California Transplants

80 Degrees and Lovin it!

2009-01-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

It has definitely been a while...but things are going well here! Mainly we've been too busy hitting up the beach during this fabulous heat wave! Other than that things have been pretty status quo. Dave and Sarah were in town last weekend, it was such a fun visit, we hit the beach, went for drinks in Malibu, brunch in Beverly Hills, and a visit to the Getty Center. They definitely had the best weather of any visitors we've had so far...I think Sarah is the lucky charm.
No star sightings in a while, we are in a dry spell. You would think that with all the awards shows around this time of year they'd be all over the place...but no. Anyway not much to report, hope the new year is going well for everyone!

Where did 2008 Go???

2008-12-07T18:57:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe Jon and I have 9 days left of work this year! 2008 really flew by, it is so amazing. We had such a great year...whether it was planned or surprise visits from friends, traveling all around the West Coast...or just spending time in LA, we definitely had some great experiences that we were so happy to be able to share with many of our friends and family!

We head back to MA on the December 19th and are going to be around through January 2nd. We plan on being in Boston the first weekend, and then head to WMASS through the holiday and then back to Boston for New Years...so hopefully we can all meet up!

Sorry we haven't done much posting lately but I think Facebook has taken over as our means of communication...Jon is 100% addicted, it is hard to get him to look @ any other website...hopefully though he will make a New Year's resolution to update his blog a little more regularly!

Take a look at 2008 in review! Can't wait to see everyone in 2 weeks!

TGIF

2008-11-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

This week was the longest week in the world. Thank god the weekend is here. 1 day of work this week and then off to Scottsdale again for Thanksgiving....can not wait. Mashed potatoes and turkey...yum yum yum! Not much to report here, we survived another fire season, pretty bad this past few weeks. Last weekend we couldn't even go outside because the air quality was so bad. It is such an awful thing to watch peoples homes burn and there is nothing they can do. It is even worse when you find out some teenagers were having a bonfire and didn't put the fire out right. Teenagers are the worst.
Not much going on this weekend, going to hit up this massive Sample Sale in Santa Monica on Sunday. Apparently lots of great designers at 80% off. We'll see! 80% off definitely can't hurt in this insane economy.
We are counting down the minutes until we head home for xmas. We take the red eye home on the 18th and arrive Friday morning in Boston. Planning on staying in Boston on Friday and Saturday and then head to Western Mass to do our Christmas Shopping and some well needed family bonding!

Can't wait to see everyone soon! Happy Thanksgiving...

3 More Days Thank God!

2008-11-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

I can not wait until this election is over. Every conversation we have had for the past 6 months has been about politics...I don't know what we will talk about after Tuesday.

Other than the never ending election, we have been very busy lately. Spent a weekend in San Diego. Tailgated at Qualcomm Stadium and sadly watched the Chargers walk all over The Patriots. Although a great experience (the tailgating that is), the game was TERRIBLE. I hate Chargers fans, they are so mean. I mean really, I never would have though that people from San Diego could be so mean.

The next weekend we headed up to Seattle, WA to visit my friends Dini and Anju. They moved up there in July so we decided to go up for a visit. Apparently we lucked out because the weather was absolutely beautiful with no rain all weekend. Sunny, 60's just like a crisp fall day in New England. Seattle is BEAUTIFUL. A great small city with many different neighborhoods and awesome restaurants. Dini and Anju took us out to this amazing 5 course tasting just down the street from where they live, the food was amazing. (Rover's) We did a lot of sight seeing and exploring, got to see the fish throwing at Pike's Place Market and drink lots of yummy coffee!

After a great week of traveling, we finally headed back to Santa Monica to settle in until the holidays. Heading to Arizona again for Thanksgiving and then back to MA on December 19th thru the 2nd of January. Can't wait to come home! We are really looking forward to catching up with everyone, it has been a really long time!

Right now Jon is making me watch Saw IV. I am not really watching but pretending...I watched the original Saw movie with him a few years ago and couldn't sleep for like 2 weeks...it is so f'd up and right now there is one guy with his eyes sewed shut chained to another guy w/ his mouth sewed shut and they are being pulled into some sort of machine, I do not want to be friends with whoever thinks up this stuff....

Don't forget to set your clock's back tonight...and remember to get out and vote!

Miss you all!

Vote for who I should vote for....

2008-10-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

My vote is up for vote. Kate is pretty sure she knows who she' backing, I don't. I'm not impressed with either candidate and would rather have Hilary or Romney than either of them. I'm not drinking the Obama kool-aid or on the McCain express despite a little crush on Palin.

I already know that my friends tend to make better decisions than me, so please vote on the right and I will vote accordingly.

Todd - Please don't vote, after the Kelly Gruber all-star ballot incident I'm not sure I can trust your judgement.

End of Summer...Baseball Playoffs

2008-10-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

Jon and I were able to score some tix to the Red Sox/Angels Game 2 of the ALDS on Friday night...although we were in the minority it was still a ton of fun! The Angels Fans were great...didn't haggle us too much...I guess scoring 4 runs in the first inning helps to settle down the crowd! We haven't loaded any pix in a while so here are some from the game in Anaheim, as well as Birthday Pix...celebrated w/ my cousin Doris, her husband Josh and their friend Clint. Had a great dinner at this cool tapas restaurant in Venice. Finally some pix of a hike in Malibu..for some reason Jon felt it would be a great bday surprise to take me on a 6 mile hike in 90+ degree weather...not really my idea of a great birthday, but we did have fun. The old trucks are actually from the area where they used to film M*A*S*H apparently they left some old props and used to film in the Malibu!

Go Sox!

JRea back in the Post Seat

2008-10-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have a ton to report, but I'm over due for a post and Kate has been so kind to remind me. Here's what's going on:

- Weather. Californina is in a heat wave, setting some seasonal records, 104 degrees in the valley today and in the high 80's in Santa Monica. There is actually humidity, unheard of. Not too many days above 85 degrees and below 65 degress in Santa Monica so this is news worthy. May get rain in couple of days, I love watching the pathetitic newscasters on the side of the road reporting raing in inches and talking about staying off the roads. Doesn't get better. On a side note, I went to a HBO televised boxing match last weekend (long story) and was freezing because it was in the low 60'. I'm ashamed of myself. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans, a far cry from shorts and t-shirts April Red Sox games in Boston where the temps started in the 60'sdipped into the low 40's after the sunset. I've bought my share of sweatshirts in Fenway's friendly confines.

- Cool Stuff. That's what's coming up. Looking to get some tix to the Sox-Angels on Friday, Manny has the Dodgers on the map so it shouldn't be too difficult to get some tix to the #4 team in town (after the Dodgers, USC, and UCLA) as LA truely doesn't have a sports soul. Going to San Diego for the weekend next weekend for the Pat's-Charges Sunday night game. Got a good Massachusetts crew going and staying at the Omni downtown. Has a sports museum and has a great outdoor bar overlooking the city. Then we head to Seattle for 5 days to visit our friends Dini and Anju, for those who don't know Dini she knows her wine and we love wine. Never been to Seattle, always wanted to go, looking forward to seeing the town where my favorite band of all time grew their roots and having a cup of joe among other things.

- Holidays. Heading to Palm Springs for a few days on our way to Kate's cousins in Pheonix for Turkey Day. Love Palm Springs, highly recommend it for a desert getaway. We booked our tix for Xmas....we'll be there the morning of Decemeber 19th through Jan 2nd. Can't wait to see everyone, except for the cats that my brothers and friends seem to acquire. Gotta love cats, can't have one, gotta have two, why not three, if you buy the cat at 30, you'll probably have it when you're 50. I actually like cats, that's just a pretty big commitment.

- Stars. Recent star sitings are a bit soft....Garey Busey and Joan Rivers. We hope to do better, sorry. As always, check the star siting list to the right, it's updated on a consistent basis.

