I'm Horrible at Updating!

Good heavens, I'm really bad at keeping this blog updated! Let's see...since the last time I posted at the end of February:

MARCH 

San Diego

Chris and I celebrated our seven year anniversary (two of those, being married) by taking a trip to San Diego. We stayed at the Hacienda Hotel in Old Town San Diego.

Best Western Hacienda Hotel

I've been staying there since I was a little kid with my family, and we stayed there last year for our anniversary as well. The best views are from the 600 and 500 buildings. From there you have a view all the way out to the coast.

Staying in Old Town is great because you're in walking distance to so many interesting "tourist" spots! The restaurant we always have to visit is the Cosmopolitan Hotel - when I was little, it was known as Casa de Bandini and was a typical Mexican restaurant. Today, after a few years of renovations, they have restored the Cosmopolitan to it's roots, a Bed and Breakfast with a restaurant featuring a more upscale menu.

Chris and I go mainly for their drinks. Chris' favorite is the Sazerac Cocktail (Sazerac rye whiskey, Absinthe, and Peychaud's Bitters) and my favorite is the Lady Seeley's Violette Fizz (Oxley gin, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Creme d'Yvette, lemon juice, sugar, and soda water). Unfortunately for me, on this trip I had to just make due with Diet Coke :( We also like this place because it was featured on Ghost Adventures!

Trolley

On this trip we did something we hadn't done before - we bought a two-day pass for the Old Town Trolley Tour.

It's a hop-on/hop-off tour that takes you all around the city. The stops include: Old Town, USS Midway, Seaport Village, Horton Plaza, Gaslamp Quarter, Coronado, Balboa Park, and Little Italy to name a few. Our first day we stayed on the trolley the whole time, except we jumped off at a stop on Coronado.

Hotel del Coronado

It's a great way to tour the city, we saw places we don't normally visit! Our second day we used the trolley to take us to the USS Midway, then we walked over to Little Italy to have lunch, hopped back on the trolley to take us back to Old Town.

Standing outside the USS Midway

Chris with the landing signal officer

Chris testing out the controls

Gnocchi with sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, and pesto cream from Trattoria Fantastica in Little Italy

When we bought our trolley tickets (side note: there is a kiosk set up in Old Town to buy all these tickets and more), we also bought a two hour harbor tour on the Hornblower. The first part of the cruise they take you along the south side of the bay and you go underneath the Coronado Bridge and you get to see all the naval ships.

Bridge to Coronado Island

Chris with the USS Midway behind him

The second part is along the north side of the bay and the best part is you get to see all the Sea Lions basking in the sun, soaking up the rays!

Hodad's

Hodad's is a burger restaurant in Ocean Beach that was featured on Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives and is known for their bacon patties! Chris hadn't been here before so we made a stop for lunch to stuff our faces :) Get there as it opens because there is always a line out in front!

I'm pretty sure he ate the whole thing!

Galco's

At the end of March, we made a trip out to Galco's in Pasadena to get some fun, retro sodas. I had first heard about Galco's back in the early 2000s when Huell Howser visited the shop on his show. My family and I had made a trek or two up there from Lake Forest because of Huell (and my dad's love of bottles). They have hundreds of different types of sodas, yes they still carry the same kind you would find in Ralph's, but it's more of a specialty shop.

Soooo many sodas!

I stocked up on different types of creme sodas, and I think Chris' favorite find during this trip was the Cucumber Soda! Personally, I don't like the taste of cucumbers, but it had a crisp, refreshing taste.

Chocolate Tour

Also in March, my aunt Rebecca booked my sisters, cousins, and I on the Beverly Hills Walking Chocolate Tour. Located near Rodeo Drive, this tour takes you around to a few locations: Sprinkles, Coupa Cafe, The American Tea Room, Vosges Haut-Chocolate, The Beverly Hills Brownie Company, and I think everyone's favorite: The Cheese Store.

The Cheese Store

You have a tour guide and in each location you get to try some samples and then spend a little time looking around each store and make purchases.

