april update

Wrote this last night…

Yup, I’ve been neglecting the blog again. Sooo lazy. I went to Santa Barbara over the weekend to visit my cousin and I brought back a cold and sore throat (no, it is not the swine flu). We had a good weekend eating tons of food (yummy gumbo at Cajun Kitchen and amazing Crab Cakes Benedict at Sambo’s), walking up and down State Street, and running around the Santa Barbara Fair (no rides for me but I had funnel cake!!!). I took Amtrak, which was so easy! It’s been over 10 years since I’ve taken the train anywhere and I was seriously surprised at how CROWDED they are. On the way back to Orange County, there were no more seats so people were standing. Crazy! The trip was roughly 4 hours each way and the time passed really quickly. I brought my trusty MacBook and a few books and the ride was over before I knew it. I’ll definitely make the trip again.

Tonight is the Chuck season finale (haven’t watched it yet because I’m waiting for the Lakers to win the game against the Jazz). I am really, really hoping it’s not the series finale. So much so that Rob went to Subway today to buy a footlong sandwich in support of the Finale and Footlong campaign to SAVE Chuck. NBC, you better not cancel this show!!!

I finally downloaded some pics from the past few weeks — hopefully you don’t mind if I share? 🙂 Click for bigger…

Let’s start with some pics of Diesel…



We bought Diesel this cute little “house” and put it in our “office” so that he could sleep in there during the day. What a cutie.



Rob was bored and thought it would be funny to put my Mickey ears on Diesel’s head. Diesel was obviously not pleased.



Back on Easter, we went to a barbecue at my cousin’s house and were in charge of making dessert. We decided on cupcakes! We used regular Betty Crocker cupcake mix (both chocolate and yellow cake) and then made this strawberry frosting (mostly because it gave us an opportunity to use the awesome Kitchenaid mixer we received as a wedding gift). The frosting was A-MA-ZING. I changed the frosting ingredients to only include 1 stick of butter (2 sticks seemed waaayyy too much) and I used 4.5 tbsps of strawberry puree. The recipe says it’s enough for a dozen cupcakes but I used it for 2. Yummy.

And of course, a few weekends ago we went to Disneyland. Again. 🙂

We got to the park just shortly after the 8am opening and headed straight to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters!



I beat Rob!



Rob went to Fantasia Gardens (the smoking area) and I wandered around the castle to find Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Awww.



Then we headed over to the Plaza Inn to have (all you can eat) breakfast with Minnie and her friends. I had a traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon/sausage, and potatoes along with some Mickey waffles and a variety of fruit. Also available were biscuits and gravy, tons of pastries, a huge assortment of cereal, and other items I’m sure I’m forgetting. SO GOOD. Plus, we got to meet…



Captain Hook just walked right up to our table, grabbed our camera and started taking random pictures… like this self-portrait of himself. What a character.



Minnie dropped by…



… and Tigger too! We also met/saw Eeyore, Max, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Alice and Rafiki. Definitely lots of fun.

When we finished up with breakfast, it was HOT HOT HOT. The weather had been pretty chilly the days prior and then the day we go to DL, it got up to 96 degrees. CRAZY. Anyway, CA Adventure opened at 10am so we made a beeline over there to ride Toy Story Mania. We arrived shortly after opening and the line was already at a 30 min wait. We figured this was the best it would get so we wait in line… only for the ride to BREAK DOWN about 10 mins before we got to the front. We decided to wait it out but after awhile, we were all instructed to get out of line. ARGH. It wasn’t meant to be on this trip again.

We decided to get out of the heat and hang out at the Animation Academy. This ended up being an AWESOME decision because…



… I met Sorceror Mickey! I’m upset the picture quality is crap, though. I will meet him again! And take a better picture.

It was almost time for the Laker game so we went over to the ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney to watch the first game of the series and also to wait for my best friend Robyn to join us. YAYAYAY.



The Lakers were up by 20 points at half time so when Robyn arrived, we headed over to Animation Academy again since she’s never been there before (!!!). We drew Minnie and mine was terrible as usual (Rob’s holding mine on top).



We headed over to Toy Story Mania to see if it was open again and found that the wait was 60+ mins. INSANE. Instead, we went back over to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot to ride Tower of Terror. The three of us are at the bottom right of the picture. I’m in the middle scared out of my mind (the constant drops feel never-ending), Robyn has her hands at her face to hold on to her glasses, and Rob’s egging on my screaming.



Back at Disneyland, we go on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters twice in a row. The second time I think we found a Hidden Mickey on one of the maps visible in line.



Robyn beat Rob! And Rob was not pleased. Hehehe.



And finally, for our last ride of the day, we hit It’s a Small World. I haven’t been on this ride in YEARS. They recently made some changes and sprinkled Disney characters throughout the ride. I saw Alice, Aladdin, Jasmine, Pinocchio, Nemo, Ariel, Flounder, Woody, Jesse, Lilo, and Stitch. SO CUTE.

That’s it! We’ll have to schedule another trip before the summer heat sets in for good… YAY.

april tv update

I am so happy I have a 3-day weekend. Yesterday was exhausting. I had to go up to LA for work stuff… since I still don’t drive (I can hear your sighing, Jason :P), I convinced my best friend Carmen to let me stay with her the night before. She dropped me off in Westwood Thursday morning (armed with a yummers chocolate croissant from Breadbar) where I had to visit my local IT support to have my work laptop updated. I love working from home but not having on-site support is the biggest pain. A few hours later, I took a cab over to Hollywood for lunch with a vendor at Katsuya. YUMMY. I’ve only heard of it from The Hills (hehehe) so I didn’t quite know what to expect but I really, really enjoyed it. Big thumbs up to the spicy tuna over crispy rice, the rock shrimp tempura, and some yellowtail dish I can’t remember the name of. After lunch, they showed me the new W Hotel & Residences construction at Hollywood and Vine — I even got to see a model floor plan! It had the most amazing kitchen with granite countertops and rich chocolate brown cabinetry. And the walk-in closet? TO DIE FOR. Too bad I don’t have a few million dollars laying around. HEH. Finally I hopped on a Metrolink train and headed back to good old Orange County. And so ended my adventure in the city. 😀

So I realized that I haven’t been blogging about TV much lately. HORROR. Mostly because nothing’s happened that’s been overwhelmingly awesome or shocking… in other words, I kinda feel like TV this season has been… well, boring. But since we’re heading into the last month or so of TV, I figured it’s time for a quick TV RUNDOWN (possible spoilers, maybe)! GO!

Monday
Chuck

LOVE this show. The ONLY thing I would change is to have LESS of the Nerd Herd crew. I get so annoyed with them and their antics. Grr. Argh. Monday night’s episode was so awesome because there was very little Nerd Herd and lots of storyline payoff! Chuck’s dad. Orion. Intersect 2.0. This show better get renewed. OR ELSE.

Gossip Girl
Too much partner swapping (Blair/Nate and Dan/Serena again?!) and lame storylines that only last 2 episodes (Elle, Rachel, etc). But for whatever reason, I still adore B & S and the rest of the GG crew.

One Tree Hill
Stopped watching. Will catch up on DVD. Too many Monday shows.

Heroes
Ehhh… still watching but only because Rob does. I don’t really know what’s going on with the storyline because there is waaaayyyy too much Claire (ALL THE TIME) and she gets exponentially more annoying each episode. She was my favorite character in season 1 and she is seriously killing the show for me. F.

24
This season is awesome. There’s a good amount of action/suspense (where are the canisters? air strike or no?!?) and kerrrazy happenings (anything that Hodges does, Olivia’s whole storyline). I’m even coming around on Renee. I like her more and more each episode. They better leave Tony alone, though. I have reached my death quota with Buchanan (I’m still in mourning). Oh, and I guess we’ve discovered how Kim is going to return this season. We’ll see how that goes.

CSI Miami
I’m not really invested in this show (mostly watch when I remember it’s on) but I gotta say YAY to Delko and Calleigh. Awww. I’m a total shipper at heart.

