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21st Jan 2010

Thursday // 11pm // 2 years ago

Needed: A job, friends & furniture.

It’s been so long since I last wrote.  Going home for Christmas was absolutely amazing, a much needed trip to Massachusetts and visit with family & friends.  Now, I’m back in LA attempting to survive on an Aldo paycheck and a lack of furniture.  I’ve been applying for jobs and it’s definitely a work in progress.  Meanwhile, I’ve been clocking in a decent amount of hours at Aldo Accessories and attempting to make myself some new friends.  It’s very strange no longer being in school where I see my friends on a daily basis.  If I’m not spending time hanging out with Amy then I’m spending it hanging out with Bill and vice versa with a few other people tossed in here and there.  I may have to resort to placing an ad for friends pretty soon.  This entire week it’s been raining in LA, someone came running into Aldo yesterday yelling that there was a monsoon outside.  Slightly melodramatic though I do hear there are mudslides.  Today I had the day off from work and I spent it watching TV, working on my puzzle, reading, applying for more jobs, surfing the internet, running some errands with Amy, dinner with Bill, and more TV. My other day off is tomorrow, I may go a little stir crazy before then.  The most exciting thing to happen since I’ve gotten back to California three weeks ago was the fact that Doris Roberts was at the table next to Bill and me when we went to dinner at the Grove.  Aside from that, things are basically the same.  All my things are unpacked in my new apartment but the only furniture in my bedroom right now is a mattress on the floor (with beautiful eggplant sheets that compliment my leopard blanket very nicely) and a post office box I use as a nightstand.  It’s pretty sad but everything is very level on the ground and at least I have a mattress.  As of right now, we don’t have a couch in the living room either and just sit on a mattress pad to watch television, hopefully that situation will be remedied this weekend.  My back is killing me from a combination of sitting on the hardwood floor to watch television and bending over to build my puzzle; it’s pretty tough having nothing legitimate to do all day. Fingers crossed for a job, some friends, and furniture in the near future.

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03rd Dec 2009

Thursday // 4pm // 2 years ago

The Weekend of Endless Eating.

This weekend basically started on Wednesday.  I didn’t have Lifetime or Aldo so, I slept in, watched Young and the Restless, and had breakfast.  Amy Rogers had to pick up some last minute things at the grocery store so I decided to go with her.  While we were out we saw that some apartment complexes were having open houses so we decided to stop and look at a few.  A couple hours later, we went back to our apartment so Amy could start cooking.  While she cooked, I stayed out of her way and cleaned our apartment.  Then, Amy came home from work and the three of us dyed our hair.  Heather came over with art supplies and we made decorations for Thanksgiving while we had dinner and watched Glee.  While we were watching television, Amy Rogers had an apple pie in the oven.  Distracted by whatever we were watching on television, all of a sudden the apartment was kind of smoky.  Amy Rogers ran to the oven and Amy grabbed a pillow and started fanning the smoke detector.  This wasn’t the first time our oven has burnt something and caused a small fire.  The beautiful homemade apple pie was completely blackened on top.  It still smelled delicious though.  Aside from the smoke, it was a pretty uneventful day.

On Thursday, we all woke up fairly early.  Amy Rogers made stuffing and turkey while Amy and I watched the parade.  Once Amy was finished in the kitchen, Amy Levesque made meat pie.  Meanwhile, I continued to watch the parade and get dressed. Then, Heather came over and I made fruit dip.  We all watched the dog show and I wanted the Scottish dog to win and it did :) Erica, Anh, and Brock then came over and we started watching Hercules on ABC Family while Amy Rogers finished cooking.  Once things were finished we all realized that no one knew how to actually carve a turkey.  We all made Brock look up a “How to Carve a Turkey” video on youtube and Brock and Amy tackled the turkey carving while Amy Rogers put out the food and I poured drinks.  The food was delicious; we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed onions, homemade cranberry sauce, carrots in a maple sauce, and Brock made caprese salad.  We went around the table, said what we were thankful for, and ate.  After dinner, Anh had to go have Thanksgiving with other people before his flight home and Erica had to leave.  We then sat on the couch and started watching About a Boy.  A few minutes into the movie I left to have Thanksgiving Number 2 at Bill’s house.  All his family was there and we sat in the living room and chatted before eating.  There they had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, 2 types of cranberry sauce, asparagus, creamed spinach, and salad.  It was delicious.  After dinner, we had dessert.  They had plenty of pies but I just had a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Once we were all sufficiently stuffed, we sat around the table and talked then we moved back into the living room.  I had a really great time and it was fun meeting everyone.  By the time ten rolled around, I had entered my food coma and went to sleep the second I got back to the Oakwoods.  As much as I wished I was at home, it ended up being a pretty good Thanksgiving. 

On Friday, I slept in pretty late and then Bill and I went to lunch at the Daily Grill.  After lunch, we went to go pick up Heather so she could go get her car from the shop.  Then, I went back to my apartment to get ready for Black Friday at Aldo Accessories. Booo. The mall was ridiculously packed and it took me forever to find a parking spot.  When I walked into the store it was SO busy.  I ended up selling around $1100 in accessories and had the top sales! :) It took us a pretty long time to close and I was eager to go home.  I got back from work around 11, watched some TV, and went to bed.

On Saturday, I did some homework in the morning and then I had to get ready to go to work again.  We were ridiculously slow all day and kept getting returns.  Friday I surprisingly enjoyed working at the accessory story, Saturday I went back to dislike.  It was a very boring day and I had to keep the store open an hour later to make our week.  We ended up being short on the week and didn’t leave until an hour after we were supposed to be there.  After work, I drove to Bill’s house to drop off my car and then he and I went to Phillipes for dinner.  It was SO good.  The restaurant was wicked trendy and our waitress was really great.

Sunday morning, I got up pretty early and got ready then Bill and I went to brunch with his family at the Ivy.  The restaurant was beautiful; we sat outside and it was really cute.  Brunch was delicious then we went back to Bill’s house and he did homework and I read my book.  After, he and I drove down to Rodeo Drive because I had never walked around down there.  We looked at all the stores I couldn’t afford and I saw the hotel in Pretty Woman.  After that, I went back to Bill’s house to grab my truck and drove back to the accessory store.  I got a lecture about how I need to be a louder, more aggressive sales person. It was a boring day.  After work, Bill and I went to Don Cucos for dinner then I went back to the Oakwoods and ended up staying up pretty late to finish reading my book.  It was a very fun weekend filled with food.  If there’s one thing I’m not it’s a staving college student.

22nd Nov 2009

Sunday // 7pm // 2 years ago

November 20-22.

This weekend has been pretty uneventful.  I started at Aldo Accessories on Thursday morning and honestly hated every second of it.  Accessories are so small and obnoxious.  But, I did have my first experience at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  Their vanilla latte is absolutely delicious and definitely beats Starbucks.  After work, I went back to the Oakwoods to watch television and get ready for class.  Before class, Erica and I went to Starbucks for our traditional get-me-through-this-four-hour-class coffee and to my surprise the eggnog latte is back. yummm.  Still dreaming of my Dunkin’ Donuts dunkachino though :( We discussed quality TV in class and the four hours went by pretty quickly.  We watched The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, and Carnivale.  After class, my friend Minting’s car wouldn’t start.  10:30pm isn’t an ideal time to deal with car issues especially when it’s Minting, Erica, and Liz… people who know nothing about cars.  We left her car there and then on Friday morning I took Minting back to the garage and we called AAA.  She ended up having the battery and connectors replaced.  After the garage thing, I went back to the Oakwoods to watch my stories and have lunch before going to work.  I was scheduled to work 5-9:30 but when I got there I was told that they had to do a sequence change and asked me to stay.  Having no plans for the evening, I said yes.  When 1:30 in the morning approached, I seriously regretted that decision.  I built the window and everything about it was beautiful.  I’m so proud :) I didn’t end up getting home from work until 2am and I was completely exhausted.  I slept in pretty late and then I went to pick up Erica so we could to go Emerson and get a turkey for Thanksgiving.  After that, Erica and I went over Heather’s and we attempted to make homemade dunkachinos and watched Friends.  The dunkachinos were actually pretty good, no Dunkin’ Donuts though.  Then we thought we’d go for a walk.  We drove around LA for a while and then went to this random park in the Hollywood Hills.  There were many dogs there, I stayed far far away.  After our walk, we went back to Heather’s and then Amy and Amy joined us.  We all chatted for awhile and then we went back to our apartment to make dinner.  Then, I checked the mail and got a letter saying that I was chosen to be one of 25 seniors at Emerson for Who’s Who of American College Students.  That was exciting.  We then had dinner and watching Aladdin.  A wonderfully eventful Saturday night.  Then, Erica left and Amy, Amy, Heather and I got sucked into watching some cat special on Animal Planet.  It was pretty pathetic on many levels.  On Sunday morning, I had to open at work.  At first my password wouldn’t work so I had to call the shoe store manager over to help me.  It wasn’t too bad of a day at Aldo, I wasn’t doing too great with my sales and then the last person I helped bought over $200 in accessories.  Woo! I don’t completely fail at selling accessories.  After work, I went to CVS to buy nail glue because two of my perfect, beautiful nails cracked so low I had to glue ome of them. :( Then I got a sandwich from Subway and went back to my apartment to do homework.  I then found Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 on HBO on demand and decided watching that would be a more productive use of my time.  It was wonderful and I did my homework once I finished.  I’m pretty excited for Thanksgiving this week, though I do wish I could go home for it.  Christmas music started on the radio this weekend which is very strange.  Listening to Christmas music with the windows rolled down and flip flops on is truly unnatural.  I’m definitely ready for the holiday season where it was meant to be celebrated, on the East Coast.

22nd Nov 2009

Sunday // 6pm // 2 years ago

November 13-15.

On Friday morning, I had another interview at Aldo Accessories but this time it was with the district manager.  I met with her and we talked about the intensity that is Aldo.  It turns out that my manager on Newbury Street, Stephane, was her first ever visual presentation head office visit.  Needless to say, I was hired and am now a part time key holder at the Beverly Center Aldo Accessories.  After my interview I met Bill at his house and we decided to make apple pie with the apples we had picked the weekend before.  Strangely enough, we are pretty talented when in comes to pie making.  That is, the pies looked beautiful! I’m not too sure about the taste, I don’t eat pie.  After our baking adventures, we had dinner and then I came back to the Oakwoods and watched Legally Blond with Heather, Amy and Amy.  On Saturday afternoon, I met Danny Zack at Sherman Oaks and had lunch with him.  I haven’t seen him in forever and it was great to catch up and hear all about his job at Dr. Phil.  When I got back to the Oakwoods, Amy, Amy, and I decided it was a beautiful day and we should go on a walk.  We put on the sneakers we never use and drove to Griffith Park.  We hiked up some of the mountain and watched the sunset, then the signs said, “watch out for mountain lions and rattlesnakes.”  Us city girls were kind of scared and decided it was getting dark and we should go home.  After that I did my laundry and then Bill and I went to a Mexican restaurant called Don CuCos.  It was delicious and I ate way too much.  We then went back to the Oakwoods, met up with some of our friends, and drove to West Hollywood to go to the Abbey.  It was really fun.  We didn’t stay too late though because the Six Flags trip was the next day.  Then on Sunday, Bill, Nikki, and I drove to Six Flags.  We met all the Emerson people there and I experienced my first November amusement park.  It was amazing, there were hardly any lines and a million rollercoasters.  After hours in the park, I was a little rollercoastered out and Bill and I decided to go play in the arcade and win crappy prizes.  Then we got french fries and milkshakes at Johnny Rockets and I watched the log flume and wished it was a little warmer.  That’s one of my favorite rides :( After Six Flags, we came back to the Oakwoods and I took a 2-hour nap.  I was completely exhausted.  Once I woke up from my nap, Bill and I went to Universal City walk and played video games again at Jillian’s, we won over 1200 tickets and could get a lava lamp but we decided to save our tickets and get something really good another time.  After Jillian’s, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and our waiter was intensely crazy.  It was a very fun and exhausting weekend :)

