Birthday Goodness

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!

Not a Bad Way to Spend a Sunday

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.

Our Own Little Walk

I called my stepdad this morning and he and his special lady, Sara, were walking in the rain. It was the first year that I can remember that the Evansville Race for the Cure got rained on.

It was hard being here instead of there, but Chef and I had a great walk on the beach this morning. It was not sunny at all, but not too bad. A bad day on the beach is better than most any other day, right?  Here are some pictures and thoughts to go with them.

I wrote this and almost immediately it got washed away by a wave.
So this is take two.

There were so many surfers out this morning. I told Chef I wanted to try surfing.
 His response: "We'll sign you up for classes next spring."
 I think I really want to do it!

The beginning of our not quite 5K in honor of my mom.

A view from Santa Monica towards Venice beach.

I kept saying to Chef "Let's just walk to the next lifeguard station."
That only worked for so long.

An early birthday present

Chef took me to the beach today. It was the warmest day this week and nearly perfect weather. I mean, who can really complain if you're going to the beach in your swimsuit in January?

I say Chef took me because it was his idea to go today. The beach is my favorite place. He likes it, but not as much as I do. And really, the beach on a Thursday is awesome because it was pretty deserted. I got to work on some things and then lay in the sun. Get my daily dose of Vitamin D. And maybe get a little tan, but not too much.

I love the beach because it's one place where you can lay down and not be deemed a weirdo. Aside from a bed store, there aren't too many places you can do that and not raise an eyebrow. Well, unless you're homeless. Then you've pretty much got free reign to lay down anywhere without a lot of attention.

So, after a week of job interviews, working freelance on projects, taking volunteer phone calls, and trying to be a good partner around the house, I was ready for a day on the beach. I know that my life isn't all that stressful right now, but I have a feeling I'm going to need to cram in my relaxing while I've got a chance. And today was a great chance.

Now, I'm "off" the job hunt AND calorie counting tomorrow and Saturday for birthday celebrations. Chef got me a massage for Saturday morning and tomorrow is PIZZA DAY!! (Have I mentioned that I've been watching calories like a hawk and have lost 10 lbs in the 2 months that I've been here).

I'm a lucky girl. Not only do I have a good life, but I've got a partner who knows what I need --sometimes before I do!

The Ocean to my right, the hills to my left--Not too shabby

Today I was on the Pacific Coast Highway (aka PCH) for the first time. I was coming back from a job interview and got to take a coastal route home. I literally could've pulled off to the side of the road to dip my toes in the ocean. I should've, but I also wanted to get home to Chef. Plus we have a plan to go to the beach on Monday. It's supposed to be really nice weather and I've got to make use of my free afternoons while I can.

But just the afternoon. My morning will still be spent working on more resumes and researching. I have to keep with the routine because it's working. I got 2 more interviews scheduled for next week. Both were off of tailored letters I sent out this week. All in all, I feel like my days at home during the week are numbered. It's a nice feeling.

I had two interviews this week. One was in person and one via phone. The phone one was fine. Typical questions and I gave some succinct and truthful answers. The in-person one was actually three interviews in one. One with the hiring manager, one with a manager in the department and one with the VP of HR. The company seemed to have some interesting benefits and the vibe from the people was that they all really love working there.

The only thing I hate about interviewing on a Friday is that I always stick out like a sore thumb in my interview suit while everyone else is in casual gear. Actually, come to think of it, that's probably not just a Friday thing. I tend to be overdressed. But I will continue to be overdressed until I get a job, because I don't want someone seeing a casual outfit and thinking "This is as good as it gets?". I can bust out all the jeans and cardigans I want when I'm in a job.

So, it's the weekend now. I'm "off" of the job hunt until Sunday night and still "on" the workout kick until I physically can't do it. I tend to make Sundays a little lighter than regular, but that's the only variance. Lunch tomorrow with some friends from high school. Good times!