Better Late Than Never. Piece of Thanksgiving.

Better late than never. This blog is being recorded almost a week after Thanksgiving because AHHH….our lives are crazy right now. Before we left we began installing ductless splits for our house, which right now have been amazing. The construction is still ongoing and growing due to what happened on Thanksgiving (foreshadowing), but it is going well so far.  

Our normal tradition of going to San Francisco was back into effect and we were ready to go. We left this year on Wednesday with the intent of coming back Saturday mid-day to have some rest and relaxation before the workweek. Our first stop back in the city was to Kate’s place (Grant’s Aunt) who was kind enough to relinquish her North Beach penthouse to us. From there we walked over to Tony’s and got their extremely tasty coccoli (fried dough with prosciutto) and a calzone.

The next morning was Thanksgiving and I was up early purchasing more crap than I like to admit. Black Friday sales were happening early due to Thanksgiving falling late this year and so I jumped on it. At 10:00 am I had to wake Grant up so we could get a present for Menchin who was hosting Thanksgiving. We walked to the Embarcadero, which was about 25 minutes away to pick up some high-end soap for her. It wasn’t until we were back at Kate’s place and Grant looked up as I was walking up the stairs did he mention that my pants were ripped in the butt. So I, needless to say, walked all of SF mooning people without even knowing. Talk about oblivious on my part.

After changing, we met up with Kate and Russ and headed to Marin. We arrived on time, which never happens and started chowing down. The conversations were great and it was fun seeing friends this time every year. It’s crazy to see how big the kids are getting year after year. It is extremely noticeable considering that we only really see them once a year. After chowing down on some yummy food and talking about flavored “moisturizers” with Annaliese we made our way back to the city.

Having eaten at 1:00 pm, I was a bit hungry for something yummy. Surprisingly there were quite a few different places open that evening and we decided to eat at Pinocchio’s, which was the first restaurant Grant and I ate together. The place was busy, but not overwhelming. The waiter failed to cover over for a while, but Grant and I talked while we waited. Eventually, he came over and took our order. It came out quickly and we asked for the bill. Then we asked again. Then we asked again. We were annoyed because it was taking forever and we were ready to kick our feet up and relax.

Finally, the bill came and we left a 10% tip because we were dissatisfied with the service. You would have thought the world ended because of this. We were outside of the building and the waiter chased us down to ask what was wrong with the service. I don’t think Grant or I have ever been questioned on our tip and we barked back what was wrong with the service. The waiter told us to get out and never come back to this restaurant. It was a large scene, but we could care less because simultaneously we had a bigger issue.

Our great friend Emily had gone over to check on the dogs for us. When she arrived she noticed there was a large puddle in the living room. Except it was not urine from the dogs, but rather a leak. So while this waiter is screaming at us for leaving a sub-par tip-- I am Facetiming with Emily looking at the damage in the house.  She was smart enough to find a bowl that the leak could flow into and at least it was covered for the time being. A week later as I write this and we are making solid progress in having it fixed.

This kind of ruined the day, but after reviewing the costs for coming home early and knowing there was not much that we could do, we both decided it was better to stay and deal with that nightmare when we returned.

Black Friday was pretty calm for us as we had done most of our shopping online. We did go around to a few stores like Gap—found what we wanted and then ordered it only. We met up with Kate and Russ at Yang Sing my favorite Dim Sum restaurant and continued our glutinous Thanksgiving food-a-thon. Asian food in San Diego is awful compared to the worst place in San Francisco. So anytime we are here I want to get some sort of Asian inspired ethnic food.

By the time we got out of there, it was time for our first play—Groundhogs Day. I have never seen the movie, but it was a favorite of Russ and Grant. For those that haven’t seen it—skip to the last 20 minutes of the movie and you will have seen the entire movie. It was fun to see their interpretation of the Bill Murray classic and they did a really nice job with switching between the sets over and over. There were even some moments that had a magical element with the lead actor appearing in bed to start the cycle over again when a minute before he was jumping out of a building.

We parted ways with Kate and Russ and wandered around Union Square a bit longer. My next play was Hamilton, while Grant’s next play was some Drag spoof of Harry Potter. If this is not indicative of our personalities I don’t know what is. We ate at this random fast food joint before the show began. We sat at a shared table, which was inhabited by some weird individuals. The most interesting one was the individual that began coughing in our direction and spitting on the ground right by Grant’s feet. This behavior was to get us to leave and as we got up to dispose of our food he quickly grabbed our remanence. I offered additional food, but he grunted and continued to spit on the floor. Fearful of having him turn his faucet of a mouth on to me-- we left.

Grant said his play was hysterical. It was sold out and this was the second to last remaining showings before the end of its run. Hamilton was sold-out as well. The Orpheum Theater, where the play was housed, was absolutely gorgeous inside. The only problem was the limited number of bathrooms. This would have been Grant’s worst nightmare so its probably better he didn’t come with me. The play itself was fun to watch.  My preference is musicals that mix dialogue with music rather than ones that tell the entire story through music. I bolted as soon as people began bowing to avoid the madhouse that was about to commence.

Saturday we slowly got up and began to pack. We met at Russ’s house for some lemon ricotta pancakes to celebrate his birthday. His family in the area were in town and we got to see them, which was nice. We left for the airport soon after, and even with the delay and turbulence made it back in one piece. Now we are trying to put our house back together, but that will be something that happens piece by piece.

Best of San Diego Party and Hollywood Forever Cemetery

One event that Grant and I look forward to all year is the Best of San Diego Party hosted by San Diego Magazine. The event takes all of the best restaurants in San Diego and has them provide samples or tastings of their cuisine. Like the previous few years, we went with the Newman/Baker/Brandel clan and ate and drank like gods. The location was a bit different this year as it was across the street in an empty field as compared to the permanent structure at Liberty Station.

My personal favorite food item was Puesto’s shrimp taco, which is opening a location in Mission Valley soon! My other two favorites were the pork and shrimp dumplings for the Dumpling Inn and the ice cream from Ann’s Dry Cleaning. All of the food was delicious and I expect us to continue participating in this event for the foreseeable future.

The next day, Grant, Lara, and Michael and I hopped in a car and began our trek to Los Angeles for Cinespia’s Slumber Party at the Forever Hollywood Cemetery. Louis drove and was going to meet us up there. Traffic was a nightmare and it took us about 4 hours to make it Los Angeles with one pit stop at Raising Canes for lunch. Finally, we made our way to our hotel—Westin Bonaventure Hotel to get ready for the evening. The hotel has been used in multiple films and it was really neat walking around remembering random scenes from movies. It also didn’t hurt that the hotel reminded us of the movie with placards.

The pool for the hotel was on a rooftop on the fourth floor. It was really neat lounging in a pool with skyscrapers surrounding us and made from some really cool photos. Time wasn’t our friend due to the late arrival so we were only able to stay for a little while. After getting cleaned up, we all piled into the Mini Cooper to go pick up a sandwich from a local place that Lara choose. The last time that Lara navigated was in Colorado and we ended up at a Yogi Bear Park in Colorado Springs. Instead, of a spa and resort in Denver. This year, she took the lead to find the food and while the directions were great the restaurant was closed. Of course, we are going to tease her about this for the rest of her life.

Instead of sandwiches, we ended up grabbing Little Ceasers, which is right outside the cemetery. The event opens at 6:45 pm and you rush through a graveyard to an empty plot of land where a projector is set up. If you get there late you have to set up next to a mausoleum. You set up chairs, food, drinks and have an evening with hundreds of other people watching 90’s movies. This year’s movies were Never Been Kissed, I Know What You Did Last Summer and JawBreaker.  

We got a decent spot and watched the first movie. People provided their own commentary throughout and we laughed at how ridiculous the movie has become over the years. After the first movie, a DJ was brought in and a dance party erupted at the cemetery. Definitely, something you are only going to do in LA. After a bit of time, Pizza Hut, who was a sponsor of the movie showed up to provide the audience with free pizza. This, of course, created a frenzy of people wanting to grab and snatch, but eventually, we got one of the pizzas. To our surprise, it was still hot! Way to go Pizza Hut on that one.

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The second movie began right at midnight. Another movie that doesn’t hold up well is I Know What You Did Last Summer. The acting in the movie is atrocious and the plot has so many holes in it that you cannot remember why you thought at one point in your life this was a good movie. At the end of the movie, the DJ came out again, but the majority of the people left. Everyone was tired so we retreated to our hotel room and fell right to sleep.

Next morning we got up and went to the Grand Central Market, which was about 10, 12, 14, or 15 minutes away from the hotel. Anytime we looked at a map for directions it would change so needless to say it was reasonably close. The majority of us wanted to try Eggslut, which is an egg-centric food stand offering egg sandwiches. Of course, this place had the longest line in the entire market, but we wanted to try it so we waited. When the sandwiches arrived—they were okay. I deconstructed mine and thought it tasted better separate than all together.  

On the way back, we went through a tunnel. A strange man was on the other side of the tunnel and he randomly stopped walking midway through the tunnel. We continued walking. It turns out he was getting out a syringe to inject himself in the arm with some sort of concoction in a water bottle. Needless to say, LA has a drug problem and we got to witness it firsthand. We drove back following this strange occurrence and made it home in about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

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Scared Boys Cracking Jokes at Museums

The real start to Comic-Con happens weeks before it officially begins with random drawings and ticket grabs happening in the blink of an eye. This year we continued our luck and were able to secure tickets to ScareDiego and the Conan taping on Saturday.

ScareDiego is in its 3rd year and is dedicated to horror movies that are about to come out. This year it was all about the future blockbuster—It Chapter 2. We saw the world premiere of the trailer, 2 exclusive clips and got a full-interview from the cast and director. It was interesting learning about some of the behind the scenes aspects including how they used fake blood. A fact I didn’t know— the blood has to be cold otherwise it putrefies and begins to smell like vomit.

