Spring has sprung! Today Jason took me to tea at the Huntington Library & Gardens. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and none of the roses were in bloom, but today about 1/3 of them were. It was quite beautiful (and hot!). We went to the desert conservatory, which is kept at a nice temperate 90 degrees or so, and walked around the sub-tropical garden looking for the plant that Yesenia told me about that curls up when you touch it. Sadly, we never found it. Nor did we ever find the Australian garden. At any rate, it was so nice to see the flowers out, and the pungent scent of jasmine weighed heavily in the air near the sub-tropical garden entrance. A quick note about the Huntington's tea room--if you at all like tea, you must go there. The food consists of little finger sandwiches, a cheese platter, fresh fruit and, of course, a wide selection of tarts, scones and chocolates. Oh, and tea! Special thanks to Amanda for allowing me to impersonate her for the last half of March so that I could go to the Huntington on her membership card until it ran out. :)
Yesterday was Descanso Gardens with Jenny, Amanda and Yesenia. It was great to spend the day with such dear friends. The tulip promenade was unbelievable, the lilac garden smelled wonderful, and Amanda became quite obsessed with the wisteria growing on just about every trellis in sight. And we got to help one of the flowers celebrate her birthday. Yes, dear friends, it was Lilac Lady's birthday and we all got cake. Yeah, uh...we were there for the birthday...certainly not for the cake....My skin has turned a lovely shade of red to commemorate the occasion.
And finally, for your amusement, a little story--I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office, and this guy leaned over and handed me his business card. He told me that he was a model scout and was quite taken with my beauty. I glanced at the card--Latina Hair & Beauty. Um...I'm not Latina, and don't look at all Latina, but OK. Anyway, he kept talking to me. Good thing he did, or I wouldn't be able to tell you about the book he's written. People are going to be lining up at Border's to get their hands on this baby, let me tell you! Picture this:
A young black boy living in the projects saves the life of a mafioso. In exchange, the mafioso (a Godfather-type character, naturally) gives him the ring. Years later, the mafioso dies and the family needs to appoint the new head. Imagine their surprise when along comes this young black man with the mafioso's ring--prepared to head up a big Italian, New York mafia family.
Now, the best part of the story is, that this guy who was telling me the story (Tony) told me that the book is based on his own life. So after he told me the premise of the book I asked him if he was that young black boy, and he said....no, but I gave him my name.
Oh, and when I got home and was relating the story to a friend over the phone, I looked more closely at the card and saw that Tony was a Manger at the Latina Hair & Beauty scouting agency...
Alright, let's just call this a mini-rant. I went to Zagat.com--as I often do when searching for a good restaurant--because Jason and I thought we would try something new for dinner. But those money-grubbing little weasels at Zagat will no longer provide you with any ratings or price information unless you pay them. You have to subscribe to their stupid site! It's something like $2 to use it for 24 hours--I mean, how many times are you going to have to look for restaurants in ONE DAY????? Amanda and I are right, this world really is going to hell in a Hummer.
Let's see how this works. I guess my first rant will be about the fact that I want a cool blogspot like Amanda and Jenny and Kathryn and Terrence. They all have nifty little additions and I just learned how to do this basic HTML today. You'd think that that reality check would be enough for me to say, "It's okay if I'm not on the same level as them. I'll learn." However, I am made of more stubborn and self-defeating stuff than that, my friends!
My second issue for the day is this: Why do you suppose that whenever I do a job search on Monster.com, it invariably replies with positions for managing Pizza Hut or Taco Bell? What about those jobs just screams Marketing Writer?? I don't get it.
Lastly for today (well, at least for now): I want to give a shout out to my good friend Jenny for teaching me the basic HTML that is allowing me to write on this blogspot at all. I know I'm not alone in saying that she is a real gem of a friend, and always ready to help a friend in need. Even when that friend wants to learn to write on a blogspot so that she doesn't have to spend any more time job hunting! I love ya, Jenny!!
This is a test. Jenny's teaching me HTML.
Once I learn to do this, nothing will stop me from conquering the world!
