YouTube Videos!

My roommate Gina has been hard at work on a few you-tube videos that we've recently made so I thought that I would share them with you all on my blog. Enjoy them! For all of our YouTube videos, check out the official YouTube website.

Germany YouTube Video

Paris YouTube Video

Getting Ready for the Pin-Ups for Vets Calendar Release Party YouTube Video

The Official AirForce Network video of our "Cooking with the Troops" Event in Germany

A Sweet Award! Yay!

Thanks so much to my dear friend "M" over at her new fabulous blog, "An Officer and a Lady" for giving me this very cute award, "The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award". She gave it to me over two weeks ago but I've been seriously behind on all my blogs so I just discovered she gave me the award tonight! Crazy, I know!

In order to accept the award, I must share the love with 6 other bloggers and fess up to 4 guilty pleasures.

Awardees

1) Letters for Lucas - My sister Tonya never ceases to brighten my day with her adventures with my nephew Lucas.

2) Confessions of a 20 Something - While Pink Lou Lou's blog does have a lot of sweet cutesy blog posts, she is also a real woman and that means she goes through real-life issues. Her most recent post touched me.

3) Running in High Heels - Brittney's blog title alone got me to follow it! Gotta love a runner with a fashion sense: )

4) In Pursuit of my inner Pin-Up - If you've been following my blog at all, then I'm sure it's pretty obvious why I enjoy this blog so much. Who can resist a blog about pin-ups?

5) What Would Jen Do - Not only is Jen's blog super sweet and honest, she is also always the first one to comment on just about each and every one of my own blog posts. I absolutely love her for that!

6) In the Meantime - Jessica's blog is a lot like mine, it's random and full of good times with friends and family. She recently gave me a style award so I must officially thank her for that here! Thanks!

4 Guilty Pleasures

1) Old episodes of 90210 and Saved by the Bell, preferably watching them on my computer in bed.

2) A bowl of cottage Cheese and a grilled cheese sandwich. Yum!

3) Long hot showers and bubble baths too! Aaaahh, Calgon take me away or Mr. Bubbles works too. : )

4) Target runs and getting a bunch of new toiletries.

Running Update!

"Running is a free form activity; we alone determine how fast, how far, and how long we run. The empowerment of running is open to anyone, at any speed. Your definition of "slow" may change as your grow more fit, and will change as you grow older." -Jeff Galloway, Running Guru

My Full Marathon is fast approaching and I'm starting to get seriously nervous. What exactly was I thinking when I decided to run 26.2 miles?!

My longest run was just yesterday-18 whopping miles and it was tough but certainly not impossible which gives me hope that I can just run 7 measly more miles for the Full Marathon. I did however, struggle through the last two miles but I never gave up and that's whats important. Right?

Here is a pic of my running buddy and I after it was over and yes, we are still smiling!
Oh I almost forgot, next Sunday I'm running a Half Marathon in Huntington Beach! Whew! It's called the Surf City USA Half Marathon and the medal we all get in the end is a little surf board! The entire run sounds like its by the ocean so I am sure it will be an awesome run. Cool, huh? There are about 13,000 participants that enter this Half Marathon! That's a lot of people!

The Calendar Release Party Recap!

Wow, what an amazing night the Pin-Ups for Vets 2011 Calendar Release Party was on Tuesday! Check out the professional short film that the videographer for the event made on youtube. We all very impressed with the video and it definitely captures the retro mood of the night.

Sadly the pictures below are the only ones that I have so far from the event and just about all of them I took with my own camera in my bedroom after the event was over. I wanted to capture my look and I wasn't sure how many pictures I was in from the official event photographers.

I absolutely loved my hair and makeup and must give major props to Ana and her fabulous makeup artist and sister, Linette of Classic Glamour Dolls. They also can be found on their facebook page. They are both true artists! I wish that they could do my hair and makeup everyday! For just one day, it was fun to feel what it would be like to have my hair and makeup team with me. : )

He would be 64

Today is my Dad's birthday. He would have been 64 years old. Perhaps this is why in the past few weeks I've been seeing his face a lot, actors, people walking down the street and even random strangers at the grocery store. It's odd and difficult but at the same time, it's also kinda nice too.

