Stay Woke!

Speaking of being too tired from tasting for TaskRabbit; I had a number of recurring clients. Which was nice! They would just message me when it was time or tell me at the end of the task, when they wanted me to return. Inasmuch as I was flattered that they liked my work that much, I get bored doing the same thing. One of the things I enjoy about doing all the jobs I do, is because no two days are alike. Some clients have a tendency of

Designer Wear Shopping for Upcoming Birthday!

My birthday was approaching! Do you celebrate birthdays? I do! I celebrate everything in the form of gifts from myself to myself!
This time, because I had been working so hard, and always deserve the best, I decided to

A Very Shitty Situation!

Happy 2018, everybody! It's here! The year I've been waiting for all of 2017, haha! No lies! 2017 was so interesting, I'm considering writing a

Shopping Sisters

She's here! Now what? Just kidding!
This was a great period in my life, first the engagement, then shot gun wedding, now my person is in town! Talk about having the time of one's life! As my sister and I were walking to the care with me secretly wishing to bump into a celebrity or two. Why not? We are in LA after all, right? TMZ! Where you at? We'll just follow your lead!
This was her first time seeing my car in 'person', so she was excited for me. So was I!

Birthdays and Anniversaries

I hope those who celebrate had a nice 4th of July!
        Quick! Before today ends, I would like to make an announcement: It's my sister Puma Brook-Thomae's Birthday! Happy birthday, sis! I have sent her messages all over the technology globe because I love her so. I can't wait to call her tomorrow and ask her all about it. She's probably asleep now. Time difference. It should be 3am where she is now. I don't think she will appreciate being called at this hour for birthday details, haha!

Nobu in Malibu

June was an interesting month in this household. It was the third month since Jim passed away, and since I moved in with Calvin. I was doing the best I can to settle in. I started my YouTube Channel and got my own domain name for the blog, around June/July. It was hot as heck and I was too heavy for the middle of summer in LA. I found the scale while unpacking the very last of my stuff from my old place. I mustered the courage to get on it. Oh my goodness! I was the heaviest I had ever been in my entire life! There goes my chance of being in the Weight loss Clinical Study! Now what?

The Great Pretender

Back to real life. I still had my place to myself and was loving it. Well... I was spending more time away from my place than there. Four months into our relationship, Cavin had already asked me to move in but I was enjoying him courting me. Moving in was going to be a totally different stage to where we were. Also, when you ask for something, very specifically, as I did my apartment and get it.You want to savor it!

One day, while doing a random side job, I bumped into a guy  I had once worked with. He is from Africa. We had a mutual friend. That friend and I are no longer friends. I saw the guy once since the movie we met working on and he seemed like he was avoiding me. I thought that it was before when we met, I would joke around and his response was always, 'you're crazy!'. Maybe he didn't want to be associated with crazy people. If that's the case, good for him! Crazy people are crazy! I did say hi, but I got a feeling he was brushing me off.  That's ok. It didn't hurt my feelings. Now, here we are, more than a year later, I bumped into him again at this side job. It was late at night and pouring rain. I now have a car. When we met, neither of us were driving. We both took the train and the guy disappeared on me when the ticket police came in because he hadn't paid to get on the train. This was before I saw him again and he didn't seem interested. Back to the day of the side job; I didn't see him that evening until we were on our way out. He was sitting in front, I was one of the last people to walk in, he must have seen me but I can't say for sure.

At the end of the gig, he walked really fast when I tried to say hi. I got the same vibe I did the previous time. I caught up with him when we got to the elevator. We exchanged a few words and on our way out of the elevator, I asked him if he needed a ride. It was very late, dark and cold. No longer raining. He asked if I was driving. No, I am walking. I wanna give you a piggy back ride, smdh! His face lit up when I offered him the ride. I thought to myself, aren't you glad you talked to me now, even though your pedestrian ass was avoiding me? When we got to my car, his face lit up even more. He told me he loved my car, it's so cool. It's a solid car blah blah blah. He asked what I had been up to, why he hadn't seen me in so long. He told me how proud he was of me that I bought the car blah blah blah. I dropped him off on Wilshire where he was going to take just one bus home as opposed to buses and trains as he would've if I didn't give him a ride.

As he got off the car, He thanked me very much, asked me to take his number, so we can keep in touch. I'm sorry but I can give you a ride because I am kind and like to help when I can  but that doesn't mean just because I have a car, all of a sudden, I am good enough to be friends with you. No. I am not blind. I saw your ass avoiding me like the plague! We're still not friends, but I did my good deed for the day, we're good! Bye! This is all me in my head, of course! I took his number and told him I would call him when I got home. I never looked at that number again!

