#38: The Hollywood Museum at the Max Factor Building

Though I usually try to avoid the tourist trap that is Hollywood, there are actually a few gems that are worth seeing for locals. If you dig really really deep underneath all the "fake for tourists" Hollywood glitz, you can find a few real, fascinating treasures. One of them is the Hollywood Museum, located at the tourist epicenter of Hollywood & Highland.

The museum boasts tens of thousands of different movie artifacts, props, costumes and other memorabilia, displayed over 4 floors and 35,000 square feet. The collections span from silent film posters to the costumes worn in the latest Twilight movie. My friends Barbara, Regina and I took almost 2 hours to go through the whole museum, and walked out with our brains full of old Hollywood trivia.

The entire second floor is currently dedicated to Lucille Ball and I Love Lucy displays, since 2011 would have been Lucille's 100th birthday. It was pretty special, since we (on accident), went to the museum on August 6th, which was her actual birthday. I was never a huge I Love Lucy fan, but it was pretty cool to see literally thousands of artifacts from her life and incredibly influential career. Fun trivia fact that I learned: in 1933, she was playing a bit part in the movie Roman Scandals, which required her to shave her eyebrows. They never grew back (!!!) and had to be drawn on for the rest of her career. Can you imagine?!

The basement featured more horror-centric items, like Hannibal Lector's cell from Silence of the Lambs, and costumes from Bride of Frankenstein (trivia: the basement of this building was a speakeasy during prohibition!). The top floor had the more current displays, like Glee, Twilight, Baywatch (see below!), Moulin Rouge and Dreamgirls (I still don't know how they got the gold Cadillac inside the building). There is also a section dedicated to Jean Harlow, whose 100th birthday is also this year. I never knew much about her, but learned that the terms "platinum blonde" and "blonde bombshell" were both coined to describe her.

But the real (and only) reason I would recommend anyone pay the $15 entrance fee, is for the first floor. The museum is housed inside the old Max Factor building, and the first floor contains his makeup rooms, where he actually used to work, restored to their original grandeur. There are four separate rooms, each dedicated to blondes, brunettes, brownettes (his term for light-brown hair) and red-heads. Each room is painted and has lighting considered most favorable to people of those hair colors and complexions, and he would only do a woman's makeup in her appropriate environment. Let me tell you, the light blue walls and yellow-ish lighting in the blonde room were most favorable!

Each room had photographs and memorabilia dedicated to that hair color's most famous sirens, all of whom Max Factor actually worked with directly. For the blonde room, of course Marylin Monroe and Jean Harlow were featured. For the brunette room, Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor; for the brownette room, Judy Garland, complete with a pair of original ruby slippers (though I do doubt their authenticity, since another pair are in the Smithsonian???). The red-head room was dedicated to Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball, and on the vanity was a display of Lucille's personal Max Factor brand makeup collection.

Not only was this guy a makeup artist; he actually single-handedly invented the makeup and cosmetics industries as we know it today. As we learned from the short film showing on a loop: as the film industry itself was evolving (from silent film to black-and-white to color films) he had to invent new products and looks to make the women continuously look perfect on-screen (trivia: in black-and-white movies, the women actually wore bright pink rouge and dark brown lipstick, which translated to a natural blush and red lips on film. But apparently in real-life they looked horrifying!) I could go on and on about his genius, but I learned that Mr. Factor invented lipstick, mascara, blush, lip gloss, fake eyelashes, compacts for powder, not even to mention completely revolutionized the cosmetics industry to make it possible for the everyday woman to buy and wear makeup. I'm not going to lie, my mind was a bit blown by the magnitude of how influential he was and still is on almost every single woman in this country (I won't even get into how he also invented the idea of the celebrity endorsement... it's just too much!!)

If this museum had only been the first floor, I would have still felt like I got my money's worth. Yes it was cool to see fancy costumes from Moulin Rouge and Planet of the Apes, but the truly fascinating insight into Old Hollywood Glamour that I learned from the Max Factor exhibits was much more interesting. I nerded out in a big way and LOVED it, and would highly recommend this museum to anyone who is actually interested in the real history of Hollywood and its original leading ladies.

Regina and me outside the museum

One of the original Baywatch swimsuits. The boobs were soooo big!

