Category Archives: Family

San Diego Day (or Hanging Out With Family On My Day Off)

Posted on February 18, 2015 | 1 comment

I always have Mondays off from my main day job (I work Tuesday-Saturday). I usually just spend the day getting stuff done around my house or running errands. They tend to be pretty lazy days (except for my workout).

But this past Monday my mom was down in San Diego visiting with my grandparents. Her cousin Karen (who I haven’t seen in over 20 years) was also down in San Diego. So I rearranged my day so I could spend a couple of hours in San Diego with everyone.

After an early workout and showering and dressing, I was on the road by 10:30am. The drive went much better than it has in the past. I was down at my grandparents’ place in 2 hours and arrived a few seconds after my mom and cousin Karen got there from their hotel as well.

Most of the day was spent in my grandparents’ condo just catching up. I hadn’t seen my grandparents’ since Thanksgiving so it was awesome to get to see them again. And my mom was at the tail end of a multi-state trip so she was filling me in on everything that she did. And of course, getting to talk with cousin Karen a lot.

We all went out for Mexican food for dinner. I knew we’d be going out to dinner, so I had planned my meals accordingly and saved a lot of calories for the meal. I also had done some research on good vegetarian options at Mexican restaurants (I still haven’t brought meat back into my diet yet).

I ended up getting Huevos Rancheros. It’s somewhat close to what I would make as a rice bowl at home, just with some eggs. Now that I’m being careful with what I’m eating, I’m realizing how difficult it can be to eat out. I had no control over oil, salt, or any other extras that were added into my meal. So I had to try to guess the nutrition levels of my meal as best as I could. But since I was careful with my breakfast and lunch, I think it was ok to splurge a little on my dinner. And I didn’t have any chips or partake in the pitcher of margaritas that the table got.

After dinner, we all headed back to my grandparents’ place and I got my car so I could head home again. I ended up being in San Diego for just under 7 hours, so that’s a pretty good visit.

The drive home was easy again and I was home in time to get some stuff done in preparation for my work week.

I’m so glad that the timing of things worked out so well for me to have a family day on Monday. My family has always been important to me, but I’ve realized lately that I need to put in a better effort to see my family. Time goes by quickly and I can easily go a few months without going to San Diego to see my grandparents and that’s not good. I might be going down to see them again in 2 months when my parents (and dog) are down there. But I’m still trying to work out the timing for that.

I know that it doesn’t seem like I did a lot on my day trip to San Diego, but just being around my family is such a great way for me to recharge and get ready to kick some butt again in my life.

1 Comment

Posted in Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged family, grandparents, San Diego, visit

Reflecting Back On 2014 (or How I Did With My Goals)

Posted on December 31, 2014 | 1 comment

I can’t believe that 2014 is ending! It really seems like it was just a month or two ago that I was posting my goals for this year.

I just want to take some time and reflect on my year and the goals that I had set out for myself.

I really felt like 2014 was a rebuilding year for me and my family. While 2013 did have some great moments, there were also a lot of sad and stressful ones. I think of 2013 as the year that Ross and Krystle got married, that my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and my family lost two dogs. While we did technically adopt Tucker right before New Year’s Eve last year, I think of 2014 as the year he joined our family.

In 2014, so many positives happened for my family. Adopting Tucker was a big one, but the biggest was my mom being declared cancer-free. Knowing that she is ok (even though we all knew that she would be in the beginning) really has taken so much stress out of my life. I know that there are still some stressful times ahead with making sure that she stays cancer-free (and now I have annual mammograms to worry about too), but knowing that it’s all good right now just makes me so happy.

This was also a rebuilding year for me as far as my health goes. I have finally connected with a workout in a way that I had hoped for. And very recently I’ve been getting my food in a better place too. This isn’t to say that I don’t have days where I seriously struggle, but I’m taking more and more steps in the right direction.

So let’s take a look back at my goals from last year and see how I did with them.

My first goal was to continue to do 5Ks. I did 3 this year. And while that is much less than the year prior, I’m ok with that. I don’t love doing 5Ks as much as I want to, but the few races that I did do are ones that I look forward to a lot. I also got a new PR which I am very excited about!

My next goal was to make spin a regular habit. This did not happen. I stopped going to SoulCycle a while ago because I have replaced it with Orangetheory. I’m planning on going back next year every so often to spin, but I really wanted to focus on Orangetheory during the second half of this year. But since I did make exercise a regular habit, I’m declaring this goal as a partial success.

