christmas in california

fall

In 5 days I will be in ILLINOIS! I'm so excited to be Aunt Sydney all weekend and be surrounded by my family and friends from home. I'm also looking forward to a taste of fall! I had to go buy a couple of hoodies yesterday to be prepared for my trip home. It's starting to cool off a bit in LA also. As I sit on my couch typing this, I am feeling the 58 degree breeze coming in through my windows. I love it. It's also 4 in the morning...by 4pm it will be 80 degree's again.

On Tuesday Rach, Nicole and I are going to the Ellen Degeneres show again! She is having Ellen Page on the show. It will air on Wednesday so look for us in the audience!! Hopefully we win something good :)

Jocelyn moved out this past weekend :( She found out that she was able to write her Canadian Boards on Wednesday so it happened in a whirlwind. She is moving to Canada to live closer to her family and friends there. I am so happy for her because this is what she really wanted! Of course, us girls are going to miss having her around. We have already planned a trip to Canada sometime in the month of February to go see her...so it wasn't goodbye, just see ya soon :) Good luck on your boards, Joc! We miss you already!

my home

Here are a few pics of the house that i took a couple days ago. Enjoy, we sure are :)

Nicole's room (she painted over the pine walls)

Rachel's room

sunroom

living space/dining room

paiz

About 9months ago, I blogged that my dear friend Hayley Kotner had her baby. I just had to upload a new picture of Paisley. She is such a doll and growing so fast! Can't wait to see her when I come home to visit.

my room

Here's a quick pic (from my iphone) of my room in the house. I apologize for not putting up pics of the house all fixed up yet! I need to get on that. I figured I would go ahead and just post this quick pic of my bedroom to tide you over until I get pics of the whole house added on here. Oh yeah...and I am going to try and start back up blogging more. I turned into a bit of a blog-slacker in August.

Isn't my bedding great?? I got it from Anthropologie. It's super comfy and I loooove it. I splurged, as it was a birthday gift to myself. Mom got me the throw pillows for my Bday.

One of the luxuries...

...of living in LA is that you can drive to Vegas just about anytime you want. We went to Vegas for a couple nights during a few nights off work. We went to old downtown Las Vegas (Fremont St.) which I had never been to. Actually, I think I might've been when I was younger. We took a family trip to LV for Erins 21st bday...so that would have made me 11. Some of the sights down there I could've sworn I had seen on that trip. Anyway, it was a really fun but short trip (2 nights) and I got some sun from the convertible ride there and pool time. I got back yesterday and on the way home I didn't feel so good. I think I might be getting strep throat again. I am notorious for that illness. It seems to get me at least once or twice a year. I called into work tonight and will probably have to tomorrow. Can't be getting my youngsters sick. Even though at work now, we are required to have everyone on "droplet precautions" meaning we must wear a mask into everyone's room whether or not they have a respiratory illness. It's to reduce the contamination of the flu. We have a lot of kids coming through the ED and PICU with the swine flu (not on my floor).

I am getting so excited to come home in a few weeks. I REALLY can't wait to see everyone. I will hardly recognize all the babies I imagine. I'm also excited to get a taste of fall weather in Southern Illinois. Oh yeah...and I cannot forget about my dog!! I got my tickets for the ELLEN show in the mail today. I can't believe I won them! We are so excited (Rach, Nicole, and I). I got lucky last time that Jocelyn had an extra ticket. I never thought I would win a set of my own. The show is recorded on Oct. 6th so it will air on Oct. 7th. We're not sure who the guest will be just yet. I'll let you know when I find out.

Harrisburg bound in 20 days!!

yum

On Sunday night my 3 fabulous roommates and I went to dinner a couple blocks away from our house to a Mexican restaurant called Frida. It was amazing. I felt the need to take a photo of my dinner because it was so beautiful! Can't wait to take my family here when they come visit!

A chile relleno stuffed with beef, pears, & raisins covered with a walnut cream sauce and pomegranate seeds. Yummmmm!

roomates

el matador beach

Yesterday, Rach and I drove to a place called El Matador beach. It's about a mile outside of Malibu and took about an hour to get there. It was totally worth the drive!! It's a small, semi-secluded beach that (apparently) not a lot of people know about. I did a little bit of internet research on LA beaches and decided to try this one out. We felt like we were in Mexico!! It was so beautiful. Here are a few pics of our day at the beach. After our afternoon in the sun we relaxed our sun-kissed bodies on the sea-side deck at Duke's in Malibu for a relaxing drink.

colorful starfish & mussels attached to the rocks

hot hot hot!

