Thanksgiving!!!

so, thanksgiving ... 2011 ... what's there to give thanks for? .. a whole lot! .. but that isn't what this post is about .. my thanksgiving experience is unique. why? many reasons. ..

so i wake up on thursday in the afternoon, very hungover. My mom and her sister have been up and at 'em in the kitchen since probably 9am. We host thanksgiving every year, and my aunt, her husband, my 2 cousins, my brother, and a cousin's boyfriend all move into the house for the long weekend. My mom and aunt are in charge of everything. They lay out all the serving dishes on the table, and label each one with a ripped piece of paper so they don't forget what and where they are serving. My aunt also prepares a spreadsheet consisting of what will be cooked at what time, for how long, with what ingredients, and in what size pan. They've gotten it down to a science, somewhat, except for this year, about an hour or so behind schedule.

Despite my tired and hungover-ness, I had to get out of the house - - I know to stay out of their way and out of the kitchen ... I do not want to be called on for help, because no matter what i do, it's wrong, or i become in the way, and then it causes my mom to yell -- no thank u! so i eat a quick breakfast, and go for a jog around the neighborhood -- which, unfortunately did not last long at all, due to it being soo cold out -- i couldnt handle it. so back to the house i went, but avoided the kitchen at all costs.

Finally, the other company arrives for dinner. They are our neighbors, a couple with 2 girls, 8th and 9th grade. Great, fun-loving family, but very a.d.d. stricken -- or maybe it's because they're house is so close that they come and go throughout the night just because they can.

Meanwhile, Mason, the boyfriend, had been working on the special dish for several hours now - - deep frying the turkey!! My cousin had wanted to do this last year, but got shut down. For some reason, we gave in this year, and i'm glad we did. Deep frying food is very dangerous, especially a huge turkey. You gotta control the temperature, and the exact timing, otherwise you're up in flames. Luckily Mason knew the science to this, and produced a perfectly golden-brown, deep fried turkey. THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME OVER THANKSGIVING! .. no joke, deep fried turkey is the only way to go. It's crunchy on the outside, and juicy meat on the inside-  perfect combo.

Fast forward to the dinner table -- my mom is drunk off of one martini, and keeps insisting she do her Leslie Mann impression in between her praising the creamed spinach, which no one else liked. (i tried to upload the video of it, but it took too long, so check it out on my facebook page)

At the end of what seemed to be our quickest dinner yet, my aunt starts passing around pens and scraps of paper. What are we gonna do, write down what we're thankful for and share to the group? ughh .. nope, even better -- we are gonna rate the dishes - from best to worst, to decide what to keep and what to nix for next year. She tried coming up with a number/letter system that would coordinate to each dish - sounds simple, yet somehow she made it quite complicated. On mine, i just wrote "keep the deep fried turkey" due to me tuning out the rest of her proper instructions. (i tried to upload the video of it, but it took too long, so check it out on my facebook page)
 My aunt's always coming up with these kinds of things to do. 2 years ago she decided we should all write our names down, put them in a bowl, and pick one out. Once you got a name, you had to say something nice about that person, or how you were grateful for them in your life. Sounds cheesy, but kind of nice if you're solely around your family, where everyone knows one another. That year we had another family over, and their daughter scored my aunt's husband (2nd marriage, so not my uncle). AWKWARD!!!  what was this 23 yr old gonna say about a 60-something year old guy she just met??? cue the nervous laughter. oye.
so dinner wrapped up and it was someone's idea to play catch phrase after dessert. I am the best at this game, and rarely lose. My mom, however, not so great - especially when she's not sober. On our last round she kept pushing the "start/stop" button instead of the "next" button, which in turn forfeited our time on the clock. In turn, she cost us the game by ONE POINT!! ... next year, she will not be on my team.
Despite the craziness, i truly love thanksgiving at our house. Family comes together, and we spend the day just having fun and a good time. What's your best thanksgiving memory/story?? ... cant wait till next year!

