Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Happy New Years Eve!
May everyone be safe tonight and have a wonderful New Year's Eve. Whether you are alone or with friends, family, or loved one, enjoy the night. Enjoy remembering all the wonderful things of this past year and be excited for all the new adventures and experiences you are going to enjoy in the New Year!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Friday, December 27, 2013
What a lovely L.A. Christmas
Well Christmas has passed and we're gearing up for New Years, but what a lovely Christmas I had. I hope that everyone else had a relaxing and fun Christmas. I had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, which was super awesome!
Christmas Eve I relaxed in the room all day and took it easy. At night, several of the crew members from Peter and the Starcatcher all got together and we went to a restaurant called, Samba, which is a Brazilian Steakhouse. This is a place that has lots and lots of meat. They have the guys that walk around giving you samples of all different kinds of steak. All delicious! There were 9 of us so it was a great group. That also had the "Samba Girls" entertaining and doing dance numbers each hour. It was such a lovely time to spend Christmas Eve amongst good friends. Several crew members had there spouses in town, so everyone was in such good spirits.
After dinner, two of our friends who rented an apartment for our time here in L.A. invited us all over for cookies and pie. She had baked tons of cookies and two pies. Some of the cast members from the show came over too, so we had a nice little Christmas party. Their apartment was all decorated too, so it was the end to a perfect night.
Then there was Christmas Day. Again, I relaxed for most of the day. I received a package of goodies from my friend CW of lots of little gifts so I had fun opening some of those! Then my friend, Train, and I went down to Hollywood Blvd. for a Christmas Dinner. We went to the "Las Vegas Seafood Buffet" It was a Japanese buffet with Crab Legs! So I pretty much ate a ton of Crab legs and they were delicious!
Hollywood Blvd was nuts though! It was SO BUSY! All the stores were open, and there were tons and tons of shoppers, it was crazy. I'm from a town in Ohio, where we drive through the empty town just to see if anything was open. I couldn't believe how many people there were!
We walked around for a bit just to see some of the decorations and people watch. Then I enjoyed the rest of the evening in my room relaxing and opening a Christmas gift my mother had sent me. All is all, it was a lovely holiday. =)
Christmas Eve I relaxed in the room all day and took it easy. At night, several of the crew members from Peter and the Starcatcher all got together and we went to a restaurant called, Samba, which is a Brazilian Steakhouse. This is a place that has lots and lots of meat. They have the guys that walk around giving you samples of all different kinds of steak. All delicious! There were 9 of us so it was a great group. That also had the "Samba Girls" entertaining and doing dance numbers each hour. It was such a lovely time to spend Christmas Eve amongst good friends. Several crew members had there spouses in town, so everyone was in such good spirits.
After dinner, two of our friends who rented an apartment for our time here in L.A. invited us all over for cookies and pie. She had baked tons of cookies and two pies. Some of the cast members from the show came over too, so we had a nice little Christmas party. Their apartment was all decorated too, so it was the end to a perfect night.
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| Several Crew members |
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| Good times |
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| The ladies that entertained |
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| Christmas tree at friends Apartment |
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| Loads of cookies |
Then there was Christmas Day. Again, I relaxed for most of the day. I received a package of goodies from my friend CW of lots of little gifts so I had fun opening some of those! Then my friend, Train, and I went down to Hollywood Blvd. for a Christmas Dinner. We went to the "Las Vegas Seafood Buffet" It was a Japanese buffet with Crab Legs! So I pretty much ate a ton of Crab legs and they were delicious!
Hollywood Blvd was nuts though! It was SO BUSY! All the stores were open, and there were tons and tons of shoppers, it was crazy. I'm from a town in Ohio, where we drive through the empty town just to see if anything was open. I couldn't believe how many people there were!
We walked around for a bit just to see some of the decorations and people watch. Then I enjoyed the rest of the evening in my room relaxing and opening a Christmas gift my mother had sent me. All is all, it was a lovely holiday. =)
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| Some of my gifts from my friend CW! |
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| Busy Busy Hollywood Blvd. |
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| Lots of people |
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| This was few plates in when I was slowing down on the crab legs. =) |
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Fancy Coffee Experience at Demitasse
Alright, so I have a friend, Jarrett, who loves coffee. I love coffee too, but I like to doctor it up, flavored creamers are my best friend. I love sweet coffee, and I don't like it too strong because I like to drink a lot of it.