Moulin Rouge costumes

The peach-themed "brownette" room is most flattering to girls with light brown hair.

For Blondes only!

Though he never starred in a movie, he was given an honorary Academy Award in 1929 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981 for his unparalleled contributions to the film industry.

#27: The Huntington Gardens

At my old job I used to get bored a lot, and one week I found myself voraciously reading about the history of Los Angeles on Wikipedia (I know, nerd alert). I read about the history of South Central, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and all the old rich neighborhoods like West Adams, Hancock Park, and Pasadena. There is so much fascinating history about each of these different neighborhoods, not to mention important cultural influences that are still seen today. But that's besides the point. What really matters here is that reading about the histories of these neighborhoods really made me want to explore them. I'll save South Central for another day, but at the top of my list was Pasadena, and with it, the Huntington Gardens.

The Huntington Gardens (full name: The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens) is in one of the oldest, richest neighborhoods of South Pasadena. The land and buildings were actually donated by the Huntington family estate, and the main museum (that houses locally well-known paintings such as Pinkie and Blue Boy) was the family home. And by home I mean ridiculous 1800s old-money mansion. There is also an impressive research library, which counts a Gutenberg Bible and manuscript of The Canterbury Tales among its six million titles. Not to mention the 14 different botanical gardens on its grounds.

My friend Barbara and I headed over to Pasadena on a lovely Sunday during LA's "Carmageddon" weekend (aka the weekend they closed part of the 405 freeway and everyone thought there would be Earth-ending hellish traffic, when in fact, there were NO cars on the road) and it was the easiest drive to Pasadena I could have imagined. We paid the $10 entrance fee (it's $20 on weekends for adults but I showed my student ID to get the discount, don't judge) and began exploring. We started out walking the grounds around the main house, which included a huge lawn lined with statues, and shaded winding paths through different orchards. We stopped by the Japanese garden, which was unfortunately under construction and mostly blocked off. We then visited the Chinese garden, complete with pagodas, lily ponds and thousands of native Chinese plants. We walked through the Desert garden, the Camellia garden, and the Herb garden. They were all absolutely stunning, peaceful, colorful.... everything you'd expect from a botanical garden.

Then we headed over to the Rose garden, which was breathtaking, to say the least. Row after row, trellis after trellis of the most vibrant, pungent and creatively-named roses I've ever seen. There were roses of every color of the rainbow (and even others - like grey!) with awesome names like "Rainbow Knock-out," "Class Act," "Passionate Kisses" and "Playboy." I've been to botanical gardens before, but I've never seen a rose garden of this magnitude. It was like something out of a storybook!

After a thoroughly enjoyable (and long) stroll through the extensive rose garden, we went over to the rose garden tea room for a high-tea lunch. We completely stuffed ourselves with fresh scones (with clotted cream and jam!), tea sandwiches, fresh fruit, fancy crackers and even fancier cheeses, and various pastry treats all topped with pink lemonade. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect compliment to a lovely day in the garden. Plus, the air conditioning was amazing.

After we snuck a few scones into our purses, we headed over to the art museum to avoid the now sweltering heat outside. I especially wanted to see the view out of the back terrace, which has a magnificent view of greenery and mountains and you would never guess you were in LA! We saw all the paintings, artifacts, stained glass windows, and spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging on the shaded terrace. We leaned back in rattan chairs and looked out over all the surrounding gardens and greenery. It was absolutely lovely.

After a quick trip to the gift shop (which was stock-full of History of LA books.. I die!) we headed home, full of romantic dreams of what it must have been like to be insanely rich in Pasadena in the 1800s. I am so glad that Barbara showed me this gem of a place. It was so beautiful and romantic and relaxing and interesting and the absolute perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I highly, highly recommend a visit here (and make sure to bring your student ID!)

Pagoda in the Chinese Garden

Roses in the rose garden

The back veranda of the main house that overlooks all of South Pasadena

The shaded east terrace

Our amazing high tea meal!

