Gimmee Gimmee No Gettee, Gettee Gettee No Wantee, Gimmee Gimmee No Gettee, Gettee Gettee No Wantee.....

Wow, what a week what a week! And it's barely even finished yet!
I'm glad I spent the time that I did on the road. A lot of work issues came up in my travels, for example: you never really know a person from work until you spend time with them outside of work. I got a such chance when I went to Orange County the last 4 days, and let's just say that I view a certain coworker of mine in a totally different light. Actually, it's a rather WORSE light than where he was beforehand! Incredible!
Ok, I'm not going to rant, but it is pretty revealing how some people claim to be some certain things in life, and then when you see them in another environment, they are the Total Opposite! Especially when you're in a certain position of authority, your actions speak volumes louder than words.
I guess I have the upper hand in this situation because of my experience in the field, as well as the backing of my industry. I may have to do some things that I not only don't want to do, but that I must do.
It's definitely going to be a fun 45 days in the workplace! Stay Tuned!

Song of the Day: Gimmee Gimmee - Bonjay

Reunited and It Feels So Good, Reunited Cuz We Understood, There's One Perfect Fit and Sugar This One Is It, We Both Are So Excited Cuz We're Reunited

Finally home, and I simply Had to spend the entire day with Baby Brooklyn! Being away from her for too long is hazardous to my health!

And as she's getting older, her facial expressions are more and more priceless!
This is the most recent YouTube for Baby Brooklyn as she has her DJ skills starting to show when she plays her music! She's also getting quite destructive, so when you come over and we can't change the channels, look at 1:00 of the video.

I love my baby girl!

Song of the Day: Reunited - Peaches and Herb

It Won't Rain All the Time, the Sky Won't Fall Forever, And Though The Night Seems Long, Your Tears Won't Fall Your Tears Won't Fall Forever.....

The other great thing that I want to mention about where I'm staying is that they have a lot of greener and efficient projects going on. With this particular one, if you decline housekeeping service for any night, you get back a $5 voucher to spend anywhere at the hotel, even the bar!

I usually end up using mine for my morning Starbucks and hangover cure, but what a great idea! I'm sure they save way more than $5 for the housekeeping supplies and labor, but do you really need your room cleaned EVERY single day you're there? And do you really want someone going through your stuff while you're out of your room? And how really clean do they get the room anyways?? I know you don't want to think about that, but c'mon. It's a free $5! I'm taking it!

My last meal in Los Angeles consisted of Mac and Cheese with chili underneath and Duck Taquitos with Guacamole. It didn't look like much, but BOYYYY was it good! Thanks to the Filling Station!

Oh and if you ever see these in an airport store, Don't buy them! They are TOO addictive! You will eat the WHOLE BAG in one sitting! I swear! They are more addictive than potato chips! You will look at the bottom of the bag in the middle of your flight and say, "What Just Happened There??" Trust me!

Song of the Day: It Can't Rain All the Time - Jane Sibery

I've Never Been Swept Away, It's What Dreams Are Made About, Don't You Know I Could Not Survive Without You In My Life? I Would Die For You.....

I never really liked the name of this product, mostly because it reminds me of someone's bollox.

Either way, they are a good hangover cure, believe it or not!

The office we worked in for today was definitely creative, energetic, but segmented at the same time. There was no synergy, and people were pulling in different directions and wavelengths. I guess that's why their Buddha statue at the front had his head buried in his hands! :) Bahahaha!

For lunch, CEVICHE!! If you've never had Ceviche, and you like seafood, you are MISSING out! It's basically lemon, shrimps, avocado, cilantro, white onion, and a whole lot of Goodness!!

And I even managed to squeeze in another half hour of pooltime before dinner!
Dinner was at a dark Cuban meat smoke house place where their Ropa Vieja (Cuban version of pulled pork) is to DIE FOR! It was so dark that nobody could take a proper picture of it!

