You ever just wake up in the morning and think, OUCH! Damn! What the hell happened and why does the top of my shoulder feel so bruised? Those my friends are the markings of a good holiday party. That's right. CW NOW had their holiday party over the weekend and it was open bar. Hello, that is the only language I speak when I am out and about. So...everyone was there, every producer, assistant, exec, PA, everyone. And I was partaking in my slight share of the freeflowing of drinks. I kept it light and ladylike with what I call 'bellinis' (hold pinky up when saying this to get the full effect), champagne topped with a splash of cranberry, because honestly, who knows what label of bubbly they're packing back there. For all I know, the champagne could have the soul of Nick Nolte in his DUI picture, but with a splash of juice, it sings like Whitney Houston before Bobby Brown.
Did I ever tell you about the time I woke up with the WORST headache in San Francisco? I was visiting some old friends after I had moved down and was staying at a hotel at the Wharf. Well I wake up to this banging headache, thinking, wow, did I really drink that much? I thought my lush days were done and done. Then after begging the bellman to bring me up some aspirin, and as my bitch of a friend, also hung over, just moaned and made me fetch the pills from the door, I finally jumped in the shower and decided to wash my hair. Yes, the memory is that vivid. Anyhoo, as I am washing, I touch the back of my head as I am scrubbing, and I let out the most volatile scream since Janet Lee in Psycho. I swear I heard wolves holler back at a girl. Now how the hell did the back of my skull be pounced on so bad? I don't remember getting punched. As I explained to my friend sleeping in the bed next to me about my weird head thing, he said, you don't remember? You got into a fight with a door. And then it all came rushing back. That damn door knob was giving me the evil eye and I needed to show it a lesson. After a small tangle with the wine cube at my friend's place, I decided the door needed to be taken down a notch, and boom! Door knob, meet my head, head meet the door knob.
Oh back to my holiday party story, so much debauchery to speak of but I am late for work. So I have to run. I am working the premiere of Charlie Wilson's War, a funny political story about one man who didn't seem so good at his job, doing great things in his position. and it wasn;t in the lateral position either! Although he was known for that. Did that joke make it anywhere? anyone, anyone, bueller?
Monday, December 10, 2007
Sunday, December 09, 2007
For some reason, the paint never stopped flowing
I swear to god, this Friday and Saturday I helped my mom paint her bedroom and then trim and touch-ups Saturday. Now this is on top of the weekend from painting hell and an additional weekend of painting more stuff, including the chairs, shrubs, flowers, rails, tiles, nails, cough medicine bottles, aspirin, and anything else that can be primed. GAWD! It has gotten to the sad point where I spend most all my free time at Lowes or Home Depot getting materials during the work week only to look oh so forward to glory of the painting weekend. I've convinced myself all this painting is cardio and can stand in for the gym. No bones about it!
Anyhow, has anyone evcer gotten such a bad case of the cankles your shoes don't fit on your feet any longer? Well it happened to me. If I were in the Family Guy episode where Bill Clinton takes his harem of large ladies out on the town, my canckles would woo Clinton so bad, he'd forget all about those 20 year old interns. So because I can't stand being awake and for about 14 hours on a plane in coach, I decided to take matters in my own hands and take a sleeping pill to make them hours just fly away. And fly they did, but as they flew, they somehow inserted about 10 gallons of water into my ankles. This is how it happened. I wake up after sleeping for a good 6-7 hours. I try and insert my 'hmmm my ankles look a little puffy and unusual' feet into my sandles. Let's just say that I wasn't able to shove my feet into my sandles to make it to the bathroom. Even with grease, these whales would not have made it into these shoes. So what do I do? I end up going to the bathroom in socks - no hard soles. And the first thing I do when I get into the bathroom? Look for sprinkles, and I ain't talking about cupcakes.
So Thailand was amazing. What did I do for the wonderous three days? Well the most important thing to know is once I found out that massages are all of $6, I got as many as I possibly could. And I scored 4 of them! bravo Chi-Lan. Ok, so we shot for the first two days non-stop, talking about all the fun things Thailand had to offer, then off to Ko Pha Ngan for the Full Moon Party (insert drum and bass music here). And that party was sooo great! I didn't get to enjoy much of it honestly because I had to work - a lot - but I did get enough time to dance with some guys I met that are from Las Vegas, explore some of the drink stands and walk down the beach. Great! Can I just say that I love the fact that as kids on the beach, we play non-stop with pails. Well at the biggest beach party in the world in Thailand, adults drink their juice out of the pails. How crazy is it to see all these adults, a few of whom are shirtless (thank you big guy in the sky), carrying around little alcoholic buckets with colorfull bendy straws. And there was even this one Irish lad who saw the simple problem of holding these little pails and walking, not being able to easily being able to sip, so he connected 5 bendy straws to be able to walk and lounge but always have the straw right in tongue reach. I guess bending the elbow to bring the bucket o' alcohol would be too much work.
