Revelations in a Letter

A friend of mine was and I suppose will for some time be going through a difficult time in her relationship with a guy she was dating for awhile. She has finally come to a place where she knows it's not going to get any better and she has fallen out of love with the person he has sadly become. She read the following letter to me about a week ago and I felt it was so incredibly powerful and raw that I just had to share it on my blog. She did indeed give this letter to him.

Of course, with her permission, here is the letter:

"I miss you. I don't mean the "I am going out of town for the weekend" type miss you. I really miss you. I miss us. I miss the people we used to be. The people that I thought we were becoming. I miss my ace, my number one, my friend.

I can and I will admit that I fell in love with you. The type of wake up in the middle of the night just to smell your scent type of love.

But as time goes on as it always will and new days emerge as do revelations, time has brought us to this place, this moment. Not the most defining but a moment that I have always dreaded but can't push away any longer because it is consuming me and I can't breathe.

I have decided that those people we were, those two strangers who just so happened to hit it off, are not the people we are today and we will never be again. That's okay though. People evolve and adapt and relationships do the same.

I asked myself a thousand times "How can we make it like it used to be?" Oh, I know:

• I can take us to Vegas for a "romantic" weekend
• I can take him on dates to show him that he deserves it just because he is with me
• I can turn my house into a strip club to show him that I am not the person his friends think I am, I am a fun person with a great attitude
• I can give him my body because it has been his since he first touched my little girl (and I am not talking about a kid)

But wait, there are no we's...What is he doing to get us...somewhere, anywhere.

I appreciate the occasional lunch and movie. I love when we can have a conversation about nothing. Lay around and just be. I love that feeling of he misses me when I am out of town because he texts me so.

But I have evolved and I know that what we had is gone and all we have is right here, right now. There is no future for us and you never hint that there ever will be.

You told me that you didn't want to hurt me but I don't understand how you can't see the hurt all over me. The sadness, the anger that you caused but I am always apologizing for.

My back is against a wall and my screams are falling on deaf ears and a heart that belongs to another. There is no compromise. There is no life line. So I ask myself what is it that I am fighting for. The answer is the two strangers who happened to meet each other and hit it off but they no longer exist in this reality. The people I hoped they would be together for as long as they needed to be, wanted to be.

But here we are, right here right now, living in the present with no future holding on to what was and just now accepting what it is. The love I have for you was something I hadn't felt in a long time. There have been others but none I let my guard down for. I was ready for you, I was waiting for you.

I love you and I have to let go. I can't keep fighting for you when you aren't fighting for me. I wanted you with everything inside of me but I am a person in this relationship and I have grown enough to know I need more and I want more and I have to stop settling for less than.

This letter didn't come easy and my heart is breaking with every word. I am so weak when it comes to you but I am strong in faith to know that when you are going through hell you keep going because it will get better.

This is goodbye for now and who knows it may turn into a see you later. My feelings for you can't handle being friends. I am not there nor do I know when I will be."

Red Velvet Pancakes?!

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of going to breakfast with a college friend that lives here in LA. Kathleen took me to the infamous Hollywood restaurant called The Griddle Cafe. It was amazing and I'll definitely be taking my next visitor there.

Apparently during the weekend, this place is a madhouse and the line to get a table wraps down the street but this morning being a Monday, we walked in and were seated right away. The menu is fairly easy to navigate and the page with the list of pancakes all sounded delicious and creative too. Kathleen and I decided to each get one pancake and share them. She chose the Black Magic, "Disbelief will possess you as you're pulled under the spell of our crushed Oreo-filled flapjacks!" Um, yeah, I usually think that anything at all with Oreos is great but these were downright delicious!
I chose their signature "Red Velvet panCake". While it was also super tasty, I felt like I was eating an actual red velvet cake so I couldn't eat too much of it. The swirls and swirls of cream cheese icing was seriously decadent. I can imagine eating this particular pancake as a dessert.


Breakfast food is definitely my favorite! What's yours?

Shameless Plugs!

Time and time again, I'm impressed by the talented people in my life and the amazing things that they are doing.

1. One of my roommates is an incredibly talented writer and she recently wrote a very interesting and fun article for The Daily called "Grumpy, Dopey, Risky and Walt". The Daily is "a tablet-native national news brand built from the ground up to publish original content exclusively for the iPad." Please go to that link and read Swati's article for yourself! If you enjoy it as much as I'm sure you will, stay tuned for more as I'll continue to let you know of her of next published works.


2. Of course I've blogged numerous times about my roommate Gina's awesome non profit organization, Pin-Ups for Vets. Pin-Ups for Vets is World War II style calendar that Gina created and models in. All the money raised from these calendars goes to help support VA and Military Hospitals around the US. She then hand-delivers these calendars to the hospitals. I've been to 7 different hospitals with her. Our last trip together was to Germany and Florida. I am excited to go to Hawaii and Arizona next month with her for two more visits.


3. My old boss's daughter in Phoenix is in a very cool band called Super Stereo. A couple weeks ago I was excited to discover that they were going to be in Los Angeles playing at a bar right by where I live. Of course I went and saw them perform and was delighted by what I heard. They have such a fresh and new sound that's hard to get out of your head. They call their genre 'future pop' which is really so accurate. Please check out their Facebook page, Super Stereo or their own website. Their music can also be purchased on iTunes. My favorite songs are "Go On" and "Life Passed Me By".


4. Todd, my brother in-law co-owns a car showroom called European Collectibles on PCH. I finally got to see it this afternoon and was in awe of all the stunning cars in there. They have a 1960 Fiat, 1965 Ford Mustang, a 1986 Ferrari, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, a 1958 Jaguar and many others. You almost feel like you are walking back in time in this showroom. If you aren't in the market for one of these beautiful cars, just go check out their inventory for fun! EC on PH is very easy to find as it's along the Pacific Coast Highway, in the city of Newport Beach across from the Balboa Bay Club.

13 Different Houses Built Me

This week's Mama Kat's writing prompt that I chose to write about is: The house that built me.

Before moving to Arizona for college I lived in roughly 13 houses in 7 different countries!

To most people, this sounds totally crazy, but not to me. I can't imagine my life any other way. It's literally impossible for me to imagine growing up in one house my whole life. That just wasn't how I was raised. Somehow I got used to moving. It was fairly normal for us to move to a different house that had better electricity, better plumbing, less cockroaches, and really less problems in general. In the last country I lived in, Myanmar, we moved a whopping 4 times in my 6 years there.

I always knew in the back of my mind that my parents teaching contracts in these countries wouldn't last forever and I was prepared to make the move. It was simply part of this life. Of course, saying goodbye to my friends was always difficult and dramatic but we promised to keep in touch. It is because of this that I'm good at staying connected to my friends now. Facebook and email definitely make that a whole lot easier. I still do enjoy snail mail though. My parents would always make promises of a new and exciting country, a great new school to attend and a brand new batch of neat friends to make. Of course, this would all came true. : )

So, honestly, I didn't have ONE house that built me but many houses throughout my childhood that helped shape the person I am today. I remember bits and pieces from just about all the 13 houses. Oh wow, I just had an epiphany mid-post, I think the reason that I like moving the furniture around in my bedroom so much is because of this nomadic lifestyle that I had growing up. Does that make sense? When I move the furniture around, it becomes a whole new room. How interesting that I just now figured this out....

These houses really did build me.

Speechless

This week's Mama Kat's Writing Assignment that I chose was 1.) Write about a time a friend left you speechless.

It was the first year anniversary of my parents death. Looking back on the day now I can't even remember exactly what I did. It's all a blur to me. For some reason I wasn't with my sister. Thankfully, we now promise to always try to be together on this date but this October 15th, we were not.

All I remember about the day was getting a call from the office of my apartment building letting me know that there was a package waiting for me downstairs in the mail room. I was shocked. I wasn't expecting anything. I quickly went to retrieve it and rushed back up to apartment to open it.

