We Elf'd Ourselves

It's all the craze, so we did it. The Roses have elf'd themselves. Check out this link to see us in action:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1407374808

Hey Lenny, Nice Show! Thanks.

That's right, that is how my "convo" went with Lenny Kravitz last night. Mike had his station's customer appreciation/ holiday party. It was at this house in Santa Monica (the house wasn't very impressive, but the location was--right on the beach!). The highlight of the night was a private performance by Lenny Kravitz, but they also had a trapeze artist do some swinging over the pool and sychornized swimmers that did their routine to "Sexy Back" (the Justin Timberlake song). It was like a party of the weird. There was also a tarot card reader, but after waiting in line for half an hour she shut the shop down. Dang.

P.S. John Lovitz was also at the party. Not sure why, but it's another celebrity sighting. He was a little "New Jersey circa 1980" with his all black outfit and thick heavy gold chains!

Moving Up in the Celebrity Sighting World

Last weekend we had some friends in town and just stopped by this little bar in Beverly Hills, well wouldn't you know it we spotted--and talked to, I might add-- to a bonifided "A" lister. That's we saw Keifer Sutherland. His friends joked with us, he talked to us a little, and on the way out he said good-by to us. I think he really liked the Roses!

And now the poor bastard is in jail for like 2 months for his DUI (stupid). You know where he went to jail? Glendale...yup, right where the Roses live. Anymore of this stalking and we'll have to call the police!

Oh, we also saw Arsenio Hall (where my dogs at?) at the same bar. His time might be over just like his late night show, but we have an interesting tid-bit. The man likes toes and feet. You wondering how we know? He spent much of the night rubbing this girl's foot and even, at one time, licked her toes...in public...gross. Wonder why he isn't famous anymore?

BEST Birthday EVER!

Today is my 32nd birthday. Nothing really to get all that excited about, except it's usually freezing on my birthday and maybe there will be a little snow at times. For those of you who know me well, that just isn't my bag. But this year I'm having the best birthday ever. Not because I got something really cool, or took a trip, because of the weather! Instead of bundling up in a sweater and coat I wore shorts and a t-shirt to the park today! Fantastic. Best present I've ever received. Thanks Mother Nature!

Thanksgiving Weekend in Cali

So for the actual Thursday of Thanksgiving we went to Mike's bosses house. Good times, good food, lots of wine. Then on Saturday Janell and Andy came up and we watched the Mizzou game (hello! Tigers #1 in the BCS...we're hoping for a national championship), had a quick Thanksgiving dinner over half-time, and then went out in Old Town Pasadena to celebrate Mizzou! Good times all around.

Except for Zoey...that's right. We aren't sure what the 'ole girl got into, but on Sunday she was sick as a dog (pun intended :) As you can see from the picture, Mike took really good care of her. Tucked her in, because we all know the way to get better is to stay warm. We really are "those" people with our dog!

Top 10 Things We're Thankful For This Year

1. Each other.
2. Zoey.
3. Our family and friends.
4. That all of the above have their health.
5. That we live in California. Even if it's just for a short time, or if it's a long time, Mike is "living his dream" and we are enjoying all that LA has to offer...including a warm Thanksgiving!
6. That MU beat KU and is headed to the Big 12 Championship...and maybe more!
7. That there hasn't been an earthquake yet (we stilll don't have our earthquake kit).
8. That we get to go home for Christmas and spend it with our family and friends.
9. Our new, L shaped couch...it's real nice.
10. That we live a pretty good life and feel pretty fortunate about it.

Our PCH Day: Laguna to LA

On a whim we decided to drive up the PCH from Laguna on Saturday. We didn't have any plans and we thought it might be a fun way to see some of California we hadn't been to yet. We were down in Laguna because we had to pick up Zoey from Aunt Janell's. Janell had been watching Zoey while we were out of town for the week (Janell totally spoiled Zoey) at Mike's dad's funeral. It had been an exhausting week and we just needed some nice relaxing time. Driving up the beach was the best! It was a great way to get Mike's mind off the previous week and also reminded us why we moved to California.

We started the day at our favorite dog-friendly, Laguna Beach restaurant: Madison Square Garden Cafe. They have great food and the owner loves dogs. Zoey likes going there because she gets the hook up on treats!

After lunch we headed north and ran across a dog park beach in Huntington Beach. We think we actually saw Zoey smile here! It was great and we can't wait to go back. I'm sure on the drive Zoey will stick her head out of the sunroof multiple times, as she really loved doing that on the drive!

We ran across a unusual chapel on our drive called Wayforth Chapel. It's this glass chapel on a hill overlooking the ocean. We could only visit for about 10 minutes because they were about to close it for a wedding, but we definitely want to go back. You can go there for meditation and they also have special ceremonies for Christmas and Easter. If we weren't married, this is where I'd do it.

Sometimes it's best to just take some time out and relax...enjoy every moment and not rush through life. It's kind of like that saying...stop and smell the roses :)

Halloween

Halloween in California is warm! Janell came up for the evening and after we had dinner we sat outside and waited for the trick-or-treaters. We had a ton of kids come by! We actually were being too generous with our candy at first and towards the end Mike assumed the role of "candy ration man." Only one piece for all kids...yeah, they loved him. We tried to dress Zoey up like a mummy by wrapping her in toilet paper, but it really just ended up looking like we tp'd our dog (see picture). In the end, she settled for being a lap dog--no costume necessary.

A Few Things

1. I tried making homemade gnocchi last night. I don't recommend it. Time consuming and gross. Stick with the store bought stuff.



2. We were not affected by the fires. Just had a few days of smoke cover last week.



3. Monkeys are funny. It's true. Monkey eating a burger? Funny! Monkey riding a bike? Funny! They can add humor to anything, so next time you're having a bad day just look at this monkey picture:

Just another day at the pool...

Targets Have Escalators...

...for you and your cart!

With more than one level at most Targets out here how else would you get your card upstairs?

First Celebrity Sighting

It only took about 2 months...that's right, I saw these two at The Grove. I'll take what I can get. I didn't take a picture, because, ya know...I don't want to be "that" guy. But you better believe I turned around and walked behind them for a while :)

P.S. In case you don't know them it's Cacee Cobb (Jessica Simpson's former assistant) and Donald Faison (the guy from Scrubs)

Our First "Booty Call"

For you out-of-towners, "Booty" is (was) the USC quarterback. So yeah, check another thing off the list! We went to our first USC game...good thing they won or Ramsey would never invite us to another game! It was great tailgating and so fun to see what our friends had been bragging about for so long!

Can't wait for Bay to Breakers in San Fran in May...long ways away but Gleason and Leona promised they'd be back!

Lime Away

For some reason Zoey has taken to our lime tree...and not in a good way. Seems like every morning her ritual is to go out and dig the tree up. Well, this morning she didn't only dig at it, but dug it up and the hole was like a crater. Man, we aren't sure we are going to be able to save the lime tree now.

As for Zoey, she knows when she gets busted each morning...we wonder if this is her mini-protest about not having any squirrels in our yard for her to chase?

Our Very Own Botanical Garden

Our backyard is blooming...and to think it's only Fall. I can't wait to see what it will look like when it's actually Summer. We have peach roses, red roses, pink roses, the hibiscus my dad planted (one at the bottom), and then some red flower...we have no idea what it is!

The Zoey Scare

Yesterday Mike and I found ourselves at the Emergency Animal Surgery Clinic in the afternoon. Throughout the day Zoey's stomach was getting bigger (like swollen, crazy big) and she was drinking gads of water. We called Alice--the first call we make with anything Zoey--and she said it could be serious and require surgery. Some sort of thing called GDV...I don't remember what the letters stand for, but it had to do with her stomach turning and blocking something important. Basically she could die.

So after waiting almost an hour and hearing our dog referred to as "critical" we are called into the room where we suspect the doctor will come in and tell us our dog is going to die. So the first question the doctor asks is "What did Zoey eat today?" Um, breakfast. Annndd...her food container lid was up. Oh man, could she have eaten extra food? Pretty much. The stupdi pooch almost ate herself to death. Her stomach was like 5 times the size it should be. Yeah, we felt silly rushing her there, but we'd rather be safe than sorry when potentially dealing with GDV.

Maybe our dog isn't as smart as we'd like to beleive...

Zoey's 1st Day at the Beach!

Zoey loved the beach! Of course, she kept trying to drink the water and didn't like it so much (who does?).

In California!

We've been in California for 3 weeks now! We are still unpacking, but we have made a lot of progress. We are also trying to be very selective about what we unpack since we might be moving again in a year...still in Cali, but maybe we'll buy a house. We orignally thought about buying the one we are renting, but it's funny when you test drive a house...it's a great house to rent and we love the location, but it's not something we'd buy at this point. More pictures to come of our house...once it's decorated, of course!