We're Moving!

Yes, ACGIK finds yet another new address...

Actually, its owner finally ponied up the cash to buy a domin name. Yay!

So please, ladies and gents, direct your browsers to (drumroll please) http://californiagirlinkansas.com

You'll love it. I swear.

Love It

Feel like a trip back to 1993? Go check out this post on Go Fug Yourself. Hilarity ensues.

It brings back nostalgia for my youth just like this one (Jessica was always my favorite twin) and, well, this one, largely for its reference to David Silver singing "You're so precious to me..."

Of course, I wasn't really allowed to read Sweet Valley High books cause they were kinda raunchy for a 13 year old (but I managed to read them anyway) and I had to sneak episodes of 90210 at friends' houses, but made up for it the summer after my senior year when I watched EVERY SINGLE EPISODE because they lived on forever thanks to syndication - twice a day on TBS!

My Secret Celebrity Crush #2

I totally have a dirty celebrity crush on Zac Efron. Dirty because I could have been his baby-sitter and that makes me feel kinda pedophile-ish.

But he's sooo dreamy!!!

Things I Don't Get #426

Why Jessica and Eric didn't totally backdoor Danielle on Big Brother 8.

Hello, perfect opportunity!! Dick and Danielle are clearly NOT going to afford Jess and Eric the same courtesy if one of them wins HOH, which is totally possible next week.

Another thing I don't get - how exactly I became so hooked on this damn show.

It's a Real Schmoozefest Around Here

I've been nominated for (and thus apparently the winner of) a blogger schmooze award by Doc, who claims I can drink him and The D under the table. His claims are correct. Maybe that should be the next blogger meet-up idea - see who can out-drink me. Hmmm...

Nonetheless, I now have the privilige of nominating some other schmoozers. 5 of them, in fact.

So here come the nominations. Envelopes please.

Ahem.

I hereby nominate (or award): The Awesomeness of John, Shaynanagins, Midwest Valley Girl, Chimpotle, and 3 o'clock am. All of these are worth checking out (if you haven't already, of course). You each have received 5 nominations/awards of your own to hand out. USE THEM WISELY!

All right. Enough of the blog love.

Things I Don't Get # 401

People who don't observe a novel concept known as the courtesy flush.

LA Story - Sundance

It's been awhile since I told an LA story. A long while. So... here we go. It's a long one. Get comfortable.

One of the biggest perks to my job in the 9021...2 was that I got to take an all-expenses paid trip to the Sundance Film Festival. It was pretty much the most last minute thing ever. I ended up driving up to Park City, Utah from LA in a rented Chevy Trailblazer with 2 tons of brochures stacked up in the back, Dixie Chicks playing on the radio and a friend in the passenger seat along for the ride.

The main purpose of the company's trip was to sponsor a big party along with Seven jeans and CAA (one of the big talent agencies). I was absolutely ecstatic about this. As an avid reader of fine publications such as Us Weekly and In Touch, I knew that I would see more celebrities at one time in one place than I had for the previous 6 months in LA.

I was right.

Mostly my trip consisted of chauffeuring my boss, my steadily drunken co-worker and other assorted friends and acquaintances all over the place. To the Seven jeans house and back. To the Motorola lodge and back... You get the idea. But there were perks to that too.

Like just driving around and spotting Ashton Kutcher and Rob Thomas and Lance Bass (for some reason, I had regular Lance Bass sightings). And then there was the Seven jeans house where I was offered free jeans (for some absolutely insane reason I turned this down) and literally - LITERALLY - bumped into Paris Hilton and Nick Carter (remember them together?). Then I saw Christina Applegate sipping hot chocolate on the other side of the room and Bo from Days of Our Lives trying on jeans in a makeshift dressing room. Hi-larious!!

My friend and I just sort of stood there feeling awkward and uncool and non-celebrity-ish.

That night was the big party. And after some drama (we couldn't get into our own party - sad, I know), we were finally rubbing elbows with the big guns. Only there really weren't any big guns. Just some C and D-listers like Kevin Richardson, formerly of The Backstreet Boys, and Jeremy Sisto. Not that I'm knocking C and D-list. I am Z-list.

