08
Dec, 2011

Bernadette & I downing shots of fresh corn soup (AMAZING!) and crispy quail egg on bacon jam – Thank you Chef Woolf!

Last week the Mom Bloggers of MomsLA and I hit the top floor of the beautiful Hotel Angeleno in Los Angeles for a holiday get together at their WEST Restaurant and Lounge. It was so much fun and a much needed break from the room I call my “OFFRY”(that’s a super lame combination of “office” and “laundry”. I think you know where I’m coming from.


If you haven’t been up to the Hotel Angeleno, you may not realize that it’s not the old Holiday Inn it once was, years ago. I’m talking about that cylindrical hotel off Sunset and the 405 southbound. It is now a chic, hip hotel with an awesome, grown up restaurant and lounge on the 17th floor, offering stunning view of the city lights… and there aren’t any more lights anywhere in the city than the 405.


WEST is a perfect gathering place as a pretty central location for most Los Angeles area folks and… I know I’m getting old, but I love that it’s truly sophisticated without being pretentious. There aren’t poser hipsters wearing clothes so ugly that they’re cool, no hip-hop music blaring, no Rosetta Stone language audios being piped into the bathroom (anyone get that reference?). It’s just a nice comfy place with great drinks, amazing food, perfect ambience, spectacular location. Prices are a little up there, but I have several friends who have had their birthday get togethers here and have had a great time. Oh, and there’s live music on 


So if you want to learn more AND help me to win a “staycation” there, check out their Facebook page and “LIKE” the link I post to this blog! I have absolutely nothing to give you in return other than my undying affection and gratitude. But come on… consider it a holiday gift. Just a click:


https://www.facebook.com/westrestaurantandlounge


In the meantime, do yourself a favor and get yourself a spoonful of crispy egg on bacon jam. That’s right bitches, BACON JAM. Chef Matthew Woolf is cooking up some mean dishes up there. 


Thanks and enjoy!! aa

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Tags: Amy Anderson • bars • fine dining • Hotel Angeleno • Joie de Vivre • nightlife • restaurants • west restaurant and lounge

03
Dec, 2011

The awesome folks over at EA Games, the premiere name in video games, sent over some goodies a couple weeks ago and I’m finally getting around to trying some of them out.

They have some really fun family friendly games that would make great holiday gifts and several are apps so there’s no postage involved!

First off, they sent us some console games and we don’t have a gaming console, BUT the very kind and generous Nolan Gould (he plays Aubrey’s tv cousin, “Luke Dunphy” on Modern Family) has an extra Wii and is giving it to us. Aubrey will be SO SURPRISED AND EXCITED!! And I’m excited because I’ll have some new activities to keep the energetic Aubs busy and physically active indoors during these dark, blustery winter weeks. Yes, we do get coolish, windy weather here in SoCal.

First for gaming consoles or PC I’ll give you a quick list and links so you can check them out. I haven’t played these (remember, no console) but they look really fun:

The Sims 3 Pets – available for Xbox360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 3DS, PC/Mac
Be a pet or have a pet – it’s up to you.
ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen

FAMILY GAME NIGHT 4: The Game Show – available for Xbox360 (with Kinect functionality), PlayStation 3 (with Move functionality), Nintendo Wii
Experience re-imagined versions of your favorite Hasbro family games – CONNECT 4 Basketball, YAHTZEE! Bowling and SCRABBLE Flash to name a few.
ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone

MONOPOLY Collection – available for Nintendo Wii
Hasbro’s No 1 family game is packaged in this two games in one value priced collection. Play Classic Monopoly or Monopoly Streets. You can also check out EA Games’ Monopoly versions on Facebook, iPhone, Android and Pogo.com.
ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Bet You Know It – available for Nintendo Wii
Two different game modes to choose from with more than 7000 questions based on current event, pop culture and more. Also check out EA Games’ TRIVIAL PURSUIT games on Pogo.com and iPhone, iPad and Android apps.
ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone

And now for the app games! We tried 5 of these apps so far and we’re hooked:

The Moogies – iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Targeted for children 2-5, this isn’t really a game so much as it is a silly activity for kids. A crazy cast of animal characters that do stuff that kids will get a kick out of. Aubrey is ADDICTED! It keeps her happy in the car and at restaurants and really, isn’t that 98% of the reason for having an iItem when you have a kid? Worth every cent. Enough said.

Rope Rescue – iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Help Rupert the parrot save baby birds in cages by connecting ropes through a series of pulleys and obstacles. This is one of those games that your preschooler will somehow be better at than you. Aubrey loves the birds!

