Just a wee bit intoxicated

You may have noticed by my twitter, maybe not. Either way, I was drunk as a cute little skunk last night. Monday night. WTF?

Maybe it's because I'm hopping on the paranoid train with everyone here at the office. Seriously, I think I'm getting laid off this week. Last week was pretty rough in the office, what with 1/3 of HR out the door, with no announcement. IT tells us this week is going to be even worse. It's to the point where we debate sending out company wide "test" emails to see which ones bounce back. I mean, it's not like I would be upset if I lost my job. I think it's pretty obvious that I hate my job. I just don't like this feeling of uncertainty, and I certainly don't like the idea of no money.

Actually though, last night's drunken escapades were a result of a lovely evening with Jota. I made us the tastiest, easiest dinner ever (Balsamic glazed chicken and brussels sprouts with pecans), and then we sat in the nook peeled paint off the table, and listened to music. That is until I got bored and ditched him for Gossip Girl. Love you honey!

And seriously, dinner was so easy and great that I have to share. Enjoy!

Balsamic and Strawberry Glazed Chicken

4 chicken thighs
1 tsp french tarragon
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbs strawberry jam
juice from 1 lemon

Heat olive oil in a skillet, toss thighs in and season with salt, pepper, and tarragon. Cook chicken through and remove. Put balsamic vinegar, jam, and lemon juice in the skillet to remove any bits of goodness. Heat through, and toss the chicken back in to coat. And you're done.

Brussels Sprouts with Pecans

1 lb of brussels sprouts (or like the bag from Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup of butter
1 tbs of butter
1 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 oz chopped pecans

Chop brussels sprouts so they're all shredded. Melt 1/4 cup of butter in skillet, toss sprouts in and cook until wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes. In the meantime, combine other tbs of butter (I never said this was healthy) with maple syrup and apple cider vinegar in a small sauce pan. Heat through, toss with finished sprouts and pecans.

Pre-Weekend Update

First, many thanks to Katelin for well wishes on pastry school. One day I'll messenger over some sweet goodies to you. Only if you promise to share them with Ryan Gossling. Anywho, I'm officially applied and accepted, now I only need to figure out how on Earth I intend to pay for it. Because seriously y'all, pastry school is freaking expensive.

Nothing much going on in the World o' James this week. I went up to Seattle for an agency meeting that I spent pretty much all summer planning. Well, technically I spent about three weeks on this one, but there were multiple others including trips on seaplanes to British Colombia, private trains to Vancouver, and dinner cruises in Puget Sound that were cancelled. I kid you not. Having the freedom to spend nearly $30,000 on 30 people has pretty much ruined any chance I ever had of planning a small, budget friendly wedding. Not that I'm doing that. No pressure honey!

No big plans for the weekend. Softball on Sunday, a little H&M with Em and the family. I'm in the mood to bake some autumn treats for the office on Monday, so I'll try to get around to that. People have requested brownies. I'm beginning to think I'm the only person in the world who prefers brownies from a mix to the real thing. Maybe I just haven't found the right recipe?

The girls are hosting a homecoming party next weekend, so I may need some opinions on which dress to wear from my formative HS years. Pictures to be provided early next week.

Reason # 167 why I can't live alone

You know how they say everyone should experience living on their own once in their life? Not me. I'm no good at being alone. I mean like physically being alone. If left to my own devices, I'd probably become a hermit. A super messy, trashy tv watching, take out eating, wine swilling hermit.

Jota has been out of town for two days, and in that time I...

• Checked the large closet, small closet, and shower 10+ times for crazy men who may have somehow come in through the chained door while I was in the kitchen making dinner.
• Took the trash out for the first time in four months. I almost had to call him to find out where we keep the trash bags.
• Left the recycling in our bin because I have no idea where the big bin is outside.
• Loaded the dishwasher after making dinner. House rule: I cook, you clean. Sweet deal right? Not when it's just me. I'm a messy chef.
• Walked Duff morning and night. Snuggled with Duff morning and night. Stumbled over Duff at the front door while he cried for Jota. Duff is not a one person dog. He's a needy bitch with the ability to drive anyone mad with his incessant need for love.
• Walked to the liquor store to buy tampons, wine, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's.
• Debated calling the cops at 2:00am because the bum kids were smoking pot on the corner. Oh and having dog fights.
• Debated calling Jota at 2:15am because I needed to pee and was afraid to walk to the bathroom "alone".
• Thought up excuses for why I can't bike to a concert at the pier tonight. Winner: "I'm baking for the office in celebration of the holiday weekend."
• Tried on tons of outfits after drinking 1/2 a bottle of Beaujolais, leaving the majority of the clothes strewn around the bedroom.

Once upon a time, long ago, actually almost five years ago, Byn was thisclose to convincing me to move to Tampa for a few months before Jota and I came to Santa Monica. Girl, thank God you dodged that bullet.

Jotas Go Green

These past few weeks, I've had mini heart attacks every time I spied the prices at the Arco station on Pico and 4th, the cheapest gas station in Santa Monica. Their gas is $4.55/gallon. It's $4.79 at the place on Santa Monica and Lincoln. Seeing as I'm bopping around town in a Ford Escape that barely gets 13 miles/gallon, this is becoming a bit of an issue with my wallet. This time last year, I was spending $40 each visit to the pump, twice a month. That's $80 a month on gas, and let's add an additional $20 to make a round $100. Not too shabby. Of course it helps that my office is five miles from home and I pretty much refuse to drive anywhere on the weekends.

