Tickled Pink: DOWN with Lady Gag Gag

AND I swear if they even think of casting her in this I will go Postal. What fantastic news to wake up to this is an article according to www.jezebel.com written by Margaret Hartmann.... YAY I wanna play the Black drummer Shana Elmsford... I LOVE JEM!!!! Oh my inner 12 year old is just too STOKED for words oh AND I'm waiting to hear if I got free tix to see the Pixies tonight, may this day NEVER end! WOW I was JUST talking about her at the Hello Kitty event & blogged about it earlier see previous post here.  

 Jem's Truly Outrageous Comeback

Hasbro has successfully revived the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, and now a Jem and the Holograms film or TV series is in the works. High School Musical writer Peter Barsocchini is attached.

How I Roll: Oh Well We're Movin' On Up

The End of an Era♥
Sorry for the LONG delay between blog posts as I have been busy looking for a place to live. Well I found a place & just moved in on July 15th. It was CRAZY so much went wrong on my search but then I found a place & at the last minute my happy place became a lover lost. I found a GREAT roommate & a great place in the Fairfax district, I spoke about this place in an earlier blog. It was TOTALLY what I was looking for & the potential roommate Derek & I seemed like a perfect fit. Unfortunately after days I believed I was going to move in his Landlord pulled a fast one.

He denied me due to breed discrimination. Divi's a pitbull & although she is thee most loving thing I have EVER known this dude was NOT budging... I was devastated, discouraged & then frustrated. The search was on again & there was more sifting through garbage & driving around town. Some people should be ASHAMED of themselves trying to rent out these human toilets & calling them apartments!

After several agonizing days I found 2 spots to pick from, it literally became a tale of 2 stoves One place was in Beverly Hills with a classic PERFECT condition Merritt & O'Keefe stove. The girl was cool but there was no parking, we would have to share a bathroom, no AC & she kind of had the place set up to her own standards (which weren't pretty high, I'm going to go to hell for that). I didn't feel like there was any room for me. Even though I was looking for a beautiful vintage spot with French Windows, wood floors & tons of character & this place had all of that seeing that stove already had me planning a garage sale in my head & living in tacky Swedish do it yourself blondewood furniture from the 80's mixed with Out of the Closet (a thrift store here in LA, please... if it was a Gay man's furniture store the pieces would've been slam-MING!) & street finds. Screw it my ever expanding butt can afford to park a few blocks away from the house anyways

I NEVER even seen one with a perfect Grillerator

After a few days something was gnawing at me... something about the place didn't feel right even though I stared at the pictures of the oven on my iPhone everyday for hours on end. I also was getting REALLY discouraged at the other 40 places I looked at. It was hot & I was just sick of the driving & feeling like I had nowhere to go. I literally had 2 weeks to find a place because I was already 2 weeks into my 30 day notice. Frustrated I decided to look at places that were a bit above my budget & then I saw this stove.
I emailed the guy who put the ad up within minutes after he put it up. He checked out my blog, hell HE'S A MASSIVE FOODIE!!! He loved the blog & invited me over the next day.
Divi & I marched our butt's right over. I wasn't going to see it because I wanted to move in but I was more curious to see how the other half lives. It was blocks away from my house & on Runyon Canyon a very popular hiking spot in Hollywood. Now Mike told me the kitchen was very impressive before I went there so Div & I were stoked. It was $125 over my budget, when I set a price for something I HAVE to stick to it, rarely do I make exceptions, it really is a gift... ok fine I'm a cheap bastard & rather spend my money on shoes & French cast iron! *snort*


Guess who won?!?!?










Drum roll please...

♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥
♥

This is the very first thing I see EVERY morning I wake up... *swooooooooooooooon* ♥


So now let me set you up with the rest of the stuff this PHAT, FAT crib I am blessed to live in:


Guest bath




WALK-IN PANTRY!!!

Before:
AFTER ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥


Did I mention there is CENTRAL AC, my OWN bathroom & GUEST PARKING?!?!?! *swoon* oh & this!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I've been living in LA for 11 years WITHOUT a Washer & Dryer in the house. Whenever my mother visits she says "Yeuh-ECK... you wash your panties where strangers wash there socks & sneakers & pay quarters for it?!?!?" I LOVE my Mom ♥

No walking blocks for parking when I can go 1 flight down & work it all out in here:

My MASSIVE room


YUP I ended up having a garage sale & what didn't sell I just left outside. It was like a field day for 2 days watching people like Mothers & Daughters going through & grabbing all the great stuff I left out there. It was so liberating to just not be attached to all that stuff, like I get this grand do-over


Winston aka "DA MONSTER" showing Divi around the place before we moved in, his face is so edible... we cruise all day, that's when I am not pulling random objects outside of his mouth, thank GOD he has small teeth & his jaw doesn't lock like Divi's I'd be assed OUT!

I get a new chance, Divi gets a new friend...and at the end so do I.

I love, love, LOVE living the Single life but being single does not define me. I live my life now in preparation for my future. I don't want when I am ready to settle down & to have my own family that I'm still trying to figure myself & life out. I want to be a complete person, well at least a more seasoned & understanding one. I've always wanted someone to be my exclamation point, not my period. Someone that makes me better. I don't want to figure out who I am while taking care of others, but I have to admit all this time I was prepping myself I forgot how great it is to have someone to come home to & vice versa. I was becoming... I don't want to say self-involved but just disconnected & a bit jaded about having to share my life & witnessing anothers.

My roommate is AH-MAY-ZING! His positivity is infectious, he's so respectful & super easy going. He's a REALLY hard worker but you can totally tell there is a method to his work madness, he fully appreciates the fruits of his labor & is comfortable in sharing it. I'm not used to seeing that it's really refreshing. I love to hear his girlfriend Mimi's laugh when she comes over. She too is a ridiculous foodie. They've been to some of thee best restaurants in the country, I saw with my own eyes, she has them all in her scrapbook... too cute & she's pretty gifted in the kitchen herself. I am totally inspired by their culinary prowess ♥

I couldn't be happier with the direction my life is going & I am a convert in believing that the best possible outcome for your life is available to you, even when you don't get what you want. I feel so blessed to have my family back me up on EVERY level as I pursue my culinary dreams & the support & love from my friends, especially my new ones. I hope you all forgive me for taking so long. I just wanted to find my home, get settled & enjoy it for a while before I headed back to the blogosphere. I missed you all ♥

Now get ready bitches...

Food For Thought: I went to Michael Jackson's Memorial, thank you Sharette for inspiring me to write about this

Decided to add another topic to the blog, "Food For Thought"... TOTALLY inspired from Michael's Memorial I attended yesterday. I was at a Chinese Restaurant with my best friend Kenny when the news broke. I remember sitting there & running the gamut of emotions in a matter of a few minutes not giving each a proper amount of time to feel any of them for too long because I was wrestling with EVERYTHING at the same time! Does that make sense? Anywho...

To me... there are four sides to the Icon. The music, the message the memories & the Man. I mourned the loss of the Man in '93 when the first accusations came out I judged him by what my eyes saw, the stories I have heard & this anger I held in my heart. I myself was molested by a trusted family member that I admired so much, so I have a hard time believing a grown man could share a bed with a child & avoid touching them or exposing themselves to a child in an inappropriate manner. This fueled my rage & my distrust in Men grew, but the music & memories lived on for me.

To hear a MJ song at a club with your friends & you're all having a blast you instinctively remember the exact moment you heard it the first time, where you were, what you wore & who you were with... that is an incredible feat for a human being to accomplish to have such an effect on so many people that they are literally the soundtrack of that person's life & NOT just mine... my Grandmother, my parents, my brother, all of my friends & everyone spanning three generations were a fan. That too is no easy task.

I was invited to the Memorial, literally the day after he died. I resisted... I was angry at how everyone, especially my friends with children were so broken up about his loss. I was angry how the day before he died he was "Whacko Jacko" & the day of he was once again The King of Pop. I was angry that I was duped to believe he was this great Man when I was a child with his charitable dispositon & music that wanted to share the notion of peace, love, acceptance & strength through adversity yet his face was changing constantly in what seemingly became, in my eyes, a person who literally could no longer live in his own skin! I was angry that he could betray a person's trust... I was ANGRY that my trust was betrayed, I was angry that someone took away my childhood & I was ANGRY that all these years later that fact still cripples me. I'm ANGRY that I'm angry... huh "I'm angry?" Wait I'M "angry"...