Next on my list was to track my food/exercise better. I’m still using MyFitnessPal to track my food every day. I’m much happier tracking it when I’m making smart choices. And as far as tracking my exercise, I think I’m doing pretty great at that too. It makes it easy to track my exercise in MyFitnessPal when Orangetheory tells me exactly how many calories I’m burning in each workout.

The next goal I had set was to get into an improv class. I failed to do this goal. I had every intention of getting started at UCB this year. I even purchased the book that all students are required to read. But I think the lack of stability with my job got to me. When I thought I knew when a class would fit into my schedule I would lose my job and everything changed. I’m feeling pretty stable with my current day job, but I’m still looking for something else to help me make enough each month. Once that stability is set, I think I can look into class again.

Next was pay down my debt and not add more. While I did pay down some of the debt, it was impossible to not add more this year. With some expenses having to be put on a credit card, there was no way to not add to it. But when I did have those expenses, I tried to pay off exactly what I spent by the time the bill came around.

Then I had the goal of going on another vacation. While I did go to visit my parents, those don’t seem to feel like vacations to me. They seem like getting to have family time. That’s probably because I’m either visiting them at the house I grew up in or I’m at their place in Tahoe. But I did get to go on a fabulous trip to New York with my sister-in-law this past spring. That trip was amazing and we are planning to try to go to New York again in the coming year.

My final goal for 2014 was to continue blogging. While some days are tough to come up with a topic to write about, I have maintained posting a new post Monday-Friday every week of this year. That’s a lot of posts!

All in all, even though I didn’t complete all of my goals, I think that I did a great job in trying to do them all. I’ll post my goals for 2015 tomorrow.

I hope that you all have an amazing New Year’s Eve tonight! If you chose to drink, please don’t drive. Take a taxi/Uber/Lyft to get home. Or you can call AAA for a Tipsy Tow.

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Family, Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Travel, Weight Loss, Work

Tagged 5K, blogging, breast cancer, cancer, debt, goals, New Years, Orangetheory, recap, resolutions, vacation

Amazing Customer Service (or I Love Sharing Positive Stories On Here!)

Posted on December 30, 2014 | Comments Off

I’ve shared some pretty horrible customer service stories on here in the past. I don’t like doing that and I don’t want to turn my blog into a place where I call out companies that treat customers poorly. But when bad customer service truly affects my life (like those times mentioned on the blog did), then I feel like I have to share it.

But I’d much rather celebrate some amazing customer service stories on here and help you all find stores/companies that you should support. Recently, I had 2 great customer service experiences and I wanted to let you all know about them.

First of all was an experience that I had at the Nike Store in Beverly Hills. I went there because I knew that I won the Nike ID Challenge at Orangetheory and I wanted to find out what size Nikes I needed to get (I don’t typically wear Nikes).

I was nervous going into the store for 2 reasons. One was that I’m not completely comfortable going into sporting goods or fitness stores. I still feel judged and I’ve had some experiences with employees not helping me as quickly as they would help other guests. The second reason was I knew that I wasn’t going to be buying anything while I was in the store. I wanted to be upfront with the salesperson so they understood that they wouldn’t make a commission off of me, and that could affect how they treated me.

But as soon as I walked into the store, all my fears disappeared. There was a wall of shoes that could be Nike ID customer shoes in front of me.

A saleswoman (whose name I sadly have forgotten) came over to help me right away. I explained that I had won some Nike IDs and needed to find out my size before I collected my prize, and she was really excited to help me. She knew that I wasn’t purchasing anything that day, but she went above and beyond to make sure I found the perfect fit with the shoe that I’m going to be getting.

She even was asking me all about Orangetheory because she thought it was awesome that a fitness studio gave away Nikes. She took my information so she could join me for a workout at some point.

As someone who works in customer service and used to work for commission, I understand the frustration that this saleswoman probably felt but she never let it show. I hope that with me being so laid back and in no rush to try on shoes (so she could help other customers) that I made it a little easier on her.

We haven’t designed our custom Nike ID shoes yet at Orangetheory, but at least now I know exactly what size I need (and how to stretch them out to fit me a bit better).

My second amazing customer service experience that I’ve had recently was with the Hanukkah gift that my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law, and I got for my dad. I found this amazing chair and footstool made out of old skis by doing a search online and as a group we decided to order it for my dad.

