17 Days

John found this video of Anthony Bourdain talking about Paris. Enjoy.

So Cal Adventures

A few weeks ago John and I went down to LA for the weekend. My good friend Maggie helped us get tickets to the 2010 Paley fest, where we saw a panel with Modern Family and LOST.

The first panel we saw was Modern Family and they were SO funny! Let me put it to you this way. Normally you pay to see one stand up comedian right? Imagine paying to see 8…all on stage at the same time! Plus these are PROFESSIONAL comedians. Not some Joe Shmoe living paycheck to pay check. They were cracking jokes right and left and harassing each other. We even got to see a new episode of the show, which was totally unexpected.
Unfortunately I did not bring my camera with me, (as I thought they were not allowed), but we were in the balcony anyway. I did however bring it the next night for LOST and got a few good shots and videos. You weren’t supposed to use your flash so my videos turned out better than the photos, but Maggie emailed me a few of her photos, which turned out pretty good. For the LOST panel, She got to enter the auditorium before the majority of the fans, so she and her boyfriend, Jeff, got second row seats! Sweet right? Well what is even sweeter is that she saved John and I seats too!! So we got be in the first row of our section!




My expectations of the LOST panel were a little too high after seeing the cast from Modern Family. I didn’t really expect any of the producers to spill any beans about the plot, but I was hoping they would have given us a better clue than ‘water’. Really? That was the big reveal? Could they be any more vague? They also only showed us 2 minutes of an upcoming episode. A little week compared to MF.

Unfortunately the panel only consisted of 3 actors and the rest was writers, producers, and directors. The 4 actors were actually the most interesting and the rest of the panel was just ok. They actually thought we were there to be entertained which caused them to crack HORRIBLE jokes all night. They were such dorks! I know I was comparing them to the MF panel from the night before, but still…those dudes just weren’t funny. I know 98% of the crowd disagreed with me, but whatever…only 2% of the crowd weren’t dorks.

After the first panel Maggie and Jeff took us to MILK for some dessert. I had never heard of the place before, but my milkshake was one of the best ones I have ever had! Well let me rephrase that…John’s was the best I had ever had! He got The MILKIE Way Malt, which consisted of vanilla ice cream, malted milk, chocolate chips, and caramel-chocolate swirl. The vanilla ice cream was to die for! I got the Mint Chocolate Crunch Shake, which consisted of cool mint ice cream with chocolate chips and mint crunch malt balls. There were so many other items I wanted to try that I have got to go back. They should consider putting a sampler on their menu.
This is not a photo of our actual milkshake. Some how my camera got stuck in my purse…or maybe I couldn’t focus on anything else while shoving the ice cream down my throat. You choose.

Before we saw the LOST panel we treated ourselves again, but this time we went to Pink Berry.
I had never been to one before, and let me tell you it did not disappoint! The raspberries I had on mine were some of the freshest I’d ever had and overall it wasn’t that sweet, which was a nice change. I just read on their FAQ page that all of the fruit is cut fresh daily. Impressive!
I can’t wait to go back and try a new combo. I wonder if someone will open one here in SLO. There is one in Santa Barbara, so you never know. It will be interesting to see how fast they start opening in northern California.

Our weekend in LA was one of the best ones I had had in a long time. I’m not sure if it was because we got to go everywhere I wanted to go, but I know a big part was spending time with good friends and family. (L.A. food posts to come).

3 Things

Lots of small things have been making me smile lately which has been much needed. Here are just a few that have and will make this week a good one:

1. Julie and Julia - This past weekend we went and saw this movie and was SO good! I was really surprised with how much I liked it, (since I really don’t know anything about Julia Childs) I am a huge Amy Adam’s fan, so I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised. I am also a fan of Meryl Streep and she did such an amazing job playing Julia that most of the time I even forgot it was her. I really hope she gets some sort of recognition for this role.

Both story lines were really clever and I would actually get mad each time they would switch from one to the other. Of course I couldn’t help but relate a bit to Julie since her goal was to blog about her cooking/baking experiences. I now wish I would have thought of some gimmick to have been blogging about over the last 2.5 years. Even though I know my life is SO captivating, I wish I had come up with something like she did. Dang.

One thing I did not like about film was that the actor that they cast for Julie’s husband was not a good fit. What was with that dude? For one…I have never seen a grosser eater in MY LIFE! I was getting so sicked out by listening/watching him eat. Thank goodness his gorging scenes were only in the beginning of the movie. It’s bad enough to listen to someone behind you smacking on their popcorn, but to have to see it in front of you and hear it in THX? No thanks!