But at least I got a picture of my Double Grey Goose + Pineapple to end the night with!

Song of the Day: I Would Die For You - Jann Arden

And I Would Be the One To Hold You Down, Kiss You So Hard, I'll Take Your Breath Away, And After I Wipe Away the Tears, Just Close Your Eyes Dear.....

I've been put on to a new habit when I'm out on the road at the hotels.....

I totally blame Maronzio Vance for putting me on to a life of hotel crime!!

Ok, night one is done, and I'm SOOO looking forward to what Sunday Brunch has in store!!

WHAT? WTF? What the heck is this? I could have done this myself! The potatoes were not crunchy, the eggs were undercooked, and the bacon wasn't even crispy!! Argh, I guess this is what happens when you don't bring the Bestest Brunch Partner Ever!

And yes, Membership DOES have it's priveleges! I filed a complaint with the restaurant and front desk, they comped my meal, gave me a few drink vouchers for the bar, and a free Starbucks in the hotel! Whooo Hoooo! Thank you!
Then I decided it was time to hit the mall!
Beware, the following picture may hurt your eyes!

Behold. Yes, these are going to be the NEXT WORST TREND! I already called it and stampsies on it! Heck I'll even spit on it! Presenting, the Crocs version of a Chuck Taylor sneaker! And they even have a Vans version of them with no toe cap also! They're not done by Crocs, but they look, and feel like them, and they even weigh LESS than a Croc! You KNOW that someone you know out there is going to buy and wear these!! Even little hipster kids will wear them!

I was SOOO Tempted to buy Baby Brooklyn the Hello Kitty Bee backpack!

Retail in California is still going through a tough time. Everything was on sale to make room for the Fall Back to School Stuff hitting soon. There were a few encouraging moves by retailers to start sparking some additional sales though! This table was very well executed. The entire table was $10!

And Trinket jewellery was making a huge comeback, even at the major department stores!

Then there was some creative ideas like this store front at Christian Louboutin!

And this light bulb display at the John Varvatos store!

Even the Mall was getting into some creative sparks with their hoarding messages on their empty store lots. For the most part everyone was 50-70% off, so it was good to be a shopper instead of working so much! Retail is definitely going to turn around soon out here! Very soon!

Then it was off to the Irvine Spectrum, still one of my favorite outdoor malls ever! The Ferries wheel was up and running today!

And even the Carousel had a lineup waiting for it!

Toms Shoes is gaining steam out in California, and their story is just getting more and more powerful with more people gaining interest in what they are accomplishing. Heck, I am even supporting their cause, and they don't even have nice men's shoes!

The Hurley/Nike 6.0/Converse is definitely my favorite store here! They have such creative ideas, energy, and different ways to make their regular product look Fabulous! These boardshorts are actually customized 1/1!

Yes, I shopped up a storm! I can't exactly show you what I bought, but it definitely was fun to grab stuff at 50% off, and then get an additional 40% off after that! Insanity!
Then it was time for the pool!

I didn't even get tanned because I only had a half an hour in the sun, but it was nice to relax and let my brain go totally blank!


I really really am thinking that I could come back to the West Coast sometime soon!

And my affinity for Palm Trees is not going away any time soon either!

Song of the Day: Possession - Sarah McLachlan

While I'm Safe There In Your Arms, So All I Ask Is For You To Come Away With Me In the Night, Come Away With Me.....

It's Saturday, and sadly another crazy busy hectic one ahead of me! I had to rush and get a load of laundry done because I was leaving for California for work!

I'm definitely going to miss this lil munchkin!!

It was weird that we were travelling on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, but the "new guy" wanted a day to check things out in the area first. Another weird thing was that this was the first time we flew to the new John Wayne airport in Orange County! The great thing about SNA airport is that it's only 5 minutes away from our hotel. The bad part about it is that it only flies one flight per day to Toronto.

