, and he had apparently been working extremely hard since he had gotten off. Dinner was being taken off of the stove, I was handed two ice waters and ordered to follow him. I followed him down the hall, down the stairs, and out on our pool deck. Charlie had set up a whole fancy dinner for me! Black table cloth (borrowed from Saint Rocke), candles, a bottle of red wine, and a delicious meal. We had homemade risotto (his first time making it ...and if you didn't know, it's a tough dish to mess up. What a brave man!), broccoli, onion, pineapple, & chicken stir fry, and spring rolls (from the Thai restaurant down the street). After a wonderful meal, half a bottle of wine, and great conversation later, we headed upstairs for dessert. Dessert was on me. I wanted to make a cheesecake, but I also wanted to make chocolate covered strawberries. I decided to combine the two and make chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake. Paired with the rest of our bottle of wine, it made for a great ending to our meal. Charlie also got me a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers, daisies. To go above our bed, I made him two canvases with lyrics to our song (Life is Better With You by Michael Franti) to go alongside a blown up black and white photo canvas. All in all, it was a great anniversary, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else ;)

                                  Dinner ...how romantic!                                        And dessert :)

The next few days we didn't do anything too eventful. Friday night Charlie went to see one of his favorites, Big Gigantic, at the House of Blues while I had dinner and went shopping with Lisa. Lisa and I went to this awesome new place at Del Amo Mall in Torrance called Stacked. All ordering is done through iPads, which are on every table. They have appetizers, burgers, pizza, salads, mac&cheese, ice cream sandwiches, and milkshakes. In each category on the menu, they have pre-made meals (as like any restaurant), but they also give you the option to 'build-your-own'. We started the meal with an incredible spinach and artichoke dip, accompanied by homemade chips. I built my own turkey burger on a brioche bun with avocado, tomato, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and pepper jack cheese. Lisa did a build-your-own salad with about 10 different toppings and two different dressings.

The next morning, I did a solo hour and a half hike up in Palos Verdes. I love hiking and doing it with others is great, but a solo hike kicks ass. Every time I go solo, I'm a bit scared (who knows what's out there?!), but I love to wander around and explore new trails. Later in the day, Charlie and I met back up and grilled out while Murph and Luke came over to hang out. I left the boys to go babysit in Hermosa for a new family. The babysitting went well ...and only lasted two hours! With being done at 9pm, I had time to go out too. Charlie and I went to Saint Rocke to see One Drop Redemption. After a few cocktails and a little dancing, we called it a night pretty early.

Sunday we went to the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair. We did some promoting for Saint Rocke (put fliers under windshield wipers on cars), got some food, and walked around to see all of the different vendor's arts and crafts. I can't remember what we ended up doing that night, so it must not have been very memorable.

The following Wednesday, Charlie got a promotion at work! He hasn't actually got a written offer yet, so we're not sure what the extent of the promotion is at this time. More to follow :) After a successful day at IROCKE, Charlie wanted to go see VibeSquad (I don't consider DJ's bands ...so what do I call them?! A group? An artist? a DJ?) at The Roxy, so that's exactly what we did. Although the music is definitely not my scene, I went without complaint to support Charlie.

That Friday, we decided to stay in. October was supposed to be 'save money month', but somehow, we have managed to go out almost every weekend night ...plus some nights during the week. I finally found a night that Charlie didn't win tickets to a show, and I took full advantage of it. I made chili and pumpkin banana bread to eat, Charlie's boss hooked him up with some Punkin beer, we bought pumpkins at Trader Joe's, and I bought Pet Cemetery. It was a fun-filled night of sipping on beer, watching scary movies, and painting pumpkins!

 My trifecta of sports teams!

Tanner's carmel apples

Saturday I did a solo bike ride! 13.5 miles ...not to toot my own horn, but I kicked ass. After a quite afternoon, I went on another babysitting job! After sitting for a few hours, I met Charlie in Culver City, and we headed over to a post-apocalyptic party, hosted by Charlie's friends Josh and Max. I wasn't very excited about going (only because I didn't have a clue as to what to wear!), but after putting together a fun outfit, we decided we'd go see what it was all about. They had a photo booth, a band, and a great little party in a production studio. We also got to see some friends (like Syreeta!) and meet new people.

Sunday we met Murph for lunch at Pho Sho (our favorite Thai restaurant) in Culver City and ran some errands. Once we got home, we headed over to my dad and Lisa's. My dad had been in Peoria re-doing one of his rental houses (that my sister is moving in to), so we hadn't seen him in 5 weeks. My dad ordered us all Dominos (his favorite), and we watched game 1 of the NCLS. My dad (and whole family for that matter) is a Cardinals fan, while I am a Giants fan. Unfortunately, the Cardinals took game 1, but it was fun getting to watch the game with family!

Out for lunch @ Pho Sho

Since Sunday, this week has been pretty relaxing. Last night Charlie and I got tickets to Led Zeppelin's Celebraiton Day. For those of you who don't know, Led Zeppelin's last concert together was in 2007. They filmed the show and are releasing it on DVD in December. It was in theaters for one night only (2-3 nights in some cities), so we had to see it on the big screen. Honestly, the video quality wasn't as great as I thought it would be, and the theater we saw it in could have had better sound. However, as always, Led Zeppelin put on an incredible show. To see Jason Bonham (drummer) get to fill in for his late father was amazing. Jason definitely takes after his dad on the drums, and Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones still have it. Now only if they would go on another world tour. *sigh* As always, I feel as if I was born in the wrong decade.

So there it is, now you're all caught up :-D

Charlie is headed to Bassnectar at The Palladium tonight while I have a nice, solo night in! This weekend will be a good one, so I will have lots to fill you all in on next week.

Peace, Love, & Orange October (GO GIANTS!)

Starting Where I Left Off...

Ay yi yi!

It's been over a month since I last posted. Needless to say, it's been quite the busy month!

Without going through and trying to remember all the details of every single day, I'll post the fun stuff :)

The last weekend in August, we went to Fishbone at Saint Rocke on Friday night. Charlie's dad and step-mom, Giann, came into on Saturday. The four of us, as well as my dad and Lisa, went to The Abigaile in Hermosa for dinner. It's a tapas-style restaurant that serves up some delicious food. Between the 6 of us, we probably got about 10-15 dishes. After we were stuffed to the brim, Charlie and I went back to Chuck & Giann's hotel for drinks followed by a Stepping Feet  (Dave Matthews cover band) show at Saint Rocke with Luke! Sunday morning, we met back up with Chuck and Giann and took them to Terranea to hike down to the sea caves. It was a gorgeous day, and after a long hike to the water, we had drinks on the Redondo Pier. The day ended with me cooking up a fiesta for all of us -- carne asada tacos, taco dip, beans, and homemade guacamole! As always, it was a quick but fun trip with Charlie's family.

Fishbone @ Saint Rocke

Dinner @ The Abigaile

Stepping Feet @ Saint Rocke

 Hike down to the water at Terranea

Margaritas at El Tortio on the Redondo Pier

The next weekend was Labor Day. Both Friday and Saturday we ended up at Saint Rocke. Friday night we saw The Spazmatics, which is always a good time. Saturday we street teamed (hung posters & passed out calendars at local businesses) for Saint Rocke all day then went to Ozomatli that night. I had never listened to (or seen) them before, but they were great. They had a great stage presence with lots of energy, and at the end of the show, they had a drum circle in the middle of the dance floor. After the show, we went to an employee party at Jason's house. Jason is one of the managers at Saint Rocke, and he's always so good to us when we come in! Two bottles of tequila, shots of scorpion/cobra whiskey, and lots of drunken shenanigans later, we ended up leaving his place until 530am. Needless to say, Sunday was a pretty chill day....until later that night around 9pm when Steven G came to stay with us. Steven G is a friend that both Charlie and I know from back home. We all had a chill night, and the following morning, we went to Hermosa to lounge on the beach. Fiesta Hermosa (a street fair) was going on, so we wandered around for a bit. We ended up finding a gorgeous photo canvas of the Hermosa Pier at sunset. Originally $350, we scored it for only $39.95!

Opener for Spazmatics

 Spazmatics ...the best 80's cover band EVER!

 Ozomatli and the dance party/drum circle at the end

Char & Jason

Cobra/Scorpion whiskey

"It tastes like a reptile" - Charlie

Hanging @ the beach in Hermosa

The following weekend we went to see Micah Brown at The Lighthouse. He is a musician from Orange County who we saw at Doheny Days music festival last summer...he's great! That Saturday I worked while Charlie went to a music studio party in Hollywood. Sunday was the Bears first game, so we rode our bikes to Silvios, a Bears bar, in Hermosa. A couple of friends joined us, we drank way too much beer, and had a blast watching our Bears win their first game of the season.

Micah Brown @ The Lighthouse

Daa Bears ...rocking our Hester jerseys @9am!

