Author Archives: LA Blogger Gal

The Little Guy is Finally On the Mend

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It’s times like when I’m dealing with a sick dog that I remind myself of two things that I’m extremely grateful for: 1) that I’m not a mother and don’t have to take care of an infant or sick or teething kids and 2) that I work from home and don’t have to go to an office at a particular time.

It’s good to be me.

And it’s even better to know that my little guy is feeling better.

As I mentioned the other day, we had some rough patches over these past couple of days; blood in his vomit, diarrhea, not eating or drinking, shallow breathing, total lethargy.  But after IV and love from his brother, Charlie (seen here lying completely on top of him – typically, this is unacceptable according to Griffin) Monday and some subcutaneous fluid treatment yesterday, he woke today like a brand new boy.

He inhaled his breakfast.  He’s been drinking water again.  He’s taking his medicine and keeping everything down. He’s barking at the mail man and the meter reader.  And better yet…he’s playing with his favorite squeaky toy and asking me to throw it (which I won’t do yet – but I will “hide” it under a blanket so he can go “find” it).  And he’s full of stinky breathed, doggie kisses.

Today is a good, good day.

And worth nothing…I absolutely love my vet clinic (Animal Medical Center in Van Nuys) and their doctors.  Any doctor – pet or human – that actually follows up with phone calls and stays late to make sure you’re taken care of is an angel in my book and worth recommending to any and everyone.

Poor Pupster He Has a Doggie Flu

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I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a dog flu.  Let alone that it behaves pretty much the same way the flu works in us humans…diarrhea, vomiting, discomfort, lack of hunger, etc.

Our little guy has always had a sensitive stomach.  It wasn’t uncommon on any give day for him to eat his food and throw it all back up a couple minutes later.  And late night bouts with diarrhea, also not uncommon (TMI, I know).

So this time around, we didn’t think too much of things at first. It was only the fact that he threw up multiple times throughout the day and night, and then spent the entire day in the same spot all day.  He never even got up to drink water.

Today, we took him to the vet.  He seemed better this morning, even seemed happy to go outside (he didn’t know he was going to the vet, I’m sure).  Right before we went to head out, he threw up (nothing because he hadn’t eaten) and there was blood.  All the more reason to get him into the vet as soon as possible.

Well, I’m happy to report that after $500+ and 6 or so hours getting hydrated through IV, he’s doing much better.  Basically, he had a flu-like thing. He came home, ate a little and then settled in snug as a bug in his doggie bed.

bandaged_griff

With luck (and love) he’ll make it through the night without any incident.  If that’s the case he goes back into the vet tomorrow to get his IV port removed.  If he gets sick again and throws up the little he ate, then it’s back in for more IV work.

Of course, I have to first make sure he doesn’t rip the damn port out first.  He’s already started pulling off the snazzy yellow bandage.  Luckily I had some no-stick bandage and wrapped some more.  But I’ve no doubt that he’ll try again tonight while we’re all sleeping.

We shall see.  I’m just glad it’s something quite mellow and nothing to really worry about.

Has This Been a Typical Monday For You?

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This weekend I was either running around doing errands (like donating to the local SPCA) or in bed sleeping off migraines (thankyouverymuch el niño). I’m so bummed I wasn’t able to make it out to see Lauren Luke at Sephora either.

Of course, this made to today a tough day to get back down to business.

Mind you, it didn’t help that the dog was up and down all last night asking to be let out because he’s sick.  It also doesn’t help that he left piles of puke everywhere you turned.  Poor little guy.  He seems to be doing better, but he’s also all snuggled tight on the chair in a massive pile o’blanket.  He felt bad enough that he barely even barked at the lawn guys.

So today I did what I could to get some work done.  I realized that this is the last week in January and I go back to teaching again in 7 weeks.  Needless to say, I’ve got to actually accomplish something in these next 7 weeks or I’ll feel like I wasted my whole semester off.

So how about you, how was your Monday?  Were you off to a good start?

Image: Vintage Ad Browser

Beauty Blogger, Lauren Luke is Coming to LA

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I am not a beauty blogger (nor do I pretend to be one). But I do love me some make up.  And even more so, I like learn what I can about applying make up.

I recently discovered beauty blogger vlogger sensation, Lauren Luke.  She’s a Brit that offers up make up tutorials and can teach you how to recreate celebrity looks.  The cool thing about her videos (aside from her adorable dogs nearby)  is that she doesn’t edit her videos, so you see how she does her looks in real time.  And she’s putting the make up on herself, so you see how you could do it yourself. And that’s some useful information, if you ask me.

This year, she actually got her own line of color palettes that are being sold exclusively at Sephora. And to spread the word, she’s been doing an Inspiration Nation road trip across the US. 

This Saturday (tomorrow), she’ll be in LA at the Sephora Century City for the final stop of her tour from 6:00-8:00pm.

This is your chance to check out her line (I’m totally eying the My Vintage Glams kit) and visit with Lauren.  And the good news, it’s totally open to the public; you don’t have to be a blogger or in the industry.  If I get the chance, I’ll definitely be asking her how she gets those amazingly long and lush eye lashes.

And let’s face it, with all the rain we’ve been having lately, you could do with a pretty little break away, where it’s dry.  And did I mention that you’ll feel all sorts of pretty?

