Bowling for bragging rights

One of the things we did while my mom was in town was go bowling at this alley in Santa Monica. However, all of us--Raphael, my mom and I--are very competitive in nature so I knew it would mean for some good times. There was definitely a lot of smack talk and joking. My mom meanwhile only bowls once every two years, but still manages to beat me and anyone playing with us, men too. Raphael is also used to being the top player. I can accept that I'm not great at bowling,yet I still want to win of course, but I settled for coming in second in one game. 

My mom won each game though, beating the both of us.

Our third and final game was everyone's highest scoring round of the night.  I got a 124, which included three strikes and two spares, not too shabby if you ask moi. Here I am after leaving one pin still standing. The picture of me on my knees leaning back as my 8-pound-ball rolled down the alley came out blurry, hehe.

Raphael scored a 156 and was quite cocky about it ;)

My mom bowled a 165 and was officially the Bowling Queen. Look, here you can tell that she knows it too.

When entering our names into the computer we all used inside joke names. My mom was Chavez, I was Exotica and Raphael was Pokey.  It was funny to see the screen flash our pseudonyms whenever we would get a strike. Good times, good times.

Mommy at the bat

Yesterday evening was my last softball game for the season, I know if I was back East I wouldn't even be playing until the spring "season." I play on a co-ed team after work on Tuesdays, which I joined at the end of October after moving here. The problem is we are sometimes short female players and when we only have four girls, we are given an automatic out as a result, which stops any of our momentum gained in the inning really.

So yesterday we only had three girls, which means we would have had to forfeit our last game.

Never fear, my mom came to the rescue. Yes, my 51-year-old, but you would never know it, mom, wearing flip flops filled in for us as catcher. Catcher in this league mean you just have to cover home and return the pitch to the pitcher, you don't have to crouch down or wear protective gear. So, she borrowed socks, tennis shoes and an extra glove from the other girls on our team and filled in like a trooper.

The catch though, no pun intended, was that my mom had never played softball before. So when I wasn't in the field or up at bat, I'd be showing her how to swing, the umpire also kept explaining that in our legue if the ball hits the base it's a strike and two strikes you were out and not three etc. The best is when I was out in Right Field I'd see her behind the plate rolling back the softball to our pitcher like she was bowling. It was great. Everyone was really supportive that she was helping us out, even the other team. 

We lost the game, but I got a double, one RBI and my mom hit the ball at her last at bat. She just stayed at home plate too long admiring her hit and watching where it went and if it was going fall, so by the time she ran to first base she was out. hehe oh well. It was so cool having her play with us though. 

Products of the Month

Last month I talked about Skin Milk, the month before that it was lip plumpers and before that it was self tanning lotions. Now, it's a hodge podge of goodies and my take on their usefulness.

Sea Breeze Naturals Oil Removing Astringent & hydrating moisturizer ($5.99)

The last time I had applied astringent was back in highschool with the very alcohol smelling Clean & Clear or Noxema kind that caused my face to be redder than any pimple that I was trying to get rid of. Sea Breeze's astringent, however, changed my mind about trying out astringent again. Their product rids the face of any oily shine and helps remove blackheads, but without stinging or burning the skin like other astringents do. Instead, it's pretty calming. Also, the Sea Breeze moisturizer, which although looks like it's for the entire body due to it's large 6 oz size is really meant for your neck and face. I find that it's quicker and smoother to apply than my more expensive Clinique moisturizer and doesn't leave me feeling like I have a heavy or sticky coating on either. It also smells really good and has a refreshing but sea-like smell that I'm liking. 

Alterna Life Volumizing Shampoo ($17) 

 

Besides the bottle looking like a cool bamboo stick, with the Chinese characters of LIFE spelt on it, it also smells fruity and exotic (a blend of floral extracts derived from water lily, lotus blossoms and Chinese white peony) and helps lift my ever since-I-moved-out-West-and-lost-humidity limp hair. Alterna's Life shampoo gently cleanses hair and claims to strengthen and expand the diameter of the hair shaft for extra fullness, body, renewal and bounce with the use of essential oils such as Ho-Shu-Wu, ginseng and ginger. True, I change shampoos more often than a whore changes partners, but I'm digging this new found shampoo along with Tigi Catwalk's Fashionista color protecting conditioner, which smells like candy

 tarte fRxtion ($11)