22nd Nov 2009

Sunday // 6pm // 2 years ago
(My Seasonal Weekend - November 6-8th) On Friday morning I got a text from Heather asking me to go to the beach. With nothing to do but errands, I decided to go with her.  I took a shower, threw on my bathing suit, and met her at her apartment.  Then, we decided to stop at CVS to get some snacks for the ride: cheese, crackers, and chocolate cookies.  Neither of us wanted to stay in the Los Angeles area so we decided today would be the perfect day to go to Malibu.  The drive there was absolutely beautiful.  The streets go through mountains and then far in the distance you can see the Pacific Ocean.  We then got on PCH and drove around looking for somewhere to park.  The only public beach we could find had $25 parking and we decided we’d rather just drive.  We drove around Malibu for a while and decided that it might be best to just go to Santa Monica.  As we were driving along the coast, we come to a red light.  The light turned green but nobody moved and… Heather accidentally hit the truck in front of her.   We were totally fine and so was the guy in front of us but, the front end of Heather’s car was pretty badly messed up.  After a much too dramatic and drawn out exchange of information, we decided to continue onto the beach anyway.  We went to Santa Monica and laid out on the sand for a little bit.  I read my book and Heather attempted to relax even though we were both still pretty on edge about the whole accident thing.  After only about 20 minutes on the beach we decided to walk to the pier.  We walked around there for a little bit and rode the ferris wheel.  Then we decided to go back to the Oakwoods.  On our drive back we decided we wanted to drive back through the mountains in Malibu; however, the GPS had other plans for us.  It took us on a terrifying narrow mountain road and we were way too distracted by the sharp turns and lack of guardrails to notice the beautiful scenery.  After 45-minutes of chair-gripping driving, we were returned back to the PCH and realized that the passive-aggressive GPS had just taken us on a 45-minute U-turn back to where we were and ended up at the scene of the crime.  After our horrible loop and Los Angeles traffic, we were back on Sunset Boulevard.  We picked Erica up from work, took showers and regrouped, and went to go visit with Anh Phan who had gotten his wisdom teeth pulled earlier that day.  Then, Bill, Heather, Erica, and I all went to Vons to get food and had a cookout in the South Clubhouse.  For what was supposed to be a relaxing day near the sea, it was long, stressful, and overwhelming.  On Saturday, Emerson was hosting an alumni panel about the web explosion at Bill’s dad’s office.  He and I went to that and the panel was actually really interesting.  Although, I’m not very interested in television and media on the web I learned a lot and I’m glad we went.  After the panel discussion, Bill and I left to go on an adventure but alas I did not have the proper footwear.  Stupidly I only brought the heels I wore to the panel discussion so, we stopped at Payless and I bought a pair of white Keds knock-offs for $14. Then we stopped at Whole Foods to get a small snack and started to drive towards Palmdale because I wanted to go apple picking.  After nearly a 70-mile drive, we arrived in the middle of nowhere at a small farm to pick Southern Californian apples.  It was actually chilly there and the smog-less air even smelled a little bit like Massachusetts. It was a beautiful New England Day, west coast style.  After apple picking, we drove back to Los Angeles and got dinner at this small Italian restaurant.  On Sunday morning, I had an interview with Aldo Accessories at the Beverly Center and so began the fourth time I sold my soul to Le Groupe Aldo.  After my interview, Bill, Heather, and I went to the Griffith Park Observatory for a picnic hosted by Emerson.  There was an amazing view of the city and the observatory was beautiful.  I want to live there!  After that, I had to go buy new sunglasses (I lost them after the unfortunate horse riding incident) and Bill and I decided to drive around the city.  It was a very outdoorsy weekend full of multiple seasons: summer at the beach, fall in pseudo-New England, and spring at the observatory.  Still no winter to be found in LA.

(My Seasonal Weekend - November 6-8th)


On Friday morning I got a text from Heather asking me to go to the beach. With nothing to do but errands, I decided to go with her.  I took a shower, threw on my bathing suit, and met her at her apartment.  Then, we decided to stop at CVS to get some snacks for the ride: cheese, crackers, and chocolate cookies.  Neither of us wanted to stay in the Los Angeles area so we decided today would be the perfect day to go to Malibu.  The drive there was absolutely beautiful.  The streets go through mountains and then far in the distance you can see the Pacific Ocean.  We then got on PCH and drove around looking for somewhere to park.  The only public beach we could find had $25 parking and we decided we’d rather just drive.  We drove around Malibu for a while and decided that it might be best to just go to Santa Monica.  As we were driving along the coast, we come to a red light.  The light turned green but nobody moved and… Heather accidentally hit the truck in front of her.   We were totally fine and so was the guy in front of us but, the front end of Heather’s car was pretty badly messed up.  After a much too dramatic and drawn out exchange of information, we decided to continue onto the beach anyway.  We went to Santa Monica and laid out on the sand for a little bit.  I read my book and Heather attempted to relax even though we were both still pretty on edge about the whole accident thing.  After only about 20 minutes on the beach we decided to walk to the pier.  We walked around there for a little bit and rode the ferris wheel.  Then we decided to go back to the Oakwoods.  On our drive back we decided we wanted to drive back through the mountains in Malibu; however, the GPS had other plans for us.  It took us on a terrifying narrow mountain road and we were way too distracted by the sharp turns and lack of guardrails to notice the beautiful scenery.  After 45-minutes of chair-gripping driving, we were returned back to the PCH and realized that the passive-aggressive GPS had just taken us on a 45-minute U-turn back to where we were and ended up at the scene of the crime.  After our horrible loop and Los Angeles traffic, we were back on Sunset Boulevard.  We picked Erica up from work, took showers and regrouped, and went to go visit with Anh Phan who had gotten his wisdom teeth pulled earlier that day.  Then, Bill, Heather, Erica, and I all went to Vons to get food and had a cookout in the South Clubhouse.  For what was supposed to be a relaxing day near the sea, it was long, stressful, and overwhelming.  

On Saturday, Emerson was hosting an alumni panel about the web explosion at Bill’s dad’s office.  He and I went to that and the panel was actually really interesting.  Although, I’m not very interested in television and media on the web I learned a lot and I’m glad we went.  After the panel discussion, Bill and I left to go on an adventure but alas I did not have the proper footwear.  Stupidly I only brought the heels I wore to the panel discussion so, we stopped at Payless and I bought a pair of white Keds knock-offs for $14. Then we stopped at Whole Foods to get a small snack and started to drive towards Palmdale because I wanted to go apple picking.  After nearly a 70-mile drive, we arrived in the middle of nowhere at a small farm to pick Southern Californian apples.  It was actually chilly there and the smog-less air even smelled a little bit like Massachusetts. It was a beautiful New England Day, west coast style.  After apple picking, we drove back to Los Angeles and got dinner at this small Italian restaurant.  On Sunday morning, I had an interview with Aldo Accessories at the Beverly Center and so began the fourth time I sold my soul to Le Groupe Aldo.  After my interview, Bill, Heather, and I went to the Griffith Park Observatory for a picnic hosted by Emerson.  There was an amazing view of the city and the observatory was beautiful.  I want to live there!  After that, I had to go buy new sunglasses (I lost them after the unfortunate horse riding incident) and Bill and I decided to drive around the city.  It was a very outdoorsy weekend full of multiple seasons: summer at the beach, fall in pseudo-New England, and spring at the observatory.  Still no winter to be found in LA.

11th Nov 2009

Wednesday // 8pm // 2 years ago
On Friday, I mostly ran errands during the day.  No one was really around so I drove around and attempted to find myself a Halloween costume.  Ultimately, I got lost in LA then stuck in traffic and went back to the Oakwoods without a costume.  Then Bill and I decided to drive to Venice Beach for dinner.  By the time we got there it was pretty dark and we walked around to the little shops and ate.  I wasn’t feeling too well so, after dinner we just went straight back to the Oakwoods.  Then, on Saturday morning I definitely had to find myself a Halloween costume.  My strong hatred for Halloween and unnecessary traffic made the hunt extremely un-enjoyable.  As a last resort, I went to Hot Topic in the Burbank Town Center.  There they had a wonder woman costume for 50% off.  Even though it claimed to be a medium it was eight dress sizes too big.  For $15, costume-less on Halloween I bought it.  Amy attempted to take it in for me and we cut off at least 4-inches on the skirt because it was too long for my knee-high boots.  We went out by the pool for a few minutes, grabbed our costumes, and went to Brock’s to carbo-load and get dressed.  Because the streets were closed down the planners for the evening decided we should take the bus to West Hollywood.  And so began Halloween, with a half-mile walk to the bus stop in a wonder woman costume and red pleather knee-high boots.  Painfully classy.  The bus was a terrible experience and after at least 45 minutes we ended up in West Hollywood on Santa Monica.  The streets were packed and it was absolute chaos but everyone wanted to take their picture with wonder woman.  Small children hugged me and I’m in an insane amount of stranger’s pictures.  The next day I read that there were over 400,000 people there.  We walked around forever and then around 10pm Amy and I left to go to a party at the Roosevelt Hotel that she had gotten two V.I.P. passes for.  By that point we had been walking for at least two hours and my red boots were no longer my friend.  We got a cab on Sunset and battled through intense traffic to get to the Roosevelt.  The hotel was massive and there were so many people there.  With our passes we got free drinks and access to all the rooms.  We danced and walked around.  It would have been perfect if our feet weren’t in terrible pain and all of our friends were there.  Ultimately, our feet couldn’t last the night and we went back to the Oakwoods around midnight.  On Sunday, I tried to let my feet recover then Amy, Heather, Johnny, and I all decided to go to Hometown Buffet.  It was probably one of the most intense places I’ve ever been and a Weight Watcher’s nightmare.  There was so much food there the stations looked like troughs.  I made 5 trips… vegetables & fish, taco & rice, soup & salad, jello, and then ice cream.  Successful outing and I really had no desire to eat for the rest of the day.  Then we went back to the Oakwoods to digest, pop Tums, and do homework.  Amy, Heather, and I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire and lay on the couch.  After that finished, I got dinner with Bill and did my laundry.  Then, I watched My Life in Ruins while Bill surfed the internet.  The weekend was pretty crazy but I did get to wear my red knee-high boots which makes everything totally worth it :)

On Friday, I mostly ran errands during the day.  No one was really around so I drove around and attempted to find myself a Halloween costume.  Ultimately, I got lost in LA then stuck in traffic and went back to the Oakwoods without a costume.  Then Bill and I decided to drive to Venice Beach for dinner.  By the time we got there it was pretty dark and we walked around to the little shops and ate.  I wasn’t feeling too well so, after dinner we just went straight back to the Oakwoods.  Then, on Saturday morning I definitely had to find myself a Halloween costume.  My strong hatred for Halloween and unnecessary traffic made the hunt extremely un-enjoyable.  As a last resort, I went to Hot Topic in the Burbank Town Center.  There they had a wonder woman costume for 50% off.  Even though it claimed to be a medium it was eight dress sizes too big.  For $15, costume-less on Halloween I bought it.  Amy attempted to take it in for me and we cut off at least 4-inches on the skirt because it was too long for my knee-high boots.  We went out by the pool for a few minutes, grabbed our costumes, and went to Brock’s to carbo-load and get dressed.  Because the streets were closed down the planners for the evening decided we should take the bus to West Hollywood.  And so began Halloween, with a half-mile walk to the bus stop in a wonder woman costume and red pleather knee-high boots.  Painfully classy.  The bus was a terrible experience and after at least 45 minutes we ended up in West Hollywood on Santa Monica.  The streets were packed and it was absolute chaos but everyone wanted to take their picture with wonder woman.  Small children hugged me and I’m in an insane amount of stranger’s pictures.  The next day I read that there were over 400,000 people there.  We walked around forever and then around 10pm Amy and I left to go to a party at the Roosevelt Hotel that she had gotten two V.I.P. passes for.  By that point we had been walking for at least two hours and my red boots were no longer my friend.  We got a cab on Sunset and battled through intense traffic to get to the Roosevelt.  The hotel was massive and there were so many people there.  With our passes we got free drinks and access to all the rooms.  We danced and walked around.  It would have been perfect if our feet weren’t in terrible pain and all of our friends were there.  Ultimately, our feet couldn’t last the night and we went back to the Oakwoods around midnight.  On Sunday, I tried to let my feet recover then Amy, Heather, Johnny, and I all decided to go to Hometown Buffet.  It was probably one of the most intense places I’ve ever been and a Weight Watcher’s nightmare.  There was so much food there the stations looked like troughs.  I made 5 trips… vegetables & fish, taco & rice, soup & salad, jello, and then ice cream.  Successful outing and I really had no desire to eat for the rest of the day.  Then we went back to the Oakwoods to digest, pop Tums, and do homework.  Amy, Heather, and I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire and lay on the couch.  After that finished, I got dinner with Bill and did my laundry.  Then, I watched My Life in Ruins while Bill surfed the internet.  The weekend was pretty crazy but I did get to wear my red knee-high boots which makes everything totally worth it :)

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29th Oct 2009

Thursday // 2pm // 2 years ago
On Thursday afternoon, I spent the day doing my homework by the pool. After about an hour and a half it was way too hot and I decided it was time to sit in the air-conditioning, procrastinate, and watch TV. Later, I went to class and we talked about reality television and how it is basically ruining all our lives. We then watched an episode of Survivor: All Stars and I was reminded how unbelievably amazing that show was. I then found out Johnny has all the seasons on DVD so there will definitely be a Survivor marathon in the near future. On Friday, Amy and I decided that we wanted to go to the beach so we woke up fairly early, watched the final episode of Big Love season 2, played a game of tennis, and by the time we got back inside, took showers, and cleaned our room we decided that laying by the pool reading trashy novels was good enough. We spent a few hours outside and then went back in to figure out a way to watch Big Love season 3. Unfortunately, we failed and ended up just watching trash instead. Later that night, Amy Rogers, Amy, Heather, and I decided to go to Happy Ending Bar on Sunset. We saw some guys from Emerson there so we mostly hung out and danced with them. Around 1am, I got bored and Bill gave me a ride home. On Saturday I essentially spent the day doing nothing. I watched some ridiculous television and got my homework done. Then in the afternoon Amy and I went to get our haircut at this wicked cute salon, Frenchie’s in Burbank. Everyone there was really nice and I pretty much got the same haircut I have been getting: short, layers, side bangs. After getting our hair done, we decided to go to Menchies, the best frozen yogurt place in the world. There are a million flavors and toppings and you can make whatever you want and they charge you for the weight. I got cappuccino and vanilla froyo with chocolate jimmies, cookie dough, maraschino cherries, snowcaps, and caramel chocolate pieces. We then went back to our apartment, ate our froyo, and watched HBO’s version of Grey Gardens. It was wonderful. After the movie, a bunch of people were hanging out by the pool and singing to a guitar. Because you are not allowed to have glass by the pool we were very classy and had a glass of wine out of plastic water bottles. After about an hour we went back to our room and Bill picked me up to go to a late dinner. We went to a French restaurant at the Grove and I had beef bourguignon. It was delicious. Then, on Sunday I slept in late, watched television, and went to Bill’s house to help him and his sister build her Halloween costume. On Sunday night, Emerson was having another field trip to go horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills at sunset. I though wow that sounds really fun and, against my better judgment, decided to go. So, Bill and I drove to the stables in Burbank and met up with the Emerson group at 5pm. We had an option of wearing a helmet or not and of course I signed the paper for a helmet and a slow horse. They then paired us up with horses based on size and I was placed on a brown horse, Junior. The second I got on I knew I made a mistake. We went over this narrow suspended horse bridge over the LA River and I was attempting to take deep breaths as I met a million fears of mine: heights, bridges, horses. Once everyone was situated we started riding. We had to go inside this long, dark tunnel and I immediately was frightened. My horse got too close to the side and I was slammed against the wall of the tunnel multiple times. I tried to steer the horse away from the wall but failed. And, of course, I got the horse that was afraid of the dark. Junior freaked out and started galloping through the tunnel; I freaked out and started screaming. At the sounds of my screams, the horse went faster and everyone from Emerson started yelling in unison: “Liz, pull back on the reigns.” Freak show. My sunglasses that were clipped to my shirt got lost and I was officially traumatized ten minutes into the expedition. Once I got out of the tunnel, I attempted to take some deep breaths and calm down but of course I couldn’t. Bill then kept trying to tell me if I’m freaked out my horse will be as well. With that, I tried to calm down and stop from trembling in fear but I couldn’t. I was whining the entire time. We went up this huge hill and the view of Los Angeles at sunset was gorgeous. It could have been a very beautiful moment if I wasn’t reciting to myself, “I am an indoor person. I will never get on a horse again. How much longer are we doing this for?” Once we started going back down the mountain I was even more scared than earlier. At that point I started saying my prayers under my breath and wouldn’t allow anyone to speak to me. Once we got closer to the scene-of-the-crime tunnel, we really slowed down. The tunnel was now pitch black and as my horse entered; it turned around and started walking in the other direction, off to a wonderful start. I took a deep breath, continued with my prayers and we slowly entered the tunnel of hell. One of the trainers rode behind me with his cell phone illuminated telling me to “go into the light.” It was terrifying. The horse freaked out a little but we made it through unharmed. We then made it back to the ranch, but instead of getting off the freaking horse they made us keep going. We then had to get to in line to be helped off our horse. Everyone, knowing I was freaking out, let me cut the line and get off first. We went inside the restaurant for Mexican food. We all had margaritas and reviewed our two-hour horseback ride. I was consistently greeted with “Ohhh, it was your horse that freaked out in the tunnel.” Yes, of course it was. After we finished our food we were forced to get back on the horse. It was horrible. I got back on the stupid horse and rode back to the stables. I was in the back going as slow as possible when the trainer came up and hit the horse to make it go faster. I then started yelling that I didn’t want to go any faster and wanted to get off. I was the last person to get off the horse and everyone clapped for me and the trainers told me that I did a good job and asked if I had fun. Umm… sure, you could say that. I then went home to nurse my wounds. My knee had gotten scraped in the tunnel incident and my butt and back were throbbing in pain. I immediately got into bed and on Monday morning I woke up feeling pain in my lower back and butt that I never felt before. Ultimately, it was an experience that I hope to never, ever repeat. It was fun, I’m glad I went, but I never want to get on or near another horse again. Next Emerson field trip: Six Flags Magic Mountain in November. Rides, with seatbelts, that I will totally go on.

On Thursday afternoon, I spent the day doing my homework by the pool. After about an hour and a half it was way too hot and I decided it was time to sit in the air-conditioning, procrastinate, and watch TV. Later, I went to class and we talked about reality television and how it is basically ruining all our lives. We then watched an episode of Survivor: All Stars and I was reminded how unbelievably amazing that show was. I then found out Johnny has all the seasons on DVD so there will definitely be a Survivor marathon in the near future. On Friday, Amy and I decided that we wanted to go to the beach so we woke up fairly early, watched the final episode of Big Love season 2, played a game of tennis, and by the time we got back inside, took showers, and cleaned our room we decided that laying by the pool reading trashy novels was good enough. We spent a few hours outside and then went back in to figure out a way to watch Big Love season 3. Unfortunately, we failed and ended up just watching trash instead. Later that night, Amy Rogers, Amy, Heather, and I decided to go to Happy Ending Bar on Sunset. We saw some guys from Emerson there so we mostly hung out and danced with them. Around 1am, I got bored and Bill gave me a ride home. On Saturday I essentially spent the day doing nothing. I watched some ridiculous television and got my homework done. Then in the afternoon Amy and I went to get our haircut at this wicked cute salon, Frenchie’s in Burbank. Everyone there was really nice and I pretty much got the same haircut I have been getting: short, layers, side bangs. After getting our hair done, we decided to go to Menchies, the best frozen yogurt place in the world. There are a million flavors and toppings and you can make whatever you want and they charge you for the weight. I got cappuccino and vanilla froyo with chocolate jimmies, cookie dough, maraschino cherries, snowcaps, and caramel chocolate pieces. We then went back to our apartment, ate our froyo, and watched HBO’s version of Grey Gardens. It was wonderful. After the movie, a bunch of people were hanging out by the pool and singing to a guitar. Because you are not allowed to have glass by the pool we were very classy and had a glass of wine out of plastic water bottles. After about an hour we went back to our room and Bill picked me up to go to a late dinner. We went to a French restaurant at the Grove and I had beef bourguignon. It was delicious. Then, on Sunday I slept in late, watched television, and went to Bill’s house to help him and his sister build her Halloween costume.

On Sunday night, Emerson was having another field trip to go horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills at sunset. I though wow that sounds really fun and, against my better judgment, decided to go. So, Bill and I drove to the stables in Burbank and met up with the Emerson group at 5pm. We had an option of wearing a helmet or not and of course I signed the paper for a helmet and a slow horse. They then paired us up with horses based on size and I was placed on a brown horse, Junior. The second I got on I knew I made a mistake. We went over this narrow suspended horse bridge over the LA River and I was attempting to take deep breaths as I met a million fears of mine: heights, bridges, horses. Once everyone was situated we started riding. We had to go inside this long, dark tunnel and I immediately was frightened. My horse got too close to the side and I was slammed against the wall of the tunnel multiple times. I tried to steer the horse away from the wall but failed. And, of course, I got the horse that was afraid of the dark. Junior freaked out and started galloping through the tunnel; I freaked out and started screaming. At the sounds of my screams, the horse went faster and everyone from Emerson started yelling in unison: “Liz, pull back on the reigns.” Freak show. My sunglasses that were clipped to my shirt got lost and I was officially traumatized ten minutes into the expedition. Once I got out of the tunnel, I attempted to take some deep breaths and calm down but of course I couldn’t. Bill then kept trying to tell me if I’m freaked out my horse will be as well. With that, I tried to calm down and stop from trembling in fear but I couldn’t. I was whining the entire time. We went up this huge hill and the view of Los Angeles at sunset was gorgeous. It could have been a very beautiful moment if I wasn’t reciting to myself, “I am an indoor person. I will never get on a horse again. How much longer are we doing this for?” Once we started going back down the mountain I was even more scared than earlier. At that point I started saying my prayers under my breath and wouldn’t allow anyone to speak to me. Once we got closer to the scene-of-the-crime tunnel, we really slowed down. The tunnel was now pitch black and as my horse entered; it turned around and started walking in the other direction, off to a wonderful start. I took a deep breath, continued with my prayers and we slowly entered the tunnel of hell. One of the trainers rode behind me with his cell phone illuminated telling me to “go into the light.” It was terrifying. The horse freaked out a little but we made it through unharmed. We then made it back to the ranch, but instead of getting off the freaking horse they made us keep going. We then had to get to in line to be helped off our horse. Everyone, knowing I was freaking out, let me cut the line and get off first. We went inside the restaurant for Mexican food. We all had margaritas and reviewed our two-hour horseback ride. I was consistently greeted with “Ohhh, it was your horse that freaked out in the tunnel.” Yes, of course it was. After we finished our food we were forced to get back on the horse. It was horrible. I got back on the stupid horse and rode back to the stables. I was in the back going as slow as possible when the trainer came up and hit the horse to make it go faster. I then started yelling that I didn’t want to go any faster and wanted to get off. I was the last person to get off the horse and everyone clapped for me and the trainers told me that I did a good job and asked if I had fun. Umm… sure, you could say that. I then went home to nurse my wounds. My knee had gotten scraped in the tunnel incident and my butt and back were throbbing in pain. I immediately got into bed and on Monday morning I woke up feeling pain in my lower back and butt that I never felt before. Ultimately, it was an experience that I hope to never, ever repeat. It was fun, I’m glad I went, but I never want to get on or near another horse again. Next Emerson field trip: Six Flags Magic Mountain in November. Rides, with seatbelts, that I will totally go on.

