My year for MUSIC!!!

I, like many, am a huge fan of music. I love to listen as it takes me to a different place. It can make me feel young, old, reminiscent of a good time in life, or even just energized. I rarely get to go to concerts, but this year I was very fortunate to attend so many great music events.

July - Chris Cornell
Attended with Aaron, who was soon to become my NYC concert buddy! We had a great time as noted in my "Summer of Love" blog. Thanks again Aaron...you rock..literally!!!

August - Muse & Alice in Chains / Velvet Revolver
Muse is in my top 3 of all time favorite bands. Their Queenish sound mixed with some serious rock and classical sounds takes me to a different world. Love them so much. They put on the best concert I have ever seen. AMAZING show! I took Jewwy and he instantly became a fan. My first concert at Madison Square Garden. Aaron and I went to see Alice in Chains and Velvet Revolver later in August at Nikon in Jones Beach. Great concert...long ride out there. :)

October - Paul Van Dyke for Halloweenie
Mikey came with me for Halloween to see PVD. He is probably one of the best Trance DJ's out there and we dressed up (Pirate and Doctor) to dance all night. GOOD TIMES!

November - VAN HALEN BABY!!!
Aaron and I saw that VH was coming to MSG and we HAD to go! Knowing that these guys will probably never stay together...we took our opportunity while we had it and paid through the nose! Seeing Alex and Eddie's solos was worth every penny. These guys are truly the best there is. Diamond Dave is still one crazy Mo Fo! Studded out in sequenced outfits and doing his high kicks was about the funniest and most entertaining thing ever. He is really a great performer. Minus the long hair I felt like I was back in high school. Awesome!

COMING UP:

Dec - Ozzy & Rob Zomibe
Aging ourselves a bit...Aaron and I are heading to the headbangers ball of sorts next weekend. Again at MSG...we will rock out to the old dudes who helped invent rock as we know it! I am pretty pumped up. Best Xmas gift ever!!! Thanks AI!!!!

Feb - Linkin Park
Daria and I are heading to see Linkin Park in February. I would put them at #3 on my favorite list. Their music helped me through one of the most difficult times in my life. I hope I don't cry!

March - Foo Fighters
IF I am lucky enough to afford to come home a little early....I will be there in LA to see them with my sissy and Devin. Obviously my favorite band ever....I want to pee my pants thinking about it. Wish me luck on getting there!

Stay tuned......

Yellow and Green are looking GOOOOOOD!

I have decided that when I come back to NY to visit...one of my visits every year WILL be in the fall during football season. Its the best time of the year for me. I have a great bar to watch with the best fans ever. We gather every week and watch the Packers (hopefully) kick some lesser team's ass. :) Last season was a slight disappointment, but not bad. We were 8-8 and improved upon the previous season. So this season being my last to enjoy at Kettle was especially exciting to me. Did I mention the brawts and free cheese and sausage flown in from Wisco before each game?? :)

Game one took place while I was in Lake Tahoe. Jewwy and I got up early on our last morning on the lake and went down to Harvey's and watched the game over some mamosas. (It was 10am!!) Turns out this guy sitting next to us was from Wisco and was a huge fan. He was apparently loaded because he threw down a few grand on games that day and I am pretty sure he won all of his bets. Damn...if only he was hot, younger and single!!! LOL We cheered as they won. We had no idea that was the start of Brett's record breaking season.

Game two as I wrote about previously in my "Summer of Love" blog was in NY and I was able to go and watch live. Still glowing from being that close to Brett! :)

The following weeks were spent at Kettle with my cheesy crew. That bar is so awesome...there are no words to describe the energy in this place. Every touchdown is met with a loud cheer, multiple high fives and even near tears. With every win (their record is 12-2) the bar became more crowded and they sold out at game time so it was packed (no pun intended). I doubt I will be able to ever find a Packer bar like this in LA, but I will try.

The pack are now going into their last two games, against the Bears and Lions. They have already secured their play off spot with a first round bye week. With any luck Dallas will lose a game and the Pack will secure home field advantage for when they meet them again in January.

Love it...by far my favorite time of year.

GO PACK!!!!

Fall in NYC: Hotel Michelle in FULL Swing

My favorite part about living in New York is that I have tons of visitors. Most come from California and it is like a small piece of home coming to NY, but also it is fun to share NY with my friends and family (some for the first time in their lives). This Fall was full of people at the ol' bachelorette pad! :)

Chrissy came to visit for her birthday in September. As always we had a great time. I wanted this to be extra special for her so I planned a Mo's night like no other. I got her favorite cupcakes from her favorite NYC bakery, balloons, add tons of party peeps and we had a blast! She was touched and that made me happy. It's the least I could do...she was willing to celebrate her actual birthday at Kettle (my Packer bar) for the ViQueens/Pack game. It was a great day and of course, "we" won! woooooo hooooo! Overall her visit was fun.

Next to visit was Adam. Adam is a good friend of mine from California who went to CSUN. He is a super sweet guy who is always tons of fun. He had never been to NY and I told him he was welcome to come while Hotel Michelle was still open. :) His visit made ME feel more like a tourist than anything. We toured the World Trade Center site and followed the walking tour. It was an emotional experience to say the least, but was a must! We then went to Wall Street and Battery Park. It was cold, but nothing too freezing. We also toured Time Square, Rockefeller Center, and Central Park. It was so awesome. I think Adam's favorite part was the pizza though...haha

I had all of three days to rest after Adam left until my mum showed up. This was extremely exciting because not only had she never been to NY, but I hadnt seen her since last April. I missed her so much. We did about everything a tourist could do in Manhattan. We did the WTC site again, Wall Street, Battery Park, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, Macys, Bloomies, Central Park (colors were unbelievably gorgeous), and a Manhattan full cruise. I had to work a couple of the days she was here so she went to the Met, MOMA, and the Natural History Museum on the days I was working. She did about 3-4 visits of stuff in her one week trip. It was a great time.

Before mum left Tbone and Ashki flew in so we were able to all celebrate Thanksgiving together. This was especially good for me since I missed both Thanksgiving AND Christmas with the family last year. We went to a cute little place in the city and it felt like the holidays. :) The following day we did what only the bravest of the brave do...we went shopping at Harold Square. How do I say this.....DONT EVER DO THIS!!! I think that is the most direct way to put it. LOL I now understand why it's called Black Friday. LOL Herald Square was about the busiest most crowded spot on earth!!! AND I AM FROM THE VALLEY!!! Busy malls and shopping are what I do best. I was trained FROM BIRTH! But nothing could prepare me for this insanity. We were so disgusted that we quickly found a place to sit down and eat and then got the hell outa there. It was like be rescued from the jungles of Columbia! We got out just in time before the wild animals devoured us.

Mom departed that night (of course I got lost going to the airport and panicked as usual) and it was sad to say goodbye. I realized how much I really did miss her and my family. Having both mom and sis here was the best gift. I guess home isnt where your heart is...home is where your mum is!

Tbone had been to NY before....as with Ashki. So this was a bit of a reunion. We did our classic Mo's night and then visited the Fat Black Pussy Cat in the Village on Saturday. Was good times. Sis cut my hair and gave my bangs...I feel very 80's now. Thanks SIS!!!!!

After the last of the hotel guests left...I settled in for a week of doing absolutely nothing. I needed a rest. I think I slept more in the week and weekend following all my visitors more than the entire summer. It was a great time, but boy did they wear me out.

The rest of Fall was about my plan to move home. There are two steps...first step was to move out of my beloved bachelorette pad. *Sigh* I live that place. I realized I lived there longer than any of the 6 places I lived previously following my 2001 re-start ;) I was there for one year and 8 months. It saw some crazy times (huh C?) but was ready to be retired and passed on to the next schlub who wanted to "experience" NY! So I sold my furniture, packed up my life and moved to Astoria with James (my good friend in NY). He has his own place and offered to put me up until I moved home in Feb/Mar of next year. So that move was completed this last weekend and now I am settling into my little corner of his living room. :) I am earning my keep by cooking and cleaning....Im waiting for him to start calling me "Margarita" or "Juanita" and yell orders at me in Spanish (or is that just a Cali thing?? LOL).

Next step....save money and figure out how to stuff about 6 suitcases of clothing and personal affects into 3! LOL Tentative move home date is March 9th, but I just found out that there is a very special event that I might NOT be able to miss on March 4th...so I might come home a week early ;)

Stay tuned....