Well, I suppose the title says it all. We spent the morning out on the lake boating, skiing, wakeboarind, kneeboarding and enjoying the perfect weather and warm water. It was a gorgeous day and we were the only boat out there which made it perfect conditions for me to do some tricks on the wakeboard. We had a great time because it wasn't too hot or too cold. We came in for lunch and had sandwiches. This afternoon we did something really cool. We went to the St. Louis City Museum. Now if you haven't heard of it...look it up. Basically it's an entire 11 story adult jungle gym playground made out of trash and recycled junk. Literally there is a school bus on the roof and an airplane accessible only by copper wired tunnels in the air that look like they came straight out of Narnia. Walls are made of painted tubes or old fast-food restaurant metal containers. I felt like a little kid again! We climbed around and played in the old-school classic video game arcade and took pictures with every random recycled item we found. You get from one floor to the next by going down slides and you could spend an entire day finding new passageways and tunnels. I don't know who thought of this place, but it's the coolest "museum" I've ever been to. The highlight for me was the 10-story spiral slide. It takes you all the way from the roof of the building to the first floor. You should have seen how dizzy we were trying to stand up at the bottom. It was so cool though! This is one crazy museum and definitely worth the trip if you're ever in St. Louis.
After the City Museum we went to the world famous custard place called Ted Drewes. You can get tons of different flavors of custard mixed together in what's called a "concrete". I had marshmellow and it was delicious. No Menchie, but delicious for sure! :) Tonight we grilled shrimp and ribs and ate out on the patio watching the boats. At sunset we took a nice leisurely cruise around the lake until it was dark. I read a little and watched the end of Wedding Crashers with the fam before heading off to blog and sleep. And now, having completed the former, I shall perform the later.
P.S. My aunt let me drive her Lexus convertible! SO RAD!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Stick Shift Pro
Today was a full day of playing tourist...but this time in St. Louis instead of LA. I've actually gotten really good at it the past few weeks. You know, I'm well-practiced in taking obnoxious photographs, bugging other people to take pictures of me, complaining while waiting in line, eating large quantities of "local" food and sending mental death threats to the other tourists I see wearing competing college's shirts. But today, there was a small change in pace because I was with my family. This morning we got out of my Aunt's hair so she could get some work done (she practices appellate law from home) by going out site-seeing. First we went to the Anhauser-Busch brewery tour. St. Louis is where it was started and is still the headquarters for the company. It was really cool to tour the facility and see how the beer is made. It's quite the process! It takes a month just to make one small bottle of beer. At the end you get free beer so you can try some different flavors. My favorites were Bud Light Lime and Shocktop and my least favorite was the Ale. Then again, I knew that already. I did however take an adorable picture of me looking like an alcoholic surrounded by 8 glasses of beer. :)
After that we took a river cruise along the Mississippi river and listened to a really slow, depressing, monotone Park Ranger (yes, the Park Ranger was giving us a water cruise...possible reason for the terrible guide?) tell us all the exciting things there are to learn about the muddy river. I spent most of the time trying to come up with as many songs as possible that had to do with river cruises or St. Louis. Feel free to comment if you can come up with any and we'll see how I did. We spent a little while going through the St. Louis arch exhibit and checking out the massiveness of the arch. Then we headed back to the house and read for the afternoon. Coolest thing of the day was my cousin David taught me how to drive stick shift!! He graciously let me use his car to learn on and I think I've got it pretty well down. I'm still rocky shifting from N to 1st but I drove the fam to Steak N Shake and back tonight without stalling out so I consider that a success. Tomorrow he's taking me out on the highway so warn any loved ones you have in the area. :) The night ended as most do in the Proctor house, with a rousing game of cards. My uncle and I love Mormon Bridge so we played that for a while before all heading off to bed. My hours are really screwed up because everyone else is from a later time zone and I'm from an earlier one. Guess I'll have to be a geezer for the weekend and go to bed around 8pm my time. HA! Laaaaame! Okay, time for me to at least pretend to go to bed since my sister is trying to sleep with all the lights on in the room. She really is a geezer when it comes to bedtimes. Then again, she makes more money in a year waking up early than I'll make in a lifetime so I really can't say anything. I'll probably need to live on her couch eventually so it's all smiles and hugs for my favorite sissy!
After that we took a river cruise along the Mississippi river and listened to a really slow, depressing, monotone Park Ranger (yes, the Park Ranger was giving us a water cruise...possible reason for the terrible guide?) tell us all the exciting things there are to learn about the muddy river. I spent most of the time trying to come up with as many songs as possible that had to do with river cruises or St. Louis. Feel free to comment if you can come up with any and we'll see how I did. We spent a little while going through the St. Louis arch exhibit and checking out the massiveness of the arch. Then we headed back to the house and read for the afternoon. Coolest thing of the day was my cousin David taught me how to drive stick shift!! He graciously let me use his car to learn on and I think I've got it pretty well down. I'm still rocky shifting from N to 1st but I drove the fam to Steak N Shake and back tonight without stalling out so I consider that a success. Tomorrow he's taking me out on the highway so warn any loved ones you have in the area. :) The night ended as most do in the Proctor house, with a rousing game of cards. My uncle and I love Mormon Bridge so we played that for a while before all heading off to bed. My hours are really screwed up because everyone else is from a later time zone and I'm from an earlier one. Guess I'll have to be a geezer for the weekend and go to bed around 8pm my time. HA! Laaaaame! Okay, time for me to at least pretend to go to bed since my sister is trying to sleep with all the lights on in the room. She really is a geezer when it comes to bedtimes. Then again, she makes more money in a year waking up early than I'll make in a lifetime so I really can't say anything. I'll probably need to live on her couch eventually so it's all smiles and hugs for my favorite sissy!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis!
Meet me at the fair... lalala. If you're thoroughly confused right now, you need to work on your broadway music education. :) Today I only worked a half day at Ellen but it was a fun one. The interns made a rap song using GarageBand with full-on sound mixing and effects that sounded AWESOME! No kidding it sounds like a professional song. We wrote it for Megan and Gabi because they asked for a theme song for a fashion show they want to do like the one Kelly Ripa does. We played it for them and they thought it was a perfect use of our intern time. That is why I love my job. :)
We also did some more phone calls in the audience department which turned into something really great for me. The audience coordinator told us today that if we ever want tickets just to let her know! YAY! That means I can bring my friend and family and anyone who wants to fly out to LA to see a show taping. But the coolest part is...I was asked to work the show (paid) when they film at Universal in Orlando this year!! Tricia and I went in past years and didn't get tickets but saw the musical acts and had soooo much fun so we were planning on going again last year. Then they didn't do shows in Orlando because of budget cuts. But the good news is my insider information tells me they are bringing it back this year and I get to work it!! That also means I will probably get some tickets to give to a few friends if they want to see it (Tricia? hehe). I am really excited for that though because it's the perfect way to keep in touch with the crew so I can get hired next year. AND it's perfect because I'll be able to see all my friends again without a plane ticket.
Speaking of plane ticket, I left early today because I flew out to St. Louis. It's so lonely when you fly by yourself but now I'm back on my Aunt and Uncle's lake house (from the first few blogs) hanging out with their family and my parents and sister. We all flew out from different cities and met up here to hang out for the weekend and have some nice "family togetherness time". I'm looking forward to boating and eating real food that I don't have to prepare in a microwave!
We also did some more phone calls in the audience department which turned into something really great for me. The audience coordinator told us today that if we ever want tickets just to let her know! YAY! That means I can bring my friend and family and anyone who wants to fly out to LA to see a show taping. But the coolest part is...I was asked to work the show (paid) when they film at Universal in Orlando this year!! Tricia and I went in past years and didn't get tickets but saw the musical acts and had soooo much fun so we were planning on going again last year. Then they didn't do shows in Orlando because of budget cuts. But the good news is my insider information tells me they are bringing it back this year and I get to work it!! That also means I will probably get some tickets to give to a few friends if they want to see it (Tricia? hehe). I am really excited for that though because it's the perfect way to keep in touch with the crew so I can get hired next year. AND it's perfect because I'll be able to see all my friends again without a plane ticket.
Speaking of plane ticket, I left early today because I flew out to St. Louis. It's so lonely when you fly by yourself but now I'm back on my Aunt and Uncle's lake house (from the first few blogs) hanging out with their family and my parents and sister. We all flew out from different cities and met up here to hang out for the weekend and have some nice "family togetherness time". I'm looking forward to boating and eating real food that I don't have to prepare in a microwave!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Audience
Today we got the chance to work in a new department...audience. We spent the afternoon making people's days. We called people who didn't get tickets to last season and invited them to book guarunteed seats for this season. Most people were so excited; it was adorable! The girls in Audience are sooo much fun and really cool, young chicks so we all got along great and had a lot of fun! We also finished sending out some prizes from the online giveaways. It's all about making people happy here at the Ellen Degeneres show! :)
Tonight the interns all went to dinner at this burger buffet place called Mo's. Part of me was sad just because it wasn't my Moe's but it was midly comforting just to be in the presence of A Mo[e]. Afterwards Taylor, Austin, Erin and I went to see Dante in his first gig in LA. He's an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter and he was really good! I was pretty impressed, especially with his lyrics. He writes his own stuff and usually that's the biggest weakness of up-and-coming artists but his lyrics were the best part. I hope he makes a CD soon because I would absolutely buy it. If you're interested in checking him out: http://www.myspace.com/urbantransitmusic. A few of the other Ellen employees were there too so we all hung out at the bar and chatted until it was so late our eyes were drooping. Now I have to pack because I leave tomorrow afternoon for St. Louis where I'm meeting my family at my Aunt and Uncle's lake house. I can't wait to go boating and wakeboarding! Unfortunately, I won't be getting to sleep any time soon... :(
Tonight the interns all went to dinner at this burger buffet place called Mo's. Part of me was sad just because it wasn't my Moe's but it was midly comforting just to be in the presence of A Mo[e]. Afterwards Taylor, Austin, Erin and I went to see Dante in his first gig in LA. He's an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter and he was really good! I was pretty impressed, especially with his lyrics. He writes his own stuff and usually that's the biggest weakness of up-and-coming artists but his lyrics were the best part. I hope he makes a CD soon because I would absolutely buy it. If you're interested in checking him out: http://www.myspace.com/urbantransitmusic. A few of the other Ellen employees were there too so we all hung out at the bar and chatted until it was so late our eyes were drooping. Now I have to pack because I leave tomorrow afternoon for St. Louis where I'm meeting my family at my Aunt and Uncle's lake house. I can't wait to go boating and wakeboarding! Unfortunately, I won't be getting to sleep any time soon... :(
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, Monday
It was back to work today! Speaking of back, my backside was a little sore from that 3 hours round trip horseback ride yesterday haha. Nonetheless, it was back to the daily grind. By that I mean hanging out with the interns, joking around, and having fun all while learning about the entertainment industry. (How PR did that sound?) Today we did some work with the Research department which was cool because they are actually back in the office. It was really nice of them to sit us down and talk to us about exactly what they do in season, how they use the work we've been doing, and the breakdown of how the process works for a talent timetable. So here's some super secret insight from behind enemy lines.
Steps are as follows: It goes from a celeb's booking, to assignment to a researcher and creative producer, researcher developing a profile called a memo about the celeb's personal life and reason for being on the show (what they're promoting) including a list of possible questions and any funny videos or info they can find from the celeb's past. Then the researcher meets with the creative producer to discuss the best questions and games for the celeb. Then that producer does a pre-interview (unless they want to surprise them with a question). This also gives the celeb the chance to request certain subjects be off limit which I'm told we always respect. Based on the pre-interview, the producer puts together an abbreviated memo with the best questions and game suggestions for Ellen. The day of, Ellen goes through and picks the ones she wants to ask. The cue card lady then puts short versions of them onto cards that she holds behind the celeb when they're sitting so you can't tell Ellen is looking at them. Look closely next time you watch the show and you may see her glance behind their head. They say that even cue cards is no guaruntee because she does love to improv.
Anyway, it was really nice hearing a detailed account of how it all works. The creative producer is one of the jobs I'd really be interested in so I'm hoping to learn more about that. We also did some work today with the website department shipping out more cool prizes. Good thing is we get a few free CDs and DVDs when we're in the Cage (the electronics storage area). Bad thing is we have to send all the best stuff away. Haha, we just hope they're deserving people! Judging by the intense fanmail letters we get...they are! After work I went to Menchie's with my Radio Disney friends to celebrate DJ Heather's birthday. Yummy as always!! I chatted with my bestie Jessie for a while on the way home and then watched some recorded shows. I know it's Lifetime but dang...I really love Army Wives. :)
Steps are as follows: It goes from a celeb's booking, to assignment to a researcher and creative producer, researcher developing a profile called a memo about the celeb's personal life and reason for being on the show (what they're promoting) including a list of possible questions and any funny videos or info they can find from the celeb's past. Then the researcher meets with the creative producer to discuss the best questions and games for the celeb. Then that producer does a pre-interview (unless they want to surprise them with a question). This also gives the celeb the chance to request certain subjects be off limit which I'm told we always respect. Based on the pre-interview, the producer puts together an abbreviated memo with the best questions and game suggestions for Ellen. The day of, Ellen goes through and picks the ones she wants to ask. The cue card lady then puts short versions of them onto cards that she holds behind the celeb when they're sitting so you can't tell Ellen is looking at them. Look closely next time you watch the show and you may see her glance behind their head. They say that even cue cards is no guaruntee because she does love to improv.
Anyway, it was really nice hearing a detailed account of how it all works. The creative producer is one of the jobs I'd really be interested in so I'm hoping to learn more about that. We also did some work today with the website department shipping out more cool prizes. Good thing is we get a few free CDs and DVDs when we're in the Cage (the electronics storage area). Bad thing is we have to send all the best stuff away. Haha, we just hope they're deserving people! Judging by the intense fanmail letters we get...they are! After work I went to Menchie's with my Radio Disney friends to celebrate DJ Heather's birthday. Yummy as always!! I chatted with my bestie Jessie for a while on the way home and then watched some recorded shows. I know it's Lifetime but dang...I really love Army Wives. :)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Horseback Ride!
This morning I slept in to recover from the busy weekend I had in San Diego. But this afternoon was something I've had on my list since the beginning and so glad I finally got to do!! It's call the Sunset Ranch Famous Dinner Ride. You horseback ride through the gorgeous Hollywood Hills next to the Hollywood sign and through Griffith Park down to a Mexican restaurant where you stop and eat (and drink really good margaritas haha). Then you ride back watching the sunset. It was the coolest thing! I went with Amy and a group of the other law firm summer associates. My horse's name was Sherlock because he was really smart at untying himself from the posts. I was one of the only experienced riders in the group so it was pretty funny watching some of them, like Shaia, struggle with their mounts and get nervous. But it was a really chill ride and we had such a fantastic time! I miss horseback riding so much so I was so excited to have a 3 hour ride today. On the way back everyone had had a margarita so we really enjoyed belting out Disney and eighties and nineties songs as we serenaded the hills, our horses and the unlucky but amused guides with our off-key yet charming renditions. Amy's law firm friends are really nice and we all had a great time. It makes me miss riding and showing though. I wish I had the time and resources to get back into it but there's not much of a chance of that in Gainesville. Maybe someday. I'm so glad Amy let me go with them because that's just one more check off my list. Yay!
P.S. Quote of the night:
Law associate: "Wow Brad, the horses are really attracted to you!"
Brad the Birthday Boy: "I wish!"
Everyone else: (silence) HA!
P.S. Quote of the night:
Law associate: "Wow Brad, the horses are really attracted to you!"
Brad the Birthday Boy: "I wish!"
Everyone else: (silence) HA!
San Diego
I am very sorry for not blogging the past two nights. I hope no one is now reading this from a hospital bed due to my lack of entry. Luckily, my dad has too much time on his hands and has come up with a list of reasons for my absence.
1. Computer crashed
2. Network down
3. Still going and haven't considered Friday done yet
4. The day was even more boring than Thursday & she is embarrassed to put it in writing
5. The day was so much the opposite of Thursday & Amy hasn't posted bail yet
6. She knows Dad is hooked and loves to make him squirm
7. The big one finally hit and California is an island in the Pacific Ocean waiting to open relations with the USA
8. Menchie's declared bankrupcy and the city is in mourning
9. She noticed her time in LA was coming to an end and stopped time
10. Nora Roberts came out with a new book and she isn't quite finished yet
While I really like numbers 5, 9 and 10, the real reason is I haven't been home since Friday morning. But I give him points for creativity!! And I also suggest him find some kind of hobby. :)
Friday I went to work at Ellen and we spent the day moving more people out of their offices. It has certainly served to scare the interns. There is no doubt that this entertainment world is a crazy place. I think we've cleaned personal effects out of at least 15 offices. It's a tough world to work in and apparently even tougher to stay in. I thought the hardest part would be getting a job but I'm starting to think the hardest part will be keeping one. Friday afternoon I worked a Radio Disney event at a mall. We were giving away Jonas Brothers tickets so the crowd was ridiculous. Someone had spread the rumor that the Jonai would actually be there so we had a hundred screaming girls decked out with signs and hand-made t-shirts. We had a talent competition which was actually a lot of fun and made it easier on us because we didn't have to do as much work. We still taught the dances but most of the time there were teen girls singing. I fear my ears will never recover from the assault.
As soon as I got back to the station, I met Austin at the lot and we drove to San Diego. My roommate out here, Ashleigh, lives in San Diego and is just here for the summer so she was nice enough to let us use her appartment. We went to a late snack and then went to bed. We woke up early and went to the San Diego Zoo. It's as nice as people say! It's really big and very clean and pretty for a zoo. We saw koalas, elephants, reptiles, polar bears, lions, tigers and bears - oh my! But this was no ordinary zoo...they had even the rarest of creatures. There were special exhibits for horses, cats and dogs!! I don't know where they found such amazing animals but we were fascinated. My favorite part was the sea lion show and yet, the one at Sea World is still funnier. We spent the morning naming the aniamls after people in the office based on their appearance, size, and personality. I think we'll keep it to ourselves though because they don't need to know who the hippos were. We ate lunch at a Ruby's Diner which is a popular diner only out here on the west coast. Great steakburgers and milkshakes I'm going to miss when I go back home. After lunch we headed back to LA. The drive is about 2 hours.
When we got back to the studio I dropped Austin off and drove out to Santa Clarita to hang at Erin's house. Her uncles are out of town this weekend so she was home alone taking care of the dogs so I went over to keep her company. We had a "the whale has left the ocean" (the interns' code phrase for girl talk...boys leave us alone) girls night. We ordered pizza and wings and ate half a bag of cookie dough. You know...the usual sweatpants, movies, chatting and being lazy. I spent the night over there since it's about 45 minutes away from Los Feliz (where I live). It got me thinking though...what happened to good old-fasioned sleepovers??? It was like a blast from the past and we had fun being stupid and dancing around to Jackson 5 and N'SYNC. When I get back to school...I'm bringing back the sleepover. It's too fun to outgrow. This morning I drove back home and now I am catching up on responsible things like paying bills, e-mails and cleaning. Austin and I were discussing how crazy it is we only have 2 more weekends left here in LA. So sad!! I'm glad I made it to San Diego and I've done so well checking things off my list. Still, I'm nowhere near ready to leave and I am really going to miss the people. Even if I come back, it'll never be that summer I interned with Austin, Erin and Taylor at the Ellen Show again. At least I've made the most of it!
1. Computer crashed
2. Network down
3. Still going and haven't considered Friday done yet
4. The day was even more boring than Thursday & she is embarrassed to put it in writing
5. The day was so much the opposite of Thursday & Amy hasn't posted bail yet
6. She knows Dad is hooked and loves to make him squirm
7. The big one finally hit and California is an island in the Pacific Ocean waiting to open relations with the USA
8. Menchie's declared bankrupcy and the city is in mourning
9. She noticed her time in LA was coming to an end and stopped time
10. Nora Roberts came out with a new book and she isn't quite finished yet
While I really like numbers 5, 9 and 10, the real reason is I haven't been home since Friday morning. But I give him points for creativity!! And I also suggest him find some kind of hobby. :)
Friday I went to work at Ellen and we spent the day moving more people out of their offices. It has certainly served to scare the interns. There is no doubt that this entertainment world is a crazy place. I think we've cleaned personal effects out of at least 15 offices. It's a tough world to work in and apparently even tougher to stay in. I thought the hardest part would be getting a job but I'm starting to think the hardest part will be keeping one. Friday afternoon I worked a Radio Disney event at a mall. We were giving away Jonas Brothers tickets so the crowd was ridiculous. Someone had spread the rumor that the Jonai would actually be there so we had a hundred screaming girls decked out with signs and hand-made t-shirts. We had a talent competition which was actually a lot of fun and made it easier on us because we didn't have to do as much work. We still taught the dances but most of the time there were teen girls singing. I fear my ears will never recover from the assault.
As soon as I got back to the station, I met Austin at the lot and we drove to San Diego. My roommate out here, Ashleigh, lives in San Diego and is just here for the summer so she was nice enough to let us use her appartment. We went to a late snack and then went to bed. We woke up early and went to the San Diego Zoo. It's as nice as people say! It's really big and very clean and pretty for a zoo. We saw koalas, elephants, reptiles, polar bears, lions, tigers and bears - oh my! But this was no ordinary zoo...they had even the rarest of creatures. There were special exhibits for horses, cats and dogs!! I don't know where they found such amazing animals but we were fascinated. My favorite part was the sea lion show and yet, the one at Sea World is still funnier. We spent the morning naming the aniamls after people in the office based on their appearance, size, and personality. I think we'll keep it to ourselves though because they don't need to know who the hippos were. We ate lunch at a Ruby's Diner which is a popular diner only out here on the west coast. Great steakburgers and milkshakes I'm going to miss when I go back home. After lunch we headed back to LA. The drive is about 2 hours.
When we got back to the studio I dropped Austin off and drove out to Santa Clarita to hang at Erin's house. Her uncles are out of town this weekend so she was home alone taking care of the dogs so I went over to keep her company. We had a "the whale has left the ocean" (the interns' code phrase for girl talk...boys leave us alone) girls night. We ordered pizza and wings and ate half a bag of cookie dough. You know...the usual sweatpants, movies, chatting and being lazy. I spent the night over there since it's about 45 minutes away from Los Feliz (where I live). It got me thinking though...what happened to good old-fasioned sleepovers??? It was like a blast from the past and we had fun being stupid and dancing around to Jackson 5 and N'SYNC. When I get back to school...I'm bringing back the sleepover. It's too fun to outgrow. This morning I drove back home and now I am catching up on responsible things like paying bills, e-mails and cleaning. Austin and I were discussing how crazy it is we only have 2 more weekends left here in LA. So sad!! I'm glad I made it to San Diego and I've done so well checking things off my list. Still, I'm nowhere near ready to leave and I am really going to miss the people. Even if I come back, it'll never be that summer I interned with Austin, Erin and Taylor at the Ellen Show again. At least I've made the most of it!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Just Another Ordinary Day
Today was actually a really boring day. The highlight was sitting in the research room watching Knocked Up and Fools Gold on HBO on Demand. Exactly what I do at home. But we did go through some funny fan mail. Someone sent an entire vegan meal, I got lots of cuzies, travel cups, a Mickey Mouse ball cap, bath products, a record and a cool sign to hang on my wall. People send the most random stuff but it all goes to the free pile so I get to take it home! Basically all day we did fan mail and research. The good news is, all the research is caught up from our time off. The bad news is that's usually our fallback when we're in between projects so I hope somebody has something for us tomorrow. The one interesting thing we did was go around and take name placards off the doors of people who aren't coming back. WOW! There is a huge turn-around of people either leaving voluntarily or getting fired. Apparently that's pretty common in this business but it's sure scary for those of us who want in. Try pulling someone's nametag down while they're sitting in the office watching you. No wonder some people don't like interns.
Tonight I wrote some postcards, watched a few episodes of Nurse Jackie on HBO, read some of Kristin Chenoweth's book 'A Little Bit Wicked' (which I of course got from the free pile) and did my laundry. I did hit up Menchie's with some Radio Disney friends just to see the sunlight a little bit. I was starting to feel like a shut-in. Amy just got back from a cool film at the Hollywood Bowl so I'm going to chat with her for a bit and then go to bed. I know, so exciting I can barely sit still.
P.S. If you want a random laugh...check out this video the interns took when we went to Disneyland last week, of a kid desperately fighting sleep at about 3pm while her family eats lunch and ignores her. Make special note of the mother's death stare at Erin and me for laughing so hard we were crying. Then listen to me try to change the topic so she wouldn't come steal my camera. Ohhh man. Oops! Hahaha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ_0895F1Ew
Tonight I wrote some postcards, watched a few episodes of Nurse Jackie on HBO, read some of Kristin Chenoweth's book 'A Little Bit Wicked' (which I of course got from the free pile) and did my laundry. I did hit up Menchie's with some Radio Disney friends just to see the sunlight a little bit. I was starting to feel like a shut-in. Amy just got back from a cool film at the Hollywood Bowl so I'm going to chat with her for a bit and then go to bed. I know, so exciting I can barely sit still.
P.S. If you want a random laugh...check out this video the interns took when we went to Disneyland last week, of a kid desperately fighting sleep at about 3pm while her family eats lunch and ignores her. Make special note of the mother's death stare at Erin and me for laughing so hard we were crying. Then listen to me try to change the topic so she wouldn't come steal my camera. Ohhh man. Oops! Hahaha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ_0895F1Ew
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
NCIS Marathon
Usually days on which USA chooses to marathon NCIS turn into good days. Today wasn't too interesting but it was a good day so I suppose that holds true. We did a lot of research work today since we're still playing catch up from the two weeks we were off. Luckily, Hercules was on Disney Channel so we re-enacted our favorite scenes for some of the staff which helped break up the filing and reading. We also worked on a project for our boss Ross and helped organize some of the guests they already have set up to come on the show for the new season. The two I wish I could see the most are Jennifer Garner and Janet Jackson. It's so hard to believe that work I'm doing now will help bring actual stars to our stage in a few weeks! So cool! :)
After work Austin, Taylor and I went to see a free advanced screening of the new Disney movie G-Force since I had stollen tickets from my last Radio Disney event. It was a pretty cute movie! No Hercules, but still cute. I'm not a big fan of rodents but it was clever...and 3-D. I went to Boston Market (for free thanks to my lovely mother) for dinner and then headed home. I straightened my hair again and watched several hours of NCIS while at the same time watching Fool's Gold on mute. I'm such a pro TV watcher that I can actually actively watch 2 programs at once. I should have some sort of statue erected in my honor really, it's a true talent. :)
After work Austin, Taylor and I went to see a free advanced screening of the new Disney movie G-Force since I had stollen tickets from my last Radio Disney event. It was a pretty cute movie! No Hercules, but still cute. I'm not a big fan of rodents but it was clever...and 3-D. I went to Boston Market (for free thanks to my lovely mother) for dinner and then headed home. I straightened my hair again and watched several hours of NCIS while at the same time watching Fool's Gold on mute. I'm such a pro TV watcher that I can actually actively watch 2 programs at once. I should have some sort of statue erected in my honor really, it's a true talent. :)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Chalkboard Fight!
Today was another day at "work" for me. We did research for a while but we had some more entertaining tasks to attend to. We washed the chalkboard wall (there is an entire hallway wall in our office that's painted with chalkboard paint so you can write all over it), but the "washing" turned more into a soapy sponge fight not unlike the scene from Center Stage. So I guess you could say we did them the extra favor of washing the ping pong table, the carpet, the walls, the surrounding pictures and...the interns. Ooops! Sure made it fun though! I'm just glad there are free Ellen clothes everywhere so that we could all change since we were a little...well, damp. :) We also did some more inventory of some items they've decided to giveaway instead of sell which turned into something good as well. I got a free digital camera, some books and a few TV show seasons on DVD. Yay for free things! I do love my job.
It's Taco Tuesday at Del Taco so for dinner I got my 3 tacos for $2 which made me even happier. I ate dinner with Amy and then she went to a concert while I watched some TV. So what topped off my lovely day? I found a website that has a really high-quality bootleg copy of the new Harry Potter movie that just came out so I got to see it again, for free, from the comfort of my own home! Yippee! Not sure how they got it (by whatever means they deemed morally acceptable) but I'm sure glad they did because them playing it on loop on their site gives me the chance to legally and without guilt watch The Half Blood Prince for no money, repeatedly! Now to bed I go.
P.S. Demi Lovato's new album came out today - it's excellent!! Even the critics are saying she's come out from under the Jonas umbrella and is making legitimately good music. Yay Demi! She's a sweetheart so I'm glad she's doing well. I love the new music!
It's Taco Tuesday at Del Taco so for dinner I got my 3 tacos for $2 which made me even happier. I ate dinner with Amy and then she went to a concert while I watched some TV. So what topped off my lovely day? I found a website that has a really high-quality bootleg copy of the new Harry Potter movie that just came out so I got to see it again, for free, from the comfort of my own home! Yippee! Not sure how they got it (by whatever means they deemed morally acceptable) but I'm sure glad they did because them playing it on loop on their site gives me the chance to legally and without guilt watch The Half Blood Prince for no money, repeatedly! Now to bed I go.
P.S. Demi Lovato's new album came out today - it's excellent!! Even the critics are saying she's come out from under the Jonas umbrella and is making legitimately good music. Yay Demi! She's a sweetheart so I'm glad she's doing well. I love the new music!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Happy Birthday Mommy!!!!
Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mom!! I can't remember exactly what age she's turning but I think it's something like 30, 31. ;)
This fine morning, bright and early I awoke cheerful and chipper, ready to go to work! Well, not exactly. I was a little bleary-eyed and tired, but I was still excited to get back to the studio! And it paid off because today was a really nice day. It was still pretty casual since we spent most of the day catching up with everyone and chatting about what they did over vacation. They were fascinated with my hair transformation...I always forget what a shock it is for new people when I go from curly to straight. There are a few new PAs who came in to get their badges today so I look forward to working with them when they start. Unfortunately, that job would have been mine if I were graduating now...they offered it to a few of us but we all have more school left. :( Hopefully they'll still remember us to hire next summer when I do graduate!
So we had a lot of catching up to do (besides the chit-chat) with work from the last 2 weeks. We did all the newspaper and magazine distribution for the past 2 weeks and then headed to the research room. It's amazing how fast the magazines accumulate...and how behind I'd gotten on Hollywood gossip! Take a few weeks to do some fun LA activities and you don't get the news that Jon Gosselin proposed to his 22-year old girlfriend just weeks after the episode aired of his divorce from Kate! Shocking! Anyway, it'll take us days to get caught up on all the magazines. I know, it's torture to read magazines and watch TV for hours...pure torture! We also had a few side projects for Johnny Norman, the creative producer, working on listening to CDs and deciding who we thought could be the "next big thing" and worth coming on the show. They actually gave us the power! (Muuahaha) But by far the funniest thing to happen at work today was a little on the weird side. I'll warn you now...the next few sentances may be inappropriate for young audiences.
So the interns are opening the bins of newspapers to sort them out when what do you know, we open a bins (each one contains about 50 magazines) FULL of porn!! Not just any porn, elder porn! Oh yes, the magazines were titled 40+, 50+ and...(gag) 60+! I can tell you boys never grow up because of course our fantastic PA boys carried them around all day and whenever you rounded a corner there was a horrific image in your face. It was truly scarring. So wrong, so repulsive, and yet...still funny! Somehow someone else's order had been combined with ours. (Aleast that's what we're guessing since we don't think anyone at Ellen ordered them. Then again...) We of course did what any other amused young adults would do, we hid them in other people's offices. Luckily, people in our office and the entertainment industry have great senses of humor. Needless to say, it was a day full of funny moments when we heard yelps and shrieks spontaneously through the halls. Ohhh, so gross and so, so funny.
Tonight I hung out with Amy because we hadn't had time to catch up in a few days. We just layed down in her bed and watched Hung and Knocked Up on HBO. Now I'm late for bed because this blog took longer than I expected. I guess that means I should just stop typing...
This fine morning, bright and early I awoke cheerful and chipper, ready to go to work! Well, not exactly. I was a little bleary-eyed and tired, but I was still excited to get back to the studio! And it paid off because today was a really nice day. It was still pretty casual since we spent most of the day catching up with everyone and chatting about what they did over vacation. They were fascinated with my hair transformation...I always forget what a shock it is for new people when I go from curly to straight. There are a few new PAs who came in to get their badges today so I look forward to working with them when they start. Unfortunately, that job would have been mine if I were graduating now...they offered it to a few of us but we all have more school left. :( Hopefully they'll still remember us to hire next summer when I do graduate!
So we had a lot of catching up to do (besides the chit-chat) with work from the last 2 weeks. We did all the newspaper and magazine distribution for the past 2 weeks and then headed to the research room. It's amazing how fast the magazines accumulate...and how behind I'd gotten on Hollywood gossip! Take a few weeks to do some fun LA activities and you don't get the news that Jon Gosselin proposed to his 22-year old girlfriend just weeks after the episode aired of his divorce from Kate! Shocking! Anyway, it'll take us days to get caught up on all the magazines. I know, it's torture to read magazines and watch TV for hours...pure torture! We also had a few side projects for Johnny Norman, the creative producer, working on listening to CDs and deciding who we thought could be the "next big thing" and worth coming on the show. They actually gave us the power! (Muuahaha) But by far the funniest thing to happen at work today was a little on the weird side. I'll warn you now...the next few sentances may be inappropriate for young audiences.
So the interns are opening the bins of newspapers to sort them out when what do you know, we open a bins (each one contains about 50 magazines) FULL of porn!! Not just any porn, elder porn! Oh yes, the magazines were titled 40+, 50+ and...(gag) 60+! I can tell you boys never grow up because of course our fantastic PA boys carried them around all day and whenever you rounded a corner there was a horrific image in your face. It was truly scarring. So wrong, so repulsive, and yet...still funny! Somehow someone else's order had been combined with ours. (Aleast that's what we're guessing since we don't think anyone at Ellen ordered them. Then again...) We of course did what any other amused young adults would do, we hid them in other people's offices. Luckily, people in our office and the entertainment industry have great senses of humor. Needless to say, it was a day full of funny moments when we heard yelps and shrieks spontaneously through the halls. Ohhh, so gross and so, so funny.
Tonight I hung out with Amy because we hadn't had time to catch up in a few days. We just layed down in her bed and watched Hung and Knocked Up on HBO. Now I'm late for bed because this blog took longer than I expected. I guess that means I should just stop typing...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
G-Force
I've never been so entertained by gerbils. Well, not gerbils exactly, but the voices of gerbils. This afternoon, after I changed my own flat tire (oh yeah, I'm a pro), I went to the red carpet premiere of the new Disney movie G-Force. It's about FBI trained gerbil operatives. Sounds lame but it was cool! And with it being a Disney movie, several Disney stars showed up to the premiere so I got to see them and some autographs! When you go to a red carpet as a civilian, you either sit in bleachers or stand across the carpet away from the press. Some of the celebrities are nice and come over to see the fans, some aren't. Today I got to see some of the voices of the talented gerbils including Will Arnett, Kelli Garner and Bill Nighy. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon even if it was pretty hot out there. But it was pretty cool and definitely something I had on my LA To-Do list. Check!
This evening I watched some TV and straightened my hair. Yes, I'm aware that it's the summer but, guess what! In California...the humidity is low enough that I can wear my hair straight without crazy frizz, even in July! I also painted my nails, did a facial and teeth whitening. It was a thrilling evening of girly beautification randomness. Basically I wanted something chill and relaxing since tomorrow I start back at work!! I've missed the Ellen people so I'm really ready to get back to the office. I love my job!
This evening I watched some TV and straightened my hair. Yes, I'm aware that it's the summer but, guess what! In California...the humidity is low enough that I can wear my hair straight without crazy frizz, even in July! I also painted my nails, did a facial and teeth whitening. It was a thrilling evening of girly beautification randomness. Basically I wanted something chill and relaxing since tomorrow I start back at work!! I've missed the Ellen people so I'm really ready to get back to the office. I love my job!
I am Optimus Prime
Last night I got very little sleep and then had to wake up early for work. Luckily...I was working with one of my new good friends Jenny Rae at the Radio Disney event. We were at the Farmer's Market for the 75th Anniversary and even though it was really hot...we had fun! JayRay and I like all the same Disney songs so she purposedly played my favorites. :) We taught the newest Hannah Montana song choreography and it went over well with the kids.
After the event was over, JayRay, Nicole and I went to Menchie's for lunch which was, as always, delicious. I had a little break time to chat with Amy before going out for the evening...just enough time for my car's front right tire to deflate entirely. Basically that means I get to spend my last day off dealing with AAA and a tire place paying for a new doughnut made of ridged rubber (not my favorite kind of doughnut for sure). :( After that bummer, I went to dinner and a movie with Austin and Taylor. We went to Paty's which is a cool diner popular with celebrities. The walls are decorated in photos of celebs who signed to Paty's thanking them for the scrumptious grub. It's especially popular with the Disney and WB stars since it's so close to their studios and neighborhoods. The food was good...I'll give them that, but the ambiance was cooler with all the celeb and old-fashioned diner decorations. After dinner we saw Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. It was a good movie! Great CGI for sure. It was a little long but I was really tired so that made it tougher. I'd still recommend it...I thought it was great!
After the event was over, JayRay, Nicole and I went to Menchie's for lunch which was, as always, delicious. I had a little break time to chat with Amy before going out for the evening...just enough time for my car's front right tire to deflate entirely. Basically that means I get to spend my last day off dealing with AAA and a tire place paying for a new doughnut made of ridged rubber (not my favorite kind of doughnut for sure). :( After that bummer, I went to dinner and a movie with Austin and Taylor. We went to Paty's which is a cool diner popular with celebrities. The walls are decorated in photos of celebs who signed to Paty's thanking them for the scrumptious grub. It's especially popular with the Disney and WB stars since it's so close to their studios and neighborhoods. The food was good...I'll give them that, but the ambiance was cooler with all the celeb and old-fashioned diner decorations. After dinner we saw Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. It was a good movie! Great CGI for sure. It was a little long but I was really tired so that made it tougher. I'd still recommend it...I thought it was great!
Friday, July 17, 2009
AVP Pros
That's right...I'm a pro. Okay, not exactly me...but I saw a few legitimate pros today! Austin and I drove down to Manhattan beach for the day to watch the best beach volleyball players in the country tear up the sand. The Crocs AVP Pro Tour is in LA for the weekend and I wanted to see some Olypians show me how beach volleyball is really played. It was so cool! They set up tents everywhere along the pier with free giveaways by sponsors and there were 4 courts of play. The best match we caught was Dalhausser and Rodgers who are the Olympic Gold Medal winners from last year. They were awesome!! Dalhausser is 6'10" and has a crazy wingspan...his blocks were crazy rad! I have to admit watching all those volleyball made me miss playing myself. I hope I get on a good intramural team in the fall.
In true LA fasion...I got an AWESOME spontaneous opportunity tonight. One of my Radio Disney friends had an extra ticket to the Demi Lovato concert tonight (that I really wanted to go to but didn't get tickets in time) and he offered it to me! He was working the event so he got in free. It was fantastic!! In my opinion she tries to act a little too mature and serious for her age but she puts on a great show. She's fun to watch on stage and I of course know all the words to her songs (she is Disney afterall). So now I am happy and tired and ready to fall asleep singing the cheerful pop/rock tunes of an "angsty" teen who's fame has caused such a hardship in her life that she has a broken heart to write and sing about. (Nope, I'm not bitter.)
In true LA fasion...I got an AWESOME spontaneous opportunity tonight. One of my Radio Disney friends had an extra ticket to the Demi Lovato concert tonight (that I really wanted to go to but didn't get tickets in time) and he offered it to me! He was working the event so he got in free. It was fantastic!! In my opinion she tries to act a little too mature and serious for her age but she puts on a great show. She's fun to watch on stage and I of course know all the words to her songs (she is Disney afterall). So now I am happy and tired and ready to fall asleep singing the cheerful pop/rock tunes of an "angsty" teen who's fame has caused such a hardship in her life that she has a broken heart to write and sing about. (Nope, I'm not bitter.)
The Happiest Place on Earth
Today was one of the best days I've had this summer. There's not a lot to tell you, but it was just amazing. Erin, Austin and I used my free tickets as a Radio Disney employee to go to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park. We got there early and stayed ALLLL day (we're talking 9am to midnight) and we just had the most fantasmic time!!! It was Erin's first time to Disney ever so my innate love of Disney that causes me to be so happy when I'm there combined with Erin's childlike joy over every little thing just made it such a blast. We got on every ride we wanted to get on and none of the lines were too bad. We purposely picked a weekday for that reason. Plus it helped that when we went to Guest Services to get Erin a "1st Time" button and Austin a "I'm Celebrating...being here with 2 girls" button (yes, it was custom written by the cast member; they unfortunately did not have those pre-made), we happened to mention it was my birthday (yeah yeah, it was a lie) and were really friendly to the guy at the desk so he gave us some freebie fast passes to use on any of the rides we wanted. SAHWEET! That's what being nice will get you! That and pretending it's your 21st birthday. :) So while we walked around the park all day sporting our slammin' buttons, we got to use the Fastpass lane for almost every ride. California Adventure wasn't nearly as cool as Disneyland but we spent a few hours there riding a couple good rides they have. We saw a spectacular Broadway-style show telling the story of Aladdin. And of course I made them stop for the High School Musical 3 street parade dance show. :D You know me!
So the whole day was exhausting but absolutely incredible. We even rode our favorites, like Space Mountain, more than once because we had the time. We came away with so many inside jokes from today that we had to write them down so we wouldn't forget them. We jammed hardcore to the Wicked soundtrack the whole way home which was the perfect ending to an insanely fun day. Seeing someone else experience Disney for the first time made it even more magical. We all came away from that fireworks show inspired to believe we can do anything we want. Erin's decided on astronaut, I've decided on ambassador's wife and Austin being the simple one decided on TV show editor. Let's see how we do in ten years.
I also had the wonderful pleasure of seeing my second mother, Mama James, when we left the park. Jessie's mom was in town for a convention and happened to be staying in Anahiem just minutes from Disney so I stopped by her hotel to give her a hug and say "Hi". It was so nice seeing a piece of home even for just a few minutes. I do love her though and she said to tell you (Mom), that she has seen me in person and I'm just fine! :) I'm convinced all mothers have a code reguarding kids or something. (Speaking of mothers and kids, why do they like blocking pathways with strollers and leeshed children? Other families need to take a page from the Noriega book and make a plan...then execute it.) So I sent all my love to all of you back in Florida through Mama James. It will be arriving back in town tomorrow! Now I am completely dead and my feet hurt and I couldn't be happier. More than ever, I am truly convinced that Disney is the Happiest Place on Earth. Remember this, "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." -The incredible visionary Mr. Walt Disney.
So the whole day was exhausting but absolutely incredible. We even rode our favorites, like Space Mountain, more than once because we had the time. We came away with so many inside jokes from today that we had to write them down so we wouldn't forget them. We jammed hardcore to the Wicked soundtrack the whole way home which was the perfect ending to an insanely fun day. Seeing someone else experience Disney for the first time made it even more magical. We all came away from that fireworks show inspired to believe we can do anything we want. Erin's decided on astronaut, I've decided on ambassador's wife and Austin being the simple one decided on TV show editor. Let's see how we do in ten years.
I also had the wonderful pleasure of seeing my second mother, Mama James, when we left the park. Jessie's mom was in town for a convention and happened to be staying in Anahiem just minutes from Disney so I stopped by her hotel to give her a hug and say "Hi". It was so nice seeing a piece of home even for just a few minutes. I do love her though and she said to tell you (Mom), that she has seen me in person and I'm just fine! :) I'm convinced all mothers have a code reguarding kids or something. (Speaking of mothers and kids, why do they like blocking pathways with strollers and leeshed children? Other families need to take a page from the Noriega book and make a plan...then execute it.) So I sent all my love to all of you back in Florida through Mama James. It will be arriving back in town tomorrow! Now I am completely dead and my feet hurt and I couldn't be happier. More than ever, I am truly convinced that Disney is the Happiest Place on Earth. Remember this, "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." -The incredible visionary Mr. Walt Disney.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
"Lucy, I'm Home!!"
This morning I took the glorious opportunity to sleep in which was much needed seeing as how I didn't get to bed until 5am (as evidenced by my ridiculous blog from last night). It was lovely not waking up until 11, unfortunately it won't last too much longer because I have to get back to my work schedule for next week. But I did have an exciting afternoon!
A friend of mine from Radio Disney also works on the Paramount Studios lot. She used to be a tour guide and then got promoted to supervisor. Well lucky for us, she was really nice and offered to give us a special "friends-only" tour of the lot! So today Austin and I as well as Betsy and Halli from Radio Disney headed over today for a super-special personal tour. Not only did we get the normal Paramount tour from the best guide they've had in years (her tour is actually a special feature on the new Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD), we had some advantages. First, we got to buy any Paramount DVD ever released for only $4 each! It was fantastic!
Then we went on the tour seeing all the soundstages and the backlot. But by far the best part of the day was when Halli announced that she had a friend who's on the new TV show Glee on Fox. She was on set filming today so we went over to say "Hi". We ended up meeting and hanging out with the entire Glee cast in their makeup/hair trailer! Then they graciously let us go on set and watch them film a few takes of a new scene!! For any of you who saw the pilot and are looking forward to the new season I'll give you some inside info. The main character Quinn is pregnant! She was complaining about the uncomfortable baby suit haha. Everyone was so nice though! I really love their theme songs, the remake of Don't Stop Believing. If you haven't heard it, look it up because it's unbelieveable. Anyhow, we got to hang out with the cast which was amazing!
Some other rad things we got to do was sit on the bench from Forrest Gump, the new state-of-the-art Paramount screening theater and sneak into Lucille Ball's dressing room! There's a lot of history on that lot because it's one of the oldest so it was cool to see places where Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Fred Estaire and Ginger Rodgers and more of the classic celebrities lived and worked. It turned into a really long custom-made tour and it was great! We had so much fun that we all went to Menchie's afterwards to hang out some more. I went fruity this time instead of my usual cheesecake bites and cookie dough bites. And it was free because I'd filled up enough stamps on my card so that's always a plus! :) I rounded off my evening by bringing sick Amy a Pinkberry smoothie and watching a movie in her room. I just hope I don't catch her plague.
A friend of mine from Radio Disney also works on the Paramount Studios lot. She used to be a tour guide and then got promoted to supervisor. Well lucky for us, she was really nice and offered to give us a special "friends-only" tour of the lot! So today Austin and I as well as Betsy and Halli from Radio Disney headed over today for a super-special personal tour. Not only did we get the normal Paramount tour from the best guide they've had in years (her tour is actually a special feature on the new Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD), we had some advantages. First, we got to buy any Paramount DVD ever released for only $4 each! It was fantastic!
Then we went on the tour seeing all the soundstages and the backlot. But by far the best part of the day was when Halli announced that she had a friend who's on the new TV show Glee on Fox. She was on set filming today so we went over to say "Hi". We ended up meeting and hanging out with the entire Glee cast in their makeup/hair trailer! Then they graciously let us go on set and watch them film a few takes of a new scene!! For any of you who saw the pilot and are looking forward to the new season I'll give you some inside info. The main character Quinn is pregnant! She was complaining about the uncomfortable baby suit haha. Everyone was so nice though! I really love their theme songs, the remake of Don't Stop Believing. If you haven't heard it, look it up because it's unbelieveable. Anyhow, we got to hang out with the cast which was amazing!
Some other rad things we got to do was sit on the bench from Forrest Gump, the new state-of-the-art Paramount screening theater and sneak into Lucille Ball's dressing room! There's a lot of history on that lot because it's one of the oldest so it was cool to see places where Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Fred Estaire and Ginger Rodgers and more of the classic celebrities lived and worked. It turned into a really long custom-made tour and it was great! We had so much fun that we all went to Menchie's afterwards to hang out some more. I went fruity this time instead of my usual cheesecake bites and cookie dough bites. And it was free because I'd filled up enough stamps on my card so that's always a plus! :) I rounded off my evening by bringing sick Amy a Pinkberry smoothie and watching a movie in her room. I just hope I don't catch her plague.
Harry Potter Madness
My objective today was simple...become a part of the Wizard world. I am happy to say, my goal was achieved. I am no longer a Muggle, I have transfigured myself into a brilliant, talented witch with the same affinity for trouble as the teriffic trio that led the Harry Potter series to glory. My quest began at 10am when I awoke with a mission. I got dressed and got Amy some medicine (she's sick and had to stay home from work today as well as miss going to Disneyland with her firm tomorrow, for which I am truly sorry). And then...I began. I sat on our lovely couch and watched Harry Potter 1 through 5 (all of which I own of course) in their entireties. This task has been completed before successfully...by me anyway. As it were, my faithful companions at the last such occasion (*cough Carley and Tricia cough*) both managed to fall asleep or read and study through the magnificence. I, however, apparently have amazing stamina when it comes to movies I've seen so many times I have them memorized. Therefore, I believe it only fitting that my Harry Potter marathon today be added to my resume.
After I finished the final film (and did a celebratory dance of course) I went to Del Taco for Taco Tuesday. It's similar to Taco Bell but a little more authentic. They give you 3 tacos for $2.09! Who could pass up that deal? I then prepared for the true test. The blessed event that is the midnight premiere of the latest installment of the British series that has captivated the hearts of non-Magic folk around the world.
I was not alone in this midnight madness. I was joined by fellow Wizards in training Erin and Austin (Ellen interns), Jenny Rae and Mikey (Radio Disney), and Sara (UF Cicerone) and two of her friends. We arrived over 2 hours early to ensure good seats. Check mate! I have to say the seats in the theaters in LA are far more comfortable than Florida. Ours were leather recliners! (Unless someone just hexed them for tonight...) Our anticipation grew throughout the previews, none of which were important enough to remember. And then, the unthinkable happened. Our projector moved and cut off half the screen. Let me give you a piece of advise. NEVER mess with a midnight premiere Harry Potter crowd. They get angry, and they get angry fast. I have never seen so many pointy-hatted, wand-carrying, scar-sporting, robe-wearing fanatics storm a projector room with such vigor. I feared for the poor soul's life. There were plenty of hollers and boos and yes, even a few "Avada Kadavra" shouts as people frantically tried to cover their eyes so as not to see the beginning of the movie in it's weakened state. Thankfully, under all that pressure, the projector operator lived long enough to charm the screen back to perfection. He's no Hermione Granger, but he was clever enough to restart the movie before a riot ensued. After that bit of drama was resolved, we settled in for 2 and 1/2 hours of brilliance. The dialogue in this movie was the best so far. It was so well written with the perfect balance of serious and lighthearted moments. It held relatively true to the original parchments though not inked in stone. The acting has gotten better, the special effects didn't dissapoint and the romantic tension between Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny was as entertaining and adorable as expected. It was a great movie and I highly recommend it. That being said, now that I'm a part of the wizarding world myself, I suppose that's tooting my own horn a bit. :)
P.S. This is what happens when I give my mind free reign at 4 in the morning. Perhaps I'd be good at a creative writing class. Hmm...
After I finished the final film (and did a celebratory dance of course) I went to Del Taco for Taco Tuesday. It's similar to Taco Bell but a little more authentic. They give you 3 tacos for $2.09! Who could pass up that deal? I then prepared for the true test. The blessed event that is the midnight premiere of the latest installment of the British series that has captivated the hearts of non-Magic folk around the world.
I was not alone in this midnight madness. I was joined by fellow Wizards in training Erin and Austin (Ellen interns), Jenny Rae and Mikey (Radio Disney), and Sara (UF Cicerone) and two of her friends. We arrived over 2 hours early to ensure good seats. Check mate! I have to say the seats in the theaters in LA are far more comfortable than Florida. Ours were leather recliners! (Unless someone just hexed them for tonight...) Our anticipation grew throughout the previews, none of which were important enough to remember. And then, the unthinkable happened. Our projector moved and cut off half the screen. Let me give you a piece of advise. NEVER mess with a midnight premiere Harry Potter crowd. They get angry, and they get angry fast. I have never seen so many pointy-hatted, wand-carrying, scar-sporting, robe-wearing fanatics storm a projector room with such vigor. I feared for the poor soul's life. There were plenty of hollers and boos and yes, even a few "Avada Kadavra" shouts as people frantically tried to cover their eyes so as not to see the beginning of the movie in it's weakened state. Thankfully, under all that pressure, the projector operator lived long enough to charm the screen back to perfection. He's no Hermione Granger, but he was clever enough to restart the movie before a riot ensued. After that bit of drama was resolved, we settled in for 2 and 1/2 hours of brilliance. The dialogue in this movie was the best so far. It was so well written with the perfect balance of serious and lighthearted moments. It held relatively true to the original parchments though not inked in stone. The acting has gotten better, the special effects didn't dissapoint and the romantic tension between Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny was as entertaining and adorable as expected. It was a great movie and I highly recommend it. That being said, now that I'm a part of the wizarding world myself, I suppose that's tooting my own horn a bit. :)
P.S. This is what happens when I give my mind free reign at 4 in the morning. Perhaps I'd be good at a creative writing class. Hmm...
Monday, July 13, 2009
Six Flags
Yep! Today Erin, Austin and I went to the famed Six Flags Magic Mountain. I have never seen a park with so many roller coasters! There were literally 15 in one park! I don't actually ride a lot of roller coasters (I won't ride ones that go upside down) but we had a really great time. My favorite was the Terminator coaster which is wooden but REALLY fast! I've never been on a coaster that has speakers that talk to you throughout the ride and had fire and mist shooting out at you. It was really cool! I also really liked the BMX Stunt show we saw. They had 3 guys on motorbikes riding circles in a metal spherical cage...it was insane! I could have sworn someone was going to die. The half-pipe was really cool too and the skateboarders, rollerbladers and BMX bikers were so rad. Of course I had an ICEE, my favorite thing to eat at theme parks.
We got some fun pictures with the characters and saw a full grown man with a Giga Pet hooked on his belt. I'm guessing he's foreign and the fad is just hitting over there? Let's hope that's the case since there's no other reasonable explaination. We spent almost the whole day there and went home exhausted because they rode all the coasters and it was pretty darn hot. The lines were pretty short though which made it easier to do more. The weather is nicer in Burbank because it's closer to the coast but today I discovered just how hot the desert is. I've got a really looong day tomorrow with an early start so I'm hitting the sack. In honor of the new Harry Potter movie coming out Wednesday, I'm falling asleep to HP: Goblet of Fire. :)
We got some fun pictures with the characters and saw a full grown man with a Giga Pet hooked on his belt. I'm guessing he's foreign and the fad is just hitting over there? Let's hope that's the case since there's no other reasonable explaination. We spent almost the whole day there and went home exhausted because they rode all the coasters and it was pretty darn hot. The lines were pretty short though which made it easier to do more. The weather is nicer in Burbank because it's closer to the coast but today I discovered just how hot the desert is. I've got a really looong day tomorrow with an early start so I'm hitting the sack. In honor of the new Harry Potter movie coming out Wednesday, I'm falling asleep to HP: Goblet of Fire. :)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
60th Blog!
Wow...I can't believe I've done this 60 days in a row! This is truly amazing. I mean I can't remember that I was cooking pasta (oh yeah, it was a mess) but I have managed to blog basically every day for 2 months. I should have an anniversary fro-yo (oops...already did!)
So on this day of my epic 60th blog, I had a nice relaxing time. I spent the morning planning out my second and last week off from work. Doesn't sound like it would take long, I know, but we've got quite a bit planned. Then I discovered the joys of Skype thanks to the insistent Jessica Erin James. While I'm not used to Skype and prefer Gmail chat, it was really good to see Jessie's face while I talked to her. Made me miss my friends! :( This afternoon Austin and I drove down to Malibu to go to the beach. The traffic wasn't too bad getting there but dear God every parking lot within miles of Zuma was full! It was insanely crowded so we drove a bit farther down the coast to Pacific Palisades beach and hung out there for the afternoon/evening. We were talking about how sad we are that we only have a month left in our internship and how fast it's going to fly by. As much as I miss all of you, I wish I didn't have to leave here. I almost wish I'd already graduated and could just stay here and start working since I already have a rhythm, a house, friends and a job. But alas...I can't miss my last Gator football season so thus, you will see my shining (tan) face in Florida one more year.
After the beach we drove back and walked up and down CityWalk for a bit. I won't lie, I found out through Twitter that one of the Disney Channel stars I like (David Henrie) was there walking around challenging people to find him so since we were so close we decided to stop by. CityWalk was fun even though we didn't see him. We hit Menchie's on the way back to the studio and then he dropped me off at my car and I headed home. I'm going to bed soon since we're waking up early tomorrow to start on our fun-filled week of Livin' la Vida LA! (Copyrighted)
So on this day of my epic 60th blog, I had a nice relaxing time. I spent the morning planning out my second and last week off from work. Doesn't sound like it would take long, I know, but we've got quite a bit planned. Then I discovered the joys of Skype thanks to the insistent Jessica Erin James. While I'm not used to Skype and prefer Gmail chat, it was really good to see Jessie's face while I talked to her. Made me miss my friends! :( This afternoon Austin and I drove down to Malibu to go to the beach. The traffic wasn't too bad getting there but dear God every parking lot within miles of Zuma was full! It was insanely crowded so we drove a bit farther down the coast to Pacific Palisades beach and hung out there for the afternoon/evening. We were talking about how sad we are that we only have a month left in our internship and how fast it's going to fly by. As much as I miss all of you, I wish I didn't have to leave here. I almost wish I'd already graduated and could just stay here and start working since I already have a rhythm, a house, friends and a job. But alas...I can't miss my last Gator football season so thus, you will see my shining (tan) face in Florida one more year.
After the beach we drove back and walked up and down CityWalk for a bit. I won't lie, I found out through Twitter that one of the Disney Channel stars I like (David Henrie) was there walking around challenging people to find him so since we were so close we decided to stop by. CityWalk was fun even though we didn't see him. We hit Menchie's on the way back to the studio and then he dropped me off at my car and I headed home. I'm going to bed soon since we're waking up early tomorrow to start on our fun-filled week of Livin' la Vida LA! (Copyrighted)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Spain Flashback
Today I had a day-long flashback to my last trip to Spain. It turns out that 2 of the girls I met over there on my last trip now live in LA!! So thanks to the glory of Facebook, we hooked up and spent the day on Malibu beach. It was so funny reliving the funny memories and catching up on each other's lives. Ashley's from San Diego and works in advertising in Orange County. Marina's from Ukraine but has been living in NY and just moved out here to do graphic design. It's so cool that we've all stayed in touch and landed in the same city! So we caught up and got some sun in Malibu which is the best beach for people watching/judging. (Admit it, it's the same thing and everybody does it.)
After the beach Ashley and I went out for sushi and to a cool ice cream place called Scoops. Different than my beloved froyo, this place is known for crazy weird flavors like Bacon, Rosewater and Lavendar. I wasn't very adventurous though so I got Carmel Hazelnut and White Chocolate Mint. It was quite delicious, especially after I drowned it in sprinkles as I love to do. :) I was telling Ashley about the sprinkle shots I like to take with my roommates at school and the cashier challenged me so I took one in front of him and he gave me my ice cream for free. :) Getting anything in LA for free is a big deal haha.
I'm glad I had them to keep me company today since Amy's in Vegas for the weekend with some work friends. We've still got a full house here though with Ashleigh's husband and brother here, Hannah's friend and boyfriend here, and Shaia's mom here. Lots of visitors right now at the Lion's Den! What can I say? It's the cool place to be. :)
After the beach Ashley and I went out for sushi and to a cool ice cream place called Scoops. Different than my beloved froyo, this place is known for crazy weird flavors like Bacon, Rosewater and Lavendar. I wasn't very adventurous though so I got Carmel Hazelnut and White Chocolate Mint. It was quite delicious, especially after I drowned it in sprinkles as I love to do. :) I was telling Ashley about the sprinkle shots I like to take with my roommates at school and the cashier challenged me so I took one in front of him and he gave me my ice cream for free. :) Getting anything in LA for free is a big deal haha.
I'm glad I had them to keep me company today since Amy's in Vegas for the weekend with some work friends. We've still got a full house here though with Ashleigh's husband and brother here, Hannah's friend and boyfriend here, and Shaia's mom here. Lots of visitors right now at the Lion's Den! What can I say? It's the cool place to be. :)
Friday, July 10, 2009
Dinner Chic
I got home so late from Disneyland last night that I took advantage of the lovely opportunity to sleep in this morning. I had a casual morning and did some laundry and caught up on some of my TV shows. I spent a fair amount of time looking through the thousands of crazy jumping funny pictures Jenny Rae posted from Disneyland...so great!! This afternoon I went to a movie with Austin and Taylor. We saw I Love You, Beth Cooper which was really adorable. We hit up some Pinkberry after and then headed home. We've got a pretty busy week planned with cool and fun things to do so I'm excited! Tonight I painted my nails and had a lovely homemade dinner thanks to my roommate Shaia's mom who cooked pasta for all of us. We sat in the backyard while the sun went down and drank wine and ate...it was so cute haha! Very LA chic, I think. I'm trying to get back on a normal schedule so I can have full days during daylight hours so it's off to bed.
