Hollywood, Jay Leno and Mr. Chow - Day 2

Thursday we woke up, got ready and went in search of some breakfast. We stopped at one of the many donut shops in California. I think there are as many donut shops in Cali as there are Starbucks in Washington! We got a bagel and muffin and headed to Hollywood.

We wanted to do as many 'adult' things as we could. I knew Hollywood was somewhere the girls would not want to go next time we are in California so we decided to go. As soon as we came up from the parking garage we stopped by the Madame Tussuad's. We didn't go in but we stopped at the wax figures outside. They looked so real!

We then went over to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. I couldn't believe all the freaks that hang out there. I saw batman, catwoman, a pirate, shrek and more...I didn't realize that these people dress up and make money by people wanting to take pictures with them. I guess they work off tips... I think most people don't even recognize that they are just folks who buy a costume. The catwoman was trying to work her magic on Cirdan...but it didn't work. There were also lots of guys trying to sell their CD's. They were kind of aggressive which made me super annoyed. We checked out the hand and feet prints. I didn't realize how old some of those are. We walked a couple of blocks following the stars and then went over to the Kodak Theater. The Kodak Theater had a bunch of stores and some places to eat.

We left with enough time to make it to the Jay Leno show. This was similar to the Ellen Show where there was an audience waiting area. This one was outside next to the parking lot. They line you up 1st come 1st serve in a zig zag line. We waited for about an hour or so before they started to take us from there to security (which was also outside) then to another holding area.

This time there were benches. We sat there in the same lines waiting for them to come get us and take us into the show. We sat for another long hour. At this point of our trip I really felt like it was like hurry and wait and wait and wait. We entered into the studio and got seats in the middle up about 8 rows. They had a guy come out that tried to get the crowd energized. There was a lot of clapping going on. Jay Leno came out to thank everyone for coming and to let us know that his show is recorded live, no editing.... so it would be nice if we could laugh at his jokes and be respectful. He took some questions from the audience and went back to get into his suit. I thought that was pretty cool he did that. Wanda Sykes was on the show. We aren't big fans but she was pretty funny.... The show seemed kind of long. After the show the same guy that was getting the audience pumped up before the show (some producer or what not) came and gave Cirdan a Jay Leno hat. He gave a couple of t-shirts and hats away to people in the audience that were into the show.

After the show we were starving! Cirdan wanted to eat at one good restaurant while we were in L.A. His first choice was Mr. Chow. He called to see if they could get us in that night and they were able to! Mr. Chow is know for it's fantastic food and all of the stars that frequent the place. It's 50-70 bucks a plate, and it was worth it. We had a great time.....the waiter suggested that he pick out all of the courses and surprise us....usually Cirdan wouldn't trust someones taste but at this place he was all for it. It was a 6 course meal....we had prawns, beef tacos (at a high end Chinese place????) drunken fish, filet Mignon, mango chicken, string beans, shrimp fried rice and an almond pear tart for dessert. The waiter did great picking out the dishes and we spent some time chatting with him and one of the servers during dinner. We had a bunch of laughs.....the service is great to say the least.

We wanted to take a picture outside after dinner in front of the restaurant, but there was 4 or 5 paparazzi outside waiting for Cirdan.....hahahahaha.....just kidding... One dude from the Neptunes (hip hop group), an actor from a CBS sitcom, a couple of older lady actresses, a younger girl who is on one of the teenage shows, and who knows who else. Cirdan recognized all of them, although he doesn't know names, he can spot people real well, has a great memory when it comes to faces. It was funny because me, the person who reads US Magazines every week thought that the paparazzi were some nice guys out there taking pictures for people who wanted a keepsake picture or something. I didnt even realize what they were doing until the next day.

Cirdan would like to see movies more often he's a big fan of the movies, and we rarely ever go. We decided to go to the Michael Jackson flick, This Is It, after dinner. It was pretty cool, but disappointing that the world didn't get to see the show he was about to put on. MJ is an amazing entertainer and he seems to be 10 years ahead of the game when it comes to a live show, video, whatever it is that he can use his creativity. In my book he is second to none in that category.