The first real day of Comic-Con was on Thursday and it began by going to the Amazon Prime Activation. They were promoting three shows— The Expanse, The Boys, and Carnival Row. I decided to spend the majority of my time trying to get into “The Boys” activation. The premise behind this show is that superheroes have run amok and they are crooked as can be. Comic-con is nicknamed “Line-Con” and for good reason, as sometimes it takes forever to get through anything. The great news was that Amazon provided food including pretzel bites, churros, fruit, etc, which made the waiting more tolerable. Eventually, I made my way up to the front and got to participate in an interactive room escape with a cool smoking car.

Later that day, I attempted to go down to the convention center, but I was stopped on the street when a live band began to play right in front of me. I recorded a bit of their session, which is below.

After stopping multiple times to admire some of the cosplay, watch the live entertainment, and eat free food— I went to the Indigo Ballroom to watch various panels. I saw a table reading of the upcoming second season of Netflix’s The Order, two episodes of Amazon Prime’s Endure, the pilot of ABC’s Emergence, and some clips from Stumptown. This was all well and good, but the highlight was to see Crank Yankers. Grant made his way down for this one panel and it did not disappoint. The panelists were hilarious, we saw/heard various prank calls and even witnessed the panelist turn on the audience. They proceeded to make fun of certain audience members including calling out “an obvious cat lady.” We found it hysterical and are both thrilled for the upcoming season.

Friday was the opening of the Epic’s Pennyworth Activation, which found us in the basement of Oxford Social Club. The club had been completely transformed into 1960’s London with multiple actors and sets being brought in to sell the effect. Afterward, I made my way into Ballroom 20 where I saw the premiere episode of Hulu’s Veronica Mars and stayed to watch the panel for The Boys. After wandering around the convention floor I took off back home for a restful night sleep.

Saturday was the day that we were going to see a taping of the Conan O’Brien show with special guests from Carnival Row. Everyone loves going to these tapings because we are awarded a limited edition Pop figure, which we always turn around for cold hard cash. This year we received the Woody figure, which was sold in a matter of seconds for $80. This year I was joined by Tarina, Emily, and Lara as Grant had run off to San Francisco for a show. After the taping, we ate at Sushi Deli and made our way to see “Baby Trump.” This year the balloon that has been flying over various parts of the country to mock President Trump landed in San Diego. We made it just before they started to deflate him so we got a few pictures and were happy!

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Sunday was the last day at Comic-Con and I was burned out. Jake, Grant’s brother was still going strong, but I wanted to do something different. Since San Diego is no longer a sports town with the recent departure of the SD Chargers render the Hall of Champions Museum a bit obsolete. San Diego Comic-Con was awarded the museum to bring about a new place to highlight pop culture. They had a pop-up Batman Exhibit that Tarina, Jake and myself attended. It was cool, but I was hoping for a bit more. They had a unique “Her Universe” design section, which had some really neat outfits made out of legos.

The day and con ended with a visit to Mona Lisa for some obligatory pizza. It was a great convention and I hope to go again next year. :)

We are VIPS...Even Though Our Tickets Say General Admission...

This past weekend found us heading up north to the Bay Area once again with the goal of laughing until it hurt. On Friday night, we found our way onto an awful United flight that was bound for San Francisco. [PSA: Don’t fly United basic economy—it’s worse than Spirit]. Checking in late caused us both to get middle seats in the back of the plane. Upon landing, we got in an Uber that was being driven by a guy who was jamming out to Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight...” He was really going for it with his vocal inflections and it was difficult for Grant and me not to snicker. Laughing at an Uber driver was probably a good indication that the trip was going to be laughable.

Our first stop was to Tony’s in North Beach, which has the best pizzas I have probably ever had. They know it’s good too as they charge people $30+ for a normal size pizza. We even had to get it to go as it was impossible to get a table before they closed with wait times exceeding their business hours. We chowed down at Kate’s before turning in for the night.

Grant slept until 10:30 am. I want to make sure I document that because he always claims to not be able to sleep past 9:00 am, but he definitely did! Haha. I got bored waiting for him so I took off to explore the streets on my own. We eventually met up and had a burger before heading down to the “capital” according to Jonathan Van Ness (Queer Eye guy) during his not-so-funny segment.

The main allure of this trip was to go to Clusterfest. Sponsored by Comedy Central, this three-day festival housed some of the biggest names in comedy scheduled sporadically throughout the day. The venue was pretty spectacular as it was smooshed in the middle of a park that was between SF’s city hall, civic auditorium, and their museums.

What became quite clear was that Grant and I got there really early. Having not learned from past festivals, just because the venue is open doesn’t mean anything is going on. We quickly made a b-line to the Crank Yankers installation. The show is coming back in the fall, which we are extremely excited about.

The festival implemented a new reservation ticket system for some of the smaller venues. Instead of waiting in the standby line, you would “reserve your spot” and wait in a far smaller line that guaranteed entry. The only problem was that as soon as the reservations were released (on the hour) they would instantly sell-out. The only tickets that would be available were VIP tickets, but those were issued to individuals who spent a fortune on their tickets.

