I Love Joan

I am currently sitting in a theater waiting for a screening to start. I figured it was a good time to update. The movie I'm about to watch is Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. It was the first flick I saw and I LOVED it.

The reason I'm seeing it again is because I had a ticket to an award winner that was tba until this morning. Just so happens it's this one. I'm pretty pleased. I could have switched but I didn't feel like starting my day with a doc about Bin Laden or a doc about some Korean comedy troup. Joan is a good way to start your day.

So what have I done? Well... I started with Joan on Friday morning followed with a few hours of exploring Main St. I love downtown Park City. So cute and mountainy. I met up with Caitlin after that and we grabbed some grub, relaxed at the condo (which is incredible and right in front of a mountain), went to another good flick (Howl - love James Franco) and ended our night with a crazy staff dance party. It was supposed to be like a mingle-drink-eat at the Film Makers' Lodge but it ended up as a pile of hammered staff shaking their booties. Fun to watch. Kind of strange from an outsider's perspective.

Yesterday I got to sleep in, veg in the hot tub (yeah - they have a hot tub in their bathroom), read and relax. When Caitlin got out of work we ran a few errands and then went up to the Olympic Park. That was a blasty. We got to watch some bobsledders who were practicing for the Vancouver Olympics and tour the museum. It's so beautiful up there too. What a view.

Last night we went to see this movie, The Killer Inside Me. It's not competing. Just a premiere. It. Was. Awful. Well, that's not fair. It was very well executed for what it was. The filming and acting was great. But the story was just terrible. So disturbing. Casey Aflec played this quaint little town sherrif who was brutaly murdering people behind closed doors. And I mean brutally. He punched Jessica Alba to death and kicked Kate Hudson to death. If you like S&M and graphic violence, check it out I guess.

After that we went to the Award Party. INtense. Even MORE drunk people, staff, film makers and yuppies alike, dancing the night away. We didn't stay long. Caitlin barely slept the night before. I wasn't really feeling it anyway.

So now here I am. After this movie we are thinking about going into Salt Lake City depending on the snow. Whatever we do, I'm sure it'll be super fun. Oo...here goes Joan. WOO!!! Later peeps.

Salt Lake Cit-ay

Ok ok... I know I haven't been writing enough. Life hasn't been that interesting. I mean, it's been great. Don't get me wrong. But not much worth writing about.

Nick and I are doing lots of exploring. Hiking, driving around, walking. I'm figuring out which parts of California I like. I definitely DON'T like LA traffic. It's not even traffic. It's its own thing. LATRAFFICSHIT. That's what it is. And I do not like it.

On a happier note, we went to Disneyland yesterday. My god it's so cute. It really is the happiest place on earth. We went with Nick's friend, Port, and his girlfriend. It was perfect. 65 degrees, clear skies and NO PEOPLE! Go at the end of January, kids. It's bomb.

So now I'm sitting in my car in a 7-eleven parking lot in Salt Lake City. Actually, I'm in Park City, UT. I'm here visiting Caitlin (France roommate) who is working out here for the Sundance Film Festival. Yep, I get to go to premieres this weekend. Sweeeet.

The drive took 11 hours and it was SO beautiful. I can't even describe it. You'll have to check out my pictures I took while driving on facebook when I post them. The mountains are totally magical. The only time I got a little nervous (and by little I mean I should have worn a diaper) was when I drove through the Rockies. Yeah through. Why in the name of anything would you make the speed limit 75 on a twisty, windy pass through mountains and valleys where a car can go careening into oblivion? I was shaking by the end.

Still pretty though. And driving through the mountains that separate Salt Lake and Park City at night is equally amazing. The skies are totally clear tonight, there's fresh snow on the ground and it feels like you're being hugged by the mountains. And then you turn a corner and there's a tiny town all lit up and nestled into the foothills. God. So beautiful. You should come see for yourself!

I'll let you know how the rest of my trip to Utah goes. So far so good. Miss you all!

California So Far

so here i am. living in california. it still hasn't really set in yet. i feel like i'm on vacation and i'll have to go home soon.

kate left last night. it was pretty sad. i miss her already. it will be strange not seeing her every day but i guess we'll just have to rack up some hefty phone bills. this trip was the perfect way to ease our way into living 3,000 miles apart. boo.

BUT. this weather is amazing. i've spent everyday outside. kate and i went down to san diego to visit katherine and david porter with andrea and rustin. it was so good to see them. they moved into a new house and it's really beautiful. they did a lot of work to get it in the condition it's in.

rustin is so big and really fun. he's turning into a smart, polite, hilarious little man. i've spent some time hanging out with him while andrea does her work. he's great - doesn't complain, has a great imagination, does what you tell him to do and is eager to give hugs and kisses. and he's a lady's man. all the little girls on the playground flock to him. andrea will have fun with that in about 10 years.

now nick and i are looking for a place to live and he's showing me all of his favorite spots to hike and rock climb. the hiking is awesome. the rock climbing is...scary as hell. but i'm getting better.

ok, gotta get moving. missing everyone. xoxo

I Am Actually Hot Right Now

Alright friends. We are driving through warm, sunny California. About 2 hours from my new home. It's 79 degrees and I have my window down. Jealous yet?

I think the last time I wrote we were on our way to Dallas. It was a quick stop but long enough to produce a healthy bunch of hangovers courtesy of Nick's friend, Becca, who put us up for the night. I even got to see Werner and MB for breakfast the next morning.

We drove from Dallas to the Carlsbad Caverns (or as Kate heard it "Carl's Bat Caverns?") In New Mexico. We stayed the night at a KOA and then hiked through the caves yesterday afternoon. Highlight of the trip hands down.

Last night, after hiking all day, we drove 10 more hours to Phoenix. Needless to say, no one had any trouble falling asleep.

Now we are 2 hours outside of LA and so ready to be out of this car. I can't wait to take the stuff out of every crevace and clean the poor thing. She's worked hard.

Anyway, we are safe, happy and warm. Kate and I will head down to San Diego tomorrow to stay with the Porters for a couple of days and then back up to LA to start getting my life together. Yikes.

So we are on the road right now. This is the first time I've used my blackberry to write a post so bear with me. We've had a long...LONG 5 days.

We left on Sunday (the 2nd) from Narragansett in the RV with the corolla all packed to the brim towed behind us. It was windy and slow going but we were making our way just fine. Until the RV broke down in New Jersey.

Yep. No more RV. We spent 2 full days (3 nights) in NJ while we figured out our plan. The RV was $7,000 and 6 days to fix. So we finally decided to ditch it for the time being with a mechanic and pack what we could into the corolla.

I'm actually pretty impressed with how much stuff we shoved into poor old Gladys (Kate's nickname for the car). We bought one of those soft shell pods and jerry-rigged it to the top of the car. It literally has all of my posessions in it other than some clothes and my toothbrush. Pretty nervous about that. We also have Nick's drum kit, 2 acoustic guitars and a bass. And Kate somewhere in the back seat. (Poor thing)

We made our way to Tennessee after 12 hours of driving. Do you know how often it snows in Tennessee? Never. But of course they got a snow storm the night we got there. So we stayed all day yesterday with Nick's friends in a big beautiful house out in the sticks outside of Nashville. We were pretty much snowed in which let me nurse my fever and cold. Oh yeah, through all of this I've been sick as a dog.

Right now we are somewhere between Nashville and Memphis. Every station on the radio is country and every pit stop is full of "Yes ma'am's" and "y'all's". And truck stop chapels?

Anyway, we are all safe and anxious to get to the beautiful California sunshine. I will keep updating. Hope everyone is well and already planning their trips west to visit!

Stage One of the Trip to California

So before i get into the stages of the trip, i should explain why i'm going out to california in the first place. when i moved back from france, i didn't know what to do with myself and thought maybe now is a better time than ever to try something new. but, financial circumstances along with other reasons kept me from making the move.

then i met nick who soon became my boyfriend. he is from ventura, ca and his band, the dear hunter, is what kept him in ri. which he hated. now the band is moving their studio to the west coast and we thought it was a good opportunity to move ourselves over there too. i now have the money saved up and an excuse to pick up and start fresh over on the west coast.

so here we are. we left on sunday in the band's touring rv with my little corolla in tow. (oh ps i totaled my wonderful little volvo in september when i avoided a dear in the middle of the highway at 4am). we made it ALL the way to new jersey when the rv pooped out. engine fail. we spent the night in the rv with no heat and about a million blankets. needless to say i am now in the midst of a cold.

in the morning we called several mechanics and finally found one who would come out and diagnose the problem. unfortunately, the engine needs to be replaced. either the oil tank froze and cracked or...whatever it was, it was due to the freezing cold new england winters and this california rv could not handle it.

thankfully, the $5,000 expense will be covered by the owner of the rv, nick's cousin. but we are stuck at a super 8 in raritan, nj. at least it's warm. we could be here for another 2 days. i hope it's less because kate is with us and she has a flight back from la on the 17th. i want her to spend time out in california with andrea but i don't want her to have to fly out and miss the trip with me. so torn.

anyway, that's the update for now. here's hoping we get out of here soon and on to nashville. and OUT OF THIS SNOW!