Tonight + Tomorrow Are Going to Blow My Mind

…and possibly my liver, too.

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!!! My favorite, Nicole turns another year older today and as she starts her drive out to Las Vegas from LA I have a little bit of time to write this up (a little bit of time = 4 hours).  So enjoy these Nicole Burron facts:

• Nicole is one of the best friends I’ve ever had
• Nicole is without a doubt the hottest person I know
• She has a seahorse tattoo.  It’s adorable but chances are you’ll never see it.
• Nicole is not a flake.  If she says she’ll be there, she’ll be there.
• She and I met at the beach and then got some dinner.
• On that night some sand got in the shifting column of her Nissan 350Z.
• For as long as she owned that car, there was always a little sand in there to remind us of the beginning.
• She has an adorable dog named Angel.
• Every guy who has ever passed her up or wronged her is TOTALLY PISSED AT THEMSELVES!
• She writes the best songs that use less that 3 chords.
• Her sex dreams inspire amazing lyrics about lights and air.
• She looks like Adriana Lima with Jolie’s lips, only she’s much, much more attractive.
• She is my muse.

So because I love my beautiful, loyal friend so much I am taking her out to LAVO tonight at the Palazzo.  Joining us will be my distant (maybe even my 2nd or 3rd) cousin Alisha, her boyfriend, my awesome friend Aaron and maybe I’ll even talk Anita and Brit into going.  It’s going to be wild, no doubt, as all of my past experiences at LAVO were nights for the books. So here’s to getting really, really drunk, crashing, *hopefully not getting a hangover and then having another crazy night tomorrow because…

Wednesday night is the night to grab your bikes, beers, lights and pull an all-nighter.

(Click to open larger image).

This Wednesday night we will be riding from Nu Vision (in Summerlin’s Trails) to Red Rock (the geographic location, not the hotel & casino).  From there we hike up to a prime location for stargazing, because it’s the middle of August and you know what that means!  What?  You say you don’t know?  It’s the Perseid meteor showers, kiddo!  Climb your roof or favorite tree and tilt your head up to about 90 degrees.  What you see will make you believe in beautiful things.  If you’re in the Las Vegas area, come out and meet up with us.  You don’t have to ride a bike.  We will be check pointing at the Chevron on Charleston at about 10:30pm.  Make sure you take a cat nap beforehand because chances are this is going to turn into an all night/early morning event.  We will also be getting our drink & party on here as well.  If you do go and have a good time (yay!) please make sure to clean up your mess. We will be having this event at one of the most naturally beautiful spots in LV, and everybody would like to keep it that way.

So this is like a weekend in the middle of the week for me… and I’m pretty stoked.

And you know when I see all those meteors I’ll be wishing on them like shooting stars…and I’ll be wishing for you.

Just More Fun

Of Late, Times Are Good

I had a great 22nd birthday weekend.  I gave the actual day to MJ’s memorial, but the weekend was mine.  Ha ha!

Charlie, Brit and myself at Frankie’s Tiki Room.  These ladies are my favorites.

As if my weekend wasn’t cool enough, today Anita came over and we baked a cake, played some music, lol’ed some kittehs and ran a few errands.  Oh yeah, we also had an amazing time together and experienced an epic Photo Booth sesh.  Dig:

Yeah, we have that much fun.

Anita makes me feel like a little kid again.  I forget about responsibilities and troublesome thoughts and then all of a sudden I’m giddy and excitable, nervous and grateful that I’m here.  People like Anita make the world a better place for us all. Oh, Sunshine.

California

This is a post that is a bit late but it showed up before never so what can you do?

Once upon a time I loved California more than most things and definitely more than any locales in my life.  I loved the way the sun felt on my skin (because it wasn’t burning me to death).  I loved the old buildings and rich history in so many of the large and smaller cities.  I loved seeing the ocean and not seeing the ocean but knowing it was near by.  Most of all I loved the people.  There was a time in my life when I was traveling to California every other weekend (the weekends coincided with my bi-weekly pay days) to see one specific person.  When I was in California all was right and on more than one occasion I pushed the days I’d stay out later and later, until I was spending week long trips in California.  These days I don’t go out there so much.  People that used to bring me out there don’t have that pull on me anymore, mostly because the ties have been violently severed, but every once in a while I end up in my home state, and whenever I’m there I remember all of the feelings that make me never want to make the return trip.

A little while ago I became nostalgic for the California state of mind, and fortunately so did a very wonderful and lover-ly lady named Anita.  So after an hour or so of enjoying each others’ company and reminiscing about our first love, California, we decided to go.  And at 2:30am we were on the road to the sunshine state.

We only had a couple days’ time because of responsibilities back home, but the short trip was nevertheless relaxing and exactly what Anita and I needed to “recharge the batteries” so to speak.

Our first day out was mostly spent sleeping since we had come out from Vegas at 2:30 in the AM.  I don’t believe we actually arrived in Riverside until 5:30ish in the morning.  (And here is a good spot to repeatedly thank Brianne for having me & Anita, and actually waking up at 5 something in the morning to answer the door.  You are and always have been an amazing hostess!).  After half a day of sleeping we finally got out acts together and took the show on the road – to good ol’ Downtown Riverside.  I showed Anita the sights of my hometown, including Simple Simon’s sandwich shop, the Historic Mission Inn and of course Back 2 the Grind (only the greatest cafe/book haven/art gallery/hangout spot hybrid ever!).  Take a look.

Photos (click to open full size):

From left to right: Anita, Katie, Brianne & Myself.

Anita enjoying her first trip to the Historic Mission Inn, Riverside, CA.

This face says (to me) “Marie’s got a secret.”  Marie & Brianne outside the Mission Inn.

Anita outside of the Mission Inn.

Our second day in beautiful California was spent sleeping in far too late again – and then going to Los Angeles. We enjoyed some Pinkberry and wonderful scenery at the Grove (Farmer’s Market) in Beverly Hills.  Anita was dying to check out the Supreme store on Melrose so that’s exactly what we did (and of course we made a little time for me to go to the Turntable Lab as well).  After some vigorous shopping we stopped into the world’s shadiest pizza parlor (which surprisingly only received a “B” rating on their health dept. tests) and then headed back to Riverside for some drinks and Apples to Apples.

Photos:

A shady (and in person – much more yellow) jewelry loans shop in LA.

I’ll always stop for a photo of Alfred, even if I’m driving.

Supreme in Los Angeles, CA

Supreme had so many dope decks that I just wanted to devote a wall to hanging ride-able art.

Anita enjoying herself at Supreme.

Maybe Anita was enjoying these decks?

Brianne browsing at Turntable Lab.

Brianne posing with MJ.

Just a favorite shot I took.

Anita crossing the street with her new Supreme swag.

Brianne and Anita headed to the shady pizzeria.

Although the place was shady, they had so many beers and flavored sodas they used a numbering system.

You’re Gonna Wake Up In a City that Never Sleeps

Have fun and be safe in New York City, Anita.  I miss you already!

Guess Who…

Attention everybody, I AM BACK IN VEGAS!

So some things went down out in Long Beach and unfortunately everybody moved out of the house and to their own respective places.  Cassie went back to her parents’ house in Hermosa Beach, Cathy is moving to a room in Hermosa as well…and well, I am back in Vegas.

It’s funny that all it takes is a little absence to make the heart grow fonder.  I know you wouldn’t believe it, but I was actually missing Vegas as well as looking forward to coming back.  I was beyond ecstatic to see Andie, Vickie, Joe & Saskia from House of Commons, all the great bike friends and of course…Anita.

I’ve decided to give Las Vegas the honest effort I never really afforded to it in the beginning.  I’m honestly going to try and enjoy it and make the best of it.  I’ll be in college which will (I think) make the experience better this time as well.

Tonight is Las Vegas (Gay) Pride as well as First Friday @Downtown.  I’m excited to visit both, be on my bike, and give and receive a lot of overdue hugs.

I feel like blogging again today.  If you haven’t already noticed, the blog got a huge Joan Rivers facelift.  There are no more password protected entries, and there are also a lot of new widgets.  So take a chance and subscribe to my RSS and E-mail updates,  and also check out the other blogs and sites that I have made links for over to the right >>>.