things i've discovered

I love gin now.

liz lemon has become more important

Being in New York and working here has made the fact that liz lemon is a popular character a wonderful relief.

I would like to be like Miranda or Carrie or Charlotte, smooth as can be but I am of a different breed. Sure I can slap on some lipstick and a dress but it doesn't cover the girl inside. I felt like relating to someone and couldn't describe this person.

Then I remembered Liz Lemon. A New Yorker and total wonderful nerd and an even more important person to me now. I may look like I know what I'm doing in these hot spots but what I really wanna be doing is a walking tour of all the filming locations for Ghostbusters. Or seeing a grocery store that was in You've Got Mail. Or see some dinosaur skeletons. And spend the evening quoting Arrested Development on the steps of the New York public library.

Liz Lemon was my hero before and I thought I understood her value in popular culture but I had grossly underestimated her. There aren't a lot of characters out there like her for girls like me and thank goodness that she exists. 'Cause while we wouldn't admit it, sometimes after a day of working a job we love, we just want to get into our snuggie and spend the evening watching Barefoot
Contessa, working on our night cheese.

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

next time: more dressy clothes

I did not pack enough dressy clothes. I packed shorts and striped tanks thinking that would fly here. Mmm no. Not if you care about your appearance in the slightest. People seriously do dress up here, it's not a jeans and sneaker town in case you were wondering. If you have sneakers they better be blingy or  have a secret wedge.

Good thing New York has a LOT of shopping. Oodles.

pictures for jill

Here you go momma in-law. I really am in New York. 

This day I played tourist and busted out the Lumix. Then I got lazy. SO lazy.

facetime

Technology is grand. Being able to video chat with my man reminds me that dang, he's handsome, glad I have wonderful things waiting for me at home.

- iPad Post

four plus seven

I dunno why you be judging me about bringing 7 pairs of shoes, all of which I've worn by the way, and it's gotten worse cause I bought 4 more. They were all very cheap, these are my favorite ones from Topshop.
I'm gonna have to ship shoes home cause all this business won't fit in my suitcase.

Doh.

Good shopping in New York.

- iPad Post

bakery tour '12

This city doesn't sleep and I haven't much either. I am trying to document all we do so I won't forget but we move fast and I'm a bad picture taker so there we go. I am aware I have a lovely Lumix camera but I end up using the phone too much. Oh well.

Night 2 we went to dinner at a place that felt very California cuisine called Barbuto. Can't beat the real thing but I appreciated the experience. My boss is being a doll about letting me see my tourist hot spots, which are basically Sex & the City & other movie/tv filming locations. I don't wanna do Times Square or the usual stuff and as you know, I eat my way through new places. So after Barbuto we went to Magnolia Bakery which does have a Los Angeles store but its plagued with that LA chain store feel and Magnolia here was lovely and quaint and you get to eat it at a little park bench in a lil' urban park that is just classic.
The City Bakery also had a shop in LA and unfortunately closed but this one is a few blocks from our office so we grabbed some goods. The pretzel croissant is something extraordinary.
Third night was Friday and I met up with my buddy Ali and her Besty Betsy. They were going on a road trip so we just had some drinks and me and Frankie carried on 'til 4am.
I really get S&TC now. It's so true to its subjects. Women NEED each other to survive here in a way I fully understand now.

- iPad Post

you wouldn't believe me if i told you

The first few hours in New York were so jam packed I can tell the big difference between our cities right away. You get to chose one thing to do in Los Angeles per evening. In this city, you can do a lot of things since everything's closer together. We started with a slice of Pizza, then saw Carrie's house on Perry St, then went for a cocktail. 

Then ended up in with some amazing Chinese in Chinatown. Yes we had pizza and Chinese, don't judge, we only had Virgin America cheese plates earlier. And I tried Tasty D-Lite (mmm, jury is still out on that one, need to try another flavor. I can't believe it has zero calories).

