Vegas Baby Vegas!

That's right! Five days after arriving back in LA and readjusting to the 77 degree weather (hey it was 80 in Oahu - actually it was warmer in LA!) I went on a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas. Amazing experience and hey I actually really liked Las Vegas. I was pretty skeptical but it's like a candy store for Adults! Wandered around, gambled a bit, saw Avenue Q (Great show...highly recommended), ate a lot of food...it was a great 24 Hours. :) Thank you so much to my friend Eric for taking me along on this great excursion! :)

Oahu...

WARNING: White tourist girl! Seriously, I think I blinded people, though I managed to get some colour by the end of the weekend. :) I was really off my picture taking game as I missed quite a few opportunities...just another reason to go back. Missing are the Friday night excursion (which may be a good thing that there's no proof) and the Superbowl party. :( Sorry!

I have to say that I had incredibly high expectations for this island and they were surpassed! It's beautiful! I would like to again sometime soon to visit some of the other islands, but Oahu is lovely. We travelled to the north shore, stopping at Giovanni's Shrimp-all must stop there as they have delicious Shrimp Scampi. I go to see Sea Turtles in the waves - the north shore is famous for it's huge waves in the wintertime (though they were apparently taking a rest when I was there), I surfed and went hiking through a rainforest to a waterfall. Enjoyed a "local" night out by going downtown to view Art Galleries and sing Karaoake (very badly) and end the night drinking budweisers while some people tried to beat each other up. Perhaps they were just trying to wrestle the microphone out of our hands. Sorry, no pictures from that night...so no proof, but perhaps that's a good thing!
Definitely understandable why so many people get married there or take their honeymoon there. :) Soooo, a huge THANK YOU to my friend Charles for making it an amazing trip and for introducing me to lovely people!!! LA was a huge adjustment this past week...It's pretty easy to get used to the slooowww hawaiian lifestyle.

Teaser...

View from Apartment

So, I spent one day back in LA after Minnesota, before jetting off to visit my friend Charles in Hawaii! That's right, HAWAII!!! More Pictures coming soon...though they don't really do it justice. :)

Little Rayna...

She's beautiful and Perfect...just some pics - I just realized that none of them have me in them. Must talk to my brother about that!

Old Baldy!!!

Hello! I HAVE THE INTERNET AT HOME!! WOOHOOO...this will mean that (hopefully) I will be much more consistent about updating my blog with tidbits of LA and the surrounding area. :)
Soo, my niece Rayna was born, which was definitely the best thing about January (other than some other people's birthdays!) and I did get to visit her, but more on that later. First, some pictures from my Hike up to Old Baldy. About an hour outside of LA, I spent a lovely afternoon hiking around (with a cold no less!) and then kicked ass playing pool in the local lodge. :) It felt like a ski lodge which was lovely...but unfortunatly I don't have any pictures of it. It was really strange to ride a ski lift up without any snow (or ski's) and by the way...it was cold at the top of the mountain! :)

RAYNA JEAN ENGELMAYER..woohoo I'm a "Tante"

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!! Rayna was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 12th, 2006. She weighed in at 8pounds 10.4 ounces and absolutely beautiful. She's definitely an Engelmayer...a little Hairy, stubborn to come out and hungry! :) Congratulations to JENN AND RANDY!!!! We're so happy to have a new addition! Love you always!

A Baby and more to come!

Look like January 12th will be the day of my Niece's Birth...so let's all hope for a smooth delivery!!!! I'm so excited to be a Tante (Aunt) and to go and see her! :) She's already very very loved...

BACK IN LA!!! :)

I arrived back in LA, late on Wednesday night and began auditioning again on Thursday morning…a nice welcome back I think.. ☺ The day after that my friend Laura flew out to visit me and to run the Orange County Marathon!!!! She did an amazing job! It was held in Newport Beach was great and her family even flew out for the day to be at the Finish Line with her! We enjoyed a couple of days of touristy LA stuff…though also enjoyed the company of a couple of my friends. AHHHH yes and we had a blown out tire on our way home after the Marathon…yikes quite the experience! Luckily we were able to get off the Freeway and into a car dealership, but five men watched us trying to get this freakin tire off! The bolts were quite tough…eventually they did helps us but it was not easy. One of the guys randomly serenaded me in German after finding out that I speak German. Luckily, it wasn't a song from the Sound of Music! Seriously, I was standing there with a wrench in my hand being sung to after having been awake for 15 hours already at that point a blown tire. The Guys ended up being pretty nice and helping us after a while – even invited us out for Sushi…yeah no, that wasn’t about to happen.
I dropped Laura off at the Airport and am going to settle into being here for a couple of weeks before I leave again to see my “about to be born Niece” in Minnesota!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We enjoyed a pre party dinner at Zvonko's...which I don't really have many pics of, but hopefully someone I know will send me some :)


The boys and I went to the China Club in Times Square this year. Our VIP Status got us…hmm what did it get us…ah yes a table and a bottle of Champagne…though we still had to “take care” of the bouncer in order to pass the mile long queue to get into the club. We had a great time though…drank a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of Champagne, danced and even had one of our own get kicked out…so I would say that it was a stylish entrance and exit into the New Year. ☺ I slept most of the next day…hmm a bit of recovery was necessary after eating a Hot Dog from Gray's Papaya on 72nd St...the best Hot Dog, but maybe not at 4am. :)

In Between...

Lucas and I played “tourist” in NY this time though. We went to the Guggenheim, the Christmas Market in Union Square, the Natural History Museum, and also enjoyed a lovely MTA Strike which meant a daily 10 mile walk for Lucas…lovely huh?

Christmas...

The Market...
Ah the Tree. :)




I spent my Christmas in NY this year which was lovely! I have to say that other than Vienna, there is no better place than NY at that time of year. Much like last year, we walked around the City to see all the Christmas Sights, but rather than decorating a “Christmas Tree” we decorated a “Palm Christmas Tree”. It was quite lovely…the chocolate that hung on it though was eaten very quickly. ☺ Each year there is a Christmas Market in Union Square which is cute...though it's definitely not the same as a "Christkindlmarkt" in Vienna...mainly that we wandered around for an hour and there was no alcohol! Is it really Christmas without a warm Alcoholic Beverage...maybe. :) I feel like I already wrote about that though...

HOLA! :)

Hello my lovely family and friends! Yup, you may have guessed, I still don't have internet at home...but hey better a late update than none at all...right? The Holidays are over...though I have to say it didn't really feel like "the Holiday's" this year...it kind of snuck up on me and then it was over...but there was quite a lot in between all that. :) Soooooo, here we go: