project kill crabgrass & clover: day 25

It's here! It's here! Check out my pretty, new green yard of marathon sod! Yippee! Now I just have to make sure my super-confusing, hi-tech sprinkler system is set properly to water it three times a day for the next two weeks so it roots itself and doesn't die and I'll be set! :)

Full shot of the main yard (aka Sprinkler Zone 5)

Side yard (aka Sprinkler Zone 3)

Curbside
(aka Sprinkler Zone 6)

The final "timelapse" photo taken from
the mailbox
 (for consistency's sake :) 

project kill crabgrass & clover: day 24

All the dead grass was dug up yesterday and replaced with fresh, weed-free dirt. Sod arrives tomorrow and then I will have a pretty green lawn I have to start watering again.

10 good things that happened this week

1. I saw The Book of Mormon. Hi-lar-ious!
2. For the first time since before Christmas, I have an ice maker that makes ice.
3. I finally updated my resume (ha... kind of had no choice :p)
4. The Voice started!
5. I met with my dad's financial adviser, who is now my financial adviser, and she told me to go to Tuscany. 
6. Said financial adviser is also going to start making smart decisions (vs. no decisions, which has been the case the last three-ish years) for me about my 401k that will soon be rolled into an IRA.
7. I spent lots of time with my amazing friends and family this week eating, drinking, hiking, talking, commiserating, laughing and rocking out. Most of them also told me to go to Italy, and one of them found me a dream "old stone house in Tuscany" to stay in for $100/night. 
8. I finally saw Pat Benatar in concert, one of the artists on my musical bucket list, also with great friends (and lots of vodka ;) 
9. For the first time since his kidney disease diagnosis last November, both of my cat Lucky's kidney values went down in unison + he continues to maintain his puny 6 lbs-1 oz weight for the fifth month in a row. (Hey, he didn't lose weight, which would be very, very bad.)
10. Then there was this...   :-)

project kill crabgrass & clover: day 12

My front yard is now officially dead. So dead I felt the need to go tell both my neighbors what was going on so they don't think I'm a bad neighbor trying to bring the neighborhood property values down. And so dead that some sort of creature (squirrels? birds? aliens?) has decided to start digging holes in it looking for buried treasures. Hey, as long as it keeps the squirrels from digging up my gardens, go for it! Just don't get used to it... lovely, thick, green, new sod arrives right before "Carmageddon II." 

things i love: my red roses

My ginormous red roses bloomed again today! I've been waiting for them to open up since I got home from Hawaii almost two weeks ago, back when they were just little buds at the top of my 6-foot tall rose bush. They are beautiful and smell ah-maz-zing! Love!!

project kill crabgrass & clover: days 1 & 3

So over the last two to three years, my once lovely front yard has been taken over by many, many evil, evil weeds... specifically clover and crabgrass. As of the day before I left for Hawaii, it was to the point that there was more clover and crabgrass than real grass. So I'm now taking drastic measures, inspired in part by the lovely yards at the house across the street that just got flipped, and my next door neighbor Leigh Ann's. I'm killing it ALL, having the gardeners dig it all up, and am purchasing rolls and rolls of marathon sod so I can once again have grass in my front yard. 

Day 1: On Friday morning, the gardeners cut the grass/weeds back super-short and sprayed massive amounts of Roundup to kill it ALL! I didn't take a pre-cut photo of all the not-pretty-green clover, (sorry), but this photo Friday late afternoon shows the Roundup is already working as brown patches are forming where clover once grew. 

Day 3: That Roundup stuff really works! As of Sunday morning, my yard now smells like hay. The remnants of what little grass I had are dead, as is all the clover. The crabgrass is still holding on though. I have to look at this ugliness for another 11 days, then the gardeners will start digging it up and prepping for the sod. Yay!

things that make me smile: e.t. music at the bowl

Every August I arrange a group outing to the Hollywood Bowl for John Williams' annual concert with the LA Philharmonic, where he plays a selection of music from the many films he has scored, and we drink a lot of wine :) And every year I have a really fun time. However, whether or not I love the show is based on one thing and one thing only -- whether or not he plays music from E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, my favorite movie of all time. 

Well, this year I LOVED the show! As this is the 30th Anniversary of E.T.'s premiere, Williams not only played music from E.T., but he played the score to the entire end of the film -- from the point Elliott escapes from the house, through the bike chase, until E.T. takes off on his spaceship... aka my favorite 10+ minutes of film -- while the film played on the big screen with its dialogue and sound effects in tact. It was awesome! 

random thoughts from an unplugged(ish) vacation...

This time last week I was on the Big Island of Hawaii drinking Birthday Girl Martini's (who knew they made cake-flavored vodka?!? I *think* this is the recipe) at "Hawaii Four-0" (aka my friend Katharine's 40th birthday party at the lovely home of her parents, who are lucky enough to live in paradise).

I decided while I was there I was going to actually relax, be in the moment and attempt to unplug / wean myself off of my social media addiction. I did pretty well... according to Facebook I didn't personally post more than once per day (except on Monday). But I couldn't stop my brain from thinking in 140 characters or less(ish). So instead of plugging in, I wrote all my random thoughts in a notebook (old school!) and am instead posting them here, after the fact and with pretty pictures, like this great intro photo I found while walking on the beach :)

Day 1:

In reading the EW fall movie preview, I've just realized that, with the exception of Last of the Mohicans and Age of Innocence (which I never saw), I really hate every movie Daniel Day Lewis has ever been in. 

Cloud creatures seen from 10k feet above the Pacific: an elephant sitting with its trunk in the air, a crocodile, duck, a worm and a dragon.

All the rock stars I loved as a kid/tween/teen were legally named either John or Richard. I've just now realized the Richard part of this statement while reading Rick Springfield's bio on the plane.

I can't escape work! Within two hours of landing on the island, Bob Iger and his family appeared at the Resident's Beach House at the Four Seasons where we're having sunset cocktails. Here's the sunset :)

Day 2:

Woke up at 5:30 am. Ugh. Stayed in bed tossing till 8am.

Things I forgot to pack: my glasses for reading when my contacts are out (like at the pool), an extra set of contacts (note to self: do not go in the pool or ocean with contacts in), workout clothes.

The walls/doors in my hotel (Waikaloa Beach Marriott Resort and Spa) are thin, but the rooms are really nice. And housekeeping is super fast! I was gone for an hour to walk to Starbucks and buy souvenirs and when I came back at 9:30, they were done!

My hotel room with a super-comfy bed I wish I could have slept in more. Jet lag sucks.

The view from my balcony

It's really windy in Waikaloa

RIP Neil Armstrong, a true hero

There is a crazy Hawaiian girl living at the tables outside The Whaler General Store at the Kings Shops. She was there at 9am this morning and still there at 3pm this afternoon.

I know seven people with birthdays this weekend (just Saturday & Sunday). Happy Birthday Jodie, JPI, Shane, Erin, Barrett, Niki and Katharine :-)

The stories are true! There really are chickens running wild in Hawaii! There was a rooster and two hens blocking the driveway when I pulled up to Katharine's parents' house for Hawaii Four-0. And the house is lovely. Check out the party set up... can you tell Katharine likes pink and orange ;)

Getting caterers and a bartender for parties is the way to go. Photo booths are super fun too...  planning for the best-ever Kim's Christmas Cocktails starts now!

                         

Big families with siblings who get along and nieces and nephews are fun.

Katharine's dad has a lot of Hollywood history in his head and on the walls of his "wing" of the house.

It rained while we were partying. I like Hawaiian downpours better than Floridian downpours.

Day 3:

Still can't sleep past 7am. Woke up at 2:20am, 5am, and 6:23am. I blame the cake-flavored vodka :p

Walked 2 miles on the treadmill and then 1 mile around the resort paths, beach and over to the Lava, Lava Beach Club (yes, that's its real name ;)

Beach house at Lava Lava 

Spent mid-day laying on a lounge chair on the beach, reading and trying not to sunburn. Here was my view... ahhh.

Lost my new Hawaii pen on the beach :( Also accidentally let my empty ziplock bag (that held my mixed nuts) fly away at the beach... into the nature preserve pond on the resort. Oops. :(

Finished the Rick Springfield bio I started on the plane. He is a seriously f'ed up man-whore, but I still love him ;) Have since I was 9. Oh, and his wife should be nominated for saint-hood.

It rained again today.

Got a really expensive pedicure at the hotel spa. Totally relaxing, but not worth the cost.

Writing in this notebook every day has confirmed what I knew but didn't want to admit: my elementary school award-winning penmanship now totally sucks. I totally skip letters when I write. I could claim shorthand I suppose, but I think it's my brain being confused in a land between longhand and web-slang. I am even skipping letters in my own name... granted I have a long name when I spell the whole legal thing out.

Both True Blood and The Newsroom's season finales (which I watched on HBO Go on my iPad in the hotel lounge on wi-fi because I have no patience) were great tonight! I always knew Eric Northman would save the day (sort of). Waiting for that to happen is the only reason I kept watching this season...

Day 4: 

Woke up early multiple times again. But this time it wasn't jetlag. There was some guy singing outside -- either on the lawn or on his balcony -- at 1:30am. I finally got up at 7 and went down to the concierge to book our helicopter tour today... finally! Yippee! I'm finally going to see the volcano and some pretty waterfalls. Whoo-hoo!

Finished my second book of the trip... Wifey by Judy Blume, which I started like three months ago. I did not love it.

Got an email from the Kings! The Stanley Cup and I now have an up-close-and-personal date on Wednesday, September 12 at 8pm. Whoo-hoo!!

In the car on the way to the volcano helicopter tour, Bon Jovi's "What Do You Got" bonus track from their Ultimate Greatest Hits limited edition LP is playing on the car radio. That's a sign -- it's going to be an awesome day!

Synopsis of my thoughts from the helicopter tour today: Nature is amazing. Helicopters spinning around quickly for good photo opps and the resulting motion sickness are not.

Here are photos from the "Hawaii Experience" helicopter tour of the Big Island, which was amazing... minus the part where I almost threw up all over Shawn ;)

Lava-land turning into lava cliffs

Molten lava! Yep, that's all of it right now

Pretty greenness! Looks like Italy near the Pacific

One of many, many waterfalls

Exiting waterfall valley

The Waikaloa Beach Marriott Resort from the air

Shawn, me, Katharine and Rob, after surviving our helicopter ride

First Mai Tai of the trip on my last full day in Hawaii...

Gorgeous sunset as seen from Huggo's in Kona

Day 5 (aka my last day in Hawaii... sniff sniff)

Finally able to sleep in past 7am today. Figures....

Walked 2.15 miles on treadmill in 35 minutes. Only burned 206 calories. I need to get back to Pop Physique.

Found my Hawaii pen I thought I lost on the beach! It was clipped inside my bag. Yay!

The Four Seasons is awesome! Katharine checked in there today and got upgraded to an ocean view room. Here's the amazing view from her balcony...

Also amazing was my 80-minute Hualalai island stone massage... they started me face up, laying on the stones, then placed the stones on me, in my hands and between my toes. Totally fabulous! Lucky for me, there is a Four Seasons in Westlake on the way to my parents' house. I foresee Relaxing Sunday Spa trips in my future... followed by puppy play sessions :)

Having a friend with a brother-in-law who bartends at the Four Seasons doesn't suck.

My last Hawaiian cocktail, prepared by LJ. Little Green Alien loved it :)

Sitting in economy on a red-eye back to the mainland, after a super-relaxing massage and lots of fruity cocktails, does suck.

Wish I was still here napping on the beach like Mr. Turtle....