Well, just when I thought my travels were done for the summer, I decided at the beginning of August that I was going to go with some friends to Boston for another charity event. I couldn’t resist this one, and I was already really missing those girls, so I used my United air voucher and bought myself a ticket.

That event was this past weekend and it was pretty spectacular. There were two charitable organizations that held events. The first had a series events on Saturday, including a Q&A with the actors, a meet and greet (which I didn’t attend), and a cocktail party.

At the Q&A, I won a special prop that was used on the show. It’s a fishing hat that the character EJ wore when he proposed to Sami. As a result of winning, not only did I win the hat, but I also got to have James reenact the proposal, which was hilarious.

He was very sweet about it. But, I had to say no. I had to stick to script.

Later that night we attended the cocktail party and it was pretty good. I didn’t work very hard to meet the other actors, and I hate waiting in line for a quick little introduction and picture. My friends and I pretty much stayed in the same area and since James is very familiar with my group, he spent a good amount of time with us.

The next day, I attended a very special event put on by my favorite charity, which is run by a group of friends. They had a brunch at a private residence with a few of the actors. It was very relaxed and fun, and the food was spectacular.

Randomly, I played air hockey with James, which was fun and really unexpected.

Later, while he was sitting at our table I got to talk to him about a few things including a little inside bet I have with a few friends. He was the only person who could tell me if I was going to lose the bet or win, and so I showed him the criteria. He thought it was pretty funny, but sadly had to tell me that I had indeed lost the bet.

Here he is writing a smart ass comment on the bet.

Being around the actors was great and everything, but it really was all about my friends. But seriously, they are such spectacular people. It was well worth the cost to go out there and see them again. I wish we weren’t so spread across the North America.

At these events I get so little sleep and barely get to eat and so by the end I’m totally ruined, but it’s so worth it.

Now that there are no foreseeable events and I’m pretty much broke, it’s time to slow down and get back into routine and settle down. It was such a crazy fun summer and I will never forget it.

Blog readers — you may be familiar with posts like this in the past. I’m a big fan autumn. I’m more productive, I eat better, my house is cleaner, I’m happier, and everything is cozier. So yeah, I’m ready to put an end to the summer of fun.

Anyway, this weekend is going to be a quiet one. Lots of golf on TV sets a very peaceful mood around the house, and so hopefully I can use that to finish up some reading, do some laundry, and a little bit of cleaning.

I should be able to finish up Bel Ami this weekend. That’s been a pretty decent read. I’m excited to see it adapted to screen, because I think it will be way better.

aRP!

This weekend, I might even do some knitting! Yes, blog readers, knitting. Crazy, huh? Another reason I look forward to the fall. I’ll be more inclined to knit.

I’m still working on this red scarf. It’s so easy. I don’t know why I don’t finish it.

Never ending scarf

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA, but I’ve been away having a blast doing all kinds of silly things. Since my work load doesn’t seem as extreme this summer, I’ve decided to have some actual summer fun.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Las Vegas during the Daytime Emmys. I got to hang out with my sister and with my friends Nancy, Brooke, Jenn, and Dawn. We had a good time and even spotted James a few times, who was nominated for Lead Actor. He was delighted that we came out. It was a very good time!

Since then, there’s been other fun things going on, so much so I have completely neglected my house, neglected my diet, and neglected my budget. Yeah–too much fun. So I’m trying to wind down a bit and get back on track with a lot of things, including this blog.

Yep, it was that kind of weekend.

But let’s back up shall we. I’ll give you a play-by-play of the weekend.

First, the most important thing to me about my LA weekend was getting to meet all of my online friends. I figured it would be awesome to do that, but it far exceeded my expectations. It was so relaxed and easy to meet them face-to-face, because really…I’ve known them for years.

This photo was taken only an hour into my weekend adventure in the lobby of the hotel. I got to ride the Super Shuttle to the hotel with my friend Cindy (on the very right) who was one of the first people who really made me feel welcome at Forbidden Love two years ago.

It was a good day to be EJami fan too, because the NBC June Promo came out, which showed EJ and Sami finally kissing. We couldn’t be more happy!

Down in the lobby, Cindy showed it off to anybody who hadn’t seen it yet. Everyone who saw it got so excited when they saw the kiss!!

Our friend Loretta, literally fell off the arm of the couch, which made us giggle like no other.

Here’s the four second clip that had us so excited:

The rest of that day was filled with fun with friends. We had a nice lunch, then a cocktail, then went to happy hour and took over the entire sky bar. Late night I went with a few friends to Japanese restaurant that overlooked Hollywood. Returned to the sky bar at our hotel and and talked into the wee hours.

Friday we went to NBC to go on a studio tour. A group of FL buddies went on the earlier tour. We showed up late and got to go on the second one, which was very cool because of our timing we got to have a bigger and better tour. We got to see the sets! Yep, I stood on the edge of the DiMera mansion!

After the set tour we had lunch at Henry’s Hat, which is owned by a former Days actress. I got to eat one-on-one at a table for two with a new friend named Belinda.

She’s from New Zealand, lived in the UK for ten years, and has taken a year off of work to travel the world. If you know me at all, you probably could figure that I was totally fascinated with her. Her life philosophy seems pretty cool and she’s doing all the the things I would love to do. She was even one of the girls who was going to have dinner with James on Saturday night. So yeah, I was in awe in multiple ways.

That night was the dance party and it was a great and crazy time. There was dancing, and drinking, and adorable actors. I got to meet James and he was very sweet. The type that gives you a lingering hand shake and looks you in the eye.

I can thank my friend Dawn for the introduction. I didn’t plan on meeting him that night, instead I just wanted to see him and get used to the fact that he’s an actual three dimensional being, that way I could meet him easily on Saturday. But Dawn insisted, grabbed me by the arm and march me up to him and said, “James, this is another first timer.” We introduced ourselves and he was very polite. I told him that I’d be meeting him tomorrow, and he was like “Ok, good, you’ll be there?” And I said, yes. And that was it. Very nice!

But the party was more fun than just meeting James. The younger actors were out in full force and they danced and sung with us and closed out the party.

I got pretty drunk, which I didn’t intend to do. I’m such a lightweight. But it sure made the dancing easier.

While dancing the night away, Ali Sweeney tweeted saying that she hoped the spinning girls were getting enough rest for the morning. Oops!

Saturday morning came before I knew it and I was hurting. Like big time. But I somehow pulled through and was able to meet down in the lobby and get on our way to spin class.

We got to the gym, Ali had arrived, and we were getting clipped in when we had to evacuate because a gas line got cut at a construction site across the alley. Out on Hollywood Blvd we took our group picture.

Then we started to brainstorm what we could do to get our burn on.

Ali ended up taking us for a jog, and we did lunges, squats, and jumping jacks. Ali was so into it. She channeled Jillian Michaels. Then we ended up in a parking lot, where a cute guy did some bootcamp exercises while previously mentioned crackheads watched on. His label, not ours.

We were called back in and finally go to spin!

I did great! Being at sea level definitely helped! The instructor and owner, Andrea, was very cool. And I wish I could go to her classes regularly. Ali spun her heart out out on the platform. It was fantastic! I got to talk to Ali a few times in the morning, about EA Sports Active and about how spinning can get addictive.

Everything after spin class was a rush. We had to get back, showered, cleaned up, and fed to go experience the rest of the FLCE events, which was a Q&A and a meet and greet.

The Q&A was really fun. James and Ali were fabulous together and so fun.

After the Q&A they did an auction. I ended up bidding on dinner with James, and for some reason, when I did, I got tons of cheers. I guess it was so unexpected! I didn’t stay in for very long, because it got super pricey. But the reaction from my friends and even James and Ali was priceless.

Later, in the meet and greet, I met Ali more officially and get my picture with her.

After Ali, I met with James. I must be honest and tell you that I had no game plan whatsoever for any of the actors, and particularly no plan for James. Thankfully, he started the conversation and we had a hilarious discussion. Right when I approached his table, he was like, “You were so close to winning that dinner!” (Which I wasn’t, bidding tripled from where I stopped). But since I made the uproar, apparently I was memorable.