It was a large square heavy box with no return address but my address had been handwritten and I could definitely recognize the handwriting. It was from my friend Tracy. I slowly opened it and could immediately tell that it was some kind of a scrapbook. It had a beautiful butterfly on the cover and if you know me at all, then you'll know that I love butterflies. As I began turning the pages, I realized that not only was it from Tracy but several of my other close girl friends too.


They had all contributed a page or two to this beautiful scrapbook. Each page was full of pictures of my friends and I together, collages of magazine cutouts of things they knew I liked, thoughtful poems and friendship quotes and sweet letters. So many memories of these cherished friendships filled this scrapbook.



Tears formed in my eyes as I scanned the pages and began reading the letters tucked into the clear covers around each page. I was left utterly speechless. No one had ever done something so incredibly kind for me in my life and I didn't know what to say. It had been such a hard day for me and knowing that I would have to endure many more year anniversaries of my parents deaths felt impossible. Just as I was feeling my lowest and most alone in the world, this heartfelt gift arrived and I suddenly didn't feel so alone anymore.

27 and a Day

Well, yesterday was my birthday and I turned the ripe old age of 27!

Yep, I am now officially in my late 20's...cue the daunting scary music! YIKES! Despite my fear of turning 27, I had a very sweet day and I'm delighted to say that I no longer enter this year with trepidation but with a sense of hope and excitement. I feel wiser, more self-aware, confident and even more mature then I've felt on previous birthdays. I've had some incredible experiences as a 26 year old and I plan on continuing in that tradition with even more gusto. Once again, this birthday I was reminded of just how lucky and fortunate I am to have such amazing people at my side.

My friend Emily sent me these beautiful flowers!!

I love that on birthdays you hear from friends you haven't talk to in months and months, but suddenly, the big birthday rolls around and they know what to do. : ) I might also add that my Facebook wall was seriously blowing up! I thought it was going to explode from all the sweet birthday messages. I am definitely not complaining about that at all. I loved every single wall posting!

So what exactly did I do for my birthday yesterday? I started it by running just over 5 miles on the treadmill at the Gym! Woo! Go me! It felt amazing after being in Vegas all last weekend and not doing any kind of physical activity at all. After leaving the gym, I headed to a somewhat deserted beach near Santa Monica. Harmed with sunscreen, my swimsuit and iPod, I was ready to relax and get some sun. Sadly, this beach excursion only lasted about an hour since the wind was just too much for me and I ended up shivering at the beach instead! Haha! By the last 20 minutes, I was curled up in my beach blanket cursing my grand plans of spending the day at the beach! Oh well! As my roommate said, "at least I got out there and tried it".

Before it got windy and cold!

Next, I headed to the glorious infamous cupcake shop in Beverly Hills, Sprinkles. I purchased one sweet delicious red velvet cupcake. If you haven't tried these $3.50 cupcakes then you are seriously missing out my friend. I know it's ridiculous to spend that much on one cupcake but they are just so good. And I've done extensive cupcake research so trust me on this if you haven't had the pleasure of trying one of these for yourself. On the weekends, there is a huge line out the door down the street to get into this place but thankfully, yesterday was a Monday so I was in and out very quickly.

YUM!!

Later at night I had a very nice dinner with my roommate Gina and her mom. We had to rush through it a little bit since I had plans to sing karaoke in Korea Town with a group of friends and I had reserved a private room for us. I had a blast! Everyone got up and sang and seemed to really enjoy themselves and let loose. I can't think of one song that I wish we would have covered....well, i was a little disappointed they didn't have "Shoop" by Salt 'n' Pepa.. haha

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night:

Project Smile-February

I finally decided to join Project Smile this month. I learned about it through my sister's blog and she discovered it through Alicia's blog at A Beautiful Mess. The challenge is to find something to smile about every single day of the month. I did exactly that for the month of February!
Here we happily go:

