JT only reposts IG stories from verified accounts, so I need to either get verified or get pregnant before we go to his LA show this weekend 😅

I’m also not beneath getting a service dog 😆

Through some excessive light googling once, I found the baby registry of a guy who ghosted me 😳 It’s a blessing and a curse, the shit you can find out on the internet…

My sister and her husband are back in Vegas this week for her husband’s birthday, so I was packing to stay at my parents’ house. She was like, ‘Do you need that makeup on the desk?’ and I was like, ‘Nah, it’s for Halloween.’

I’m making my costume this year, inspired by this girl I saw at the Dia De Los Muertos Festival at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Only 170 days till Halloween! 😅 Is it too early to start buying shit for my costume???

Also, if anyone wants to be the James Bond to my catrina, I’m taking applications 😆

Christine’s kids got me the sweetest card and flowers for Mother’s Day 🥰 I may not be their mom, but I’m the fun aunt who makes them pizza cupcakes 😜

When I asked Jessie what she wanted for her first Mother’s Day, she was like, ‘A hotel room. Alone. Just me.’ 😅

Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate! Hopefully you got to do everything you wanted today (even if it was nothing at all!).

I watched the movie, Chef, on a train on my laptop with an audio splitter and a boy I don’t talk to anymore. All of my memories of this movie are tied to him, and now I have new memories.

They have a Chef food truck (inspired by Chef Roy Choi and Jon Favreau’s movie) inside Park MGM. We picked up breakfast here before heading to the airport to go home. It was *chef’s kiss*.

Justin Timberlake, we out here ✌🏼 (@ T-Mobile Arena)

We sat in the last row on the floor, so when he moved to the stage in the back, it was like we had front row seats 😍

When Lance Bass shows up at your concert 😏

Growing up, he was tied for my least favorite *NSYNC member (with Chris). Now, he’s one of my favorites! His instagram makes me LOL. My then boyfriend got me the *NSYNC dolls for Christmas one year, except he accidentally got a duplicate of one of the members, and no Lance. My set has been incomplete since we broke up in 2005 😅

JT sang all of the hits. If you’re like me, and like to google the setlist before the show, here you go.

He didn’t sing this song, but the DJ who opened for him played this one and all the *NSYNC jams. I felt like I was 18 again. My sore stems the next day from standing for his nearly 3-hour set reminded me that I’m not, in fact, 18 anymore 😅 I forgot all about this gem. The Legends of Summer show with JT/Jay-Z at the Rose Bowl was one for the books.

I can’t wait to see him again next weekend in LA 🤪

We ate at Roy Choi’s resto, Best Friend, inside Park MGM. It was sooo good. I’ve had Roy Choi’s short rib tacos before (he has a brick and mortar and food trucks in LA, plus he had a Kogi Taqueria inside the Whole Foods in El Segundo near my apartment).

If frosé’s on the menu, I’m ordering it.

The food was amazing, and Roy Choi himself even came out. He dapped my sister’s husband and said wassup to us because we obviously recognized him and I don’t think any of the other patrons did.

I had to get a Best Friends shirt, so I could rep him back in LA.

There’s an Eataly in LA, but this was my first time at this Vegas location. It was also inside the Park MGM. It’s like an Italian food hall. We had Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, Hot Honey Soppressata pizza and gelato. Everything was so good and fresh. Andiamo!

We got our steps in and walked to The Cosmopolitan Hotel to eat at Eggslut. There are a few Eggsluts in LA, but I haven’t been to this location in Vegas since I stayed at the Cosmo for a work trip. Sabrina and I ate at Eggslut at two in the morning on a Tuesday, because we were over partying at the Marquee Nightclub (where our coworkers were) and just wanted some breakfast sandos 😅

I also bought a Bacon Eggs -N- Cheese shirt in Old English font a la Bone Thugs -N- Harmony, or as my friend calls the couple who’s always fighting next door, ‘Bone Thugs -N- Disharmony’ 🤣

I should be listening to my JT playlist in preparation for his concert tonight, but Incubus re-recorded and re-released my favorite album of theirs from 2001 today, so I’m just over here re-living my youth.

We usually stay at The Palazzo when we’re in Vegas, but it took us 2 hours to uber to Allegiant Stadium last time for the Beyoncé concert because of all the traffic on the strip, so we wanted to stay at a hotel where we could just walk to T-Mobile Arena for the Justin Timberlake concert tonight (@ Park MGM Las Vegas)

This is our view from our hotel room 😍

I’m terrified, that I’ll look back in ten years time
And still be holding onto every single memory
While you’re holding somebody who isn’t me

Alexander Stewart’s new album came out today, so I’ll just be over here crying 😭💔

I hate when I fly out of this gate, because I was looking forward to having fries from The Counter for dinner. Instead, I had to get this stupid sandwich from Jetbox Market 😅

Just Selena ‘sausage-maker’ Gomez living the dream at Moo’s Craft Barbecue in LA on today’s episode of Selena + Restaurant.

Justin Bieber announced Hailey’s pregnancy on instagram, while I’m over here like 🤣

You guys, every day I play Wordle, and every day I start with the same word – ‘pious’. Nori always starts with a different word, but I’m like, ‘It’s gonna be ‘pious’ one of these days.’ And guess who got it on the first try today??? Should my lucky ass walk to the liquor store and buy a lottery ticket?

Past Lives has been streaming on Showtime, so I’ll just be here for the next month 💔

I only did 200 steps yesterday LOL, so I was going to make up for it today by walking to the Farmer’s Market and to Christine’s house to drop off some pizza cupcakes I made for the kids earlier. But then Christine offered to pick me up, drive me to CVS to pick up my meds and to the Farmer’s Market to eat.

Christine saw so many people she knew at the Farmer’s Market, and she put on her sunglasses, and was like, ‘That’s why I hate fucking coming here.’ I was asking her if she’s ever ran into an ex at this thing when we saw my ex. I haven’t seen him in years, and unless he’s one of the three people who still reads this blog, he doesn’t know that I had a stroke last year and have been in SD since. He’s the type of guy who broadcasts everything on social media, while I’m more private (my sister’s husband is convinced I have a secret family in LA LOL). When I first moved to LA, my ex was also living in LA, and he and his then gf had recently broken up, and he asked if I needed a roommate 😳 I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m good.’ I’ll just keep renting this room in this 60-year-old man’s house, and keep declining his invites upstairs for wine until I find a new place 😅 Christine kinda looks like me (we get mistaken for sisters all the time), and she was like, ‘I hope he doesn’t see me and think I’m you.’ She was making me laugh, and she was like, ‘Shh, he might hear your laugh and come looking for you!’ LOL He was on his phone, so he didn’t see us. Jessie ran into him and his wife at Total Wine last week. Is this what we get for boozin’ it up and not getting our steps in? 😅 Pammie got off work early and met up with us and ran into him in the parking lot 😆 They chatted for a bit, and he was surprised to find out they lived so close to each other. Maybe I should stop walking everywhere 😅

I’ll just get my dang steps in tomorrow after I carbo-load on these mini donuts. Okay, and this bag of kettle corn, too.

I saw this instagram post about a girl who had a stroke in her 20s, suffered facial paralysis, and uses a wheelchair because walking is difficult for her.

Katherine Wolf is only a couple months younger than me and has lived for 16 years post-stroke. I once read that stroke survivors only live 5-10 years after having a stroke, so that gives me a little hope.

I consider myself v lucky after having a stroke at 41. You can’t tell from looking at me that anything’s wrong—I didn’t suffer any paralysis, so nothing’s droopy, I can still walk. The only things really affected were my balance (which wasn’t great before, as demonstrated by my attempts at snowboarding pre-stroke), my penmanship (which used to be impeccable, but now I only sign restaurant receipts and rent checks) and my voice (which I used to see a speech therapist for). I don’t like talking in person much or the phone because I sound a lot slower, and sometimes the pharmacy or whoever I’m calling can’t understand me and I have to repeat myself. I would rather text or email because you can’t tell anything’s wrong electronically. I’m still able to do my job as a graphic designer, I just work mostly on my laptop instead of my work desktop, because it’s easier now for me to use the trackpad on my Macbook than grip the pen tablet I used to use as a mouse on my desktop.

On the plus side, I have a Disabled Person placard for life so whoever’s driving me gets primo parking, I got a boatload in tax-free disability checks when I was on medical leave last year (which I saved because I assumed I’d have to pay taxes on that money), and I haven’t had one headache since the stroke (I used to take Excedrin every day for frequent migraines).

I haven’t driven since the incident, but I think once I get behind the wheel, it’ll be like riding a bike. The last time I rode a bike, I fell off, though, and I wasn’t that great of a driver before… I totaled my car before this, rear-ended someone in my new car, and drove from SD to LA after the stroke at night even though I had double vision and had to drive with one eye shut 😅 In my defense, I didn’t know I had a stroke until I went to the urgent care clinic a couple days later when I was still feeling off. They were like, ‘You drove here?!’ They wanted an ambo to take me to the emergency room at the hospital, but I wasn’t sure what my insurance covered, so I was like, ‘Nah, my friend, Nori, is down the street at work. She can take me.’ And that was the last time I drove!

I had a regular doctor’s appointment last week with my primary care physician, and she had good things to say about my progress. She took me off one of my pills, so now I only take 9 a day instead of 10 😅 My dad wanted to take me off the anti-depressants, too, because his friend’s wife used to take them, and she ended up committing suicide. I think they’re helping me, though, so I’m gonna keep taking them. Mama needs her Prozac 🤪 The doctor wants me to see a hematologist again, because she tests my blood every few months, and my white blood cell count has been consistently elevated every time. She said she wants to rule out any autoimmune diseases or blood cancers 😳

Welp, I’ll keep you posted! 😅

I usually have Food Network or ID on in the background while I’m working (it’s either Guy Fieri or Evil Lives Here, there is no in between). My sister uses the live streaming service, Fubo, and last week, they removed both channels (among others). You guys, IDK how productive I’m gonna be without Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives playing in the background ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Update: I signed up for Sling TV because I can’t live without Guy Fieri saying something is ‘out of bounds’. It came with a free month of Showtime, AMC+, Starz, MGM+ and Paramount+.