I was so inspired by the movie that right after we went to the bookstore and I bought Julie and Julia. I can’t wait to read the story because the book is always better than the movie, right? It’s actually killing me that I can’t read it right now as I’m supposed to be reading my latest book club book. I’m also going to be on the hunt for a good Julia Child’s biography. Do any of you have any recommendations?

One last complaint…Amy Adam’s hair was ATROCIOUS in this film! It looked like she was wearing the worst little boy wig. I understand her character wasn’t rich, but you can still be poor and have cute hair. Good thing she is such a cutie and her face distracted me from the mop top.

2. NY Giants Football – Yes I did mean to write that…and yes I am still a 49er fan. However…Cal Poly’s awesome receiver Ramses Barden got drafted by them this year and I got to watch one of their preseason games on TV last night. John and I were both so excited to see him out on the field in his Giants uniform and he even made a sweet catch. After the catch they then showed a few highlights from last year, including his touchdown in OT against Wisconsin. (Damn you field goal kicker!) It was really cool to hear the announcers talk about him as they all had good things to say about him. Even if this one dude pronounced his name as Ramse Barden from Cal Poly, Saint Luis Obispo.

I was really hoping that the Giants would be playing the 9ers this year, but no such luck. I was even considering traveling to NY, (twist my arm), if the 9ers were scheduled to play them back there, but it’s a no go. Maybe next year.

3. Project Runway – Just in case some of you were not aware, PR is premiering this week!!!! The fighting between the networks was SO lame, and there is no way we should have had to wait this long for the next season. They are even bringing back some of the past designers for a special challenge which I think airs right before the premiere on Thursday. Let's hope there is a contestant as fabulous as Christian is. Set your DVRs!!

Sad Purple Cocktail Dress

I know I'm almost a week late with this review, but at least it's posted before this Wednesday's episode airs! Just think of this as helping you get pumped for tomorrow's episode. Maybe I will post the next review on Monday...if you are lucky.

Last weeks challenge for Project Runway was awesome!! But due to the fact that only 2 designers had ever even watched the Olympics before, the results were crap.

This week’s challenge was to create a look for a female athlete to wear for an opening ceremonies for a summer Olympics. What a unique challenge! What was even better was that Apolo Ohno was the guest judge! He is one of my all time favorite Olympic champions. Good personality…good looks…good skater = the perfect trifecta!

I was totally excited to see what the designers were going to come up with...until the models started heading down the runway. I don’t think there has ever been a challenge in PR history where the designers were so off base. This competition was meant to challenge the designers and force them to think outside of their small minded boxes. Over half of them created cute little dresses that you would wear to a cocktail party. No joke. Most of the designers who had the color scheme down didn't have any athletic association.

Let’s start with the first, second and third place designs. On the far left is the winner. How plain is that outfit? I was not impressed. Plus the designer made almost the same pant suit last week. She won’t be able to get away with that much longer.

I really liked the second place look and thought it totally looked like an Olympic outfit…trendy, professional, and a little gaudy due to the color scheme.

I LOVED the skort idea. How perfect is that for an athletic woman? It gives off the feeling of being dressed up, but it’s totally practical! I think had the skort been a little shorter, and possibly a bit more stylish, (meaning no pleather), I think this design would have won.

Did you think these two outfits were in the bottom two? They should have been right? Well they weren’t! I know! I don’t even know what to say about the black outfit. I think one designer summed it up by saying it was something you would see at a Goth rave. Who would pick all black for the main color, and then make it skin tight? If you couldn’t tell, the rocker chick designed this piece.

The white 80’s retro number was designed by none other than Tan Man. It’s just too plain and 80’s for me. It’s way too blah to not be in the bottom three. I really do think these were two of the worst pieces. I’m so worried that the producers are keeping them on there just for their personalities.

Here are the bottom two designs. Granted...the matronly outfit on the left is cute and well done but totally not for the Olympics. Unless there was a tea party event. The judges gave this designer one last chance to prove herself in this challenge and she failed.

The outfit on the right is just straight HIDEOUS! Maybe if she didn’t have the hat, and if the skirt wasn’t high wasted it would be ok, but with the addition of those leggings it just turned horrid!