1st- Sharing a big glass of red wine with my roommate after a long day of nannying.
2nd- My sister and Lucas come to LA to visit me! I am smiles all day long!
3rd- An interesting and thoughtful conversation between four intelligent women, myself included.
4th- I got so much accomplished today!
5th- Pre-Marathon jitters are the best
6th- I rocked my 2nd Half-Marathon ever! I'm super excited now for my Full Marathon next month!
7th- Being able to sit in front of the TV with my lap top for hours and actually get a lot done!
8th- A bajillion things at the 99cent store for $10 bucks!
9th- A nice long hike on a beautiful sunny LA day.
10th- I found 6 music job openings and applied for them all in under an hour.
11th- Morning yoga outside! Need I say more?
12- I ran 20 miles and didn't die afterwards!
13- Several hours of fun at the beach with my roommates and friends.
14- A sweet night with new and old friends celebrating desserts and Valentines Day and not being depressed at all that we are single! : )
15- An intense workout at the gym that left me drenched with sweat and completely out of breath.
16- A sweet visit with my sister and nephew in Orange County.
17- I went to a thoughtful and interesting lecture on sex in downtown Los Angeles with new and old LA friends.
18- Today I'm happy that I allowed myself to cry tears of sadness. It had been awhile and I obviously needed it.
19- A totally rad 80's Prom Birthday Party in Newport Beach.
20- A very lazy day spent watching several movies in bed
21- I applied to 6 amazing jobs! Wish me luck!
22- I did Bikram Yoga again today for the first time in about a year and it felt amazing!
23- I got an awesome job interview lined up for Monday!
24- Not only did I take a Bikram Yoga class but I also ran 3 miles! Damn, this feels good!
25- I got my hair trimmed and colored black!! And my BFF from high school arrived to visit me for a few days! : ) I couldn't be happier today!
26- My sister, nephew and best friend and I spent the afternoon together! How perfect is that?!
27- Having a margarita with my BFF in Santa Monica by the ocean celebrating her birthday!
28- So many things to smile about today: A leisure hike and brunch with Emily followed by my awesome interview and a relaxing night together too.

Another awesome visitor!!

I am currently spending this very rainy LA weekend with my dear close friend, Emily. She is visiting me all the way from Wyoming. We've known each other for 13 long years and I definitely consider her like another sister of mine. There's nothing I cant tell her and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her. We are so similar sometimes it's scary!

I've talked about her before in this post and also in this post.

Emily has never been to Los Angeles before so I hope to show her the sights of sounds of this crazy city. It's also Emily's birthday on Sunday so I need to make this an especially fun weekend for her. So I know this may make me sound like I'm a big dork/really awesomely organized but I actually typed up an itinerary for us for the weekend. However, this rainy weather is really spoiling this so called plan! Boo! Got any rainy weather favorite activities? I'm thinking we will probably be spending more time in museums. That could of course be fun too. I'm sure we'll have a good time together, no matter what we do!

What are you up to this weekend?

Wordless Wednesdays

So, I've been pretty busy lately doing all kinds of different things and have taken some fun pictures so here's what I've been up to......

The roomies and some other friends and I spent a few glorious hours at the beach on Sunday afternoon. It was beautiful and sunny for awhile and then....


it got dark and kind of eerie looking so we put on our clothes and played games at the beach instead! Hey, at least we stuck around!

Valentines Day Wine & Dessert party with my roomies!


Me with the Valentines Day hostess with the mostess, Corinne!


My roommate Swati and I at a friend's pub crawl.


My roommate Gina and friend Jennahway and I at a Pin-Up Pageant show!

This was my favorite dress of the show. I just love polka dots!


On Saturday I ran a 20 mile training run!! Woo hoo!! It went really well and I can honestly say that I think I'm ready for the Full Marathon next month! Wow, I can't believe I just said those words!

Deep Thought of the Day

For some reason I always forget that NOT everyone in my circle of friends and/or acquaintances knows what happened to my parents and the fact that I've grown up overseas my whole life until college rolled around.

Recently, I was talking to a friend about my parents and how closer my sister and I are now and how much I love spending time with my nephew. Suddenly, she exclaims, "Wait, what? Where are your parents now?" I was really surprised that she didn't already know my story. So, then, I of course went on to give her a Cliff Note's version of what happened to my parents. Needless to say she was shocked and told me that suddenly, things started making sense.