The week that followed was a busy one! Tuesday we went to Whitney and Andrew's for haircuts (thanks Whit!). As always, we had a great time catching up and playing with their 1.5 year old, Jackson.

Wednesday we went to the Hollywood Bowl for Dave Matthews Band. I packed us a huge picnic of carrots and hummus, two kinds of cheese, two kinds of crackers, chocolate covered raisins, reeces pieces, a bottle of Dreaming Tree (Dave Matthew's wine), and salami. We rode the shuttle from Torrance to the Bowl where we downed the bottle of Dreaming Tree in about 10 minutes. We got there in time to see the opening act (Allen Stone...one of Charlie's new favorites) finishing up and soon after, Dave came on. Charlie's seen Dave about 25-30 times, but this was only my second show. I was completely disappointed. I loved the first Dave show I went to, but this time, the sound was horrible, the crowd was sitting (because of the lack of performance), and he didn't play that great of a set (I personally love his old classics). Although it wasn't the best show, we still had a great time!

On the way to Dave ...the only picture I got before my camera died!

Two days later, on Friday, we had two guys from high school (Peter & Jake) over for dinner. They had just moved to California and were living out of their cars. I thought the least we could do was feed them a home cooked meal. We had a great time hanging out in our living room and cracking up all night!

That Sunday, Charlie's childhood friend, Amber, her boyfriend Oscar, and their adorable pug Darwin came through town. They have been backpacking/camping/traveling the western part of the US for the second half of the summer, so they stopped to stay with us for two nights. On Sunday, we mostly relaxed, drank some beers, made some food, went for a walk on the Redondo Pier. Monday, Charlie and I had to work, but after work, we all went to Saint Rocke for Monday Night Football and Geeks Who Drink (trivia). Although we didn't watch much of the game, we had a great night spending time with great friends! We even ended up winning bacon toothpaste during trivia that Amber and I actually did end up using that night (it was disgusting).

The only picture from our walk on the Redondo Pier

 Monday Night Football & Geeks Who Drink

Wrapping Darwin up to sneak him out of our apartment ("No Dogs Allowed")

Tuesday Charlie and I won tickets to Matisyahu and the Dirty Heads at the Palladium in Hollywood. We took two of his friend, Brian and Julian. I was there mostly for the Dirty Heads, as I hadn't seen them before. They were great! Matisyahu put on a good show as always too. The show was actually pretty short, so we stopped by Mike and Luke's on the way home (Amber & Oscar had moved onto their place Tuesday morning). After some beers and some hanging out, we called it a night.

                                             Dirty Heads                                                               Matisyahu

Friday night we met back up with the same crew in Santa Monica. We had a night full of shenanigans...seeing live music, running the streets, shutting down bars. It was quite the send off for Amber and Oscar's last night in town! Once we got home, I spent the next 15+ hours on the bathroom floor after I drank way too much vodka.

Saturday was a horribly rough day, as I couldn't even stand up straight (stomach pains) until about 3pm. We were headed out for the night, so I knew I had to get up and get ready at some point. One of my best friends from high school, Katie, was in town with her boyfriend Ryan (who also happens to be Whitney's brother). The four of us, plus Whitney and Andrew, had dinner reservations at Da Pasquale Trattoria in Beverly Hills and tickets to Ivan Amodei's Intimate Illusions (magic show) at the Beverly Wilshire. The restaurant we went to was a cute little Italian spot. Although Charlie was unhappy with his (poor excuse of a) calzone, everyone else liked their meals. My homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli with a garlic basil marinara was to.die.for. Incredible. After dinner, we headed over to the Beverly Wilshire for drinks before the magic show. The show was 90 minutes, and it was awesome. Ivan had some great illusions, some fun magic, and a hilarious show. He's quite the comedian. After the show, we went out to a great little Mexican spot on Hollywood Blvd. for drinks. After another long night out, we got home around 330am.

Dinner at Da Pasquale

                        With the girls after dinner                              With Char at the Beverly Wilshire

Sunday, we all met in Venice for drinks/lunch. After a walk down the boardwalk, we all parted ways until later in the afternoon. After Whitney dropped off Ryan at the airport, she dropped Katie off to meet me. Katie spent her last night in town at our place! I made the three of us dinner and we watched I Love You Man. The next morning, Katie and I went to breakfast at the Redondo Cafe on the pier, and then I dropped her off at LAX. Although it was a short trip, it's always great to see and catch up with my best friends!

Monday night, Lisa came over for dinner for some AMAZING meatballs (made by yours truly). My dad is in Peoria for over a month (working on rental houses), so I promised to feed Lisa a few times while he's gone :) It was great catching up and getting to relax with family.

Wednesday, Charlie and I got on the guest list for Dispatch at the House of Blues in Hollywood. A band called Current Swell opened for them, and they were amazing. More and more these days, I've been really impressed with openers! Check them out ...you won't be disappointed. Dispatch put on an amazing show, as always. They had a great set list followed by TWO, yes TWO, encores. We were about 6th row (standing room only) for the show, and by the time the second encore started, we had made our way up to the very front. I got some great pictures, and Charlie managed to get a really cool signed poster from the band.

Current Swell

Friday I had to work, as usual. I take Audrey to a place called My Gym (similar to Gymboree, a place were toddlers can run, climb, sing, etc.). I thought it was going to be an average My Gym class...an hour of chasing around a 2.5 year old. However, once we got to My Gym, I saw a man who looked familiar. I immediately knew it was Steve Blake. For those of you who don't know, Steve Blake is a Laker. And everyone who knows me, knows that I am a huuuge, obsessed Lakers fan. I was SO excited and SO nervous. I know he doesn't get to spend much time with his family (especially with the season just a few weeks away), so I didn't want to interrupt his time with his son. Fortunately for me, there was a part of the class where the kids play solo. I made my move ;) Steve had hurt his foot a few weeks ago (just in time for the season to start, YIKES!), so I looked over and said "how's your foot?". He told me it was getting better, but like anything, it's a process. We then made small talk ...I'm a nanny, I bring Aud to My Gym every week, his son is 2, Aud is 2.5, I'm excited for the season and have already bought tickets to a couple of games, told him I'm sure it's nice that he gets to spend time with his kids before the season starts, etc.. After class, I went to put my shoes on, and guess who's were right next to mine?! :-D So Steve asked for my name! I told him, and he shook my hand and formally introduced himself. Now, I've met quite a few celebrities living in Los Angeles. I'm always star struck and usually just ask for a picture and go skipping on my merry way. I didn't ask for a picture in this case, because I didn't want to be rude AND because I'm hoping to possibly get a babysitting gig for his family. However, this was probably the most excited I've ever been after meeting someone famous. He's a freaking Laker! Ahhhh! :-D :-D After My Gym, I took Audrey to a celebratory lunch filled with lots of Mexican food from Wahoo's Fish Tacos!

For those of you who don't know Steve Blake, here he is with Kobe!

Friday night Charlie had won us a pair of tickets to Citizen Cope at The Wiltern. It was definitely not the best show I've been to in a while. I like his music, but as Charlie said, his studio work is way better than his live performances. He was very one-toned during the entire show ...by his 3rd encore song, I was ready to leave. It was also our first time at The Wiltern, and I quickly decided that it's not my favorite venue!

Saturday we street teamed all morning and afternoon. At the end of it, Charlie bought us Pick Up Stix for the lunch. By the time we got home and started to relax, my phone started ringing. One of my best guy friends of all time, Andrew Fillmore, was in town! He knew he was coming on a short trip and didn't think he'd have time to see us. Luckily, we live so close to LAX that he was able to stop for the night. I made us bruschetta and homemade Hawaiian pizza for dinner, we drank way too much beer, and we all had a great time catching up. Have I mentioned how nice it is having my friends in town?! :)

Just hangin with my best fraaand :)

Having some fun with my boys!

After Fillmore left on Sunday morning, I got ready to head to brunch. Lisa's best friend from home, Renee, had been in town since last week, so we (including Katy & Lisa's good friend Rose) all went out to Tapas and Vino. Luckily for me, Tapas and Vino is just up the street from my house. I rode my bike there! We ended up sitting at the restaurant for over 3 hours just chatting, laughing, eating tapas, and having a few glasses of wine. Although it was extremely hot (high of 90), we had a great spot in the shade, and it was fun having some 'girl time'. After brunch (which turned into lunch), I headed home and ordered Showtime. I watched half of Weeds season 7, made homemade beef stroganoff for dinner (upon Charlie's request!), and then we watched the new Dexter and Homeland before calling it a night.

[*PICTURES OF BRUNCH COMING SOON ...Lisa, send me some ;)*]

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, there's what's been going on in a nutshell. Whewww. It's been an extremely busy, yet extremely fun month (plus a few days).

Tonight Charlie and I are going to watch our Bears play Monday Night Football at Saint Rocke, and tomorrow we will celebrate our official one-year of being boyfriend and girlfriend :)

Adios!