Back to LA

It's Thursday afternoon. I've just finished packing and I'm waiting to go to the airport for my flight back to Los Angeles. Christmas was great. I spent most of my time with my family but I was able to see a few friends. I'm never able to see everyone, which is expected, it's too hard at this time of year. I took some pictures and posted some of them on my flickr page from all that happened over the week.
I hate to fly, so I'm a bit nervous right now, but I'm really anxious to get home. I got an ibook for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to watching some DVDs on the flight. I'm pretty sure the in-flight movie will be one of two things, 1) really lame (they showed a Hilary Duff movie on the flight here) or 2) something I've already seen. I am bringing a complete season of Sex and The City, so I think I'm good. Quinn and Shannon are also arriving at LAX tonight, so I'm going to retreive my car from the parking spot and then pick them up. It was pretty convenient that our flights were all within an hour of each other.
I've been checking my emails since I've been away and there are 3 or 4 work-related things that need to be handled and I'm not looking forward to dealing with that when I get home. I always hate getting back into the routine after a nice long break. It's like the worst "Sunday" feeling ever. I go back to work on Tuesday, the 3rd, and I know I'm really lucky to get the time off, so I shouldn't be complaining, but it's my blog...so whatever. I'm already anticipating that horrible feeling of Monday night. If you know me, then you know how I am almost every Sunday night. I'm in a bad mood, and hating that a new week is about to begin. Maybe this coming Monday will be different, maybe I'll be ready and fine about going back, but I'm not counting on it. I can be excited about one thing though...it will be a short week. :)
I'm basically killing time right now. My family is out shopping. I stayed here to do laundry and pack and take my sweet time while getting my things together. Besides that, they were going to hit the MegaMarshalls (it's apparently a really big Marshalls..MEGA), and I hate going to those kinds of stores. I call them "diggers" because you have to dig through crap and more crap and at the end of it, you might walk out with a shirt that you sort of like. To me, it's just not worth it. I know there are lots of people who can "bargain shop"..my mom was really good at it. But I am not one of those people. I don't even really like to shop. It all depends on my account balance and my mood. It's 4 oclock now, and I should be leaving for the aeropuerto in exactly one hour. I guess they will get here in enough time to pick me up and turn right back around to drive me out to BUSH INTERCONTINENTAL. I was going to provide a link, because I'm cool, but then I thought about how not cool that would be, so I didn't. There are lots of things in Texas named after George Bush (not W.), one of Houston's two airports is one of those many things. Pretty exciting stuff, right?
Ok, so this weekend is going to be an uneventful one, and I'm pretty happy about that. I plan to do some sleeping, some cleaning, some re-acquainting, and maybe something fun since it is afterall, New Years Eve on Saturday night. I'm not sure what the plan is exactly, but I'll blog it later.
I'm going to go find a snack or something, so I'm not tempted to eat the disgusting pizza that continental now offers as their inflight meal.
Hope everyone enjoys their last holiday of 2005! Peace!

TEXAS!

I'm all ready to go, except I have everything left to do..like pack! Today is my last day in the office and I'm off until the 3rd! Yipppeee! I'm extremely anxious to get home, though I'm not looking forward to the travelling part at all. I hate planes, but I love airports. I just don't love them at this time of year. Lines are longer, people are less kind, everyone's in the hurry of their life and there's usually always some kind of delay. I pretty much already know the plans for my week at home, and they go a little something like this:

Arrive in Houston Friday night at 8:13pm
Saturday: make christmas cookies and other desserts with my sisters and then probably see a movie with the fam.
Sunday: Christmas! Family time and then some more family time at my sister's new house (she's a having a little housewarming party).
Monday: Molly, Chris and Riley are stopping by for a quick visit on their way to La Grange. Then our extended family Christmas party being hosted by my dad this year. That evening I have semi-planned to do something with Lara. We will see how things go.
Tuesday: possibly lunch with Tammy & Carly blevins and that evening we are seeing my parents friends (John and Nancy) from London for dinner. They are not from London, that's just where they became close friends. My parents were living there at the same time that they were living there.
Wednesday: This day is unplanned!
Thursday: This day is unplanned as well...but I leave to go back to LA that evening.