Tuesday
Fringe

Tuned in for Josh Jackson but stayed because the storylines are building and getting very, very interesting. There’s just a tad too much squickiness but I can deal. Anxiously waiting to watch the new episode this week!

90210
Honestly, there’s not much else on Tuesdays so I continue to watch. Annie still bugs (ok ok, the character’s not so bad, it’s all Shenae Grimes and her acting), Naomi is ehhh (much preferred Ozzy to Liam), and Emily Valentine (oh I’m sorry, SILVER) scares me. Adrianna and Navid are totally saving the show for me though. More of them, please!

Reaper
Stopped watching. I think the strike last season really did a disservice to this show. Rob and I tuned in until it went on its loooooong hiatus. I think it came back for a few episodes to finish off its first season but by that time we had forgotten all about it. On top of that, the CW doesn’t really market it very well. I would never have known it was returning midseason if I didn’t read about on ew.com.

Wednesday
Lost

I’m not sure if I really understand what the heck is going on or what year each of the characters are in at the moment but who cares?! This show keeps me engaged and always guessing.

Can you believe Lost is the only show I watch on Wednesdays? Wowzers.

Continue reading

Posted in tv | Tagged

eclipse + breaking dawn

First things first — have to congratulate my friends Leah and Ricardo! They welcomed their baby girl to the world on Sunday. It’s like baby season! Aww.

Second. I’m finally caught up with Gossip Girl. WTF is up with all the partner-swapping?!? GRRR.

Third. Another WTF to tonight’s episode of 90210. Silver is a whole new brand of kerrrazy.

Fourth. I just LOVE the tagline for the new Fast and Furious movie. NEW MODEL. ORIGINAL PARTS. Hehe, that is awesome.

Now. I started this part of the entry waaaaayyyyy back in November and never finished it. Oopsie. I had already written half of it so I figure better late than never.

So I finally finished the last 2 books in the Twilight series. Some thoughts (possible spoilers)…
Continue reading

watchmen

WHAT DID YOU DO 24?!? Tonight’s episode made me so sad. 🙁

I’m a huge fan of Dwayne Johnson (formerly known as The Rock) and I found this clip of his recent Saturday Night Live opening monologue. Gotta love a cute guy who can sing and dance. 😀



Anyway, I went to see Watchmen on Saturday and enjoyed it!



I haven’t read the graphic novel (though now I want to) so the movie seemed unnecessarily violent at times (a certain jail scene comes to mind) and there were one too many shots of Dr. Manhattan (I know you know what I mean *wink wink*) but the plot and themes worked and resonated with me.

By far, my favorite part was the credits. I loved that in just a few short minutes (and complete with Bob Dylan), the credits told the story about 2 sets of “watchmen” with such amazing detail and visual interest. Relive the credits here (hopefully Warner Bros won’t have this video taken down)!



I thought all the lead actors were great, particularly Patrick Wilson (I fell in love with Nite Owl), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian), and Jackie Earle Haley (Rorshach). I wanted to love her but unfortunately, Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre II was definitely the weakest of the leads.

I just read that the movie only grossed $55 million this weekend. Is it just me or isn’t that a really low figure? Maybe cause it’s rated R? I would have guess-timated it to make at least $75 million. Huh. Warner Bros must be really disappointed right now.

my own personal meme

So it’s a good thing I got a new computer when I did because I tried to boot up my old laptop this past Monday and I got the Windows blue screen of DEATH. Rob tried to resuscitate the poor thing but it was too late. 🙁 Luckily I had already saved all my music and important files to my external hard drive so I only lost a few miscellaneous things. Phew. That was a close one.

OMG OMG OMG! Everwood: Season 2 is finally coming out on DVD. I’m so pre-ordering it right now.

Now a meme…
Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

Sarah gave me the following:

1. Gossip Girl



My favorite show of the moment (though sadly I’m a few episodes behind). I’m addicted to teen dramas and GG fits the bill perfectly. What’s not to love about gorgeous Upper East Siders, their relationship dramas and overly extravagant lifestyles? Nothing, I tell you. Blair is my favorite character by far. Her insecurities (about Serena, her mom, boys, etc) make her self-obsessed, stubborn and sometimes cruel but I find her to be a fiercely loyal and incredibly compelling and flawed character. Not to mention that she’s got great style! I became (and still am) obsessed with headbands and colored tights because of her. No, I’m not kidding.

