Dear Holiday Season

Dear Holiday Season,

I do enjoy you greatly. You are my candle in the wind when getting through the late November/early December work day. But I often forgot one thing: you make me bloat up like a Macy's Day float.

Yes, I realize you aren't forcing all those cookies down my throat. And no, I didn't have to snack on an entire baguette by myself last night. Holiday season-themed beer always taste so damn good too.

So, much like many Americans today, I plan on enjoying one last day of full on gluttony and then PRAY that I may feel sick enough tomorrow to stick with a raw food cleanse or something to get all this "holiday" cheer out of my system.

Lovens,

Mo

Ya gotta love the holidays if not for anything but the free time you get to spend it with love ones.

Yesterday was a day I've been waiting for since John and I discussed it about a month and a half ago.

Instead of giving each other a few small gifts for Christmas we opted to spilt the bill for a epic spa day.

The day included: a mani/pedi, light lunch and a massage. We ended up chilling in the sauna room for a bit because the place we went to kept messing things up. Note: If you live in New Orleans or plan on visiting do NOT go to Belladonna. The only reason we went there was because our favorite place (Earthsavers) doesn't have a couples package. We decided that if we do this next year that we are fine with not doing a couples package and that having good service is more important.

On a positive note: all the time we spent in the sauna gave us time to decide this! 

 After our spa day was over we realized we needed a drink or two (yup, that's right, after multiple screw ups at our spa we needed a drink). I've been craving a Hot Chocolate like craaaaazy so we stopped for one before heading down the street for a beer.

Later in the night we rode our bikes to one of our favorite restaurants: Cafe Granada

John totally knew the reason I wanted to go to this exact place was because I wanted some guarantee that the service/food would be good. I love how John can just sense these things.

On another note, I realized my nail color from my manicure earlier in the day matched my wine! Clearly, drinking was on my mind while at the spa.

Anyone else decide to splurge on a bigger gift with their significant other or family?

Epic Cleaning Day=New Bed!!!

Today was a epic day for cleaning. So many bags of shit were taken to Goodwill and Best Buy has a few items from our apartment to recycle now. I still feel like there is more to do and REALLY don't want to be doing it....hence why I'm taking a blog break.

The whole reason we are having a epic cleaning day was for one reason....WE GOT A NEW BED! Oh, yeah! John and I will now be rolling around and sleeping sans back pain in a Queen size bed.

Sorry that it's not a fancy, lovely photo that you'd see on pinterest but we're still working things out with how we want the lay of the land to now look in our room. I suspect it may take us a few months but we'll get there!

The old bed served us well but it was beaten in pretty hard by the time we (and our backs) decided it was time for a upgrade. The above picture is of baby Jackson and Kahlo right when John moved in about 2 1/2 years ago!

Anyone else have any major purchases over the holiday season?

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope y'all had an amazing Christmas! I'm sure I'm not the only one that felt it snuck up on you this year. I love living in the south but sometimes it's hard to remember it's December when there is no snow outside and you're able to wear shorts.

This year John and I stayed in Louisiana and drove to Baton Rouge to be with his family.

1) The cats were cooked a whole fish for Christmas 2) Jackson came to Baton Rouge with us 3) Christmas tree!!! 4) Love watching these girls open presents.

1) I finally got to meet Baby Camille!!! 2) All the dogs outside 3) The girls got a Wii from Santa 4) To cute

1) John and I basically picked our own gifts from the White Elephant exchange 2) More Baby Camille!! 3) John's mother knows me to well. She gave me a gift certificate to Whole Foods for Christmas.

On another note, every Christmas I like to donate a little extra to certain foundations I support strongly. The three groups I picked are ones that I normally donate almost monthly too:

Gulf Restoration Network

SPCA

Alliance For Hope

Does anyone else donate a little extra for Christmas? If so, which foundations? 

Merry Christmas!!!

First off, I would like to thank all the people who sent out positive vibes for my brother yesterday. His surgery went well. Longer than expected and they kept him over night but it went well and that's all that matters!

Second, John and I have both started our Christmas hiatuses on our films! Mine, of course, started before his and will end after but today is our officially Day 1 of our break together. So flippin' excited!

I've made a rough list of things I'd like to do while on hiatus. Nothing to big or stressful but my anal retentive tendencies force me to make list even when I'm not working.

The 'Hiatus' List:

1) Paint 2-3 paintings

2) Mail Christmas cards even though I know they'll arrive late. 

3) Read "The Marriage Plot" by Jeffrey Eugenides and "Blue Nights" by Joan Didion. They are my personal rockstars in the literary world. 

4) Ride my bike daily. Somewhere. Anywhere.

5) Make beet ravioli from scratch with John

6) Spend half a day in a local coffee shop reading/people watching with John. 

7) Find Swoon's new street art in the Marigny. 

8) Try 2 new restaurants 

9) Cuddle. Cuddle. Cuddle.

What are some things you're looking forward to doing during your time off of work?

