I'm a genius!

So, I'm scrolling through my emails, looking for one in particular. I stumble across one of those family centered emails with updates on the family, the kids, the job, etc... that's addressed to 100 of the person's closest family and friends. You know, one of those personal heartfelt emails.

And something occurred to me...THAT'S the true purpose of a blog. That's a GREAT use of a blog. Pour all of your pictures, family excitement, moves, trials, tribulations, etc... into it. Set it up, send out the url to those 100 close family & friends and let them tune into your excitement. That way, you're not killing their connection with the update complete with 4 HUGE pictures you attached without sizing them, brining their computer (and threatening their work machine) to a complete halt.

Or, if the blog is too much, how about employing the use of Snapfish or EasyShare to host your pictures. Those services are free to set up; your friends can flip through all of your magical moments; and they can order nice copies instead of printing them out on the work computer.

Remember, technology is your friend.

Living in Harmony

with Ikea.

I've had a complicated relationship with Ikea. Its a love/hate thing that's taken years to sort out and to understand. For all of you who HATE Ikea, I think I've come up with a set of rules that will allow a zen-like state when dealing with the big white box of a store.

Rule 1: Do not assemble the furniture.

I don't care how fly you are with tools, do not buy the furniture. Unless of course, redesigning the furniture while you put it together sounds like a good idea. The directions are crap and even if you follow them the pegs never quite fit right into the holes and then the piece isn't really held together and its just a big ol' mess. Trust me on this, I know of what I speak.

Rule 2: Do not expect your purchase to last very long.

If you really believe a $5 pot is going to fill your daily cooking needs, then you deserve to shop here on a regular basis. Embrace Ikea for what it really is, disposable living. We bought the plates and bowls for $.50 each expecting them to self-destruct. Every time we put them back into the cupboard, its like a little gift. So, when they do implode, no one will cry or feel ripped off because we understand their role in our lives. The same thinking works for furniture.

Rule 3: As/is is the best department in the store.

Its either display or return furniture but here's the best part...its already assembled and dirt cheap. No particle boards falling across your back (true story), no struggling with the screws into holes that were not properly drilled (are you sensing my bitterness to the holes), no surprise at how the item looks...its right there in front of you in all its glory. My closet is now blessed with a "book shelf" that matches the dark wood furniture in my room perfectly. And the "book shelf" is just deep enough for my shoes (seems pretty shallow for a "book shelf," but maybe that's just me) so its the perfect depth for my closet. And, that's the thing about the "book shelf;" if I had seen it on display on the floor, I would have thought, huh, good book shelf. But in the as is section I don't think twice about putting my foot on the shelf to see how deep it is...huh, just deep enough for my shoes, not quite right for books... I already have a damn fine book shelf but I do need a new shoe rack.

Don't fight Ikea, just accept it and fill your heart with love...and cheap storage solutions.

Label Whore

Anyone who knows me knows I'm addicted to labels. Doesn't matter if its Marc Jacobs or Isaac Mizrahi for Target, its still a label. Turns out my dogs are the same way.

Usually we get their dog biscuits from Costco. A big 'ol box of 'em will last a few months. Dick and Jane both love them. Well, to my horror, we ran out. And, without a Costco run in the near future I headed over to my friendly neighborhood Ralphs for a box of the "real" Milkbones.

On a typical day, when I'm just about ready to go to work. I head into the pantry and the dogs follow me in knowing a biscuit (or two) is in their future. As I approach and open the box, the dogs wait pretty patiently and I hand one to Jane and one to Dick and they run off to enjoy their treat. This morning, as I open the box o' biscuits, the dogs heads almost exploded. The tape wasn't even off the box and they're jumping up and down. Sadly they know the difference between the "real" Milkbones and the Costco brand.

And for those who you who argue that its probably the exact same thing but in a different box, I'll respectfully disagree. The Milkbones smell different and have a different (more poofy) shape to their bone shape than the Kirkland brand.

So, my dogs are now label whores. I guess its time to put Jane's Gucci color on.

You will never see a Porn star

doing mat pilates. Sure, they might do the "real" pilates with all the pulleys and levers, but not mat pilates. I bet you're wondering why. Well, after taking my first mat pilates class last night (with a GREAT instructor, btw) you can't do some of the moves if you have boobs. When you lie on your stomache to work your upper back are definately not boob-friendly. I asked the instructor after class how to make them boob-friendly and we worked through it. So, I'll definately take the class again. But, for those of you who had modern medicine give you what your genes didn't, you've been warned.

