Hollywood & Highland Mall

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******UPDATE******
I love this picture, but every time I see it I want to fix my right eyebrow. I just thought I would point that out.

Post-Trip Update

So, the first thing I want to say is I had such a great time in Redondo Beach! George's family was wonderful and I loved the area. I was going to post pictures, but I haven't gotten around to transferring the pictures from the camera to the computer. Hopefully soon :)

It wasn't much warmer there than it is here, only about 10 degrees difference. It was really odd seeing snow on the Grapevine though! I photographic evidence that is does snow in Southern California. I've been telling people for, well pretty much always, California has normal weather with four seasons, it's not always sunny and warm.

George's family was awesome! They were loads of fun and took me in right away. Apparently George likes to talk about me because they had all heard so much about me, lol. I questioned him on this and his response was "I know this is pretty hard to believe, but I'm CRAZY about you, therefore I talk about you. A lot." Very sweet :) The first people I met were George's uncle and aunt Brett and Angela, then his other uncle and aunt Vic and Jiyoung, and their daughter Livia.

The first stop on Friday once we were together was to In-N-Out. This was quite an adventure. According to Google maps, it was only 7.2 miles from our hotel and seemed pretty straight forward. But It took us almost 45 minutes to get there! We made one accidental turn and had to circle back around, but then we were GOOGLED! This is the term we have come up with to describe when Google maps takes you down a completely dodgy street and the wrong way to get somewhere. In this case we were taken down some back alley behind a trailer park to go down a road that literally did not exist to end up at the In-N-Out, when we could have just gone straight through the intersection in front of us and gotten there just fine. The In-N-Out pictured here is the actual one we went to, but it looks much nicer in this picture. There's really no where to sit inside, but it has a double drive through. I don't mean like McDonald's where they split and go back together. It literally has two separate drive-throughs you can use. That was pretty neat. OH! I forgot the most important part! The reason we went on this trek in the first place was because one of George's aunts had never been to California before and had never had In-N-Out, and his other Uncle hadn't had any since he and his family moved to Italy this past summer. I'm pretty sure everyone was hap

py with their food, at least I hope so after all it took to get there! Lol

For dinner that night we went to the Manhattan Brewing Company, which is located right near the water. It was a neat little bar with gigantic appetizer portions, but not very friendly service. Our waitress seemed to want to be anywhere else but at our table. We can only assume that because we had a party of 8+ and an 18% gratuity was added to the check automatically, she knew she didn't have to work for it. Here I got to meet George's Uncle Kirk (the groom) and George's grandparent's, Jackie and Dave, or Grammie and Grandpie which is how they were introduced to me. I think if I lived in the area this is somewhere I would go back to, but not with so many people. It would be a fun hang out place.

The next day we went all over. We drove by Brett and Vic's house they grew up in in Venice Beach. Then drove over to the Santa Monica Pier. I had never been there, but it was really neat. There was an original Hot Dog on a Stick and we got the cheese on a stick (delicious!) and some of their lemonade. We saw the historic carousel and walked through the amusement park there. We also found a little place that served these GIANT slices of pizza. I wish we had gotten a picture of that. The sauce was a little sweet for me, but it was still a good deal. From there we headed off to the Getty Villa in Malibu. This is what the website says about it "The Getty Villa in Malibu is an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria." It was neat. It was designed as a replica of a traditional roman villa with gardens and everything. It wasn't our original plan though. We were supposed to go to Hollywood, but by the time we went to the Villa and got to Hollywood, it was time for us to go back and get ready for the rehearsal dinner.

The rehearsal dinner was at a very posh restaurant called Kincaids, right on the Redondo Beach pier. It was very nice. The menu was preset for our party with options for three courses. The wine was also provided. I had tossed baby greens with bleu cheese spring rolls, the a prime rib for the main course with mashed potatoes as the side, and for dessert a slice of key lime pie with a side of lime sorbet. There was no way I could eat it all, but I wanted to! It was delicious. Kirk had also provided the restaurants with sevral bottles of wine, which allowed me to try out different flavors. My favorite was the La Crema Chardonnay.