There were 4 stages spread out through the venue with some you could just walk in. Most of the walk-in were duds so we eventually waited in one of the long lines and made it in. The show was hilarious — Jonathan Veiht— and it really served as a turning point for the festival. Here's a video of one that we loved. that he has done previously

The next reservation came available and like the previous 3 attempts—it sold out beside the VIP. Frustrated, I signed up for the VIP tickets and for whatever reason it gave me passes. It did warn that a “VIP” bracket would be checked, but based upon how lacks security had been we felt that we could "chance it." We were successful! We got into the next show and watched as comic after comic did their own version of stand-up.

After about the third show, our friend Levent showed up with this girlfriend. They were in the main room that was housing John Mulaney who is my favorite comic right now. The stadium was packed and they were in the middle standing room section. The show let out and I rushed to find actual seats. Again, nothing was available in the general admission side, but there was plenty in the VIP section. I casually went under the rope divider and secured us left orchestra seats about 7 rows back from the stage. The only catch was that we were not the only ones who had the same idea.

Security came lurking around and caught everyone around us who had the same idea. However, after coaching Grant to avoid eye contact with the security guards we were good. The opening acts were hilarious and John Mulaney’s set did not disappoint. Afterward, we ran over to the “Colossal Stage” where the next large act of the night, Leslie Jones from SNL was to perform.

Having done it all day, I casually walked again to the VIP section, which had availability center orchestra about 5 rows back again. Again, we had no problem and were able to have a seat in a mostly standing room only type of venue. The show was great and we accomplished our main goal, which was to laugh until it hurt.

The rest of the trip had us hanging out with Kate. We visited Fisherman’s Wharf and the Jack London Square in Oakland. Hoped on a Southwest flight on the way back and made it home ready for another day at work.

Diana, I Love Palm Springs...Baloney!

As retribution for making him go to Ensenada-- Grant decided as punishment to take me to a place that I loathe Palm Springs. For those that do not know, we use to live there when we first moved to California. It was a brief pit stop before we moved to San Diego, but a memorable one. So our weekend revolved around getting there, but first, we had to get through our Friday commitments. 

Friday started with Grant and I having separate holiday parties. Grant’s was held at the DoubleTree in Mission Valley and mine was held at the SDSU bowling alley. I can’t speak for Grant, but mine was not that memorable besides an embarrassing attempt at comedy I submitted for the annual video. Neither party was the party we were looking forward too— that was Diana’s birthday party.

Upon entering Diana’s party we were welcomed with a nice glass of rosé. We said our hellos to everyone we knew and began noshing on all the yummy appetizers going around. Somehow we migrated to the tequila station where Grant and Lara began pounding a few tequila shots back like it was Kool-Aide.  This liquid courage was all they needed when the karaoke station was announced as being opened. As evidenced by the videos, Grant and I both seem to have been sufficiently encouraged to belt our heart out. The party was wonderful and after pigging out on tacos and dessert, we were off to the next party.

This liquid courage was all they needed when the karaoke station was announced as being opened. As evidenced by the videos, Grant and I both seem to have been sufficiently encouraged to belt our heart out. The party was wonderful and after pigging out on tacos and dessert, we were off to the next party.

Our friend Kelsey was having a Christmas/Haunakahh/Whatever party to celebrate the season. The most important thing to me was that we made it in time to score the last potato latke. I get those once a year and did not want to miss it. “Fun” Grant was out in full effect and it didn’t take long to realize we needed to just make an appearance and then leave.  

The next morning we got up and started the pilgrimage to Pammmm Springs (Thanks Mark for making sure this city will always be called that). Our first stop was in Temecula to eat with Holly. It would be an unusual occurrence to go more than 7 days without going to California Pizza Kitchen so we corrected that by eating there for lunch. After eating way too many desserts, which only Holly has an excuse to eat, we continued our journey to the city in the desert that LA forgot. 

After what seemed like forever (1.5 hours) we arrived and checked in to our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Palm Springs, which didn’t have a great view, but did have a great pool and was right next to a casino. After piddling around the room for a while we met up with our friends Louis, Casey, and Nick. In creating this blog I realized I have no evidence of this meet up except a picture of Nick and Casey with the proprietor of the restaurant. Nick had some extended relationship with her so we ended up getting free drinks so there was a reason we put up with him.  

I love beef stroganoff for some reason and this place had it! So I was happy!

Our friend Kelsey was having a Christmas/Haunakahh/Whatever party to celebrate the season. The most important thing to me was that we made it in time to score the last potato latke. I get those once a year and did not want to miss it. “Fun” Grant was out in full effect and it didn’t take long to realize we needed to just make an appearance and then leave.  

We unsuccessfully convinced Casey and Nick to come to the Baloney show that Grant used as the justification for coming to Palm Springs. Baloney is an all-male comedy troop from San Francisco that tries to push the envelope using sex. I have now seen it at least twice and I can honestly say there are acts that are funny and others that bomb. Louis was a great sport and came with us (i.e. saved me from being alone) and even got to participate in the show. He will have that “smell” saved in his memory for a long time I am sure. After the show, we went to the casino where we all quickly lost our money and I turned in. Grant and Louis went out for drinks and came in later that evening.

