Friday afternoon in Beverly Hills

So we've been here in So Cal as a married couple since 2003 (I lived here before but didn't ever do anything interesting so my tourist-y life starts with Dennis). And it took us that long to go to Beverly Hills. I think we wouldn't have even gone but Dennis has a friend from the bank who wanted to do our hair and it was something we couldn't pass up.

We felt like huge tourists. And I felt like I was in the movie "Pretty Woman" (as an extra...)



Here is a red-carpet event with photogs and security... For what looked like Hennessy. The alcohol.




















At Tiffany's (well at the doorway...)


As close as I'll ever get...



On Beverly Drive, right before we went to the Gap (which I know we could have found anywhere but they were having a good sale on jeans...)


Dennis on the corner of Wilshire and Rodeo :)
































Dennis in front of this mega- Rodeo Sign that I kept zooming in on...






Zooom











Zoom back out...




















Wait- What in the world is the woman behind me doing? Is she a mime?


Dennis wanted to have a photo here too...


Hahahahaa! I was sucking my tummy in super hard for this shot and Dennis didn't even get my whole body!!




And we ended up missing the evening traffic on the 405 so it was a nice evening! (I can't say we had anything glamorous for dinner- we had McDonald's, which ended up upsetting both of our tummies).

One Gold Star for Britney Spears.

Everyone is on the hate train with Britney. I'm on that train. And I've been reading a lot about how she looks ugly in her two-dollar (how do you know it's $2??) wig.

But before I turn 30, mark my words, I will get a similar hairstyle. Do I have the guts to get a hot pink bob? You know I do.


So, I'm giving a much needed gold star to britney. She looks cute. Now, why she is driving with a dog on her lap after being booked for a hit and run car accident.... That is a whole 'nother keg of worms.

long overdue

Here are long overdue photos of Dennis' Graduation, my haircut, and our fun filled dinner at the local Greek restaurant (Dennis danced with one of the old ladies!) I wanted to include a video of a bunch of Malibu locals at the table next to us- they were a little tipsy and decided to have fun and dance to the music. It reminded me of my dad or something my dad would do. But it was only 12 seconds long and of very very poor quality.

here's what happened...

I have so much to blog about that I can't even remember it all. Really. I took a trip to Texas and it was like going to another country. I saw the grassy knoll (Dallas. Where JFK was killed.) and met up with my grandparents (my grandpa loves his "governator" shirt, and apparently, he is quite the closest I've ever met to a real life anti-immigration minute man. I say it with love.) They took me around town and I felt loved and blessed. Meeting my mother's family, who I never knew growing up and who I really last saw when my mom died, was a blessing. They told me a lot and it was like finding a missing puzzle piece. Or kind of like learning that you're French for the first time.
And there was an interesting couple of flights and it was crazy. And then I came home and slept. And was very lazy. (hey, I was traveling.) And then I had to prepare for a bachelorette party so I drove down the freeway to a ginormous mall just so that I could go to "Frederick's of Hollywood" (because "Victoria's Secret" might be quality but "Frederick's" is the only place to find really really naughty knickers and I wanted this bride to blush.)

The bachelorette's party started in Hollywood (we went to the "Beauty Bar". which was anti-climactic. It advertises getting your nails done while sipping martinis. But it was really loud and crowded and there were a lot of guys looking for chicks (a lot of single, drunk frat boys). And they didn't even do your nails. They painted them. But I can do that. And really no one was there to get there nails painted. It's a great concept but they should have kept the boys out and turned the radio down.

And yesterday was the wedding. It was painfully obvious to both Dennis and I that I only invest in clothes to wear to school and church but that I really need to invest in a party dress of the quality that you can wear to a semi-casual wedding on the beach. I thanked God that I didn't wear my flip-flops. But my shoes were the only thing fitting the occasion.

