Creative Artist Genius Girl

Inspiration by a candle...The Loveliness of Fall

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:03:00 +0000

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” – George Eliot

I love fall. And yet, sometimes I forget how much I truly do until the season comes around again and I walk into a grocery store and the aroma of cinnamon scented pine cones greets my nose. Then I am in heaven! And inspired. Feeling crafty and domestic like an 19th century young woman (minus the corset, lack of baths and basic civil rights).

Its amazing to me how one small thing can brighten someone's mood so tremendously. Scent, for me, and many others, has this magical power that can lift your mood instantly. Yesterday, in lieu of fall's newborn arrival, I went to Wal-mart with my mom and bought Mainstay's pumpkin spice scented candle. It was just a small one with a glass encasement for a $1. Totally worth it! It reminds me of my childhood in Utah, and even annual home shows where they'd always have something like pumpkin & apple pie, mulled cider, or sugar cookie wafting through the corridors making the public happy. Lets be honest, it seems Utah hands down has the best candles on the planet being that it is probably the craft capital of the world. But Wal-mart is a close second, and luckily they manufacture and serve worldwide :)

My little pumpkin spice candle is already getting great compliments and use in the household. We burned it for about 6 hours yesterday in the living room and its only a 1/4 gone. It is now positioned on my computer desk so that I may make both my nostrils happy and keep my inspiration flowing (is it odd how I use the word 'nostrils' when referring to inspiration? LOL!). But then again, think about it, scent trigger memories, and if they are good memories you can transport yourself to that feeling again, even when you are struggling to attain it at times. Its scent therapy. And it works! I should know.

All last night I was raving about the candle and its heavenly odors, to which my mother declared, "If I knew it would make you this happy I would've bought a case load!" She probably said this because during our evening watching a 2-hour episode of "Dancing With the Stars" I kept proclaiming, "Doesn't that smell so good?", "Oh, that is so divine!", "I want to make pumpkin pie!", "We should make pumpkin pie chocolate muffins," etcetera etcetera etcertera!!

As you can see I've been hypnotized by pumpkin, and for only a $1. I can't imagine what the $5 large version of that candle would do to me! Undoubtedly it would be a sound investment. When it comes to one's nose and state of mind, peace and pleasantry is priceless.

So what scent makes you happy and reminds you of happy times? I ask because I may expand my candle empire beyond pumpkin and should like to know. Thanks :D

Leaving you with lovely thoughts of fall :)

Some beautiful visual imagery....Scottish Style

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:59:00 +0000

I don't know about you all, but sometimes, when I am really wishing I could go on holiday, I go on a mental one. No, that doesn't mean I go nuts, haha, just means I go to google image search and start typing in places I'd like to go and see where it leads me to.

From the beginning of me and my boyfriend's courtship we have always talked about going to Scotland, maybe living there someday. I am absolutely in love with England, yes, but there's something so rugged, pure and untouched about Scotland's landscape. We didn't have time to go on my last trip to the UK but what I've seen, and heard, makes it a definite destination next time around.

What I love about Scotland from what I've heard from Pete and seen from photographs is that that most of it is hills, valleys, and lochs, with no civilization for hundreds of miles, even more so than England. I love that. And wherever you are in Scotland you are always close to the sea- since its such a narrow country. I cannot wait to go there. I long to walk through the hills and valleys attempting to channel ancient wisdom from my ancestors onto paper (just kidding, I just mean writing in a journal, or working on my novel), taking photos, and listening to Enya on my MP3 player. Sounds like heaven!

During my google search of Scotland for my mini-holiday I found these GLORIOUS and absolutely divine photographs by photographer David Lloyd-Roach. When I saw them it literally took my breath away, and I've been sharing them with everyone I can since. Hope you enjoy them blog ladies and gents and they brighten your day and make you dream of glorious holidays, too :)

*Note, click on the photos to enlarge to really get the true experience :)

This is my favorite photo of all. It makes me think of a prehistoric paradise (minus the dinosaurs, of course)

My Attempt At Domesticity

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:41:00 +0000

Two weeks ago afore I welcomed this flowerous visitor (we shall call her Miss Chrysanthemum) into my home in hopes that I could nurture her, watch her grow, and enjoy part of nature indoors whilst basking in the pride of my green thumb. I have been writing on a regency novel lately and envisioning beautiful English summer gardens in my head and thought if I had just one actual pot of flowers (however small & minute) on my desk of inspiration, that somehow, I’d have, well, more inspiration.

For a few days I did have more inspiration, and then despair, when I woefully realized that my Chrysanthemum was beginning to wilt. I tried to water it regularly (but then one has to be careful not to over water, causing root rot – these things are so delicate), and I attempted to give her some natural sunlight, but mostly incandescent light by the lamp near my desk. Miss Chrysanthemum was having NONE of it. Her largest blossoms were shriveling by the day and I felt so wretched I decided to put her outside on the balcony. First it was a couple hours airing each day – but last night, I forgot about her and left her outside the entire night.

I took this picture of her today. This is the first day (and after much trimming away of the excess dead flowers and leaves) that she actually looks perked up. Apparently, leaving one’s precious Chrysanthemum out all night is a positive thing to do (I've just learned that these flowers are supposed to be outdoor plants). If this solution does not work out I suppose I should not be too upset, however. I only spent $2 for the entire project ($1 for the Chrysanthemum, $1 for the pot; the trouble and worry of it all – priceless).

This story is to be continued. In the meantime, does anyone have any recommendations of pretty, colorful and small indoor plant I could buy (preferably a flower)? I was thinking perhaps an African violet. Something lovely to perk up my author's corner of the room. I need a backup plan in case Miss Chrysanthemum makes a dramatic exit.

P.S. Admittedly, I am quite proud of myself; I didn’t even have to look up how to spell Chrysanthemum, hehe. Reminds me of that scene in Anne of Green Gables where the teacher asks his soft-voiced blond protege how to spell it, but she ruins it, and Anne triumphantly declares the actual spelling. Hurrah!

Blogless Inspiration or should that be Inspirationless Blog???

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:12:00 +0000

I don't know about you all, but sometimes I feel like I don't have much to say, or if I do, it shall be boring in a blog, which then in turn bores other people, defeating the purpose of a blog, haha. But then again, you might be like me and find that no matter what is going on in people's lives, and blogs, other people's lives are far more interesting to read about and news worthy than my own on paper, or blog space for that matter. So perhaps that is why I've been M.I.A. in the blog realm lately. A lot has been going on, yet if I wrote it all down, it might seem like nothing at all. HA!

But alas, I am back again, regardless of my aforementioned fears, and attempting to be creative or blog inspired once more. My blog title after all does promise such.

Let me think what I have been up to lately.... a road trip and visit to Utah to see my family (was lovely), I live in a hotel (well not really, figuratively speaking, two more family members are staying with us right now, but its been fun, and never short of laughter, only room, hehe). I have seen far too many films in the last few weeks to number, (mostly redbox, so haven't broke the bank) and have spent far too much time playing bedazzled on facebook, (oh wait, is it called bejeweled? HAHA, it is, and that just shows what a brain-numbing/addicting/make you solve imaginary equations afterwards whilst even on the toilet/sick/freaky and hypnotising game that it is). It really is terrible when one thinks about it, haha. But I can't stop, I'll probably even play just 15 mins before I go to bed after this (which translates to= 150 mins, haha).

I will say I have accomplished some good things lately as well in my blog absence. I am 100 pages through my Regency novel that I've been writing, have rewritten some of the plot (for the better I believe) and the story has evolved a great deal. I have done a helluva lot of research recently to keep my regency knowledge & vocabulary up to par which was fun, and time consuming . P.S. If anyone wants to know what an ape leader is, just ask me and I'll tell you ; P because I think we should all incorporate it into our daily vocabularies. JK.

I have also been doing a very difficult, but beneficial diet for my health recently - perhaps that's why I've also been inspirationless and maybe a little crabby. Its the adrenal/anti-candida diet. Which basically means stay away from all the tasty stuff, to improve one's health and vitalization. Translation = stay away from bread and sugars.

You'd be surprised the first couple days on the diet are horrible - I'd liken it to someone getting off crack (not that I've ever done crack, but I've watched that A&E "Intervention" show, it's scary!) , but after the initial few days the diet gets much easier. (I say that only because I tripped up this last week and gave into bread products and ice-cream). Oh well, back on the straight and narrow tomorrow! The good news is I already lost some weight around my middle because of it, which is super hard to lose, and its encouraging that I am beginning to be able to see inside my belly button since... well, I can't remember, lol. Encouraging stuff, haha.

Alright well, I am a bit delirious and tired. I hope this was somewhat amusing. Till I return again lassies & laddies...

Now Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Program

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:11:00 +0000

Okay so its been a busy couple of weeks - what with family coming to town, me chauffeuring said family around town, taking my teenage niece to modeling gigs and castings (she just got signed to Wilhelmina Modeling Agency, wahoo!) helping babysit my cute 2-year old nephew, going to the beach with mom and the kids, going swimming, having BBQ's, - its been hectic hectic hectic. I just wanted to send a shout out if anyone is still around in my bloggy corner of the world that yes, I am still alive, and will be back to posting more soon, (when I'm not busy baby proofing an apartment that has never been baby proofed, since my nephew gets into everything, haha). It's been an adventure with all this new energy and excitement in the apartment, that's for sure. But I wouldn't miss any of it :)

I hope everyone else is having a grand summer. Before I go I wanted to post some things I'm grateful for (thanks to UKYankInOz for the idea). I normally do gratitude notes in my journal, but why not send some positive energy out to the blog world also methinks. And so without further ado:

I am grateful for my loving boyfriend Pete
I am grateful for my family visiting me here in L.A., and a wonderful family in general
I am grateful for the beautiful California sunshine and good weather
I am thankful for a nice place to live and good food to eat
I am grateful for laughter, smiles, music, and all the simple pleasures in life that make it all worthwhile.

Happy Summer everybody!

The Ugly Truth - My Extra Debut

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:27:00 +0000

So I'm sure anyone in America who has basic television has seen the endless previews and media attention surrounding the new romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth" starring Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl, and I suppose if you've been following my blog enough you'll know that I got to be in this film May 2008 when it filmed in Los Angeles and near San Diego. Now it was nothin' special, I was just an extra for 2 days, but it was a fun experience to hang with the stars up close and personal, watch a movie being made and be part of it, so I just wanted to reminisce a little.

Day 1: I was scheduled to be a night club go-er and patron at for a Salsa club scene to be filmed downtown at the train station (odd location I know, but they made a pretty impressive make-shift salsa club inside). As always with movie making there is usually a very early call, and then a lot of sitting around and waiting for hours. Luckily wardrobe approved me quickly in a red chiffon and beaded halter top, black ruffled skirt and black heels I'd all brought from home, and I was sent to wait in line outside the hair and makeup trailer for approval. About an hour and half later I was sent inside the trailer, with a little surprise as I came up the steps to see Gerard and Katherine inside by the entrance. I don't remember much but I do recall that it was very stuffy, and small in that little trailer and that Gerard Butler has a loud, infectious laugh that seemed to filled the tiny space with a sense of fun and humor.

The set for the salsa club was very large, with balconies overlooking a long oval bar I believe, and a dance floor, with rows of tables and booths on each side. Because of space, and filming tricks, they mainly kept people on one side of the dance floor tables. During filming my first assignment was to walk to a booth by the dance floor, and sit down and join my "date" (a guy whose name I can't really recall, other than he made me laugh and we enjoyed playing with the accoutrements on our prop drinks). Ours was a great spot to be because it was close to all the action, where the actors hung between takes, and apparently the camera was right on us, (my friend actually found a movie still shot with my head in it, total crack up, haha!) I know its me because of where I was positioned, and because there were no extras on the booth tables on the opposite side of the floor. Here's the pic.

LOL, I'm such a nerd! I feel like a party crasher with my head tilted like that (I promise I wasn't looking at the camera, lol!) Let's hope someday my personal and career accolades extend past something more monumental and slightly embarrassing like this, hehe, but if not, it was fun and that's all that really matters.

Overall, film day one was a great day, a long day, a little over 12 hours, but full of laughter and good people. What I enjoyed most was how friendly the other extras were, (extras usually are though) and how casual and laidback Gerard Butler was. Even though some people still didn't know who he was then, (the guys especially until they realized he was King Leonidas in"300"); he didn't act like a star. Gerard didn't sit in his actor's stool really, and instead preferred standing talking with extras and crew, or sitting in a booth next to ours squished next to some camera men. In fact, it struck me that he much preferred this casual atmosphere verses hanging out in a lonely trailer between takes, because he mainly hung out on set with all of us during that time from us extras to the salsa dancers to the crew, regardless of our importance on the film and Hollywood politics. I thought that was really cool.

Being on set was one of those observational experiences where you see this strange dichotomy firsthand with the Hollywood hype, filmmaking, and movie "stars". Its an exciting feeling to be there and yet everyone is normal, they all sweat, they all get tired, they all get hungry, restless, stressed, happy or forgetful. The only difference with famous actors is they have a job where they can have creative release, share a bit of their charisma and hopefully get a handsome paycheck for it, and depending on the press and public's mood they receive adulation and acceptance or criticism and indifference. Makes you realize how fleeting and complicated it all is.

I have to say that living in Hollywood for 5 years now you see it all when you go to parties, meet celebrities, hang with them, even date them, and your perception changes. Hollywood isn't really isn't as glamorous as people think, its mainly an endless rat race of the egos. I love the entertainment industry, don't get me wrong, and its fun to participate, but my belief is that unless you're in it for the right reasons you will get chewed up and spit out. You've got to just love your art, be passionate about it, be pure about it, and hopefully you'll get a break, AND if you do NEVER EVER take yourself too seriously to forget the people who got you there in the first place. It seems like Gerard Butler and even Heigl maintain that humbleness and I really respect that.

Anyway, not to take a completely serious and philosophical approach to this blog, I just wanted to share that portion of the experience in lieu of the new movie coming out. My other day on the Ugly Truth set wasn't as exciting I'm afraid, (though it was more drama, haha). I was cast as a wine festival go-er (they always add go-er to extra casting assignments, haha) at a Lake near San Diego. Beautiful location, but the day was rather like an endurance contest, and showed the not so glamorous side of filmmaking which includes knats attacking everyone in the bitter cold foggy morning, following by a HOT HOT heatwave in the afternoon causing sun burns, heat stroke, and exhaustion. Can we say glamorous?! But hey, at least they got some Hollywood movie magic out of it and maybe The Ugly Truth will be a blockbuster, haha!

"The Ugly Truth" opens in theaters today. I may catch a matinee this afternoon, and maybe I'll see my silly face in it, lol. Good memories :)

Eatin’ Without Wheat – Domestic Goddess Attempt Part 1

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:32:00 +0000

For a long while now I have wondered if I am allergic to wheat flour. I’ve suffered from dizziness, lightheaded-ness, amongst some other maladies for awhile, and wonder if it could also be in something I eat on regular basis especially since the feeling seems to be increased after I eat flour. It wouldn’t be uncommon since the allergy exists in my family. And so I am on a quest, a test if you will, to see if I can stay away from wheat flour for a couple weeks, and see any changes in my health and state of mind.

Embarking on my quest I had no idea how difficult it could be at first. I’m sort of a wheat-addict if you will, plus it’s in everything, especially food on a budget. It’s in the macaroni, ramen noodle soup, cereal, bread, burritos, candy bars, dressings, and even soy sauce (gimme a break!!) Now I never really noticed how much wheat is on the shelf in every grocery store aisle product until I started really reading labels, and I found myself wondering what kind of alternatives I would have to use to substitute my craving. And it is a craving, dear readers. If there was a social profile for a Wheat-a-holic, I would fit it to a T. So what’s a lassie to do? I thought awhile and came to these conclusions:

One must get back to basics. Back when food wasn’t complicated and filled with all these sneaky chemicals and preservatives. I’m going back to the olden days and olden ways (save for grinding my own flour between two stones and cooking with a wood burning stove for hours, lol). I’ve got modern tools, a treasure trove of alternative recipes online, and a community of Celiacs to turn to, so I can do it right? This is what I’ve come up with…

My no wheat project officially started last Sunday. Thus far I have not ingested this grain in any form. A couple nights ago I decided that I would use white rice flour as a possible alternative. I found a good recipe for rice muffins on the internet and set about making my own rice flour. Lucky me I had a little mini grinder I’d never used (the kind that blends coffee, salsas, etc…), and it worked like a gem. A bag of rice came to about 2 and ½ cups of flour and was done in about 10 minutes. Here’s the recipe I used, changed up a little for more flavor, and might continue to change as a work in taste bud progress.

CINAMMON APPLE RICE MUFFINS

1 egg

1 tbsp oil

½ cup of milk

½ cup of applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups of rice flour

2 tbsp of baking powder

2 tbsp regular white sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp of salt

DIRECTIONS. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (May be higher for higher elevations, but I’m in California and my oven makes me do things at a lower temperature or else they will burn). Mix liquid ingredients together first (including apple sauce). Then add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. This recipe makes a little over a dozen cupcake sized muffins. If you want bigger muffins you can put more into the pans and you’ll get just a dozen. Bake for approximately 12 minutes. I like to check the progress with a toothpick. You will know they are done when it comes out pretty clean. You can’t completely tell by the color of the muffins as the tops don’t brown much, though the bottoms will. After that you can take them out and add butter, honey, or jam. YUM! Here are the end results:

Psychedelic rice muffins (courtesy of my crappy camera). Unfortunately I had already partaken of one of the muffins to create unity in the picture. Oh well! (Actual color of muffin slightly less YELLOW!) LOL!

My rice muffin hand- slightly out of focus, could be a lump of anything really, but luckily its a delicious and healthy rice muffin! Gobble up!

Unfortunately I don’t know the calories of these babies (though I gather it is better than regular flour). I imagine they’re not the lowest of calories due to sugar/carbohydrate content, but you can substitute the flour for brown rice flour, and the sugar for splenda, which I intend on trying in the future. They’re not as fluffy as wheat or white flour, similar consistency to corn bread, but they are a good enough alternative if you are trying to stay away from regular wheat flour and don’t want to feel totally deprived of bread-like things. Anyhoo, I think they're delish.

I am looking forward to diving into more rice recipes. May even get a little rice crazy! I could make rice milk, horchata, rice cookies, rice candy, (LOL, okay maybe that is going a little too far!), rice ice-cream (oh wait, should that be called rice-cream?) I shall let you know of my progress!

