"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 :)