I booked a job where were were going to play spectators in a baseball game. It was a late shoot so we had to pile clothing on. We may be in Southern California but it does get cold here too sometimes!

Here we are, on set, filling in paperwork, who do I see? The ride guy! Great! Did I avoid him? Nope! What for? I did my thing, when our eyes met, I waved hello. When he saw me again, he told me I'm full of games. I asked what he meant. He told me I promised to call him and I didn't. I was like, 'oops!'

A Vuvuzela on set. Memories of Fifa World cup 2010

I saw the nice girl I once carpooled with who lives not far from my place on set and we sat next to each other. It was nice catching up. She had a lot of interesting stories. She had vacationed overseas, fell in love and someone fell in love with her at school 'for no reason' that she didn't love back, she was in love with the vacation guy.

Dummies to fill in empty spaces. Last time I worked with these was in Johannesburg

Come to think of it, a lot about that set reminded me of home.

While walking around, settling in, I noticed that the lead was none other than Terrence Owens. What? I used to watch his Reality TV show back in the day. I actually, had seen an episode he did of Celerity Wife Swap not too long before I saw him in person. I was the only one star struck! Nobody else around me knew who he was. He's an athlete turned reality TV star. I don't know him as an athlete, cos I was in Africa then and had no business watching baseball haha. 

I tried to steal a picture of T.O. but you would have to zoom in and squint to make him out

It was an ok night, we stayed on set for 7 hours.I hopped in my car and drove back home without giving anyone a ride. My friend had used her parents car, so she was fine. Had I known he was going to be there, we would have carpooled again. She followed me home until she was familiar with the area, then she sped off. That child drives fast. I'm not a grandma on the road , but I drive speed limit. boring!

The Winning Attitude

After my best day ever at Let's Make a deal, all the winners were taken to the back to do paperwork. There were about ten or less of us. The whole process took no more than 15 minutes. When everything was done, I submitted my stuff to a lady who first congratulates you then confirms your prizes and your contact details. It was only then that I really heard what I had won. All I saw before was the gigantic TV. I was so excited all over again! In the end, we went outside and caught up with the rest of the people who were in our episode. Some people congratulated me, some of the audience stuff told me that they were not surprised I got picked, that, it was a matter of time. That was a nice compliment! Some haters folks told me that I got picked because I flirted with the producer. OK, losers, why don't you flirt with the producer next time and see if you will get picked. Not only that, if you do get picked, let's see if your sour ass will actually win! A lot more goes into winning  than flirting with a gay producer. Like, come on now! Naysayers! Some of them are my associates. I just smiled through it all. When they are ready, they will win too! I was going to offer one of them a ride home but they whole thing turned me off, that was a winning they just turned away right there by being naysayers.

After winning big on Let's Make a Deal

I can't tell you how many times, I will decide in my head that I will offer someone a ride, even if it's to the bus stop and they will do or say something that just makes me go, maybe not today! When that happens, it's a lesson to me as well that, by being negative,  I am closing doors I didn't even know were already open to/for me. Be careful what you put out in the world. You think that it's hard for you to get things or find someone or whatever, meanwhile, someone overheard that you are looking for a job, OR, saw you and immediately thought, '(s)he would be perfect for the job I am recruiting for!' as they make their way to you, you say something funny about someone, or something you have no business saying and they thing, 'meh, maybe they're not that perfect for it after all.' I'm not saying don't be easy going and don't make jokes, just be nice. And be happy for someone when something happens to them. They say that if you are around when someone wins something, you are that much closer to winning yourself. Winning includes all kinds of winning, as you well know. If you're not happy for someone when they win, you've just made a U-turn from winning, now, you're that much further.

Getting ready for Let's Make a Deal. I took this picture thinking, I'm gonna post this on my blog when I tell them about my winnings. And it all worked out!

The day of winning, I went to my car, ever so happy, turned on the phone and called  Calvin. I told him about my amazing day. He doesn't watch TV, has no idea who Wayne Brady is, but was still happy that I won. I was going to spend the weekend at Cals, as usual. Instead of going back to my house and then really getting stuck in traffic on my way to his, I decided to drive straight there from Hollywood, which is closer to his than Beverly Hills anyway. I rocked up in scrubs, haha. It was all good. Cal bought me a dress and I had a change of outfit at his house as well. It all worked out.

Not too long after all this happened, Brian and I were ok, he was back to talking about himself, telling me about the women who yearn for him, the one he wants more than anything else in the world, his ex-wife. What, Brian was married? Yup! He was 24 and was already married and separated, I guess. His wife is gorgeous. Apparently, he really loved Brian, he was with him even though he weight double what he weighed when I met him. He lost a lot of weight. When I found out that that girl was an illegal immigrant when he met Brian, it all made sense! I'm not saying he married him for citizenship, I'm just saying! It's very nice of Brian not to divorce her until she got her citizenship. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, people pay a lot of money to marry people for citizenship. Don't come after me, Immigrations; I'm just a blogger!

