San Francisco, the Foggy city...

Welcome to blog number 2 for the Jamison America trip!!


Ok... pretend you are reading this as though you are living in the past and it's last Thursday. I haven't had much wifi here in Vegas and it's been hard to write the blog on the little computer we have...
I'll write Vegas blog when we fly out tomorrow........


THURSDAY 7th July
We are currently on a plane headed for... LAS VEGAS BABY!!! Woohoo!! I am really looking forward to Vegas and have been ever since I decided to go there for my 30th about a year ago (Or really ever since I learnt how to play poker 7 years ago!). I am really looking forward to seeing Brendon and Laraine as I haven't seen them in a couple of months so that will be awesome for when we land. :)
So here's what you missed...


SUNDAY 3rd July: James and I packed up and left the Hostel and headed to the airport to pick up our rental car. I must admit I was a little skeptical about getting a mustang convertible. After hearing many stories about people booking and then getting disappointed at the pick up point I didn't have high hopes. But much to my negative feelings James came out from the pick up terminal and had a smile on his face. I knew we were getting closer. Then one of the attendants came to us and said... what colour do you want? Huh???!!! There were 3 mustang convertibles to choose from... grey, yellow or red. Naturally we chose red! I was so excited. I was like a teenager! We hopped in the car with James at the drivers seat and figured out all the differences between a right hand drive to a left hand drive before taking off. After fighting through the terrible LA highways we were finally on our way up the coast. Top was down, hair was flying and we looked awesome in our new friend... Sally.
Sally, James, Squeak (our minion friend) and I travelled up the coast along the coastline. It was a beautiful Californian day and the coast was stunning. After driving for a while we stopped to switch drivers at a national park stop area where we met Chip and Dale, little squirrels that I named. And then we cruised on into San Simeon to stop for the night.

MONDAY: Happy July 4th!! Got up relatively early to get the most out of Sally and the rest of the drive. We went to Hearst Castle but decided not to line up for tickets as we decided to save money and time. Instead we got back in the car and a couple of miles down the road was a stop area. We got out to see what the fuss was about. The beach area was covered in seals!! They were so gorgeous. Big fat gorgeous seals. Some were chilling out on the sand, others were playing in the water. Very interesting to watch their habits. We also met here Alvin, Theodore and Simon. More squirrels that I named after Chipmunks but close enough. They came right up to us searching for food. Very cute. I wanted to put them in my bag and take them home.
Further on up the road we saw Eagles and stopped at picturesque 'vista' points (lookouts). We got to Captiola for lunch. We found Monterey didn't really have what we wanted so we just kept going and not too far was Capitola. This little quaint town with beachfront dining and many American's celebrating Independence day. Some lazing around on the beach or playing games with their kids and others lying on their beachhouses front lawns sunbathing! It was a cute town and we got seafood by the beach.
Switching drivers here we headed the last couple of hours to San Francisco city. I was driving at this point and we thought we head over the Golded Gate Bridge at Sunset. Little did we know that this would be the best time and really the only time we would fully see the bridge. It was so cool. We had the top up unfortunately as the wind was sooooo cold but it was still a beautiful sight to behold. Finding a place to turn around we headed back to the city and to our hotel.
Checked into the quaintest boutique hotel that I had booked as part of James' birthday gift. Hotel Union Square. I recommend it. Great service and cute room.
We decided to not go to Fishermans' wharf and watch the 4th July fireworks but instead ate in the city and headed to bed early after a long drive. YEAH! San Francisco!!!!!!!

TUESDAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing gorgeous man! I got up early and got him breakfast in bed. (Aren't I sweet?! LOL) We then wanted to make the most out of our last few hours with Sally so we left about 9.30ish and with James in the drivers seat for his birthday we did all three bridges connecting San Francisco with the other counties. First stop the Golden Gate. Alas it was covered in fog as it was for the rest of our stay. :( But we still got some creative shots at the vistapoint nearby. Check out the below...
Next bridge was awesome. When you drive south you drive on the top part and north you drive underneath. Great idea. Then the bay bridge. It's a smaller version of the Golden Gate and not the same colour. We then sadly returned Sally and continued on with the day. Spent a bit of time shopping in Union Square. Then James' surprise birthday gift was to go to a baseball game! So we headed to AT&T Park to watch the San Francisco Giants battle it out with the San Diego Padres. James got himself a baseball hat and we got our seats (which were literally the very back row, right up the very top but what a great view!
Game went for 2hrs49mins and unfortunately the Giants lost. 5-3. We still had fun though. One of their batters is Aubrey Huff and a group of people next to us would yell - Aubrey! Aubrey! Aubrey! Oi! Oi! Oi! everytime he came up to bat! hahaha. Was a lot of fun to be in the experience of a baseball game next to some fanatics!
Here are some pics!

WEDNESDAY: After a lazy morning, we did some more touristy things and caught a cable car down to Fishermans Wharf, ate seafood by the sea, got our portraits done, and headed to Alcatraz. We were on the late boat out there (3.20pm) and for some unknown reason I had decided to wear a dress. BIG Mistake. HUGE! My dress kept flying up nearly over my head! If you don't already know, let me tell you... San Francisco is not the warm Californian city you'd expect. It's cold if you aren't in the direct sun, windy and very very foggy. This fog rolls in over the hills from the sea and covers the Golden Gate bridge and filters into the city. It can be beautiful at times but it makes the city very cold as well. Locals suggest you wear layers as the temperature is tempermental! Having come very unprepared for this, I borrowed one of James' jackets and that helped with the fly away dress and the chill factor. We boarded the boat to prison... I mean Alcatraz and it just got windier and colder.
I loved Alcatraz. I thought it was very rich in history and found the audio tour very interesting and informative. The cells are exactly what you imagine it to be but hearing the audio tour as you walk through makes you feel like you are actually there. Hearing about the attempted escapes was intriguing. 8 people tried to escape. 5 were caught and the other 3 were never seen again. They gave you a history of how they escaped and all the planning that went into it.
After returning we walked along Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39 and visited a few shops. It was starting to get even colder. We walked all the way back to catch our cable car back to the hotel and there we met Christy and Svetlana from Melbourne. They were in the line ahead of us. It made the hour wait go very quick as we were chatting and enjoying the company. They headed to Vegas today too so we might see them for some alcoholic beverages. :)
After warming up and defrosting we headed to the 50s restaurant across the road which was all themed and had a late dinner.

THURSDAY: Locked up our bags and went on our tour. I'm so grateful to Zoe for recommending Dylan's tours. It was a very detailed and private tour and we never felt rushed at any destinations and had a great day. There was only 4 of us plus Dylan on the tour. Dan and Tracey from Philadelphia were the other two. Dylan took us all over San Fran. We went to Mission district (Which was where The Pursuit of Happyness was filmoed) Castro district which was where Milk was set and filmed. The history of Harvey Milk very interesting. Then to Haight and Ashbury to chill out with the Hippies followed by Billionaires row, Mrs Doubtfires' house, The Painted Ladies (Full House opening scene) Golden Gate, thento Muir Woods for an hour. The woods are across the Bridge and considered outside of San Fran. So pretty. Then to Sausilto and to Fishermans wharf. So much in one day. After the tour James and I walked through Chinatown before grabbing our bags and heading to the airport.

View of San Francisco

4.20pm this clock is always stuck on for Bong O'Clock. LOL

Mrs Doubtfire location

So much fun for only a couple of days!!!


Stay tuned for the Vegas blog to come in hopefully the next day or so...

Los Angeles, CA... city of dreams...

Well after much anticipation and excitement, James and I find ourselves in the city of dreams... LA. Well, the city of my dreams anyway and by that... I of course mean in the entertainment world. Hollywood certainly isn't a city you'd dream of living in for it's beauty. I knew what to expect but James was surprised to see the filth of the Blvd and every second store an underwear store with pieces of lingerie to suit everyone from all walks of life.
SUNDAY: Arrived and were pretty good considering the 19 hour trip. We checked into the Hostel and took a walk down the Blvd. Took some photos of stars...

 We kept walking up to the Kodak Theatre and the Chinese Theatre and took some pics as well. We went to the top to see the Hollywood Sign but this wasn't the best quality viewing spot.
We ended up seeing XMen movie at the Chinese Theatre that night too to combat Jetlag. :) Took along a new friend Arthur from the Hostel.
Here are two more pics from day one...

MONDAY: I really enjoyed Monday. We headed to The Grove and Farmer's Markets near Fairfax. It was really nice to just chill out. Apparently the place is one of the best places for celebrity spotting and celebrity spot we did. Well, not on my top 10 but still... John Cho from Harold and Kumar movies. Pretty cool. But even better was that we spent the afternoon with Mike and Zoe and it was awesome to just hang out with them and have a few beers. We then headed to El Coyote in Fairfax and had an amazingly fun night with great friends Mike and Zoe and also Jeanie and John. I'm so glad that we got to see Jeanie and John as Jeanie's parents are in town and we weren't sure if we'd catch a night with them so I'm pretty happy we did. Lots of great mexican food and many scratch magaritas later, I find myself stumbling into our hostel later that night after a great night of fun with my mates!

Mike's office's front door! :)

TUESDAY: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS BABY!! Woohoo! James enjoyed his gift from Jenna and Katie and we had a great day at the Studios. I think my highlight was the Waterworld Show again. James loved the Delorian and the Backlot tour. Whole day was great and we didn't even get front of line passes and didn't wait long for the rides so I was happy with that. I was almost convinced to go in the House of Horrors but after last time... I know better.

WEDNESDAY: I call this Rudolf day... why? Because we both didn't heed the warnings we each gave each other and ended up getting a little red! LOL. It's all good... I'm brown now. :) (Sorry Mum) Every other day we have been so good but it was a cooler day and I guess we didn't really think about it.
We headed to Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier on Wednesday. Was a great day to walk up the beach and the cultural aspect of Venice Beach particularly. It's a world of it's own. We ate lunch at this awesome Ale House. I had a grilled Portobello Vegie burger where the big portobello mushroom was the 'meat'. YUMMY! After lunch we continued to Santa Monica Pier where I won James a little red Shark toy by popping a balloon. Yes I know it should be the other way around right... mmm....
After the pier we went to Century City (Nakatomi Plaza!!) to watch Transformers 3. Mike, Zoe and one of Mike's mates Will, joined us. I enjoyed it. Classic transformers with little storyline and heaps of action and a Victoria's Secret model... LOL.

THURSDAY: Thursday was awesome. We went to Rodeo Drive and even though I tried to convince James to buy me something in Dolce and Gabbana he wouldn't have a bar of it! (Considering I think the cheapest thing I saw was at $400 for a belt or something ridiculous like that). We then headed back to The Grove for our sceduled viewing of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that we had booked through the Grove on Monday. Turns out we had priority tickets which was nice. The show was good. Warm up guy before that wasn't so good... bit gross really. And not that funny. Anyways everything was redeemed when... HENRY WINKLER stepped out onto the stage!!! The Fonz!!!! WOW! (I did know he was going to be there though) He was awesome. He came out wearing a (popping) yellow jacket which was pretty cool. And the interview was funny and went for about 15 minutes. Was so cool to see him live and I'm pretty sure my Dad will be the most jealous when he reads this!!! Following Henry Winkler was Mike Massino who is a NASA Astronaut so that made James' day as well. Was pretty cool! Then on the way back to the Hostel we had the opportunity to drive past the red carpet at the Chinese Theatre where who should be there but... JENNIFER ANISTON!! We tried to get photos but it wasn't very clear. Oh well... I've already walked the red carpet with her anyways! LOL. Thursday night we ate in and then just came up to the Blvd to try to jailbreak my phone and unlock it. (It's been a nightmare!) CELEBRITY THURSDAY!!

FRIDAY: DISNEYLAND!! Need I say more. It was awesome and we were lucky to have used our fastpasses to the best and we got on space mountain twice with limited wait and had a great day at the Happiest place on earth.

(Mickey Mouse totally hit on me!)
SATURDAY: Today. Today we headed out on foot to the Hollywood sign... Oh my am I unfit or what! It was up some steep hills to get to the bottom of the sign. The closest most legal spot to the sign. Once up there is was worth the walk but still took some time and ventolin and plenty of water! Got some fantastic pics and then headed to Griffith Observatory. It's beautiful up there. Great view of the whole city.
Tonight we went to Barney's Beanery with Mike and Zoe and watched UFC and had dinner and drinks with them. Such a cool bar. Been there since the 30s. We even played shuffle board and James and I beat Mike and Zoe 21-20! Close game.

Which brings us to now. It's our last night in LA. We are heading to San Francisco tomorrow in our (hopefully) Mustang Convertible. Fingers Crossed! Looking forward to the drive up the Coast. Will post more in San Fran. Sorry there aren't more photos... We have to turn them into Jpegs! LOL.

Love to all!

xox

A whirlwind month!

Wow! Seriously where has the last month gone???
We are already half way through June and in just 12 days I'll be boarding a plane with James to go on the long anticipated USA trip to celebrate my 30th year of existence.
Soooooo much has happened in the last month.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT
I am completely overwhelmed with the response we had to Opposites Attract. I knew that a large cast would draw in a good crowd but I was uncertain just how good. We performed to 4/5 sold out audiences and were given a wonderful review by Duncan McLeod from the Primate Perspective. You can read it here...
http://www.theprimateperspective.com/2011/06/theatre-opposites-attract/
It seems like only yesterday that I met up with Steve at the Exchange Hotel in Balmain and thought what a great space it would be to put on a play. I've been wanting to do Opposites Attract for 5 years now and I've finally done it. :) It wouldn't have happened without my partner in crime, Steve Hopley, my wonderful cast, and excellent crew including the ever patient Lissa and ever more patient James.
James put up with a lot of my mood swings and craziness during it all and I am eternally grateful to him for that.

The show unfortunately did have a small downfall though and up until now I've tried to be very diplomatic about it all. I suffered through (along with the rest of the cast and crew) the attitude, unprofessionalism, crudeness, rudeness, selfishness, etc etc of one such actor that thought that he was above it all and was exempt from all rules cause he was some kind of 'super special' and I can honestly say I will never work with him again. It may come across as truly unprofessional that I would even mention this but I want to publicly say sorry to the others that he affected during this whole process. I hope that he did not tarnish the experience for you all.

Anyways, Hot Room Theatre Group is alive and kicking and watch this space for more to come! Steve and I will meet up to discuss the next project when I return from the States. Very exciting.
Also check out Sydney Shakespeare Company's first production "Othello".

USA
Only 12 more days til I get to board a plane with James and finally relax for 5 whole weeks! I can not wait! I'm so excited I've thought about packing my bag now! Instead I'll write a list of things I need to pack and start preparing that way.
Last night James and I decided to drive from LA to San Francisco and explore the coast line for a day. So we booked a... wait for it... FORD MUSTANG!!! Woohoo!! Everytime I say Mustang I feel like singing... Mustang Sally !! I hope that is what we get. It does say 'or similar' so fingers crossed.
LA is booked, Vegas is booked, can't wait to see Nanette, Ray, Michelle and Caleigh in Denver and then off to NEW YORK NEW YORK for 10 days! We fly back to Fiji for the weekend before heading home on August 1. It's a huge trip but I'm so excited about it all.
Looking forward to being greeted by warm air as well. Can't wait to leave the wintery blues behind us for a while.
It's going to be awesome. I've been following Laraine and Brendon's blogs and am jealous of what they've done already but I just keep saying... not long now.

And you know what... I deserve this holiday! I've worked hard and saved and haven't had much of a social life and this holiday is perfect! And the same goes for James!

I am disappointed I can't go to Samoa this year but there is always next year. My thoughts and prayers are with the team who venture over there in a few weeks as well. I pray it all goes well! :)

Well I best be back to work. It's not going to do itself unfortunately!

My life isn't a movie

I was watching Step Up 2, The Streets the other day (great movie) and realised that my life isn't a movie. It doesn't really have a plot. It has a beginning though and I'm in the middle but I'm just not sure what the end is. It's not glamorous however much I'd like it to be, everything doesn't just fall into place like it does in the movies, I'm not a picture perfect movie star with flawless skin and a superb body (and I certainly can not dance like they can but that's neither here nor there).
I have everyday problems, I have things from my past that I haven't worked through yet, I have things in the present which are stressing me out and I'm sure my life in the future isn't going to be an Oscar Winning Performance. 
BUT... I took a hot bath with bubbles and salts and candles last night. I lay there contemplating all of this in amongst sniffles and tears. And I realised that no one has a life like the movies. I'm not alone in all of this.
God is there for me. And I must learn more to depend on Him more. To hand over my problems to Him and to know that He has control. It's not an easy thing to surrender to God. To hand over your life and trust that it's being looked after but I need to do it.
I also am truly blessed by the family I have. My parents are wonderful. The love they share for each other is a love that I aspire to in my own relationship. They also love me beyond what words can say. They are the people I want to become. My brothers are my rocks, my best friends. Without them I would be sinking in sand and drowning. I know each and everyone of them would drop everything to be at my side if I needed them. They make me laugh, they cheer me up, they are each different in their own special ways and they are all such wonderful company. My sister in laws are the same and are fast becoming very close friends as are the beautiful girls that my brothers are dating.
My best friend Lisa. She knows what to say and when to say it. When to snap me out of something, when to be brutely honest with me and when to sugar coat things for me. Lis has been an amazing friend over the last 14 years. She is amazing and I'm looking forward to rocking in a chair next to her as we grow old together and our friendship just grows stronger and stronger.
And James. I can not express how much he means to me. In fact, this part of my life is the part of my life that is kind of like a movie... at the end, I do get the boy! On the surface he is handsome, sweet, loving, kind, smart, funny, and the list goes on but it's the things that people don't see that I cherish the most. The whispered "I love you" when he thinks I'm sleeping, leaving the cucumber on the side of his plate because he knows it's my favourite salad ingredient, watching my tv shows and pretending to like them (Although I'm pretty sure he actually likes them), his drive and determination to finish what he started, his love for his family, his love for my family, his encouragement to me that I can be the best I can be, his excitement at the little things in life. This list could also go on and on but I'm a little bit selfish and would like to keep him to myself. James is everything to me. I look forward to one day being married to him, having his children, growing old with him and having many many adventures to tell our grandkids.
So whilst my life may not seem like a movie, it sure has a story of it's own. It's not glamorous, it's not ideal sometimes and some days I just feel like staying under the covers and crying all day but I'm sure we've each been through those days on occasion.
I'm trying to turn over that leaf. Trying to move on and look forward to what lies ahead. And I know with God, James, my family and Lisa and everyone else around me, I can do it.
Thanks for reading.