Weekend Wrap-Up

Me, Kristin, and Tamara My weekend actually began Thursday night when I met up with Kristin and Tamara (a fellow LA blogger whom I had never read before, but am now so glad I met!) at Edendale Grill in Silver Lake (Silverlake? I never know which way to spell it.) for martinis, martinis, and more martinis. Kristin was in town for business, and after getting to know each other via our blogs for the past four years, it was really great meeting her. She is just as sweet and fun in person as she is on her blog. And as we sat outside sipping martinis in the 50 degree weather on the patio near the heat lamps, Tamara and I in our jackets and Kristin sans one, I couldn’t help but laugh when she called our freezing cold weather “warm and balmy.” But I won’t hold that against her, especially because within her first hour of being in LA, her rental car broke down on the 405 and she had to deal with the asshats on the freeway. What a “welcome to LA” moment; at least things could only get better from there!

Target Find Of The WeekFriday I left the office and headed straight to everyone’s dream–a very empty Target. It was so nice to stroll through the aisles and not have kids running all over the place, or have to wait in a huge line to pay. I also happened upon a really inexpensive piece of art to hang in my kitchen. I love it in all of its cheesy glory. After Target, I hung my “art,” had sushi delivered, and scraped wax off of my menorah while watching bad reality TV.

I also had to search my apartment in order to find a piece of paperwork that allows me to make medical decisions for my Little while she is with me. (I was taking her Disneyland the following day, and it was one of those things I felt I should have, just in case. And it is now in my wallet, where it should be.) Aren’t you jealous your evening wasn’t as exciting as mine?

The next morning, I woke up right after the sun, packed some snacks, and picked my Little up and headed off to Disneyland. Amazingly, there was no traffic so the ride there was uneventful, save for me wanting to shoot someone after listening to about half a dozen Kelly Clarkson songs. When my Little is in the car, she somehow gains control of the radio.

Matterhorn, as seen from the Tea CupsDisneyland was a lot of fun, albeit expensive even with free passes (given to me by my airplane friend Hilary): Parking was $11, lunch (burgers and fries and sodas) was $20, dinner (skewers–who knew? and drinks) was also $20, and dessert (ice cream sundaes) was $10. Fortunately, I did a good job of packing snacks so the only extra thing we bought was $3 cotton candy. I don’t know why I felt the need to share that with you, I’m sure you don’t really care. So anyway…

Like I mentioned before, I had not been to Disneyland since college, and I have to say, the fast pass thing is amazing–no more having to wait two hours for rides! Except that Matterhorn didn’t offer a fast pass which ended up being alright since the line was only 30 minutes, but the new submarine ride was two hours and neither of us felt like waiting for that. We also didn’t get a chance to go on Space Mountain because when we arrived at our fast pass time, the ride was closed “for repairs.” Uhh yeah.

To wax nostalgic for just a moment, the minute I walked into Disneyland, I had a flood of emotions. I remembered going to the park in high school with Julie, Marisa, and Josh, all of us wearing high school sweatshirts and having a blast. And I remembered my first visit there with The Ex, and getting caught in a downpour and wearing yellow ponchos and walking around with soaking wet shoes. Then I remembered my last visit there with The Ex, and his horrible fraternity formal and us fighting and breaking up and getting back together. Thankfully, I have new memories, even if they do include a 14-year-old asking me, “Was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride the same back in the day?”

Sunday morning I woke up at 7:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep even though I was thoroughly exhausted. I watched TV then decided to throw some laundry in, and by 11:00 I had already done four loads and cleaned my apartment. I saw my sister briefly, then ran errands. Now my eyes are beginning to close and I’m quickly fading so I think it’s time to take a short nap. I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow.
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In boy news, The Professor and I are going out next week, The Googler appears to be the latest victim of the The Bus, and there is a possible setup in the near future.

10 Comments »

Jenifer

January 20th, 2008 | 5:03 pm

We were up early this morning as well. I think it’s because B and I went to bed at 10 pm last night. We’re pooped from all the little stuff we had to do for the new place.