As far as my shipping preferences on this show, I’m pretty traditional. I ADORE Blair and Chuck (they are smoking together). And I also like Dan and Serena. I don’t know why either. I like Serena well enough as an individual character but I have to admit that Dan kinda sucks. But for some reason, I find them really sweet together.

Anyway, I’m so happy this show was renewed for next season — I just need to get cracking and get caught up.

2. Teen Dramas



Ah, yes. Sarah knows me well. Teen dramas are my favorite kind of TV show. I love them. I’m drawn to them. I can’t help it. It all started back when 90210 premiered. I was only 11 so I wasn’t supposed to watch it since it wasn’t exactly age-appropriate but I did anyway. I loved the West Beverly crew and I had a huge crush on Brandon. I remember buying BOP magazine each month because they used to have so many “posters” of Jason Priestley. Hee.

Then in high school when the WB launched, it was like they created a network for ME! The WB gave me Buffy, Dawson’s Creek (my most favorite show ever, if you don’t know), Felicity, Roswell, One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls to name a few. Sure, I watch and enjoy procedurals and dramas like CSI, 24, and Prison Break but I’m not as invested in (and as obsessed with) the storylines and characters as I am with my teen dramas. There’s just something about them.

3. Diesel



My little baby puppy. Ok, I have to admit that when Rob originally wanted to get a dog, I didn’t want to get one. I didn’t want the responsibility. But Rob had his heart set on it so I agreed. He found Diesel through a registered AKC breeder and we went to visit him one weekend in May 07 and my heart just melted. I love him so much.

4. Pacey/Joey



My OTP forever and ever. (One True Pairing :D) I don’t know if I’ll ever love another TV couple as much as I love Pacey and Joey. Their journey took me by surprise and I loved watching every minute of it — their sarcastic banter (all of season 1), their genuine friendship (dance lessons, driving lessons, the B&B), and finally their romance (“I remember everything” dance, Pacey buying Joey a wall, sailing away on True Love). Even now, 6 years after Dawson’s Creek has gone off the air, I still pop in my DVDs to watch my favorite moments or visit Pages of True Love to get my fanfic fix. I don’t think I’ll ever change.

5. California



I’ve lived in beautiful California my entire life. I was born and raised in sunny Southern CA (in a sleepy town called Cerritos, to be exact). I moved up to the Bay Area for college where I ended up staying for 11+ years. And now I’m back in Orange County (no, my life is nothing like The OC). I feel very lucky to have experienced different parts of the state and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

That was fun!

excuses excuses

My friend Ricardo reminded me that it’s been almost a week since my last post. Here are my excuses…

1. I’m still unpacking. Yes, STILL! The kitchen and office are pretty well organized but there are still boxes and piles all over the floor in the living room and the bedroom. It’s taken so long because we’ve been waiting on a few large pieces of furniture (TV stand, bookcase, bed frame/mattress) and didn’t have anywhere else to store our stuff. We have everything now except for our bed frame (it’s coming next Tuesday) so YAY.

2. I’m too busy living at Target. HEH. I’ve been to Target 4 TIMES in the past week. And I’ve purchased many, many items during each trip. Moving is not cheap.

3. I haven’t watched TV regularly in over a month so have nothing to blog about. I know, right? What is wrong with me?!? One of our Tivos broke during the holidays and OF COURSE, it was the one that I used to record my shows (aka the shows that Rob refuses to watch like Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, etc). Shows were on hiatus around that time so it wasn’t a big deal but then in January, I got caught up with packing and planning for the move that I let weeks and weeks go by… now I am so behind. 🙁 The good thing is that we now have a DVR to replace the broken Tivo. SCORE.

4. I’m lazy. HEE! This really sums it up. Case in point, take a look at the navigation on the left. It badly needs some TLC. For one, I am now 29 not 28. For another, all the site links no longer work (I took the pages down awhile back). I really need to a huge site overhaul. But again. I’m lazy.

In other Kelly news, I have a 3-day weekend coming up (thank you US Presidents) and Rob has agreed to go to Disneyland on Valentine’s Day. I have THE BEST hubby in the world. We actually bought each other annual passes for Christmas so we’re going to activate them on Saturday. I hope it doesn’t rain. I’m so excited to wear my Mickey gear again. 😀

Random picture of Rob today during office hours. Isn’t he such a hard-working employee?



Finally, WTF Chris Brown. WTF. You are dead to me.

dancefest + yoda

So yesterday Rob and I finally checked out a performance of the SF Hip Hop Dancefest. I’m a huge dance fan and I’ve wanted to check it out for the past few years but was always lazy (and cheap). We finally went this year and I enjoyed it! There was a good mix of “crews” — from crews that excel in “popping” and isolations to others that merge modern dance with hip hop.

We saw “Program A” and my favorites were:
Soul Sector!!! They were THE BEST. They were clean and synchronized and their choreography was fresh and fun. (For all you America’s Best Dance Crew fans, some of their members performed as Supreme Soul on the MTV show).
Sunset. Little kids (think 6-13)! Dancing! Adorable.

FORMALity. Another junior group (I think — maybe high school/college?). Super energetic and lively crew!

Breaksk8. I didn’t care for them much when they were on ABDC but I really liked them live. They made the roller-dancing look so easy.

After the performance, which was at the Palace of Fine Arts, we walked over to the Presidio to check out the Yoda fountain at the Letterman Digital Arts Center, which (I think) houses LucasArts, ILM, and Lucasfilm. Luckily, I found a map online so we (ok, ROB) were able to find Yoda pretty quickly. Check us out!



Behind the fountain is a lobby which had a large replica of Darth Vader. SO AWESOME. The building was closed, though, so we could only peer into the windows. We must have looked like big dorks. 😀

There was also a Starbucks on the campus which had this cool Yoda drawing on their chalkboard:



When we got home, we settled in to watch 24: Redemption. For the most part, I enjoyed the season 7 prequel/movie. But maybe that was because I was so starved for new 24?! I don’t really know. Regardless I thought it set up season 7 nicely and smoothly introduced the new players to the 24-verse.

2 Quick non-spoilery thoughts:
— Carly Pope (Sam) bugged BIG TIME. GUH. I can tell I’m going to be screaming at her through the TV. I hope she is evil so I can justify my HATE.
— Actually, I didn’t care for any of the new characters (President Taylor, Hodges, Sam, General Juma — the only “newbie” I like so far is Roger cause I think he is cute, heh :P). Instead, I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite 24 faces — Chloe, Bill, etc.

Anyway, JACK IS BACK! OH YES. 😀

Random — I’m not a HUGE fan of Beyonce but I love that Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) song. It’s so damn catchy.

tv meme again

I was tagged by Ceci for this meme…


1. Post these rules.
2. Each tagged person must post 8 things about themselves in their journal.
3. At the end, you have to choose and tag 8 people.

1. I have been absolutely obsessed with headbands lately. Totally the influence of Miss Blair Waldorf.
2. I’ve never had anything “done” to my hair besides a cut — no perms, coloring, highlights, etc.
3. I adore the holiday season. My “holiday season” starts in October with my birthday… it’s like a triple whammy with my bday, then Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas. Love it.
4. My favorite lunch pastime (when I can sneak out of the office, that is) is to walk over to Union Square and do some window shopping at H&M and Sephora.
5. I would LOVE to spend my 30th birthday in Paris. *sigh*
6. I haven’t worked out regularly since the wedding. F to me.
7. I recently discovered the show What Not to Wear on TLC and it promptly went on my Tivo season pass list. 😀
8. I’m currently obsessed with tart frozen yogurt. YUMMY.

Everyone should do the meme (not going to officially tag anyone)!

