Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Fall Festival

My AirBnB Guest, Brian was getting comfortable, he was getting comfortable. This could be a good and a bad thing. I want all my guests to feel at home. I also want to feel at home in my own home. If their feeling home is going to infringe on my peace of mind, we have a bit of a problem! Brian never cooked so he never used the kitchen. He only used the living room, where he slept and the bathroom. He had long-ish hair that was falling off. I love his undercut hairstyle, it looked good on him. I just didn't like how the hair was clogging the bath tub and I didn't enjoy sweeping it off the bathroom floor. He took good care of himself. He shopped on Rodeo Drive and wore nothing by designer clothing and a bunch of Jordans. Good for him! Remember I mentioned that Brian used to book for a day, two, even three at a time? That story is here. He still did that, but his credit card was getting rejected after I accepted the booking. What would happen was that he would make a reservation, I would accept, he would pay, AirBnB would confirm payment, 24 hours later, Brian's card would be rejected. What on earth? I would take a screenshot of the notification about the rejected card and send it to Brian. He would then follow up on it 'with his dad'. That became a trend. I wasn't into that trend though, go get viral over there! I'm busy!

Brian was still buying new designer clothes, he would always show me his new Louis Vuitton Murses (man's purse) and all kinds of new stuff he was buying. But you owe me rent money, boo? He told me that his dad was in the hospital. I empathised with him but that story wasn't going to cut it when it was time for me to pay rent with the apartment management, was it? I still needed money in my bank account. Plus, you have a job, can you pay me with the money in your account and then have your dad reimburse you? Like why should this solution come from me? You're the one with a problem? You're the one shopping 24/7. What I liked about Brian was that he never brought guests over to my place. He would tell me that he will never tell women where he lives, 'you know how you guys are!' he would say. I'm like, listen, don't compare me to your women, I am in a league of my own. For example, between you and I now, I wouldn't date a guy who is sleeping on someone's floor. Especially a guy who can afford designer wear but doesn't prioritise his sht. Heck Nah!

Calvin is a churchgoing person. He is one of those guys! I haven't been to church since Vegas. I go sporadically. Well, I went sporadically when I did. I hadn't been for months. When you're in Vegas and find out there's a church right on the strip, not a wedding chapel but a full on church, you go! You check it out. Calvin had asked me to go to church with him. Not in an annoying, 'I would like to invite me to my church' type of way. I was honored he wanted to go to church with me, so of course, I went! Just an hour in and you're done! My kinda church! No offense to anyone who spends all day at church, I've done that too in Salt Lake. I told you all about it here. Day before church, Calvin and I were out and about. He had a few clients he needed to touch base with. I tagged along. We used his amazing 1965 truck. How could I say no? We ended up going to shop for a dress for me. Calvin paid for it. Yay me!

I wore my new dress and Calvin coincidentally wore a green shirt and black pants. We became that couple at church that day. You can spot a bit of that green and black dress in this post. After church, Calv bought us snacks at church. They sell goodies to raise funds which I think is a brilliant idea.

We have been to church a number of times together, we went to two different ones in Calvin's neighborhood and we went to the Cathedral downtown. That one is gorgeous. Whenever I am at church, it takes me back to boarding school where we went to church 7 days a week. I was there for 5 years. My uncle, may his beautiful soul rest in peace was a Bishop, so we grew up in church. I always think about him when I go to church. I literally have the service done by him in my head.

One weekend, there was a festival at the church, the entire weekend! I remember thinking to myself, it would be nice to go for a walk around the block with Calvin one of these days. Be it his block or mine, it doesn't matter! I arrived in the evening at Cal's, he suggested we walk to the festival. I couldn't believe it. We had been driving wherever we went. We had driven to that church on numerous occasions, all of a sudden, he wanted us to walk. Be careful what you wish for!

It was a nice walk. We walked around the church yard, it was packed! I didn't see that coming! I hadn't foreseen it being that big a carnival. There were rides and all kinds of things. We went on a ride, a very interesting ride. You stand against the wall, they turn it on, it speeds around and around, somehow it pushes people off the floor, so you end up in the sky, but against the wall. I tell ya, it's a trip! There is no gravity! You can stretch your arm out, it won't fall. Until the ride is over. I really enjoyed it.

Food Stalls at church
We had Vietnamese for dinner from the Festival, I tell you it was elaborate. They had different cuisines!

Vietnamese dinner

I couldn't tell you how long we were there for. We had such a nice time! On our way out, Calvin bought a painting of The Last Supper. I haggled the seller and won. It wasn't a real painting, the blown picture type. Calvin felt bad because it's church people. I was like, come on! This is what you do with street vendors, you negotiate! Plus, we saw one for the price I had asked for, that's where it all started for me. I just didn't want to pay more than I should. By I, I mean Calvin, cos I wasn't paying for sht.

We walked back to the house. It was already late.

The following day, we went to the Festival again. This time, Cal's friend had dropped by, we took him along. I drove. I had wedges on, so I took them off to drive. We struggled to find parking because everyone was at the festival. Finally, we found a spot where someone had just left. Cal was so sweet, he got out of the car to help me parallel park. After that, I got out of the car, as I was trying to buckle my sandals, Calvin went down on his knees just like on our first date and was like, I got it, babe! Ugh, how can you not melt?