Rave: Shabu Hachi

Shabu Hachi Restaurant(310) 479-753711680 W Olympic BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90064

Here's the situation. We're driving back from the 909, fighting traffic, STARVING.

What do you want?
Not Italian.
What do you want?
Asian.
Uh....Sawtelle?
Sure.

Obviously that conversation took about an hour but you get the idea. We cruise around Sawtelle, Hide is CRAZY crowded and we'd have to pay someone for a parking spot. Luckily I spotted a Japanese Korean place in a mini mall a few blocks away. (What is it with yummy Asian food in really cheesy mini-malls?) So, we walk by the Japanese Korean place, too empty. Next door is Shabu Hachi. Ok, crowded enough, lets go in.

After stumbling across this gem, I shouldn't be telling you about it 'cause its pretty small and it gets really crowded. And, just to make it worse, they *don't* sit too many people in there to turn the tables. Shockingly, they give you enough space to comfortably eat.

I would assume you know about Shabu Shabu but if you don't here's the cliff notes: you cook it yourself. They give you a big bowl o' broth and all the fixin's and you toss it all in and off you go. Each of the tables have burners and you can control them in case your broth gets a bit out of control. Not that it happened to me of course.

We ordered the beef ("large" order) and with the veggies, noodles and rice it was just enough. I think next time we'll get two entrees and share that way we're not fighting over that last piece of meat 'cause we're not full yet.

I would DEFINATELY go back again. The staff was nice and didn't treat us like idiots when we (i.e. me) asked how to cook the food; the food itself was fresh and tastey; and the prices were definately fair. I think the next time I'm feeling the need to hit Sawtelle, I'll hit this place instead.

Simplify Your Life

No really.

www.slysdaypa.com

If you find yourself in the Fallbrook (near Temecula) area, I can't recommend Simplify Your Life Day Spa highly enough. Located in a mini-mall (actually bigger than a mini-mall, but smaller than an actual mall), this spa will take you out of the ordinary, even if its just for a few hours. The spa isn't so fancy that you feel uncomfortable and not so at home that it feels like you haven't gone anywhere.

They have a ton of products for sale for any aspect of wellness, beauty and relaxation. I could see myself getting into a wee bit of trouble around the holidays if I were to find myself there. They have so many different things that you just don't see even in boutiques. But I digress... I had a massage and mini-facial. The massage was soooooooo nice, very relaxing. The mini-facial was great because my face is uber-sensitive and for once I didn't have to wince in pain while I was supposed to be relaxing. I had the "add-on" foot treatment, which was a pedicure with WAY more massage while getting my facial. Yummy.

And, of course, I had to ask for a manicure when I was done with everything. The manicurist was very kind and allowed me into her schedule, something I noticed while we were there. They had clients coming & going and they were very accomidating to those who needed "last minute" appointments, which is rare in the spa world. I wouldn't dream of calling a place like that if I needed something that day. But, after going there, and seeing how they treat both appointments and last-minute requests, I would definately try to fit myself in, if I wasn't able to book in advance. Even if they couldn't fit me in, I wouldn't feel weird asking. They're just that welcoming.

So, if you find yourself wine-tasting in Temecula, or in need of a break on your way to San Diego, give these folks a call, and give yourself a treat.

Want to LearnAboutWine?

www.learnaboutwine.com

I met these kids at the LA Supports LA benefit (see prior post). They were part of the HUGE benefit so I had no clue to how they'd be on their own.

As you can see by their website, they're all about wine tasting events. Public, private, whatever, they'll do it. Different themes, types of wine, whatever you can think of, they do it. We went to a Bordeaux tasting over at the Maple Drive Restaurant in Beverly Hills. (Mental note, need to check out the restaurant sometime; the appetizers were excellent.) The staff was friendly, the vendors were knowledgable and, as promised, they busted out the Chateau Y'Quem.

Would I recommend this? Yup.

Would I do this again? Sure.

Do I have anything negative to say? Eh, not exactly. But, in my opinion, you're not really *learning* about wine, at least not at my event. The vendors told you why their wine was better than the other vendors' wine, but that was about it. If you were expecting a Bordeaux education, this isn't the place for it. If you want to try a bunch of different Bordeaux wines to figure out what you like, this is a great place.

I think I would do a Napa, Sonoma or Italian wine course with these kids next. If you're interested, let me know. I'll meet you there!

Shall we dance?

http://www.tangogravitas.com/

So, being the amazingly daring chick that I am, I agreed to tag along to a beginner's Argentinian Tango class. It wasn't quite the fiasco the hip-hop aerobics class was but amusing nonetheless.

