Anaheim Ducks

We went to see the Ducks play the other night. Last year we put a bid in for the tickets at a fundraising event for the Swedish school and we won, unfortunately the lock out came inbetween but now we finally made it. Great tickets, first row, preferred parking right outside the building. You know when you normally go to a game of any sport at a big stadium, loong queues and a apin to get both in and out. This time, nada. The Honda stadium in Anaheim was quite impressive. Felt new and modern. Don´t think hubby was impressed though when he had to fork out 10 bucks for a beer.
I think the last game of ice hockey we watched was Brynäs in Gävle a good few years ago. Eventhough ice hockey is great to watch in Sweden, the Americans are a little superior when it comes to being loud and entertain. Last NHL game was Pens in Pittsburgh, their fans are just a little more passionate than the ducks´.

Skimpy dressed girls cleaning the ice. Doubt this would work in Sweden, hihi

 

Ducks ended up winning 3-2 agains Columbus, it was a good, close game. First thing I always do when watching a NHL game is to look up how many Swedes they have. Ducks have two, the goal keeper (first is Swiss, second Swedish) and another player.

Shootings

Just happened to turn the TV on this afternoon and I see this....

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/oc-shootings-college-student-attacked-randomly-police-say.html

Not far from where we live, a college student shot 3 people, randomly, before killing himself.  We were at the Swedish school but parts of it took place about 5 minutes from where we live. Luckily it happened early this morning and hubby slept in a bit because he would have taken that route to work.

Makes you wonder where he got his gun from and where we live. Until now I never lock the car, nor the door, that how safe this area is but evidently, you aren't safe anywhere.

Weekend

Saturday morning we decided to do something we rarely do - go out for breakfast. And what is better than breakfast with a view. We headed to the Rooftop in Laguna Beach and we were not just lucky to enjoy a really nice scramble but also to watch the dolphins play in the water..And what a day, fantastic weather, sunny and warm. Sooo spoiled!

 

Sunday we decided to visit the Scottish heritage festival in Long Beach. Didn´t know what to expect but needed to get out of the house and do something else than just visiting playgrounds. Plenty of Scots everywhere, or, lookalikes. Didn´t hear any other accents than Americans but it seems like there is a huge Scottish community in California. Lots of different clans. A little pricey to get in, $22 admission, $15 to park, and of course the food was not cheap either. I think we paid $10 for a beer and $10 for a hot dog. Ouch. The admission did include a visit to Queen Mary which is docked at the harbour, right next to the festival. It did feel a little European - they sold beer and whiskey at quite a few places. Last year when I went to OC fair it was easier to buy a gun than a pint.

Giant sausages. A lot bigger in reality than in the picture.

Queen Mary

Plenty of Games were going on

Date Night

Friday night we decided to try a new place, Pizza Mozza. We usually pick places for our Friday night out where we cannot take E. This place has had some great reviews and I hadn´t had Italian in the US before.

We met up with some place at this fancy place in Newport Beacht, very excited to say the least. We were a little disappointed afterwards, the venue itself was great but service was so so, and the food did not feel very Italian at all...We had the strangest bruschetta and the pizza consisted of 50% crust, even if it tasted nice (pizza, not bruschetta). Think we are done with these upscale places, more expensive but the food does not get better, on the contrary.

Plain bruschetta and bruschetta with mushrooms. Not nice.

 

Small but tasty. Too much crust though.

Robertson Blvd & The Ivy

It has been miserable weather all week - yes, even only a few days a year, we do get it - and we decided to pop up to LA to have lunch with Beth. This might sound silly but since it hardly ever rains i had to think twice before switching on the windscreen wipers in the car. When it rains here, it usually does so during night time or early morning. We have no umbrellas and I can't really remember ever needing one so it took me by surprise when we had to drive in rain.

Robertson Blvd is a great place to meet: easy to find, a couple of shops, easy to park, lots of lunch places about and close to the Beverly Center if you are in a shopping mood.

We picked the Ivy for lunch, it didn't look very busy and we got a table straight away. By the way, you get free champagne while waiting for your table. That explains the pricy menu, haha. Not sure I can justify a lobster salad for $34 dollars. Not a bad little place. No celebrities in sight but plenty of Christian Louboutain shoes and other fancy people.

Unfortunately Emily was not in an eating mood. Normally she loves eating out but this time it did not go down too well. I bet The ivy has banned childen now. I am pretty sure they have. The mess on the floor / consisting of pasta, chewed sausage, raisins and cutlery was quite serious.

Downtown LA, stuck in traffic.

The Ivy

Robsertson Blvd

A favourite - Kitson Kids!

Just outside the Kitson Kids store we saw a paparazzi hiding, he must have spotted someone. So now I know what they look like. Greasy hair, unshaved, looking like they haven´t slept for days...

Super Bowl Party

Last was all about Super Bowl so we headed down to some friends' house for a Super Bowl party. Our first! Well, first party, second Super Bowl. When Steelers made it to the final in 2008 I watched the match. I was working in Pittsburgh at the time and football is BIG overthere. People might thing it is big in SoCal, but oh no, there is nothing like it.

Ravens won over the 49ers, and the game took place in New Orleans. Not that I watched much of the game. I admit I was more interested in the half time show, this year it was Beyonce's turn. We are not big American football fans, we just tagged along for the fun.


The beauty with American football is that since the game is not continuous, you can chat as much as you want without disturbing anyone or missing much of the game (well, some fottball fans might disagree, LOL) This would be impossible when watching a game of footie (soccer).

The bar is open!

Yep, the Schlaff´s are 49ers fans

 

Some delicious food, I was still stuffed when I woke up this morning. 

Banking!

Once upon a time, I had this German friend who wanted to work at a bank. She had to take a math test and she was a little too slow for starting as an apprentice. She ended up working at a chemical lab instead but eventually got allergic to the substances she was dealing with. Instead, she went on and became a qualified assistant tax consultant. After a few years she did her bachelor degree in business and later on a bachelor professional of accounting. Today she is a CPA. There is no one I trust my numbers with more than her. I guess you can wrap it up saying that you need to be pretty good in order to work at a bank in Germany.

Now to my experience this week. I know I know, this is a neverending subject, but IT IS. It is so frustrating to be involved in any kind of banking business here.  Save money? Impossible, the interest is so LOW there is no point in  opening a cash deposit account or a saving account. They get taxed, too. Instead, the only way to make money here, seemingly, is to invest and take risks. Lower taxes too.

As you know I hate cheques, especially since becoming the treasurer for the Swedish school. I am on an ongoing mission to find new ways of payment. Anything is better than sending money by post. We have paypal (costs money!), we will accepting credit cards (costs money!!) and now we accept bank transfers. While depositing some of those damn cheques the other day, I just wanted to make sure I had the necessary information for people to start wiring us money instead. The bank teller had no idea how to do a bank transfer! Here they call it a direct deposit but not even that rang a bell. Oh no, instead I had to go and sit down with one of the managers (who was busy putting on lip stick!!). She could not give me a straight answer, but she THOUGHT routing number and accounting number should do the job. In some cases you can send money via email (what a joke, do I want to give myself more work but going in accepting these payments?)))) Seriously, someone is pulling someone´s leg here and is making way too much money through the cheques.

Anyhow, tonight I am going to transfer one dollar from my account to the Swedish school´s to see if it is working. We have different banks so that apparently makes things harder. Knock on wood.

Not sure I told you about the experience I made before Christmas. I had to draw some money out, I needed 3 x 80 dollars petty cash for the Christmas party. Itold her, in total that is 240. The reply "oh, I need to go and check, and gets her humongous calculator out of the cupboard!´". Get my point? I don´t think it takes much working at a bank here. Disregarded which one.

I will keep you posted, perhaps I will make the remarkable discovery tonight that IT WORKS. Good bye cheques!

Swea OC Annual Meeting

Thursday night it was time for Swea's annual meeting, it was my first time going.
Home made pea soup, sandwich and punch were on the menu and of course - semla. My third this week!

I am now on the board, sharing the responsibility for the program with Lisa and Anna so we have been super busy this week preparing. Not sure what I have taken on here but I think it will be fun!

 

Yummy yum yum!