The next morning was my mom’s birthday and I wished her a happy birthday in the bathroom, while Grant slept. He came in and I went into the bedroom. When he was finished I attempted to go back into the bathroom and decided that I would just bid my mom adieu instead of dealing with that aftermath. Yikes. We both slowly got up and met Louis at the pool for a quick dip before we headed back to home—San Diego.

While I refuse to say to Grant that I Love Palm Springs…I will say that my utter disdain and hatred for this city is dwindling. So that’s an improvement!

Due to Technical Difficulties We Ask That You Leave...

We returned to our normal tradition of going up to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. Last year, we took the year off and went to Salt Lake, which we decided was a mistake. Salt Lake is a very family oriented place and that isn’t what Grant and I are about right now. We more “city-folk.”

This was the first time in a long time we flew United Economy, which meant that we would be living out of a backpack for the next few days. For $125 round trip per person on Thanksgiving we were fine to do so. However, this did limit what we could bring back with us from our Black Friday haul. Upon landing, Grant’s aunt, Kate, picked us up and we were off to start our long break in SF.

Our first stop was at a nearby Thai place. This owner was running the restaurant because most of her staff were off. We had a fascinating discussion with her about restaurant staffing. Evidently, it is extremely difficult to staff restaurants in SF due to a limited workforce. We ate some amazing wings and Tom Kha and went back to change for actual Thanksgiving dinner.

Russ, Kate’s significant other, came to pick us up and we hauled it to Marin for Thanksgiving dinner. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a myriad of familiar faces from previous visits and of course some amazing champagne. This year, the host family asked Grant and I to each cut a turkey, which was fun to do. Somehow Grant got out of doing it in favor of Russ, but he felt that he contributed by supervising. We ate…ate some more…and then ate some more ice cream to top us off. Everything was as stellar as it usually is and really cemented that we made the right choice to come back.

After dinner, Grant and I usually head to union square, but the rain put a damper on that so we stayed in. We had done some online shopping throughout the day so we felt like we got enough. The next morning we got up and actually continued to shop online. I am not sure if I was discouraged to shop in the store because of the limit amount of bag space or if it was because the sales were not as great. Either way, Grant was thrilled as he bought more “flannel” scent from Bath & Body Work and didn’t have to worry about getting the liquids on the plane.

Our big event was at 4:30pn on Friday and that was the Cirque Du Soleil Volta show. Tickets were ridiculously expensive for this tent show, but we decided to buy them anyway. Probably three acts in the house lights come on and an announcement is made that due to technical difficulties the show has been temporarily delayed. After a few minutes, the announcer comes on again and asks us to wait in the concession stand area. This was highly unusual as most shows do not stop mid-performance, but this one did. We found out later that the catwalk had malfunctioned and they could not get it to rise after the acrobats left.

Eventually, they asked us to go back in, but the show did not start. The audience was restless at this point and so we did the wave, flashed our phones, and started chanting random phrases. Finally, the show started up again, but it was a shortened version. The good news though was that they refunded the show tickets 100% so we got to see something for nothing!

The next day we got up and ate Spanish Tapas. The food was so-so, but the portions were huge. We ended up getting a meat platter, which had meat hidden throughout it so you never knew what you were going to find. After much negotiation, Boy Erased was chosen as the movie to follow after lunch. Everyone seemed to like it so it was well fought for by me.

The final event of the trip was AsiaSF, which is, of course, a drag show dinner. It would not be a trip to SF without seeing some form of queer art and Grant does love his drag shows. At AsiaSF, the performers are the wait staff so we were excited to tell them that Russ was celebrating his birthday. As the show went on they gave him a “shot” for him to take.

I think the video will speak for itself.

We had another great time in San Francisco for the holidays and plan to keep this tradition up for the foreseeable future!

Never Ending Halloween

Just as Jamie Lee Curtis could not escape Michael Meyers for 40 years in the new version of Halloween; Grant and I felt that we could not escape Halloween this year. We started mid-September with a trip to a haunted house and continued the festivities all the way until this past weekend. Considering Halloween is just one day a year— the fact we stretched it over 40 days was a bit of overkill.

This year we decided not to go all out and have a huge party, which was definitely the right call. Instead this year, we went to Holly and Chris’s house in Temecula and then on Sunday we kept it simple for us by hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Party.

I woke up on Saturday sick as a dog. Holly and Chris are always really great about coming to our parties so I did not want to flake. This meant that since I was out of commission that Grant was required to pick up the slack when it came to choosing costumes. He decided that we should be a couples costume of wine and cheese. It was pretty ridiculous, but definitely fun.

I thought my part was a bit boring so I wanted to spice it up. What costume could I wear that would not require pants? Risky business. Thus, risky cheese business or cheesy business was created. No one got it. Literally no one. Totally okay with that. I am going to chalk this one up to the fever and move on. The party was fun, it was great seeing everyone, and we created some really awesome carved pumpkins. I definitely hope they do this again next year.