When taking any sort of "partner" dance class, here are a few things I learned last night...

Bring:
-a member of the opposite sex (as a friend or more than, doesn't make a difference)
-cash
-a sense of humor

Wear:
-shoes that can be stepped on
-clothes that people can sweat on
-something you wouldn't be embarrassed to be photographed in

Leave:
-your ego
-preconceived notions
-any physical issues (trying to explain to the instructor that my shoulders are always up and that I'm working with my personal trainer to bring my body back into allignment, wasn't something he was interested in hearing)

Equinox: Monday Observations

Ok, so over at my previous gym, the fishbowl, on Monday nights your odds of getting on one of the cardio machines was about the same as my hooking up with Russell Crowe. Yeah, that bad. Classes were crowded, machines were taken...so I gave up on Monday nights. I guess everyone feels guilty about the weekend's gluttony. I don't know.

Well, since I now go to the new fabulous gym, I didn't even *think* about the Monday night issue. Don't get me wrong, I've been at the gym just about every other day since it opened but wow, never at night and definately not a Monday night. I go at 6am during the week, 9am on weekends, during the day on a holiday...your basic off times. Wow. It was crowded but I got on every machine I needed, both cardio and otherwise so it was a successful trip. However, in addition to the lovely eye candy that usually there, I was introduced to some new characters.

First thing you need to know is that no one ugly is allowed to join this gym. Fat, skinny, old, young, short, tall, whatever, you're allowed in. Ugly, they show you the door. (This odd trend is definately helping my ego!) However, one lady captured my attention...

Blondie is in her 40's - 50's wearing about at much makeup as I did when I did theater in high school. She was very busy sitting on the machines, sipping a Jamba and chatting with Brownie. Blondie's outfit was PERFECTLY coordinated down to the shoes, quite impressive really. She had a very cute (and large) hand bag and what looked to be a feather boa (actually a sweater.) Now, she definately had the body. I'll give her that. But, on this Monday night, she wasn't there to work out. She was too busy chatting with Brownie and watching the boys. I loved her. I wasn't sure if this gym was going to attract that crew. But, we have our first charter members...we'll see if the other girls stop on by and check us out.

Movie Review: Brokeback Mountain

Weehoo! Cute gay cowboys!

I was so in for this movie. Did you know that Larry McMurtry wrote the screenplay? I had no clue. I mean the movie was amazing and the diaolgue was spot on but I didn't know that he would endorse the whole gay cowboy thing.

Ang Lee did a beautiful job with the script. The story itself was slower than I expected but that was the tone of the time for these men so it was absolutely fitting. The acting and scenery were amazing. The two main females in the movie you recognise from "The Princess Diaries" and "Dawson's Creek." Not exactly challenging material but holy wow did these ladies step it up and hold their own to the boys everyone has been raving about.

I still need to see so many movies but the first three on my list are "Walk the Line," "Capote" and "Match Point." If you're interested, let me know!

I heart celebrities

I just love living in L.A. There's a reason why they tape the Surreal Life here. Life in L.A. is just different. Normalcy is definately relative. Wearing Ugg boots when its 65 degrees. You betcha..that's cold! $300 demin? Of course, you live in your jeans, they have to be nice. Driving 2 blocks to work. Duh, nobody walks in L.A. Rain? You want me to drive in RAIN? Are you nuts?

So we're at lunch at the Peninsula (beautiful hotel, btw) and we're having a lovely time. The poor waitstaff were completely overwhelmed...I don't think they were expecting such a crowd at lunch on New Year's Eve. And the food was a wee bit off but its so pretty there I couldn't have cared less. It was a great birthday lunch.

So, we're people watching...they're putting inappropriately dressed tourists in the back (no, at the Peninsula you cannot wear jeans, and the ones they were wearing weren't $300 anyways) appropriately dressed regulars at the front and who should we see sitting a few tables over. The Hogans. Dad has his doo rag on. Son has this mohack sort of thing going with the hair, son's friend looks normal, daughter looks like a well-paid prostitute. But, even in L.A., where normalcy is relative, you still can't bring your dog into the hotel restaurant...doesn't matter what your last name is or how large the suite your family is staying in. That amused us. Or at least it amused me.

That's why I just love living here. No one even batted an eye that they were there. No one batted an eye that daughter was asked to put her dog elsewhere. We got more attention than they did because the baby with us is seriously the cutest in Beverly Hills. Normalcy is definately relative. Where else would that scene not even register?