BRB I’m watching Past Lives on Showtime right now and crying.

Cinco de Drinko (@ Gaslamp Breakfast Company)

Pammie and D were supposed to go to a concert downtown and stay at a hotel tonight, but his friend had a birthday party, so they sold their concert tickets, but the hotel was non-refundable, so Pammie and I had a little staycation (@ Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina)

I had the biggest lobster roll I’ve ever had, watched the Padres murder the Diamondbacks, and got a free mule from the cute bartender (s/o to Giovanni!) because he thought I was sick (this is just how I sound now after the stroke) (@ Water Grill)

We went back to the hotel and watched The Idea of You. I loved it 🥰 I might have to go to Coachella next year so I can meet the love of my life…

FYI, I *love* staying in hotels. We went up to LA once for a doc appointment and were gonna stay in my apartment. My sister didn’t drive my car, so she left my house keys in SD (they were attached to my car keys). We had to stay in a hotel that night, and I didn’t mind one bit 😆

Met this handsome boy today 😍

Walked to get my iced coffee at Casa de Otay this morning. I saw 7 roly polies on the way there, and I thought it was good luck, but Pammie was like, ‘I think you’re confusing potato bugs with lady bugs.’ Eps. Well, I saw 7 of them, that’s lucky, right? 😅

Fun Fact: I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie, but I have seen The Mandalorian series, because Baby Yoda’s so dang cute.

We once did a collabo with Star Wars at work, and my boss had to explain to me what a Stormtrooper was, a Death Star, a Sith Lord…

I was gifted free tickets to Comic-Con one year. I knew I was out of place when I looked up at the big screen and thought aloud, ‘What movie is this?’ and some dude looked at me like I was crazy and said, ‘It’s Return of the Jedi!’ I’m pretty sure I was the only one within a 10-mile radius who hadn’t seen a single Star Wars movie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Walked to World Market again to get my steps in, and ran into this good boi across from the fire station.

You lit your cigarette
Oh, how quickly we all forget
That bed you made, you must lay in it
Lost in a fruitless cause
False hope was all you bought
Oh, and the answers didn’t seem so far

Jessie and I were supposed to see The Brook & The Bluff at the Belly Up last year, but she had to go out of town that day, so we ended up selling our tickets. The show was sold out, so we made a nice little profit. I’m so glad I get to finally see them, though. I bought tickets to their upcoming show with Stephen Sanchez at the YouTube Theater inside SoFi Stadium in LA. I have another show the week before in LA, and I figure I’ll be back by September.

I love YouTube Theater (I’ve seen Bon Iver there and may or may not have sobbed violently), but the last time I was there was to see Local Natives a couple years ago. I specifically bought front row center balcony seats so I could sit if I wanted to (mama’s too old to stand for the duration of an entire concert). They didn’t end up selling enough tickets (which I thought was odd because Local Natives are from LA, and I’ve been to shows of theirs at bigger venues), so they closed the balcony section and gave everyone who had seats up there seats on the lower level. This was never communicated to us before the show, so we took our sweet time, ate some banana pudding at Orleans & York Deli, skipped the opener, and paid $50 for parking. When we finally got there, the only seats they had left were ones where we had to stand the whole time behind these obnoxious Angelenos who talked throughout the entire show. I haven’t seen Local Natives or been back to this venue since. I’m obviously still mad about it LOL. I bought front row balcony tickets again, so hopefully they don’t do me like they did in ‘22 😅

I walked to World Market this afternoon to kill some time and get some steps in while listening to my Justin Timberlake setlist playlist in preparation for his upcoming tour.

If I slowed down near the fire station, that’s nobody’s business but my own 😜

I’ve always wanted to have an astronaut picnic (where you can only eat and drink stuff they have in space—MREs, freeze-dried foods, Tang, etc.), and now I know where I can get all the accoutrements. Am I cooler than you thought I was? 😅 Boys, try not to fall in love with me.

Also, I found out that my friend’s husband loves the Deftones, too. She was like, ‘He totally did the whole ‘Couchella’ thing and streamed Coachella from home.’ I did the same! 👵🏻

Undeniable chemistry and horrific timing. They love each other.

I’ll just be here for the next two weeks 💔

Got my steps in bright and early and walked to Casa de Otay for my iced Mexican mocha. We ran into Bruce Wayne, my favorite frenchie ever, and he wanted all the cuddles this morning. I even saw Thierry Henry (my favorite German shep) and Lucille (my favorite doodle). It’s only 9am, and I’ve had a great morning so far 🤎

It’s a beautiful day for a ball game (@ Petco Park)

When your bestie invites you to the Padres game and the seats are right behind home plate, you go right?

Our seats came with free food and drinks and access to the Home Plate Club. I def can’t go back to regular seats after this. A pair of season tickets in this area run for about $75K. Uhh, just invite me again next time your contractor gifts you tickets 😜

The Padres won and we witnessed our first grand slam in person. I had such an incredible time. Thank you, Jessie, Abe & Oscar! 🤎💛⚾