my high school reunion beats ur high school reunion

so last night I traveled from LA to NY for the big Thanksgiving trip. My brother and I had our parents drop us off straight from the airport to the yearly high school reunion at a local pub. Every Thanksgiving eve, all of my friends, including all other grades spanning around 5 years or so, come in from our apts in the city, or out of town, and all meet up at a neighborhood bar.
Let me backtrack real quick - I grew up in a small suburb outside NYC. My entire town all grew up together - preschool, elementary school, middle school to high school. All the grades were pretty small, so it was hard not to make friends with people in other grades. We all know each other, and each others families, for the most part. We're a pretty tight knit crew, and it can be a little uncomfortable for any outsider.
In general, post college, people move into an apartment in NYC, and always come home, to the houses we grew up in, for Thanksgiving. So reuniting everyone at a bar Thanksgiving eve has just naturally become an unspoken tradition.
Now for me personally, I'm one of the very few that actually moved to a different state - cross country, to Los Angeles, to be exact. So it's very exciting for me to come home to see all of my friends I left behind. But because I was so close with everyone, it's almost like I never left - and I love it. It's great to come back to a group of people and fit right back in. That's what I love about my friends, about my community. You can come back, catch up real quick, and slip into how it used to be. And I rarely come back to NY for visits, so partying with my friends is very important to me.
SIDENOTE - after living in LA for over a year now, I'm used to bars closing at 2am, and lasts calls being around 130. That doesnt happen in NY. So when i look down at my watch and it reads 2:30, I'm slightly confused. But confusion quickly turns to happiness, when I realize the night is young and we can keep drinking. And somehow I didnt pay for one drink last night :)
Next thing I know, the bar crowd dies down a bit, and I find myself making my way to the 24-hr diner next door. And i'm not surprised that when I walk in, everyone else from my school that was at the bar too, is also there, taking up numerous tables around the restaurant. The party continues!
The conversation turns into more serious talks -- high school memories. Who was going out with who, who broke a bottle over someone's head that one time, who had a secret crush on so-and-so, pointing out who was the town athletic hero, etc etc.
Finally around 4:15a, we call it a night and decide to go home. While everyone was scrambling to find rides and call the last taxi in town, my table discretely walked out of the restaurant, trying not to make a big deal of our departure. (we had a DD and maximum people in the car, so we didn't wanna risk anything if there should be random checkpoints). I eventually passed out around 4:45.. not to mention I woke up the next day remembering i had the most random and detailed dreams.

But, it was another one for the books. I believe that was my 3rd time going, and I dont want it to ever stop! it's too much fun! ... (sigh)... 'till next year ...

-Harley's Hype

monday mondayyyyssss

so my monday consisted of this : jog around the 'hood, trip to the Paramount lot, home-cooked lunch, walk to starbucks, packed about 95% for NY, home cooked dinner, amazing monday night tv. Then ... dun dun dun...the internet (where my day gets interesting, keep reading).

My jog was pretty uneventful, so i'll get to the juicy stuff. I arrived on the Paramount Pictures lot, after sitting in about an hour of traffic. But it was worth the drive. I got a personal, private tour of the lot, highlighting only what i wanted to see: the set of the tv show, Happy Endings. After I got the pics of me i needed for my "Hollywood" stash, I hit the road. Cooked a nice lunch at home, then decided to walk to Starbucks to sip and read a bit. It was freezing, but a quick 10 min walk, and it was kinda nice. I had an apple spice -- i highhlllyyyy recommend it -so good, "fall-like" and cozy! All of a sudden the neighborhood drunk/homeless/crazy man came in. Ordered his Usual, sat down at a table, and started yelling/talking to himself. Very amusing.

I may add here that I think i'm a good packer, but i'm such an over-packer. I know I am though, and that counts for something. I like being prepared, and hate to leave something behind, just in case. Luckily i get 1 checked bag for free, so i'm not stressin about bringing a carry-on size. Also strategically leaving room for shopping, duh.

Fast fwd to Monday night tv - the lineup? Beverly Hills housewives (omg, taylor!), Gossip Girl (omg, i want chuck and blair together!) and House (OMG - that girl and the little boy!!).

Then i browsed the internet for a bit, and remembered how I emailed this guy via OkCupid a few days ago, so i wanted to check if he ever wrote back. NOTE: I rarely, practically never, initiate a message/make the first move on dating sites. Primarily because i never know what to say, and secondly, i havent found anyone that's good-looking enough to try to pursue. However, i came across this one profile, the guy looked cute, and like he'd be fun, so shot him a message. I basically said we should get chipotle sometime (because he mentioned he could eat that any day), and asked if he was british, because he used the word "mum" somewhere. I closed it with how he can send me a message back via the website, or via email, whichever he preferred. here was the response i got back: Hey Harley - hope you're doing well. Let's go grab some Chipotle and make sweet sweet love in the corn fields. haha. Being silly. I like to pretend I am British when I am writing profiles for dating websites...it's kind of my thing. Hope you're having a great day. What kind of email shall I send you? 

