welcome to the jungle

so i went out this evening to see my friend's band play. i really didn't want to go at first but they were going on at a decent hour and it was at this really small irish pub and everyone else was going so i decided to join in on the fun.

i'm very happy i decided to go. not only were they amazing but my friend has an absolutely amazing voice.

oh yeah, and they also had a surprise guest play with them on the last 2 songs.

i know you're just dying to know who it was.
just look to the right of the lead singer.



can't tell?

how about now?



oh yeah, that's Slash.

and i, i was literally about 10 feet away.

amazing.

mark another one off for jen and her fancy life.

sammy davis jr. only had one eye

turkey for the girls and turkey for the boys ...



i had my usual thanksgiving celebrations with the kids again this year. who are the kids you ask? this year it consisted of jody, tj, matt, dave, eric and my precious little chloe who enjoyed licking things off the kitchen floor.



now i know you're wondering why i oft refer to this motley crew as "the kids"

it's simply because they act like children.

for example, they wake up excited on the morning of a holiday:



they pace back and forth asking "is it ready yet?" and when you finally give them the 10 minute warning they get all happy:



they all have to have their picture taken while carving the turkey:





oh yes and then they pout if somebody gets to carve the turkey before they do:



and THEN they have to have their picture taken AGAIN but this time there has to be 2 people in the picture:





and you endure all this because once you let them get food ..



they immediately shut up







but truth be told..
they all make for a very fun thanksgiving!

and they even do dishes!!

You say you wanna go there, ride then.

i stole this from aaron's blog.

i think these are fun to do even though i seriously doubt anyone will get my songs ...

i shall try anyways.

Rules:

Step 1: We Can Have Lots of Fun

Step 2: There's So Much We Can Do

Step 3: It's Just You and Me

Step 4: I Can Give You More

Step 5: Don't You Know that the Time is Right

HUH!

sorry ... spaced out for a minute. anybody else automatically think that in your head when you hear step 1? anybody? anybody?

anyways ..

Rules:

Step 1: Put your music player on random

Step 2: Post the first line (or so, some are hard) from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.

Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what SONG AND ARTIST the lines come from.

Step 4: Italicize the songs when someone guesses correctly (No lyric hunting! That is cheating!)

Step 5: After doing the first 20, listen to one more random song and post it as your title.

1. Roll on down til midnight then roll on downtown til it's light because tomorrow we may die oh but tonight we're dancing in the faint light.

2. Where were you when we called the police, were you ready to go home and hard to please?But no you were in Portugal so don't come back to Stockholm no more.

3. Hello, I've waited here for you, everlong.

4. Wherever you're going, I know you knew that nobody cuts me quite like you do.

5. I wanted you to know that I love the way you laugh. I want to hold you high and steal your pain away.

6. I will break into your thoughts with what's written on my heart.

7. I woke up early this morning around 4am with the moon shining bright as headlights on the interstate.

8. A sea of waves we hug the same plank. Just as I rehearsed over an hour break.

9. Empty spaces fill me up with holes. Distant faces with no place left to go. Without you, within me I can't find no rest.

10. I wake alone in a woman's room I hardly know. I wake alone and pretend that I am finally home.

11. Find me here and speak to me. I want to feel you, I need to hear you.

12. Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulders don't you know, the hardest part is over.

13. The cigarettes are gonna kill me I know. I gotta get a light before I hit the door.

14. Rosemary, heaven restores you in life.

15. I get home from work and you're still standing in your dressing gown well what am I to do?

16. You must obey the dance commander givin' out the order for fun.

17. And when I see you, I really see you upside down. But my brain knows better it picks you up and turns you around.

18. I'm stupid you're smarter. I'm stupid thinking there's a way that this could turn out right.

19. No sir, well I don't want to be the blame not anymore its your turn so take a seat we're settling the final score.

20. I'm in the business of misery lets take it top from the top she's got a body like an hourglass it's ticking like a clock.

any takers on the title? ( Yay Jody!)

LA, Hollywood and the Sunset Strip

is something everyone should see ....

especially chloe.

so as part of my birthday celebration, tj and i decided to take the little one around her new home.

ok, so we didn't really go see hollywood or the sunset strip today but she did get to see some of LA.



we first stopped at one of tv's greatest landmarks.

the brady bunch house



chloe and i actually live right across the street from this house. it's the actual house CBS used for the exterior shots on the Brady Bunch. in the tv show, this house had a window on the left side of the house to simulate that the Brady's had an upstairs (remember the kids slept up there). in real life, no such window. the real house is actually only a one story.

and then we headed down to the coast.



chloe enjoyed the salty air blowing against her gigantic ears. also, please notice her new collar. uncle tj bought her that today.

