Xmas 2008

Hi All... Hope you had a nice Christmas.

John and I headed over to my mom's on Xmas eve (as we always do) for dinner and midnight (kiss baby Jesus) present opening. We've been doing this since I was a kid. Christmas day has always been a day of movie watching and de-stressing from the holiday hoo ha!

Here are some of my pics from Xmas at my mom's house! Hope you had a nice one as well!!!

An ode to Linda Lovelace

So on the 21st of December, John and I met Shannon and Ross at Chichen Itza Restaurant near our apt for Dinner. This is a Mexican restaurant but its dishes are from the Yucatan region of Mexico. The food is delish and the service is welcoming (I forgot to make reservations and they still took us on a busy night). Most definitely worth the trip. They have a handful of restaurants in the L.A. area...check them out! (we went to the one on 6th street)
http://www.chichenitzarestaurant.com/

After dinner (oh yeah, try their coconut ice cream - Yummo!!!) the four of us walked two blocks to the Hayworth Theatre (right next to La Fonda restaurant, where I had my birthday dinner). The theatre had been displaying on their marquee a musical by the name of 'Lovelace: a Rock Opera' for quite some time now. I finally googled it and found out that it was a rock opera (in the style of Tommy and Hedwig) about the life of famed 70's porn star (?) Linda Lovelace. Found out that Goldstar sold tickets for almost 1/2 price and got some online.

So...my review of Lovelace!
It's really good!!! I don't go out to see many musicals, let alone rock operas, but it's 90 minutes of pure captivating entertainment!!! I was hooked from beginning to end! The music and lyrics are written by Anna Waronker (of That Dog fame) and Charlotte Caffey (THE GO GO'S) and they do a great job. The lead of Linda (Katrina Lenk) was a beautifully talented portrayal of a woman who had little choice in her rise to 'fame'. People...go see this if you can. It's not a big production (ala Cats or Wicked)... it's not super polished (which suites this musical just fine) and I promise that you'll have a good time.

For Tickets, go to:
Goldstar: http://www.goldstar.com/events/los-angeles-ca/lovelace.html
Plays411: https://www.plays411.net/newsite/boxoffice/cart.asp?show_id=1761&skin_show_id=&orgin=guest

Or check out their web page!!!
http://www.lovelacearockopera.com/

Chinchen Itza on 6th (near MacArthur Park)


Inside Chichen Itza (they even valet at night)


Ross and Shannon


Outside the little Hayworth Theatre!



GO SEE THIS... You'll have a good time!
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Pre-Holiday Get-together

Ok... I know it's been almost two weeks since I've blogged...but for the 10 of you that read it... I am happy to say that I have new posts for you.

A couple of weeks ago I headed on down to one of the happiest places on earth! No, not Disneyland... I went out to Ontario, CA. My friends Krystal and Ivonne live out there and they were nice enough to host or quasi-annual pre-holiday get together. it's been a somewhat tradition for us for some years now. Since K and I have been making the trips to the LBC for a few times now, we decided that it would be nice if we went to their part of the globe.

So I headed out from my apt, near downtown LA and discovered that LA/So Cal now has traffic even on weekends (I love suburbia!!!)...so it took me about 1hr and 45 min to get there.

We had a nice time and I met a new friend (Gina). Ivonne had a family engagement (we missed you Ivonne) but we had a nice evening with food, fun and relaxation!!!

Our hostess Krystal (by her fireplace)


Krystal and Michael


Me and Michael (with our holiday crowns)


Krystal and Victor (old friends)


Krystal and Victor pretending to be Julia Child and Rachel Ray


Gina and Hortencia (with Nico)


Poor little Nico


Hortencia loving her new gift!

One Wedding and no Funerals (Thank the Stars)

Our friends, Ted and Xavi have been together longer than any couple I know (gay or straight...which really doesn't matter, but I digress). They're the type of couple that you love being around. They're fun, full of life, and all n all great guys! So a few months back I was delighted to get an invitation to their wedding which occurred last Saturday. Now this is not their first wedding/ceremony (I don't care what you call it, but I digress again), they met many moons ago, had a ceremony and two day's before the state of California passed the ugly Prop 8, they made sure to make it legal (and still is during this publishing -- no matter what the ha8'er say!!!).

Now I've been to a few weddings... and most of them have been fun, but this one was different. Everyone...and I mean EVERYONE was having a good freekin time...to the n'th degree!!! The ceremony/dinner/dance was held at this even place called The Grand in Long Beach. They set up a tent outside and eventhough it was chilly outside, the heat lamps kept things perfect inside the tent. The ceremony was short but sweet. The Dinner was quite nice and there was some sweet entertainment in the form of four sweet little girls who dance Folkloriko (mexican folklore dances). The night ended off with some old school songs (along with the fun cumbias and rancheras) that made me think back to the cha cha days!

The entrance to the Wedding Tent



Michael, Jaime and Victor


John and Me


Krystal and Ivonne


My friends and Tablemates (Jennifer, Hortencia, Krystal and Ivonne)



Victor and Me


Victor's sisters (and my Friends...and quasi-little-sisters) Anna and Monica



The Happy couple during the ceremony (sorry for such far away shots)



Michael reading this toast from his phone (sorry Michael, I had too...and sorry for the blurry pic)



Everyone having a great time!



Ted and Xavi...Congratulations! And thank you for a very memorable evening... I can only speak for me, but I know everyone had a great time.

Friday Movie Time

Hi Y'all,

So Friday was my last vacation day of the rest of the year...and by the way things are at work, I wish I had stored more vacation days to use later this month.

So on my last day...I spent it... going to the movies! Yes, Mr. and Ms., I spent my vacation day locked inside a dark room with a bunch of strangers, not saying anything to anyone! ! ! It was worth it! I saw Milk. Now I had heard some really good thing about this movie, but I know that I'm usually let down because I build up these expectations only to discover that the movie, was not the best in my lifetime. We'll Milk was not the best...but much much better than I had hoped for. People... go see this movie. I don't care if you're gay or not, against prop 8 or not... this movie represents what we're missing in America today.

Now...this is my opinion and my opinion only so you don't have to agree. We have become complacent with what's happening to us. We're believing in everything that we are told...not questioning it. And when we do question it, or fight against any injustice, we're deemed 'UnAmerican'. Now if you ask me, that there is unamerican!! Milk represented the fact that we alone can change things. Now he was no saint, but he showed the people of San Francisco, California and the U.S. that you can fight 'the machine'... even as far as becoming a part of it to do the right thing. O.K...I'm sounding a bit hokey now! But just try to see it people...you'll feel inspired. I did!

Sean Penn was amazing!!! Instead of playing a man like a hero, he showed so many different views of a mans vulnerability while portraying a man with hope. I'm no oscar or acting afficionado, but he had me beleiving from the first scene. Everyone who played a major role in this movie was good as well...James Franco, Emile Hursch, (the creepy) Josh Brolin, and Alison Pill were all good and any of them can deserve the recognition during the upcoming acting award season. OK...I'll stop trying to be Eggbert or Mr. Roper!

So I drove down to the Archlight in Hollywood to catch the movie. This is my fave movie theatre in L.A. (Along with the Vista in Silverlake). Go see a movie here...you'll love it...oh! and buy some caramel popcorn...they make it fresh there. Yummo!


So I got there too early and walked my butt down to Amoeba Music (a block away from he theatre). Best ever music store! If you have some time...go here too. I usually download music from itunes...but Amoeba Music reminds me that I have to explore my musical tastes!

Dogs and Bikes

So after being sick last week, I decided I wanted to keep things low key but definitely wanted to get outside.

On Saturday morning, John and I went out to our normal Saturday morning breakfast place...Nicks. Nicks is this old diner looking place that really has only bar stools. The breakfast is nothing to write home about (or review on this blog) and it's definitely not the same since our favorite waiter/entertainer Joey left (why did you leave Joey?), but we still go. I'm getting John to try different places, but that's like getting Obama to quit smoking! Nicks is still a good place to have some breakfast and see all of the great friends and family from all around the downtown area. If you're ever in the area (it's across the street from 'The Cornfield', you should check it out.

Nicks.




After that, I came home to my depressing looking apartment and decided that perhaps I should stay home and clean up a bit (just a bit). Take a look below at some pics of our apartment with our xmas lights.




Oh...and I also registered for school too!!! (yea!!!)


On Sunday, John, our dogs (Roxy and Jake) wanted to go outside and take in some great L.A. air. The weather was great so we headed out to the Cornfield to ride a few laps around it on our bicycles. Since John bought me my great Saris 2 bike rack, we thought we'd ry it out, load up the bikes and head on out. I'm still trying to get used to betting back on the bike so my legs were wobbly after two laps. John and the dogs had enough energy to go out some more so I ended up taking some pics for y'all to see.
It's a great park and right now, not too many people know about it, so go check it out.








After that, went over to my moms to help run some errands and had plans to go afterwards with my friends Michael and Victor to Jamies house, but my family errands ranith over, so I ended up just going back home and chill with my family (i.e. dogs and John)

Next week...pics of the wedding!

I dislike being sick

So after chowing down on some Turkey on Thursday with family, my mind was set on trying at least one store for Black Friday. Well, my body said 'uh uh' and when I woke up friday, I realized I was not going to join in the money spending fun.
Yes ladies and gentlemen (or in my blogs case...lady and dude), I caught a nasty cold. This cold didn't just fly by...it hit me like a ton of bricks that even has me feeling it today (Monday).
Suffice it to say that I didn't do anything this weekend but watch too much cable TV (how many reruns of the Bad Girls Club can one see?), and drive John crazy (thank's for making me my lemon and honey tea's babe!)
I do want to give a shout out to Ny-Quil...for making my weekend a little bit more bearable (and loopy)!!!

Peace...F