One Year| Month Two: A new couch

Though in the movies life in Los Angeles is constantly exciting, Tim and I do not live the movie star life (thank goodness). Our excitment this weekend...looking for a new couch.

As of late we have been looking at our well worn futon, which serves as our couch and thinking it was time for a change.

The futon mattress was part of the futon I bought after I had been in LA for six months. For those of you not keeping track, I have lived in LA almost 7 years. When I bought it the store told me it would last about a year with everyday use (it was the cheapest one they had). So I have gotten my money's worth on the mattress. The original frame, ceased to function about three years ago and we have since been limping along with a metal frame from IKEA which cost almost nothing...and it shows.

The metal frame has gotten bent due to poor engineering. And calling the mattress lumpy is probably being charitable. So now that Tim and I no longer live in a single room and have big kid jobs, it seemed like it might be time to buy an actual couch.

But we'd kind of been lazy about actually going to look at couches because, furniture shopping is not the most exciting and thrilling thing to do. And though nice furniture is great, spending your money on a couch...is so grown up.

Today, the weather was nice and Tim was in the mood for some good Middle Eastern food. So we headed to The Farmer's Market where we knew he could get a nice shawarma. It also happens to be in close proximity to a Crate & Barrel, so we decided to at least look at couches.

And we found a great one. The things we were looking for in a couch were:

1. Has style - check
2. Won't look dated in only a year - check
3. Comfortable for sitting - check
4. Seems like a good place to take a nap - check

So once all of those were checked off we walked around a bit and discussed and decided it was time to pull the trigger. Dan, our helpful C&B employee helped us and even aided us in picking out the color for the legs (we got to choose everything - special!)
He even told us that the name of the sofa, Rochelle was after New Rochelle where the Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore show took place because it is kind of retro like that.



We selected the color aubergine because it is both dark therefore being a little more forgiving in the stain department but also not a bland color like brown. We have a bad tendency to gravitate toward browns and tans because "oh hey, it will match anything." And we thought breaking out of that would be a good idea.

Since it is not one of the two stock colors (which were light blue and dark blue) it will be an impossibly long 9 to 11 weeks before our new couch arrives. But we have lived with the old futon for this long another few weeks won't kill us.

Now I need to start looking for some fun throw pillows....

The First Anniversary: Fun, Food, and More Fun (plus a heck of an airport experience)

As you probably know, today is the first anniversary of our wedding. It's hard to believe it's been a year already -- in some ways it seems like the wedding was yesterday; in other ways, it seems like it's been much longer.

This time last year, we were at Malibou Lake Mountain club with a lot of friends and family, enjoying the time and with Hawaii on the mind. Now, a year later, we're back in LA after taking a weekend trip to Las Vegas.

And what a trip it was.

Our flight was scheduled for 8:30 PM on Friday. We left Palisades at 5:30, thinking we'd have plenty of time. Traffic was heavy... really heavy... REALLY HEAVY. We nervously watched an hour go by... we were still five miles from the airport. After two hours, at 7:30, we were just getting into Lot C. We grabbed a bus and got into our terminal around 8PM and ran over to our check-in counter. The lady at the desks said that we'd missed our chance to get on the flight, but we must have had an extra-pathetic look of defeat, because she checked us in and let us check our bags.

Then we got in the security line. It was about ten after 8 at this point.

Security dragged and it took forever -- in perceived time. After about 15 minutes we got through security, but it was amateur hour and there seemed to be a lot of people who didn't understand the drill... ("Oh, you mean I have to check my shotgun and can't take my knives and bombs through the metal detector?")... painful.

I got through security first, and with no attempt at retaining any dignity (we were going to Vegas at all, it'd be out of place), sprinted full tilt through the terminal in my socks, clutching my shoes, phone, boarding pass and jacket. Our gate was of course at the other end of the terminal and it was past 8:25. Yelling "excuse me"'s and hearing the laughs of the amused travelers in LAX, I made a beeline for the gate. When I got there, it looked like the plane was gone. Then a guy ran from behind me towards the actual gate door itself and said, "MY WIFE IS COMING, LET US ON!!"

I then realized the plane hadn't pulled away. I ran over too, saying the same thing, and the guy at the gate said, "No one else can board". The sight of two guys screaming about their soon-to-be-arriving wives must have been too pathetic and he waved us in -- although I think the fact that we both pointed out our wives and my notable addition of, "You've got to let us on, we're trying to make this trip for our first anniversary!!", he finally caved.

"No assigned seats, take the first open seat you see" he said. You didn't need to ask twice.

We were off for Vegas. After an uneventful flight, we arrived, took a shuttle to the MGM Grand, and checked in. Then we got some dinner at the Studio Cafe (turkey sandwich for me, chicken strips for Cecilie) and hit the floor. We then made our way to New York New York, passed through, walked through Excalibur so Cecilie could see how bad it was (worse than I remembered), and took a train to Mandalay Bay. I quickly burned through my money and I don't think I won anything at any point Friday -- not even a 5 cent win on a $1 bet at slots. At this point it was getting late and our legs were sore, so we wandered back to the hotel.

The next morning, we went to the Venetian for breakfast, and stopped at a cafe where we got some great quiche. We explored the shops for a few minutes and also stopped at illy for an INCREDIBLE couple coffees. Seriously, these may have been laced with something. Cecilie was not feeling well and within seconds of the first sip was healed. I actually levitated off the floor and did not touch the ground for about three hours. It was ridiculous. Some of the best coffee I've ever had...

We went up the strip to the one casino I'd wanted to visit the most: The Wynn. It's incredible. It fits the mold of the floors I like (MGM, Venetian, Bellagio) -- darker, lower ceilings, relatively open floor layout with good visibility. I sat down to play some roulette and Cecilie joined me for a minute. She lost her money and wandered off to play slots. I stayed for at least an hour or more and walked away winning over a thousand dollars (holy cow!).

I was ready to get out so we walked to the Mirage, and within about ten seconds, walked out. We then walked to Caesar's and hit the forum shops. I got some chocolate from Vosges and got Cecilie a present out of my winnings. We strolled through the Forum and Caesar's (seeing Pete Rose again) and then took a cab back to the MGM. We were pretty tired and ready to relax.

Saturday night was the big dinner plan: Joël Robuchon, our second five-diamond restaurant. We got there early and hit the slots for a few minutes on the floor, where I got a surprise win. We then went in, but were told our table wouldn't be ready for 20 minutes, but were invited to sit in the lounge while we waited. We did, and got a couple drinks.

After a while the table was ready. We elected to do the 6-course tasting menu which was unbelievable. Each course had a predominant taste, each very distinct. We started with an amuse-bouche of an avocado puree with granny smith apples in it, some sort of tomato, and a whipped light cheese. The second course was eel and avocado wrapped in a truffle paper with a gelee on the side having some sort of celery preparation and truffles. Next up was a seared scallop with pasta. Then sea bass with leeks and asparagus; lamb shoulder, and a long string of desserts.

We left, completely stuffed to capacity. It was incredibly delicious, very different from anything I'd ever had, and fairly rich. We went back to the room and I crashed out, having had too much wine with dinner (a Barolo that was incredible).

We checked out in the morning and played a bit, but there wasn't much luck to be had. We made our way to McCarran airport where we played some more slots and waited for a plane delayed for hours due to SFO's ridiculous flow control that seems to be able to wreck the schedules of anything that gets within 2000 miles. We came home and are now unwinding after a tiring but fun Vegas getaway.

We can only hope the next year is as good as the first has been. It's been a great year with ups and downs but having each other has made it so much better.

PS: Don't take US Airways. Seriously, just don't. Avoid it at all costs.

Month Eleven: When It Rains, It Pours - Part III

At this rate, we're going to develop a water phobia.

No, our ceiling is still in place, and our apartment is completely dry. Fortunately, this time, the rain is outside. Unfortunately, this time, we had to spend a lot of time out in it.

January usually signals the end of fire season and the beginning of the rainy season. This is actually can be a big problem, because when all of that rain comes down in burn areas, there is a tendency for mudslides. Given that Malibu was the site of a couple fires this year, and the predictions have said this storm is bringing the heaviest rainfall in several years (when we saw water shooting up through the 110 freeway), there was some concern.

Not for us, though, we're from the Midwest where we can drive through snow blindfolded with no brakes, right? Not quite.

I got a call from Cecilie around 8:00 and she said she'd hit a rock in Malibu Canyon and her tire was flat. She wanted me to come and be with her because AAA was going to take a while to get there, and it was dark, windy and rainy. Having a vague idea of what it would be like, I left work and started driving. Before I reached our apartment, roughly a third of the way between my work and Malibu Canyon, I'd already passed two parts of PCH that were flooded. There was virtually no one out, which was good. It was also good that I've driven PCH between Sunset and the canyon a zillion times, because the road was not easy to see.

When I got into the canyon, my lights were good for maybe 20 feet and the fog was pretty dense. Cecilie warned me of the rocks and said snowplows were going through the canyon clearing rocks. I didn't see much on the way in but there wasn't much in the way of visibility to begin with. I finally made my way to Cecilie's car, pulled behind it, put my hazard lights on and waited for Cecilie to get in. She got in, told me we weren't expecting a tow for another hour, potentially, and so we prepared for a long wait.

At night the sense of space in the canyon drops considerably and you don't really have a feel for the area. Really, you could mistake it for a country road and wouldn't necessarily think there was a steep drop a few feet off the road. But tonight that closed-in feel was twice as bad, and it was like being in a very small room. With lights flashing in our faces. We waited, watched a movie (Hotel Chevalier on my phone), and then finally the truck came and loaded Cecilie's car.

We began the slow drive out of the canyon and almost immediately had to swerve to avoid rocks in the road -- rocks the size of a basketball on the small end of the scale. There were three or four major slides on the road, with progressively bigger rocks in the road as we moved down. As far as I could tell, all those slides happened in the thirty minutes or so that I'd been in the canyon waiting with Cecilie.

After the absolute most tense drive home I've ever had (sorry, Ragged Point; sorry, Christmas Eve 2002), we arrived at a gas station off of PCH and headed home. The tow truck driver told us that there was a larger slide that completely has blocked the tunnel midway through Malibu Canyon -- and he had several more cars to pull out.

So once again, we hope everyone in canyon country is safe (while wondering why you'd want to live there), especially the road crews and tow truck operators. We are back in the Palisades, warm and dry and just fine, but with another errand to run this weekend.

And to cap it all off, our power has just shut down for the second time; doubtless to go down more tonight. At least it's not a work day tomorrow.

Month Eleven of Marriage: New Year!

Happy New Year's!

It is a beautiful (though red flag)day!

To celebrate New Year's Eve, Tim and I cooked steak and spent the evening at home. Admittedly we didn't stay up very late (I fell asleep 15 minutes before midnight and woke up a little afterward to tell Tim, happy new year)

This morning we got up and went to Urth for some breakfast and are now relaxing at home and listening to the wind outside.

Peaceful and relaxed, the best way to start a new year. We hope yours was just as good.

Month Ten of Marriage: Christmas Vacation

Tim and I are relaxing in the comfort of his parents' house.
We are taking a much needed vacation and visiting for the Christmas holidays.

The flight out wasn't too awful, just the usual craziness of traveling at the holidays. But we made it safe and actually earlier than expected with all our luggage.

St Louis metro area is enjoying a warmer than usual winter so we are only dealing with rain instead of snow.

We are spending time visiting, eating chex mix and Christmas cookies and watching movies. Its a hard life but someone has to do it.

We hope everyone has a lovely holiday and it is as relaxing as ours is.

And just an update. Our ceiling in our apartment is back up and better than before. We are still waiting for a portion of our floors to be replaced but we are pleased with how quickly everything was fixed and back to normal.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Month Ten of Marriage: When It Rains It Pours - Part II

Due to recent events Tim and I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Santa Monica all weekend. We decided to come home finally because we miss being at home despite that home is must mustier then it once was and we have a new large noisy roommate called a dehumidifier.

Currently we are still in limbo with a lot of things like when our ceiling will be replaced etc. But at least we are living out limbo on our own terms. Hotels are fun for vacation but not as fun in times of crisis when all you want is your own stuff.

Thanks for every one's sympathy regarding the situation.

Month Ten of Marriage: When It Rains It Pours

This week has been a trying week for both Tim and I. We have both been going full tilt, working late every night.

So last night we went to bed exhausted and glad that there were only two days left of the work week. Little did we know...

Around 2am Tim woke me up to say he heard noises coming from our main room. I went out into the main room to discover water pouring out of our over head light fixture.

Long story short, someone on the 3rd floor had a dish washer melt down and the water leaked all the way down to us (on the first floor).

Water stopped but not before water damage to our ceiling occurred. The initial solution by management is to remove our ceiling to allow things to dry out.

See our ceiling on our floor in a pile.





go to Tim's flickr to see more images of the damage

Not to fret though Tim and I are doing fine now. We have called our renter's insurance and are staying at the fine Santa Monica Holiday Inn to escape the musty smell currently residing in our apartment.

In good news, Tim has had one of his photographs from our honeymoon selected to be in an online guide about Hawaii. And I had did my first mediation and did well.

Life has its ups and downs, we continue moving forward.

Month Nine of Marriage: Thanksgiving

Thursday Tim and I drove to LAX and took the short flight up to SFO (San Fran airport for those not in the know). Then we took the quick BART ride to my sister's place in Pleasanton.

It was a great time. We gorged on Thanksgiving eats (my sister is a great cook!),lodged about like sloths, played games and played with our nephew. Then on Saturday before dawn (literally) we boarded the BART back to SFO to return to LA. It was a brief but lovely visit.

We were greeted with another wild fire in Malibu, this time further North though it was still smokey here in the Palisades.

Over all it has been a good Thanksgiving weekend. And for that I am thankful.

Today Tim and I are relaxing on the final day of our long weekend.
I have been looking for Christmas gifts on amazon.com which has this nifty gift organizer. The only perplexing thing is some of the categories.



I am not really sure how "Dude" describes a person's personality. Are there any "Dudes" on your Christmas shopping list? If so go to amazon, they have some suggestions.

Month Nine of Marriage: Derby and Turkey

This weekend has been rather busy.

First, I spent all of Saturday making a 17 pound turkey for Sunday's 3rd Annual Friend's Thanksgiving as the deep fryer usually used is busted. It was not so bad though. More time consuming than difficult but we did get to use several things we recieved as wedding gifts including a lovely All-Clad Roaster.

Then in the evening, Tim and I headed to the new home of the Derby Dolls for a bout between the Tough Cookies and The Sirens (The sirens killed! It wasn't even close).

Then today we headed down to OC for the 3rd Annual Friend's Thanksgiving. Which is much like regular Thanksgiving except instead of watching your family over eat and talk about silly memories of when you were younger, we watch our friends over eat and talk about silly memories from last year. It was fun and filling time per usual. Everyone seems to like the turkey though like real Thanksgiving we have leftovers (turkey sandwiches!). It was good to see a lot of people we hadn't seen in a few months since the last big gathering.

Now we head into a short work week. Then on Thursday, Tim and I are flying up to the Bay Area to spend Thanksgiving with my sister, Jade, and the adorable Brendan. This is our first experiment in flying up to the Bay Area. Here is to hoping it is less hassle then we think it will be!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. :)

Month Eight of Marriage: Wild Fires

Thank you to everyone who has called or contacted us to check on how we are doing.
We are fine and never in any real danger from the fire in Malibu.

If you look at this map you can see where the fire was. And our apartment South of Topanga Canyon about a mile.

My usual commute has been effected since I usually take Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu Canyon and both were closed on Monday and Tuesday. This morning PCH was open but Malibu Canyon was not so I had to take another route. I did see some of the burn areas in Malibu on my way to work this morning.

Tim and I are also both suffering from sinus problems due to the smoke and other junk in the air due to the many fires.

Everyone we know in LA is also fine and no worse for the wear aside from similar sinus and other respiratory issues.

The city of Malibu states that the fire is in 75% contained which is really good and likely it is higher at this point.

Thank you to everyone for your love and concern about Tim and I.

Month Eight of Marriage: The very unpumpkin Pumpkin Festival and uWink

Tim and I both love pumpkin flavored items. Two weeks ago I even made pumpkin bread (It was good!)

So each day on my drive to work the past few weeks I have seen a banner for The Calabasas Pumpkin Festival. And I thought, "I like pumpkins." So Tim and I decided to go after I did some work in the morning at my office.