Barbara and me rocking our sundresses in the rose garden

#1: Dodgers Game Behind Home Plate

My brother has inspired me to make it a life goal to see every baseball stadium in the country. I have been to 8 so far (out of 30) and they are all beautiful and unique in their own way. But the one that I will always love most is of course, Dodgers Stadium. It may not have a marina view like AT&T Park in San Francisco, you may not feel the ocean breeze like you do at Petco Park in San Diego, and it certainly doesn't have the old-time nostalgia of Wrigley Field in Chicago. But it is the stadium of my home-town team, and therefore will always be my favorite.

I have been to Dodgers Stadium dozens of times, and almost exclusively sit in the cheap seats. When I'm not in the outfield, I'm in the nosebleeds. I'm not complaining, and am actually grateful for the low ticket prices. But for years I have wanted to splurge and get the best seats in the house. When I decided to make my 2011 List, this was the very first thing I thought of, and is one of the items I was most determined to cross off.

I was trying to figure out which game I wanted to go to (truthfully, I was looking for games against an unpopular team because tickets would be cheaper, and the Dodgers might actually have a chance of winning). I started to worry that I still wouldn't be able to afford tickets, and that there would be no way I could convince a friend to spend that kind of money to go with me. But luckily for me, my boyfriend is an avid baseball fan too, and surprised me with behind-home-plate tickets to the July 4th game (complete with fireworks!) for our anniversary. True love people, I'm telling you.

After eating an amazing meal at Philippe's, we went to the stadium early. I've never gotten to the stadium in time for batting practice (typical Angeleno, I usually show up in the 3rd inning) so seeing the whole team practice was a treat. We even went onto the field with the hope of getting autographs, but all the players were too busy to sign. Oh well! It was burning hot, so we cooled ourselves down with beer and ice cream. Mmm.

The game was great. I literally felt like I was watching the game on TV, our seats were so close. But of course it was better because I could smell the grass and watch the sunset. The Dodgers played well, and my favorite player, Matt Kemp, scored twice. During the 7th Inning Stretch, I showed Ronny one of my favorite Dodgers Stadium traditions by singing the song twice instead of once (he thought it was excessive). After the game, they had a pretty fantastic fireworks show, complete with all the popular patriotic songs. There are few things I love more in life than 4th of July Fireworks, and watching them from the MVP Box at Dodgers Stadium with my boyfriend was pretty special.

If only I had had some apple pie, I just might have just died of pure patriotic happiness.

Our fancy expensive tickets!

Wearing my sweet new white-on-white hat (also part of my present!)

Opening pitch

I borrowed this picture from the Dodgers Facebook page. During the National Anthem, dozens of soldiers went out onto the field and unfolded a ridiculously large American flag. For once, a scene best seen from the nosebleeds, not field level.

Beautiful sunset over the ravine

PS- Yes, I am completely ignoring the fact that the Dodgers lost the game. That part doesn't even matter.

#23: Philippe's The Original French Dip

Originally, #23 on my list was to rent a paddle boat on Echo Park Lake. I think I was inspired by that one scene in 10 Things I Hate About You, even though that was supposed to be set in Seattle. Anyway. As I was doing a bit of research on boat fees, I found out that not only has the Echo Park boathouse been closed down, but the entire lake had been fenced off for a complete remodel and won't reopen until 2012. So much for that!

Later that week, my boyfriend told me about a restaurant he had heard about on one of his favorite travel channel shows, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, called Philippe's Original. I had heard of it, but had never been there. It is one of those classic LA restaurants. Not one of those "hot right now" places, but a place that has been in downtown LA for over 100 years, and has a legitimate claim to having invented the French-dip sandwich. I do love a French-dip, and decided it needed to be on my list.

Ronny and I ventured downtown on the 4th of July, on our way to a Dodgers game. We walked into Philippe's full of high expectations, because after all, when Anthony Bourdain raves, Ronny listens. And Philippe's did not disappoint. Much to Ronny's delight, Philippe's is located near Chinatown, and it seems to be far away from all the hipster-cool downtown-chic places. Here was a restaurant with no pretentiousness, no airs, and was simply about delicious French-dip sandwiches. The menu was limited, with only I think 5 different sandwiches to order, along with deli style potato salads and coleslaws. Hanging above the counter was a sign that said "Lemonade, $0.75" and I thought it was one of those cute vintage tin signs. No, the lemonade actually cost 75 cents! I ordered the beef dip with potato salad, Ronny ordered the lamb dip with cole slaw, and we each got a lemonade. Total bill was just over $20. I have ordered cocktails that (with tip) cost as much!

