Long Weekend

I am writing my blog entry this week from the comfort of my living room, trying to block out the fact that in less than 12 hours, I'll be waking up to get ready for work. We had four days off for Thanksgiving and I was determined to make every minute count. But, in the end, I just did a lot of relaxing. I guess I needed it.
My actual Thanksgiving was nice. I spent it with my brother, his wife and baby son and all of her in-laws. They all flew in from the East coast were super-friendly made me feel very welcomed. After that, I headed to my friend, Morgan's relatives house, where I was included in a party of 60. I arrived just in time for delicious desserts and coffee. After that, I headed home and passed out. Falling asleep by 10 and even then, I felt I was forcing my body to stay up way too late.
The next day, I didn't do much shopping, but I had every reason to be super excited. I had acquired fourth row seats to the Los Angeles Laker game. My second-cousin's husband got them for me through work and I was able to to bring three friends. It was a blast. I have now made it a rule to not sit anywhere further than fourth row. I think that's pretty reasonable.
My weekend rounded off with a friend's birthday party on Saturday night and seeing "Four Christmases" with another friend on Sunday. Of course, I didn't really accomplish much cleaning from my to-do list or even start packing for my big trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which takes place on Wednesday. But, that's why I have Monday and Tuesday night for, right?

NBC.com's Latest Star

I had a pretty cool thing happen to me at work today. I was featured in THREE different web exclusives for NBC.com. I know, this is a total shameless plug. But, it's not everyday, I can look on our site and see my face on the homepage. Then, go to the Days of our Lives homepage and I am featured as the front promote, then go to the Days Insider text blog, and it's my entry and photos and then go to the NBC Green is Universal website and it's my blog! Too much self-promo for one person to handle? Probably. But, what can I say, I am shameless.
Click here for the Green Blog.
Click here for the Days Insider Text Blog
and...
Click here for all of my interviews on the website. Remember, every Tuesday and Thursday, new ones go live.

Enjoy!

Day Trips

It's always easy to forget that there is so much to do OUTSIDE of Los Angeles. Yes, the city keeps you busy and there are always new discoveries, but every once in a while, you need to get inside your car and drive and that's just what I did today. My friend, Morgan and I drove to Santa Barbara for an awesome morning of wine tasting and site seeing. The drive was gorgeous and once we arrived, we were greeting with a light breeze and beautiful sunshine. We did a lovely walk downtown, then hit a great winery to partake in tasting wine and eating cheese and fruit. After walking around Santa Barbara, we got in the car and headed 45 minutes outside to Solvang. Solvang is a quiet little city that prides itself in looking like Copenhagen. It's the same city 'Sideways' was filmed. I had heard great things about it before, so I was looking forward to exploring. Only problem was the city was pretty much dead when we arrived at 5:30. We did manage to do one more tasting at the winery that happened to carry our favorite of all the wines we tasted, Presidio. After finding out we had to make reservations far in advance for the only Italian restaurant in town, we headed back to downtown Santa Barbara and had a lovely Italian dinner there. After dinner, we got in the car and headed back home to Los Angeles. The entire day was filled to the brim with our little adventure and it made me happy to realize that something like a little day trip didn't take much planning. It just takes a good friend to drive with and an open mind to just relax and be care-free. Something tells me I'll be doing more trips like this in the future! Have to love three-day weekends.

My debut!

This has been a very exciting week for me and not only because for the first time in my voting history, my chosen candidate won, but because I made my online debut as a host of my own web show! 

Last Saturday, NBC hosted their very-own Day of Days event for "Days of our Lives" at Universal Studios in Hollywood. NBC.com sent me with a video/producing crew to interview fans and actors from the show. I had my own little room where the actors came and chilled with me. I was nervous around the talent at first, but as more and more actors were being made comfortable, I was being made comfortable, right back! I still cannot see myself on camera, I hate it. But, it makes me feel very good to know that my work is being seen by thousands online. NBC.com has given me a great promote for it and I'll have new stuff going up every week for at least a couple of months. I hope everybody checks it out at the "Days of our Lives" website. I also hope to do a lot more fun stuff like this in the near-future!

Single in the City

Living in Los Angeles and being of a certain age, it seems like most of my friends are either settling down or looking for somebody to settle down with. I haven't felt that sudden urge to "have" to be with somebody and I don't really know if I ever will. Would I love to find my perfect match, of course, but is it something I will absolutely be incomplete without, of course not. So far, in my single life, I have traveled the world, taken up surfing, motivated myself to run a marathon and take the biggest step of all and that was to move to LA to pursue my dreams. Which is where I am currently at now in my life. 

So, when I get the news of a friend's recent engagement, a friend's blossoming relationship, or even a friend's early stages of dating a guy, I tend to get selfish and think, "how will this effect my life?" I feel bad to have the thought cross my mind, but I guess it's easy for me to think that everybody is in the same boat. They don't need to find a perfect partner in order to complete some of their lifelong dreams. I fully support all of my friends who do find that match that keeps them happy, because in the end, you want those closest to you to be happy in every way possible. I just need to make it my own personal goal to not get so involved with my selfish ways and to trust those friends with not alienating me. I like to think I am a person that's worth keeping around. Who knows, if and when I find that guy who I feel is my second half, maybe my single friends will be going through the same dilemma that I am going through right now. 

Homecoming

I just came back from a lovely three days in my old stomping grounds of Southern Oregon. It's funny how you don't miss things until you go back. This time around, I noticed the crisp air, the chilled breeze, the beautiful fall colors, the great family, and of course, the very fun friends. I left behind so much when I uprooted my life and moved to Los Angeles to tackle my dreams. Ever since I arrived, I have been go, go, go. Which would explain why I have done so much in the little under three years I have been here. When I went back home, it all made sense to me, again. I felt grounded. I was able to go out with friends that I hadn't seen in years and we all fell back into our comfort zones and acted like not even a week had gone by. It was amazing. The time flew by and didn't fly by all at the same time. I guess the slower lane of life can do that to one another. Needless to say, I am proud of every friend I have in Oregon for all they have accomplished, if it's not in career, it's with their marriage or their children, or all three!
I even went to my old alma mater, Southern Oregon University in Ashland. I walked around a bit and took pictures. It was beautiful and brought back so many memories that I don't want to let go of. I guess it is true that you can go home at any time and be just the person you were when you left. It's a great feeling and one that I will hold on to in the back of my mind for years to come. I will also remember to not stay away as long as I did this last time.

Blogger Fame

Ok, so it wasn't really my blog that got me noticed in the blogging community, but it was a blog! One of my favorite celebrity websites is Dlisted.com Michael K. tells it like it is without any of that celebrity kissing butt B.S. like Perez likes to do. So, I stay loyal to his site. Sometimes, he gets a little out of hand with his perverted comments, but sometimes, he hits it right on the dot. He also has a nice little little feature he titles "Hot Slut of the Day". Now, this is reserved for a random Dlist celebrity or just a plain random reference to a TV or movie character. That "Hot Slut of the Day" usually comes from his own warped brain, but sometimes, just sometimes, he chooses a suggestion that one of his loyal readers sends him.
Last weekend, I was enjoying YouTube clips from one of my favorite TV shows that never survived a third season, "Popular". It was on the WB and by second season, was moved to the kiss of death Friday nights, then after that, never heard of again. It was Ryan Murphy's first breakout before he created Nip/Tuck and helped launch the careers of Sarah Rue, Leslie Bibb, and Tammy Lynn Michaels. The show was hilarious, but also rang true to popularity standings in high schools today. So, satirical drama/comedy if you want to look at it that way. I knew Dlisted was a fan of the show from past references, but I had totally forgot why I missed it until I started watching these clips. And low and behold, I forgot the episode when Mary Cherry discovers a long-lost sister, Baby Honey Child, a cholita from the Bronx. So, I sent Michael K. the suggestion of Baby Honey Child along with the clip. And... he selected HER as his Hot Slut of the Day and dedicated it to me. I guess now I can say I finally made it in the blogging community. At last! Check it out!