Also, a TV meme that I stole from Jen

Name a show you can’t miss:
Gossip Girl, Chuck, Supernatural.
Name an actor who would make you more inclined to watch a show:
Hahahaha. Joshua Jackson. That’s what happened with Fringe. I’m not entirely sure I would have been so interested in the show if he wasn’t cast. Love him. I would also follow Emily Van Camp anywhere. Before she was on Brothers and Sisters, I only watched the show when I remembered it was on. Once I heard she was cast, I started watching it regularly so I could figure out how her character would play into the storylines. That’s when I discovered how great a show it is and I was totally missing out even without her in it. I’d probably also be more likely to watch a show if Leighton Meester was in it — she rocks.
Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show:
??? Can’t think of anyone really…
Name a show you can and do quote from:
Dawsons Creek. Heh.
Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch:
CHUCK!!! Monday nights. NBC. Be there. Also, Privileged needs some love too.
Name a TV series you own on DVD:
I’m a DVD whore. Seriously. I have so many. Let’s see… Felicity, Friday Night Lights, One Tree Hill, Dawson’s Creek, CSI, Brothers and Sisters, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, Lost, Friends, Sex and the City, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Everwood, 90210, Smallville, Alias, 24, The OC, Roswell, Firefly, Veronica Mars.. etc etc.
Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops in television:
Rebecca Romijn (models turned actors are not usually so good)
What is your favorite episode of your favorite series?
“True Love,” Dawson’s Creek
“The Gift,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer
“Foreverwood,” Everwood
Name a show you keep meaning to watch but you just haven’t gotten around to yet:
Rome (I promised my best friend Carmen I would give it another shot). The Tudors (I’ve had disc 2 of season 1 from Netflix for months now). The Office. How I Met Your Mother.
Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad?
Not really. Once I get into a show and connect with the characters, I’m hooked until the bitter end (unless I just get bored like I did with Ugly Betty). I contemplated giving up on Alias (after the season 2 finale) and One Tree Hill (in season 2 when Anna and Felix arrived and then again in season 4 with Haley’s pregnancy) but I was (am) too invested in the characters.
Name a show that’s made you cry multiple times:
Everwood. I cried when bad things happened. And when good things happened. That show really got to me. Gawd, it was good.
How often do you watch TV?
Uhhh. Every day. 🙂
What’s your favorite/preferred genre of TV?
I’m drawn mostly to (teen) dramas (Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, etc). But I also enjoy the secret identity/spy/superhero type of shows, like Buffy, Chuck, Alias, Reaper, Heroes.
What was the first TV show you were obsessed with?
Beverly Hills 90210. I was only 10/5th grade when it premiered so I wasn’t supposed to be watching it but I did. I was so obsessed that I used to horde my money to buy BOP and Teen Beat so I could tear out the pictures of Jason Priestly. Heh.
What TV show do you wish you never watched?
Reality shows like the ones on MTV and VH1… My Sweet Sixteen, Flavor of Love, I Love New York, etc. I don’t actually sit down and watch these shows but even seeing a glimpse while flipping channels drives me crazy.
What is the weirdest show you enjoyed?
I enjoy a lot of random shows but they’re not really weird… Say Yes to the Dress (I cannot stop watching this — I still love looking at wedding dresses), Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Ace of Cakes, The Rachel Zoe Project.
What TV show scared you the most?
I get scared EASILY so I tend not to watch shows that would freak me out. But serial killer storylines always get me, like the Carver storyline on Nip/Tuck and the Blue Paint Killer on CSI. ((shivers))
What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched?
I’m not a huge fan of sitcoms. I don’t know why. But I always used to laugh out loud at Friends. ??? Sorry, I’m lame.
Do you prefer TV to films?
TV. I love following my favorite characters week after week.
Name current TV relationships that you love.
Blair/Serena, Gossip Girl. They are so dysfunctional. I adore them.
Nathan/Haley, One Tree Hill.

monday night tv

I wrote this entry LAST Monday. I just never finished it. And since I was home sick today (fever, so fun), I thought I would finally get it posted.

Monday night is, without a doubt, my favorite night of TV.

Gossip Girl. One Tree Hill. Chuck. Heroes.

Well, ok. Heroes really isn’t so great anymore but I still like to know what’s going on.

I’m an episode behind on GG and OTH but I’m all caught up with the other two so here I go with the comments (beware spoilers).

Continue reading