Tim and I invited along our friends Sophia and Steve to check it out with us today. The first minor problem for Tim and I was it was not exactly pumpkin weather to us former mid-westerns



And there was a definite LACK of pumpkin items. It was more just a plan old festival. We did have fun seeing Sophia and Steve. And I did get pumpkin poppers which were basically deep fried pumpkin doughnuts. Still tasty.

Last weekend we went to uWink uWink with some friends which is the modern version of an automat. It was fun if not a little expensive. It was fun to attempt at win lose or draw but my drawing skills were not quite up to par. It was amusing though.

Month Seven of Marriage: Festivals

So this weekend is apparently the Festival Weekend here in LA.

T and I got invited to an Oktoberfest in Orange County too but it was Friday night and we were feeling rather sluggish after work.

T and I got up this morning and didn't have much going on so I suggested we go check out Abbot Kinney which is this area in Venice with cute little shops and eateries, which T had never been to before.

When we got there we realized we had stumbled onto another festival. Which was okay with us.

We wondered around looking at the vendors and the shops. We really liked a lot of the furniture places and are thinking that Abbot Kinney may be the perfect place to finish off our apartment decorating.

We finished our jaunt at Jin Patisserie with some high tea. Which was the perfect amount of food and took us back to the high tea service at the hotel we stayed at for our honeymoon.

Life seems to be mellowing out a bit as we head into the Fall months.
Which is how we like it.

Also tomorrow marks the one year mark in our apartment in Pacific Palisades. It has been a good year but I still think of our place as "the new place." I guess at the year mark, it stops being "new."

September Already?

Well, August wooshed by us.

We haven't been up to much besides work unfortunetely .

Last weekend we traveled out to the City of Industry to watch Derby Dolls Roller Derby.

Our friend Trish aka Sniperella made it into the big league team the Sirens. And they kicked butt last weekend. :) We convinced some of our other friends to come as well. And hooked others on the roller derby.

Tim put up pictures from our honeymoon in Hawaii up online. Check them out!

As for Labor Day weekend. We have be playing it low key.
The rest of the weekend will likely be more of the save.

Six Months of Marriage: Wedding Photographs

Married Smoochin'
Originally uploaded by cebread

We have had our wedding photographs for a long time but we have had no time to spend putting them on the 'net.

Until now

Now you can see what an awesome job our photographer, Danielle did.

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!!

When people in LA want to get away from it all they pile in the car (or sometimes fly) to a place which is even crazier than LA...Las Vegas.

I have been wanting to visit Vegas forever, because it is something everyone in LA has done but it was never the right time. Until now...

I happened to see that The MGM grand had great rates. And it didn't take much (read: any) convincing to get Tim to agree to go for the weekend.

After work Tim and I drove to Vegas, arriving at the early hour of 11:30 p.m. The party was just starting. We peeked into The Tropicana, New York New York and Monte Carlo before we headed back to the MGM for the night.

After sleeping in the next morning we headed to Paris for a breakfast buffet. My jaw dropped at how much food there was. And Tim told me it wasn't the best he had seen.

We then hit Bellagio which was beautiful inside. And is on my list of hotels to try in Vegas. And then we hit the Forum Shops at Caesars which were amazing. We got to see one of the only Vosges Chocolate boutique stores and try Mo's Bacon Bar and Naga Ice cream.

We then treked back to the MGM in the unbearable 107 degree heat. Where we promptly jacked up the a/c in our room and conked out for a while.

As our trip was very spur of the moment we couldn't really get decent reservations at any of the fancy resturants we would have liked to try i.e. we would have had to eat dinner at 10:30 at night. So, we had some in room dining before heading down to the MGM floor to try our luck some more. Luck was on our side apparently. I actully won some of my money back (I still came out behind but less then I would have been) and Tim came out WAY ahead due to some awesome luck at roulette.

And this morning we shoved off around 11am. And are now safely back in LA and recharged for the week (though thankfully it is a short week. :)

Viva Las Vegas!

Angel Party

Tim and I are big fans of public radio. And the local public radio station, KCRW has captured our ears in the last few years.

Tim took it a step further and pledged money to the station , which comes with all kinds of benefits, including attending a party that we went to tonight.

It was at the Hammer Museum, which is just a lovely location in Westwood. And we got to see the current art work of upcoming and coming LA artists.

We got to partake in tasty food and beverage and do lots of people watching.

