Lemonade Martinis, lemon cookies, lemonade...

This is a small portion of my extremely loaded Meyer lemon tree. I keep looking at it, knowing that very soon I'll be a lemon picking fool... and that I will be freezing lemon juice in ice cube trays for future use!

I don't love Meyer lemons. They aren't tart enough for me...they don't make me pucker! But if you like them and are local, I'll call you when it's time, and you can grab some...or pick them up from me at work!

And perhaps there are great Meyer lemon recipes somewhere!

The Queen of the Good Things

I am not a fan of the Martha...I think she is a piece of work, to say the least. And I rarely give her a thought, unless I walk down the wrong aisle at Michael's.

So there I was on a flight to Oakland, reading the November issue of Real Simple magazine...a mag I rarely purchase because it makes me feel like a total under achiever, and there is a Macy's ad for the Martha Stewart Collection...only at Macy's.

I OWN ALL OF THAT STUFF! Granted, not in robin's egg blue, but COME ON! The garlic peeler I bought at Pike Place market that is manufactured in Culver City, CA; the garlic press that Henckel does so well, the juicer done by...everyone!

It isn't that she's a brilliant business woman; it's that she is surrounded by brilliant business people, and 10,000 worker bees.

But she oozes smug! She gives off an energy that is ice-cold and screams un-earned superiority. Everything about her insists I dislike everything about her!

If she is a nice person-- mazel tov, but I find it difficult to believe that she is.

I admit: I bought her large craft mat from Michael's the minute you could use the 50% coupon on her stuff... a girl's gotta take care of her needs!

For my Martha-loving friends: I love you and your do-it-all-so-well attitudes...I aspire to that!

It Was All Hearsay...

until I took a bite of one of these evil offerings of the Satan who wishes to add even more inches to my ass!

Colleen keeps talking about Sprinkles; endlessly discussing the virtue of the sweet, yummy goodness that is a cupcake. And since Lori works across from the Sprinkles in BH, and we were meeting at our Starbucks last night...I took advantage of my darling friend: one pumpkin for me and something chocolate for Ian!

Please know that if Colleen had her way, Ian would never have known there was a cupcake for him, as she tried to guilt me by mentioning how much the ever-withering Spanky would enjoy said cupcake...good thing for Ian, I was too tired to drive even the 10 minutes to deliver the cupcake to Spanky (who probably wouldn't have known it was for him).

So Ian got home from school at 10:30 last night and we poured huge glasses of milk and enjoyed every bite: he ate the whole thing with 2 glasses of milk and I ate half...I just had the other half with my a.m. coffee. His exact words were, "Oh sh*t, these are amazing...damn Colleen for telling you about them...and damn Lori for being the dealer". He clearly equates them to the most awesome foods on this earth, which all have crack in them...he says that's why the best foods are addictive!

So my darling friends, THANK YOU for exposing us to Sprinkles! I love you/ I hate you!xo

Farewell to my friend

For a very long time, Lori and I have met in the early-ish evening at our local Starbucks, to catch up and solve the problems of the world: usually in under 2 hours! Today is our last time.

Today MY Starbucks is closing. All of this in the name of progress! On Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana, by the no-longer-there Mann Theater, where everything is changing...my haven is going away.

The employees are going to other locations, and they tell me Starbucks will return to the corner in 2 years...2 YEARS!!! This means that we'll have to travel a mile in either direction (oh so far) to hang at a new spot... other characters, other habits. I like the predictability of my crowd: the girl who sits inside at the first table by the bar, always working on her computer...the group of 20-somethings, smoking around two tables in the hallway... and us.

I will miss this old friend, and will look forward to its return.

A NIGHT WITH THE BOYS

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I really like being home, and having enough energy to get things done! Above you see my four-legged boys, keeping me company tonight. The boys (Bruiser, Buster and Marley), along with "The Devil Wears Prada" on cable, made for a GREAT night!

Tonight I started on my goal of straightening a room a week; putting away so that whenever surgery happens, the house won't be an explosion. I started with the office...which has spilled over to the dining room table and seems bottomless! I'm making a huge dent in my total lack of organization, and hope to have the office done before I head to Oakland for the Springsteen concert this weekend!

But my favorite enabler, Colleen, is sitting at her computer, filling my in-box with so much to consider... discount at two peas; the red paper with the pink damask that HS used in her book, Sprinkles cupcakes and the PSE upgrade (well, maybe that was my fault)!

So, while I'm trying to be efficient... I'm still distracted!

