viper room

last night we went to the viper room to watch a few bands play, including a friend of shawn's. we didn't stay very long but got to see this band called pillbox which was pretty good. but the music was SOOOO loud and the treble turned up so high that it hurt. i had my fingers lodged in my ears the whole time until some long-haired guy walked up to me and said "newbie?" and i nodded and he produced two pink pill-like objects from his pocket.

shawn and i reached for the pills at the same time. shawn told me later that he thought the guy was handing me drugs and he was trying to stop it. but as i reached for the pills, i noticed they were only earplugs!

hah! what a godsend!! i actually enjoyed the music much better with the earplugs in. but does that make me officially an old fogey? especially since i couldn't wait to get home and change into my pj's.

i think it's official.

although, we did do some dancing at the viper room and then went to the hustler store where shawn and i laughed at all the porn like teenagers. maybe there's some kid left in both of us.

best weekend of all time

the master bedroom in the vineyard house
there's a shawn in that bed

the first time we all had wine grapes right off the vine and they taste sour and gross!
a view of the vineyard house
shawn and dave, who was the best, most polite person i've ever met. so what did shawn do later that afternoon? open the door to the bathroom when dave was doing a #2 (because he thought gross would be in there)
that's gross, shawn, and dave (from l-r), discussing logistics before the show. at the time, only 350 seats were out. later on that night, they had increased it o 450 and nearly 500 people showed up. it was a great night.
shawn looking very important as he surveys the scene.
one of the gorgeous views from our bedroom overlooking the winery.
a beautiful master tub right in the bedroom. we would've taken a bath but there was no time. those french doors opened up to a private wraparound deck right outside our bedroom where shawn spent a lot of time looking out at the stars.
the view from the backyard of the vineyard house.

the stoney looking path to the right is actually a huge waterfall. in the pond were 2 swans chilling out. the tent area is where the show was held.

another pic of our bedroom.
and another.
and another
and another
and there's shawn again

weekend at the vineyard

we're driving out here tomorrow http://www.lealvineyards.com/events/index.html and i'm so excited. comedy, a d.j., bbq sandwiches, and all at a vineyard!

whatever happens, it's just got to be better than vegas.

speaking of which, i've got a plantar wart under foot that is so deep, i've been through months and months of treatment (though on and off) and it's STILL there. i'm officially diseased and contagious.

read through book 6 & 7 of the harry potter series last weekend. i absolutely LIVED those books; it hardly felt like reading, more like watching page after page of scenes. and i couldn't get through each page fast enough. i was selfish, greedy, and completely lost in those books . . . and now it's over and it wasn't until my last 200 pages in book 7 that i realized i would never ever read another new harry potter book ever again. but i was so wrapped up in the story, i couldn't slow down and pace myself. i HAD to know what happened. so i gobbled up both books whole. and now . . . so sad to say, it's over.

called khamphy and mom today. sort of miss going over to k's for some of her spring rolls. she'd invite so many people over, it was always standing room only around the dining room table and each man for himself.

