Weekend Update

Hola mis amigos! :)

Sorry I've been MIA, the parentals came to visit on Thursday and we've been going ever since! They left this afternoon though and I spent the day doing what I do best: sleeping.

Alright...so let's see. The work week was good as usual. Learning how to do more of the in-depth stuff, so that's fun. I saw one of the Real Housewives (Countess LouAnn) getting onto the elevator, then I RODE the elevator with news correspondent Ken Baker. You'd know him if you saw him - he goes on like the Today Show and Larry King and does segments for them, but he works for E!. Also I've seen Jason Kennedy many times, another host. STILL NO RYAN. This week is the week though, I feel it! ;)

Sorry...can we take a break real quick to talk about how RIDICULOUS this season of SYTYCD is?! I don't think it would have such great an affect on me if I hadn't been watching religiously since season 2. First of all, all the new dancers are UH-MAZING. Kent Boyd?!?!?! I want to scoop that little critter up and eat him! He is FREAKING ADORABLE. And Lauren Froderman is my favorite girl. Already over Billy Bell and Alex Wong...meh you both had your chances already. ;p B.Bell was BRILLIANT in Mia's piece, though. Ugh. I can't gush enough over this season. The meshing of the all-stars with the new guys is just brilliant. It makes the dances all that much more exciting, because you're learning about these news peeps but it's like a thrill when you see your old pals (TWITCH!MARK!DOM!PASHA!NEIL!LAUREN!KATHRYN!COURTNEY!) dancing along. SO SO GREAT.

Alright, let's get down to business. :) So Thursday morning my parents got in, and we just kinda piddled around the apartment since my parents had been up since the crack of dawn. My dad and I ran some errands, he had to go meet with some business guys who were in town so I went along, had my first Carl's Jr. burger haha, then came back to get my mom. Then we went to Warner Brothers Studios and took a tour. IT WAS SO COOL. It was about 2 1/2 hours, and we took a little golf cart/bus contraption around the backlots and sound stages. Our tour guide was really funny, so that was a plus. I have some pics of the tour on Facebook, but we weren't allowed to take pictures of some things. For instance, we got to go onto the actual SET of Chuck...and one of my favorite parts was going onto the soundstage and set of ELLEN! I got to dance through the audience aisles, stand where she does her monologue, ugh it was fab. THE BEST PART, however...was getting to see the set of Central Perk. I MEAN, HELLO?! It wasn't the actual room/soundstage, but they re-created the setup in a little side room. You don't understand. I SAT ON THE COUCH. The couch that produced a thousand laughs. So freaking amazing.

Fun fact: the Friends soundstage was previously the Full House soundstage! However, the soundstage has a plaque that only commemorates it as "the Friends soundstage", so whenever a former cast member of Full House is on location to shoot a TV show or movie at WB, they take a piece of paper and cover up the plaque and write "the Full House soundstage". Haha I thought that was cute. After the tour we went to this little musuem they have that has costumes and set pieces from different movies and TV shows. I saw the full costume that Heath Ledger wore as The Joker. That was so eerie. Ugh, gave me the creeps. But the entire upstairs was dedicated to none other than Harry Potter. SO much cool stuff...costumes, props, AND I got sorted by the Sorting Hat! Hufflepuff...go figure. I bleed black and gold. Hehehe.

After the tour we raced to Katsuya, where I made reservations and my cousin Jen came and met us. Traffic was HORRIBLE, and I may or may not have realized we were going the wrong way on the 101 10 minutes into the drive, so we were quite late. It wasn't that busy though so we had no trouble getting in. Contrary to The Ivy's not-so-good-for-such-a-famous-restaurant's food, Katsuya was DELICIOUS. We got this chopped chicken salad...omg. Heaven. THERE WERE FLOWERS IN THE SALAD. I ate flowers! But it was goooood. And the sushi was good, and I don't even like sushi all that much! I kept looking for celebs but alas, it was a Laker game night so I was dumb and didn't tihnk to go to dinner at a sports bar, which is where most celebs probably were. ;) Paparrazzi were outside though, just waiting for anyone, so while we waited for the car my mom and I made friends with them, haha.

After that we made a grocery store run and came home and watched - what else? - Friends. :) Gah I loved being able to take advantage of having a car again!

Friday my parents and I went to Santa Monica Pier. It was so beautiful! Th actual pier is definitely just a tourist place, though. But the beach was awesome. We ate at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co...I've always wanted to eat there! So that was fun. Then we walked the pier and watched these street performer guys, they were so funny. So yeah we just browsed around and that was that. Then we drove back into LA and went to The Grove and Farmer's Market. Shopped a little at Forever 21, and got some yummy pastries at the FM. Then we took it home and ordered Shutter Island On Demand. That movie is NUTS! It was slow in the middle but the end is crazytown!!!

Saturday we slept in and headed down to Hollywood Blvd. We grabbed lunch and then hopped on one of those bus tours that take you to the star's homes and such. It was so cool! It was also about 2 hours and so worth it! We got lucky with another great tour guide. I also have pics of this on FB. The ultimate highlight, however, was getting to see the house that Michael Jackson was currently renting at the time of his death. Ugh...I was literally crying, especially when the tour guide put on MJ music as we pulled up the hill to his house. If anyone is interested, the house is renting for $300,000/month! :)

After the tour we walked around for a little bit, stopped in souvenir shops, and went back to the place where we ate lunch and got dessert, haha. Then we just went home and made ANOTHER grocery store run. Then we just watched Pearl Harbor and my parents packed back up for their trip home. So all in all it was a very eventful weekend. Loved having the mom and pops here! Ah, now back to the grind...maybe this week I'll go to bed early for once on my work days. Eh, probs not. I can't belive it's already the middle of June! I feel like I just took exams! Crazy stuff, I tell you.

Closing thoughts: This Big 12 shiz is bull. Mkay that's all. :)

xoxo, Nicole