I called Green Mountain Ski Furniture to get a bit of clarification on some of the pricing options, but I never heard back. I followed up with an email explaining that I had previously called and left a message and got an email back very quickly from the owner. He apologized for not getting back to me and answered all of my questions to help me complete the order.

He sent me another email as soon as I ordered confirming everything. And when he shipped out the chair, I got 2 emails from the owner. One was the tracking information and the other was a personal email saying how happy he was with how the chair turned out and how he was making sure that the chair would get to my dad before Christmas (even though that didn’t matter it was nice that he made that effort).

The chair got to my parents the day before Christmas and my dad put it together right away. And it looks amazing!

This chair is going to live up in Tahoe and my parents will bring it up there on one of their next few trips to the mountains.

While almost all customer service experiences that I have are good, I feel like these 2 recently have gone above and beyond. So if you live in LA and need anything from Nike, you should definitely go to the store in Beverly Hills. And if you want anything made out of old skis or snowboards, you have to go with Green Mountain Ski Furniture for your gift!

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Fun Stuff, Shopping

Tagged Beverly Hills, customer service, Lake Tahoe, presents, shoes

A Family-Filled Thanksgiving (or 4 Generations In One Place)

Posted on December 3, 2014 | 1 comment

Thanksgiving Day was a family day pretty much from start to finish. The day began with my dad, brother, aunt, and I going to Orangetheory for our workout. It turns out that while we were working out, my mom took Tucker for a walk to Orangetheory and watched us sweat our butts off. None of us saw her or the dog because we were so focused on the workout, but we did see them walking back up the hill as we were coming home (Tucker was tired of the hill so he jumped in the car to catch a ride up).

My mom did a lot of prep work for Thanksgiving in the days and weeks leading up to it, so on the day it wasn’t as much prep time needed as cooking time. The turkey got into the oven quickly and then Tucker discovered the best place to take a nap in the entire house.

While the turkey and various sides were cooking in the oven, a bunch of us decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day we were having in San Diego.

I enjoyed lots of reading time in the shade with my dad while my cousin’s kids hung out in the pool.

After some time in the sunshine, we headed inside for appetizers. We had a couple of different things out, included the feta dip I made. My mom thinks that I did a better job that she does, and while I don’t agree with that I’m happy that everyone enjoyed the dip!

We enjoyed eating some chips and dips and spending time catching up with one another while dinner was finishing up.

I love this photo of my grandma and my cousin’s daughter Annabelle.

We had another incredible sunset that evening and I got a nice family photo of my parents, my brother, and I in the backyard of the rental house.

Before we knew it, the turkey was done and it looked amazing!

My cousin Adam was in charge of carving it because he always does a great job. And while he was carving it, Tucker realized that being next to the turkey was the place to be. And while he was hoping for some scraps to fall, I realized that Dante did the exact same thing at the last Thanksgiving I got to spend with him.

I think the turkey looked like something out of a magazine after Adam carved it.

All the food was set out in the kitchen for us to take and we got started on making our plates.

The rental house had a large enough dining room that we could all sit in the same room together. We pushed 2 tables together to create one long table and it was perfect.

The food was delicious and getting to spend time like that with my family was perfect.

After dinner, we all went into the living room to take a family photo. We were missing my cousin John and my sister-in-law, but to have this many members of my family together in one place is rare and we had to get a picture.

That’s 4 generations of the Fry family in that photo. I love how even Tucker is smiling!

After the family photo, my cousin Stephie, her husband Clay, and I went out to go see the new Hunger Games movie. This has become a tradition for the 3 of us to do and it’s something that I look forward to a lot. When we got to the theater, we had a while to wait before the movie. But there was some Christmas stuff up already so Stephie and I decided to do a little photo shoot.

When we got into the theater, the set up was similar to the theater I saw “The Theory Of Everything” in. They didn’t have waiters to bring you food or drinks, but we all got recliners!

The recliners might have been a bad thing for my cousin, though. She kept falling asleep in the beginning of the movie. But she went out and got some popcorn and that perked her up right away!

We all loved the movie and we have next year’s movie to look forward to.

Overall, this might have been the best Thanksgiving ever. There was no craziness and all the food was amazing. And I got to pretty much spend the entire day with my whole family. We all agreed that this year was pretty perfect. And we are looking at getting the same rental house for next year since it fit our family so well.

