Flashes of Brillance And Long Spans of Mediocrity

Linsane in the Membrane (Linsane in the Brain)

2012-02-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

from Forbes.com

If you're a sports fan, you've heard of Jeremy Lin at least once or 100 times in the last week. The kid was cut from two previous teams and undrafted in the NBA to become this week's hottest thing. And while I don't want to underplay his accomplishments, I'm fairly certain that this will end up poorly.

For those of you NOT in the know, Jeremy Lin got the opportunity with two Knicks starters (Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire) were out. He played significant minutes and started on a team that was circling the drain. In those starts, he ended up scoring the most points of anyone in the their first 5 starts in the NBA ever. More than all the great ones--Bird, Magic, Jordan, Kobe, all of them. And what's more is the Knicks haven't lost since he started starting. Also, he's two things that are unique to the NBA: an Ivy Leaguer (graduated and played at Harvard) and Taiwanese American.

I love a good underdog story. I mean I LOVE them. It's probably why I can never resist watching Remember the Titans when I see it's on TV or why I have cried while watching Secretariat. In fact, I may go so far as to say that my affinity for sports stemmed from my affinity to see those with no hope of winning, do so.

But here's where things get tricky on the Jeremy Lin situation, I fear that much like things that happen in New York or LA this coverage has gotten out of hand. Had Jeremy Lin played for the Pacers, there would be some notice, but not near the amount he's gotten in the Big Apple. And even if he turns out to be a Steve Nash-like point guard (which is not nearly a given only 7 games into his career), there can be no measure other than a championship that would live up to the kind of hype this kid has gotten in the last week. Yes, we have only really known Jeremy Lin for a week. Unless you're this guy and saw this coming.

My favorite tweet on this is from @kevinkoski that read:

If Jeremy Lin dunked on Lebron in a Yankees cap, and then celebrated by Tebowing in front of Brett Favre, would ESPN explode?

Sadly, I think the answer is yes. But I hope for Lin's sake, the media can give this guy some room to breathe (although it might be too late).

Failure or New Opportunity?

2012-02-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

Birthday cupcakes (not all 6 but still)
definitely played into my downfall!

I hate failing. In fact, someone once said they thought I had a fear of it. Maybe I do, I'm not sure, but whether I fear it or not, I've certainly done my fair share. The latest failure: January's goals. Not all of them, but certainly my weight loss experiment with The Firm Express.

I have done every workout in the series. I did not, however, do them in the correct order or 3 times a week. I also blew off my diet for a few weeks. Argh. At one point, I had lost 7 pounds during the month due to the exercise and since put about half of it back on. That's what I get for indulging in birthday, Superbowl and Valentine's day celebrations. And mostly just not paying attention to what I was eating well enough.

I heard a stat once that said it took the average person six attempts to quit smoking. I think that number is probably double or triple for lifestyle changes. So instead of wallowing in misery or failure, I'm going to try again. And maybe this time I'll start wearing incredibly tight pants and belts to make myself uncomfortable enough to stop putting food in my face.

This week:

Days per month that I worked on my novel: 15/15 (not sucking on this one!)
Calories burned per week: 1550 (a pound is 3500)
Weight loss/gain since last posted result: +3 lb.
Cumulative loss/ gain: -3 lbs.

My First Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T18:17:00.000-08:00

Flowers from my Valentine

I was shopping for greeting cards for my beloved and made a startling revelation: I could FINALLY buy one of the "For My Husband" cards this year. It's my first Valentine's with a husband.

Look, there's nothing wrong with living with your lover indefinitely, in fact, if there were reasons other than making our lives easier and health insurance to consider, Chef and I might've done it. But since there aren't a TON of differences in the 8 months we've been married compared to the 7 years we lived together, I thought I'd celebrate one of them, minor as it may be.

The sentiment of my Valentine is the same, even if the type is slightly different. My husband rocks the world. Clearly I think that because I married him. But he rocks for many reasons. On this, of all hollowed Hallmark holidays, I share with you a few:

He makes dinner regularly.
He has told me on several occasions that it is his mission to make me laugh every day.
He actually makes me laugh every day.
He gets me to lighten up and let loose every now and again.
He challenges me--which is probably not that big of a deal, but when I was searching this was hard to find.
He spoils me with his time, his talents and his love.
He encourages me to take the big leap when I need to.
He keeps me motivated to keep going when I don't want to.
He believes in me (and isn't that what we all want?).

I am lucky to have a great husband and a great Valentine. And thankful for my friends and family who helped me believe that I was worth it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wait. What?!? Who was interviewing who?

2012-02-13T18:33:00.000-08:00

Would've liked a little more
of this.

Last night Chef and I went to see Jane Lynch interview Amy Poehler for this series called Live Talks LA which raises money for charity and has celebrities interviewing each other (among other things). We've been to three now and they've all been fun and different in their own way. Last night had some good potential, but one thing got in the way: Jane Lynch.

Don't get me wrong. I love Jane Lynch.But her role last night was SUPPOSED to be the interviewer--not the subject. She had JUST been the subject when Adam Scott from Parks & Rec interviewed her for the series in October, so she had her time. But last night the hour was eaten away not with funny anecdotes of Amy's career, but some Jane Lynch anecdotes. I think she asked like three questions.

I know it's free flowing and the one reason people like doing them is that isn't not that much pressure, but I did actually want to hear what Amy had to say, and it was a little disappointing. However, here are my highlights from the event or the moments surrounding it:

While waiting to get in, listening to the group of students in line ahead of us talk about their art as suffering writers. "I mean, if you can't turn your assignment in on time for a professor, how can you turn your assigned work in on time for a show?". I may be wrong, but I don't think show writers get assigned stuff to turn in, but that could just be me.
Listening to two of the aforementioned students try and convince the third to be a guest on their podcast entitled "Homeo and Juliet."
Listening to the two old ladies behind me talk about knitting centerpieces--at which point I went back to eaves dropping on the students again.
Hearing Jane Lynch say "Never heard of him" after the emcee announced an upcoming author who was a part of the series. She didn't realize her mic was hot.
Having a guy in line behind me at the concession stand ask three times "Are they going to do improv?" (To which I'd answer: "No, dude. This is an interview. They just talk.") Before he tapped me again, the dude in front of me turned around and said "Buddy, check out her finger. She's married. Give it up." I was then able to purchase my Coke Zero without any further bothering.
Spending time with Chef.

If I were a little bit more courageous...

2012-02-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

I like to think that I'm adventurous, but in all actuality, I'm not that ballsy. I wish I was, but I'm not. I carefully plan for things to happen and have only taken a few big leaps of faith, but even those leaps were calculated.

What has me thinking like this? Two of my close friends/ family members have recently started their own businesses. My cousin Doug and his wife Erin launched Janus Investigations. This is my cousin's second business.

And my friend Terry Price started his own writing mentoring business, with some adventure trips on the side. How awesome is it to spend your time doing things you loved?

It's not like I don't like doing PR or even working for someone else, but I love seeing friends and family living out their dreams. Taking risks to do things that make them happy. I love the thought of doing freelance work. Of my success or failure being solely reliant on my actions. But at the same time I know I'm too chicken to do it. I have faith in myself, but maybe I'm just a big chicken. For now, I'm happy doing what I'm doing and cheering on others.

It's very inspiring...and maybe one day in the future it'll be contagious.

It's the Little Things--Like a Bill With Your Name on It

2012-02-09T19:50:00.000-08:00

Not happy with them. Ridiculous.

Remember when you first moved out and got your first bill with your name on it? How thrilling and scary it was? Well, Chef and I are having some issues because we're waiting for a bill with our name on it. An electric bill.

Unlike most electric companies throughout the US that actually bill a person every month for the electricity they use, the LA Department of Water & Electricity (LADWP) sends a bill "every other month" or whenever the hell they feel like it. In our first six months in our apartment, we got two bills, which we promptly paid. Then the drama starts.

The last bill that came in our name was in July 2011. In October (which is NOT two months later, by the way), we started getting bills in a very foreign name. We called immediately--the day the first bill came--and found out that they had gotten the apartment number wrong when they started his account and it would take--get this-- 4-5 MONTHS to get the bill back in our name. They told us to not pay the bill until it came in our name and that we shouldn't get any more bills.

But we did. We kept getting bills in the wrong name and we called back every time to make sure. "No," said various customer service reps. "Don't pay it until it comes in your name." Then the the cut off notices came. "No, we won't cut off your service. This is all taken care of."

Flash forward to today when Chef gets a visitor at our door demanding payment or cut off of the electricity. Despite Chef trying to explain and showing him the plethora of paperwork and even walking him down to the front office (where they told him that the person they had listed on our bill had not lived in the complex since 2010), the guy said "I don't care. I'm leaving with a check or having cut off the electricity."

Needless to say, we're pissed. I've called the LADWP and they apologized, but frankly they assured us FOUR TIMES that this wouldn't happen and it did so I have NO FAITH in them. I made them have a manager call me who assured me that it was taken care of, but I told him I was stopping the check. I can't be sure that the money we paid would actually be credited toward OUR account. And I'm not paying off Ghosh's (that's the last name of our phantom resident) bill. And then I told him that if another bill or collection agent showed up with the wrong name that I was getting him on the phone to straighten things out and then coming to see him personally to eat my bill.

ARGH!?!? I have NEVER had my electricity threatened and certainly never had a collection agent visit my home. I am still wound up, and pissed.

This is what I think of . . . .

2012-02-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

every time I hear the word "drupal" used in our office, on conference calls or in every day talk (although it doesn't come up much outside of the office to be honest).

What jargon is used for your industry that makes you think weird things?

You Can't Pick When You're Famous

2012-02-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

I say this a lot and Chef and I have debated this, but my feeling is this: You can't pick when you're famous and when you're not. It's like being pregnant: there are stages of it, but when you are, you are (I am neither famous nor pregnant by the way). You can't pick to NOT be pregnant because you want to go on a sushi bender nor can you NOT be famous because you want to have your own little hissy fits.

Case in point: Gisele you cannot speak out to make breastfeeding for six months a LAW and use your fame to try and lobby for it or say really obnoxiously superior stuff about your kid BUT not want attention when you respond to a heckle about your husband's Super Bowl loss. Have you never been to a football game? Let me rephrase that: have you ever been to a football game and NOT sat in a luxury box? The whole thing is one big heckle. Toughen up. Or at least don't say anything back because you ARE famous. Someone WILL record it and make you look even more like an idiot. (For the record, had Abby Manning made some comment about Peyton NOT being in the building that had been recorded, I think it would've been big time news too. Just sayin'.)

On another note, it's not your place to say anything, no matter what kind of fame you have. Blaming co-workers for something is lame in itself, but blaming your HUSBAND's co-workers is even more lame. I actually have had one instance in my career when a colleague's wife called me up to bitch me out. It was the worst and made life awkward between me and the colleague forever. Partly because I was pissed at him for letting her call and partly because he was pissed at me for yelling at his wife. Not a good idea in ANY situation.

And lastly, to all those guys (and a few girls) out there who have said "She's Gisele. She can say whatever she wants." Or "Tom wins because he gets to go home to that." I have to say this: Being hot does not give someone carte blanche to say stupid stuff and act inappropriately. Stop reinforcing this idea.

I'm An Award Whore so I'll Take it! (Thank you)

2012-02-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

If I ate this award, I might die.

If you can't tell from my blog, I tend to be a goal driven person. Even if the only one who cares about the goal is me. And if there's an award for the goal? I'm so much more motivated. Even if the award is something lame like a sticker or a packet of M&Ms, I'll secretly pretend I'm not trying but in my head I'm all out willing to cut someone for it.

That being said, Sarah Elle Emm at "My Name is Sarah" nominated me for the "Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award." Nothing says sweet like saying I'd cut someone for a sticker, right? But I digress. I was actually very flattered and considering my last blog was a rant about what can be construed as misogyny, I have to say that I'm very thankful Sarah nominated me. I knew Sarah, albeit not too well apparently, in high school and after reading her blog realize that we may have gotten along better than I thought had I not been a big ball of anger and embarrassment who thought high school was merely something that needed to be endured. Sometimes I still think high school was the cornerstone of my mental toughness.

So, to fulfill my end of the nomination, I get to share seven things about myself that people don't really know and then nominate five other people. I think I can handle that so here goes:

I'm allergic to strawberries so the picture on the award actually scares me as I fear if I were to not be able to resist it, I could possibly die. Or at least lose consciousness because my wind pipe has swollen up. I found out I was allergic when I was forced to make a strawberry spinach salad for my friend Julie's wedding shower. I say "forced" because the organizer had pulled recipes for those of us helping out to prepare and bring. She asked me, who was morbidly obese at the time, to bring the salad, which I thought was incredibly stupid of her. You don't ask the fat girl to bring the salad. You ask the fat girl to bring baked goods. Because of this, I learned that I should've made my toffee chocolate chip cookies and that I can't eat strawberries.
I'm way more petty than people think I am. At least I'm more petty in my head than I am in real life and while I'd like to stop that, it's just a natural reflex. For example, when I see someone on Facebook or in real life that used to make me feel bad for my weight when I was younger and notice that they're now fat, I feel a sense of justice. Yes, I'm that petty. (And then I hear Chef saying "No one can make you feel something, Ashley. You let them do it." And he's right)
I fear that I might never finish my novel. I've been working on it off and on for more than five years--FIVE YEARS--and I know that I need to get it out before I start on anything else, but I fear that I'm never going to really get it out. No matter how many goals I set to do so.
I don't think the urge to have children will ever kick in with me and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Society tells me that I need to procreate, but I've rarely let society dictate my life goals so why start now. At this point, my furry kids are enough.
I'm secretly ashamed that I think of them as furry children because I do know the difference between a cat and kid (I really do, I swear). However, I would rather look at 100 random cat pictures than one picture of a baby from someone I don't know or really care about. This does not apply to the pictures of my friends' kids because I love and care about them. They're all cute, but I have to say Miles, Nola, Josh, Jules, Elle and Emily have my attention and heart right now. And no, those aren't the name of my cats or anyone's cats.
I wish I could channel Dorothy Parker for even just one spectacular line of prose. And then I would repeat that line in everything I wrote or said for the rest of my life.
Chef and I got married in July in a small civil ceremony, but we still haven't gotten wedding rings or taken a honeymoon. Mostly because I'm lazy and because we're still trying to save money to go somewhere really cool. (Chef's current front runner is the Maldives, but I fear it's still a little too expensive. I'd settle for Belize or Fiji or a European trek.)

Another thank you to Sarah Elle Emm for her nomination. Check out her blog and her books. And to fulfill my duties, I will gladly nominate those who actually do have some genuinely sweet blogs:

Nicole: http://nicoleabdou-destinationunknown.blogspot.com/ (a true adventurer!)
Julie: http://mommyandmiles.blogspot.com/ (the kid is adorable and the posts are funny-and honest)
Mandy: http://babystribling.blogspot.com/ (This mom has cute as hell TWINS and remains a fashion envy-- how the hell does she do it all???)
Renee: http://awkwardlystumbling.blogspot.com/ (Nola is one my favorite baby names and Renee is one of my favorite people)
Laura: http://jasonandlaurasullivan.blogspot.com/ (Seriously funny blog. I wish I could spew convincing sarcasm like Laura does.)

Okay, folks. Now it's your turn! Here are the rules:

Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
Share 7 random facts about yourself.
Pass the award on to some of your own deserving blog friends.
Contact those friends and let them know.

Facebook (and Sheryl Sandberg), I'm Disappointed in you...BIG time

2012-02-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

I was planning a nice, fluffy blog post today until Chef sent me an article on Jezebel and then BAM! I was sucked in. The story itself was bad enough, but the comments were HORRIBLE. And I have to say that the older I get the more pissed off I get about women in the workplace. I used to get touchy about the word "feminist" but now I think it's just a word men warped to use in the place of "bitch" when it becomes convenient.

Anyway, the article talks about Facebook's board of directors and how they are predominantly rich white men and do not have a single woman on board. This pisses me off for several reasons: 1) more than half of Facebook users are women. 2) Sheryl Sandberg is a business idol of mine, and has been a vocal advocate of gender equality--but apparently that doesn't apply to the company she leads 3) people do not realize how boards are set up.

Here's what pisses me off: Boards are not jobs--they are not typical positions that get hired for. They are appointed by leaders of a company and then by the board of directors themselves. Having women on boards has proven to be profitable and some countries, like Norway, have even set government quotas on how many board seats should be inhabited by a woman. So to say "Why would they just give a seat to a woman when it takes away from a more qualified man?" is bullshit. The company can set how many board members it wants and there are no set qualifications--there are rich white people that sit on boards as their job now that they're so rich they don't need to work. Does that make them more qualified than someone who holds a leadership position actively? Does wealth equal qualified? Nope.

Also the purpose of the board is to provide perspective and leadership to a company or organization. I find it hard to believe that balanced perspective can be achieved if the majority of customers and a good chunk of the work force are not represented.

But even having women on boards doesn't really solve the problem: women in leadership positions. If there aren't more women in higher positions then pickings for boards can be slim. (However, I find it hard to believe that Facebook-which could scour the earth to find board members--could not find one -ONE- woman who was qualified). Riddle me this: I worked at a place where about 80 percent (no lie) of the staff was women, but about 75 percent of the leadership positions were filled by men. How can that happen if we're nurturing staff and growing talent within? It doesn't. But I can tell you from experience that there were few men that would "deign" to work there unless they were in a managerial position--which to me seems like horse shit.

There's also the misconception that sexism doesn't exist any more. It does. I've actually literally heard some members of the board of a company I worked for say they were happy they had just hired that female because she could be more effective "because she's hot. That's gonna open a lot of doors for her." That one statement was enough to shatter my illusions of sexism and was enough to prompt me to lose 80 lbs. I bet no one ever told Wozniak that he would be so much more effective at Apple if he lost a few pounds or was hot.

It happens every day and to ignore it only makes it worse. To think that there aren't smart, successful, powerful female leaders in the world and workplace is just stupid. We just need to open our eyes and minds to it. And by "we" I mean some big companies that are willing to step up--guess that doesn't mean Facebook.

Woman vs. Woman--Who do I agree with?

2012-02-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

From my Mom's first --
and only--Komen Race For The Cure

The news around the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood's recent royal rumble has me wondering which side I sit on. As most of you know, my mother died from breast cancer and I have been a big supporter of the Komen Foundation ever since. But this recent withdrawal of funds from Planned Parenthood has me rethinking if maybe my funds and efforts shouldn't go to a different organization.

I love Planned Parenthood. And before you get all political on me, know that I support them because in my time of needing health care for issues and being a young woman without insurance or with bad insurance, they stepped up to make sure I got the cancer screenings and check ups I needed. And so I support them today because they were there when I needed them (although I wish they would spend less of those donations on all the direct mail pieces and email I get, but with my background do I really have a right to complain? I'll stick with yes). I know there are strong political feelings around Planned Parenthood and lots of people who disagree with me, but they can write it on their own blogs. Ninety-seven percent of the MILLIONS (this is literal) of services the nothing to do with abortion. NINETY-SEVEN PERCENT. I don't think that shutting something down or out because of three percent of services that people don't agree with is the right thing. I mean, if we had a presidential election where 97 percent of the people agreed on the winner it would be a miracle--not a sticking point.

I have come to think from seeing the evidence and leadership at the Susan G. Komen organization that the revoking of support of breast exams through Planned Parenthood is a reaction to a political debate. Masking behind it being a policy against companies under investigation gives WAY too much power to any politician who wants to investigate anything and doesn't really jive with one of our other branches of government--the courts. I think an "innocent until proven guilty" approach would be a better way to handle it, if its needed at all. Frankly, I find the excuse a flimsy retroactive one to cover actions they were already taking.

The good news is that despite only seeing ONE color during October, there are many organizations that help fight this disease. I think I'm going to look to the Dr. Susan Love Foundation to receive my future support. I am also very happy that the senator that now represents me has signed a letter asking the Komen foundation to reinstate its support.

Frivolous PR

2012-02-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I would totally do PR for him no matter what.

Back when I was just starting out in my career, I was frankly against PR jobs. Let me rephrase that: Back BEFORE I had a career, I was against PR jobs. Mostly I thought that PR was just a way to control the media. Then again I was determined to be a part of the media until I learned that I could make more money working retail part time than in full time starting off writing positions at newspapers (which by the way were scarce jobs even back then). So my buying into a book I had in college called Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry met directly with my need to eat. Eating won.

After a brief stint with a HUGE multinational company that made me feeling icky, I decided that I would only do PR for the "betterment of mankind" or that was so ridiculous that no one could take it seriously. I thought at the time that that left me with non-profit, sports or entertainment. Seeing that I lived in Middle America, didn't have the balls at the time to move and there were only 3 professional sports teams within a 3 hour drive, I chose non-profit. And it worked out well. Hopefully for all parties involved.

Lately, I've been rethinking my stance. Clearly I do PR still and it's not for a place related to the three things I list above, but I actually like my job. I realize there are companies that pitch ridiculously false things to the media but honestly for the most part the media have a pretty good BS meter, so even the best written press release on a story with no substance won't get significant play. However, a poorly written release on a great material can kill a company--which is why companies and journalists to some extent need PR. But that's beside the point. I thought since now I'm doing different PR could I do PR for a sports team or celebrity? Not tactically, but PR is PR. If you can do it well, it's a pretty transferable skill. The level of aggressiveness changes with industry, but that's about it.

The question is now whether I'd want to do what I thought of as "frivilous PR" and now I think the answer is no. Mostly because I don't think people in the entertainment and sports fields think of it as frivolous. And I agree on one hand: those industries are BIG money so the PR is at a higher importance. But when I say "frivolous PR" I mean that the person receiving the information does not see it as essential in their daily lives. And that's where things seemed to have changed. I've seriously met people who view US Weekly as their own personal devotional books. People who can't name the current president, but can tell me the past 6 winners of Dancing With The Stars. . . in order of their receiving the disco ball trophy.

Maybe nothing at all has changed that much except my perception. But that's all I got.

Because We Can: Cat Breading

2012-01-31T18:08:00.000-08:00

Genghis and his Bread helmet

There's a trend on the Internets (yes, I meant Internets) now where people are putting slices of bread on their cats heads. Why? Who knows or cares. If Anne Geddes can make all those horrible pictures of babies popular for no reason, why can't these pictures of felines with no fear of Atkins be just as popular?But I threw the question out as to who of our cats would be the first and Chef quickly and definitively answered: Genghis.

He tried with a piece of regular bread but as Genghis is not a regular cat, it did not work. His dome was way too large. So instead, Chef made him a helmet from Italian bread. I was super impressed with the cuts for the ears. Very nice.

Helmet or yarmulke?

After he sent me the picture, Chef replied with "You'll need to buy a large loaf of bread if you want to continue this insanity."

Well, I'm heading to the grocery store because I DO want to continue this insanity. And apparently others do too. Check out the Facebook page with more than 9000 fans. Hilarious.

Chef has the brilliant idea of trying to construct bread armor for our cats, which makes sense because we only wanted to get a Pixie Bob because we wanted a battle cat. So really this is just an end to our original quest. Normally, I'd be against anything that wastes delicious carbs like this, but this time I'm all in. I'm on board.

Now if we can get Mila's little furry face in a piece of wheat bread. . .

Birthday Goodness

2012-01-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

Word of the birthday: indulgence. Yesterday I turned, well, older. And after a long but productive week at work hosting some coworkers, I was ready to relax and kick if on my birthday weekend. Chef started it out right. He got me a 90 minute massage. 90. 9-0. Every minute was wonderful. Afterwards while I waited for my ride (Chef wanted me to be as relaxed as possible), I indulged more in a cream puff. That I ate outside. In 70 degree weather. Did I mention it's January?

Birthday Beach Trip

I took my annual birthday trip to Sephora where I got my birthday freebie (Fresh lip moisturizers--not as good as last year's "Birthday cake" scented shower gel, but hey it was free). Chef and I went out for dinner, and had a steak with some delicious ahi tuna and cheese laden side dishes. The next day--my actual birthday--we went out to get waffles for breakfast. Then what is now a tradition--we did a birthday beach trip. Then we lounged around drinking mimosas and eating chinese food. Chef got me a copy of Breaking Dawn that I ate up like nobody's business. I also got a special dessert from Chef--SKOOKIE (aka skillet cookie). And to top things off, he got me tickets to see Amy Poehler in conversation with Jane Lynch next month in Santa Monica. I'm super excited.

Skookie!

The birthday wishes continued today where my office had a birthday bomb go off in it with streamers and decorations. Plus my team had flowers delivered to my office. It really touched my heart and I felt lucky to have them.

Flowers from my team

All in all, not a bad start to the year. I'm lucky to be able to get older, learn more, have more experiences, and look forward to another year of adventure. I made two birthday goals: 1) that next year I will be firmly planted in a single digit dress size and 2) I will have been rejected by at least one literary agent.

Wish me luck!

Dallas Exploration

2012-01-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

The former Texas School
Book Depository

I've been busy in Dallas. I always get a little wound up trying to get stuff done before an event and I had my event this morning. It's my first big event at this job so it was really important that it went it perfect. And it went pretty well--not perfect, but pretty well. Two hitches: 1) the hotel would only let us rent so many microphones because they were hosting multiple events for the same conference at the same time. So our panelists had to pass them back and forth which drove me (and them, presumably) nuts, and 2) We are at a HUGE conference with three hotels that are "official" headquarter hotels. But none of them are really within walking distance of each other so our guests had to take shuttles to the convention center and then another to this hotel to get there. Basically, it meant that of our 296 RSVPs we had about 230 or so guests. That's a much bigger dip that at my usual events, but it's been duly noted.

However, despite all that, the event was lovely. The panelists were engaging and our staff rocked it out in helping. Overall, I was happy. . . and relieved. I took materials to our booth after the breakfast, unpacked what I needed to and then walked the convention floor. One BIG bonus of this convention is that publishers are often giving away uncorrected proofs of books and I scored six new novels. I probably could've taken about 6 more, but I have limited suitcase space. After the walking, I decided that I needed a break. I've been working since Thursday with convention stuff during the day and playing catch up on actual work at night. So I took another stroll around Dallas and decided that I couldn't leave town without visiting the sixth floor museum at the former Texas School Book Depository. I obviously wasn't alive when Kennedy was assainated, but those pictures are so ingrained in America's history that I was really touched. The place is really well done with lots of photos, video and a self-paced audio tour. Very awesome. If you're in Dallas, check it out.

Here are some pictures from my time here:

The sixth floor --I'm at the turn of the motorcade looking up at the School Book Depository.

Another from the sidewalk in front of the grassy knoll up at the school book depository.

The School Book Depository is the brick building on the far left.
You might be able to see the "x" on the street on the right side of the picture that marks the spot of the first hit.

From under a tree on the grassy knoll looking at the spot where President Kennedy was shot.

What I love is that they actually do have a banner that reads "Grassy Knoll" on the grassy knoll.
It's like walking into live map.

Some art outside an office skyscraper that I thought was kinda cool.

A snapshot from the event this morning. Yay!

I did do some work while I was here :) Me at the booth

That's How Dallas Rolls: Christmas Decorations still out.
The city was taking them down when I was walking today.

Day 2 in Dallas

2012-01-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

I'm still in Dallas for my second of 4 1/2 days here for work. I've been trying to take pictures as I find the things that are kinda cool. Here's my favorite picture from today's Downtown Dallas adventure.

Not too shabby from an iPhone camera.

Carnitas with a Side of Delicious

2012-01-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Carnitas Tamale from Wild Salsa.
Yummy!

This is probably going to be a tough stretch weight loss wise. Any hints or well wishes would be greatly appreciated. Why so tough? I'm travelling for work until Monday and then hostessing my UK work counterparts all next week. I'm actually psyched they're coming in, but also know that there might be a few lunches and dinners involved. And my will power has clearly always been my Achilles heel. You don't get to be 229 lbs with an iron will. But you do get there with an iron stomach. I'm trying to swap those out. How can I be so determined in one aspect of my life and so lax in another?

Watching a Project Runway
rerun from the elliptical.

Anyway, I ONLY ate the carnitas tamale that I ordered tonight and not chips, guacamole, rice, and sopapillas. I will say that if they had had fried ice cream, it would've been game on. But their loss of my money will ultimately equal my loss in ass size.

After dinner, I walked from the restaurant to FedEx office to pick up some things for our event on Sunday then I walked from FedEx back to the hotel. Three miles in real time, then I hopped on the elliptical and did three more. And then I decided to cave to my sweet tooth and get a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. Who says you shouldn't reward with food?

This week:

Days per week that I worked on my novel: 7
Calories burned per week: 2175 (a pound is 3500)
Days per week at or under my daily calorie goal: 5
Weight loss/gain: -1 lb.
Cumulative loss/ gain: -6 lbs.

Paula Deen and Diabetes? You Don't Say!

2012-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

Paula Deen's favorite ingredient

Paula Deen announced today that she has Type 2 diabetes. Shocker. An obese woman who advocates pounds of butter in her cooking and smokes developed diabetes.

What ticks me off is that she waited 3 YEARS to announce this--and ONLY after she had already inked a deal to hock diabetes drugs. Why did she wait? She says that she wanted to become more knowledgeable about the disease before taking a lead out front. Seriously? It takes three years to learn something? One more year of "learning" and she could've gotten a college degree in it.

Chef argues that she has a right to keep her illness a secret if she wanted to. I would probably agree, but she's a celebrity. The rules are different. Especially when you make your money on selling fattening foods in a restaurant or a cookbook or a TV show. The moderation she now says she preaches? Where was that when she was developing her recipes or picking things for the show? Could she not have shown a regular and a healthy version? NOW her sons are doing that. Now. After three years.

Why does the three years bother me? Because Forbes estimates that Paula Deen makes $4.5 million per year from her cookbooks, products, TV show and restaurants. So, that's $13.5 million that she made by keeping this a secret--but it wasn't for the money.

Paula Deen doesn't just sell her recipes. She sells her personality and skills too. And for me, her personality took a big hit today. Maybe I'm the only one.

What do you think?

If You Gain Weight, Dress For It (I'm talking to you, Kelly Clarkson)

2012-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

When I'm trying to lose weight, I tend to notice other people's weight a little more. This could be the same thing that happens when you notice things you're involved in; like an actress on a TV show and you start seeing her everywhere. Or noticing weight could just be a girl thing.

I used to get pissed about girls talking about other girls' weights. Mostly because I was overweight.When a girl said that another girl was fat, I would've taken that personally. If the person she was calling fat was bigger than I was, then I assumed she thought I was fat too. Which could've been the case, but honestly, the older I get the more I realize that comments like that have little to do with me. It's that person's feelings and they're not necessarily transferable to me. Yup. I'm in my 30s and I've finally realized its not all about me.

I'm 5'2". Why the hell did I think I could
pull off gauchos?
(Yes, Chef. You were right. . .again)

All that aside, I've come to feel a little sympathy to celebrities who gain weight in the public eye. That is, unless they pull an Oprah and decide to preach to me about weight loss and then gain it back. That's to be expected. I'm talking mostly about people who get photographed in their late teens and early 20s, and then gain weight later in life.