So I apologized for being too cheap to go to dinner with him and said, “Maybe the next time I’m in LA I can win some charity dinner with you.”

He laughed and then said, “Wait, let me see if you’re wearing a ring. And he looked at my right hand and saw my Claddaugh ring, and then went to my left hand and rotated it to see that there was no ring. “So you’re not married. Good.”

And I’m like….WTF?

And he continues, “You should get yourself a sugar daddy, so the next time you’re here, he can give you the cash to go to dinner with me.”

“I never thought of that,” I replied all giggly.

“Yes, just go down to Beverly Hills, it shouldn’t be so hard.”

Man, he was cracking up. It was so unexpected and pleasant and easy. Did I mention it was easy?

We talked about some other things like his short film, which he was hawking posters for to raise money.

I got to also meet the other actors and they were all fun, particular Ari Zucker. She was fantastic! I got to learn all about why they decided to make Nicole a hilarious alcoholic.

After that event was the limo ride I bought a ticket for. We drove around having nice drinks and watching James’ short film. Here I am with my friend Jenn, from Vegas. She and I get along really well.

And then it was off to the DCE cocktail party with all the actors all over again. I didn’t particularly care for the format of that party, but it was still fun. The highlight of my night was meeting Justin Hartley who plays Oliver on Smallville. I had no idea he was married to a Days actress, all I knew of him was that he’s on Smallville and I love his character. So I got the chance to chat with him about the show and he told me all about the ninth season, which he was shocked to find out I hadn’t seen yet. It was fantastic.

I left LA the next day, in the afternoon, exhausted and excited. I can’t really emphasize how much fun I had with friends. The actors were great, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t about them. It was about the girls. I pray we get EJami more now than ever because I want to go to something like this again. Although, I feel fairly certain we don’t need EJami to bring us together.

The other great part about this weekend for me, is that it made me feel young again. I’m a hermit, really, who doesn’t like to go beyond her own house. I feel old and tired most of the time, and this get together really brought me back to life. For that, it was worth every penny.

PS…I had to use pictures that some of my friends too, because I sucked at taking photos. So thanks to Dee, Dawn, Allison, Jennifer, and Stacy.

Much like with other big trips, I’m taking this opportunity to improve my lifestyle. Diet, exercise, new clothes, manicure, pedicure, and new shoes. Lots of new shoes. It feels like forever since I went to London, which was the last time I did this, but this trip is very different and I have totally different needs.

In the past six weeks I’ve lost seven pounds, which has made me feel a lot better. I’ve been exercising a lot which is good. I’ve even gone spinning with a co-worker to see how I would fare. Turns out, I fare pretty well. I’ve even been tanning so I’m not pale and pasty.

I also got new glasses, both out of necessity, but also because I wanted something a little bit different. Those are working out wonderfully!

So the next time you hear from me, I’ll be posting pictures of little old me with way hotter celebrities. They will put me to shame!

Anyway, chatting with my EJami friends is a daily occurrence, even when EJ and Sami are on the outs (which happens way more than we like). I’ve grown to love quite a few of these friends, and the emotional support they can provide on the turn of a dime to one of their friends in need is incredible. It’s the most good natured set of folks I’ve ever come across.

Over the past couple of years, the board has raised thousands of dollars for various charities, and in the past year has created it’s own charitable organization that is putting on a fan event with our favorite actors in Los Angeles. I’ve been drawn to this event for a long time. Not because I want to party with my favorite actors (although that does sound fun), but because I want to meet all of these wonderful friends in person. Unfortunately I was unable to afford it, so I had to decline the opportunity….until, like a strange sign, I just received an influx of cash. It’s a long story, but just very recently I got myself into a situation that provided me this possibility. So now this money is going to the Cancer Research Institute by me having a very good time in Los Angeles June 3-6.

I’ll be flying in Thursday and checking in, and then on Friday we’re going on a studio tour and then out to lunch. That night there’s a dance party with a few of the actors, which should be fun. James (the actor who plays EJ), along with Molly and Casey (Melanie and Chad on the show) will be there. Supposedly, Molly and Casey will judge some sort of dance off. They are really funny, you’ll see in this video they made below.

Alison Sweeney at spin class. Taken from her Facebook page. If you like her, you should become a fan. Click on the picture.

Then on Saturday things get really fun! I won a twitter contest that @Ali_Sweeney (Sami on Days, and host of the Biggest Loser) is doing in celebration of the events that weekend. She thought it would be fun to take 35 girls to a special spinning class at 8:30 in the morning! Yeah, I won this. Holy crap! So I’m in super training mode to get ready for that, because I’d like to be able to walk later that day. I’ll talk more about that in another post.

That afternoon is the main charity event sponsored by For Love Charitable Events, which is with Ali and James, and another actress. There will be a Q&A and then a meet and greet. Right after that, I’m then going on this crazy stretch hummer limo ride, also put on by For Love Chariatable Events, that will drive us around LA for an hour and will stop at a different hotel where another charity event, this time by Days Charity Events, is having a cocktail party with a whole slew of actors from the show.

So. Much. Fun.

So I’m pretty stoked! I’ve never done anything like this before, and more than anything I am so excited to meet these online friends. I can’t wait!

Finally, I must give a shout out to one of my favorite EJami friends — Jen. She’s also a blog friend and a Project 365 friend. Amazing mother, photographer, scrapbooker, and well — snarky goddess. She does this fun thing for us every now and again where she transcribes the show for us because in most of Canada they see DOOL one day ahead of the US. We call it the “Play-By-Play”, and the hits to the board’s server triples when she does it, because we’re all refreshing the page, waiting for her next hilarious summary of what she’s just seen. Her commentary is classic! HUGS Jen, wish you could come out to LA too!

Related materials!

Get to know EJami.

One of my favorite videos, only 5 minutes long shows the basis for why we love them. In brief – Sami has always been the bad girl with issues, and she’s struck out in romance repeatedly. Mostly, because the first two guys in this video (Lucas and Austin) don’t accept her for who she is. EJ came along and totally gets her, because he’s cut from the same cloth. I really recommend you watch it, you’ll get what a good chunk of my life is all about!

This video begins with Sami trying to marry Lucas, which doesn’t work out because he found out about her schemes. Then she connects with Austin and tries to marry him too. That doesn’t work out either for essentially the same reason. Finally, she has EJ because he’s the one that accepts her.

It’s way more complicated and has evolved a lot since then, but you get the gist.

If that didn’t get you liking EJami, maybe this will. THIS just happened yesterday on the show!! Talk about hot!

Also…here’s EJami’s Wikipedia page.

And here’s our board: Forbidden Love.

Molly and Casey

Watch Molly and Casey’s DOOL dance off video. We love it! Friday night is going to be such a blast!

April has been good and quite honestly gorgeous in Colorado.

After Easter with my mom, I saw my father the very next weekend. He came to stay with me and then we went to the Rockies game on Sunday. We had great seats, great weather, and a great win by the Rockies. Spending time with my family is such a joy. I love them so much.

As April winds down though, I’m saddened that I won’t be out in California to attend my friend Jay’s wedding. I had been planning on going all along, but when I took a look at my finances, I just couldn’t make it happen. It was tempting to break out the credit card, which is essentially locked up. I’m making good progress on getting out of debt and so it would set me back. I’m living by a cash only philosophy as much as possible. So when I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it, I opted out and sent them a very nice present instead. The best I could afford with cash. I hope they enjoy it, although I’m sure they’d enjoy having their friend there more. I guess that’s life and being responsible.

Life at home is serene. Time off is a blessing.

Shifting gears, to not be too serious….my newest obsession (there are always so many) is Keith Olbermann. I’ve loved Keith for years. If you know me, you know that I swing his way politically, so I enjoy his show every now and again. I know that he goes a bit too far sometimes, but I just find it adorable. Sickening, I know. Especially if you disagree with his views. I hear about people loving Beck or that other guy on Fox. What’s his name, the dark haired commentator? I find it awesome I can’t remember his name. Anyway — I get sick to my stomach when I hear people gush about those guys, so this is very hypocritical and I apologize if you feel sick now too, but I can’t help it. Turn away!

So what’s with the sudden love fest? He’s on twitter! And his posts make me so happy. I don’t know what it is. It’s not even that cool really, but I just dig it.

Random enough for you?

If it’s not, I could go on and on about my almost lesbian love for Rachel Maddow. So much that I love this Tumblr blog devoted to her. She’s adorable and so freaking smart. In an alternate universe I would legitimately fall for her. But, alas, in this world I just like boys. Shucks.

Finally, I picked a new (bright and busy) blog template. We’ll see how long I keep it. One day I’m going to really design my own. But today that seems hard.

And with that, I hope you all are well and I promise better blogging — even if I don’t have pictures.

There was food….

And there was lots of sitting around the table…

And there was our traditional egg cracking game….

Which I have to tell you a side story about. My father’s side of the family has been playing this game forever. It’s traditional Lebanese or more likely Mediterranean, because it was in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But it’s flat out a thing that most Malouffs do at Easter. Even Malouffs, that I’ve never met, who I’m not even really related to, like the Maalouf and Maloof families. And because of the wonder of Facebook, I’ve friended a few Malouffs that I’ve never met. There’s a million of them all over the world. Our crazy Lebanese clan is just everywhere. So, I saw this woman post about the game and it made me so happy. She also describes how it’s played.

Well, even without my dad here today, we played the game.

Michael had the winning egg, which is one that Johnny decorated the night before. He beat Johnny to win. The irony!

And of course there was a lot of love….

The past 24 hours has been a ton of fun. It’s a very cool device, perfect for consuming media and the perfect size. Browsing is fantastic, and it’s so fast. There’s a lot of cool apps, but I can’t wait for more. Netflix watch instantly is very nice. There’s a great NPR app, and Twitterific is well designed. The new interfaces for mail and calendar is a huge selling point, and I really can’t wait to use this at work. Not having to lug my laptop to meetings will be awesome. Not having to rely only on my iPhone, when I didn’t feel like lugging my laptop will be even better. The fact that this can just slip into my purse is the best of all.

It’s not perfect though. There’re could be more apps, there could be better productivity tools, and of course, more multi-tasking. I bought a low end one, because I know there’s more down the road.

I love technology!

Ps: this post was typed on the iPad. It definitely takes some getting used to, but it’s not too bad.

When I look back on this past week, it’s be completely random and long and crazy and slow.

First, the weather was up and down like mad. We had a huge blizzard on the front range, and I had exceptionally poor timing. I got stuck in it and it took me three hours to get home. I’m truly surprised that I didn’t get physically stuck like so many of the cars and buses that I passed in my little blue Civic. I love my tires.

When Friday arrived, I felt like I had lived two weeks in one. So this weekend has been all about relaxing. I’ve done some baking and a lot of reading. Truthfully, if it wasn’t for this blog post, this weekend would be forgotten away, that’s how low impact it has been.

I did snap some pictures though…

First, I couldn’t resist capturing one of the meals we had. Pigs in a blanket. I had never had that before, and I was promised that they’re very good. They were indeed.

And then the cats. Persephone was incredibly needy. I say that past tense, which is a mistake. Even at this very moment, I’m pleading with her to give me a little bit of space. She’s wanted to be in contact with me this whole weekend.

And Callie has been resting on her blanket, which is truly her blanket. The other cats don’t want anything to do with it. She spends eighty percent of her time on it. When she’s not there, she’s getting herself into trouble one way or another. I love her kitten-tude.

And Penny. The scavenger. I locked the cats out last night because I needed a break from them. Because both doors were closed, they were really unhappy they couldn’t sleep with somebody. Especially Penny. She woke me up this morning and compelled me to open the door. She was so happy to get into my room. She’s so sensitive.

So the furry ones have made their mark on the weekend.

Then, last night was one of my favorite hours of the year….it was Earth Hour! It’s where you turn off your lights for one hour. I love this! Last year was so great, and I got all ready for this year. I decided to once again write during that hour. The words didn’t quite flow like they did last year, but it was a good start.

Next year, I’m thinking about throwing a party. I think it would be great to enjoy the company of friends (well, more friends than I had last night) to sit around and drink wine and talk by candle light. Is that too silly? It sounds like perfection to me.