Here is what I wrote last year on this day, Sugar Pa.

I miss his calm soothing voice, his blue eyes, his silly and at times annoying cough, his long talks with me about the Beatles or the importance of stamps, his incessant Diet Dr. Pepper drinking, his bushy eye brows that my mom would brush from time to time and so much more.

Quite simply, I miss my dad.

Paris!!

Here is my final entry from my Germany Diary:


Day #5: Paris! Need I say more?! Has any word sounded sweeter?

"When good Americans die, they go to Paris." -Oscar Wilde

We are on our way to Paris right now and I find myself missing my parents more than usual. I guess it's because I adore Paris so much and and it's a city that I never got to share with them. They had been to the "City of Lights" several times but never with me. I know my Dad wasn't exactly a fan of the French people and the high prices but they both respected the beautiful architecture everywhere and the grand history of the city.

Sadly, we'll only be in Paris for a day but I can always dream about one day leaving my American life behind and moving to Paris. Why do I love Paris so much? Well, I think ultimately it's the idea that possibly anything magical, stupendous and maybe even romantic could happen there. I actually promised myself that I wouldn't return to Paris unless it was with a boy friend, fiance or my husband. Oh well... I'll bend the rules for my favorite city in the world. I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the amazing Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee. I hope we can enjoy a couple hours sitting down in a sweet French cafe sipping on wine and munching on yummy french cheese. The food is definitely one of the best things about France-especially the pastries. They are sooo good! There's really nothing like a sandwich made out of the freshest ingredients on a delicious baguette. When I lived in Paris for one summer during college I really couldn't get enough of those. Sandwiches and those amazing crepes with Nutella and sliced bananas was my diet. They were absolute heaven! There was a crepe stand right by the Moulin Rouge that my friends and I would go to late at night and it was the best little treat ever.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our day in Paris:

Germany Diary

While I was in Germany I kept a little diary of what we were doing most days. At the end of every night, I wrote down a little summary of what we had done that day to post on my blog later when I returned home.
So Enjoy!

Day #1:

Our Germany adventure began with a snow delayed flight leaving Chicago. Despite the annoying two hour wait on the runway to rinse off the ice from the plane, Gina and I ended up having plenty of space on that 8 hour to Frankfurt. Never before have I had so much room on an International flight before. Pretty much everyone in our area are had a row to themselves. Gina and I shared a row. : ) Thanks to some wonderful over the counter medicine I was able to sleep for most of the flight. Gina and I were both pleasantly surprised with how fast the 8 hours flew by. I didn't even get a chance to read or do much of anything else-which was totally fine by me!

From the Frankfurt airport, Gina, Blake, the founder of "Cooking with the Troops", Michael, the author and myself traveled by shuttle to Landstuhl, a small city about an hour and a half north of Frankfurt. We promptly checked into our very quaint hotel, Hotel Christine. Sadly, jet lag got the best of Gina and I and we spent several hours in the afternoon napping in our hotel room.

One of the best things about going somewhere totally foreign is the amazing sense of escape that comes over you. All my communication with family and friends has been limited to checking my email once a day on one of the computers in the hotel lobby. I love it. It's great being this unreachable for a little bit.

Day #2:

Well, day 2 is over and once again find myself completely exhausted. This jet lag is really kicking our butts!

Day #4:

The past two days Gina and I have really been able to get out and explore this part of Germany. We've seen a beautiful and very old castle, a church and of course tasted some amazing food. Seriously, who ever said German food was bad was definitely mistaken! I've tasted just about all the typical German food-Schnitzel, sausage, goulash, potato pancakes, breads, lots of pastries and some great cheap German beer. Oh and the hot red wine there is great too. There's certainly a lot more to this country's food then I would have ever thought.


Another thing that has surprised me about Germany is all the people here that speak English. This town that we are in, Landstuhl, is about two hours from the France border so there's also a lot of French words everywhere too. I'm enjoying that but it feels a bit strange speaking and reading French in Germany. We are hoping to get over to Paris one of these days that we have free after the big cooking event is over. That would be amazing because I love Paris!!

Day #5:

Today was the big day we've all been waiting for and the whole reason why we all came here to Germany in the first place, the Cooking With The Troops meal. It was a huge success and the wounded warriors loved all the food. Gina and I helped chop vegetables for the salad and prepared the garlic bread.

It was a delicious dinner and everyone was delighted to have a home cooked meal. I'm sure they also really loved seeing two old fashioned pin ups.

GERMANY Recap!!

Ok it's finally time for the big post all about my trip to Germany! Woo hoo! Sorry this took so long to get on here! Yikes! So I thought it would be perfect to have Gina of Pin-Ups for Vets write up a little guest post to explain all about the trip.

Here ya go:

Ever since I established Pin-Ups For Vets in 2006, I have wanted to make a visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany otherwise known as LRMC. If our troops are injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, they are lifted to LRMC to receive more advanced treatment, often times for very critical injuries. Through the milblog (military blogs) community I have come in contact with Blake Powers. Blake is one of the main writers for the milblog, Blackfive and he has been a military journalist. He was previously embed with our troops during deployments. Blake created an organization called Cooking with the Troops where he visits Military and VA Hospitals to prepare very special meals for our troops and veterans.

I figured that a partnership between our two organizations would make a perfect match. I contacted Blake to ask him if he would like to partner up and make a trip to LRMC to cook a meal for our wounded warriors. I would pass out donated calendars and do a signing. He immediately said yes and jumped into action. He contacted gourmet chef, Ellen Adams of Rochester New York, who is a 20 year Air Force Vet. Ellen would prepare a delicious meal for our wounded warriors. Blake also got in touch with Michael Williamson, a military fiction author and veteran to bring his books and do a signing as well. The four of us contacted our supporters to try to secure funding for the big trip. About 2 months after the initial idea for the trip, we had raised enough to go.

I had been begging Leah to come with me to this event and she finally agreed! I was thrilled! This was to be her 8th hospital visit with me! I can't believe how many hospitals she's been to. Sometimes I laugh to myself thinking little did Ms. Leah know what she was in for when she moved in with me. I don't think Leah ever thought she would be this wrapped up with the military and our veterans! I think she has gained a new appreciation for the sacrifices our service members have made. She sees it firsthand at every hospital we visit.

Back to the event in Landstuhl, Blake decided to title it "Operation Fight Post Holiday Blues". Our wounded warriors get a lot of visitors around the holidays so we wanted to bring them some fun in January, post holidays. So, we went shopping at the local German Farmers Market to get fresh veggies and also took a trip to Globis which is the equivalent of a Super Walmart. It's gigantic and that's an understatement. We got most of the meat, ice cream and bread there. The meal took 2 days to prepare. Leah and I assisted with the salad and garlic bread.



The event turned out great. It was held at the USO on base. Our wounded warriors got a big kick out of the calendars and loved the home cooked meal. I received many heartfelt thank yous from our troops expressing appreciation that we flew all the way to Germany to give them a little moral boost in January. I feel that it is the least we can do for our brave heroes who have sacrificed so much for us.

I hope that we will be able to do many more events like this in the future. Leah and I always learn a lot about each other on these trips and these memories we have together will last a lifetime. I have been so lucky to have her as one of my best friends. She is my biggest cheerleader and for all of you who were wondering, Leah is really good at chopping carrots.

As you can see, our trip to Germany was absolutely amazing. Once again I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Pin-Ups for Vets and all the wonderful things Gina does for our Veterans.


This is delicious hot wine that I tried for the first time in Germany.


The french fries and sausage were so good!


Gina and I got to check out a few Black Hawks!

The Calendar Release Party is Here!

Well, the day is finally here! Tonight is my roommate Gina's 2011 Calendar Release Party for Pin-Ups for Vets. There has been a lot of work put into making sure this event is a big success so we are all a little anxious over here.

If you happen to be reading this and you live in LA, then you must come check out this party tonight. It's going to be a lot of fun and probably one of the most entertaining parties you've been to in a long time. There is going to be a Burlesque dance troupe, a 1940's style singer, a raffle drawing and a lot more. This is a "can't miss" event!

Stay tuned for party pictures tomorrow!

I'm Alive!

Sorry I've been missing on here.....

Just so you guys don't think I've been swallowed whole by LA, I thought I would quickly post that while I have a billion blog posts all written out, I just haven't had the time to put them on here. Honestly, I really miss my poor neglected blog and while I've thought about it a lot, I just haven't had the quality time that it so deserves.

I promise that soon and very soon I'll be back to my regular blogging. I'm very excited to share with you all the details and pictures from my exciting trip to Germany.

So, stay tuned for much, much more!

Where I've Been This Year!

2010 was an incredibly busy traveling year for me! I never ever would have thought that I would have gone to all these places last year. I am truly blessed with all the traveling opportunities that I've been given.

Check out all these places I've been to in 2010:

• Jamaica
• Washington D.C
• Albuquerque, NM
  
• Las Vegas (Twice)
• San Fransisco, CA
  
• Wyoming/Utah
• Chicago, IL
  
• Tampa, FL
• All over Southern California

And can you believe I am really starting this year out right with an amazing trip to Germany which I am currently on right now! I know, I'm so lucky! Stay tuned soon for all the trip details and of course plenty of pictures.

Where in CA do I belong?

I took a silly short quiz on Facebook awhile ago....

Where in CA do you belong?

I got Orange County/LA/San Diego.beach, Disneyland, the most populated cities, $, famous people.


The questions were about what kind of house I want to live in, what are my favorite colors, who do I consider celebs, what's my favorite food, what weather do I prefer and more. I didn't think it was exactly indicative of where I should be living in California but what do I know? Maybe Facebook knows better then I do..... I do know that I love living in LA! : )

Have you ever taken one of these quizzes on Facebook? Have you agreed with the results?

The Four Agreements

About three years ago, I learned about the Four Agreements. They were created by Mexican new age author, Miguel Angel Ruiz. The Four Agreements is his most famous and influential work.

From time to time, I've used them to get through some of life's most challenging situations. They are simple and fairly easy to remember. If you haven't heard of them before, I highly encourage you to read them below.

1. BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using words to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the pursuit of truth and love.

2. DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are tired as opposed to well-rested. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

Disgusting Princeton Scandal

I recently learned of this disgusting story from my roommate the other day and I just had to blog about it.

Apparently three Princeton Alums held a contest between each other to see which one of them could have sex with the most women in a week. Awful, right?! Somehow the emails exchanged between them have been confiscated and they are just terrible. Parts of these emails are even online. They are completely derogatory, racist and totally sexist. In these emails, these despicable men explain in full detail each and every one of their conquests.

It sickens me that men like this are educated enough to have attended a top university like Princeton and yet they still remain arrogant assholes who think they can get away with something like this. Oh, those poor women! Can you imagine discovering that you were a part of this ugly contest?! Man, I hope they get some serious testing done! Who knows what STDs these guys may have. Let's hope at least they used condoms most of the time. What kind of a guy does this?! Ugh, I'm so disgusted.

For the full story, check out the Huffington Post article.

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 31

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 31: Post a picture of yourself.

This was by far the easiest photo challenge out of all 31! Yay!

I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing all these pictures throughout this 31 Day Photo Challenge. I certainly had fun reminiscing with you all. : )

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 30

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 30: Post a photo of someone that you miss.

There is never a day that goes by that I don't miss someone. My friends live all over the place! I have been lucky enough to visit many of them and have even had some of them come here to LA too.

Here are some pictures of the few that I miss today:




But most of all, I miss my parents.

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 29

31 Day Photo Challenge- Day 29: Post a picture that can always make you smile.

I'm ALWAYS taking pictures of people and things that make me smile. Here are a few: