Oh Silly Hollywood

When you work in Hollywood, sometimes you have to do double takes.

Today, I had a moment like that.

When I saw Charlie Chaplin riding a bicycle while flying a kite down Sunset Blvd while I was going to Quizno's to get my lunch.

So Close...I Could Feel The Body Checks

HOCKEY SEASON IS BACK!! And to celebrate, Jake and I went to the Kings home opener on Saturday night. Boy...what a night!

I was really excited about these seats I had scored for the game. They were two 2 rows from the glass! Look at that view!

Now - not only was that view awesome...but when I looked to my right - lookie lookie who I see...but Peter Petrelli (aka Milo Ventimiglia from Heroes) and yes, he is that pretty in person - sigh.

So yeah, needless to say, I kept looking over at him. And then the game really started getting good and Jake ended up making a friend - Nick.

Since they have already experienced the power of the body checks up close once before, they learned their lessons. Jake bolts early and runs away seconds before Nick does the same thing when a puck is getting sent down the ice towards them. I felt bad that I laughed as hard as I did when they got the bejesus scared out of them when two players crashed into one another in front of them. But as you all know, I got over it rather quickly and decided to take pictures for the blog.

Nick and Jake not only bonded over hockey, but also over Pokemon cards. Let me state that this was going on DURING the game. Yes, I had the shame.

During the 1st Intermission, I had noticed this blonde on the left. I knew her...I just couldnt get the name out. Then I realized that it was Luc Robitaille's wife, Stacia. Kind of sad I know that, but I do.

The next intermission rolls around and Luc is back by the ice hanging out with his son. So I take my shot and scream, "Luuuc!", he looks over and I ask him for a picture. And low and behold, he comes over and meets Jake and Nick and takes a picture with them.

As you can tell by Jake's face, this was quite the highlight of the night! What cracked me up is that Jake heard me call Luc over and when he realized that Luc was indeed going to take a picture with them, he basically threw the Pokemon cards at me and had this look on his face like "Don't let him catch me with these!".

Another interesting development during the 2nd intermission was that Hayden Pentenierre (aka Claire from Heroes) shows up. If you aren't up with the celebrity rumors, they are "allegedly" dating. And from what I saw that night - they totally are.

Quite the night, I must say. The next day I decided to check out the pictures from the game and low and behold, I found an interesting one. Look below...see the player on the left NAGY lifting his right arm in triumph after the Kings scored a goal.

His glove - is covering my face! So close, yet so far away...

Weekend Wrap-Up

Ahh, the weekend. The time that we all look forward to all week to enjoy time with friends, family, and the couch.

This past weekend was a quite a doozy for yours truly and the Jakeman.

Friday night, I chaperoned Jake's first date. Yes, I said Jake's first date. I wish I was exaggerating but alas, I am not. The kid actually went up to his "girlfriend" and asked her out to the movies. Here is a picture of the cute little couple:


We decided to go the El Capitan and watch "The Jungle Book" on the big screen. If you havent seen a movie at El Capitan, you really have to make an effort to do so - it is so much fun. Before the beginning of the movie, they have this guy come out with Baloo and do a little sing-a-long of "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You" for everyone to get into the mood.
I swear, Disney movies are the best. A part of me really hates to admit it, but its true. I never noticed how many different movies the voice actors did in that time period. I know at least 3 people from the Jungle Book were in Robin Hood - just an observation.

After the movie, we head home because we have a long day on Saturday planned. What wasn't planned was this huge allergy/sinus headache that woke me up at 4:30am. So I was up, catching up on my TiVo watching when 7am rolled around and I had to get Jake up and ready for the day.

We had four things to do that day:
1) A friend of mine was running in a mini marathon, and much to his dismay, I was going to go support him, ok - yell at him to run faster
2) Go to the LA Kings Open House to buy tickets for the home opener and watch the open practice
3) Meet up with a friend at Santa Monica pier for lunch and a play date with Jake and her daughter (seriously, how many dates does my kid have in one weekend?)
4) Meet up with a group from Meetup.com for a bonfire at Dockweiler Beach

So off to do the yelling and screaming first at the Coliseum. I figure if we get there before the race starts, we can catch him early and then take off for the Kings stuff. So we get there right when the race started - we walked all over and found a map of the race. If I had been able to find a map of this thing before that morning, I would have parked my car near Staples Center and went on Figueroa to cheer him on because it got pretty close to where I was supposed to be. Instead Jake and I waited at the end of the race. We got back just in time to see the really fast people get in. Now, I wasnt sure how fast my friend runs and since they were having concerts along the race route, I wasnt sure if he was opting to stop along the route to enjoy the music. So I had no gauge to find out when he would be passing. Jake, learning that he must listen to his mother, is starting to complain about how hungry he is even though he passed up 3 offers for breakfast and is getting ancy for the hockey portion of the day. I stalled as much as I could and after seeing a kid with a mohawk, a dude wearing a leather vest and leather shorts, and a blind man all cross the finish line before my friend - I figured it was time to jet. Later I found out, that if we had waited about 10 minutes, we would have seen him pass. Oh well - next time we will bring the signs.

