Sigfried

On Friday November 4, 2011 the most beautiful, energetic and loving dog passed away. Sigfried was the runt of the litter and as he sat on my lap the entire 4 hour drive home (I was a passenger don't worry), I immediately fell in love with him. From that moment on, I knew that he was going to have a special place in my heart. After I moved away from home, I missed him like crazy and would always talk about stealing him back from my Mom. :) When I would visit I would always look forward to seeing him spin in a circle as fast as he could because he would get so excited to see me. I'm sure he did this for other people as well, but it didn't matter to me...I just knew I would get to cuddle him for the rest of the time I spent with him.

I didn't realize that the last time I was back in Minnesota would be the last time I would see him. It is a brilliant reminder to savor the moments with any loved one. It doesn't matter if it's a dog, a child, a sibling, a lover or a parent...you never know and I for one will take live in the world with more awareness and a picture of Sigfried in my wallet.

xo

Victoria

Fowler, Fresno & Beyond

Hi Everyone!

I clearly needed to recover from the amazing Prince experience...

Marc and I have settled into our lovely new digs, the bedroom is painted, books are on the shelves, birthdays celebrated and so we thought we would take a short trip to Yosemite. I had only been to the edgeof the park and therefore had never seen these amazing waterfalls everyone speaks of. It was spectacular...

We drove up on a Friday afternoon but due to crowded hotel rooms near the park,we got a lovely room in Fowler - outside of Fresno.

In case you're wondering - I had never

wanted to stay in Fresno or even have dinner there but we were pleasantly surprised as we entered the city and ended up in the tower district.

Stepping out of the car we felt like we had been transported in time.

A beautiful old movie Theater greeted us and as we wandered down the street. We noticed cute restaurants and cafes, people actually in them as they enjoyed each other and chatted on...

We decided to get a drink at this Italian/French Bistro...

it was lovely.

We enjoyed martini's and vodka-tonics before eating dinner and wandering back to the car to enter our 2011 Hotel room in Fowler.

And then it wasSaturday...

Yosemite baby!

Let me just say...Marc and I are not big hikers (though Marc looks like a giant getting ready tot tackle the woods in the picture above). I did have hiking shoes on and we trekked up beneath the waterfall which was freezing and invigorating. It took well over an hour to actually drive into the Yosemite Valley but it was definitely worth it. Beautiful waterfalls, luscious trees and winding roads...

All of the pictures above this line are before we actually hit the waterfall

Before & After

I think that sums it up.

Prince.

It has been over a year since I last posted so I think it only fit that I re-start my life with a post about Prince.

I'm not a Prince virgin by any means. I have seen him perform at Paisley Park in Minnesota with as little as 50 people and a stadium with as many as 20,000; and yet I was not prepared for the 3.5 hour show I would enjoy with 18,000 fans at the Forum on April 14, 2011. It's always a Party. Fear not Fans who have yet to see him: as of now, no set list has been the same.

The stage is slightly lit and as 9p rolled around the Forum is about half full. He teases the audience by dropping the lights and then turning them back on. This happened 4 times before the low rumble began, turning into a funk drum beat, The New Power Generation, Back up singers (who were so much more than that) and finally Prince coming up through the middle of the stage. 5 Minutes later, the Forum is packed, the people are up and dancing but the energy is still not quite as high as I would have thought. He sings the first 2 songs and then disappears, leaving us with his insanely talented musicians jamming when it turns into the intro to Purple Rain. Here's the thing about Prince - he does make you wait for it. He allows so much time to breathe during his shows that one has to go at his rhythm and it all seems like it's made up on the spot. 7 Minutes of Purple Rain Intro before he comes up and blows the Forum pressurized roof off. Purple rain falling from the ceiling - magical.

He hits it back up old school - going through his hits and now the energy is pumping through the space.

In the middle of the set, Prince has disappeared below the stage when we hear the simple tune of the piano when his back up musicians, bassist and pianist all sing "To make you feel my love" in 5 part harmony. A stunning breather and shows everything about Prince.

I could go through each song and tell you about his dance moves and amazing lyricism, his struts and booty shakes, his humour and sly looks to the audience - perhaps I shall simply jump to the end...which last 1.5 hours and brings Sheila E to drum, dance and sing. He ended the show at 11p. The first encore was simply one song. The second encore - which the amateurs thought would be his last got people up on the stage before he descended back down thanking the audience. Houselights came on, but the die-hard fans know Prince and know that he loves his fans and he loves the intimacy of playing for a small crowd. People started filing out by the thousands.

Melina and I moved to the third row and patiently waited - interlacing screams, claps and chants to ensure that Prince would be back. With about 2000 people left - he came out again. He exits - more people file out. 1000 people left - he comes out again - this time with full houselights up. By the time we left the Forum it was 12:35a - 3.5 hours after he started and maybe 500 - 700 people left with us. Leaving the parking lot was a breeze.

Prince is brilliant. He is an artist who embraces everything about who he is. His stature, his love for music, his obsessive perfection...He is the best.

Party in Inglewood...Inspiring.

Woohoo - finally!

Mini update continued...October

Observatory, Barbara & Stephen living in my apartment and Oktoberfest...these are the things I'll remember about October :) I'm not sure where my Oktoberfest pics have gone - sooooo we'll get back to that...

A little update....September

Hi lovelies! I finally got a new computer which will allow me to actually upload pictures and write to all 5 of you who read this blog :) Joking - there are more of you...

September is dedicated to my brother Stefan's Wedding...so so beautiful!

HAPPY WEDDING!

Okay - seriously - I must have gone through quite the depression after Michael Jackson's Death...okay not really, but I did get laaazy with blogging. It was a fairly uneventful summer - work, some play, a wee bit of travel which led me to September. September has been wonderful!

My oldest brother Stefan (the rocknrollstar) got married to Jacquie on September 19th, 2009. I have to tell you - watching my brother run into the theme from Rocky (suggested by me thank you!) was priceless. The bridal party entered to "Bittersweet Symphony" and Jacquie was greeted by "All you need is love" - it was fantastic.

I believe the highlights of the post ceremony festitivites were as follows: My father saying (please imagine this in a thick austrian accent) "na ja, it's too bad none of my kids became musicians" - uh yeah we had JUST performed during the ceremony, I am a songwriter and my brother Randy was in a band for 10 years. Ummm yeah. We had a chat about that straight away...What else? My lovely boyfriend charming all my cousins...but the winner for me was the rocknrollstar and I doing our interpretive dance to "one more time"...so good.

I tried posting pics - but I'm currently working on a lame pc...therefore it wouldn't let me. rarrr...i'll get a new computer soon! :)

RIP Michael...

Today has been a very sad day here in LA. Farrah and now Michael. I feel sad for the family and friends of Farrah Fawcett...

However, for me, the saddest news of all is the loss of Michael Jackson. Michael represents a part of my youth. A few years ago I found a diary I had written in 1988. It was the year that Michael Jackson came to Vienna on his Bad Tour and I was going to get to see him! I remember running to get a place in the stadium, I remember thinking "wow, they have a moving walkway on the stage!" only to find out that he was doing the moonwalk and most of all I remember screaming at the top of my lungs trying to sing along. I used to carry my piano books in a Michael Jackson bag. I read a Michael Jackson book at a birthday party instead of participating in the birthday. I sang Whitney Houston (hey even I had to change it up sometimes) songs to the 167 posters of him in my room. I wrote letters to him - which brought tears of laughter to my parents after they came back because they were addressed to "MRS Michael Jackson" with no postage and terrible english. Hey - I tried. Some might call me an obsessed child - but I really wasn't. I just wanted so badly to know this man who made my heart jump with joy when I heard his music. To this day - I can tell you where and when I heard his songs and I can still feel my inner kid hoping to get invited to Neverland Ranch. I know he had controversy surrounding him and I don't give a rats ass about any of it. All I care about is the fact that when I hear "Man in the Mirror" - I feel inspired. When I hear "I want to Rock with you" - I want to do the dance I created when I was 8 and when I see the Thriller Video - I want to hide because it scared the crap out of me when I was little. :)

So, here you go...the moving walkway lives on forever and I will always be blessed having seen him live and having memories that make me laugh, cry and best of all...dance.

My friend Dawn.

How can I describe my friend Dawn to all of you? She's a beautiful, extremely intelligent super traveler who has been one of my best friends for 12 years now. Dawn has the ability to be surprising at all turns...Just when I think she might kick my ass, she hugs me. If you ever want to know any secrets about me - Dawn knows them but she'll never ever tell you. She's fiercely loyal, wonderfully funny and has this beautiful singing voice -but you have to be in the inner circle to hear it. I am so lucky to have her in my life...and I know I can always be myself around her. I also know NOT to mess with her...'cause she really will kick my ass.

She is also such a wonderful friend that she flew all the way out to LA to see me on my birthday! By far the most "social" trip we've ever had. She has been out to visit me 3 other times, but the first time was spent sightseeing, the second we went from San Diego, stopped in LA and then onto San Francisco (you can view that visit on this blog in fact) and this time we were surrounded by my lovely peeps the whole time. It was fantastic and by far the least amount of sleep I've had in quite some time.

Happy Birthday Natalie...

My friend Natalie plays in a salsa band called "La Picante" and the night of her birthday I joined them at "Monsoon" in Santa Monica. Hmm that's kind of a boring start to this post...but the night was faaaar from boring. The band is really tight and Natalie sounded and looked amazing - talented girl that one. I must admit I wasn't in much of a dancing mood - but it was quite flattering that shortly after Melina and I sat down men were coming over...Ah yes, we all know I like the attention.
Hal and I decided that a birthday dance for natalie was in order - and if you have seen Hal dance - you know it's very distracting and seeing as it's lead by his belly - pretty funny.



It was so nice to see all you lovely people!!!

Chopped off Hairs...

Now, you may think it's weird that I'm posting about my hair. It's really not that weird. I went from being nasty crack addicty kind of blonde to a dark brunette to a sort of strawberry blonde - which probably closest to my real hair colour...all within a couple of months. Along with chopping off quite a bit of hair...

The reason I bring this up is because along with the hair changes, I feel like everything else in my life has altered quickly. Shortly thereafter I was in the car accident (in fact - that happened on the day I had my hair chopped off), I got a cat, I got laid off a job, Marc and I broke up... and since then I feel like I've been picking up the chopped off hairs lying lifeless on the floor.

Sounds a bit dramatic right? I've been involved in this counseling class which has taken me on quite the journey...so be prepared - the blog might change a bit. There may be some heavier stuff in here than you're used to, but I promise to still post the fluffy bits as well. Let's call it: Victoria's Growth. No let's not - that sounds a bit disturbing. The Growth Period?

Victoria & Belly Dancing...

After eating a lot of yummy food with my fingers...


That's right...Bellydancing. I was told by the Belly Dancer that I should definitely take a class...hmmm, any thoughts on that lovely people?

Happy Birthday Melina!

On the 9th of March, one of my favorite people was born! Lovely Melina celebrated her 25th birthday with pizza, party hats and diamond rings, followed by pirate drinks at the R Bar. It was all quite festive...rumour has it that she was watching The Big Lebowski and suddenly awoke to daylight...it may have been the shots of patron. Maybe?

The Birthday Girl! Peter enjoying his diamond...


Lucas being festive, Jevon (as we like to call her) with BG
Sillyness

Yeah not sure what happened there...so let's move on to blowing.

Pizza Cake and the group at the R Bar

Joey and Fighting Hal.

Holy balls! let's break it down to months...

Has it really been 2 months since I last posted?!?!
Well, the rollercoaster started in January so let's start there...

New Year's - well we already talked about that...toward the end of January I had a very strange week: It started with me having coffee with my exboyfriend - we shall call him Bob but most of you know him as Greg of whom there are quite a few pictures on here. :) I was a bit nervous to see him after what was a pretty long detox (or he-tox as we called it) but it ended up being great! However, a couple of days later I was in a car accident! I can't say much about it here, but let's just say : I still don't have my car back. A couple of days after that: I randomly got a cat named Scoopy - who I've renamed Cali Scoops Saucelito...
I say that Scoopy is her Korean name since I got her from a lovely korean woman. :)

I then attended the biggest wedding I've ever seen...my lovely friends Bijan and Rachel had a beautiful ceremony here in Beverly Hills . It started off with amazing food stations outside of the main room: everything from Burritos to Sushi, cake and wine...When the curtains parted and we were allowed into the room it felt as though we were entering an Awards Ceremony. The room was beautifully lit with amazing centerpieces on the table. Approximately 470 people attended the wedding with the ceremony starting around 9p, followed by massive amounts of dancing and dinner served at 11:30p or midnight...followed by more dancing. Sadly, due to the accident I couldn't really stay too late, but I heard the party continued on until 4a! Lovely lovely lovely...