Here's where I feel sympathy: Can you imagine having a picture of you at your thinnest that is put next to a picture of yourself looking your heaviest and then having them plastered in front of millions of people? It's like the feeling of dread when your pants won't button and so you use a safety pin or move up to the fat pants. And then knowing that you look like crap. Once you know you look like crap, it's a feeling that you can't shake until something changes.

That being said, I have some advice--hard-earned advice-- for those celebrities that have gained weight (Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Britney--I'm talking to you!): Stop wearing the shit you wore when you were skinnier. Or thinking you can wear it. Let go of the stylist you had when you were thin and hire a new one; one that has styled heavier bodies. Embrace the curves, don't ignore them. Dress for where you are--not where you wish you were.

Even if you are trying to change or changing, be the weight you are now. Dress for it and you'll be happier.

(Yes, I'm still trying to take my own advice. some days more successfully than others. But check out the pic--that's what happens when you dress for a different size--bigger or smaller).

Nakedness---on my Garlic Chicken

2012-01-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

Garlic Chicken minus the sauce

I'm trying. Even if I am eating out, I'm still trying to make better choices. As evidence, the picture to the left. That's what Chinese food looks like when you take the sauce off. It's garlic chicken -- steamed goodness. Add some soup and yes, an eggroll and BAM! You knock some off the calories and still get a good lip tingle from the spice.

But it's just another day in the battle of the bulge. Chinese food and The Firm, Project Runway: All-Stars on the DVR and Chef to keep me company. Not a shabby Friday night.

This week:

Days per week that I worked on my novel: 9 for 9 since my last update
Calories burned per week: 2700 (a pound is 3500)
Days per week at or under my daily calorie goal: 3 (can't count today yet)
Weight loss/gain: -1.4 lbs.
Cumulative loss/ gain: -5 lbs.

Day Trippin'

2012-01-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

A bird hanging out on the coastline

There are many benefits to living in LA, but one of them is that there's a lot of day tripping opportunities. Yesterday was a bonus one. I was asked to give a presentation at our company's sales meeting that is being held in San Diego. Because it's only a few hours away and because I was only a part of the meeting for a few hours, I decided to take advantage of the day trip opportunity. And because Chef was also available, we got to go together. We took a long way down and stopped at some sights. He went off to take some pictures and then we met up for dinner together. The only bummer of the entire day was at the restaurant. I had seen them on Food Network and picked them because they have famous fried ice cream. I have been craving fried ice cream for a few months. We had a really good dinner--it was great Mexican food. The hitch was that they had RUN OUT OF FRIED ICE CREAM. How does that even happen?!?! I had a giant pouty face for at least 10 minutes. But I got over it. Here are some pics from our trip (my presentation not included, but yes, it went well):

Chef taking a picture. Military helicopter in the background.

Birds hanging out at the view point on the scenic route.

More birds

End of the day Skinny Margarita

Help Settle a Debate

2012-01-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

This is a motorcycle that is parked regularly in our lot at the apartment. Look at this photograph for a moment and then help settle a debate Chef and I have.

Done looking?

Okay. Does that license plate mean:

Bard's Word
Broadsword
Or something else altogether.

Please enter your opinion in the comments here or on Facebook. Thank you.

The Firm Express: Week One

2012-01-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Who else works out in t-shirts with a
Cheeseburger on them?

This is the official end to my first week of The Firm Express. I have to say that so far, I'm pretty happy with it. Chef and I ventured to Target yesterday to grab weights because I apparently threw out my 1980s monstrous 6 lb weights in the move. Those things had SAND in them. SAND. They'd slosh around when you were working out, but I have to say they never leaked one grain of sand in their tenure.

Now with weights literally in hand, I can do week two at full capacity. That being said Week One was a good workout. Twenty minutes each session and you don't stop at all. Some cardio, some toning and a lot of heavy breathing. I will say that this isn't for the newbie or at least the uncoordinated because I was having a hard time keeping up with the warm-ups. They got a little complicated for me. Of course, part of that could be that I'm one of those uncoordinated people, plus I have to switch orientations because our living room is not big enough to fully do the moves AND I did the first week in the wrong order so I wasn't building off the previous days' moves.

All that aside, in the first week I've lost 4.6 lbs. I can't credit all of that to The Firm Express though. I kept my 30 minutes daily of elliptical and just added this as extra. Plus I was counting my calories again and I think my body just wanted to shed some of this holiday blubber. If I lose the promised "15 lbs in 30 days!" then I'll be more likely to give The Firm some props. All in all nearly 5 lbs isn't a bad start though.

What program had the quickest result for you?

Not a Bad Way to Spend a Sunday

2012-01-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

From the Venice Beach Pier looking
at the shore

Sometimes when I've had a rough week of commuting, I feel the urge to go out in LA to make sure that I remember the reason why I live where I do. I decided when New Year's hit that I was going to get out and explore more--even if I had to force myself. Clearly I got out a lot when we first moved here. I had to figure out where things were, go on interviews, find a grocery store, and just generally do more things.

A year later, I'm a little more set in my patterns. I love the area of town I'm in, but how do I know that I don't love another side of town more? Despite a good week commute-wise, I felt it was time to get out. Plus Chef got a nice new camera for Christmas that needs to have some lovely scenery to capture. All that said Chef and I went out to Venice Beach today to go poking around. I will confess that I suspected I was more of a Santa Monica girl than Venice and that certainly is the case, but Venice was a lot of fun. Plus it was just nice to get out of the house with Chef and not have a certain time to be somewhere or anyhting particular to do. Just be out and enjoy ourselves. So, here are some of the pictures from our adventure (these are mine--Chef's would be much better! He's a really talented photographer):

I counted more than 70 sailboats that were out today.

Walking from Marina Del Rey to Venice. Beautiful shore-front homes.

The famed Muscle Beach.
Not so busy today, but I can totally picture Arnold Schwarzenegger here years ago.

There was not only a skateBOARD park, but a ROLLER skate park, too.

Just the Picture Freaks Me Out

2012-01-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

Look what Chef saw today on our PATIO! (or at least near our apartment). I'm not usually scared of snakes, but this pic freaked me out. I also thought it was a HUGE snake until Chef told me it was actually a small lizard. "More specifically an Adult Western Skink," he wrote. I couldn't believe it.

Between the skink and the possum (Pete the killer possum from college's brother, apparently), I'm beginning to wonder if living in the DEAD middle of one of the largest cities in the world is even slightly a deterrent for fauna. This is freaking me out.

On a side note, Chef has always been a good photographer and just got a new camera for Christmas. He's got a real talent for making even creepy looking skinks look good, so I'm kind of excited to see him take my "after" pictures in a few weeks. Make this SKANK look good :)

Reuniting with Some Old Friends (Or Habits)

2012-01-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

Sunny and 80 in LA

When you start doing something again that you haven't done in a while, it's probably a good idea to do what you did that made you successful in the first place. Long story short: I'm eating and doing some of the things I used to when I was losing weight.

With that as the case, today I had Kashi's Mayan Harvest Bake lunch for the first time in at least a year. I forgot how much I loved that lunch. And how much I love plantains. I'm a sucker for a plantain. I order them every time I see them on the menu. Seriously cannot help but order them. Which is weird to me because they're really similar to a banana but I never order banana stuff in restaurants. Odd.

Anyway, the picture was from another daily walk that is helping in more than just exercise. It's nice on days when I eat at the office to just get outside for a few minutes (especially because I'm window deficient) and remember that I live in California. Where it's 80 degrees on the 4th day of January. I need to take advantage of that every day and not just on my days off.

Even though it hasn't been a full week, here are my goal updates (my first for 2012):

Days per week that I worked on my novel: 4 for 4 this week
Calories burned per week: 1411 (a pound is 3500)
Days per week at or under my daily calorie goal: 3 (can't count today yet)
Weight loss/gain: -3.6

Back in the Health Saddle Again

2012-01-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

From my lunch time walk

Here's the bad news (or at least bad for me): I gained 11 lbs since hitting my lowest weight in LA. 13 pounds! And six of that was over the holidays. The rest was just the sheer laziness of being me.

The good news: 4 of those pounds came off in the last week of watching what I eat. So I'm only at a 9 lb net gain. Not great, but not the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

I watched an old episode of Oprah last night that was her "last show about weight loss." I recorded it because my friend Mandy was a guest on the show (she was one of the invited that had lost more than 100 pounds--and kept it off). She looked fabulous on the show as she's fabulous in person, as well, but the more I watched the more I realized just how delusional I like to be. I have to face the fact.

I am going to battle my weight every day of my life, for the rest of my life.

That sucks. I wish I was one of the lucky people who never have to think about it, but after seeing so many Facebook pics of people who I thought were "those kinds of girls" in high school ("I don't know why I don't gain weight, I just don't!") and seeing that the calories they packed in back them have come a callin', I realize I'm not alone. I've got plenty of other attributes and skills that I can fall back on in the mean time. But this is something, and not even that unusual of a something, that I'm going to have to face.

So, in honor of that, I started a new workout routine to spice things up. I'm still doing my 30 minutes of elliptical each morning, but I've added The Firm Express taped workouts (Thank you, Chef for getting them for me because I ASKED!) to my repertoire three times a week. I did the first one yesterday morning. Each workout is only 20 minutes and I knew my heart rate was up, but I didn't think I was working anything out until this morning. My butt and legs are achy. that good kind of achy you get when you've worked something you haven't stretched in a while. I'll let you know when I see some results. I'll probably even share the "before" pics that I made Chef take of me. But the thing about "Before" pics is that they only look good in context of the "after" so I'm not just going to post those willy nilly.

I'm back to counting calories and trying to eat smaller meals/snacks more frequently. I even took a walk at lunch today. Although to be honest, that had less to do with exercise and more to do with a study I read about how sunshine at noon helps stop the post-lunch crash. Plus it's like 80 degrees and beautiful today, so how could I not?

Goodbye Harmons, Hello New Haunting

2012-01-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

Apparently Ryan Murphy did a conference call with entertainment reporters after the finale and said that that was the end (literal and figurative) for the Harmon family. The story arc for them is over, as is the LA mansion plot line. Some characters are coming back next season, but not everyone. Which made Chef and I get a little nostalgic for the awesomeness that was this season of American Horror Story.

I felt I needed a little more closure. yes, I'm a little crazy, but the story was really good this season and how many times in my life have I lived so close to the set of my favorite show or movie? (The correct answer is NEVER). So we had a field trip to the location of the Murder House aka the Harmon House aka the Rosenheim mansion.

The Rosenheim mansion is for sale and can be yours with the chapel and recording studio for a mere $17,000,000. In a crappy neighborhood. Let's just say that when Constance sends the Boy Dahlia to the "Korean" to get cigarettes on several occasions, that's probably the most true thing said in the whole series about the neighborhood.

Nevertheless, it was fun and we capped off our visit with an American Horror Story marathon of season one. I think I've properly said goodbye to the Harmons. Tate and Constance, on the other hand, still have some unfinished business. Wherever the next round of Horror takes place, I hope that Jessica Lange and Evan Peters come back to help fulfill the creepy quotient of the show. They're fabulous.

What are your predictions for season 2? If you aren't watching the show, why not?!?!

I Resolve To. . .

2012-01-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

More time with these cuties
(and Chef of course)

Happy New Year everyone! I am excited to start the year. Clearly every day is actually a new beginning. And every month another one, but you don't really notice time moving so much until it's been a year. So I can see the feeling of renewal for New Year's but not so much the hype. I was asleep at midnight and set my alarm to wake up and get a smooch from Chef. It was totally worth it.

I'm not much for making resolutions, but since I have weekly goals, it seemed like a good time to revisit what goals I was measuring and see how they were really making an impact on my life. I narrowed down all my big wishes to three main goals for 2012:

Make better use of my time.
Concentrate on what makes me happy in the long term, not just the short term.

More quality gym time

Make at least one of my big dreams come true.

Why do I need these goals? Well, I play too many online games when I should be working on my novel (which is one of my big dreams--finishing this puppy before 2013). I don't use my commute to think about important things or call important people. More wasted time. I make some decisions based on what's easiest at the moment or provides instant gratification instead of my bigger goals (who doesn't right? But I want to be more aware of this). And my "big dreams" are numerous, but two important ones include finally hunkering down and getting to my goal weight which would be put me firmly in a single digit dress size for the first time ever. I also want to finally finish the novel I've been working on FOREVER. It needs to be done before I can mentally move on to something else. If I ended up getting an agent, then all the better.

More writing

What's it gonna take to make this happen? Good question. I'm not entirely sure and most of these goals are interconnected, but I've got a few ideas on what to measure. Because I've learned and firmly believe that you only manage what you measure. At least in my case. I've also gotten the Firm Express to add to my workout routine and get re-energized about my diet habits. Chef took some "before" shots of me today.

Here are a few goals that I'll be tracking each Wednesday in 2012. My promise in tracking these and writing about them is that I will be honest. Even when it makes me look like an asshole or lazy or ridiculous. Here goes:

Kiss 2011 Goodbye!

Days per week that I worked on my novel
Calories burned per week
Days per week at or under my daily calorie goal
Weight loss/gain
Take at least one significant action towards making a big dream come true

Stuck in my head

2011-12-31T16:47:00.000-08:00

What does it say to me that I have had the whistling song that plays behind Tate's murderous rampage stuck in my head for the last two days? (Tate from American Horror Story, not a real person). The song is called Twisted Nerve and has been used in many other movies, TV shows, etc. When I looked up the song (after Chef had sent me one version), I found this mashup that "RavenclawRose7" did on YouTube. It gave me chills and so I had to share. It creeps me out in that delicious way that the whole show did this season. So my gift to you for the last post of 2011 is the gift of American Horror Story. You're welcome!

Nice Things About Vacations

2011-12-28T15:56:00.000-08:00

Being lazy like Genghis

I'm off of work this week and trying to take full advantage of my time away to recharge. Errands and running are being kept to a minimum and it's been awesome. Here are some of my favorite things about being off of work:

Extra Chef time (and time with the kitties)
Could go and get my brakes fixed without stressing about conference calls or being on time for meetings
Email is optional
Can respond quickly to moves on Words with Friends games
Ice skating at 2 p.m. on a Friday? Sure!
When I see 5 a.m. on the clock, I just roll over and go back to sleep.
I can take naps every day at 3 p.m. (if I wanna)
I can clean the interior of my car and dust my house and clean my cabinets and organize my shoes without thinking I should be lounging in my free time
I can read all I want
I can even read trashy magazines all I want
I haven't driven as many miles in the last 5 days as I do on one day just getting to work
Thus I have 80 percent of the gas left in the tank I filled on Saturday
Football is on nearly 24-7
Writing feels like a daily necessity and not a habit I'm trying to form
I can go shopping on "off" hours (if there is such a thing in LA)
I get to see and soak in the sun

What have you done with your time off?

Holiday Spirit Quest Complete

2011-12-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

16. Attend a Holiday Party
(Me at work party)

27 days ago, I wrote 25 things I wanted to do before Christmas to help get into the spirit. To be honest, I didn't think that I'd actually do all of them. The list seemed a little hokey and a little daunting (I couldn't possibly have time to celebrate the holidays. I was way too busy). But in the end, it was really fun and yesterday morning when Chef woke me up at 7 a.m. and said he was ready to open presents, it actually felt like Christmas. I know some of his enthusiasm (okay, most) was for my benefit, but that didn't matter. I had a blast getting into the spirit and while it wasn't like the old days (to be honest, I know it probably will never be and that's cool), it was great fun. I'll do another holiday spirit quest next year (perhaps with a few holiday cocktails on it).

Here's my spirit quest in pictures:

6. Resurrect one holiday tradition from my past.
(We used to have Cinnamon Rolls every Christmas morning)

4. Go ice skating.

10. Bake Christmas cookies.

20. Go looking at Christmas lights and decorations

22. Make chocolate covered pretzels (and give most of them away too)

5. Make a Gingerbread house.

11. Send holiday cards.

8. Buy something tacky just because its seasonal.

21. Make puppy chow (and give most of it away).

23. Buy something that smells like Christmas.

7. Put out at least one holiday decoration.

14. Stuff a stocking (or two).

I gave a gift to someone I didn't know (toy drive) and to someone without expecting one in return (you're gonna have to trust me on this one as I'm not doing a call out on the blog). I listened to Christmas music and appreciated the "12 days of Christmas" as well as the stamina of those who can sing this holiday version of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."

I hope your holidays were just as spirited and fun as mine were.

"Let's Make Christmas Last"

2011-12-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

"Christmas goes too quickly," my mom said. I don't think she was saying it to me. I think she was saying it to my dad at the other end of the table. "Let's make Christmas last this year."

He moved the casserole around on his plate and took a swig of the cola in his glass. "How do you suppose we do that?"

"Well," she said. Clearly she'd been waiting to unveil this idea. "I think on Christmas morning we should only open one present per hour. That way we won't have everything open in a few minutes of wrapping paper flurry. We can enjoy the day."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. She had perked my attention at the mention of presents. "Wait?!?" I cried. My brother had also caught on to this. "One present every hour?!?" he said.

"Yes. That way we have a whole day of Christmas instead of just a few minutes." She had put her fork and knife down and folded her hands together over the plate.

"But we'll still get Santa's presents in the morning, right?" said my older brother. "Because Santa doesn't wrap gifts."

"Why would Santa not come in the morning?" I said. "Santa doesn't have anything to do with this."

"Santa will be the same as always," mom said. "But our family presents are one per hour." And with that, it was decided.

***

The carcasses of new toys lay strewn about. Wire twist ties that had held legs down and oddly shaped cardboard lay about in the aftermath of Santa's visit. After the excitement of Santa had worn off , I was already jonesing for another present high.

"Mom, can we open presents now?" I whined. She sighed and rolled her eyes a little.

"Yes, pick one, and make it a good one because it's gotta last for the next hour," she said. I made my way under the tree and immediately started feeling boxes. I had learned a few Christmases before that I could identify a Barbie by feeling for the flexible plastic front on the box. I found one and chose it as my present.

My brother started crawling under the tree but then my dad got up in his bathroom and ubiquitous moccasin slippers. "Let me chose yours, Matt," he said. He crouched under the tree and pulled out a clandestine-looking box. "This is it."

We made a mad dash through the paper. Ripping as fast as we could. I caught glimpse of a glittery skirt and knew I had an evening Barbie, one of my most covetous kinds. My shrieks were only outmatched by my brother's.

"Now this is for both of you," my dad said. My mom looked less than amused. It seemed this her idea was taking a turn she hadn't anticipated.

I peered over his shoulder. It was a Nintendo. THE Nintendo. The first version ever made and probably the only one in a three-hour radius. My brother took off running for his room with the Nintendo box under his arm. My dad got up to follow.

"I should probably see if he needs any help," he said. I soon ran after them both. It took my brother a few minutes to set up the Nintendo but once he did, we were mesmerized. It came with controllers and gun and Duck Hunt. We took turns shooting our virtual Christmas dinner. My mother came back what seemed like a mere minute later.

"It's time for your next present, kids," she said. We barely looked up.

"Um, right now?" Matt said. His eyes never left the duck that floated across the TV screen.

"Yes." she said through gritted teeth. "Now."

We spent the hours in the day running back and forth from the tree to the TV in between games. We opened our last presents about 14 hours after we began, each hour our enthusiasm dwindling and my mother's eyes less shining.

The next year, we tore through the presents like usual.

Dear Santa. . .

2011-12-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

P.S. It's nice to see that you're
an IU fan again. :)

I have to admit that you've always been pretty good to me. Even when I was just pretending to believe because my brother asked me to string the "Santa thing" along for another year. If I am being a completely honest (and therefore "nice") girl I have to say that I was eager to suspend disbelief until I got my loot.

To me, Santa, you are more than just someone who brought me stuff. You were my first link to magic. The first character that made me think that things that aren't supposed to happen actually could. Flying reindeer? Sure-so much more environmentally safe than jets. Visiting all children on one night? Perhaps you are the first cloned person and therefore can be in multiple places at once. All the cookies you can eat once a year? I totally get that.

To be honest, Santa, I could use a little "you" in my life. Who doesn't want to believe in magic? That good things can happen for no reason and no need for logic. Who doesn't want to be genuinely surprised? Or to go to bed dreaming of things that you know you'll touch in a few hours? When was the last time your biggest wishes got granted by sleeping? I think that's an adult's dream for sure or at least part of mine.

Even to create some magic seems fun enough. I remember trying to help my aunts and uncles convince my younger cousins that you existed just to be a part of the action. And now, I still want to help make your magic happen. I played "Santa" for some kids, donated to food drives and pet food drives. I even have small items ready to stuff some stockings (mine included) and surprise some cats. Yes, Santa. I so miss your presence that I'm willing to recreate it with pets that can't comprehend or appreciate it.

I'm glad that others still have you to hold on to. (Although I do hate seeing you shill for companies in your off time, but understand that all those toys and elf labor don't come for free). I hope you have the best Christmas, Santa. Thank you so much for all those years of magic and the many more you give others.

Your Elf,
Ashley

My Moment on the Ice

2011-12-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

I like this one because it
makes it look like I was going
fast (not so much).

As part of my Holiday Spirit Quest, I wanted to go ice skating. I haven't been in a really long time, but was suckered into taking ice skating as a class in college. My friend Schultz convinced me that it would be fun (and it was), but when I admitted that I hadn't been skating in years, she neglected to tell me that she had taken figure skating lessons for years before.

Anyway, it was a fun class and I wanted to get back on the ice to get in the holiday spirit. As you can imagine, there aren't a ton of places to go ice skating in southern California, but there were two outdoor skating rinks that were put up just for the season. One was at a mall near work and one was at LA Live the entertainment area near Staples Center. I choose LA Live.

Good shot of Staples Center
behind me.

Chef and I went together. He had said he would skate with me (having not skated himself in quite some time), but when he saw the size of the rink (tiny) and the amount of skaters on it (more than enough), he bowed out. And I don't blame him. I shouldn't have expected much, as how many Southern Californians have a ton of ice experience (the answer was very very few). So there were a lot of bad skaters in a small space. I couldn't get going as fast as I wanted, but only stumbled a few times, got plowed into from behind from an asshole skater who didn't know how to stop (or apologize apparently), and did not fall once.

I want to go skating again, but on an actual regulation rink with as few people on the ice as possible. It was a nice (albeit odd) experience to skate outside when it was 68 degrees and sunny, but a ton of fun.

My face wincing because the girl on the right had just cut in front of me and I didn't want to hit her.

Can you see the kid behind me? He fell about 2 seconds later.

I just like the sun shining here.

Me smiling because I'm having fun.
The guy over my shoulder on the left is the one who ran into me and didn't apologize. (not that I hold grudges)

Ready to Be Off For a While

2011-12-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

Only one more day of work and I'm working from home to avoid the commute. (It's my Christmas present to myself). I'm totally ready for some time off. Who's with me?

My Christmas Cookies:
can you spot the two non-
holiday ones?

Pages of fiction read: 93% of a 320 page book--27 percent more than last week (The Family Fang)That's 86 pages. Uh oh.
Fiction read: The Family Fang (a Greg recommendation).It's getting to the end and has given me lots of ideas.
Fiction listened to via audiobook: None. Want to wait until after the holidays to start the next one.
Five pages written: nope. I suck.
Calorie tracking: Check.
Exercise: 150 minutes of exercise in the last week.
Current 5K best (on elliptical): 23 minutes, 32 seconds (same from last week)
Friends and family: Yup. Called two friends and actually talked to one.
Weight Loss: 0 lb.
One revised section of novel per week: Edited 11 pages and sadly am now changing a ton of stuff. It's gonna be a long process, but hopefully the end product will be better than before.

What I'm Loving Now: Cookie Butter

2011-12-20T18:21:00.000-08:00

So normal looking,
but so great tasting.

Reading the title of the post, you might think to yourself: What is this cookie butter you speak of? It's a valid question. Without seeing a picture, you might think: Is this butter made especially for use in cookies (a Paula Deen invention to be sure)? Is it a butter that is sweetened to have a sugar cookie taste? Is it body butter or some other lotion labelled to lure you into thinking something delicious and then being super disappointed because it's just another lotion product?

I'll tell you what it is: HEAVEN.

Peanut butter consistency.
Yes, I have eaten half the jar
in 10 days.
Don't judge me!

Speculoos Cookie Butter leaped out at me from the shelves of Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and I immediately went back to get more. That was not as easy as I had anticipated. I tried two stores that were completely sold out (and told me their warehouse didn't have any either) before I found out that one store in my area had 5 dozen jars. I promptly went back and bought nearly a dozen. This stuff keeps for a year and is seasonal, so you can't blame a girl for stockpiling like the Unabomber.

Cookie butter is the consistency and color of smooth peanut butter. It spreads like it and can melt quickly if it's on something warm. I know this because I put a tablespoon of cookie butter on my English Muffin each morning and it can be messy eating this in my car on the way to work. Don't worry. I grab a napkin and don't let licking my fingers of cookie butter prevent me from merging with oncoming traffic.

It tastes like a cross between a sugar cookie and a gingerbread cookie. Lots of the spices that I love from the season (ginger--clearly--nutmeg, cinnamon, everything else needed to make pumpkin pie spice, etc). It can make a whole wheat English muffin taste like a sinful treat.

Bad picture of the nutrition label-
if you care about that stuff.

Good new is that it's only 90 calories per tablespoon and you can effectively use one tablespoon to cover an entire English muffin.

Bad news is that it doesn't have any of the protein or nutritious values that peanut or almond butter have. And Trader Joe's (if you have one) is probably sold out.

Because I am selfish and evil, I waited until I had secured my stash before blogging about it because frankly, I didn't want to tell the world of Cookie Butter's deliciousness without knowing I could have some for months on end. You're welcome.

From Christmas Past: Oregon Street

2011-12-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

For years when I lived in or around Evansville, I would make an annual pilgrimage to the best, tackiest, most over the top display of Christmas decorations that I have ever seen in person anywhere.

Growing up in Big Vin City of Sin (aka Vincennes, IN) I was accustomed to large Christmas displays. A local doctor had life-size moving exhibits of Santa in his workshop, checking his list, etc on his front lawn. The year I learned to read, I figured out that my brother's name (Matthew) was on Santa's list on one of the exhibits but mine wasn't. I cried. My dad called the guy and two nights later my name was on the list. The decorations are long gone, but the memory remains.

After that, I didn't think Christmas decorations could be topped. Until my friends Brooke and Lara introduced me to Oregon Street. This was YEARS before people really knew. We used to drive by late at night and a couple of times got to talk to the guy who did this every year. He started out with one home with a free lot and then the display grew so much he had to buy the house across the street to house the decorations. Of course, that also gave him another yard to decorate. He mentioned that people would just leave that year's latest decorations on his doorstep with notes of goodwill.

The girls and I loved this place. We even exchanged Christmas presents outside the display. In years when we were apart for Christmas, I would take the gifts they had sent to Oregon Street and open them there on my own. It just made my holiday brighter.

So in an effort to make your holiday brighter, and to give you a baseline of the type of Christmas extravagance I've come to expect out of life, here's a video done a few years ago and posted by the Evansville Courier & Press.

You're welcome.

A Little Holiday Magic

2011-12-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

Santa's sleigh flying over the Christmas tree
at the Grove.

Earlier this week I tried to find a place around LA that had some good Christmas lights. This proved to be a harder task than I had imagined. I'm guessing because most of the large, elaborate houses in LA having matching large elaborate fences that Christmas lights aren't the most visible from the street. There are a few neighborhoods that are called out, but none are that close to our place. Apparently there's a Christmas light display at Griffith Park each year that has been cancelled the last two years because of major construction. So, that's was a no go too.

I had to think differently about what I would allow myself to count as "Christmas lights and decorations." I found two shopping areas--both outdoors--that have elaborate displays that include time periods where it snows. They had me at "snow."

Casa di Santa at The Grove

So I chose The Grove, a very popular outdoor mall next to the Farmer's Market, where Mario Lopez films "Extra" each day. It also has a Anthropologie and good parking, so it was the winner. It was fun to hear all the different languages (it's a destination shopping area). Apparently "Santa" is "Santa" in many languages because as we neared his house, I heard many languages spewing words I didn't understand and "Santa" plugged in the middle. I did, however, understand "Casa di Santa."

Chef and I headed to the Farmer's Market after wondering around the Grove and had our favorite LA pizza--a white pizza from Deano's-- and a pitcher of beer. While Chef walked away, I spied a very tall blonde guy that was wearing a baseball hat and cool casual clothes. He looked dead up like Alexander Skarsgard from True Blood fame. I swear it was him, but I'm not going to count it as an official sighting. The guy was hauling ass through the Farmer's Market, so I couldn't confirm. But it was nice eye candy either way.

In front of the fountain and lights

Anyway, after dinner, we walked through the elaborately decorated Grove. It was pretty and enough of a twinkling light affair for me to cross that one off on my Holiday Spirit Quest. I also made chocolate covered pretzels yesterday and am making Christmas cookies today. Only a few more things to get done and I have to say that I do feel more in the holiday spirit this year than in recent memory. Ice skating this week! Chef said he was going to join me. I'll post pictures of my bruises. :)

Have you done anything to get into the spirit lately?

Where I'm at This Week

2011-12-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

Harry and David delights

I got my first Christmas present about a week ago and am very thankful for it. My waistline is less thankful, but I have managed to not have eaten the entire thing and still have quite a bit left. Hooray!

Pages of fiction read: 66% of a 320 page book--34 percent more than last week (The Family Fang)That's 108 pages.
Fiction read: Began The Family Fang this week (a Greg recommendation).Still quite awesome.
Fiction listened to via audiobook: Finished Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris.
Five pages written: nope. I suck.
Calorie tracking: Check.
Exercise: 110 minutes of exercise in the last week.
Current 5K best (on elliptical): 23 minutes, 32 seconds (broke previous best on 11/25)
Friends and family: Yup. a few emails to miscellaneous people and a call with my brother/niece/nephew.
Weight Loss: 0 lb.
One revised section of novel per week: I edited a short section, but came upon a revelation that's making things better, but delaying my process.

All I Want for Christmas Is. . .

2011-12-13T20:42:00.000-08:00

My Christmas Display

Here's to ticking one off of my Holiday Spirit Quest and to giving anyone who is looking for ideas. Plus it's sometimes fun to write out your wishes, right?