This is rice-cream, what I would like to eventually attempt to make (once I buy an ice cream maker, and also start churning my own rice butter, haha). Anyone note the irony of this photo? (The cow God looks down with envy at the bowl of rice-cream tastiness. After all, if we don't need her for milk, what will we use her for instead?!)

Which brings me to my next topic. Next thing to kick from regular diet: Dairy (this one is going to be even harder!) It’s really supposed to be a no-no for us singers, plus I’ve had sinus issues at moments when I need to sing. I will have to learn to overcome this addiction formed since childhood. I just love cheese, butter, and ice-cream! Help me Lord! Who’d have thought that the lactic secretion of Bovine in its various forms could be so addictive and alluring? I am searching for appropriate alternatives to this one as we speak. Have faith in me!

And so the journey continues!

My Lil Red Rosies....

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:21:00 +0000

Just wanted to reminisce in the memory of these lovely agents of love my boyfriend sent me for my birthday. They are pretty much dead now and I have to throw them away(except for a few I'm drying as a keepsake), but I wanted to remember and bask in the glory of them when they were in their prime, lol :) Cue the violin music....

Summer Holiday Merriment....

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:43:00 +0000

Not so long ago my dearest love got on a jet plane and flew back to England, but before that we had a 2-week vacation of a lifetime, a few memories of which I shall share here.

Pete flew into L.A. at the end of last May. We had a good week of taking in the sights of my city (I had fun playing the tourist again, and remembering that there are actually some pretty darn cool things to do here) before heading to Vegas to get hitched (just kidding, haha. He'd never been there, and we were meeting up with my family). Pete had a simple list of things he wanted to see when he got to America, the ocean, the Getty museum, Hollywood, the Grand Canyon, Vegas, and the La Brea Tar Pits (anyone whose ever been there will know they are not as exciting as they seem on film, lol). I did my best to make my man happy, and even though we didn't make it to the Grand Canyon, we did have a GRAND time. Here are some snaps of us on our tour of Los Angeles.

Me and Pete on the Santa Monica Pier

Pete and I at Pacific Palisades' Park

Pete at Grauman's Chinese Theater with the original Terminator's hand print (Arnie Schwarzenegger)

Me with the new Terminator Poster, trying to look dangeroooouuuus!!!

Us at the Getty museum, which looks more like an engagement photo pose, lol.
After the L.A. chapter of our trip we got in the car and headed for Nevada, which was a blast! Pete is the perfect road trip companion because he's sexy, hilarious, a great conversationalist, and can make any activity fun and interesting really (that and he's got the most dashing cleft chin and dimpled smile that makes a girl swoon. No complaints here!) Pete even had his first driving lesson of driving on the opposite side of the road in America...

Pete behind the wheel. From his expression he almost looks drunk, which, of course, he wasn't!
Don't worry, it was legal. (letting my boyfriend drive I mean, haha). It was a long drive and I needed a break so Pete took the wheel. I must admit that my student won his driving test with flying colors and I couldn't help but reward him with a kiss, or two, or three-thousand ; P

A view driving along Interstate 15, before a rain shower. The desert has a lonesome beauty to it doesn't it?
Right before Vegas we came upon a sign that was very appropriate...

We felt so privileged that the city of Primm, Nevada would take such personal measures to make Pete feel so welcome (even if he doesn't like whiskey!)
Vegas was more than Pete expected, a place wilder than his wildest dreams. He said he'd never seen anything like it, and I daresay, he never shall since because its that spellbinding (LOL!). We checked in at the Luxor, and after getting some grub, washing up, and meeting up with some of my family we went out on the town.

Happy and smiling couple, little did we know that a couple hours later we'd really have somethin' to smile about...
Let's suspend the suspense...It was not but 10 minutes after we'd entered a casino that first night when Pete and I sat down to a slot machine and won $255 (on a $10 bill!!!) We were shocked! Amazed! Flabbergasted! Especially since my sister Kim had just won a $265 jackpot on a machine a few slots down just a few minutes earlier! It was certainly a lucky night for all of us (and we kept the majority of our winnings, which is also a pretty remarkable feat). Pete had never experienced anything like it as he'd never gambled and was very skeptical about the practice. He had so much fun he said he could understand now why people get hooked on gambling, haha.

More snaps from our adventure....

Tally ho! Me, in front of the Luxor, commanding the statue goats (or were they camels?) to march! Attempted feat was unsuccessful.

Rockin' the shades, Luxor style
Some other highlights of Vegas: I took Pete to "Cafe Rio" in Las Vegas for dinner with my big family. (Anyone who knows of Cafe Rio, knows this is a BIG deal cause the food and house dressing are delish!) He absolutely loved it and said he'd never been so full in his life after eating an entire chicken salad in one sitting, haha. I felt proud that I had converted my British boyfriend to the American way of eating (bigger portions, better food, haha).

Pete was also a hit with my family, especially my niece and nephews who enjoyed his funny voice impressions of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. My 10-year old nephew Isaiah couldn't stop bombarding him with questions about video games like, "Hey Pete, do you have Halo in England? If you have Halo we can play on the internet! Do you have a PS2? You don't? You need a PS2!" While my 5-year old niece Rissa proclaimed things like, "Hey Pete, I asked Aunt Jessie if she was going to marry you someday and she said yes!", and "EW, why are you two kissing so much?! That's gross!". Those little rascals leave no mystery for me to pretend that my family isn't loud, wild, and outspoken, haha. But luckily, Pete passed the family test as he loved them anyway and they loved him, and so he'll be moving on to another level up next time he comes to America and meets more of my huge extended family. Should be fun! (I am now trying to mentally prepare him due to my family's large and intimidating size and personalities, haha).

Whilst in Vegas we also had a chance to sample the lunch buffet at the Luxor. Pete was eager to try it since he'd had many referrals from his British comrades that if you go to Vegas, you eat Vegas style a-la the buffets. The Luxor food wasn't spectacular (but their desserts were, so we couldn't complain).

After 2 nights in Vegas of gamblin' winnin', buffet fillin', family embarassin' fun we headed back to L.A. It was a sad time as this was the last leg of the trip before Pete would go back to England. Our last day together we went took a drive to Malibu and watched the sun go down at the beach. A sad day of reminiscing, and we were prone to fits of laughter interspersed with bursts of tears. It was an emotional time, but what can I say, we were feeling sentimental, and who can blame us?

Mushy, I know, but I don't care :)

Salutations from sunny Southern Utah....

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:44:00 +0000

So... I am here in Southern Utah after a long stay, and am finally writing a blog to say hello, sorry I've been gone, life's been busy sort of, but more than that, I've felt uninspired to write anything well, inspired (not to say that my writings are that, they're more like journal entries really, lol) Speaking of journals, I never really wrote in those religiously growing up, so it would make sense that I don't blog regularly either. Anyhoo, enough of that, I wanted to write a small post to say hello, I hope you're all well out there.

I've been spending my last couple of weeks hanging with family and enjoying Utah (though now that the HOT HOT weather has sunk in down here, I recall very vividly why I left the desert in the first place). Methinks I'm a California girl, I enjoy the sun, but not so much that it burns me on a regular basis or makes me feel like I'm in the Sahara desert. Because it's so expensive we haven't really had my sister's AC on much and so have tried to keep cool with fans and a spray bottle (makes me have great sympathy for the pioneers who hung it out here without either, and they were wearing long dresses, and warmer clothing, goodness me!!)

I wouldn't say I've accomplished a great deal of things while I've been here (unless of course, colon cleanses count, which really, I doubt you want me to regale you on that experience, HAHA!) I've babysat. I've gone to movies. Del Taco. Red Box. Wow, I sound really ambitious don't I? LOL! I haven't felt too well to be honest though, so I've started a new health regimen down here which has been good though and helpful (ha, I just realized, how odd that I say "down here" when in reality Southern Utah is north of where I live, lol). It must be habit, since I spent the majority of my life in northern Utah. Anyway, onwards and upwards I say, there is much I wish to accomplish this summer, and its definitely more ambitious than Del Taco and Red Box DVD runs, lol!

Next week I am going up to SLC for a few days, hopefully I'll get a chance to meet both my new nieces (who look absolutely adorable in their pictures) and reconnect with a few old friends before flying back to L.A. and quickly cleaning up my apartment and making it pretty before my boyfriend arrives from England for a two week stay. Yes, Pete is coming, and I am so excited to see him! We are planning on going all around L.A. and then possibly driving to Utah so he can meet some of my family (which should be lots of fun, and very interesting, considering I have a "big" family) Poor Pete, I hope he won't be too intimidated, he just has one sister, and no nieces or nephews, and I have 23? (the number changes frequently so its hard to keep track, oh, and that's nieces and nephews, not how many siblings I have, haha). Pete is a good sport though, he's very gracious and has good manners, plus he's very funny and charming, so I think they'll be impressed.

Alright well, I shall bid you adieu for now. I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of summer!

England Trip Part 5 The Lake District

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:29:00 +0000

Well dearies, this is the finale to my trip to England, and my favorite part, (drum rolls please) ............the Lake District, former home of children’s author Beatrix Potter and a premiere holiday destination for Brits and International people alike (like moi). I have to admit, I was SOOO looking forward to seeing the Lake District as I’d already saved up dozens of photos of this ethereally beautiful place in a folder on my hard drive. Being there in person I can tell you that my daydreams didn’t even do it justice. The Lake District really is magical, and I can say with certainty it’s definitely the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

When I arrived in England Pete asked me the top places I wanted to see in England. I told him my #1 destination was the Lake District. He told me he wanted to make my dreams come true, and he did. What a sweetie!

We had driven up to Manchester to meet his parents and I knew at some point we would make it up to the Lake District, which was about an hour and a half away from his parent’s house. But the trip up north to the Lakes was shrouded in mystery. During dinner the night before we went to the Lakes Pete was acting rather mysterious. Pete's dad suggested we stay at his uncle’s “chalet” by the Lakes when we arrived to which Pete declared that it was DEFINITELY not a chalet and basically that I shouldn’t get my hopes up about where we were staying. But Pete’s dad has a smirk on his face and I had a feeling something was up.

Pete has often warned me he is the King of Surprises, and I can definitely confirm that he is. The morning we left for the Lakes he drilled it in further that where we would be staying that night would probably be really cold, cramped, and we might not even be able to take showers there, haha. I felt like he was playing it up since he knew what a time I was having adjusting to the cold English climate. Despite this I tried to be a good sport, and it was worth it.

My whole Lake District experience felt reminiscent of the film "Somewhere in Time", because it really feels like you are traveling back in time. The Lake District is a beautiful oasis of nature surrounded by lush green hills and open pastures, old stone cottages and fences, small, cozy villages with cobblestone streets, and of course, lakes, as expected. We had a fun drive to the Lakes cracking jokes, singing random songs, and taking random pictures of the gorgeous country Landscape. As we drove along the narrow two-lane country road to my mouth was agape at the glorious splendor surrounding us. Here are some of the snaps I took along the way.

Can you see the sheep in the distance? I want to live in the countryside here! It's heaven!

Ode to Green hills! Beautiful!

I actually took this pic while we were driving, I was pleased with myself for catching an in focus image. Not shabby ey?! Lake Windermere was so lovely!

And reaching our "shabby" accommodations for the night....

As you can see Pete led me to believe we'd be staying somewhere rubbish, but far from it! We stayed at Lyzzick Hall Hotel, which was a beautiful, comfortable, lovely hotel, with AMAZING views from the window. It was so beautiful it actually brought tears to my eyes, and was the most romantic gesture anyone has ever done for me.

That night we had fun going to the nearby town of Keswick for some authentic fish and chips. I was surprised at myself, I'm definitely not a seafood person and was skeptical, but it was SOOO good!

The next day we had fun touring around Keswick and Lake Windermere some more. Here are some pics of us goofing around at the hotel, and then through the Lakes.

Me and my Pete.

Pete being the sexy beast that he is, hehe.

Keswick (pronounced Kes-ick)

Lake Windermere. Other worldly beautiful.

A cool structure across Lake Windermere.

An amazing place and fantastic trip. I can't wait to see England in the summer!

England Trip - Part 4 MANCHESTER

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:33:00 +0000

Continuing with my journey to the motherland (of my ancestors, hehe)...here are some pictures and anecdotes of my visit up to Manchester, England. My boyfriend Pete's parents live up there and we were planning to stay with them for a days so that I could get a chance to see the north of England.

We drove up on a Thursday and the drive up was very pleasant. It took about 4 and a half hours (due to a stop in Derbyshire visiting Pete's best friend John and his gf Selina). They cooked us a nice dinner of Indian food (one of my main staples of food in England actually), and I got my first taste of orange squash (its actually a juice drink, not some new vegetable, and very tasty btw) and then we drove up to meet Pete's parents in Bury (a burrough of Manchester). I was a little nervous as this was the first time I was meeting Pete's parents, but luckily I had nothing to worry about as they were very kind, fun, and hospitable people.

Friday, February 20th we spent the day exploring the countryside outside Bury. I absolutely loved it. I found that I much prefer the north of England than the south due because it has more hills...

Pretty pretty hills.

The Rock of Gibraltar (okay, well, no, but it had been there since the Roman occupation)

Me and "the rock". It was a fine rock. A sturdy rock. A friendly rock. And it liked posing for pictures.

Petey poses with the rock. He's 6 feet tall, so as you can see it towered over him.

Rejoicing from the splendor of my surroundings (and oh yeah, it was BITTERLY cold!)

This was taken right after we stopped the car to get out and take pictures (in the middle of the road mind you, these things are allowed in the country). As I stepped out of the car, I fell unexpectedly into a ditch. Most lovely, haha.

This was a nice footpath in the country near a farm/estate that is open to the public. Public footpaths are all around the countryside, even through private property/land sometimes. I suppose its a treaty that the government made with country folk. I just love stone fences.

I have a fascination with old cemeteries. There is an air of mystery and spooky-ness surrounding them. It also makes me wonder about the people there, who they were, what their lives were like when they lived so long ago.

An old church converted into an antique shop across the street from the old cemetery. There were so many beautiful churches in the countryside, I was in awe.

A cute country pub we saw during our drive called "The Grey Mare".

A country church in Ainsworth built in the 14th century I believe. This was where Pete was christened as a wee babe :) It was so beautiful in person.

I have a thing about doors. I love them! Especially ones rusted with age. I find them very artistic, so much so that I'd like to buy a professional camera just to take pictures of old doors, hehe.

The lovely tower and clock of Ainsworth church. I would've rang the bell but I might have gotten into trouble :)

And here's me and Pete at the church (right before it rained and we had to leave). Don't we make a fine pair :)

We had a lovely time and some lovely memories, and I can't wait to go back again this summer, when all the flowers are blooming (and its warmer!). There is so much more I'd like to explore of England. Hope you enjoyed the pictures everyone!

England Trip - PART 3 Cambridge

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Right O', time to add some more photos and tidbits from my trip to Great Britain. Last Valentine's Day Pete and I drove up to Cambridge (it's about an hour and a half outside of Finchley, London). It was the first time I got a chance to see true blue (or rather green) English countryside and I was SOOO excited. The drive was very pleasant and nice. Along the way I enjoyed hearing a bit of the British radio stations, BBC 1 in particular (I believe that's what it was called). They played a lot of Top 40 tunes they play here in the states.... artists like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Pink, but with some artists I've never been privileged to hear as well....(Yeah, British rap is quite interesting, lol!). For instance, Lily Allen is HUGE over there. A mega star. As is Jimmy Osmond (yeah, his posters for a Broadway show were plastered all over the London tube stations). I can understand the hype with Lily maybe, but Jimmy? What gives?! LOL!

Pete and I arrived in Cambridge in early afternoon and I had my camera in hand to snap as many pictures as was possible (scratch that, in actuality I wasn't able to snap as MANY pics as I truly wanted due to my memory card not formatting properly). I was forced to take only probably 5-7 photos to be saved on my camera's internal memory, otherwise I'd have to delete some precious photos taken in London. The rest of the pictures from Cambridge would have to be memories saved in, well, MY internal memory.

We did a lot of walking through Cambridge. Its a beautiful town with breathtaking architecture, an interesting mix of the old traditional Gothic & Georgian styles fused with modern contemporary. Most of the buildings still have the historical facades, of course, which I really liked, but were renovated inside, to suit our 21st century needs. I absolutely loved it! They also had a lot of American establishments I recognized like Starbucks, Pizza Hut and Chilli's which made me feel a little more at home.

Speaking of which, I made up a game with Pete during my time in England. Whenever I saw an American business, whether it be a restaurant, coffee shop, clothing store, etc..., I'd make a 'T' symbol with my hand and haughtily yell "T", as though we Americans somehow had the upper hand on Brits, and that's why they want to copy us. A competition ensued between us and Pete tried to trademark as many British establishments as he could in a certain amount of time against me. I always said I'd tally up the points between us at the end of the day to decide officially which nation is the best, but I never really did. Guess this trip was more a United Nations mission trying to unite cultures vs. dividing them. Which is why we held hands and kissed, ALOT, to fill in the cultural gaps, of course, hahaha! Call me a good will ambassador from America if you will, lol!

Anyhoo, here we have some pictures of our journey through Cambridge. First up we have a picture of a church I took during our drive through Cambridge trying to find parking (it was rather difficult!)

We'd finally found parking at a shopping centre and began our long walk through town. Here's me standing in front of a cute old hotel across from a park, the name of which escapes me.

And poor Pete trying to keep warm at the park (it was rather cold that day).

Walking through Cambridge.

The Fitzwilliam Museum and its grand white columns. This is one of my favorite pics of that day.

A beautiful old building used by the University where Pete deciphered the Latin inscriptions and then tried to explain them to me (courtesy of his private-school education. Why oh why don't they teach us Americans Latin in school, lol?!)

Another of the streets of Cambridge.

The historical and spellbinding King's College. It was such a massive building it was hard to capture the full building on one sole picture, so here's a couple shots!

Lastly here's a pic of a cute little church that was in the center of a shopping street. I couldn't resist taking a pic; it had so much character.

SOME MORE HIGHLIGHTS OF CAMBRIDGE

After a lot of walking we got rather tired so decided to take a break in the evening at a mall in the center of Cambridge. We stopped at a little coffee stand and it was there that I had my first eccles cake (very good pastry, crusty, flakey, nuts & raisin goodness) and the best hot chocolate ever with whipped cream (possibly the best in my life!)

While walking around we decided to stop by a pharmacy called Boots (Think Rite Aid in America). I was in dire need of a shower cap because, well, I didn't feel like washing my hair every day (my hair dryer took FOREVER to dry my hair due to the low wattage converter). We looked for one of those cheap disposable thin plastic shower caps but to no avail. All we could find is something that resembled this:

I don't know why that model is so happy. These shower caps aren't exactly beauty enhancers. Mine could only be described as a hideous, beige colored, industrial strength plastic shower cap that belonged in the 70's. Luckily Pete thought it was hot stuff and happily modeled it on his head in the line for check out to make me feel better. He even encouraged me to try it on in public, too, to my dismay, which I did, trying to ignore the curious looks of onlookers. But I tell you, Pete was so persuasive and he wore that cap with such finesse that even Paris Hilton herself would have to buy one, cause it was just HOT! (On a side note, I later lost that shower cap when I accidentally left the bag in a bathroom stall at the mall that night, not on purpose of course, or was it?!!). I later had to search throughout London to find another suitable replacement of its high quality and grace.

I also enjoyed getting lost at night in Cambridge trying to find our way back to the car park at a mall. I know this sounds odd, but it was kind of fun as we retraced our steps of the day. We finally found the right streets after I recognized various shops and restaurants from our Trademark game. Yeah, it came in really handy!

So all in all it was a great Valentine's Day. We drove home and Pete cooked me a wonderful dinner of Indian food, Chicken Tikka Masala! I couldn't have asked for more!

England Trip Continued - PART TWO - London

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Hey All,

So I'm back with more pics and tidbits to share on my trip to England. When I first got there I realized several things were very crucial. 1. Warmth. 2. Warmth. 3. Wearing comfortable socks and shoes (as mentioned in previous posts, I got major blisters the second day I arrived, ironically, from snowboarder grade socks. Sounds impossible, right? Nope. Its not). I will confess it was a shock to be in a new foreign country... one that was night and day from Los Angeles. But it was also VERY exciting! It took some getting used to crossing the streets looking the opposite way for oncoming traffic, or never knowing which direction was which, and where everything was, getting used to the funky appliances or showers/tubs. I did get sick on my trip...I came with a cold, lost my voice one night, got blisters, got a cold sore, and other ailments.... but I was so lucky as Pete took great care of me and I couldn't have been in better hands.

I really had the time of my life. And I'll tell you why...let's start with the supermarket first, haha. Every night Pete and I shopped at Tesco's. I felt like a kid in a candy store and everything seemed like a novelty. All the unrecognizable and new products that I haven't seen in America I wanted to try (except for maybe haggis, or other weird unidentifiable meat, haha). I quickly learned what my favorite English food/snacks were.

Breakfast always consisted of buttered croissants, a banana, and black current tea (positively the most divine tea of all mankind, in my humble opinion). I'm one of those people that if I find something I like, I stick with it, and I'm practically obsessed with it. So every morning like clockwork I ate this.

I also found that the bakery made cookies from Tesco's were actually quite cheap, (and also exquisitely divine). Pete was amused by how much I loved these chocolate chip cookies. I confess I began to convert him to their calorie-ridden goodness (and Pete is a health nut!). When his mum asked him what kind of stuff I liked, the above items were what Pete mentioned. She was so nice to have them on hand we traveled up north and stayed at his parent's house.

We bought some Vimto which is a black current flavored drink. It comes concentrated like this and you add water....tasted pretty good. I was noticing a pattern that I loved everything black current, lol!

I also was in love with Chicken Tikka Masala (which isn't an English cuisine, but its very popular there, and it's my favorite dish any where; any time. I think I asked to eat this almost every night, haha! Poor Pete!)

People say that English food isn't always the best. I never ate anything that tasted bad. We cooked most of our food (well mostly Pete did, upon his gentlemanly insistence!) and when we went out everything tasted fabulous. No complaints, only compliments!

I also fell in love with British candy bars....particularly one called Toffee Crisp
and Munchies (which Pete introduced me to in the Lake District). The best!

Unfortunately, all the junk food I purchased from England and brought home to the states has now been consumed. I should feel guilty, but I don't, and only wish I had more of those chocolate/orange Kit Kats! HAHA!

Walker's Crisps (potato chips) Worcester Sauce flavored

and lastly, Sticky Toffee Pudding (the most divine dessert, an earthly creation with heavenly taste!)

We spent our first week touring London and the nearby countryside....Thursday the 12th we stayed in the neighborhood, (after my blister incident), Friday the 12th we saw Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Covent Garden, then we stopped at a cafe near the Thames River...then by moonlight walked hand-in-hand along the river... and finished the evening with a meal at the pub. I confess it was all very romantic. I might have been wearing 4 layers of clothing, 2 pairs of socks, plus leg warmers, a scarf, and the hood of my sweatshirt covering my ears, but I was blissfully content.

Saturday, Valentine's Day, we spent in Cambridge(pics to follow in my next blog). Sunday we stayed around Finchley. Monday and Tuesday we traveled on the tube and saw more of London. Wednesday we drove around the beautiful countryside of Essex, near London. The next part of the journey we went up north to Derbyshire, then Manchester, then the Lake District.

Here are some more captures of our travels through London. We managed to cover a lot of ground during that time. Big Ben, Parliament Buildings, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, some museum (which the name fails me), and some other great sights. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

England Trip - PART ONE London

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Hey all,

Well, I'm back in Los Angeles after an amazing two-week trip to England. I got in late last night and was, and still am, absolutely knackered (as the Brits say, it means tired). It was a long 11-hour flight back, but I have to say it went pretty smoothly as far as flights go, and even though I'm not a big fan of flying I have to give kudos to British Airways, which in my opinion is the best airline I've ever flown with. Definitely the best service ever.

I want to share my trip adventures in parts, because my boyfriend Pete and I really covered a lot of places and miles throughout the country, so this first travelogue blog will be devoted to all things London. The first week of the trip, and the last 2 days were spent in England, and these are some of the photos taken during out journey. I had some camera trouble so some of the shots were taken with a kooky digital camera, and a one-time use Polaroid camera, but I think they turned out pretty good. Here ye go, enjoy!!!

Me & Pete at Trafalgar Square, aren't we cute :D

Trafalgar Square

Art Gallery at Trafalgar Square at sunset

Big Ben, & some guy's head in the picture, lol. Darn!

The Parliament buildings

Westminster Abbey. Absolutely beautiful architecture

More close up picture of the exquisite detail of Westminster Abbey

Beautiful building and statue at a park in London

A view of The Thames River as we walked along. Across the river you can see the London Eye and an aquarium located in that enormous old building

Pete during one of our walks through Finchley, London. Here he is, looking more innocent than a cherub. The only thing missing from this pic is his halo

As you can see he's very versatile. Here he is trying to instill the look of fear with a mortal kombat pose. But don't worry, he's a harmless gent!

Hope you enjoyed some of these tidbits. More pictures from London and around England to follow in the days to come!

Salutations from Merry Ole' England...

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:31:00 +0000

So, I have some free time whilst my bf is at the store (picking me up some stuff to help my blistered feet from walking around today). Who'd have thought that socks can make someone have blisters? We walked only about 45 minutes today around Finchley, London, and my feet started hurting like crazy the way the socks rubbed on them. When we got back to Pete's flat I found that I have huge blisters on both of my feet. Not good considering I'm going to be doing a lot of walking on this trip and I want to see all the sights around London and the countryside. I suppose we won't be going anywhere tonight, which is fine though as my feet need time to recover and its snowing outside. Ironically it was VERY sunny this morning/early afternoon. I am now learning a great deal many things about England on my first trip here, and one of them is the unpredictable weather.

My trip has been surreal and a bit of a blur thus far. I had a long 10-hour flight here (there was a lot of turbulance which was unsettling), although I can thoroughly recommend British Airways as the creme de la creme of Airlines if you must travel. I felt so posh having my own personal movie player (equipped with New Release DVDs, older films, TV shows, and Music Albums). I could choose whatever I wanted to watch and it helped pass the time well. I watched "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People" (very funny btw), "Nights in Rodanthe", " High School Musical 3" (was actually quite cute) and an episode of "The Office". The food on the flight was also not that bad, they had a lot of desserts and the nice beverages and the British air stewardesses were all very nice.

I'm sure this happens to everyone who travels to a different place, foreign locales especially, but the change in time zone, directions that you're familiar to, makes it kind of funny. Luckily I managed to stay awake after my flight and set my body clock, but I still get confused as to which way is north, east or west, etc....

I saw some interesting old buildings today as Pete and I walked in Finchley. There was an old church with a graveyard. The church reminded me of something you'd see on a movie set, as I'd never seen something so old. It was very fun. The graveyard had a very mysterious vibe about it, and even crows were making sounds in the trees, giving it quite a bit of ambience, haha. I loved seeing the old headstones covered in lichen, aged with time, some of the inscriptions had been worn off, but the place had a feeling that made you wonder who these people were, and what were their lives like?

I know this is only the tip of the iceberg. Tomorrow we want to go around London (central part I believe). I'm really anxious to see the famous sights of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, etc... And then I can't wait to see the countryside, because I figure that if I am fascinated by just one old church and a graveyard today, there will be endless things to see and enjoy!

On another note, its quite an adjustment with the cold weather. Being a California girl I've had to bundle up extra (hence why I also wore that rough pair of socks, that are meant as snowboarder/skiier socks actually, thought they'd keep me warm, which they did, but they also did a number on my feet). I dressed warm enough today though when we went outside and I didn't feel cold like I was yesterday. Also, one more thing, it was fun to do simple stuff like go to the grocery store yesterday (Tesco) and see all the different products they have vs. American stuff. I noticed they have lots of baked goods/pastries and meat. And that the baked goods are really not that expensive, for instance, it was only £1.05 for a 6 pack of fresh crossiants. In America this would easily be $3.50 at least.

Anyway, I will try to post pictures when I can. Not sure if that will be after my trip, or during, we'll see!

The London Countdown...

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Well folks, its only 3 days until I get on the plane and fly to beautiful green isles of the United Kingdom, and most specifically London. I cannot even describe how elated, how excited I truly am. This is a lifelong dream coming to fruition. I am finally going to the place I've dreamed about since I was a little girl, the place I lived vicariously through movies and where my ancestors came from . Yeah yeah, I'm getting all sentimental now, haha. Seriously, I am just so grateful and happy about it!

I never realized how much one has to think about when they are going on an international trip, and England specifically. I already had my passport so no problem, but now we have...plug converter, money exchange, emergency contact numbers, international phone card, thermals, etc.... Luckily I found a really GORGEOUS black wool coat from Burlington Coat Factory the other day to keep me nice and toasty keeping in mind how cold England is this time of year. Its not waterproof though so now I think I'm going to have to get a little water poncho just to keep it try from getting wet, argh. Not exactly a great fashion statement but oh well!

I've been consulting with family and friends who have been overseas just for tips of anything else I should know, or places they would recommend I see. I'm also touring the countryside, like Manchester (where my bf is from), the Lake District hopefully, etc... We'll see I guess. I don't care where we go really, I'll just be glad to be there! Here's some stuff I definitely want to see....

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Hyde Park

Tower Bridge

Westminster Abbey

AND IN THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRYSIDE.....

Breathtaking villages like Castle Combe in the Cotswolds

Towns like Bath, Avebury

Into the distance, The Lake District

Beautiful country estates like Shrubland

Hey, how did my future house get on here? LOL!

Ancient little churches with character and history

And AMAZING CASTLES....

Bamburgh Castle

Porchester Castle

The spellbinding Lowther Castle

Doesn't get any better than this ey? Not sure if will see all these places but a girl can dream! Anyone who has been to England have any other must-see recommends before I leave? Please let me know if you do! I will be taking plenty of photos! Hope all is well with all my blogging pals! Let me know how ya are!

2009 Salutations

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Dear Blogger Peeps,

Just coming up for air to say hello, I’m alive, I’ve missed you all, and sorry I’ve been M.I.A.,( I’ve been busy falling in love ((more about that later ; )) Lol, that’s not the only reason why, but I’m just gonna use it for an excuse, mm k? So… it’s 2009, a whole New Year, a year full of adventure and promise. Boy does time fly. I’m still re-adjusting to a slower pace of life after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I spent Christmas and New Years in Utah with my family and left 2008 behind with some fond memories, love in my heart, and 5 extra pounds added during the holidays to my stomach that transferred into 2009 (HEY YOU!!! Yes, you, stubborn belly fat! Go away!) I thought the pounds would magically disappear when the clock struck twelve New Year’s Eve(which would have been quite a sight to behold as I was sitting at a slot machine at a casino in Mesquite, Nevada, haha) but then when it was 12 o’clock I looked down, and nope, the 5 lbs were still there.

Special thanks to my sister Kim for hosting me during the holidays and feeding this lassie well (oh, and also kudos to Café Rio and Durango’s Grill in St. George for their superb, affordable (and FATTENING) cuisine!) Thanks thanks thanks! I am now going about how to remedy the situation by eating according to my thyroid, and blood type, and also the singer's diet (which excludes dairy, or at least can only have small amounts). Several of my sisters have lost a bunch of weight doing similar stuff so it’s been fun to converse and share tales/advice. Now I just need to work out more! (Reinstating that New Years Resolution again now, lol!)

Anyhoo, anyone noticed that I’m in such a good mood, lol? If not, I am pointing it out, haha. Because I really am. And I feel really blessed. It must be love (it is!) Oh yes, promised to mention something about that…guess I can share that me and my boyfriend will be in England for Valentine’s Day (a 2-week trip, woohoo!). Don’t want to be one of those sappy, bragging couples that annoy people, just wanting to share on my blog that I’m just really happy, and especially after all my doleful tales about my dating life I thought it would be good to share some good news. So yes, I’m in a relationship, and we are sappy to think of it, lol, and in love. And we’ll be in London for 2 weeks! Woohoo!

Okay, so now here is the part where I say I want to hear from all of you, because I genuinely do! If you don’t comment I’ll go on your blogs and stalk ya anyway, lol! I’ve missed my bloggy friends. This time apart has made me realize that friendships are like pet fish ( goldfish to be exact) if you don’t feed them, they die (then again, goldfish die regardless anyway, so maybe that’s a bad analogy). You know what I mean peeps! Just want to say I’ve enjoyed getting to know each of you through blogs & such in 2008, and maybe we’ll catch up and some of us meet in person in 2009. It’s a little late, but oh well. Happy New Year!

Sister is coming home today...where's my cleaning fairy?

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:34:00 +0000

So my sister is coming home today from NYC. She's been there for a month as a nanny for a movie director and his family. Since she's been gone I've had the entire apartment to myself. I've never had an entire apartment at my disposal for this vast amount of time before. I have always lived with family or roommates; so I must say it was nice to have the freedom to do what I wanted in the apartment.

And I did the usual things most people do when they have freedom like...

Walk around/Sing around the house in my underwear

or dance in it while I played music loudly and showed off my best dance moves inspired by West Side Story...

Or do the dishes in it...

NOTE* Just kidding, that's just gross!

But I did watch the movie "The Holiday" like ten times one week with a bag of chocolate chips in hand (that I intended for cookies, but yeah, I was too lazy to make them then!).

And sometimes forget to take out the trash...

All in all, I tried to behave. And in retrospect, I have to say it was MUCH easier to keep a place clean when there is no one to clean up after (if you are feeling so inclined to clean that is). I noticed that I could do my dishes in five minutes (which was really nice) or leave them for a couple days (HAHA!), and I enjoyed that freedom, lol. I also was feeling/becoming more domestic as the main hen in the chicken coop and even felt brave enough to try out new recipes (oatmeal cookies in particular, minus chocolate chips, but they tasted great, though much too crumbly I might add!). I am also proud to say that in my sister's absence I even cooked a whole chicken for the first time one Sunday night (a disaster I shall describe further down below).

Can I say something else about living alone though (even temporarily)? It can get lonely. I found myself leaving the TV on just to feel like someone else was around and felt a lot like this...

Wish I could have rented a pet cat or dog for a month, haha. Being the holiday season I just found myself feeling particularly sentimental...after all my Thanksgiving was a real bust. I didn't go anywhere that day! Was really planning on driving to Utah to join my family but was struck by mother's nature's curse to women (you ladies know what I'm talkin' bout), and that in combination with having adrenal/thyroid problems again I was much too tired to drive that long distance so I stayed home. In fact I didn't even go to my friend Alisi's house for Thanksgiving dinner, I stayed home, called my family and listened them laugh and chat animatedly in the background. (I know, I know, cue the sympathetic violin music).

So...in retrospection.... I'm looking forward to having another person in the apartment again. And its my sister's birthday today, so I'm planning on cleaning the apartment up real spiffy and baking a cake before she returns, a cake which I hope will turn out like this... (my latest culinary confection masterpiece) ...

NOT! Anyway, looking forward to the day but I can't say I'm looking forward to telling my sister about the missing bottom glass shelf in our fridge (refer to above chicken cooking mention then read on...).

I suppose I better practice fessing up about what happened to the shelf before she comes...so here goes, lol... After I toiled away in the kitchen for 3 hours one Sunday night not long ago (this includes thaw time, and being over paranoid about salmonella poisoning so it took longer to prepare/cook time) I had made the most beautiful meal of chicken, rice, potatoes and carrots. I was so proud. And it was delish!

I ate my portion for dinner and was REALLY looking forward to having my gourmet left-overs for the rest of the week. I covered the glass pan with tin foil and put it on the bottom glass shelf. About five minutes later I hear this loud shattering sound coming from the kitchen. I looked around and decided to open the fridge to figure out where the sound came from...suddenly tons of glass came pouring out of it like one of those jelly belly dispensers at the grocery store.

Why has no one ever warned me that if you put a medium warm pan on a glass shelf in the fridge, it will shatter the glass, and into pieces so small you'll be cleaning them up for a month? I've never heard of such a situation, nor witnessed it! My mother is a good cook, and mothers should pass this information along to their daughters; what gives?! I had to throw an entire chicken (minus one breast) out in the trash because tiny glass pieces had gotten inside it after it fell through the glass shelf and crashed into the produce bin. LOL, yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, but I was MAD!!!

Anyway, this month has been a grand adventure you could say. In closing I'd like to give a few thanks to the following.... THANK YOU MY CAR, MY PHONE -MOM, PETE, KIM, THE WORLD WIDE WEB - MYSPACE, MSN messaging, PEOPLE.COM, 7-11 convenience store, IN & OUT BURGER, and RED BOX, for graciously giving their services or company and making this long month on my own an enjoyable one.

Internally Yours...My Christmas Wishes to All....

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Hi all,

Having some time on my hands, and having a really bizarre sense of humor, I found this Christmas e-card on jibjab.com tonight and just had to post it. Consider this my pre-Christmas card to you all!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

P.S. I'm really not that mean, (nor do I have as bad a potty mouth), hope it made some of you laugh, lol.

Ode to Christmas...and all that warm fuzzy stuff

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:14:00 +0000

So, I am sitting here at my computer desk with a plate of rice and vegetables for dinner on my lap (got to love Zatarain’s New Orleans black beans & rice mix, yum yum! ) and I am FINALLY updating my blog. Yes, I’m back, and I hope some of you missed me, or if you did not, at least this post will help revive the life force so to speak in our blogging friendships :)

I don’t know why I’ve been gone so long, (ok so it hasn’t even been a month, but it feels like MUCH longer) other than to say maybe I had writer's block (which doesn't make much sense since I've been working on my Regency era novel in the meanwhile) Okay excuses excuses, lets just say then that I've been distracted by life, and in particular, occupied by thoughts of a certain English gentleman who makes me laugh and smile like no other, has a cleft chin to die for, and talks with a sexy British accent like Daniel Craig (and no I'm not talking about the imaginary romantic hero in my book, though there is one, but this is a true-life romance of yours truly, yay!)

Anyway, without giving too much away about that...this evening as I sat before my computer I contemplated what to write about for my return to the blogging world, and the idea struck me, why not write a blog that is an ode to all things Christmas? Now I know that is not a very original idea mind you, and most of you are probably doing the same, but who does not love another warm fuzzies in your pocket, touch the cockles of your heart, sentimental blog post? HUZZAH!!

I know with the state of the economy and money crunch many of us are wondering what kind of Christmas we'll be having... less presents...more stress, but I don't think that means we can't all have a memorable, happy, and exciting holiday. I really like to think its all about the simple things and gestures anyway, the way it was when we were kids, so here are some of my happy thoughts and recommendations to get us all in the festive holiday mood...

JESS' FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT CHRISTMAS
SNOW!!!(We don't get it in southern California, but I always go to Utah for Christmas anyway)

SNOW PEOPLE!!! (with cute scarves, top hats, stick arms & carrot noses!)

SAPPY CHRISTMAS MOVIES ON TV...in particular the Lifetime channel for women, like this one called "Christmas on Chestnut Street" which looks particularly moving by the picture...

HOT COCOA FOR TWO WITH CINNAMON AND WHIPPED CREAM (or I can drink both, if I am alone, haha)

COZY SWEATERS AND HATS

COLORFUL KNIT SOCKS WITH POM POMS (I have some, and they're my fave on a cold winter's night!)

GRAHAM CRACKER HOUSES (making them with your loved ones covered in frosting and candy goodness) In my dreams my perfect Graham cracker house turns out like this...

But it usually ends up more like this in reality...

Note* That's okay, they all taste the same when you end up eating them...teehee!

CHOCOLATE YULE LOGS (my sister Kim made a particularly DELICIOUS one last year)

PAPER SNOWFLAKES - We used to make these all the time growing up, and its always a fun craft project with your kids, (or if you are single, in my case) your nieces and nephews if you have some

And MISTLETOE - cause well, its just a really great excuse to kiss someone you like, even if you're both, um, cartoons...

And some other things that always get me into the Christmas spirit...

JESS' TOP FAVORITE CHRISTMAS FILMS

A Christmas Story - Yes, I know, this is generic probably, but come on, its a classic Christmas staple in the American household...

The Original Christmas Classics Collection - This includes Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and T'was the Night Before Christmas (I think). It makes me feel like a little kid again, and it makes me happy, pure and simple!

It's a Wonderful Life - Can somebody say, "Clarence!" in that cute Jimmy Stewart voice? Yeah, yeah, all the cliches are true, this movie just warms the heart and makes you feel super sentimental about your fam. And don't forget, every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

BRIDGET JONES DIARY - All you single, and even happily married gals, you know what I'm talkin' bout, this movie is fabulous! Who is more endearing than Bridget Jones, and more charming than Mr. Darcy, and how many of us have felt single and alone at Christmas time? If you haven't seen this flick, watch it! Note* Heads up beforehand, this ain't for kiddies, there's quite a bit of swear words and cheeky humor, just FYI

And some special Christmas musica ...

JESS' TOP FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TUNES

Oíche Chiúin (Silent Night) - The Gaelic version by Enya

O' Come, O' Come, Emanuel - The version by Enya or Manheim Steamroller, both are brilliant!

White Christmas - Bing Crosby (something so comforting about his rich and smooth voice)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Loreena McKennitt

The First Noel - Any version really, but Sarah McLachlan's is pretty great

All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey, yeah, I'm not always a fan of the diva, but this song just makes me want to jump around and spread Christmas cheer with hugs and kisses

Last Christmas - Wham (cause it makes me smile, and almost everyone has had a Christmas relationship like that!)

So there you go, these are just a few of my favorite things, and in the spirit of that last song, "Last Christmas" I'd like to close this post with the video of it, and why? Because it's cheesy and fabulous, and it has '80's fashion and hairstyles, which always make me laugh, and might make my readers smile or reminisce, and even though we know ole' Georgie Porgie was pretending to like women in this video, who cares, because its such a great song and he has an amazing voice anyway (despite the funny breathy vocal parts, lol). Hope you all have a fabulous night and here's me sending Happy Happy Christmas thoughts and wishes to ya'll!

Ode to "Twilight"...And a lil' Rob Pattinson action...

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:44:00 +0000

Hi All,

I'm sorry for being M.I.A. in my posting lately, I've been a little distracted (but in a very good way distracted). Not sure if I mentioned this before, but one of my good friends (and former roommate) Stephanie had the once in a lifetime chance to interview THE Robert Pattinson from the upcoming fan frenzied film of "Twilight" last week in San Francisco. Yes, I was just as shocked when I heard the news of her latest work assignment, too (lucky gal!!). You see, Steph works for this great company called Common Sense Media that focuses on family oriented media in film, tv, and literature and so sometimes she gets these really amazing opportunities (hence the Rob interview).

Anyway, yesterday Steph and I were chatting about her whole Rob Pattinson experience, (bells & whistles and all, he was such a sweetie she says) and then I watched the video, and it was just fabulous! Nearly 3 minutes of heaven! I'm so proud of her. So I wanted to devote a post to her journalistic debut.

So without further ado, here's the link of Stephanie my friend with none other than Robert Pattinson aka Edward "Vampy Hottie" Cullen: Stephanie Interviews Rob Pattinson From Twilight

(note, I would have embedded the video here but her company forbids it, so hope you will take the link and check it out on youtube)

Love ya Steph! You did a superb job and I can't wait to see who you interview next!

Winter Fashion Wishlist...London Style

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:49:00 +0000

I'm not sure about all of you, but when I'm bored, I like to look for new clothing and accessories online. Granted that doesn't mean I buy it all, far from it, but I like to fill my head space with pretty stuff for my imaginary closet. Also, in lieu of recent plans, I'm going to London next January or February 2009 to visit a guy "friend", so I want to be prepared to make my British debut in style and warmth (it will be rather cold there during that time so I need a good wool coat!). Of course this will all be done on a budget, so I am on the lookout for fabulous wear at a nifty price.

Here are some recent finds that really excited me. So just in case any of you want to buy them for Christmas for me... or Santa is reading this... here's the pictures and info (just kidding, but a girl can dream can't she?) Its alright, I'll probably buy at least one of these for myself anyway by the time I go.

COATS: I definitely need a new winter coat. Here are some I found on victoriassecret.com that I really like.

ITEM #1 Victoria's Secret "Via" black A-line wool blend coat. $149 Very chic and Audrey Heburn-esque but with an urban flair, plus its a wool blend so should keep me nice and toasty. PROS: Goes well with any color and is a good price CONS: Can't think of any as yet.

ITEM #2 Victoria's Secret Via double-breasted white military coat in wool. $178 I love the classic white and detail with the silver buttons, big lapel, belt and buckle at the waist, which gives a nice tapered silhouette. PROS: Sophisticated and timeless, would be a staple piece in my winter wardrobe. CONS: Is white so may show dirt easier and be harder to clean, although it could be bought in a different color.

ITEM #3 Victoria's Secret Double Breasted A-Line coat in Red. $139 I love the big collar and popping red. Of course I might look like the Queen from Snow White with that collar, but I always like making a big statement with fashion anyway. PROS: Sexy and sultry color, long, which means more coverage= warmer. Good price. CONS: Doesn't match everything as well, but then maybe it wouldn't matter since it would cover up any mismatching tops anyway.

Or the cheap de la cheap...but still cute...

Old Navy Double-Breasted White Wool Coat $89.50 Very classic. Simple. PROS: Price but still some flair CONS: Only 60% wool so may be not as warm as looks. May have to wear more layers because of it. In addition, not as good quality probably.

Now we must move onto boots, an essential part of the English wardrobe. I've taken a fancy to these four...but must only choose one pair probably...

Via Spiga Bronze Brown Leather Boots from zappos.com $394. Yes, a girl can dream can't she? I love the color, wrapped leather and medium-thick heel. Totally gorgeous boots, out of my price range so I won't buy them. But I found a good compromise...

White MT Celebration Boots in Dark Brown Suede from zappos.com $93. These are almost nearly as gorgeous as the Via Spiga ones but monumentally cheaper. PROS: Simple and classic CONS: Is suede so will probably need protective suede spray for English rainfall. Also, is 4 inch heel, so may get tiresome after long bouts of walking.

Or we could go a totally different style or texture...

RSVP Poet Victorian Brown Leather Boots $125 from zappos.com These boots are pretty classic and would go with most anything. They also look very sturdy and more comfortable than the aforementioned boots. PROS: Classy, good heel, only 3 inches vs. 4 inches. Cute touch with the buttons at the top and tighter on the calf, which I like. CONS: Can't think of much really other than a little more expensive than the others.

and lastly...

Chinese Laundry Turborn Dark Brown Suede Boots $98 from zappos.com PROS: These babies would look great with a pair of skinny jeans or a skirt (though it may be too cold in England for that). Very comfortable for walking distances as a tourist. CONS: I like them a lot but perhaps they are too long, and also, I kind of miss the taller heel, it adds more sex appeal to a foot in my opinion.

And I haven't even gotten started on clothes and accessories, but once again, it will be done on a budget. So much to take in. What do ya'll think? What would you choose if you were moi?

When an hour really means 35 minutes...

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:28:00 +0000

Yesterday, after a 45-minute ordeal of washing a mountain of dishes as high as the Himalayas and cleaning a most disorderly kitchen I was happy for the space to attempt my first ever batch of Banana nut bread (without the nuts I realized). My sis and I were given a copious amount of bananas recently and they were going downhill at a very rapid pace and since I'm no monkey I decided we should make use of the bananas in a useful fashion vs. letting them go to waste. Mind you, I am no culinary goddess, but I figured, how hard can banana bread be? You just follow the recipe, right? I was wrong. For even recipes are sometimes wrong.

Here is the recipe I followed...

GENERIC BANANA BREAD (sounds delish doesn't it, lol?)

1 cup of butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

4 cups of flour

6 large bananas mashed

The directions were to mix butter and sugar. So I did. Add eggs one at a time. I did. Sift dry ingredients together and then add to creamed mixture. Roger that. Mash bananas and add to mixture last. Yes, mam. I followed all of these precisely, and it was the perfect batter, perfect consistency, perfect mashed bananas. I was so very proud. I ended up having a lot of batter so I filled 2 half a dozen muffin pans in addition to the glass pan as well, thought they’d come handy as snacks.

Now the directions said to cook the bread in the oven at 325 degrees for one hour. I had a moment then where my intuition said, “One hour, that can’t be right?” But alas, I did not listen to my sixth sense. I looked at other banana bread recipes online quickly and they directed the same amount of time. So putting aside my intuitive nudge I popped them in the oven, and put the first timer for 15 minutes for the muffin part of my project.

15 minutes later, the muffins were done. Took them out and looked at the main pan of the bread, it was evolving into a golden color rather swiftly. But then I thought, maybe that’s how it goes? The oven browns the edges before it cooks the middle?

Now I have estimated the banana bread would have been cooked just right between 30-35 minutes of cook-age (I just made that word up, haha) which was right around the time the alluring smell of cooking bread began to stop floating out of the oven. Would have being the key words to avoid disaster. I should have pulled the pan out during that time period but was busy chatting away with my mother on the phone, la dee dah. Why did I put my faith and trust into an internet recipe?!! And I should've realized that when you're on the west coast, cook time is MUCHO shorter. At about 42 minutes in I said to my mom on the phone, “Hmm, something smells kind of burning….Oh my gosh…MY BREAD!!”

This is what I pulled out of the oven…

All that time to prepare! All that pride, and all that hard elbow grease mashing the bananas and blending in the flour! All of my TLC put into a mixing bowl and pan, for what?!! I saved bananas so they could be burned alive by the evil oven monster. I am ashamed. So very ashamed.

I console myself that the bread would’ve been perfect if I had listened to the cooking fairy conscience that sat on my shoulder. She was a cute little sprite with spaghetti hair and green bell pepper shoes and she said, "Hark! Do not listen to the recipe Jess, for it lies, and makes false promises of beautiful tasty banana bread in an hour. But it is is wrong my friend, so very very wrong!" But I did not heed her warnings.

So now I make this vow... next time I will listen to you, oh dear cooking fairy, and I shall know the error of my ways...and hopefully the fruit of my labors! At least in edible terms!

In the meantime, I'm going to be reading this as my culinary go-to reference book...

*Note* Though maybe I shouldn't be taking cooking or dating tips from someone named "Jinx". Just an after thought!

Halloween Night...A Night of Youthful Remembrance...

jessicadimond@yahoo.com (Creative Artist Genius Girl) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:07:00 +0000

Right now I am sitting here with a bag of Branch's mix of Mellowcreme pumpkins and candy corn (don't you love those post-Halloween candy sales, 65 cents a bag) and reminiscing on another holiday passed. It was a holiday with memories that will last a lifetime and stories that will pass on for generations and generations (just kidding, not really, it wasn't that special but wouldn't that make for an intriguing intro of a story? lol). Basically Halloween 2008 was a fabulous day of tricks and treats, kooky costumes and random meets, a night of laughter and fright, and all manner of excitement and delight.

This year, in light of all the political excitement and also lack of personal finances, I had to be creative when it came to my costume. In an ode to India I scrounged together my collection of colorful Indian-esque fabrics and jewelry and dressed up as a woman from India. If people asked me I decided to tell them I was going as political activist Indira Ghandi (the Bollywood version mind you, as we didn't bear much resemblance in retrospect). Little did I know that this 'persona' would become very apropos as I later immersed myself in some very highly-spirited political discussions with friends and strangers. It was an interesting and fun night.

Together with a collection of friends and my sister Cindy we ventured out to good old West Hollywood for the Santa Monica Blvd celebrations, which was basically a big party of live music, food, and crazy people in crazy costumes. The traffic along the way was madness so we decided to park in the Beverly Center, (which felt like a mile away from Santa Monica Blvd). We did not mind, however, as there was much to be seen and keep our minds and eyes occupied.

Here is a collection of my random photos with random folks at the street party and the anecdotes that follow...

I like to call this photo "The Bloomin' Brownies". I didn't know the names of these girl scouts, but I sure wanted to know their plastic surgeon's. The girl scout(far right) expressions were priceless!

Me and the Blooming Brownies. They were such friendly gals and even told me how to get my own "Hello kitty" achievement patch.

Random Guy dressed as Superwoman. Despite this he was very masculine and could even fly. Well okay, not fly, but he was handsome, and flirty so why would I care?

Me and Mr. Planter's Peanut Man. He was such a friendly fellow. He even did a little tap dance for me with his cane. Just kidding, but that would've been really funny.

My friend Jared and a "friendly monster". The pic is grainy but I can't get over Jared's expression. He looks like an innocent little kid posing with a buddy on the playground or something.

Jared the 80's rocker and the12-foot monster's wife. So candid and precious.

Wizard of Oz meet Bollywood.

These gentlemen told me oil was $60 a barrel, but I was more interested in their bling.

In a moment that can only be described as pure kismet I found Ghandi in a crowd of thousands. The first photo didn't turn out so I had to run back to him again and ask for another photo op. He kindly obliged. This is my favorite photo of the night. Doesn't it just ooze peace and tranquility, lol?

Pouring a spot of tea from Miss Pott's. As you can tell I have the most delicate and proper of manners.

Me and some "wannabe" missionaries. After this photo I quickly confiscated their cigarettes. Tsk tsk!

I like to call this photo "Moral Dilemma". Yeah, the devil in this pic is pretty freaky and I didn't particularly like his creepy hands on my head, lol.

Can someone identify this superhero for me? He was REALLY blue he glowed in the dark. Not sure about his superpowers but he'd make a great night light.

Random snap of our group towards the end of the festivities.

Cruella DeVille inspired car at a crosswalk on La Cienega Blvd. My friend Jared was even crazy enough to pet the cat in the window whilst passing. Hilarious!

Some other highlights, or interesting notes of the night. Walking down La Cienega Blvd we passed the club and saw Lo from "The Hills" posing in front of the paparazzi on the mini-red carpet. She was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, and she looked, well, little (people on television are always shorter than you imagine). On the way back from the Santa Monica Blvd party I also saw the actor Jesse Spencer (from the TV show "House). He kissed a girl by a parking meter, and it looked like he was having a bit of a tiff with her from the look on the girls face and he was trying to mend things with a kiss? It probably worked, he's a cutie. I've seen him in person once before on the "Fox" lot when I was an extra once. Seems a nice fellow.

Anyway, that's my recollection of Halloween night ladies and gents. And I've just realized...I just finished my bag of candy whilst making this post. WOOPS! I think there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Will try not to gorge oneself on too much candy again, at least until Christmas! Hope each and everyone of you had a lovely holiday!