Touristy as ever, I started to take pictures of our sandwiches, but was abruptly stopped by Ronny. "Really Suz, could you please stop? This is kind of a private moment." Though Ronny may have been more serious about it, I have to agree that the sandwiches really were that good. He has already asked me twice when we can go back.

Behind the counter

All the goods... Ronny's hands in the background ready to pounce!

Yaaay!!

If a restaurant can exist for over 100 years in Los Angeles, it's legit in my eyes!

#11: The Playboy Mansion

When I was in college I was pretty obsessed with the show The Girls Next Door. The only celebrity autograph I keep on my bulletin board is from Bridget Marquardt (on a Sprinkles cupcake box lid, no less), and Kendra is still one of my favorite current reality stars. At one point, my college roommate Liz and I decided our new life "goal" was to become Hef's girlfriends so that we could live and play in the Playboy Mansion.

When I moved to LA, seeing the Playboy Mansion was one of the first things on my list to do. But it certainly isn't very easy! I knew that the chances of me getting an invite to one of their parties were pre-tty slim, but luckily, my friend Tracy's brother Gabe is a chef at the Mansion and offered me a tour a long time ago. I finally took him up on the offer, and brought along Ronny, my friend Jaclyn (who is one of Tracy's best friends) and Jac's mom, Susan.

We drove over to the Mansion on an early Saturday morning. I was shocked how close the Mansion actually is to places I go to all the time! I guess it's easy to forget that it is actually a house, in a normal (though rich) neighborhood in Hollywood. Gabe met us in the front of the Mansion, and though we weren't allowed to actually go in the house, he showed us all around the grounds. The place is a complete labyrinth! I'll let the pictures do the talking from here.

Here's the entrance of the Mansion, with Hef's new girlfriend's BMW out front.

The interior of the game room, full of vintage arcade games, all with Playboy themes!

On every table surface were current issues of the magazine.

Next, Gabe took us through the aviary, which was converted from a greenhouse. Apparently Hef loves exotic birds, and owns dozens of parrots, peacocks, and even a toucan!

There were several peacocks roaming around in the backyard, including two albino peacocks. They loved showing off for us!

Me and Ronny striking a pose in the backyard.

Main pool in the backyard. On the other side of the bridge is a koi pond.

Inside the famous "grotto"

Ronny was not excited at all to be in the grotto... :)

Jaclyn and her mom inside the grotto. They took pictures and kept sending them to Jac's dad to make him "jealous"

My car parked outside the Playboy Mansion, no big deal!

We also saw the tennis court, the guest house, the monkey cages, the pool house, the slip-n-slide hill (primed and ready for the 4th of July party!) and we even snuck into a few places I'm not supposed to tell about! It was an AWESOME experience, and I am very grateful for friends that help me cross things off my list!!

#3: Hike to the Hollywood Sign

A few years ago I made friends with a German girl named Bernadette, who was visiting the United States for six months while she student-taught at a German-immersion elementary school. I immediately decided to be her official LA tour guide. The first weekend we hung out, I drove her out to Malibu, then down the Sunset Strip, and all of a sudden she gasped.

"Are those the Hollywood letters?!" she asked excitedly as she pointed up at the Santa Monica Mountains.

"Yeah, that's the Hollywood sign."

"Oh my gosh!! Who would have ever thought that a girl from a little town in Germany would ever get to see the HOLLYWOOD LETTERS?!?!" She was beyond excited.

I have to admit, I have become a bit jaded about the Hollywood sign myself. I do work in Hollywood, after all, and everyday when I drive into work I see it. But seeing Bernadette's excitement reminded me what the Hollywood sign might symbolize to non-jaded people in the world outside of LA. To her, the Hollywood sign was a symbol of almost a fantasy land, where movies are made and famous people drive expensive cars down roads lined with palm trees and it's sunny every day of the year. And here we were!

While Bernadette was here, we talked several times about hiking up to the sign, but for one reason or another we never got around to it. So now, 2 years later, I finally decided to make the trek. With Ronny and 2 dogs we were watching for the weekend in tow, we drove up Beechwood Dr. to the trailhead. We got there around 9:30am, early enough to find parking and also early enough so we (and the pups) didn't die in the summer heat.

The trail is easy enough. It is a wide dirt road and then halfway it becomes a paved road up to the top. The round trip is only about 3 miles, but the beginning of the hike is pretty steep (not to mention covered in horse poop! We had quite a struggle steering the dogs around all the piles). Ronny and I were huffing and puffing, and the usually endlessly energetic dogs were even walking instead of straining with all their might against their leashes to run. There was limited shade, so whenever we came across some we took advantage of a little rest break and water break for the dogs.

The trail doesn't lead to the front of the sign, instead we had to hike around the back of the mountain and approach the sign from behind. That means for the first half of the hike, there were amazing vistas of LA behind us, and for the second half of the hike the San Fernando Valley was in front of us. When we finally reached the top, we were greeted by a 20-foot tall chain link fence, through which you could see part of the sign. The sign is so large (the letters are 45 feet tall) I couldn't even fit it into one picture.

We were able to scramble up a small hill at the top to see over the chain-link fence. At the top we could see all of the LA basin, and I'm sure on a clearer day we would have been able to see all the way to the ocean. But it was very hazy the morning we went (I refuse to say it was smoggy), and it was even a bit difficult to see downtown.

It was a fun hike, and a great way to tire out those energetic pups for an entire day. But it was also interesting to see the sign up close and personal. What started as an advertisement for a new housing complex in "Hollywoodland" has now become an iconic symbol synonymous with the glitz and glam and dreams of making it big in the movie biz. And I could be jaded and say that up close, it's just a bunch of steel and chain-link and security cameras, but who am I to deny the excitement one gets from seeing the Hollywood "letters" for the first time? I can't deny that I got excited the first time I saw it, and I still got a little excited hiking up to it!

The view about halfway up the hike

Me at the top with my adopted pups Archie and Walter

The sign is too big to fit in one picture from this close!

Me and Bernadette the day she saw the Hollywood sign circa 2009 (you can barely see it in the background)

#39: Richard Simmons Fitness Class

I've always felt that people throw around the phrase "LA's best-kept secret" a little too freely. One week it's a new sushi restaurant, the next is a gym with a great boot camp. But these things come and go. And though I am an avid LA tourist AND local, I gave this a lot of thought before I decided to proclaim the "Richard Simmons Sweat!" class as one of LA's BEST best-kept secrets.

Everyone seems to know who Richard Simmons is. He's an iconic celebrity, known for his glittery work-out clothes (always including ridiculously short shorts), his over-the-top personality, and his love of fitness . But something I did not know about him, is that he practices what he preaches when it comes to fitness. What a refreshing idea! He has been successful for over 40 years, and could have easily retired to his mansion while making occasional speaking engagements and raking in even more money. Instead, when he is in town, he teaches his signature "Sweat" class at his fitness center three days a week.

The second part of this secret though, is that this class is open to the public. For $12 (which.. admittedly, is a bit expensive for a fitness class, but is fairly cheap compared to other items on my list) anyone can take this class. So not only do you get to exercise in the fabulously 70's-retro Slimmons Studio in Beverly Hills, but you also get to be personally greeted, coached by, and later take a picture with THE Richard Simmons. Sign. Me. Up.

I only heard about this revelation a few weeks ago while at lunch with coworkers, so I cheated and took something off my list to make room for this. I wasn't all that excited about eating at the Ivy anyway... that place is soooo 2006. My friend Meaghan and her roommate (and my new friend) Jessica came with me.

By the way, when I told my friend who lives in Northern CA that I was going to do this, she said "You are so LA." Why, thank you!!

The website said to arrive an hour early, since there are no reservations and the classes usually fill up. We got there in plenty of time, staked out a corner for our bags, and had plenty of time to take lots of staged pictures. My friend Meaghan is photo OBSESSED, and we took no less than about 20 work-out themed pictures (see below). I had the bright idea for us all to wear sweatbands, since the class does promise that we'll sweat!

Once our pictures were taken, we began to actually stretch. I was bending over to touch my toes (barely) and when I stood up, there he was. Complete with fringed spandex shorts, a red Michael Jackson-esque leather jacket, aviators, and that hair. He walked in the room, as skinny as ever, and immediately came right over to the three of us. We were beaming, he gave us each a hug and a kiss on the cheek, thanked us for coming, and said that we BETTER not keep our fine asses in that back corner of the room!