And now I can get down to business. Baja Fresh. Now I am a huge fan of Mexican food, and really do like to eat Baja even if it isn't real Mexican. But hey, it's good. Or at least I thought. Baja, you bitch. you have wronged the wrong girl. so I have eaten twice at Baja recently, ready to partake in the fine dining that is adulterated mexican in california. Little did I realize that I would be paying for the solidified diareehea (yes I am a word smith) that is coming from my once loved chain restaurant. Now I know that this has all been 'to-go' orders but still. I ordered a tostada without chicken, because, well I don't eat meat. So what do I get? i get a tostada, and no, I didn't add chicken. What do I get instead? I get a tostada, but what are those little bits of white thready sh*%? Wow, chicken. And all the wonderful Baja dude did was slap some chicken into the dish, realize it isn't supposed to have chicken and like a responsible and sensible man, the just takes the chicken off. Great dude. Thanks ot you and your mom for raising you. I can see her efforts were not wasted on just a bag of skin. So last week I decide to give my old Baja another go at winning back my heart with an order of my usual salad and what do I get? Well as a friend who saw my salad said, 'what the f*ck is that? There's only lettuce.' Yup, my salad only had lettuce. I am not sure what happened to the beans, rice, cheese, dressing, etc., but I did specifically taste teh bitterness of life wielded into the plastic container by a short order cook that really hates the world who can't order meat thrown haphazardly into a tortilla. That's it. I don't want to live in a world where I can't get a good tostada. But then again, I think I should just stop going to Baja Fresh. Make me waste $6 once Baja, shame on you, make me waste $12, shame on me. You guys been feeling all that rain? It's god crying because Baja sucks so bad.
Anyhow, has anyone evcer gotten such a bad case of the cankles your shoes don't fit on your feet any longer? Well it happened to me. If I were in the Family Guy episode where Bill Clinton takes his harem of large ladies out on the town, my canckles would woo Clinton so bad, he'd forget all about those 20 year old interns. So because I can't stand being awake and for about 14 hours on a plane in coach, I decided to take matters in my own hands and take a sleeping pill to make them hours just fly away. And fly they did, but as they flew, they somehow inserted about 10 gallons of water into my ankles. This is how it happened. I wake up after sleeping for a good 6-7 hours. I try and insert my 'hmmm my ankles look a little puffy and unusual' feet into my sandles. Let's just say that I wasn't able to shove my feet into my sandles to make it to the bathroom. Even with grease, these whales would not have made it into these shoes. So what do I do? I end up going to the bathroom in socks - no hard soles. And the first thing I do when I get into the bathroom? Look for sprinkles, and I ain't talking about cupcakes.
So Thailand was amazing. What did I do for the wonderous three days? Well the most important thing to know is once I found out that massages are all of $6, I got as many as I possibly could. And I scored 4 of them! bravo Chi-Lan. Ok, so we shot for the first two days non-stop, talking about all the fun things Thailand had to offer, then off to Ko Pha Ngan for the Full Moon Party (insert drum and bass music here). And that party was sooo great! I didn't get to enjoy much of it honestly because I had to work - a lot - but I did get enough time to dance with some guys I met that are from Las Vegas, explore some of the drink stands and walk down the beach. Great! Can I just say that I love the fact that as kids on the beach, we play non-stop with pails. Well at the biggest beach party in the world in Thailand, adults drink their juice out of the pails. How crazy is it to see all these adults, a few of whom are shirtless (thank you big guy in the sky), carrying around little alcoholic buckets with colorfull bendy straws. And there was even this one Irish lad who saw the simple problem of holding these little pails and walking, not being able to easily being able to sip, so he connected 5 bendy straws to be able to walk and lounge but always have the straw right in tongue reach. I guess bending the elbow to bring the bucket o' alcohol would be too much work.
And now I can get down to business. Baja Fresh. Now I am a huge fan of Mexican food, and really do like to eat Baja even if it isn't real Mexican. But hey, it's good. Or at least I thought. Baja, you bitch. you have wronged the wrong girl. so I have eaten twice at Baja recently, ready to partake in the fine dining that is adulterated mexican in california. Little did I realize that I would be paying for the solidified diareehea (yes I am a word smith) that is coming from my once loved chain restaurant. Now I know that this has all been 'to-go' orders but still. I ordered a tostada without chicken, because, well I don't eat meat. So what do I get? i get a tostada, and no, I didn't add chicken. What do I get instead? I get a tostada, but what are those little bits of white thready sh*%? Wow, chicken. And all the wonderful Baja dude did was slap some chicken into the dish, realize it isn't supposed to have chicken and like a responsible and sensible man, the just takes the chicken off. Great dude. Thanks ot you and your mom for raising you. I can see her efforts were not wasted on just a bag of skin. So last week I decide to give my old Baja another go at winning back my heart with an order of my usual salad and what do I get? Well as a friend who saw my salad said, 'what the f*ck is that? There's only lettuce.' Yup, my salad only had lettuce. I am not sure what happened to the beans, rice, cheese, dressing, etc., but I did specifically taste teh bitterness of life wielded into the plastic container by a short order cook that really hates the world who can't order meat thrown haphazardly into a tortilla. That's it. I don't want to live in a world where I can't get a good tostada. But then again, I think I should just stop going to Baja Fresh. Make me waste $6 once Baja, shame on you, make me waste $12, shame on me. You guys been feeling all that rain? It's god crying because Baja sucks so bad.
Monday, November 19, 2007
The weekend that must not be named
This weekend was an amazing exercise of a daughter's love for her mom - and improving her mom's house. Yes, this was the weekend my brain had a huge fart when my mom asked, 'so...whacha doin' this weekend?' Response didn't come in time, so my mom continues 'looks like we're painting!'
And we did paint! I spent Friday mainly at Home Depot with the mother unit buying all necessary materials. And this was pretty fun, I have -
bitch! Did that just happen? Can I just say that I never get manicures and that's because I always screw it up? And right after I decide to treat myself and get one, my nail gets stuck underneath a keyboard KEY! WTF? Does this happen to anyone else? gawd!
Where was I? Yes, Home Depot. Oh how I love home improvement stores, I am not sure of the day, but it was such an amazing feeling to walk into Lowe's back in the day, look around and realize, I know where to get almost everything! And theoretically, I can tackle any home project. In practice, that's another story.
So painting of my mom's living room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom was a two-day endeavor that called upon spirits that I have not seen in a long time. Namely my XL YMCA t-shirt from my teen years as a desk clerk. That ugly ass shirt takes me back to days when old guys in their mid to late 40s (remember, I was 16, anyone over 23 was OLD) came into the Y everyday to sweat off their stress. And it got gamey in there after 6 pm, and not in a sexy dorm room gamey either. There was this one guy that was totally ripped and old, always with a beard, red workout shorts, and a tight wife beater type workout tank. And everyday he came in, we'd have to stop rocking out to whatever station I wanted to listen to and make me switch to the oldies station. Wow, sweatin' to the oldies has morphed into a lifestyle that transcends curly-haired freaks. But I have to admit, after listening to so many oldies, I do switch to those stations pretty frequently while in the car. God works in strange ways.
My dad, mom, sister, brother and I joined forces to tackle this painting project that took a lot more brute strength than I expected. Now let it be known that I work out fairly frequently, but nothing prepared my body, equipped with the upper arm-strength of a small bird, for all this waving up and down of a paint roller. Ralph Machio would have been a world class fighter had he come over this weekend. That much I know.
We painted everyday for about 9 hours daily and quit when the light went away. At this point, my brother was calling for my mom to head to Home Depot and hire some day workers to finish the rest of the project. But he and I know my mom don't play that. She has 3 kids, and I am sure in her opinion, all those hours of labor are more than enough payment for a few measly days of painting. So my sister bought dinner too. I hope we're even.
Now I am sitting on the couch with my dog, watching 'Big Idea with Donny Deutsch'. Why? Well because somehow I came down with a weird stomach pain thing that I cannot get over, so I decided to take it easy. Maybe I will take a couple miles walk. This is also the part of the year I love, when the air gets a little chilly, crisp, a brisk 61 degrees. That’s right. Sixty-one degrees. And that is cold to me. Sure I’ll need to suit up appropriately, like with a fleece, scarf and long pants, but hey, I am a trooper. My dog, my walking partner, is not. He will fight me and fight me and fight me. Running under that table, into his kennel, anywhere he can run and hide to escape from his outside sweater and a walk that will chill his itty-bitty organs to the cellular level! Yes!
And even though I am not feeling so hot in the belly arena, I am dreaming of pie. Pie. Pie!!!!
PS. Headed to Thailand over thanksgiving for CW NOW. I am just staying in Ko Samui and hitting up the Full Moon Party. Woohoo! Get ready for some crazy stories!
And we did paint! I spent Friday mainly at Home Depot with the mother unit buying all necessary materials. And this was pretty fun, I have -
bitch! Did that just happen? Can I just say that I never get manicures and that's because I always screw it up? And right after I decide to treat myself and get one, my nail gets stuck underneath a keyboard KEY! WTF? Does this happen to anyone else? gawd!
Where was I? Yes, Home Depot. Oh how I love home improvement stores, I am not sure of the day, but it was such an amazing feeling to walk into Lowe's back in the day, look around and realize, I know where to get almost everything! And theoretically, I can tackle any home project. In practice, that's another story.
So painting of my mom's living room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom was a two-day endeavor that called upon spirits that I have not seen in a long time. Namely my XL YMCA t-shirt from my teen years as a desk clerk. That ugly ass shirt takes me back to days when old guys in their mid to late 40s (remember, I was 16, anyone over 23 was OLD) came into the Y everyday to sweat off their stress. And it got gamey in there after 6 pm, and not in a sexy dorm room gamey either. There was this one guy that was totally ripped and old, always with a beard, red workout shorts, and a tight wife beater type workout tank. And everyday he came in, we'd have to stop rocking out to whatever station I wanted to listen to and make me switch to the oldies station. Wow, sweatin' to the oldies has morphed into a lifestyle that transcends curly-haired freaks. But I have to admit, after listening to so many oldies, I do switch to those stations pretty frequently while in the car. God works in strange ways.
My dad, mom, sister, brother and I joined forces to tackle this painting project that took a lot more brute strength than I expected. Now let it be known that I work out fairly frequently, but nothing prepared my body, equipped with the upper arm-strength of a small bird, for all this waving up and down of a paint roller. Ralph Machio would have been a world class fighter had he come over this weekend. That much I know.
We painted everyday for about 9 hours daily and quit when the light went away. At this point, my brother was calling for my mom to head to Home Depot and hire some day workers to finish the rest of the project. But he and I know my mom don't play that. She has 3 kids, and I am sure in her opinion, all those hours of labor are more than enough payment for a few measly days of painting. So my sister bought dinner too. I hope we're even.
Now I am sitting on the couch with my dog, watching 'Big Idea with Donny Deutsch'. Why? Well because somehow I came down with a weird stomach pain thing that I cannot get over, so I decided to take it easy. Maybe I will take a couple miles walk. This is also the part of the year I love, when the air gets a little chilly, crisp, a brisk 61 degrees. That’s right. Sixty-one degrees. And that is cold to me. Sure I’ll need to suit up appropriately, like with a fleece, scarf and long pants, but hey, I am a trooper. My dog, my walking partner, is not. He will fight me and fight me and fight me. Running under that table, into his kennel, anywhere he can run and hide to escape from his outside sweater and a walk that will chill his itty-bitty organs to the cellular level! Yes!
And even though I am not feeling so hot in the belly arena, I am dreaming of pie. Pie. Pie!!!!
PS. Headed to Thailand over thanksgiving for CW NOW. I am just staying in Ko Samui and hitting up the Full Moon Party. Woohoo! Get ready for some crazy stories!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Parkour
So....did anyone actually see my segment on Costa Rica on CW NOW? Otherwise, check out the online version. And let me know what you think.
Ok so my next little adventure involves this crazy new fitness craze (as we're calling it) Parkour. Now many of you may know what it is, and many of you may not. Parkour is the sibling to Free Running, which is to move as smoothly and fluidly as possible past all obstacles...Parkour is a little different. It deals more with moving as quickly and efficiently as possible from point A to B. That means instead of creating a beatuiful seamless fluid movement, Parkour makes you jump, vault, run and leap over obstacles so you can catch that bus!
It started in Europe and now is making a huge splash especially among the females in the emerald city, Seattle. So I went up to Seattle to kick some Parkour ass. And let me tell you, as much as I practiced rolling, landing, vaulting, etc., all those things made me incredibly sore and tired. And as simple as each activity looks on TV, it ain't folks. And did I mention how i love that in most of the world, people call this Parkour, my friends and I in Los Angeles just call it running from the cops. Too true a look into my personal life? Hmmmm...
I love the girl I met...she is spearheading the Parkour movement in Seattle, Janine Cundy. She's young, hip, and makes huge blueberry pancake breakfasts for up to 50 girls who go and train on the weekends. She took me out to the odd yet gorgeous Gas Works Park in Seattle to show me the ropes. I, a journalist of questionable ground, think to myself, huh 'show me the ropes' means she'll perform some of the movements and I will take it in, like a reporter. Well no, I'm not getting off that easy. Being a scaredy-cat daredevil aka. totally chicken shit adventurer, I decide I really want to try parkour. She starts me off with landings. Sure. totally rock that. Then rolls. Ok, how? Just roll onto your neck, throw your body over as you reach for the sun. Wha????? You want me to roll and break my neck while I reach for the sky and say hello to the sun? why do I always have to make the first move with the sun? why can't he step up and be a man? GAWD, the single life is so hard.
Anyhow, after finally rolling on my neck and realizing I am not made of glass, I start rolling like a crazy woman all over the grass, unaware that the patch of greenery we chose is also the choice green for geese to come and excrete all that delicious fecal matter. Woot. Parkour is already starting to be great!
Then we get to vaulting. And I swear to god, I vaulted over a cement divider that is about 10 inches wide and hip high about 89 times - and only caught air once. The vault plan? Well, as Janine so kindly explains, just jump up and take your legs over your body. To give you more momentum to get your body weight over the divider, 'aim your face for the ground'. Oh, is that all it is? Aim my face at the ground? easy breezy. My response? 'you want me to aim my money-maker at the what?!'. Janine found this entertaining. She also asked me to join her as she jumped over a second story stairwell and slid down a 10 foot wall. She demos and says, 'now you go.' Huh. What did I say? 'I'm totally good. You slide, I'll just use the stairs. That works. Parkour for Chi-Lan!
All in all, Parkour is a huge mind-game as well as physical play, IMHO. You have to remember how you used to play as a kid, remember what it felt like to try things because you are invincible, and realize that your body can do things that it hasn't done if you try. And as sore as I ended up being the next day, there are many a rail that I pass daily thinking 'Man, I can totally just jump over that.' I have to admit, I am hooked. And I will continue to aim my face at the floor. One question - why can't parkour involve aiming your ass at the floor instead? doesn't that seem more reasonable? Go ahead - discuss.
watch the segment on CW NOW Sunday at 7 on the CW.
Ok so my next little adventure involves this crazy new fitness craze (as we're calling it) Parkour. Now many of you may know what it is, and many of you may not. Parkour is the sibling to Free Running, which is to move as smoothly and fluidly as possible past all obstacles...Parkour is a little different. It deals more with moving as quickly and efficiently as possible from point A to B. That means instead of creating a beatuiful seamless fluid movement, Parkour makes you jump, vault, run and leap over obstacles so you can catch that bus!
It started in Europe and now is making a huge splash especially among the females in the emerald city, Seattle. So I went up to Seattle to kick some Parkour ass. And let me tell you, as much as I practiced rolling, landing, vaulting, etc., all those things made me incredibly sore and tired. And as simple as each activity looks on TV, it ain't folks. And did I mention how i love that in most of the world, people call this Parkour, my friends and I in Los Angeles just call it running from the cops. Too true a look into my personal life? Hmmmm...
I love the girl I met...she is spearheading the Parkour movement in Seattle, Janine Cundy. She's young, hip, and makes huge blueberry pancake breakfasts for up to 50 girls who go and train on the weekends. She took me out to the odd yet gorgeous Gas Works Park in Seattle to show me the ropes. I, a journalist of questionable ground, think to myself, huh 'show me the ropes' means she'll perform some of the movements and I will take it in, like a reporter. Well no, I'm not getting off that easy. Being a scaredy-cat daredevil aka. totally chicken shit adventurer, I decide I really want to try parkour. She starts me off with landings. Sure. totally rock that. Then rolls. Ok, how? Just roll onto your neck, throw your body over as you reach for the sun. Wha????? You want me to roll and break my neck while I reach for the sky and say hello to the sun? why do I always have to make the first move with the sun? why can't he step up and be a man? GAWD, the single life is so hard.
Anyhow, after finally rolling on my neck and realizing I am not made of glass, I start rolling like a crazy woman all over the grass, unaware that the patch of greenery we chose is also the choice green for geese to come and excrete all that delicious fecal matter. Woot. Parkour is already starting to be great!
Then we get to vaulting. And I swear to god, I vaulted over a cement divider that is about 10 inches wide and hip high about 89 times - and only caught air once. The vault plan? Well, as Janine so kindly explains, just jump up and take your legs over your body. To give you more momentum to get your body weight over the divider, 'aim your face for the ground'. Oh, is that all it is? Aim my face at the ground? easy breezy. My response? 'you want me to aim my money-maker at the what?!'. Janine found this entertaining. She also asked me to join her as she jumped over a second story stairwell and slid down a 10 foot wall. She demos and says, 'now you go.' Huh. What did I say? 'I'm totally good. You slide, I'll just use the stairs. That works. Parkour for Chi-Lan!
All in all, Parkour is a huge mind-game as well as physical play, IMHO. You have to remember how you used to play as a kid, remember what it felt like to try things because you are invincible, and realize that your body can do things that it hasn't done if you try. And as sore as I ended up being the next day, there are many a rail that I pass daily thinking 'Man, I can totally just jump over that.' I have to admit, I am hooked. And I will continue to aim my face at the floor. One question - why can't parkour involve aiming your ass at the floor instead? doesn't that seem more reasonable? Go ahead - discuss.
watch the segment on CW NOW Sunday at 7 on the CW.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Costa Rica!!!!
Hello loyal readers!
I know, since I post all of once a month, it isn't fair for me to expect you guys to tune into CW NOW this Sunday to catch my two pieces on Costa Rica, the ultimate tropical paradise! But come on! Check it out. I am in a bathing suit during much of it, it is so nice and warm in that country.
So why have I not posted in over a month? Well besides my inability to sit still and type for over 5 minutes, it's because October - December, I, luckily, and really busy...In October alone, I was home all of about 1.5 weeks. Yeah!
So what have I been doing in the spooky month of October? Well besides trying to manage my crazy vicious dog, Moose, who btw, is getting a lot better with commands, I have been traveling a lot. Most recently I went to my semi-hometown of San Francisco, where I shot much of my HGTV special, '20 ways to live a greener home' or something to that effect. During this shooting, I fell in love with a pre-fab home designed by architect Ray Kappe. Can you tell I am a total modernist at heart? I am all about pre-fab housing where your house is built in some factory and then pieced together on-site. now just because I am in love with it, doesn't mean my wallet is allowing me to have it. Pre-fab housing, as much as I want it, it is still kind of out of reach for a girl like me in Southern California...come to think of it, a parking space is kinda out of reach for a girl like me in Southern Califormia. Damn it!
Ok, so Costa Rica! Wow, how awesome was that trip. Now if you follow CW NOW, you know my fellow correspondent is J Boogie, and he and I were originally designated to go together. Now at the last minute, the powers that be decided that Costa Rica was more 'Costa Chica' so they decided to just send me instead of us both. I felt really bad for Boogie as he really wanted to go, but now he may head to Moscow, so he didn't lose out too much. :)
As for Costa Rica, it is a magical place, humid, but magical. I, being of the warm blooded type that can only handle 75 degree weather, I didn't suffer too much with Costa Rica's heat. But then again, it was the rainy season and the humidity in the highlands were at bay. Yeah! So if you'll indulge me, this is the breakdown of my five day trip to Costa Rica. Did you hear that? I think Fergie just started singing my theme song 'Glamour-ous'. Ok not really...I'll just go sit over there.
My 5 day crazy extravaganza to and through Costa Rica started with an early AM flight from LA connecting through Miami, arriving in San Jose at 7:45 pm. Now I know most of you are like, 'girl, do you have any idea about geography? why are you going east just o go west again?' Good question teacher's pet. But let me tell you, airlines aren't exactly the most sensible people in the world, and the people of American are not exactly 'on it.' Case in point...So all the flights leave on time, so I assume we will land in Costa Rica on time. Flights have been fine thus far, but as we approach San Jose, the pilot tells us there is some thick fog that is blocking view of the runway and we cannot land. So the guy decides to circle like a vulture for about an hour. Hmmm...ok. Then I notice the lights of the city seem to be getting further and further away. Pilot finally comes on the PA system and tells us we have to be rerouted to Panama City, Panama for the night. WHAAAA????!!!!!!! Considering we were supposed to drive 3 hours away to our first location that night to start shooting at 7 am the next morning, what are we gonna do? The answer? Absolutely nothing. Can I really move a 747 or force transport of 400 people? nah. wouldn't want to intimidate all the people on the plane with my awe inspiring strength. Now if Murphy's Law wasn't just making sure I knew it was there to kick my ass, as soon as we land in Panama City, the weather clears up and the pilot asks everyone to stay put as he will fly us back once we gas up. Secret I learned since I got to sit up front and make friends with the pilot and attendants, we were low on gas!!!!! HOLY CRAP! Ok, so gassing back up and getting the 'maintenance log' for the plane takes all of 2 hours - imagine this, hundereds of people on a pretty large plane are stuck seated. A couple can get up and walk to the front of the plane where the front door is open for some air, but otherwise, nothing. And on top of no fresh air and no circulation, they run out of all supplies. I am talking water, liquids, snacks, everything! An older Asian man walks up to ask for something to drink and all they can give him are two half filled plastic glasses of (drum roll) ice! Crazy! So after waiting waaaayyyy too long on the tarmac, we finally fly off to San Jose and land! Yeah! Now that incredible ordeal on American lasted a good 16 hours. Let it be known that a direct flight takes all of 5.5 hours. As Yoda would say, pissed I was.
Anyhow, after a cab driver who works on commission from hotels gets 4 Americans (my crew and myself) to accept a hotel for the night at his preferred clean and cheap hotel, we finally get to rest. Little did he tell us, he was taking us straight into the red light district, the trannie red light district. How did he know out of all the places, that's where I'd feel most comfortable? It's like he was reading my mind....
We sleep for all of three hours and get into the car for a long ass car ride to a gorgeous spot in the highlands of Costa Rica, La Furtuna and Tabacon Spa and Resort. Once we get here, all the crap from traveling gets washed away as we look out and see this gorgeous awe-inspiring still active volcano, Arenal, and see the lush rainforest surrounding us. Now Tabacon is a five star resort that doesn't fool around. The entire hot springs is lush, green and the steam rising from each of the different pools was incredibly impressive. Then we walked through the spa treatment rooms. Now when one thinks of spas, white wall and complete silence is what comes to mind. Well not here. All the treatment rooms and yoga center are situated in the rainforest, with all the rooms' four walls open so you clearly interact with the rainforest. You hear the animals, insects and feel the wind and fresh air on you as you are being indulged in whatever treatment you choose. This experience of just seeing this area and frolicking in the hot springs made the day of travel kind of manageable.
Next morning we headed into a canyon to go canyoning. This activity allows you to move through a canyon by hiking and rappelling, and was crazy fun! Now being slightly afraid of heights, it was an experience to be told first and foremost, this is a 165 foot drop. Wha?!!???!!!! No one told me this. And since we hiked there and I couldn't turn back, that and there was a camera on my face the entire time, it was kind of hard for me to say, 'I'm good this round. go on without me. next time for sure.' Also, once thing I noticed is that Costa Ricans don't really care to 'ease' you into anything. The tallest rappel down a waterfall was my first. There were 4 more. Really? you couldn't set a sister up with a 65 footer first? 100 footer, even! Anyhow, I am glad I decided to say fuggetaboutit and get my harness hooked up and took the plunge. Now being not the heaviest participant and it being my first time at the rappel, it was hard to figure out how to get the weight to start pulling me down the rope. Gravity was giving me the finger during this first rappel. He obviously wanted me to look like an ass on TV. You win this round gravity. So soon I had to start pulling the rope up so my body could slip down. Crazy! And after two runs or so, we encountered a waterfall that really wanted to make us all wet. And it did. We rappelled straight into a waterfall, making for good wet t-shirt contest entrants. And let's not forget the sneakers. Because if there is one thing I absolutely love, it's walking in soaking wet sneakers. Yes!
After beautiful waterfalls in the AM, let's talk about the PM. Did I wrong Murphy's Law in another life? Anyhow, we started driving to get to Jaco, a beach town and our next location at a good hour after caonyoning. What should have been a 3-4 hour drive turned out to be a 6 hour ordeal in a rainstorm, which ended in us knocking on the door of a private apartment hotel (popular in that area of Playa Hermosa). Now it would not have been so bad had the matron of the apartment hotel not been a complete and total 'security-guard-drunk-with-power-of-a-sewn-on-badge-and-plastic-baton.' You know what I'm talking about....anyhow, this woman, who we ended up calling 'Militant Millicent' wore only bathing suit bottoms and a t-shirt, didn't really welcome us. Rather, she showed us our barren rooms, which we were expected to share. And please note, I am the only girl and I had just spent the last 6 hours in a CAR with 3 GUYS. I needed my own space, but was cool. I didn't say anything...but my sound man, being a chivalrous man, jumped to my defense saying I needed a private residence, at which point, i think I saw Militant Millicent's head slowly start to release steam through the ears and her head almost explode. Lovely!
So what was the first thing I learned about lovely Jaco Beach while there? well I learned that is is almost solely known as a 'working girl's town' and an overdeveloped beach town. ok, win win is what I am hearing. That would explain all the signs telling me not to invite prostitutes into the hotel which is family friendly. Damn, wish I would have seen that sign sooner. I wonder if she gives refunds.
So what else did I do? What about zip lining through the chicklet trees, releasing sea turtles into the ocean and taking a surf lesson? That's right. I fit about a week's worth of activity into 3 days. Lemme tell you, I am still exhausted. But I loved sending those little sea turtles out to the ocean. Seeing them move to the water really makes me realize how in tune with mother nature all beings are, except us...I didn't know the baby sea turtles were born that morning, but the vultures circling above knew right from the get go. Damn.
Long story short, as long as we were traveling, like from one location to another, in wheels, with wings, whatever, it was pretty much the most torturous time of my time in this foreign country, but afterwards, it was pure paradise - on 4 hours sleep nightly. Costa Rica was a great experience. But not cheap, unless you REALLY try. My emotional high? the itty bitty sea turtles! They were so extra cute! they made me want to get a black mini cooper. :)
I know, since I post all of once a month, it isn't fair for me to expect you guys to tune into CW NOW this Sunday to catch my two pieces on Costa Rica, the ultimate tropical paradise! But come on! Check it out. I am in a bathing suit during much of it, it is so nice and warm in that country.
So why have I not posted in over a month? Well besides my inability to sit still and type for over 5 minutes, it's because October - December, I, luckily, and really busy...In October alone, I was home all of about 1.5 weeks. Yeah!
So what have I been doing in the spooky month of October? Well besides trying to manage my crazy vicious dog, Moose, who btw, is getting a lot better with commands, I have been traveling a lot. Most recently I went to my semi-hometown of San Francisco, where I shot much of my HGTV special, '20 ways to live a greener home' or something to that effect. During this shooting, I fell in love with a pre-fab home designed by architect Ray Kappe. Can you tell I am a total modernist at heart? I am all about pre-fab housing where your house is built in some factory and then pieced together on-site. now just because I am in love with it, doesn't mean my wallet is allowing me to have it. Pre-fab housing, as much as I want it, it is still kind of out of reach for a girl like me in Southern California...come to think of it, a parking space is kinda out of reach for a girl like me in Southern Califormia. Damn it!
Ok, so Costa Rica! Wow, how awesome was that trip. Now if you follow CW NOW, you know my fellow correspondent is J Boogie, and he and I were originally designated to go together. Now at the last minute, the powers that be decided that Costa Rica was more 'Costa Chica' so they decided to just send me instead of us both. I felt really bad for Boogie as he really wanted to go, but now he may head to Moscow, so he didn't lose out too much. :)
As for Costa Rica, it is a magical place, humid, but magical. I, being of the warm blooded type that can only handle 75 degree weather, I didn't suffer too much with Costa Rica's heat. But then again, it was the rainy season and the humidity in the highlands were at bay. Yeah! So if you'll indulge me, this is the breakdown of my five day trip to Costa Rica. Did you hear that? I think Fergie just started singing my theme song 'Glamour-ous'. Ok not really...I'll just go sit over there.
My 5 day crazy extravaganza to and through Costa Rica started with an early AM flight from LA connecting through Miami, arriving in San Jose at 7:45 pm. Now I know most of you are like, 'girl, do you have any idea about geography? why are you going east just o go west again?' Good question teacher's pet. But let me tell you, airlines aren't exactly the most sensible people in the world, and the people of American are not exactly 'on it.' Case in point...So all the flights leave on time, so I assume we will land in Costa Rica on time. Flights have been fine thus far, but as we approach San Jose, the pilot tells us there is some thick fog that is blocking view of the runway and we cannot land. So the guy decides to circle like a vulture for about an hour. Hmmm...ok. Then I notice the lights of the city seem to be getting further and further away. Pilot finally comes on the PA system and tells us we have to be rerouted to Panama City, Panama for the night. WHAAAA????!!!!!!! Considering we were supposed to drive 3 hours away to our first location that night to start shooting at 7 am the next morning, what are we gonna do? The answer? Absolutely nothing. Can I really move a 747 or force transport of 400 people? nah. wouldn't want to intimidate all the people on the plane with my awe inspiring strength. Now if Murphy's Law wasn't just making sure I knew it was there to kick my ass, as soon as we land in Panama City, the weather clears up and the pilot asks everyone to stay put as he will fly us back once we gas up. Secret I learned since I got to sit up front and make friends with the pilot and attendants, we were low on gas!!!!! HOLY CRAP! Ok, so gassing back up and getting the 'maintenance log' for the plane takes all of 2 hours - imagine this, hundereds of people on a pretty large plane are stuck seated. A couple can get up and walk to the front of the plane where the front door is open for some air, but otherwise, nothing. And on top of no fresh air and no circulation, they run out of all supplies. I am talking water, liquids, snacks, everything! An older Asian man walks up to ask for something to drink and all they can give him are two half filled plastic glasses of (drum roll) ice! Crazy! So after waiting waaaayyyy too long on the tarmac, we finally fly off to San Jose and land! Yeah! Now that incredible ordeal on American lasted a good 16 hours. Let it be known that a direct flight takes all of 5.5 hours. As Yoda would say, pissed I was.
Anyhow, after a cab driver who works on commission from hotels gets 4 Americans (my crew and myself) to accept a hotel for the night at his preferred clean and cheap hotel, we finally get to rest. Little did he tell us, he was taking us straight into the red light district, the trannie red light district. How did he know out of all the places, that's where I'd feel most comfortable? It's like he was reading my mind....
We sleep for all of three hours and get into the car for a long ass car ride to a gorgeous spot in the highlands of Costa Rica, La Furtuna and Tabacon Spa and Resort. Once we get here, all the crap from traveling gets washed away as we look out and see this gorgeous awe-inspiring still active volcano, Arenal, and see the lush rainforest surrounding us. Now Tabacon is a five star resort that doesn't fool around. The entire hot springs is lush, green and the steam rising from each of the different pools was incredibly impressive. Then we walked through the spa treatment rooms. Now when one thinks of spas, white wall and complete silence is what comes to mind. Well not here. All the treatment rooms and yoga center are situated in the rainforest, with all the rooms' four walls open so you clearly interact with the rainforest. You hear the animals, insects and feel the wind and fresh air on you as you are being indulged in whatever treatment you choose. This experience of just seeing this area and frolicking in the hot springs made the day of travel kind of manageable.
Next morning we headed into a canyon to go canyoning. This activity allows you to move through a canyon by hiking and rappelling, and was crazy fun! Now being slightly afraid of heights, it was an experience to be told first and foremost, this is a 165 foot drop. Wha?!!???!!!! No one told me this. And since we hiked there and I couldn't turn back, that and there was a camera on my face the entire time, it was kind of hard for me to say, 'I'm good this round. go on without me. next time for sure.' Also, once thing I noticed is that Costa Ricans don't really care to 'ease' you into anything. The tallest rappel down a waterfall was my first. There were 4 more. Really? you couldn't set a sister up with a 65 footer first? 100 footer, even! Anyhow, I am glad I decided to say fuggetaboutit and get my harness hooked up and took the plunge. Now being not the heaviest participant and it being my first time at the rappel, it was hard to figure out how to get the weight to start pulling me down the rope. Gravity was giving me the finger during this first rappel. He obviously wanted me to look like an ass on TV. You win this round gravity. So soon I had to start pulling the rope up so my body could slip down. Crazy! And after two runs or so, we encountered a waterfall that really wanted to make us all wet. And it did. We rappelled straight into a waterfall, making for good wet t-shirt contest entrants. And let's not forget the sneakers. Because if there is one thing I absolutely love, it's walking in soaking wet sneakers. Yes!
After beautiful waterfalls in the AM, let's talk about the PM. Did I wrong Murphy's Law in another life? Anyhow, we started driving to get to Jaco, a beach town and our next location at a good hour after caonyoning. What should have been a 3-4 hour drive turned out to be a 6 hour ordeal in a rainstorm, which ended in us knocking on the door of a private apartment hotel (popular in that area of Playa Hermosa). Now it would not have been so bad had the matron of the apartment hotel not been a complete and total 'security-guard-drunk-with-power-of-a-sewn-on-badge-and-plastic-baton.' You know what I'm talking about....anyhow, this woman, who we ended up calling 'Militant Millicent' wore only bathing suit bottoms and a t-shirt, didn't really welcome us. Rather, she showed us our barren rooms, which we were expected to share. And please note, I am the only girl and I had just spent the last 6 hours in a CAR with 3 GUYS. I needed my own space, but was cool. I didn't say anything...but my sound man, being a chivalrous man, jumped to my defense saying I needed a private residence, at which point, i think I saw Militant Millicent's head slowly start to release steam through the ears and her head almost explode. Lovely!
So what was the first thing I learned about lovely Jaco Beach while there? well I learned that is is almost solely known as a 'working girl's town' and an overdeveloped beach town. ok, win win is what I am hearing. That would explain all the signs telling me not to invite prostitutes into the hotel which is family friendly. Damn, wish I would have seen that sign sooner. I wonder if she gives refunds.
So what else did I do? What about zip lining through the chicklet trees, releasing sea turtles into the ocean and taking a surf lesson? That's right. I fit about a week's worth of activity into 3 days. Lemme tell you, I am still exhausted. But I loved sending those little sea turtles out to the ocean. Seeing them move to the water really makes me realize how in tune with mother nature all beings are, except us...I didn't know the baby sea turtles were born that morning, but the vultures circling above knew right from the get go. Damn.
Long story short, as long as we were traveling, like from one location to another, in wheels, with wings, whatever, it was pretty much the most torturous time of my time in this foreign country, but afterwards, it was pure paradise - on 4 hours sleep nightly. Costa Rica was a great experience. But not cheap, unless you REALLY try. My emotional high? the itty bitty sea turtles! They were so extra cute! they made me want to get a black mini cooper. :)
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