Driving into the parking lot of the San Diego Marriot in Mission Valley, one could have thought there was a convention going on for people who delay the end of Christmas. You know those people who still turn on their colored lights after Jan 29th (I’m watching/judging you) or still have the wreath hanging on for dear life on the hood of their car long past January 11th?  Well this parking lot was full of reindeer antlers and wreaths…there was even a “NP” sticker on a car…yes, that stands for North Pole.  But no, this was not a procrastinator meet-up group, this was the parking lot of the annual convention of FORBS, the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas.

You read it right…REAL BEARDED SANTAS. No fake beards here you guys. This was
au naturel. Men came from all over the world to gather at their annual event for all things Santa! This weekend event was full of workshops to better your Santa, network with other Santas, and pretty much get your jolly on. Some even came with their Mrs. Claus, too.

This guy rocks.

The guy with the pointy hat flew all the way from Norway. RESPECT!

Legit.

Starting to think about growing that beard? Here are the requirements.

Nobody crossed these guys.

Makin’ money, money, money…

I believe.

This guy.

Overall, it was an eye opening experience into the world of Santa. I.had.no.idea. Quality Individuals all the way.

Just in time for this season’s Breaking Bad Finale (can’t freaking wait), my friends Conor Lastowka and Lauren Duffy Lastowka put together this awesome game of Breaking Bad Bingo, better known as FR-I-N-G-O, for our Breaking Bad party tonight. So creative!

You can download the PDF files of the game HERE. Also, if you want some more Breaking Bad party ideas, you can check out my post on our other Breaking Bad Party!

Breaking Bad is the best show on TV and I am glad I have friends who agree.

Here is the hard evidence (Hank style) from our Season Premiere Party.

Lauren and Conor made incredible fried chicken.

Ding ding ding…All Hail the King.

SO PUMPED…Breaking Bad debuts tonight! Here are some food and drink ideas that should get you in the mood.

To get the party started you’ll need to make a SKYYler inspired cocktail.

We plan on cutting up some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crust off for a little appetizer. Walter’s fave bachelor meal.

For our main course our friends are bringing over their famous fried chicken that Gus would be jealous of and we’re also COOKing up some Heisenburgers on the grill.

We will also have a breakfast component because it’s what Walter Jr would want.

For dessert…it will be inspired by something purple as Marie would have it no other way.

The countdown is on!!

I randomly came across this list of the most famous people… supposedly in ranking order from most famous to least. While I don’t really agree with the order (ie -  #24 Bill Gates #25 Darth Vadar #26 Ray Charles #27 Kayne West)… it  is a GREAT list for Intense Individual Party costume ideas! Scroll down and check them out.

