April: Be Amazed

Daryl lives!

• The Walking Dead Season Finale, and what we'll do with our lives until October: That's right fans, we are officially caught up with the rest of the world and have made it to the season 3 finale.  I was NOT one of the fans who was disappointed with the show in the least. One of the characters that I've been so impatiently waiting to be killed off has bit the dust, while not quite in the way I would have imagined, they are no longer around to annoy me with their feelings. Characters that I didn't want to see travel to season four, will, but at the same time every show needs that flawed individual that you love to hate, right? Trying not to give too much away here, in case some of you are watching at a delayed speed, but I'll just let you know that I was satisfied... and I will spoil one bit... because I have to... DARYL DIXON LIVES!! ALL RIOTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED (for the time being). Now, what to do with girls' night until November? Luckily there are a few options available to us. First and foremost, True Blood starts in June and we have to get everyone caught up to the current season.  Then there's always Cal Poly Baseball, one of the girls has season tickets, so we plan on cheering on the 'Stangs a few times this season. We also found out that a local bar has karaoke on Thursday nights, so I might be adding a few songs to my usual set list and rocking out in Old Orcutt (prepare your ears people). I think we'll survive until season 4 finds it's way to us.



Rice Ranch Community Park

• Working on My Fitness: I really don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I've made an effort to incorporate some exercise into my life and adding more veggies to my diet. This getting old isn't for wussies and beach season is right around the corner. So far one of my girlfriends and I have gone for walks at a BEAUTIFUL local park, in the Rice Ranch neighborhood, that has various trails to explore (to the point we're I'm bringing my camera) and the beach. We went grocery shopping together and encouraged each other to make better food choices than we may have on our own (or at least she slapped the pop tarts out of my hand, figuratively). After being stagnant for so long it feels good to be out and moving again, in fact my body craves it. It wants to keep moving, push farther, and get stronger. I'm also sleeping a lot better, less weird dreams (which is leaving me with less material for my dream journal), less waking up multiple times throughout the night, and less nighttime anxiety in general. I guess it was time, I'm even enjoying the veggies.

• Jurassic Park/The Host Double Feature Weekend: This year Universal Studios re-release the classic(ish) Dinosaur flick that delighted/scared us all in the early 90s... only this time they release it in 3D. In my honest opinion, it was a waste of time and money. I enjoyed going to the movies with my mom and younger cousin (who had never seen the movie before, he was born after it's original release), but the movie simply wasn't filmed for a 3D audience and it showed. The extra dimension added depth to the rainforest, but the raptors never jumped off the screen at you, and I never had the urge to reach out and touch a brontosaurus. It was interesting to see how young Jeff Goldblum was nearly 20 years ago, but hey, we've all aged some since then. The second feature of the day (for me, it wasn't a movie house promotion) was the Host, the movie adaptation of Stephanie Myer's "adult novel," I'm using quotes because it was marketed for us grown ups but it was clearly young adult. Anyway, the movie was terrible. Let me say it again because it was that TERRIBLE. I would suggest saving your redbox dollar, reading the book (because it was so much better than Twilight), and using your imagination for visuals. My girlfriends and I laughed in all the parts that were not supposed to be funny and looked at each other in bewilderment in all the parts that were supposed to be amusing... at one part I was hoping the movie would take a left turn from the book and the protagonist would meet her untimely end, hope that didn't spoil too much for you. We had brought in mini bottles of Sutter Home Moscato (because we're classy bitches), and even that wasn't enough to make the movie more enjoyable, or maybe it was the single serving nature of the beast that wasn't enough. That being said, I wouldn't have wanted to see this movie with any other group of ladies. We share similar senses of humor and tastes in wine... so even though the movie was dismally disappointing it was still an enjoyable experience with friends.
• The Faint Concert for one of our Girls' Nights this month we went to a concert at SLO Brew in San Luis Obispo.  I have to say the band isn't one I'm familiar with, or would really even listen to on my own, that being said they were so awesome live.

• Dinner: We went to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and one of the girls' brother's met up with us there. It was delicious as usual, and we even splurged on their red velvet cake for a perfect end to such a great meal.
• The Show: The opening act was less than spectacular, I couldn't get over how much the lead singer reminded me from Scott from the first season of the original 90210... you know the kid who wore the baseball hat all the time, and got drunk and shot himself? David's nerdier friend? That guy. Also he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket... the band itself was pretty decent.  Then the main event started and I was blown away and nearly trampled... I guess people think it's appropriate to mosh in a tiny venue.... Homegirl was ready to throw some punches... but instead of potentially getting kicked out of another bar...(it's happened) I just moved to the back and into the safe zone. The music, the lights, the show... what can I say? It was such a good surprise.
  
  
• Los Angeles: This month I made the short drive to Los Angeles to visit my cousins for an overnight trip, and per our regular fashion we packed as many activities into the 26 hours that I was there.
• Art Opening: We  went to Charlie James' Gallery for William Powhida's show, I haven't really ever gone to an opening before and it was really interesting.  The art was unlike things I've seen in the past, and it was really intriguing. Take a look at the links above to see for yourself. 
• Cole's: Home of the French Dip Sandwich and Atomic Mustard. OMG. Seriously the best pastrami sandwich ever (Papa Napoli's is an extremely close second) and amazing cocktails were had (I chose a gin and tonic, it was as good as the ones I make at home). 
• The Clock: We went to a screening of Christian Marclay's The Clock at the LA County Museum of Art. The best way to describe how the film works is from the description on the link, but I'll quote it here too. "The Clock is a twenty-four-hour single-channel montage constructed from thousands of moments of cinema and television history depicting the passage of time. Marclay has excerpted each of these moments from their original contexts and edited them together to create a functioning timepiece synchronized to local time wherever it is viewed—marking the exact time in real time for the viewer for twenty-four consecutive hours." I really enjoyed the time we spent there, it's truly amazing how different artists are inspired by different things and how they create their art. I cannot imagine how time consuming, life consuming really, it must have been. We stayed for about 90 minutes and it was so entertaining.
• Brunch: On Sunday we went to brunch at a restaurant called Millie's and it was delicious.
• The Grove: After brunch we hung out at their place for a bit, then went to The Grove and the farmer's market for people watching before before I had to get on the road home. The people watching was entertaining, sadly there were no celebrity sightings on this trip.... maybe next time.
• The Last Weekend of the Month: was filled with dog sitting, quilt shows, and spending time with friends. April was truly a great month, stay tuned for May in a few weeks. 

My October Wrap Up

Its that time again, I promised you all that I'd get this up sometime this weekend so here is the monthly wrap up for October.



Morro Rock, Morro Bay, CA

Woody Car Show @ Wavelengths Surf Shop

Harbor Festival: The first weekend in October I spent the day in Morro Bay with my mom at the annual Harbor Festival. There was a Woody Car Show, lots of booths displaying artwork, local breweries/wineries, and awesome people watching. The weather couldn't have been better, was warm breezy, and there were amazing views of Morro Rock. This was my first trip to the festival, even though I've lived on the Central Coast my whole life. I'd like to think that attending will become a new tradition.




Mai Tai at the Elephant Bar

Old Town Saloon

The Big Fresno Fair

Long Weekend in Fresno: The following weekend I took a day off work so that I could have a long weekend visiting my boyfriend in Fresno.  While he was in class on Friday I met up with my aunt who lives in the Valley for lunch at the Elephant Bar and a little shopping near the River Park area in town.  Friday night we attended the Big Fresno Fair and saw the band Chevelle in concert... well most of the concert anyway, we stayed for the songs we knew, then wandered through the fair exhibits for the rest of the evening. Saturday we had a little football party at his apartment to watch the Fresno State game, but if I'm going to be honest here, and why wouldn't I be, my allergies were so bad that day that I ended up going to bed at half time and didn't wake up until many hours later when the guys woke me up to go to dinner... oopsies. After dinner it was time to head to Clovis for dancing at the Old Town Saloon. It was an experience I won't soon forget. The dance floor was packed all night and the DJ was amazing, I don't think he played a bad song all night, and the boy was a dancing machine, I'm not sure he left the dance floor for more than a few minutes at a time all night... eventually it was closing time and we decided to take the party back to his place... and it lasted until after we went to sleep sometime around 5am.  Needless to say Sunday was a day for sleeping in and relaxing, and then I made my way back home that evening.

Girls' Nights: Our weekly girls' nights have continued throughout the fall and we've been watching The Walking Dead, we're all caught up to the current season that's airing on AMC right now, so instead of watching on the TV we all snuggle around the laptop and stream it from the internet. I have to say I'm really thankful that I've gotten to know these girls this year, we've had a lot of good times and I know that I've found some friends for life.