Brett

I know, i was very disappointed when i read the response too. The 4 "o-no" moments for me? 1. "sweet sweet love in the corn fields" - i get that it's a joke, but its not funny.. 2. he pretends he's british when writing profiles -- what???? .. 3. "what kind of email shall i send you" - actually that one can break down into 2 .. i dont like the word "SHALL" from a guy. but mainly, that he didnt understand my emailing option.. so, womp wommppp. and 4, "brett" is my brother's name .. don't wanna be shouting that one out in bed!!

Anyway, I'll let you get some sleep - at least one of us has work in the morning. More to come, thanks for reading.

-Harley's Hype

A nice little saturday

so today was a nice little saturday .. woke up early to rally for the Yale / Harvard football game at brett's apt (brett is my older brother, but, we're tight),.. what a terrible game. The 2nd worse loss since 1915!! yeah they keep track that far back, I was shocked too. not to mention someone died during the tailgate -- didnt even make it into the stadium!! not to also mention, that the Yale quarterback had quite a decision to make regarding today's game ... he was invited for a Rhodes Scholarship interview! He chose to play the game, but wow, what a "good" problem to have. What do you think he should have done? What would you have done if you were him?

Anyway, after the defeat, me and brett went to a free screening of "Young Adult" starring Charlize Theron. It was actually better than I expected/better than the trailer made it out to be. Very interesting story line, and something I think we can all relate to on some level. It's about going back to your hometown you grew up in, and longing for something that once was. Everyone has their "what-if" moments from their past. But the choices we make in our lives is what shapes us and make us who we are. It's not about making the right decisions, it's about making a decision, then making that decision right. (credit to Hunter Grey) And we have to live with those decisions, good or bad, because in the long run, it's always for the good, it's always in your favor. Which brings me to my "life mantra", if you will, that everything happens for the best. You may not realize it at the time, but the universe works in magical ways. Think about it.

I don't mean to get too deep on you, but that just flowed pretty naturally haha.
Well, now it's almost 6, verryyy dark out, but the night is young. On tap later is a bday party at Hemingway's. Never been there but heard some good stuff. Stay tuned for the next hype!

-Harley's Hype

BORED

Ok, so it's unemployment day 10 (approx, plus the one week of temping at E!)... and i am sooo bored. I officially hate being unemployed. On the upside, I will be receiving unemployment checks soon.
With all the time on my hands I would love to take a trip - but alone?? Will it still be fun if I dont have someone to share it with?? hmmm something to think about ..
So far my daily routine is waking up, around 11 or 12, eating a good breakfast, then going on a walk/jog around my neighborhood. That's about it. Then I apply to about 10 jobs online. Then watch TV ... then hopefully something different will come up that day. For example today, I got a coupon for Old Navy, only good for this one day .. so I ventured out. Now, please note, I neverrrr shop at Old Navy, but I can't resist a coupon, and sometimes that store has those random staples you need for your closet. Luckily, I found a cute sequins tank top .. but as i was taking if off, my bra ripped a tiny hole!.. and of course they didnt have any others left in my size. So I told them it was ripped at the register, and got 35% off! wooohooooo!!
arite, back to watching TV ... more to come
-Harley's Hype

First Post!

ok so here is my first post, ever! not even sure who i'm writing to, which is actually kinda cool .. anyway, where im at right now is approx 2 wks unemployed. I haven't been unemployed since 8th grade in middle school, so it feels kinda weird, and actually kinda stressful because I don't know for how much longer it'll be this way.
However, this past weekend was kinda cool. Fri night I got to work Katy Perry's 27th bday, which was fun and a great people watching spot. Then Monday I worked the red carpet for the Twilight Breaking Dawn premiere at the Nokia Theater, which was awesome to be a part of, even though I'm not a twilight fan at all. But the amount of people that showed up was astounding.
Tuesday I ventured out to the Petersen Auto Museum, on Wilshire/Fairfax. It was cool, but i'll never go back - its the kind of place you could go once and get everything out of it. Unless they change their exhibits, then maybe I'll reconsider.
I've taken up jogging around the neighborhood, which takes up about 30 mins of my day .. but at least it's something! And I actually feel really good after it. Not to mention how I make up a ton of music videos in my head while listening to my ipod - I know you do the same thing.
All for now,
Harley's Hype