20th Oct 2009

Tuesday // 10pm // 2 years ago
On Friday afternoon, I mostly laid by the pool and read magazines.  Then that night Amy, Amy Rogers, Heather, Brock, Jimmy, Mike, and me went dancing in West Hollywood at the Abbey.  It was nominated for Best Gay Bar in the world and we so much fun there.  On Saturday, Amy, Brock, Mike, and I decided that we wanted to go to the beach.  It was a marvelous 91 degrees and definitely beach weather.  Brock’s friend was having a beach party so we decided to go there so Brock could see his friend.  The party was in Marina del Rey and we left around 1:30pm.  Stupidly, we thought that there wouldn’t be much traffic on the 405.  An hour and a half later, we were all tired of the car and still crawling down the freeway.  I was dreaming of Subway, so we all stopped to get sandwiches and tried to figure out a way to get to the beach avoiding the freeway.  Luckily, we had the GPS and in no time we had our sights set on the Pacific.  We laid down on the sand and Brock went to go visit with his friend.  The beach was gorgeous and I spent the day sleeping, reading Star magazine, and doing the Star puzzles.  We left the beach around 5:30 and headed back to the Oakwoods.  Miraculously, it only took about an hour to get home.  I then jumped in the shower, get dressed, and did my hair.  Bill came to pick me up and we went to Universal City Walk.  We looked into getting tickets into Universal but they were doing their Halloween Scare Fest and I’m not really into that, I just wanted to ride a few rides :( I’ll have to go back during the day.  We had dinner and strawberry margaritas at a Mexican restuarant and overate like we usually do.  Then, noticing that the Yankees and the Angels were in extra innings we sat in the bar to watch the end of the game.  Yankees win and we stomped out of the restaurant.  We walked around the City Walk and we were orginally going to go salsa dancing but the salsa club was going through renovations so we just walked around the City Walk.  On Sunday, Emerson was having a field trip to the Getty Museum so Erica, Amy, and I went.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We walked around all day looking at art and going through the gardens.  It was a wonderfully artsy day and even after four hours we didn’t see all of it but were completely exhausted and decided to go back.  Once we got back to the Oakwoods we noticed that our bathroom was no longer working.  The toilet wouldn’t flush and the shower wouldn’t drained so we called maintenence.  After waiting for three hours, we called again and they told us we weren’t “a top priority.”  No, because obviously everyone can live without a functional toilet.  They told us that because there is a second bathroom in our roommates’ room we were fine and could wait until tomorrow.  So, we had to walk through the their bedroom to use the bathroom.  Ridiculous.   Come Monday afternoon, 24-hours after calling maintenence our bathroom was functional.  This weekend was very fun and my tan is coming along nicely. :)

On Friday afternoon, I mostly laid by the pool and read magazines.  Then that night Amy, Amy Rogers, Heather, Brock, Jimmy, Mike, and me went dancing in West Hollywood at the Abbey.  It was nominated for Best Gay Bar in the world and we so much fun there.  On Saturday, Amy, Brock, Mike, and I decided that we wanted to go to the beach.  It was a marvelous 91 degrees and definitely beach weather.  Brock’s friend was having a beach party so we decided to go there so Brock could see his friend.  The party was in Marina del Rey and we left around 1:30pm.  Stupidly, we thought that there wouldn’t be much traffic on the 405.  An hour and a half later, we were all tired of the car and still crawling down the freeway.  I was dreaming of Subway, so we all stopped to get sandwiches and tried to figure out a way to get to the beach avoiding the freeway.  Luckily, we had the GPS and in no time we had our sights set on the Pacific.  We laid down on the sand and Brock went to go visit with his friend.  The beach was gorgeous and I spent the day sleeping, reading Star magazine, and doing the Star puzzles.  We left the beach around 5:30 and headed back to the Oakwoods.  Miraculously, it only took about an hour to get home.  I then jumped in the shower, get dressed, and did my hair.  Bill came to pick me up and we went to Universal City Walk.  We looked into getting tickets into Universal but they were doing their Halloween Scare Fest and I’m not really into that, I just wanted to ride a few rides :( I’ll have to go back during the day.  We had dinner and strawberry margaritas at a Mexican restuarant and overate like we usually do.  Then, noticing that the Yankees and the Angels were in extra innings we sat in the bar to watch the end of the game.  Yankees win and we stomped out of the restaurant.  We walked around the City Walk and we were orginally going to go salsa dancing but the salsa club was going through renovations so we just walked around the City Walk.  On Sunday, Emerson was having a field trip to the Getty Museum so Erica, Amy, and I went.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We walked around all day looking at art and going through the gardens.  It was a wonderfully artsy day and even after four hours we didn’t see all of it but were completely exhausted and decided to go back.  Once we got back to the Oakwoods we noticed that our bathroom was no longer working.  The toilet wouldn’t flush and the shower wouldn’t drained so we called maintenence.  After waiting for three hours, we called again and they told us we weren’t “a top priority.”  No, because obviously everyone can live without a functional toilet.  They told us that because there is a second bathroom in our roommates’ room we were fine and could wait until tomorrow.  So, we had to walk through the their bedroom to use the bathroom.  Ridiculous.   Come Monday afternoon, 24-hours after calling maintenence our bathroom was functional.  This weekend was very fun and my tan is coming along nicely. :)