So off to the Kings event. Now, this marathon closed off a bunch of streets and made it such a freaking headache to get to Staples Center. Finally we arrive and go inside to see the practice. This is the place where I would put the really cool up close pictures I would have taken of the Kings players being 3 feet away from me. But, my battery died. :(

After the hockey thing, we jump in the car and head to Santa Monica. We walked along the beach towards the pier and had lunch at Hot Dog on a Stick. Amazingly enough, I had never eaten at the OG Hot Dog on a Stick. Those things never disappoint. We meet up with my friend and had a good time letting the kids play and chatting. After a while, I realize that maybe I should take my shirt off and just be in my tank top for the heat and tanning purposes. Later that night, when I look in the mirror, I will see that I took my shirt off a little too late. Oh well. I love going to the beach. Its one of those simple pleasures in life that I truly love. Jake and I sat and made a sand castle, ok I tried to make a sand castle, he decided that Megatron was going to destroy it.

After a while, we decided to blow off the bonfire and head home. We ended up getting chinese take out and prepared ourselves to watch the Kings preseason game against the Ducks - only to find out that they weren't showing it. I think we ended up watching some saved episodes of Mythbusters and called it a night. Happily - the day was over and the recovery had begun. My arms are itchy from the sun and now I have wierd tan lines - DAMMIT!

Did-Ney-Lan!

For my birthday, Jacob decided to invite me to Disneyland. What a great lad. I'm sure the fact that I had to pay for our entrances, drive, and be the adult in all this never quite crossed his mind.

A few days before our trip, he informed me of a few "requirements":

1) We have to be there before it opens

2) We have to ride Star Tours

3) We have to ride Pirates of the Carribbean

4) We have to go on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

5) We have to go to Mickey's Toontown but not go on the Roger Rabbit ride

6) Under no circumstances are we to go on Its A Small World

Its a miracle what waving a trip to the Magic Kingdom would do to a 5 year old. In the past year, I could not for the life of me get Jacob to wake up before 8am. But this fateful day, the boy was ready to go at 6:45am. The park opens at 9am and we arrived about 8:40am. Growing up, my family would get there early and I think we would be with about 75 people tops waiting for the park to open. This morning - there must have been about 500 people there!

Look for yourself:

Crap! Jake was adament about going on these subs. I'm actually rather excited about them myself and trying to use my Disneyland knowledge (I know this park like the back of my hand) I figure there is one way to get to the subs quickly - lie and cheat my way to the front. So I grab Jake's hand and we start weaving our way through the line into the Penny Arcade. I figure I can go through the shops and land close to the front of the line and then make a beeline to Tomorrowland. Smart plan - right? We get to the candy store to find that the other store is closed - darn! So we head out with the people and formulate another plan. I got it! I whisper to Jake to play along and I pick him up. I start waving to an imaginary person and start excusing myself through the crowd

Me: "Pardon me, I have to get to the rest of my party. My mom is over there."

Jake: "Grandma's not here! Mommy, you shouldn't lie like that."

D'oh! Damn the good upbringing I'm instilling on my child. By the time all this happened, the park was about to open. So we stood our ground and I put Jake down I told him we were going to make a run for it. The park opens and we go.

Now - I have never in my life felt a level fear from being run over by stollers AND wheelchairs as I did that morning. Jake and I are running and I'm using all of the shortcuts I can think of to get the entrance of Nemo Subs. We get there and they are directing us to another entrance....near the entrance to Matterhorn - we are screwed! We make our way there and not only is the like about 250 people deep, but the ride opening is delayed. Jake and I decide to book it and get on Star Tours. I love 5 minute waits.

For the rest of the day, the wait for Nemo never went below one hour. Needless to say, we never made it. We rode Autopia twice, went on the teacups, and covered everything in Toontown (except for Roger Rabbit of course) before 11am.

For lunch, I wanted to surprise Jake and we ate at the Blue Bayou. For those of you who don't know the restaurant, its located in Pirates of the Carribbean. When you get on the ride and look to your left as you depart the dock, you will see people eating...that would be us. I swear, that restaurant is the bomb. I don't care that its overpriced even more than everything else - it rules.

After our lunch, we work it off by heading over to The Pirate's Lair and then jumped on the Explorer Canoes. No matter how old I get, I will always think those canoes are great. Especially when its about 100 degrees and you're stupid enough to be at Disneyland. Jake had a particularly good time too!

After the canoes, we headed back to Tomorrowland and noticed something going on at the Plaza Pavilion. They had this activity that was starting in about 10 minutes called Junior Chef. We hung around and low and behold, they have people come out and teach kids how to make cookies. We even got free cookies! Anything free in Disneyland is a high five in my book. Here are some pictures of Jake doing his chef thing.

The day finally came to and end and we had to throw one more ride in. Gotta ride the rockets!

I have to say that taking a kid (or kids) to Disneyland is so draining. I was praying to go home at 3pm and practically accused Mary Poppins of giving me attitude. Ok, I did accuse her, but not to her face, on a text to a friend. I wouldn't go at it with Mary Poppins - Daisy Duck, no problem, but not Mary Poppins.

Our Trip To The Kwik-E-Mart

Ever wonder how it would be to step into a Simpson's cartoon? Well, some 7-11's across the country are giving the people an opportunity to find out.

The one in Burbank is on our way home, so I opted to give it a whirl. Let me just say how entertaining it is to be in there! First of all, we had to wait in line to get in. I felt like I was waiting to go into a club with the rent-a-cop as the door man. I guess because of fire codes they could only have so many people in the 7-11 at a time, so when three people came out, three went in.

Got to meet Apu!

The don't miss the little details huh...


The food selection is amazing!



Even Jake found a new friend.

MMMM - DONUTS!


Short on cash? The Bank of Springfield looks like a good bet.

No Apu, thank YOU for the memories...THANK YOU...