The next day was our turn for our small party and so we began setting up for the murder mystery dinner party. The tables went up and I had gotten a few things from the dollar store to use as decorations. The food was catered by Luna Grill and that was a godsend as I definitely was not up to cooking for the party. Everyone came in character and dressed up. The script was funny, but the company made it hysterical. Lara the racist was the murderer and I was the only one to guess it correct.

Another year of Halloween in the books. Looking forward to tweaking next year a bit, but continuing the good times.

Front of the Line...(Excuse Me)...Move Please....Now! HHN Hollywood 2018

Another weekend in October, which means that of course, we are going to do another Halloween activity. This weekend was our first event in Southern California oddly enough but is definitely my favorite. Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights have houses that are longer, scarier, and are much more manageable to navigate as compared to other theme parks.

We took the convertible and drove from the 8, to the 805, to the 5, to the 405, to the 105, to the 110, and back to the 101. Our GPS had us basically going on any and all highways possible in LA to avoid the horrendous traffic. It kept adding extra miles but shortened the time. I think it was a success, but Grant kept grumbling like an old curmudgeon that we should have just stayed on the 5 the whole time.

During the way, we were notified by Grant’s brother Clint that he is getting married to his long-term girlfriend Jillian. We are thrilled for both of them as they make a great couple. Their date, unfortunately, falls on the same date as our really great friends Rachel and Joseph’s wedding….so Grant and I are going to divide and conquer going to each. We are still trying to find a way to go to both so it will be interesting to see what we can pull off logistically there.

We finally arrived and this year, like last, we stayed at the Hilton at Universal. This is the optimal hotel in my opinion because it was right next to the theme park so we can easily walk back to bed. The front desk attendant was particularly chatty and told us all about her amazing time at the Queen Mary, which was random. She let us check in early so listening to the story was well worth it.

Lara arrived shortly after we checked in with In-&-Out. For some reason, this fast-food dud actually tastes edible this time of year. I secretly think it may because we are starving at this point, or Lara slipped some drugs in the food. Either way delicious. After devouring our food, we left to start our second tradition, which was to go to a movie. This year we had the pleasure of seeing Hell Fest, which was about several college kids going to a theme park where the murders were not staged, but real. It was mildly enjoyable and hardly the worst film we have seen.

Due to the fact none of us like theme park food we decided to eat our big meal after the movie rather than wait. We attempted to go to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant that we normally go to, but it had been changed to Vivo Italian. Not a huge deal. We put our name and phone number down and were told 20-30 minutes. We left and I got a message that stated our table would be ready in 1 hour and 50 minutes. Umm….that is a lot later than initially promised. Reversing course, we went back to the hostess who assured us it would only be 20 minutes. We left again only to have my phone ring 2 minutes later that our table was ready. Come on! Dinner was fine and we left for the park.

Our idea this year was to start at the lower and back lot and work our way forward to the upper lot. This year that had 8 houses and each one was better than the next. We started with Strangers Things to get that out of the way. The three of us seemed to be the only people on the planet that had not seen the show, but the maze definitely made me consider watching the show.

The next two houses, The First Purge, and Poltergeist were my favorites. Having a projector play a “staticy” TV screen and a huge killer monster hand lunging from the screen definitely got me every time. We rounded out the houses with Trick r Treat and headed back to the upper lot. There we did the Terror Tram, which is always a dud. Followed by Walking Dead, Universal Monsters, and Halloween 4. There is always something about Michael Myers jumping out in the most random places that gets me. Well done Universal.

The night wrapped up a bit sooner than usual, which was great for all of our feet. On our way back we attempted to go to Saddle Ranch, this very awkward cowboy restaurant right outside the park, which has fire pits for s’mores. Unfortunately, they bulldozed it, which was a shock to all of us. Instead, we walked back to the hotel, changed into our swim trunks, and went to the hot tub that was open until midnight. At the room, we noticed that the AC was not blowing very cold and called maintenance.

Grant had made a chocolate Sangria…honestly…I do not know what that was. It was nasty. Lara and Grant drank it, but I am surprised they are alive. We started getting text messages from the hotel about the air conditioner and it was clear they did not want to send someone to the room. As soon as we got back to the hotel room, the maintenance team showed up to fix the AC. It was a quick fix, but we wanted to go to bed so it was annoying it hadn’t been done.

The next morning, I called the front desk to talk to a manager and put on my best mid-Western charm. “My family and I were so upset about the events that took place. I just wanted to let you know what happened so that this did not happen to any other family.” Yes, I was making a big deal about receiving text messages and a delayed maintenance response, which was not a huge deal. However, the manager did decide for the inconvenience to waive the rollaway bed fee and the parking fees, which totaled about $100. I guess the life lesson here is that if you do not want to pay for something— complain and it may be taken off your bill. Probably not a lesson you want to teach your kid, but as an adult one to live by.

Next year, our only goal is to get Lara to see the Jabbawockeez as she hates them.