Massages once a month for a year
Pedicures and manicures every other week for a year
A bluetooth headset for my iPhone so I can stop having to plug in my headphones to talk to people on my commute home
Gift certificates to solesociety.com
an iPad 2
My car's brakes fixed and dents out and detailed
A year's worth of gas
Gift cards from any or all of the following:

Sephora or ULTA
Amazon.com
GAP
Ruth's Chris
Trader Joe's
Nine West
Marshall's or TJ Maxx
Nordstrom
Coach

20 pounds whisked off my body
a new toaster (ours broke)
a new hairdryer (broke the day after the toaster broke)
Christian Louboutin shoes
knee high black leather boots
a Hermes Birkin bag
new jeans
my hair cut and colored for the year
beachfront property
a delicious, soft calorie-free bread
Good pizza in LA
Clip-on hair extensions to add 6 inches to my hair
Ridiculously long hair extension that will allow me to live out my childhood fantasy of being Crystal Gale
a literary agent
a month without work or distractions to get my book done
For the Hoosiers and the Colts to be obligated to play on the West Coast at least once a year and for tickets to those games
Either the ability to teleport myself (and my luggage) anywhere or plane tickets wherever I want to go with upgraded frequent flier perks like early boarding and free bags
To live in a more walkable neighborhood
a personal trainer or workout classes to something that I'd do like boot camp or crossfit
My body clock to not urge myself to go to sleep at 9 pm every night
A tropical honeymoon with Chef
A Cracker Barrel in Southern California
A second bedroom
Girl friends in LA

The ability and will to find girl friends in LA

The ability to do good British, Australian and French fake accents
A big brown leather purse
For Ralph's Diet Black Cherry Cola to be available in something larger than a 6-pack
To kick my Sims addiction
Fridays off for a year :)
A trip to Disneyland

Holiday Spirit Quest: Almost Halfway Home

2011-12-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

Shipping off the cards

Last night I went to my company Holiday Party. It was fun. I sat with friends and ate good food and had a nice pomegranate cocktail. I was convinced I was going to win a door prize. I didn't but two of the people I met up with did. I got over the disappointment by reliving the IU-UK game in my head. (You can do it for reals through this link.)

I also watched two Christmas movies this weekend (Love Actually and Four Christmases) AND the Lifetime Christmas movie (12 Men of Christmas starring Kristin Chenoweth). So this is what I've gotten marked off my list thus far:

Yes, that's tape holding it.

Listen to nothing but Christmas music on one commute home. (did it twice, actually)
Give a gift to a stranger. (bought Christmas dinner for a family at our local Ralph's)
Make a Gingerbread house. (pictures to prove it!)
Put out at least one holiday decoration. (IU Santa is now a lucky charm)
Buy something tacky just because its seasonal. (Snooki. That's all)
Watch a Christmas movie. (Love Actually --totally counts--and Four Christmases)
Send holiday cards. (In the mail)
Give a gift to someone without expecting one in return. (Donated a toy to our local CASA)
Read The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris. (Technically listened to it on audiobook but I realized while listening that I had actually already read this.)
Attend a Holiday Party. (Last night's work party).
Watch a Lifetime or Hallmark Holiday movie (counts separately from one above). (12 Men of Christmas--it was. . .predictable)
Make puppy chow (and give most of it away).

Buy something that smells like Christmas. (Peppermint Holidays candle--not exactly peppermint but much better).

The infamous candle

No. A Child did not make this. It was a grown adult, but it was my first time, so lay off.

Chef and I are wondering how long the Gingerbread House will last with the cats around. At least I have photographic evidence that I did it.

What I Ended Up With: Fashion Update

2011-12-09T17:40:00.000-08:00

I got a lot of good advice on my fashion dilemma last week. And considering how little I gave people to work with, it was surprising the results. From twitter to Facebook to emails, I got a lot of ideas. Enough to wear the shoes several more times.

So, I actually decided to bust them out today on casual Friday with a different look than the skirts. What I ended up with is to the left. Orange check blazer from Goodwill, white Ellen Tracy t-shirt that feels like heaven on my skin, dark skinny jeans and a colorful necklace to accompany the shoes. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

This one worked so well that I plan on throwing up another pair of shoes onto the blog for some more help. It apparently takes a village to dress me.

I Found My Tacky

2011-12-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

I went to Walgreen's today during my lunch break to grab a few things and thought that it would be a good place to search for #8 on my Holiday Spirit Quest list:

Buy something tacky just because its seasonal.

I knew Walgreen's wouldn't let me down and boy, they didn't. There were a few things to choose from until I saw it. The one item that screamed to me "YOU MUST BUY ME!". The rejected items that I've seen that were almost, but not quite, tacky enough were:

A Christmas carol singing Sock Monkey
A dancing Christmas tree (felt a little 1992)
The leg lamp from A Christmas Story (been done before--a lot)
Mickey Mouse ears with a Santa Hat headband (didn't want to wear the tacky--just admire it from afar)
Two coconut balls that were packaged together as "Frosty's balls" (tacky but it was edible and not something for display)

While all those did scream to me, the winner was this:

Yes, that is a Snooki Christmas ornament. I debated on whether to get Snooki or The Situation and settled on her because her ornament looks least like her actual self plus there's a giant butt on her that has "Made in China" imprinted on it.

Look closely for the Made in China.

It made me chuckle. Clearly, I couldn't get a J-Wow or Pauli D ornament (which they also had) because we all know they won't have the longevity that the Snooki has.

And to help spread the tacky Christmas cheer, I'm going to put the names of some of my closest friends in a hat and draw out one to send this lovely ornament to after the holidays. You're welcome in advance.

Can you out tacky me? I double dog DARE you!

The Need For Speed

2011-12-07T20:19:00.001-08:00

With My Race Face On!

Today I had an off-site with my team at work. I gave them four options for our activity and they chose go karts. I think they choose wisely. I didn't realize how competitive I could get until I was stuck behind someone and wanting to pass so badly. I took everyone on the inside and it rocked. I came in first. I'm proud, but mostly was just glad to get some time with my team. They've been rocking so hard this year and they deserve some celebrating.

In the mean time, here are my goal updates:

Pages of fiction read: 35% of a 320 page book (The Family Fang)That's 112 pages.
Fiction read: Finished Confessions of a Prairie Bitch last week (an Anne recommendation) and began The Family Fang this week (a Greg recommendation). Both are awesome
Fiction listened to via audiobook: going to start Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris but haven't yet.
Five pages written: nope. But I edited 20 pages last week.
Calorie tracking: Check.
Exercise: 150 minutes of exercise in the last week.
Current 5K best (on elliptical): 23 minutes, 32 seconds (broke previous best on 11/25)
Friends and family: Yup. Had a long call with my dad last night.
Weight Loss: 0 lb.
One revised section of novel per week: Not finished, but I did edit more than 20 pages.

Christmas Came early But I don't get my Gift for Four years

2011-12-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

Overlooking the general vicinity of
Universal Studios Hollywood :)

We all know that I'm a geek. I'll happily concede that and know that my nerdiness will shine through. This is one of those cases. I did a happy dance today in my office while reading an LA Times story that announced the building of. . . the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Wait? Don't they already have one of those?, you ask.

They do. In Orlando, which is umpteen million miles away from me in Hollywood. But today they announced they're building one at Universal Studies Hollywood. Hollywood--as in a mere 6 miles from our apartment. Hoorah!!!

That's the good news. The bad news is that it doesn't open until 2016. So, I'm gonna go camp out now. :)

Help, please! Reinvent my wardrobe

2011-12-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, I need some help out there in the blogosphere. The interwebs and all that. I had a ton of clothes and a ton of accessories and just about the world's most fabulous collection of shoes (or at least that I've seen). And while I appreciate these items in the collective, I'm having a problem putting everything together. Frankly, I'm boring myself.

Is there anyone out there who wants to lend their stylistic talents to helping me out? Or even in pieces or trade? (I don't know what I could trade, but I could try). Maybe the collective could help me out. I could post a few pictures of clothing pieces and then you could make the outfit for the day and I'd wear it and others could rate it. Anything to break the monotony of wearing the same combinations all the time or getting so bored that I spend more money than I need to.

Anyone want to help a girl out? (Full disclosure, I don't have many cute scarves--like three. So if you're a scarf-heavy stylist, you've been warned).

First challenge: The shoes pictured are some of my funniest and funkiest, but I haven't worn them in a while because I've been too lazy to find something to wear with them. The other picture are two boring skirts that could be used (but don't have to be). The lighter khaki is a straight skirt and the dark brown is a-line.

So there's the challenge: dress me. (Yes, I'm that pathetic).

Working on my Holiday Spirit Quest

2011-12-04T16:58:00.001-08:00

I didn't do a ton this weekend to get into the spirit. After my trip to the edge with the Christmas music on Friday, I just worked on the sweet treats end. I've worked on my cards, but they're not quite ready. So officially off the list now are the making of the puppy chow and the putting up of one Christmas decoration. Here's how that went in pictures:

My Christmas Decoration: IU Santa and Mini Stocking

Puppy Chow before its sugar bath

After the sugar hits it. Or is that crack? Felt like it as I couldn't stop eating it all day!

Without Stabbing My Eyes Out or A Gun to My Head

2011-12-02T18:15:00.001-08:00

I forgot my iPhone at home today. I realized it about 5 minutes after I started, but I was hustling to get to work for a conference call so I knew I wouldn't be able to go back. No iPhone means that I didn't have any music or audiobooks to listen to on the way home. So I decided to tackle one of the items on my spirit list that I was kind of dreading: Listen to nothing but Christmas music on one commute home.

So I tuned in to BOTH of the stations in LA that I know of that are playing nothing but Christmas music. I was lucky because it wasn't a three-hour commute day. Just a little over an hour and I heard at least two songs on both channel. I don't know if this one thing helped put me in the spirit, but it couldn't hurt. Plus I'm thinking it's a cumulative effort that's gonna do the job.

In that one hour, I heard Christmas music by:

Paul McCartney
Gene Autry
Whitney Houston
Colbie Caillat
Wham!
The Chipmunks
Chuck Berry
Gayla Peevey (I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas)
Kelly Clarkson
Trans Siberia Orchestra
Many more

Here's one of my favorite's that I'd forgotten about:

Okay, what's your favorite Christmas song?

Geek + Christmas= This Awesome Yoda Christmas Video

2011-12-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

In an effort to start my holiday spirit quest out with some cheer, here's a cute video that combines my love of small, funny talking green men and Christmas. Special cameo by Darth Vader. (Also, who knew that LEGO made a Start Wars Advent Calendar??)

How To Get In the Holiday Spirit

2011-11-30T18:37:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest. The last couple of years, I haven't even remotely been in the holiday spirit. I don't have kids and haven't been around kids on Christmas, so that take some of the fun out of it. It's not cold or snowing at all in SoCal (which is fine by me, but when you grow up with a cold Christmas it makes for a very Pavlovian response--or lack thereof). And frankly, my mother hearted Christmas so hard that it really made the holiday exciting. It hasn't been the same since she died (obviously). I tried for several years to fill her cheerful shoes, but it got old. So I let things go, one by one and then got down to doing nearly nothing.

So I decided this year was going to be different. I made a list of things that I'm going to do between December 1-25th to try and get into the spirit. I'll either end up cheery or wanting to poke my eyes out with a candy cane, but either way I'm gonna do it. This is my initial list and I'm gonna give updates on what's happening. I have some other ideas waiting in the wings in case any of these falls through, but here goes:

Learn to appreciate a Christmas carol that I hate.
Listen to nothing but Christmas music on one commute home.
Give a gift to a stranger.
Go ice skating.
Make a Gingerbread house.
Resurrect one holiday tradition from my past.
Put out at least one holiday decoration.
Buy something tacky just because its seasonal.
Watch a Christmas movie.
Bake Christmas cookies.
Send holiday cards.
Send all our Christmas presents to arrive on time.
Give a gift to someone without expecting one in return.
Stuff a stocking (or two).
Read The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris.
Attend a Holiday Party.
Watch a Lifetime or Hallmark Holiday movie (counts separately from one above).
Write a Christmas list of both practical and completely unreasonable wishes.
Write a letter to Santa like I did as a kid.
Go looking at Christmas lights and decorations.
Make puppy chow (and give most of it away).
Make chocolate covered pretzels (and give most of them away too)
Buy something that smells like Christmas.
Write a short story about my favorite Christmas memory.
Have all my presents bought before December 15th.

One Simple Rule for Talking to Me About Your Pregnancy

2011-11-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving I had like three friends who announced their (or their spouse's) pregnancy. I'm super happy for them and for the plethora of other friends who are having (or had) babies this year. I actually do love hearing about the trials and tribulations of having to squat out a watermelon that you've had sitting on your bladder for months. But there is one simple rule for anyone (coworkers, friends, neighbors, weird people standing in line at the grocery store) who wants to talk to me about your pregnancy. If you're going to tell me something intimate or gross, think twice about this rule.

If you would be embarrassed talking to me about the details about how the baby got in there, then I don't want to hear about the gross details of getting it out.

I don't want to hear the word episiotomy, horror stories about head size or anything of the sort unless you want to divulge details on the iddy diddy that got you into your predicament. I'm not your mother or even a mother, so I can gladly admit that I'm relatively stupid when it comes to pregnancy and don't want to imagine things about relative strangers.

I don't want someone talking about postpartum pooping at the water cooler or after delivery stretching in line at the grocery store (both of which are topics that relative strangers felt it necessary to educate me on).

If, however, you are one of my close friends for whom I would go or throw a baby shower for with fewer than 10 snarky comments or that I've talked about sex with or with whom I've had to use a plunger at their parents house (or in company of at the aforementioned parental visit), then all bets are off. There are no limits to which you can talk about the oddities of baby birthing to me. You are in the minority on the other side of the rule and I actually welcome your wisdom. (Although frankly may never need it for my own practice).

I Can't Believe It's Been A Year

2011-11-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

The Office at the end of Moving Day
last year

I know that I've started a few blog entries this way, but I think this one really does warrant some reflection. A year ago today Chef and I FINALLY made it to Los Angeles and our new apartment after a week long journey by Penske truck and Sentra (with the cats) across the country.

Can you believe we've lived here for a year already? I have a hard time looking at these pictures of a clean, uncluttered apartment and feeling like our apartment isn't the only thing bursting at the seams now--life kinda is too (in a good way). In our year in LA, we've found jobs, adjusted (or rather put up with) traffic and commuting, discovered a few new dining favorites, gotten new furniture, found doctors and a vet, traveled across country (and in my case back a few times), learned our way around (Thanks Garmin!) and, oh yeah, gotten married.

Back when the kitchen was organized.

This year has been crazy nuts in a good way and I think I can speak for us both when we say that we're so glad that we made the leap. I miss my friends in Nashville and I being so close to my family, but I've loved the adventure we've had so far in California. I think everyone should move far away at least once in their life, but that's just me. I'm thinking maybe next time we need to move out of the country. Of course, California is a lot different and it's kind of like moving out of the country, but not quite.It's how I imagine Canada would feel. Except warmer and with some diversity.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I love LA.

Making Use of Extra Time

2011-11-27T10:55:00.001-08:00

My babies, all lined up for my viewing
pleasure.

I've spent a good portion of my holiday time off doing what a girl should: watching football, eating, shopping and lounging. Throw in some Chef time and a plethora of old chick flicks and BAM! You've got a nice time.

You might wonder how I'm able to watch so much football with Chef around, as he's not so much of a football fan. We've worked this out. When I'm itching to watch some pigskin, I ask him "Do you want to play Skyrim (an elaborate Xbox game)?" He shrugs as I'm sure he'd rather us hang out together, but he knows this is a cue and goodnaturedly says "Sure, I could play some."

Still stuffed, but at least organized.

And because he's nice to do this, I give him the big TV and watch in the bedroom. Because I can't just sit here and watch TV (I have to multi-task), I've been really productive. Cleaned out my closet, organized my shoes, and in the process fell back in love with some of my clothes. I've got a lot (see the picture) and because of my weight loss this last year (I've lost about 26 pounds since moving to LA) and my adapting my style a little to the laid back LA scene, there's some things I didn't love any more. Large oxfords that I used to wear over leggings and with boots, blousey shirts that have no shape, pants that are way too big.

Cheering on the Colts while
doing my hair. For no real
reason.

So what do you do when you're in between sizes? I invested in some belts to cinch in the shirts and provide some shape. I also got some form-fitting tank tops to wear underneath jackets. I subscribe (right or wrong) to the one tight, one loose school of fashion. Meaning that if my top is tight, my pants or skirt it loose and if my pants are skinny, then my shirt is looser. Mostly because I have flabby stomach and where the top and bottom meets needs to have some ability for camouflage. What's your style philosophy? I kind of wish I could just post pictures of my clothes, shoes and accessories, and then have some someone make new outfits for me. Is there a service out there like it?

Anyway, here are some pictures of my toiling. Clean(ish) closet, organized shoes and check out orange check jacket and blue sweater I got yesterday at Goodwill. (Another way to expand the wardrobe between sizes!). What's the best consignment store/Goodwill find you've ever had?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T16:49:00.001-08:00

I had steak instead of turkey. Drank red wine. Took a bath with pumpkin pie bubbles. Watched football and chick flicks by switching inputs. Cuddled with my husband and kitties. Ate mac and cheese, stuffing and broccoli. Will eat candy and pie and watch American Horror Story. Not too bad a day.

It started with this conversation with Chef.

Me: I want to eat cookies and drink egg nog.

Chef: do it.

Me: I feel guilty.

Chef: Don't let it being only 10:30 in the morning stop you. It's Thanksgiving!

And that's another reason why I love him.

Hope your day was just as a awesome.

Work Inappropriate Shoes (Is there such a thing?)

2011-11-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

My booties--left side.

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving which means that it's basically a dead day at work. We are all joyous to have an extra long weekend and I'm ready myself to get my relaxin' on. One of the great things about Thanksgiving is the casual Wednesday. Nothing says "I'm mentally already gone" like jeans and an early release on Hump Day. And in honor of that kind of thinking, I also added in some killer shoes.

Top view

Now, I don't like playing favorites with my shoes, because it's kind of a Sophie's Choice moment, but the ones I wore today hold a special place in my heart. And even though the 4 inch spike heel is a little work inappropriate, I still decided to rock these bad boys like there was no tomorrow. And there isn't. At least no tomorrow in my office which is welcome break from the commute.

Here's my weekly goal update:

Right side

Pages of fiction read: 26% of a 432 page book (World War Z) and 22% of a 320 page book (Confessions of a Prairie Bitch). That's 182 pages.
Fiction read: World War Z by Max Brooks and Confessions of a Prairie Bitch (which is AWESOME!! Thanks, Anne)
Fiction listened to via audiobook: Finished The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson yesterday. It was unsatisfying.
Five pages written: yes.
Calorie tracking: Check.
Exercise: 150 minutes of exercise in the last week.
Current 5K best (on elliptical): 23 minutes, 44 seconds (from previous week-- came close but couldn't break that this week)
Friends and family: Yup. Two calls and one more email.
Weight Loss: 0 lb.I still suck and with little Thanksgiving hope.
One revised section of novel per week: Taking a new approach and actually reading what I've written thus far to fill in the gaps. So, no.

What's Your "Go To" Office Greeting?

2011-11-22T18:14:00.000-08:00

The hallways are long where I work and sometimes you get caught in that awkward situation where you and someone else are on the opposite ends and forced to make eye contact for an abnormal amount of time. It's like the world's most mundane runway show. I've noticed a few things:

People will look at nearly anything else to avoid making eye contact on most occasions. This is not a slight or does not mean they don't like you. Typically it means that they are on a mission that got them up from their desk (like a bathroom break, more coffee or actual work) and they would like to accomplish that mission as soon as possible.
Having a TV on the wall of the hallway is a great way to give people something to look at without having to look at each other. I've caught so many glimpses of stories on my way back from the bathroom that it's ridiculous.
It seems a little anti-social to not give SOME sort of a greeting in the hall, so I've come to rely on a few which are demonstrated in the video below.

The double gun: because sometimes one gun isn't enough.
The double (or single) gun and wink: if you're really special, I'll throw in that click sound for good measure.
The half-ass salute: I honestly don't know where or when this started making its way into my greetings, but it's there and without conscious effort, it will stay there. Anyway, isn't an acknowledgement okay without being conscious?

The talk and run: If for some reason, I've made eye contact, acknowledged someone and still feel the need to have a conversation, this conversation typically happens on the run. And I used to think it was just me being rude and say "How're you this morning?" while not breaking stride to stop and listen to the answer, but then I realized that people weren't breaking stride to give their answer. "Fine, thanks, and you?" would be uttered as the two of us walked in opposite directions. I was happy that I wasn't the only offender on this one.

I don't know why I do these things as I would like to think that outside the office, I wouldn't do them, right? What annoying work habits have you picked up? Do you have a "go to" greeting?

When is it Fat and When is it Empowering?

2011-11-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

I'm doing my usual blog perusal today and the talk seems to mostly be about what people were wearing or J. Lo humping one of her dancers. Or both. And while that isn't all that unusual, what killed me is that varying reactions to Kelly Clarkson and Christina Aguilera.

Both are bootylicious right now, but one is being heralded as a brave, sultry "Jessica Rabbit" figure and the other is a bandage-dress wearing fat drag queen. So, why is it that two women (and they're both adults) are getting such vastly different reactions for being roughly the same size? Is it because Kelly Clarkson said "fuck it" a long time ago and just admitted that her weight would go up and down so deal with it? Or is it because we got used to seeing Christina Aguilera as a skinny chick even after she was preggers? Or is it because Clarkson is nice and Aguilera is a known bitch?

I wish I had answers. Frankly, I think Aguilera looks bad in the dress. The Genie went out of her bottle a long time ago and there's no amount of Spanx or hair gel that's going to change that. She's 30. She should dress like she's 30 and not the 16 year old we all met when she first burst on to the scene. And that's okay. We like pop stars that age gracefully (note to J. Lo: That does not mean wearing booty shorts and leotards and dancing around Fiats). Also, I find the whole look wreaking of Snooki.

Who do you think looked better? Or maybe the better question in all of this isn't at all about who looked better, but who sounded better?

Or (she comes in at 2:16)

Deja Vu: Flooding Edition

2011-11-20T13:16:00.001-08:00

Where my car would've been
parked.

It was a similar Sunday last winter in LA that we first experienced the flooding issue. And here it is another Sunday with flash flooding. The city, for some reason, hasn't caught on to the fact that the drains that are supposed to go to ocean are just going to the street. Our poor maintenance man has done the city's job on at least two occasions and unclogged the drain. Mostly because the clogged drains hurt our run off system in the complex which means that our sidewalks INSIDE the complex are now flooded as well.

I am really glad that I didn't park on the street last night--which I would've if there had been spots. And if I would've my car would've had water up to the bumper.

So, basically it's a good day to do nothing but watch cars run through the flooding at full speed. Check it out below:

Because I don't want things to escalate. . .

2011-11-19T15:37:00.001-08:00

Took my usual shopping trips today and aside from spotting Gingerbread Marshmallows (which made my day and clearly came home with me), there were two incidents that pissed me off.

First, I was at Walgreens to pick my prescription refill up and was told that I couldn't take it I needed to wait. I had to wait for the pharmacist to talk to me AGAIN about the ExpressScripts scenario. REALLY!?!?! I have already heard about this and now I've got to wait 10 more minutes every time my prescriptions refilled? No thanks. I'm officially transferring my prescriptions now. Bye-Bye Walgreens.

I hit Ralph's next and had no problem, but then I went to Trader Joe's. I got my two items and headed to the two express lanes. Both had two ladies in each line, so I got behind a lady with a small rolling cart full of more than 15 items. The other line moved faster and just as the lady was going to be able to go to either line, so put her cart in the empty line and left. She went back into the store to find another item. One of the lines got empty and the cashier looked up.

Cashier: Is that your cart?

Me: No, it's some lady that went back to shop.

Cashier: Oh, well, I'm sorry. I gotta wait for her. I don't want things to escalate further.

Me: Giving pissed off look to cashier.

What the hell? I don't recall doing anything to "start" things to a point that would escalate it. Plus, what's this bullshit about being able to leave your cart in line whenever you want to dash for more shopping and I'm supposed to wait? The lady was gone a full 4 minutes before getting back to her cart. I think next time I'm at Trader Joe's, I'm just going to put an empty cart in line and then run around the store and put items in the cart until I'm at the front and it's my turn. I hope the cashier keeps my spot as to not risk escalating the situation among others.

My Hero: Chef's Adventure

2011-11-17T18:54:00.001-08:00

Chef's hand and the little
dog's snout.

You know when you get a text or voicemail that is only part of a story, and you're like "What?". That's what I got today when I got a message from Chef that read "On way to vet with a dog that was hit by a car." I read that little gem and thought "What the what?".

He sent me the picture posted and then called me back later. That's when I got the whole story. Chef was walking to the mailbox on the corner when he witnessed a car hit a small dog and then the car drove off. The dog stumbled around in traffic and finally a few cars stopped. Chef got in there and scooped up the little guy while a lady who had stopped tried to find a service to come get the dog.

They weren't able to find any and the lady (who didn't hit the dog, but just stopped) was getting hysterical, so Chef offered up our vet down the street. He took the dog there, but since neither would claim responsibility financially and the dog wasn't in iminent danger of dying, the vet just offered up a list of places that would take the dog. Apparently it had a chip, but the owners hadn't registered it so that wasn't helpful.

The place that could take the dog was going to close in 30 minutes and was a ways away. The lady had already told Chef about her busy day and was complaining, so he offered to walk back to our place so the lady had no excuses.

So for the sake of a dog's health, my husband did what others didn't. He stopped and helped and then walked about 2 miles back so that the dog could get help. I love that about Chef. It's one of many reasons that I married him. He often does what others won't and he's very caring--be it people or animals. He's planning on making a flyer so that any owner knows that the dog is now at a place about 10 miles away.

I'm a lucky girl. That was a lucky dog.

I Blame my Lack of Goals on my Time in Traffic

2011-11-16T19:17:00.001-08:00

What I was doing about
a year ago.

I don't know if it's the change from Daylight Saving Time or what, but traffic has been nuts the last two weeks. I've been averaging about 90 minutes for the trip home when it would typically take me 60 to 65. It's driving me insane. And the nearly 3 hour drive last Thursday about put me over the edge and at least had me considering drastic changes.

Until then, I'll just use the commute to have something to raise my fist up to the heavens and an excuse for my lack of productivity.

Pages of fiction read: 20% of a 432 page book (World War Z) So, that's technically 87 pages.
Fiction read: World War Z by Max Brooks. I might be over zombies. Or just need a break.
Fiction listened to via audiobook: 13 hours into The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson.
Five pages written: Nope.
Calorie tracking: Check. Could still do better but at least I'm being honest on my calorie intake.
Exercise: 221 minutes of exercise in the last week.
Current 5K best (on elliptical): 23 minutes, 44 seconds
Friends and family: Yup. Two calls and one more email.
Weight Loss: 0 lb.I suck.
One revised section of novel per week: Check! Still working it.

Cats and Advertising: Dueling Videos

2011-11-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

Thank you to The Bloggess for posting the john st video which made me cry with laughter and immediately want to shoot some cat videos. It's not as a easy as it looks.

In the comments for this video, there was a link to this video. Also about cats and films. Also funny.

Which is funnier? You decide.

Breaking Dawn Dilemma

2011-11-14T19:02:00.001-08:00

I also spontaneously break
out in songs about what I'm
doing at the moment.

Fine. I'll begrudgingly admit that I have seen and read all the Twilight series iterations. I read them all and they were pretty bad. The story was fairly interesting, but the details and the characters bugged the shit out of me. Mostly it is Bella. The whiny, "I'm not good enough for Edward" routine is pretty tired. Could we not have a heroine that had some balls? Perhaps that explains my preference for The Hunger Games series. I hope the movies don't suck.

But I digress. For some reason, lately I've been enjoying watching Twilight. Fx has been playing it and I've got it on the bedroom DVR. I start it out before I doze off and enjoy it. Mostly the cheesy puppy love stuff. I don't know if I'm more romantic or less as I've gotten older, but I enjoy a good doze of cheesiness now more than I did before. And now you know my secret shame. Not so secret any more.

Chef volunteered to go see Breaking Dawn with me. I'm debating whether or not to take him up on the offer. People here are going nuts for the movie. There's a whole camping area outside of the venue of the premiere. Yesterday morning I saw a news piece where the reporter interviewed two people who had come from Florida to camp out for nearly a week to get a glimpse of Robert Patinson and Kristen Stewart as they walk the red carpet. That seems like a drastic measure.

Anyway, how much would I owe Chef if I make him endure Breaking Dawn in the theaters? What's the proper amount of payback for a movie like that? I like to know what I'm going to owe going in.

"My I Don't Have to Run-Day"

2011-11-13T10:32:00.001-08:00

Mila hanging out before falling asleep.

Sundays are pretty awesome in general, but I have a feeling that this one is going to be super awesome--borderline double awesome. Here are some brief notes and some pictures to explain why this Sunday will rock:

Had my best elliptical 5K time ever at 23 minutes, 44 seconds. Not too shabby.
I'm an optimist, and while I'm in the bedroom watching football on mute (Bills vs. Cowboys and Falcons vs. Saints), I'm also listening to the Colts game. I think this might be the Colts week. (Chef is in the living room playing Skyrim).
After the game is over, Chef and I will begin our Harry Potter extravaganza. All 8 movies are lined up and ready to go. We've got Carne Asada cooking in the crock pot and a plethora of candy waiting for us to consume in a Potter-craze.

Genghis before leaving to hang
with Chef.

Being in the bedroom means that I get to hang out on the bed with some cats. Genghis even makes an appearance every once in a while before scurrying back to Chef.

Just was I was finishing up this list, Chef yelled to me "I guess you're having to listen to the game? It's not on?". "No, it's not on, but I'm listening to it and watching two others." He waited a beat and then said "Not too shabby a life, is it?"

That's it indeed. It's a great life.

Candy (from left to right): White chocolate macadamia cookies, candy corn, chewy Sweet Tarts, Cherry Twizzler Nibs,
Grape Nerds. (not pictured: skinny cow chocolate clusters, chocolate chunk cookies and sugar cookies with icing)

Pretzel M & Ms

Carne Asada filling the apartment with the savory smell of deliciousness.

LA Shopping: Bra Hunt Edition

2011-11-12T19:10:00.001-08:00

The street outside the mall

I have to admit that there were several times this past week when I was wondering why the hell I live so far away from my work. Mainly on Thursday night when for no apparent reason (other than it was a holiday the next day) traffic was out of control. And by out of control, I mean that a trip that takes about 48 minutes without traffic took me 2 hours and 54 minutes door to door (with a bathroom break and a fill up along the way). Those are nights that suck.

Today's bounty

But then I go out today to make sure that I'm taking advantage of living in the city that it takes me so long to get to on weeknights. I decided to test it by going bra-shopping. During my time in Nashville, I never found a place that I could easily buy bras (remember the last time?). It's a fairly big city, but even so I had the same problems that I had in Evansville. Not a lot of selection and the people fitting me were all giving me different sizes.

So, today I went to a place that was listed in an article in the LA Times highlighting specialty bra-fitting. Typically, I go in, get measured, and then the salesperson brings a bunch of bras. None look good and they discover that my boobs are bigger than they thought and have to bring me some things that look like ACE bandage wrapped around chicken wire and feels about as nice. I typically am lucky to find ONE bra that fits and they never have any additional colors or matching anything.

The exasperation in hour
two of my Thursday
commute.

