I am a homeowner

I bought a condo, well more like I bought a mortgage, but whatever, building equity, right? Either way, Raphael and I are now co-owners of a 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo in Mar Vista, which is only three miles away from where we are in Venice. We get the keys today and move in next Saturday. 

Not looking forward to packing again. I just packed up my whole apartment in NYC in September after all, but I am looking forward to owning and decorating and settling in here. 

Here are photos from the real estate listing, so this is not our furniture, but I can see it easily blending well. We just ordered a new couch at Jennifer Convertibles since ours was too big for this place (the top left one).

My friend's visiting this week bought us a bottle of champagne, so we are all heading there tonight to pop the cork.  

Video: I can't stop watching this: The Landlord 

Golden

This week’s blog-off word is “Golden,” funny word, but I thought, Golden Globes? Golden Years? Stay golden Ponyboy like in the Outsiders? In the end, I went with 80s show The Golden Girls. You saw my t-shirt that I was wearing when I went to the Griffith Observatory, after all.

I love the show The Golden Girls, and not because I got introduced to it in reruns on Lifetime, but right from the start when the show was new and in first run episodes. I remember the show airing on Saturday nights before Empty Nest (another classic, which unfortunately can’t be found in reruns) and watching the whole lineup (remember that Nurses show too?). Anyway, my mom would sometimes watch it with me and so would my Nanny, but despite the age gap I was more a fan than they were and I was probably under or around 10-years-old. My mom would be out with friends and then have to excuse herself saying she had to get home, when they asked why she would say, I have to go home and watch Golden Girls with my daughter and they were left to wonder what was wrong with that picture.

I hear now though that there are gay and college parties with viewings of The Golden Girls, IE this ‘I am woman’ clip montage. The show is also responsible for bringing up issues like Aids, encouraging aging woman to still dress sexy and embrace their mature sexuality too.

Unlike other shows it's hard to pick a favorite character because I love each one. Sophia for her fiery spirit and Sicily stories, innocent Rose and her wacky St. Olaf tales, Blanche for her raciness and Dorothy for being the cynic, the one often made fun of and sometimes the voice of reason.

There’s this one episode where the doorbell rings and it’s after midnight and Rose asks who could that be and Dorothy responds, “I don’t know a Jehovah Witness with a caffeine problem?” lol great lines. I also think of Dorothy and Sophia dressed up as Sonny and Cher whenever I hear the real singers referenced. Oh and I can even sing Rose’s Miami song, hehe. Remember the one where they go out and buy condoms and the clerk does a price check on the loud speaker (no? look here), or when they go to a nudist hotel by mistake?

Don’t even get me started with their awesome theme song too. “Thank you for being a friend.”

I later saw Bea Arthur in her one woman Broadway show, which was amazing, she really is a good performer and had a lot of fun stories to tell. She waved at me when exiting from the stage door after the show. I then saw Rue McClanahan in the Broadway shows, “The Women” and “Wicked” too.

Videos: Golden Girls Greatest Moments; Blanche Delirum;

Hoist up the John B sail's

I wanna go home. What a weekend, it's been a lot of running around until now that is. Now I'm just waiting. Waiting to get back to my home in CA. Because of the northeastern storm that's going on back in New England, 350 flights have been canceled and so was mine. I got a flight back tomorrow though that leaves at 7 a.m., stops in Vegas and then gets me to LAX at Noon, so I can hopefully be at work around 1:00 p.m.  Here I am calling the airlines and yes, that's my underwear showing, my mom snapped the photo while I was talking and looking out at the storm.



There are 30-50 MPH winds and my mom's house is by the water, so the wind is really hitting us and the sound in the distance, which usually has  barely a ripple now has white caps. It's April, I didn't foresee any weather problems with going home to visit. It is definitely making me miss California! ;)

What sucks more than being trapped inside and getting up early and being late for work tomorrow, is that I have two friends staying over my place in Cali this week and Raphael will have to entertain them on his own until I get there. Sucks.

Upside is that I get to spend more time with my mother though.  

Oh and Nanny is in good spirits despite her fall. She looks like she got beat up and her lip is swollen but she's laughing and eating ice cream, she's such a trooper.

Be back soon.

Update: So yeah, my connection was delayed two hours even though there were no weather problems in Vegas, the plane I was taking was coming from Philadelphia. I lost $5 in an airport slot machine in less than five minutes and I've been up and traveling since 1:30 a.m. PT now. As expected though it's sunny here. 

Having a ball

I wrote about my fear of my deteriorating posture (Tara the Slouch) last year and recently I've been having back and neck problems due to my work chair. So, what's a girl to do? If you guessed, replace my chair with an inflatable exercise ball and get your office roommate to do the same, then you would be right on the money. Well, actually we've both been looking for fitness balls for this purpose.  And the other day I finally saw ones on sale for $11.99 instead of their normal price of $29.99 at Big 5 Sporting Goods. So I Picked up two pearl colored ones. 

Pumping up the balls with these foot pumps took awhile, in fact, our intern here, Michael, had to take over for me.  

I know, very L.A. of us. You might have noticed that I have Jamba Juice on my desk as well, the all fruit pomegranate smoothie even. Anyone up for sushi and yoga after work? ;) The balls are fun though, it makes writing a document very whimsical; I'll randomly sway and bounce on it for a quick diversion as I search for my next thought. For more information on the benefits read 10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair  +  My Chair - An Exercise Ball.

Today I'm flying to Connecticut to my mom's home and then visiting my Nanny (who I just wrote about) in New York. She unfortunately fell on some cement steps outside her place the other day and landed on her face :( She lost a tooth and needed stitches. Poor thing. Going to bring her soup and coffee ice cream (her fav) with some TLC of course.   

New Site: Musicovery

Shenanigans

My boyfriend laughs at me because I use antiquated, grandmother-like words when describing people or situations, for example I’ll say whipper-snapper, fusspot, spitfire, and today’s Blog-off word, shenanigans. I credit my 87-year-old Nanny, as well as my great great grandmother for this influence.

My great, great grandmother was born in 1896 and lived till I was 10-years-old, she was my mother’s great grandmother, so my great great. Crazy no? When I was born she told my mother that she hoped to live to my 10^th birthday. Being in her 80s already, it was a pretty ambitious plan. However, on my 10^th birthday there was a lunar eclipse and that night she died. She was 97-years-old, talk about being strong minded. I used to visit her at her nursing home every Sunday with my mom. She was often humming and singing dirty limericks and sayings, one went: “Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, pull down your britches and slide on the ice.” Her name was Julia and she used to play the piano by ear for the silent pictures and marched in the woman’s right to vote march in Washington in 1919. She had left a note for her husband saying “gone shopping” and came back three days later after traveling from NY to DC. She says it was a drunken, crazy time, lol, talk about ruining that suffrage image in my mind. During all the amazing things she saw in her lifetime, from civil rights to a man landing on the moon, she always thought seeing the Berlin Wall being torn down was one of the most amazing, since her family was originally from Germany. I wear her engagement diamond around my neck; my mom turned it into a necklace for me when I graduated high-school.

Nanny, who I’m very close to and who helped raise me, also influenced my old fashioned vocabulary. The best way to describe her is, a smarter Rose Nyland (Betty White) in Golden Girls. For instance, my Nanny never curses instead she says “oh dear” or “woe is me.”  Not that I don’t curse, but I do find myself saying her expressions like, “you get more bees with honey than you do vinegar” and using her phrases and words as well.  I’m seeing her this weekend, can’t wait. Here's another lasting Nanny phrase: when someone farts she'll say, "better out than in."