Sunday we went to breakfast with the family, then went back to the hotel so I could get ready and George could watch the playoffs :) I wanted to straighten my hair (which is a very long process) so this gave me the extra time I needed to get it done. The wedding was held at the La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes, CA. It was BEAUTIFUL! They did such a fantastic job in such a short time frame. This is a photo of the indoor dance area. They had the fireplace going all night. It was gorgeous.

Monday George and I finally got to go explore Hollywood! We went to the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Kodak Theater, Hollywood and Highland, the Walk of Fame, the mall that's right there and more. It was a lot of fun! They were setting up for the premier of the Green Hornet at the Chinese theatre. They had long rolls of green carpet with a white hornet on them and all kinds of stuff. I'm convinced one of the large trucks outside had the actual car in it, but I didn't get to see it myself. After we were done there, we headed out of town for some of our favorite food, Taco Bell!!!, and then were on our way home. All in all I say it was a great trip.

LA

Okay, so this morning I realized that I totally forgot to make arrangements for our two cats while we're gone this weekend! They would have been alone for 4 days! How terrible of me! I can't believe I forgot. I was so caught up in trying to make sure everything else was ready that I overlooked them. Luckily my best friend Shelley has my back and will be able to look in on them every day while we're gone.

I realized everything we still need to do! I feel rushed already and we still have two days to get it done. Lol. But that's what I do. I worry and stress about things like this, when I know that everything usually gets taken care of without any problems. I can't help it. We're going to have to do a lot tonight and tomorrow night, which is unfortunate because for me it's not so bad, but for George, it's so much worse. He has to work at either 2am or 4am, and does physical labor for 8 hours. Then by the time I get home from work, he's so tired, which I completely understand. I really want to put the Christmas tree away before we go, but I don't know if we'll be able to. So much to do!!!

Pick up George's suit from the cleaners

Pick up cat food

Get George a haircut

Buy groceries

Clean up the apartment

Put tree away (*crossing mt fingers*)

Scrub the bathroom

Start packing

Clean the rest of the apartment, lol

Laundry

Too much!

It'll all get done though, it has to. Then LA here we come! :)

Yay for 2011

Oh man... That's how I feel right now. I did not sleep well at all last night, which isn't making my first day back at work a good one in any way. I had four glorious days of sleep and not they're gone. It makes me sad. Luckily I only have a 4 day week this week and next to help ease me back into things. And as it turns out, Monday the 17th is also a work holiday, so make that three 4-day weeks in a row! Score!

I had a wonderful Christmas with family and a great New Year's with my Love. I was thankful for the extra time to spend with close loved ones.

Not a whole lot is going on right now. This weekend I will be traveling to Los Angeles for George's uncle's wedding. It will be the first time I get to meet any of his family aside from his brother, whom we tend to see nearly every Sunday. He's very excited, as am I, but I'm also nervous. I mean, who wouldn't be?! Meeting your significant other's whole extended family (basically) for the first time at an important life event for one of them! We have lots to do. We found a dress for me yesterday, now we have to take it and his suit in to be cleaned, make a trip to the grocery store to get food to have for the drive there and back. I’m thinking stuff for sandwiches, chips, grapes, things that are easy to eat and not messy. Oh, and CHEAP! Lol.

I think the trip will be a lot of fun. George’s aunt has never been to California, so they want to go do some sightseeing stuff in LA, which is fine with me because even though I’m a California native, I too have never been to Hollywood or done any of those things, so it will definitely be an adventure! I’m hoping to take TONS of pictures :)

I’ve started rereading the Harry Potter series again. I’ve lost count of how many times I have read the first 5, but I haven’t re-read the 7^th for sure. I think I’ve re-read the 6^th book once, but I’m excited to read them all in concordance now that the story is complete. I also hope to have it done before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 is released in July.

For Christmas, I was surprised with the red Wii I’ve been on and on about since they announced it! I was so excited and it was completely unexpected! My older brother got it for me, and said I have to share it with George, which I am very happy to do, lol :) We now have 6 games for the system! Two came with the system itself, two I already had, and two we acquired from trading in some other games. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. One of my favorite games is Mario Kart Racing. I’m really good at it! I really like that the Wii is all about interaction. George and I can play all sorts of games together, which I like. Yes we’re playing video games, but we get some good quality bonding time in while doing so. He beats me at Wii tennis every game. Lol. But that’s okay :)

Okay, enough of my scattered rantings. I know there’s not much flow to this post, but I wanted to get this all out there. Hope you enjoy!