My boss and his fiance had taken off because of the aforementioned drama, leaving me with armfuls of brochures and random hats to hand out to the partygoers. I was also, at this point, a bit drunk. Let me tell you, it made it a helluva lot easier to walk up to complete strangers and ask them if they had already reserved their yacht for Cannes and, if not, would they like a brochure?

And then I asked the question to a really tall, attractive middle-eastern man. And he actually wanted one. And he apparently knew my boss. And the next thing you know, his manservant (I kid you not) was holding my purse and brochures while Sam Nazarian - the tall, attractive middle-eastern man, was pouring me a drink from his table. Yeah, table service. This is about the time that I realized that this guy was kinda important. We posed for pictures for Wire Image (they never posted them - jerks) and he continued to woo me. Yup - woo. It culminated with his manservant getting my phone number and Sam informing me that they wanted me to come back to his hotel for an after party. They actually did call too - they were in a limo outside and did I want to join them?

I had absolutely no idea who this man was, other than he had cash and a manservant and liked to woo. But I politely declined. I'm not that kind of girl. So instead I went back to the house where we were staying and party all night and make a Lean Cuisine for the guy who played Luke on The OC.

When I got back to LA, I googled Sam and found out that he's kind of a mogul in LA - hotelier, restaurateur, film financier, etc. Do the clubs Hyde and Area sound familiar? How about the Viceroy hotel? Yeah. That's Sam.

And then, last night on Entourage, there he was, larger than life on my TV. Sam being Sam.

So whenever I rattle off one of these random, bizarre LA stories, I kinda don't believe it ever happened. It feels much more like the crazy dream I had last night than the actual events that took place in my life. But as my pal Aaron reminded me, here I am in Wichita receiving gifts from MTV Canada and interviewing Heidi and Spencer, so I guess you can take the girl out of LA, but you can't take the LA out of the girl.

The End.

SWAG!

Somehow, someone at MTV Canada knew that I was a compadre.

And they sent me a bunch of swag!!! YAY!!! I love free things!

In case you were curious, my care package from MTV includes: Season 2 of The Hills on DVD, MTV stickers, MTV temporary tattoos (hilarious), a keychain, a lei, and three "lip butters."

Things I Don't Get # 386

Grumpy people.

I really don't get grumpy people. Look - we all have moments when our panties get in a bunch, but overall, none of us (and by us, I mean me and those of you whom fall into the same demographic as moi) have it so rough that we have any reason to be consistently irritated and downright grumpy.

We have roofs over our heads. Clean drinking water. Obscene luxuries like built-in Bluetooth in our cars. We have indoor plumbing and the means to watch Big Brother After Dark on Showtime Too. We have laptops and iPods and leftover Pizza Hut in the fridge. Decent bottles of Sauvingon Blanc and Viognier in our wine racks. We spend $4 on coffee. COFFEE! Don't get me wrong - it's not all champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Cars break down. Hard drives crash. People get fired. Friendships end. Illness occurs. But in the great big scheme of life, that stuff is just that - life. The little nuggets of sh*t amongst the plethora of good. Yeah, that's right - the plethora of GOOD.

And yet some of us are still grumpy... All. The. Time.

Just, like, stay inside until you can come out and play nicely.

I mean it.

I'll Sing for Free

My mom is convinced that I need to be on The Singing Bee.

I'd do it just to hang out with Joey Fatone, but that's just me.

Plus, you know, I have previous game show experience. And a six-CD Time/Life collection of classic rock favorites as my consolation prize.

I actually called the hotline for The Singing Bee casting department tonight just to satisfy her and to see what happens. I'm a good game show contestant. I'm energetic. I laugh at myself. And you can bet that I will belt it out and sing like I've never sung before. Whether I know the lyrics or not.

I mean, I'm the girl who thought "Papa Don't Preach" was "Bubblegum Street" until early adulthood.

Holy Childhood

Many a weekend in my youth was spent in front of the TV at my dad's house watching American Gladiators and Star Search. And since leggings have already made their way back, why the hell wouldn't effing American Gladiators? Yeah, that's right. American Gladiators is back and you could even try out to be one of them. So if you happen to be excellent at jousting or obstacle courses or just being one crazy motherf***er, go for it. I'll root for you. Oh you'd better believe I will be all over that sh*t just like I was when I was nine.

Blame Canada

So emawkc posted this country quiz thing last Friday. I'm a little behind the times due to my weekend in KC and odd ailments, so I finally took the damn thing today.

And I'm Canada. CANADA! Freakin' Canada. I'm not even a South Park fan and I know that there's an entire song about (aboot?) blaming Canada!

You're Canada!

People make fun of you a lot, but they're stupid because you've
got a much better life than they do. In fact, they're probably just jealous. You believe in crazy things like human rights and health care and not
dying in the streets, and you end up securing these rights for yourself and
others. If it weren't for your weird affection for ice hockey, you'd be
the perfect person.


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

So the real question is... What country are you?

Amber the Crier

So my addiction to Big Brother 8 is pretty strong. Strong enough that I've actually spent a significant amount of time watching Big Brother After Dark on Showtime, which basically amounts to watching other people play beer pong and whisper to each about strategy for hours on end.

While Dick and Danielle are the most obvious houseguests to hate on, I find myself more often laughing at Amber, who cries every five minutes (with like the most awful ugly cry ever - one that she will surely regret when she is finally out of the house and gets to watch her many scrunchy-faced moments), tells everyone she loves them, has crazy visions sent from God and, more amusingly, has absolutely no grasp of the English language.

Ugh. Misery.

So somehow I ended up with a pinched nerve in my back and I've been moving like a slug all day because the slightest move in the wrong direction sends shooting pain all over the place. Sucks. Balls. This AND a not-right stomach all day have equaled some serious misery. A dear friend from work took pity on me and brought me my work laptop, soup, dark chocolate, Icy Hot and a heating pad thing during lunchtime. I had been dying for soup all morning (weird, I know) and when he brought me some, you would have thought he gave me an iPhone. I was excited.

So here's what I've spent my day doing: napping, trying not to move, cuddling with the Pug, checking emails and watching copious amounts of TV saved up on the ol' DVR (The Hills, Big Brother, Damages, Rescue Me, and, shamefully, High School Musical - 1 and 2).

That's it. That's all I've got. Just some Zac Efron and killer back pain.

A few kind of amazing things...

1. Did you know that bars in Kansas City, Mo. are open until 3 am? Craziness!

2. I spent my belated birthday gift card to Sephora (thanks Big Sis) and got the worlds largest bottle of Marc Jacobs cucumber eau de toilette. It smells heavenly.

3. Because I've been rather culturally deprived, I spent some time at the Nelson-Atkins museum doing the audio tour thing and checking out the new Bloch building. It was really cool.

4. I experienced the nightlife in Westport, which knocks Wichita's Old Town clear out of the water. Not that there was any question...

5. I enjoyed brunch this morning at McCormick & Schmick. It was delish.

All and all, my random KC getaway has been excellent- lots of pampering (pedicure), yummy eats, Boulevard beer, good shopping, a comfy hotel bed and drive time in my new car!

I Heart Michael Cera

I've loved Michael Cera since his painfully awkward portrayal of George Michael Bluth on Arrested Development (one of the greatest shows basically ever) and now I'm definitely planning to watch him in the new movie Superbad.

Here's a pretty classic George Michael clip from Arrested Development. If you're a fan of the show, there are so many hilariously subtle comedic moments that it's impossible not to giggle.

Better World Shopper

Janet talked about Better World Shopper over at Slice of Pink recently and I was instantly curious. What is it? A ranking of companies based on their overall social and environmental responsibility over the past 20 years. The idea as that you should use their rankings to basically vote with your wallet - support the companies that excel in areas like human rights, the environment, animal protection, community involvement and social justice. Being kind of a granola-crunching California girl at heart, I had to check it out.

Luckily, my hair products rank highly, as do my choices in retail stores. Same with my pick when it comes to drinking water (out of a PUR water filter attached to the tap that I bought after reading THIS. Check it out - it might change your perspective on bottled water too). Because I believe in rewarding companies that strive to be good corporate citizens, I may be re-evaluating my shopping habits in the categories where my choices didn't fare so well...

What do you think? Is this a lot of hooey or should we, as responsible consumers, use this kind of data when we make our decisions?

The Blogger Meetup

Ok, so there's been some confusion about this blogger meetup thing. And it's my fault because I swear I have adult onset ADD (well, only about certain things).

Anyway, the Blogger meetup is on SUNDAY, August 19th at 3 pm at Fred P. Otts at the Plaza.

As for Saturday night, I got a bit ahead of myself... I actually have another commitment that has come up, but thanks to everyone who volunteered to hang out with my sad self. :)

Really looking forward to meeting all of you that plan to attend!

Should you have any questions, you can email me at shea@b5media.com

The Rusty Anchor

I have just finished up four days at the Delta Gamma house here in the 'ta where I helped with all things sorority. I haven't been an active alum for years, but got back into it this year when I received an invitation to the Founder's Day brunch and thought, "Aw, hell. Why not?" And then I took an office and made a bunch of new friends. I've always teased Martine that she is the most expensive friend I've ever had. We met during recruitment and became fast friends during our semester as "new members." And then came the poverty when the financial aid checks went to things like pizza and satellite TV and a shopping spree or two at the Gap outlet. Anyway, with the addition of cool new DG friends, Martine's price tag has gone down a bit. She's still my favorite though.

So after being immersed in DG stuff (I wish I were kidding when I say I braided 46 friendship bracelets. It's embarrassing, but true...) pretty much non-stop, I have finally returned to my normal life of work, Jazzercise, Pug, naps, shopping, reality TV and regular blogging.

Yay!

On Saturday Night... Saturday Night

Um, so my plans have changed a wee bit this weekend and I was wondering if anyone might be available for some dinner/drinks on Saturday night? Preferably at the Plaza.

Otherwise, it will be me and some takeout in my hotel room. Wah.

Mild Sauce, Please.

My idea of the perfect evening: a new episode of Big Brother 8 and a Taco Bell bean burrito (with mild sauce) and an order of regular nachos. When else can you have so much fun for $2.02?

Martine and I subsisted on that meal during our poverty days in college. That and the Big Cheeseburger and two tacos from Jack in the Box to be washed down with vodka and V8 Splash.

Ahhh... poor enough to max out our credit cards, get our cell phones turned off and never be able to make rent, yet wealthy enough to always have booze on hand.

The Kansas City Blogger Extraveganza

Ok, y'all. I'm having a hard time making decisions about where we should meet in KC, especially since I don't live there...

I was thinking meeting somewhere at the Plaza would be easiest, especially since that's, like, the one place I know how to get to (hello.... shopping....) and there are plenty of spots to dine, drink or sip coffee at.

So. I've narrowed it down to general location. You guys have to help me pick a specific spot. What do you think about 3 or 4-ish for the meet? Would earlier be better?

You have to know that I am the most indecisive person ever about this kind of stuff...

HELP!

A Pic!

I'll post actual pictures later... Though those of you who are coming to the KC Blogger Extraveganza will get to see it live and in person. I'm sorry that I am so excited about this. Give me a few days to simmer down.

Goodbye Beetle, Hello Versa

I did it. I bought a new car. A brand new, never driven by anyone but me (seriously), smells deliciously of new upholstery and plastic and metal and carpet, never been dented or spilled in or made out the backseat of, BRAND SPANKING NEW CAR.

It's the end of an era, really. Well, a brief era, but an era nonetheless.

I thought I might actually get a little misty about it. I mean, the Beetle was quintessential ACGIK. I am the girl with the Beetle and the Pug and the iBook and the addiction to Starbucks, Gap and Target... and reality TV. Well, I guess I'm still all of those, just minus the first one on the list. I really thought I'd cry. But the truth is, that car was hell from day one. Well, more like day three when the check engine light went on and the dealership (ahem, Mike Steven Volkswagen Stealership) refused to fix it. And then I became poor and The Ex and I broke up and I moved into a slightly ghetto apartment that apparently was once a meth lab and then I lost my job and... Well, y'all probably remember some of that.