11th Oct 2009

Sunday // 3pm // 2 years ago
On Friday morning, Amy and I decided to go play tennis for a little while. We played for about an hour and then we came back, made lunch, watched television, cleaned our room and got dressed. Then, we decided to go to the Madame Tussauds because we’ve been dying to go. It was so much fun! They had costumes you could try on and take pictures with the wax people. Highlight: Whoopi Goldberg from Sister Act. Amazing. The we walked around Hollywood Boulevard and went grocery shopping. We came back, cooked dinner, and got ready to go out. A huge group of us decided to go to Happy Ending Bar on Sunset and had SO much fun. We danced all night and then came back to the Oakwoods. On Saturday, Amy, Brock, Johnny, and I went to a screening of Julie & Julia at the Fox lot. It was so adorable. After the movie, we went to PF Changs and got lunch/dinner. Then we came back to the Oakwoods and hung out. Bill picked me up and he and I drove around for awhile. Then, we went to Il Tram for a late dinner in Beverly Hills. It was a pretty uneventful day but enjoyable none the less. Then, this moning Bill and I went to Nate n’ Als for brunch.  I have tomorrow off for Columbus Day so I’ll probably spend it doing homework and hanging out.

On Friday morning, Amy and I decided to go play tennis for a little while. We played for about an hour and then we came back, made lunch, watched television, cleaned our room and got dressed. Then, we decided to go to the Madame Tussauds because we’ve been dying to go. It was so much fun! They had costumes you could try on and take pictures with the wax people. Highlight: Whoopi Goldberg from Sister Act. Amazing. The we walked around Hollywood Boulevard and went grocery shopping. We came back, cooked dinner, and got ready to go out. A huge group of us decided to go to Happy Ending Bar on Sunset and had SO much fun. We danced all night and then came back to the Oakwoods. On Saturday, Amy, Brock, Johnny, and I went to a screening of Julie & Julia at the Fox lot. It was so adorable. After the movie, we went to PF Changs and got lunch/dinner. Then we came back to the Oakwoods and hung out. Bill picked me up and he and I drove around for awhile. Then, we went to Il Tram for a late dinner in Beverly Hills. It was a pretty uneventful day but enjoyable none the less. Then, this moning Bill and I went to Nate n’ Als for brunch.  I have tomorrow off for Columbus Day so I’ll probably spend it doing homework and hanging out.

11th Oct 2009

Sunday // 3pm // 2 years ago

My weekend living in 90210.

Last weekend was my true, I-live-in-LA weekend.  On Friday, Amy and I went shopping in Burbank.  I bought this adorable blue one-shoulder top and purple jersey dress.  It was so amazing to go shopping again, it’s been way too long.  Then, Amy and I made dinner and went over to Brock’s for a party.  On Saturday, Amy, Brock, and I went shopping again at Beverly Center.  I needed an outfit for brunch and Amy and Brock needed outfits for the club they were going to later that night.  We spent the entire afternoon at one of the most intense malls I’ve ever seen.  I ended up getting a colorful, strapless summer dress at Macy’s and Brock and Amy each found some very trendy outfits.  I went back to the Oakwoods, got all my stuff together and Bill came and picked me up.  We went back to his house, got ready, and left for the Dodger’s game with his dad and his dad’s friend, Mike.  We sat on the first base line and had sandwiches and peanuts.  Then, someone working for the Dodgers came to get us, we went down into the private clubhouse under the stadium and then to the owner’s seats by the dugout.  We walked around the stadium, watched the game and ended up spending two innings in the clubhouse with Tommy Lasorda.  We sat in seats directly behind home plate right as the Dodgers scored 5 runs.  We finished the game there and got to see the Dodgers clinch the pennant.  I also saw Rob Reiner and Larry King.  On the way out, we ran into the owner (from Boston) and congratulated him on the win.  Then we rushed out of the stadium to avoid the ridiculous post-game traffic.

On Sunday morning, Bill and I drove his sister to Hebrew school, picked up breakfast, and then went back to his house to get ready for brunch.  I wore my new dress, a black sweater, Amy’s flat black sandals, and my black satin clutch.  I had the most wonderful hair day and Bill’s mom told me my outfit was absolutely perfect for brunch.  Bill’s parents’ friend came over the house to carpool, we went to pick up his grandfather and T.R. Knight.  We all piled into the car and I sat next to T.R. on the way to the Rape Treatment Center Annual Brunch.  We walked through the reception and I was introduced to a million people including Ben Stiller and Brad Bell (executive producer of Bold and the Beautiful!).  The home where brunch was absolutely beautiful and felt like the stereotypical Hollywood house.  There was a huge white tent with beautifully set tables.  We were seated at table four right in front of the podium.  I sat right in between Bill and T.R. Knight because Bill and his mom wanted me to have a “true LA experience.”  For brunch we had salmon, chicken salad, some vegetable/pasta salad, quiche, and iced tea.  It was absolutely delicious.  It was the 30th anniversary of the RTC and David Schwimmer welcomed everyone.  Amy Adams and Ben Stiller hosted the event and victims of rape got up and spoke.  It was really heartbreaking but I’m glad I got to go.  After brunch, we mingled and then we went back to Bill’s house.  I changed into my new one-shoulder blue top, gold wedge sandals, and skinny jeans.  Driving from Beverly Hills down Sunset with my sunglasses on, I was the epitome of an LA girl.  Then, Bill and I drove up near the Hollywood sign because I hadn’t seen it up close.  After, we had dinner and I did my laundry.  Then, I went back to reality and did my homework.  It ended up being a wonderful 90210 LA weekend.  :)