These are actually two of my favorite designs. I love the idea of having cute little hot pant shorts! I think they would be very flattering on the Olympians. I also really like the funky striped collar. I thought it was a very creative idea to incorporate the accent colors. I would like to see the shorts being a different color to add a little more excitement to the outfit though.

What I like most about the piece on the right is the cute bubble skirt, however it is WAY too short. I think if it was longer it could totally work. Too bad this wasn’t a group competition. Speaking of which, I think tomorrow’s episode is a group challenge! Sweet!

Eat you.

My first silver lining of the week was of course Project Runway! I thought last week's episode was ok, but not anything to write home about…or write on your blog for that matter. Just kidding! I just didn't feel like there was a real exciting moment this week, unless you consider Tan Man giving cutie Rock-a-Billie chick the stare down! What the crap was that? Rock-a-Billie is totally minding her own business, sewing away like a good little busy be, when all of the sudden she looks up and sees THIS face staring back at her!

He is SO creepy! You know am I starting to wonder if he really is normal, and it's all editing. Maybe he was just having fun? All I know is that I would be pissed if the PR producers were editing me to look like a weirdo. Anyway, whatever type of spell he put on her with those eyes totally worked to her advantage because she won the challenge this week! Yeah for her! She is so cute! Here is her winning dress:

At first I wasn't so sure about this, but the more I see it, the more I like it. I like the funkyness of it being a 50's/80's combo, and you know I'm a fan of purple. To me the purple fabric sets off the funky fabric just enough, so it's not overwhelming.

Here is the second runner up was the reserved girl from last week who created the ugly brown dress. I really would have liked for her to win as well because she had such a bad week before.

I bet you are wondering what the challenge was right? Oops! Just a minor detail I looked over. Each contestant was to go around NYC at night and take some photos that represented NYC at night. Then they were to select one photo and design a dress inspired from the image. I thought this challenge was ok. No really that exciting.

The rainbow dress on the left was made by Emily, who got the boot. I felt bad for her, but it was her own fault for not listening to Tim Gunn when he gave her feedback. These designers are driving me crazy! I wonder if that will be the downfall to all of the contestants this season.

The dress on the right, which looks SO SIMILAR to Emily’s was from Tan Man. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t in the bottom 3.

Two other designs that I was shocked were not in the bottom, were these two:

How boring is a one piece all black jumpsuit? So lame, and way too safe. Guess who made the outfit on the right? That is right, rocker lady. How hideous is that?

It will be interesting to see how long she lasts designing outfits that all look the same. Nina and Michael will get board soon. They always do.

Team Ugly Brown

In spite of all my blues yesterday at least I had one little ray of light…PROJECT RUNWAY! Thank god! What made it even better is that John and I accidentally found out that it now airs at 6pm! We just signed up with DirectTV this week, and as John was perusing the list of recorded shows he saw that PR was on there. He decided to play it before he erased it and as we started watching it we realized it was the new episode!! We are having some difficulty figuring out how to record a series of shows, but it looked like we lucked out with the PR recording.

Before we even get to this week’s challenge I must say how ANNOYING Suede is! All he ever does is talk about himself in the third person. Who does he think he is? Did he see that Seinfeld episode of George, (doing the same thing), one too many times? What is worse is that he thinks he’s SO awesome when he’s just annoying. At least he can back up his annoyingness with his work. I really liked the dress he made for the challenge…oops! I’m ahead of myself.

So the challenge…pick environmentally friendly fabrics for a cocktail gown and the client is your model. The twist? The models will pick out the fabric! I really didn’t think the twist would be that big of a deal, but I’ll have to give the producers credit for this one. Who knew models don’t know anything about fabrics? It really makes you wonder. Maybe they looked at it as a mini shopping spree for $75? All I know is the majority of the designers were pissed at what they had to work with. Probably half of the models picked a brown or ivory satin, (which I guess is really hard to work with).

Rocker lady was complaining AGAIN in this episode saying that she wants to make styles she’s used to making, and she’s never made anything like this before…blah…blah…blah. I seriously do not think she’s ever seen one episode of this show! Then she started going off about how much she loved leather, and that once she pooped a leather turd and then made it into a hat.

In the end, her dress was really ugly, but the judges liked it because she put a bit of herself into it. Big surprise! She did the same thing she did the week before which was have an exterior stitch going up the side of the dress. We will see how many times it takes before the judges get tired of it. They always do.

