TaTa Summer 2015

Most attribute the last day of summer to Labor Day, others actually follow the calendar, but me, I consider summer over the day I'm back at work full-time in real shoes and clothes as opposed to flip flops and beach cover alls that I magically wear as a dress!

It went by so quickly but it definitely a good time. Let's recap some of my summer highlights from my fav songs to places I visited.

June

I kicked summer off with my birthday party at The Room in Hollywood! I originally wanted to have an event where people didn't have to dress up, could listen to 90s RnB and rap, and dance the night away. After making several calls and deciding that spending $1000 or more on celebrating myself despite how awesome I am wasn't the best idea; The Room was perfect for what I wanted. It's not the largest venue but I was able to host close to 20 folks in a private section for (insert dramatic gasp) $150! I had such a good time and so did my friends! so much fun that they've been trying to get me to go back! (Btw its $300 for bottle/drink service; essentially you don't have to get a bottle your guests can just order $300 worth of drinks buuuut they need to hand you cash so I would plan ahead)

Here's a pic of some of us! I blurred everyone's faces since this is a public forum

That same weekend my son's class decided to go roller skating for their end of school year celebration. We met up at Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale. I liked that there was no fee if you weren't skating but disliked paying $5.00 to rent a walker for my non skating child who was hilariously frustrated with his inability to skate. All n all in was a fun day! Moonlight is one of the last roller rinks hanging around LA that I know of so if you want to get on wheels check em out!

Check out Kayden and his expensive walker rental at Moonlight Skating Rink 😂😂😂

Next stop was Las Vegas because what's summer without a Vegas trip? We flew Southwest and ended up having our flight delayed 3 hours. I got a flight voucher though! I ended up staying at my fav place Harrahs and since it was my birthday and since my Friend and I were so polite to the front desk clerk at 3 am during EDC weekend, where I'm sure htoel guests were not on their best behavior, she upgraded us from some double queen bed room to a Penthouse Suite that had 3 beds, two jet powered tubs, a living room, dining room, and bar! It was such an amazing room and I had so much fun as usual! I'm learning that you can't do a big entourage of folks on trips 3-4 girls max. This time it was just My friend Britney and I and we had a ball! So much so that I'm going to leave the Vegas recap here and just share a few pics lol

We actually didn't take very many pics for

many reasons...

Did you know 5 am is happy Hour?

I actually fell asleep in the tub

Me after my tub nap

Next I hit up some of the concerts during BET weekend. I got to see Miguel Who I love , perform a set of his songs off his Wildheart Album which is out now! If you're in to like an eclectic funk, r&b, new school Prince type music then this album is for you! There's a lot of religious elements to some of the songs that I find rather interesting ;lyrics that pertain to lost Angels, lost souls baptized through love making...Miguel's lyrics are actually pretty deep. I find myself experiencing his songs rather than just listening to them! I enjoyed every second of the show! I think I was in a trance! There's still bits of the show that are engrained in my memory like the way he danced, the way he remixed some of his popular songs, his clothing. It was probably on the list of fav concerts. FYI ( my fav songs on the album are gfg, flesh, the valley, nwa ft kurupt. Oh and Hollywood dreams!) I listen to this album almost every single day

Here's some photos I stole from Miguel's page because mine weren't as good minus his set list... That's my amateur photo of me creeping on Miguel's stage plans lol!

^^^^ Wildheart album cover!

In between the BET concerts I stopped and had sushi with my friend Millie at Yen Sushi in Culver City at Westfield Mall; it was about 1 on a Saturday Annd happy hour honey! For about 8 bucks each we got a ton of food and it's super delicious. My only gripe is that they were out of champagne and sucked at making white wine spritzers but they did try! I just needed my bubbles dang it! If you do go and not interested in happy hour because you're just balling like that I highly recommend the BBQ Spare Rib roll! It's probably one of the best things I've ever tasted!

Next we hit up the Kendrick Lamar x Snoop x NWA/ Ice Cube concert which also featured TDE artists Ab Soul and Schoolboy Q! Kendrick slayed as expected. I def wanted his set to be longer but he wasn't the headliner. I've seen Snoop before and he usually performs with a live band which makes his shows so much fun! he didn't this time but he was ok. He had so many people on stage that I started getting confused and my energy died alot/instantly when he brought that Bird guy on stage I don't know his name but he sings that good morning to you song... and he's popular on social networks. It was all so confusing. Anywho Ice Cube closed the show and brought out RBX, Mc Ren, and Dj Yella and at one point Cube and his son switched and I had no idea lol! It was a good show and a really good time!

me in my concert gear

After the concert, the next morning we hit up brunch at Pann's in Ladera! Pann's has Champagne brunch every Saturday and Sunday starting at 9am I believe. It's one of my fav breakfast spots! Champagne brunch is only $6.95 too! That's like the cheapest champagne brunch in town and they are super generous with their pours! I can't tell you much about their food because I get the same thing every time I go! Fried Pork Chop breakfast! It's my fav and I refuse to try anything else! My son has had the nuggets which are identifiably real chicken pieces as compared to some other nugget manufacturers. All jokes aside they just make good homemade feeling meals but I love my fried pork chops and I'm sticking to them! There's always a wait at Pann's! For faster service nab a seat at the counter!

July

Summer was pretty chill! I took a family trip back to Vegas! We stayed off the strip at the Downtown Grand Hotel! (for details see my previous post Single Mom Travels)

We went to Knott's Soak City! Had a ball.

I tried a new restaurant called Creme de la Crepe. There's several locations I went to the Culver City one. Check yelp for coupons! They also have champagne brunch for $15 AND they time it! You get an hour to pour em back! Doesn't matter if you and your friend and like two other folks are the only ones there... Depending on what you're in the mood for I wouldn't go there for Champagne Brunch but the food was amazing! I got a salmon and cream cheese omelette with asparagus, potatoe au gratin, salad, and a baguette! Can we say mouth party???

August

In August we had my sons bday party! He turned 7 wooohoo!! I was going to blast the party vendor but I'll tell you my experience without naming/ruining someone's business. The party was at Del Aire park in Hawthorne, it's a beautiful space with shade. I paid $81 bucks and had access to 8 tables a bbq pit and space to put a jumper! The park has a list of vendors with the proper insurance so I used a company they recommended! I ordered close to $300 bucks worth of machines: cheese, snow cone, hot dog warmer + jumper and balloons with a park recommended vendor. The owner was pretty pleasant over the phone. I put a deposit down and all was good. I called her back the Thursday before the party because I didn't know my final balance, wanted to add balloons to my order, and hadn't received an email for a final invoice (we transacted through PayPal) I called the next day too... Finally she tells me my balance. The next morning the day of the party she calls to confirm what time she should have her people deliver. I say 10 am she agrees. Felt great. Day was going pretty smooth. I get to the park at 9:30 and started setting up. 10 comes and no vendor. She told me previously that it takes about an hour for the cheese machine to warm so I should get it set up in advance so my guest wouldn't have cold cheese. Cool no prob. With this in mind at 10:15 I call and check the status and she told me her driver was running late. Ok cool. 11:00 comes and they hadn't shown. At this point they were an hour late and I started to feel scammed because I had already paid my balance in full the previous night. (Silly me) by 11:15 I'm blowing up this woman's phone and she wouldn't answer. I was near tears trying to figure out what to do. I still needed to pick up the cake and set-up for the party. She finally answers after my 12th call (not exaggerating) it's about 11:40 at this point. She didn't apologize when she answered and actually was nonchalant about her driver being close to two hours late. I was upset and start yelling she asked me to calm down and I asked her if she would be upset if she was in my position. She then said she was canceling my party. I found myself begging her not to it was my child's birthday! She said she wouldn't accommodate me with a refund of any sort but would bring an additional machine at some point in the day. Her driver which ended up being her teenage son and his friend (son was cordial, friend was beyond rude) showed up at 12:10 (party started at 1) looking like they just rolled out of bed delivering items in flip flops, dragging ass, no apology, just rolling eyes and nasty attitudes. It was embarrassing to have to beg someone to do their job but I didn't want my child to be disappointed on his bday, so I swallowed my pride, stopped complaining, and hoped they'd showed up, which they did about 45 minutes before the party started. It was a horrible feeling and a horrible position to be in. She did send an additional machine at 4:30 but the party ended at 5 so I sent it back. The communication seemed to be poor internally as well because she text and called me all night asking me to return her machine which I was never in possession of. Her son had it! It was just awful. But my son enjoyed his day and that's all that mattered. Her products were great but service sucked. Hopefully it was a one off and other customers are treated better.

Jumper with a custom Sonic Banner

My son and I also went to Mulligans in Torrance where they have minature golf, laser tag, boat paddling, go cart racing, and an arcade. I only spent $32 bucks for an entire day of fun. Laser tag is my new favorite thing by the way! I had way too much fun!

Kayden getting geared up for laser tag

I attended Our Family Dinner again this summer. For those new readers Our Family Dinner is an event where a bunch of folks that you don't know become your family through food and fellowship. It's a technology free non business card networking type event with the sole purpose of building family and friendships. This year it was held at STK. Let me tell you for the first time in life I had grits without sugar and boy were they tasty!

I didn't get a pic of the food but here's a pic of me with my friends at Our Family Dinner.

My next stop was at The Strand House in Manhattan Beach! The view was perfect! Food was pretty ok but service was sub par. It wasn't that crowded but you just never know people's workload so you tip anyway... Nonetheless, It was a fun time hanging with the girls.

They did accommodate the mediocre service with these pretty babies below

Here's a pic with the girls... I blurred their faces for privacy purposes but shared because I like my outfit...

I ended the summer with my good friend Millie at the Hollywood Bowl. We went to see Moses Sumney/ St. Vincent/ Erykah Badu. I was a little up in arms over St. Vincent performing longer than Badu. Don't get me wrong St Vincent put on a show that was visually stimulating and delightfully symbolic. However, I felt like traditionally the newer artist gets less show time. She performed about 14 songs for about an 1 hour and a half to Badu's 1 hr set. I can watch Erykah Badu perform all day and night. She's funny/witty/ authentic/ and real. I wanted more of her but it is what it is. I do love love love the Hollywood Bowl you can bring your own picnic set-up which includes ding ding ding Drank! We loaded up on Trader Joe's goodies and enjoyed an evening under the stars. No one really knows how hard Millie can party until music comes on! We always have so much fun! It was the perfect way to end the summer...outside, enjoying good music in the company of my good lifelong friend.