That's all I got, hope everyone is doing well....GO SOX!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

2008-09-08T08:38:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Shout Outs....

September 7th:

Brian Fitzgerald
Matt Santangelo

September 8th:

Sarah Korbut

September 10th:

Chris Rea
Shannon Harrington

September 11th:

Todd Rea
Cooper Harrington

September 12th:

Levi Brooks
Brian Lynch

September 18th:

Cheryl Curtis

September 25th:

Jenna Federer

September 3oth:

Lenny Rea

What a great month to be born!!!

Happy Birthday Everyone..be sure to party like rock stars!!!

The Fall Lineup

2008-09-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

So Jon and I are starting to have discussions of what shows to add to our fall lineup! I am totally excited, because last year I felt jipped w/the writers strike! I think we are in for a treat! Thursday nights tend to be our most difficult night...(and as you all know we do not indulge in modern technology like TiVo or DVRs) Therefore we fight every Thursday about whether to watch Grey's or The Office. I know it should be a no brainer and The Office should win every time, but I just can not give up on the Meridith/Derrick relationship...or poor sorry George. Monday's are easy, we always watch the Big Bang Theory followed by How I Met Your Mother...and now we will probably have to start watching Two & 1/2 Men because Jon's man crush has recently shifted from Frankie Muniz to Charlie Sheen! Oh, and obviously The Hills. Not sure how long the season is, but it is addicting and I will be watching. Tuesday's...are now going to be hard because I am not sure about 90210. I liked the first episode, (I think) but not sure how long I can handle the drama! Obviously we have to watch House at 9 so if they overlap House wins! Wednesday's - I will watch Private Practice. Jon definitely won't watch that....but I love these shows that take place in LA. It is fun trying to identify where they are filming...speaking of LA - last but not least Entourage on Sundays! I think it is on just before MadMen, so that is perfect...Any other good one's we're missing?
Now please don't judge us (or me for that matter). I know that none of the abovementioned shows have any substance whatsoever, but really after a long days work, who wants to watch something that you truly have to concentrate on!

We have TONS of Birthday's to shout out next week...stay tuned!

Have a great weekend!

Where did Summer Go???

2008-08-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that this weekend is Labor Day. It is so scary how fast time goes by...well since we last posted a few weeks ago not much has happened. Just trying to enjoy the last few days of summer. We did have visitors at the beginning of August, Chris & Julia. We had a great time with them...and Julia being the science buff that she is showed us all that museums can be fun! We hit up the La Brea Tar Pits as well as The Getty Center. (Both great places for anyone who wants a little culture thrown in to their LA visit!). As their visit came to an end I headed back east to my cousin Sam's wedding. It was a wonderful event at a very pretty location just outside of Hartford. The visit was fun...the fam and I hit up the newest casino in CT (yes a typical Donahue Family Vacation) the MGM Grand. It is much smaller than Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, but really nice with FABULOUS restaurants. Anyone looking for a really great special dinner I highly recommend Alta Strada...new restaurant there owned by my favorite local chef Michael Schlow (there is also one in Wellesley, MA or you can hit up my all time favorite Via Matta in Boston). We didn't win any money although I am sure I am addicted to the Meerkat slot machine. Friday night we had an early suprise bday dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe...so nice and totally unexpected. Alex, Danielle, Shanny, Weez, Jamie and Andrea made the trip down...which was so awesome...although I would rather not celebrate turning 30 any earlier than I have to! (September 24th btw...time to start getting your presents now!) Oh and I have to give a shout out to the very generous gift from Jamie and Andrea. Henri (my new turtle shaped bike horn) is really adjusting to his new life in SM.

Other than those visits, we've been pretty much hitting up happy hours and the beach...life is really hard out here! This weekend we are hoping to catch up w/ Josh & Doris who are opening a new store in Malibu.....they just got into town so that should be fun.

Last weekend we went out to some club w/ my friends Katie and James...where ever we were Prince was there and apparently he performed with the band on stage...we missed it. We have bad luck. We were waiting all night to see him and then were in the other part of the club. Figures. We did end up seeing him walking around though...for those of you who know James it is a proud moment for him because it was determined that he is officially taller than Prince!

Oh yeah, another noteworthy celeb sighting was when Chris & Julia were here, Julia almost ran right into the Govenator. Yep, Ah-nold was out having breakfast with his daughter and a million secret service on our street. Very cool...Julia saw him coming back for a run so then obviously being the stalkers we are, we all went out in search!

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone! We'll see you soon!

MadMen, Earthquakes and Manny, Oh my!

2008-08-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

We are the worst...Sorry for not posting in SO long...we were addicted to the first season of Mad Men and just finished watching all of season one and the first two episodes of season two. If you don't watch it, I highly recommend!

So what to report, hmmm not much has gone on lately! Oh wait, we just had our first and hopefully last earthquake! So I was at work on the phone and I hear this weird noise, kind of like furniture was moving down the hallway or something - the lady I was on the phone with all of the sudden starts screaming earthquake, earthquake and I was like what do I do - and she said get under your desk and then hung up. I was totally freaked out and - couldn't really fit under my desk so went and stood in my door way. It wasn't a very violent earthquake, (not like I can compare!). It was more like being in a wave - there was a lot of swaying back and forth, but not so dangerous that you couldn't stand up. I don't know how long it lasted, but some people say a minute - apparently that is really long. All in all not a horrible first earthquake experience, but definitely something I would be happy to never have to experience again. It is not like a snow storm or something like that where you can predict it and prepare, this just comes out of nowhere without any preparation. This earthquake was all the talk pretty much all week, it was the largest to hit the LA area in about 14 years, lucky us!

Other than that - life has been pretty much the same. Lots of beach time, great happy hours and plenty of Manny talk. Dodger's fans are very excited to have him (they'll learn sonner or later!!!) Santa Monica has free concerts at the pier where you can bring picnics and party on the beach all night...lots of fun. We went for the first time last week with our neighbors - it was a blast, probably going to head down again this Thursday.

We just booked a trip to Seattle in October. Can't wait! We are going to visit our good friends Dini and Anju who just recently moved up that way. We'll keep you posted on that as we get closer.
Dave and Sarah's wedding was FABULOUS! Great times - we had so much fun all week...unfortunately as a I said last week I left my camera in the cab before we left LA so I only have some pix (Thanks to Ryan) from the Border Cafe on Thursday night!

Tomorrow Chris Rea and Julia are coming to Santa Monica! They'll be staying with us for a week - nothing really planned - just lots of R&R and quality family time!

Next Thursday I am heading home for my cousin Sam's Wedding! We are so excited for him and Blythe!

Anyway - we'll keep you posted on our visit with Chris & Julia - hopefully we'll see some good stars while they are here!

Back to the Grind!

2008-07-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

We had a great week in MA...and now we are back at work like we never left. It was certainly a whirlwind of a visit including a raucus night at the Border Cafe, a fabulous wedding in Sudbury and ending with a Cookout in West Side. All in all a great visit. Unfortunately I left my camera in the cab in LA before we left for the trip so I am sad to report have absolutely NO pictures to document the fun...Hopefully we'll be able to consolidate albums from various friends, but for now words will have to suffice! We'll update more this weekend! Happy Friday!

The Wedding of the Year

2008-07-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

Only 1 More Week until Dave & Sarah's Big Day...

What a beautiful couple, can't believe how quickly time goes by...we are so honored to come home and be a part of their day. It sounds like it is going to be a beautiful celebration...ceremony at the chapel followed by cocktails in the rose garden and closing with a rockin' reception at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury. We are so excited to celebrate with them as well as with all of our friends who we haven't seen in so long...oh and all of their offspring many of whom we have not yet met...I hope everyone is ready to party at this wedding cuz we sure will be! We have a lot of lost time to make up for in one night!

To Dave & Sarah!

Congratulations!!!

Day at the beach

2008-06-29T17:41:00.001-07:00

Kate and I had cool weekend, spent a lot of time by the ocean relaxing and hanging out. We had our first celebrity in a bathing suit sighting....actually two. Kate spotted Harry Hamlin (you may know him from numerous Lifetime movies and from the family shot on Dancing with the Stars when his wife was on it) and his wife Lisa Rinna (http://www.bellegraynews.com/images/lisa-rinna-pictures/lisa-rinna-us-5l.jpg). Lisa is clearly the bigger star here, I used to watch her as Billy on Days of our Lives in college, I'm not a big dancing with the stars fan. Lisa looks just like the link, she's in great shape and definitely has the store bought chest. They were hanging out on the beach with their 3 girls, Lisa can't get the Dancing with the Stars out of her blood, she was dancing in place throwing a football with her daughter. We also saw Erke (Jaleel White) on Sat night in Santa Monica.

Kate and I are fired up to get back home in a little over 2 weeks. My mgr is having a 4th of July party on Friday, he has a place on Redondo beach and I guess you can see the fireworks from his roofdeck, that should be cool.

I also have a book recommendation for anyone interested in psychology. I stumbled upon a book entitled "Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters", it's an interesting read by two reknowned evolutionary psychologists. This book does for psychology what Freakonomics (must read) does for economics although it's a bit more specific focusing on one aspect of psychology. You don't need to have any psych background to enjoy the book, I minored in psych at the U and evolutionary psychology wasn't even offered then, it's a relatively new field so it's interesting to see what they've "learned". I'm challenging Chris Rea, Chris Papalilo, and Steve Tillman to read this book.

Have a great short week, later.

The Final Count Down

2008-06-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Dave and Sarah's big day is less than a month away, D Day is July 19th, come on Dave the water is warm!! Kate and I are psyched to get back for the wedding and celebrate.

I'm throwing together some details on what we're doing.......

Wed (7/16) - Land in Boston at 6AM, sleep @ Bopper's and JDo's until mid morning, and spend the day/night in Boston. Hope to get together with folks that are around and drown my jetlag in beers.

Thurs (7/17) - Free all day/night in Boston. Let's get together again and hang out in Boston.

Fri (7/18) - Golf w/ Dave Hess and the Brookses and Company. Rehearsal Dinner

Sat (7/19) - The Big Day, watch out.

Sun (7/20) - Breakfast w/ Hesses and hungover folks. BBQ at Ryan's to meet the parents and then head to West Springfield.

Mon (7/21) - W Springfield/Strubridge

Tues (7/22) - W Springfield/Strubridge

Wed (7/23) - Head back to Cally early morning.

So....a quick glance suggests Wed and Thursday are the best to get together!!! Not sure who actually looks at the blog outside from the posters (I even think Mr Anonymous moved on), but if you do read it and can make some time to hang out, write it down in PEN!

Beat LA!!!

2008-06-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Although we are now residents of Los Angeles we are still Boston Fans...and we couldn't be happier! The Lakers are probably the only team that all of LA actually pulls for so this win is even more sweet! The people here drive around with these little Laker flags on their car - so lame...yet they probably can't even name any player beside Kobe! Good 'ole Massachusetts!!! We are so happy for Paul Pierce, Ray Allan and KG...and honestly how awesome did Rondo play tonight...inspiring!!!
Jon and I are finally settling down after a few great weeks of visitors! We had a blast with Ledna...(my Father in Law and Edna)...we had so much fun! I unfortunately didn't get to participate in a lot of the sight seeing, but from what I hear they had a great time!
This Friday we are heading to Palm Springs for a few days of well needed R&R...although it is VERY hot out ther right now so we'll see if going in June is really a good idea...maybe that is why we got such great rates! Either way spa and pool - can't be all bad!
Only a few more weeks until we head home for the Hess Wedding...(sorry Dave!) Can't wait to see everyone...and hopefully some little ones too!
BOSTON ROCKS!

Happy 35th Anniversary Esther and James Donahue...can you believe it!!! 35 Years...3 is challenging enough!

Leno Recap...

2008-06-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Great Time! We did not get to go into the Green Room, but we did get to go behind the set...get a tour of the Studios (sort of) and got to sit in the second row of the show. If you normally watch the show, we were the group of people at the beginning who get to go up and shake Jay's hand! You could actually see us from the back! Will Smith was so great - just as cute and charismatic as he appears! Edna got to shake his hand too...I only got a little touch, but still very exciting! After the show we were able to exit through the back which allowed us to get a picture w/ Jay and chat a little bit about good ole Worcester, Mass!

PS...I fixed the Awareness Video below - you need to take - better if you have the sound on!

Young Boy, Young Girl

2008-06-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Shout out to Chris Rea for finding this all-time classic on YouTube, I will take some credit for introducing him to this and "Young Man Up On The Hillside" by Michael W. Smith after coming back from DC '91 (hilarious for those who know the details). Check out the poor man's Zack Morris and his taste in girls as well as the singing duo. This video is particularly relevant with the next generation of East Coast Reggies coming up, I think Brooksie will get the most out of it living in Tulsa where this very well could have been filmed. Tomorrow's Brooksie's bday, have a great bday OB.

Leno Tonight!!!

2008-06-06T09:19:00.001-07:00

My friend Katie hooked us up!!! Jon and I and "Ledna" are heading to the Tonight Show this afternoon! We will be arriving at 2:45 and then will be escorted to the "Green Room" where we will be mingling with the likes of Will Smith and Pete Sampras...we'll tell them you say Hi! Actually not really sure if we'll get to meet anyone, but we will be in the Green Room and we will be at the show tonight so look for us!!! Also for those of you who are not in the know...it is very fashionable for Hollywood couples to have 1 name so we have renamed Lenny and Edna into "Ledna".

Please watch this awarness video - it is very informative!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

BEAT LA!

Across the Universe..

2008-05-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

Well we had a great Memorial Day Weekend with Becky & Jenny...unfortunately though the weather was absolutely terrible the first few days...we made up for it though with a great Sunday afternoon and Monday! We really didn't do too much. Hit up Robertson Boulevard on Sunday did some shopping - actually more like window shopped seeing that a T Shirt on that street starts at about $95. Ran into Katherine Heigl who was shopping for some new furniture with what looked like her mom.

Had a great dinner in West Hollywood, nothing too fancy but just a nice night out. Hit up Liquid Kitty some funky jazzy bar afterwards for some drinks and then headed home. The bars here in LA are very strange. Not like in Boston. Every Hollywood club or bar I have been to so far is like pitch black inside...it is weird. They apparently do not like lights here, which is weird cuz everyone really loves them self here so you'd think they would want to be seen.

So Lenny Rea and Edna will be here on Monday night. They are going to be here for the week. Jon is taking a few days off to show them the sights. I think they are planning on hitting up the typical Hollywood things, Rodeo Drive...maybe a studio. I think we are going to try to get tix to Jay Leno either Thursday or Friday night so look for us!

Other than that not much to report...Jon is on his way back from a Bachelor Party in Baltimore, I am sure he will have some fabulous stories to share...well maybe!

Hangin' w/ the Girls

2008-05-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Quick note as we opened a bottle of wine to play some Pitch after a great dinner at Taste in West Hollywood....we saw Katherine Heigl shopping for furniture, major star to see, way better than the weekly Mindy Cohn sightings.

Here's a quick fact to make you feel wicked old...Cyndi Lauper is turning 55, holy crap. Can't believe it. Have a great Memorial Day.

HIMYM...

2008-05-19T21:05:00.001-07:00

...is the best show ever. Seriously the best show on TV. I love Doogie Howser! So sad the season is over!

Short Week....