I must say that these two dresses were awful as well! I can’t believe that blue peacock dress didn’t make it into the bottom. What is that gaping breast hole? The fabric covering her boobs doesn’t look like it fits at all.

For the dress on the right, I think the judges said it perfectly that no woman wants extra fabric on her butt/thighs!!! Who wants that area emphasized? Oh look! My ass is about to take flight! Look out below!!

Below is crazy Tan Man who made the diaper leotard last week. I actually like it this dress. DANG IT!

Here is another dress that was part of Team Ugly Brown. Now I thought this had potential, however the designer opted NOT to listen to Tim Gun, and she almost got the boot for it. When will these designers learn? There is normally more than one designer EVERY season who doesn’t listen to him and then they get kicked off the show. Tim was totally right too. He told her that she was over working the details, and needed to tone it down…exactly what the judges said. We will see if she learned her lesson next week.

Here is the winning dress on the left and the second runner up dress on the right. Aren’t they both so cute? I hate to admit that Suede designed the winning dress, but it was impressive. The whole top is made out of strips of fabric. I think the judges (and I) really appreciated the time and effort he put into it. And it’s cute to boot! Totally hip and young.

I also think the runner up dress is great. Don’t you love the collar? This was made by the rock-a-billy chick who is so cute! I wonder if I could pull off that look.

Here is the loser dress. Isn’t it awful? The whole time he kept working on it, it continually went downhill. However I must say that the outfit he was wearing on the runway was than his dress! I really think that is why they gave him the boot. He was wearing shorts and read loafers with no socks. Did anyone else catch that eye sore?

They also had a special guest judge this episode. They said it was someone who represented ‘young Hollywood.’ My guess was Miley Cyrus, and boy was I wrong. It was Natalie Portman! John and I were both so excited as she is one of our fave actresses. But ‘young Hollywood’? Spare me! She is older than at least a quarter of the contestants. Maybe she’s considered ‘young’ because she’s younger than most of the PR staff. Whatever. It didn’t matter though, because she’s so cute. Did anyone notice how huge Heidi looked next to her on the runway? E-gads! Talk about the odd couple!

Overall this episode was enjoyable, but nothing could compare to last week’s designs, (or challenge for that matter). I think the materials that the designers had to work with last week really made a difference in the pieces that were created. Until next time…carry on!

Is that a Coffee Filter?

As most of you smart people may know, the season premiere of Project Runway 5 was on last night at 9pm! (Why is the time slot so important you may ask? Well I can now watch it the night it airs, instead of having to wait a day. You know I need my beauty sleep).

I’m assuming most of you saw it, but if you did not and are planning on watching it later, please don’t read any further (in case you want to know what happens.)

Let’s see…where should I start. Maybe at the challenge since it is/was my FAVORITE challenge EVER?? They took the very first PR challenge and threw it at the new contestants to see what they would do with it. Here’s $30 bucks…go see what you can make a garment out of at the GROCERY STORE! Brilliant I tell you! Just brilliant!

I almost died when I only saw one contestant buying live vegetation. Did NONE of them watch season one? Who were these posers? I guess some of them did watch season one, but did NONE of them learn ANYTHING?? The one huge factor in Austin’s season one victory was because he used live vegetation! I couldn’t believe it. (I must say that I was so pumped that they brought him on to be the guest judge! He is by far one of my all time fave designers and totally got the shaft in his season. Don't even get me started.)

They even interviewed the contestant who is named ‘Suede’ (a real winner), and he said he saw the first season, but never thought about what he would have done in that situation! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Even I thought about what I would do, and I’m not even a designer! Some people I swear.

Then they show the rocker designer and she’s buying garbage bags. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Another derelict who did not watch season one? The first dude that got kicked off on season one made a dress out of garbage bags!

I told John that I could do a better job on the show then some of the contestants and I’m not even a designer! I was really quite disgusted.

A ton of designers also used tablecloths, which was pretty disappointing. I mean I know it is the first round and people want to play it safe to stay in the competition, but still. Kind of boring.

Here’s my breakdown of a few selected designs:

The vegetation dress. Of course this scored high. Duh. She also used table clothes, but this didn’t really look like a tablecloth like the other constant’s designs did. I thought it was pretty neat, and I liked the garnish.

The cup dress. Yes he made this out of plastic cups! Isn’t it amazing? I totally thought he wouldn’t finish it in time but he did. Very impressive, although he looked super pissed that he didn’t win.

