Home Sweet Home

There's nothing quite like visiting the old fam' and, on this particular trip, reuniting with an old friend. I always have a good time. It's great to get away from the craziness that is living in LA even for a day or two.

However, nothing can compare to the feeling of coming back home. Driving north on the 405 tonight at 11pm, I came up to the Washington/Venice exit and almost immediately the amount of traffic on the freeway tripled. As much as it annoys me, it's annoying in a very comfortable and familiar way. It's the city's way of saying, "welcome back Sara, we missed you screaming at other drivers and shooting your heart rate through the roof". There is a lot about LA that you can hate, but there is also so much to love. Regardless of either, it's my home and it has a special place in my heart. It's like your first car, 10 years old and a piece of shit. You hate the fact that you don't have heat in the winter or it can't go above a certain mph going up hill, but you still love it for all it's worth.

That is how I feel about this city. For better or worse, I love LA. No matter how good of a trip I have visiting family and friends down south, I love being back home sweet home.

That's my girl

Today is National Pit Bull Awareness day!

It was started by a group called Bless the Bullys back in 2007. The idea is to raise awareness and educate the public on Pit Bulls. While I don't own a Pit myself (I will when I can afford it one day), my family has a Pit who is the sweetest thing I have ever met. Meet Maddie:

The weird blur is a sock with a knot in it (falling). She has a couple of other toys that she could give a shit about but when it comes to her socks... my god, she goes ape shit. It's adorable.

Anyway, I am going to share some "facts and fiction" about Pit Bulls that I stole from the Animal League America website. I also encourage you to look up the breed more thoroughly yourself and find out just how amazing (and loving and sweet) these dogs really are!

There is no such thing as a "bad breed".
The pit bull breed gets a bad rap, but more often than not, they are the VICTIMS of irresponsible and abusive ownership. Pit bulls are extremely intelligent dogs and take their cues from the humans who raise them. Only humans are capable of knowing the difference between “right and wrong” and all dogs are bred, raised, and trained to behave the way they do.

Pit bulls are actually bred to be affectionate towards people.
Pit bulls have been bred for hundreds of years for strength, agility, high pain tolerance and absence of aggression toward humans. Because they were traditionally fighting dogs and most were also family pets, the dogs required extensive handling. So even though they were bred to be aggressive towards other dogs, aggression toward humans has never been tolerated.

Bull breeds score better on temperament tests than the general dog population.
In December 2004, the American Temperament Test Society showed the American pit bull terrier scored an overall temperament rating of 83.9%, compared to the 77% score of the general dog population.

Most “pit bulls” are not really pit bulls!
Pit bulls are probably the most misunderstood dog in the United States. Often, an aggressive dog that has a big head and short hair is mistakenly identified as a pit bull and unfortunately this makes for good headline news, even if it is false. Do you think you can identify a pit bull? Take this quiz and see how you do.

Pit bulls love and adore humans.
Most pit bulls in this country are family dogs and love to spend time with people more than anything else. Often, even those that have been severely abused can't wait to be petted and loved, even by the person who is abusing them. Of course, there will always be exceptions to normal temperament and behavior in any dog, and the same is true of the people who own them.

Pit bulls are bred to fight.
This is very important to understand. Pit bulls love humans, but they need to have very responsible owners who will be vigilant all the time and will not allow them to fight with other dogs, ever. Pit bull owners must be extremely receptive to canine body language and know that the responsibility of their dog with any other dog ultimately depends on them.

Animal cruelty ends through humane education.
The humane education process must start with children so that they will grow up understanding how to treat dogs and other living creatures. Through our Humane Education programs North Shore Animal League America representatives visit schools and day care facilities and offer shelter tours to children’s groups to teach children empathy to fellow living creatures.

Have you loved a Pit today?

Can't get depressed until the sun comes out

Good job Los Angeles.... it's been cloudy and grey for a week. By my apartment (where I've been holed up both working and slacking) it hasn't even rained during the day. Every day is the same cloudy and medium grey. One week.


Let me point out that I also just repainted my room a darker blue/grey. Really pretty. I love it. But between the new color and the weather, my room in particular has been really really dark for the past week (it's almost black at noon with my shades closed although it makes sleeping in really easy). Better not get sad until the sun comes back out to play.