I don't have definite plans for New Years Eve yet, but I imagine there will be some champagne and some late night celebrating to be done somewhere near home...possibly Renee's in Santa Monica? There may also be a party to go to. Not really sure yet. Of course, I'll blog it! I'm hoping to get some good Christmas photos while I'm home. I will post those, too!

I hope everyone who's reading enjoys their Christmas and has a safe New Year! Happy 2006! PEACE!

It's almost christmas and I'm not ready!

I have not finished my shopping yet! Though I'm going to try to finish everything tonight and tomorrow night after work. I've been house/dog sitting for Roxanne while she's in Viet Nam. The dogs are doing fine, the house is fine..I'm just really ready to get back to my own bed though. I'll have one night in my apartment before I leave town. I'm leaving Friday afternoon for Texas. I'm looking forward to going home for almost a full week. I'm usually only home for a short weekend. Christmas time can be crazy, but I think this year the fam and I are all going to take it easy...we're not planing a whole lot. RELAXation is the key word. :) The Monday after Christmas is the day of our extended family party. Dad is hosting this year. I'm looking forward to it, especially since I wasn't able to go home for my cousin, Konor's wedding this past Saturday! Konor, my twin cousin (he was born six hours before me) got married! Kristi is his wife's name and they are in Belize right now for seven days, so I won't get to see them, but almost everyone else should be in town for the party! I'm also going to see my friend, Molly and her little girl Riley Ann, who I have not seen since last January. I'm thrilled about seeing them. I know it will probably be a quick visit, but I'm thankful for what time I can get. I will also try to see as many of my other friends who live in Houston, while I'm there. It's just really hard at this time of year. There's so much going on for everyone between family and friends, I get pulled in all different directions and it never works out that I see all the people I wanted to see. But I always try!
This past weekend I saw "The Family Stone" for the second time. I loved it as much as the first time. After the movie, Quinn, Justin, Aaron and I went to Renee's for a drink. We had two drinks I think, but we weren't ready for the night to end, so we went back to Justin and Aaron's place. On the way we stopped at the 7/11 and bought some beer, wine, chips and cheese and some other stuff but I can't remember what now. Apparently Justin thought he needed to check Quinn's sobreity by giving her a quick test. I can't remember what he said but it was something about her face being a certain way, and he said "flace." Good test...obviously given by someone sober. :) We stayed for a beer, ate some snacks and went home. Justin and I spent the day together Saturday, and that night I went to Michelle's new house in Highland park. Season, Quinn, Michelle and I used to live in the same duplex in Hollywood, and Michelle is my friend who got married in Maui this past May. She and her husband Corey bought a house and have been fixing it up. It was my first time over since they moved in. The house looks great and they do, too. :) They also just got a new puppy. He's a Welsh Terrier. He's adorable and his name is Echo. So cute! Michelle made us chocolate waffles and homeade peanut butter ice cream, along with carmelized bananas. It was delicious...she's awesome. Sunday, Season invited us(Quinn, Justin, Adam and I) over to our apartment for a "Shubes Christmas." We cooked a thanksgiving style dinner and watched 'Home Alone.' I was soooo tired and full afterwards. I was back at Roxanne's and in bed by 9:30 last night. That was my weekend. In case some of you are wondering who this Justin is that I'm spending so much time with lately...he's really cool. I know you read this, Justin, so that's all you're getting. ;)
I've got some stuff to do at work, so I can't blog anymore right now. Happy Monday, and hopefully everyone is doing alright and is ready for Christmas!

FRIDAY finally!

I'm going to see The Family Stone again tonight! I think it's out everywhere now, so go see it!

The best music according to Robin: 2005

I have not blogged in a while. I've been kind of busy and lazy at the same time. But I was just compiling my "best of" list for the year. I might need to make a few changes because I feel like I'm leaving something out, but here goes:

These are in no order. It's hard enough for me to make a list of favorites, I certainly can't order them!

1. Sigur Ros - Takk
2. Doves - Some Cities
3. Stellastarr* - Harmonies For the Haunted
4. Idlewild - Warnings/Promises
5. Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
6. Starsailor - On The Outside
7. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
8. Turin Brakes - Jackinabox
9. iSOLA - Loud Alarms
10. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans

There were plenty of other albums that I listened to this year, but those are my top 10. I want to add 'Leaders of the Free World' by Elbow because I know it's good, but I don't think I've listened to it enough yet for it to warrant a top 10 spot. I also want to add 'Road to Rouen' by Supergrass, because it's going to be one of those albums that I really start getting into in 2006....I'm already a fan of it, but it's still kind of new to me. Many people are putting Bloc Party, Maximo Park, The Bravery, Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, The Magic Numbers in their TOP album lists this year. While I think all of those bands had some good songs this year...the complete albums just didn't do it for me. But that's just my opinion. I didn't put Coldplay on my list either. I really like 4-5 songs on the album, but I just didn't think it deserved to be in the list. It makes me a little bit sad, too, because I was looking forward to it's release the most in 2005.

Snow Patrol is back in the studio and should be releasing something in 2006. I don't think they are a very good live band, but I loved 'Final Straw,' so I'm interested in hearing what they come out with next year! I'm hoping Travis will release a new record next year, as well. They are very overdue and I need some new tunes from them ASAP!

Christmas is 2 weeks away. I can't wait to go home! I will blog more later about what's been keeping me busy and lazy. :)

Family Stone

I saw a special screening of "The Family Stone" yesterday. Click here to watch the trailer if you have not heard anything about it yet. It was GREAT. I loved it and I can't wait to see it again when it comes out in theaters. It was the best movie I've seen in a long time. Good story, great acting...it will make you laugh and cry. Definitely go see it!
I also saw "Little Manhattan" this weekend, which was very cute. It's about an eleven year old boy and his first love. The two children in the movie did an exceptional job. I heard that it was the first time the little girl who plays Rosemary has ever acted. She was great! Our friend, Patrick Houlihan was the music supervisor on the film. If you see it, pay attention to the song called "Younger Yesterday"...I believe it's played during the "scooter scene." The song is by The Meadows, which is Patrick's brother's (Kevin Houlihan...aka Bevin) band. Anyway, the song is really sweet and fitting for the scene. You can also listen to it on Myspace, link available here.
That's it for movie news :) The weekend went by too fast, as usual. Friday night after work, I puppy sat for Cathy. She has an 11 week old french bulldog! He is the cutest thing ever! Here are some camera phone pics:


Speaking of camera phone pictures, when I got my new phone I was worried I was going to lose all the pictures from my old camera phone. But luckily I uploaded those pictures to the sprint website. Because I did that, I am able to see all my pictures from my old phone online. I saved a bunch of old ones. Here are some old pictures from last year and the year before:
Me and Quinn at Redrock on the strip, 4th of July 2004:

my birthday cake that Michelle made for me in 2004:

Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics show at the House of Blues in 2004:

One day on my way home from work:

My sister, Daphne on Mulholland drive:

Travis at the Wiltern (January 2004):

Snow Patrol at The Troubadour (May 2004):

I rarely use my camera phone now. The quality sucks and I don't really send pictures to anyone anymore by phone. But I'm glad I still have those pictures! Ok, back to the weekend. Saturday, I was lazy most of the day. That evening I went to see Little Manhattan with Season, Quinn and Adam at the Grove. The grove is one of the prettiest places this time of year. Someone/people do a really good job of decorating it. After the movie, we went to Renee's in Santa Monica. Had a good time, but I spent too much money! I hate how much alcohol costs in this city. It's ridiculous. Sunday, I saw The Family Stone and then had dinner with Quinn and my dad at The Cheesecake Factory. Yum Yum. I tried to stay awake for Gray's Anatomy, but I fell asleep again! TIVO is coming back....I'm missing my favorite show, without it. Now it's Monday, woo hoo. That is all the blogging I'm doing for now. Peace.