Our flight was actually delayed by 2 hours because of a faulty brake. The pilot had even said that if we were flying into our usual LAX airport, it wouldn't have been an issue, but because the runway at SNA is the SHORTEST runway in Air Canada's entire network, they wanted to get a new plane for the flight instead! I guess I should appreciate the safety over convenience, but I missed a free dinner at Mr Chow's in downtown LA!

Instead, this was my dinner for the night!

I was trying to figure out why this cute girl was dating a guy with jeans that are skinnier than hers? Someone mentioned that maybe she could steal his jeans?!?!? I don't even think she could fit in those jeans!! I mean, I don't mind skinny jeans being in this business, it doesn't shock me so much to see them. But this guy must have really had to tuck his parts away to fit into these jeans!!

So after all the delays, and the crazy hectic chore of travelling, it was SO NICE to see this sign greeting me! Yes, membership has it's priveleges!!

Song of the Day: Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
I heard this song in the hotel bar lounge and all that I could think of was Baby Brooklyn!

I Know There'll Never Be a Time You'll Ever Feel the Same, And I Know It's Only Words, But If You Change Your Mind You Know That I'll Be Here.....

Today was a special day because we had the chance to take Baby Brooklyn to her second major sporting event ever! And knowing what happened to her at her very first baseball game,
Baby Brooklyn was now going to sit in ROW ONE at her very first CFL Football game!

And it was a great night and clear skies for a football game also!

Lucky for us, the Skydome left the roof open for the game also! It was getting really humid!

Sometimes I forget how luck we are to have a stadium such as this for sporting events! It really is too bad that it isn't more full on a regular basis. (hint hint NFL Team hint)

We arrived right on time for some pregame buzz! We even ate some crappy dinner at the game itself and had time for the National Anthem!

Row One is so close, we could trip a referee!

And there was our boy JJ7! He didn't get to start today, but he did get in for a couple of possessions! He's definitely coming back strong from his injury from last year!

Being this close to the field was fun and all for Baby Brooklyn, but it wasn't much of a view for the whole game! When the play was on the other side of the field, we couldn't see anything!

Life is really tough when you're a one year old in the front row at a CFL game! Baby Brooklyn even had her foot up to try to block the camera!

OH wait a second! What's that I see over there??

JJ7 was just about to get into the game!!

Brooklyn was happy that she got to see JJ7 get at least one play in there! Very happy Baby!

We didn't get to finish the whole game as the night went on. It was WAY past Baby BK's bedtime also!

Hopefully as she gets older, she'll be able to last a full game!
The Lions lost 24-20. The Lions were up by 10 points when we left the game, but I guess our absence definitely jinxed them!! Hopefully the Lions get some revenge back in BC next time!
Thanks to JJ7 for the great tickets and a great night!

Song of the Day: One More Night - Phil Collins

I Never Met a Girl Who Makes Me Feel the Way That You Do, You're Alright. Whenever I'm Asked Who Makes My Dreams Real, I Say That You Do.....

I gotta say, it was a weird day. Coming off the drama and news of yesterday, it was a weird feeling of personal life and work life colliding on a collision course.
First part of the solution....
Break out a pair of new unworn sneakers!

Behold, the Air Max 97 Rejuvenation. I love it when the air bubbles shine like that! All the skater dudes at work were in awe that I even wore these to work, never mind brought them out of the box!

Days when the weather is like this just make me want to sit back on a partio, look into the sky, and do nothing. Except maybe with a drink, martini, BEvERage, or something like that.

Baby Brooklyn was gearing up for a visit with her cousin JJ7! I love it when she's SO serious!! JJ7 is in town to play against the Argos tomorrow night, and guess where we're going?? Thanks to cousin J9 and J3 for the gifts they sent over for Baby BK's bday also!

Turns out the the FC Dallas MLS team is in town also to play Toronto FC, and they're staying at the same hotel!
Good luck to the Leo's tomorrow night! We'll be cheering them on!

Song of the Day: Get Ready - The Temptations