Mom & Dad's September Visit to LA! Part 2.

After spending a wonderful couple of days in Carmel with family, Mom, Dad and I headed to Solvang to spend a couple days there!  It was just a couple hours from Carmel to Solvang but I was really bummed there were no Football games being broadcasted on AM radio in California!  How was I supposed to get my Sunday Football fix?!

Thankfully, after we arrived in Solvang and checked into The Hadsten House (where Mom and I had stayed this past May) we made our way to Los Olivos to check out a couple wineries before the day was over.  We were able to catch the tail end of the Packer Game, and lucky for us, they pulled off a win, after a huge deficit!  We really liked the wine at Arthur Earl & Alexander Wayne.  They had lots of options to choose from and we were able to tailor it to our taste.  We even bought some dips and hot sauce at these tasting rooms!  

First Wine Tasting in Solvang at Daniel Gehr's!

We did start our day at Daniel Gehr's since it was where my incredible Port came from!  I picked up a bottle of Pinot Gris from there while Mom and Dad decided on a Late-Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Alexander & Wayne.  Thankfully we were sharing tastes at these rooms and that gave us all a chance to taste different wines.  As we walked back to the car we saw the Carhartt Winery.  What?  Could it be a Winery that Dad would actually like and be excited about?  The Tasting Room was small with just a couple stools and there was Led Zepplin on the radio...I loved it!  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for us in there so we went to the back patio where there was plenty of room and beautiful furniture.  We ended up moving back into the Tasting Room after some people left because the owner was there and just more friendly than our server was.  I ended up getting a Syrah from there and we found out throughout the day Mom actually liked Syrah's & Malbec's.  It just had to have certain components that appealed to her taste buds.  She likes more earthy reds that have a quick finish while I prefer the more fruity reds and full-bodied whites.

Banana's Foster.  Amazing.

That night we went to Dinner at Checco, and the only positive thing I can say about the restaurant was that the Caprese Salad was good.  It was really disappointing and the service was some of the worst we'd ever had.  Not to dwell on that Mom and I went to grab dessert at Hadsten House and had the best Banana's Foster I've ever had.  It's not something I would typically order but the way the Bartender described it, sold us, since we wanted something that would fill us up.  This dessert was so perfectly sweet and prepared I can't say enough amazing things about it!  Even if you're not a banana person, this dessert was incredible!  You just have to try it to see.

The next morning after a nice breakfast at the Hotel we went to Lucas & Lewellen where they have some sweeter white wines and then we checked out Tocatta, their sister Tasting Room.  I really liked the wines at Tocatta, and they had a Sweet Red Wine, that we ended up getting two bottles of.  One for me and one for Mom & Dad!  We walked around Solvang and checked out some of the shops and then went to the Chumash Casino so Mom could gamble for a little bit.  I came out $25 ahead so that was good enough for me and Dad and I enjoyed some refreshing cocktails at the bar until Mom was left penniless ;)

Dad & I hanging out at the Casino Bar...just waiting for Mom ;)

We did stop in Santa Barbara to check out a couple of the Tasting Rooms there.  We shared these as well, and couldn't even finish them because they were very red-heavy and I think at that point, we were all wined out!  We got to LA in the early evening and all ended up crashing early after such a long weekend!  More about the last part of our trip in Part 3!

Mom's May Visit to LA! Part 3.

We did so much during the week that Mom was out here in LA!  She got to come to work with me, see me play the Wicked Witch in Wizard Of Oz, we took a road trip to Solvang, and capped off the week with her seeing me Host at Afterbuzz TV!

On Tuesday morning we had a yummy breakfast in the Dining Room at Hadsten House and then decided to spend some time in downtown Solvang.  We walked into the shops and candy stores.  I hadn't seen Rock Candy on a stick since going to Wisconsin Dells when I was 12!  The candy stores had all the old candy I remembered as a kid; it was crazy.  We ended up buying some fudge that was fantastic and had to take a picture in front of the windmill.

