like any good hard-working-at-a-desk-female should do the day after the oscars, i went to my favorite gossip blogs to check out all the fashions i missed last night. i also wanted to look again at some of my faves. since all the other blogs do it better and this blog really isn't about that, i won't even bother posting the the ones i like and dislike. naomi watts looked so cute in her fit-to-be-pregnant yellow dress, helen mirren wore a very elegant and age-appropriate gown, and cate blanchett looked awesome in her grey shimery get-up. alongside the beautiful dresses there were some definite NO-NO's last night. cameron diaz's winter white gown that covered up her awesome body, meryl streep's i-don't-know-what-it-was (though she's meryl streep and she can wear whatever she wants), and jessica biel's magenta dress that looked too off-the-rack for my taste (though props for wearing a bright color!).

but the most inappropriately dressed person of the night....

JAMES BLUNT....

OK MR. BLUNT. first of all i think you are a awful musician with terribly sappy songs. second of all, WHY for the love of god is petra nemcova still with you? she's beautiful and you are....the douchebag that you are. third and most important. you DO NOT attend the oscars or any after-parties wearing jeans and a t-shirt. i don't give a flying fuck if you're a "rockstar." have a little class for godsakes. maybe your jeans cost $500. i don't care. they are jeans and they are inappropriate for the red carpet. you could totally have worn something "rocker" that was still dressy in it's own way. hell, kelly osbourne is a "rocker" and she still managed to wear something dressy. sure, i don't really like it, but at least she tried. unlike you, you babbling bafoon....

i don't know why it makes me so angry yet it does....it's like have a little class why dontcha?

on another note, aren't gael and diego just the cutest little mexican boys ever?

MY WEBSITE is done!!!!!! i mean 100% done. flash AND html version. go check it out now. i think it looks fantastic.

i'm back from aspen!!! it was a hell of a quick trip but it was great to just get away. just hanging out with alex and his family and their friends for 3 days. sounds a bit boring perhaps but i had a great time. i've met most of these people before when they came out to palm springs last year so it wasn't that weird. and what's even better, i only spent $20 the entire weekend! alex's family and their friends are sooooooo nice to us "kids." i mean granted they are all quite wealthy so they can afford it. but either way, it's really nice. being taken care of for an entire weekend.

alex and i flew into eaglo, co friday night after some nasty turbulence due to strong winds. seriously, i thought alex was going to hyperventilate. and yes, it was bad turbulence and i too was freaking out a bit, but it was what i like to call "holding your hair back" syndrome. where whoever is most sober takes care of the drunk person who is puking. so i was the "sober" person taking care of the drunk little alex...haha to be fair to both of us, the flight attendents were freaking out over it and the pilot called for them to "prepare for landing" a good 45 min before we landed just because he didn't want ANYONE out of their seat til we landed. that's the level of turbulence we were encountering. end result of this, jen and alex are never flying to colorado again. haha

anyway, we stayed in eagle friday night at a hotel and drove to snowmass (which is right next to aspen) saturday morning. we got to the house around 11am and hot DAMN it was nice. i mean i prepared for that being that i knew how rich the couple are that own it. but there is something to be said for seeing it in person. here are some photos:

the house was the last one on it's street on the mountain. they bought the lot behind it so no one could build there. i'm told no house on the mountain can be more than 5500 sq. ft. so i guess that's how big it is. the floors were heated, the kitchen was amazing, and our bunk beds (as you can see) were so fucking cool. even the bathrooms were nice. carpeted and all. goddamn it was a nice house...with a nice view. and a little feature known as "ski-in, ski-out." i never knew the luxury of that til i saw it with my own eyes. you can literally put your skis on, walk outside, and go skiing. totally nuts. i didn't ski or snowboard all weekend because i was sick and just not feeling it, but most of the people staying there did. alex snowboarded twice and loved it. he hadn't been in like 10 years. i opted to hike up the mountain when i got there. it was totally insane because it was probably like 35 degrees outside but the sun was bright and shining. i was wearing too many layers and as my heart rate got up ascending the mountain with my ski poles in hand, i was down to ski pants and a tank top because i was sweating so much.

meanwhile, alex looked like this with his gear on:

he's quite the goofball...