LA has been SOOO hot lately! We have been fighting 103degree weather in Glendale and are about to roast alive. Thank god for fans. The hot weather make conditions favorable for wildfires, which LA has also been affected by. Here in Glendale we can see the smoke and fires in the mountains while driving to/from work. I'm sure it doesn't help the heat situation any either. They canceled school today in Glendale due to the smokey air. We haven't been affected by the air yet...we can't even smell it in our house. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

(A pic I snapped on my phone. The smoke is coming from the hills. This is taken from my neighborhood area.)

The house is still fabulous and we are loving living here. We have walked over to the Americana and Galleria a few times. The girls have been here almost a month and are still loving it. They are liking their jobs and enjoying exploring the city with me :) We've been going out a lot on the weekends and Rachel and I went to Manhattan Beach yesterday to cool off by the ocean. The waves were HUGE (8-9 feet). We got in but quickly got out after we got beat up by a few waves, ha.

I can't wait to come home in October and see all of my family! Especially Mal, Ben, and Ethan! It's going to be a good time. I am thinking we should do an early Thanksgiving, because I doubt I'll be able to come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year... Thoughts??

all moved in

Wow I haven't updated in forever. It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks! I promise to post pictures soon. I worked 9 shifts in 11 nights the week before I moved into the house, then Rach & Nicole arrived in LA, then Mom & Dad got here, spent all of last week moving into the house, and I turned 23 somewhere in the middle of all of that.

The house is wonderful and it's so great having my best friends in LA with me. Mom and Dad were HUGE HUGE HUGE help with the move. I couldn't have done it without them!! Special thanks to my Dad for hanging all the curtains in my house (I love my blackout shades in my bedroom! Keeps my room cool & dark during the day for excellent sleeping conditions :) The house is looking great but we still have lots of work to do. I'll post pictures as soon as we get the place looking just like home! Rach and Nicole had their first night of work lastnight and all is well so far. I've been back at work the past couple of nights...working again tonight and then off for another 4. My good friend Theresa (a friend from SLU who now lives in Chicago) is coming into LA tomorrow so I'll get to spend some time with her this weekend. Rach, Nicole, Theresa and I are planning on going to the Cards vs. Dodgers game on Monday night here at Dodger Stadium. Go Cards!!

I'll update more later...off to work...

counting crows

On Tuesday night I went to the Crounting Crows/Augustana/Michael Franti & Spearhead concert at the Greek Theatre. This was the first time I've been to the Greek Theatre and it was sooo beautiful! It's nestled in the hills right under Griffith Observatory, within walking distance from my apt. It's an outdoor venue with a beautiful view of the mountains behind the stage. We got to watch the sunset and enjoy the great music under the stars. It was the perfect summer night in LA! I can't wait to go back.

A clip from the concert: Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"

zodiac

It's hard to believe...

....that I've lived in California for almost a year now! I'm still as excited about living here as I was even before I took my NCLEX exam. There is still so much I haven't seen and so many places I want to go. However, I feel like I've learned so much this year (about everything! from how to purchase & haggle prices on a new car...to paying bills on time...finding affordable insurance companies...and budgeting my 401K into my paycheck)...I am such a grown up! When did that happen? I have accomplished a lot this year...most notably, I feel like I have become the nurse that I hoped I would become. CHLA has molded me into a knowledgeable, detailed, and proficient RN.

So, 3 minor earthquakes, only 4 rainy days (yes...only 4!!), and 2 code blues' later...I am still in love with this city!! I can't wait to move into my new house in 3 weeks and see what my next year in LA brings me :)

independence day

Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I spent mine at work and watched some of the fireworks with my kids from the 6th floor windows (not a bad view actually). I had a great night at work. My kids were stable, sleeping, and in no pain. I had an easy admission (pancreatitis). It was the kind of night I wish I had every night at work! We had a potluck and I brought little pre-made sandwiches from Vons and ice cream. Yum! Now I'm going to enjoy the next 5 nights off working on packing up for the big move (3.5 weeks!).

corpus christi

Texas is an interesting place! It seems like almost every woman has tattoos of looney tunes and their kids baby feet on their backs! Ha...but seriously, besides the urhm..well, interesting folk down in Corpus, we had a fun time. I went down to meet up with Nicole, who has a bunch of friends at the Navy base down there. The guys were super fun. We grilled out one night and went to a dive bar (which reminded me somewhat of Pooreboys in good ole' Hburg). Dancing to 90's hair band music played by a local band and drinking jagerbombs ensued. The next day we lounged at the pool & went to the beach. The water is SO warm in the gulf! It felt like bath water. It was really nice actually, compared to the frigid pacific waters in SoCal. The temp outside though was EXTREMELY hot. Maybe I'm spoiled and too used to LA weather, but damn...I felt like I was in hell...literally 115 degrees and humid! We went to SeaWorld the next day which was super fun (minus the heat)...and surprisingly enough I managed not to get sunburned! Overall we had a really great time. It was a good mini getaway and now I can mark Texas off the map of states I've been to. YEE-HAW!

mj!