Bridlewood Winery & Vineyards

We decided before making our way back to LA to stop at one more winery in Santa Ynez, so we went to Bridlewood, as I had researched and the pictures were just gorgeous.  As you make your way into the winery, the driveway is tree-lined, and there are different types of flowers everywhere.  The Tasting Room was actually on the vineyard so after doing our tasting we were able to take a tour of the grounds.  Once again, this winery had a Red-heavy menu and were more earthy than fruity so they weren't our favorites but I would go back to this winery purely for the view.  The great thing about this winery was how beautiful it was and how immaculate the grounds were kept.  We got to go down to the horse corral, and then walked to the pond area, where you could picnic and oversee a good part of the vineyard.  This was so different than anything we had seen so I was glad we were able to stop here on our way home.  As we made our trip back to LA, we also stopped in Santa Barbara and walked along the pier.  We went into some of the shops and both of us picked out some earrings in remembrance of our little road trip!

Mom by the Pond & Vineyards at Bridlewood

I was Hosting both of my shows at the Afterbuzz TV studios that night so Mom was my guest and got to see how I spend my Tuesday evenings.  We started off watching Real Housewives of New York which is a show she's never seen, and the reality show I do with my Co-Hosts.  There are four Hosts, Ashley, Courtney, Stephanie, and myself for that show so we tend to have a longer discussion with lots of opinions and ideas and normally have a guest calling in to the show which is great!  This week's episode was true to form with lots of drama and plenty to talk about.  Next up, it was Supernatural my CW show that's on it's 9th season and I Host with Tom and Travis.  We have a lot of fun talking about the show and usually have some good laughs when we're chatting or giving predictions.  Mom really enjoyed watching us do the show together and seeing the studios.  She said she didn't realize how big the studios were when she was watching our recaps but that it was really awesome to see me doing my Hosting job in-person and live.

With my Co-Host, Courtney, at Afterbuzz TV, for our Real Housewives of New York After-Show!

No trip to LA would be complete for Mom without some Yogurtland, so we did that on her first and last day here in LA, except it was Menchies on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday morning, Mom and I made a stop at Panera for an early Lunch and then I dropped her off at the airport.  Even though she was here for a week, it felt so much shorter with how much we had going on this whole time.  Hopefully she'll come and visit me again soon because I miss her already :)

Thanks for everything while you were out here visiting Mom...love you lots <3

The Catch Up Game

It's November and that means Pumpkin Pie, Cranberry Sauce, Green Bean Casserole and other fun Thanksgiving treats are making their way to the front of the grocery store.  It also means Christmas commercials, holiday music, and Santa will all be here very soon.  Even though the change of seasons in LA isn't as noticeable as in Wisconsin, I can still tell that it's Fall because the air gets a little crisper, it gets darker sooner, and people are walking outside with hats and scarves on the 40ish degree nights.  I'm playing the catch up game and reflecting on my resolutions and goals for this year and I'm really happy with where I've been at the last year and past couple months!  

Find me on Twitter.com/LyndseyWegner or Facebook.com/LyndseyWegner

In August, Neil and I played a live show at The Garage for a friend's Birthday Party and that was something completely new for me, singing a whole show with Neil, just us and his acoustic guitar.  Totally different than Karaoke but absolutely addicting.  We also saw an 80's Cover Band play at Canyon Club in Agoura Hills which I had never been to before and is known for it's performers and shows.  I heard Pat Benetar plays there, so the next time she's playing I hope I can go!  I saw 'Women Are Crazy, Because Men Are A**Holes' because I had friends who were in the show, and it certainly made me want to get more involved in theater after seeing such an awesome production!  And to top it all off, my brother's band, The Hussy, came out to LA while they were doing a West Coast Tour and performed at Redwood Bar!

Keeping an eye on my goals!

When September rolled around, I had already worked on a friend's music video (we just filmed some more footage this past week and have a couple final scenes before the video is completed) which will be coming out in December.  Neil and I took my first trip to Santa Barbara where we went Wine Tasting at a couple different Wineries and walked all around the city, eating Dinner at a quaint little Italian Restaurant in downtown.  Even though we missed the Sara Bareilles show we still had a blast!  At the end of the month, Neil and I saw Keith Urban perform at the Hollywood Bowl (my first show there) and he was incredible :D