Filipino food at the Carnival 
I wanted something different, as I always do, for day two, so I had Filipino food. Looks similar to the Vietnamese dish, doesn't it?
Halo-Halo... Filipino desert
Enjoying Halo-Halo
Calvin invited his friends over to his house, while at the Carnival, he bought some food for everyone.
$80 worth of assorted meats
The picture doesn't do the meat justice. That's a heck of a lot of meat. If it's $80 at a church event, you know it costs even more in real life. It was so good too! While waiting for our meat, we had some more dessert. Well, Calvin and his friend, I was too full.

Funnel Cake
I did taste the cake though. I had never seen or heard of it before. It tastes good. If like me, you have never heard of it, that is not ketchup/tomato sauce on top, it's strawberry topping. 
at the festival

While eating funnel cake, waiting for our large meat order, we were approached by Bingo people. They offered us free Bingo tickets. We went into the hall and payed Bingo. It was the first time for all of us. None of us won anything but we enjoyed it.

Bingo!


After Bingo, we picked up our meet and sides. The owners of the stall were so chuffed, they asked to pose with us for their websites. We obliged, Calvin's friend was like, I'll pass. 

Back home, we headed! 


Friday, February 19, 2016

Dancing Queen

I exhaled and said shoop! when I finished fixing up my condo back in South Africa. By the way, I can't wait until I have a house here in The US, so I can be those people. You know, the ones who have properties all over the place? It will happen! I'll tell you all about it when it does!

I still do my vision board, gratitude journal stuff. I have no intentions to stop. Applying the Law of attraction into my life has done wonders for me and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to change their lives remarkably. I still have a big smile when I look at the material things I have manifested into my life. It's the greatest feeling in the world, knowing that everything you have ever wanted and have ever dreamt of is within rich, you just have to believe and be happy. When you're happy you attract more things into your life that make you happy. More happiness, and vice versa. There's happy and there's Law of Attraction happy, when you're REALLY H A P P Y ! When you're so happy, you could scream? When you're so happy , you can feel it in your muscles. I usually feel it in my arms. That's the kind of happy you want to be. Not just contentedness, but excitement! You know when you wake up with that feeling, you jump out of bed and you're like, 'I'm ready for the day!  I'm ready to conquer the world!'? That's how you want to feel all the time. We've all felt that feeling. When you feel down, like nothing is worth it, like, what's the point blah blah blah; write down a list of the most amazing things that have ever happened to you, or just think of them, try to shift your energy from that dingy, dark place, to happy place! Take a deep breath and look around and say thank you out loud, heck, say it three times! Be grateful you're still alive, even though, you really wish you weren't because as long as we're still here, the possibilities are endless. And that's a gift! You don't want to be that ungrateful person, nobody likes that guy. Call a friend, your mom or whoever that person is that makes you feel so great every time you talk to them. Text someone, go on social media, search a hashtag/pound (#) something that makes you smile, it could be videos of laughing babies on YouTube or cute videos of cats, or something, there's always something out there that can make us smile if and when we find it hard to dig deep within for it. Be persistent, you can even time yourself. Overtime, you will notice that it will take less and less time or effort for you to come up with something that's gonna change your mood. The goal is to be able to switch from bad to great in no time flat. But just knowing and believing that you have the capability to do that within your heart, is a step in the right direction in and of itself. It's better than being around people you don't even like or who don't like you just because you want a sense of belonging. When you know that you have all that you need within yourself, it's an amazing feeling. It makes you look at life differently. But in a good, good way! 

I love taking things off my vision board because I have achieved them. 

After Calvin asked me to be his girlfriend, and of course I said yes. I felt like we were headed towards a great direction together. The day of the shoot in Calabasas. While working as a hawker/street vendor, selling fruit and vege, I kept my cellphone in the drawer of the stall, pictured in the blog, click on shoot, if you would like to read about that. Calvin and I were texting back and forth, he was also at work. He sent me a text, "babe! I'm falling! I'm falling for you!" It was the highlight of my day! Being someone's girlfriend is one thing but having them fall for you is something else. I will take the latter any day of the week.That and the fact that my sister Pumla was in the country were the best parts of my day. I was falling for him too but I wasn't going to make it easy for him. I wanted him to savor the moment when I told him I did too, so I didn't tell him that that day. I did read that text over and over again though. 

My sister was having a great time in New York, she was doing things she hadn't done before, I was excited for her. 

I was doing what I can to pay bills. I was going to TV show tapings. I got to go to CNN building for the first time. It was a big deal for me, I had always seen it and even walked past it. I remember once a few years ago, I bumped into a bunch of South African girls vacationing in Hollywood, they needed directions, I used the CNN building as a landmark in the directions I gave them. In that moment, I thought to myself, wow! I really am here! Not only am I in The United States, I'm in Hollywood, I am giving South Africans directions in Hollywood, I know this place so well. It was a moment for me! I was going to see the Dr Drew Show. It's a live show, one of the producers produces the Jerry Springer show, go figure! Cool guy! The producer, Dr Drew too.