Today's experience was the same, but completely different. Instead of measuring me, she made me take a questionaire about why I was in, my bra needs, etc. Then we looked at my current fit and then she brought in some bras for me to try on. The first round didn't fit. She had me in the second one before saying "Wow. You're bigger than I thought." I just looked at her and said "I get that a lot."

She came back with another armload in various colors and styles. The difference was that they all fit. I had to actually narrow down the choices to find the right ones. It was amazing! I left with three bras and a new love. The fitting specialist put me in the system so that what I bought and my size are now available at the store. "If you want to just call me on your way in, I can pull some styles and sizes for you and have them waiting next time." HELLO?!?! That is amazing.

The place is called {intimacy} and is a chain, but not widely available. If you're hard or even easy to fit, but want a good bra experience, check them out. I know I'll be going back. Not only that, it is at one of three malls that are within 10 minutes of my house. If you want to spend money in LA, there are plenty of places that will take it from you.

Trying to Challenge Myself. . .Still

2011-11-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

Happiness is an empty gym at 5 a.m.

I'm getting complacent in my exercise so I started challenging myself to do a 5K on the elliptical every morning before work.I also try and beat my time from the day before. I'll keep a best record here because, well, I can and I have no where else to put it.

Pages of fiction read: 23% of a 432 page book (World War Z) So, that's technically 99.63 pages, but I'm rounding up to 100 for my goal's sake.

Fiction read: World War Z by Max Brooks. Pretty good so far.

Fiction listened to via audiobook: Eight hours into The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson.

Five pages written: Yup.Yay me!

Calorie tracking: Check. Ate very well, but not very healthily. But got better since I've been back.

Exercise: 144 minutes of exercise in the last week. Not so hot.

Current 5K best (on elliptical): 31 minutes, 32 seconds

Friends and family: Yup. Called two friends and returned another call.

Weight Loss: 0 lb. I'm determined to change that this week.

One revised section of novel per week: Check! Revise. revise. Revise.

My Take On Southern Race Relations

2011-11-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

I love that there's a magazine named
"Garden & Gun" that comes
out of the South.

I've had some time to digest my trip back to the south after being in the West for almost a year now (can you believe it??). And there's something I noticed a lot this trip that I hadn't noticed before: in the South, there are only two races-black and white. And one major religion: Christian.

I wouldn't say that I'm naive, but having been exposed to this the majority of my life, it causes me to not think about things fully. I'm not going to say I'm ignorant because I don't think I am. I'm just forgetful. For example, Yom Kippur wasn't even on my radar this year. Didn't think about it because I've never had to think about it before. Clearly there are all types of people, races, ethnicities and religions here in LA. I'd never really been in a place in the US where all the signs were written in Korean. It feels odd, but kinda nice to be next to that much diversity.

And going back to the south, there were things that I missed there too about being in a two-race town, so to speak. I like being called "child" by strong black women. I don't know why, but I find it reassuring. It feels like a verbal hug. I like that there are multiple options for fast food chicken, including a gas station. I feel guilty when I see an older black man in a service uniform like a bell hop or a waiter in a white coat. I love being called "ma'am" by people much older than I am because it's a courtesy and not a slight. It feels nice to be able to get a decent biscuit nearly anywhere I went. I like that butter is treated as a nearly religious condiment--almost the accoutrement to the wafers or wine.

I feel like race relations get so much attention in the South for a variety of reasons: history, of course, but also it was one of the few places that only two races or ethnicities really interacted. I feel like when there are a multitude of people who are "different", then everyone is different. When there are only two, one's getting the short end of the stick.

But maybe that's just me.

It's Time for A Style Update

2011-11-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Not a perfect dress, but I
love the color and
the matching coat behind it.

As I was walking around Charleston and surrounded by librarians, I came to the realization that my style needs an update. At the very least some new pieces to add. What prompted this?

It was evident that walking around Charleston I felt pretty up to date, but also a little formal. And formality certainly fits in in the South, the East and the Midwest. It is a little out of place, however, in LA. I remember how I resisted changing my style in the past. When I went from a support position to a manager's position, I was loathe to buy suits and proper "work" wardrobe. But when I did, I was taken more seriously. When I moved to the south, I hesitated on adding some girly touches to my attire, the pearls, scarves, etc. But then again, when I did, I fit in more.

So, I think it's time to stop bucking the style and update what I'm wearing to more readily match Southern California. It's pretty easy to understand: people like hanging out with people who seem like them. And wardrobe is the quickest way to make that connection--even quicker than race or ethnicity.

So, I think I wanna get a little more feminine and a little more vintage-y. I LOVE Zooey Deschanel's clothes (for the most part) and she's cute as a button on New Girl. I've found a few web sites that have this kind of clothing (shopruche.com, style.ly, modcloth, Anthropologie, etc). Now I want to lose a few more pounds to feel secure in sizing fitting me properly and I'm going to use that as a goal.

Got any fun fashion ideas or web sites for me?

Back in the Saddle Again (and by Saddle I mean my own home)

2011-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

The Visitor's Center in Charleston
across from my Hotel.

I had a few short hours in Charleston yesterday morning before I was hopping back on planes (yes, multiple) to get back home. Even with the gain of three hours on the trip back, I still didn't get home until about 7 p.m. And I was happy to be back.

Cute shopping on King Street.

Hung out with Chef and watched the end of the Alabama-LSU game. Sad to see Alabama crumble in overtime after a pretty damn strong game. But then I'm used to watching my teams much earlier than overtime this year. Ended up going to bed at about 10 p.m. but I had already turned my clocks back so it looked like I was going to bed at 9. Which made me feel old.

The back and forth between Eastern and Pacific time zones finally took its toll on my sleep. I work up at 4 a.m. and had trouble getting back to sleep, so I threw on Twilight from the DVR (yes, it's my go to movie for sleep). I ended up watching the whole thing and an episode of Law & Order before I drifted back to sleep.

Khubla doesn't think this game is
very interesting. But I do.

Got up this morning and was a little pissed. It was raining and chilly in LA. HELLO?!?! I just left cold and dreary and was very much looking forward to returning back to my 72 degrees and sunny. Chef reminded me this morning that it's the LA winter. Patchy rain for weeks. Oh well. I guess it's time to bust out my cute "winter" clothes.

And now I'm blogging while listening to the Colts game. As you can see from the picture, Khubla has lost interest in the game and cheering on the Colts. He's a typical bandwagon hopper, and he's hopping off. But not me. I'm in it through the joys and pain. And this season is my penance for years of success.
At least there's chili simmering on the stove to console me.

Happy Sunday!

Charleston Love

2011-11-04T18:49:00.001-07:00

Can you hear me over
this shirt?

I adore this place. It is super cute, has great shopping and a plethora of local restaurants. What's not to love?

I was up super early for a 7 am breakfast meeting, hit the conference at 8, had 9:30 and noon meetings and then about collapsed. But instead of collapsing, I went to the local AHA office and dropped in on a former business friend who got a job at the AHA in Charleston. It was fun to surprise her. I then spent my lunch hour wandering around downtown. There's something very cool about shopping in local boutiques. The neat thing was seeing a lot of cute stuff. Sadly living in LA now means that I actually have access to a lot of those brands.

I did fall in love twice but both were winter coats. I don't know if it was a subconscious nod to being cold or if I really liked them. Either way, I have a winter coat that I never took out of the closet last year so I'm not investing in another one until absolutely necessary. I also saw the ugliest shirt in existence which is pictured.

Hit the same place for dinner tonight that i went to on Wednesday. I probably should've hung out with coworkers but I've been sneezing for the last three hours so I'm afraid I'm either getting sick or having a fall In the south allergy attack (which I did not miss).

And now my hotel Internet isn't working so I'm relegated to blogging on my phone and watching football on a fuzzy ESPN. The only channel I want to watch is the one with snow. Oh well! Back in LA tomorrow!

Day Two: Charleston

2011-11-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

The intersection that my hotel is near.

I walked about a mile in heels, which to me should count for double the calories, right? I think so. Today was my first day of the conference. It was actually fairly interesting and one of the great benefits was that I had some breaks in between sessions to get some work done. My hotel was about three blocks away from the conference site, so I could easily run back and forth. It makes me feel so much less overwhelmed if I'm able to clean out the inbox of stuff and get a few easy things done while I'm away.

The decal that caught my eye.

As I was walking back and forth, I noticed a red dress. It was daylight and the sticker caught my eye. It was a Go Red For Women decal from my AHA days. I didn't pay much attention to the building, but moved along. Going back tonight I noticed that the building had the AHA office in it. And I was reminded that a friend from Murfreesboro is now the AHA Communications Director for the Charleston office (I gave her a recommendation which I hope didn't hurt her in getting the job). I might pop my head in tomorrow to see if she's in. Memories.

I had a nice day. Learned a lot and had some good food. Not too shabby. This place is super cute. I may have to come back again without a work excuse!

Day One: Charleston

2011-11-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Coast Restaurant
--very French Quarter feel,
except less smelly

I'm travelling to Charleston, SC for work and although I've only been here a few hours, I have to say the place is pretty darn cute. And there are a plethora of little local restaurants and shops within walking distance of my hotel. If I can successfully navigate a business trip so that I don't have to drive once while being there, it's a good thing.

Hit a restaurant called Coast tonight that was just a block down the way. Seafood which is awesome. I had a lobster and crab gratin with blue cheese mashed potatoes and green beans (pictured). They helped make up for the calorie gap since I ate two Fiber One bars while travelling today. Calorie gap and belly successfully filled. Delicious. If I didn't already have dinner plans, I'd probably go back tomorrow night. YUM!!

Hopefully I'll have a few more pictures to post tomorrow after the conference, but in the mean time, here's my weekly update:

Lobster and Crab gratin.
Was much better than it looks.
Bad lighting.

Pages of fiction read: 33% of a 432 page book (World War Z) So, that's technically 143 pages.

Fiction read: World War Z by Max Brooks. Pretty good so far.

Fiction listened to via audiobook: Six hours into The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson. Maybe I can do via audio what I couldn't do reading--finish it!

Five pages written: Yup. Had 6 on the plane trip alone last week.

Calorie tracking: Check.Crappy road, world series eating.

Exercise: 225 minutes of exercise in the last week.

Friends and family: Yup. Called a friend to chat and tell her that I was missing her lots!

Weight Loss:0 lb

One revised section of novel per week: Check! Have bridged the beginning to what I've previously written, so now it's just revise, revise, revise.I will get a rough draft done by my Birthday. I keep chanting that.

On The Road Again

2011-11-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

I will definitely miss the palm trees and beautiful sunsets as I head from LA once again to Charleston, SC. I'm actually excited because there seems to be no snow in the forecast for Charleston which puts it a leg up on DC last week.

Off again, racking up some frequent flier miles so hopefully I can use them for a trip home. I'm missing my friends and family a lot the last couple of weeks and am mildly rejuvenated by the potential to have authentic southern cuisine this week. I saw grits on the menu and it nearly brought a tear to my eye. Add a few "y'alls" in there and I'm sure I'm gonna be a goner.

But for every minute of missing things, there are two of new experiences and discovery. I'll look to my left on the ride home and see a beautiful sunset backing the palm trees and have a peaceful moment in the middle of rush hour traffic. Not too shabby.

They Take Halloween Seriously in LA

2011-10-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

Cubicles decorated as a mining town.

When you work in an office with 30 people and most are women and more have external meetings on Halloween, you don't tend to celebrate the holiday a whole lot at work. Some candy. Maybe some fun ears. But that's about it.

However, when you work at a place with 300 other people and its within spitting distance of a town known for over-the-top theatrics, you get a Halloween experience on a whole different level. There were two large decorated areas on my floor. The pictures were from one of them that had a "Prospecting" theme. The other one was a Hollywood Horrors theme. Both included employees who were thematically costumed.

There was a large Halloween party in the warehouse which sounded like fun. The only problem was that being behind a few days in work meant that I couldn't join in. However, I could explain to the person I was conducting a phone interview with why there was screaming intermittently and music. (There was a haunted house in the open warehouse space).

And I'm missing this year (but will probably try to go to next year) one of the nation's largest Halloween parties in West Hollywood. Half a million people crammed down there. Craziness.

I've never been big into Halloween. Never felt more comfortable in a costume than I do in my own skin. I actually have no idea what I'd even dress up as and the pressure of figuring that out makes me just concede to being me. Not such a bad person to be.

What are you dressed up as? What was your favorite Halloween costume?

Lazy Sunday: Recharge my batteries

2011-10-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

You can't really see the big
snowflakes through this DC
street scene.

I got in from Washington DC last night at about 1 a.m. PST. Which is 4 a.m. EST and frankly my body is still confused. It will be even more confused when I head to Charleston on Wednesday through next Saturday. It's weird to think that at this time yesterday, I was freezing my ass off in DC as big, wet snowflakes came drifting down. I was out and about in it and cursing incessantly at the same time. I'm such a weather wuss now. I was trading texts with Chef saying "So cold!" and he was texting back "So sunny and warm here already". I forget that this thing called "Winter" exists in other places. I think I've tried to block it out of my memories.

Anyway, I got home last night at 1 a.m. and had tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep on the plane. I grabbed my bag and got to listen to the taxi wrangler complain about the LAPD beating him up for "absolutely no reason! Second time in three weeks!". It was the middle of the night and apparently the dude wasn't picking up on my "don't talk to me, just get me a cab" face. I also had to argue with the cab driver to NOT take me through the scary neighborhoods at night to get to my place. I would think that not getting carjacked would be an objective in both of interests, but apparently, I was mistaken.

Yep, that's 85 degrees on October 30th.

Got home. Hugged Chef. Pet a cat. Or four. Unpacked. Went to sleep. Woke to bacon frying. Plopped on the couch. Made a grocery list and logged on to the Colts game while Chef went grocery shopping for us. Which was super awesome of him. Did some writing while trying not to cry in sadness and frustration at being 0-8. Went out for lunch, but was a little disappointed because our first choice was closed on Sundays. But we had lunch outside. Because while I had a freezing day yesterday, today was 85 and sunny. And one of those moments when I said "I love LA!".

Now to lounge on the couch and watch football, the TV shows that I missed all week, and movies. Not too shabby of a Sunday. What are you going to do?

A Year Ago. . .

2011-10-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

A year ago today (when today was a Friday) was my last day with the American Heart Association. It's actually pretty hard to believe that I've been gone for a year. Sometimes it feels like a completely different life. Some days it feels like I just left and am heading to a new Heart Walk or Luncheon or Gala at any time.

A year ago today, I was crying. Hard. And all damn day. I'm not a big "public display of emotion" kind of girl, especially at work, so it was both cathartic and embarrassing to spend all day as a hot mess. But in my defense, I had been at the AHA for nine years, almost my entire career, and was saying goodbye to my career thus far, but also a lot of good friends.

In fact, it wasn't until a few months later that I realized just how unique it was to have friends at work. Or at least several good friends at work. I still keep in touch with at least half a dozen (or more) current AHA staffers and at least 20 former AHA staffers. Working in the corporate world has some advantages over non-profit. Okay, it has a lot of advantages. Mostly the ability to plea for funding on strategic projects and know that you have a shot in hell in getting it, but one thing I've noticed is that the team concept is there, but a little more underlying than I was used to.And I think part of the reason was that I was lucky enough to have so many people that I liked hanging out with (don't get me wrong, i had plenty that I didn't like). When you like who you're collaborating with, the outcome of what you're doing tends to be better because we all try harder for friends than strangers.

Anyway, it's been a year. I miss my AHA friends and think (or speak) to them often. I miss my volunteers whose passion helped me through late nights of banging my head in frustration.

But I don't miss the Heart Gala. :)

Pitch Perfect Advertising

2011-10-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

I saw this video tonight watching the World Series. It's about a guy who decided he was going to win $1 million by learning to play a video game and win a content to pitch a simulated perfect game. It's a pretty long ad in TV terms-- about two minutes--and it aired during the world series, so I'm sure it cost a pretty penny, but I have to so that it was spot on. Google has been making some great ads lately. The one where the dad sets up a gmail account to email his daughter from birth? Brought tears to my eyes.

I don't know who's doing their advertising now (and if you google it, you get a bunch of results about "adwords"--coincidence? I think not), but the ads are well done. The question becomes: does google--whose consumer services are free to use--need to advertise? Are they losing market share or is this a tactical move to protect it?

Either way, I think they're good. Check out tonight's ad here--and GO CARDINALS!:

I'm not a pawn in that game, Walgreens

2011-10-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

I went to pick up my prescription at Walgreens the other day. It was a fun activity in the first place because I was standing behind two Eastern European hookers in line. I knew they were Eastern European because of their accents. I assumed they were hookers because of their clothing choices (tight pants that were ruched up the butt crack with a lace thong whale tail that was less than clean poking out) and because they asked the pharmacist for penicillin and female condoms.

When it was my turn, I got my prescription and was told that I needed to have a consult with the pharmacist. I was a a little confused as I was picking up a refill that I've had refilled so many times it seems like a hassle to even pick it up. I waited for a few more minutes and then was told by the pharmacist that starting in 2012, Walgreens will "no longer be taking Express Scripts." Like the good healthcare consumer that I am, I said "What's Express Scripts?". It turns out it's the technical name for my insurance. Who'd have known? Clearly I didn't. Thought it was some kind of Walgreen's service or something.

Anyway, at this point, she told me that Walgreens and the insurance provider are having issues over something or another and if I wanted to do something, I could ask my HR department to change insurance. She then proceeded to ask me for my work email so that she could send me something I could forward on to my HR department. WHAT?!?!? Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy to ask a COMPANY of MANY people to change their INSURANCE plan so that I can keep going to Walgreens? Wouldn't the more sensible thing be to just take my prescriptions to the Rite Aid that I passed to get to the Walgreens? Or better yet, how about Walgreens and the insurance company to work out their differences without resorting to a siege of emails on our poor HR department?

Sorry, Walgreens. I'm not going to be a little pawn in that game. If you don't want to work something out, then it looks like Ralph's is becoming my one-stop shop.

Quick Update from the road

2011-10-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

I miss California
and all that's still in it already!

I'm travelling to Washington DC for work. Hopefully I'll have a few pictures to post, but in the mean time, here's my weekly update:

Pages of fiction read: 35% of a 400 page book (Mockingjay) and 7% of a 432 page book (World War Z) So, that's technically 170 pages. (not including what I read on the plane today)

Fiction read: Mockingjay. The series finale wasn't too bad, but it left me with some questions. Started World War Z by Max Brooks, because my friend Anne recommended it and because I'm on a post-apocalyptic kick.

Fiction listened to via audiobook: Started The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larrson. Maybe I can do via audio what I couldn't do reading--finish it!

Five pages written: Yup. Missed a few days, which I hated, but got about 6 pages written this week.

Calorie tracking: Check. a whopping 28 calories under than my daily goal, but not bad considering I started cutting back on the exercising.

Exercise: 220 minutes of exercise in the last week.

Friends and family: Yup. Called a friend to congratulate her on good news. Love those calls!

Weight Loss:0 lb

One revised section of novel per week: Check! Working on bringing a character from one part to the part that's actually already been written. I think this is the biggest gap left so after it's done, I'm just revising and not revising and creating.

Monday Meal

2011-10-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Meals are always better when Chef makes them. Not just because it's someone else doing the dirty work, but also because, as his name implies, he's better trained at these sorts of things.

In my one week effort (we're in week two now- yay!) to actually cook some meals, Chef got into the spirit by not only making the pot roast pictured, but suggesting it during our pre-shopping menu planning. And I have to say, that it was delicious. One might say excellent (and by "one" I mean me--the one who ate the thing like there was no tomorrow).

We also had a lovely side dish that I've requested for tonight. Because I'm now so bossy that I can request he make something again. Or maybe that's just a bonus of marriage, I'm not sure. But we had a side of Brussels sprouts roasted with bacon. Granted anything with bacon in it is awesome by association, but these had a flair of double awesomeness to them. I'd have taken a picture, but they weren't the prettiest. Brussels sprouts aren't super pretty when they're roasted. Just the tastiest.

One week down and it's been pumpkin ravioli, maple glazed chicken with Brussels sprout slaw, chicken tamale casserole and pot roast with Brussels sprouts roasted with bacon. Not too shabby of a week. I wish I could make more, but I'm off to Washington DC tomorrow for work. Although I'm sure to have some tasty meals there, too.

In the mean time, if you've got any more recipes or web sites to send my way, keep 'em coming! (And thank you).

Lincoln Park After Dark? You Don't Know Jacque!

2011-10-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Park After Dark (left)
You Don't Know Jacque (right)

One thing about Fall that I love (aside from Pumpkins, football, people freely giving away candy, chili, and a holiday devoted to gorging yourself) is the shift to darker colors and boots. It's not actually that cold in Cali (clearly) but at first dip into the 60s during the day, I'm ready to put my boots on. And I do. Because while some chicks are okay wearing boots when it's 80 degrees out, that tends to buck my common sense and novelty of great weather all year.

One of the things about darker colors that is an advantage is darker nail polish. And there are two very popular ones from OPI that I finally bought for my home collection. I've had many manicures from pros that used these colors, but had not taken the plunge for myself. Mostly because I'm sloppy in the DIY manicure/ pedicure area. I have no qualms about coloring outside the line, so to speak, and then peeling the excess off in a hot shower. It's how I roll. And the reason that I have photos of the nail polish bottles and not my hands and feet. I just did my mani/ pedi yesterday and haven't peeled yet. It looks bad. And who wants to see someone's feet on a blog post anyway. At least unless there's a bad toe or something.

So, the darker color, for those not familiar, is "Lincoln Park After Dark" and the lighter taupe is "You Don't Know Jacque". They're replacing the "Russian Navy" that was on my hands and feet. The nice thing about the dark colors on my hand is that I don't see any crud under my nails and therefore don't bite them. So, really it's not only fashionable but strategic to get my nails back in shape.

Any fall weather fashion or beauty things that you look forward to? What other OPI shades should I try?

Making an Event of Sunday Night

2011-10-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Not pictured: Gummy bears and
gummy worms that I already ate.

Am I the only one wondering what to watch when tonight? The Colts play on Sunday Night Football. The Cardinals are in the World Series. Boardwalk Empire is starting to head up and last week's episode of The Walking Dead was a cliffhanger. Oh, and I almost forgot that Dexter is back too. What to do?

I only wish there were actually some shows on Monday night that I cared to watch because that would help alleviate our cramped Sunday night schedule. But I guess that's why DVRs were invented. Actually, I bet they were invented to make someone a tidy profit (which I hope they have) but you get what I mean.

Anyway, Chef had the great idea last week of making our TV watching more of an event. We have a great TV and a good sound set up, so TV viewing in our house is better than going to the movies (although we've been doing that a lot more in LA too). So, instead of me sitting with my phone on my lap checking other sports scores or Facebook, we turn out the lights, grab some movie theater candy and watch our most engrossing shows. Clearly we don't do this every night because my waistline couldn't take it. But Sunday nights and Thursday nights (for a taped episode of American Horror Story).

The picture was evidence from our latest Ralph's expedition. It's our candy stash. I'm hoping it will last all week, but there were a bag of gummy worms and a bag of gummy bears that are now in my tummy. Mmmm. Sugar highs are nice. I think Chef was on to something . . .

Red on the Head

2011-10-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

It costs more than the box of Nice 'N Easy I used to color my hair with (Light Ash Blonde #102B). It takes a lot longer too. But it's worth every minute and every penny. I love the color that my stylist has (she says it takes longer than the average mix, but I don't mind waiting). I love the care that she takes in chopping my locks. It is the one consistent thing that I've done for myself since I moved here.

And it makes me feel pretty. I'll think I'll be a red head for a while. Thanks to Chef and my friends who encouraged me to take the leap.

Ordeal for a license plate

2011-10-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today I worked from home so that I could go and get my license plate and register my car in California. I'm officially sad about this. I hated changing my Indiana plates for Tennessee ones when I moved, but the fact that Tennessee had an IU license plate buffered that transition. Now I'm losing my Tennessee and IU car connections. Bummer.

And to make matters worse, I go to the registration branch of the DMV and am told that my car needs to be inspected and to pull it along the side of the building and wait. If it weren't for a very nice security guard, I might've waited there all day. But he helped, got inspected and I was ushered inside. I get my number sit in my chair and only have to wait about 10 minutes. Holy crap! I thought. Today's my lucky day! But it wasn't until I got up the window that troubles began. I handed the lady my current Tennessee registration.

Lady at window #13: No, I need your registration card.

Me: This is my registration card. It's from Tennessee.

#13: I see it's from Tennessee but it says "application" at the top. I need the little card that actually is your registration.

Me: This is my registration. I promise you.

#13: No, it's not.

Me: I lived there for 9 years. Every time I was given a registration-all 9 times--this was it. When I was pulled over by a cop, I handed him this.

She then heavy sighs and goes to find a thick book. She consults the book and says "this isn't your registration. I can start your papers today, but you'll have to bring back your registration." I wasn't going to take that so while she was typing away, I called the County Clerk in Nashville and got a very nice lady who when told of my predicament said "Ugh. California calls us about 5 times a week because they refuse to post our samples. The book they look in hasn't been updated in decades."

Me: So if I asked you for a registration card, what would that look like?

TN lady: Exactly what you're holding in your hand. That's your registration. They do this all the TIME! I'm gonna fax your registration and a blank one. Put me on with your person.

Me to #13: She wants to talk to you. The TN registration person. . .

#13: I can't get on the phone.

Me: But she wants to fax the info to you and talk to you about updating your records.

#13: I can't talk on the phone.

Me to TN: She won't get on the phone.

TN: Of course, she won't Sorry, I'm not fussin' at you (which I LOVED by the way). I'll fax that right now.

I pay and go back to wait while they wait on my fax. Fax comes through, I go BACK up to the window to hear: Okay, all you have to do is bring in your smog test and we'll give you your plates.

Me: I called this office yesterday to ask if I needed a smog test and was told I wouldn't because my car was within the 6 year window.

#13: But you're new to the state, so you'd have to get one.

Me: SERIOUSLY??! I specifcially called to get this answered and what you're telling me is that they gave me wrong information.

#13: Yes. Get your smog check and then come back.

At this point, I'm about to go ape shit, but I just huff out, go get a smog check and then wait in line to get a number, and then wait in line to see a representative. Who then took my paperwork and says "This isn't the Tennessee registration card." Five more minutes of explanation and then I FINALLY get my license plates. Yes, plates, because California is one of those places that makes you have one on front and one on back.

Total time getting this stupid errand done: 2 hours, 54 minutes.

I miss Tennessee. And Indiana.

A Success and South Park

2011-10-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

Made a new recipe again tonight that actually was pretty good. Chicken tamale casserole from Cooking Light. Chef even liked it. It could use some additional veggies, but probably as a side dish. Chef was also great because he did the prep work on the chicken, which made life easier.

The enchilada sauce, seasoning and chiles gave it some kick. The cheese made it seem more decadent than it was. And isn't that the job of dairy in any good recipe? Decadence.

The other photo is a screenshot from an exceptionally funny episode of South Park that's actually happening to someone in real life. Well, to a certain extent. Read more here.

On another note, if you happen to run past "Six Days to Air: The Making of South Park" you should watch it. Whether or not you like the show, there are two things that this documentary does: 1) It really shows how hard working and brilliant Matt Stone and Trey Parker are, and 2) it shows just how much they still don't give two shits about anything that Hollywood thinks or thinks is funny. It's kind of nice to see people so much more concerned about making people laugh than being afraid to offend people. I wish I could be more like that.

Last Night's Dinner Theme: I tried!

2011-10-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Maple glazed chicken
with Brussels sprouts slaw

Last night I cooked dinner again. I'm back to at least attempting to cook 3 times a week instead of being my usual lazy self. So, if you have any good places you go to for healthy recipes, let me know (And thanks, Misty, for reminding me about Cooking Light). So I've attempted two dishes this week, both with low levels of success.

I made pumpkin ravioli with a light cheese sauce and hazelnuts on Sunday. It was actually not too bad, but just didn't have a lot of POP. I think the flavors were supposed to be subtle but ended up as bland. And it's a fine line between subtle and bland. Too fine a line for a cook like me.

Last night was the meal pictured: Maple glazed chicken with Brussels sprout slaw. I found out a few things: 1) I love roasted Brussels Sprouts but I do NOT like raw ones. Even with a nice vinaigrette and dried cranberries. 2) That maple and red wine vinegar might smell like crap when reducing but don't taste too badly together. and 3) I still overcook chicken like nobody's business. I wish I wasn't afraid to give someone food poisoning, but I am. And that makes me cook the shit out of things. The chicken was terribly overdone, but did need the steak knife for adequate slicing.

Anyway, here's where I'm at:

Pages of fiction read: 55% of a 400 page book (Mockingjay). So, that's technically 220 pages.

Fiction read: Mockingjay. I'm going to be sad when it's over.

Fiction listened to via audiobook: None, but I just got the two final Stieg Larsson books because I can't seem to read them and the Confederacy of Dunces, because I've always wanted to read that, but never seem to remember.

Five pages written: Yes!!! Still reworking a new beginning to the book. started a brand new section. I'm now up to 45 pages of NEW material in four weeks.

Calorie tracking: Check. a whopping 281 calories OVER than my daily goal. Last week was not a good one. hence the new recipes, etc.

Exercise: 265 minutes of exercise in the last week.

Friends and family: Yup. A friend AND a family member got phone calls this week.

Weight Loss:0 lb (did you SEE the calorie overage? Of course I didn't lose weight!)

One revised section of novel per week: Check! Got about 8 pages of a transition to the main story.

I Need Some Help From You-- yeah, You, please!

2011-10-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who thinks these shoes
have a, um, "Georgia O'Keefe" quality to them?

I've been stuck in many ruts lately. Not cooking. Not cleaning. Not writing enough. Not doing much of anything or at least doing anything well. One of those ruts is what I wear every day. I'm getting pretty boring. Usually wear the same outfit combos (some of which are combos that I came up with years ago) and some fun shoes.

I am bored with my closet, but too cheap to buy new clothes when I feel like I'm going to be losing more weight. I have a fair amount of clothes that are currently my correct size and actually fit. And by fair amount, I mean about five shirts/ blouses, two pairs of pants, two pairs of jeans, one skit and three dresses. Everything else is either just slightly too big or WAY too big. The kicker is that that includes my belts, which are too lose and have elastic so cutting another belt loop isn't an option.

All of that is beside the point because even if I were to have my entire wardrobe fit properly, it would still bore the hell out of me. When did I get so boring?? I need help!! PLEASE, for the sake of my sanity, help me out by sharing with me any or all of the following:

Cheap clothing or accessory web sites or stores (especially hidden gems)
Any budget fashionista-type blogs for inspiration
Any looks that can actually be worn to a legitimate workplace without being mocked for being ridiculous
Looks that COULD be laughed at for being ridiculous because on second thought, I might try them
Tips or advice for how you've freshened up your closet or look
The least practical-seeming thing you ever bought but ended up loving (For example, I used to only buy shoes that were black or brown because they matched everything in my closet. Now, not so much--colored or interesting shoes only, please).
Any trends you're thinking of trying (Are booties silly or cute? I can't decide on this one)

Thank you, in advance!