But I digress... It was time to do a little out with the old, in with the new. And, in case you were wondering, the Beetle's A/C was fixed for a whopping $74. $74 that translated to many thousands of trade in value which basically made my new car a fantastic deal.

So I now own a 2008 Nissan Versa SL. It's adorable. I mean, really. And it has gadgets! GADGETS! I love gadgets! I have Bluetooth - In. The. Car. How effing amazing is that? I just push a button on the steering wheel and press the talk button on my Blackberry and I am talking to people over the radio. There is, however, a lot of gesturing going on from inside the car and while I am in love with this feature, I also fear that random passers-by will think I'm a crazy person.

But I digress again... Gadgets. It has this crazy smart key thing that you don't actually really use. You just, like, have it on your person. And you turn the ignition with your hand and, bam, there you go. There is XM satellite radio which means that Linda B. and I can sing along to the best of the 60's and 70's anytime we want, not just when we are in a rental car, driving back from Atlantic City. There is an auxiliary port for my iPod. And a six disc, in-dash CD changer. And a sunroof. And many airbags and safety-type items. It's fantastic. I'm in love with it. I want to hug it.

I'll take pics. It's adorable.

And now I can relax and focus on everything else in this world that doesn't have four wheels. Phew!

BB8

Uhhh... is anyone else obsessing over Big Brother 8?

Things I Don't Get #346

People who can poo in public restrooms like it's no big deal. I have public poo stage fright. I've been known to go home at lunch if the moment arises. I can't handle the idea of someone sitting three feet away from me, separated only by a metal stall, while I have a bowel movement. I also fear ridicule if there is a stink or a loud plop. Or a fart for that matter. Lord knows that a plop or a fart coming from another stall will send me into a fit of elementary school style giggles. And stink will send me into a gagging fit.

Who knew that poo could be so complicated?

Obsessed

The updated plan goes a little something like this:

1. Take Beetle to have A/C serviced by nice, if not slightly crazy, men at small, independent VW shop in seriously sketchy and hood-like part of town because Mike Steven Volkswagen, the local dealer, is working for Satan. Try not to pass out from heat exhaustion on way there.
   
2. Avoid car shopping for a night, no matter how strong desire may be. Even though real reason avoidance is occurring is because car will be at shop, thus no method of transportation will be available.
   
3. Dream of new car incessantly.
4. Read edmunds.com incessantly (though obviously not at work because that would make Really Cool Boss unhappy).
5. Pray that cost of repairing air conditioning falls more into the "two hundred bucks" range than the "one thousand bucks" range.
6. Test drive Nissan Versa and maybe check the Mazda 3 again. And the Scion. And maybe the Prius, which I can't afford, but want to drive again just because I loved it so very much.
   
7. Buy new car.
8. Stop being obsessive.
9. Find new thing to obsess over. Preferably something less costly.

Cars, Cars, Cars

I spent 5 hours looking at cars today. I think I managed to sweat off 30 pounds in the process. And might I mention that riding in a car without A/C when it is 107 degrees is So. Not. Recommended.

Cars I test drove:

1. Mazda 3s
2. Hyundai Tuscon
3. Toyota Prius
4. Scion xD

Cars I bought:

1. None

And tomorrow my A/C gets fixed. Yay!

Things I Don't Get #331

The fact that on any day of the week, in any city in the US, there is a small child being dragged through Wal-Mart at 1 am.

This item can also be found at #72 on the list titled "Reasons Why I Won't Shop at Wal-Mart."

Event Planner

Ok, so The D made a really good point regarding the Blogger Meet-Up on Sunday, August 19... I have no idea where we should meet, y'all.

I need help, KC-ers! If I might make a suggestion, the place should either have nice, cold beer on tap or really good coffee. You decide.

Get Outta My Dreams and Into My Car....

