You know you live in SoCal when ...

Has it really been a month since I last posted? My apologizes to the faithful readers. When I moved to SoCal last August, I immediated became aware I was not in Quincy (Kansas) anymore. Southern California is a unique place, to put it mildly, which explains why the local radio station affectional calls Hollywood-- Hollyweird!

Over the past few months, I've been tracking my "you know you live in SoCal when" moments and thought it would be fun to share a few with you.

1. Celebrities-- it might have something to do with the fact I work in Malibu, but celebrities are everywhere. My first celebrity sighting was Richard Dean Anderson of Macgyver fame at the local Mailbox, etc. store. At work a few months later, Dean Cain from "The Adventures of Lois and Clark" was meeting in the cubicle two down from me at work. Then, at an office lunch meeting, we spotted "Data" from "StarTrek." Interestingly enough, I've seen Data three times since at the local grocery store. And no, I wouldn't have recognized him without someone pointing him out. And most recently, I was 15 feet away from Tom Selleck at an Admission's Reception on Pepperdine's Malibu campus. One thing I've learned about seeing celebrities in person is they are much shorter than how they appear on television and often not as put together.

2. Pepperdine's Baseball Team-- Would you believe Pamela Anderson is a major supporter of the team? An article was recently in LA Times about her involvement. Pepperdine's coach calls Pamela, "Pepperdine's new number 1 fan." Pamela's sons serve as bat boys for the team and she recently had the baseball team over for a bbq at her beachside home. On a side note, Ms. Anderson can also seen walking the campus loop quite regularly.

3. Physical Alternations-- On the radio, there are constant advertisements for plastic surgery of all kinds. Then, a few weeks ago, I was quietly minding my own busy in the dressing room at Ann Taylor Loft. I walked out of my dressing room to find a woman (approximately 60 years of age) looking in the 3-way mirror. "Oh, I really like that shirt," I said. "Thanks," she replied, then inquired "How does it make my tummy look?" First off, how are you supposed to answer a question like that, but "good." She then went on to explain she had recently lost 100 pounds, got a face lift, boob job and tummy tuck. "Good for you," I said as she lifted up her shirt, before I had time to be warned, to show me her WAY to flat stomach. What a joy! (note sarcasm) It is crazy what people will do to their bodies in the name of beauty.

Look forward to sharing more Hollyweird stories in the future. Until then ...