November 9th

So Linden and I have found a new love for fitness. We are reading all the latest magazines/websites for fitness routines and foods. I am going to start eating next week pomogrante as part of my diet. We have come up with all kinds of new recipes. Our latest salad creation includes black beans, corn, lettuce, Rice a Roni Spanish Rice(oh yeah), tomatoes, and pepper. Linden likes to add salsa on top while I enjoy olive oil and red wine vinegar.We're going to try making home made enchiladas next week. We joke that we should record ourselves with our 20 minutes or less healthy recipes to post on YouTube. We’re writing contracts to keep each other in line towards a fitness/health goal. Once I create mine I will post it for everyone to hold me accountable.

On our day off last week we went on a hike through the Hollywood Hills behind the Griffith Observatory (Yeah it’s named after Linden). The Griffith Observatory is a free museum which I recommend to everyone in Southern California to come experience. Behind the museum there is a park with 51 miles of hiking trails through UNTOUCHED Hollywood hills overlooking LA. It is quite beautiful! Linden ran most of the time while I walked in between running. According to Linden I have two speeds walking or painfully kicking her ass. (LOL) Not my fault, I blame it on playing soccer growing up. It was worth the run up to the top to see a 360 unobstructed view of Los Angeles. We could see all the way to the Pacific Ocean in the West and to the 15 freeway which is heading through the mountains on its way to Vegas to the East.
DragonForce was by far my favorite Wiltern event. We went to take video for your "crew video" of working the line and the people in line were so genuinely excited. Linden and I both couldn't believe their enthusiasm. We didn't even tell them what our video was for, nor did they know we were video taping because we had a third party named Ashur taping behind us. Who would of thought those these punk black wearing face painted kids would be so nice!!!!!!!!!!! People just loved hanging out with us at our little booth. We did have some very interesting pick up lines which was pretty funny. I was extremely embarrassed at one point when some guy saw me and started yelling in the hallway, "OMG it's Sarah Palin!!!!!!! Sarah Palin!!!!!!!!!! Look guys its Sarah Palin!!!!" I quickly took off my glasses and was blushing with embarrassment.

The UCLA tailgate party with Verizon Wireless and BlackBerry turned out to be pretty fun. There were so many kids because of the "I'm Going To College" program, which made the sweepstakes they were running a little difficult. I needed to create my own fun and rallied some yelling matches with kids and enjoyed coming up with new VZW cheers. Thank God for my experience of being a cheerleader because I still us it! Being at a college football tailgate party fueled my interest in pursuing my masters or MBA. UCLA definitely won brownie points for school spirit!!!!

November 3rd Update

I am still working the Southern California Verizon Wireless tour and living in Manhattan Beach while visiting San Diego with every opportunity. Linden and I really like the area we live in. We are only 1.5 miles away from the beach and along the beach they have an awesome bike as well as a separate running/walking path. We have a new love for Pinkberry (www.pinkberry.com) which I consider to be a new crackberry. They sell fat-free frozen yogurt, smoothies, shaved ice, or granitas. With your frozen yogurt you have the option to pick fresh toppings to add like fruits, nuts, or candies. What is amazing is they are opened every night till 2am and 3am on weekends. It’s great for us because sometimes we don’t get out of an event until midnight. In my free time, I was able to visit China Town which was a lot of fun and I found a new look out point for the Hollywood sign with a trail to hike.
Unfortunately, I haven’t done much more exploring since life on the road has gotten really busy!!!!! Last week Linden and I worked 52 hours. We had a lot of big events including the Tim Brown Golf Invitational. All the proceeds from this golf event benefited the USA Surf Team. I got to meet some of the marketing directors for cool companies like Cole Surfboards, Billabong, Quicksilver, Oakley, and also professional surfer Kelly Slater. It was pretty awesome! The best part of the entire event was at the end they had an Inn and Out truck serving FREE hamburgers, fries, and drinks! Everyone knows I love a good Inn and Out cheeseburger- protein and animal style.
Another cool event was the two day Chris Cornell and Timbaland in store and concert. It was a great experience being part of the behind the scenes for this event. I got to learn a lot about all the various roles it takes in order to make this type of event successful. Sometimes we go to a concert and we only see the surface part, but it really takes multiple companies to take care of various aspects like pix/text to screen, ticket sales, stage set up, venue location, etc.
We also got to work the exclusive BlackBerry Storm Launch party. It was a free Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age concert at the Avalon on Hollywood and Vine. If you have a chance to see a concert in Hollywood I recommend the Avalon. This venue is intimate, beautiful, and the sound quality is amazing. At this event Linden and I were fortunate enough to work in the VIP area where we mingled with many A list celebrities including Matt Skibba (guitar player and vocalist from Alkaline Trio), Austin (Band Manager from an upcoming band called Drive A), Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper on the OC), and James (Disney and Columbia records). Yes, I got to play with the BlackBerry Storm and it is pretty incredible. The touch screen display feels like you are really pushing buttons. The resolution on the screen is amazing and videos look better on the Storm than on a big screen TV. Get excited because I know I am!
For Halloween, we worked the Cypress Hills and The Cool Kids concert at the Wiltern on Wilshire. It was a very interesting crowd. We didn’t really get to dress up since we were working; however, we saw a lot of really good costumes. Luckily, after the concert we got to experience a little Halloween since my mom drove up to visit and she made us trick or treat. She is so sweet!
Linden and I were recently asked to do a tour extension until December 12th so it looks like we are going to be on the road longer than originally anticipated. I am excited because it means the clients think we are doing a great job, more money to save for my trip to Colombia, and I don’t need to start looking for a new job until January 2009. I am still undecided if I want to tour again next year in another location, go to graduate school, or move into a corporate job. So many options… If you hear of any really good opportunities please let me know.

So that’s the update from the front of the Verizon Wireless FJ Cruiser.
Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll!