A Hollywood weekend

Last night I went to my first Hollywood Hills party for the 2007 L.A. Blogger Party hosted by L.A. Daddy. The house was set up high on Mulholland Drive and belonged to Shrek writer Terry Rossio, so I was eyeing all the film memorabilia on display. There were also tiki torches, a tiki hut bar, and a big porch with a stone fireplace and waterfall hot tub. Oh and of course lots of local bloggers and yummy food and wine. There were some blog readers there too, which they preferred to be called instead of non-blogger. Raphael, who so kindly accompanied me, after meeting several mommy bloggers decided to start introducing himself as a mommy blogger too, lol. 

I shared laughs with: Kim from 8 Centimeters Deluded, Madeline Holler soon to be blogger of 'Ain't No Holler Back Blog' and another Kim, writer at House of Prince.

Mingled with: ByJane, the wife of Honea Express, Childs Play x2, Kitchen Fire, Sarah at September 10 and Down With Pants--a Ventura blogger.

Had whiskey shots with: Frowning of a Lifetime and Sink into the Pacific (I hear he later got naked in the hot tub, but I left two shots before).

Friday night we hit up Hollywood's The Roosevelt Hotel pool bar, Tropicana, which was a lot of fun. It wasn't very crowded but that's because of their strict admittance policy. We actually wouldn't have been able to get in if not for Raphael's friends who were staying at the hotel. Despite all its classy-ness a roach crawled on a friends foot and underneath the lounge chair, ew. We later ate at, 25 Degrees. 

Today meanwhile I biked 13 miles and this time I didn't need a push :) 

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.