Yes, I've written about tarte before, but I love their stuff. They are always leading the charge on new trends like lip plumpers, cheek stains, etc. The packaging is cute too and their still under the radar and available at Sephora, so yes, I'll probably be writing about them again.  Anyway, back to the product, another problem the change in weather is causing for me, is that my lips dry out so easily, sometimes causing my lips to peel. To help rid any peeling flakes and to smoothen my lips regularly, I'm using tarte's fRxtion, a light sugar exfoliator & lip balm duo, one side has an exfoliator and the other side has Vitamin E. The coolest part though is that when you remove the lipstick from it's case, a mirror automatically pops up with it. It's the cutest thing. My coworkers, even a male one, was playing with it when I got it. I wish regular lipsticks came with this neat invention.  

North Korea or Jon Benet

The following cartoon was in Newsweek's recap of the year's best political quotes and cartoons and it gave me a chuckle. It's too true. North Korea and it's nuclear building and testing scares the hell out of me, they actually have WMD, yet we aren't covering this issue enough.  

It also bugs me that it seems we'll never know who killed Jon Benet. Her little adult face has been staring at me from supermarket rags for over a decade now and frankly I need closure. 

On a totally unrelated note, my mother arrives in California today for a 5 day visit. I'm really looking forward to showing her my life out here so when we talk, which is all the time, she'll have a better idea. So far we have a girls brunch in Malibu planned with friends, walking around Venice, bowling and other activities. We're skipping the CA tourist stuff since she's been to LA and Santa Monica area a few times already, just not since I lived here. I'll report back later.

PS:  My friend and former coworker, PJ, is in the NY Times article: Beginning the Climb to the Penthouse. He beat me, since his NY Times interview has photos of him, damn. You can see mine here though ;) 

The New Years that almost wasn't

So the plan was to pick Raphael up at the airport at 1:00 p.m. at LAX on New Year's Eve. He had stayed in El Paso for the week to be with his family and to attend a friends wedding, but he had promised to come back in time to ring in our first New Year's together. His cousins were also coming over to our apartment that night for dinner and drinks and then we were all headed to an L7 New Year's party at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina Del Rey.  

Ten minutes before his flight, 10:40 a.m. here, I gave him a call to see if he was at his seat or waiting to board. Turns out he was still on his way to the airport having believed that his flight left at 1 and not arrived at 1. At first I thought he was joking and he thought that I was, but no unfortunately he missed his flight. He of course felt bad and was then forced to wait at the airport all day trying to get on a standby flight back home, but SouthWest said that all flights to LA were already booked for the holiday.  

At this point we're now both stressed out and because I'm big on holidays and was all alone, I start to overreact by crying and feeling sorry for myself since this was supposed to be my first New Year's not being single. If I was still in Manhattan it wouldn't be as terrible, since I could join my friends like usual and ring in the New Year with lots of champagne and fun, there'd definitely be options open to me. 

I still cooked my dinner of sausage pasta sauce though, after all people were coming over and I was still holding out hope that he'd get a standby flight. Yet, every hour he called sadder than before to say he was watching another plane leave that he wasn't on. 

At 5:00 my time, he calls saying he got a flight to Arizona, where he could then take a flight to Ontario, California which gets him in at 7:50 that evening. I quickly MapQuest directions, turn off the stove and drive the hour to the airport, luckily there wasn't any traffic. All the while Cyndi Lauper's song "I dove all night, to get to you," was frantically playing in my head like an anthem.  

We met to much relief and happiness to quickly jump back in the car and head back the hour to the apartment to make our 9:00 dinner time. After parking the car I turned into Speedy Gonzales setting the table, boiling the pasta and getting every thing ready haphazardly. Luckily it all turned out well and we made it to the party by 10:45 p.m., danced to the Disco Kings, had two bottles of champagne and rang in the New Year's together.  Phew, that's my story, happily ever after.  

News: Great, as if I wasn't scared already about driving here. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005, California had the most fatal crashes, at 4,329, followed by Florida with 3,543, and Texas with 3,504. As a result, BusinessWeek named California #1 in their top 10 deadliest states for driving (read more).