Just an update on different areas of life

I have a new job. I've been here for just over a month and am really liking it. I'm still working for UC Davis, but now I'm at the Medical Center in Sacramento instead of the main campus. I'm doing a lot of the same tasks plus more. I work with doctors and fellow staffers on a daily basis, which I think is cool. My division is located right next to the auditorium so I often get free food from events, which I see as a total score, and my new co-workers are all very nice so far. There are a few down sides though. The evening commute is terrible and torturous. Staff parking is located 8 blocks from my building, so I get to walk that twice a day in this miserable weather. And once again I am the youngest person I have met in my building - by at least 6 years. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I was hoping to have some new co-workers I could become good friends with and I just don't see that happening with such a big disconnect in ages, but I'm not going to be closed minded. I have a Christmas party on Friday and George and I can feel people out then, outside of work.

I have gained back some of the weight I managed to lose, so I'm on a mission to lose it again, plus a ton more. George has promised to help me accomplish this goal, which I am very appreciative about. :) We start tonight! I’m starting off light, with maybe a brisk walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then some weights, and over time will work my way to longer, more in depth workouts.

We are still working on our couponing. We’ve managed to do pretty well lately. We’re shopping a lot more at Safeway instead of Bel Air. With Safeway’s new Just for U program, I’m able to load e-coupons onto my Safeway card and use those on top of the paper manufacturer coupons, and they collect information on things you usually buy and give you special deals based on the data. For example, we were able to get boxes of Pasta Roni for $0.89/each, when normally they were $1.60. That’s nearly half off! I was able to get orange juice much cheaper than usually, and many more things. So far I am very impressed with their new system. We still went to Bel Air for things like produce and some meats because they have a much better selection in those areas.

2010 is almost over! I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone by. I admit at times it felt like it could not go by fast enough, where I wanted nothing more than for time to speed up and leave all of what was happening behind, and of course those times seemed to draaaaag on endlessly. I'm excited to ring in the new year! I just don't know how I'll go about it this year. Maybe someone will have a fabulous party that George and I can attend :)

I, for one, am very glad to be where I am. I’m short on money, but I’m never short on love, happiness, and family, and I am thankful for that. Thank you to everyone that has helped me through this year. I am forever grateful to you.

Coupon-ing Part 2

I may be no good at this. In fact, my first attempt I think I can classify as a failure. Last Wednesday when the Safeway ad came out, there seemed to be some great deals, and there were. They had 12 packs of Pepsi buy 2 get 3 free, plus CRV in California, and some other great prices. So I went through my coupon collection and some online databases to see what I could find. I managed to snag some craft cheese for only $0.69/each which was great, I bought 10 cases of soda just to stock up on the great price, which gave me a savings of $37.74 on the soda alone. But I'm horrible when I shop alone. I walk through the aisles and pick things up here and there that I don't need, which usually aren't on that big of a sale, and those add up so quickly! For instance, I bought a package of fresh bagels, and they only lasted me 4 days before they had mold on them. I had only eaten two of the six. And I paid full price for them. In the end, according to my receipt, I paid $95.75 and saved $84.83, 48%, BUT Safeway marks up their groceries so much I'm not sure if it was really that great of a deal. I was hoping to not spend more than $50. I overshot that goal by a ways.

I don't know how these people do it! So much self control! I guess it also helps that most of these women live in two income homes and can afford to stock up on things when a great sale comes along. I only get paid once a month, and after paying all my bills, I'm left with barely $300 to cover groceries, toiletries, and anything else I want/need for the next 30 days or so. And when I go grocery shopping and spend $95 on the first, I'm not left with much. I need to find these really great deals where people walk away with free stuff, but I can't seem to find them!

I'm also learning that unless you live near an Albertson's (and if you live anywhere in northern California you DON'T) you can't really do much. Albertson's seems to be the only grocery store that doubles coupons, gives "catalina's" which are like register rewards, or store credit for your next purchase, they also round coupons up to $1. So these people can go to Albertson's with a coupon that's only listed as $1 off a particular item that's on sale for $2, and the store doubles the coupon's value to $2 off, they get that item free! I can't find any stores in my area that double coupons or round the value up. I don't live near any supermarkets that are generally cheaper such as Win Co nor is there a Dollar Tree that sells groceries anywhere near me. I would have to drive 30 miles to get to one, and then the cost of gas to make the trip outweighs any savings I may gain at said store.