In the meantime, stay happy LA with these wonderfully ridonkulous ways to "keep your insanity"...

1.  At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars…see if they slow down. 

 

2. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that. 

3. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.

4. In the memo field of all your checks, write ‘for marijuana’.

5. Order a ‘diet water’ whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

6. Specify that your drive-thru order is ‘to go’.

7. Sing along at the opera.

8. Five days in advance tell your friends you can’t attend their party because you have a headache.

9. When the money comes out of the ATM scream, “I won! I won!” 

10. Tell your children over dinner, “Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go.” 

11. Pick up a box of condoms at the pharmacy, go to the counter, and ask where the fitting room is.

Coolness level has not improved

Saw this commercial for the first time today...



Hi-frikkin-larious. 

I'm not sure what exactly it is about this commercial that I love so much, but I think it's a mix of the GIANT hair at the end and the way he so sadly says "yes..."


On a side note, there is a teal Windstar (van) that parks on my street. Today I noticed it has a Harley Davidson sticker on the back window. I don't know who actually owns the van, but putting a Harley sticker on a minivan does not make you a bad ass. You are still driving a minivan... and it's teal.

Oh, yes

Last night was a reminder... after two weeks of non stop activity, then having a long day of volunteer orientation, walking around downtown LA, working, accidentally skipping dinner and finally going to a bar... the alcohol will hit you a wee bit harder than usual. 

Win.

There is no f***ing secret

Kelly Osbourne is a celebrity that, as we all know, lost a ton of weight earlier this year. She looks fabulous and I sorta have a girl crush on her now. My favorite part when it all happened was everyone trying to figure out her weight loss "secret". The big secret? Diet and exercise! Surprise surprise! 

This particular topic is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I hate when girls express, in any form, a sort of jealousy about how tall and thin I am. YES, I am naturally tall. NO, I am not naturally thin. Just like Kelly, and every other celebrity out there, there is NO SECRET. It's all about living a healthy life style.

I run 4 times a week and I eat healthy. Lots of vegetables. I don't drink soda or other sugary drinks. I try to limit my candy/cake/ice cream intake (and when I don't, I gain weight like everyone else). I don't keep "snack" food in the house, including crackers, chips, cookies, etc. I snack on things like celery or carrots. I also don't starve myself! Depriving your body of food DOES NOT cause weight loss. It only makes your body store more body fat because it doesn't know when it will get food next.

Don't believe me? A few years ago I was 20 pounds heavier and about two sizes larger (I have photos). I ate like shit and spent a lot of time sitting around. When I reached the big 1-5-0 in weight I finally got fed up and joined a gym. Since then, I am constantly working on improving my routine and giving my body what it needs to stay fit and healthy.


All that being said, stop with the jealous remarks and the self loathing. If you don't like the way you feel or look, then DO something about it! People do it ALL THE TIME. It's hard, it's tiring, it's not always fun. But that's life. For anyone who knows me, you know I am a huge believer in taking responsibility for yourself. You have no one else to blame but yourself for the choices you make when it comes to food and exercise (and most things in life). I've said this before but I don't accept excuses or lip service of any kind. I only accept actions. Put away the cookies on your lunch break and go for a 30 minute walk around your building. Don't like running? There is hiking, yoga, swimming... possibilities are endless. Have celery and almond butter (so good) instead of a bag of chips. These are small decisions that all add up to huge results.


I also want to point out that I am NOT saying everyone has to be super thin. I am a total believer in embracing and loving your body for what it is. Curves are sexy. I, personally, love mine and love to show them off. I just want people, especially women, to love who they are. I also want people to redirect all that energy they use whining into being productive.

Like Nike says, "Just do it."

Negative by how much?

I think today has been a result of 10 long days of production proceeded by two more days of moving furniture, heavy cleaning, and repainting my room. Then to top that off, I dropped my laptop on the power cord while charging and broke the plug. So now I am using my roomies laptop while I attempt to have mine fixed. That's starts me out at a -100 points.

I had a busy day planned, all very carefully laid out. It started out wrong when I woke up 2 1/2 hours later than planned (-50 points). Apparently I was tired enough to sleep through my incredibly annoying and loud alarm that was sitting right next to my head. I had to jump out of bed and run out the door without showering or eating (-25 points). I was still a half hour late to where I was suppose to be at 10. Where I needed to be sucked too. I had to drive 40 minutes into the city to pick up two patches because they needed to be returned to Universal.


So I pick them up and start the trek back to the valley. I stopped at Goodwill to drop off a bunch of stuff I wanted to get rid of (+50 points). Then I stopped at Target on La Brea and whatever the crossroad is. Then I realized, oh shit... I dropped off my returns at Goodwill (-25 points). Damn. I wasn't about to drive all the way back down La Brea, out of my way, to pick it up. I figure I would just eat the cost.


So I trudge on up to Universal. I was making a turn off La Brea onto Franklin towards the freeway. There were no other cars around. After I rounded the corner, there was a guy on the other side sitting at a stop sign to make a left turn (into my lane). I was watching him because I have been in two major car accidents in which, BOTH times, I was T-boned when I had the straight through and the other person was at a stop.


He pulled forward a little then stopped. I couldn't see his face but his actions suggested that he had seen me coming. Then out of no where he GUNS it straight at my car to beat the traffic that was coming the other way. Thank god for my paranoia because I saw him coming and totally not looking in my direction. I had to lay on my horn and swerve into the next lane. He looked at me like a deer in headlights. Dumbass. (-75 points)


Next I made it to Universal to drop everything off. Thankfully that went without a hitch. I was really craving chicken and so I used Yelp to look up "chicken". The second choice is gave me was Lotus Vegan(-5 points)... only in Los Angeles. So I sucked it up and drove over to the California Chicken whatever that is back by my apartment. Lunch was quite satisfying (+25 points). Thank god.


Next stop was at Buffalo to attempt to sell some shit. I opened my trunk to grab my bags and, lo and behold, there's my Target return. Not sure if that makes me awesome or a failure (my mom agreed on failure) but I'm glad I can do my return (-25 points for failure). Not that I don't love to help out by giving stuff to Goodwill but I don't want to PAY to give them stuff. I can't afford that.


So I get inside and there's only 3 people in front of me (+25 points) but they all have a CRAP ton of stuff (-30 points). I sit on the phone with my mom for the bazillionth time today because I'm bored and ponder over whether I should run across the street and get coffee or wait.  It's pretty slow so I decide to take the chance. I grab my bags and scurry across the street. I got a pumpkin spice latte WITH whipped creme (+25 points) because it's been that kind of day. On my way back, I think I see two more people in line. When I get inside, there's actually about 6 more people in line (-50 points). Awesome. At least I had my latte to keep me company. I finally get up to the counter and they reject a lot of my shit (-20 points). But I did get about 30 bucks to spend (+30 points) but there was nothing I wanted today (-10 points). 

I still need to take my computer in but I feel so gross from running around and not having showered yet today. I came home and figured I would take a little break since I have to work tonight. Plus I have some wrapping to do still for this last project.


Anyway, I haven't been keeping track of my points but as far as I can tell, today is still in the negative. It's just been one of those days.

I leave you with this... the Google search of pit bull puppy pictures. Because they are so cute my heart hurts.

"I merely chewed in self-defense, but I never swallowed."

Unfortunately my life has been unadventurous as of late. I was working on a project and as a result, very busy for the past week. This week is no different. I have lots of projects that need to get wrapped up. Blah blah, boring boring. 

I'm wasting a little late night time watching Dragonheart on TV. Classic movie. I was about 9 years old when it came out and was definitely a favorite of mine growing up.

Let me just say, it is still completely enjoyable. It's incredibly cheesy. The bad guys are wiped out by getting clothes lined by tree trunks and shot in the butt with arrows. You can't top that. Quaid as the jaded knight and David Thewlis (more well known as Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter movies now) playing the crazy prince. You know he is crazy because he spends the entire movie with eyes so wide they look like they are going to fall out of his skull. Oh, let us not forget that he kills his own mother. Bastard.

The only thing I think he did right was (as a redhead) try to mate with the hot peasant chick, who was also a redhead. With the declining redhead population, she should have taken one for the team and just gone with it. Just sayin...

But I digress! This movie is wonderfully bad. You can't really beat the sexy voice of Sean Connery as the dragon. The dialog is silly and, like I mentioned, they play on the idea that a hurt bum is enough to knock out the "bad guys". I think I adore this movie even more than when I was little because I can actually understand what's going on.

If you haven't seen this movie recently, I suggest you rent it. I just watched a man get taken out by a basket. Win.

Dear Mister Creepy Stalker Man...

News Flash: Not interested. Give it up.


Not so much love,

Me

Self Explanatory

The scene: Relatively fresh to LA, 18 year old Sara is working a mid morning shift at the Sbux. A middle aged, overweight, creepy guy walks up to the counter.


Me: Hi, what can I get for you today?

Guy: [Insert order here]

Me: Great. That'll be $__. *proceeds to write order on cup and ring order*

Guy: Does anyone ever tell you that you look like Maggie Gyllenhaal?

Me: Yea, sometimes.

Guy: My favorite movie of hers is Secretary.

Me: .... Okay, have a good day. Next customer? Hi...

Bonding in the H-Depot

Base camp was at a Home Depot parking lot today. Ren and I walked over to go to the bathroom and danced our way through the store.

On the way out, we passed a guy who, when I looked over, threw his arm up and started dancing. I gave him a weird look (unintentionally) and he came back with "What? You ladies don't wanna dance anymore?" It was a good moment.

I'd like to finish this blog by just sharing how FRIKKIN EXCITED I am for Halloween this year!

Bad dog

I am sitting around waiting for tomorrow's call sheet to be sent out so I can go to bed already. They better send it soon or have a later call time, otherwise I am going to be cranky tomorrow. In the meantime however, I decided a blog was called for despite a lack of anything really exciting to blog about.

Earlier today I had an offer to go see Jack Johnson on Friday. I can't due to filming so it's not so much exciting but disappointing. I did suddenly remember this lovely little story though so I hope you enjoy:

I was going up north with a bunch of kids for a shoot about two months ago. We stopped to pick up our last guy who happened to be the proud owner of two precious dogs. While the boys were loading the SUV, a few of us were playing around with the dogs. I was chillin and talking when I suddenly felt something warm on my foot. I looked down and one of the dogs was peeing on me. Did I mention I was wearing sandals? Good times.

DO NOT dip your hands in the bugpoo water

I was at the gas station and just chilling. I watched the guy in front of me finish pumping his gas, walk over to the squeegee water and dip his fingers in the water to rinse them off. He dried them and walked away like it was no big deal.

The squeegee water.  The same squeegees that are not only a. part of the trash can but b. clean bug guts and bird shit off your windows and then get put back INTO THE WATER in which he just dipped his hands.

I'm not a germaphobe by any means but there is something fundamentally wrong with that situation.

It gets better, SO much better

In light of the many recent suicides of gay teens, celebs and organizations have started a quickly spreading campaign "It gets better". I think it is SO vital that young kids know this and that we all do our part to spread love and acceptance.

Growing up is brutal. For those who had or are having that movie-like high school experience, that's awesome. But what about the rest? I, personally, had an awful high school experience. I was never bullied or picked on, I had various friends over the years, and made good grades. But, and while I'll share a lot I won't go into details about this, I can tell you that I was pretty much miserable the whole time. It was a four year low point.... I felt really sad and, most importantly, alone most of the time.

But, like everyone says, it DOES get better. It gets a million times better!!! I took moving to LA after high school as my opportunity to cleanse my life of all the bad and start over fresh. It was the best thing ever. I love my life and my friends. When I think back to high school, it feels like the life of someone else. It's so insignificant.

And, no one is ever alone! There are so many places for people to reach out and get help. And it is SO important that they know they *can* get the help and that people do care. I can tell you that the worst thoughts you can have is to ask yourself "would anyone care if I was gone?" and not know the answer. People DO care and suicide is NEVER the answer.

And please please please be the example. Don't say things like "that's so gay" and don't be afraid to call out your friends when they are spreading homophobic ideas, even if it's a "joke". You never know what effect you can have on another person. Overhearing something negative can be fatal to someone who is struggling.. just like a genuine smile can make some one's day.

Much love to all. Stick around... life is beautiful!!