Canyon Climber...

Aha! We did it. We scaled a mountain...okay a canyon...a canyon that my super fit friend has been known to call "wimpy" but it is a canyon nonetheless way up in the Hollywood hills. I even braved the nasty porta -potty at the start of the hike. It had clearly been visited by a bear just before me, forever changing my answer to "does a bear shit in the woods?" No, he does not. Alas, I am a nature girl, and so equipped with my hand sanitizer, Sigg water bottle, 45 spf Roche-Posay sunscreen... I made it up the mountain and back. Nature right here in the middle of the smog sandwich. A toast to nature with a giant Starbucks! And now we are off to explore the flora and fauna of the fashion world.

Picnic by the Pacific...

Another great thing about having a visitor is doing all those great things that I told myself I would do all the time when I first moved to L.A. and then let go by the wayside, when I actually started to live here. These things include, climbing canyons, going to the Getty just for lunch and the view, and having picnics by the Pacific. Now I walk on sidewalks, eat lunch in front of my computer, and my view, although beautiful is of the courtyard right outside my office window, where I sit all day at my desk. Well, yesterday after strolling along the boardwalk in Santa Monica, we had a picnic on the grassy boulevard along Ocean Walk, stared out at the Pacific Ocean and found refuge from the sun under the shady palm trees. I even took my shoes off and cooled my feet on the grass, closed my eyes and had a little nap. It was heaven. And Monday I am going hiking in the canyon and then off to the Getty for lunch...and of course the view.

Visitors...

I have a friend coming in for the weekend, which is very, very exciting! We are going to drink Margarita's, cruise the Pacific Coast Highway and walk the beach in Malibu...and no, none of it at the same time or in that order. We're not pulling a Mel Gibson...there will be no name calling either, unless those names are Nordstroms, Anthropology, or Banana Republic.

The great thing about having visitors, apart from the chance to play hooky for a few days and eat at my favorite restaurants, is that it forces me to be productive. I can have three days of almost no writing, but take away those three days from me and my brain goes into overdrive. Suddenly I must make up for the time that I will "lose". I get up early, work out, clean the apartment, get the car washed, respond to all my e-mails and sit down and write for hours! Hmmm....maybe I should have visitors more often. Or maybe just a big Margarita on a stick that I dangle in front of my computer to get more work done.

Blog Blunders

Oh my! It seemed that my blog has already gotten lost in cyber space. I tried to find it and discovered that it didn't exist. And then it did...twice...one version completed, the other a blank template. I deleted the blank one...which apparently meant I had deleted all versions...and then I couldn't rebuild it, using the same name. Well, after breaking out into a cold sweat...and e-mailing the folks at google...I think I have resurrected it from some sort of cyber hell...I hope. We will see if it goes again. Patience friends and a stiff drink are in order...I mean what good is four hours of procrastinating from writing one's new novel if not to have something to show for it?

The Blog Begins...

After a lot humming and hawing and a little bit of hesitating...I have started my own blog! What will it be about? What will I say? Oh the possibilities are endless and only time will tell the exact shape and direction that all my ramblings will take me. Expect tales about writing, reviews of favorite restaurants, obsessive open housing observations, interviews with actors and authors of which I am both and the odd indulgent tangent about something that has tickled my fancy! Note I said something and not someone...it's not that kind of blog. Welcome to Sorell Says...