'Maturing' Probably Won't Be That Bad

This, my friends, will be a short post. My main point is to show that parents are awesome and that being "older" (I don't use the word 'old' as I recently turned 25) is no excuse to be boring. My parents went to the Oxnard Harbor gourmet food festival (food trucks) and they did it right. Instead of walking the five minute walk from the house to the festival, their culdesac club decided it would be best to take a limo. (One of the neighbors owns a car service, prom anyone?) Of course I decided to tag along. After a short joy ride and a couple bottles of wine, we arrived in style (two from our gang wearing white pants were now speckled with red wine). We chose Cousins Maine Lobster Truck. It was AMAZING - I tried the Maine Lobster Roll. Three ingredients - lobster tail, butter, bun. When that piece of heaven landed in my hands, it only lived outside by stomach for I'm guessing 12 seconds.

And this is Kathy telling the babes on the curb she needs to move the curb block off sign so the Biebs can park his limo. Needless to say they weren't impressed.

My Dream of Becoming a Tambourinist....

....was crushed Friday night.  If I was granted an easy ticket to fame and fortune, it would happen by becoming a tambourinist for a group like Destiny's Child, The Beach Boys, Creed, or Gotye. Think about it, while all the talented members play guitars, drums, and sing, I'll just stand on the side dancing, beating the tambourine, and looking cute (well trying). I've considered putting up a craigslist add to see if any up and coming bands need one but haven't gotten around to doing it yet. 

So back to Friday night - for weeks the roomies and I have been excited to go to Soho in Santa Barbara and see Tommy & the High Pilots play. I figured this is my big opportunity to show my skills. Let me also tell you, the drummer knows I'd like the gig but has failed to setup an audition.

Here's the guys playing, Tommy & the High Pilots are the four on the left. Lucky for me (or so I thought), they had guest musicians playing so I figured I would be included.

Here's me waiting (on the left) by the tambourine I thought I would be playing soon. I waited song after song but never was called on stage to play. By now I've gotten the hint, Tommy & the High Pilots isn't my ticket but it was an amazing soon and I hope to see them perform soon. On another note, if you know any up and coming bands, let them know I'm a 'seasoned' tambourine artist.

O ya, we stopped by Winco on our way home - I HIGHLY recommend going in the middle of the night. Call it a playground for adults who get pleasure from buying cheap snacks and house hold products for cheap without being bothered by those really annoying slow grocery cart shoppers. 

We came, We saw, We conquered

I've lived in Oxnard for 10 years and finally went to see what this Strawberry Festival was all about. Liz, Cherry (at the Strawberry festival, ironic I know), and I had strawberry beer, strawberry margaritas, strawberry nachos, and of course strawberries.

We have four lovely new glasses as pictured above... exactly what we need.. to add to our collection of glasses from weddings, ex boyfriends, birthdays, and our house warming party. Anyone need a set of glasses?

I didn't want to wait in the 20 minute line to take a picture next to the real strawberry festival sign so the one next to the security guard works, right?  

Strawberry margs and sittin on some strawberry festival hay.

What's your sleep number?

So this was a highlight. Liz and I saw this photo op and knew it was a must. We got in line and asked the cute couple behind us to take our picture. We put our faces in the strawberries and both noticed another family taking our picture. We started walking away from the cut outs and noticed a little girl had joined us! That family will have a very interesting photo from the festival. Liz and I were chugging beers and the little girl was as happy as can be.

Last but not least, a ten foot tall cowboy grabbed us by our hair - all his idea.

Friday Night Philosophisms

Friday night happy hour, or 'yappy hour', at the French Bulldog was the perfect pick. Great food, nice patio, heaters (a must for me) and of course delightful company. If you go for happy hour, try the specialty drink with muddled blueberries, vodka, and lemon lime soda (or replace with soda water if you don't like sweet drinks). We enjoyed appetizers, specialty drinks, and a round of 805, while learning some important Phil-osophisms. Sorry, mother, this is not PG material. Let me explain: Who is Phil? Phil is Elizabeth's coworker (If you don't know by now Liz is a BF and room mate). What are Philosophisms? 'Facts' Phil shared that may or may not be factual. 1. Parrot Bay (that coconut flavored rum we all drank prematurely) is a two for one deal. Not only can you get a (good?) buzz but you are also given diabetes. If you've ever drank Parrot Bay, it's extremely sweet and tastes like sun screen all at the same time. 2. There are guys (no, these are actually men) who think  girls can't get pregnant on top. Well, unless there's a salmon sperm that swims upstream, then your screwed (and pregnant). 3. VFW -  A new acronym to me. It stands for Very Fucking Wise. I don't know if I'll personally use this acronym in everyday language but very useful to know. You never want to be that person on Facebook using it in the wrong context (we all know those people). I did a little research of my own, and it actually stands for Veterans of Foreign War. Nice try Phil. 4. The last phism for now - Work Hard, Play Hard - we've all heard this right? Well Phil believes we should play hard while we work and I couldn't agree more. We could all use the extra smiles, excitement, and laughter throughout the day.  OK, I'll leave you with some topics to ponder until next Friday night, which is right around the corner! 

Elizabeth and I

Me, Phil (the mastermind), Cherry, and Andrea (Coworkers) 

Martin, Elizabeth, and I

This is 25.

I haven't seen This is 40 but I'm pretty sure the twins birthday weekend was a spin off. Our plan for Saturday was a mani / pedi / shopping day followed by a casual night at a couple of our favorite bars then a BBQ pool day Sunday. Let's just say our plan did not pan out. View the timeline below:

My face says it all - I'm not going to give the name of the salon for their sake but I was not a happy customer. First, my manicurist was upset that I didn't like the color I chose when she painted ONE toe (it was too light, I wanted something that popped), then she told me they didn't have shimmer silver nail polish which is impossible for a nail salon and topped it off with saying I should have done my toes the same color as my fingers because that was pretty. I wanted to kick her in the face (I would never actually do that) while my friends where happily laughing and conversing with their manicurists. Must be nice. Needless to say, I won't be a returning customer. 

Moving on to our night out:

It was fun for the 30 minutes it lasted. Natalie (on the left) and I decided we were done for the night, scarfed some Jimmy Slice pizza and caught a cab. And then we woke up Sunday, Natalie was on crutches, and that's where This is 25 came into play. Who wakes up with crutches on their 25th birthday?! I'm not going to expand on what happened between leaving the bar and waking up. But no I'm realizing, maybe this weekend was more like the Hangover.

Finally our pool / BBQ day with 20 of our closest friends (not really since it was 50 degrees outside, misty, and gloomy). The guests in attendance cancelled as the day went on and the fun didn't start until the late afternoon, inside, no BBQ, no sun, but obviously still in our swim suits. HAPPY QUARTER CENTURY Stephanie and Natalie, may this year only get better!