I had always been a fan of Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew, so to get to see him a person was a big deal for me. Sadly, he no longer does the rehab show. They asked if anyone wanted to dance, he didn't offer anything, so I thought, meh. Lo and behold, the dude came and found me all the way in the back of the audience and told me I look like I can dance. You know me, I never say no, I was like sure, let's go. He was like, 'really?' Yup! Let's!

Omarosa from The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice had just walked into set. I was excited to see her too, as a big fan of Celebrity Show, I have seen every single episode. On my way down, I passed Omarosa who was sitting on the front row of audience, she was a guest of the show. I didn't know that then, I didn't know if she was a regular or not, I had never seen the show on TV. 'Hi, Omarosa, you look great!' I said, on my way to the stage. She said hi back. #Moment! I got on the Dr Drew stage and went crazy with my goofy ass dances. The guy, audience warm up guy, decided to dance with me. It was fun. Omarosa filmed it. I am not sure what she did with it, I'm sure if I searched for it online, I'll find it because I found a selfie she took that day.

Omarosa in front with a giant smile at D Drew, CNN
I could tell you I'm all the way in the back, you can spot my right arm and my short blonde afro right behind the blond girl in the back, but I don't wanna be that girl! ;)
The Fleet at CNN, all black everything!




Favorite Food

Speaking of perfumes, my mom doesn't wear any! She doesn't even wear deodorant (roll-on). She doesn't need to, lucky fish! When she goes away, like traveling, she will take along some speed stick. She says she doesn't want people looking at her funny when she doesn't put any deodorant on haha.

Missing home, I decided to make a 'full meal'. If I had beets (beetroot), I would've made beetroot salad to go with my Sunday Lunch. I bought cabbage for the first time in years! I hardly ever eat cabbage, I'm not trying to get bloated, even if I'm home alone! Calvin is a great cook, I don't even try to cook when at his place. What for? He enjoys to cook and he's great at it. The plan was to cook for him one day when he's at my place. We'll see!

Cooking up a storm 
The food turned out great, if I must say so myself. I enjoyed it!

I made a peas and baked beans with mayo salad. I love me some mayonnaise!

I hardly ever have serious groceries at home. It's been a while now. I don't know what happened. I used to cook, when I lived in Salt Lake City, I used to really have a balanced life. I worked a regular job, had a regular place to stay and used to do real grocery shopping and cook. I also lost about 30lb when I decided to lose weight in Salt Lake. I need to go back to those regular eating habits. I have real breakfast, eat fruit...
Pitaya or Dragon Fruit. Isn't this fruit pretty? My first time eating it at Calvin's
...and yogurts and all that but then, somewhere down the line, I gobble down a lot of junk food.

At Cold Stone. I was too full, I just posed and took this home, froze it for later
Calvin had just taken us to an Indian restaurant for lunch, we both love Indian cuisine. It's my  personal favorite. I was in heaven, they happened to have buffet going when we got there. I was like, I'm having buffet, babe! I need to try everything on there.

Plate 1 of Indian Buffet. Just Meats haha
I love me some meat. I make no secret of that fact. It's gonna be a minute or six before I become vegetarian. In fact, I think I can already call myself vegetarian because some folks out there consider themselves vegetarians when they 'only eat chicken and fish'. Uhm, those are not vegetables, though? Shoutout to all vegetarians out there, even the ones who eat meat! 

Plate 2 of Indian Buffet. 
I was already full by the time I had the second plate. I just sampled everything and left the rest on the table. Oops! 

Leave room for dessert!
Gulab Jamun. Indian Donuts. so good! They remind me of Koeksisters. South African Donuts 
If you ate all this at the Indian, would you have room for that big ass ice cream tub from Coldstone? We had to go there because I hadn't been since Connecticut. I just spent like ten minutes going through my blog entries, trying to find one about my trips to New York. Oddly enough, I can't find them. I am almost certain I posted them. Very strange! If you've been following my blog for a while, do you recall stories about my time in New York City, Jay-Z's club, statue of Liberty, etc? This is very strange, I remember writing about those!
My first time at Coldstone was in New York City, we had to go there with Cal, for old time's sake, on my part.

In our first conversation online, with Calvin, he mentioned that his favorite cuisine is Indonesian. He told me that he would like to take me to an Indonesian restaurant some day. I had never eaten Indonesian food, that was something to look forward to.

He finally took me, months into the relationship.
Indonesian cuisine
Everything on that plate was delicious! Especially the rice! Funny because it looks like good ole fashioned white rice but it didn't taste that way at all.  The restaurant is nice and cosy and dimly lit. We found parking in the back and walked in from the back, which was weird for me. I kept asking, babe, are you sure we should be coming in from the back? They have a main entrance but you're allowed to go in through the back door as well, no pun intended haha. 

I might have to do a flashback Friday blog about my time in New York. 