anyhoo, later that day i went with alex's parents into snowmass village and got hot chocolate. then came back and relaxed at the house. the entire weekend i suffered from the altitude and got headaches periodically which sucked. i tried to drink a lot of water but i could only drink so much!!! later that night a whole bunch of us went into aspen for dinner. and godDAMN the cod i had was good. so fucking good. then the "kids" went to a bar afterward where i had the biggest whiskey sour in my life. they poured the mixed drinks into pint glasses!!! i mean seriously folks. goddamn. while at the bar i finally realized that yes, aspen is full of whities. i think i was one of maybe five people who weren't white in the room. and that's being generous with the count. it's so bizarre to be in such a culture non-diverse place.

the next day (sunday) we went to this town called ashcroft that is now a ghost town. it used to be a thriving silver mining community in the late 1800s but now it's home to lots of snow, trees, and a lovely restaurant. in the winter (ie, now) you have to either snow shoe or x-country ski to the restaurant. and there are different paths you can take. we decided to snow shoe and we took the long route going and the short route back. the long route was probably 3x as long as the direct route. but probably 10x more beautiful. so well worth it. i was just getting so hungry going there that i wanted to eat!!!

that's all of us in our snow shoe gear up in the top left photo. yes i am wearing a baseball cap. it's a yale hat. i borrowed it because i was told you should have a hat with a bill on it. i look like a dork! it's not my ski jacket either because mine was too heavy. the restaurant was soooo tasty. the best muffins ever! and working up the appetite to get there means you can eat guilt-free. especially when you know you have to snow shoe back to your car.

once we got back to the house alex went snowboarding and i showered. then he and i went into aspen with two of the other kids to see the town during daylight. i have to say i wasn't as impressed as i thought i would be. or rather, i thought there would be a ton of schmancy stores for all the rich and famous but not really. i mean there were some nice stores, but the town is so small. for some reason i pictured it being bigger. ah well. we went to dinner at 6pm (yes! 6pm!!) and it was a group of like 35 people. all the families, their kids, their kids friends of bfs or gfs, and the ski instructors. the occasion? one of the families' daughters was turning 9. and the quote of the weekend was "what do you get a nine year old who has never flown commercial?" haha i shit you not. alex's parents know a lot of wealthy families but they know a few who are megarich. one being the family who's house we were staying out and one being the family whose daughter was turning 9. all of these people are super nice but it really is another world. a world that is really hard for me to fathom. flying private planes and owning multi-million dollar homes. i just can't even imagine. and alex's parents (by comparison) are considered "normal people" in the group. most of the people in this group of friends are "normal." except normal is a sliding scale. since i know that his parents make a LOT more than most of my friends' parents. i won't say how much, but it's a lot. so entering this world is really bizarre for me. but anyway....

dinner was really tasty and i enjoyed meeting the people i had never met before. i'm later told that everyone loves me. which is fantastic. but i mean hell, i'm awesome. what's not to love?! haha (they didn't like alex's last gf because she was crazy and not very nice) after dinner we went home and worried about our flight home. we heard that it would snow on monday and we thought our plane might be delayed and/or we'd encounter really bad turbulence. we considered driving back to LA to be safe. but in the end we didn't. so yesterday morning we woke up and lounged around the house. we left for the airport way way way too early to be sure we didn't hit any traffic along the way. and our flight was surprisingly smooth all the way home to LA. so that was my long weekend. good good times. it's nice to get out of LA for a bit. helps keep me sane. i hope i can get up to SF in march for a weekend. that would be nice. i haven't seen my parents since last summer!! and i want to show alex my hometown through my eyes.

UGGHHHH

i should be holding the brand new samsung u-740 (see below) in my hand right now. but i am not. why? because the man at the verizon store is a complete fucking moron. allow me to explain...

so, i actually am not a big cell phone freak. i'm usually all about the no frills. and when i heard about the upcoming release of the motofone last year, i decided to watch it. so i began reading a cell phone blog. as it is, i read many blogs a day. celebrity gossip blogs, design blogs, personal blogs, mp3 blogs, and now this cell phone blog. so i checked the blog every day hoping that my no frills motofone would come out soon. i mean this phone is made for the rural markets in the world. it's first launch was in INDIA! the phone makes calls, sends and accepts texts messages, has a phonebook, and an alarm. that's about it. it has no camera. it can't even accept picture messages because it's screen uses e-ink technology which also helps increase it's battery talk time!