2008-05-18T18:27:00.001-07:00

Yay! Finally taking some time off and I can not wait. Working only 3 days this week and then a nice long weekend! So excited - Becky and Jenny are heading out and will be here on Thursday night! The countdown is on! We really aren't planning much - just relaxing at the beach, hitting up some happy hours and catching up! Lucky Jon a fun filled weekend with the girls.
We are getting ready for another batch of visitors over the next few weeks...after Becky and Jenny, Jon is heading to DB's bachelor party in Baltimore (scary!) and then Lenny and Edna are next...after their visit we are heading back to MA for a week or so for Dave and Sarah's wedding celebration!
Then I believe Chris and Julia will be heading out in August! I love visitors...it is fun to show all of our family and friends where we live - it really is so different from Belmont!
Haven't seen any good famous people lately. A few weeks ago we saw Dr. Carey Weaver from ER (you know the lesbian w/ the limp). She def does not have a limp in real life. What a liar!
Yesterday there was a huge sidewalk sale at all the stores on our street, and the only people we saw was Patti Stanger from Millionaire Match Maker and her assistant. They were hitting up the sales too...I tried to get on the show, but apparently married women don't qualify. How lame.
Other than that, not too much going on here. I am sure we'll have some fun pix and stories to share later in the week!
Happy Memorial Day!!!

This is Jim Rice's year!!!

2008-05-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

Jim Rice's last year on the ballott is this year......he may not have what it takes to be an academy award winner, but his stats speak for themselves!

Birthday Shout Outs!

2008-04-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ERIN HAYES and KATELIN SPAULDING!!!!

April 27th is a very special day...hope you ladies had a wonderful celebration - and that this year is the best year ever!

Hope everyone had a good weekend...we didn't do too much...well I didn't - Jon decided to do one of his spontaneous crazy bike rides. He and his new friend Lenny went on a 45 mile bike ride up and down the Los Angeles Coast...while he was doing that I went and bought some flowers...had a pedi and lounged - I choose my day over his any time!

Saturday night was spent with work friends going to dinner and then a going away party for one of my coworkers. She and her husband are heading back to Boston (so lucky!)...

This AM it was uberhot - we went for a fantastic brunch and then headed up the coast to Malibu for a beach day. We decided to go to Malibu because the beaches there are just a little bit prettier than the beaches near our house and we wanted something relaxing and peaceful...we happened to stumble upon it. Now officially my favorite beach in California. Right off the PCH, beautiful sand, quiet...guarded by mansions up and down the entire beach (I think Courtney Cox has a house there). It was truly gorgeous...and we offically went swimming in the Pacific for the first time. Once our bodies were numb it was great! Oh, we also saw two schools of dophins frolicking and diving - they were so cute...I wanted to swim out there with them.

Anyway - off to relax for the evening! Have a great week everyone...see you soon!

PS: Just signed up for Facebook after many friends told me I HAD to do it. It is addicting...and kind of a cool way to reconnect with old friends...if you think you are too old, think again! Get an account today!

Hard Sun

2008-04-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Just getting a chance to catch up on the blog after getting back from a 3 day weekend in Santa Barbara. We definitely needed a little R&R and headed up there this weekend mainly to try to get some tix to Eddie Vedder's 8 venue "Aprils Fool Tour". The whole trip was so great...we had an awesome time! Continuing in our scalping ways, Kate was able to get us 10th row seats from a Pearl Jam Fan Club member. The theatre was beautiful, The Arlington Theatre is very small in the heart of downtown SB, seats about 1,800. The show was one of the best concert experiences of my life, Kate isn't even a fan and she is now in love with Eddie Vedder. I could write about this for pages, he connected with the audience, told personal stories, and is the most charismatic musician ever, way beyond my expectations and I'm a big Pearl Jam fan. He covered the Beatles, Neil Young and Tom Petty in addition to doing some old Pearl Jam stuff...he focused mainly on the soundtrack that he wrote and sang for the movie Into the Wild (great songs if you haven't heard I highly recommend) Towards the end of the second set Ben Harper came out and sang two songs with Eddie...on a side note we shared a row with actress Charlize Theron (totally gorgeous), her boyfiend Stewart Townsend and their whole entourage! It was truly AWESOME!!!

We stayed at a cool bed 'n breakfast, kept our distance away from the overly informative innkeeper, and did the Santa Barbara thing. Great town to spend a weekend at. Wine country is about 20 miles north, we spent a day there in Solvang and Santa Ynez. Solvang is where the movie Sideways takes place, we went to multiple tastings at boutique wine shops and vineyard tasting rooms and then headed over to Gainey Vineyards, bought a bottle of wine, and had a cool picnic on the property. Check out the pix, for those who have extended visits to LA it is a must trip, less than 2 hrs away from Santa Monica and absolutely fabulous.

Happy Tax Day Everyone! Hope Uncle Sam was good to you!

Stars Seen So Far

2008-04-06T19:31:00.001-07:00

Question I get most often is "So what stars have you seen in LA?" I will update this periodically but here is where we are so far with some notes, hopefully I didn't forget anyone!

Ron Howard (twice)
Larry David
Nomar Garciaparra
Mia Hamm (not attractive)
Britney Spears & Paparazzi boyfriend
Mindy Cohn (from Facts of Life - twice as well,she is winy!!)
Ricky Schroeder (Becky saw him, not me)
Val Kilmer (he's fat)
Sally Field (Kate saw her, not me)
Luke Wilson
Arsenio Hall
James Mangold (director of 3:10 to Yuma)
Christian Bale
Frank (Real World Las Vegas - twice, hung out with once)
Jillian (Road Rules Extreme - twice, hung out with once)
Meg Ryan
Dr Cutty from House
Eugen Levy (The Dad from American Pie)
Ted Danson
Jon Lovitz
James Rogan

As far as "hotness", Dr Cutty was the hottest chica and Kate says that Christian Bale was the most attractive male. Later.

Kate Left Me

2008-03-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

....for the weekend. She went back to Boston for J Do's 25th birthday bash, HAPPY BDAY CELEBRATION JENNY!!

Becky and Jenny are constantly in contention for the "My favorite sister in law" competition, Jenny wins it this week. On the Rea side, Amanda and Julia compete the Rea version of the award as well, right now Julia's been wearing the crown as she has booked a trip to LA in August and Amanda has not booked a trip yet. Unless Amanda is surprising me with a visit, then I will revisit the rankings. I digress....

Wish I could have been at the party, heard it was a blast, props to BMile, the Senator, Becky and Kate for planning a great event.

I spent the the weekend bonding with Matt, watched NCAA games at Sharky's in Manhattan Beach on Friday, great happy hour there, I highly recommend it.

Matt and I went to the Colliseum on Sat night to and scalped some tickets to catch the RedSox and Dodgers. Interesting seeing the game at the Colliseum as it's USC's football stadium and was sold out with attendance over 115,000, which is 4 times the size of Fenway Park. I guess this game was a big deal b/c the Dodgers played there from '58 to '61 before moving to Dodger Stadium. Great time, although it seemed kind of gimmicky as the left field fence was 190 ft from home plate with a 60 foot net to act as a poor man's green monster. LA fans are very multi-cultural and annoying, they somehow believe the RedSox and Dodgers actually have a rivalry and the need to engage Sox fans in banter.

We did get to see Ortiz, Youk, Ellsbury, Okajima, Coco, Lowell, Papelbon, and Pedroia....WAY more starters than I thought considering MLB made the Sox open the season in Japan and then play three meaningless exhibition games in LA before continuing on with the season. I get that they want to grow MLB internationally, but there's a point where you have to let it be a sport and stop running it like a business.

Now that I have some experience scalping tix, Kate and I are going to Santa Barabara April 11th for an Eddie Vedder solo show at a small venue and we'll make it a 3 day weekend and go to some of the wineries in the area.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Birthday Jenny!!!

2008-03-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Givin' a birthday shout out to Jenny D. The big 2-5...she is so old...which means that I must be almost 30. It just does not seem possible!

Hope you have a wonderful birthday week!

More Babies...

2008-03-10T19:57:00.001-07:00

The CalTrannies would also like to welcome to this world: Dillon Matthew Hamilton born March 10th, 1:59 AM, weighing in at 8 lbs, 11 oz and measuring 22 inches long! Congratulations Kate & Matt! Also we'd like to welcome Madelyn Alexis Frere born 7:52pm on March 6th, she is a peanut weighing in at only 6 lbs, 10 oz. and measuring 20 inches long! Congrats to you too Katie and Ryan! There truly is a baby boom! It is so fantastic...can't wait to see them all!

Other than that pretty slow weekend, lots of outdoor time...great weather went to the park, went on some bike rides and a couple of nice long therapeautic runs! Just what the doctor ordered...here are some pictures to leave you east coasters with...

...Baby Fed has Arrived...

2008-03-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

For real this time!!!!

Michael Theodore Federer

Michael was born on March 5th 2008 at 1:46PM. He is a healthy 8 lb 12oz and is 21 inches long! Mom and Baby are both doing well! He is beautiful! We can't wait to meet him!

Congratulations Chris & Jenna!

Shooting Stars!

2008-03-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

This just in...Baby Fed has joined the world! Please see picture below as shared with us from Pete Hayes, a member of East Coast Reggies...(obviously that can't really be Chris & Jenna's baby, he looks too much like Pete!)

Jenna hang in there!

Becky & Ryan visited us this weekend! GREAT TIMES. Still recovering...lot's of good food, fun and celebrities! Friday morning we had brunch with Sally Field. She was super cute, out shopping and picking up lunch at Blue Plate! We also ran into James Mangold at brunch. For those of you not "in the know" he is a famous director known for such films as Girl Interrupted, Walk the Line and the 3:10 to Yuma! Friday night hit up happy hour at 4 o'clock at Shutters on the Beach! Jon and Ryan imbibed in some very "fruity" drinks...see the slide show for pix.

Saturday day we went to Malibu played some bocc on the beach and then almost died driving through crazy canyon roads. After a very scary near death experience we stopped at the Malibu Country Mart in search of some more stars, and mainly to show Becky & Ryan the cute shopping plaza! Becky bumped into Rick "Ricky" Schroder whilst standing outside the pet store. Apparently he is very small and super skinny. Ryan on the other hand ran into a celebrity much less skinny Val Kilmer! He spotted him sitting at a park bench with maybe his son...Val does not resemble his hotness from the Iceman days of Top Gun, still totally cool nonetheless! Saturday night we headed down towards the beach in Santa Monica for dinner at Il Fornaio...yummy! We went out on the Promenade after that and hung out with Ryan's friend Foodman from high school.

Sunday morning Jon and I woke up much earlier than our guests and headed out to get some breakfast food and coffee. At Peet's Coffee we literally bumped into Luke Wilson! LOVE HIM! He is sooo cute...although didn't seem like he was quite awake yet. Hope the coffee helped. The rest of the day was spent at the park where Ryan and I defeated Jon and Becky at a very intense game of Pitch! Although I made a few rookie mistakes it has to be said that we had the ultimate comeback of all time!

It was so much fun having Becky and Ryan check out our new home, we can't wait till they come visit again! Check out our slide show for some highlights!

Happy Day Light Savings Week Everyone! Love you!

80 Degrees & Sunny : )

2008-02-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

What up people! Woo hoo! So Becky and Ryan are our next batch of visitors, they are expected in the Southland on Thursday night, staying through Sunday, can't wait!

Today was absolutely beautiful...it was the type of day that doesn't make it so hard to be away from everyone you love! It was 80 and sunny and gorgeous, and cooled down to a perfect mid 60 at night, if you are getting the winter blues then I suggest that you book your flight out here soon. BTW there are some good rates for next weekend on American! I think I saw $199 from Boston to LAX if you leave on Friday/Saturday and return on Monday/Tuesday! DO IT!

This weekend was a little CRAZY. We went to our first Hollywood Party...Katie Matthews invited us out to her friends party in the Hills. It was sponsored and there was a valet service, and all kinds of things. The party was hosted by one of the producers of GhostRider (the movie with Nicolas Cage). I think the party must have been partially sponsored by Don Julio as well as Ciroc Vodka. We have no clue if anyone famous was there, but it was definitely an interesting event! After that we headed back to SM and hung out w/ our neighbors...good times!

Last night we hit up the Celtics at the Staples center! We won by a landslide, the game was kind of boring, but the Staples Center was beautiful and Downtown LA is really not as bad as everyone says! Here are a few pix.

So does anyone know anything about NASCAR? I am 4th to the last in our league and need some help in picking my racers for the upcoming "UAW Dodge 400" in Vegas. I really want to win...I need to pick 4 racers, 1 from the "A" list 2 from the "B" list and 1 from the "C" list so any ideas is better than my guess!

Gotta go watch my fave AI guy signer, the young kid w/ the dark hair, no not Danny Noriega, (is he even a boy?), Danny Archeleta. He is SO good and he is singing John Lennon, great song reminds me of 8th grade in WSJHS!

LATA

WICKED, Stars, Bikes, Beaches & Daytona 500

2008-02-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

Friday night we went to Wicked! Great show, highly recommend for anyone who likes musicals...it is so cute and funny and the music is great, even Jon liked it!

Jon has decided to do this new thing where he gets his picture taken with a star on the Avenue of the Stars (eventually you'll see them scrolling on the right!)...so if you have any requests let us know and and we'll see if we can find it! For his brothers he started with Pat O'Brien and then for Chris, George Carlin. Personally I think this is kind of a lame project, but he thinks its great...so who am I to judge.

I got a new bike, isn't it cute? A blue beach cruiser with a white basket! Today I went on my first ride on the beach to the Farmer's Market. The Santa Monica Farmer's Market is SO fun. Tons of good food, and music every Sunday morning, whenever we have future visitors on Sunday's that is what we'll do for breakfast!

Last night we spent the night in the OC. My cousin Doris and her husband Josh were in LA for the weekend and were staying at their friend's house which was a gorgeous 3 story home on Sunset Beach...we had a great dinner and good wine, it was so absolutely beautiful - then capped off the night in the hottub!

Jon and Brooksie decided to start a new fantasy league...(like they don't have enough) - but this one I even decided to join, cuz they don't know anything more than I do! You got it, a NASCAR fantasy league! I picked Jeff Gordon for this first day and then a few others that I don't know...I think I am doing very well. I think I am going to kick some major nascar butt...but seriously I don't know if I can watch the cars drive in circles for 107 more laps...I really don't get how this is the biggest sport in the country?

Deal or No Deal?

2008-02-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

Is anyone else hooked on Deal or No Deal like me? I can't believe no one has won the million dollars...it is like all millions and still no one has won????

Happy Valentine's Day everyone...can't wait to see what an amazing surprise Jon has planned for us! I am sure it is going to be very thoughtful and romantic!

I'll keep you posted!

Is anyone out there?

2008-01-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

Just checking to see if anyone is even reading this thing...Jon says I am too wordy so I am going to start writing less...I think this picture speaks for itself!!!

GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!

We Survived the Brothers' Brooks!

2008-01-27T16:51:00.001-08:00

Great weekend! I didn't spend a TON of time with the boys but I think they made the best of a rainy visit! Hollywood a few days, bike riding, lots of male bonding! One thing is for sure Ed and I are a fabulous Jeopardy team! We headed out to Hollywood for dinner on Saturday night...went to Dolce, pretty good...and can you guess what Dave had for dinner! Then we tried to get into some club, but we weren't cool enough. So we headed home to get out of the rain! I think that is the end of our visitor parade...three weekends in a row made January fly by...but we deifnitely have a lot of sleep to catch up on!
Oh yeah...forgot to mention that last weekend my two AWESOME girlfriends Katelin and Kelly surprised me with a visit! I had absolutely no idea, but Jon had planned the whole trip with them ! We had an absolute blast! Lots of good food, drinks and laughs! I love them so much and it truly meant so much to have them here!
Jon's heading to Salt Lake City for the week, so we'll be sure to update soon!

Take a look at our slideshow with pictures from all of our visitors!!!

What a Weekend!

2008-01-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend was quite eventful for the CalTrannies...first off we had our second official visitor...Ms. Sarah Korbut! Sarah was up in San Fran for a National Sales Meeting for the company she works for, Pearson Publishing, and decided to fly down to LA LA Land for the weekend. She got in on Thursday night...after much airport drama, including but not limited to, a stolen jacket, 2 hour delayed flight (for a flight that is only an hour), and a $70 parking ticket! Nonetheless we made back to Santa Monica in one piece and enjoyed an exciting weekend!
Friday night we made our first official weekend night in Hollywood. It is SO overwhelming to go to Hollywood if you don't know where you're going. We went out to dinner on the Sunset Strip to quaint little restaurant called Cravings. Dinner was good, pretty uneventful - but yummy! We explored the strip a little - checked out Ketchup made famous by our friends LC and Heidi on the Hills. It was pretty unimpressive. Simple decor, trying to be all trendy, but missing something! We then headed down the strip - towards The Viper Room and Roxy, we ended up at some dive bar called Red Rock. It was actually pretty fun, however Sarah and I were a little too overdressed to stay there all night. We decided to make the night a bar crawl and went to a local martini bar that has been around for a while. This place was a little strange - weird crowd...we didn't love the vibe but if you want to get wasted Lola's is the place to go. I ordered some crazy martini that Sarah would not even let me drink...she said it smelled like lighter fluid - and then after she finished her espresso martini proceed to chug my lighter fluid...those who know Sarah well would be impressed that she remained awake the entire night (even after the lighter fluid)! After Lola's we met up with my friend from college Katie Matthews. Katie has been in LA about 5 years or so now and knows the right people to get into some pretty cool places. She was able to get us into Teddy's in the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. It was a lot of fun in there...Jon didn't love it, but I did. Great fun music - including Funkytown! After Teddy's we did something really bad and stopped at In 'n Out Burger for 1 Double Double, and two Cheeseburgers animal style at 2 in the morning. Advice to all - when you are almost 30 eating this food at 2 in the morning is no longer a good idea! Needless to say Friday was an adventure and I would say successful first night out in Hollywood! Saturday started off pretty slow...although we had to get in gear pretty quickly. Jon was meeting friends in Manhattan Beach to watch football and Sarah and I were going to shop until the Pat Game. So we finally headed out about 1:30 and was about 3 tenths of a mile away from the dropping Jon at the bar when I saw an insane amount of Paparazzi. It was nuts, like 25 or 30 guys, cameras, & videos. They were horrible. We couldn't make out who the star was but they were hoarding this person and not letting them into the store. Our car was at a standstill and finally whoever it was got into the store and they slammed the door on the Paparazzi. They continued to go nuts snapping pictures and lining all the windows of the store. I have never seen anything like it. Jon was mad cuz he was already late and traffic wasn't moving so he got out and walked to the bar. On the way he stopped to see who it was they were going nuts over - someone said Avril Lavigne. So sad...if they were going that crazy for Avril then Sarah and I decided we would never read USWeekly again. It was horrible. Well much to my amazement, this AM I woke up and checked out TMZ (so much for not reading celebrity gossip)to see if there were any shots of Avril at the store. However, instead of Avril shopping in Manhattan Beach it was the one and only BRITNEY. OH MY GOD. How could we have not seen her! The insanity made a whole lot more sense when we found out it was Britney Spears...apparently she was out for the day w/ her bodyguard/boyfriend Adnan. See the (search January 13th - Adnan) video from TMZ ...we were seriously right in front of the street when this was going on!

After a nice lunch and walk on the pier,Sarah and I headed to the Shark's Cove to get a seat for the Pats Game. As we were waiting for a table to clear - I noticed the maitre'd go to a table and move the patrons to a better table. Upon second glance I realized it was non other than Nomah and Mia! They live in Manhattan Beach and were at the bar with some friends to watch the games! They were cool, just hanging out! We didn't chat with them, but of course when I told Jon he jumped up and almost ran right over...but he actually did remain cool! I am very proud of him! He is growing up! Anyway, we had a great time at the bar, hit up Wahoo's for some fish taco's and then brought Sarah to the airport! We had a lot of fun, in a short time! Can't wait for next visitors the Brother's Brooks in a few weeks! I am nervous for safety of my cute little apartment, but hopefully they've mellowed out in their old age!

Have a great Monday everyone!

To those who have been corrupted (i.e. Ryan)

2008-01-05T10:35:00.001-08:00

There are two camps on 2Girls1Cup, seen it and haven't. If you haven't, don't. Here is a great video that some kids put on youtube.

Home for the Holidays - Cheers and Jeers

2008-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Format plaguerized out of TV Guide's best column but I assure the thoughts are all mine, a very special blog. Kate and I are probably the only 2 that "get" all the references, I left a ton out.

Cheers: To meeting Harrison Fairbank Hayes, Cooper Harrington, and the birth of Luke Lenzi. The next generation is in good hands.

Jeers: Parties ending EARLY. Should be incorporated into birth control commercials J

Cheers: To the Fagans hosting a splendid gathering honoring Jenna’s upcoming baby.

Jeers: To not realizing it was a shower until right before the party. I need reading lessons.

Cheers: To hanging at the board with West Side and Ryan having to drink multiple beers in a row for sucking at High/Low.

Jeers: To Kate yelling at Ryan (later that night) for rough housing with me in the Donahues front yard and telling him that he would have to “get on the bus back to Reading if he didn’t stop”. Quote of the trip.

Cheers: To having too many delicious Long Trail Double Bag 7.5% alcohol beers with the Hess’s, Joy and Duffster, Robin and Bryan, Sasha and Chris, Becky and Ryan. Great times.

Jeers: To having a terrorist cab driver on the way back and accidentally giving Jenny a concussion, it was out of love, oops.

Cheers: To the DJ playing Snow’s “Informer” upon request.

Jeers: To the weird north shore crowd that invaded our Cambridge bar’s dance floor.

Cheers: Lenny Rea’s fantastic new addition: A 50”+ flat screen on a 3 joint arm that extends in every possible direction. I’m shedding a tear writing about it.

Jeers: To my TV in Santa Monica.

Cheers: Playstation 3, one of the greatest technological advances of this generation.

Jeers: Playing for 20 hours over break, I had at least 75 more hours in me.

Cheers: Chris Rea’s 2nd annual New Year Bash, great time with an eclectic group of attendees.

Jeers: No one drinking the two 30 Packs of Busch Light Todd Rea bought for beer pong.

Cheers: To Zack, one of Julia’s friends from college, for dating a girl way out his league.

Jeers: To Kate getting mad about Todd and I discussing it at the party.

Cheers: Personal TVs with network programming on my return flight!!

Jeers: The satellite being out and not being able to watch it.

Cheers: To the return flight having “inflight trivia challenge” where you compete with other members of the flight

Jeers: To the categories being Music, A&E, General Knowledge, and Science and Technology, no Sports or Pop Culture.

Cheers: Jippy finishing first out of 27 a few times and having passengers stop by to ask him how he knew all the answers.

Jeers: To Jippy not being me. Someone else 3 rows up was playing under the same name invented out of UMass and the orgin of the Jippytown Jimmies, my fantasy football juggernaut.

Cheers: To Kate and I beating BMILE and the Senator at our first game of pitch in dramatic fashion (21-20).

Jeers: To not quitting while we were ahead and losing 2 out of 3.

Cheers: To 2girls1cup, a distant second to the Pat O’Brien tape as being the most shocking thing in the world.

Jeers: To 2 girls1cup, the information superhighway is a disturbing place

Cheers: To catching up with family and friends over the past 2 weeks in Boston.

Jeers: To not seeing everyone we wanted to see.

Cheers: To Sarah Korbut, Dave Brooks, and Ed Brooks all booking and brooking January Santa Monica Trips!!

Jeers: To Boston Scientific attempting to foil great bday surprise from my family getting great seats for a UCLA basketball game for the week that I am in Utah for work (AWESOME GIFT, thank god for Stubhub and craigslist so I can trade them for another game!!)

Cheers: New England pizza, truly some of the best in the world, even Papa Gino’s tastes delicious and to Dunkin’ Donuts, the best coffee in the world.

Jeers: To Californians thinking that there cardboard and cheese is pizza.

Cheers: To cheap New England gas – under $3 a gallon!!

Jeers: To expensive California gas – over $3.50 a gallon!!

Cheers: To returning to WARM WEATHER!!

Jeers: To leaving New England, be back in the summer.

Chow Daddy

2007-12-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

Dave's chow commenton the last post got me to thinking as I'm killing time drinking icy cold bud lights in LAX, remember Chow Daddy? I can't hear it right now b/c i'm at a bar, but it's a Boston School lunch commerical from 1983 that goes, "Pizza, Spaghetti, Meatballs" and the guy looks like a drug addict. The best part is he's promoting the worst food ever for you. Makes me feel bad about buying double lunches everyday. Here's the link, hope it works.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LZTOqG7oJRY

COMING HOME!!!!!

2007-12-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

Back on the blog, quick shoutout to Bailey Lynn Curtis who was born today. My buddy Jeff and Cheryl just had their first kid today at 2:38PM. Bailey, not to be confused with the Party of 5 actor or Chris Rea's favorite drink, was born in Long Beach. Born in Snoop Dogg's backyard, we'll keep her away from the Gin 'N Juice, I promise you if I have a daughter born in Long Beach I will name her Sha Rea Rea. For those taking notes, that would be her first name, her whole name would be Sha Rea Rea Rea.

Anyways, Kate and I are extremely excited for the new addition and can't wait to meet her. The pictures look great and the parents are beaming, I'm glad Jeff can't read this because he's off distribution for calling the blog gay.

I will be landing Hartford at 6:12AM on Thurday 12/20, looking forward to the Senator giving me a big hug when he picks me up at the airport. Staying in W Springfiled 12/20-12/24, Sturbridge from 12/25-12/27, and Boston most of the rest. Looking forward to staying with Brooks-Hess's in Beantown, I'm looking at their holiday/save the date card now and shedding a tear. Can't wait to see everyone and seeing as Kate and I can't check a car on the plane, feel free to head west to hang out or go xmas shopping in Western Mass!

See you soon......

We're back...

2007-12-06T11:51:00.001-08:00

So it has been a few weeks since we updated this website...so bad! We haven't even been all that busy, but somehow Jon broke our wireless router so we have been lazy and not logging in much from home. Anyway Thanksgiving was good. Drove 6 hours to Scottsdale, AZ from Santa Monica. We were very excited to see all the sights along the way there...I kept telling everyone at work that we were driving, because we wanted to see everything along the way. No one told me that there was absolutely NOTHING but Desert for about 5 hours. It was the absolute most boring ride I have ever been on in my life...and we have been on some big road trips...

Once we finally got to Scottsdale though it was great, good food, great weather, good family time. We hit up a new shopping area in Scottsdale, went to the trendy Pink Taco (of Las Vegas and Jenna Federer fame).

We headed back to Santa Monica on Saturday, stopped at these "famous" outlets in Palm Springs on the way back. BAD IDEA. It was Saturday after Thanksgiving and I think every person in Palm Springs was there...we couldn't even get into some of the stores because there were lines like 50 people deep just to get in...probably a good thing for me though cuz they had some awesome stores - Dolce Gabbana, Tod's, Coach, Cole Haan, and all these other pretty high end stores...it is actually pretty sad because even at the outlet we couldn't afford anything.
Finally we got back to Cali...found our great new Taco place, Tito's in Culver City. This I guess is going to have to replace Taqueria Mexico while we are out here! The rest of the weekend we just hung out and recovered from the Holiday.

This past weekend we had a holiday event on our street, so all the shops have open houses with drinks and snacks...so pretty much we just patrolled the street going into the shops that were giving away free alcohol. That was a good time. Jon abondoned me for a while so I looked like a loser drinking by myself in a high end dog store...
The next day we went and explored Malibu. We headed up the PCH and drove through some of the mountains to look at the devastation from the Fires. It was really sad - all of the vegetation was completely charred and burned, we also saw a church near Pepperdine that burned to the ground...I hadn't realized how close to us this was, luckily we didn't get affected at all.
After that we decided to head to this outdoor mall - my cousin Doris' husband Josh (the crazy photographer from our wedding) is going to be working at this mall - Malibu Country Mart opening a new denim store. He is the creative mind behind the layout...way cool, hopefully we'll get invited to the opening of the store (hint hint).

Then on Saturday night we decided to stop at this Mexican place near our house to catch the end of the UCLA/USC Game (btw College Football is all the rage out here AND they all hate the Patriots!) So one Margarita turned into 2.5 pitchers between the two of us - was not a pretty night. We ended up hanging out with this older group of people - all super trendy but in their 50's and 60's - I commented on one guys jacket and then we ended up talking with them for a while. Turns out one of the guys, Vic, is the owner of Houston's Restaurants...so that was fun. Apparently Houston's in Fanueil Hall is the highest rent for all Houston's in the country...fun fact...is that they will never break even there - who would've thought! Anyway these guys were way cool. Hooked us up with more margaritas (like we needed them), all have BIG Bucks from what we were told by our buddy Don - we don't know what everyone else did, but they were fun!

So Monday morning Jon headed to Boston for training. This week has been pretty quiet, weather has been great, high 70's to 80's and very sunny. The big scoop out here are the major "swells". Apparently some storm from Oregon/Washington is creating these humungous 20+ foot waves... The surfers are loving it. I guess this happens very rarely. Surfers from Australia and New Zealand have been flying in all week just to get out there. That is pretty cool I guess, too bad I don't surf.

Saturday night we are going to this Christian Bale Movie Marathon...this theatre on our street, Aero Theatre has actors come in and discuss their films and their lives with the patrons, so we bought tickets to see Christian Bale. We get see the 3:10 to Yuma, his new movie about Bob Dylan, Batman Begins and American Psycho and then in between the first 2 films Christian Bale will come in and talk to the audience. Pretty cool I think. I love him and think he is a great actor, so I'm excited. I am sure Jon will have some weird question to ask him (kind of like when met the Brian from Guster, how embarassing!)

Anyway we'll be sure to update with the recap of the event next week!
Adios Amigos

PS - Mr. Anonymous...although we greatly appreciate you being the sole reader/commenter of our blog, we do not like your tone very much. Could you lighten up a bit, we are trying - we're just not that funny or interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it is already November 20th! This year has absolutely flown by...Jon and I are headed to Scottsdale this afternoon...but on our way we are making a pit stop in Palm Springs, CA. We are going to spend the night and tomorrow lounge by the pool at the JW Marriott Palm Desert Resort (thanks to our friend Tracy and her fabulous hookup!)

Then tomorrow afternoon it is off to watch football, eat and drink with the fam in Scottsdale Arizona!

We wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday! There is so much to be thankful for this year!

Love and kisses to everyone!

Best Breakfast Place in Manhattan Beach

2007-11-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,

Quick update, this is the best breakfast place in LA, we have to get their early if you guys want to go when you visit. It just so happens to share the name of the infamous Uncle Bill.

Welcome Harrison!

2007-11-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our friends Pete and Erin Hayes...on Saturday, November 10th at 4:21PM they welcomed their first son. Harrison Hayes!!! Harrison came into this world weighing a healthy 8 lbs, 6 oz! He is absolutely perfect! Pete and Erin, we wish we were there to see him in person, can't wait until Christmas!