We thought we were special, but then he literally spent the next 10 minutes going around to every single person in the room, giving them a hug and a kiss, and thanking them for coming. Way to give people their money's worth!

Then the room filled, and the beat to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" came on. I can appreciate that he themed the music to his outfit choice, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, we began our warm up. Lots of basic aerobics moves, toe taps, knee lifts, grapevines and the like. Every few minutes he would stop the record (yes, he uses a record player) to shout out motivations to us.

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO YOUR FAT?? YOU NEED TO BEAT IT!!!"

"LIFT THOSE LEGS! HIGHER! I KNOW YOU CAN, I SAW YOU LAST WEEKEND!!"

"LOOK IN THE MIRROR! LOOK HOW GOOD YOU LOOK EXERCISING!! THIS IS HOW YOU FIND A MAN!!"

He eventually shed the red jacket, revealing a black shredding tank covered in rhinestones. In between shouting at us, he pranced (can't think of a better word to describe his movements) around the room, encouraging us, helping our form, and making faces. He is flamboyant fabulosity personified. Mixed in to our aerobics moves were shimmies, shakes, hair flips, and other fantastic little moves that kept it fun. I can see why this man is famous.

He also kept the class personal. He would stop the music, and shout out to someone in the mirror. He threatened to take scissors to a woman's overly large tee-shirt ("You are beautiful! Show off your body, don't hide it!"), chastised a very fit, very good looking athlete type for having a "disgusting" body ("I mean REALLY, you should do something about it, you look awful!!") and even called out a guy in the group for having two large hickeys on his neck ("Where did you get those hickeys, you HUSSY! I didn't know they were letting TRAMPS in my class!! By the way.. where did you get them? I need to get some of my own!!"). He was hilarious, charming, and ridiculously over the top.

About half-way through the class, he had us all take a water break and then stand in a circle around the room. He then pulled in certain people from the group to lead a 30-second or so routine with him. First person he called is the afore-mentioned athlete, and before he had even entered the middle, Richard had taken his shirt off. Thanks Richard!!! He was a good sport, and after about a minute, Richard turned around and headed to our section, and pulled first Meaghan, then Jessica, then me into the middle, for a little bit of what I like to call "Bucket List Extra Credit" (like winning drag queen bingo and participating in a Magic Castle show). The three of us then led a short routine that my uncoordinated self took a few extra steps to get the hang of. But hey... who can say they led a group of 100 people side-by-side with Richard Simmons?! I can, now.

After the cardio portion was done, we grabbed hand weights and did about 20 minutes of lifting and "toning" as he called it. He was very good about walking us through how to hold the weights. I knew what I was doing (again, barely) but since the class really is for all levels, I appreciated that he made sure even people that may have never stepped foot in a gym before knew what to do so they wouldn't get hurt. We then did some mat work, with sit ups and push ups, which are my least favorite exercise to do ever. I was trying to cheat on my push-ups, but he then came and stood right next to me, making sure I did them right. I was a little peeved at the time, but my sore pecs this morning are thanking him for making me do the exercise.

When our mat work was finished, he took a few minutes and gave a quick motivational speech. He talked about how we choose how we feel, how we act, and how we react. He told us to never approach a day or an event with negativity, and to remember that you are given a gift of another day every time you wake up, and you should make the best of it. That is the mantra that I live by, and it was great hearing it from him with his perspective.

After the class was over, he stuck around and took pictures with anyone who wanted them. We took group shots, as well as individual shots. He was totally game to do crazy poses, much to Meaghan's delight, and it was actually HIM that dictated that he kiss my neck in my picture. He got all up in there too.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. And truly, the best part about it was I got to exercise! I always say that living this fun and fabulous life doesn't leave room for much gym time, so I was happy to combine them both for once! If I ever have friends visiting in town when he's teaching a class, I will most definitely take them to this. Best $12 I've spend in a long time!

Meaghan and me being... buff?

Jessica, me and Meaghan posing till it hurts

"On the count of three, POSE for the camera! Pose girls!"

Yes, this happened.