The Beverly Hills Brownie Company

It was pretty fun, I felt like such a tourist since I only live a couple miles away, but it was neat because I never visit this area of L.A.! My sister Katy was pretty happy because she parked near Lisa Vanderpump's (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) restaurant, Villa Blanca, and she saw someone from the show.

APRIL

Tosh.0

Comedy Central films Tosh.0 close by our home over in Culver City. I had put my name on a wait list through On-Camera Audiences to go to a taping of the show so long ago that I had forgotten I had done it! Well I finally got an email letting me know it was my turn...you have to show up a few hours early, wait in a line, and then hope you can get a seat because it's first come, first serve.

Waiting outside the Tosh.0 offices

We got there early enough, but by the time they started letting people in when we got to the front of the line it was standing room only. I think I was around six and a half months pregnant by then and I did NOT want to stand on my feet for another two hours! So we declined and they gave us priority passes to another taping on a different day. Fast forward two weeks, we went back to the studio, got to the front of the line and got to sit in the second row, right next to the aisle. It was a fun experience, almost like just watching Daniel Tosh do stand-up. He runs through the episode one time, the he goes back a second to redo any lines or to try out different jokes. If you're a fan of his, I'd recommend putting your name on the wait list now!

MAY

We've slowed down on our excursions as I near my due date. We've been busy with weekend baby classes and getting everything ready. I can't do much walking before I tire myself out! This wasn't much of an excursion, but we held my baby shower at the Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey, it's right on the Mother's Beach with a great view (and it's like a mile from my home - great distance for me!!).

Chris' grandparents, Connie and Bonnie

And apparently it's a great spot for celebrity sightings because Gwen Stefani was on the beach with her kids for a birthday party!

Photo taken by my paparazzi father

And if you're an Arrested Development fan, this is the same beach where Gob makes the yacht "disappear" :P

The Grand Illusion!

Tomorrow I will be eight months pregnant (it's a boy if I haven't already mentioned) and we don't have any upcoming excursion plans. I keep trying to plan something (E.g., Knott's Berry Farm [passes are cheap right now!], the beach, one last weekend getaway) but Chris reminds me that I'm pregnant and I'm in bed before 9pm. We haven't even been going out to eat dinner anywhere fun! So if anything does come up slightly interesting, I'll post about it, but for now we're acting as homebodies!
xx, Chrissy

Justin Timberlake Concert, LACMA + Birthdays

You should’ve seen me at my parent’s house the day that the Justin Timberlake concert tickets were going on sale. This was for his one night only, live performance at the Hollywood Palladium after the Grammy’s. The tickets went on sale at noon and I was sitting in their office, using two desktop monitors, while I had my dad using my iPhone, and Kelly and Chris using their iPhones as well to all try and score tickets. No one could get through online so I finally called Live Nation and got the tickets that way! I was so excited, it was like I was in high school again about to go see *NSYNC. Chris came with me to the concert and it was amazing! He sang all his hits, some new ones, and a few cover songs. Apparently there were a ton of celebrities there, but I didn’t see any – well except for Jay-Z and Timbaland who came out on stage. I think my days of attending ‘general admission’ concerts are over though, I was on my feet for hours with nowhere to sit which was not good for the little minion growing inside of me, but it was worth it ;)

My dad turned 61 this month and we celebrated by visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and more specifically the Stanley Kubrick exhibit. I’ve only seen a couple of his movies, but my family is big fan of “The Shining” so it was very cool to see some of the props and scripts with notes from that film. We’ve never been inside of LACMA before and it is huge! We didn’t see everything, but we sure saw a lot…

I don’t want this to turn into a baby blog, but I’ll give you an update: I just had a checkup and everything is really good. My blood pressure had been high the past couple of weeks and that’s why I have to see a regular OB doctor and a high-risk OB, but today my blood pressure was really low! All my blood work has come back fine (including the genetic testing), and I’m still losing weight (20+ pounds so far). My OB said that’s fine (I have enough fat stored in me to feed Octomom’s babies). I didn’t have an ultrasound today, but I will be going in for the important 20 week ultrasound in the beginning of March and we’ll know if it’s a boy or girl then! I love my doctors and I’m so glad that I switched medical groups to UCLA, I know I’m getting the best care!

