There's Riff-Raff in the Riff-Raff Room!

There's Riff-Raff in the Riff-Raff Room! - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

So, here's my 5 seconds of fame...I'm in the purple dress. I do think they showed us with the final product as well, because my aunt made mention of it this morning. What's funny about that man is that I saw him back there and was thinking, "he looks a little out of place...umm..." But when you live in LA, anything goes, so it really wouldn't have surprised me if they told us he was the head designer for Levi jeans. Ha!

Update:

Here's a screenshot from the show! There's me and Leah!

I went to Ellen!

Ok, so my friend Leah invited me to go to The Ellen Show with her... I was so stoked because it's damn near impossible to get tickets to see Ellen! Well, we had standby tickets, so I never actually got into the audience, BUT I think what ended up happening was MUCH better. We were waiting out in the hallway and were approached by two people working on/with Ellen's show. They asked if we'd like to model/get fitted for jeans. Hmm... think about it think about it think about it... YES!

So they bring us to the back as everyone else waiting to go in the backstage/holding room (?) throw us daggers with their eyes. No worries, they came back their too. They had the whole back room set-up with Levis EVERYTHING. We got fitted for jeans, got filmed being measured, tried on a few pairs, got to keep TWO pairs, and then went back to the platform to show (while being filmed) the "finished product." Since I wore a dress, they gave me an Ellen tank top... and THEN gave me another super cute Levis' top. The gal leading us through made it sound like we'll be on the show tomorrow... now, we didn't actually walk out there and model the jeans (there were actual models that did that... they're all so skinny... sigh...) but we were filmed in our new jeans! So I guess I'll see tomorrow if I made the cut!

And oh, we still got to watch the show, just on jumbo TVs... I could see in the actual area where they were filming a little bit, it was just up the stairs. But seriously, I got to watch the show and (kinda) participate. It was a lot of fun! And bonus: once they were finished taping, we got to leave because we had all our stuff! But the audience (200+ people) had to stay behind and get fitted for their jeans. And I'm not sure where they were going to do that, because it was 108 degrees outside.

In all seriousness, it was really generous for them to give away SO much stuff! I left with two new tops and two new pairs of jeans! Rock on!

Moving to Hawaii: Bringing your Pet

I had NO clue what an endeavor it would be to bring Baxter to Hawaii. I did know that Hawaii is rabies-free and that animals arriving had to be quarantined. I really really really didn't want to have to quarantine Baxter in Hawaii, but c'est la vie. Once moving to Hawaii started to become a partial reality, I decided do some research as to what I had to do to bring our kitty with us. 

The good news: I don't necessarily have to "quarantine" him. The bad news: I have a four page checklist with seven separate points and several sub-points of things that have to be done to qualify for "direct-release" at the Honolulu airport. Direct release=no kitty jail. I went cross-eyed the first time I read it and I had to read it out loud. Repeatedly. And also, we started this process early, even before we knew we'd be moving to Hawaii or not because we knew there was a lengthy waiting period. 

Step 1 - Rabies Vaccinations

No problem, right? Wrong. Since Baxter was rescued, I knew that he had been vaccinated by Jiji (Baxter's foster mommy), but this checklist requires at least TWO rabies vaccinations in his lifetime. So, we went to get him vaccinated, again. About a year had passed since his first & second vaccination, so even though he had received a 3-year shot the first time, I don't think this would be considered "over vaccinating" him. Also, what the hell else was I supposed to do? That's what they require. 

From the latest vaccine, there's a 90 day waiting period to enter Hawaii. 3 months. The least of my worries. 

I also had to track down all the info from his first vaccination - which Jiji so graciously helped me with. It wasn't exactly easy, because the state of Hawaii is very specific in the information they want (date vaccinated, type of vaccine, etc.). I actually had to email the people over in Hawaii (the government, I guess?) with a lot of questions about the paperwork I did have. Surprisingly, they emailed me back rather quickly. So yeah, the vaccine stuff is straight. I think. I hope. 

Step 2 - Microchip

All pets must be microchipped. Baxter microchipped. Check! So, if he gets lost, you can scan his neck, and up pops my information! Fancy. I like it. 

Step 3 - OIE-FAVN Rabies Blood Test

This was a little confusing trying to explain to the vet. Luckily, here in California the vets are pretty familiar with the "moving to Hawaii" procedures, so really it was just confusing to me. They knew exactly what needed to be done. Basically, they drew blood from Baxter (I'm pretty sure he hated us that day), and sent it away to some lab in Kansas. Your arrival date in Hawaii must be 120 days (4 months) after the lab receives the results. But not more than 36 months after.  And then there's all these other fancy instructions, like the paperwork must have the microchip ID number and say Hawaii as the destination and... and... cross eyed. 

THEN, there's the website through the State of Hawaii government website where I could actually check to make sure Baxter got a passing test result. It was only updated every Friday and it was a million page long PDF file. Searching by microchip number is the only way you'd ever find your pet. I think by week 4, Baxter was on there and good to go. This is where we got the date of November 18th - the first date Baxter would be eligible for direct release at the airport. Arriving prior to that date would result in him being quarantined until the 120 days are up. 

Step 4 - Waiting Period
And we wait...

Step 5 - Paperwork! 

There's a buttload of paperwork that needs to be submitted. The tricky part is, the original health certificate they require is only "good" for 10 days. So right before I leave, I need to hit up the vet for this nonsense. 

Step 6 - Turning in your Homework

Now it's time to submit all the paperwork. And it has to be received in Hawaii at least TEN DAYS prior to your arrival. Remember the expiration date I told you about on the health certificate?? So yeah, everything EXCEPT the health certificate has to be mailed off and received at least 10 days before kitty lands in Hawaii. Oh yeah, there's also some paper I have to get notarized I keep forgetting about. Crap.

Step 7 - Who the hell knows... 

This part just gives me the hours of operation of the Animal Quarantine Facility/Customs and how much it's going to cost me to have Baxter direct released at the airport ($165)... 

And on a side note, you can't just bring any animal into Hawaii and call it pet. I'm pretty sure it's just cats and dogs only. No birdies, ferrets, or other rodents. 


(I noticed my pictures weren't showing up for some reason, so again, this is the checklist I am referring too...)

And OF COURSE our Baxter is worth it. 

Moving to Hawaii: Buying a Car

In case you haven't heard, we're moving to Hawaii. And moving across the Pacific is a little more complicated than moving somewhere that you can... oh, DRIVE to. Random fact: if you Google map how to get to Hawaii from Los Angeles, it'll tell you to kayak there, from Seattle. Shit you not. Maybe we should get a kayak with a trailer hitch?

We ended up selling the husband's car to Carmax (sad day!) because it was a 98 and although still drivable, needed some major work done. The work that needed to be done was going to be quite costly... more than the car was worth. We're still deciding on what to do with my car, but most likely we will ship it over to Hawaii right before I move out there. 

After scouring Craigslist for the past week, we narrowed down what we were interested within our price range. Our criteria was pretty simple: surfboards must easily fit inside. Top choices were: Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, any other small-ish SUVs we came across. We test drove all of the above and ended up with the 4Runner. We LOVE it! I love the way it drives - like a truck, and I just love the look. It's a 2002, and I definitely prefer the older body style. And only 77k miles! Makes sense if you think about, where are you gonna drive... you live on an ISLAND. Didn't even realize that 4Runners are really popular in Hawaii and surprisingly, not that easy to find. But we got a fantastic deal! And most importantly, it has Hawaii license plates! 

(not ours...)

Moving to Hawaii

So, it's official... my husband got this awesome job in Hawaii and we're relocating. He's leaving sooner than me, and now we're running around trying to sell all of our big pieces of furniture while he's still here. Thankfully, as reminded of last night, we have lots of amazing friends that would come over in a moment's notice to help me out if needed.

The main reason why I'm staying behind is because Baxter is "technically" in quarantine. Bringing a pet to Hawaii is an ENTIRELY different post. Four pages that includes a seven point checklist, with lots of sub-points, of things that need to be done and the timeframe they need to be done in. We're in the waiting period right now. Otherwise he'd have to be quarantined for up to 120 days in Hawaii...that's FOUR MONTHS! And that ain't free either (around $20/day)... it has already costs of hundreds of dollars for the required blood work and will cost us a few hundred more to even bring him there. So, just a note, if you plan on moving to Hawaii and want to bring a pet, plan on spending about $600 per animal. But there is absolutely NO WAY we'd leave him behind! As any pet owner knows, he is a part of our family and he really wants to be a hula kitty.

oh hai. i'm going to live here.

ALOHA! 

eat pray love

For a while there, it seemed like this was the only book passengers were reading. Usually a good sign when you're looking for something new to read! However, when I asked how it was, I always got the "eh..." response, so I just let this one go.

But tonight my husband and I had an impromptu date night - chicken wings and a movie! He let me pick the movie and "Eat Pray Love" was the winner. I really liked the movie, although it just reinforces the "me" mentality. It's all about me, me, me - we're all so darn narcissistic. "I'm unhappy in my marriage, let's get divorced, I need to find myself... wah wah wah." Don't get me wrong, I'm all about soul searching and finding the purpose of your life, and I'm *trying* to do that myself, but whatever. I liked the movie, and it basically sums up what I already knew: I really want to go to Indonesia and Italy, and not so much India. It is what it is.