San Francisco 2018 - Folsom Street Festival

San Francisco feels like our second home when it comes to California. I feel that we are up there more often then we are in Los Angeles even though that city is way closer. This trip was a blast as we got to see Grant’s Aunt Kate, and our friend Levent (+ his new girlfriend Casey). The trip started out arriving in town and eating at a really good Italian restaurant. The food was tip-top even though it did take a while for it to come out. Then off to a male-burlesque show, which was rather funny and entertaining. We hung out at the rooftop bar after the show for quite a while and then it was time for bed.

The next morning I woke up Grant (10:00am) so please do not feel sorry for him. He was of course cranky like a bear woken up during hibernation. We had a nice brunch with Kate and next door was a massage parlor that we decided to try out. It was really nice except for a homeless guy mad at his girlfriend (i.e. the garbage can) for stealing all his money and ruining his life. That garbage can really did look like garbage so I can see why he was perturbed. To kill sometime before our night events Grant and I stopped at the San Francisco Dungeon and the Arcade Museum at Fishermans’s Warf. Fun times and really awesome seeing some really retro games.

We finished up there and hiked uphill back to the car. Did I mention uphill? The hole darn city seemed to be nothing, but uphill. Just once I wanted to go downhill, but that never seemed to be the side of the street we needed to go down. We made it to the car and drove out to Great America with Levent and Casey for 8 haunted houses. Some were better than others, but they did have a nice twist on two mazes. One was all mirrors which was very “chaotic” and the other was completely in the dark. Nice twist and definitely something we had not seen before. The night ended on the 8th house, which put us right at the midnight closing time.

The next morning we got up and went to Tony’s pizza where I completely over-ordered. It was a bit ridiculous how much I ordered especially considering it was really just pizza. The bill came for $120 and I quickly paid before Grant could see the damage. Of course, he saw and I got a firm lecture on my poor food spending habits. After that we went to the Folsom Street Fair. It was creepy and gross. The shock factor wore off after a little while and I requested latex gloves to walk around. Oddly enough, I think the gloves made me fit in better so that should tell you the type of fair this was. :)

Levent had a friend who was hosting a concert at his place so he quickly came to the rescue and we ubbered over to the concert. Definitely, fun to have a concert in someones living room. It ended to quickly and we rushed to the airport. The trip was a quick one, but definitely something to remember.

Food, Car, Hike

This post is a little late, but the first time that I have a free moment. 

Our Friday kicked off with San Diego Magazine's Best of San Diego Party that hosts the best restaurants in all of San Diego. This event is all-you-can-eat and drinks party celebrating the award recipients. This has become an annual tradition for Emily, Rachel, Joseph, Grant and me, and is something that we starve ourselves for a week to enjoy. This year I broke with my Keto diet and pigged out on tacos, paella, pizza, and my favorite California Burrito. Not having carbs in weeks-- that tortilla was heaven.

Saturday was a fun and exciting day because we planned on trading in our Jeep Wrangler for a Mini Cooper Convertible. So essentially, we were trading one impractical car for another. I can make some strong arguments such as gas prices, resale value, etc. as to why this is a legitimate decision, but I think the strongest is that I just want one. We drove to LA for SD and completed the transaction without any issue. Grant and my parents decided to name the car TaHoe because she is always going to have her top down. I secretly like the name Watson, which I have been calling it that in private....when I am alone with the car. 

Sunday was a spontaneous hike day. I guess Grant had it planned but did not really relay that information to me. He wanted to take the new car, which I vehemently objected. We got into an argument and ultimately took our other car. This was a wise move because we were all a little hot and sweety at the end. Later we got a massage, visited Tarina's new place, and then went to Kelsey and Chris's for a late-night Sunday game night. 

Not too shabby for a random weekend at home...ish... 

California's Capital, Reno, Scott & Aditi's Wedding, and Truckee

This trip found us going up to Graeagle, CA for Scott and Aditi's wedding. The wedding itself went off without a hitch and the after-party was a lot of fun! This was the first wedding in a while that I was not completely hammered and so the next day was actually pleasant, which is a new feeling.  

For the start of the trip, we flew into Sacramento, which was 2 1/2 hours from the wedding venue. We somehow convinced the rental car agent to upgrade us for free so we scored a mini-cooper convertible. Now we want one. 

Since we were in Sacramento we thought we would tour it a bit. There really isn't much to Sacramento besides the capital so we stopped by there. We "accidentally" joined a random tour in progress and were able to go inside the different chambers. It didn't take long until our eyes glazed over and we left to start our road trip. 

We stopped at a few of the cities in between Sacramento and Graeagle and came upon this really interesting mining town called Old Town Auburn. I am fascinated with small towns and thought this one was particularly charming. We decided to stop and walk around a bit. It was definitely worth the stop if nothing more than to use the bathroom, which Grant of course did. 

From there we took the scenic route through Tahoe Park and ended at the Chalet View Lodge in Greagle. We just missed dinner, but were able to eat some of the leftovers. We saw the happy couple and friends and socialized before we called it an early night.  

The next morning we got up and headed to Reno, while everyone slept off the festivities the night before. Reno is just like Freemont Street in Las Vegas, which screams 1970/1980's. We ended up playing slots at Circus Circus and came out ahead $50. Any money earned is better than money lost so we were both really pleased with the outcome. 

