Carmaggedon NOT!!!

Well, the big day has finally arrived. For over a month all we heard was stay home, shop in your own neighborhood, stay away from the 405...it will be a nightmare. For those of you who don't know what Carmaggedon is, it a 10-mile closure of the 405 freeway on the west side of Los Angeles (one of the busiest freeways in America. The reason for the shutdown...they have to tear down a bridge to make room for a carpool lane.

Now, you wouldn't think it's that big a deal to shut down a freeway for two days to do the demolition, but let me tell you...getting Angelinos out of their cars or away from an area they want to go is a really big deal. We love our cars and are a very mobile bunch.

Back to the story. We watched the news last night as fewer and fewer cars transversed the road that was closing at the stroke of midnight. I went to bed fully expecting to see a parking lot on the freeway below the closure...you see, I live about a mile south of the closure.

I have been telling all my friends that on Saturday morning I was going to walk up the bridge overlooking the freeway to take a picture of the parking lot. Well, here is the picture and you won't believe it...NO TRAFFIC!!!



They said it couldn't be done and it would be nothing like the 1984 Olympics when everyone left town, but it was. Here's the proof.

It was so easy to get around that my friend and I decided to drive the carmaggedon freeway (405 North to the 10 West.) It was the fastest 1 mile stretch of the 405 I have ever travelled.

I may never see this again in my lifetime but for a few moments I felt like I turned back the hands of time to a much less crowded Los Angeles.

Of course, we will have to see how Sunday goes. I think once people see the news and how light the traffic was they will venture out, so....carmaggedon weekend is not done just yet....

Stay tuned!

A Debbie Adventure That Flopped - Not Once But 7 Times!!!

It was a beautiful spring day and I just couldn't bear to be working inside helping my client and friend Denise sort through piles of paper so I came up with a brilliant idea...road trip!

After having lunch and talking about the wonderful spring flowers I got to sharing how beautiful my bouganvilla was with it's vibrant red leaves, especially when the sun hits it in the early morning. And then, the idea struck...it was time for a Debbie & Denise Adventure to a place unknown to Denise...the largest bouganvilla display in California, located in Glendora.

It was a place I had visited 5 years earlier with some co-workers and it was time for a return visit since this is the time of year when bouganvillas are in full bloom.

I also found a way to declutter on our road trip. We loaded up boxes of papers to sort thru and as I drove to Glendora, an hour's drive, Denise sorted through her papers. It was win-win...an adventure and decluttering all at the same time. Brilliant, if I do say so myself!

As we drove along the way Denise decided to play 20 questions to find out where we were going. I told her she would never guess because hardly anyone knows about this treasure created in the early 1900s but I let her try anyway. It was great fun. She asked great questions, but alas could not guess our destination.

Along the way we stopped at an open house in Pasadena. It was a great Spanish style home built in the 1920s and we had fun looking in all the nooks and crannies.

We finally made it to Glendora and the bouganvilla street (the display is about 20 different bouganvilla bushes that have grown to probably 100 feet tall) planted along a couple of streets. I was so excited to arrive because I was expecting to see an explosion of color lining the street based on how my bouganvilla was doing. To our utter amazement there were hardly any blooms. Most of the bushes looked like their died. You can only image my disappointment. We had a great chuckle at how much I was anticipating the display of color only to find dead vines! This was Flop #1.

Since we were in Glendora I decided to retrace my steps of my previous trip with my co-workers back in 2005. (You can read the story below.)

There is a castle in Glendora but I could not remember where it was located so we skipped that part of the tour. As we approached the downtown area I was telling Denise about this house painted marine blue with an anchor and tiki bar in the front yard. We found the house and discovered that the anchor was gone and the tiki bar area was replaced by palm trees. Flop #2.

After we had a chuckle about that I took her to the Villlage Eatery to have a slice of Red Velvet Cake. To our amazement the restaurant was closed. I peaked in the window and was just feet away from amazing Red Velvet Cake, but alas this was Flop #3.

I then decided to call my friend Patty to drop by for a visit, and as you probably gussed, she was not home. Flop #4!

Plan B, C & D...Amazing donuts at the Donut Man. The Donut Man has these amazing stuffed donuts...totally unhealthy but oh so good. We meander our way to Route 66 and the Donut Man, and, of course, they are closed. Flop #5

Batting 1000, we decided to turn and head for home. After a leasurely drive down Route 66 I make one more valient effort for our Debbie & Denise Adventure...one of my favorite restaurants in the Pasadena area...Julianne's. As we pull up to the restaurant....can you guess??? Of course, they're closed. Can you believe on a Saturday night at 6:00pm they're closed. You should have seen the look of disappointment on my face. Flop #6.

There is a funny side note to Julianne's. I did see some staff in the bakery side of the restaurant so I went up to the door and asked if I could at least buy a couple of carmels (they have the best!) After pleading she said OK. I quickly ran and got my money and she gave me the carmels. It wasn't until I got back to the car that I noticed that she gave me the marshmallow with a thin carmel coating. It was good but not what I wanted. Flop #7!!!

After savoring the sweet treat we decided to call it a day and drove home.

It was still a Debbie Adventure but with a different twist. That's what's so great about Debbie Adventures...you never know how they'll turn out.

And The Oscar Goes To...

Yes, it's Oscar time again.

I am so excited because I'm up for the award this year. I sat on my seat in anticipation and couldn't believe it when they called my name!

Check it out!

Another Helping of "Red Velvet Cake"

I know it's been awhile since you've heard the story of the "Red Velvet Cake." (See my post March 22, 2005). Well, I thought the story was over but you never know the twists and turns that happen to bring it back to the surface again.

Here's the latest Red Velvet Cake story.

My friend, Janet, and I have talked for years about going to the Mission Inn in Riverside, California for the Christmas holidays. They deck every square inch of the Mission Inn in holiday cheer. If you've never been, it's a MUST!

Well, we finally decided to make the journey and have dinner. We made our dinner reservations at one of their outdoor cafes but, naturally, the wait was about an hour.

While we waited, we decided to walk around the town and poke our heads into the various shops. While we were browsing through a very eclectic shop (they had everything from Renaissance costumes to waffle irons), I spied....

You guessed it... Red Velvet Cake!

No, it wasn't an actual cake, but the cake mix!. I had never seen a cake mix for Red Velvet Cake. Not only did they have a mix for "Red" Velvet Cake but they also had one for "Lemon" Velvet Cake, "White" Velvet Cake and even "Black" Velvet Cake. You don't believe me, check out the picture.




I couldn't contain my joy and had to tell Janet and, the store clerk, my Red Velvet Cake story.

Well, the story gets even better.

As I was telling my story my friend Janet, says... "I think I have a recipe for Red Velvet Cake in my purse." What are the chances of that happening? Sure enough she pulls out the recipe. See the following picture for proof.




We all had a huge laugh at the coincidences of life.

"I'm Going to Cracker Barrel!!!"

You might remember a few years ago there was a commercial for Disneyland. A sports commentator would ask the NBA or NFL winner what they were going to do next and the NBA/NFL star would say, "I'm going to Disneyland!" Remember?

Well, last weekend I was at my final seminar of 2005 (my 12th seminar of the year; I still can't believe I did that many) and to celebrate I kept telling everyone that I was going to Disney World!

Well, I ended up at Cracker Barrel!!!

So the next time someone asks me what I am going to do next, I'm going to say, "I'm going to Cracker Barrel!"

(For those who don't know about Cracker Barrel it is a country restaurant/country store. They have great down home food (Chicken and Dumplings, Bisquits and Gravy to name a few) and wonderful items in their country store.

The morning after the seminar my girlfriend and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and I had blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup. I can still taste the sweetness of the pancakes as I am writing my experience to you.

And, what's breakfast without shopping. Instead of heading to Disney World my girlfriend and I spent the rest of the morning browsing through their charming country store and, of course, had to buy a few things. It was a delightful morning. The only dilemma I had was fitting everything I bought into my suitcase to take home with me. (I did manage to fit it all in, but that's only because I shipped some things home a couple of days earlier.)

Oh, in case your wondering, I did make it to Disney World (check out the mouse ears.)

Having Too Much Technology and It Still Won't Work

I have become a tele-seminar junkie. I just can't get enough information. Today I ran into the ultimate dilemma of having two conference calls at the same time. What to do? They both had great information and neither one was being taped for a later playback.

My first idea was to have a friend listen to one of the calls for me. Unfortunately his schedule did not permit this urgent request on my part. It's terrible when a job gets in the way of helping out a friend.

Idea #2. I would put one call on speakerphone and have the computer record it. Then I would listen to the other call on my cell phone. In theory, a great solution. In reality, I discovered 1/2 hour before the calls were to begin that my computer did not have an internal microphone. It never crossed my mind, and, of course, I do not own an external microphone. That will change very shortly.

Idea #3. I went to my backup computer. Surely it would have an internal microphone. Nope. Strike 3. But wait, another idea popped into my mind.

Idea #4. My boom box! I know it had a recording button. I set up the boom box next to the speakerphone, scrounged through a drawer to find a cassette tape (never thought I would use them again) and did a sample run. I really felt that I had found the solution. I hit record, said a few words and stopped the tape. When I went to play what I had recorded all I heard was shhhhhhhhhhhhh. It didn't record. Of course I tried to find the owner's manual with 10 minutes left before the calls. The manual was no where to be found. My only conclusion was that the boom box can only record from another tape or the internal radio. Now I was really running out of time and no more options. The solution...

Idea #5. It was now conference call time. Here's what I did. I dialed the first conference call on the speakerphone and the 2nd call on my cell phone. I listened to the first call just enough to see what the agenda was and then quickly switched phones to hear what the agenda was for the 2nd call. I spent the next hour listening back and forth to each call hoping to get the messages that I needed to hear. Talk about multitasking.

I can't believe with all the technology I own I couldn't get a recording. This happened about a week ago. Today I remembered that I had a digital recorder. I did a test run and it worked perfectly! Why didn't I remember that last week.

The solution - I'm buying an external microphone!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Due to all the heat over the past week I have been frequenting my local Baskin Robbins for a Chocolate Blast.

Today I decided to stop by for one and when I went to order they already knew what I wanted.

We joked about me becoming a regular at the Baskin Robbins and they told me I was number 2. Their number 1 regular was a lady that came in everyday for a coffee ice cream cone.

"Peak of Summer" Tomato Festival

One of the adventures I love most is finding unique festivals to attend. A few years ago I attended the Ostrich Festival in Chandler, Arizona. (That's another story.) This month I attended the "Peak of Summer Tomato Festival" in Hollywood, California. This festival was part of the local Farmer's Market.

I never knew there were so many varieties of tomatoes.

As part of the festival there was a sampling table of about 15 varieties of tomatoes. Have you ever heard of a black cherry tomato or a mahogany, mango or evergreen tomato? I hadn't and, of course, I had to taste every one.

The Japanese and Brandywine were especially sweet. The mango and pineapple tomatoes each had a hint of the fruit and the black cherry did have a black cherry taste to it.

There was also a great tasting event where the guest chef hollowed out a large tomato and you got to personally stuff it with different herbs and cheeses. The favors blended so well and the taste just exploded in my mouth. I can still taste the tomato as I am writing this.

Check it out for next year at http://www.farmernet.com/events/event-info?event_id=1785

Rockstar in INXS

On August 17th I invited my girlfriend over for dinner. We were having a wonderful evening when abruptly she announced that she had to go home to watch "Rockstar in INXS". It was a funny moment.

She said it was her favorite show and that she watched it and then called her girlfriend after the show to discuss the details.

Fast forward a couple of days...
On Friday, August 19th I was going to the Hollywood Bowl with another friend and was meeting up with her at a local mall. While I was waiting for my girlfriend I went window shopping. As I was walking through the mall I happened upon a radio station giving away prizes. I walked up to see what they were doing and couldn't believe my eyes. They were giving away tickets to the taping of "Rockstar in INXS."

I asked if I could put my name in the drawing and they said they were on the last name. I decided to put my name in anyway. They drew the name for the last pair of tickets but the person wasn't there. (You had to be present to win.) They pulled another name. That person wasn't there. They pulled another couple of names and those people weren't there. Finally, they drew, you guessed it, my name. I couldn't believe it. Three days ago I didn't know who INXS was and now I was off to the taping.

A 2nd Helping of Lunch in Glendora

My coworkers and I had such a fun day exploring Glendora last week that we decided to go there again for lunch today. Actually, it was the red velvet cake that made us go back. This time we were just going for lunch...

When we arrived back at the restaurant toward the end of the lunch hour we noticed that all the outside tables were occupied. It was such a glorious day we did not want to sit inside. As I was looking to see who might be finishing their lunch soon, a gentleman, alone at a table for 4, saw my look and asked if we would like to join him. Being the fun and outgoing person that I am, I said, "absolutely," much to the amazement of my coworkers.

We sat down to "lunch with a stranger" and had one of the most fun experiences. This fellow had a very dry sense of humor and we just couldn't stop laughing.

The restaurant was short handed that day and, after an hour, we wondered where our food was. Because we had sat down with this gentleman, who had already ordered lunch, we came to find out that our lunch ticket got put behind his and our order was never placed. Oh well, there went the 1 hour lunch.

The owner, who we met last week, came out and apologized and said we could have dessert on the house for the mixup. You can just imagine our delight - free red velvet cake!

We began to tell this gentleman about our red velvet cake experience last week and how the cake really tasted "red". I told him, "you will just have to try it and see."

We ordered two helpings of red velvet cake - one for the guys and one for the girls. Juliana and I both experienced the "red" feeling but it took a stretch of the imagination for the guys to believe it. I'm not sure they ever did. Try it for yourself and see what you think.

After our 2+ hour lunch it was really time to head back to the office. This gentleman had such a great time he bought us all lunch!

Two great experiences in Glendora. What a magical place.

Lunch in Glendora, California

I am always seeking out new and unusual places to explore. I read about Rubel castle located in Glendora, California that was an eclectic creation with objects flowing out of the walls like motorcycles, gears, clock parts and jewelry. I just had to go see it.

One day I told my coworkers Paul and Juliana we needed a Debbie Adventure and were going on a lunch outing to find this castle. We jumped in the car and headed east to Glendora (about a half hour east of Pasadena, where we worked).

We found the castle but could not get in. We drove around the property, which covered a square block. From the rock wall surrounding the property we could see turrets rising about the barb wire. We tried jumping up and down to see if we could see anything over the wall. I even tried standing on Paul's bent knee to see if I could get a better view. Unfortunately all we were able to see was a railroad crossing sign and hear the sounds of animals from inside the walls.

Since there was no way to ring a bell and talk to the owner we decided to explore the downtown area of Glendora and find a place for lunch.

Check out these websites for more descriptions and pictures of the castle.
http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/rubel.htm
http://www.invitesite.com/pharm/castle_pan.html

As we were driving around the neighborhood looking for the 3-block downtown area we noticed a house that was painted entirely in marine blue with a big anchor outside as well as a bar table with bar chairs and a grass covered umbrella. It looked like something out of a beachcomer movie. It was so intriguing we did a u-turn and parked in front of the house. From the street it looked like it might be a business so we rang the doorbell.

The man, who came to the door, said it was his home. He was an architect and wanted to build a unique home. The inside was just as spectacular as the outside. From the door you could see into the living room. Directly in front of us was a fish tank built into a wall that served as a dividing wall to other rooms in the house. In his living room was a display of large scale trains and trucks on a large shelf he built around his entire living room wall.

After chatting with him for a few minutes we asked him for a recommendation for lunch. He pointed us to the Village Eastery cafe that was down the street from his place. What a find. The restaurant looked like the local hangout where everybody knows your name. It was everyday cooking with a California flair.

When we first walked in my eyes immediately went to the desserts in the glass case. I spied the "red velvet cake" and knew we had to have it for dessert. The food was outrageous, especially the "red velvet cake". As we induldged in our "red velvet cake" with the red sprinkles, Juliana and I experienced explosions of red fill our mouths. Paul was having trouble tasting the "red". We kept trying to tell him what "red" cake tastes like but he just couldn't grasp it. You might be asking yourself how can a cake taste "red?" Well this one does. It's hard to explain, you'll just have to try it for yourself.

We were having such a good time, our 1 hour lunch turned into a 3 hour lunch. We stayed so long we met the owner and began feeling like one of the locals.

Since it was turning into an all afternoon affair, we decided to explore the rest of downtown. Glendora has a wonderful downtown area with lots of small shops. In one of the shops we happened upon a museum of old cars. The owner had about 10 fully restored cars. What a find! We talked to some of the local shop owners, which is always a treat.

I highly recommend a visit to Glendora. It is a hidden treasure.