Birthday Cupcake

I opted for the Blue Octopus cupcake over Hello Kitty, SpongeBob, and Green Lantern. LoL

Another Year...

The Springs Preserve

I celebrated my birthday at the Springs Preserve, and I had a wonderful time!  The Springs Preserve is an interesting, fun, and amazing place to visit!  I learned quite a lot about the Mojave Desert and its people at the Origen Museum, hiked to the Cauldron Pool, enjoyed a relaxing stroll in the Gardens, purchased a few postcards for my collection, and ate at the Springs Cafe by Wolfgang Puck.  Needless to say, my day was rather productive and absolutely brilliant despite spending my birthday alone.  I loved every minute of my special day, and it's not over yet!  I've got something planned for myself that involves dinner from PF Chang's, margaritas, a birthday cupcake, and a good DVD to end the night

I wanted to share this letter I wrote to my future self which I created last year on my birthday via Future Me.  Although I'm no longer with her, the letter brought a huge smile to my face.

Dear Future Me,

So you're another year older. What's new? Hopefully, things are going great for you and Micki, as well as the boys. I also hope we're closer to fulfilling our dreams. Have you got at least the first chapter done on that semi-autobiographical novel? If not, don't sweat it. But never forget your passion. Simply be true to yourself and forget what the world thinks. YOU ARE A FRICKING BRILLIANT STAR!!!

Enjoy your special day, and always remember to breathe and live authentically.

-HRD

I sent another letter today to my future self in commemoration of another year.  I truly hope that this time next year, my life will be on the right track and that I'll be living it to the fullest!

Thank you for another year!  May God bless me with many more to come!

I Heart San Francisco

Random photos of San Francisco from my recent road trip (5/16 to 5/18).

Random shot of San Francisco's bustling streets.

Bay Bridge at night.

The Open Road, Part Three

More photos of the open road from my trip to Reno and San Francisco...

The Monticello Dam, CA

Napa, CA

Somewhere on the road to Valencia, CA.

The Open Road, Part Two

Random shots of the open road from my recent trip to Reno, San Francisco, and back to Las Vegas via the byways of California.

Lake Tahoe, CA

On the way to Napa, CA

San Luis Reservoir, CA

The Open Road, Part One

I recently returned from a three-day road trip with my family from Las Vegas to Reno and San Francisco.  I had a brilliant time away from the mundane reality of my everyday life and momentarily forgot the drama I've been through.  Now I'm back in Vegas, resuming old patterns and missing my family dearly.  God, do I miss traveling the open road...

We spent a few hours in Reno, NV.

Lombard Street and the city by the Bay.

Powell & Hyde Street trolley at Lombard and Hyde.

The Hunger

Island Sushi & Grill, 9400 S. Eastern Ave., Henderson, NV

Malasadas Sundae

My family is in town for the next several days, and all we seem to be doing is feeding and leaving empty plates in the wake of all the carnage!

By the way, I rate Island Sushi and Grill a 3 out of 5 stars only because the portions were a bit small to my liking.  However, I rate the Malasadas Sundae 5 stars!  It was delightful!

The Strip

The Las Vegas Strip

I took this photo of the Strip from the third floor balcony of the Hard Rock after Brandi Carlile's concert. The view was cool. LV is pretty at night if you forget for a moment that it's all artificial lighting and crap.

Brandi Carlile Live and Unplugged

Brandi Carlile performing "Dying Day" unplugged!

How cute is Brandi in this photo?

"Dying Day" unplugged

Brandi and the twins, Tim and Phil

I saw Brandi Carlile perform live at the Hard Rock on the Strip tonight. Needless to say, Brandi, the twins, and the rest of her band were absolutely brilliant!!! She sang a few of her classics ("The Story," "Again Today," and "Dreams" to name a few), a couple of songs off her soon-to-be-released fourth album ("Rattled" was impressive), and a few cover songs (The Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face," Alphaville's "Forever Young," and Patsy Cline's "Crazy").  Their encore performance of "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones was fricking awesome and had me dancing my bum off!  But, the best performance of the night was most likely Brandi and the band performing "Dying Day" unplugged!!! BRILLIANT!!!

I loved the fact that Brandi is kind, personable, and a bit quirky (i.e, she made some cute hand and face gestures while performing)! At some point during the show, Brandi answered a fan's phone and spoke to the person on the other line!  She was funny and maintained a great rapport with the audience.  And she was very hot and absolutely adorable!  It's a shame she's off the market; I'm sure a lot of hearts were broken last night when she dedicated "Forever Young" to her "sweetheart."  The silence was deafening, but I'm one lesbian who's thrilled that Brandi Carlile is in love and happy.

Needless to say, I had an amazing night. It was a much needed change to my bleak and drama-filled life. And I'm absolutely thrilled that I can check "See Brandi Carlile live" off my bucket list. Yay!

*Note:  The first three photos were taken during Brandi's unplugged performance of "Dying Day."  Brilliant, I tell you!