The Boy Comes to Town: The weekend after I went to Fresno to visit him, he came home to get some work done on his truck and to visit me. There weren't as many epic adventures this time around, but as long as we're spending time together that's what is really important.  Friday night we went to a local wine tasting room for a couple glasses with his mom and friends, Saturday night we went to dinner with my mom, then met some friends for drinks at a bar in the Village of Arroyo Grande, then capped off the night in the hot tubs at Sycamore Mineral Springs.  It was such a relaxing night that I almost fell asleep in the tub, and no I was drinking and passing out, I was just that relaxed and tired. Sunday was all about football and family day, we went to his dad's house for the morning games, then I left to go to my parents for laundry and Sunday dinner, then he came back to my house for one last visit before he had to go back to school in Fresno.

Carving Pumpkins

SoCal Halloween: This year the weekend before the holiday I deviated from my usual Halloween extravaganza in San Luis Obispo to go down to Southern California and try it out Hollywood style.  The original plan was to get all dolled up (pun intended, I was a ventrilaquest dummy) and go to Bootsy Bellows, David Arquette's nightclub in West Hollywood.  We had been in touch with the club for the past couple weeks trying to see how to get reservations and if we needed them.  According to whoever answered the phones and emails, they weren't necessary, all we had to do was show up and we'd be in.  That was the same story 90 minutes before we got to the club. Somehow in that hour and a half everything we had been told had been thrown out the window and they were now a "reservations only"venue. Odd. I even was holding a tweet from the man himself (who was out of town) saying that he hoped I had a great time and that he didn't want me to have any trouble at the door. After about 45 minutes of standing in line the doorman told us we were wasting our time because we weren't getting in and we should probably find something else to do. Awesome. Never fear though, I had also been in touch with my cousin who lives nearby most of the evening and he came up with an even better plan. We met up at his place for a glass of wine then he took us to a super cool spot called Harvard and Stone in Thai Town. The music was fantastic, it was all old tunes that everyone could sing along and dance the night away.  It was such a better experience than we would have had in the Hollywood club.  I won't be surprised if Bootsy doesn't last much longer to tell the truth, we got there shortly after they opened and there was a steady stream of disappointed faces coming out of the club all night. If you get a chance, blow off the Sunset scene and make your way to Harvard and Stone, the atmosphere is friendly and the music will keep you on your feet all night.


Halloween Day: Since Halloween was on a weekday this year I couldn't go far from home to do anything that night... however, it worked out because we planned our Girls' Night that week to dress in costume and hand out candy to trick or treaters. Worked out perfectly... now if only there were more kids to give out treats to... we saw a lot of teenagers that did the bare minimum for costumes "hi I'm a guido from the Jersey Shore" said the kid in basketball shorts and a t-shirt "Duh, I'm a witch" said the girl in jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pointy hat. So I was stingy with their treats... only fair right?

Random: This month (on the 26th) marked the 3 year anniversary of getting hired at my place of employment. I've had some good times and bad times, but for the most part I really like my job and who I work for.  It was such a welcome relief to work for people that I can actually respect and learn from.
Mid-month I had lunch with a couple of my girlfriends who I hadn't seen in months, we went to the Natural Cafe and caught up on each others lives. I think the main thing we got out of it was that we really need more than my 1 hour lunch break to hang out.  They're both excellent photographers and bakers and I think we can all learn a lot from each other, as well as have a lot of laughs.  Check out their work Forever Moore Photography and Behind.The.Foto
I think I may have made my last Walmart trip, at the very least the Walmart in Santa Maria. I had gone there to buy some windshield wipers for my car as the weather is starting to change a little (very little, it was in the mid 90s today on the Coast). Anyway the store was crowded and filthy... How filthy you might ask? Let me break it down for you... I slipped in a pile of puke and there was no one around to clean it up... and since the smell had dissipated before I stepped in it, chances are it had been there for awhile.  After I slipped I noticed that the funky smell that wafted throughout the ENTIRE store was indeed vomit. Coincidentally there was a display of Lysol disinfectant spray near check out so I sprayed down my shoes before I left.  I even had my prescriptions changed to the local Target so that there really isn't any reason for me to go back. I'd rather spend a little more money somewhere else and not have to worry about the plague.