The Ellen Show! - Day 1

Cirdan asked me a few months ago me where I wanted to go for my 30th birthday. I was thinking California would be good...since we were leaving the girls home I didn't want to go too far. I received an email from Days of our Lives about an event for fans at the Universal City Walk on November 7th. Since it was in November a few weeks before my birthday and I have watched Days since I was 15 I forwarded the email to Cirdan as a hint. I was expecting him to roll his eyes or laugh at me but he didn't say anything about it. A few weeks went passed and I thought that he had just laughed it off. Come to find out he had talked to my mom about watching the girls and was planning on taking me to California during November 7th!! He then told me his idea which gave me another idea. This past January when we went to Disneyland I had tried to get Ellen tickets but never received a call or email back. I went online and it looked like I could request tickets for a day that we would be in California! I requested the tickets for Thursday November 5th. I didn't hear anything for a couple weeks. I figured I wouldn't get a call back like the 1st time I tried. My phone rang and it came up with a 1-866 number. I didn't answer it but listened to the voicemail. It was someone from the Ellen show telling me that I had 2 guaranteed tickets. I remember that day...I was in Kaiya's room helping her clean. After listening to my message I screamed and started dancing around with the girls. We were all so excited!!!! They told me that I would be receiving a packet in the mail with my ticket and all the information within 2 weeks.

A couple weeks passed and I started to get worried. I hadn't received anything. I had a dream...or should I say nightmare about her show getting cancelled. That next day after my dream I got another call and voicemail. They said that the show on Thursday was cancelled but we could get guaranteed tickets for the Wednesday show. That show was starting at 3:30. Our flight was to arrive at LAX at 12:30 so we were cutting it close but had enough time to make it to the show. So far so good...so I thought.

Thursday before our trip I got yet another call from The Ellen Show letting me know that the show was being bumped up from 3:30 to 12:30. My heart dropped. I had been looking forward to this for a couple of months. I called Priceline to see how much it would cost to change our tickets to the flight at 6am. They said it would cost around $400!! I also called Alaska Airlines directly and talked to a very nice person who told me that I should try stand by. She said there are risks like you may not make it on, and our luggage might not make it on the same flight but the plane at that point was just over half full. After I had a little mini break down I decided that if it was meant to be then we would get on the plane. If not...then it just wasn't meant to happen and it wasn't the end of the world.

You may be reading this thinking...Ok...whats so good about the Ellen Show??? Its a show that I watch everyday and have for the last few years. I have always loved the energy and its one of the only shows where I can watch it alone and laugh out loud. It always puts me in a great mood!!

We got to the airport around 5 in the morning (thanks Dad)...checked in at Sky Cap and the lady was so nice she got us a ticket on the plane right away so we didn't have to go through the pain of standby and waiting around wondering. Once I got my ticket I was so relieved! This was going to be an awesome trip!!!

We arrived in California around 8:30, picked up our car and headed to the Warner Bros Studios. By the time we got there it was 11:00. We pulled into the garage to park and saw the waiting area. It was nothing like I expected! It was this area right when you drive into the garage. Tables were set up and there were some flat screen tv's on the wall. I always pictures something a little more....fancy??

There was a guy standing there who told us that we were a little early (check in was at noon) but we could stick around or we could go down the street and eat some food. We opted to go to a little Mexican restaurant down the street. Really yummy authentic food. The service was a bit slow, I think there was 1 waitress and 1 cook but it was worth it. We headed back to the waiting area. A lot more people had gathered and all I was concerned about was getting a good seat. They were playing the previous days show on the tv's so we just stood around and watched. All the sudden everyone started to line up...I hurried to get in the front of the line only to find out that it was security and they just put an invisible stamp on our hands. Kind of bizarre since they did nothing with the stamp after that. We went back and sat down and waited for about another hour or two until they said that we could start lining up for our numbers. It was 1st come 1st serve so I knew I needed to hurry and get in the front of the line. We ended up with numbers 50 & 51 which was really good! Once everyone got their numbers they had some of the workers walk around and pick people randomly to go outside to see if they "qualified" for the game that they were going to be playing.