Brian was still shopping on Rodeo, he was still calling his mom a b*tch and his brother an *ss hole. I didn't even know he had a mother, until I asked one day and he told me that she was a btch. I also didn't know that he had a brother but apparently, Brian was adopted and his mom favors her biological son, who's a New York attorney blah blah blah. Brian made reservations at my place for a few days, his payment didn't go through, you know the usual, I locked him out. You know what's funny? He never came home that night! Or at least, he never bothered me, maybe he came home, realised he had been locked out and left. I don't know, I never asked.

A few days went by, I went over to my boyfriend's and locked the house again. I had no communication with Brian because, again, he owed me for the time he had already stayed at my place and for the time he was locked out. He started leaving me rude messages, talking about Sh*t, and f*ck and all kinds of stuff. He told me that he had my money, I just had to open up for him. I didn't want him to pay me under the table, I didn't want to have to deal with another situation whereby I let him come by and he actually, only had so much money and he was going to pay me the rest later. Whatever! I was done! I wanted him to do everything by the book this time or nothing at all.

I got a call from AirBNB, Brian had reported me to them. I don't know how the report went about but AirBNB has access to the emails I had been sending to Brian over the time he had stayed at my place and they saw that he wasn't a stellar tenant. When they called, they told me not to worry about payment, would suggest that I kick him out because, clearly, he had overstayed his welcome. they would take care of the money he owed me. Air BNB was going to pay me and would in turn get their money from Brian. After the clogged toilet, I found out, I had to throw away more stuff from the smell, so I told Air BNB about it. They told me that they would take care of that as well. That was covered in the insurance the landlords get through being with Air BNB. That was music to my ears. They immediately transferred the money Brian owed, including the days he had been locked out. They seemed very understanding about the entire situation, at least my side of it. I was happy with how they handled it. They asked me to fill out a thing about the toilet deal, attach pictures and receipts, etc and they would reimburse me. That's where all the pictures I didn't show you went haha. Within five days, I got paid for that too. They asked me if I felt ok to have Brian come over to fetch his stuff, that very evening. I told them that I didn't feel unsafe. I refuse to feel unsafe in my own home!

I filled Calvin in on what had transpired. He told me to call him when Brian was over, just so that he can be on the phone should anything transpire. I thought that was sweet of him. I didn't anticipate anything transpiring. Crazy as this sounds, Brian was respectful, in his own way. And I appreciated that. I didn't want to have the police there to embarrass him when he was moving out. We did have some good times and some good laughs. Brian was in and out in no time. He called me when he was done to hand over the key, shook my hand and thanked me for letting him stay at my house and being so understanding for the time that I did. I wished him luck with everything, locked my doors, took my clothes off and walked around naked again now that I had my house back after so long!

Let's Make a Deal!

I tell ya, after the toilet incident , I opened all the windows and then turned on my air purifier and closed everything to make it clean the air as much as possible.

We survived!

In the midst of it all, I got an opportunity to go to Let's make a Deal, the game show hosted by Wayne Brady. I remember thinking, and when I thought this my heard skipped a bit, OMG, I could get picked and win stuff! I thought to myself, sht, now that  I know what I know about the law of attraction, it's entire up to me whether or not I can go home a winner the following day from the show. That thought made me very nervous! The thought that you can be, do, have whatever you want in life can be very scary. When you really think about it! I thought to myself that I should visualise that before going to sleep that night. It was already night time. I planned what I would wear the following day, something that would stand out. Then I thought, inasmuch as the show has a dress code, at the end of the day, it's not what I will be wearing that would get me picked but my believing that I would. Every time I thought about that, my heart would beat funny. It scared me a little!

I decided I would wear my red scrubs for my costume to the show. I quickly went to bed and, contrary to what I had planned, I decided not to think or visualise my being on the show. It was making me feel very scared and nervous and I didn't want that kind of vibe while thinking about it. I just thought about the best thing that happened that day and went to sleep. Lo and behold, I dreamt, I was on the show, got picked, was standing on stage in my red scrubs and just as I was about to pick a curtain, number one, two or three, I woke up! That made my stomach turn. OMG, was this so much in the back of my mind that I dreamt about it? You know what? At least, I dreamt I got picked. It was a good dream.

I put on my red scrubs, nice smelling perfume, I wanted to smell good for Wayne when standing next to him. I got in my car and headed to studio. We stood in line, they asked us our names and what we do for a living and took photos of us before putting us in the waiting room. People had come to play! They were wearing their best costumes. I was just focusing on breathing and being in a positive, clear mind frame. A lady I was standing behind, who was absolutely adorable, older lady, who was petite, she had a beauty pageant  dress. I paid her a compliment. I also saw a guy I had worked with before. He was so desperate to win a car. Everyone wants to win a car!

They gave us numbers and we were supposed to sit in numerical order in the holding room. The tiny lady disappeared for a second and came back with a long face. Apparently, she won like a $100 from the show a year or so ago from their quick deals and she couldn't play for the next three years or so. That left her really depressed. This lady was sure she was going to win a car that day! I felt bad for her but told her that if she is meant to win a car, she would still win it. That show isn't the only way people can get cars for free, she shouldn't give up on her dream of winning a car. She didn't car about my words, she just wanted to wallow in self pity. I didn't want to go that road with her, so I started talking to my guy friend. He was so nervous, he couldn't even hear me talk. They say there are people in the holding area who are watching how much energy we have and those are the people who decided if you will get picked or not. My friend was just throwing energy all over the show. I thought to myself, wow, ok!

People know why they are here. I know that it's good to be energetic to attract things you want into your life, however, you shouldn't be desperate, because that will only draw things into you life that will make you more and more desperate. I wasn't there to preach all that to people, I was there for my chance to win as well, so  I took a few breaths and thought about random stuff that had nothing to do with the show because the thought of the show was freaking me out. I don't know why.

They loaded us into the show, sat me somewhere and then moved me and put me next to a guy in scrubs. The guy in scrubs was a nice guy from New York, a paramedic. We talked about his vacation, and all the shows and studios he had been too. His friends are TV producers so he went to the best shows, ones that are hard to get tickets too. Lucky fish!

One of the producers, my favorite, Chris, I think is his name, he is so cute, I have a crush on him. Once, he made announcements before the show and then asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked if he were single. He told me he is but plays for the other team. I know he does, he is obviously gay, but so cute. Everyone laughed, he asked if I had a brother. This was forever ago!

This episode, Chris came out and made his announcements, told us how to get picked on Let's Make a Deal and he talked about how his tucked in shirt was bothering him, he then pulled it out (that's what she said!). In the end, he asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked if I could help him with that shirt. I wanted to tuck it in for him, if you know what I mean, haha. He laughed and said, 'I remember you! You asked me if I was single before! And I told you I play for the other team. Come over here, let me give you a hug!' That was a special moment for me, cos I like that guy. He dresses so cute, he always has something super expensive on, like a watch or something. Anyway, I told him; I love you! thank you for the hug! and ran back to my seat.

The show started. The paramedic and I would play along and guess what the contestants should pick and we always picked the winning box or curtain or whatever.

In between takes, Wayne goes to the back, the DJ plays music, some dance, hoping someone will notice them and pick them, some dance because the music is so fun (ME!), some sit down and talk to their friends.

Towards the end of the show, just after commercial break, Wayne says, LAST DEAL OF THE DAY! WHO WANTS TO MAKE A DEAL? Everyone goes, MMMEEEE!!! as usual! Like, who doesn't wanna make a deal? Even the lady who can't play wants to make a deal! Wayne goes, 'You! Lady in Red!' F*cking hell, you guys! I GOT PICKED! Sshhhhtttt! I tell ya, I had gum in my mouth, they don't want you to have gum in your mouth on TV, They even collect it in cups before the show, but I get away with it, because I don't chew and blow bubbles during the show. I freaked the freak out, getting picked! I screamed, swallowed my gum, and ran down those stairs towards the stage! It was the happiest moment of my life, I tell ya! Whew! My heart beats fast, just thinking about it!

Wayne: Hiiiiiii
Me: Heeeyyyyyy
Wayne: What's your name?
Me: My name is Brook! OMG, I'm so excited! Thank you!
Wayne:......looks at me
Johnathan: Ok, you have to pick one right now
Me: One what? What's going on, Wayne?
Wayne: You have to pick one!
Johnathan: Three....Two......
Me: OMG (makes the sign of the cross), Number TWO! (clearly confused as to what's going on)
Johnathan: Sorry, you ran out of time
Me: Wayne, what just happened?
Wayne: You had three seconds to pick one and you ran of time, I'm so sorry.
Me: I am so happy! You don't understand. Being picked here today, is one of the best things that's ever happened to me! Whether I win or not, I am still so very happy!
Wayne: Brook where are you from?
Me: Johannesburg
Wayne: Johannesburg, South Africa?
Me: Yes, My brother met you in Johannesburg, you were there for your comedy shows, he talked to you!
Wayne: Tell you brother I said Hi! I love South Africa, we go there a lot!
Me: Will do!
Wayne: We were joking, we haven't started yet....
Me (collapses on stage! for real!)
Wayne: I have two boxes for you, a small one and a big one, which one would you like?

