a personal post

you’ll have to excuse my personal post, but i feel the need to explain just where the heck i’ve been! i took a little break from my blogging to, well, do a lot of things. it’s been a busy summer’s end. let’s see…

i’ve been to st. louis, san diego (twice), san francisco, chicago, napa valley, palm springs and my first trip out of the country, japan. i moved into a townhouse, got a fabulous new job and found purpose in my career path. what else? i learned how to snowboard, surf and golf (200 yd drive, pretty darn good!). i went to sea world, disneyland, ran a 5k mud-run, bet on horses in del mar, cheered on the angels at a playoff game and went to the beach countless times (newport, huntington, san clemente, santa barbara).

so anyway, this is a post to my readers (are you out there?) to let you know i’m back. and will be blogging on a regular basis again. happy reading!

delightfulcollage

home sweet $74M

bradandangelinaprovencehouse

got an extra $74 million lying around? you just missed out on this beautiful home in provence, france recently purchased by angelina jolie & brad pitt.  actually, ‘home’ may not be the right word to encapsulate a place with 35 bedrooms. i know they have 6 kids but why the heck do they need 35 bedrooms?

according to the mirror, the 17th century chateau boasts more than 1,000 acres. apparently brad & ange have been leasing the property for the past year and finally decided to bite the buying bullet. the couple also plan to spend a bundle renovating the place – making many of the rooms more modern. what additions are they thinking of, you ask? a new gym, wine bar, jacuzzis, a steamroom & spa and a motorbike track for mr. pitt.

as angie’s mom was french canadian, it’s not surprising that they chose the south of france as their home base. they’ve also said that their children are able to lead a more normal life there. yes, because it is so very normal to grow up in a $74M mansion!

rest in peace (above marilyn)

marilyncollage

even after her death people are still vying to be near the legendary marilyn monroe! the burial spot right above marilyn monroe has just been auctioned off on eBay. the owner, a woman from beverly hills, had her husband’s body removed from the prime location so that the highest bidder may take their coveted place.

bidding started 10 days ago at $500,000. crazy, right? well not when you hear what it actually sold for! the winning bid came in at a cool $4,602.100. $4.6 million dollars! who the heck has that kind of money? earth to the bidder… marilyn is dead and ghost are not real. she ain’t coming back for late-night chats in the mortuary!

the name of the winner is not yet known, but we can all just hop on down to the westwood village cemetery to check out the nameplate when it goes up. apparently the widowed auctioneer decided to sell the crypt to help pay off her $1.6 million mortgage. well it appears she’ll have no problem covering that now!

cox, the cougar

cougartown

courteney cox. hottie with a body. brills actress. cougar? that’s what ABC would like us to believe. turns out her next big tv adventure will be all about the sexy mommas. premiering in abc’s fall line-up, ‘cougar town’ features a comedic desperate-housewives-esque cast of 40-somethings in suburbia. and, after reading one blogger’s 5 reasons why cougar town looks awful, i decided to chronicle the 5 reasons why i think it looks pretty good!

1) executive producer? bill lawrence. i like him, i really like him. i guess the fact that one of his past works includes my personal fav, ‘scrubs’ doesn’t hurt his cause! and he himself is funny, which helps in catching the comedic timing of the actors.

2) courteney cox & christa miller. some of the other actors are less known, but these two definitely hold it down. yeah, i get it: courteney cox does NOT look like your normal 40-year-old, but who the heck cares? this is tv. these ladies bring the laughs.

3) i’m not old yet. ha! i guess it’s easier to laugh along when i’m not having to deal with the fears of growing older. so that makes the jokes land a little softer.

4) it’s no ‘lost’. sometimes it’s good to take a break from the heavy ones. ‘cougar town’ will be light & airy, judging from the 2 minute clips below.

5) it makes fun of the stereotype. i’ve been irked by the dumb reality shows hailing a ‘cougar’ for little boys to pounce around with. instead of the high-powered i’m-hot older woman who is so 100% secure in who she is, we get ladies who aren’t quite there. joking in the first couple minutes “i woke up fat this morning,” it’s pretty apparent that the average joan will be able to relate.

but you be the judge! check out the two clips below.

 

jon & kate plus the d-word

The Gosselin Crew

there are simply no words. i used to watch TLC’s ‘jon & kate plus 8′ to get away from it all. ridiculously adorable kids and funny moments made for the perfect tv relief. but then, it happened. it’s no secret that this family has fallen into the media frenzy of fame & gossip. and oh how the people love it – the premiere of season 5 was the most-watched show ever on TLC, with 9.8 million viewers.

let it be said: just like anyone in the limelight, we cannot truly speculate what is going on in their life, what they’re thinking, what they’re going through, etc. but what i can do is comment on what i’ve seen as a viewer of their show.

through the past 4 seasons, let’s be honest, kate has changed so much. even from just the last season, it seems almost eerie how different she acts. in the season premiere alone, kate talked more about her personal endeavors than ever before. it’s a no-brainer that she loves her children & has worked hard to make a great life for them. BUT it simply doesn’t add up. she spent probably half the episode talking about the paparazzi & her “career.” she started to tear up and immediately stopped as she “didn’t want to ruin her makeup”. and jon… where the heck was he? despite issues between he and his wife, you can’t just take off for a weekend. my heart broke when little alexis said “daddy i don’t want you to leave anymore…”

i’m not the expert, but i do know that it takes 2 to make a marriage work. not a magazine, not a tv show. the worst thing you can do is publicly bash each other (kate: “well, i’m doing it on my own. by myself. jon decided he needed a weekend off,” then rolls her eyes). and then it hits rock-bottom. kate introduced the dreaded d-word. once you admit that divorce is a possibility, it becomes an inevitability. they say that their family is their number one priority, and if it really is, then get rid of the tv show. get rid of the rumored $75,000 per episode. and get back your LIFE.