ALTHOUGH, I think I did have one success over the weekend. CVS was having a sale on L'Oreal Color Vive shampoo, 2/$5. I also had two $1/1 coupons, which brought the total down to $3 for both, or $1.50/each for a bottle of shampoo that is normally $4.99. Over 50% savings. I currently do not have a working printer at home or else I would have printed 2 more coupons and gotten 2 more bottles to stock up. I thought it was a very good price.

I have also begun to sign up for free samples and coupons everywhere I can. Proctor & Gamble's website is offering many free samples that you can choose from and they will ship them directly to you. It takes up to 6 weeks, but hey, they're free! And why pay to try a product you may not like when you don't have to.

There's a great website you can join for free that is a database for tons and tons of coupons. It's Hot Coupon World and there you can search by brand name, key word, what type of coupon - ie printable, peelie, etc - I have found that very helpful. I've been looking at store ads and if I see something that's on a really good sale already, I try to find a coupon for that product to get it for as little out of pocket as possible. I'm still in the beginning stages, but I'm not giving up. I need to start saving and I know any money I can save will help.

New Goal - Be a Coupon Aficionado

So, I'm going to try and start to use coupons to get these crazy and outrageous deals I keep hearing people get. One woman managed to get 10 boxed of name brand cereal and actually had the store pay her back 9 cents! I've decided I need to get on this because paying $125-$200/mo for groceries is absurd. So far, I've found one blog that I think is very helpful, but since I'm just starting out, I'm not privy to all these good deals. The blog is Fabulessly Frugal and they have all the great tips and lists on what sales to go for and what coupon combinations to use and more. Granted it's based out of Idaho, so not everything applies to me, but if spending a little time each day going over their material is going to help me save anything, I'm thinking it could be worth it. So far this is what I've learned:

1. For online coupons - check websites like coupons.com on the first of each month to see all the new coupons that have been added. You can only print certain coupons up to 2 times, and they could expire at any time, so I'm thinking I may print out all FOOD/GROCERY related coupons twice and save them for when stores like Bel Air have good deals. ALSO, on the first of the next month, the coupons will either be replaced with new coupons, or they will roll-over and you will be able to print them out 2 more times.

2. Sunday Papers - I'm currently looking for a deal for the local Sacramento Bee so I can subscribe to either the F/S/Sun. paper only or just the Sunday paper to receive the coupon inserts that can only be found there. Many times stores will let you combine these manufacturer coupons for even better savings.

3. SAVE ALL COUPONS! Don't use them right away for an item that is full price. Apparently everything goes on sale once in a while, and if you have that coupon still, you'll manage to snag even better savings.

4. Get organized. Some places say once you print your online coupons, don't cut them out. Get a binder with the clear page protectors and put everything from that week or month in one page protector. Make a list of all the coupons in that section (organized whichever way is best for you to find them the fastest/easiest - ie alphabetically by brand, by category, etc). Or, clip the coupons and get an accordion organizer and group them in a similar fashion.

5. Stay on top of the deals. Retail stores such as Target and Wal-Mart put out their specials and adds every Sunday. BUT grocery stores start their new specials and adds every Wednesday, so be aware.

Since I've just recently started looking into this (I'm mean very recent, as in Monday, lol) and it's toward the end of the month, I don't have very many coupons saved up and many will expire in the next week. So my plan is to try and collect as many as I can so I have them when the good deals and sales present themselves. I'm also going to try and only buy groceries when I absolutely need to. IE eat everything in my cupboards until they are bare and I need to buy more. No more impulse buys or trips to the store for just one or two things. The cost of the gas used for that trip to the store is not worth the item(s) in questions. UNLESS it is something perishable such as milk, or dairy in general, etc.

I'm hoping I can stick with this. I'm not sure yet, but I'm going to try. My goal is never to buy anything for full price unless absolutely necessary.

Yep

I still hate Apple and iTunes. They screw me over once again. Thank you very much.