Update (in photos)

Hanging with Adam & Linz!

Looks who's in the shopping cart now!

Our adorable niece and me.

Such a cute pic!

At an NLDS game

In Vegas for Mark's birthday

Lucky guy!

With a random relic at the House of Blues Foundation Room.

Having a good 'ole time!

Mark & the Strip

We wandered through the closed restaurant and found a collection of empty wine buckets, a perfect place for Mark to relieve himself!

Self-Portrait!

Reaping the Rewards

Since July, Mark and his management team have been working so hard in order to make BJ's in Downey a successful restaurant. Their hard work and dedication definitely paid off when they beat the opening week sales record! As a result, the big wigs from corporate took the entire team and their significant others out to dinner last night at Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. Mark and I have been so excited about this dinner and night on the town and it the night definitely did not disappoint.


We all met at the restaurant between 4:30 and 5:00 where we met the limo that would take us to Beverly Hills. I was a bit disappointed that the limo was not stocked with champagne, as I had anticipated; however, I ultimately had plenty to drink. We met the top five guys from the corporate office for dinner and two of their wives joined us as well. Mark and I ended up sitting directly across the table from the CEO and one of the VP's. I sat directly next to the wife of the 2nd in command. She and her husband are planning their daughter's wedding so we had plenty to talk about. I kept leaning over to Mark and apologizing for not socializing more with him but he was thankful that I was getting along with the mukity-muk's wife. We also chatted a lot with the CEO who just seems like a really, really nice guy.

The conversation was great but the food was to die for! I had a bone-in filet, which I had never seen on a menu prior to last night. It was so thick and juicy and delicious! All side orders are served family style so everyone was able to order what they wanted and we all had plenty to sample. My favorite was the creamed corn. Mmm... The au-gratin potatoes were delicious as well. Then came the dessert! Mastro's has a signature butter cake on the menu so, of course, that's what we got. I love sweets but I'm not too much of a cake person (unless it's from Meijer) but this cake was indescribably delicious. Words can't even express how yummy it was. And it was served with fresh berries. Just divine.

Great conversation and one of the most delicious meals of my life were complemented wonderfully with lots and lots of drinks. Lots of drinks. I started with a smoking lemon drop martini and then really, really wanted a glass of champagne. After asking Mark who asked his GM, I ordered a $25 glass! Then the wine came and an after-dinner S'mores martini with a graham cracker rim. In all, the tab on dinner was around $4500! Talk about a perk of a job well done.

After leaving Mastro's, we swung by Sky Bar in Hollywood. Now, I have wanted to go to Sky Bar since Becky and I first went to L.A. for the night back in 2002. I'm not sure how I had heard of it or why I wanted in so bad but I was so thrilled to have made in in the door that I asked just about every person in the place what the name of the bar was! I kept thinking they were all just messing with me. I don't know, blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol! We ended the night at the local karaoke joint that we went to last week. I butchered "Dancing Queen." Or, I'm assuming I butchered it because I couldn't even hear myself singing it. Mark and I ended the evening with our own rendition of "Redemption Song."

In all, we has an absolutely fantastic time and can't wait to go back to Mastro's and enjoy the food again. I wonder if it would be just as delicious if it wasn't free!

A full-length shot of us before leaving the house. It's kinda dark but you get the idea. I love to watch as we get more and more relaxed as the night goes on...

In the bar before dinner.

Gotta get a pic at the entrance! This was after dinner.

At Sky Bar. Definitely getting a little faded.

In the limo. Nice cleavage.

Our self-portait attempts!

The Lajci's do Bob Marley!

One last self-portrait for the night. I think it's pretty obvious that we're having a great time!

Another perfect day!

Mark and I had another great Sunday off together today. Today was the last day that the restaurant is closed, grand opening is tomorrow! So, all managers and team members were off today to get their heads in the game.

We woke up when we felt like waking up (one of my absolute favorite things about having the day off) and went to Subway for lunch. We then headed back down to the beach that we went to a few weeks ago. It was so beautiful then that we thought we'd try it again. Well, several things weren't right this time around. First, seaweed was EVERYWHERE. Now, I know that the ocean is a natural body and seaweed a naturally occurring thing but, really, it's gross. I hate the way it feels wrapped around my ankles and thighs. Second, the waves were HUGE. Finally, the rip tide was super strong. A lifeguard actually swam out to us to tell us to get our booties closer to shore or else we'd be carried out to sea. That's all I really needed to hear. We swam in a bit closer then headed to shore. Mark then took our boogie board out to show me how it's done. He caught a few waves then we laid out for a bit.

When we got home, we BBQ'd with Mark's parents and his sister, Tina. There was lots to eat and I drank almost an entire bottle of champagne myself! Needless to say, it was a really great dinner.

Finally, to top it all off, Mark and I got our beach cruisers that hadn't been ridden in almost a year and took off to Blizzberry. Blizzberry is my new addiction. You serve yourself soft serve frozen yogurt and top with whatever you want and then they charge you by the ounce. It's similar to Pinkberry or Yogurtland or some other derivative of the same. My favorite concoction has been strawberry and raspberry yogurt topped with strawberries, blackberries (my absolute new favorite), raspberries, and sprinkles. Delicious. After we ate our yogurt we rode our bikes around Downey for a good hour or so. Maybe even longer than that. It was the best bike ride of my life, I felt 13 again!

We are now choosing a movie to watch while we enjoy a bottle of wine. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Another Pleasant L.A. Sunday

Well, really, it was a pleasant L.A. weekend but those lyrics don't fit as nicely in the song.

Friday started out a bit rocky. Mark went into work at 7:15 and didn't take a lunch break until after 4. His day didn't end until after 10 and then he went out with the guys from work for a few drinks. After all, they deserved them after working a 15 hour day! Meanwhile, however, I was home with a mini-migraine. I had my first migraine at the beginning of June and I went to class that night anyway, thinking it would go away eventually. It was so painful that, when the throbbing started on Friday afternoon, I didn't take any chances and spent most of the afternoon and early evening laying in bed in the dark with the fans blowing directly at me. I felt better by 8ish or so, thankfully.

Saturday morning I attempted to go to the lab for my blood work that the doctor ordered at my physical at the beginning of June. I know, I know...I should have gotten my booty there much sooner; however, I have to go on an 8 hour fast which makes it impossible to go anytime except in the morning and, in the morning during the week, I have to be at work. Well, when I got to the lab, the line was about forty people deep outside of the door. I have no idea what it looked like inside. I immediately turned around but then figured since I'd gotten up early on a Saturday to be there, I should just suck it up and wait. But, after moving three inches in 20 minutes, I left. I'm going to go Wednesday morning before work and if I'm late so be it. The blood work is to check my cholesterol and my thyroid. It's nothing life threatening or anything.

When I got back from the doctor, Mark and I went to breakfast and then to price doggy doors at Home Depot and the local favorite hardware store, All-American (the irony of the name is staggering). We had planned on getting a security screen with a door for King in it but it turns out that they are upwards of $500 so we then planned on special ordering a regular exterior door with a doggy door in it but then Mark's dad decided that he is going to attempt to install a doggy door in it. So, we purchased all of the pieces needed and shall see how this endeavor turns out.

We then went to The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach with our friends Holly and Jake. Holly is a school psychologist in our district and was on my interview panel when I was hired at Cerritos. I knew then that we would be friends. She no longer works at my school but we get together for martinis at least once a month and the four of us get together almost as often. The club is celebrating its birthday and we saw 20 comics, each of which performed for about 5 minutes. It was a great time.

Yesterday, Mark and I were up and about fairly early, around 10 (which is early for the two of us). We hopped into his car, dropped the top, and headed south. We got off of the freeway at Seal Beach and drove on PCH for close to 2 hours. At around 1 we decided to stop at the next beach. We ended up at Salt Creek Beach (pictured above), which is beautiful. We swam for the first time this summer and had a great time. I learned that I just shouldn't try to catch a wave and body surf in. The waves were very large, at least for this Midwestern girl, and when I finally got brave enough to try to catch one, it swallowed me up and spit me out. When I finally had my footing again, I was almost in tears and about to puke. In retelling the story, I swear I was under water for at least a minute. Mark said it was more like 4 seconds! He tried to hold me back and I could feel him grabbing my legs but the wave was too strong and took me away. I hit my shoulder on the bottom and my boobs flew out of my suit, of course. Fortunately, I was able to cover up before I got out of the water. Needless to say, I didn't stay in the water much longer after that. I did, however, laugh about it the entire rest of the day. Before we left the beach, Mark ran back into the water to show me how its done and made body surfing look so freakin' easy! He grabbed a wave and rode it all the way in, I was quite impressed with how easily he did it.

Last night, we grilled steaks with Mark's mom and his sister, Tina and drank a delicious bottle of wine. When we sat down for our meal, I commented on what a perfect summer day and weekend it had been. It was Mark's last guaranteed Sunday off since they will be training 7 days/week from this point on. It was a great weekend.

F'ing A!!!!

I try to keep all of my vulgarity to myself and rarely use it here. BUT, we just had maybe the scariest earthquake I've ever experienced!!! We are all okay but I'm still shaking.

Thank goodness Mark was home with me. Otherwise, I'd have really freaked out. We were standing in the middle of our room and the earth started to rumble a bit. Mark said "whoa, earthquake" and took me by the hand, knowing that I was going to freak. We started out to the yard, the dog was still chillin' on the floor at this point because it really wasn't that bad. But, then the whole place jolted. It was the craziest, scariest, most out of control feeling I've ever felt. The dog freaked out, I grabbed him by the collar, and the three of us ran out into the yard. We heard some crashing and things moving around but can't figure out what exactly broke.

The quake was centered in Lennox, which is 15.6 miles from us and the magnitude was 5.0. The Northridge quake was 6.7 and the earthquake last summer, before our road trip, was a 5.5 but was 29 miles from us.