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Pure Poison

One day, this feeling suddenly took over me. I was running out of fragrance and I felt that I needed to get a few, not just one. I still had a gift card from a cosmetic store but they didn't have the perfume I wanted. I wanted Christian Dior Hypnotic Poison. I have always loved it but have been stingy to spend $100-$120 on it. I had enough money in my gift card but they didn't have the perfume I wanted and having had the gift card for almost two years, I didn't want to settle. One day, I went on their website and saw that they had the perfume. I couldn't believe it! I immediately tried to buy it but alas! The card was only for in store purchases! I then went to The Beverly Centre, seeing that they finally had the size I wanted online, to buy it there. They  had always had Hypnotic Poison just not the big bottle. Why spend $75 on a 50ml (1.7oz), when you can get double that size for 100 bucks? Plus I never buy small bottles of fragrance. 100ml (3.oz) or nothing! 

Unfortunately, they didn't have the bigger size in the store. They lady tried to do the same thing they have always done when I have gone to look for this darn perfume, check in the back, and in other stores. I was like, lady, if you don't have it here and have never seen the big bottle since you've worked here, nobody will have it. I have been to more of this store than you can imagine, mainly just collecting free samples of perfumes I am too stingy to buy. Tacky, I know! I like Hermes perfumes, the ones in round bottles, Eau des Merveilles, check it out if you haven't and let me know what you thing. My favorite is the one with gold around it. So good! I have had both samples of my favorite Hermes and Hypnotic poison, Poison lasts longer and smells better on me. Just as well cos that's my favorite! 

I called the store and asked them what if I bought the perfume with my own money online, returned it and then bought it with my in store card, would they let me. They told me they couldn't say no if what I wanted was in the store. Perfect! I went online to buy the perfume and SOLD OUT was all I could see across the big bottle I so desperately wanted. So close but so far! Becasue I wanted to get  myself a few perfumes, I thought of all time faves, that I had always used back in Africa and decided to revisit them. I bought Elizabeth Arden Provocative Woman online. It arrived in no time, thankfully! The one I used to buy back in the day used to have a purple-ish side. I noticed that this one didn't.

Elizabeth Arden Provocative Woman

While waiting for the Provocative Woman, I went to the mall and bought my other all time favorite. Also by Elizabeth Arden: Red Door. This will never get old with me. I just love this old lady's perfume so much! It makes my heart smile! I got a nice deal on this one! I couldn't believe how cheap it was. The bottle is also different to the one I'm used to but I had already read reviews online and saw that people were happy with it, so I didn't think it was going to smell differently because of the new and improved bottle. Plus I love the new bottle. It's fancier.

As luck would have it, I went to Calvin's for the weekend, I told him the story of my unrequited love with Hypnotic Poison. We went to the mall one day before a day at the beach and guess what? He bought me the perfume! I walked out of that mall with a pep in my step, I was so happy! He really made my day! He was surprised how happy I was about that. Keep buying me stuff and you will be amazed at how happy I can be! Haha!

He wanted to buy himself a pair of Jordan's while at the mall, we found a pair we both liked for him and the lady took more than five minutes in the back looking for the mate. It was the last pair. Calvin is nothing if not impatient. I am amazed at how he can wait for me without saying a word while I get ready, way after he is already ready to walk out the door, but cannot wait more than a few seconds for anything or anyone else. We left the store without the Nike Jordans. They were Black with a little bit of red and white sole. Hi tops. 

One weekend, while at Calv's we went to Pasadena to play Shuffleboard, I game I had never heard of before. I enjoyed it. Calvin wants to buy one and put it in his office/spare bedroom. I would buy him one and surprise him if it weren't $700.

Me, playing shuffleboard in Pasadena
I don't know if I told you this but Calvin's dad is such an amazing cook! I guess Calvin takes after him. He is always making something. Calvin's fam live close by so when his dad makes something, he will call and find out if Cal and I want some and bring us some or Cal will go get it. It's a very small town type of lifestyle, in the middle of a big city like LA,  I like it, in a way. Cal's dad makes things from scratch people don't make from scratch. He also cooks things like sauerkraut. I don't know anyone who makes sauerkraut. It's awesome. I feel really special when he sends over two plates, one for Cal and one for me. Wouldn't you? Cal's dad is cool people, he comes over, hangs for a little, not too much, just enough. He likes to joke around, he has a silly side. We all call him by his first name. By we, I mean Calvin's friends and I.

The first bouquet of flowers I got from Cal. He bought them for me just cos

I loved the flowers, they look wild, it's a very interesting combination. I'm into it! 

Later,Cal picked some from his front yard and added to the combination, it was interesting. He has the nicest smelling pink roses in his yard. He usually picks one or two and put them in an old vase he got from his late grandma and put them on the dining table. I like that, it's so romantic!

I always take a moment and stop to smell the roses. 

Saturday, February 13, 2016

FAB Life

One week, I was in Beverly Hills minding my own business, Calvin called, he asked what I was doing that evening. I didn't have any plans, other than, watch reality TV, as usual, before bed. He asked to take me to dinner in his neck of the woods. I was down! I love spontaneous stuff like that! I got ready and headed to the east side. We drove to a couple of his favorite sushi spots, they were closed already. It was late but not too late. We found one spot that was open, a nice sushi place, big with two levels. There was only one other couple there and us.


They sat us at a nice table, facing the counter where they prepare the sushi.The entire set up was cool, the lighting was dim and the tables were big with parts where you can cook your own food. There must be names for that kind of stuff, I don't know what they are called. Feel free to leave me a comment with the name. Calvin loves sushi, I am not a big fan of cold foods. I am becoming more and more my mother's child. She always would complain how a real meal to her is a cooked meal. I get it now. I try to keep an open mind though, you don't want to miss out just because you are you mother's child. I told Calvin, as I always had to order whatever he things is going to be great and I will love it. He had always ordered my food, he knows way more about different cuisines than I do. I always tell him what I feel like, which is usually meat, and he would order something amazing for me. I hardly ever order chicken because I eat a lot of that at home.


Calvin ordered eel sushi, I had never had that kind before. I had previously seen an eel in an aquarium, when we went on our fishing trip. We took pictures and videos, I will upload them for you when I have a minute. It was interesting how we were now eating poor eel, awwww :( It was good though, probably the best sushi I have ever eaten! Plus it was kinda warm. We had three different kinds of sushi that night and scallops. We also had desert, regular and green tee cremebrulee. Everything was just so delicious. I was in cloud nine, sitting in this dimly lit restaurant with a guy  I adore and eating this uber delicious food. What planet am I in? It was awesome! After dinner, we headed back to his place and hung out for about another hour, then I headed back to my place. We both had work the following day. I must have arrived home at midnight but it was all so worth it. I drove home thinking, what just happened? Is this real life? I was having the time of my life! I was in an awesome mood! The stars were aligned!


Speaking of star alignment, one day, I was outside Culver Studios, waiting to go to the FABLife, the new show hosted by Tyra Banks. Now, Tyra, is my girl! She's my crazy sister from another mother! I was super psyched to be going to her show, I used to watch her previous talk show religiously, and am a fan of Top Model. There's another show she did, Inside Beauty, where she teamed up with my celebrity crus, Ashton Kutcher, I watched that too. Anyway, I went to bed excited the previous night knowing I was finally going to see my girl in person. Sadly, they had too many people and I didn't make the cut. Boo hoo! If I can only get the opportunity to go again!


I remember going through my Instagram and seeing posts I might be interested in according to whoever from Insta, I checked them. One of them was John Legend's wife Chrissy Teigen, one of FABLife co-hosts. One of her recent posts, back then was of John Legend, naked. It was of his behind, what's the opposite of full frontal? Anyway, I thought it was distasteful, but for each his own. I just didn't see John as that kind of guy, you know? Someone who posts nude pictures of himself? Anyways, two days or so after seeing that picture, I got another chance to go to FABLife, Yass! You know  I was hella early that time! I wasn't going to miss seeing Tyra for sht! When They let me go in, I had the biggest smile you can ever see on a person in line! I was about to see Ty Ty, whoot! I was next to a friend of mine that  I met at one of the shows in Manhattan Beach studios. We had good times, the show we were at was 8-9 hours long, I mean, the finished product was probably going to be an hour but filming took the entire day. Which meant we had enough time to bond. We talked a lot about the Law of Attraction and what we had manifested into our lives through it. It was a nice day. I also saw a girl I had worked with previously in a sitcom, she recognized me and showed me the episode we did. I had great camera time in that episode because I interacted with the principal actors. It was a great day. I will pot a clip as soon as I find it again. Anyway, I digress. The girl from the 8 hr show and I always touch on the law of attraction when we see each other, which is very seldom. We were both in high spirits that day, at least I was. They sat us next to each other, thankfully.She's a former model, gorgeous girl! She dated all kinds of Hollywood people, some of her exes who are not Hollywood, dated supermodels, very interesting life!


The audience warm up guy, who I adore,made some jokes, we laughed and had a fun time before filming began. He asked if anyone wanted to perform. I offered to sing. First, I asked what I was getting, I just wanted a memento from the Tyra Banks show! He had FABLife T-shirts. It doesn't matter if you're good or not, if you're willing to put yourself out there, your ass is getting a t-shirt. I went to the stage and sang an African Song with a hell of a lot of clicks and got me a T-shirt. The day was going my way already! The t-shirt he gave me was a medium, you know I am no medium! I was lucky a bunch of girls behind us had been crazy like me, they got t-shirts for that reason. They gave me standing ovation and bowed down and called me Queen when I walked past them to my seat. They were too sweet to do that. Anyway, a friend of mine, who had also sang for a t-shirt,  asked what size shirt I got. I thought that was perfect, I had an M, she had a L, I was like, great! Let's swap! She suddenly had a change of mind. Not that he large was going to fit anyway but it was better than a medium. She was like, 'oh, no! What if it's too small' Girl Bye! I don't want to even want to have the energy to discuss that nonsense. I was too excited about seeing Tyra. My peeps from behind us, were like, 'Queen, what size t-shirt do you want?' I told them an XL or bigger. There were 4 of them, one of them had an XL, they gladly gave it to me. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I was so touched by the kindness more than anything else. I told the girl,'I love you! Do you wanna get married of something!' Ok, I may have gone overboard! But you would be too if you knew Tyra was about to walk out the door, sht! The lady surprised me with her answer to my marriage proposal, She was like, 'Uhm, I have a girlfriend. Well, she's out of town, so I guess, sure! Yeah, I'll marry you!' LMAO. Best response ever! Not only did I get the right size t-shirt, I left the show engaged that day. To a woman!
Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Tyra Banks!  She said her few lines, then the double doors opened and she came out, looking as fine as ever!
Here I am at FABLife, guess, who the guest was? John freaking Legend! Now, how do I look at this guy without totally imagining his butt crack? It was hard! That's what she said! Haha! I had seen John previously in person, not that close! I went to his concert in Johannesburg forever ago. Anyway, It was a nice episode where they had a chef named John and John Legend. They both made deep fried chicken. The hosts all tasted it, I tell yeah, my girl Tyra loves the hell out of chicken wings, she kept going back for some more! The hosts had to decide which John was the winner. In case, you want to watch the episode, I won't tell you who won.


