Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Holy Crikey!

LM is going to spin the last bit of fat off me. Spin is fucking hard. Like my thighs are still quaking, and God only knows what I'm going to feel like tomorrow. On a good note, I am a huge fan of the midday workout!

Now if only I'd remembered to keep an extra pair of undies in my bag. Yes, I went there.

Injured Reserves for a Month

Remember the keg curling incident? Yeah, well when I said my arm was going to hurt all week, I wasn't exaggerating. Except it wasn't a week. It's been two months, and I still can't straighten my elbow without going, "ow, ow, oooowwww!"

I finally took myself to the doctor. Of course I didn't tell him I was doing keg curls, because really, I wasn't in the mood for the alcohol talk. Turns out I strained my tendon and bruised the bone. The doc gave me a cortisone shot (owwwie!), as well as some anti-inflammatory meds to take for a week.

Oh, and no lifting, yoga, pilates, kickboxing, NOTHING for a month. What am I supposed to do at the gym now other than running and legs? I tried going to an abs class on Monday, only to find myself trying not to cry during several minutes of plank. Going to try out spin today at lunch, so hopefully that works out.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Dark Knight and Koreatown

Last night, Jota hooked it up, and took me to see an advance screening of The Dark Knight with his work peoples at Universal City Walk. First, City Walk is like The Grove on crack. Tons of restaurants, shopping, and a giant theatre, with an explosion of neon lighting thrown in for effect. Definitely a spot to take the parents to experience a "family friendly Hollywood."

Second, The Dark Knight = amazing. Like best movie I've seen in ages. Like totally one that I want to see in the theatre again. I think the last one I did that with was Titanic. Don't judge.

Third, Dark Knight in IMAX = out of this world. It's like I was in the back seat of the Bat Tank. (That buggy is in no way sleek enough to be called the Bat Mobile.)

Fourth, Heath Ledger as the Joker made Jack Nicholson look like an amateur. He was so incredibly disturbing that I found myself trying to hide my face in Jota's shoulder when he appeared on screen.

Fifth, the entire film is quite dark. I may have laughed two or three times, but spent most on the time clinging to Jota and practically jumping out of my seat.

Sixth...oh just go see it on Friday.

Afterwards, we headed to Koreatown with Jota's coworker Jenny and her boyfriend John. A whole car full of J's. I'd never had Korean food, and to say that I was nervous was a bit of an understatement. The menu wasn't in English, so I had to rely on the other J's to recommend something for me. I felt so bratty because I rattled of a list of dislikes. No spicy. No mushrooms. No onions. No peppers. No tofu. Pretty much the whole menu. John ended up choosing this dish that came out piping hot with rice, beef, an assortment of veggies, and a raw egg on top. I'm all like, "Ewwww."

And he's all like, "Don't worry, when you stir it the egg cooks in the bowl, and the rice gets crispy."

Um fuck yeah.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Doggy Sitting

So we watch boss lady's dog, a lot. Like, recently, at least once a month. And that doesn't count the times she "forgets" an important meeting/appointment/outing with a client, and, "Jamie, can you just stop by the house on the way home and take her out?"

No I am not joking. Yes, I advised her to get a cat instead of a dog considering her travel schedule.

So Boo* stayed with us this past weekend. She's just over a year old. Cute little beagle. We've always thought she was kind of dumb. Ok, maybe not dumb, but a bit slow. She's still not potty trained. Crapped all over my kitchen about an hour after we had just taken her out. Didn't even ask to go outside. This happens every time. We always give her the benefit of the doubt, until she fucks up, and then we start treating her like the ugly stepchild.

I want to love Boo. Really I do. I know it's not her fault, but rather boss lady's for not taking the time to give her enough attention and instruction. The fact that Jota and I were very diligent in training Duff only makes it more frustrating. By 4 months he was ringing a bell to go outside. No accidents in this house. No way. When Boo has accidents, we start at zero...crate training. At least she's good about not whining, and by Monday, I think she was actually understanding the concept of going outside. Too bad all of our work is being undone as I type.

* (name has been changed to protect the innocent pooch)

July's half over...

And I've got nothing to show for it. No new goal. Gained 5 lbs. Haven't been to the gym for more than once a week for the past month. Fuck fuck fuck. Fuckitty fuck fuck. Now that I've got that out of my system.

Seriously though, it seems I have no time for anything lately. I'm prepping my little ass off for Em's baby shower, and maybe if I didn't procrastinate in the first place, I wouldn't have to spend 3 hours every night crocheting. I have a freaking cramp in my right wrist, and pinch in my right shoulder, but I'm making the cutest baby blanket around for lil doo.

I've totally hit a wall with my exercising. I'm not exactly bored with the gym, just kind of not feeling like going. Em and I have decided that we're going to take up tennis once she has the baby. Should be fun, except I seriously stink at tennis. It's like there's a permanent hole in my racquet.

So with this lack of gym of course means I've gained a bit of weight back. Boo. I hates. I swear it's so easy to lose weight when it's not summer time. I wake up on the weekends, and it's beautiful outside, and I'm like. "Eww sweating. I want to go lay on the beach all day."

The majority of our friends' birthdays are also in the summer, so it's like every weekend is spent at a BBQ eating burgers and drinking beers. And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be that girl at a party that doesn't eat because nothing is healthy enough. Fuck that. If we're grilling, I'm eating.

Obviously, I need a new goal. I'm very short term goal focused, and it worked well for me in the past. My new goal for the remainder of July is to get my butt to the gym at least 4 days a week. Not starting this week though because Jota and I are going to see The Dark Knight tonight, and then tomorrow I have to bake a cake.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies


My first recipe out of Perfect Baking was choosen out of necessity.  Necessary because a - oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are my go to cookie and b - it was the only one in the book that didn't require me going to the store for extra ingredients.  

Without further ado, here's what they looked like...(I appreciate any tips on photographing food)

I couldn't resist sharing this one though.  Duff looks like he's thinking, "Oh snap!  I almost had it."

I wasn't a huge fan of the cookie, but others, mainly Liz, really liked them.  I found the texture to be a bit too crumbly, they were incredibly dense, and not sweet enough for me.  I also substituted cranberries for the semisweet chocolate.  Keeping the milk chocolate of course!  Will I make them again?  Not likely.      

Monday, July 07, 2008

Because I'm hungover

You know the drill. I'm too lazy to do something original today. Snagged this one from little Miss Wishcake.

What were you doing five years ago?

1. I was 22 (a baby!), living at home with the parents.

2. Dating an asshole and cheating on him every chance I had.

3. Spending the summer flirting like a maniac with Jota even though he had a girlfriend.

4. Deciding not to go back to Radford for my final year of school. Greatest decision ever. The not going back there, probably should still consider finishing school.

5. Working promotions at 98.7 WMZQ. To this day, best job ever.



What are/were five things on your to-do list for today?

1. Plan a trip to Vancouver for work that I should have done a month ago.

2. Go to the gym! I've gained 5 lbs since my birthday. Bad James.

3. Give Duff a bath. Jota is taking him to work one day this week. He was a bit scruffy last time.

4. Get rid of my hangover. Hopefully lunch with LM will help.

5. Make some tasty banana bread before Jota throws out my nanners.



What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Fruit, fruit and more fruit.

2. String cheese. Yum!

3. Chocolate covered pretzel 100 calorie packs.

4. Greek yogurt with berries.

5. BBQ chips.



What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Buy one of my dream homes on the Venice Canals.

2. Give a considerable amount to all 4 of my parents. And Jota's parents.

3. Quit my yuck job and get my dream job. Owning my own bakery.

4. Buy my own jet. Fuel prices may be insane, but Duff could fly without having to be crammed under the seat in front of me. And Byn could come visit whenever she wanted.

5. Donate massive amounts to my favorite organizations/charities.



What are five of your bad habits?

1. I procrastinate like a booger. See my to-do list for the day.

2. Biting my nails. They're way pretty right now though!

3. Smoking cigs when I'm wasted. Sorry babe.

4. Getting snotty with Jota when he asks dumb (actually quite normal) questions.

5. I shop way too much.



What are five places you have lived?

1. Union Bridge, Maryland. Born and not really raised. Don't remember anything about this place.

2. Beallsville, Maryland. Down on the farm. Believe it or not, I really did spend the first 23 years of my life on a farm, and somehow escaped learning how to drive a tractor. I think it had something to do with me driving the motorcycle face first into the barn.

3. Radford, Virginia. Dear God, Please let me never return. Oh and thank you for looking after me, because seriously, no one else was.

4. Santa Monica, California. Our first home! Some girl told us to live west of 26th, and north of the 10. We totally took that to heart, settling 11 blocks from the ocean. Now if I were to give people advice, I would say west of 26th unless you're south of Pico, then you want to be west of Lincoln. Or, just move to Venice.

5. Venice Beach, California. Our current abode. Our neighbor Camilla describing it perfectly this weekend, "Our building is like Melrose Place. Only you know, more intelligent, and less slutty."



What are five jobs you've had?

1. Reservationist/Reception at a super posh golf club in town. The 14th hole backs up to the farm and while they were building the course, I had a blast golf carting around the paths. Yes I said golf cart. My parents couldn't trust me with a four wheeler after the barn "incident". I've seen two Presidents and Michael Jordan play golf.

2. Office Manager at Bally Total Fitness. Why someone would give this job to a nineteen year old is beyond me, but whatevs. Not really sure what I did exactly other than boss the front desk girls around and flirt with the lifeguards.

3. Promotions at MZQ. Picture me at the Toby Keith concert at Nissan Pavilion standing on top of an ice cream truck with a mega phone yelling to 25,000 drunken fans, "Hey! Everyone needs to take three big steps back. Ready? One, two, THOSE STEPS AREN'T BIG ENOUGH, Three." Or the crowd favorite, "Show me your tits and Sean will hook you up." I'm a classy one.

4. Nordstrom's during holiday season. I will never work retail again. I did get some sweet deals though.

5. Marketing assistant at an un-named sports agency. Pretty fun I guess. Good peeps, which is nice. Oh and I own more T-Mobile magenta clothing than like, anyone.