This morning we woke up at 5:45am (2:45am in our bodies, like it mattered) and took a short walk in the park. We've taken the subway and taxis, I've seen the famous Tiffany's and lots of other landmarks.

I'm at work now, it's so odd to be doing the same thing somewhere else. I'm tired but only cause we were up late and up early, can't say I feel particularly "jet lagged" maybe it'll hit me later.

Also: air conditioning is very much appreciated in New York in the summer. It's not crazy humid yet  though I am secretly hoping it will be so I can see what everyone is talking about. So far: enjoying this city a lot but the smell definitely takes some getting used to.

my bags are packed

This is my process. I pile all the clothes I'm thinking about taking and then fold them into piles of shorts, pants, tops, dresses and weed out what seems excessive and what's left goes into the suitcase.
Seven pairs of shoes didn't seem excessive for some reason. The 7th is the Toms I'll wear at the airport that are with my airport outfit.
Can I tell you how you know you married the right person? If after 5 years together and the past few months constantly together be it vacation, work, golfing, I mean you are together a ridiculous amount of time and yet the night before you are leaving that spouse for 2 weeks and are so damn depressed about being apart from them, you married the right one.

Oh and if they're willing to be awake at 5am to drop you at an airport for a 7:35am flight, keeper. Big time.

- iPad Post

i be up in the gym just working on my fitness

Which gym? EvY's Gym. It's a 24hr gym. La Mirada Fitness. It's never crowded but it does have these cats that pretend they want to help with yoga poses but they just plop and get in the way. I suppose I'm posting this to show that in addition to being an office, guest room, salon, and additional living space, the office is also the workout room. And since it's a small space all the gear in it has to be.. small. Mind you, you don't need any of this gear. You can just do a workout video and be fine. But I like gadgets so I have gear.

I have an exercise ball and a jump rope.

A clipboard with the exercise ball workouts. The ball is nice for peeps like me that have back problems, very gentle on the ole body.

I got a yoga mat for my yoga videos that I've had forever (and if I came home to a cute minty yoga mat I saw at Marshalls for $10, I wouldn't mind hint hint husband hint hint).

I use it under the balance board as well.

Weights and a scale to track our progress.

And this woman is going to kick my butt. I've done it twice so far and there is definitely sweat happening. She's hardcore and for stubborn women it's good to have someone even more intense than you trying to get you to work. Miri recommended her, thanks Mir.

And in the ottoman is the gear for the Active game. The leg strap, resistance band, nunchuck, and the pump for the exercise ball. 

Also in our garage there's a few bicycles and a set of golf clubs to remind me to get out and do things but having my own personal gym where only I am subjected to the embarrassment of my jiggly bits is very appealing.

golf outfit of the day and golf nails

I didn't get a chance to post my outfit while on the course since dumb me thought we would be able to get 18 holes in 2 hours and we were rushing to get as many holes in before we lost the sun. The shorts in this picture are actual Nike golf shorts (on sale of course) and they are as mom jean as you can get but boy are they comfy. A legit golf course is exhausting my friends. On the first hole I darn near quit but I loosened up and at least I got some nice hits in. I need to find some golf ladies to play with, still don't know any girls that do.


My boss had been showing up to work with sick awesome manicures and so we went to her place and I got gels (very thick nail polish stuff that lasts for weeks) and they are so very cute. I don't think I'll do this regularly but it will be nice to not worry about my nails while I'm away from home.


Tomorrow: chiro and pedicure and clean up and pack. Whew!

- iPad Post

my pelican

There's a line of hardcore cases called Pelican that are used in production to transport specialty gear that needs to stay protected from the elements and the nature of filmmaking which is constantly mobile and braving the elements. They usually come with foam you can customize to protect your gear.

I feel like a poser since I don't have fancy gear, but now I have my own Pelican 1610.

It's hardcore and it has a handle and wheels.

And while I don't have a Canon 7D or an Alexa, inside are the tools of MY trade, office gear. 