The A/C in the Beetle went out last week. Let me tell you how joyful I was feeling over that one since I live in Kansas it's effing AUGUST!

Logical Shea was like, "Well, whatever.... I've already put over a thousand bucks in the Bug in the last two months. I'll just cough up a few hundred more and suck it up."

But completely illogical, impulsive, Ridiculous Shea (the one who wins most of the time) was like, "Uh, maybe I'll just get a new car." I blame this on The Mentee and The Boss who sort of convinced me of the idea over lunch and once I get something in my head like this, I'm done for (examples- The Pug, The Ex, moving to LA, buying the Beetle...).

So I actually went car shopping today. I didn't buy anything. Sometimes when I do crazy sh*t like this, I think that I should just go through with it to confirm the aforementioned craziness. But Logical Shea actually took over and I walked my crazy self out of the dealership and got into the hot as balls Beetle and drove home.

Of course, now the seed is planted and I give myself two months before I'm cruising around the 'ta in a new ride.

(Complete sidenote: Martine, who the heck are half of these jokers on General Hospital now? I just tuned in for the first time in probably a year and I might need some GH tutoring, Bishop's Court style...)

Blogger... Integrity?

Is that an oxymoron?

I can assure you that there is less of a code of ethics when it comes to blogging than in, say, actual, like, journalism. For instance, check out any celeb blog (mine included) and tell me that bloggers aren't absolute whores for free stuff. I'm guilty as charged on that one. MTV will from time to time offer up some sort of swag for blogging about their shows. And because my job is to blog about their shows anyway, why shouldn't I get a free My Super Sweet 16 tank? Of course, this is all in the context of the blog world where there are no rules and anything goes and, no, most bloggers aren't making the big bucks (Perez excluded).

But that's on the professional side. So let's talk personal. How many of us have overshared and then realized that someone (or multiple someones) who we never would have expected to stumble upon The Blog, have, in fact, stumbled right to it? Show of hands? Ok, so if you've been doing this awhile, you are fully aware that what you write out there on the WWW is highly likely to come back and bite you in the ass. Let's face it... We all take precautions. We come up with clever aliases for those who we wish to remain anonymous. We follow the cardinal blogging rule of never, ever, under any circumstances discussing work unless it is in tiny blurbs about how much you love your job/boss/company, etc. Of course, you never give details. And then there are the majority of bloggers (not counting yours truly) who refrain from discussing romantic details because if anything is going to take a big chunk out of your rear end, that would be it. Of course, I will even say that I tend to over-dramatize (hello - makes for more interesting reading) and leave out details that I either don't want to elaborate on or don't want the world to comment about.

But I think at the end of the day, when we start to break some of our steadfast blogging rules, we do it because it's our little rebellious way of having our tiny voice out there. And the catch is that you have to own it. You gotta be able to say, "Yeah, I said that. And I meant it. And if so and so happens to get clever with Google, they're gonna find it. And I'm ok with that."

In the oversaturated blogging world, you might as well be yourself and write from the heart. Otherwise, what's the point of blogs? Well, other than giving you the opportunity to gawk at scary pictures of Britney without her drawers on. I mean, look at Dooce. That lady has balls. She's careful, but she puts herself all the way out there for the world to relate to, judge, like, dislike, admire, laugh at, laugh with...

So if you're gonna be a blogger, you might as well do it with some cajones. Even if it's only every once and awhile.

It's Official

I'm definitely headed to KC on the weekend of August 18. If you're up for a blogger get-together on the 19th, I officially will be there and would *love* to meet y'all who live close by.

This has been a bizarre weekend already.

I need some sleep.

'Night guys.

Things I Don't Get #364

People who keep their cell phones turned off unless they need to make a call.

The Next 5 Songs on my iPod

These literally are the next five songs on my iPod. Unfortunately, even with hot tunes like these bad boys, my day is totally dragging.

1. Fire and Rain - James Taylor


2. This is a Forgery - Dashboard Confessional


3. Rock With You - Michael Jackson


4. Warehouse (Live) - Dave Matthews Band


5. Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx
   

Number 5 was our senior ball song in high school. HOT.