Roll In The Hole – iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Guide Popo the panda through physics based puzzles to collect popsicles on his way to the portal into the next world! This game is a little to hard for Aubrey – she is 4 yrs old – as it does take motor skill precision and quick reflexes – but my boyfriend and I had a lot of fun with it. It is challenging AND adorable. (Tip: Great drinking game at a bar. Somehow seems to get more and more challenging the more you drink.)

Tetris – iPhone, iPod Touch, Android
The classic addictive game with new modes and official Tetris Rank and Tetris Club… in case you’re competitive like that.

Bop It – iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
As annoyingly wonderful as it’s tangible counterpart, but not as easy to trip on in the dark. This is stupidly addictive and ALSO makes a great drinking game! No joke. I don’t know why they don’t market it as such. Invite some friends over, mix up the martinis and Bop It.

Some other fun family apps you may want to check out are Theme Park, Road Trippin’ and Fantasy Safari. I haven’t had a chance to check these out yet, but anything by EA Games is sure to be high quality and plenty of bang for your buck. I love theme parks, so I think I will check that one out next.

I hope you got some holiday shopping ideas for the game lovers in your life – or at least a new cocktail party theme.

You have 22 days left until Christmas and if you’re Jewish, better get crackin’. Happy Holidays and THANK YOU EA GAMES!!

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Aubrey Anderson-Emmons • Chillingo • EA Games • EA Interactive • gaming • Hasbro • holiday gift guide • The Sims • video games

02
Dec, 2011

This is how my desk looked all week. OK, it still looks like this, but I moved the stuff off of my computer to the side so I could type. Please ignore the laundry hanging in the background. It’s not like my office is actually the “laundry room” or something lame like that.

I’m having one of those rare days…let’s call it a… SUPER PRODUCTIVE DAY! Why? Why am I getting so much stuff done you ask? Because my boyfriend is at work and my kid is at her dad’s. I’m in an empty house!! (cue the angel voices) AHHHHH!!!!!!


I let our nanny go after Aubrey booked Modern Family because since I started managing her, I’m either with her all the time at the studio or at home, or I’m on the road and she’s at her dad’s. It doesn’t happen very often that I’m at home alone, but when it does, I go into superhuman mode and get amazing shit loads of stuff accomplished. Why, just today before 6pm, I…


– Finished my whole cup of tea at breakfast while it was hot – amazing
– Washed and folded 3 loads of laundry
– Read 2 magazines from start to finish over lunch
– Ate my lunch without having to get up and cut someone’s food, get someone more food, get someone different food or wipe anyone’s butt (I’ll let you guess if that’s the kid or boyfriend)
– Brought a load of old clothes to the re-sell shop
– Brought a pair of pants into the tailor’s
– Picked up the mail from the po box
– Bought a gift
– Finished writing a tv series treatment that has been on the back burner for 5 months
– Activated my new iPhone and set up the apps, email, etc
– Updated my performance calendar and organized my current show contracts
– Got an audition on the calendar for next Monday
– Caught up on my emails
– Made egg salad
– Took out the trash and recycling
– Dropped off my e-waste that has been sitting in a bag on my office floor for a year, at a drop-off site
– Pooped without the dog or a 4 yr old coming into the room to talk to me (yes, my dog talks)
– And now, I’m even blogging!


Before I had a kid, I was like this every day, but rather than laundry and household errands, I was focused on my career and myself. I worked from the second I got up until the second I went to bed. I exercised 6 days a week and I was 103 lbs, strong and fast. My career had some great momentum. I had a social life. I knew what day of the week it was and the name of the current president. I miss those days. I mourn the loss of that life. 


Now I have a little muffin top and my day gets divided up into mom duties, career stuff, domestic chores and there’s a man, a kid and a dog who all seem to want something from me at different times. 


But it’s all good. I don’t think I’ll ever find a balance, but somehow it’s all working out. My career is maybe going to move a little slower this way, but we haven’t starved to death yet (even if I did have to take a shitty side job this summer) and I’m starting to feel more ok about that than I did the first couple years of motherhood.


There aren’t a lot of advantages to co-parenting with an ex you don’t particularly care for, but then there are days like these. I’m lucky to get a super productive day alone every once in a while. It keeps me human so for that I’m grateful. Now if you’ll excuse me, my dog wants to talk to me about something and I promised her a couple minutes of my time.

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Tags: Amy Anderson • Aubrey Anderson-Emmons • moms • productivity