Evening at the Improv (Olympic, that is)

Monday night one of my favorite people from my favorite TV show was hosting the Armando Show at Improv Olympic. I hadn't been to see improv in a while - since my last friend stopped doing classes, which was probably at least 5 years ago.

Since we finished dinner early (more on that delicious-ness later) we made it to the early show (8pm). For $10, (12 if you buy tix ahead of time) you're paid up for every show that night. Our target was the one at 9, but since we were there early, we thought why not do it all?

The 8pm show was made up of student groups. The first group was huge and a little rough, then the second group was 3 people and they were a step better. But even though that first hour wasn't non-stop hilarity, it was still fun to watch! And seeing as we were the only people there that didn't know someone in the first show personally, we felt good about supporting the improv newbies. One note to the audience though: just because your friend is done, don't leave IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOW. It's only an hour long. So maybe you could just wait another half hour and then leave? Especially if your group is making up HALF the audience? Just a thought. Boo, bad audience members.


Anyway, when we got to the 9pm show, we were psyched! The Armando show was clearly made up of all advanced members/alumni and it was so freakin' funny! Plus, in addition to the lovely Angela Kinsey hosting, the guy who plays Kenneth the NBC page on "30 Rock" was in the show. The 9 o'clock hour flew by and was so much fun! It's great to see smart, quick, funny people playing off of each other non-stop.

So if you ever have a chance, check out the Armando Show (and lots of others) at Improv Olympic. It's a fun, cheap night of laughs. And try to make it to the early show to support those comedians-in-training. It was so great, I was almost inspired to take a class - almost. Plus, you never know where you might see them next!

A Salon and Stylist to recommend

Hi folks. Farrar here.

I'll keep this short and sweet.

I finally found a hairstylist who is awesome. Her name is Melissa and she cuts hair at The Dollhouse Salon.

The first time I went here was to get all my hair (10 inches of it) chopped off and donated to Locks of Love. Because I donated it, the haircut was free. I wasn't expecting much, but I left with the first haircut I've truly loved in years. I silently vowed to return there for my next trim, which happend yesterday after work. I was not disappointed.

This girl Melissa just seems to totally get my hair, which is of a fine but extra wavy and finicky nature. Few people seem to be able to cut it "right". So I'm pleased as punch to have her, and my trim was only $40 bucks, which ain't bad at all for a good cut in LA. And she's local! (if you live in Los Feliz or Silverlake, which I do.)

Anyways, I fully endorse her-- and if you go, tell her Melinda sent ya!

A note about the place: small, super cool, friendly vibe, has cats, not at all intimidating-- which says a lot because I have a ridiculous phobia of beauty salons.

Memphis is right here in Hollywood

Spencer here, Some dear friends took us out to dinner tonight for Mike's birthday.

We checked the restaurant, MEMPHIS, out via the web earlier today and were very impressed by the design of the site and the pics - http://www.memphishollywood.com

Upon arrival, however, we were surprised exactly WHERE the restaurant is - literally tucked in to part of the busiest area of Hollywood Blvd.

The house, the last original Victorian house left on Hollywood Blvd, used to be a schoolhouse called Miss Jane's Schoolhouse.



The food was pretty good southern fare and the waitress regaled us with stories of the haunted house (awesome!) We took pictures before we left to see if any "orbs" show up.

Love the decor and we'll definitely go back, whether for drinks or as a great place to bring out of towners.

6541 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
P:

A Wee Bit O' Green

Normally I won't use this blog to push any kind of agenda, but with Earth Day coming up, I thought I could justify a little environmental nudging...

I know we can't call make the switch to hybrid cards or convert all our homes to solar power right now, but this website www.gocarbonzero.com does allow you to make a difference. It will calculate your annual carbon footprint and - if you like - you can make a donation which will be used to plant enough trees to offset your carbon dioxide output for the year. Just for reference, to neutralize my CO2 emissions, it was a donation of about $60. Money well spent! It's still not as great as carpooling, cutting down on your power usage or relying solely on renewable energy but it's a little something to make a difference.

