Highlights

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When it rains, it pours. To say that this week was a bit overwhelming is an understatement. Though I’m trying to keep positive (it is the holidays after all) December is off to a rough start.  Where do I begin? I’d like to rant for a bit if you don’t mind…

  1. For the last 3 months, I’ve been trying to find out why my allergies have been bothering me as soon as I hit my head to the pillow every night. Every. Single. Night. Without. Fail. It got the point that I was on medication for a while to help with the discomfort and started desperately digging for causes. I already avoid “down”-anything like the plague because me and feathers just don’t mix. I washed my sheets, cleaned everything I could think of, minus my comforter because I had it dry cleaned recently. And note to self: don’t read about dust mites on your phone at 4:00am when you can’t sleep and start researching bed allergens to pass the time. I suppose the good news is that I’ve located the source after months of torture this week and realized it was that damn comforter all along! It was the first time I’d taken it to the cleaners since buying it and apparently whatever chemicals they used to dry clean it didn’t make my sinuses happy… At. All.
  2. On top of my allergies, I’ve been dealing with the “joys of being a woman.” I won’t go into detail about what specifically, and it’s certainly not life threatening and very much a common “joy” that comes with being a woman, but suffice to say – in my next life I want to be a man! Thank god I have great health insurance and a Cedars Siani doctor I can email at any time.
  3. I walked out to my car yesterday morning and there was a lovely note on it from my parking space neighbor. It wasn’t a simple “hello!” or “I love your car!” No, it was what I had dreaded. As soon as I saw the paper tucked into my windshield wiper, my stomach dropped. I was hoping it was an annoying flyer for psychic healing services or something. But no. No one else in the parking lot had a “flyer.” It was, in fact, a note letting me know that my parking space neighbor hit my car while parking hers the night before. The reason I’m not furious is because I’m beyond grateful that the damage was mild and that she actually left me a note with authentic contact information (and actually answered the phone and took total responsibility!). I’ve been burned by this before. Not too long ago,  I come out one day and my then still pretty brand new-ish car had a nice sexy dent in it without a note so that I could get it fixed. (Asshole). My insurance company couldn’t help either based on my deductible. The damage would be less than it so I’d have to cover the repairs entirely. So despite battling #1 and #2 above, I’m just more annoyed by the inconvenience – the taking the time to get an estimate and now finding the time to get it fixed during an already crazy busy month.

I suppose that with anything, perspective is key. With every scenario that made this week a complete and total pain, there was and is a silver-lining. I have my health (at least the whole I’m still breathing/alive aspect to it), I have health insurance, and there are still good people in the world who own up to their responsibilities when they make a mistake. Not only did she immediately offer to pay for the damages to my car, she emailed me a list of highly rated auto body shops in our area within just a few hours of speaking to be helpful.

Boy, am I glad it’s the weekend…

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Highlights

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{decisions, decisions.}

Well into November, and what a busy month it will be. My boyfriend’s birthday, AFI Fest, the first meeting of my new book club (where I need to haul ass and get the book done!), Thanksgiving, stressing over all things Christmas, and things oh-so-busy at the office…you know, the works!

I realized recently that while I make a conscious effort to take care of myself by eating healthy, and getting enough sleep – I’ve likely been in a weird mood lately because I’m falling into that trap again where I’m not taking the time to slow down and relax more, getting out of my head, and indulging in things that make me truly happy. And even doing the things that don’t necessarily make me happy at the time, but I’m always glad I did (I’m looking at you “gym”).

I know they say money doesn’t buy you happiness (though I beg to differ because it certainly did in this case – ha!), but I think the biggest highlight over the last week was on Saturday morning. My guy and I got up after a good night’s sleep and went out to breakfast, then I went out to splurge on the first professional pedicure I’ve had in over a year. Queue the relaxation…

If there’s one way I would start out every Saturday morning, it would be to sit in a small café, cradling a latte, eating pancakes with strawberries on top, and chatting with him. There’s nowhere to be, and nothing else to do right then and there. It was the happiest moment I’ve had (aside from being Spooked the weekend before) in quite some time. Of course, this would get expensive quickly so it’s unrealistic for now, especially since I’m no slack in the kitchen when it comes to making breakfast on the weekends – but I guess the change of pace and environment was nice. And sitting in a spa chair for half an hour for a pedicure was the icing on the cake!

This weekend kicks off 2013’s AFI Fest so I’ll be in the heart of Hollywood all weekend long saturated by the best in cinema. I love the eclectic mix of films and being in the environment with other cinephiles, though the waiting in line for hours before each film is not my favorite part. It’s amazing how draining it is just waiting around for a movie to start. At least I’ll be in good company. Since I have over half a book to get through before my book club next week, my Kindle and I will spend some time together while I wait. I’ll post about the film festival next week, complete with the films I saw and a wrap-up of the experience. I’m on the docket to check out 6 new films in the next 3 days! In the meantime, you can read about last year’s experience here.

Have a marvelous weekend everyone…and treat yourself to breakfast if you can. It’s worth every single cent to splurge sometimes.

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{Purple pedi splurge.}

Highlights: The 4th

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{Greetings after a relaxing and happy 4th of July weekend!}

It’s been a few days since I’ve last caught up with you after my mini-summer holiday vacation, so I thought I would share the highlights of my 4-day-weekend before returning to our regularly scheduled (blog) programming.

The plan for this year’s 4th of July festivities came together at nearly the last minute. I knew I wanted to be at the beach, to indulge in a celebratory cocktail, sit up close to fireworks, and aim to get as much rest as possible. So I thought it would be the perfect weekend to kick-off beach season in Malibu, our first trip this year. This time of year finds me longing to be near the water with a book, some magazines, lights snacks, and good company as much as possible. After a lazy beach day, we’d head to Paradise Cove for a late lunch before heading home to freshen up for a night of fireworks. Ah, don’t you just love when you know that you have the perfect day planned?

Until, it’s not…so perfect.

Long story short, Paradise Cove didn’t work out (despite our reservation) so we made our way down P.C.H. looking for an alternative and landed at Duke’s. I want to keep things positive here, so I’ll just put it this way and move on – AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. I can’t think of a more terrible restaurant experience I’ve had in my entire life. Ever. The service was absolutely horrible, to put it mildly. What should have tipped us off was that this restaurant, located in gorgeous Malibu + right off the water + on a holiday = no wait time? The only redeeming quality was that my cocktail was divine.

Despite this hiccup, the rest of the weekend was magical – full of lounging, reading, hanging out with Ryan, funnel cakes, fireworks, and sunshine. Not a bad start to summer.

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{Celebrating America’s Birthday on the gorgeous beaches of Malibu, California.}

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{That redeeming cocktail by the beach I mentioned.}

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{Mexican Food at my favorite place.}

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{Seeing The Way, Way Back on a gorgeous Sunday Morning. A great film, by the way!}