By October I had decided to launch a new concept for my blog so I filmed a Fantasy Football Teaser and now currently feature a weekly blog about Fantasy Football Pick-ups, Projections, and Stats, along with my Weekly Match-Up.  I also did my first ever show for Afterbuzz TV, where we do a post-game wrap up of the show 'Supernatural.'  I filmed my 5th episode this week and love working for the company and getting to Host on a weekly basis!  Neil and I worked on a Halloween Music Video, where he rapped and I sang, (in the style of Eminem & Dido) and the music video came out just before Halloween.  We also saw 30 Seconds to Mars perform at the Hollywood Bowl as well (our second time seeing them together)!  I spent a lot of time with my girlfriends in the past month, grabbing Dinner, hitting up a party, and even seeing a Kings Game from the Luxury Box thanks to Marty.  In the midst of all the crazy I did a workshop at ACT Now for 2 weeks so that was a fun learning experience too and also uploaded my Commercial Reel to be viewed on YouTube!

Talk about a busy couple of months but I wouldn't want it any other way.  I'm paving my own path and when things start to get frustrating or I wonder what I'm doing, something makes me realize everything is happening for a reason and that's when the big things hit!  I can't wait to see what's next...

Santa Barbara :)

I've been living in LA for 8 years (wow) and had never been to Santa Barbara until just a couple weeks ago.  Neil and I were heading to SB to see Sara Bareilles play at The Bowl and decided to make a day of it and do some Wine Tasting, walk around the city, and just enjoy a fun day!

Kalyra Winery

As we made the 70 minute drive from North Hollywood, bagels in hand, we passed through Carpinteria (both curious, we found out that the Chumash Tribe had a carpentry shop, which is where the name came from...I knew it) and when we got to Santa Barbara it was a perfect 72 degrees.  We could see the ocean from our hotel room at the Santa Barbara Inn and decided to hit up the pool before exploring downtown.

I had made a list of a few Wineries to check out using the Urban Wine Trail I found on-line (some were right on the water, others had games to play while you were tasting wines, and others were listed as generous pours) and after researching some of the Wineries settled on Kalyra since they had a dessert wine that was supposed to be amazing.  Some of the wines had a tin/metal flavor but it was because they were fermented in steel (just not our favorites) but we ended up loving the Semillon which had hints of jalepeno and vanilla.  We each bought a bottle and Neil also picked up a bottle of the Orange Muscat because it was perfectly sweet and light.  I'm sure we'll be checking out some of the wineries on our next visit!  Then we walked to downtown since we were in the more industrial area known as 'The Funk Zone' and looked at some of the shops before stopping for a late lunch at Verde.

During our afternoon walk, Neil had scouted an Italian restaurant, Palazzio, where we had a wonderful Dinner.  We sat on the patio and Neil ordered a trio of items that were all delicious, especially his ravioli!  When we finished up, our friendly server packed up some Tiramisu to go since we had to get to the Sara Bareilles concert; she made our visit so special :)

Dinner at Palazzio in Santa Barbara

Unfortunately, we got to the concert at 8:15 pm (our tickets said Sara Bareilles Concert 7 pm) and she was playing with One Republic but since it was listed as her show, and we figured there would be an opener, we thought we would have plenty of time and probably catch the middle of One Republic's set.  Instead, the doors opened at 5:30 pm, she had an opener at 6 pm and she started promptly at 7 pm.  It was so disappointing because after seeing concerts for years, I've never missed a show, or been too late, because the time listed is when the doors open.  We decided not to stay for One Republic out of pure disappointment and walked the whole way back from the Bowl to downtown and tried to make the best of the rest of our evening.  It had really been a beautiful day so it was so frustrating to miss one of our favorite artists perform considering she was playing in LA the next day, but we wanted to force ourselves to get out of town and do something different, and both Neil and I were scheduled to work the next night so we couldn't have even gone to the show, even if we had tickets.

The next day we grabbed breakfast overlooking the ocean in our hotel and then walked around the Pier area and some of the shops.  It was clearly a town for walking as we probably clocked in over 6 miles in 24 hours but even with the clouds it was a gorgeous day and we had a really fun time in Santa Barbara.  

I can't wait to go back and I love that we went during the week so it wasn't as busy or touristy as it could have been.  School was in session so there were still people around but we got to do things at our own pace without feeling rushed or crowded.  Knowing we're only just a little over an hour away makes it so convenient and belonging to a wine club may not be such a bad idea after all :)