I can’t wait to go to Disneyworld in October. HONEYMOON! We’re waiting for the fall for the weather to be cooler and less kids running around. I haven’t been to Epcot since I was in the fourth grade and it’s priority one on the park list.

marissa

January 20th, 2008 | 10:05 pm

it is indeed Silver Lake, not Silverlake. I had no idea either until our commenters on curbed started yelling at us. they’re all a bunch of grammar/spelling nazis.

Pam Ashlund

January 20th, 2008 | 10:51 pm

Hi, I’m a newcomer to your blog am enjoying tuning in to your writing. As a 40-something NPJ from LA, I feel an affinity already. I also caught some flak for the Silverlake-as-one-word sacrilege. I live in Lincoln Heights and wrote about some the travails of my initiation to the neighborhood in: http://loftythought.blogspot.com/2006/08/die-yuppie-die.htmlI
Anyway, I’m adding you to my blog roll on Lofty Thoughts.

VJ

January 21st, 2008 | 12:00 am

Thanks for the updates Hilary. It’s so great to hear from Kristen too, and to know that she’s ‘doing better now’. Sat, after a morning meeting where I explained various health care plans in painful detail, I went down to attend a fantastic John Edwards rally in Atlanta: [http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2008/1/20/144557/465]. He was just wonderful as usual, improving all the time actually. He was mobbed by more than 500 people in our local Atlanta IBEW 613 union hall. He’s loved in Ga., but still not the celebrity candidate so beloved by the media. I knew most of the folks on the stage, and stayed late for an autograph. He got a decent crowd in what was predicted to be close to a rare blizzard in Ga. Probably our heaviest snow of the season down here, but it was warm enough to be mostly gone in hours. So it was exhilarating seeing him again, but after 2 hours sleep, and a couple hours on my feet since 9AM, I was ready for a nap in our corporate offices on the wife’s big comfy leather couch. Which regularly sees service for sleepers strangely enough. Then we went to dinner on mostly deserted but cleared roads, only to find that several of our regular places were closed, due to the by now disappeared snow. No, this is not Canada for certain. I was due to go out on Sun, but I thought the better of it knowing it would take a bit to bundle up, and having work to do before the start of the week.

Not as exciting as yours perhaps, but it’s good to hear that ‘Fess is moving up on the inside track. Come on ‘Fess! Cheers & Good Luck, ‘VJ’

Dawn

January 21st, 2008 | 1:13 pm

I love the kitchen “art” :)
I had a ton of that sort of stuff in my old house, when I had a country kitchen. Now I’m all sleek, so it just doesn’t go. :(

Disneyland is crazy expensive. Jeremy and I went to Disneyworld a number of years ago, but I don’t remember the $ portion of the trip — I was just too excited as it was my first time to Disney-anything. I only remember sitting in a Thai restaurant afterward, with no voice — I’d lost it screaming from fear on a water ride.

But a year or so ago, we went to Six Flags (in Mass.)and that $$$ I remember. I remember the $90 Slushies fondly. OK, an exaggeration, but just slightly!

ptwelve

January 21st, 2008 | 3:16 pm

Hilary, you seem to have a lot of laundry. Are there laundry machines in your apartment or your building? How much is a load? Do you generally separate by color? I don’t mind doing laundry at all, though a lot of people claim to.

You can buy Un-Du candle wax remover, which is better than scraping. They also have a great solvent for sticky adhesive. Excellent stuff.

H

January 21st, 2008 | 4:46 pm

ptwelve, thank you for your concern. :) I did lights, darks, sheets, and towels. Wash is $1, dry is 75 cents. And our laundry room is in the garage.

I’m going to have to look for the candle wax remover…where do I get it? Home Depot?

Amy

January 21st, 2008 | 6:37 pm

hey!

Am so impressed with all you do for and with your Little.

And yes, we should try and get together before I move. Am on my way back to LA tonight, leaving in a month.

justJENN

January 21st, 2008 | 10:35 pm

I go to D-land every week and still <3 it.

ptwelve

January 22nd, 2008 | 1:59 am

You separate sheets and towels from each other and everything else? Wow!
If my laundry were so cheap, I could see doing it like that. It is $2.25 for the wash and 90 cents to dry at one place, and $2 for wash and $2 for dry at another. I keep everything a light color so I can throw it all in together.

For Un-Do, try any hardware store. Home Depot is also a good bet. You might have to ask, since it might not be immediately clear where the candle-wax-remover section is.

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