Jonseing for January

Can you believe January is just about over! Really, where does time fly?


Around the third week into 2012 I found I was already breaking my promise to myself for the New Year. Notice I didn’t call it a “resolution” because those just don’t work for me. So my promise was…NOT to watch any more new reality TV. You know, you just get so emotionally invested and before you know it you get hooked. I’ve had it with the Kardashians, and I will never watch anything to do with Housewives, swamp people, catfish people, wild boar (!) people or any people this side of Deliverance!

My broken promise centers on Brad Goreski who now has his own show called It’s a Brad Brad World. Original title, yes? In my defense The Brad show is a spinoff of The Rachel Zoe Project. It seems that our Brad and our Rachel had a falling out resulting in a he said, she said.

Brad and Rachel during happier times!

In any event, there was a little mini-marathon and I watched three episodes of Brad’s show and enjoyed it. It’s Brad, post Rachel, trying to grow his business. Working out of your garage can get a little stale not to mention embarrassing if you are trying to impress celebrities. So we watch Brad as he hires his first assistant, locates the right business space in LA, and we are a fly on the wall as Brad tries to sell Details magazine on a (fashion) editorial which I found fascinating. I really wanted to get into fashion when I was younger and I enjoyed working in PR for a while so this is right up my alley. By the way, Brad just signed a two year deal with preppy New York brand Kate Spade to be its exclusive brand stylist for two years

While we are still on the subject of television, I enjoyed watching episode 4 of the new season of Downton Abbey on PBS. I love this show. I love it for its lush period costuming, the gorgeous scenery, the flawless portrayals, and a great storyline. Have you heard that Shirley MacLaine is joining the cast in 2013? She will play Lady Grantham’s American born mother. Wouldn’t it be fun if Shirley and Lady Violet (Maggie Smith) got into a little cat fight???

I am also looking forward to the return of The Walking Dead. I know, right? If you had told me that I would be watching a TV show about zombies, I would have said you were crazy. But, it’s an intriguing show with lots of surprises and so far it hasn’t gotten convoluted like Lost. The storyline is simple but there are enough twists and turns to keep you coming back for more. If only zombies weren’t so icky!

I hope you have all gotten a great start to the New Year! Kung Hee Fat Choi, it is the Year of the Dragon!

I have always thought of dragons as being noble creatures. A few years ago, my mother who for some reason has always wanted a tattoo, got one at age 72. She got inked with a dragon on her ankle. Myself, I am not a fan of needles so no tattoo’s for me!

Love you all!

..and a Happy New Year!.

Happy New Year!

You all look marvelous!

There is much to look forward to this 2012, like... the return of Celebrity Apprentice! Beginning Feb. 12, there is a whole cast of people I barely know or have even heard of. But there are a few people I find intriguing like the deliciously villainous Patricia Velasquez. Here she is as she appeared in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.

Sinfully evil

How much do you miss the 80s/90s and Arsenio Hall? Remember he had a certain Arkansas governor on his show playing the saxaphone?

And how much do I love Star Trek? George Takei will be a contender this season.

Back in the day as Lt. Hikaru Sulu

I'm sure you have probably heard about my boyfriend Gerard Butler being in a near fatal surfing accident up in Northern California. He was pummeled by a 15’ wave last month at the infamous Mavericks beach while filming his latest movie.

An ambulance was dispatched to Stanford Medical Center where believe me Gerry got the once over. I am happy to report he is alive and quite well even making an appearance on the Graham Norton Show where forget surfing, he is recounting a treacherous experience with a kilt!

It's a Scottish thing

By the way, we snuggled quite cozily all the way through the New Year, thanks for asking!

And finally, my sister has just adopted a year and a half year old boxer named Brooke. She is just adorable.

Brookie Wookie

I hope you all enjoyed all your holiday festivities and I wish you the very best in the coming year!

Happy 2012!

Merry Christmas to you!

It's Christmas morning 6:25 a.m. I've just started a pot of coffee with a special holiday blend from Lion's Coffee a friend from home sent me. I can't wait to pour a cup because it is filling the house with a delicious aroma as it brews. I wish you could be here!

This Christmas is a quiet one not a decoration in sight. Not that I'm a Grinch! I chose to celebrate Christmas in my heart today rather than with the traditional fanfare. If you'd like to visit Christmases past with me you can visit Christmas 2010 here and 2009 here.

Today will find me taking a morning walk, something I haven't done since Sadie passed. It'll do me good to get out in the brisk morning air and walk the neighborhood. Last year at this time we were covered in fog but today promises to be beautiful and bright as all Christmas mornings should be.

A friend of mine is visiting with family in Arizona so later in the day I'll take a drive downtown to check on his two cats. I've been told I've got a Christmas present waiting for me as well as all the food I can eat! Hurray!