My mom also had her birthday this month and the family came up to our house - we had a good lunch at Baby Blues BBQ (as seen on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) and just hung out at our place.

Upcoming: This weekend is Chris’ and my anniversary! We will have been together seven years (married two)!
xx, Chrissy

Hey, remember me??

Hi! So it's been a while...Walt Disney World was fun as usual. We have a ton of pictures but find me on Facebook to look through my album if you want to check them out please! I've been pretty sick since the beginning of December, complete with two ER trips :( I'm starting to feel much better and getting my asthma back under control. But I guess the main news (if you don't already know) is that I'm finally pregnant! It took a while, but after help from my OB-GYN and the right medications, it finally happened. Unfortunately I'm being considered a high-risk pregnancy but I've switched medical groups to UCLA and I'm having THE best care. I love my new doctors!! We're due at the end of July and I can't wait for this to be over, LOL! I wanted this for so long, but being pregnant and sick (and I don't mean morning sickness) totally sucks!! Chris has been so good to me during all of this, I have to say I was a little surprised hahaha...And of course Bruce is excited too! I don't have any baby bump pictures yet. I'm still at the stage where I just look extra fat (damn you skinny girls!!). And we'll know the sex of the baby pretty soon. There is no way I want that to be a secret, I don't know how some women don't want to know!! So that's it for now, I'll try to make another post somewhat soon :)
xx, Chrissy

Walt Disney World

We're headed back to Walt Disney World tomorrow! I'm pretty excited :D Our Florida annual passes expire soon, so we decided to make one more trip...

I'll be back with an update later!

San Francisco

I had to travel to San Francisco for a couple days for a HR Test Prep Course. I've got a big exam coming up in December to get my Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification (eek!). So I went up there, alone, from a Tuesday night through late Friday night. I flew Southwest, of course, and stayed at a boutique hotel named Hotel Diva. I would not stay there again. It was a little too...unique? boutique-y? for me. That and my bed was uncomfortable. But it was close to the SF State University Downtown Campus and it was in my business budget. I had class Wednesday through Friday from 8:30am until 5:00pm and it was hell!! After class I would wander around the Market Street area. There's a ton of shops (not including the Westfield Mall) and sights to see. I did duck out of class early on Thursday and hopped on the cable car and rode it all the way down the Fisherman's Wharf. I was able to see Alcatraz pretty clearly (I wish they had a night tour available while I was there!), but I was very bummed that I could barely make out the Golden Gate Bridge due to the heavy marine layer. I didn't do too much sightseeing, I would have liked to do more, but I wish I had someone else traveling with me to make it more fun. I was very excited to come home, I missed Chris and I missed my pup :)

Tips:
I took the Super Shuttle from SFO to my hotel, which worked out fine. But I found out that I was close to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and they have a direct line that takes you straight into the airport.

There are three cable car lines. You can hop on either at the ends of the lines, or if you see the brown sign on the side of the street, you can flag down the driver and hop on. Tickets are $6.00 each way (you pay it once you are on board, or you buy it from the ticket counter at the ends of the lines), or I was talking to an older gentleman from Austin who bought a trip pass from Walgreen's. I checked out this link before I hopped on, just to be sure of where I was going and all the rules, etc.

SF has a TON of homeless people. There are homeless people in Marina del Rey too, but they don't bother you. The SF homeless will badger you for change. I found that it's best to just ignore them and keep walking (even if they try to walk with you).

Food:
SF is known for some great food. Although most of it is seafood (which I don't eat), and Chinese (which I'm afraid has MSG in it [I'm allergic]). So where did this picky eater eat? My top spots were:
Pinecrest Diner for breakfast - I had a cheese omelette with hash browns and an English muffin. It was probably THE best breakfast I ever had!
Burger Bar - Located in the huge Macy's next to Union Square, it's the same as the Las Vegas location. I love the LV Burger Bar, so of course I had to eat here as well! Downside, crappy service, and I wish I had ordered my burger medium well instead of medium. It was a tad too pink for me.
Cupola Pizzeria - My last meal in SF was SOOO good. But not a good idea if you're already checked out of your hotel (too much cheese O.o). For an appetizer I had the warm, pulled to order mozzarella (picture below) that was out of this world. Then I had the Bianca pizza that was so thin you could see through it!

I took a handful (or more) of pictures, so this is gonna be more of a "pictorial" post...Enjoy :)

My window shade at Hotel Diva

View from the front of the hotel on my floor

Steam from the tunnels

If you're a "Party of One" at the Pinecrest Diner, you HAVE to sit at the counter :/

My view outside my classroom 

Market Street

 

 

At the end of each line, they have a turntable to turn the car around! 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xx, Chrissy

San Juan Capistrano

El Adobe de Capistrano

Katy has a friend, also named Katie, who works at a Mexican restaurant in San Juan Capistrano called El Adobe de Capistrano. I think I've been there maybe once before when I was pretty young. It's off of Ortega Highway near the mission on that main drag. The restaurant is pretty well known for having President Nixon and his wife visit...and also because it is haunted! Oh yeah, and if you watch "The Real Housewives of Orange County", last season's 80s Bunco Party episode where Vicki went postal in Gretchen's face was filmed there ;)

President + Mrs. Nixon's chairs they sat in when they would visit

El Adobe used to be a couple of homes, a hospital, and also used to house the Juzgado (courts and jails) back in 1812. Katie gave us a tour down into the wine cellar, which used to be the jail. You can reserve the table down there to have your meal and dine with spirits (alcoholic varieties and undead as well). We didn't see any ghosts, but it was pretty creepy down there - low ceiling, no windows, and it's tucked away from the rest of the restaurant. I can't wait to eat in there!

Then Katie brought us back up to the front room that's off to the left as soon as you enter El Adobe. She told us a couple of stories about sightings of an older Hispanic woman. A medium was once brought in and reported that the woman is friendly, but sad. She mainly stays in the front room because it used to be a part of her house. Katie then showed us the chair she is usually spotted in; Chris sat in it but we didn't see or feel anything.

Old Barn Antique Mall

Next stop was across the street to the Antique Mall. Chris and I have purchased a few of our more "creepy" items we have at home from the massive place.

Dad being "covert like"

During this trip we were unsuccessful with finding anything of real interest to us. Mom and Dad found some glasses and bottles though. It was pretty warm that day and I was sweating - the Mall doesn't have air conditioning and it makes it hard to want to stay and look through the bajillions of "antiques" in the hundreds of booths they have.

I did have a good moment though...back in high school I always had this one substitute teacher, Mrs. Shostrom (and I'm sure I'm not spelling it correctly!), she was an excellent teacher (I wish I had her as a permanent teacher at El Toro) and I have it stored in my memory that she owns a couple of booths in the Mall. I hadn't seen her in quite a few years, but I saw her during this trip! She doesn't remember me (it's been 10+ years and Lord knows how many students), but I said hi to her and chit-chatted for a couple of minutes. That's really made my day :)
Then it was off to Starbucks to lounge in the air conditioning for a few moments before heading back home.

And of course, Disneyland

Our trips to Disneyland have slowed as of late. I think the last time we were there was the night before our trip to SJC because Katy was at the Disneyland Hotel for the Mobility 21 Summit that our company was exhibiting at. Katy's pass has long since expired but because she was exhibiting, she got a free half day pass to the parks. And because this may be the only time that we could all be inside Disneyland together as a family, Mom wanted to take our Christmas photos...in September. I have no clue if we're going to actually use any of the pictures Dad took of us over in Cars Land, but whatever...

Tip: Do NOT try the pickle flavored popcorn...bleh!!!

Kelly and our friend, Alex, who we ran into

xx, Chrissy

Sneak Peek

I'm in San Francisco for a certification test prep course...Chris had to stay home :( I'll be back with an update soon from an outing down to San Juan Capistrano and my trip to SF!
xx, Chrissy