And that was my busy week in a nutshell. I will try to post haircut photos, graduation photos, Texas photos, and bachelorette/wedding photos (but maybe not the embarrassing ones of Dennis and I dancing where I look like a big pink MaryKay cadillac....)

I got a haircut-Friday!!

Yay!!

I cut my hair short enough that I can't put it in a ponytail but not short enough that it makes me look fat or weird. I like it but it takes getting used to. But it was like a 45 min. drive to the stylist and that was so cool- the driving for a long time part.

Anyway, tomorrow is Dennis' CLU Graduation ceremony so I will post photos of my new hair when I post photos of him graduating!

Here is this week's Friday's Feast
Appetizer
Tell about a time when you had to be brave.
I had to be brave when my mom died- I was next of kin but I didn't want to cry in front of my little sister.

Soup
Which upcoming movie are you excited about seeing?
"Shrek the Third"- we have the first 2 movies on DVD.

Salad
Name an item you try to always have on hand.
post-it notes. I'm addicted and I love writing things down.


Main Course
Imagine the most relaxing room you can think of. Now describe it!
a hotel room with a big bed and big pillows and air conditioning and a nice TV and drapes that block out the sun.

Dessert
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being highest), how spiritual or religious are you?
8- more spiritual than religious unless we are discussing diet coke or ice cream sandwiches. I'm very religious about those. I worship Diet Coke.

I'm online a lot today!

Dennis is at a 'graduation party' (graduates only- I think it's a dinner and then the boys are going out for a drink and nachos.) And as it turns out, I can drive legally (yay!) but I'm not covered in our car insurance (boo!) So I'm (probably for the best) not buying donuts/etc. at the grocery store just because I can.

I am watching old episodes of "Ugly Betty" and I am pimping out my blog (see twitter)

And I'm also doing Friday's Feast. I just had birthday cake and peanut butter for dinner. What did everyone else eat?

Appetizer
Name something you would not want to own.

I would not ever want to own a gun. Dennis and I actually have an understanding about this as he is pro-gun and I am not. If he gets a gun, I get to get another tattoo. (It would work vice-versa, if I get a tattoo he has permission per agreement to buy a gun). And it's lengthened in the list of weapons he cannot own (especially after watching "criminal minds" the other night where these 2 backwoods brothers were hunting people with an arrow gun. So I would never want to own:

any type of gun,
a machete/bowie knive
a grenade,
an arrow gun
etc.

Soup
Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).

my hair is brown with blond highlights that really need to be touched up. It's a little longer than shoulder length but I rarely wear it down (I did today though!!) It's almost always in a ponytail and many times it needs to be washed. It's thick and wavy. I have a love-hate relationship with it.

Salad
Finish this sentence: I’ll never forget ___________.

I'll never forget how my mother found out how I lost my virginity.

Main Course
Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?

I would like to be Angelina Jolie for one day. Because she's a)basically married to Brad Pitt. And while I'm not an uber-fan, you can't say he's ugly. and b)she's got a lot of money and a lot of power. I would feel like shopping for diamonds and shoes.

Dessert
Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.

Do you have to guess the truth and guess the lie?

The week that I met Dennis, I got a tattoo and went scuba diving.

a hodgepodge of what is in my brain right now....

I still hate my hair. The short haircut on my new blogger template is looking more and more like a good idea (thanks, Cindy!)- I just brushed the hell out of it and put it in a french braid. If I was at a place in my life where I didn't care about what others thought, I really think I'd cut it ridiculously short. I think Britney Spears is crazy but I kind of understand that feeling of wanting to just chop it all off.

Today I basically alternated between sleeping, sniffling (it's raining a lot lately and I don't know if I'm getting a cold or if my allergies are aggravated by the whole in our feather comforter. It's one of those questions I'm too lazy to answer...)--------sleeping, sniffling, and writing the paper I have due tomorrow (well, technically today). I've made enough progress that I could totally turn it in and not really care. I'm ready for the end of the semester.