Which frankly I'm surprised it all fit with room to spare. I think partly I wanted to take a photo of it to share the insides of my case and partly so I can remember how I packed it before.

I ordered a special lid organizer for it as well and it makes me happy.

So she's all ready to go and will get to New York before I will.

I think I'll name her Alicia Keys.

I don't have a lot to do and yet...

T-minus oh, 5 days 'til I leave my home for Nueva York. It will be the longest my honey and I will be apart, before that was last year in July when I was gone for a week shooting in Colorado. Next year it'll be 3 weeks the rate we're going and even further from home since it was a 2.5 hour flight, then 5, what next, 10? I am not a fan of being away from Matt. But that's work life.

We work tomorrow and then I have time off 'til we leave so I feel as if I should get things done around the house before I go but I have no clue what these things would be. I think I'd rather just hang with Matt, my fam, and get 18 holes in before I don't get a chance to in the next two weeks.

That's funny about my job though, I never know when I'm going to be traveling. It's from one day to the next you could be doing a normal LA job or packing a bag.

Which does remind me of the big to do before I leave: pack for 2 weeks for a big humid city. Hmmm...

- iPad Post

is it for guys or girls?

I bought this hat and when the cash register rung me up it said "men's accessories", is it a boy hat?


I can't be certain...


I wish I could wear hats to at the office but I would look pretty silly.

- iPad Post

as usual, it's mostly food

Is Tasty Delite a real place or did Charlotte York lie to me?


Mir, you know H&H is there because of You've Got Mail.

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

why i feel i have to make decisions now on a house i don't own is beyond me

I can't really make big plans as to what I'm going to do with our house whenever it is we buy a house. House that wasn't it isn't it, I've decided that I just can't compromise on 3bed 2 bath minimum, those houses are out there in our price range and I will wait 'til one says yes like a desperate man. 

While we're waiting I'm consumed with making decisions I don't have to make yet like what paint colors to paint my office. You know, things that matter, or things that I can pretend to decide on now since I have nothing else to prepare for future house. I've been debating between a green office and a pink office. And now I've decided that I'll have a green guest room:

And a pink office:

Because why subject male guests to a pink guest room right?

Of course this will probably change once we actually see what future home looks like 'cause the light might be all wrong with these colors but for some reason my mind wants to make decisions albeit ones that won't have any impact and won't have to be put into effect for awhile. I gotta do something while I wait I suppose.

typical nighttime reading

California Golf & House Beautiful.


You know, the usual.

- mobile blog post. spelling irrelevant.

why this house probably isn't it

We got one interest in an offer out of all the ones we've sent and they asked us to revise a previous one and resend it and they're gonna let us know soon if our offer was accepted so we actually stopped by to see it. It's actually a really nice house in a good area that looks like it's pretty much ready to be moved into. It didn't feel like home, though it felt like settling. Like just take the one house that the offer might have been accepted on already, you won't get another chance.

 Sharing a driveway, meh...

I know beggars shouldn't be choosers but we are talking about a home and the future of our family.

Decent living room.

Nice floors...

Pretty well maintained. Dining nook off the kitchen.

View into the two bedrooms.

Narrow but okay kitchen.

Blah blah you get the idea. SIGH.

The bedrooms were on the small side but they had decent closets.

I guess I'm just kidding myself that there is a house out there that's a good size and a good price. Am I really complaining about two bedrooms, 1 bath, and a big backyard? People in New York live in apartments the size of one of those bedrooms. Am I just so spoiled about the big condo I live in now? Should I just rent a house in Burbank and forget this house buying pipe dream? I wonder who has 500,000 lying around to buy a house cash. Condos have fairly decent size houses, that's crazy right? I don't wanna live in Glendale. I'm tired. Will the market get more houses on the market? What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently? I'm not gonna settle. I will find a home. But are my expectations unrealistic? I'm tired.