Valentine's Day

Ok, Valentines day is less than a week away!! And of course, flowers, chocolates, and spa treatments are the typical Valentine's Day gifts for women. Sure, ALL of these gifts are GREAT, no doubt about it! Studies have shown that flowers can actually improve mood, relieve stress and lift spirits. And we all know now that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, can LITERALLY improve your physical health ...how great is that? And a day at the spa! Well, just about everyone would agree that a few hours at the spa and one truly feels like a whole new person. Nothing quite like being pampered, totally relaxed and having someone rub the kinks out.
But chocolate is so fattening, flowers die and even a 'day at the spa' only lasts a few hours. I have found a very romanitic Valentine's Day gift idea, one that I think just about anyone would thouroughly enjoy: An "under the counter Ipod player." Costs less than a dozen roses, and far less than a day at the spa. And it's a lot easeir on the waistline than a box of Sees.
Just imagine the hours, days, months---YEARS of pleasure this little gift could bring you and your Valentine. Just think of how much more pleasurable dancing in the kitchen will be.

Bravo Matt Jensen!

Special THANK YOU to Matt Jensen who completely SURPRISED me and re designed this page! I opened my blog this morning to find it highly personalized and custom designed for a baseball lover like me. Matt (Allison's boyfriend of 2 1/2 years) is an incredible graphic designer and one really amazing and creative artist. He is also hilarious, kind, thoughtful and has been the perfect addition to our family--my parents, my sisters and my nephews adore him. So do I. Thank you Matt for the new look...let's hope it helps the Dodgers too!

Eat Pray Love

I bought this book last year, but for some reason, never opened it up. Today, I am not sure why, I pulled it off the shelf and decided to give it a try.
I cried--sobbed--through the first 35 pages. It is Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir. She is a woman who "had everything" in life, then goes through a traumatic divorce, devastating heartbreak, crushing depression and the loss of everything she thought she was supposed to be. It sounds shockingly similar to MY last two years.
To recover, she gives herself the time and space to find out who she really is and what she really wants out of life. Gilbert's ultimate goal is to find balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. Eat, Pray, Love is essentially about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment. I am really looking forward to reading about her journey. So far, I absolutely love it. Talk about perfect timing.

GAME OVER

Eric Gagne is no longer a Dodger. How sad is that? And even though Eric spent most of the last two seasons on the bench with injuries, I am going to miss him tremendously. Dirty hat, un tucked jersey and all.
Eric Gagne is absolutely brilliant to watch in action. He would be brought in to WIN the game, usually with about a dozen 98mph pitches. Stunning site to behold! Gagne holds the major league record for consecutive saves--84! and he won the Cy Young--rare for a reliever!--in 2003. He is considered statistically to be the most outstanding closer in the game.
I will miss the GAME OVERs flashing at the stadium, the bearded tee shirt bearing the same message, and I will TRULY miss Vin Scully proclaiming, "Bienvenue Monsieur Gagne!" That was one of the best parts.
Au revoir Monsieur Gagne...
bonne chance pour tout...
MATCH TERMINE

Some of my favorite movie lines...

1. If you build it, he will come.
2. There's no crying in baseball!
3. I see dead people.
4. We'll always have Paris.
5. Snap out of it!
6. Mr. 152 insights to my soul...
7. You're the worst kind. You're high maintenance, but you think you're low maintenance.
8. You're terrible Muriel.
9. Here's an idea-when you tell a story, have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!
10. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car. It was like...magic.
11. Fra-gee-lay--must be Italian.
12. Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?
13. You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.
14. Why we'd love to have Santa Claus come stay with us.
15. Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug.
16. Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I'm not gonna know what it is.
17. Rosebud
18. You take the blond, and I'll take the one with the turban.
19. We got no food, no jobs...our pets heads are falling off!
20. You're killing me Smalls!

So proud to be a Titan!

Last night I had the privilege of attending this incredible event. I am a PROUD graduate of Cal State Fullerton and each year I join the Alumni Association as a way to show my appreciation for the school and the part they played in the story of my education and my success. I spent 10 years at Cal State Fullerton (I know, I should be a doctor.) Allison is also a proud graduate of CSUF!
This year, I decided to donate "just a little extra" so I could be a part of this night of celebration...and see Chicago in concert! The entire evening was such a treat for me and my friend, Kelly. We ate our way through the incredible dessert and champagne reception, and then thoroughly enjoyed the tributes and awards to special contributors which were SUNG by the performing arts group from CSUF. Each of the "introductions" was a '50s or '60s song re-written to let the audience know of the recipients' contributions. It was SO well done--the group is amazingly talented. Then, the capper of the night--Chicago came on to perform. Spectacular! These guys are celebrating 40 years of success...and having a blast doing it! They have sold 122 million records in those 40 years and have just released "Chicago 30".NOTHING better than a concert where you can sing every single song and the horn players were nothing short of fabulous!
Cal State Fullerton, the most affordable fully accredited university in the area, will celebrate their 50th anniversary this fall with a variety of special events and celebrations. There are more than 35,000 students currently enrolled and they have one HECK of a baseball team to boot! Over 176,000 people hold degrees from Cal State Fullerton, and last night, I was OH so proud to be one of them!

The Finest Persian Cuisine

About 10 of the Montage team were invited to join our Director of Banquets, Javad, at Caspian Persian Restaurant in Irvine tonight. Javad (on the right, with Jaime and me) is from Persia and was eager to have us share in this dining experience. We started with the dish below which is hummus, eggplant, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, and chicken salad. I ordered the Baghala Polo, which is lamb and fava beans mixed with Basmati rice. We all sampled from one another--everything was so unique and delicious! And then the show began! A band came out and began to play and suddenly, there were Belly Dancers everywhere! Great outfits, amazing dancing. I gotta admit that all the songs sounded very much like Cheb Mami singing Desert Rose with Sting. Once the belly dancers were finished, the entire place got up to dance. It was an experience like none other...super entertaining...and just a totally different world. (And, I have to add, that one of the most fun parts of the night was that FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, I was able to talk about "The Office" with everyone!)