What a croc

I caved and bought a pair of Crocs while I was in Fort Lauderdale. Although no one wears them out in LA except for kids, everyone down there had a pair of the bulky sandals, even my friend Stef. I had tried on her pale purple ones and was surprised to find them so light weight, airy and comfortable. So when we hit the mall, which we hit hard by the way, I picked up a pair of official Crocs, bright pink. I haven't worn them out here yet, but think they would make for some good boating shoes and at least the ones that I purchased were $10 cheaper since I fit into the kids’ sizes. 

I found it funny that Stef and I had planned to do an everglade air boat ride to see alligators and real crocs, but we slept in and I bought the Croc sandals instead. I think they should be called Ducks though, because they make me look like I have duck feet.

Your table is ready

The other day we had dinner for the first time on our dinning table, which used to belong to my Dad's restaurant (Settembres) just like my red stools, which I had in my apt in NY. The retro table with red and white paten leather chairs and steel legs had been sitting in my mom's basement waiting for the day I had a place big enough to house it. Not that the table is very big, which is good because our place isn't either. So as a housewarming gift my mother had it sent out to me along with some bureaus (the one in the background) and a lamp.

For our first dinner on the table, I made cheese tortellini alfredo with broccoli and shrimp, plus baked rolls and a side of asparagus.  I didn't eat the asparagus though, but the rest was very good if I may say so. It was pretty easy to make too. 

The bicycle diaries

I never had much luck with bicycles; there was the nice new bike that my cousin just put together for me, which was stolen from my dad's place before I could even ride it and that time where I fell off my bike and down this little ditch off the road and breaking my wrist. Thus, I wasn't much of a bike person, so I rollerbladed instead. 

However, now that I live by the beach, I've wanted a beach cruiser; you know one of those classic looking ones with the wide handle bars? Although I originally wanted a red bike, I ended up picking out a pink one because it came with seven gears instead of none. I bought it at BeachBikes.net in Torrance for $180, instead of paying $300-500, which is what the Santa Monica places had wanted. But of course I then had to get a cute wooden basket, bell with hearts on it, a gel seat and a basket liner from dvnproducts.com that converts into a sack once I park my bike and want to walk around with my stuff. All the extras brought my total to $270--but still a good deal. Raphael bought a bicycle this weekend too, but an aluminum Trek mountain bike.  

For our first journey we were pretty adventurous and biked from our home in Mar Vista to Hermosa Beach for their Memorial Day fair, passing the towns of Playa del Rey, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach. It was 13 miles each way, 26 miles total, so pretty much like biking a marathon. I was ok on the way there, the views and sunshine were beautiful, but on the way back my butt was sore and my muscles tight. I almost convinced Raphael into taking a taxi back, it didn't sell though, but he occasionally would help give me a push on the way back as if I were a kid just learning to bike, lol. I took a nice hot bath when I got home, but I'm sure I'll still be sore tomorrow. I feel accomplished though.

Oh I named my bike Chrissy, which is weird since I've never even named my car, but this bike looks prissy and Three's Company-opening-sequence-like, so Chrissy.  

Taking the bull by the horns

I went to Fort Lauderdale for a very quick trip to see my friend Stef who recently moved down there. It was a fun girl's weekend.

One of the many highlights being that I rode a mechanical bull for the first time at Seminole Hard Rock Casino's Tequilla Ranch. Let me preface this story by writing that yes, I had a glass of champagne and wine before hand, but I've always wanted to take a turn on one of these ever since I saw Urban Cowboy as a little girl. It was crazy though, a lot harder than I expected, especially when in a dress and the guy at the controlls is being dirty about it. Let me break it down for you.

Getting on
Here I am trying to figure out how I was going to jump up on this thing with a dress on and a crowd watching.  It was pretty high. I was a little embarrased and nervous, but I figured what the heck who did I know down there? 

Trying to stay on
Now, I am just trying to hold on, gripping the sadle strap, while the guy at the controls is jerking the bull rapidly left and right trying to cause me to well, pop out. I was screaming, laughing, and just trying to hold on.

Falling off
When it looked like the guy might succeed in his task, I figured it best to just fall off. Yes, I volunteered on this fall, I had had enough of the close peep show calls.

YeeHaw!
They talked me into getting back on though after I scolded the guy with a wagging finger, but luckily he took it a little easier on me this time with full rotations. At this point my heart was racing, but I did my best to mimic Sissy from Urban Cowboy and even put my left arm up and so forth. If only I had a cowboy hat on, then I think the look would have been complete ;)

What a ride though, it was really fun. When I fell the second and last time, controller guy had the bull's head nudge me, which had everyone laughing. I swear my thighs were sore the next day. 

TGIF on Wednesday

Yesterday morning I was able to view the making of a TGI Fridays commercial at the Sony lot in Culver City. My client directed the spot and I was invited to watch and get ideas. Anyway, I had been to Sony Studios back in January to see a taping of King of Queens, but it was cool this time having a VIP pass and not being escorted to the different stages. I felt pretty cocky actually as I passed the many busy people on bicycles and in go carts, I felt like I was part of some production, when in reality I was just there to view a food commercial, lol.

Here are some things that I found interesting. I always figured restaurant  commercials, like Applebee’s or Chili's were filmed in one of their closed restaurant locations, it would make sense since it would be all set up, but no, it was all done in a sound stage with a mini TGIF themed restaurant inside, just minus a roof so that lights and cameras could be put in. They also used real food. One part of the sound stage was designated for a mini-TGIF kitchen, where real TGIF chefs prepared the food to create authenticity and actual portion sizes, which I thought was impressive. There was a beer foam guy employed too, his job was to refill the drinks to keep the foam frothy and at the just poured happy hour level. 

Although I would have been bored being one of the extras who had to eat fried food at 9 a.m. and fake smiles and pretend it was happy hour, there lips moving as if in conversation when they weren't and laughing when nothing funny was said (not that unlike to what I did at The Galley shoot a few weeks ago) but the perks would have made the job worth it. The whole cast and crew were treated to an omelet bar with cooks making some awesome creations. One actress had corn and avocado on top of over easy eggs on tortillas, there was a man passing out shakes, plus a table of fresh fruit, teas, coffees, fondue and a collection of vitamins and aspirins were stacked including multi-v packs, ginseng, calcium, and so forth, right next to twizzlers, very weird and not sure why they were necessary. There was also wireless hookup and everyone on the business side of things had their Macs out and logged on. 

Can you tell I had fun observing all this? Well, if not, I did. I wouldn't mind hanging on commercial sets more often. Anyone looking for extras...call me!