Out and About in SoCal

As a recent transplant to Southern California, I get asked a lot about what kind of things have I seen and where have I been.  People want to ensure that I get the full California experience, so they are always suggesting places to go and things to see.  Many of you may be curious just what we've done while we've lived here and others may not give a crap. Well here is a blog about it anyway, so deal with it.

Universal Studios: I kinda like Universal Studios, but it is absolutely not worth the $75 to get in.  Plus you have to pay like $15 for parking.  Anyhoo, I go for the studio tour mainly, but some of the rides are fun.  You're usually done with the park within about 2 hours, but hey it's really close to where we live.

Hollywood - Walk of Fame, Chinese Theatre, Freaks:  Yes, you have to go at least once and that's about all you need for the rest of your life.  It's cool to see, but it is crowded with tourists and filled with all sorts of crazies!  People dressed up as comic book characters, cartoon characters, hollywood icons and some people just dressed up like weirdos.  You can smell the desperation mixed in with car exhaust,  sunscreen and BO. 

Hollywood Bus Tour:  The one we went on was pretty lame.  I don't even remember one cool thing that we saw.  The highlight of the tour was the El Pollo Loco where Brad Pitt once worked as a chicken.  Seriously.  The tour was crappy, but hey at least someone else was driving.

Griffith Park:  I like Griffith Park.  It's free and has the best views of the city.  However, a gazillion people are there everyday so you have to park 2 miles down the mountain and hike up to the observatory.  You do have a pretty good view of the Hollywood sign, though.

Sony Studios Tour:  Ok, so we took this tour on a trip to LA several years ago, but I think it's worth a mention.  I LOVED this tour!  I don't remember the price, but I think it was pretty reasonable.  Not many people know about this tour, so we only had like 6 of us in the tour group.  This is a walking tour around Sony Studios.  Because our group was small, our tour guide snuck us in to several working sound stages and other places not typically seen on the tour.  It was awesome.

Warner Brothers Studio Tour:  This one was kinda pricey, but I think we got a pretty good value for our money.  Also, it's right by our house so we had to go.  This is a mix between a tram and walking tour and you see a lot of stuff including just about all of their back lots.  We even got to get out and explore some of the houses on the back lot and that was really cool.

Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive:  Meh. It's fancy and I guess that's cool, but clearly I can't afford anything there, so it's not that fun. Oh and there aren't any public bathrooms!! UGH!  There is a Crumbs Cupcake shop, so that may be worth the trip.

The Jay Leno Show/Tonight Show:  We've been several times cause it's really easy to get free tickets.  However, you do have to wait in line for at least 2 hours and if you get there late you may not be seated.  Anyway, it's neat to see and if you're lucky to go on a night with a really cool star, then it's definitely worth it.  I do think Conan is WAY better still...

Santa Monica Pier and Beach:  Parking sucks.  It smells like fish.  There's not much do on the actual pier.  The beach is nice.  And I guess that's about it.

Malibu:  We ate at a nice restaurant right on the water and that was fun, but it was really windy at the beach so that didn't make it very enjoyable.

The Getty Center:  Another free thing to do in LA.  Well, the museum is free, but parking is like $10 or something.  Pretty cool museum, if you're into museums, and a stunning building and location.  I'm not much into museums, but it's cool to see that stuff at least once. 

The Groundlings:  This was great!!  Tickets are pretty cheap and the show is hilarious.  We even had a guest star in our show - Groundlings alum Mindy Sterling (Frau Farbissina in Austin Powers movies).  She was hilarious!  Anyway don't miss this one!

Several Theatres: The Falcon, The Colony, Glendale Centre Theatre, A Noise Within, Luna Playhouse...all pretty good shows! 

Disneyland: Ok, so I really, really like Disneyland (and Disney world for that matter) and this trip didn't disappoint.  If you are gonna go, especially from the Valley, go early on Sunday mornings.  We shot on down there within 30 minutes on a route that takes at least 2 hours any other day of the week.  Nearly $100 each for Disneyland and California Adventure, but I think it's worth it.  We filled our day riding rides and only had one ride where we waited more than 20 minutes.  It was great!

The Grilled Cheese Truck:  Some people may scoff at this as an attraction or LA hot spot, but it is...for us anyway!  This gourmet food truck travels around to a new destination everyday and serves up the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever!  Mmmmmm....I had a brie with smoked turkey, pears and honey and it was fabulous! You can follow them on twitter to see where they are grilling on a particular day, so if ever they are in your neighborhood, be sure to go!!


And...I guess that's it so far.  We still have a lot to see and do, like:

• Mulholland Drive
• San Diego
• Knotts Berry Farm
• Medieval Times
• Paramount Studios Tour
• LA Zoo
• Six Flags
• La Brea Tarpits
• And about 6 billion other things...

Mish Mash: a Quick Recap of April Events

So I really didn't post much in April and hey look, now it's already May 7th.  April was kind of a weird month for me.  A lot happened and very little happened.  Very little happened in the way of auditioning and finding employment - at least for the first part of the month.  A lot happened in way of life changes and traveling though.  Here's a recap:

April 1-April 7: Did absolutely nothing but search for jobs and auditions all day, everyday.

April 8-April 12: Trip home to Denver!!  Evan's family VERY generously flew us out to celebrate Evan's sister's birthday.  We were only there for 4 days and we used every second we were there to visit family and catch up.  It was extremely busy, but awesome and definitely much needed.  I was so sad to have to come back to CA and so didn't want to leave.

April 15: My dear friend Brittney came out to Burbank to visit a school and we got to have lunch.  I LOVED being able to spend that time with her, although it was rather brief.  It was really great to have a friend out here!

April 16: My grandma passed away - 1 day after her 88th birthday after a long battle with Alzheimer's.  This prompted an immediate trip home to CO the next day.

April 17-April 21: Flew home in order to drive out to Kansas (6.5 hours) the very next day.  It was lovely to see family again even though it wasn't under very pleasant circumstances.  There was a rosary, funeral and burial service for my grandma which were all full of tears and great memories.  My grandma was a truly classy and refined woman who had devout faith and endless love and support for her family.  Unfortunately, my grandma was stripped away from us several years ago by trauma-induced Alzheimer's.  As awful as this may sound, I had been slowly saying good-bye to her over the past few years which made her actual funeral a fraction easier to handle.  She is now at rest beside my grandpa and I know those two are whooping it up in heaven - eating ice cream cones, my grandma's awesome fried chicken and still trying to solve those pesky Wheel of Fortune puzzles.  :)  We drove back home to CO on Wednesday.

April 22-23: Still in Colorado because my brother and his wife were expecting their 2nd baby!!  Funny the way life works out.  I wasn't going to be able to be present for his birth, but because I was already there for the funeral, I could now see my brand new nephew.  Landon Riley was born on April 23rd via c-section and was small, but healthy.  He was born with a full head of hair just like his brother and even seems to have the exact same calm temperament.  I think they may have had twins 5 years apart.  :) I only got to see Landon for a few minutes before leaving to catch my flight back to CA.  Can't wait to see him again when we visit in June.



April 24-27: Not...a lot....going....on.

April 28: Finally, FINALLY my first real audition!!!!!!!  Nearly 6 months in and I had an audition for a TLC show called "Born on a Bad Day."  It's a reality/re inaction show about real women who gave birth in crazy situations.  I was called in to audition because I kinda looked like the real person in the scenario they were recreating.  I was given a scene that I had to improv dialogue to.  It was pretty fun and easy and of course made me crave for more auditions.  Nothing came of this audition, but I was happy to be given the opportunity to try.

And now here we are, already in May.  Oy, how time flies.  Still looking for a job that doesn't make me miserable and still trying to get more auditions.  It's a never ending cycle.  Oh and it's starting to get pretty hot here.  We're trying to be strong and not turn on our AC yet, but it's just a short matter of time before we give in to refrigerated air. 

On a different note entirely, many of you know that an old friend of mine is in critical condition in Colorado.  He suffered a brain aneurysm and has been in a medically induced coma for a few days.  I plan to dedicate another blog post to my fun and quirky memories of him once he fully recovers and is able to re-live those memories with me.  Keep fighting, Jason!  I know you are gonna pull through and become stronger than ever!!