vegas

this is a driver who was such a jerk on the 15 that i had to take a picture just in case i needed documentation of his driver's license. he kept cutting us off and refused to let us pass him. as he cut us off, the trailer would fish-tail. i was certain that fat mattress on the left side would come hurdling towards us. as you can see, it is held on board with a few strips of clear tape. the epitome of ghetto. i guess he was pissed about moving back home now that his dreams of making it big in hollywood failed. ouch. did i cross the line?
i was really taking a picture of the mad greek sign, which is a place that was featured on the food network. it looked so good on t.v., i knew i had to try it. but shawn drove by it without stopping. (oh by the way, that's the way he looks when he's really getting into a song.)
this is me watering my herbs and jasmine before leaving. i was looking a little rough.
this was saturday afternoon. we set out for the strip via free hotel shuttle service, which dropped us off at bally's (at the edge of the strip). little did we know at this time we'd be slow-roasted alive by the hot sun.
ah yes, after walking from bally's to mgm under that beating sun and sweltering heat - god, even the pavement seemed to retain and radiate heat. we were like ants under a magnifying glass. we finally ducked into a starbucks near mgm. as you can see here, my face was burnt red. i was sweating like a farmhand.
this was shawn's sweaty face. though he didn't complain nearly as much as i did. i was in pure misery. he was just hot.
this was a guy who sat inside starbucks sleeping. hah. i had to take a picture.
a vegas peacock out in the open with us lowly, sweaty humans. she walked very leisurely, knowing full well she was turning heads. her shoes were these beige dance heels that were all beat up from too much dancing - an unusual working girl's pair of shoes.
the sony playstation room at the mgm's west wing lounge. this was by far the coolest lounge. only we never mustered up enough will /energy to go back and have a cool martini. would've been nice though. i probably could've spent the entire weekend inside this lounge and would've been content.
our view outside from starbucks. those poor schmucks on that roller coaster were not only hot, but had hot air blowing on them as they were swirled around the tracks. ugh! hot, sweaty and nauseous. not a good combo.
hate to admit it. my happiest moment in vegas. i bought a new bag for the bargain price of $10 at Caesar's forum shops along with a raspberry gellato. the BEST!
shawn with a chocolate gellato.
shawn was swinging his feet as we sat at the foot of an indoor fountain structure. i was about to take his picture when someone walked by and he accidentally kicked her. this is his true reaction right after kicking her. hah!
shawn talking to gross and asking him whether he was in vegas. and he was! staying right there at the mgm.
carmen's chocolate birthday cake (bavarian creme filled with whipped cream frosting). the restaurant (wolfgang puck's) then cut up the pieces and decorated each slice with shaved chocolate spikes, chocolate covered strawberries, and strawberry sauce. it was truly decadent.
carmen and adam. dinner for me: flat iron steak with fries. shawn: wood oven pepperoni pizza. carmen: gulf shrimp with parmesan risotto. adam: eggplant calzone and sweet creamed corn soup with shrimp and basil oil. wine: 2003 sagelands merlot - yummy.

shawn and his momma.
shawn after leaving his momma.
on the way back home, we stopped at mad greek! yay! i got a real shawarma with fries. holy moly was it good!
shawn's injury after trying to grab something under the car seat. vegas' final gift to us.

happy birthday!

it's shawn's 34th birthday. today we slept in until 4pm, then i baked a cake, cooked up some chicken tikka masala; we opened our favorite bottle of wine (wild horses pinot noir). right now, we're enjoying the wine, shawn's playing some of his new records, there's a nice cool breeze flowing through the apartment, and the sun is setting.

shawn woke up with a new pimple on his cheek. i still have broken capillaries in my eye. we look like a diseased pair.

nevertheless, we'll go out later and have a few drinks at the frolic room, maybe the rainbow bar & grill. overall - it won't be earth-shattering, but exactly what we felt like doing.

it's going to be really hard to stay away from news reports re: harry potter and how the series ends. i guess i will be a little out of the news loop for awhile until after i finish reading it, but my copy won't arrive until approx. 8/1 - ahhh! will i make it that long before discovering the ending!!! ahhhh!

will post bday pics later if i remember to take my camera!

evvy bear

i called my sister (khamphy) this morning and evvy was with her, watching her with these big eyes as she talked to me. she turned on the speakerphone, and evvy was smiling at the sound of my voice from the speakers, and concentrating on who was talking to him - his lips made the shape of words but he didn't know how to make the words come out. khamphy said that his upper lip was curled just like the upper lip of a turtle. haha!

he looks EXACTLY like my brother. khamphy said that she once saw chayee and evvy sleeping and they looked like identical twins, with their big pumpkin heads sleeping together.

a forlorn day

saw a horrible accident today. a young woman delivering pizza on foot, darted between traffic, didn't look in both directions before she ran across the street - never even gave the driver a chance.

i can remember it vividly - the woman's bare legs (must've been wearing shorts or a skirt) were struck first, she stumbled a bit, then her body was slammed against and carried on top of the windshield. the vehicle came to an abrupt stop, and the woman's body flew off the windshield, over my car, and landed a few feet behind my rear bumper. i could see her laying there on the concrete, on her stomach, with her left cheek on the road. her shirt had flown up, so i could see her ribs. thank god she was breathing.

i fumbled for the brakes and was getting ready to get out of the car, but chin (passenger/coworker) was having a panic attack, covering his eyes and wailing "oh my god!" he didn't want to stop and kept saying, let's go, let's get out of here. so i drove him the short distance back to work, and walked back to the scene to give my statement to the police (officer batty).

it was totally pedestrian negligence. the crosswalk was only a few feet away. yeah, it was a few steps further from where she needed to cross, but this is freakin los angeles! there isn't a moment where you could even begin to THINK there's nobody else on the road. there's ALWAYS traffic even when last you looked, all was clear.

when i gave my statement, a shop owner/employee was standing outside and told the police that the pedestrian was delivering pizza to their shop and she habitually darts through traffic without using the crosswalk.