Fightin' Mad Mary and Q!

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…SANDRA BULLOCK’S DRESS!

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:46:00 +0000

Have you guys heard about this? Michael Mullen, an up-and-coming fashion designer is so enamored with Sandra Bullock that he designed a dress for her hoping she would wear it to the Oscars! He's put out ads on Craigslist desperately trying to get her attention, he even did a casting session for Sandra Bullock look-a-likes to be photographed in the dress so that Sandra could see what she would look like in it! He's trying so hard in fact that a reality tv crew got wind of it and now they are covering the story.

Michael's CL Postings:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/com/1621129884.html
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/vnn/1625650386.html
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/com/1625590967.html

 Michael’s Video:
A short clip of Michael’s story so far (you gotta see this!):
http://rcpt.yousendit.com/829701727/3ad76c3465c456cb8851b121ad9e878e

The Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/And the Oscar Goes to...

I give this guy an A+ for effort and I really hope that Sandra gives him a shot, and if you happen to know Sandra please forward her this blog post :)

U R UR CAR

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:33:00 +0000

Another reader submission!!! this time from Marie Millard -

U R UR Car

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:09:00 +0000

Another great reader submission from Gnightgirl -

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Hey that's MY trash

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:35:00 +0000

I will never get used to people going thru my trash looking for recyclables and who knows what else. I should be mad because if I were to fill that bin with plastic bottles and cans the city could get the crv refund and I suppose my trash rates could go down. I'm not mad, I'm just happy to see the stuff get recycled one way or the other.
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Check out my fancy Mai Tai drink at Henry's Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:13:00 +0000

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Having an Oscar Party?

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:47:00 +0000

I have a marketing connection to a brand, topic or product herein. Through the use of affiliate links contained herein, I may collect fees from purchases made.

Klobo Slipcovers

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:22:00 +0000

Back in March I helped my mom makeover several rooms in her New Jersey home to get the place ready to put on the market. At the time she thought she wanted to move to Florida, but since the makeover she's changed her mind about selling the house - at least for now. Although with the recent snow storms maybe she's changed her mind back again :)

Here's the formal living room that we made over -
the two love seats are from Ikea known as KLOBO. They are a beautiful neutral white canvas, but they also show wear very quickly. The cat LOVES these loveseats and the dog loves to rub up against them too. This is one of Ikea's most popular pieces of furniture - with a retail price $150 each it's easy to figure out why - but it's so frustrating that Ikea doesn't have the slipcovers for these Klobo loveseats so I searched the internet to find some.

I found Marlene's Urban Bliss and this woman specializes in making Klobo slip covers!

Marlene does have slipcovers ready to buy on her website, but I didn't like any of her fabric choices (sorry Marlene) - I was looking for something would hold up well with all the wear and tear from the pets - I bought some Crypton fabric in bulk on Ebay and made arrangements with Marlene to make the slipcovers. I shipped her the fabric and she shipped the finished slipcovers to my mom.

I'll hopefully get to see them in person soon, but here's a photo that my mom took to show y'all how nice they turned out -

I wish I had these made the moment we bought those loveseats. In a perfect world I would keep the covers on the loveseats and then remove them whenever the house was being shown for sale. The white canvas pops in the room better, the slip covers certainly match but I like a little more contrast.

My mom loves the slipcovers, I know that fabric was thick and probably really hard to work with but it wasn't a problem for Marlene - she really did a great job! So if you're looking for some slipcovers for your Klobo loveseats - be sure to check out Marlene's Urban Bliss

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

looking for corporate sponsors..

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:28:00 +0000

Do you remember back in July when they were filming a movie in my backyard? Well the movie is finished and the big premier is coming up. My friend, the producer Tom Tangen, is looking for corporate sponsors for the premier and he asked me to post the note below:

"On February 22, 2010, we are premiering our independent film, a new gay-themed romantic comedy called Pooltime. The premiere is being held at the Pacific Design Center’s Silver Screen Theater with an after party at Rage Nightclub. We’re expecting a large, hip, gay-friendly crowd of 500 for the event. Because this is an ultra-low budget independent film, we’re looking for corporate sponsors to provide promotional items for gift bags, liquor donations, and other support in exchange for event advertising. We’re also looking for a sponsor who can provide a deal on printing programs or invitations, posters, music CD's for the gift bags, and logo-wear like T-shirts or hats. In exchange for your support we are happy to give you ad space in our event program, invitations to the event and after party, and banner space for large scale advertising. We also have two other features slated for production with product placement available. If you have any contacts or know of anyone who can provide these items, please respond to Press@pooltimethemovie.com Thank you for your consideration. "

It's halftime and I'm loving this Guinness.

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:58:00 +0000

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Hangin' in Hollywood

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:20:00 +0000

I worked yesterday so I'm trying to make the most out of today, Superbowl Sunday.