Saturday Afteroon In Santa Monica

2007-11-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

Going to see Joe Rogan in Redondo Beach tonight with some BSC couples, should be a good time unless he sucks. Kate and I just left Montana St and saw Natalie (Mindy Cohn) from the Facts of Life, she hasn't lost the baby fat that plagued her during the teen years with Tootie, Ms Garrett, Blaire, George Clooney, and Joe. Here's a recent picture that does her justice that I found on the net. She talks wicked whiney and was with her life partner. We passed her three times and she never shuts up....would be annoying to hang out with.

After seeing Mindy Cohn, we actually saw an A-Lister....Meg Ryan and her daughter. We literally saw both of them within 15 seconds of each other, sorry Jenny!!!!

We're getting ready to go out, hope everyone is doing well. Also going to visit Nina and Jim from Kate's family in Arizona for Thanksgiving, can't wait! It will be good to have a few days off and spend time with family. 369 mile drive and I guess it is all desert, I'm excited for the drive to see what's it like, but I'll probably be sick of it 50 miles in.

I'll be back in Boston for training the first week of Decemeber (staying in Marlboro) and Kate and I will be back Dec 19th for a couple of weeks for Xmas. We'll try to post more often, I know we're slacking!!

Jenny's here for Superbowl 41 1/2!!!!

2007-11-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Being Kate and Jon's first guest out here, I thought it was only fitting that I make a cameo on the blog. The morning started off well, I made it out of Boston before the the Nor'easter and the flight was good other than the dog who was in the seat behind me panting for the entire 6 hours. Not a seeing eye dog, just your regular run of the mill man's best friend kind of a dog. And since I'm such a dog lover, I clearly enjoyed this (insert sarascm here). Upon my arrival I headed towards baggage claim expecting to be greeted with open arms by Kate and Jon, but much to my dismay they were "running late." And sadly I had to linger outside the airport all alone for at least 20 minutes. I looked so pathetic that several airport attendants asked if I was lost or needed help. So for those of you planning a trip out here, you may want to look into other means of transporation...From what I can tell it is a pretty nice day outside. I can't be too sure because right now we are watching the 'The Bride of Chuckie' yes I flew 3,000 miles to sit on the couch and watch what might go down in history as the worst movie ever. But I actually have to wrap this up because Kate and Jon are taking me to West Elm so they can buy a new desk. Who's jealous now?

Oh and by the way...

View From Deck

2007-10-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

The wildfires continue to burn here in Cally...you can actually see ash in the air, Santa Monica is safe. Air quality is OK in Santa Monica but NOT GOOD in the valley which is most of my territory.

Leather face over here is the former CEO of Countrywide who is involved in a stock scandal. I saw him on CNBC and had to google hime. It all makes sense now, I know a lot of subprime peddlers at Countrywide (if they still work there) and this looks like the perfect slimeball to run the show. He looks like across between Uncle Bill and a leather jacket.

In other news, I want to throw the anonymous poster in the wildfire, I have a feeling that Mr. Anonymous is a West Springfield native, master fish griller, subpar bike rider, awful bocce player, and partier extraordinaire.

GO SOX!!! Lot of Sox haters out here...putting them in their place one by one.

Hair Cuts...

2007-10-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

Per Sasha's request...please see Jon's new haircut! Looking pretty hot for a Salesman in LA, or better yet someone in boot camp!

Sox are bumming me out....

2007-10-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

This is pathetic. Not a lot to report on my front other than the Sox sucking.

My movers lost a box, found it, then lost it again. Here's the email from my loser mover coordinator.

Hello JonSee below. Apparently we did not have the carton in question. We will haveto have you file a claim for it. Are you done unpacking goods and ready forthe claim form?
Please advise
RegardsJoe Pulice
Arpin International
Group3 Courthouse LaneBuilding B,
Suite 8Chelmsford, MA 01824
(978) 441-2788 x 13(978) 441-9619 Fax
"May our wishbone never be found where our backbone should be"

-----Original Message-----

From: Sheila Yehle [mailto:syehle@arpin.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:00 PM
To: jpulice@arpinintl.com
Subject: Rea Mirror carton
Hi Joe:We'll you're not going to believe this one! When you first asked aboutthis mirror carton, I phoned the driver, the driver said yes he had thiscarton. I always thought it was left on the truck. Anyway, the day thedriver delivered his last shipment on this trip, I phoned him, because Ihad gotten the address, etc. from you and I was going to have him UPS thecarton to the customer...When I phoned him, he said no he doesn't have themirror carton with him, he left it at Western Relocation. Well to make along story short, Western doesn't have this carton or they've misplaced it.I'm sorry, I can't believe this myself,Sheila

Everything else is going well, I think I'm settling in because it actually feels like fall here in Santa Monica. A warm fall, but fall nonetheless. The Kate countdown is in full effect.....8 days!!! I can't wait, my bachelor days in Cally are coming to an end.

Pinky!!!!

2007-10-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of comments about being too "tame" in my blog, "where is the real Jon Rea" you asked. The title of the blog is for you. While there may be the occasional funny/wild stories that we have all been a part of it, I plan on focusing on frequent west coast updates for the broad endearing audience that I appreciate so much!

Not a lot of wild stories right now anyways, working a lot which isn't hard to do since Kate isn't here yet and I have no distractions although I JUST GOT CABLE TODAY, disaster working with Time Warner but it is on right now...amazing...you don't know what you have until it's gone. I'm patiently waiting for Kate to actually move here, rumor has it that it will be in 2007. I'll believeit when I see it.

Other than that, my fantasy football league has been out of control with controversy, I've been hanging out w/ Jeff Curtis whom many of you know from Boston who is not invited to my blog community because he called the blog "gay", I have been watching all the RedSox games and can't wait for Friday.

I can not express enough the increased productivity on Sundays with games starting 10AM west coast. I wrap up the day by 4PM and have the whole night, on the East Coast I would go food shopping, read the Globe cover to cover, down a Medium Dunks and still have 2 hours to kill before kick off. Now it's get up, do some stuff, drive to Long Beach and watch DirectTV w/ Curtis. There is no replacing the Globe, D&D, or going to Donahues in Wtown with the other football addicts.

Love the banter on the comments, keep it coming, no more jokes about Che Belmont falling down please!

Moving in Pictures

2007-10-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pix of our new pad.....still have a lot of unpacking to do to set everything up. We'll send out more once we're settled in.

My First Blog Ever

2007-10-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember that Kate and I threatened/promised to start a Blog in California, Kate's not here yet, but I am so I am kicking this thing off. Why Blog?? This is the best way to stay connected to everyone 3,000 miles away. I have to thank Brian Fitzgerald for exposing me to this, he's a friend that moved to Maryland and I've been reading his blog a few years. I will be posting pictures and cool links here in the future.

Kate will be out here by the end of the month, she got a sweet new job at Raytheon in LA where she will be managing some folks in a locked classifed area where she has to use a special computer that can't leave the room due to the sensitive nature of her work. I feel cooler just by being married to her.

We're also renting an apt in Santa Monica, luckily our place in Che Belmont was not exactly large so moving into our 1,200 sq foot apt is not a shock. I'm not sure some of our subaranite friends with 3,000 sq ft monuments could live here, but you city dwellers could. We live off of Montana St which is awesome (think Newbury St in Boston), it's about 3/4 of a mile from the beach and walking distance to the Promenade and Main St. For those not familiar with SM, the Promenade is a fanuel hall like area and Main St is like Central Sq in Cambridge. Looking forward to seeing most of you out here during our 3 year adventure, it is a cool place to live and visit. Few details on the apt, 2BR, 2 bathroom, 2 car parking (big deal in SM), and a dishwasher (which we've never had, we're pumped). I looked at about 50 apts so I feel pretty comfortable we found the "right" one.

Make sure you add this as a favorite in your browser, I hope to update it at least weekly and will improve the look and feel as I figure it out. Kate usually figures this stuff out faster than I do so it should be significantly better once she gets out here. Hope everyone is doing well, GO SOX!

JR