STUPID ME...an explanation

Many of you have asked, so I must explain:

My blog is my haven. I can say anything here, because everyone who knows about it is someone I would say anything to...but I made the mistake of exposing my last blogsite to someone outside my wanted-exposure zone, and within 5-10 minutes I had a complete review of everything on that blog. EEEEWWWWWW!

I made it clear to this person that it was a mistake; that my blog was meant for a small circle of people, and that the site was going away...to which he responded, "I'll just not go there again." YEAH, RIGHT! Of course, yesterday he e-mailed that he couldn't see my blog and wanted to know what happened...so much for not going there again!

SO, here we are in the new space...and I'm kinda liking it!

Happy Monday all!

NOKIA THEATRE - beyond fabulous

Most of you know I've been going to concerts since I was about 13. And my biggest complaint is ALWAYS that the acoustics suck! Who could forget Adam Ant at Universal, screaming like a lunatic? Or the lousy sound when Bruce opened Staples?

I am happy to report acoustic perfection in Los Angeles! The Nokia Theatre holds about 7100 people, and looks wide...and it is. The sound is amazing, and made the Eagles sound even better than ever!

Thankfully the screens are large, and clear! We were in the orchestra, and it was still difficult to see.

The consession situation sucks, so I suggest eating and drinking prior!

One of the earliest concerts I attended was the Eagles "Hotel California" tour in 1976. I've seen them many times over the years, but not in a long time have they seemed as happy or sounded as good as they did last night! They played new as well as old; they played Henley's solo stuff, Frey's solo stuff and Walsh's solo stuff! They ended with "Take it Easy" and "Desperado"...this concert goes in to my memory bank as a concert highlight of all time. I can't tell you the feeling that hit me when they played "Hotel California"; it was like an old friend, come back for a comfortable chat.

The Dixie Chicks were awesome! I only knew their newest album, and I do love that album, and they played much from it. Their other stuff is country-ish, but fun and it didn't bug! I'll probably even purchase another Chicks album...I'm a convert to the Chicks!

Eagles & Chicks have 4 more shows if you have a chance...tix are really pricey, but worth it!

I can't wait to go back!

NO, SERIOUSLY! (all I seem to do is rant lately)

So I just FINALLY got my attorney's office to fax me the AME report that they received last week.

I have left at least 6 messages for the attorney's assistant, and at leat 5 or 6 for the attorney...and never received a response. So my last message to the assisstant who's vm says she'll return calls between 3:30-4:30 was, "I don't actually believe you, since you never have before." So on her fax cover she writes, "Thank you for your anticipated courtesy and cooperation."

First she doesn't know me...or she'd know that the only way to anticipate courtesy and cooperation is to give it! And second, when I'm through with this case I'm going to ask my attorney why he is happy with such mediocrity.

Okay, off my soapbox for the evening. I'm off to my very-first-ever moonlighter at my fav scrapbook store! I'll be there until 2am, so don't hesitate to ring me! xo

LIVE IN MY BODY (a repeat rant because I heard it again today)

I am blessed! I have mostly great friends , and family. I come home to 3 boys who think I am their universe, and 1 who thinks he is the universe. I have fun. I keep busy and I get to do arts and crafts. After falling at work in June 2006, I could have been much worse off. Very little stops me! And there are drugs for the things that do.

Having said that, I must ask those who say, "Whatever you do, don't have surgery", and those who say, "I have a friend who almost died..." or something along those lines...WHAT THE FUCK? Did you go to med school? Have you seem my MRIs or x-rays? Have you muscle tested my left leg and watched me fail miserably? Do you live on Soma and Darvocet, washed down with whatever amplifies the effects? Do you wonder how much sleep you'll get and which pain will wake you during the night? Do you get out of the car or move and have to stop because your left hip joint is stuck? Have you recently fallen down a flight of stairs because your leg gave out? Can you feel the bones in your back grind on eachother because one disk is gone? Are you ever afraid to move because it might be the move that throws you back into deep rolling spasms?

To those of you who think you know it all I'll simply say this: spend 2 weeks in my body; you can do anything for a week, but by the second you'll be done. Then spend 16 months in pain and being played by the insurance company. Live uncomfortable at best, and always on drugs... and then we'll talk.

STUPID ME

Because of a lapse in judgement, and faith in my own efficiency, I made a huge error! And therefore, have changed blogs.

My blog is for the people I share with, and for the people I want to share with. Sometimes there are secrets revealed that are not for all eyes...so because I blew it, I'm new!