Thursday, August 30, 2007

Serious Heat

It is so freaking hot out today. We don't have airconditioning and I haven't showered or anything yet today, so I can't just go out to the mall (I am still so Jersey!) or something. I can't go anywhere where I will have to mix in with the masses, since I can't wash my hair because my hair won't dry for two hours and I don't know how to use a hair dryer. My hair requires a lot of special treatment when using a hair dryer and I just don't have the patience for that. I will definitely take a shower before leaving the house today, but I will have dirty, dirty hair. Oh well.
We went to En Sushi last night. I usually really like this restaurant, but last night it wasn't so good. I adore the shishito peppers, but they were really mediocre. We always order the albacore jalepeno rolls, but we made the mistake of ordering the "Super" albacore jalepeno rolls and they just weren't that great. Hmph, kind of fit right in to my crappy day.
We stopped at Pazzo Gelato afterwards, and that sort of made up for it.
I am finding it really hard to motivate to go out right now. Maybe it won't be so bad if I stop by Lark under the guise of picking up some cookies to celebrate a friend's promotion.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Drama

Oh, today was filled with drama. It sucked. But it is all over and I voiced my thoughts instead of keeping them to myself, so that was good. Don't really feel like going into what it was all about.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Monday

I didn't end up buying anything from Macy's. We went to Costco instead and I bought a white sheet set there for about $65, which is a good price. I hope the quality is decent.
I bought white towels from Bluefly.com, along with a pair of great accent pillows for the living room couch. They have great prices on housewares.
I have to go back to Costco because I saw that they had Hanky Panky underwear 3 for $33, and that's a good deal.
We had one successful recipe this weekend and one complete, but tasty, failure. The failure was B's attempt at pizza on our pizza stone. He had some issues transferring it to the stone once it was rolled out and made. He became quite frustrated and called out, "Well, honey, this is pretty much all dorked up!" So I went in and calmed him down and turned the mess into a calzone. It was delicious!
We had great success with the Grilled Chicken Kebab recipe from Cook's Country.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Plans

We have made some plans. First, we figured out what do to when the inlaws are here. We are going here.


And for our one year anniversary we are going here.
We really wanted to get out of town for a few days but didn't want to spend too much money. We found both of these hotels and really great rates at: travelzoo.com
I originally wanted to take a longer trip to the Oregon coast, but it's not a good time financially or with B's work schedule. So I will make plans and we will do that some other time. I would say for our next anniversary, but I don't know that the weather is great in Oregon at that time of year, so I don't know when that trip will be. We already have some trips planned for next year, both to Mexico for a family trip and our friends' wedding. I'd also like to rent a house on Cape Cod for a week next summer.
Less interesting plans for this weekend include a trip to Costco for paper items and whatever else we might come upon, and a trip to Macy's. They are having a home sale and I am desiring some white sheets and these:I'll have to see what B says about buying more stuff.
I also desperately need to clean up around the apartment and get organized. Laundry, magazines, mail, it all seems to be piling up around me. That just makes me feel crazy.

Successful Recipe of the week: From The Splendid Table (sign up for emails at NPR online)

Supper Salad with Paprika Onions

The Onions:

  • 1 medium to large red onion, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons sweet paprika (Hungarian, if possible)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup rice, cider or wine vinegar

Salad:

  • 4 big handfuls mixed salad greens (could be romaine, bibb, curly endive, leaf lettuce, oak leaf, arugula, and/or spinach), washed and dried
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 small cucumber, peeled and cut into small chunks
  • 1/2 cup salted sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup shredded Asiago or sharp cheddar cheese, or cooked edamame (green soybeans)
  • 2 cups cooked meat, fish, poultry or other protein (this could be take out chicken, barbecue, leftover roast, marinated tofu, or leftover sauté. Heat up with any sauce or pan juices if you have time. Those extra flavorings are pure gold in this dish.)
  • Good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
  • More vinegar, salt and pepper, if needed

1. In a 3-cup nonmetal bowl, combine the onion, paprika, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Cover with a paper towel and microwave 3 minutes on high.

2. Meanwhile combine all the other ingredients, except the olive oil and extra seasonings, in a large bowl.

3. Once the onions are done, add to the salad with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss and taste. The salad will probably need more vinegar, salt, and pepper. Taste your way to a pleasing balance. Serve heaped on dinner plates.




Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Naked Man with Cat

Driving home from the gym just now, I noticed the traffic slowing and a couple of cop cars blocking a side road. Then I noticed a naked man with a cat on his shoulders walking down the sidewalk, followed by several police officers with some kind of guns drawn. I'm assuming they were stun guns or something and not real guns. The man was not stopping. The cat was amazingly calm - my cat would have clawed the crap out of me and jumped off and ran. The cat was beautiful, too. I think it was a bengal or some kind like that. Beautiful markings.
I wish that I could have stopped to see what was going to happen, but I had to keep going. I'm going to see if it comes up on the news.
I also learned that the Pinkberry near me doesn't open until 12 noon. That seems odd to me. I would think that people start wanting Pinkberry around 11 am. I know I did.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Not a Mrs.

When I was younger I thought I'd grow up and get married and one day be a Mrs. Well, I grew up, I got married, but apparently I'm not a Mrs. I decided to keep my maiden name, since that's my name and I don't really understand changing it (but the kids will have his last name, I don't really care about that). Turns out that if you keep your maiden name, then you are still a Ms. That just seems strange to me. If I am married, why can't I be Mrs. MaidenName? I think I'll write my name with a Mrs. from now on, despite what address etiquette says.
Also, I am an awful online Scrabble player. I tried to play against the easy robots on Scrabulous and they kicked my ass. I played a regular player as well, also in the easy room, but I think she was just looking to raise her rating, because that was a massacre too. And I'm not a bad speller, nor do I have a terrible vocabulary. I was totally embarrassed. I searched on Google and found a Guardian article about how badly people cheat on Scrabulous and that made me feel a little better. I guess I have to find normal players to play against. I'll get my husband to go on and play him. Or I'll just stick to Weboggle, where I am at least mediocre and not god awful.
And, the inlaws are coming: third week of September.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Weekend

This weekend was the Sunset Junction festival, so we kind of felt stuck in our house. We decided not to go to it this year because it was incredibly hot. We actually have never been to it in the three years that we have lived in our apartment. We escaped the heat on Saturday by heading to the mall in Burbank. My husband bought some things to aid him in his new found passion, which is grilling, and I bought some work out clothes. I hate work out clothes. I would love to just work out in shorts and a tee shirt, or even sweatpants and a tee shirt. But the people at my gym dress so nicely in their matching work out gear and I don't want to feel any more self conscious than I already do, so I wear black spandexy things and tank tops. I hate working out. But I hate being pudgy even more.
Sunday we went to see Superbad. My husband laughed more than I've ever seen him laugh in a movie. I really enjoyed it too. It was funny and sweet and refreshingly not misogynistic. Michael Cera is adorable in this movie. Are there any movies of this genre with female leads? I couldn't think of any. Some funny ladies should write one.
Last night I couldn't sleep and I started watching some Lifetime series with Jason Priestly (who I adored on 90210). I had to keep the volume down and I couldn't really follow what was going on, plus Priestly is not so much fun to look at these days. Anyway, it got me thinking about all the Lifetime movies that I've enjoyed in the past and why they don't just run those all the time, instead of the crappy series that always seem to be on. Some of my favorites: The Betty Broderick Story - actually, pretty much anything with Meredith Baxter Birney is alright by me. Except for the one she did with Swoosie Kurtz - Swoosie's daughter sleep with Meredith's husband - that one was not so good. The Ted Bundy one with Mark Harmon - that was fantastic, the one about the Hillside Stranglers is pretty good too. Oh, and the Valerie Bertinelli movie in which she tries to get custody of her sister's baby after her brother in law murders her? Brilliant.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Starting

I have anxiety issues, so I wasted way too much energy on the should I, shouldn't I business of starting a blog and it was driving me crazy. So I am starting one today.
I was an avid diarist all through high school and most of college. That all ended when an ex-boyfriend decided to cut his classes for the day, sit in my dorm room and read all of my diaries. He even had the nerve to be pissed at me for what I had written. He was an ass. But he was very cute.
I have been trying ever since then to get back to keeping a journal, but it hasn't happened. Oddly enough, I have also spent quite a bit of time worrying about what to do with the journals I already have, hidden in my house. So much of the content in my journals is incredibly embarrassing. I wonder why I started them at all and what the heck I am supposed to do with them. I definitely don't want future generations reading them. Especially certain entries that I am thinking of right now. I might have to dig them out early next week while my husband is at work and tear out a few pages. That would make me feel better.
Anyway, now I have a blog. I am still anxious about it, so we'll see how long this lasts.