July Fourth with the Rich and Famous

We spent our Fourth hanging out with friends on Zuma Beach, just south of Broad Beach - the famous Malibu enclave of Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford and Mel Gibson. We love surfing at Zuma and we'd heard that the afore-mentioned celebs (or some other rich resident, who knows?) had arranged for their very own fireworks display on an off-shore barge.

Sand, surf, dolphins and free fireworks? It doesn't get much better than this. And we had our very own celebrity sighting -- Dustin Hoffman -- shuffling his way through the aisles of the local grocery. While we ordered sandwiches, he paused to peruse the male products section. We speculated wildly on his potential purchase - Shaving cream? Just For Men? Condoms? I made the hubby do the recon mission to see what he was buying. Turns out Dustin Hoffman uses Brylcream.

Now I realize we're pretty lame for actually following a celebrity through a grocery store to monitor his purchases but, hey, Defamer needs a full report.

Even though I've lived in Southern California for nearly my whole life, it's always jarring to me to see a celebrity doing something so mundane. Yes, I realize that there's columns devoted to "Stars - They're just like us!" but those are still professional pictures in glossy magazines. It's somehow different to see Dustin Hoffman in person pushing a grocery cart and checking out the $20 special on BBQ sets.

Anyway, the Brylcream brought back memories of my dad, who passed away in 1992. When we were little, he used to let us play barbershop with him. By this point, my dad was already pretty bald - he was 45 when I was born. But he was game. We'd brush his hair, lather on the Brylcream and charge him a quarter. I still remember that Brylcream smell.

Yep, my dad and Dustin Hoffman, they're exactly alike. Stars -- they're just like us!

Anyway, throughout the day - we surfed a little, we ate crappy hot dogs from the snack bar while Baby Girl ate sand, we hung out with our fabulous friends that we don't see enough of, the Zuma dolphins made their appearance, and we saw an amazing fireworks display.



All in all, our Fourth was pretty darn awesome and actually made me appreciate living in L.A. for a change. And, somewhere, my dad was watching the whole thing and smelling like Brylcream.

*Oh, and it took me a day and a half to get these photos to upload. Sheesh!