DISNEYLAND!
Sure, I've been to Disney World tons of times but it never gets old. I just love Disney so much! Which is why going to Disneyland was a MUST for me! Today was an epic day because it was my first trip to Disneyland! It was my friend from Radio Disney, Jenny Rae's 25th birthday so a group of 7 of us went to Disneyland for the afternoon/night. I got in free with one of the DJ's which was totally rad! We had so much fun!!! A lot of the rides are really similar as are the shows but there are definitely differences. Disneyland is smaller, more condensed and more classic. They have Sleeping Beauty's castle instead of Cinderella's castle. They have an awesome Indiana Jones ride that Disney World doesn't. But I've heard the second Disney park, Disney's California Adventure, really sucks so I guess Disney World's 4 amazing parks wins that one. However, Disneyland had the BEST show ever for their nighttime spectacular. It's called Fantasmic and it was sooo cool!! We got there around five and stayed until it closed at midnight so I didn't get to see everything. No problem...the interns and I are planning a trip so I'll be back soon!! You just can't keep me away from my beloved Disney. :) We took lots of pictures and had lots of laughs. I love how well I fit in with these people - every one of them is Disney crazy like me! It's a perfect fit.
This morning I just took advantage of the chance to sleep in and did some laundry. I also watched Sydney White with Amanda Bynes and talked to Jessie for a bit. I'm trying to plan out when I want to go to San Francisco to visit Steven. My time here is passing so quickly and I still have so many things I want to do! Better get on that huh? Well I'm exhausted since it's now 3am my time (6am your time so I'm surprised I haven't received an e-mail from Dad wondering why I didn't blog tonight). I will leave you with a phrase that makes me happy anytime I hear it, "Have a magical day!"
This morning I just took advantage of the chance to sleep in and did some laundry. I also watched Sydney White with Amanda Bynes and talked to Jessie for a bit. I'm trying to plan out when I want to go to San Francisco to visit Steven. My time here is passing so quickly and I still have so many things I want to do! Better get on that huh? Well I'm exhausted since it's now 3am my time (6am your time so I'm surprised I haven't received an e-mail from Dad wondering why I didn't blog tonight). I will leave you with a phrase that makes me happy anytime I hear it, "Have a magical day!"
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Alone again
Yes, it's true...I am once again alone. No more friends or sister to keep me company/crazy busy. This morning Amanda and I went to Panera Bread for an early lunch (since we both hate breakfast) on the way to the airport. I sent her on her way back to D.C. via the clutches of the massive plane coordinator aka LAX. She will be missed. :( But the good news is the whole family is meeting up again in just a couple weeks in St. Louis to go skiing/wakeboarding/boating on the lake. Yay!
After I dropped Amanda off I made some phone calls and caught up with some people over on the East Coast (it's hard to do with the time change since I so rarely get the chance to talk during the day). Then I did something really exciting...I washed my car! I know, I know...only in LA can you do such cool things. So Alvin Avalon finally got his much-needed bath. I spent the afternoon watching some recorded TV and laying out in the backyard with a well-respected book. (By well-respected I mean my usual trashy romance novel of course.)
Tonight I hung out with Amy some and Ashleigh some since I hadn't spent much time with them with my friends in town. I had VEGETABLE soup for dinner Mom (she has requested details on my meals to prove I'm eating more food groups than fro-yo). Then I watched Fool's Gold on HBO and now I'm heading to bed. Looks like it's "bye bye friends", "bye bye interesting blogs". Sorry guys!
P.S. Heather's posted some great pictures from her trip (3 albums worth) on Facebook if you want to check them out! :) Thanks girl - Love you!
After I dropped Amanda off I made some phone calls and caught up with some people over on the East Coast (it's hard to do with the time change since I so rarely get the chance to talk during the day). Then I did something really exciting...I washed my car! I know, I know...only in LA can you do such cool things. So Alvin Avalon finally got his much-needed bath. I spent the afternoon watching some recorded TV and laying out in the backyard with a well-respected book. (By well-respected I mean my usual trashy romance novel of course.)
Tonight I hung out with Amy some and Ashleigh some since I hadn't spent much time with them with my friends in town. I had VEGETABLE soup for dinner Mom (she has requested details on my meals to prove I'm eating more food groups than fro-yo). Then I watched Fool's Gold on HBO and now I'm heading to bed. Looks like it's "bye bye friends", "bye bye interesting blogs". Sorry guys!
P.S. Heather's posted some great pictures from her trip (3 albums worth) on Facebook if you want to check them out! :) Thanks girl - Love you!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
"...Come on down!"
Okay...so we didn't actually hear our names called before that infamous statement...but we did hear it! Several times in fact because today we went to a taping of The Price Is Right. Austin is really into it and talked us into going so Amanda, Taylor, Austin and I woke up early to go to the CBS lot for the taping. I can tell you all...the set is SOOO RIDICULOUS! It is the most tacky-tastic, hilarious, straight-out-of-the-70's, gaudy but so funny set I could possibly have imagined. I've never really seen the show but this experience was a necessary one for LA and outrageously hilarious. The people who go to this show are insane!! The stuff they wear, the "schticks" they try to put forth, the things they do and of course, the crazy excitement they exude just made it the most entertaining experience ever. I am so glad I went. Amanda and I were really glad we did not get called up since we didn't know how to play any of the games or how much stuff cost. But it was great to watch! I seriously felt like I had time-traveled back into an artificial 70's game show. I half expected Fez or Foreman to walk out or to look down a see my own floral print housedress. Drew Carrey was fairly entertaining too in between takes and during commercial breaks but I have to say - dude looked old! But he is engaged to a woman with a kid (he was very forthcoming about his personal life) so I guess he's doing alright for himself.
After such a preposterous and exciting morning, we ate lunch at the Farmer's Market/The Grove and then went our seperate ways. Amanda and I decided to go celebrity house-hunting in the afternoon. You can't really see much of the houses but you can see the front gates and the tops of the houses. We saw everyone from Tom Cruise to David Boreanaz to the Playboy Mansion and Jodie Foster. My personal favorite was Ellen's house though. We didn't realize her house was on a personal street so we turned onto it and dead-ended into her driveway. While Amanda's taking pictures out the window we hear that ominous speaker voice say a very menacing, "Can I help you?". Ohhhhh snap! We freaked out but I had to 3-point turn to get out of there so it took a little bit. It was so scary! A complete invasion of privacy of course but hey, we didn't realize it was a private drive! So we came up with a couple of possible scenarios for what will become of this...each getting progressively worse. A) The gate guy will think "stupid Florida tourists" B) The gate guy will show my photo to Ellen's personal assistant Craig who knows me C) The guy who's voice we heard at the gate was Craig D) They took down my lisence plate number and are reporting me for stalking (which would be totally ironic seeing as how things I've done to get close to the Jonas Brothers have been far more intense and illegal) or E) Ellen gets a restraining order against me and I never get to meet her. :( So far, none of the above have occured but it was a funny situation anyhow.
My WONDERFUL parents sent me an awesome package with gift cards for food out here (YAY!). Their only request (or should I say demand) was that I use them to get vegetables (My mom is concerned with my overload of fro-yo intake). So, per request, Amanda and I went to Boston Market and ate our veggies so we'd grow big (well, not Amanda) and have good eyesight (well, not Amanda). Mom, I sent you a picture message as proof! Thank you thank you for the gift cards!! Free food is always appreciated. :) Tomorrow Amanda departs and I will be very sorry to see her go. It's been straight go-go-go for the last week with all my friends in town but I've really loved being busy and doing so many exciting things around LA so it will be very lonely around here when she leaves. Still, she's trying to remain on East Coast time so we're going to bed early (by we I mean she's already asleep and I'm heading that way). Until tomorrow..."You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!"
After such a preposterous and exciting morning, we ate lunch at the Farmer's Market/The Grove and then went our seperate ways. Amanda and I decided to go celebrity house-hunting in the afternoon. You can't really see much of the houses but you can see the front gates and the tops of the houses. We saw everyone from Tom Cruise to David Boreanaz to the Playboy Mansion and Jodie Foster. My personal favorite was Ellen's house though. We didn't realize her house was on a personal street so we turned onto it and dead-ended into her driveway. While Amanda's taking pictures out the window we hear that ominous speaker voice say a very menacing, "Can I help you?". Ohhhhh snap! We freaked out but I had to 3-point turn to get out of there so it took a little bit. It was so scary! A complete invasion of privacy of course but hey, we didn't realize it was a private drive! So we came up with a couple of possible scenarios for what will become of this...each getting progressively worse. A) The gate guy will think "stupid Florida tourists" B) The gate guy will show my photo to Ellen's personal assistant Craig who knows me C) The guy who's voice we heard at the gate was Craig D) They took down my lisence plate number and are reporting me for stalking (which would be totally ironic seeing as how things I've done to get close to the Jonas Brothers have been far more intense and illegal) or E) Ellen gets a restraining order against me and I never get to meet her. :( So far, none of the above have occured but it was a funny situation anyhow.
My WONDERFUL parents sent me an awesome package with gift cards for food out here (YAY!). Their only request (or should I say demand) was that I use them to get vegetables (My mom is concerned with my overload of fro-yo intake). So, per request, Amanda and I went to Boston Market and ate our veggies so we'd grow big (well, not Amanda) and have good eyesight (well, not Amanda). Mom, I sent you a picture message as proof! Thank you thank you for the gift cards!! Free food is always appreciated. :) Tomorrow Amanda departs and I will be very sorry to see her go. It's been straight go-go-go for the last week with all my friends in town but I've really loved being busy and doing so many exciting things around LA so it will be very lonely around here when she leaves. Still, she's trying to remain on East Coast time so we're going to bed early (by we I mean she's already asleep and I'm heading that way). Until tomorrow..."You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!"
Monday, July 6, 2009
"You're the coolest sister ever!"
Yes, ladies and gentleman...that is a direct quote from my sister, Amanda Noriega. Sure enough, my job officially makes me the coolest sister ever. No matter that she has top-secret government clearance or just got a job working with NASA...I let her sit in Ellen's chair! Haha, today I took Amanda to the WB lot and showed her around. We went to the stage, the office, and spent lots of time just golf-carting randomly around the backlot and listening to the official tour guides by piggybacking on their tours. Amanda kept saying she felt like we were going to get in trouble any minute. She thought it was very cool that we had free reign and were unaccompanied. Yeah, I'm such a boss. We went into the WB museum on the lot and got to see props and costumes from TONS of different movies like Mummy, Miss Congeniality, The Departed, The Matrix etc. The second floor was devoted entirely to Harry Potter which was...AMAZING of course. (I should note: the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin...apropo?) The whole time I was at the museum looking and touching all these cool clothes that famous actors wore, I kept thinking, "Tricia would KILL to be here" haha. Sadly, Tricia is a wussy and won't fly on a plane so she won't get to experience the awesome WB lot tour and museum a la Hilary. However, Amanda did not dissapoint.
It was like taking an Amish kid to a candy store! Her face lit up with every new thing we did or saw...it was great!! She LOVED the whole 5 1/2 hours we spent wandering the stage and lot. That's what I call a deluxe tour. It was so much fun to see her get all excited so I'm glad I got to show her around. It's once in a lifetime you get the chance to dance over Ellen's table, play ping-pong on her table, ride her bike and use her megafone. The chance you get when your super-cool sister works there. :) Overall, Amanda had a blast and got some sweet pictures so the tour was a total success.
Afterwards, we went to Menchie's (and by "we" I mean me because Amanda punked out) and then picked up Austin and drove through the Hollywood Hills to see the Hollywood sign. Luckily it was easy to find since I had just been there. We took some pictures then dropped Austin back off and went home. Tonight Amanda requested authentic Mexican food so we tried a place that one of the producers at work recommended to me. Talk about authentic! The salsa was so spicy Amy and I couldn't eat it and the food was incredible! The best part was how the entire Mexican restaurant was adorned with American flag paraphanalia covering every inch of the mexican decor up. Overcompensating perhaps? Well it worked; they may have had margaritas that were straight mexican tequila but we didn't dare question their loyalty to the good ol' U.S. of A. Once we returned home we tried watching a movie (Entraptment if you must know....gosh -must you know every detail?) but we were all too tired and ended the movie early to go to bed. My overexcited sister wore herself out and is sleeping soundly as I blog dutifully. We're up very early tomorrow for an interesting and comical LA experience on which I will report tomorrow.
P.S. Pray for my mommy who tore her hamstring this weekend. She's on crutches and won't be able to do any dog trials for a few months. :(
It was like taking an Amish kid to a candy store! Her face lit up with every new thing we did or saw...it was great!! She LOVED the whole 5 1/2 hours we spent wandering the stage and lot. That's what I call a deluxe tour. It was so much fun to see her get all excited so I'm glad I got to show her around. It's once in a lifetime you get the chance to dance over Ellen's table, play ping-pong on her table, ride her bike and use her megafone. The chance you get when your super-cool sister works there. :) Overall, Amanda had a blast and got some sweet pictures so the tour was a total success.
Afterwards, we went to Menchie's (and by "we" I mean me because Amanda punked out) and then picked up Austin and drove through the Hollywood Hills to see the Hollywood sign. Luckily it was easy to find since I had just been there. We took some pictures then dropped Austin back off and went home. Tonight Amanda requested authentic Mexican food so we tried a place that one of the producers at work recommended to me. Talk about authentic! The salsa was so spicy Amy and I couldn't eat it and the food was incredible! The best part was how the entire Mexican restaurant was adorned with American flag paraphanalia covering every inch of the mexican decor up. Overcompensating perhaps? Well it worked; they may have had margaritas that were straight mexican tequila but we didn't dare question their loyalty to the good ol' U.S. of A. Once we returned home we tried watching a movie (Entraptment if you must know....gosh -must you know every detail?) but we were all too tired and ended the movie early to go to bed. My overexcited sister wore herself out and is sleeping soundly as I blog dutifully. We're up very early tomorrow for an interesting and comical LA experience on which I will report tomorrow.
P.S. Pray for my mommy who tore her hamstring this weekend. She's on crutches and won't be able to do any dog trials for a few months. :(
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Universal...squared
Today was another day of wee sleep. I woke up at 4:30am to take Heather and Abes to the airport and after a very sad farewell, drove the long way home with my vision blurred by tears. Not really, but I was very sorry to see them go. I had a great visit with them and I m miss them already! Heather tells me she's already missing the fro-yo. (See people, I'm not making this up. It's an experience.)
Since my 1 day ticket got me in a second day free, Amanda and I went to Universal Studios Hollywood today. The difference? A few thousand people. There was no one there!! It was so nice that it wasn't very crowded and it made it much easier to see everything. We saw all the shows but one and went on every ride...several times each! We even walked right on to The Mummy 3 times in a row! You should have seen Amanda's face the first time when they shot us out in the beginning. Classic! The lack of tourists was amazing considering the fact that when I was there Friday, the wait was over 65 minutes. So Amanda got to see the Universal Studios backlot tour, the last of the backlot tours of LA that she hadn't seen in her 5 past trips out here. (Yeah that's right...my family totally left me in FL twice on trips to LA.) So now Amanda's seen them all and is a genius when it comes to backlot tours.
We finished our repeat rides and shows and were home by five. Then we changed and went out to dinner with Amy at The Grove/Farmers Market. Austin met us over there too and we all had a nice dinner. We even had Nutella crepes (THE BEST...if you've never tried one...find them) which was a total throwback to our trip to France. (Ahh, how I miss you Europe.) After dinner I FINALLY joined the rest of the under 30 world and saw The Hangover. FUNNY! It was stupid funny and at a times a little ridiculous but it was still hilarious. (Mom - you won't like it) Now it's time for bed and Amanda's bunking on the airmattress in my room. Who's sleeping at who's feet now sis?!?! Muuuahaha!
Since my 1 day ticket got me in a second day free, Amanda and I went to Universal Studios Hollywood today. The difference? A few thousand people. There was no one there!! It was so nice that it wasn't very crowded and it made it much easier to see everything. We saw all the shows but one and went on every ride...several times each! We even walked right on to The Mummy 3 times in a row! You should have seen Amanda's face the first time when they shot us out in the beginning. Classic! The lack of tourists was amazing considering the fact that when I was there Friday, the wait was over 65 minutes. So Amanda got to see the Universal Studios backlot tour, the last of the backlot tours of LA that she hadn't seen in her 5 past trips out here. (Yeah that's right...my family totally left me in FL twice on trips to LA.) So now Amanda's seen them all and is a genius when it comes to backlot tours.
We finished our repeat rides and shows and were home by five. Then we changed and went out to dinner with Amy at The Grove/Farmers Market. Austin met us over there too and we all had a nice dinner. We even had Nutella crepes (THE BEST...if you've never tried one...find them) which was a total throwback to our trip to France. (Ahh, how I miss you Europe.) After dinner I FINALLY joined the rest of the under 30 world and saw The Hangover. FUNNY! It was stupid funny and at a times a little ridiculous but it was still hilarious. (Mom - you won't like it) Now it's time for bed and Amanda's bunking on the airmattress in my room. Who's sleeping at who's feet now sis?!?! Muuuahaha!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Santa Monica
I woke up early this morning to go to LAX and pick up my favorite sister in the whole wide world from the airport. YAY! I'm so glad she came to visit me!! :) When I got back to the house, Heather and Abrams were all ready and we headed out to check out Santa Monica. We walked along the beach, went to the pier, got funnel cakes, watched some cool street performers...and we were freezing! It was unexpectedly cloudy all morning so we were pretty cold. We decided to get away from the ocean breeze and check out the Promenade which was also really cool. Abrams' friend from high school, Dylan (who moved out here 2 weeks ago to be an actor) met up with us. My friend Sara (who is my Telecom Co-Chair in Cicerones and is out in LA for a few weeks doing a Film program with USC) also met up with us and brought her friend Chris. So, we turned into a group of 7 enjoying the shops and sights along the Promenade. Noteably, the monkey who would shake your hand for a dollar. Then he bit someone. It was fantastic.
Around eleven the sun came out in all it's California glory so we walked back to the water. We got lunch on the pier then rode the famous Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel. The view from up there was beautiful! You could see where the ocean met the mountains and the HUGE beach with all the crazy 4th of July-ers setting up camp. It was really rad. We saw some break dancers perform and watched the trapeze school practicing before walking back along the beach. The group hung out at this really cool jungle gym they have on the beach. It's hard to explain but it's a massive area of every piece of equiptment imagineable. We just went on the swings while we watched people on gymnastics equiptment and all sorts of fancy things. Abrams tried to climb the rope (yes, like 90's gym class style) and got totally schooled by Heather, Amanda and a bunch of little girls who tried later haha. But it was a noble effort. I later got equally roasted on the monkey bars by a little boy so that's that. We sat on the swings and the sand and watched the people and the pier and just talked for a few hours before splitting up and heading home. Santa Monica was a lot closer than I realized so I'll definitely be heading back there. It was really cool meeting Dylan and getting to hang out with Sara! They're cool people (if nothing else, by association because we are, of course, the coolest).
So we headed home (a little sunburnt) and after a short Lady Gaga dance party in Amy's room, we showered and went to a fancy dinner at a really nice Italian place. The food was delicious and we had a great time laughing and telling stories. Poor Amanda was exhausted from waking up so early for her flight so we hurried home (deciding against the optional fro-yo run). In honor of the U.S. of A (since we saw no fireworks) we did a few poppers, courtesy of Shaia, in the front yard. Then it was off to bed for Amanda while Heather and Abrams and I played some cards. We watched a little of Knocked Up with Amy and Shaia and now I'm hitting the sack as well. I have to wake up at 5am to take Heather and Abrams to the airport. I'm so sad they're leaving!! It's been so much fun having them here and we've done so many awesome, cool things. I wish they could stay longer. :( I'm going to miss them!
Around eleven the sun came out in all it's California glory so we walked back to the water. We got lunch on the pier then rode the famous Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel. The view from up there was beautiful! You could see where the ocean met the mountains and the HUGE beach with all the crazy 4th of July-ers setting up camp. It was really rad. We saw some break dancers perform and watched the trapeze school practicing before walking back along the beach. The group hung out at this really cool jungle gym they have on the beach. It's hard to explain but it's a massive area of every piece of equiptment imagineable. We just went on the swings while we watched people on gymnastics equiptment and all sorts of fancy things. Abrams tried to climb the rope (yes, like 90's gym class style) and got totally schooled by Heather, Amanda and a bunch of little girls who tried later haha. But it was a noble effort. I later got equally roasted on the monkey bars by a little boy so that's that. We sat on the swings and the sand and watched the people and the pier and just talked for a few hours before splitting up and heading home. Santa Monica was a lot closer than I realized so I'll definitely be heading back there. It was really cool meeting Dylan and getting to hang out with Sara! They're cool people (if nothing else, by association because we are, of course, the coolest).
So we headed home (a little sunburnt) and after a short Lady Gaga dance party in Amy's room, we showered and went to a fancy dinner at a really nice Italian place. The food was delicious and we had a great time laughing and telling stories. Poor Amanda was exhausted from waking up so early for her flight so we hurried home (deciding against the optional fro-yo run). In honor of the U.S. of A (since we saw no fireworks) we did a few poppers, courtesy of Shaia, in the front yard. Then it was off to bed for Amanda while Heather and Abrams and I played some cards. We watched a little of Knocked Up with Amy and Shaia and now I'm hitting the sack as well. I have to wake up at 5am to take Heather and Abrams to the airport. I'm so sad they're leaving!! It's been so much fun having them here and we've done so many awesome, cool things. I wish they could stay longer. :( I'm going to miss them!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Universal Studios...
...Hollywood style. The title says it all. Today we 3 crazy kids spent the day at Universal Studios Hollywood the "Entertainment Capital of LA" (self-proclaimed). We had a lot of fun and the weather was absolutely perfect! High of 79, no clouds, no humidity and a light breeze. Most of the rides are very similar to Orlando including Jurassic Park, The Mummy, The Simpsons etc but they are all just a little different. The shows were pretty cool too. We saw an animal actors show, an Earthquake type show and several 3-D, 4-D, simulator shows. (Soap box - the 4th dimension is time, so how can they call spraying you with water 4-D?) Anyhow, we had a lot of fun and spent 9 hours at the park making sure we got everything in.
My favorite thing hands-down was the Universal Backlot Tour. Most of the big studios in LA have tours of their lots (including mine, the WB lot) but Universal's is a long ordeal and sine they made their lot into a theme park, they made the backlot tour into a "ride" so it's really great! We drove down Wysteria Lane from Desperate Housewives and saw where Ghost Wisperer and Conan film as well as movies like the Mummy, Pirates and lots of Hitchcock classics. Very cool stuff! The whole park is smaller than Orlando but they crammed quite a lot in there. We were so exhausted from our busy day that we decided to nix our big dinner plans and just make pasta at home. Of course, top of my "LA List" to share with people is my love for Fro-Yo so we had to hit Pinkberry after dinner so I could spread the love. Heather and Abrams both loved it, as I knew they would. It's irresitable! :)
I'm waking up quite early tomorrow to go pick up Amanda from the airport. That's right, my incredibly level-headed, stingy sister made a crazy, spontaneous decision to buy a plane ticket and come visit me for a few days!! I can't wait to show her around too! I'm starting to feel like a cruise director planning activities for guests but I love having the company. :) Now I know how Aunt Sharon and Uncle Gary must feel at Hotel de Proctor in St. Louis. So because my lovely sister is flying in so early...I must get to bed immediately. Heather and Abrams already beat me to their air mattress those lucky ducks.
P.S. Many of you have expressed concern for my emotional state upon hearing the news of Kevin Jonas' engagement to long-time girlfriend Danielle. It was expected and therefore I am fine. No tears were shed, I promise haha. I'll just have to find myself another clean-cut, goody-goody, attractive, rich and famous rock star to marry- no sweat! (Currently taking applications if you know any...)