I don't know why but I often assume that everyone should just already know these things. It was a huge life changing event in my life so how can some people still not know about it? But how can some people possibly know? How can I expect that when there are certain people that I've never talked to about this. People can't read minds. On the other side of the coin, it's comforting to know that I don't have a sign on my forehead that says "ORPHAN". Let's be honest, there's so much more to me than this. This tragedy most certainly does not define me or my family. It's a battle scar that I'll carry with me forever but it doesn't have to be the first thing someone learns about me.

Right after my parents died, it was so hard for me to understand how people were planning fun trips to Vegas, chic dinners out on the town, sleepovers with boyfriends, vacations to Hawaii or even simply laughing over everyday occurrences. Of course, thankfully, I've gotten over all this. I now understand how important it is to continue life and be happy. That's exactly what they would have wanted me to do. My parents were two happy and joyful people who loved life and would expect nothing but that from me too.

Is Cupid in LA?

I've been reluctant to talk about the following topic on my blog but I think it's finally time.

About 3 months ago I joined an online dating website called OkCupid. Yep, I am now officially one of those girls... It's 2011, right? Most girls I know have tried online dating at one point or another. I even have a couple close friends that have had serious success with it. I know of two couples that met online are madly in love today. So, I went on it rather hopeful.

It was time for me to meet some new guys and see what's out there. I know I live in one of the most populated cities on the planet but it is not easy to meet people here. I've asked all my friends here if they have any single guy friends but they keep telling me that their guy friends are not good enough for me. What kinds of guys are they friends with? Geesh! Alright, so, what's a girl to do? I don't do the whole bar dating scene so online seemed like the next best option.

What makes OKCupid different than other dating websites, well it's free for starters which means that absolutely anyone can join it. Anyone. Ugh! There are quite a lot of old and hairy men on there but among those are a few good lookin' fellas. But you have to dig and hunt for them.

I have gone out with a few guys so far and they have left a lot to be desired so I trudge on. First, there was the "Clingster Guy". From the very first date, he was planning our courtship and ultimate wedding already! Talk about a stage 5 clinger! Yeah, it was ridiculous! He was a nice guy overall but not the guy for me. Another guy was SAG-"Socially Awkward Guy". We had great chemistry and I was definitely attracted to him but not only was he socially awkward around other people aka my friends but he lacked the drive and passion that I'm looking for in a partner.

Despite this stream of missed connections, I'll continue with the search for Mr. Right...heck, I'll settle for Mr. Right Now!

Have you tried online dating?

Broken But Hopeful Hearts

A close friend of mine recently broke up with her boyfriend. They were together for over two years and it's literally torn her world a part. I wish so badly that I could stop her pain and give this boy a serious beating. But it's just not possible for me to do either of those things.

I've had many friends break up with their boyfriends before and they've leaned on me for support but never has it affected me like this. Of course I'm always angry at these guys and long to mend my friends' broken hearts.

Yet, this time feels different. Perhaps, it's because we are older and these couples aren't silly and cavalier anymore. They are serious, mature relationships where future plans are often discussed. My heart aches for this friend whenever we talk on the phone. There's a sadness in me that I haven't felt quite before. Unfortunately she does not live anywhere near me so we must communicate via phone only. I'm in the process of mailing her something special though.

What have I learned from all this? Well, it has really got me thinking of what exactly I want in my soul mate. Yep, I am currently single and dating. By the way, dating in LA is tough..more on that subject in another post. So, several months ago, I asked my friends what they wanted in their perfect man and women. These lists were kind of silly and pretty unrealistic and I didn't mention specifically what things I wanted in a guy so without further delay, here is my list:

• Someone who won't just text me.
• On that note, write me old fashioned love letters every once in a while!
• I'd like him to want to communicate with me everyday but not necessarily need to. Plus, some days all I need is a quick hello.
• Someone who won't play any games with me. I don't understand them and have no time for any of that nonsense.
• Plan some of the dates too. Don't leave it all up to me.
  
• Someone who will pay our dinner bills, at least in the beginning of our courtship. I'm all for splitting it later or even picking up the check entirely.
• Open doors, pull out chairs-you know, its called chivalry! Learn it! I think a lot of the guys of my generation have forgotten what this is all about.
• Dance. Ok, I understand that not all guys enjoy dancing but at least try a little for me.
  
• Remember things about myself that I tell you and then ask me about them later. I am constantly asking questions so I expect a similar respect from my partner.
• I will compliment you when I first see you, so please do the same for me.
• When we get fairly serious, ask me to meet your family.
• If you get the pleasure of meeting my friends, actively be interested in them and getting to know them better. My friends are my family so they better approve of you.
• While we are on the subject of friends, consider yourself lucky when you've gotten to meet a few of them.
• Again, after we've been together for awhile, ask me about my parents. If I care about you, I'll want to share things about them with you.
• Be passionate about things in your life.
  
• Can you simply woo me?!

I'm sure there are lots of other traits and characteristics that I look for in a guy but these are the things that have been on my mind lately.

If my friend doesn't get back together with this boyfriend, then I hope with all heart and soul that the next guy has all these qualities and much much more. She is definitely precious cargo. : )

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 25

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 25: Post a picture of your day.

Tonight, I met up with a college friend, Kathleen, who lives in LA but we somehow never ever hang out. I hope tonight is the start to much more time spent together! Ok Kathleen? Let's fit each other into our busy schedules!

Does this happen a lot to you? You have all these friends living minutes from you but sadly, you are never are able to hang out. Blame it on opposite conflicting schedules, different groups of friends, different hobbies or just plain laziness. I think it's sad and really want to fix that this year. I need to spend more time with these close friends that I have here in LA. There's really nothing serious keeping us from spending time together so it needs to be corrected asap! So there! : )

31 Day Photo Challenge-Day 21

31 Day Photo Challenge- Day 21: Post a picture of something you wish you could forget.

This is really difficult. I honestly don't want to forget anything that's happened to me. I'd like to think that it's all happened for a reason and that I'm a better person because of it all.

Of course there are days when I wish I could forget that my parents are gone and that they'll never be at the future important events in my life but then again, I don't want to forget that they are gone either. I always want to remember that they were here and they will always be my parents. Perhaps, it would be nice to be able to forget the night I found out. I wish I could forget what I was wearing and where my bed was in the room and what I thought when I saw that it an international number pop up on my cell phone. I wish I could erase the memory of telling my sister the awful news. Why can't I forget all that? Yet, I don't want to ever forget how my friends were there for me that night and for many nights to come after that one.

Is there anything you wish you could forget?

Merry Christmas from LA 'n' LA

Merry Christmas to you my wonderful followers and your family and friends. I hope you spend today with your loved ones and enjoy all that Christmas as to offer you. I'm excited to be with this little guy! Below is a picture of him taken last year! Isn't it the cutest ever? Can't wait to take more like this this Christmas.

Circle of Friends..errr Life

This week's Mama Kat's Writing Assignment is write a post inspired by one of the words given. I chose the words 'bold' and 'angsty'.

Ok, so why do certain people come into our lives, and then poof, just like that, they are gone?!

I have this belief that every person that we meet in our lives usually fills some kind of role in the bigger picture of our lives. Finding that role can be tricky and sometimes downright impossible. It's nice thinking that every person is helping us along our journey through life. We are all helping each other. Right? I certainly want to believe that I can be instrumental in someone's life somehow. Don't we all want to be useful? Perhaps 'useful' isn't the right word. I hope you understand what I mean... This is turning out to be a very difficult post to write.

I met someone early last week and today, about a week later, they are entirely out of my life. I think it's kind of sad. I mean, what purpose did he fill in my life? Nothing at all? I don't know... I've been trying to figure out what having him in my life for a brief 8 days taught me...

Is it simply the circle of friends or rather the circle of life?

Yesterday in the same 2 minutes, this same person de-friended me on Facebook and a new person friended me. So if it was such a short lived friendship, why on earth am I slightly pissed that this person de-friended me? Honestly, I think it's such a bold and angsty move for anyone to make on Facebook. There is no hiding de-friending someone. It's obvious and apparent how you feel about that person.

Remember my previous post Confessions? I have this strange need for everyone to like me. It's really hard for me to accept when I know that someone doesn't like me. I want to know why and what I can do to make it better immediately. That's why this bold de-friending move really hit me so hard. Why go so far as to de-friend me? Do you really not want to see my status updates, picture uploads and just my general activity on Facebook anymore? Ugh.....Whatever. I know that I just need to forget about it and move on. I have enough incredible people in life that want to be my Facebook friend! So there!

Lingerie, Oh la la!

So, if you haven't read on my blog yet, I had the honor of being in the audience at the second episode of Oprah's Favorite Things. It was amazing and I got a lot of incredible things. I got an awesome Coach purse, a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings and several other things.

My absolute favorite gift were two VERY LARGE gift cards to Nordstrom's Lingerie department! So guess what I had fun doing this afternoon?! I was free this afternoon and thought it would be better to venture to the mall on a weekday anyway. Yep, I was in the lingerie department at Nordstrom for about 3 hours buying bras or undies for some of my favorite ladies! Fun, huh? Don't worry, I did buy myself something fancy as well. : )

The best part was emailing all these woman asking them for their sizes! I can say that not one girl was hesitant to tell me her size! I love that I'm able to share this once in a lifetime experience with some of the wonderful ladies in my life. I hope that they like everything I picked out for them. I guess if they don't, then they can go exchange if for something else on their own.

I definitely couldn't help but feel like Santa Clause today and this is by far my favorite part about this time of year. Happy Holidays ladies! Now I have to figure out how I'm going to mail all these bras and undies to these girls... Hmmm.. Any ideas?

My First LA Dinner Party

"One cannot have too large a party." -Jane Austen

Last night my two roommates and I threw a little dinner party at our house. There were 7 guests. When I moved in, I brought a large nice dining room table and matching chairs so it was fun to finally put all of that to good use.

I wanted it to be simple so I just made tacos. We had a ton of veggies, ground turkey, falafel for the vegetarians, black beans, lentil soup and my roommate Gina's amazing guacamole. There was plenty of wine, soft music in the background and mood lighting provided by candles.

If you weren't at this dinner party, you'll be at the next one as the girls and I plan to do this much more often so stay tuned. : )

The funniest thing happened before any of the guests even arrived...

So I was cutting up a few jalapeno peppers (some people like to experience pain during dinner), I threw them into bowl and then went to itch my nose-BIG MISTAKE! Within seconds, my nose felt like it was on fire! I've never felt this kind of stinging pain before ever. I tried to ignore it for awhile, as I had a dinner to get ready and didn't have time to worry about my 'hot' nose! But it kept getting worse... my roommates quickly started offering me advice and then resorted to checking Google. The first thing that popped up that sounded reasonable enough was to dunk my nose into a bowl of milk which is exactly what I did. Of course, this moment just had to be captured on camera. It totally worked so if you ever find yourself in a similar situation then I highly suggest doing this.

100 Followers!!

OMG, I've hit 100 followers! I cannot believe it!! This is so awesome! I couldn't be happier that people are reading my blog and actually enjoying reading about my emotional roller coaster filled life here in the City of Angels. Thank you to all my new and old followers! I really appreciate you being a part of my blog. As my sister says, "The Best is Yet To Be". : )

Enjoy these few sweet blogging quotes:

"A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation" -Andrew Sullivan

"Blogging is a communications mechanism handed to us by the long tail of the Internet." -Tom Foremski

"The heart and soul of blogging is the individual and/or the group of individuals opining on the fly and responding post-haste to one and all." -Michael Conniff

"Your blog is your unedited version of yourself." -Lorelle

Fun Follow Friday

This week I decided to be apart of Fun Follow Friday hosted by Simply Stacie and My Wee View. The goal of this hop is to simply be introduced to new blogs to follow and make new blogging friends! It's super easy to join. All you have to do is add your blog link to their blogs and start blog hopping and following! You aren’t required to write a post for your blog for Fun Follow Friday unless you want to.

When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the Fun Follow Friday.

The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you! Enjoy!