once at the beach, she was a little apprehensive. there are always a lot of dogs down there and she's still a little uncertain how to act around them but she got the hang of it.



and then she saw it ...



chloe's first views of the pacific ocean.




it took her a moment to get off tj's lap and get on the grass.



but she did.



her protector.



you wouldn't believe how many people came up to us to compliment us on our adorable dog.



we started in santa monica and then decided to walk her down to venice along the boardwalk.



venice is filled with street vendors, performers, restaurants and all kinds of people walking around. it would be a true test for chloe. i was a little nervous but after a few minutes she found her bearings and did extremely well. even with all the other dogs around.



we even found a chloe sized palm tree.



we left santa monica as the sun was setting.



and headed over to uncle jody's house so she could see her second home.



he's smitten with her. and she with him. but only because he got her some cool new toys.

after that, we headed home to rest a little and figure out what we wanted for dinner. as we sat on the couch debating our options, i checked nicole's blog to see if she had updated it.

she had (click here to see).

and in the process, gave us our idea for my final birthday treat.



yes, these are donuts from the one and only krispy kreme in burbank, ca.

so thanks nicole. and yes, they were hot off the line.

going to raleigh, leaving raleigh, chloe's first day in CA

i went to raleigh over the weekend to pick up her highness, chloe, and to have jensgiving dinner (for explanation please click here). since i was in town for just a little over 48 hours, we had to pack it all in. saturday was a blur. that day went something like this:

9:39am
Land at RDU. Aaron picks me up.

10:45am - 6:00pm
get to the house, say hello to the kids, say hello to gordon, leave the kids with gordon, go see high school musical 3 with some of the kids, sleep through half the movie, meet gordon and the kids and leigh at steak and shake, deal with a very rude waitress, shake down 4 kids who are trying to sneak their spit ball shooters past their mother, get back to the house, go grocery shopping with leigh for jensgiving groceries, go back home.

6:00pm - bedtime
cook in the kitchen, sneak cookie dough out of the kitchen, play call of duty

everyone cooking



makenna helping to make the crab dip



aaron doing dishes



ok so SOME of us were working in the kitchen ... others .. not so much




after the cooking, i remember sitting in a recliner and being in mid conversation with gordon as we were watching rush hour 3 or maybe it was gladiator and falling asleep. i was exhausted.

sunday was a little less taxing.

we pretty much just ate all day.

we got up and went to church, then went to lunch at an italian restaurant, went home, played some call of duty, then went and got some ice cream.



oh, it only gets better from here.

after ice cream, we go BACK into the kitchen to cook and hang out some more

gordon showing me how he uses a big boy cup now



this is NOT a picture of nicole yelling at aaron



goofing around - we're looking in different directions because we had 3 cameras taking a picture






the hard work continues





then we do the responsible adult thing and make sure that Gabby gets fed first



DELICIOUS!



then we finish up with our food

final touches on the ham





also delicious!



we sit down to eat AGAIN



after dinner aaron pretended to get a phone call. i say pretend because every single person he knows was already sitting at that dinner table with him!



then we go back into the living room and watch the greatest movie of our generation.

speed.

oh keanu, you are brilliant.

after speed, we eat some cheesecake and freshly baked chocolate chip cookes, watch a shortened version of braveheart (thanks to gordon) and once again go to bed.

whew. just one day left.

monday, we wake up and of course ... we go to eat.

on our way





braeden just LOVES applebees.



and gabby just LOVES french fries.



girl pose!



yeah i told these 2 to get together so i could take their picture and aaron yells "girl pose!" and that's what i got.

classic.

after applebees we played singstar and american idol for .. oh i don't know .. about 3 hours and then it was time for me to pack up my stuff and go to the airport.

my very special carry on baggage:



chloe did very good on the plane. she barked as we walked into the airport but that was it. she stayed in her bag and was quiet for both of our flights.

we didn't make it back to my apartment until really late so she didn't get her first look until the next day. but once she did, she was just a ball of energy running around everywhere.

well, almost everywhere.



i know you can't see them but those are steps.

i have two little steps in my apartment that separate my living room from my kitchen and dining room. chloe can't go up or down these steps. she can go down them if she gets a running start but she can't figure out how to get up them. she just ran around while i got ready for work.

then before going into work we hit the park that's right beside my office building



she then went into the office with me.



she was very nervous but i took her monkey and she mauled it while i worked



and then she'd sit on my lap while i watched tv ... er i mean did my work.



after work we came home and relaxed.

i carved a pumpkin.



and she laid in her bed playing with her pumpkin ball



my pumpkin ended up being way cooler than hers



i am obviously a very busy woman.