I started the day with a hike up Fryman Canyon, then GloZell joined me at the hair salon. We sat and gossiped and GloZell entertained all the stylists and the other customers. I never had so much fun getting my hair done.

Now GloZell, Kevin, Q and myself are all down in Hollywood getting ready to watch the big game. We're at a bar called Dillon's and the game is about to start. I don't really care much for football and GloZell feels the same way - so we decided that if we're bored we'll go walk around Hollywood and pretend we're tourists. LOL.

Hope you are having a wonderful day too!
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What's up...

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:59:00 +0000

Hey y'all,
I haven't forgotten you dear Internet friends. I've been working like a dog on Tool Academy 3 which premiers on Valentine's Day! I'm so excited for y'all to see it. The press release is out so I can finally tell y'all that for the first time we have a co-ed class at the Tool Academy. You can meet the cast by clicking here.

I'm also working at night on a documentary about a silent film star. so my blogging time has been taking up by this extra project.

I've done a few fun things in the last couple of weeks - hopefully GloZell will finally email me the photos from the Television Academy Hall of Fame induction ceremony - we had a blast and got to meet some amazing television stars, more on that soon I hope.

I was thrilled to spend some time with fellow blogger MonkeyPosh who was visiting LA for a bit just to get away from the harsh Chicago weather. We had a wonderful day together that included a hike up Fryman where we ran into Lisa Rhinna and her hunky husband.

We met back up and headed over to an afternoon concert where GloZell sang Etta James' "At Last" - that girl has some pipes on her! Check it out here -

then the three of us went shopping all over the SFV. We hit up Naimie's, It's a Wrap, and Belle Gray - While at Belle Grey we ran into the very beautiful Marla Maples, she was sooooo nice! Marla took a photo with GloZell and she introduced to her daughter (who looks just like her daddy) Since we ran into Lisa Rhinna earlier, we mentioned that we were going to be shopping at her store and she made arrangements for us to get those fabulous tote bags in the photo above! Thank you Lisa!!

We all had sushi at Katsu-Ya in Studio City and after that we had coffee and dessert at the very lovely Aroma Cafe. It was a great day, I need more Sundays like that!

I'd rather give you quality blog posts rather then quantity - so sorry for the blogging slow down on my part here but I hope you understand. Don't forget that you can subscribe via email (somewhere in the right hand column over there) or subscribe via the RSS feed, that way you don't have to come to me, I'll be coming to you!

How's the weather?

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:56:00 +0000

The girl in line at the Starbucks should give you a good idea of what our weather is like right now.
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U R UR Car

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:32:00 +0000

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some great knock-offs from around the web

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:41:00 +0000

Not gonna lie - I love to window shop online. One of my favorite online shops is DWR.com aka Design Within Reach - the name is a bit decieving because the prices are not really within my reach. If you can afford them, they are a great resource for fully licensed classics - but I'm all about great knock-offs.

Here's a few I found:

Philippe Starck's Victoria Ghost Chair (2006) $330.00 per chair
or you can have
Clear Acrylic Side Chairs $268.99 for two!

Cellula Chandelier $2,600.00
or you can have
Linear Strand Crystal Chandelier $349.00

Eileen Gray Side Table $550.00
or you can have
Eileen Gray Stainless Steel Accent Table $125.99

The American Modern Daybed (2008) is inpired by George Nelson $1,785.00 (on sale!)
or you can have
The Mid-Century Sofa $480 (plus a $75.00 shipping charge)

Do you have any great knock-offs? Do share with a comment.

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

New Rug from Overstock.com

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:56:00 +0000

I've bought rugs from Ikea, Pottery Barn, Target and Overstock.com. By far my favorite resource of the three is Overstock. They have an overwhelming selection online, you can get lost looking for a rug on there - but that also means that no matter what your decorating style they will have something that meets your needs. Each rug also has reviews right there on the same page, if a rug in particular tends to shed - other customers will warn you about it. Or perhaps the color is a little off in the photos - other customers will give you a heads up on that too.

The best part of buying a rug from Overstock.com? They ship the rug for only $2.95 right to your door via fedex. Have you ever bought an 8x10 rug at Ikea and tried to get that big ol' thing through the check out and then all the way to your car - I promise you I'll never do that again!

Now I'm looking for some new pillows to match that rug :)

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

U R UR CAR reader submission!

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:34:00 +0000

This is so fun and hot out of my inbox! I just got a reader submission for U R UR CAR

So here it is all the way from the great state of Illinois sent to me by Gnightgirl -

and here's a closer look -
Now, I've got to tell y'all that this one had me stumped for a bit but I think I know what it says. Can you figure it out? Leave a comment if you think what it is.

80 calories and 13!!!! grams of fiber

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:14:00 +0000

edited to add:

These little muffins are one of the best options for breakfast I've found. They are only 80 calories and with a whopping 13 grams of fiber it's a great way to start your day. The muffins are small but with all that fiber they are very filling. If I have a bagel in the morning I'm hungry again by 11am, when I have one of these I'm not hungry again until 1pm or 2pm.

Now, how do they taste? I've tried a few of the flavors they offer and for me the blueberry is the best. They are super moist and full of fruit - but they definitely taste like a "health" food. They are vegan and lack a fat to add flavor, they need butter or something - so I like to slice them in half and spread them with cream cheese. Hey if that's what it takes to get down all the fiber than that's what I'm going to do -it's about balance right?

I've bought these muffins at Trader Joe's and at Whole Foods, look for them there. Here's the full list of locations click here

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

Rain, and how I'm dealing with it.

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:05:00 +0000

Rain is a big deal in Los Angeles since we barely get 10 inches of it a year. Right now we are getting pounded by 3 rain storms that will continue for the next 5 days.

Day-Z is not the kind of dog that will just go outside and take care of business if we open the back door, so we have to walk her rain or shine.

Knowing these storms were on the way I ordered my very first pair of adult rain boots from Zappos. With their super fast shipping the boots are actually being delivered as I blog.

My hair also gets super frizzy from all the humidity so I have perfected wearing a scarf to keep the frizzys to a minimum. It's cuter than a baseball cap and more fun than a ponytail. I scored this Vera scarf from TJ Maxx before the holiday and I've been getting a lot of mileage out of it between draping around my neck and now wearing on my head.

Now I just need to find one of our umbrellas because they are all stored somewhere in the garage...
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Meeting the cast of Jersey Shore

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:55:00 +0000

I went to the company party last night and it just happened to take place right after the taping of the Jersey Shore reunion (that will air soon) so the cast of the Jersey Shore made an appearance at the party!

Since I work in post production it's very rare that I cross paths with our "talent" so I always get such a thrill when I do.

The cast were the most popular people at the party and I was lucky to have a moment with them for a photo. So here they are -

Here I am with "The Situation" -

Can you see the "bump-it" in my hair?

I had to sort on kneel down for this photo with Snookie -

That girl really knows how to rock that hair bump. While I may be wearing a bump-it, hers is all natural. She teases that hair and then kind of props it up and pins it. Trust me I watched the raw footage of her doing her hair, it's quite a process.

I told her that I was the editor that cut her now famous "pickle" scene -
It turns out that she wasn't so happy about that scene. She just about decked me right there! Ok, just kidding but her reaction in the photo above is pretty funny!

and lastly I got a quick photo with Vinnie -
I think he's still wearing all that stage/tv makeup and how is it that he has prettier eyebrows than me?

Thank you 495/SA for a lovely party!!

Ruggles Green, Houston, Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:50:00 +0000

Over Christmas break I put a status update on Facebook that I was looking for a lunch spot in the River Oaks/Montrose area and one of my former students who know works for an architecture firm in the area and she recommended Ruggles Green. I did a little research and found out that Ruggles Green is Houston's first certified green restaurant. Some of the requirements in order to be a certified green restaurant include using water efficiency, waste reduction, sustainable food and even sustainable furnishings and building materials. That's all good stuff for sure but the real reason we decided to go ahead and check the place out - everyone online was raving about the food, and it's no wonder, this is the sister restaurant of the wildly popular original Ruggles Grill restaurant.

We headed over for lunch around 1pm. The parking lot was totally full and there's no valet. Q let me out and went searching for parking and went in the restaurant. The place was beyond packed and there wasn't a single open table. There's no hostess and no wait list, you order at the counter and find a place to sit - Q and I figured that it would be best to go run a few errands and then come back for lunch later when they are less busy.

Two hours later - the place was still crazy busy but we found a parking spot out front and managed to find a table.

After you order at the counter you are given a number that you display at your table and the staff brings out your food - for 32.00 for lunch I expect table service. The food seemed a little pricey to me, but I have to remember that this meal was all organic and made with very high quality produce and meat - and after watching Food, Inc recently I realize that you get what you pay for.

I ordered a buffalo burger with fries - Q ordered fish tacos -
and we also ordered a Shiner and a side of sweet potato fries -
I absolutely love buffalo meat and I frequently buy the buffalo burgers at Trader Joe's to make at home. This burger did not disappoint! It was moist and very tasty - the swiss cheese was a nice touch. As good as that burger was, the fries were even better!! I don't know what kind of potatoes they used for the fries but they were soooo good, the potato flavor was so strong it was like someone turned up the flavor volume to 11. Q really loved his grilled fish tacos, but I wish Ruggles green would publish what kind of fish it was, talipia, cod, halibut? Who knows, but he ate the entire plate! The sweet potato fries were his idea since his dish didn't come with a side. They were ok, but nowhere near as good as the fries on my plate - so my advice is to skip the sweet potato fries and go for the classic fries.

The Ruggles Green menu is extensive and you could probably go everyday for a couple of months and try something different - and I can't wait to go back. Yes the food is a bit on the pricey side, but these guys serve quality food that's worth every penny. I suggest that you check out the place during off times for the best experience and to make sure that you actually get a table to sit at - this place is usually packed and there's a reason why - it's really good!

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

Seafood salad at The Gumbo Pot.

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:38:00 +0000

Edited to add:
Normally I order a po-boy or the blackened fish plate, but after seeing this salad - Wow! I'll have to add it to my regular rotation of dishes from here. Everytime I'm at the Fairfax Farmer's Market this is THE only place I grab a bit because it's so hard to find good cajun food anywhere in LA.

http://www.thegumbopotla.com/index1.html

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

The house that once was...

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:49:00 +0000

From 1993-2001 this was my home, my very first home purchase. Even as a public school teacher, I bought it on my own with some down payment help from my grandparents. I remember the closing papers and having the have the phrase "femme sole" at the end of my name because of some arcane law on the Texas books about women buying property. Men don't have to state anything of the such, just women. I was so mad. but at the end of signing that huge stack of paper this "femme sole" had a house and that brought me joy beyond belief.

It was a major fixer-upper in the heart of the arts/gay part of Houston known as "The Montrose". The perfect project house for me in the perfect part of town. Q and I moved in before we were married and before we had heat! It took several weeks of work before we had heat in the place, we had one space heater and every blanket on the bed and we were still cold most of the time. We gutted the kitchen and a bathroom and I even built a sunroom where there was once a porch.

Q had been working in the Houston film industry as much as he could but he started getting gigs in Los Angeles, good gigs. So in the summer of 2000 we made one of the biggest decisions as a couple - we decided to risk it all and make the big move to Los Angeles. We put the house on the market in the fall of 2000 and we didn't get an offer for a very long time. We paid rent on a s***box apartment in LA and we were paying the mortgage on the house. This made a really difficult time in our life even more challenging - to say money was tight would be an understatement.

Finally after 8 months on the market we got an offer and we sold the house. We flew back to Houston to do the final prep of the house and there was a tropical storm that landed about the same time we did. She was Tropical Storm Allison and some parts of Texas got up to 30 inches of rain. We stayed the night in the house with the storm pounding overhead. We weren't sure we'd even have a house left in the morning to sell the storm was that bad. When we woke up in the morning we saw the water had been right up to the front door but thank goodness it didn't cross the threshold.

We went to the house closing but the guy who bought our house wasn't able to make it because of all the flooding. I thought he was using it as an excuse and I was terrified that he was going to back out of the deal - and with the financial drain, we REALLY needed to sell the house.
I started to sign the papers and began to cry. I was so sentimental about that house and selling it also meant that there was no turning back, this was it.

We made enough money from the sale of that first home to buy a pretty nice house in North Hollywood.

and about 6 years later we sold that house and we were able to buy the house we're in now with our dreamy swimming pool. So really it all worked out for the best I couldn't be happier with my life and home but...

I recently found out that our old home was on a list of homes to be demolished!

It turns out that my old neighbor has been buying up all the properties around him and tearing down the homes to expand his yard. I've been watching him buy up properties for years and he finally made his way all the way down the block to our old house.

I had to check out the place when we were in Houston for Christmas and here's what the property looks like now -

I'm so glad I knew about the house demo before we just happened to drive by (as we would do every year at Christmas time) because I would have been MUCH more emotional about the whole thing if I was surprised when I got there.

At least they didn't take out the fabulous crepe myrtle trees that I personally planted back in the mid 90's -

(check out that big Texas hair - honey I know how to blend in don't I?)

I do hope to move back to Texas as some point in my life. I would love to have a house in LA and an house in Houston. We could spend a month here and a month there and so on... hopefully that will happen some day soon.

Bloggers beware

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:07:00 +0000

I just got two very similar emails this morning that went something like this:

Hello Webmaster,

We have clients that want to advertise on your home page. They want to place a short sentence with a link in it. The client is a lot like Macys.com. We are ready to move forward immediately please contact us at your convenience so we can send additional information and prepare payment.

Have a great day,

Ciara Sanders

Site Link Manager

The woman's name didn't match up with the email address she used and something in my gut tells me this is a scam. The other inquiry I got this morning asked for my paypay account info at least 3 times - red flag!!

If you really want to have ads on your blog may I suggest that you use a reputable site like www.cj.com. Just wanted to warn y'all.

The Kendrick Scott Trio

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:34:00 +0000

Playing at Ovations in Houston, What a treat!
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Go green, drink local!

noreply@blogger.com (Fightin' Mad Mary) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Disclosure: No conflict, unpaid, my own opinions

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