I didn't realize I was angry until I went to the Memorial. Like I said I wasn't going to go I argued with everyone & even got into some pretty heated debates about the matter, some in public, but at the very last minute I decided to go. My mentor, Simone, used to work at Motown. This is the strongest & most powerful Woman I have ever known & by the grace of God she has taken a liking to me & has put me under her wing. She has been like a Mother to me, I'm not saying that just to say it because it's the nice thing to say & so damn cliche, but she truly has been like a Mother to me. ♥♥♥♥

When my Mother lost her power when my parents divorced I would watch Oprah & imagine my Mother had that strength, but that was imaginary I had to imagine that & pretend my Mother had it. Simone is REAL & the BOMB & loves me & always comes in clutch when I feel at my lowest. Whether it is with the tiniest or the grandest of gestures, a letter, a good talking to, an ear, a ticket to catch a Matinee at a theatre or reading me the riot act when all is said & done & I contemplate on all that has transpired after a Super Simone Session, she gives me my power back!!! I decided to go.

TJ & I on our way to the Staples Center in Brian's car

Honestly I was just going to sit in the nose bleed seats with my friend Chris I had also got a ticket for, who also I have been dying to repay my gratitude for getting me a gig on a Cruise to Mexico at the end of the month. Then I bumped into a very distressed friend of mine at the SLS Hotel where we are all meeting there to get our tickets. His extra ticket was STOLEN & it was for a FAB friend of mine that is a BRILLIANT Artist & so generous by nature, Brian Friedman from X-Factor & So You Think You Can Dance fame. Actually the very first Pilot Episode of Single Serving was shot in his kitchen & I had been DYING to show him my gratitude for a year. His ticket was stolen by none other than the very vile opportunist Omarosa Manigault & he flew in from London for this service.

There was NO way I would have him sit in the nose bleeds! I asked Simone if I could get a ticket for him. After 3 hours waiting to figure out what to do with one single extra ticket she gave it to me. Here I had both the nose bleed & the floor & opted to give Brian the floor seat feeling so happy that he gets to enjoy this the way he deserves to. As we were driving into the lot... Super Simone texted & said she had an extra ticket, come meet her. She took his ticket & gave us 2 tickets & said "now you two can sit together".... HAVE YOU EVER?!?!? We walked the black carpet, took pics & Chris Brown walked right past us. I gave my extra ticket to TJ & he called a friend over to pick them up within minutes, how the hell did I end up with 4 tickets last minute like that for the greatest Memorial service to a musical legend?

Brian & I on the "Black carpet"♥

I sat 6 rows behind the family. I could see EVERYTHING! At first before... Michael was brought in it was all about the cool factor. The row before me was John Mayer & Reverend Al Sharpton sitting together the row before that was Tyler Perry & he walked over to greet John & Al, I was surprised how respectful they were all with one another. Usher, Gladys Knight, Telma Hopkins, John Salley, the ENTIRE Motown family all around me. Behind me was Kobe Bryant... HELLO, he OWNS the Staples Center... how in the hell is he sitting BEHIND me?!?!? Then it was like celebrity whiplash... "Well hello Barbara Walters, I don't feel so bad about missing The View today since you are too... Corey Feldman... why are you dressed like Michael TODAY, what's wrong with you?!?!? OMG is that Willis & Stoney Jackson?!?!? Wait... why in the hell do I remember Stoney Jackson's name?" I have the memory of a damn elephant!

The amount of stars & pseudo-stars sitting behind us was staggering. I sat next to James Ingram & told him how "I don't have the Heart" got me through the 9th grade because I was in love with my best friend who loved me, but not the way I wanted him to... he burst out & sang it in my ear... my eyes welled up. Then Patti Austin sat 2 rows behind me & they busted out an impromptu rendition of "Baby Come To Me", I guess that's how they greet each other & he turns to me & says "that's my musical wife".. Brian & I look at each other "what in the hell are we doing here, how did this happen?"

James Ingram

Dionne Warrick walks by making the rounds to greet old friends & says hello to James turns to Brian & I & introduces herself to us... Oh man I could go on & on with the coolness factor stories but this blog could go on FOREVER if I did. Time to move on to the Service. The brothers wearing one sequined glove bring in the gold casket. The performances start & it wasn't until my musical idol Stevie Wonder sang "They Won't Go When I Go" a song I always imagined playing at my funeral the reality of sadness hit, I shed a tear for the first time for Michael.

Berry Gordy got up & said a beautiful eulogy & images of Michael & his music flashed, once again it was about the "music" & the "memories". He chronicled the milestones & I knew everything he was going to say as he said it because those were my milestones also. Rev. Al Sharpton whom I've always been eh about, his controversial stances on several issues rub me the wrong way he got up & spoke about the "Man". I found it fitting one controversial icon spoke so fervently & earnestly about another... he KILLED IT when he said this:

My memories turned into realizations of how angry, judgmental, removed from family & unforgiving I am this is where I had that "I'm ANGRY?" epiphany I spoke of earlier, it hit me right then & there. I was mortified because hiding in all that anger & negativity was the 4th aspect of this icon... his message. I forgot how charitable he was. I forgot how loving he was. I forgot how the message in his music would propel the masses to reach for a better life. I FORGOT THE MESSAGE!!!! Then the children got on stage & I watched Paris console & hold her little brother like a little mother. I kept turning to Brian, she's SO strong she's SO STRONG! Then... she spoke.

The Family

It felt like I got kicked in both my face & my gut repeatedly. How did I become so hardened? He was also someone's father, the father of 3 beautiful young people. NO WORDS!!!! Even in death his message, the message about his life no matter how great or how tragic it was affected me... *chills* I don't know, I guess I'm rambling, I'm hoping this all makes sense to you as you're reading this but I have to apologize because it's all starting to develop to make sense to me, but I felt compelled to say something today. Thank you ♥Miss Sharette Driver♥ for challenging me & the position I held 48 hours ago. I still believe that something wasn't "kosher" about his relationship with children, but I am NOT a Judge that is between him & God & I am ok with that. I no longer need to be angry about it.

There's ALWAYS a method to one's greatness & madness & I am NO exception... this was an incredible lesson for me about humanity.

I am forever changed.

Jermaine's stirring rendition of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" MJ's favorite song.

The family hugging Usher after his performance

How I Roll: Ah Diddle-Dee.. Cabana Life For Me!

For a chick that doesn't know when the next regular check's a comin' in... 16 months deep since I lost my stable gig of 9 years. I tend to live a fabulous life sometimes I've been so focused on Single Serving & new recipes I haven't gone out in a while. I got a gig for 2 weeks hitting all the hottest spots in town to recruit hot promoters & ran into SO many old school faces... even after YEARS things in H-Wood don't change that much.

It was surreal... kind of like I never left except I was 30 lbs heavier & even more bitter about the dating scene & the guys are losing their hair & still dating 23 year olds to feel better about themselves. Speaking about weight, I had not stepped on US soil in a bathing suit since I quit smoking 2 years ago... yikes!

On my random field trips around town I got invited to this hotel pool party on Memorial Day at the W in Westwood, I almost was going to pass it up until I was offered to hang VIP style in a Cabana. I invited my girl Perri, psyched myself up to get in a suit actually numbed myself, posted my apprehension on Facebook, got a ton of supportive people to encourage me, put on the suit, grabbed Perri & a roadie (water bottle filled with Tequila... what? I'm broke not stupid & needed a little more liquid courage!) then we grabbed a double double at In N Out (that's cause I'm broke & gluttonous HELLO 30 friggin' lbs) & it was on like Donkey Kong!

It was PACKED! We had to wait almost 15 minutes to get in & I've known the door guy for 16 years, was "VIP" & invited by 3 separate promoters there... that's how packed it was, no sweat we got in. Now the scariest thing about getting into my suit is that every summer all my friends post their Malibu house party pics & all the trendy cool celebrity filled stuff they can do in a bikini... ARGH! Let me tell you those bitches use photoshop or airbrush themselves... EVERY single chick there had cellulite... it was FABULOUS!!! 

It was so liberating, seeing all of them just comfortable & having a blast, my new dimples fit right in. Perr & I ripped off our outfits & took a strut, her in her gold Tory Burch's me in my Dior's working it around the pool ♥. 

2 hours later we had the cabana to ourselves & someone sent us a bottle, we had a flat screen in the cabana & invited people to watch the Lakers game... SO fun! Lindsay & her little sister Ali shared the cabana next to us... it was awesome! 

Perri & I were treated like Princesses & honestly I have never felt better & more comfortable in my skin all year like I did on Memorial Day... SCREW IT what I learned is that you never trust a skinny chef, all cellulite is created equal & does not discriminate & I look dayum good... still! Never again will I shortchange myself nor embrace the changes in my life.

The incomparable Henry Gilbert Stafford III Door Man Extraordinaire!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


Me with Chocolate AND Fudge... WOW!