Week down the Jersey Shore

back from the beach!! i spent last week down the jersey shore with my mother, her boyriend, my boyfriend ricardo, my cousin vincent and my best friend andrea. lindsay stayed over for a night too. :) we had a lot of fun and i took a lot of great shots. everyone was getting testy about my compulsive photo taking but everyone always wants copies of alllll the shots i take... which is kind of uh, hypocritical. i took a lot of photos, but i wish i took even more. you can see some of the photos here.

here are some highlights of the trip: buying boogie boards and only using them once; lindsay and vincent doing sake shots; getting kicked off the beach at night; having an audience at the photo booth; some drunk lady asking "are you going to put these [photos] on youtube?!"; playing tennis for the first time in over a year; buying over $200 worth of groceries at the beginning of the week and then continually buying food every day after that; honey straws; getting kicked off the playground at night; suntan lotion back massages; seafood fest night; my italian cousin and his irish drinking songs; the ghetto shot glasses i made; vincent and rick quoting movies alllll week long; my mom's boyfriend thinking someone stole one of his flip flops; begrudgingly going jet skiing; embracing the octomat; heckling anyone who might be "doing a stinky poo-poo"; our new found love for the game of life board game; buying painted sea shells for 50 cents from the kids down the street; and the tan line the "hulk out" removable tattoo left on rick's arm.

i will be in new jersey for a month, visiting friends and family and taking lots of photos. :)

BUSY BEE

a look back on my busy, busy week...

monday: retouched photos for my favorite boss dave. :) i love working with dave because he's so easy going; a great person to talk to; and sometimes we even accomplish A LOT.
tuesday: modeled for james. i secretly love getting my hair and makeup done. the photos came out great.
wed and thurs: retouched photos for my favorite boss dave. and i even passed on getting pinkberry. wow.
friday: dealt with my car. retouched for a few hours and babysat from 6 pm to 12 am.
sat and sun: worked a two-day promotion.
monday: finished retouching photos for my favorite boss dave. ate thai food with rick and james. packed.

i have been incredibly busy lately... which is GREAT!! especially because i am taking a looong vacation and heading back to NJ til october. yes, i'm probably crazy for staying that long but i think it's a wise decision. my cousin is getting married in october so instead of flying back and forth, i decided to extend my stay in order to spend more time with family and friends. my grandmother recently broke her femur bone so i am glad i will be able to keep her company while she is living in a rehabilitation home. my birthday is in september, so i will be able to spend the day being showered with gifts from loved ones. ;) hahaha. as much as i enjoy living in california and am SO grateful for the opportunities i have been given, sometimes i feel like i'm missing out on the simple things in life... like being able to hang out with your best friends or spending the weekend with my mother. luckily nobody has a problem with visiting me in california (hehe), but being able to go back to the comfort of your childhood home is priceless.

MY TRIP HOME

four days of sunshine, ten days of rain; baking a VERY LARGE cake shaped in a 5 and a 0; surprising my mother on her 50th birthday; going to walmart far too many times than i'd like to admit; mother's day eggplant parmesan; shopping with lindsay; calvin the beta fish; visiting nicole and talking for four hours straight; my cousin's graduation from the police academy; best friend foot and back massages; skateboarding; playing cranium (andrea and i won of course); grocery shopping at 2 am; bowling with andrea, justin, zac, my mom and donald; becoming the scrabble champ; fortune cookies; scanning loads of old photos; ice cream/art outing; babysitting my cousin's kids; ginormous rainbows; eating an obscene amount of utz pretzels.





















due to the crappy weather, i only took 15 polaroids (7 of which are utter garbage) and i bought a lot crap i don't need... like picture frames, fabric paint and more summer clothes.

movies watched: the letter, waitress, 13 going on 30, ghostbusters 2 and charade.

lindsay's visit!!

saturday: lindsay arrived at 6:45 pm. rick and i picked her up at the airport then we went to santa monica and walked around the promenade. lindsay dropped $100 in about 20 minutes. (she's a bit of a shopaholic) she bought a cute dress though, hehe. i bought a kewl 80s-looking blue and black volcom sweater in urban outfitters for $9.99. SCORE!! we ate at the gaucho grill then headed to the pier and wandered around until our noses started running. then we headed back to the apartment and i gave lindsay a tour of our apartment and she got to meet the infamous miss gray (my cat). then we sang a belated happy birthday to lindsay and ate bday brownies i baked that morning and i gave lindsay her birthday presents. sunday: lindsay and i got up early and headed to hollywood. we drove up beachwood canyon and stopped at the hollywood sign. then we went to hollywood & highland and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. we took lots of photos. lindsay was wearing a summery blue bandanna-print tank top she purchased the night before and a random guy driving by on a bike said "nice shirt, but it would look better in red!" we assumed his comment was harmless, but in the back of our minds we thought, "oh crap, that could have been a gang reference." we shrugged it off until another guy passed us and said, "good color." so we ducked into a shop and lindsay bought a replacement shirt. then we walked around the open-air market; got our makeup done at napoleon; and ate lunch at pig n' whistle. we tried on wigs with all intentions of buying them, but then didn't buy them (which saved us over 85 bucks... mine would have been $35 and lindsay's would have been $50!!) then we headed to rodeo drive. while i was trying to decipher the fine print on the parking meter, a guy with a dog noticed my jersey plates and informed us we had just missed Bruce Springsteen coming out of Barney's. (i think it's funny people assume all new jerseyians like Bruce Springsteen). lindsay and i walked around and went in and out of shops. i found something for ricardo's birthday. when we got back to apartment, lindsay was ecstatic to see we had spinach and mozzarella raviolis from costco. we watched "the holiday" while eating dinner.
monday: woke up early again and headed to my favorite beach in malibu. stopped at the post office so i could mail a print to someone who purchased one from me on etsy. :) then we ran in a grocery store to buy some beach snacks and lindsay got starbucks. we sunbathed, took photos and chatted on the beach for 2 1/2 hours or so. then went back to the apartment, changed and got ready to go out. rick drove us to the santa monica promenade so lindsay could see the area during the day. we caught the sunset while freezing our toes off at the pier. then we ate at the cheesecake factory in beverly hills. when we got back to the apartment, we watched the hills and brutally made fun of everyone on the show.

tuesday: we got free jamba juice and dropped off lindsay's photos to be printed (98 of them, to be exact). then we took showers/got ready and headed to melrose. we saw Mischa Barton in wasteland -- one of my favorite shops there. i'm not particularly a fan of Mischa Barton but i'm glad lindsay got to see a celebrity and it was interesting (and a bit disturbing) to witness paparazzi stalking someone. they had their video camera lens pressed against the glass windows and waited outside to bombard her after she emerged from the store since they aren't allowed inside. Mischa was wearing a cute hippy-ish floral dress while trying on hideous fur vests but left the store wearing unflattering pink sweat pants (see the paprazzi's photos here). we bought a few things; ate lunch; then headed to CBS studios in studio city to watch the taping of "Secret Talents of the Stars." it's a reality show (already got canceled) that exposed secret talents of celebrities. John O'Hurley hosted accompanied by a celebrity judge panel (Debbie Reynolds, Brian McKnight and Gavine Polone). we got to see Sasha Cohen perform a contortionist act; Clint Black perform stand up comedy (he was so cute!!); George Takei sing a country song; and Mya perform a tap dance routine. we had prime seating among the wives and family of the mentioned celebrities and you should have seen the rocks on the womens' fingers!! holy goodness. lots of plastic surgery too. after the show, we made a special trip to pinkberry. if you're not fimiliar with pinkberry, there are only three flavors and it's waaaaay overrated. i sampled the green tea (awful sour taste) and opted for original, but i wasn't too crazy about that flavor either. lindsay got the coffee flavor with raspberries and loved it.

wednesday: we stopped at denny's before heading to the airport; took more photos (of course); then lindsay went home. :( all and all an awesome visit -- the weather was well-behaved; we packed as much as we could into each day; and we beat traffic every time!! and now we have lots of new photos and memories. :)

busy week!! :)

monday and tuesday: i worked for james. on monday we shot headshots for his new website. (look for mine, i'll be on there too!!) on tuesday i assisted him while he shot a line of jewelry for a client. the woman used two models, her husband and her 6'2'' best friend and the photos came out amazing. we ate a late lunch/early dinner at this tiny thai restaurant. i was a little weary at first because the sign said "thai-chinese cuisine," but there was nothing chinese about it (which is good because i like my thai food to taste like thai food) and so *drumroll* I HAVE FINALLY FOUND A THAI RESTAURANT IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THAT LIVES UP TO MY STANDARDS OF THAI FOOD!!! finally!!~hoo-ray.

wednesday and thursday: i worked for dave and his producer kevin. i built the production books with kevin and delivered them on wednesday. i also bought tons of junk food and over 150 cans of soda (that barely got consumed on thursday!!) on thursday dave shot four olympic athletes (tyson gay, amanda beard, reese hoffa and nastia liukin) for a sega's new "bejing 2008" video game. the shoot went really well. all of the athletes were friendly and down-to-earth, especially miss amanda beard. she liked the necklace i was wearing (one i purchased from stoopidgerl on etsy) and so i introduced her to the wonderful world of etsy.com!!

friday: i worked for dave again, this time on a last minute shoot for another video game cover. the inspiration for the shoot was lara croft and james bond. the female model was russian and in need of a green card and the male model the company chose was off the hook. he was british, full of energy and highly entertaining. at multiple points during the night, he was running up and doing back flips off trees. pretty crazy.

saturday: rick and i went to melrose to return the clothes and hooker boots dave purchased for the video game shoot. most of the garments were non-refundable or final sales (boo!!) but as a bonus, my boss dave is allowing me to use the store credit. so i have $150 to spend in on questionable clothing. (no, i'm just kidding. it's not that questionable). on one of the final sales, the guy working there allowed me to exchange one of the corset tops for a large, silver panther head necklace.

sunday: was supposed to be an LA Polaroid Nerd Out on the santa monica pier but not many nerds could attend, so there was a mini Nerd Out at jake and george's house with lou, and me and rebecca as models. jake is the proud owner of forty or more of wallace seawell's handpainted backdrops. so it was pretty awesome to be photographed against the backdrops that were once used for portraits of peggy lee, sophia loren and gregory peck. jake took some ridiculously awesome shots of me wearing my canvas mossimo cut-out dress, a blonde crackwhore wig and retro rollerskates. wait until you see...

apartment hunting SUCKS.

friday: tough day working for dave... not. it's always more fun than "work". :) went to "ski dazzle" at the LA Convention Center with rick and aldo. free lift tickets with the entry purchase... not that i'll be using mine. rick and aldo got a good deal on snowboarding bags and i entered every contest i could. i'm still waiting to hear that i am a winner for a weekend getaway in utah... but i won't hold my breath, hehe.

saturday: worked. looked for apartments. ugggh. still haven't found anything DECENT. we have totally ruled out 90% of Van Nuys. yuck.

sunday: honestly don't remember... i think rick and i played scrabble and he won. (what's happening?! hahaha). then rick stayed over his parents' house because he had a dentist appointment in the area early in the morning.

monday:awful. spent alllll afternoon looking for apartments. the eh-ones had no vacancies and the yuck-ones were too yuck to even consider ANNND (this is the best part...) i got a $50 parking ticket for being parked on the street during the last 15 min. of posted street cleaning time. not a street sweeper in sight... nor a cop and the irony is i was only parked there for a matter of minutes while i hopelessly walked up and down the small stretch of street looking for a vacancy among a group of shitty apartments. i dunno how i didn't see anyone near my car and i wasn't the only car parked there. (i was parked behind two other people). needless to say, i was about ready to give up after that not-so-pleasant incident. screw those apartments!!

today: i started a new job. it's a full-time position until i go home for the holidays then when i get back (after new years) it will just be part-time so i can continue to pursue photography. (figures i finally get offered a flexible part-time job riiight before we move out of the area). it's a pain-in-the-ass job making phone calls for a production company that distributes substance abuse materials (i made over 200 calls on my first day!!) but it's easy and the guy who works there is really nice and chill (reminds me of my cousin anthony!!) and i don't have to dress up... which is definitely a plus. i HATE fancy schmancy work clothes!!

what i've been up to the past two weeks...

monday, nov 12: had a job interview for a p/t receptionist position at a political consulting firm. "so i see you have a bachelor's degree... why do you want this job???" the lady asked. then she told me i was "over-qualified" for the position. lame.

tuesday, nov 13: i don't remember.

wednesday, nov 14: worked for my favorite employer dave. called ad agencies and employed dave's new targeted marketing strategy which seems to be working. saw dr. 90210's (aka: robert rey's) wife hayley at the grocery store. zero makeup. skinny. looks exactly how she looks on tv.

thursday, nov 15: worked for dave again. :) ate lunch at a lil greek place.

friday, nov 16: assisted a shoot for james which consisted of shooting 30 amplifiers at a small place where they're actually made. the brand is called Matchless and the amps are used by such artists as: johnny rzeznik, sheryl crow, carlos santana, joe perry, aimee mann, michael bolton, lenny kravitz, and jewel. pretty damn kewl. ate mexican food for lunch.

saturday and sunday: MADONNA INN with the polaroid nerds.

monday, nov 19: escaped a 7-hour-long video game focus group and hung out with hal all day long instead. tagged photos for him. ate lunch at wahoo's fish tacos. started to seriously plan our business venture. met hal's friend naomi. went wallpaper shopping. got lost in the fog on my way home. too embarrassed to say where i wound up.

tuesday, nov 20: re-shot a couple of amps with james. ate a late lunch. taught james some new diner table tricks. :)

thanksgiving: made a cheese pie. went to rick's sister's house. ate an early dinner. watched the beginning of shrek 3. colored. chatted. played with rick's nieces. spent the night over rick's parents' house (they were in mexico).

black friday: woke up at 7 am to go shopping. first time rick and i ever participated in crazyness of "black friday." hit up radio shack, kohls, the mall and a board shop. scored some good deals. bought a nice sweater zip-up from pac sun. covered a few bases for christmas. ate lunch with rick and aldo. jonathan stopped by. watched a marathon of the dog whisperer with rick and his brother. rick's parents returned home from mexico.

saturday, nov 24: my grandmother's birthday!! i worked a cosmetic promotion. rick went back to his parent's house to spend some more time with his brother (who is visiting until sunday). watched My First Mister which was eh, alright. definitely sad. the part that was the most unbelievable was the fact a 17-year-old girl drove herself from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, NM. and didn't get stuck in traffic to there or on the way back. yeah riiight. ;)

sunday, nov 25: polaroid nerd meet up in LA. tomorrow is not going to feel like a sunday to me...

hello, it's 80s night, dress accordingly.

thursday: andrea and i spent the day eating fruit on the balcony, making pumpkin pie innards (my famous anti-recipe recipe without the crust), dancing around, chilling by the pool and playing guitar hero. after watching The Departed (andrea had never seen it), we got ready for 80s night.

we went allllll out (too bad people still don't dress like that!!) and i took some awesome polaroid shots. to our surprise, when we got to 80s night (all decked out from head to toe), NO ONE ELSE WAS DRESSED IN 80S CLOTHES. not a single pair of leggings or even a graphic tee in sight. we felt self-concious for about 2 minutes until a guy approached us and complimented us on our ensembles. he wound up sticking with us (err, rather, andrea) for the rest of the night. throughout the night, the outfits made us more approachable and we received a lot of compliments. two guys even asked for 80s dance lessons since we seemed to be "the experts". so regardless of everyone else being lame for not dressing the part, we were a success.

friday: tyler came up, we went to malibu and took lots of silly photos and videos on the beach. (and yes, there were naked men there... and no, we didn't take photos or videos of them). after we got back, we walked to the store to buy some hamburger fixins. on our way home, rick called me and asked where i was because the front door was wide open. apparently one of us didn't close it on our way out and little miss gray was MIA. :( rick thought he heard her meowing but she wasn't on our balcony. so rick met us in the street and i was REALLY not looking forward to trying to find a cat in the dark, near a busy street, in an area with coyotes. :( but luckily little miss gray didn't go very far. as we approached the apartment, andrea spotted her chilling on our downstairs neighbor's patio... which bumps up miss gray's cuteness factor to 110%!! i can't believe she didn't try to run away!! she's an inside cat who was left outside for at least 30-45 minutes!! rick thinks that just proves she's stupid, but i know that just proves how much she loves me. ;)

so we ate burgers and went to Coldstones for desert. the kids working there were awesome. KID 1 would mix the ice cream and KID 2 would grab the cup and walk 10 ft away and KID 1 would fling the ice cream (lacrosse stylee) to KID 2 who would catch it perfectly in the cup. it was pretty impressive. i held out on icecream because i was more interested in the pumpkin pie goodness i had waiting for me at the apartment... Mmmm!! when we got back, we started watching Sin City which put us all to sleep. Zzzzzz!!

10-12-07 stream of consciousness

i already ate breakfast but i go back to the fridge for two more almonds but two becomes four and four becomes six. and six becomes more pretzels. i crouch down and hug the cat, lifting her front feet off the floor so she's standing upright. "this is what it'd be like if you were a human," i whisper.

i want to reinvent my way of writing because i haven't written a worthwhile poem since i had to in college. i spend an embarrassing amount of time copying and pasting a stranger's fragmented thoughts into a word document and file it away for inspiration. unlike her i don't have the booze, the drugs or the crazy friends (nor do i want them) but i wish i could write like her. i know she thinks she can't write, but she can.

my editor (aka my grandmother) calls. "i think you meant 'secluded' but you put 'excluded'," she says. and she's right. my problem is i can't stay focused. there are too many things i want to create. poems, photos, jewelry, greeting cards, tee shirts. you name it. the dishes still aren't in the dishwasher that leaves soap crystals stuck to the the plates.

i edit photos and realize i haven't left the apartment today. i need to cash two checks and dust my bedroom. my best friend comes to visit in three days but i haven't spoken to her in two weeks. i turn a fisheye shot into an interesting double exposure, make it pink and green and title it "if malibu were a snow globe." a phrase that inspires a lovely shell of a poem in my head. if only i could write poems again.

it's fall and it's cold, but not as cold as it would be if i was home. (although my body is convinced there is no temperature difference today). i add dish soap to the dishwasher because the crystals don't work and we don't have anything else. five minutes pass and i'm scooping suds off the floor with a paper plate. swirly piles of foam fill the kitchen sink. the last time this happened was when i wanted the dishes to be "extra clean". miss gray meows for food. i shake the bowl and she thinks it's new. i wish i were that easy to please.

i'm eating the pretzel nuggets my grandmother mailed me yesterday which reminds me i have things to mail. my boyfriend calls. it's about the perfume i want that the store doesn't carry. so i have to find it online. my best friend calls. she's packing. it is supposed to be in the 70s while she's here so i told her to bring layers and 80s clothes. we're going out on thursday. "i have to pick out ice cream toppings and bake fifty cupcakes for sunday," she complains. she used to like making cupcakes. she's keeping an eye out for a new job because she's tired of dealing with a bitchy boss and coming home late and getting up early, but she loves the stockings and work clothes. (i hate the word pantyhose).

there's a washcloth pocked with mascara marks my mother draped over the tub. i'm hesitant to throw it in the laundry basket because time will make it seem like she hasn't been here in a week. she's home, living out of her suitcase and has a lunch date tomorrow but she doesn't know what to wear. it's either a striped long-sleeved sweater that she she bought me for Christmas one year or what she wore on Mother's Day.

it's nearly 7 now and we haven't eaten dinner yet. andrea was supposed to call me in an hour but an hour was hours ago. she's probably still packing. i'm eager to see the photos dave and his friend shot of me yesterday when i was wearing the pink wig that made me look like natalie portman in "closer." the wig was too kewl not to ask to borrow. my minds churning with ideas for halloween. we still need to buy candy. yesterday i was a model, tomorrow i am a PA, next week a beauty consultant. it's like halloween every day.

it looked like rain all afternoon and tonight it finally burst. there's still foam in the bottom of the dishwasher so i run it again on "light wash." next time i'll do them by hand. my boyfriend started calling the cat "PITA" (Pain In The Ass) and gets mad when i ask him to throw the asparagus into the steamer pot because the cat is comfy on my lap. after dinner, miss gray purrrs in his face and throws herself onto his lap and he forgets what a PITA she is.

it's almost 11 and i'm back on pretzels in front of the computer. two nights ago rick and i played scrabble online because we're too lazy to set it up in the living room but it took even longer to play. i take two nuggets out at a time, hoping they'll be the last two but two becomes four and four becomes six. we just finished watching the special features to "one flew over the cuckoo's nest." i never saw the movie in its entirety but i knew something happened to the Indian at the end. i remember my mother being happy with the outcome.

my bedroom is still dusty but the dog crate is finally out of the spare room. "why don't you read over here?" i ask my boyfriend who is still in the living room reading a Brian Wilson biography. i convince myself this is the last pretzel so he won't have to read over my pretzel crunching. there are new dishes in the sink and the cat box still smells but there's always tomorrow. i'm a procrastinator, but at least i'm consistent.

maybe tonight i'll fall asleep in our bed instead of the spare bed, convincing myself under clean sheets that i'll just lie down for two minutes. but two becomes four and four becomes six and pretty soon it's time for my boyfriend to crawl out of bed to turn off the lights, shut down the computer and return me to where i belong.

what we've done so far.

wednesday: went to a taping of the ellen show. my mom and i were on tv!! :) and everyone in the audience received season three of Grey's Anatomy. (mine's for sale on ebay because i don't watch the show). we saw ellen pull out of the parking lot AS SOON AS the show let out. she waved, but didn't stop like jay leno did. my mom and i still can't believe they make allll that money and only work 1 hour a day. i think i'm in the wrong profession. : P

on our way home, my mom and i stopped at Trader Joes (my mom wasn't impressed) and then headed to Whole Foods (bigger, better selection). we made tilapia and during dinner we watched The Pledge.

thursday: beautifully warm beach day!! hung out in malibu all afternoon. took lots of beachy photos (to be uploaded on flickr). saw a photo shoot Rachel Hunter (Rod Stewart's ex-wife). chatted with the AD. left my name and number with the photographer for possible future PA jobs - nice lady, but i highly doubt she'll ever call me.

aldo stopped by and ate dinner with me, my mom and rick. we watched Wild Hogs which was pretty funny. comedies usually aren't my thing though (unless they're from 1989-1999, like What about Bob? or Black Sheep). i beat my mom in scrabble AGAIN, hehe.

friday: rainy, dreary day. went to radio shack (to buy a camera charger for hal since the one rick ordered online wasn't advertised accurately). then my mom and i went to two estate sales, a yard sale, a vege/fruit stand, a gardening center, the food store and the bank. (busy afternoon!!) my mom bought an artist's (Bill Anton) print of a Marlboro-looking man with a horse. and i bought an odd statue of dogs dancing and some other knick-knacky stuff.

saturday: worked a cosmetic promo. met a nice guy named Lyndon who gave me lots and lots of shampoo and conditioner samples (in such cute little bottles!!) my mom booked all of our arizona reservations, went for a hike and lounged by the pool. she was itching to go to the Viper Room, but i wasn't too keen on the idea. i'm more of a homebody. here's how the convo went:

me: you should be glad your daughter would rather stay home and make crafts instead of going to the Viper Room!!
mom: no, YOU should be glad your mother would rather go to the Viper Room instead of staying home and watching Doris Day!!

(yes, i had checked out Pillow Talk from the library).

and then she called me a "deadhead."

we were also contemplating going to a local country western bar, but we went to PetSmart, made Roxie a dog tag, my mom bought cosmopolitan mix, we ate dinner and watched A Simple Plan instead. we're going to the Viper Room next week. :)

what we did to roxie in PetSmart:



plans for tomorrow: heading back to malibu. or going kyaking and visiting rick's parents. and packing. :)

being a PA is better than being from PA.

trust me, i lived in PA for 4 years. : P

tuesday: worked for my favorite boss dave. :) i was mainly there to inspire dave to work, but i made a few calls to ad agencies, looked through a really interesting (and inspiring) photojournalism book from 1978 and got lunch. it was a pleasant afternoon. dave is letting me borrow his lomo action sampler camera so expect some fun photos soon!!

wednesday: long, tiring, productive day. i assisted a product shoot for james. he rented a studio in hollywood and shot boating accessories (wake board racks, speakers and lights that attach to the "tower," if that's what it's called). the pieces were all round and chrome so it was nearly impossible to shoot with the amount of resources (mainly white cards and c-stands) we had with us. but we did it!! and the man and his wife who designed and patented these parts were really nice. they were an older couple with southern-ish accents who drove in from san diego. james is a really great guy to work for because you always learn something. i'm hoping to work for him more often (assisting small product shoots in his studio) after he returns from new york. and i might even be one of his apparel models for a test/webpage shoot.

thursday morning: was ready and waiting to buy foo fighters tickets to the special album release show at the henry fonda theatre on my birthday. both rick and i tried to get tickets. we both clicked the button AS SOON AS IT HIT 10:00 and -sold out- ...how the hell??!! :(

thursday afternoon: worked for dave again. i e-mailed ad agencies and dave tested out his flash on me (since he has to use it on a friend's wedding this weekend). dave's not a wedding photographer, but he looooves shooting weddings... NOT!!!! i helped him pack, we talked shop and i played with his pseudo-dogs (that really belong to his neighbor). i can't wait to assist dave's upcoming stock shoots. :)

the tuesday that felt like a monday.

my goal was to clean. i didn't get very far, but i managed to put away all of my clothes, make some room in my closet, sort through a bunch of my papers that were covering rick's desk and almost finish my little photo project i started on the fridge. i also found a 1950's blonde wood desk on craigslist that will soon become my craft space. so now... desk :: craft space as kitchen table :: food space. (finally). i also cleaned the cat box (one of my not-so-favorite activities) and watched the hills online.

funny story: this weekend when rick and i went to my favorite spanish food store, we were in the checkout line when i remembered i wanted a head of iceberg lettuce, so rick ran back to get one... fast forward to tonight's dinner: i made the veges and rick was in charge of making the salad. he shredded the lettuce; cut up the cucumbers and the tomatoes; got out the olives, croutons and the walnuts. (we make a goood salad!!) so i walk over to grab some lettuce and notice that it's CABBAGE. he had accidentally grabbed a head of cabbage instead iceberg lettuce... which isn't a uncommon mistake for guys to make in a grocery store, i'm sure. ;) so now we're stuck with a fresh head of cabbage that neither of us will eat. so i walk over to our neighbors' to see if she could use it. she says "oh sure. i can't remember the last time i had cabbage!! and i hate to see food go to waste," so she takes it. then she says, "hey, wait. do you want some lettuce?!" then hands me a HUMUGOUS head of really nice romaine lettuce she bought at a organic farmer's market. then she asks, "do you need some tomatoes too???" just thought that was one of the nicest things ever. she also told me she'll food-swap whenever i wanted, hehe. moral of the story: one small act of kindness brings back double.

during dinner, rick and i watched A Simple Plan which i HIGHLY recommend. i can't recall a time when i wanted to describe a movie as "gripping," until now. the plot is very suspenseful and will have you guessing until the very end. the plot is very comparable to something Andre Dubus would create. and since most well-written scripts were adapted from a novel, novella or short story, i was not surprised to learn the movie is the screenplay version of the novel A Simple Plan by Scott B. Smith. according to imdb.com, brad pitt was asked to play the main character, which would have ruined the film. you could roll brad pitt around in mud, but he'll still look too "pretty" and not rugged enough to portray a farm-raised working man. the casting in this film is right on and the acting is highly believable.

around 9:30 pm, rick and went swimming. :) it was a warm night and the pool was even warmer. i haven't been swimming at night since last summer.

tomorrow: work for michael. early.
friday: pick up my "new" desk. :)
saturday: promo.

my mom and i got tattoos.

monday: i went shopping with my grandmother. we went to kohl's and i bought a pair of black leggings. after we ate lunch, we each spent $15 at the dollar store. i found these surprisingly adorable Moroccan-looking frames, a set of pink glass candle holders and a bunch of other junk. a family friend (my former 2nd grade teacher mrs. m), took me, my mom, my grandmother to dinner at a thai restaurant she and her husband recently discovered. the staff was extremely nice and the food was pretty good too.

tuesday: my mom and i got tattoos!! our appointment was at 6 pm and we took FOREVER to finalize what we wanted. my mom (who went to add sommething to a tattoo she already has), wound up getting a really awesome-looking dream catcher and i (who went in to get a libra symbol), wound up with a small heart. the tattoo artist (who did my 311 tattoo... 4 years ago!!) limited my mother to three times to change her design and then told us "you guys are trouble together!!" my mom is going back this week to get another tattoo touched up and i'd love to get another tattoo in the near future, but rick would probably throw a fit. :(

wednesday: my mom and i went shop-shopping. she wound up buying a pair of cowboy boots that look like prop boots (fake) or at least that's what i think. i bought a really awesome lime greenish yellowish dress (on sale for $30) and a pair of black dressy shoes for work. i also bought two more pairs of giant $8 sunglasses. can't have too many of those. i've officially switched over to giant sunglasses. wearing regular-sized sunglasses makes me feel like i still need to squint to keep the sun out of my eyes.

thursday: my friend zac and his gf jess visited. they treated me to dinner at a spanish restaurant. i haven't seen them since... i don't even know when!! maybe last summer. zac and i met in 11th grade algebra class. we used to pass notes. i invited him to a get-together we had at andrea's house on halloween, that was the first time we hung out. and of course i painted his nails and i wound up washing his hair for some reason. hahaha!! andrea and i used to see how many guys would allow us to paint their fingernails and surprisingly, we racked up a decent number. and of course, after their nails were painted, i would take blackmail photos of them. :)

friday (today): my grandmother and i went over my aunt's house. she just got her FOURTH bengal cat. i think she wants to start breeding and showing them. it's a cute kitten and i took a lot of photos of it. my grandmother and i were planning to hang out by the pool all day, but after we ate lunch it started to rain. so i ran out to my grandmother's car to close her windows. riiiight after the door swung shut, i remembered that her car doors lock automatically after you shut a door. and the keys were idlely hanging from the ignition. luckily that's why she always carries a spare key in her purse... but unfortunately her purse was in the car. so i had to call my cousin who was getting ready to leave for work (he works until 3 am). but luckily, he stopped over and got the door open for us. what a good cousin!!

then it STORMED. thunder and lightning and rain and wind. it was pretty bad. i went outside during the storm because roxie had to go to the bathroom and after a LOUD lightning bolt struck, i actually saw SPARKS fly down the side of my house into the ground from the lightning rod wires!! needless to say, roxie and i RAN back to the house. after dinner with mom, lindsay stopped by and we looked at photos and chatted til after midnight. she is planning on visiting me and rick in november. and we are planning on going to las vegas!! :)

and that concludes my week home. now back to the heat, traffic, work, rick and miss gray. <3 (the only one i can really complain about is the traffic, hehe).

i'm sunburnt.

(and refusing to say "sunburned" because "sunburnt" sounds better).

yesterday my mother and i went to a used book store and got some new reading material for the beach. an interesting book surely beats the typical mindless magazine with articles you've already read a thousand different ways. so my mother got "i bury my heart at wounded knee," "in the spirit of crazy horse" and an anne sexton biography. i got "valley of the dolls" (i wanna read it before i see it because i heard the movie is awful), "this n' that" (bette davis's autobiography), "open city" (a collection of short stories and poems) and a book for andrea (i won't say what it is in case she reads this). my grand total: $12. i got a $1 discount because the sides of the pages of "valley of the dolls" appear to have reddish makeup splattered on them. (it's not blood, because blood dries brownish, the store owner informed me).


last night my mother and i were walking on the boardwalk and i heard my name. i turned around and it was robbie, a guy i went to middle school and high school with!! i see him all the time because he's a manager at a local food store (he's also a postman). and he's also gotten to know my grandmother since she goes grocery shopping on a daily basis, hehe. it's just funny to see someone you know when you are on vacation, but i should have figured i would see at least one person i know on the boardwalk.

today we stayed at the beach alllll day and went in the water for a long time. the waves were really rough and they seemed to be right after each other (and we were pretty far from the shore!!) at one point a wave crashed down on us and churned up so much sand that we got as sandy as we would have had we rolled in it. i fell asleep on my back with my knees bent for who knows how long so now i have sunburnt thighs, stomach, and chest. ye-ouch!! my cousin left behind some aloe vera gel, but i'm convinced that stuff contains some sort of pseudo-alcohol because it burnssss. tip: non-scented lotion works better. and if it's the coolness of the aloe you like, just put the lotion in the fridge.

tonight my mother and i ate at a little seafood restaurant then we went back to the boardwalk. my mother bought a pair of shorts and i went into a head shop to find some morrissey paraphernalia (patches, stickers and/or buttons) for missy, but no luck. :( they didn't have any good foo fighter stuff and they only had one 311 patch. the only blondie thing they had was a scratched up key chain that i scored for 50 cents. (the other key chains were $4 and this one was in the $1 basket because it had scratches on it). for 50 cents, i couldn't complain. this is the graphic on it.

i *heart* east coast summers.

for those of you who don't already know, i'm back in my home state enjoying time with family and friends. my mother rented a little bungalow and we are at the beach until saturday!! we really lucked out considering we never saw the house before we rented it. the house is small and dated, but it's nice!! my cousin and his fiancee stayed here a few days, their friends stopped by and spent the night on sunday and my friend lindsay visited for the day. we took some AWESOME polaroids and the photo you see above.

few moments of my trip so far:
visiting my grandmother; shopping for angels without faces; my cousin's 3-year-old daughter jumping off the diving board like a pro; my mom's bonko; winning the booby prize (thanks to andrea); poison ivy on my arms, shin, ankle and stomach (it's alright because i sorta like poison ivy); andrea singing to avril lavigne's "girlfriend" hahaha; roxie the vegetarian dog; my mom and i saying "we should get tattoos!!" at the exact same time; being on "vacation time," which means eating dinner at 10 pm; not being in a phone mood (sorry rick!!); the beach; polaroids with best friends; old ladies staring at me and lindsay while we were taking advantage of the self-timer; photo booth refunds; playing scrabble with my mother; swimming; crackhead whore heads; quoting "fear and loathing in las vegas"; being the only sober person able to make a beer run and driving stick without stalling; not showering; probably being the only 22-year-old on the swingset at 8 pm on a tuesday night, hahaha. more to come!!

i love east coast summers!! i've really missed the warm summer nights, the lightning bugs the beaches and the utz pretzels!! california may have a lot of nice-looking beaches, but they're pretty dirty and the water is cold and i always feel like the sand is dirty. :( so i am swimming in the atlantic every chance i get!! i love the ocean. the only thing cali beaches have going for them are the sunsets. next summer, my mother and i want to rent a bigger, four-bedroom house with rick, my cousin and his fiancee, lindsay and her man, and my mom's beau. renting a beach house with a bunch of friends is something i've wanted to do since i was in high school so hopefully this plan will materialize!!

pssst... did you notice the link to andrea singing to avril lavigne?!! hahaha. if not, here it is:

monday to monday.

this week i worked every day except monday.

tuesday: i worked a promo at a gym from 12-7pm. the promo required me to pick up 40 lbs of ice on my way... so i stopped at a grocery store whose shtick is to have the bag boys and girls to ask if you need help carrying your bags to your car. so i asked one of the bag boys where the ice was. i was expecting to get four 10 lbs bags of ice (which is manageable to carry without a cart) but instead, there were only 20 lb bags. i was in a rush, so i didn't bother to get a cart. when i got the ice to the register my arms were freezing cold and red. soooo instead of asking me if i needed help hauling this 40 lb ice berg to my car, the stupid bag boy says, "so... did you find where the ice was?" uhhh, DDDUUUUH. what a lazy ass.

tuesday night: rick and i went to the library and checked out some movies. we watched Love Actually during dinner. ***random fact/memory: the first time i saw that movie was with andrea and tyler when andrea and i flew out to visit tyler in 2004. we made the mistake of visiting during california's infamous "june gloom" and our approval rating for california significantly dropped (temporarily). however, we did have a great time in san diego and at the 311 concert in santa barbara. (where rick was!!) AND we were on TV two nights in a row in brief clips from the pepsi smash concert series... we went to see 311, naturally.***

wednesday: i worked the same promo from 6am-2pm. this time i got a cart when i picked up the ice. rick and i watched Uncle Buck because neither us had ever seen it in its entirety. the plot is predictable but john candy is funny and mccauley culkin is ADORABLE and this was pre-home alone. little culkin definitely used to outshine any actor he shared a scene with. Richie Rich is a classic good time, despite imdb's rating.

thursday: worked for michael making wedding albums. there was no AC in the studio and it was pretty toasty... and of course i was wearing capris, socks and shoes and a tank top under a tee shirt because usually i am cold in there. i finished what i had to do, then i stuck around to help brandon finish up some portfolio albums. rick and i met up with rick's friend mike and jessica (mike's wife) at the cheesecake factory (Mmm!!!) and they treated us to dinner. we also hung around the mac store while mike was deciding which desktop he's going to buy. and naturally we took loads of silly mac photobooth photos. i got some plans when i get my hands on that program. :)

friday: worked for michael making wedding albums. dave and michael (the owners) weren't there, so i closed myself in their office with a fan and blasted some fiona apple. funny moment of the day: at one point brandon came into the office and asked...

brandon: want to do me a favor??
me: ooook... what is it??
brandon: wait, what time is it??
me: (without missing a beat) why, do you want me to wake you up???
brandon: *dumbfounded* yeah!! how did you know?!!

hahaha. so he took a nap in the little comfy conference room where couples review their wedding photos/albums.

saturday: worked a promo 10am-5pm. went to rick's parents' house during my lunch break. then (after sitting in much traffic), rick and i met up with tyler in santa monica!! (i hadn't seen tyler since... august 2005?!! damn). it was good to finally see him again. we hung around the promenade and had dinner. while we were waiting for our name to be seated, tyler and i ran to the mac store and took some silly photos together. we had LOTS of catching up to do. it took us 6 months of me living in cali to finally get together (he lives about 2.5 hours away) but now that we've finally met up, hopefully we will hang out more often.

sunday: assisted michael/was 2nd shooter at a jewish wedding in beverly hills. i met michael's brother (who is a videographer) and his assistant. there was TONS of food at the wedding. i ate sushi and strawberries (from the reception) and they fed us the good stuff (choice of steak or halibut). on our way home, i had an insightful conversation with michael. ***fact: michael bought his first house at age 18, his second at 21 and a plane before he even knew how to fly it*** we didn't get home until 12-12:30 am.

monday: met up with dave to return his portfolio books. he bought me lunch and we chatted about kids, life, work and mtv's "my super sweet sixteen." hopefully he'll have some good gigs lined up when i return to california. he's definitely my favorite person to work for and his help and confidence in me has been invaluable.

wedding albums, saggy boobs and Cary Grant.

wednesday: worked, designing wedding albums. i also retouched two photos of a lady who was unhappy with her appearance at her daughter's wedding and blamed michael for not telling her that she had saggy breasts. so i had to retouch her boobs, haha. rick and i wound up watching Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), the original, spanish version of Vanilla Sky. naturally i like the original, spanish version more (because foreign films are almost always better), but unfortunately both movies are equally as confusing. still, i don't understand why Cameron Crowe felt this movie needed to be remade.

wednesday night: i wrote a poem, but it needs to go through another stage of editing. i've been trying to write again, but i usually end up with nothing. i start with a few really great lines, but my problem is i don't know whether or not the lines should form a poem or be incorporated into a short story. there's no doubt the writing minor i earned in college has improved my writing skills, but since then, the technicalities of the syntax usurps my creativity. :(

thursday: worked, creating wedding albums. rick and i watched Born into Brothels because rick had never seen it. it's an amazing doctumentary about a photographer who visits Calcutta, teaches children of prostitutes how to use cameras and then tries to help the children get an education. the film illustrates how one person CAN make a difference (and in this instance impact the lives of children who deserve a better life). i highly recommend it.

after rick went to bed, i watched His Girl Friday, an old Cary Grant flick. pretty typical for its time... but it received an 8.0 on imdb.com!! Grant was such a handsome devil.

and i said, what about breakfast at tiffany's...

monday: met with dave to discuss what i will be doing while he is away in London. he gave me some of his portfolio books to send out and showed me how to contact ad agencies. he also showed me photos of the studio/house he is renting and some of the models he will be working with. (the kids are really cute and you know that they're going to be all proper and well-behaved and have cute little english accents, hehe). and then he paid me in advance, which is always nice. :) that means my share of the rent will be on time and i will be able to afford a ticket home. :)

tuesday: bummed around. scanned/edited photos. cleaned up the bedroom by rearranging all of my picture frames; putting away a big heap of clothes; and i even dusted. rick and i watched Paris When it Sizzles (audrey hepburn and william holden).

"According to several Hepburn biographies, the filming of Paris - When it Sizzles was chaotic, as Holden, who had had an affair with Hepburn during the making of Sabrina a decade earlier, attempted to rekindle romance with the now-married actress." ~wikipedia

it was one of those movies about making a movie. it was weird to see audrey hepburn with her hair down for a few scenes because she usually wore her hair up.

wednesday: (today) called ad agencies for dave. interviewed for a study that i really hope i am chosen for. (i don't want to jinx myself so i won't divulge the details yet). i talked to missy monchichi on the phone for 1 1/2 hours!! we had a lot of catching up to do!! although we've never met in person yet, she continues to be a great friend. we started talking through myspace in march 2006 after missy discovered our mutual admiration for a certain numerical band. (haha, 311 - making friends since 1989!!) so we just clicked and became pen pals/e-mail pals and have been ever since.

when rick got home, we finished watching Paris When it Sizzles, at which point we both were extremely sleepy so we took a 30 minute nap which turned into a 45 minute nap. then rick and i went to the library, checked out some more movies, stopped at costco and wound up eating dinner at 9:15 pm. our resolution for the week is to start eating dinner at a decent hour. lately we've been eating around 8-8:30 pm.

RANDOM FACT: (good jeopardy question) Orangey, the tabby cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's was a talented animal actor and the only cat to win two Patsy Awards (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year, an animal actor's version of an Oscar). source: wikipedia.

boogers, trespassing and a wedding.

thursday: i was sick. :( i worked for Michael (wedding photographer) arranging photos and creating layouts for an album he was working on. i took a roll of toilet paper with me and was quarantined into the main lobby room of the studio. Michael is letting me borrow a jacked-up Canon 20D, just to see if it's working correctly. which it's not. it won't autofocus or play back an image on any other setting except auto. but i did take some kewl photos of miss gray with it. i'll post them on flickr in the weeks to come because i do not want to overload my contacts with cat photos.

friday: met with Jeff to see about that barista job. mostly weekend work, but it's local and it sounds promising. i also took some kewl shots of a "sundog" i saw while i was stuck in traffic in camarillo. posted some new self-portraits on my flickr.

saturday: rick and i bummed around all morning long and totally forgot that the 311 presale for the santa barbara bowl went on sale at 10 am. that sucks. pit tickets were already sold out by the time we called. :( what sucks the most is that i could have bought the tickets last week, but opted not to in order to avoid the extra "convenience" charges tricketmaster is notorious for adding onto your bill. ugh!!!!! i'm never trying to save money again... unless it's over $10-15. so then we went to the mall so rick could find some new sunglasses. (after 10+ years, his favorite pair finally broke). i didn't wind up working with Michael, i worked for him on sunday instead.

sunday: photo play day with rebecca. went inside the Maddy house (an old, abandoned ranch house off of the 101) and explored every room. it was pretty creepy at first. every time the door between the kitchen and the living room would slam shut, we'd get freaked out. and even if we KNEW it was about to slam shut, we'd still get freaked out. the house was built in 1912 and it's really kewl (and dirty). there's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, green carpeting, huge windows, two nice porches and lots of feathers. there were little animal prints all over the kitchen range and bird nests in every lighting fixture. there's also a barn/garage with a workbench. the house is situated on 5.3 acres and was purchased (supposedly for $20 million) so a shopping center could be built there :( just want we need!! i hope the plans fall through. i really want to learn more about the people who lived there.

"According to local legend, Maddy's husband was a retired scientist who had worked at the top secret Area 51 site in Nevada. He died many years ago. Several years later, Maddy reportedly went blind and had to roll out strings between the rooms of the house so she could find her way around."

rebecca and i took tons of photos. (we wound up spending 2 hours there!!) and my shoulders got pretty sunburnt. EXPECT LOTS OF NEW PHOTOS ON FLICKR!!!! :D

sunday night: was 2nd shooter at a wedding in malibu. really interesting wedding. it was jewish man and a chinese woman. the bride had two wardrobe changes. people were hugging the groom goodbye while his best man was giving the toast while the maid of honor was translating what the best man was saying into chinese. (shesh!!) they had a salsa-sounding band whose singer was from Congo. the bride and groom only danced together ONCE and it was choreographed. it was just all really ODD, but we got to eat good wedding food. i had salmon. :) and then michael took me for a ride in his brand new lotus. can't believe how close to ground those cars are!! (six inches!!) highly impractical cars.

movies watched this week: Spanglish (wanted to punch the girl who played adam sandler's daughter in the face), Down With Love (really cute), Saturday Night Fever (always a classic) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (i *heart* william holden).

work and unwork.

wednesday: i met up with a local wedding/pregnancy/child photographer named aleasha. i was second shooter for a small shoot she did in a park. it was with two kids, very mellow and well-behaved given the circumstances, for a christmas card photo. (yes, people plan that far in advance. crazy). it was the first time meeting aleasha. she was extremely nice and pregnant, hehe. that's why she is looking for an assistant/2nd shooter/someone to whore out as a photographer while she is out of commission. so the day was more or less a test to see if she liked me and my work. i think it went well. i took a lot of images and innovatively saved the day when the mother of the children realized that her little girl was missing one of her tiny elastics for her pigtails. (hello, cabbage patch doll!! hehe). soooo hopefully she'll think i'm a keeper. :)

wednesday night: rick and i bought some toys for our spoiled kitty, miss gray, and she loves them!!!!!

thursday: i assisted a shoot for James Lemmo. it was a small test shoot with one model and three outfits, so i mainly acted as a stylist. the model was really down-to-earth and friendly and james was a really great guy to work for. before the model arrived, james shot a few photos of me outside and they came out REALLY nice.

i stayed for lunch and we talked about movies (he has directed and written a bunch)!! he also had some really great-sounding recomendations of foreign movies (my fave) that i've already queued on aldrin's netflix account. james said he could use me for some upcoming product shoots and i really look forward to working for him again. he's really to the point (he's from NY) and has a lot of knowledge about the film industry.

aldrin stopped by thursday night before his car meet, ate some fish and dropped off two movies that i put on his netflix (Delicatessen and Dark Habits films by two of my favorite directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Almodovar, respectively). :) Aldrin's a good guy... we just need to find him a girlfriend named Jen.

friday: unwork day. met with michael brannigan and david frey to discuss a new job position creating layout for their wedding albums. it's a tad low-paying to start but it's better than nothing and at least i'll be doing something dealing with photography. michael said the best way to learn about photography is to look at other people's photographs... and if that's the case, with the amount of time i spend on flickr, i'm already a pro!! hehehe. but he did bring up a good point about being exposed to all of those photos... while doing the layouts, i'll be able to see which photos the clients selected and i will get a good idea of what clients like/expect/want.

after that, i went to the home depot to introduce myself and charge a battery for a promotional demo scheduled for saturday. i also ran into target and bought some homer simpson magnets for rick.

friday night: went to the dodger game (dodgers vs. the angels) with rick, jonathan and his friends!!




it was my first time at a professional sporting event and it was pretty fun. we all had a good time!! dodgers won. :)

saturday: worked a six hour demo at home depot that basically consisted of me drilling a couple screws into a 2 x 4. only two people bought one of the powerdrill kits i was promoting and when they did purchase them, it was a major hassle because all of the sku numbers were wrong and we all realized that home depot didn't even have the 7 piece kit they were promoting!! they just had a 5-piece kit marked at the 7-piece kit price and i had to go to the register with the people who were buying them and explain why these people were adding tools to the kit for free to build the 7-piece kit. ugh, it was quite a headache. the highlights of my day included meeting the hispanic version of my friend barry; being blessed by a costumer; and witnessing an older man sitting on one of the patio chairs "hiding" on his wife by holding a box up to his face and seeing her walk right by him TWICE before he finally lowered the box and she "found" him. hehehe.