During this time, I look around, look at my paramedic friend and at my guy friend who wanted to win a car, his jaw was on the ground, he was still so shocked that I got picked. I looked back at Wayne and caught a glimpse of myself on the screen. You guys, everything happens so fast when you're going through something like that. I am surprised I remember so much of it. I try to be in the moment but some moments are much bigger than us. It's moments you never ever imagine they will happen to you. Here I am, a girl from A small town, Uitenhage, who used to get teased because my family lived in a farm, standing in front of Wayne Brady on the stage of Let's Make a Deal, a CBS show, in Hollywood. Like, how did this happen? Who ever thought that that girl would have a moment like this? A moment where are the cameras on the set are focusing on her, where she is the only one on the screen because the moment is all hers? I didn't have to pay anyone for this, I didn't have to beg for it, I didn't fight for it! It was given to me. That's why we just can never give up on life because you never know when that moment will be for you. It could be right around the corner!

Me: Oooohhhh! Whew! (makes another sign of the cross!) Big box!
Wayne: (opens small box......)
....guess what was inside? a Zonk! There was a bowl of cereal in the small box. What does that mean? I WON! I picked the winning box!
They opened my box and I had all kind of goodies in there from a 60inch 3D TV, an iPad, Bluetooth headphones to a year's cable subscription.

YOU GUYS, I WON ON LET'S MAKE A DEAL!

Remember my dream, where I was standing on stage in my red scrubs? It came true!

Happy Camper

Calvin had a week off work where he decided to take me on vacation. It was going to be our first trip together. I was so excited! I loved the direction our relationship was going. Wouldn't you?

I packed a carry on luggage full of stuff  for the week and a small overnight back. I washed my car and headed on out to my Calvin's. I was so excited, I always have been whenever I was going to meet him; which had been every weekend since we met for the first time. Nice record. I have dated people in the past who were never available on weekends.

Brian, my airbnb guest was still staying at my house but was becoming more of a nuisance. The vacation couldn't have come at a better time, quite honestly. Not that there's ever poor timing for  vacation. I didn't tell Brian I was going out of town. It was none of his business. Also, you never know what people might get up to, knowing you were going to be away for a week.

Calvin planned that we would go camping by the beach on San Clemente. I had never been there before and hadn't camped in forever! Being n arborist, he had a bunch of wood from the trees he had been trimming, we took that with us, he also has very warm and thick sleeping bags and a tent. He is pretty outdoorsy, so it's only second nature that he would have that kind of stuff handy. I took my sleeping bag along as well. You can never be too prepared, right?

I arrived with my silver spinner suitcase, Calvin had his silver suitcase packed. I was surprised at how we both had similar suitcase. Poor coincidence!

We loaded my SUV, I posed for a few selfies and hit the road, Jack!

Notice our silver suitcases in the bottom

We both loaded the truck together, I pride myself in being good at packing. Having moved as many times as I have, it comes with the territory. Calvin thought of everything. He put water in the cooler for us and of course brought his skimboard. We were going to the beach after all. There it is in green below.

Let's go! 

We started at the gas station by Calvin's house. He bought a few snacks. We did have lunch before we headed out. He prepared something for both of us. I ate as soon as I got there, within an hour, we were on our way. Right on schedule! We were both psyched!

It was a nice two or so hour drive to San Clemente, Orange County. We drove to the campground, booked a spot, the one we wanted was already taken or something, so the lady was nice enough to move us to one with an awesome view of the ocean. Man! So cool!

View of the ocean from campground

I was jumping up and down for joy with how everything was falling into place. As soon as our camping spot was booked, we set up our tent, which was much simpler than I thought it would be.

Cute tent for two

After setting up the tent, we went out for pizza down the street at a pizza joint where they also brew their own beer.

Ready for pizza!

The pizza was really good. I asked for one with as much meat variety as possible while Calvin was ordering exotic beer.

Deliciousness!

We also had chicken wings with our pizza. So good!

It wasn't a lot of food but I was full. Probably, mainly from excitement! Calvin bought himself a Pizza Port beer mug. From Pizzaring, we headed out to the beach. We did so much that day, I can't believe we only had 24 hours! Calvin skimboarded. I took pictures and videos, you know the drill, haha. Soon, I will know how to do all these things and be cool too, you wait! I stepped into the water, because you have to! I love water, I just can't swim. I had shorts and flip flops on, so I was ready to go.

View from the parking lot

After all that, we went to the supermarket to get ourselves a few necessities; ice, juice, stuff to eat while staying there, red velvet cake for moi, etc ;)

Because I had to

San Clemente beach behind me

When we got home, we walked around the are to see what else was going on. There were a lot of campers,. I must say! Families, some people had two trucks, bikes, bicycles, it seemed like they lived there.

We went in the tent and chilled there for a second, when someone close by started playing nice music. This is not Beverly Hills, you can't be mad that someone's music is loud. We're on vacation, we're open minded. We had our own speaker, I had the iPod, but we turned ours on and enjoyed the neighbors music. He had a caravan/Trailer right next to us. Calvin went out for some reason and ended up talking to our neighbor. The neighbor asked if his music is too loud, we told him we love it. 

Around sunset, Cal called me to watch the sunset. 

So amazingly beautiful!

We stood outside our tench and took it all in. It was a moment, for sure! Neighbor invited us over to watch the sunset from his 'yard'.

Beautiful San Clemente Sunset

Neighbor had a lot of interesting things over there. He had a wooden statue from Indonesia, he refers to it as his wife. That was on the table and a lot of interesting things from his travels all over the world. He's a very nice guy, we were lucky to be posted next door to him.

The neighbor's wife!

Calvin made dinner, he had brought ground beef/minced meat from home, he made burgers out of that for all of us, including the neighbor.

Burgers for dinner

We had brought a camping type stove but the neighbor offered his, so Calvin used that instead.

Dinner time!

The burgers were delicious, we all loved them. Calvin is such a gem, I'd be lost without him. He comes in handy in all kinds of environments.

Neighbor offered some stuff from his own kitchen, pickles, etc to go with out burgers.

You know, the messier food looks, the better it tastes!

After dinner, they drank some exotic drinks. We all sat and chatted the night away. It was a really good day and night.

I got tired and went to bed, Calvin made fire for us to keep us warm through the night. 

I may have got up to quickly enjoy the fire 

As you can see, a great time was head by all!

Eventually, I went to sleep. Calvin sat outside by the fire and enjoyed the still of the night. Eventually, he woke me up. There was a skunk by our trash, he didn't want me to miss out. What? I've never seen a skunk in person. If I did, I must have been very young in the farm.

The skunk going through our trash

The thing didn't care how much noise we made or anything, it was focusing on what it was doing; licking those avocado peels. Calvin threw rocks near it to scare it away, hoping it wouldn't spray him with its smelliness. Did it move an inch? Nope! Only when it was done, did it walk away! Bye Felicia!

Fall Festival

My AirBnB Guest, Brian was getting comfortable, he was getting comfortable. This could be a good and a bad thing. I want all my guests to feel at home. I also want to feel at home in my own home. If their feeling home is going to infringe on my peace of mind, we have a bit of a problem! Brian never cooked so he never used the kitchen. He only used the living room, where he slept and the bathroom. He had long-ish hair that was falling off. I love his undercut hairstyle, it looked good on him. I just didn't like how the hair was clogging the bath tub and I didn't enjoy sweeping it off the bathroom floor. He took good care of himself. He shopped on Rodeo Drive and wore nothing by designer clothing and a bunch of Jordans. Good for him! Remember I mentioned that Brian used to book for a day, two, even three at a time? That story is here. He still did that, but his credit card was getting rejected after I accepted the booking. What would happen was that he would make a reservation, I would accept, he would pay, AirBnB would confirm payment, 24 hours later, Brian's card would be rejected. What on earth? I would take a screenshot of the notification about the rejected card and send it to Brian. He would then follow up on it 'with his dad'. That became a trend. I wasn't into that trend though, go get viral over there! I'm busy!

Brian was still buying new designer clothes, he would always show me his new Louis Vuitton Murses (man's purse) and all kinds of new stuff he was buying. But you owe me rent money, boo? He told me that his dad was in the hospital. I empathised with him but that story wasn't going to cut it when it was time for me to pay rent with the apartment management, was it? I still needed money in my bank account. Plus, you have a job, can you pay me with the money in your account and then have your dad reimburse you? Like why should this solution come from me? You're the one with a problem? You're the one shopping 24/7. What I liked about Brian was that he never brought guests over to my place. He would tell me that he will never tell women where he lives, 'you know how you guys are!' he would say. I'm like, listen, don't compare me to your women, I am in a league of my own. For example, between you and I now, I wouldn't date a guy who is sleeping on someone's floor. Especially a guy who can afford designer wear but doesn't prioritise his sht. Heck Nah!

Calvin is a churchgoing person. He is one of those guys! I haven't been to church since Vegas. I go sporadically. Well, I went sporadically when I did. I hadn't been for months. When you're in Vegas and find out there's a church right on the strip, not a wedding chapel but a full on church, you go! You check it out. Calvin had asked me to go to church with him. Not in an annoying, 'I would like to invite me to my church' type of way. I was honored he wanted to go to church with me, so of course, I went! Just an hour in and you're done! My kinda church! No offense to anyone who spends all day at church, I've done that too in Salt Lake. I told you all about it here. Day before church, Calvin and I were out and about. He had a few clients he needed to touch base with. I tagged along. We used his amazing 1965 truck. How could I say no? We ended up going to shop for a dress for me. Calvin paid for it. Yay me!

I wore my new dress and Calvin coincidentally wore a green shirt and black pants. We became that couple at church that day. You can spot a bit of that green and black dress in this post. After church, Calv bought us snacks at church. They sell goodies to raise funds which I think is a brilliant idea.

We have been to church a number of times together, we went to two different ones in Calvin's neighborhood and we went to the Cathedral downtown. That one is gorgeous. Whenever I am at church, it takes me back to boarding school where we went to church 7 days a week. I was there for 5 years. My uncle, may his beautiful soul rest in peace was a Bishop, so we grew up in church. I always think about him when I go to church. I literally have the service done by him in my head.

One weekend, there was a festival at the church, the entire weekend! I remember thinking to myself, it would be nice to go for a walk around the block with Calvin one of these days. Be it his block or mine, it doesn't matter! I arrived in the evening at Cal's, he suggested we walk to the festival. I couldn't believe it. We had been driving wherever we went. We had driven to that church on numerous occasions, all of a sudden, he wanted us to walk. Be careful what you wish for!

It was a nice walk. We walked around the church yard, it was packed! I didn't see that coming! I hadn't foreseen it being that big a carnival. There were rides and all kinds of things. We went on a ride, a very interesting ride. You stand against the wall, they turn it on, it speeds around and around, somehow it pushes people off the floor, so you end up in the sky, but against the wall. I tell ya, it's a trip! There is no gravity! You can stretch your arm out, it won't fall. Until the ride is over. I really enjoyed it.

Food Stalls at church

We had Vietnamese for dinner from the Festival, I tell you it was elaborate. They had different cuisines!

Vietnamese dinner

I couldn't tell you how long we were there for. We had such a nice time! On our way out, Calvin bought a painting of The Last Supper. I haggled the seller and won. It wasn't a real painting, the blown picture type. Calvin felt bad because it's church people. I was like, come on! This is what you do with street vendors, you negotiate! Plus, we saw one for the price I had asked for, that's where it all started for me. I just didn't want to pay more than I should. By I, I mean Calvin, cos I wasn't paying for sht.

We walked back to the house. It was already late.

The following day, we went to the Festival again. This time, Cal's friend had dropped by, we took him along. I drove. I had wedges on, so I took them off to drive. We struggled to find parking because everyone was at the festival. Finally, we found a spot where someone had just left. Cal was so sweet, he got out of the car to help me parallel park. After that, I got out of the car, as I was trying to buckle my sandals, Calvin went down on his knees just like on our first date and was like, I got it, babe! Ugh, how can you not melt?

Filipino food at the Carnival 

I wanted something different, as I always do, for day two, so I had Filipino food. Looks similar to the Vietnamese dish, doesn't it?

Halo-Halo... Filipino desert

Enjoying Halo-Halo

Calvin invited his friends over to his house, while at the Carnival, he bought some food for everyone.

$80 worth of assorted meats

The picture doesn't do the meat justice. That's a heck of a lot of meat. If it's $80 at a church event, you know it costs even more in real life. It was so good too! While waiting for our meat, we had some more dessert. Well, Calvin and his friend, I was too full.

Funnel Cake

I did taste the cake though. I had never seen or heard of it before. It tastes good. If like me, you have never heard of it, that is not ketchup/tomato sauce on top, it's strawberry topping. 

at the festival

While eating funnel cake, waiting for our large meat order, we were approached by Bingo people. They offered us free Bingo tickets. We went into the hall and payed Bingo. It was the first time for all of us. None of us won anything but we enjoyed it.

Bingo!

After Bingo, we picked up our meet and sides. The owners of the stall were so chuffed, they asked to pose with us for their websites. We obliged, Calvin's friend was like, I'll pass. 

Back home, we headed! 

Dancing Queen

I exhaled and said shoop! when I finished fixing up my condo back in South Africa. By the way, I can't wait until I have a house here in The US, so I can be those people. You know, the ones who have properties all over the place? It will happen! I'll tell you all about it when it does!

I still do my vision board, gratitude journal stuff. I have no intentions to stop. Applying the Law of attraction into my life has done wonders for me and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to change their lives remarkably. I still have a big smile when I look at the material things I have manifested into my life. It's the greatest feeling in the world, knowing that everything you have ever wanted and have ever dreamt of is within rich, you just have to believe and be happy. When you're happy you attract more things into your life that make you happy. More happiness, and vice versa. There's happy and there's Law of Attraction happy, when you're REALLY H A P P Y ! When you're so happy, you could scream? When you're so happy , you can feel it in your muscles. I usually feel it in my arms. That's the kind of happy you want to be. Not just contentedness, but excitement! You know when you wake up with that feeling, you jump out of bed and you're like, 'I'm ready for the day!  I'm ready to conquer the world!'? That's how you want to feel all the time. We've all felt that feeling. When you feel down, like nothing is worth it, like, what's the point blah blah blah; write down a list of the most amazing things that have ever happened to you, or just think of them, try to shift your energy from that dingy, dark place, to happy place! Take a deep breath and look around and say thank you out loud, heck, say it three times! Be grateful you're still alive, even though, you really wish you weren't because as long as we're still here, the possibilities are endless. And that's a gift! You don't want to be that ungrateful person, nobody likes that guy. Call a friend, your mom or whoever that person is that makes you feel so great every time you talk to them. Text someone, go on social media, search a hashtag/pound (#) something that makes you smile, it could be videos of laughing babies on YouTube or cute videos of cats, or something, there's always something out there that can make us smile if and when we find it hard to dig deep within for it. Be persistent, you can even time yourself. Overtime, you will notice that it will take less and less time or effort for you to come up with something that's gonna change your mood. The goal is to be able to switch from bad to great in no time flat. But just knowing and believing that you have the capability to do that within your heart, is a step in the right direction in and of itself. It's better than being around people you don't even like or who don't like you just because you want a sense of belonging. When you know that you have all that you need within yourself, it's an amazing feeling. It makes you look at life differently. But in a good, good way! 

I love taking things off my vision board because I have achieved them. 

After Calvin asked me to be his girlfriend, and of course I said yes. I felt like we were headed towards a great direction together. The day of the shoot in Calabasas. While working as a hawker/street vendor, selling fruit and vege, I kept my cellphone in the drawer of the stall, pictured in the blog, click on shoot, if you would like to read about that. Calvin and I were texting back and forth, he was also at work. He sent me a text, "babe! I'm falling! I'm falling for you!" It was the highlight of my day! Being someone's girlfriend is one thing but having them fall for you is something else. I will take the latter any day of the week.That and the fact that my sister Pumla was in the country were the best parts of my day. I was falling for him too but I wasn't going to make it easy for him. I wanted him to savor the moment when I told him I did too, so I didn't tell him that that day. I did read that text over and over again though. 

My sister was having a great time in New York, she was doing things she hadn't done before, I was excited for her. 

I was doing what I can to pay bills. I was going to TV show tapings. I got to go to CNN building for the first time. It was a big deal for me, I had always seen it and even walked past it. I remember once a few years ago, I bumped into a bunch of South African girls vacationing in Hollywood, they needed directions, I used the CNN building as a landmark in the directions I gave them. In that moment, I thought to myself, wow! I really am here! Not only am I in The United States, I'm in Hollywood, I am giving South Africans directions in Hollywood, I know this place so well. It was a moment for me! I was going to see the Dr Drew Show. It's a live show, one of the producers produces the Jerry Springer show, go figure! Cool guy! The producer, Dr Drew too.

I had always been a fan of Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew, so to get to see him a person was a big deal for me. Sadly, he no longer does the rehab show. They asked if anyone wanted to dance, he didn't offer anything, so I thought, meh. Lo and behold, the dude came and found me all the way in the back of the audience and told me I look like I can dance. You know me, I never say no, I was like sure, let's go. He was like, 'really?' Yup! Let's!

Omarosa from The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice had just walked into set. I was excited to see her too, as a big fan of Celebrity Show, I have seen every single episode. On my way down, I passed Omarosa who was sitting on the front row of audience, she was a guest of the show. I didn't know that then, I didn't know if she was a regular or not, I had never seen the show on TV. 'Hi, Omarosa, you look great!' I said, on my way to the stage. She said hi back. #Moment! I got on the Dr Drew stage and went crazy with my goofy ass dances. The guy, audience warm up guy, decided to dance with me. It was fun. Omarosa filmed it. I am not sure what she did with it, I'm sure if I searched for it online, I'll find it because I found a selfie she took that day.

Omarosa in front with a giant smile at D Drew, CNN

I could tell you I'm all the way in the back, you can spot my right arm and my short blonde afro right behind the blond girl in the back, but I don't wanna be that girl! ;)

The Fleet at CNN, all black everything!