Best Week Ever

I have to take a few steps back. I am getting caught up on cleaning, unpacking, laundry, reading, friends, and now blogging.

I arrived home last Saturday and I was so so happy to be home and see my dog. I really do like being away from home, I love traveling and going to new places, but so many things were waiting for me at home! (Like bills, US Weeklies, and wedding invitations)

SUNDAY
Sunday was a big day of wine tasting with Julie, Lorelei, and Tim. We did a Sideways trip and explored Santa Ynez which is above Santa Barbara. The drive was over two hours to get there, and we wasted no time on the sampling. We started at Gainey Vineyard which was not bad.





We then moved onto Bridalwood, which was excellent. We even bought a bottle of Rose to take with us to lunch.



We lunched in Los Olivos and had fantastic sandwiches.




After we had food in our bellies, we walked around for a bit and stopped in a tasting room. From there we proceeded to Sunstone which was recommended to us by the kind man at Epiphany Cellars.









Sunstone had both fantastic and awful wines. And I'm not too picky about wine. We started with the whites, and the four of us agreed that they smelled awful. Really bad. We confronted some of the staff and they did not offer any kind of information that explained this pungent odor. We then moved on to the reds which were great.

Towards the end of the wine tasting our sweet tooths were calling, and we decided to go to Solvang for a snack. In theory it was a great idea, and Solvang is a cute place to shop and pick up raspberry jam... however, on a hot day with lots of wine and then ice cream in the belly... let's just say it didn't quite mix so well. By the time we all got in the car we were beat and couldn't even pull it together to stop in Santa Barbara. It didn't really matter because it was a beautiful day.

MONDAY


Back to work. Pretty uneventful until I was on my way home and got a last minute invitation to see Snow Patrol VIP style. Lorelei was invited by the bassist of the band, and along we Shannon and I, we dolled ourselves up and ran to the Greek Theatre. Really. There was running involved. The show was actually really good and fun, and afterwards we headed to the courtesy room where we would ogle at Shirley Manson, Tommy Lee, Josh Kelly, Katherine Heigl, and T.R. Knight. Shirley Manson looked great, Tommy Lee was surrounded by a young female entourage, Josh Kelly is cuter in person, Katherine Heigl is tall and skinny and wonderful, and T.R. Knight is wee and I could put him in my pocket. There was a lot going on, some good, some drama, and we had to walk away with no pictures to sell to TMZ.

TUESDAY
Paid a visit to Gillian who just moved back to SoCal from Vegas. Pulled into Huntington Beach and was a little creeped out that the homes looked the same, there was plenty of parking, and kids were playing in the yards. Yeah, I was scared, but it's perfect for Gill. It's totally her speed and she's a mile from the beach. Briefly saw Brayton, met the cat, toured the apartment, talked wedding stuff, lunched, and spent all kinds of money at South Coast Plaza. I'm so glad she's back.

WEDNESDAY
The spending did not end Tuesday. Turnip and I did some damage at H&M in Pasadena. And Urban. We were so traumatized by our spending that we had to make a Pinkberry run.

THURSDAY
Back to work. And really did work.

Christian came to visit for a long weekend. We dined with his host Justin at my favorite breakfast spot, and bumped into Sandra Oh on our walk home. That's 3 Grey's cast members in a week! It's only a matter of time before I meet Patrick Dempsey. He will be mine. Oh yes, he will be mine.

FRIDAY
Worked worked worked. Only because it was my last day at W/G.

To answer your questions, W/G has little going on so I don't know that I'll ever be back. Perhaps someday, perhaps. So many people that I consider family I met at W/G. It's sad to leave it, and sad to leave it with strangers.

No, I am not looking for work. No, I am not scared. I am going to enjoy the summer and be a normal person for once and not a nomad, and try an earn a paycheck by fall.


Friday night deserves its own entry.

Swimming with Stingrays

It's probably the best thing I've ever done.


One of the big things to do in the Caymans is to visit Stingray City. It's a sandbar 30 minutes off the coast and the water is only 3 feet deep.

Last Monday, we were taken on a boating adventure with one other family. There were a total of three stops on our excursion. The first was at coral gardens.


The second was at a barrier reef.


And finally, kickin back with the stingrays.


Approximately 50 stingrays live here, and were drawn here years ago when fishermen would toss scraps overboard. They don't seem to mind the tourists because we bring food offerings, but most people are scared the F out of their minds.


Yep, most people are struck with terror.

However, they are so gentle and soft and they like to rub up against you. They are amazing to watch underwater.



It was so much fun we went back again on Friday, but this time we just hit the last two stops so we would have more time at each.

I leave you with a video of my sister freaking out as she feeds a stingray. Enjoy!

Killed Clever. Fled Country.

After approximately 12 hours of arriving in Los Angeles, I got back on a plane to Grand Cayman Island of the British West Indies. We are on a fam trip to celebrate my sister's graduation from LMU and her exciting upcoming career in accounting.

Hate me all you want. Sometimes I hate myself. Do yourself a favor and get down here or anywhere else outside the country the first chance you get.

I've been lucky to make a big snorkeling adventure every year or every other year.

So we're here, relaxing, soaking up sun, relaxing, hanging out at the beach. It's a super small island with super friendly people and there's no pressure to make a holiday agenda. Just relax.



Our trip is winding down and tomorrow I'm heading back home. I don't really want to leave but I do miss my dog, my pals, good old Silver Lake. I can't believe a good chunk of the summer has passed me by and I've been away.



Oh well. I already miss the stingrays.

Goodbye Memphis

That's it folks. I Killed Clever. It's over.



It's pretty much a blur, and while I do not miss work I do miss working with Richard and Lowell, and hanging out with Turnip every day.

Yep. Over.

I didn't at all mind living in hotels for the last year and a half. Someone does your bed everyday, the dishes, cleans the bathroom... what's the problem?

I will miss the traveling opportunities that Clever has given to me, but something tells me the jet-setting is not over.

Stories to be told

I actually had stuff to share today but since the internet is being painfully slow, the full experience can't be had just yet. It would take forever to upload the pictures.

Things are pretty good now that we've caught up on sleep. Had some good shoots. Did some shopping. Had some adventures. Ate some damn good BBQ.

It never fails. Right around this time I get really sad to leave.

Actually seen a handful of Asians the last few days. A couple at breakfast downstairs, a gal at Pei Wei and a bunch at an import store next to one of our shoot locations yesterday. It's taken me 2 weeks to find them in this town.

Bought a pair of Crocs. Croc flip flops that is. That puts my count at 5 pairs, 5 different styles and I've yet to own a pair of the original style. I'm completely aware of how ugly they are (please don't dock me fashionista points), but you work a 21 hour day shooting dv and tell me they didn't change your life.

Enough! We're shooting in Mississippi tomorrow!

I Died in Arkansas. Don't Tell Anyone.

This is what 21 hours of work looks like.

I'm feeling a little crazy. A little crazier that usual.

We are approaching the very end of the Memphis trip. The end of Season 5. Possibly the end of the show, ever. We've all been praying for the end.

Yesterday was hard. On top of the regular grueling shoots, yesterday we had a two hour drive to our location and a two hours drive back. The second shoot of the day was particularly involved, and it ended up being a 21 hour day.

Therefore, today was a little rough. We had to drive 45 min into Mississippi on top of the usual stuff we have to do, came back to our hotel and crashed. I woke up feeling off, and the Sonic we ate for lunch messed me up. It's either that our I have West Nile virus from all the bug bites. I look like an F'ing leper.

The only thing to do amidst the madness is to really make the best of it.


I get massages and tattoos from my director.


Cool house in Searcy, Arkansas


Shooting Elvis style


Turnip and I with Karen Bottle Capps.


Yeah, we're a pretty good team.

Day of Independence

For the last 3 years I've worked through 4th of July. The last 2 I've been away from home and arranged for it to be our day off amidst madness. And in those last two years in two different cities, I've found that Columbus and Memphis are not so into the fireworks on the 4th. They get started early.

So this year after our shoot on Saturday, we booked it to make it home for fireworks. We are fortunate enough to be staying in the heart of downtown, and our rooftop provided the perfect view for Red, White, and Blues.

I don't even know what we actually did on the 4th.

Right now I'm being consumed by a 4 hour drive we have to bear tomorrow, going in and out of Arkansas. Wish us luck.

Memphis Day Six

I really love it with Pepper says, you gotta be fucking shitting me.


That's how I felt tonight after a long day of work, changing into my bathing suit, going up to the roof, and finding this.


Why you gotta kick us while we're down?

In other news, we had a pretty good lunch today.



And I'm working on stealing an Iphone.



It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Memphis Day Five

Today, somehow, in between workstuff, we were able to visit Graceland.

I'm glad we got it out of the way early in the trip, because sometimes we're just too tired to do anything.


Turnip and I sporting our new shades.


Some cool King Threads


The mansion.











It was pretty wild. Nothing Paul Simon sang could have prepared me. Definitely a cool stop. All of the Graceland and Memphis pictures will be here -
Memphis Pictures

We've been shooting the past couple of days, and my back really really really hurts. I need to soak in the bathtub. And I'm so puffy from the heat it feels like my skin is going to rip open.

Five days here and I've seen two more Asians. One chick on the news, and one chick on Beale St. That puts my total at 3... and not one at Graceland.