It actually worked out well today- I was kind of grumpy but so was Dennis. He's trying to create an "e-commerce website" for something he wants to sell (and I will tell you this much right now- if it works out, it's actually pretty cool.)But finding a good website design is hard. And there is "fine print". And Dennis is one of those people who obsessively shops around and takes forever to make a decision because he is afraid of making the wrong decision. It's a good trait to have in business. But it's annoying. So we were both saying to each other "don't take it personal. today is a grumpy day." (and so hopefully he won't take it personal that I'm blogging when I should be in bed breaking my promise to him to not go online after bedtime!!)

And today was Cristina, the youngest stepdaughter's, birthday. She's 14 now and it's kind of fun and kind of weird. Mostly weird for Dennis. He bought her an MP3 player and I made sure we sent her a card. We called her in the morning and I did the whole "well if you were born at night, technically you aren't 14 yet!" joke that I can still pull off because she's 14 and not 40.


I don't know if I will have time to blog tomorrow (I might, if I am procrastinating... I do have a photo of a fritatta that I cooked for lunch today....)
And I wanted to leave everyone with a quote I just read from "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller (why am I reading for fun? I have no idea...)

"It is hard for us to admit we have a sin nature because we live in this system of checks and balances. If we get caught, we will be punished. But that doesn't make us good people; it only makes us subdued. Just think about the Congress and Senate and even the President. The genius of the American system is checks and balances. Nobody gets all the power. Everybody is watching everybody else. It is as if the founding fathers knew, intrinsically, that the soul of man, unwatched, is perverse." (p.18)

What does this mean? Is the author saying that he thinks all men are capable of great evil? Do I agree? (I've always liked to believe the Anne Frank philosophy that all men are capable of doing good things. Maybe that's naive...)

meme time.

I'm trying to post more regularly. It's relaxing. But I have a zillion things to do and nothing exciting to write about?

-We saw "Bobby" tonight. It was okay. needed work. I reccommend it as a rental.

-I drove on the freeway! And didn't kill anyone! And hubby didn't kill me!! (I did pull over once we got off of the freeway so that Dennis could drive through the canyon.)

And I have so much to do this weekend!!

-I have a paper due Monday morning

-I am making a dent in my Christmas cards (send me your address if you want one!!)

-We are praying together in front of the congregation on Sunday. Dennis wants me to write the prayer.

-I have GOT to do laundry!!!

So, I'm doing a blog meme instead of elaborating on anything. You don't need to know that I'm so desperate for socks that I'm using hubby's tube socks.

Today I'm doing Friday Fun"

This week is all about hair!
1. Do you have long or short hair?

Medium/Long. But you can't tell because it's always in a ponytail.

2. What is your biggest hair problem?

I don't really care about it enough. I get it dyed and cut but I never show it off- it's always up. That should be a sign that I should cut it into a low-maintenance bob. But I like being able to leave it down every once in a while/braid it. And I'm afraid a short haircut would make my face look fat.

3. Dyed or not?

highlighted/lowlighted. I'm kind of confused- I pretty much tell the girl "do whatever you think would look good". Sometimes I think/fantasize about doing something funky, like getting a pink streak through it or whatever. But I don't think it'll happen this year.

4. Name one male and one female celebrity whose hair you love!

me da igual. I like long brown hair. Celebs like Salma Hayek have great long brown hair.

5. Any funny hair stories?

eh. the first time I had my hair dyed, my mom did it. She left the blonde in for too long and I ended up with one really bleached blond streak. I felt like a skunk.

My little sister cut my hair when she was only 14. I was annoyed with it and handed her scissors. She was thrilled and did a pretty decent job.

6. Worst hair cut EVER? The summer after my senior year. I got really sick and tired of being hot, and I was feeling rebellious. I went to supercuts and said "short". She made me look like a little boy. She told me that if I added some big hoop earrings, it would look fantastic. I was not feeling that hair at all.

note: photo is of the haircut done by my sister, not by supercuts crazy lady.