My favorite thing hands-down was the Universal Backlot Tour. Most of the big studios in LA have tours of their lots (including mine, the WB lot) but Universal's is a long ordeal and sine they made their lot into a theme park, they made the backlot tour into a "ride" so it's really great! We drove down Wysteria Lane from Desperate Housewives and saw where Ghost Wisperer and Conan film as well as movies like the Mummy, Pirates and lots of Hitchcock classics. Very cool stuff! The whole park is smaller than Orlando but they crammed quite a lot in there. We were so exhausted from our busy day that we decided to nix our big dinner plans and just make pasta at home. Of course, top of my "LA List" to share with people is my love for Fro-Yo so we had to hit Pinkberry after dinner so I could spread the love. Heather and Abrams both loved it, as I knew they would. It's irresitable! :)
I'm waking up quite early tomorrow to go pick up Amanda from the airport. That's right, my incredibly level-headed, stingy sister made a crazy, spontaneous decision to buy a plane ticket and come visit me for a few days!! I can't wait to show her around too! I'm starting to feel like a cruise director planning activities for guests but I love having the company. :) Now I know how Aunt Sharon and Uncle Gary must feel at Hotel de Proctor in St. Louis. So because my lovely sister is flying in so early...I must get to bed immediately. Heather and Abrams already beat me to their air mattress those lucky ducks.
P.S. Many of you have expressed concern for my emotional state upon hearing the news of Kevin Jonas' engagement to long-time girlfriend Danielle. It was expected and therefore I am fine. No tears were shed, I promise haha. I'll just have to find myself another clean-cut, goody-goody, attractive, rich and famous rock star to marry- no sweat! (Currently taking applications if you know any...)
Tourist-tastic Day
Never have I felt like such a tourist...and loved it! FINALLY someone is willing to look foolish and take pictures at the most popular tourist spots in LA with me. Today was the tourist's dream. We woke up early and drove to Rodeo Drive. We walked up and down admiring the amazing, beautiful things that we can't afford, all the while scoffing at the ridiculous rich people who can. Namely the tennis club teenage girls who seemed to be stalking/taunting us every store we went. At the end we stumbled upon Crumbs which is a famous cupcake shop in LA - great discovery!! Heather and just read about it in a magazine and I'd heard about it through the grapevine and we just had to try it. They have every type of cupcake flavor imaginable. Cotton Candy, Brownie, Funfetti, Reese's Peanut Butter, MnM, Mint chocolate chip, Carrot cake, Red velvet, Boston Creme...literally everything. We each got a different one and shared and every single bite was delicious! Absolutely incredible. Now we need to go the other famous cupcake place, Sprinkles, to compare. I mean, it's only fair. :)
After Rodeo we headed to Hollywood and Vine to play the ultimate tourist. We saw the Graumen's Chinese Theater, El Capitan Theater, The Kodak Theater and all the stars on the Walk of Fame. We also got to see the impromptu shrine dedicated to Michael Jackson surrounding his star. Next up was Sunset Boulevard. We walked up and down checking out some of the cool nighttime hot spots and clubs like The Roxy, Mel's Diner, Ketchup (the girls on the Hills go there often), XVI, etc. After that we drove up into the Hollywood Hills to get a good view of the famous Hollywood sign. The houses up there were absolutely ridiculous. Ri.Di.Cu.Lous. Absolutely insane! Huge, overlooking the dam and the sign on opposite signs, wrap-around porches, and crazy beautiful foliage. The road was really narrow and windy and difficult to navigate but it was well worth it. Our lookout point was an adorable dog park. If you looked down the mountain on one side you saw the water and the dam, and if you looked up the other way you saw bright and clear, the 9 letters that I see in my dreams...the unmistakeable HOLLYWOOD sign. We took a Facebook-album number of pictures there with strangers dogs, each other in different poses and random people we met on the side of the street. Unfortunately, we had to high-tail it out of there rather quickly toward the end because I accidentally let someone's dog drink some water from the fountain and he got so excited he threw up everywhere. (Ooops! He was okay though just fyi...we checked before we left.) Then we meandered our way back down the Hollywood Hills, whilst coveting the people who live there. By the time we landed back in reality we were all green with envy (or from the sharp turns, I can't be sure which). Our final stop of the afternoon was Chinatown. Heather had never been to the one in NYC so she found it completely sketchy and scary. Understandable because Chinatown in LA and NYC is both sketchy and scary...but that's just part of its charm isn't it? Heather almost bought a duck from one of the shops because he was only $10 and she felt bad for him. She wanted me to keep him in our backyard but I'm not sure that would fly with my temporary roommates.
After we walked up and down Chinatown a bit we headed back home for a brief overture. An hour and half later we headed back out to The Grove. This place is the cutest, coolest shopping center/eatery I have ever seen! It's like a mini-Hyde Park but classier. Attached to The Grove is a place called the Farmer's Market (it's not an actual farmer's market, it's the name of the area). There are tons of authentic restaurants in every genre of food you could want. Abrams and I settled on Mexican while Heather got Greek. The food was incredible and the atmosphere was so cool! It was like a classy outdoor food court with a loveable ambience and bustling people and tables with umbrellas to sit under and enjoy the lovely sunny (not rainy or muggy haha) California weather. We rounded off our incredibly busy day with a movie on the lawn which they do every Thursday at the Grove. We set down our blankets and popped open a bottle of Cabernet and enjoyed Transformers on the projector screen with a crowded lawn of new friends. There was actually movie trivia before the feature presentation started and I won!! I sealed my victory with the "famous quote of Indigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. (Anyone?) My prize was a super-rad Transformers t-shirt, in case my new Ellen wardrobe wasn't enough.
Eventually it got pretty chilly so once the movie was over we were happy to head home to our beds. It was an insanely long and busy day packed with a tourist's perfect schedule. We came, we saw, we photographed, we conquered. Two more days to make a mockery of tacky LA sights...are we up to it? Ohhhhh yeah.
After Rodeo we headed to Hollywood and Vine to play the ultimate tourist. We saw the Graumen's Chinese Theater, El Capitan Theater, The Kodak Theater and all the stars on the Walk of Fame. We also got to see the impromptu shrine dedicated to Michael Jackson surrounding his star. Next up was Sunset Boulevard. We walked up and down checking out some of the cool nighttime hot spots and clubs like The Roxy, Mel's Diner, Ketchup (the girls on the Hills go there often), XVI, etc. After that we drove up into the Hollywood Hills to get a good view of the famous Hollywood sign. The houses up there were absolutely ridiculous. Ri.Di.Cu.Lous. Absolutely insane! Huge, overlooking the dam and the sign on opposite signs, wrap-around porches, and crazy beautiful foliage. The road was really narrow and windy and difficult to navigate but it was well worth it. Our lookout point was an adorable dog park. If you looked down the mountain on one side you saw the water and the dam, and if you looked up the other way you saw bright and clear, the 9 letters that I see in my dreams...the unmistakeable HOLLYWOOD sign. We took a Facebook-album number of pictures there with strangers dogs, each other in different poses and random people we met on the side of the street. Unfortunately, we had to high-tail it out of there rather quickly toward the end because I accidentally let someone's dog drink some water from the fountain and he got so excited he threw up everywhere. (Ooops! He was okay though just fyi...we checked before we left.) Then we meandered our way back down the Hollywood Hills, whilst coveting the people who live there. By the time we landed back in reality we were all green with envy (or from the sharp turns, I can't be sure which). Our final stop of the afternoon was Chinatown. Heather had never been to the one in NYC so she found it completely sketchy and scary. Understandable because Chinatown in LA and NYC is both sketchy and scary...but that's just part of its charm isn't it? Heather almost bought a duck from one of the shops because he was only $10 and she felt bad for him. She wanted me to keep him in our backyard but I'm not sure that would fly with my temporary roommates.
After we walked up and down Chinatown a bit we headed back home for a brief overture. An hour and half later we headed back out to The Grove. This place is the cutest, coolest shopping center/eatery I have ever seen! It's like a mini-Hyde Park but classier. Attached to The Grove is a place called the Farmer's Market (it's not an actual farmer's market, it's the name of the area). There are tons of authentic restaurants in every genre of food you could want. Abrams and I settled on Mexican while Heather got Greek. The food was incredible and the atmosphere was so cool! It was like a classy outdoor food court with a loveable ambience and bustling people and tables with umbrellas to sit under and enjoy the lovely sunny (not rainy or muggy haha) California weather. We rounded off our incredibly busy day with a movie on the lawn which they do every Thursday at the Grove. We set down our blankets and popped open a bottle of Cabernet and enjoyed Transformers on the projector screen with a crowded lawn of new friends. There was actually movie trivia before the feature presentation started and I won!! I sealed my victory with the "famous quote of Indigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. (Anyone?) My prize was a super-rad Transformers t-shirt, in case my new Ellen wardrobe wasn't enough.
Eventually it got pretty chilly so once the movie was over we were happy to head home to our beds. It was an insanely long and busy day packed with a tourist's perfect schedule. We came, we saw, we photographed, we conquered. Two more days to make a mockery of tacky LA sights...are we up to it? Ohhhhh yeah.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Heather and Abrams are here!!!
YAY!! I am so excited to have someone from home visiting me!! Late last night I picked up Heather and Abrams at LAX (their flight was an hour late so I slept in my car in a parking garage...the true classy thing to do). We came home and pretty much went straight to bed.
This morning we woke up early and they drove with me to work. They came onto the lot and I showed them the office, the Ellen stage and we took a long golf cart tour of the backlot and sets for Gilmore Girls, Spiderman and other movies with the other interns. I hadn't had the time to look that in depth and take pictures and go inside the houses and stuff so it was really cool. Plus Austin had recently taken the offical WB Studio Tour so he remembered a lot of the information and acted as our tour guide. We also just latched onto a real tour group and listened to that guide (shh...they'll never know). :) It was so much fun showing them around and taking funny pictures. I think they really liked seeing the stage especially. We may have converted Mr. Tough Guy Abrams into a stalkeresque Ellen fan. Success! Haha, it was a great morning and we finished it with a round of ping-pong in the office and lunch at the Com.
This afternoon H and A went to Venice Beach while I finished my day at work. I researched celebrities, they researched suntanning; I answered phones, they answered the call of the ocean; I saw Ellen's face all over the walls, they saw beach babes and muscle men. Basically, as you can tell, our afternoons were exactly the same. Then they came back to pick me up at work and we headed home. I've never seen someone so eager to get rid of car keys haha...I don't think Abrams liked driving in LA. We were all really tired from our sorry excuse for a night's worth of sleep so we decided on an easy, early night in. We went to Del Taco (Heather's first Mexican fast-food experience) and then baked homemade low-fat cheesecake brownies from a book Heather brought me. They were DELICIOUS! (And the roommies were all really grateful.) Now we've planned an exciting, touristy, fun-filled day for tomorrow...but you'll have to wait for another blog to hear what's in store! I shall leave you with a quote from the oh-so-wise Miley Cyrus, "Never aviod trying new things. Remember, an amateur built the arc and a professional built the Titanic." (Ooo...burn!)
This morning we woke up early and they drove with me to work. They came onto the lot and I showed them the office, the Ellen stage and we took a long golf cart tour of the backlot and sets for Gilmore Girls, Spiderman and other movies with the other interns. I hadn't had the time to look that in depth and take pictures and go inside the houses and stuff so it was really cool. Plus Austin had recently taken the offical WB Studio Tour so he remembered a lot of the information and acted as our tour guide. We also just latched onto a real tour group and listened to that guide (shh...they'll never know). :) It was so much fun showing them around and taking funny pictures. I think they really liked seeing the stage especially. We may have converted Mr. Tough Guy Abrams into a stalkeresque Ellen fan. Success! Haha, it was a great morning and we finished it with a round of ping-pong in the office and lunch at the Com.
This afternoon H and A went to Venice Beach while I finished my day at work. I researched celebrities, they researched suntanning; I answered phones, they answered the call of the ocean; I saw Ellen's face all over the walls, they saw beach babes and muscle men. Basically, as you can tell, our afternoons were exactly the same. Then they came back to pick me up at work and we headed home. I've never seen someone so eager to get rid of car keys haha...I don't think Abrams liked driving in LA. We were all really tired from our sorry excuse for a night's worth of sleep so we decided on an easy, early night in. We went to Del Taco (Heather's first Mexican fast-food experience) and then baked homemade low-fat cheesecake brownies from a book Heather brought me. They were DELICIOUS! (And the roommies were all really grateful.) Now we've planned an exciting, touristy, fun-filled day for tomorrow...but you'll have to wait for another blog to hear what's in store! I shall leave you with a quote from the oh-so-wise Miley Cyrus, "Never aviod trying new things. Remember, an amateur built the arc and a professional built the Titanic." (Ooo...burn!)
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