As for dinner this evening, I'll get a pot roast going when I get home and roast some root vegetables. I can't wait and dessert will be homemade Christmas cookies.

I thought I'd share a photo taken of me and my BFF Cheri earlier this month. We met our mutual friend Ed for breakfast in Hillcrest at a place called R Gang. If you ever go there you have to try their homemade tater tots!

Well, the sun is up it's 7:30 a.m. and time, as they say, is a wastin'. I hope your day is a jolly one spent with friends and family!
Stay snug and warm!
Peace, love and happiness to you all,

Love, Bonnie

My darling Sadie

If you are reading this post, thank you for sticking with me. Except for a brief period when my blog disappeared (!) the past two months have been devoted to caring for my dog Sadie and my struggle to cope with her death due to cancer. I cannot tell you how profoundly her death has affected me.

I really love this picture of Sadie

Sadie died in my arms on November 4 and though we were in a hospital setting it was not sterile. By that I mean we were surrounded by what I call “Friends of Sadie,” the techs, doctors, receptionists and groomer, those that have known her for the past eleven years. There were many tears shed besides my own as each told me what a wonderful dog she was and shared their stories of Sadie. The groomer told me how she loved taking a bath. Funny, I told her, Sadie was always difficult when I tried to give her a bath which is why I decided to leave it to the professionals!

Sadie and I on one of our many walks together

I decided to have Sadie cremated and she is back with me. There is a little Christmas mouse that sits on the beautiful cedar box that holds Sadie’s cremains. I thought I might share some of my own funny and endearing stories about Sadie but what I will remember most is how I always enjoyed listening to her softly snoring as she slept. To me that little snore meant that Sadie felt snug and safe in the world we shared. Talk about peace on earth.

Get ready here it comes....

The most beautiful smile ever!

How I miss her, I cannot begin to tell you. The cat, Sadie’s incorrigible sibling of sorts, is still with me of course. I think he realizes she is no longer with us but has moved on. They used to have tremendous fun chasing each other around the backyard and how he loved to torment Sadie by pouncing and walking all over her whenever he had the chance.

Just because he can - Sadie and the gato

I have always said that I prefer to live life on the sunny side but it’s been a little difficult of late. I am sure though one day without even realizing it the sun will be a little brighter, the sky a little bluer and when I remember Sadie I will smile broadly.

The lovely Sadie

My darling girl.

Bits and Pieces of September

I wasn’t feeling like getting out of bed this morning. In fact I spent most of my morning in bed with a slight headache and general blah feeling. This feeling continued when I stopped at the gas station and filled up at $3.79 a gallon. I thought the prices were supposed to be going down…oh, ok they did but by a whopping 10 cents.

A few things have happened since I last posted like... I didn’t tell you about the great SoCal power outage of 2011. Sure it’s not like you’ve never experienced the power going out BUT the circumstances were quite unusual. The “dark” started in Arizona and spread to southern California from San Clemente to San Diego (around 3:30pm) and across the border to Mexico. People in New Mexico and parts of Texas also experienced the outage that was caused by human error. Thankfully, the outage in my area did not last the two days the officials predicted and my power was restored sometime after midnight.

Who turned the lights out?

Ay, ay ay!

This is what happens when everyone leaves work at the same time.

Freakin' gridlock!

Happy birthday to me! Yes another year older on Sept. 16. I actually celebrated on that Sunday with a trip to the movies (Contagion) followed by a round of margaritas (hold the salt!). I found the movie to be a bit long and the margaritas refreshing and delightful!

Truth or dare....Uh, truth...ok so...I am looooong past 21 years old!

My margaritas must always be slushy with no salt on the rim!

On my birthday weekend I did manage a stop at Goodwill and picked up a few things. I was looking for some sweaters since the weather is changing and last year’s warm clothing no longer fits. I found a great cowl neck sweater with ¾ length sleeves that was from The Gap for $7, a cute leopard print bucket hat for $1.99 and an adorable pearl rope necklace that was $3. I’ll probably go back in two weeks or so to look for more sweaters.

I've had this for a while now but never posted, a brand new sweater for $3 and a colorful top for $2.

Yesterday I reviewed the 2010 entries on my blog. I thought it might be fun if I provide a link or two to a few of my favorite”vintage” posts. I thought I’d start off with this one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. While reviewing my posts I realized how much fun I had doing them. It’s really a great creative exercise. I also realized how my posts have changed especially since I lost my camera. I’m really going to have to buckle down and save up for a new camera because I enjoy taking and sharing photos of my jaunts around town, the neighborhood and my latest thrift shop finds.

John and Yoko in Central Park 1980

I do have some sad news to deliver. My very sweet dog, Sadie, has been diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes. On a previous visit to the vet (about a month ago) she had unexplainably lost 14 pounds in two months so the goal was to put some weight back on. On our most recent visit, I was positive Sadie had put on some weight but was devastated to find she had actually lost 4 more pounds and that is when the doctor gave me the news.

My sweetie pie

Sadie has been my constant companion since 2001. She has always been a happy, sweet and loving dog. She helped me through my own cancer and was a hard task master insisting I continue our evening walks as usual even on chemo day. She made me look beyond my own poor pitiful self and LIVE each and every day. The day Sadie came to live with me was my lucky day. Right now Sadie is holding her own and I concentrate on keeping her as happy and comfortable as I possibly can.

Give you favorite little furry someone an extra hug tonight!

Peace out from Sadie, Kitty and your friendly blogger.

A Labor Day Post

I usually start my Monday through Friday mornings watching the KTLA Morning News. I find the team affable, engaging and just plain fun to watch. Oh, and yes you do get to the news of the day both local and national. It’s a mix of news, entertainment, and in-studio guests.

(L-R) Mark Kriski, Michaela Pereira, Frank Buckley, Sam Rubin

You know how most businesses say they are a family; I get the feeling they really are a family. I find the only drawback to the show is when they report the weather and traffic as they are in LA and I am in San Diego. You get the picture, big difference sometimes. Still I would love to work there! Hollywood, here I come!

This morning in honor of Labor Day, the station had a bbq set up in the parking lot with Frank Buckley (news anchor) at the grill demonstrating his famous shrimp recipe. Apparently, his bbq’d shrimp is legendary. If only their website had the video of it, you would have enjoyed it almost as if you were there in person. As someone who has never met a shrimp she didn’t like, Frank’s shrimp looked awesome, so awesome I will have to try it soon. Thankfully, Frank is all about sharing so here’s what’s required for his shrimp recipe...

Frank Buckley's Famous Shrimp Recipe

1-2 pounds (serves 4) of large raw shrimp (tail and shell on)
Old Bay seasoning

Extra virgin olive oil

Lemon

Directions: Pre-heat grill. In large mixing bowl, coat shrimp in olive oil and Old Bay seasoning. Squeeze lemon over shrimp. Dump shrimp directly onto grill at medium heat. Cook shrimp until pink throughout turning shrimp over as needed.

As you can see there’s not much to the recipe but sometimes less is more right? It doesn’t just apply to fashion!

I have never tried Old Bay Seasoning but I see it all the time and I know it’s a staple on the east coast where it originated. In the past I have marinated shrimp in Italian dressing and most recently I’ve been trying an Asian miso dressing. Either way it tastes great once it’s off the grill and onto your plate!

I also like shrimp done old school, simply boiled and with a ton of cocktail sauce to dunk it in; oh, perfection, thy name is Shrimp Cocktail. You just know it would go great with a Mad Men cocktail right?


Classic Martini

1 ½ oz gin

1 ½ oz dry vermouth

3 green olives

Rinse martini glass in dry vermouth and pour out. Shake gin with ice until chilled. Pour into martini glass. Add olives.

Hope you all have a great week!

The last dregs of summer

The sun was out today in full force.

It was hot and humid, the perfect setting for doing my favorite household chore, the laundry. Believe it or not there is nothing I like better than doing laundry. I enjoy the whole process from sorting, washing, hanging the clothes on the line (for me, preferable to the dryer), and folding. When I hang the laundry to dry, my only focus is on hanging like items together, i.e. all the bath towels in one spot, sheets together…you get the picture. I’m a little anal that way but actually concentrating on this activity frees up my mind and I find it a relaxing experience.

All neat and tidy

My other fun activity around the house is ironing. Bear in mind that the less ironing the better and I really do check for wash and wear items when I’m out scouting for new clothes. But like the laundry, I find ironing a relaxing experience.

Martha and I share something in common!

Things I don’t like…dusting, cleaning the bathroom and washing dishes. Much like dust, I’m not sure where all the dishes come from. I’m just one person after all with a dog and a cat but believe me I always have more than my fair share of dishes in the sink.

Speaking of ironing, I must mention that my cat has taken up a new hobby, lying on the ironing board. I’m going to guess that the ironing board cover is a cool place to be during the hot summer months. He’ll stretch out and take a snooze, occasionally falling off though it doesn’t seem to faze him. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I’ll find him just sitting by himself on the ironing board. Just sitting and meditating, I’m assuming, like some wise old sage.

It's amazing what you'll find when you google cats on ironing boards!

And so speaking of cats, I leave you with this little funny of cats with thumbs. You’ll enjoy it!


Now that you've had your giggle for the day, enjoy a tall cool glass of lemonade and what's left of summer!

Enjoy your week!