The show started at 3:30. Around 2:45 they started taking us as a single file line across the street in groups of about 20. Once we got across the street we went through a security check and then down a long hallway to the Ellen Shop. We all stayed in line according to our numbers for another 30 minutes or so until they started taking us onto the set. They 1st took the VIP people...there seemed to be a lot so I wasn't sure if we would get good seats even though we were 50 & 51. They told us that the way they sit people is like a tetris game. The people seat you and they tell you to not get mad at them where they place you. When we walked in there were people seated in rows 1-5 but there were 2 end seats on row 2 over by Tony the DJ. The girl down below motioned for us and we walked down amazed that we were the lucky ones to receive those seats!! They told us lady's on the aisle so that's where I sat and Cirdan got stuck by 2 older gentleman that looked like they didn't belong.

There was a guy who got the crowed pumped up. He was a lot of fun and got the crowd dancing and having a blast. The energy was amazing. They had some dance competitions for anyone who wanted to come up front and dance or dance in the aisle. He also told each row to make up the same dance and whichever row thought of the best dance move would get a prize.

Tony came out soon after and we were sitting pretty close to his table. All the sudden the music started and Ellen came out. It was really strange to see what the difference was from how big the stage looks on TV as it does in real life. It is a lot smaller in real life. Ellen and Tony were so close to us on the TV they look like they are farther from the audience.

Amy Poehler and Fran Drescher were the guests. Amy was funny as usual. Cirdan and I were so happy that she was the guest because we are both big fans from when she was on SNL and now her Parks and Recreation show. Frans voice in real life is even more annoying.

The whole show was a big dance party. During the commercial breaks when Ellen would go over her next segments lines we would all stand up and dance. When it was all over Cirdan and I went out to the Ellen Store and bought some souvenirs for ourselves and the girls. We then took a tour bus over to the WB store where there were some more souvenirs...it was also the place where Ellen plays tricks on people at the Starbucks.

We were pretty tired since we had to get up that morning at 4:00 but still had some adrenalin. We were also starving so we drove to our hotel which was about a 30 minute drive, checked in to our hotel and then ate at the Cheesecake Factory which was walking distance from our hotel. By the middle of dinner I was surprised that I was still awake. My eyes just wanted to close. It was such a fun day - I was excited for what else the week would bring.

Welcoming Baby Trevor

My cousin Krista had a baby boy on September 29th. My mom and I threw her a baby shower on November 1st. It was fun to have Trevor at the shower and be able to meet him. He is such a cutie.
We had lasagna, salad and homemade french bread (thanks mom!) for dinner. Then of course cake and ice cream.
It was nice to see everyone that came.

Happy Halloween!

The Friday before Halloween I went to Kaiya's school to help with their harvest party. The teacher is new this year so she was nervous about the party.... but it went well and the kids had a lot of fun. There were stations set up...bingo, decorate a pumpkin, spider toss, pin the magnet on the pumpkin nose and decorate a spider cookie. The kids were loaded up with lots of sweets and were bouncing off the wall. 




That night our ward had a Primary Halloween Carnival and Trunk or Treat. They had lots of different stations (bean bag toss, donut attached to a string, spin the wheel etc). The kids got their 2nd dose of all they could eat sweets and then everyone headed outside for Trunk or Treating. Kaiya dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and Ella was an Elephant. Kaiya got A LOT of candy and enjoyed walking around with her friend Faith.




Saturday I woke up and went to Target and the Party Store to get some last minute things for a baby shower I was throwing on Sunday for my cousin. It wasn't until I was in the stores that I started feeling really festive. Our plan that night was...no plans. We figured we would go to a couple houses for Ella and hand out candy to the few kids that made the trek up to our house. After shopping I called my brother to see if they wanted to come over for a little Halloween celebrating. Junior came and got Kaiya. Cirdan, Ella and I went trick or treating with them at a few houses. Ella loved it once she figured out all she had to do was run up to the house and people would give her goodies in her bag! Nate, Amy and Emma came over and we ended up making cookies, decorating them, eating yummy garlic dip that Nate brought over, played Wii and then played a DVD Pirates of the Caribbean game. My mom came after work. It ended up being a really fun night!







The back of the elephant costume was so funny! There was some really good padding and her little bum looked huge!