And if you don't do this, it means that you hate polar bears. And New Orleans. And penguins. And your grandchildren.

Thursday is my favorite morning.

Even though I have to get up at 6am, Thursday is my favorite morning.
For about 10 weeks now, I've been getting Pilates training at Harmony Studios. Even though I try to get up most other mornings to workout at 6am too, Thursdays I don't hit snooze, I don't have to get pushed out of bed, and I'm actually happy to hear my alarm. Well, as happy as you can be, getting up before the sun.

I was matched up with my trainer Kristin based on an initial evaluation session - and I think it's a perfect fit! Kristin Anderson is an amazing trainer, and I love that she changes things up every week. Usually we start the session with a non-pilates heart booster - we've done a little boxing, BOZU jumping, cardio with weight machines...it always changes. Today for the first time, it was a more meditative start. I learned how to clean out my chakras. Anyway, once the warm up/intro stuff is done we spend the rest of the time on the reformer or the cadillac, and every once in a while on a mat on the floor (for push ups and plank stuff). It's relaxing and intense at the same time. I never walk away feeling that I did everything easily - there are always new challenges.

Now budget-wise, it's hefty. But this isn't stuff I could ever do on my own. Even with all the mat classes I've taken and pilates DVDs I do at home, this takes it to a whole new level. So it's $68 a session - I know, I know, it's expensive! But with Kristin, I've received tons of other helpful advice for working out on the other days of the week, so I'm getting much more than just an hour's worth of usefulness.
And I have to say - because I've done personal training at gyms before (cough - crunch - cough - 24 hr fitness (the gym is fine but training = disaster) - COUGH), i have gotten way more out of these sessions and feel like there is much more variety to my workout then I ever did with personal trainers at the other gyms. With them, it was useful the first 4 or 5 times but I always felt like I could probably do it all on my own after that initial instruction/boost.

So after working with Kristin at Harmony for 11 weeks now, I feel lots better, my posture is 10x better and I'm getting stronger and more toned every day. Plus, I have a workout I truly look forward to. Now that's something.

p.s. If you want trainers who will just stick to classic Pilates for the whole session - any of the trainers at Harmony will do this too, including Kristin. I just like the vareity.

Think Pink. Wait, no.

Sorry. I just don't get it.
It's really not that good.

Massage on the cheap! Ahhh.

I've been trying to add some new activities to my workout regime. Recently this meant a yoga class once a week. Here's the thing - I'm not yoga friendly. I'm not so bendy. And things have been really achy for 2 days after class. I also take private Pilates once a week - which I LOVE - but this week, the icky yoga totally interfered with my fabulous pilates. I couldn't do some of the stuff I've been doing for weeks because my hips and joints were still aching from yoga torture. My Pilates instructor wasn't fazed - especially since yoga was her recommendation - but thought maybe I should get some body work (read: massage) soon to keep things loosy goosey. I gently explained to her that the private pilates budget pretty much wiped out the massage/day spa budget so I really couldn't do the $120 burke williams experience right now. She told me about Touch Massage on Robertson. You get a one hour massage - any type: Swedish, Shiatsu, Deep Tissue, etc - for $52.

$52!?! Yes, it sounds very suspicious for LA.


But here's the thing - it is really $52 and it is really wonderful there! Now, don't misunderstand - it's not the day spa experience. This is a place to go and spend an hour to get a message. No quiet rooms or lounges or whirlpool tubs to share with naked strangers. However, I was still really impressed - the space is clean and modern and nicely decorated. The staff is extremely professional. And I had a really nice deep tissue massage.

The deep tissues I've had before were actually a little too intense for me, but my trainer said that at Touch it would be a nice middle ground between a Swedish and a hard cord, pain inducing deep tissue. And it was. So if you like a massage that digs in a little and relaxes you, but doesn't make you feel more pained afterwards, then I highly recommend.
No matter what type of massage you like, Touch is undeniably the spot for a quality massage that won't devour all your fun money. Hurrah!