1. Mohammad Ali
2. John Lennon
3. George Washington
4. Oprah Winfrey
5. Michael Jackson
6. Spider Man
7. Albert Einstein
8. Gandhi
9. Marilyn Monroe
10. Pablo Piccaso
11. William Shakespeare
12. Paul McCartney
13. Elvis Presley
14. Jim Carrey
15. Dr. Seuss
16. John F. Kennedy
17. Madonna
18. Helen Keller
19. Mother Teresa
20. Abraham Lincoln
21. Ludwig van Beethoven
22. Stephen Hawking
23. Michael Jordan
24. Bill Gates
25. Darth Vader
26. Ray Charles
27. Kanye West
28. Lewis Carrol
29. Alfred Hitchcock
30. Martin Luther King
31. Meryl Streep
32. Walt Disney
33. Bob Dylan
34. Houdini
35. Mick Jagger
36. David Letterman
37. Ronald Reagan
38. Bill Cosby
39. Leonardo Da Vinci
40. Neil Armstrong
41. Christopher Columbus
42. John F. Kennedy, Jr.
43. Louis Pasteur
44. Benjamin Franklin
45. Clint Eastwood
46. Bill Clinton
47. Hillary Clinton
48. Napoleon
49. Charlie Brown
50. Mr. Rogers
51. Tom Cruise
52. Tom Hanks
53. C. S. Lewis
54. Mozart
55. Princess Diana
56. Chevy Chase
57. Steve Martin
58. Sean Connery
59. Denzel Washington
60. Ernest Hemingway
61. Julia Child
62. Vincent Van Gogh
63. Pele
64. George W. Bush
65. John Travolta
66. Julia Roberts
67. Dwight D. Eisenhower
68. Gloria Steinem
69. Cleopatra
70. Whoopi Goldberg
71. Elizabeth Taylor
72. Jack Nicholson
73. Magic Johnson
74. Nathaniel Hawthorne
75. Tommy Lee
76. Beyonce
77. Keith Richards
78. Jessica Simpson
79. Justin Timberlake
80. Plato
81. Bob Hope
82. Isaac Newton
83. Thomas Edison
84. Harrison Ford
85. Alexander Graham Bell
86. Mark Twain
87. Tyra Banks
88. Jane Austen
89. Peter Jennings
90. Howard Stern
91. Mae West
92. Charles Dickens
93. Borat
94. Arthur Ashe
95. Yogi Berra
96. Billy Crystal
97. Aristotle
98. Carol Burnett
99. Colin L. Powell
100. Vladimir Putin
101. Lucille Ball
102. Margaret Thatcher
103. Norman Schwarzkopf
104. Bob Newhart
105. Thomas Jefferson
106. Weird Al Yankovic
107. Britney Spears
108. Hank Aaron
109. Roy Rogers
110. Carrie Fisher
111. Alicia Silverstone
112. Jimmy Conners
113. Susan B. Anthony
114. Bill Hicks
115. Liberace
116. Frank Lloyd Wright
117. Miles Davis
118. Neil Diamond
119. Andy Rooney
120. Edgar Allen Poe
121. Anna Nicole Smith
122. Michael J. Fox
123. Robin Williams
124. Terry Bradshaw
125. Peyton Manning
126. Willey Mays
127. Henri Mancini
128. Shirley MacLaine
129. Walter Cronkite
130. Eddie Murphy
131. Michael Landon
132. Carl Sagan
133. W.C. Fields
134. Fred Astaire
135. Norman Rockwell
136. Elizabeth Dole
137. Benny Goodman
138. James Taylor
139. Michele Pfeiffer
140. Sigourney Weaver
141. Sigmund Freud
142. James Dean
143. Paul Newman
144. Paul Harvey
145. William F. Buckley, Jr.
146. George Carlin
147. Ashley Simpson
148. Charles Everett Koop
149. Chuck Yeager
150. Jesse Jackson
151. Danny Glover
152. Michelangelo
153. Dan Rather
154. John Candy
155. Phil Donahue
156. Steve Irwin
157. Henry A. Kissinger
158. Andy Griffith
159. Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
160. Ross Perot
161. Newt Gingrich
162. Tom Brokaw
163. C. G. Jung
164. Pamela Anderson
165. Dan Aykroyd
166. Marilyn Vos Savant

Thanks to Who Is More Famous for the list!

Last year I traveled to Melbourne for a video shoot and fell in love with the city. A few weeks ago I went back again for work and fell in love even more. It’s an incredible city with so much life! I had one day off after the shoot to pack in some sightseeing and some serious coffee consumption.

If there was one word that defined Melbourne I think it would be “cafes.” They love their cafes and coffee is consumed all day long.

The first day I got there I met two fabulous ladies, Laura and Tresna, who happened to work for Yelp and they gave me all the tips on where to go in the city. They also invited me to a Yelp Event at the Hare and Grace that they were throwing for their Elite Yelpers. Quality Individuals all around! One of the places they told me to go was Market Lane Coffee… and it did not disappoint! Best coffee ever. The staff was super friendly and they also sell the best jam in the world (right behind my Grandma’s of course!)

I stayed at  the Cullen Hotel…a really cool hotel with unique art everywhere and right smack in the middle of Prahan. Love the way they do the signs there!

Across the street from the hotel was Prahan Market. I am obsessed with this market. Here is Damien the mushroom man…top notch guy…who really knows his truffles.

There was just so much color everywhere and everything was so fresh.
On my way to the Woods of Windsor, a fantastic restaurant, I stumbled upon a really cool bar called Borsch Vodka and Tears. Very Polish bar with more vodka combination drinks than anyone could imagine.

It was a quick 3 day trip full of lots of filming, good people, and some fantastic coffee! I want to go back…

I just recently got into Mad Men. And now I am really really into it. Greg and I had a Mad Men night to celebrate Season 5. Even Sal made an appearance!

NEVER in my life have I gone into Target and only bought the ONE thing I went in for. Today in line, right after I realized I had forgot the thing I came in for, I turned to a woman gathering her bags and said,  “Isn’t it so hard to only buy what you came in for?!” She looked at me with her perfectly buttoned collared shirt and smooth hair and said, “Not for me. I always just get what I need.” She then turned and walked away leaving me and my cart full of stuff I didn’t come in for…fuming.

YEAH RIGHT! There is no way. No WAY I am buying into that. Seriously? She’s never ventured off into the dark aisle of candles and picture frames…ever?

I turned back to the checkout guy to pay and said, “I am just not buying it.” (Not the unnecessary items, the woman’s lies!) He just shrugged at me. I already knew he wasn’t into chit-chatting I am not sure why I even tried a second time. Minutes before this debacle with Miss Perfect went down, I had asked him if he thought I bought the right lamp shade for the stand I was purchasing and he just said coldly, “I don’t know… I’ve never bought a lamp before.” Alrighty!

A look inside his house.

Anyway, this Target recently got a major upgrade and it made me think it may just be a…SUPER TARGET (although the sign outside just said Target). I recently drove to Riverside County north of San Diego for work and saw about three Super Targets on the way. Each one calling my name to come check them out. I wanted to stop so badly. What made it Super?

As I pulled up to this Target tonight, I saw the new and improved exterior and thought maybe it had become Super. As I walked into the store I immediately asked an employee if this was a Super Target. He stopped, looked around and replied, “I’m not sure.” I’m not sure? Really? You either know if it’s Super or you don’t. He then went on to say, “We have groceries now so maybe it’s Super.” I asked him if groceries are the only thing that make it Super. Again, he didn’t know the answer. I said that it still said just Target out front so maybe it wasn’t yet Super but on it’s way. He nodded and then I left it with, “Have a super night.”

As I grabbed a cart, I took a deep breath and went through a mental list of what I really needed. The minute I turned the cart around and saw the cute scarves, I immediately forgot about the list.

Flash forward to the checkout – round two. I am now going through the checkout again after my first unnecessary purchase. I made a point to go to a different check out to avoid my “I hate lamps” nemesis. As I was paying for round two, I thought I’d ask the checkout guy if this was a Super Target to get a second opinion. He replied, “I think so.” OH MY GOSH!! It’s either a yes or a no. If I managed this Target and it one day became Super I would have a huge company party in the Franzia section and make an official announcement. “Folks…we’re Super now! Take it in. Experience it. Live it.” Everyone would know we were Super. None of this “I’m not sure.”

After I asked the guy what it would take to definitely say this Target was Super and he said, “We’d have doctors.” Finally! He knew what makes a Target Super. Doctors. There would be doctors.

And not just doctors…Super doctors.

Now we know…if you see doctors in Target you my friend have stepped into a Super Target and your life will never be the same.

I am still speechless over these mouse pads I saw this evening. Brought to you by the people at Awesome Graphics.  I was searching on Amazon for mouse pads (which is a secret past time of mine that I rarely talk about) and I found this mouse pad called I Love Fun.

LOOK AT THE AWESOME GRAPHICS! For only 11.99 (plus shipping and handling, duh!) you can have life altering graphics at your fingertips. Awesomeness to the MAX! Every day YOU can be reminded that top tier graphic design excellence is out there…Reminding you to strive to reach the artistic level that the people at Awesome Graphics have obviously reached with their use of Comic Sans.

Below are a couple other mind blowing mouse pads they sell. But remember to brace yourself for the awesome graphics.

Mouse Pad: AUGUST (for all those who were born in August!)

Mouse Pad: PINK (for all those who love pink!!!!!!!)

These are hot items, folks. Get them while they’re still awesome and affordable.