So, anyways, Jarrett found this coffee shop that he has been going to almost daily. He said it's a pretty fancy place and they have this expensive iced coffee that we needed to try. Finally, we made it over there. The place is called Demitasse and it's in Little Tokyo in downtown L.A. Amazing Coffee. We ended up getting the Kyoto Iced coffee, which was 7.00. We got two because well, there was 2 of us. Little did we know, it's like a whole pot of really really strong coffee that took us about an hour and a half to drink!
It was great though. It's served in a little pot with ice in the middle to keep it cold. They serve it in little glasses, just like the name of the place suggests. It was delicious, cold, dark, with a hint of sweetness. I didn't doctor this up at all. Someone had compared it to drinking a smooth porter, and I would have to agree.
So we sat at the coffee bar and enjoyed our coffee over lovely conversation. The place was constantly busy with visitors, a very popular place. All their coffee is made when ordered and takes a bit of time, so don't go here if you're in a rush.
The other awesome thing in the cafe is the fact that you can see the iced drip coffee being made. There is a huge structure you can watch as the water drips down, ONE DRIP AT A TIME, through the coffee. It's pretty unique, I've never seen anything like it.
So, anyways, Jarrett found this coffee shop that he has been going to almost daily. He said it's a pretty fancy place and they have this expensive iced coffee that we needed to try. Finally, we made it over there. The place is called Demitasse and it's in Little Tokyo in downtown L.A. Amazing Coffee. We ended up getting the Kyoto Iced coffee, which was 7.00. We got two because well, there was 2 of us. Little did we know, it's like a whole pot of really really strong coffee that took us about an hour and a half to drink!
It was great though. It's served in a little pot with ice in the middle to keep it cold. They serve it in little glasses, just like the name of the place suggests. It was delicious, cold, dark, with a hint of sweetness. I didn't doctor this up at all. Someone had compared it to drinking a smooth porter, and I would have to agree.
So we sat at the coffee bar and enjoyed our coffee over lovely conversation. The place was constantly busy with visitors, a very popular place. All their coffee is made when ordered and takes a bit of time, so don't go here if you're in a rush.
The other awesome thing in the cafe is the fact that you can see the iced drip coffee being made. There is a huge structure you can watch as the water drips down, ONE DRIP AT A TIME, through the coffee. It's pretty unique, I've never seen anything like it.
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| The cafe front |
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| The iced coffee dripping |
Friday, December 20, 2013
An afternoon in Chinatown.
A few days ago I walked over to Chinatown in downtown L.A. My friend had gone over there prior to that and said it could be missed, I went anyways.
I really enjoyed myself. I took a leisurely stroll mostly down Broadway Street. There are lots of wonderful shops. Yes, many of them have all the same stuff, but some things are different and just looking at all the decorations is amazing! So much Red! I love all the lanterns and hanging items that the shops have.
I also found a great little market called Saigon Plaza. It's just a maze of tiny little vendors that seems to go on forever. They have lots of typical Chinese souvenirs as well as clothing, luggage, etc. I spent 3 months in China, and this little market really had a Chinese feel to it.
The following pictures are of a quaint little area of some shops all nestled together with fun colorful buildings, Central Plaza. I got a little treat from one of the bakeries there. There was also a lovely wishing well and a statue of Bruce Lee.
After shopping around for awhile, I stumbled upon a foot massage place called Merry Spa. It was only $20.00 for an hour foot massage. I am a sucker for foot massages, so I couldn't resist! It was a nice massage, about 35 minutes on the feet and 25 minutes on the rest of the body. Chinese massages are pretty tough, but in the end it felt good. My feet felt rejuvenated after and I really didn't want to walk home.
I didn't eat anything while there because I wasn't hungry. I would like to go back for lunch sometime perhaps some dim sum. All in all, I enjoyed my experience here.
I really enjoyed myself. I took a leisurely stroll mostly down Broadway Street. There are lots of wonderful shops. Yes, many of them have all the same stuff, but some things are different and just looking at all the decorations is amazing! So much Red! I love all the lanterns and hanging items that the shops have.
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| One of the many gates of Chinatown here in L.A. |
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| Inside a really fun store |
The following pictures are of a quaint little area of some shops all nestled together with fun colorful buildings, Central Plaza. I got a little treat from one of the bakeries there. There was also a lovely wishing well and a statue of Bruce Lee.
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| Central Plaza |
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| Wishing Well |
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| Nice colorful buildings and garden, |
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| Lanterns |
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| Bruce Lee statue |
After shopping around for awhile, I stumbled upon a foot massage place called Merry Spa. It was only $20.00 for an hour foot massage. I am a sucker for foot massages, so I couldn't resist! It was a nice massage, about 35 minutes on the feet and 25 minutes on the rest of the body. Chinese massages are pretty tough, but in the end it felt good. My feet felt rejuvenated after and I really didn't want to walk home.
I didn't eat anything while there because I wasn't hungry. I would like to go back for lunch sometime perhaps some dim sum. All in all, I enjoyed my experience here.
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| My foot massage spa |
Thursday, December 19, 2013
L.A. Week 2
I also have gone to this amazing Gourmet Sausage German place called Wurstkucke, menu/website can be found here. It's in the Arts District in L.A. The seating area is separate from the ordering area. You order your food and drink, take a number and go sit in a large beer hall as I like to call it. It's a bunch of long tables, where you sit next to whoever and enjoy some food and beer. (I've been told this is similar to places in Germany) So, this place is known for their unique sausages. They also have a few vegetarian options! I've gone twice now and have had two different dogs. I had the Duck & Bacon with Jalapeno peppers, and the second time I went I go the Rattlesnake & Rabbit with Jalapeno peppers. Both were very good, but I enjoyed the Duck one more. The bun was really good as well, and I have gotten the fries each time, the fries are only alright. We had a few beers each time and it was a lovely experience.
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| Drinks at Wurstkuche |
Santee Alley is described as,
"You'll discover over 150 stores in Santee Alley selling thousands of items including everything from the latest trends in clothing styles, apparel for the whole family, jewelry and accessories, shoes and boots, toys and gifts, perfumes and cosmetics and more. Every time you visit you will find something new!"
Santee Alley is a long, long alley of lots of small shops selling all different sorts of items. There is mostly accessories for clothing, jewelry and phones. There's a lot of clothing too. Lots of little sausage vendors. Tons and tons of people. I went on a Monday and it was so crowded. It was really fun to just walk about, people watch, and see all the items for sale.
Then it was off to Maple Street where I found the garment district. Fabric store after fabric store, after fabric store. There were stores of nothing but trim, and bead stores beyond your wildest imagination. It was awesome! Fabric lined the sidewalks of some of these streets. If you're like me and don't live here or NYC, then finding an area like this is so awesome. I went in lots and lots of store and had a great afternoon! I bought some stuff from some bead stores. As much as I wanted to buy loads and loads of fabric, I don't have any room in my suitcases and I have piles of fabric at home! But, I wanted to share some great photos of the area with you!
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| Fabric! |
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| A store of nothing but Trims! |
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| beads beads and more beads! |
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| You can see, store after store of fabrics |
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| Fabric lines the sidewalks |
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Los Angeles: Six weeks here we come!
Alright, so, after San Fran, I'm off to L.A. Okay, so I'm here now. =) I'm here for 6 weeks total, so the whole holiday season. We're not outta here until mid January. I'm staying at the Omni hotel in downtown L.A. b/c we are performing at the Ahmanson Theater downtown. The hotel is lovely, and I have a nice room with lovely views of L.A. I love looking out my window at night and seeing all the lights. On a clear -ish day I can see the mountains.
So it's the end of the first week. First weeks in a city are always busy because you have to load the show in and train all the local crew so they can do the show. We had lots of our "creative team" in town, as in Directors/Designers/Producers etc., so it was a pretty busy week here in L.A.
We had a lovely opening night party at a place called Kendalls Brasserie on Grand Street. It was a nice time to eat some hor d'oeuvres and have a few drinks. Other nights several of us went down to the lovely hotel bar in the Omni that serves a late night menu till 1 o'clock, which is fabulous for us theater people.
I walked around Hollywood Blvd. looking at all the starts on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We also passed by the famous, now called the TCL Chinese Theater. Lots of shops and dining. I plan to head back to my favorite hot dog joint, Skooby's during my time here. Anyways, we were on are way the a breakfast/lunch place called, The Griddle, on sunset Blvd. AMAZING pancakes. They are huge! Plus they serve their coffee in a French Press which is always fun. I had the Barry Yellow, which is raspberries and lemon in the pancake. They were delicious! The Griddle Menu can be found here with information about the place. If you come to L.A., you can't miss this place. I plan to go back several times!
I also managed to get a little Christmas tree for my hotel room. I spent a time drinking cider, listening to Christmas carols as I decorated my little tree. It definitely put me in the mood for the holidays. =)
During my first week here I also hit Universal Studios Hollywood . I had never to been to a Universal Studios. I am a big Disney person, so if I have to choose, I choose Disney everytime. This time, my friend, Train, and I went for the day. It was a lot of fun. It's rather small, and it very easy to get in everything you want to do. We rode all the rides and saw all the shows. Everyone had recommended WaterWorld the show, mostly for the spectacle. It was a lot fun. I enjoyed the Mummy Ride, transformers and the Simpsons Ride. Shrek 4D was a lot of fun too. Oh yeah, and you have to take the backlot tour. It's about a 50 minute tram ride where they take you through their working tv/movie studios. You get to see a lot of sets and props from various movies/TV including some of the stuff from JAWS! Yay!
After the day at the Studios we walked around City Walk for some shopping, and we almost got food, but I was still fool from the park snacks we had earlier. I enjoyed visiting during the holidays because everything in the park and CityWalk were decorated for the season.
Other highlights of the week include going to the Redwood Bar & Grill on 2nd Avenue. It's a pirate themed bar. My kinda place! A lot of our company went their on Sunday night. There was a cover, I'm sure there always is at night since they have live bands at the back of the bar. It was 5 bucks. Service was a bit slow in the beginning, but she was little swamped. Eventually all was well. The bar looks like the deck of a ship with lots of nautical themed accessories all about. It was a cool dive bar with descent prices for food and drink.
I'm enjoying my time here so far!
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| Hotel room view in the evening |
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| The Hollywood Sign! |
So it's the end of the first week. First weeks in a city are always busy because you have to load the show in and train all the local crew so they can do the show. We had lots of our "creative team" in town, as in Directors/Designers/Producers etc., so it was a pretty busy week here in L.A.
We had a lovely opening night party at a place called Kendalls Brasserie on Grand Street. It was a nice time to eat some hor d'oeuvres and have a few drinks. Other nights several of us went down to the lovely hotel bar in the Omni that serves a late night menu till 1 o'clock, which is fabulous for us theater people.
I walked around Hollywood Blvd. looking at all the starts on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We also passed by the famous, now called the TCL Chinese Theater. Lots of shops and dining. I plan to head back to my favorite hot dog joint, Skooby's during my time here. Anyways, we were on are way the a breakfast/lunch place called, The Griddle, on sunset Blvd. AMAZING pancakes. They are huge! Plus they serve their coffee in a French Press which is always fun. I had the Barry Yellow, which is raspberries and lemon in the pancake. They were delicious! The Griddle Menu can be found here with information about the place. If you come to L.A., you can't miss this place. I plan to go back several times!
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| TCL Chinese Theater |
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| Best Pancakes Ever! |
I also managed to get a little Christmas tree for my hotel room. I spent a time drinking cider, listening to Christmas carols as I decorated my little tree. It definitely put me in the mood for the holidays. =)
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| My tree all lit up! |
During my first week here I also hit Universal Studios Hollywood . I had never to been to a Universal Studios. I am a big Disney person, so if I have to choose, I choose Disney everytime. This time, my friend, Train, and I went for the day. It was a lot of fun. It's rather small, and it very easy to get in everything you want to do. We rode all the rides and saw all the shows. Everyone had recommended WaterWorld the show, mostly for the spectacle. It was a lot fun. I enjoyed the Mummy Ride, transformers and the Simpsons Ride. Shrek 4D was a lot of fun too. Oh yeah, and you have to take the backlot tour. It's about a 50 minute tram ride where they take you through their working tv/movie studios. You get to see a lot of sets and props from various movies/TV including some of the stuff from JAWS! Yay!
After the day at the Studios we walked around City Walk for some shopping, and we almost got food, but I was still fool from the park snacks we had earlier. I enjoyed visiting during the holidays because everything in the park and CityWalk were decorated for the season.
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| Giant Christmas Tree! |
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| Oh you know, no better way to celebrate the | holidays then with these guys! |
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| Waterworld Set |
Other highlights of the week include going to the Redwood Bar & Grill on 2nd Avenue. It's a pirate themed bar. My kinda place! A lot of our company went their on Sunday night. There was a cover, I'm sure there always is at night since they have live bands at the back of the bar. It was 5 bucks. Service was a bit slow in the beginning, but she was little swamped. Eventually all was well. The bar looks like the deck of a ship with lots of nautical themed accessories all about. It was a cool dive bar with descent prices for food and drink.
I'm enjoying my time here so far!
Saturday, November 30, 2013
San Francisco: On Tour
I've done so much here, lots of attractions, shopping and excellent food. One of my best friends from Ohio, Kirsten even came out to visit for a week.
I got a transportation pass the day that I got here so that I could ride all the buses and cable cars. Cable cars are one of my favorite things to do in San Fran. The public transportation here is incredible and you can get just about anywhere on it. So, this was a must.
Let's see, what sorts of things did I experience while here...
I exploted Fisherman's Wharf- went to many shops, sat down by the bay for stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, walked around Ghirardelli square, where I got my free chocolate sample. =)
I also took a trolley down to Pier 39 and saw the sea lions, the shops, the carousel. I went to the Ferry Building as well for the farmers Market and lovely view of the Bay Bridge. I went to the market during the week, and I went for the big one on Saturday. Man, there was so many organic vegetable vendors it was amazing. They had artist and crafters in the front, fresh produce in one area with baked good as well. Plus they had food truck vendors so you wouldn't go hungry.
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| Kirsten and I |
Views from the Ferry Building
Sea Lions
<-- Farmers Market at the Ferry Building
Let's see, I went to the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park, and went to the observatory in the art museum next to the Gardens. The views were lovely from there, and it was free to get in. The Tea Gardens were peaceful. I went to Chinatown many times for delicious dim sum and dumplings.
I shopped in the Haight Ashbury Area/the Mission District/Chinatown/Japantown.
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| Chinatown |
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| Buddah |
Gardens
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| A night out on the town with my best friend, Kirsten! |
I went to Muir woods Twice to enjoy the amazing RedWoods, and took trip out to the beaches along the coast.
I went to art museums and parks, bars with music, themes, lots of beers. I even went to a Cider Bar, that was amazing, it's called UPCIDER. I did some bikram yoga classes for the first time, went to a meditation class, shopped on Market Street, went to the old Sutra Bath ruins, walked in the Presidio (expensive houses those are), ate crab in the Castro, ate at the Stinking Rose, went to a great little dive bar called the Saloon to enjoy live music, and so much more. I had such an amazing time here! Wish I didn't have to leave. =)
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| Mai Tais in the Tonga Room |
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| Coastal Views |
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| Down by the Sutro Baths, early in the morning |
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| By the Golden Gate Bridge |
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| Looking up in Muir Woods |
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| A Little Hiking |
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| Houses |
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| A Cable Car dressed up for the Holidays! |
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| Legion Of Honor Musuem |
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| More beautiful Houses in San Fran |
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| Crab in The Castro |
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| Can't get enough of those cable cars! |
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| Cable Car Views |
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| Delicious Morning Breakfast, fresh crab cake benedict and crepes! |
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| Road Trip! |
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| Night time Cable Cars |
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| Oh you know, just a HUGE chair in the hotel lobby =) |
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| Great views of the city from the cable car |
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| A really awesome tree |
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| More coastal Views |
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Another Farmers Market 
Hope you got a little taste of how awesome San Francisco is!
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