Rub a Dub Nothing Beats Soaking in a Tub

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Most of my friends know of my love of soaking in a bathtub.  Heck, I’m sure I’ve mentioned it here that when I vacation, one of the things I look forward to is a good soak.

You see, in our apartment, we have a pretty dinky (and enclosed) tub.  In my places in NM I had a shower stall in one apartment and yet another dinky (and enclosed) tub. Which means I’ve been without a decent, soaking tub for the past 10 or more years.

But in my last place in Atlanta…oh baby, in Atlanta I had an AWESOME tub.  It was long and deep.  And had a great tilted back that was just made for lying back and soaking.  Is it any wonder that I took a bath pretty much every other day on the days I didn’t showered (which I only did to wash my hair).

Needless to say, most of my friends know of my love of a good bubble bath.  So much so, that when a dear friend from high school was in town on business, he invited me to soak in the tub in his hotel room.  I was torn though.  I mean, let’s face it, it’s one thing to search out hotels with great tubs when going on vacation.  It’s another to use a married friend’s tub in his room while he’s on vacation.

Weird right?

But then again, it just goes to show that he’s a long-standing, old friend for a reason (and I believe years ago I used his awesome tub when I visited him come to think of it).  I mean let’s face it, he obviously knows me right?  He knows what makes me happy and that in turn makes him happy.

So yeah, I took him up on it.  He sat in his room and caught up on his business while I took a quickie bath – the hotel even provided the rubber ducky.  Boy, did I appreciate it too.

Let me just say, our next place WILL have a decent tub.  And decent counter space (but that’s a different story).

A Day of Volunteering: Pinot Days

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I should probably start out with stating the obvious….I love wine.

That said, pinot noir would have to be one of my least favorite wines.  But I was looking for some volunteering opportunities.  Oh and there was free wine for the volunteers.  And well, free wine is good wine in my book.  So volunteer I did.

It was being held at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica airport.  Which was an interesting venue.  There were over 100 wineries there, a few cheese vendors and some miscellaneous wine-related vendors.  Immediately walking inside the hanger and you’re over-powered overwhelmed with the hum of all the voices bouncing all around the metallic hanger.

My volunteer shift was one of the later shifts (3:00 – 5:30) which meant there wasn’t all that much for me to do up at the front table.  Not many people were arriving the last two hours of the event.  But I did get to see plenty of really, really drunk people leaving.  And that alone was worth the volunteering experience.

I did take a super quick taste before I checked out. I mean I had to, it was wine 😉

I’ll definitely sign up to volunteer again next year (though I’d love to have an earlier shift with a bit more responsibility).  And if you like pinot, you might want to check it out.

I’m Such the Fashionista: Hanging at the Mart

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This weekend is a crazy sort of weekend here in LA.  We’ve got NAMM going on in Anaheim for the musicians out there. There’s the Golden Globes for the movie buffs.  The Home and Gift Show going on at the Convention Center for the retailer.

But me, I decided to hang out at the California Mart to check out the LA Fashion Summer 10 event.  And the LA Kids Market.  And the Focus Apparael and Accessories Show.  And the smaller, low-key , Home and Gift Market.

Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed.  To say the least.

Yes, that tall building is indeed the Mart.  It’s located on 9th & Main in downtown’s Fashion District, and home to hundreds of wholesale showrooms for fashion, textiles, gifts and home decor, in addition to a range of offices, studio spaces, fashion design schools, restaurants, cafes, shops and special event venues.

That’s three buildings, 13 floors worth of window shopping!

I figured it would be best to just walk around and scope things out. No sense trying to reach out and talk with anyone.  I’m far too green and new to the whole process.  Plus, I was given a directory of all the lines and vendors, so I’ll still be able to get something out of the whole experience.

All in all, hanging at the Mart (especially during their Friday sample sales) can be fun for all.

Are You Looking for Mr Right?

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If so, you might want to check my friend, Lisa Steadman’s new book, If He’s Not The One, Who Is?: What Went Wrong – and What It Takes to Find Mr. Right.

It’s a brilliant book that can walk you through what you need to know to find Mr. Right, not Mr. I-Can-Make-Him-Love-Me, Mr. Right-Now or Mr. Why-Doesn’t-He-Love-Me.

She knows her shit, trust me.

Oh and if you buy today, you can get BUCKETS of freebies to go along with the book.

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Happy DeLurker Day!

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Whew, I almost missed.  Thank goodness for the famous Twitter party (and the fabulous @MrsFlinger).

The process is simple…stop by and visit your favorite blogs that you never get around to leaving a comment and and well, comment.  You don’t have to be brilliant.  You don’t have to share your life story.

Just take a moment and say Hi!  Tell someone how much you like following along.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to say hello below.  I promise, I don’t bite.

The Real Housewives…

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It’s no secret that I love me some Real Housewives of Orange County and New York drama.  I think those shows are juicy as juicy can be.  Well today I was poking around my Facebook feed and saw mention of the Real Housewives of Late Night.

Oh my God!  It’s awesome.

I’m not sure how all this NBC late night rescheduling is going to play out, but I need more of these Housewives.

Jimmy Fallon’s wife Denise introduces us to the brassy ladies of Late Night.

There are seven in the series so far. Be sure to check them all out. Funny, funny stuff.