Flash forward a year, and thanks to Mint.com, I can see my petrol spending is now up to $150 a month. Combine that with an increase in the price of flour, fruit, veggies, and pretty much everything beside fish, because fishies don't eat grains, making them more affordable, however there's that whole high in mercury problem, so you shouldn't eat it more than once a week, and hello, my three percent raise in January is doing nothing to cover these increases, and who cares about the ten percent bonus at the end of the year, because that shit is not helping me now. Thank God for rent control.

So in a effort to save some green (meaning money and the environment), Jota and I spent some time this weekend discussing the little changes we can make. Taking a cue from little miss Ashley, here's our plan:

• Biking everywhere we can on weekends. My little wheels were all over town on Saturday. Helping the Barker's move, going to chill on Main St. Note to self, even though legs are the motor, it might be best to not bike while completely and totally sloshed. Accidents do happen.
• Buy Jota a basket for his bike so we can run more household errands.
• Reusable grocery bags. We have two from Albertson's, however we rarely use them. We do at least re-use the paper bags to collect our recycling in.
• Smaller, more frequent grocery trips. I'll admit it, we waste food. I'll forget that we have squash or berries, and I find them all moldy in the fridge when I go to unpack the new groceries. We're going to try shopping for one meal at a time, and stock all the essential staples.
• Farmer's Market! We need to start going to the Venice Market as well as visiting local shops like Winward Farms.
• Stop buying non-recyclable plastic. Bolthouse Farms, I heart your carrot juice, but you're out.
• Use biodegradable soaps. I already have these for the dishwasher (bad, but we don't run it everyday), I need to look into dish and body soap.
• Eat vege. This will be a toughie. I grew up on a cattle farm, and love me some beef. And bacon. And chicken. I am going to try and find other protein options to supplement our diet.

We shall see how this goes!

Best.Weekend.Ever.

Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but seriously one of the best weekends in a while. Friday night I dashed out of work to see Sex and the City with the girls. Everyone came dressed as their favorite character, which ended up being super cute. I had this great plan to wear a black backless dress with heels and a blue wig (you know, because Samantha wore a pink one when she had cancer...), but unfortunately I was stuck way late at work for stupid reasons. So I was all bitter, and nearly in tears (hello crazy), but it's ok because the dress I wore to work looked just like the dress Carrie wore in the book reading scene. Only less puffy around the neck.


Saturday morning Jota and I lazed around in bed with the Duff until 11 or so. Later in the morning we took off on our bikes, and headed to the Promenade for some shopping. Jota got some new sunglasses, and I found a super cute navy eyelet dress that was 50% off! Afterward, Barker met up with us for lunch at Barney's, where we got a super primo spot on the front of the patio. I seriously could have sat there all day. That is until a pigeon flew into the side of my head. Little fucker. That night we went out with Da and Kel for Laura's birthday. Sports Harbour is usually not my kind of bar, but when you're knocking back the Shirley Temples, nothing is more exciting than games! Played some Pop-a-Shot, watched some shuffle board, and almost got around to pinball, but ran out of quarters.


Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday. Slept in late. Woke up without a debilitating hangover. Amazing. Ended up biking over to the marina to go to Kinkos for work. Work on a Sunday? Yes, because some people I work with obviously have a problem with time management. Whatevs. Luckily, DSW was nearby, and I found the yellow shoes I've been yearning for, at 40% off! Seriously, the bargain gods were totally on my side this weekend. Once we got home, I decided to give Duff his summer do. He's clipped super short, with a puffy tail, ears, and feet. Kind of like a circus lion from old cartoons.

Euro 2008 starts tomorrow? Or did it already start this week? Jota, help me out on this one. Either way, we're watching soccer and eating waffles starting at 9am tomorrow morning. I'd like to play some croquet by the beach in the evening. Hint, hint.

PS, I really intended to post this the other day, so obviously I'm way late on this weekend recap bullshizz.

Weekend in Review

Since this was our first weekend in April without guests, Jota and I planned on taking it easy. Thursday night I ended up at the gym for nearly two hours with LM. Crazy girl, but she's keeping me on track. Was going to hit happy hour at Sonny McLean's, but was happy to hear Jota wasn't up for it.

Friday was quite the busy one in the office, but I luckily escaped before 7:00pm. Amazing. My first out before 8:30pm on a Friday night in over a month! Score! Came home, made dinner, and hung out with Jota. Nice early night.

On Saturday, Jota had to jet to work for Mahalo Idol. I might have wanted to audition. Ok, I really wanted to audition. But didn't want to get the job only because I was shacking up with Jota Extraordinaire. I ended up chilling with Duff, watched The Princess Diaries 2, then eventually got showered in time for Jota to come home and chill on the stoop with me. Jetted up to Kel and Da's for some old fashioned grilling out. The ladies made delicious looking portobello mushroom burgers, grilled asparagus, and tasty veggie kebobs. There was lots of wine. And Corona. And Newcastle. Eww. And that's sadly all I remember.

Sunday was painful. We planned on spending the day at the Santa Monica Pier for the Green Apple Festival. Made it up there around 4ish? Got some new sneaks at the Promenade, and rallied to have some super sized beers at Big Deans. Missed Ziggy perform, but I heard he sucked and only played four songs. Biking home with the wind and cold was no fun. But I got some unintentional exercise in. Woot woot! Snagged some Chipotle on the way over to Drew and Liz's so the boys could have band practice. Watched Juno with Michelle and Liz, and practically pissed my pants laughing. I can't believe I hadn't seen it! And Jason Bateman, while I do love you, even I was creeped out with your sketchy, dirty old man character.