Can you believe he is gone? What a legend.

There is no denying this man had some of the best moves ever!!


There is art and memoirs all over Hollywood commemorating the late artist. A painting on the side of an entire building in West Hollywood says "Michael Jackson: You Rocked Our World".

My favorite episode of South Park EVER:

Rest in Peace Michael! ...sha-mone!

third eye blind

Best. Show. Ever.

On Wed (the 24th), I was lucky enough to get tickets to the sold out Third Eye Blind show in Anaheim. I've been wanting to see them forever but they have never been performing near me...something told me to check for tickets last week, and low and behold...they were going to be in SoCal 7 days later! Since I wouldn't be in town for the LA show, my friend Jason and I drove down to the Anaheim House of Blues and enjoyed the show there. It was EXCELLENT! They played all of my favorite songs and a few new ones. The place was crowded and it was definitely worth the extra $$ I payed for the tickets. I'll be at every Third Eye Blind show I can get to from now on...you can count on it.

fathers day

Happy Fathers Day to my wonderful Dad! Thank you for teaching me how to be financially responsible ;-), for your never-ending advice, and your unconditonal support. I don't know what'd I'd do without you! I love you so much!

Dad @ age 15months (my guess)

Ben at age aprox 14 months

.... I think we know where B-man gets his good looks from!!!

ode to summer

I love summer. I just do...always have, always will. Maybe it's because I was brought into the world in the peak of summer (aug 9th,1986)...or maybe it's because some of my most vivid and fond memories growing up happened in the summer. When I think back to my childhood, my mind seems to always wander to my backyard in Carterville. Running around the yard in my red Coca-Cola swimsuit, Natalie tap dancing with Erin Shasteen in the garage, Dad putting rocks around the lake, Mom laying out in the backyard with her feet in my baby pool, riding my blue (Duqoin state fair-won) bicycle with Laura up to the orange building that was once Veach's Short Stop for a slurpee, playing tri-c softball at the park, and Erin and her friends making tropical snows for me & my little friends after a game. I feel my best in the summer. I think I look better too. Why is this? Maybe it's why I moved to California in the first place...because it is sort-of an endless summer here. Call this post pointless if you want, but I just wanted to declare my love for summer :-)Enjoying my Pinkberry (pomegranate frozen yogurt with pineapple & cherries) on a nice summer evening in Los Feliz...a favorite summer treat!

a new place to call home.

As of August 1st, this will be the new place that I call home! Nicole, Rachel, and I will be moving in the first week of August. It's the perfect place for us. Within walking distance to Americana on Brand (a huge/beautiful outdoor mall) in Glendale and only a few miles from work...we couldn't have found a better place to call home.

beach bum.

Today I went to the beach with a book and enjoyed my afternoon outside. Something of which I rarely do now that I work nights. I forgot how nice it is to be awake during the day, I got so much done! Back to work tomorrow night....
If you're curious about the book I'm reading, it's "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. I wanted to read the book before the movie comes out later this month. So far its good but I'm only half way in.

st.louis.

My trip to STL was short but sweet! It was exciting and a bit refreshing to spend 4 relaxing days in the city I once called home. I got to see some of my best friends, drink great wine, and catch up on some much needed rest. The first night I got in, we went to Bar Louie in the Central West End (a bar that I used to frequent quite a bit). Luckily, I got to meet up & see a bunch of my Delta Gamma sorority sisters there, some of them celebrating graduation. On Friday, we went to Montell Winery. The view of the trees, barns, and cornfields were beautiful...the wine was great and the conversation was better. We went to Oyster Bar that night, which is one of my top 3 favorite places in St. Louis. The rest of the weekend we spent catching up on each others lives and talking about our future plans.

Hot Damn Delta Gam

Montell Winery

Rachel & Nicole have officially been hired onto CHLA and I couldn't be more excited!! Rachel will be working in the PICU (with Adam!) and Nicole will be working on 6North, a rehab & general medicine floor. They are moving out on August 5th and I have started the process of apt (or house, if we are lucky) hunting. I always felt like the one thing missing from making LA perfect was the fact that my best girl friends are 2,000miles away. Of course I have made wonderful new friends out here the past year, but nothing will replace my best friends!

Speaking of best friends, my sister Natalie is celebrating a birthday today. Happy Birthday, Nat! I love you and miss you lots. Have a wonderful day celebrating your first birthday with Ethan!

a few zoo animals

My camera died half way through the day...but here are a few good pics from the zoo.