in a word, it's perfect! it's the perfect no frills phone. and the best thing is, it costs like $40 retail!!! i mean could it get any better? so i really really wanted this phone. sadly it hasn't come out in america. and who knows if, and when, it will. i mean people here want lots of toys. not some piece of shit entry-level phone. (except me)

so i just kept reading the blog every day to see if the damn phone would release. then about a month ago i stumbled upon the samsung u-740. the blog said it was going to launch with verizon mid-feb. and i thought to myself, now this is a phone i could get behind potentially....yes it's got a lot of bells and whistles. 1.3 megapixel camera, mp3 player, video player, etc etc. but the damn dual-hinge QWERTY keypad is so fucking cool. because it's like those other QWERTY phones except it's thin and relatively small (about the size of most flip fones these days). and that means it would be fantastic for text messaging. also if i ever did want to look at a website on my phone, it would be a hell of a lot easier with the landscape screen and the full keypad.

anyway, so then about 2 wks ago something very unfortunate happened. my cell phone began to malfunction. i opened the phone one day and the light wouldn't turn on! and no it wasn't the battery dying and now i didn't have the light function switched off. it just plum stopped working. but if the phone was half open the light came on. so i made due but realized my time with my lovely samsung was coming to an end. so i started researching the phone verizon had to offer since i knew i'd have to get one soon. so i decided that it was down to the motorola KRZR or this new samsung. but i had to wait for the samsung to release this past wednesday (aka valentine's day). meanwhile my phone went from the light working when half opened to not working at all to the outside light not working to the outside display not working to the inside display shutting off if the phone is open too long. but yes, the phone still works. ie, it can make calls and send/receive text messages. the display is just totally shot. sort of like my digicam, except i didn't drop this phone and have the lcd shatter...

SO....since i couldn't go to verizon on vday i went last night. i went to the sunset/vine store. (mental note: NEVER go there again) i had decided to research the phones ahead of time but had a list of questions to ask the man just for confirmation. and here's what went down at the store.

i walk in and am greeted by the "doorman" with the infamous clipboard.

doorman: hello. how can i help you today?
me: hi. i need to get a phone upgrade.
doorman: ok. can i have your name please?
me: jen.
doorman: ok jen. someone will be with you shortly. i'll call your name.
me: thanks.

i go to look at the phones and don't see the samsung.

me: umm excuse me. do you have the new samsung u-740?
doorman: oh the new one with the dual-hinge? yea, we don't have it out yet. let me get you a floor model.
me: thanks

so i play with the NON-working floor model. umm yea. how much can i tell from a phone that's fake. jesus people! i figure i can get one from the man when i go talk to him. so in the meantime i check out the KRZR. it's alright. seems overpriced for what it does. at this point i'm pretty set on the samsung but i have to play with a real working model. so finally the doorman calls my name and tells me that victor over in the green shirt can help me when i'm ready. so i go over to victor (aka the moron) and attempt to get my new phone. mind you, all the questions i asked i knew the answers too but wanted confirmation. also i like to see if the people at the store know anything? cuz if they can't answer something simple that i know the answer too, that means they are lying about everything they say.

the moron: hi, what can i do for you today?
me: i need a phone upgrade.
the moron: ok. what's your cell phone number?
me: 323.XXX.XXXX
the moron: and your name?
me: jennifer _______
the moron (clicking away at the computer): oooook. is there a particular phone you were interested in?
me: well i'm thinking either the KRZR or the new samsung u-740. can i see the samsung?
the moron (pulling out the dummy model): here ya go.
me: hmm. umm can i see a working model?
the moron: oh. ok. i'll have to get one from the back. this phone is brand new. we don't have it out yet. but we are selling it.
me: ok. umm so these phones both play music right?
the moron: yes.
me: so how do you get the music onto the phone? i have a mac and i've read it's not as easy as with a PC.
the moron: hmm... umm let me go ask someone. (walks away)
the moron (coming back): ok. you need a card reader.
me: ah. so that's the only way to get stuff onto the phone. put the card into a card reader. plug the card reader into the computer. then put stuff on the card. and then put it back in the phone?
the moron: yes.
me: ok. and so then you can just play your music on the phone? like with regular headphones thru the adapter?
the moron: yes.
me: ok. so now does the phone need to be open to play music?
the moron: yes.
me: oh really? that doesn't make any sense at all. having to have the phone flipped completely open?
the moron: umm yes. it needs to be open. well...ummm. the samsung is brand new. i dont know anything about it really.
me: how about the KRZR?
the moron: yes. umm...wait...no. no it doesn't have to be open.
me: ok. so can you use mp3s as ringtones?
the moron: umm i dont know. (turns to associate) can you use mp3s as ringtones?
moron #2: no. only the blackberrys and Q can do that.
me (knowing they are wrong): oh. okkkkk....can i see the working samsung?
the moron: ok let me get it. (goes and gets it from the back)

so i fiddle with it for a bit. decide it's the better option over the KRZR.