I know that I’m so lucky that I get the chance like this to be with my extended family and that we are all so close to one another. We don’t get to see each other too often so we try to take advantage of the time we have together each year at Thanksgiving.

I hope that all of you got to spend your Thanksgiving exactly the way you wanted to.

1 Comment

Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged family, movies, Orangetheory, San Diego, Thanksgiving

First Half Of Thanksgiving (or Hanukkah Gifts And Birthdays)

Posted on December 2, 2014 | Comments Off

Thanksgiving this year was held in San Diego. That’s where my grandparents live, and it’s easier for the rest of us to travel to them than for them to travel to another location. I only had Thanksgiving Day off from my box office job, but I had shortened hours the day before and after. So I figured I could work from the house that my mom rented for us and spend a couple of days with my family.

I started my drive right after my work shift ended on Tuesday. It should have been just before rush hour started, but the traffic was horrible the second I got onto the freeway.

What should have been a 2 hour drive ended up being over 4 hours (I have a history of that drive taking a long time). But I was better for me to be stuck in traffic but making progress than to be sitting at home waiting for the traffic to die down.

When I got to the rental house, my parents were there along with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle (my aunt, uncle, and cousin were also staying at the rental house with us). My brother arrived shortly after (he flew in to San Diego but my sister-in-law had to stay in San Francisco and work). We spent some time catching up as a family and then my aunt and uncle drove my grandparents back to their place.

While it was just my parents and my brother, I decided that it was the perfect time to give them the Hanukkah presents I brought with me. My brother got a gift that was from me, my parents, and my sister-in-law and my dad got a gift that was from me, my mom, my brother, and my sister-in-law. They both got awesome (and pricey) gifts so they were group gifts.

For my dad, we all chipped in and got him a custom chair and foot rest that is made from old skis. It’s being made right now and hopefully my dad will get it sometime this month. It’s going to be for Tahoe, and my mom had to do some spy work and measuring to make sure it would fit there. But it will and I can’t wait until it’s delivered so my dad can enjoy it!

And for my brother, we all chipped in and got him a GoPro. He loves to do videos while he is snowboarding and he usually makes my dad film him. But this way, he can do the videos himself. And from the look on his face when he opened the gift, I think he loves it.

As for my mom, I got her a gift certificate for Shutterfly. She’s going to be getting a new iPhone soon and she likes to make custom photo cases. I would have loved to have made a case for her, but I don’t know what phone she is getting. So this way, when she upgrades her phone, she can make the case that she wants.

After presents, we sat around and relaxed. I was trying to hang out with Tucker, but clearly he was missing my brother more than me and I was getting ignored.

I don’t mind too much. Ross gets to see Tucker pretty often where as I have only seen him a handful of times.

The next day was a relaxing family day. My cousin Adam arrived in San Diego and all of us spent most of the day hanging around the house and enjoying the view.

I had to work in the morning, but I set up my laptop and phone in the kitchen so I could still be a part of the conversation. Fortunately, it was a very quiet day at work. We also made a quick trip to the dog park for Tucker to burn off some of his energy.

That evening had such a wonderful sunset and we were spoiled with an amazing view.

And once the sun was down, it was time for us to head out to dinner. We celebrate my grandma’s birthday on the evening before Thanksgiving. We went to an Italian restaurant that we go to as a family often as they have a private room that is the perfect size for us.

At the restaurant, my other aunt and my cousin and her family were there. It was great to see my cousin, her husband, and her 3 kids again. I hadn’t seen them since last year and all of her kids are so much bigger! I got to sit next to her son, Dalton, at dinner. And he kept me pretty entertained with all of his stories and craziness.

And of course, there was cake for my grandma.

After dinner, we headed back to the rental house so we could get some sleep to be ready for Thanksgiving the next day. I can’t wait to share with you tomorrow how Thanksgiving went. It really has become one of my favorite family memories ever.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged birthday, grandparents, Hanukkah, presents, San Diego, Thanksgiving

Working Out In A New Location (or Thanksgiving Calorie Burns)

Posted on December 1, 2014 | Comments Off

This past week of workouts were dedicated to preparing for and recovering from Thanksgiving (recap of my holiday to come soon!).

Monday was a usual workout for me at Orangetheory. I was at my usual class, and while it was tough, it’s wasn’t too horrible. The Monday Challenge was how many burpees you can do in a minute. I am not a fan of burpees at all. But I really wanted to make it to the double digits for the challenge. Some how, even though I was exhausted from the workout, I was able to do 11. Not good enough to be on the leaderboard, but definitely good enough for me.

I didn’t have a workout on Wednesday because I left for my Thanksgiving adventure on Tuesday after work. But I did have a Thanksgiving morning workout.

My dad and I had previously talked about doing a 5K on Thanksgiving morning, but that seemed to be too early in the morning and not as fun to do. But when I found out that not only is my Orangetheory membership good for any location in the country but there was a Orangetheory less than a mile from the house we were renting in San Diego, we knew what our Thanksgiving morning would be.

My Aunt Cindy wanted to check out the workout as well. And somehow my dad and I convinced my brother that he had to come with us too (peer/family pressure at its best).

So on Thanksgiving morning, the 4 of us drove to the La Jolla Orangetheory (we would have walked, but the rental house was on the top of a giant hill and we didn’t want to have to walk up it after the workout).

The setup inside was a little different, but still somewhat familiar to me. My dad knew what he was in for since he has been to a class before. My aunt and brother seemed a little overwhelmed with it all.

Once the class before ours was done, we headed inside to claim our treadmills. My aunt and brother got a quick lesson on the different pieces of workout equipment and then we were ready to start.

This workout was a 3G one, which means that there were 3 groups of people working out instead of the usual 2. And we rotated around the room a lot. There were 9 rotations total, each rotation lasting about 6 minutes. I was able to follow along with it all pretty easily, but my aunt and brother were a little lost (our coach was tough to hear and it was a bit confusing which group he was instructing). But I was happy to help them know what was next in the workout.

My dad kicked butt (as expected) and so did my aunt. My brother did a great job, even though he did confess to me on the rowing machines that he threw up a little. But after the workout, the proof of everyone’s hard work was on the screens.

My brother had a perfect pyramid for his workout, which is what the goal is for everyone. My chart wasn’t so good, but I realized once the workout had started that I had forgotten to share an important piece of information with the La Jolla location. I have a low heart rate and my heart rate monitor had to be recalibrated to show that. I forgot to share that with the La Jolla location so my heart rate monitor was set for the higher heart rate. So according to their screen, I never made it into the orange zone, but knowing what I usually have, I know I did.

And of course, we had to get a post-workout photo as a group with our coach.

It felt great to burn some calories before indulging in all the yummy Thanksgiving foods. My dad and brother have agreed with me that this will be our new Thanksgiving tradition. I think my aunt will join us too, and maybe we can convince a few more family members to come next year.

My last workout of the week was back in LA on Saturday. It was a run/row workout (which are my favorites since I don’t love the treadmill) and my butt was totally kicked in class. My coach on Saturday was Brendon, who owns the LA location, and he really is great at pushing you to new limits. I was dripping with sweat when I was done, but it was worth it. This workout was the first one where I had a perfect pyramid on the graph, and Brendon even called me out for having a perfect workout!

So far in the challenge for new shoes, I’ve done most of the tasks. I still need to bring 3 guests in before the 17th (anyone down for a free workout?) and I’ve done 6 out of the 15 workouts needed. I’ll be doing 4 more this week so I’ll be close to the free shoes after this week!

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged Orangetheory, San Diego, Thanksgiving, workout

Feta-Pine Nut Dip (or My Contribution For Thanksgiving)

Posted on November 28, 2014 | 2 comments

First of all, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I’m writing this post in advance so I can focus my time on my family, but I wanted to share with you all the dish that I brought down to San Diego with me.

I had asked my mom ahead of time if there was anything I could help her with, and she asked me to get some chips we like from Trader Joes and to make her feta-pine nut dip because she didn’t know if she would have the time to do it on her own. I figured I could make it at home and then drive down with it in a little cooler with an ice pack, so I said that I’d be happy to help out.

This dip is a family favorite and something that everyone loves and looks forward to at any family gathering. And I had never made it before so the pressure was on! But thankfully, the recipe isn’t too tough. So here’s my mom’s famous recipe for feta-pine nut dip so you can all make it and impress your friends and family!

Feta-Pine Nut Dip

What You Need:

1 (8 oz) Tub Whipped Cream Cheese Spread

1/2 Cup Plain Non-Fat Yogurt

3 Tbsp Pine Nuts (Toasted)

2 Tbsp (Packed) Fresh Basil

1 Clove Garlic, Crushed

1 (7 oz) Package Feta Cheese

1/3 Cup Chopped, Drained Oil-Packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Here’s What You Do:

Place cream cheese, yogurt, pine nuts, basil, and garlic in food processor.

Blend using the pulse button until combined.

Add feta (crumbled or cubed) and sun-dried tomatoes and pulse until combined but still chunky.

That’s it! If you aren’t serving it right away, store it in the fridge. And this is a great make-ahead dip because it’s good for about a week in the fridge!

I highly recommend serving it with pita chips, veggies, or the flax-seed chips that you can get from Trader Joes.

As I’m writing this, my family has not tried it yet. I tasted it after it was made and besides being a little garlicky (I must have bought some potent garlic), it tastes exactly how my mom’s dip tastes.

Hopefully my family thinks that I did a good job with it and they enjoy it on Thanksgiving. And if you try out the recipe, let me know if your family and friends love it too!

2 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged family, recipe, Thanksgiving

Pre-Thanksgiving Pampering (or Trying To Get Everything Done)

Posted on November 21, 2014 | Comments Off

Thanksgiving is pretty much here already. That’s insane! I’ll be heading to San Diego this year to join my family, and before I go I have so much stuff to get done!

I have some of my usual craziness, but for some reason this upcoming weekend is one of the most packed weekends of the year for me. And besides getting things packed before I drive, I have some food and crafts to finish up (I’ll post about those during Thanksgiving week).

But yesterday after work, I realized that if I wanted to get any of the beauty things done that I wanted to do, it was my last chance before I drive down.

So as soon as work was done for me at 3pm, I hopped in my car and drove to Brentwood where the Benefit store is that I get my eyebrows done at. Fortunately, you make appointments online so I knew that I would get in when I needed to.

Getting my brows done pretty much feels like maintenance to me. I’ve been getting them done since I was 14. And when I don’t get them done, I have a pretty bad unibrow. But at least at Benefit they try to make it fun. They always do a little makeup for you before you leave and while you are waiting there is a ton of makeup to look at and play with.

I actually needed to purchase a few things, and I found that they had a holiday gift pack that was cheaper than the 2 things I needed. So I got what I needed plus a little extra (some of which I will be giving to my mom).

After my brows were done, I got back into my car and drove about 20 blocks to the nail salon. I had also made an appointment for my pedicure (I don’t like doing walk ins anymore because you never know if they can get you in or not). I hadn’t had a pedicure since before my birthday and the blister on my foot is healing very nicely. So I figured I was due and wanted cute toes for Thanksgiving (although I’ve realized since that all the shoes I will be packing are closed toe).

When it’s wintertime and I get a pedicure, I try to go for some out there colors. I’ve done yellow and various neons before, but this time I found a really cute icy blue that seemed perfect for winter.

Now that I feel beautiful and girly again (it’s funny how getting your eyebrows done and a pedicure can make you feel like you got a total makeover), I’m superficially ready for Thanksgiving. This weekend will be some shopping trips and getting things prepared for my drive as soon as I’m done with work on Tuesday.

The countdown to the major family event of the year is on!

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Posted in Beauty, Family, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged beauty, Benefit, eyebrow, makeup, pedicure, waxing

A Screening At The Walt Disney Studios Lot (or “What The F@#- Is Cancer And Why Does Everyone Have It?”

Posted on October 28, 2014 | 1 comment

Through WIF, I was invited to an amazing screening this past week. It was for the film “What The F@#- Is Cancer And Why Does Everyone Have It?”.

Immediately, I was interested in attending the event. I was even more excited when I found out that it was held on the Walt Disney Studios Lot (which I have never been on before).

When I got my ticket for the event, I found out that I got to bring a plus one with me. I asked my Evil Twin, Shey, to come with me. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer many years ago and Shey was one of the people who really helped me deal with my mom’s diagnosis and what it meant for me. I knew that this would be a movie that both of us would enjoy and have a deep connection to.

When we got to the lot, we were both so excited to be there. The lot has not changed a lot since Walt Disney was there and it was so cool walking around to see all the different buildings and the signs of what departments they were on our way to the theater.

When we got there, there was a giant poster of “Frozen” to greet us.

The theater was gorgeous and amazing. The seats were super comfortable and Shey and I got there early enough to get some great seats.

The quick summary of the film is when the filmmaker, Allison W. Gryphon, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she looked for a movie to help her understand what it all meant. She couldn’t find what she was looking for, so she asked around to her friends to help and they created this wonderful documentary.

I wish I could explain how amazing this movie was, but I know that my words won’t do it justice. I wish that I had seen this when my mom was diagnosed (I think it would have been great for her to see it when she was diagnosed as well). It was such an honest viewpoint of cancer (mainly breast cancer) and answered so many questions that are either not answered online or are way too scary to look up online.

I know for sure that if I hear of anyone else being diagnosed with breast cancer, I will send them a link to this movie immediately (it’s available on iTunes and you should all watch it).

After the screening, there was a Q&A with the Allison.

The Q&A ran a little long (it was over an hour), but it was all very informative. The fact that Allison was able to create the documentary while she was going through treatments for breast cancer is so inspiring. And it proves that anything can inspire you to create a movie.

After the Q&A, I went up to talk to Allison briefly. She was so kind and generous with her time and all I wanted to say was thank you. This really was such a great experience seeing the movie.

Then, it was time for Shey and I to head out. But before we went back into the parking garage, I really wanted to get a picture of the building on the lot that has all of the Seven Dwarfs on it. We saw a security guard near where we were walking and we asked him if it would be ok to take a picture. Not only was it ok, he walked us to where the best view was!

While Shey and I were taking photos and just being in awe of the fact that we were there, the security guard told us some amazing Disney history. He explained that the Seven Dwarfs are holding up the building because the building was made with the profits of “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs”. He also showed us where Walt Disney’s office was. Shey and I both assumed that that office wasn’t in use anymore and was preserved as a dedication to Walt Disney. Nope, they rent it out because it’s the best office that gets the most rent money.

We then said goodbye to the awesome security guard (whose name I never got), and then went back to my car.

I wish I could express how amazing seeing the movie was, but I’m really still taking it all in. It was one of those experiences that I know will stay with me for a long time. There are screenings still happening so if there is one near you, I highly recommend going.

And while I hope that nobody reading this has to go through a breast cancer diagnoses, if you do, watch the movie.

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Posted in Family, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged breast cancer, cancer, Disney, documentary, screening, studio

More Family Time (or Seeing All My Immediate Family Last Week)

Posted on October 22, 2014 | Comments Off

After having my parents here for their long layover, I prepared for another family visit.

My brother and sister-in-law were coming to LA to attend a wedding.

They had plans to go to the USC game on Saturday and I had to work my box office job and babysit that day, so we made plans to get together on Sunday for brunch.

We headed to my favorite brunch place, Rush Street. They have the best tater tots and my brother is a huge Bloody Mary fan and they have a Bloody Mary bar there. We had a nice relaxing brunch and since my brother’s birthday was just a few days ago, I didn’t mail his card and gift so I could give it to him in person.

After brunch, my brother and sister-in-law had a few errands that they needed to get done. And since they didn’t have a rental car for the trip, I drove them around and helped them out. My brother has a couple of interviews with different hospitals this week and needed some more dress shirts (because he didn’t pack enough) and a nice folder for his resume. And since we were going to a clothing store for him, my sister-in-law and I shopped around for dresses because she has another wedding to go to this upcoming weekend.

After the errands, I took them back to their hotel so they could get ready for the wedding. My sister-in-law had to leave early from the wedding to fly back home, but since my brother has his interviews he was staying in LA a little longer.

So on Monday, I picked up my brother and we went to lunch together. It’s been a long time since he and I hung out just the two of us, and it was actually really nice just to catch up without other family being there too.

Then, I dropped him off at a car rental place so he could get a car to drive to Santa Barbara (where his interviews are). He heads back home this afternoon and there’s a chance he might come hang out at my house for a few hours waiting for his flight. I guess my house has turned into an airport lounge for my family.

It was so great to have so many family visits recently. While I did get to see my parents and sister-in-law last month, I hadn’t seen my brother is a while.

It’s always nice to have some family time, even if it’s only a few hours here and there.

Comments Off on More Family Time (or Seeing All My Immediate Family Last Week)

Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged birthday, brother, brunch, Los Angeles, visit, wedding

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