We drove back and got ourselves prepared for the wedding. The wedding was very subdued and relaxed, which fit both Scott and Aditi perfectly. The wedding was in this beautiful part of the resort with lots of trees and water in the background. Very picturesque! Afterwards, the party really started were we began to eat and drink and be merry. The alcohol was definitely flowing and some of us got more intoxicated than others. Ultimately, everyone had an amazing time and created some really lasting memories. 

Finally, it was time to leave, which is not something we really wanted to do. Our friend Allison joined us and we hopped in the car and headed out. Since our flight was not to late we stopped on the way back in Truckee to do some river rafting. The currents were not strong, but we definitely got a work-out paddling the river. Our coordination was not professional just yet and so we hit the brush and a few trees, while trying to take selfies. Next time, we got this! :)  

Comic-Con 2018 Recap

This year's Comic-Con was another great year. Wednesday night was all about touring the floor and visiting Conan. We were able to see the 10 year anniversary of Break Bad cast, which was pretty great as that show still holds up well. We did receive a "Pop" figure, which we promptly sold for $70 upon exiting. Emily and I also got to do all of the exhibits without spending hours in line.  

Thursday was neat because Jake and I jumped around quite a bit. We started with watching a panel for the new predator in Hall H, then I went to Conan again, and finished with seeing some interesting panels in Ballroom 20. Again, sold the Conan pop figure, but this time for $80. We got in line at 7 pm to get passes to Hall H on Friday, which was really not necessary. 

Friday was all about Hall H. Jake and I saw the cast of the Walking Dead, the cast of Glass (Bruce Willis, Sarah Paulson, M. Night Shyamalan, and Samuel L. Jackson), and followed that up with the cast of Halloween. Great evening. 

Saturday was a bit abysmal. We got up early for the Indigo Ballroom and waited for 3 hours in line, but made it in for the Good Place. Terrible seats, but at least we were in and got to see the panel. I went home early only to return that evening for the spectacular performance by Rachel Bloom and the company of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Heavy Boob is just hilarious. 

Sunday was a bit of a slow day. Tarina and I toured the floor and watched (i.e. laughed at the Masquerade recap). 

Observations: 

-Hall H was not that bad this year without Marvel

-Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are the best days to go to Comic-Con. Saturday has to many people and Sunday it is dead. 

Grant's First Garage Sale

A garage sale was something Grant and I talked about doing for a while, but never really wanted to do it. So of course we choose the weekend where we are having 100 degree weather! Thankfully it was cool in the morning of and it all worked out.  

We put up signs around our neighborhood and listed it on a few websites. We both agreed (me begrudgingly) that it should start at 9 am. So I got up at 8 am with the intent of getting everything outside to start the sale at 9 am. Lo and behold, there is already people waiting outside our front door waiting for the garage sale to start. 

I quickly start laying stuff out and a mass horde of people start grabbing it and putting it into piles. Grant must have heard the commotion, wakes up and begins bringing stuff outside. He told me he felt like an auctioneer. As soon as he would bring something out, a person would want to buy it before it made it all the way out the door. 

We planned on being out there from 9 to 12, but in reality it was 8 to 10:30. We sold out of nearly everything and the few things leftover we put outside with a free sign. Our total haul was $1,209.00. Not bad for about 5 hours of total work!

Plus we have more free space for me to buy more stuff. Win-win!  

Del Mar Fair 2018

The theme was sweets, but the drive was more of a cavity.

This years Del Mar Fair was all about the sweets, which means that all of the food either had to have sugar, bacon, or be fried. So standard food fair.

This trip Tarina tagged along and we headed out to the fair around 2ish. What should have been a 30 minute drive turned into a 2 and a half hour exercise in patience. It took forever to get into the fair, but once there we had an amazing time.

We walked through the exhibits, ate some really nasty food and rode rides that made us feel even worse then the food. It was a tortious experience that we all thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to going back too! 

Waiting is Not an Option at Disneyland

Yesterday, we went to Disneyland for the first time in about five years. As soon as we walked in we were swarmed with people. The adventure did not start well with our first ride, Guardians of the Galaxy, having a 70 minutes wait and no FASTPASS. So we left to ride Indian Jones, which had the shortest wait.

To our initial dismay, as we were in line the ride broke down. However, as a result they gave us a free FASTPASS that let us ride any ride whenever we wanted! We went over to Space Mountain and got on right away as compared to the standby 95 minute wait.

We conveniently forgot to give the ride attendants our fast passes, which lead us to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Matterhorn with a FASTPASS.   

The final hurdle was to get back to Guardians and avoid the 70 minute line. Confidence is key and so we just went up to the ride attendant and pretended like we had a FASTPASS.  Immediately after I scanned my pass, Grant scanned his. This completely messed up their system as there was no way to go back and review the error. The attendant was so frazzled they let us both in! 

We left the park to eat and came back and rode the reopened Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Each of those rides had about a 15 minute wait so we begrudginly waited in those lines.  We may not have gone to Disney in a while, but we still know how to work the system!