And.... ACTION... wait... wait... no not yet

Location: Santa Monica, CA, USA

Well, I was SUPPOSED to start filming today. But... I am not. Reasons? Well... I have lost all three of my potential cameras. First one was lost to a job (I mean, c'mon... money? Sell-out). The second was lost to the forces of nature (now, I know camera's are not waterproof... didn't you learn that lesson as well?). And my final camera was lost to Africa... ok fine, that one is valid. So what do I do now?

Well.. I have an idea. I'm just going to buy one!! I mean... I have to do this video, right? and it's not going to happen easily, as I have found out. So I am just going to go to best buy this afternoon and buy a camera.

Plus, they have a 14 day return policy on electronics.

XOXO

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Now playing: Eagles - Life in the Fast Lane
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A beautiful blue-bird Sunday

Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA

Well, I guess technically, I'm back in LA. BUT... since 90% of this post is about Mammoth, that's what I'm labeling it as :)

Sunday was the perfect ending to a most fabulous trip. The evening started with a trip to Wild Willy's, the hot spring down near Lake Crowley. What was supposed to be a 30-45 minute trip turned into a 2.5 hour trip because we all refused to get out. It was about 23 degrees outside, but about 95 in the spring. But... we ran out of elixer and needed something to re-fuel, so we bravely dressed, two by two and headed back to the cars to thaw. Then the real fun began :) After a terribly trouble-filled evening of King's cup (with revised rules, naturally), a couple intense games of EXTREME categories and about 3 cases of Tecate (ok, I'm starting to warm up to it now!) we finally arrived at daylight... No, we were not waking up to greet the beautiful bluebird Sunday with a smile... we were just heading to bed. I guess we all took naps.

I was awakened (awoken, awokened?) at about 10 by Venice and her WONDERFUL breakfast cooking skills. There's nothing like waking up to the wonderful smell of eggs, toast, fresh OJ, the works. We grudgingly packed our bags, packed up cars and pretended to clean the condo. Josh dropped me off at the Von's to pick up Tay Tay (who was still in perfect working order, although somewhat chilled after being abandoned) and I headed up to Mammoth to trade out my skis. After being reunited with my Divas (and giving Andrew a quick slap on the side of the head for convincing me to go otherwise) I picked up Nick and headed to June to meet the rest of the gang.

The snow... was amazing; the powder was perfect. It was about 4 inches, no matter where you were, with a solid, but not icy base. There was not a cloud in the sky, absolutely no wind and it was hard to think about being anywhere but right there. Naturally, my courage kicked in about 3 and I attempted doing some mad tricks in the terrain park (although no nuggin' unfortunately), but it was relatively short lived when we realized how late it was getting and, in an attempt to not be escorted off the mountain for the second day in a row, as well as to get Nick to work on time today, we departed just before the lifts closed.

The drive back was brutal. By the time I dropped my skis off back at the frat house, picked up a pita and Rahul from Pita Pit, transferred his stuff from Tom's car to mine and then got out of town, it was about 7 PM. The boys, thankfully, did their best to keep me alert, but it was definitely an uphill battle for all of us. After dropping them both off safetly in their respective cross-city towns, I dove into bed, without unpacking my car, changing clothes or even turning off the lights.

Work today was definitely a struggle, but completely worth it. I don't think I have ever skiied better conditions than yesterday afternoon and I can't wait to come back and do it again before the end of the season.

XOXO

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Now playing: Louis Armstrong - Blue Skies
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I'm a boarder!

Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA

What did I get myself into? All of the sudden, I come to and I am in the middle of a blizzard, on a diamond, on Venice's SNOWBOARD and the ski patrol are holding my hands guiding me down the mountain... how did I get here?

Well... I guess we could begin to blame it on the late start this morning. First... my car got stuck. In the stupid driveway (thanks for the 2WD daddio :). So after pushing... and PUSHING and asking people on the street to help us push, we finally got little Tay Tay out of the driveway and safetly to the Von's parking lot, where she will sit for the remainder of the weekend. After making about an hour and half trip to Von's to pick up groceries, beer and pizza for the frat house (the name I've coined for Nick, Andrew, Josh, John, Chris and Jason's place - clever eh?) we cooked up some pizzas, pounded some brews and headed to the bars. Well... bar - singular, I guess is more appropriate. I'm actually not sure where we were, but there were a lot of people, something about New Zealand day? Lots of singing, beer, accents. Not really sure. Anyway... next thing, it's about 3:30 and we're finally getting to sleep after one of the longest days in history. Or so I thought.

We woke up this morning at about 10. We ate some breakfast, packed up our gear and headed to Main Lodge. Venice and Tim were going to get a head start on runs while I went and visited Andrew in the demo shop. Nick was impatient and headed down to Eagle Lodge or somewhere else far away without us (which turned out to be a big mistake considering the hour long lift line he got stuck in). By the time we got it all sorted out, we just decided to head to June. We packed up Brian, Tim and my stuff in the sube and Venice and Nick piled into his PO.. I mean... his really awesome nice car :) and we headed to June!

Early afternoon conditions were great. It was cold, a little cloudy, but overall, amazing. No crowds, no lines, no snow. Our biggest problem was big patches of powder (which proved to be quite an issue with me and my new "powder" skis Andrew set me up with - I am not a fan). I've decided that I am an excellent skier, when I like the conditions... and I did not like them today. I took a big spill in some deep stuff near the edge and lost my glove somehow (it's white) but then we found it about an hour later... miraculously. I also took a nose dive down a double black when I hit a mogul too fast and one of my feet went forward while the other stayed behind. Rough stuff.

So, what do you do when you're sucking the most? Put yourself in a situation to suck even more!! Right?

No... bad idea. So after Nick left for work (about 3:30), Venice and I get this bright idea to switch modes of transportation for our last run. AKA she wears my skis and I wear her snowboard (even though neither of us had been on the other before). After about a 20 minute crash course from the ski patrol (and lessons on how to put the darn boots on), we set off. Veeeeeeeeery slowly. Then... it started to blizzard. We knew we were going down, but we didn't really know how, or where we were going exactly. Then... we're on a black. Venice, is handling it like a champ. Me, on the other hand... wow. It was bad. I am clearly meant to face forward.

At about 4:30, the ski patrol mountain combers catch up to us to try and help us down. They determine that we should probably just switch back. So... we do. In the middle of a mountain, in a blizzard, using one of the patrolmen's boards as a table, me and Venice switch boots and ski/boards back and proceed down to checkpoint 1. Amazing race style, there is a snowmobile waiting for each of us. We hop on with our respective ski patrolmen and ride down to the main lodge. It's nearly dark, there is about 10 feet visability at best, and we're a little sore... but hey, we've got a story right?

So, here I am... soaking my broken pride, drinking a Tecate (eww) and preparing for our very exciting evening of hot springs and house parties. Hopefully, we won't party too hard and will actually be able to ski a full day tomorrow... oh who am I kidding...

XOXO

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Now playing: Rod Stewart - Tonight's the Night
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White out

Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA, USA

Oh, man. We just got settled into our condo... or should I say... free standing cabin in the woods :) This place is incredible!! The drive up was pretty forgettable. My car ended up just being me and Brian. We met up with Venice and Tim just past the 395/14 junction and had perfect driving conditions until about 20 minutes outside town when we hit a pretty torrential blizzard. Nothing too serious though, the snow hadn't started to stick yet, so it wasn't too bad. Then we roll up to the new pad... Wow. This place has 3 bedrooms, a huge open living room/den/kitchen/loft area, a FULL basement and a huge backyard with a big deck. It's incredible. We've spent the last hour or so "ooo"-ing and "ahh"-ing and flipping switches (we can't quite figure out how to make the fireplace work) and shotgunning beds (of which we each get our own). We're all settled now and as soon as everyone gets unpacked and dressed, we're going to head to Von's to stock up on food/beer and head over to Nick's where amazingness is sure to ensue. Ahhhh... snow :)

XOXO

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Now playing: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)
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The sun will come out....

Location: Santa Monica, CA, USA

Well, so much for that idea. It's Thursday night. I've spent this entire week working... well... a whole lot. So, needless to say... I haven't gotten anything done yet. That is, anything done for the application. I've gotten a whole lot of other crap done, that is for sure.

Anyway, just wanted to update. We leave for Mammoth tomorrow!! WOOOO!!! So far, it's me, Alia, Blake and Brian, Tom and Sean (two CS dudes from Long Beach), Rahul (another CSer from LB) and Venice and Tim (CSers from Rancho Cucamonga). Soooo looks like we'll have a packed house! It's supposed to sleep 8 on beds plus couches, so we're one over, but we'll figure it out I'm sure :)

It's been snowing for days now and the weather is looking sunny for the weekend!! Ahhhhh... so excited!

XOXO

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Now playing: Tenacious D - Everybody's Working for the Weekend (Loverboy Cover)
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Flawless, Absolutely Flawless

Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Unfortunately, I did not get any filming done this weekend. The original plan was to drag my sturdy cameraman down to San Diego with me and hit the beach on Saturday. Do some scouting, some flier passing outing. But then I sort of forgot that my company is merging with another... umm... TODAY. And as an IT professional, that requires QUITE a bit of internal support junk. So, I've been a tad more than busy. As a result, my website is still blank (though I did buy the domain redirect and the new e-mail! www.abbeyinoz.com and me@abbeyinoz.com). Fliers and posters are unmade. Outfits are unplanned. It's all just... stalled.

BUT!! I still went to San Diego, duh. So I got off work Friday night SUPER late (actually working in my new office!! Eeks!) ran home as quickly as I could to change and pack and then left for San Diego about 8 PM. Luke's show was at 9, so I knew I was going to miss it, but I promised Lo to call when I was close so she could give me directions to wherever they were. I sped to SD in my purple sequiney dress and called to check in: "We'll be home in like 10 minutes! Call you when we're there to give you directions!" So... naturally... I went to in-n-out to grab a DP and some fries and chill out while I waited.

And waited...

At about 11:30 (yes... approx. 1.5 hours after arriving at in-n-out) I finally get directions and head to the rockin' party. And oh, was it rockin'... I ran into some great old-friendly faces (aka Jeff and Lauren) and drank some amazing home brewed beer named something like "Laurel's B-day beer." There was a disco ball, beer pong, loud music, conversations about curling irons, lots of new friends, tons of sparkle (we gave a new meaning to jewel tones) and naturally, lots of birthday debauchery. At about 5 AM when the partying had absolutely no end in sight, I knew I was in for it. I started sobering up, left SD around 7 (having not slept) and arrived in my bed, nearly fully clothed around 9 AM, only to sleep for the rest of the day and night. Definitely a success in my books :)

So the plan now is to make a plan. Make those undone application necessities not be undone before we leave for Mammoth on Friday so I can do some filming from up there. Yikes... wish me luck!

XOXO

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Now playing: Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
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I've got it!!!

Location: Santa Monica, CA, USA

Yes... it really is 4 AM. BUT I figured out what I'm going to do for my application video!!! I'm so excited now that I can't sleep. I'm not really sure how or why all the pieces came together; I'd pitched similar ideas to the creative team (aka the Mom and Soren - who's going to help me film/edit). But I'm telling you, I was laying in bed, practically crying because I couldn't fall asleep and I have a HUGE day ahead of me tomorrow... and then it was just there!! I texted the mom and dad and Soren... Soren actually called me back and sort of thinks its a good idea, but he was also asleep (I think) so I'll let it slide...

So you wanna know?

Ok, so here's what I'm thinking... So this whole job is really just one big marketing campaign, right? Everyone is suffering from the bad economy especially tourism. So these brilliant Aussie's decide to spice things up a bit by offering something that sounds incredible to us, but really doesn't cost them much in the long run... So, in order to prove that I'm serious about this job and don't just think it's going to be 6 months of lounging around, I'm going to do something that aligns perfectly with the motives of the original promotion. I am going to give away a trip (or two, or three) to come visit me if... I mean WHEN I get the job.

How, you might ask? Well... with my newfound near double in salary... I'll be making more than I would back home and with practically no living expenses. I'll have plenty of extra cash to fly a couple people 1/2 way around the world (especially if fares stay as cheap as they have been for the past couple weeks).

Why, you might ask? Well... what I'll do, is get people to sign up for the contest by "pledging" that they will visit the blog/website once I get the job. Basically, I'm creating my audience before I get there. Showing the panel that I can not only captivate people with my brilliant writing skills (*ahem*) but that I also have the resources to launch a major campaign on my own.

So... I'm off to the pier, the promenade, maybe even a couple other cities (I'm going to San Diego Friday and Mammoth next weekend, so maybe I can take this show on the road!) and I'm going to set up shop w/ a clipboard and sign people up! I'm thinking if I can get at least 1000 or so names, that will be convincing enough. And get some good footage of my mingling, chatting and indirectly selling myself to Australian government :)

Now the plan is to print up flyers, make a poster that I can put at the front of a table, get a table to tape said poster to, convince Soren that this idea ROCKS so he'll shoot it, and get this website/blog up to date before submittal date!

Not so much work in... about 3 weeks :)

Oh and by the way... that picture at the top of the post is the house I found on google maps that I believe to be my new residence... or at least similar :)

XOXO

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Now playing: Robert Earl Keen - What I really mean
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Abbey In Oz?

Location: Santa Monica, CA, USA

So the next journey begins. Yesterday, the mom calls with some very exciting news. See, as she tells it, she was watching Regis and Kelly and KELLY was talking about this job that just sounds FABULOUS. So, I'll go ahead and tell you that my mother suggests that I apply for a fun crazy job, about every.... NEVER! Yes, the mom is definitely always the sensible one encouraging me to keep my good paying steady big kid job. So, that's what I'm doing, or... rather... that's what I WAS doing. Now, I figure, since this was the mom's idea... and she's the LAST person to want me to do something crazy adventurous, this one must be fate. So here goes nothing!

I'm applying for the much coveted www.islandreefjob.com job. The basic summary is that it's a marketing/PR job working for the department of tourism in Queensland to promote tourism in the Great Barrier Reef. Ya, duh... that was enough for me too, but then they throw in cool stuff. Nice salary, amazing 3 bedroom house on Hamilton Island, GOLF CART!!! Plus I get to travel, for a living. I get to write every day, video blog every couple days and just convince people that they want to be where I am. I generally think I'm pretty good at that ;)

So, in an attempt to organize myself for this incredibly tedious application process, I'm moving all of my previous travel blogs and combining them into one massively amazing collection of my travels and experiences. Unfortunately, this is already taking me a long time, so I'm putting this post in as a placeholder until I can catch up to real time.

And yes, of course, I'll keep you updated on the application process as well. So far, I have nothing. The first phase weeds the pool down to 50 (right now I think they're at 5000 uploaded videos and there's over a month left... EEEK!!). So, I am enlisting ideas for the video!! C'mon, be creative!!

Oh, and don't you dare think about applying against me...

XOXO

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Now playing: Tantric - Live Your Life (Down)
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