And best of all,we got to meet and shake hands with our favorite personality on KCRW Warren Olney. I suddenly became very very shy when Tim spotted him but Tim dragged me over and I smiled liked an idiot while Tim told him how much we enjoyed his shows.

In the end, a good time was had by all, including I hope, Warren Olney.

A Quiet Weekend

We finally arrived at a quiet weekend. No major plans.

Yesterday we went to Home Depot for new floor lamps and plants for the patio. We got lamps and two Zebra plants. We also got a Venus Fly Trap because we are geeks.

We did other adult things like cleaning,paying bills and doing laundry.

Today, we went down to the beach and flew a kite. And then went to Starbucks for a replacement espresso machine to replace ours that no longer functioned properly. Tim has made the first latte with it. And I give it an A+.

Later we are going to dinner with our friends, Steve and Sophia.

The next big plans...Tim goes to see The Police next weekend with his friend, Brad. And likely geeking out on drumming stuff.

In July we will go see our friend Trish aka Sniperella fight it out at the Roller Derby.

28 Part II

So June 6 rolls around and it was my turn to turn 28.

The weekend prior there was a party with our friends down in Orange County because a few of us were having birthdays around that time.

And then on my birthday I did the exciting going to work and working all day thing (hey! its what adults do on their birthdays sadly). But I came home and Tim brought me Chinese food and cupcakes. And the gift of laughter with lots of Garrison Keillor media (two CDs and a book) and let me watch whatever I wanted on TV.

Tomorrow, Tim is also taking me for a special brunch.

We have had a lot of birthday dinners and gatherings as of late. We even went to a birthday party tonight for our friend, Mike. I think we are winding down and soon we will be able to get together with our friends for other reasons and not just because we are all getting old.

Next big thing...nothing amazingly enough. I am sure that will change soon. Its hard to keep us down for long.

Becoming Mrs.Tim

After Tim and I got engaged a lot of people asked if I would be changing my name. I joked that I was planning on taking Tim's first name instead of his last name so we would be The Tims.

I have finally gotten on the ball to changing my name. I have gotten the social security stuff underway. And yesterday I went to the Thousand Oaks DMV which is close to my office and applied for a new license. Which I should have with a new picture in 2-4 weeks. Thousand Oaks DMV is the fastest DMV in the known world. From the time I got out of my car to the time I got back in only a mere 10 minutes lapsed. I will totally be going to that DMV to get my name changed on the title of my car too.

The next big hurtle is changing my name with The California State Bar. Unlike everywhere else where you can change your name simply by showing your marriage license, the state bar requires 2 forms of ID with your old name and 2 forms of id with your new name. I will have to wait for my new license to arrive before I can do that. Until then I am Ms. Tim in private and Ms. Cecilie at work.

28..

Last night we celebrated my 28th birthday at a few LA spots.

First on the agenda was Some Assembly Required, an exhibition on prefab housing. It was pretty cool, although the exhibit was pretty short. (Seemed like there wasn't much more room in the gallery than our apartment). It also seems like to have a prefab house, you need a slightly sloping hill to build on.
Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun very interesting.

At this point we had several hours to kill so we started by grabbing coffee and crummy cookies at Urth Caffe (on Melrose).. which is about 5 times as busy as our Santa Monica location, but the coffee's still as good as you'd expect.

We started getting the hairy eyeball from some of the patrons and waitstaff after a while so we trekked back into the old neighborhood and hit Amoeba Music and Groundwork. I didn't pick up anything, but Jared and John picked up stuff (Jared picked up a couple movies, John mined the vinyl and got a collection of Bruce Willis's smash hits. Or something.

At this point, it was off to the dinner location: Cobras and Matadors (sorry, no direct link... they don't have a website apparently). In attendance were Mike & Jessica, Steve & Sophia, Remco, Paul, Jared, John, Aaron, with a cameo by LaDonna & Robyn. Food was as good as ever, and in great abundance. But mostly, the conversation ruled the night. And the books. Did you know microwave ovens cause cataracts? Well, according to the medical information on the bookshelf behind us, they do.

Not much else to report - it was a relaxing birthday and fun to spend it with close friends. Next week I fly to St. Louis for memorial day and to ship my drums out to LA.

And in 16 days... it's another birthday!