After the show, they have audience go down to dance with the hosts. I was like fck it, excuse me! Excuse me! Sorry, excuse me, pardon me! I was going to the stage! I needed to get close to Ms Tyra! And I did! I was so excited, I think she may have felt my energy, I was doing my 1980's signature dance moves, not a care in the world! At one point, I turned 360 degrees and then Tyra and I locked eyes! That moment right there was one of my favorite moments in life! I tell yeah, small miracles! Tyra's eyes are gorgeous, you know she has those light colored eyes, they looked charcoal grey that day from the smokey eye make up she had on. After the show, I ran back to my seat as the ushers were ushering us out the studio. My friend was like, 'girl! Tyra looked at you!' I? was like, you saw that? I'm glad I have a witness!


It was a great day!

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Blowjob Anyone?

So, in the beginning of time! When Calvin and I parted after our first date, he sent me a text about how all the way home, he had the song, 'Something tells me I'm into something good" stuck in his head. As soon as I heard that, I went to my iTunes and looked for that song. I found it and top rated it AND added it to my iPod. I played it one day at his place from the iPod.

In our first few weeks of dating, Calvin got a job offer from NASA as in (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Not as an astronaut! He called me one afternoon and told me that he decided against that job,  he has been at his current job, working for government for five years and likes the people he works with. Calvin told me that he was sad that he was no longer going to have a NASA t-shirt. That was the one thing he was definitely looking forward to. I remember asking him why he didn't just ask them to send it to her considering they had already ordered one for him.

After that conversation, I decided to go online and look up NASA T-shirts. I wanted to get Cal one in his favorite color: green or red. I didn't see any that I like in those colors, plus I had already seen that he had t-shirts in those colors. I also saw that they had those T-Shirts at Target. Target is a mile away from my house, versus ordering it online and having to wait for them to ship it to me. On my way to Cal's one weekend, I went to Target, got him one of those NASA T-shirts and a giant packet of mixed Pistachios and Cashews, both his favorite nuts. I was lucky to find that kind of a mix. The pistachios were already de-shelled, thank goodness. You don't want to get someone something that they have to work so hard at.

I was so excited driving to Cal's. I took the t-shirt out first, told him that I felt bad that he was no longer going to be able to rock a NASA t-shirt, so here we are! His very own! He was so happy! He told me that he never expected me to get him anything. Then I told him that I didn't know if he was going to like the t-shirt or not, so as backup, I  got him 'there'! I took out the big thing of nuts. He was so excited! He told me that he didn't even know that they they sell de-shelled pistachios. Score!

After all that fuzziness, we headed out to Manhattan beach. I had jokingly told Cal one day, when he mentioned fishing, that  I had never been and would give him head if he took me fishing. He was like whoa! Anyway, we started off at the shopping centre, bought a few things for our fishing trip. Blow Job anyone?

It was a nice drive out there, more than an hour. Hot as heck! We must have driven around for  minutes looking for parking. I would have totally left but Cal was determined. We finally parked and walked towards the beach. I was looking forward to my first fishing experience. We weren't there for long, we stood on the pier, Calvin taught me how to bait and throw the rod, whatever the correct terminology is. We must have been there for 45 minutes or so, then we made our way towards the water. I sat and too videos while Calv skim boarded. I had never heard of skim boarding until I met Calvin. He's not bad at it too! I really enjoy watching him in his own element.

I took a few pictures of him and some videos, of course this random lady walked towards him and started up a conversation about skim boarding. Apparently, she was there with her son who was into skim boarding as well. I just watched from a distance, Calvin called me and asked me to bring his stuff, he offered the lady's some something to put on the board to prevent slipping off. After that, the lady and I ended up standing and chatting. She asked me a lot of questions about Calvin and I. Apparently, she was on vacation from the east coast, blah blah blah.

After all those shenanigans, we headed to the car, paid for more parking and found a seafood restaurant. It was an expensive one! Right by the sea! We had Oysters and Crabs and something else. By then, it was late. We made our way back to Cal's. It was late, I was pooped as I always was after spending a day with Calvin. He is very energetic, I am a home-buddy, so one of us (pointing at self), always gets exhausted after spending a day out. Calvin is a great cook and barbecuer, he would always make something delish for me to eat, usually something I had never had before. I am always game for that kinda stuff!

One afternoon, we were at Calvin's just chilling, I think I had spent the night there, it was the following day, Sunday. I mentioned that I would love to see Calvin Climb a tree, that's one of his plethora of hobbies. He was like, 'let's go right now!' We loaded the truck and headed out. I was like f*ck yeah, let's do it! We went to the park, Cal suited up and got on that tree. It was a beautiful thing seeing him climb that tall ass, big ass tree like that. People around the park were watching too. It was pretty awesome.

That afternoon, we went back to his house, got into bed and just napped like the old people that we are. Not before we went to the store and got some snacks though. At the risk of sounding corny, we were spooning, I am the small spoon. In my past experience in South Africa, when you meet a guy, he asks for your number and you give it to him, then you're basically a couple. He better not be seen with someone else. Here, in the States, things are different. There's talking, just talking to someone without any labels, then there's dating, then, you can stay dating, or be friends with benefits or you can have 'the talk' and become exclusive, all these stages can make it fun if you're with the right person, who also wants what you do. While spooning, Calvin was like, Brook, I want you to be my girlfriend! It was the best thing I had heard in a very long time. Not only did I feel so American in that moment, I also felt like this guy and I were on the same page. He might just be that guy that I had wanted all this time, that guy that I hoped he would be.

I said yes!

Friday, February 05, 2016

Terrible Twos

My sister Pumla was about to come on vacation to The US. I was psyched! It was going to be my first time seeing a family member in person since moving to The US. The trip was meant to be to the East Coast but she was working on coming to the west coast as well. I crossed my fingers so hard, my entire hands fell asleep! She has been to Connecticut, Chicago and New York. It would be her first time in the West Coast.

Whenever I would see something fun, I would make a mental not to do it with her. She was planning on being here for a week to ten days. I told her we should try to go to Vegas during those days. I mean, only five hour drive, of course we could do it! Even if we were going to spend a day or two, Vegas isn't big anyways! I secretly had my own plans. She had always wanted to visit San Francisco. My plan was, if she's gonna be here for  days, we're going to San Francisco! It was going to be the trip of a lifetime! I was so excited! 

One weekend, Calvin and I had plans, I took the bus to meet him downtown because we were going to go to the beach thereafter, we didn't want to drive in two cars. I didn't mind taking the bus. The only thing better would have been for Calvin to pick me up but  I didn't want to be divalicious. It worked out because I called my sister while on the bus to check where she was. She had just arrived in New York! I was so psyched to hear it! Knowing she was so close to me, made me feel that much closer to her in so many ways. It was a great way to start my day! She told me about her fight and everything. She was staying right in Times Square. I had flashbacks of my first time in Times Square in . One of my favorite moments ever! We talked until I arrived downtown. After that, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Calvin told me he was going to meet me at the bus stop. Which was nice. I told him when I was close, he circled the bus stop until I arrived. I hopped off the bus and on his car as quickly as possible as there is never street parking Downtown LA. Calvin looked so cute, he had a nice navy and white Hawaiian shirt on. Not those in your face ones, a nice and calm one, thank goodness! You know, he loves Hawaii, I could only imagine how many more were where that came from. Anyway, the color of the shirt brought out the color of his eyes. Also, he had the right size shorts on haha, that made him look even taller than he already is. He has some giant clothes that Calvin! Some of his pants fit me and the guy is slim. You know me, I'm the furthest thing from slim!

We went to a Japanese festival type gig in Little Tokyo, Downtown LA. Very close to Carly's. She and I have been to Little Tokyo together. We found a parking garage, left the car there and walked to the Japanese thing. We had a few Japanese snacks in the square, watched an eating competition and then went inside to check out the bonsais.
Bonsai at the Japanese American Cultural Center

They were all so beautiful. They looked picturesque. I enjoyed the show. Calvin has a collection of his own, so he talked to the people more about bonsaing, I on the other hand was just waiting on the sidelines because I don't know the first thing about mini trees. I would have cropped it but I spent so much time trying to find these pictures, then realised I lost them, I may have deleted them the one time I accidentally hit delete before all the pictures sent via Bluetooth, thereby deleting all the selected to be sent pictures. I found this on my Instagram and just took a screen shot. Anyway, isn't that a beautiful tree? It looks unreal! 

After the bonsai tree, Calvin bought Mochi Ice Cream: golf ball sized ice pasta like, consistency, rice, filled with ice cream. It's very cold! I know it's ice but I think because of the texture,the ricey part doesn't melt in your mouth, so it seems colder than regular melt in your mouth ice cream. They have all kinds of flavors.

Mochi Ice Cream
We then headed out to a Hawaiian festival in Long Beach. It was so hot outside, I just wanted to stay in the Japanese place with the trees and chill in the air-conditioned room. 

We arrived in Long Beach, parked the car and walked around, checking out the stalls. It was your usual flea market, with handmade bags and shoes and other Hawaiian stuff. I felt like I was in Durban, South Africa. I love Durban, so that was a good thing! 

A week or so prior, I had asked Calvin, while at his place if he by any chance had a sarong, so when he saw one at the festival, he bought it for me. He told me to pick one I liked. Having lived in Durban, I had so many Sarongs in my past life, so I tried to find one in a color I never owned. We both agreed on it. It was green and black, green is Cal's favorite color. That and red, hashtag Christmas!

We had lunch at the festival, the food was good. I had something porky as usual and Calvin ordered sea food. The food lines were so long, you know how it always is at places like that. The food was good, we also had ribs. After eating, we headed out. Thank goodness, I was tired of digging my feet in the sand in the scorching heat. 

Long Beach, California aka LBC with Catalina Island behind me and my new sarong in my hand

The morning after the above weekend, I had a shoot in Calabasas. It was nice and early in the morning, so  I beat traffic, thank goodness for small miracles. I must have been the first or second one to arrive. I took out my tablet and caught up on my reading while waiting for everybody else. It was beautiful over there, mountains all around us. It wasn't a big shoot, maybe 20 people. some people didn't make it, they had to be replaced in short notice, one lady was two hours late.  We were going to do a choregraphed scene as well. I enjoyed it. I worked with a guy I had done a few commercials with before. We get along, he's crazy. 

They gave me an apron and pointed me to this as my first position
Peace of cake! I've done this kind of a character so many times, it's become second nature. I don't know if any of you spotted me in a commercial that ran for a very long time on SABC (South Africa), usually during Generations (a South African Soap opera) where they had a woman selling fruit and vege. I was that woman, I saw it one day when I was visiting my sister in Cape Town. She was like, what the heck! This has been running for a while, I never thought that was you, lol. Of course she knows what I look like, she just didn't expect that to be me. Anyway, I put on my apron and went to town!

Fruit and Vege Stall
This was more contemporary because they let me wear my tank top and leggings still. The stall has drawers, so I was able to have my cellphone with me and chat with my boyfriend the entire time. It was great! 

There were a bunch of contemporary dancers who danced during this scene, I was doing my selling thing while they were dancing in front of me. 

Lunch Time! 

The food was great! It almost always is on set. We all sat and bonded at lunch 

In between Takes. The three who got the yellow memo.Haha, just a coincidence
It rained a bit that day as well, nothing major. I mean, it is LA after all. It never really rains. The two things you'd be hard pressed to find in LA: Rain and parking. 


After lunch, we did the 'dance scene'. It was my first time doing choreography, I enjoyed it. It wasn't hard. I wish I could find the clip and see the outcome and share it with you. 

That's me in my apron, holding a flower, doing choreography

After lunch, the two hour late lady, went to lie down on the porch. I called my sister in her hotel room. It was nice to talk to her in a landline without having to worry about buying credit for my phone. All of a sudden, I heard roaring! The two hour lady was snoring up a storm! Oops!

The blue abd blackness you see is the snoring lady. She was far but I could hear her!

During the dance scene, they kept telling us, guys please but your bags and sweaters away, they're in the shot. There was this person's stuff that was sitting there with nobody touching it. Eventually, one of the lead dancers, just grabbed it and put it away, angrily. I had a feeling it was the snoring two hour lady's stuff. There was just something so off about her. I couldn't put my finger on it. Or should I say, I could? A few minutes later, we're rehearsing, I look down, bam! A giant pad made out of toilet paper full of blood on the ground! The two hour lady was on her periods! Yikes! I had had it with her shenanigans by then, I just rolled my eyes, looked at her and pointed to the ground. She quickly picked it up, without too many people seeing it. I didn't want to see where she was going to shove it. I had already seen enough!

After filming, I headed toward my car to wait for traffic to die down a bit. I considered to go to the house where they film The Bachelor. I have the address. I wanted to see how much of the house I could see from the street, without, you know, trespassing! I was chatting with the guy I have worked with before, when out of nowhere the two hour lady popped up and asked me for a ride. In that moment, I felt bad for her because she had clearly had a rough day. I said yes. That place is in the middle of nowhere. I am not sure why she submitted her name for it, to begin with. She told me a story about how she tried to get closer the night before by booking a hotel room closer to the place. I know the hotel wasn't in Calabasas because they weren't paying us enough to afford that! She told me it was a long story. I didn't want to dig because I didn't care, really. We sat and chatted about random stuff. She asked me a lot of personal questions and told me about herself too. Her rich sisters, the stuff she owns, apparently, she is quite well off. I honestly don't care, but I guess she felt the need to tell me. 

I dropped the two hour lady near my house, it seemed like she was comfortable, she didn't want to go home. We aren't friends, I didn't want her in my car let alone my home. I have her a ride to give her a break from what seemed like a weird day for her. But enough was enough. She asked for my number, I took hers and told her I would call her. I never did. Sorry, but for what reason?
On Set at Union Station, Downtown LA for a different shoot, talking to Calvin on the phone