The vacuum cleaner bag dress. This is what beat Mr. Cuppy. Isn’t it cute? Granted I don't think coffee filter boob covers will be the latest and greatest thing in fashion, but if you are flat as a board like the models then you'd have nothing to worry about. Don't panic... I don't plan adding the filters into my wardrobe antyime soon. I love that she used dye and bleach on the bags, when no one else thought of altering their materials.

The psycho killer raincoat ensemble. Wasn’t this just AWFUL? I would have been so embarrassed if I was this designer…and he was SO cocky! Just from his first interview I didn’t like him. (Granted the majority of the designers seem really cocky compared to past seasons, but he was a little much for me.) I'm wondering if he would have given her some heels and gotten rid of the gloves if it would have have helped. Who knows.

The diaper dress. As much as I hated the American Psycho combo, I think I hated this more. First of all…what the hell is it? Is it supposed to be a bathing suit? A leotard? A body suit? A bodice? A nighttime bed-wetting device? How come none of the judges asked these questions? I’m sure it was because they were so shocked and could not take their eyes way from the white snow crotch. I'm really hoping this designer gets the boot soon. I mean anyone who is obsessed with tanning has a serious prob.

Side Notes:
- Did any of you notice that some of the models actually had boobs this season? I was totally shocked.
- As much as I love the gay guys, I almost love the straight guy more, as I feel he is a total under dog.
- I love how there is such a wide variety of personality types this season among the woman. We have rocker/rock-a-billies and a few nerds. It should be interesting to see how their designs differ.

I know last season I was all pumped and planning on writing up reviews of each episode. We all know how well that lasted…all of one post. Not sure if I will try that this season since I know not all of you watch the show, and I don't want to bore my readers!

Burger? No Thanks.

In preparation for seeing the Sex and the City movie, John and I have been watching old episodes of the show. Well that is partially true…John just figured out that we have HBO on Demand, and we now have free, (with a subscription to HBO), access to some of the episodes! Now that we have access to them, we figured this was a perfect time to watch them.

I had forgot how much I loved that show until after we watched the first episode! Each lady is so unique in her own way, which makes me love them all for different reasons. Except for Carrie…I find her kind of blah. Well her personality is kind of blah. Maybe that is why the costumer gave her the funkiest clothes? To distract us from her blah personality? I think her blahness is what allows all of their eccentric personalities to get along.

The season that we are watching is the final season where Carrie dates Burger. Now I know you have to remember Burger…AKA ‘Mr. Post-it.’ I remembered from the first time I watched the season that I really did like Burger and was sad that it didn’t work out between them. (I don’t know if my love for Office Space influenced that hope or not). However this time I had a totally different view. Right from their first fight, (which they did in every episode), I thought ‘oh these two should not be together!’ Talk about friction! I could just tell they would never last. Now I know what you are thinking…and I didn’t think that because I knew the outcome. But seriously…with every fight in every episode, I was yelling at the TV ‘BREAK UP ALREADY!’ Please get out that post-it pad and end this dysfunctional mess!

I couldn’t believe that 5 years ago I actually liked Burger and wanted them to stay together! Was I in La-La Love Land like Charlotte? I couldn’t believe how much my view(s) had changed over the past 5 years. It actually made me pretty happy that I am able to look at a relationship and see beyond what is on the surface. I have known that I am getting better at this, but I didn’t realize how naive I used to be. Talk about me really being in La-La Land!

Now I’m wondering what has caused me to change over these past 5 years. Is it because I got married? Is it because I’m getting older and wiser of the ways of the world? Or is it because I’ve been hanging around more and more dysfunctional people that are easy to dissect?

I really am happy that I am more insightful. It not only helps with other people’s relationships, but also with work relationships. I actually find it fun to figure out the real reason why someone really said what they said. Are they hiding or scared of something? It’s kind of like being an older and wiser Nancy Drew.

I’ve even been able to catch myself saying things I don’t mean because I’m feeling a certain way. I haven’t been the best at stopping myself before the words come out of my mouth, but after I realize it’s too late I then try to say something to counteract it. Not really the best move…actually that is the worst move I could make. If anything that just makes me look suspicious, or that there is more to the story.

On a positive note…this is the first thing I consider good about growing old! It can only get better with time right? I mean our bodies are getting worse, so hopefully our minds will balance it out…until they reach their peak and start to go downhill, right? Anyone know when that peak is? I need to mark it down on my lifetime calendar.