me: ok. how much is this phone? ...with a 1 yr contract...
the moron: $249.99
me: what about the $50 rebate?
the moron: oh that's only with the 2 yr contract.
me: oh? really? are you sure?
the moron: yes. $50 rebate is ONLY with the 2 yr contract. we've never done the rebate with a a 1 yr contract.
me: oh? because when i logged in to my account online i swear the phone was $249.99 plus the $50 rebate making it $199.99. is it cheaper online?
the moron: yes online you get the rebate instantly.
me: so it's $199.99?
the moron: no there is no $50 rebate with the 1 yr contract.
me: ummm...i think that's wrong. umm ok. i guess i'll think about it.
the moron: ok.

so i left the store without a phone....i went home and sure enough, $199.99 online. jesus fucking christ that man was a moron. i mean he didn't know any of the right answers to my questions and he completely wasted my time. but i wanted to make sure the internet wasn't duping me. so i called customer service and spoke with sherry who was WONDERFUL. she answered all my questions and she was surprised the man at the store was so unhelpful and unknowledgeable. i was too! jesus. she assured me that you can get the $50 rebate even with a one year contract. the man was just totally wrong.

so now i have to order my phone online because i am off to aspen tonight (well unless we get snowed in) and i can't get to a store anytime before tuesday. and the woman said if i order today it should come on tuesday since they use fedex. so good good. i bet i'll still have to get the phone activated for my account which will mean i'll have to go to the store again (or maybe i can do it over the phone...), but i'm gonna go to another store. the one closer to me. where i swear they know what they are doing. the place i've gone several times for my verizon issues. fuck the hollywood store. and fuck you victor for wasting my time...

EDIT: so apparently you can activate the phone over the phone. so i will be calling sherry directly! she gave me her extension. no more fucking around...

happy valentine's day to everyone out there, single or not. i really don't like valentine's day. even if i do have a bf. it's just such a stupid, contrived holiday that makes single people feel crappy and gives couples a reason to show their love which really, they should be doing every day in some small, unobtrusive way. i, for one, had a bad valentine's day last year even though i had a bf and ever since have vowed to never hype it up ever again. it's just not worth it. so i told alex we weren't doing anything big. and it worked out well because we are going to aspen this weekend which is completely unrelated to valentine's day (his parents are going for president's day weekend and invited us along). so since the weekend which would generally be dedicated to the hallmark holiday is already taken up for us, we have no way to "go big." so we're just going to out to dinner tonight at our fave sushi place and that's about it. i have decided that if i'm ever single again, i'm not going to give a shit about this lousy holiday. there is no need to feel bad about being single. at least when you are single, you have no one to worry about other than yourself. and hell, that's the best fucking thing ever!

blargh. i'm sick AGAIN. i fucking hate this shit. i swear i've been sick off and on for like 2 months. it's fucking ridiculous. and you know how it happens? work...people at work get sick and come to work sick and it spreads. and it never stops. last week two people were really sick at work. one sits right across from me. of course i'm going to get sick. except this time i was more sick than the other times which might be good because then once i get really sick, i can be immune to it when it comes around again. i think i suffered from not getting sick enough each time. ah well. i took the day off yesterday cuz i thought it would be for the best. i even missed create:fixate AGAIN this weekend. i swear i'll never get to go. every time it's something. usually i have other plans or am not in town. this time i was all set to go. but then i felt sick and run down and ended up sleeping 12 hours rather than go. BOO!!! i need to get better before aspen. cuz aspen with a cold doesn't sound like fun to me. especially when i'm being forced to snow shoe to the restaurant as there is no means of getting there by vehicle. it's either snow shoe or ski. and well, i don't ski. this aught to be interesting....

so coachella is basically sold out. sat and sunday day tickets are sold out. and so are 3 day passes. i didn't think it would happen so quickly!! but goldenvoice was smart. they sold a very limited amount of single day tickets in the hopes that people would buy 3 day passes. and hot damn they were right. friday is the only day left available and methinks those will go soon too. me also thinks they will release more tickets later. but who the hell knows....we were going to have a HUGE group of people camping. like 25 give or take. but now with people having NOT bought their tickets, it might be more like 20. or less.....SAD people SAD. why did you wait? why?????

this brings me to another thing i never realized. credit cards. i have had one since i was about 15 or 16. and since i was 18 i've consistently had two that i used. (that doesn't count the one strictly for my college tuition which my parents paid off but garnered me air miles nor does it count me being attached to their credit cards either) so i guess i'm just really surprised when people tell me they can't afford to buy something TODAY. to me it's like if you know you'll have the cash by the time your bill comes, buy it now. pay later. but now i'm realizing a lot of my friends don't actually have credit cards. they have debit cards but no actual credit cards. that's so weird to me. we're 25 years old (or older). i assumed we all had at least one credit card. but i guess not. now this is not to say i abuse my credit cards. i have never missed a payment on my cards in my whole life (except the one time they didn't send me my statement and i didn't pay off the one $15 charge on time because i just didn't realize my statement never came). so when i say buy now, pay later, i don't mean pay off in installments. i just mean pay when the statement comes. so if you don't have the cash in hand, right now, TODAY, it's ok.

why did i go on this tangential rant? oh yea...because a lot of people didn't buy their tickets yet! and now they are SOL. now of course, some people may not have the cash even when their credit card does come. and if that is the case, then yes, by all means you were right in waiting. it just sucks that now you can't get tickets. but i guess that's how the cookie crumbles. but if you waited just to wait for waitssake, then why?!?!?! cuz now they are gone.....gah!! so sad. i want all my friends to be there. but i guess it just won't be happening....

man i meant to blog yesterday but i forgot. so here i go today!

first up. the weekend. the girls got together for a little super bowl action. and by this i mean picture 6 girls sitting in front of a tv carelessly rooting for the bears (because we like chicago and can't relate to indiana), missing all the key plays, pigging out on junk food (hot wings, pita/humus, nachos, cupcakes, quiche, rice crispie treats, pizza), watching the commercials, and talking about boys, toiletries, and coachella. yes, this was my sunday. and it was glorious. i love our girl hang outs. we definitely need to do them more often.

next. a HUGE piece of news stacey passed on to me yesterday.

ROBBIE WILLIAMS (british pop icon extraordinaire!!!) is coming to las vegas this summer. YES YES YES. i can't tell you HOW fucking amazing this is going to be. i have no idea where he will perform or when exactly but i promise you i will be there. come hell or high water. i am going to research this EVERY DAY until i find out where it is happening and how i can buy tickets. this is my chance to see robbie in america and you best believe i won't miss it. oh man. i can hardly contain myself. i'm so excited. and to boot, i love that swing album. i mean i would love to see him perform an entire proper montage of all his hits, but hey, i'll take what i can get. i have a couple dvds (yes...) of his shows and if it's anything like "the robbie williams show" that was specially taped in england and showcases a lot of these swing songs, then i'm DOWN for it. oh.my.god. just thinking about it. gah!!!!!

ok moving on. though not far. it's to another british obsession of mine. mini cars. i stumbled upon these:

mini cars that have been converted into desks! isn't that brilliant? i mean i would want a proper working mini car but hell, this is pretty damn neat too.

i just found a gelateria in LA that has tiramisu flavor WITH ladyfingers. it was soooo good. i'm so happy. they sell pints for $6.95. i think i will have to return and get a pint one of these days. i'm so excited! meanwhile the people on yelp are not as pleased with this place. it got two 2-star ratings and one 3-star rating. mostly because apparently they don't make the gelato in house and get it shipped from michigan. but i don't care. it tasted really good and it had ladyfingers. that's all i care. so i'll be going back for sure. fuck the haters. haha

ok i think my ear is officially healed. phew! goddamn earwax. ruining everything...

last night i went to the peter bjorn and john concert at the roxy. ran into a current coworker, a former one, and one from the MAG. good times. the show was packed. i forgot how small and ridiculously laid out the roxy is. but the show as good save the lacking sound system. the band really rocked out and engaged the crowd. they seemed genuine which is really important to me when watching live shows. i can see if they get big, they will put on really good shows. i mean they were pretty limited at the roxy. so if they were at the wiltern or the greek they would do a really good job.

this weekend is looking very relaxed which sounds great. tonight i think alex and i are going to dinner with his friends, will and dawn. tomorrow i'm going to run a few errands and do some more work on my website. maybe go out at night to a club or this cheesy 80s prom reenactment thing. then sunday it's girls day! the 6 of us are getting together to watch the super bowl (commercials) and eat shitty food and make pizza by hand. should be good good times. i'm really looking fwd to that.

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