A Request

While I try to keep things upbeat and somewhat vaguely private on this blog, today I am openly sharing a stressful moment in my life right now.

Today my 29 year old brother is going in for heart surgery. Perhaps it's nothing seriously but all I can focus on is that it's a heart surgery and that I have one brother and he means the world to me. While we out live our parents for years I very much need my brother to grow old with me.

So, I'm awkwardly asking that everyone who reads my blog send out positive vibes for my brother today. Thanks!

Life as of Lately

 1) Getting put up in hotels for work! 2) Flying home for the holiday break sooner than expected 3) nursing a horse voice 4) tomato basil soup: my favorite!

 1) Full on bronchitis 2) more hot tea for my throat 3) Jackson's besties during his walk 4) new favorite tagging graffiti near my apartment

1) Intense puppy eyes get me every time 2) Superior Grill gets me every time 3) Finally seeing "Like Crazy" (loved the soundtrack) 4) Kahlo helping me paint

I'm so looking forward to next week when both John and I are off work for the holidays! Currently I'm working on his movie while I'm hiatus from my film. Crazy, I know! 5 weeks off sounds nice till your car decides to break down and cost over 600 dollars to repair. A positive is at least I get to see my sexy boyfriend while working!

What have y'all been up to lately? Any special holiday plans?

A Moral Debate

Question:

Does anyone else have the constant moral debate within their minds when they see that the handicapped restroom is open on whether or not they should use it.

Part of me always thinks: "Well, what if I'm using it and someone comes in who REALLY needs it. There is only one room for them to pick from when I have more to pick from.

Then another part of me thinks: "Girl, you pee fast. No one is in here. Just treat yourself to a nice spaced pee break in this weird public restroom."

Truth be told, and maybe I'll burn in the bad samaritan hell for this, sometimes I do use it. Not all the time. But when I do, I can't help but feel guilty.

Does anyone else have this completely pointless debate within themselves?

Holiday Diet Secret?

Hey y'all! In case you were wondering what the TRUE diet secret is to the holiday season that the magazines don't tell you, it's totally to catch bronchitis!

Not only does it make walking your dog feel like a hike up Mt. Everest but just when you think you're feeling better you vomit up your soup and bread dinner. YAY! 

It's totally the new fad. For realz.

*please read this post with the most utter sarcasm*

Check Out My Guest Post!

Hope everyone survived their Hump Day safe and sound. I'm currently dealing with my first case of bronchitis. Being sick is so booooooring. But on a happy note I have my first guest post EVER on the super cute blog Katie Did It.

Please stop by and check it out! Even better, start following her blog!

TREAT YO-SELF Tuesday: Dec. 13

This week's Treat Yo-Self Tuesday is brought to you by a stressful week filming up in the mountains with icy cold temperatures and ridiculous winds. It has taken a toll on my skin, more specifically, my face.

Let me break down my hot mess of a face:

1) dry, peeling forehead

2) potential crows feet

3) wind-burnt cheeks

4) chapped lips that look like herpes

So I treated myself to a facial at my FAVORITE spa place: Earthsavers

Did I really need to get a facial? Most likely not. Did I vomit in my mouth when I payed for the facial? Maybe a little. Does my face feel like a soft baby's butt? Hellz yes!

How did y'all treat yo-self this week?

How does one vomit on a plane and look classy?

Have you ever seen anyone throw up in the sick bag on a airplane before? Me either.

Until today.

And guess who it was....me.

Yup, I was that classy person throwing up in a bag on a airplane. Even better, I had a window seat.

On another note, I'm home from California! We started our filming hiatus a week early. Now I have 5 weeks off instead of almost 3. If I was a responsible adult I may be freakin' out right now but all I can think is "WOO-HOO 2 more weeks off!!! More time to play!"

Hope everyone had a great weekend and didn't end up vomiting next to strangers like I did!

Links of Love

Drinkify: I could totally fool around on this all day.

How Did This Get Made Podcast: This is one of the current podcasts I am OBSESSED with. I'm pretty sure I've listened to each episode at least twice if not more. Also, John and I have mos def worked on movies that they feature on this podcast so listening to those episodes are a hundred times more funny because I remember thinking the same things on set.

Cat Versus Human: I am a cat lady, hear me rawr. Seriously though, if you own a cat(s) you'll love this blog. I have the same amount of pets as she does so every comic she publishes is like gold to me.

Eves Little Earthlings: I really love the simple little things she makes. My favorite are her beer cozies that  I'm thinking about getting myself for Christmas.

Other links:

1) Suri Cruise....that sassy little biatch

2) Budgeting never looked so fun

3) These music suggestions never seem to let me down. My favorite own by far has been by her husband.

4) With the holiday season surrounding us cooking is always on my mind.

5) Play games for a cause and challenge your brain.

6) Check out Lisa's re-opening of her Esty shop! My Paper Plane

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! 

TREAT YO-SELF Tuesday: Dec. 6

This week's TREAT YO-SELF moment comes to you from being bored and stuck in a hotel room over the weekend with no means on transportation and the closet local form of entertainment is a  35 minute walk to a pizza place.

I rented not 1 but 3 movies off of itunes this weekend.

Did I really need to rent them? Probably not. Could I have just gone with renting 1 instead of of 3? Surely. But when you are stuck in what feels like the middle of nowhere and have had a very stressful week that finished with working outside in 18 degree weather with 40 mph winds it's pretty hard to not think, "F*ck it, I deserve it. TREAT YO-SELF, Mo".

So I did. After I clicked "Rent" on the first one I just clicked away on the second two.

And guess what? None of them were good choices due to how utterly depressing they were. Why did I think it was a good idea to rent such depressing movies when I was literally stuck in a hotel and knew I would go stir crazy. I couldn't even go buy a bottle of wine to drink away the sorrow of watching these films. 

*Note: I ranked them in order of depressing factor.

I did enjoy all of the films though. "Beginners" was by far my favorite. I just don't think it was a good idea to rent them this weekend.

How did y'all TREAT YO-SELF this week?

Before I got into reading complete strangers blogs I started out reading secrets of complete strangers.

To me, Post Secret, is like what the Sunday comics were as a kid. You look forward to reading them every week and make your Dad rip that section out of the paper first.

I actually keep a folder on my desktop of some of my favorite ones and thought I'd share some with y'all

Do y'all still read Post Secret? If so, what are some of your favorite secrets that have been shared?

Who Dat Dedication

Even though I'm in California I'm not about to let that interfere with my Saints season.

John and I have been on gchat all day while he cooked up a storm for our friends who came over the watch the game. While I couldn't be there in person, thanks to an amazing little thing called technology I was able to be there via the virtual world.

WHO DAT!!!

Ice, Ice, Baby

 The film I'm working on has moved onto it's 2nd location and is now in Northern California. While we will return to L.A. on a later date I am currently enjoying the new landscape outside my hotel window.

 The only problem with this location is it's OUT OF CONTROL cold. With the intense winds that are happening through out the state of California on top of the fact we're filming nights in the mountains I am constantly cold. 

Last night for work I wore: 2 under shirts, 1 plaid shirt (courtesy of me buying the wrong size for John and forcing me to keep it so it didn't go to waste), 1 cardigan, 2 fleece jackets, 1 jacket, 2 scarves, 1 pair of wool tights, 4 pairs of socks, boots and jeans. Annnnnnd, I was still feeling the need to vomit due to the cold.

Even though I questioned many times last night if it truly is possible to drop dead due to freezing winds AND I know I have at least one more week in this location, I am still so unbelievably grateful for the opportunity I've been given to work on this amazing film with a legendary director I grew up loving (I even had a picture of him on my wall in high school). I find myself constantly glazing over with a smirk on my face and watching magic happen. Seriously, I can't believe this is happening to me. I'm getting paid to work on movies, travel to beautiful areas, and have fun everyday!

Now I'm gonna pass out and rest my feet after a long week.

Hope y'all have an amazing weekend!!!!

Welcome to the World Baby Camille!

Today is an exciting day in John's family! He's eldest sister had her 3rd daughter!

While she may not be "blood" related to me it still has had me walking on air all day. I seriously told anyone who would listen to me about her.

Many thanks to John's brother Scott for sending me these lovely photos so I don't have to wait ALL the way till I return home from California to see her amazingly cute face. Also, mad props to he's brother for always sharing in my excitement over each new niece/nephew!

Welcome to the world Baby Camille! I can't wait to meet you and spoil you!

My Discoveries about L.A. thus far....

1) LA traffic is slightly enjoyable if you focus on how beautiful the mountains are 2) cupcakes from Sprinkles 3) Choices? (note: I went with neither)

1) It's impossible to eat cupcakes that look like boobs and NOT take this photo 2) My traditional "gorge before I start a new movie" pasta dinner in Beverly Hills 3) Skyping with my cats. Yup. My cats

1) Everyday I don't die while driving on the freeway is a damn miracle. I believe this city is called "The City of Angels" merely because they look out for you so you don't die while driving everyday.

2) The reason I probably survive the freeway is people actually use their turn signals (even if it's at the last minute) while NO ONE is southern Louisiana does. Very grateful.

3) Perhaps deep down I'm a healthy eater because I'm normally drawn to order things off the menu like granola or things labeled "raw". Los Angeles and food has proven to be a master cleanse to my New Orleanian diet body. Very delicious but very "cleansing"

4) I haven't seen one person on a bike. I've seen bikes strapped to cars but not actually being ridden.

5) I could care less about spotting "movie stars" as its actually my job to deal with them. What I have realized is that if I see a minor character on one of my favorite shows like "The Office" or "30 Rock" I am likely to shart myself with hidden excitement. So ashamed.

If you've been to L.A. do you have an suggestions of places I should check out?