Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Holy Crikey!
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
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
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
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...
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.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Because I'm hungover
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.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The night we slept on the beach...oh and my birthday!
- Emmy Fro got me a great lavender mask, an appletini fizzy bubble bath, and some delicious smelling lotion from Vicky's.
- Boss Lady really surprised me with a gift certificate to Exhale Spa in Santa Monica.
- Jota got me a new i-pizzle, complete with arm band for the gym. He also got me a condom for my phone. Hopefully it will have a longer life than the last one.
- Byn sent me quite possibly the cutest assortment of gifts I've ever received. A cupcake cookbook, a grillz lollipop, grow my own birthday cake, and the cutest little photo album ever!
- Liz hooked me up with a nice rolling pin. Random you might say, but she remembered hearing me say that I usually use a bottle of wine when rolling out my pizza crust. She also gave me a great baking cookbook.
- Jota's parents sent me beautiful flowers to the office. I loved them!
So yes, my friends are the bestest friends in the entire world. Each one of them totally picked out a part of my personality and ran with it. I truly appreciate each and every one of them. The friends, not the presents. Gosh, I'm not that bratty.
The best part of my birthday was Saturday, when we raced cars, putt putted, and rock climbed our way through Mulligan's Family Fun Center in Torrance. It was incredibly hot, but absolutely the most fun I've had in ages!

On the way home, we stopped by Drew and Liz's for a dip in the pool and some margaritas. And some pina coladas, yum. And some beers. We jetted home in time to shower, and meet Annie and Kevin out for some more beers and fun at Hinano. Jota and I left soon after midnight, stopped by Nick's Market to grab a road beer for the walk to Townhouse, but unfortunately never made it. We did however make it to the beach, only to fall asleep on a towel until about 4:00 in the morning. Oops.
What's in your fridge?
- Some eggy whites, and real eggys too. Plain eggy whites creep me out, so I need a yolk or two in there.
- Earth Balance - Vegan butter. An accidental buy at Trader Joe's but I'm kind of into it.
- I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - For Jota, he's not too sure about the vegan butter.
- Half and Half for the coffee
- Brita Filter, because while I will swim in Venice water, I certainly won't drink it.
- Heart's Desire Meatless Chicken Strips. I'm afraid to try them.
- Edamame hummus from Whole Foods. So good.
- That white tub is my cheese tub. Shredded cheese, gouda cheese, string cheese. I heart all cheese. Except swiss. Nasty.
- Champagne Liz brought over from her and Drew's engagement pizza party. Congrats!
- West Soy Unsweetened Vanilla Soymilk is amazing in my smoothies.
- Bud. Wise. Er. The king of beers.
- Club Soda for VD's nasty vodka beverages. Yes, she also keeps her own bottle of Seagram's in the liquor cabinet.
- Spicy Hot V8 that Ben left after making red beers the other week.
- Jolt Cola. Free from kickball. Unfortunately, no one will drink it.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
New Feature...Baking!
So Jota...you better get to band practice! Or maybe I can bake on the day you have soccer, and you can have band practice the next day? That way you can take some yummies for the boys. Then we can call you The Cupcakes, or The Cupcake Effect...or something like that.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Jotas Go Green
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!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
A Secret Admirer?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Baking my Little Heart Out
Friday, June 06, 2008
Best.Weekend.Ever.
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.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
So much to say...But I don't know what
My first step, no more booze. Hard to believe I would drop the drinking for anything other than dropping a few pounds, but I know it's only making things worse. I'll be 27 in three weeks, and while I love the frat parties, bar cycles, and all day booze bashes at the beach, I'm too old to keep doing this shit every weekend.
Second step, get help. As in professional. Thinking this scares me. Typing it freaks me out. And saying it; makes me tear up.
So new goal? Stop being crazy, and start getting happy. Wow, I sound like a self help book already.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Whose Birthday is Next?
Friday, May 16, 2008
Such a Brat
Are You Fucking Kidding Me?
Mr. Jota had a rough Thursday, so instead of making dinner, I decided to take my baby to Naked Sushi over on Washington. With our seats on the heated patio, we had a lovely view of the drunkies bouncing between karaoke at the Whaler and 2 for 1 drinks at Cabo. In the middle of our people watching, I notice a girl standing in a metered space, blocking a car trying to park. Now this is Venice. I can tell you first hand that parking is a bitch. I've totally been that girl standing in front of my house waiting for Jota to pull around so he doesn't have to park a mile away. But this was different. This girl would not move. People are screaming at her, she's on the phone with her friends, and finally she moves out of the way to let the car park.
She doesn't stop there. The people in the car walk away, but this girl continues to chill by the car, presumably on the phone with her friends. She's nosing around, trying the handles, enough that the driver comes back over and has a few more words with her. All this time Jota and I are like, "Seriously? Doesn't this girl have anything better to do than be bitter about losing a parking spot? Where are her friends? Isn't she missing out whatever they're doing?"
So she sits down. Chats with some people. Laughs with some people. And then not one, but two fire trucks show up. And an ambulance. And a cop car. This fucking bitch called the cops, claiming she was hit by a drunk driver who broke her leg. The girl had one scratch on her knee that was scabbed over. They carried her off on a stretcher. At this point, I approached the girl driving the car and gave her my contact information to be used as a witness. Because seriously, I'm fucking livid that my tax dollars were totally wasted right in front of my eyes last night.
And yes, I just used "fuck" like 3 times. I'm pissed.
PS see my twitpic of one fire truck.
Monday, May 12, 2008
I iz a Trainwreck
So what really happened? Kel, Da, and L hosted a frat party at their house Saturday night. The boys played. I did keg curls. Keg curls. Like, curling an empty keg multiple times. I'm not going to be able to lift with my right arm all week. I knocked a table over with a bowl of chips. Picked up the chips, put them back into the bowl and said something to the effect of, "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt."
I rubbed Em's pregnant belly, a day after saying that I wasn't quite ready for that. PS Em, it's a real cute pregnant belly!
Hung out with DH (Dawn H aka Vodka Dawn or VD for short.) Everything was fine for a bit. I'm not going into specifics, but let's just leave it at words were had. Mean ones. Hateful ones. Ones that made me wake up in the morning thinking, "Fuck. I am a bitch. It all needed to be said, but not in that way. Not in front of everyone."
So DH and I hugged it out over the phone last night. Shit's not all weird at work today. We joked that everyone in our incestuous little group will spend the entire week snickering about the "incident", and waiting to see how we'll act this Saturday in Hermosa. Except it's not really a joke. One of, if not the main point we discussed, is how our group gossips like a bitch. We all do, I do. And it's got to stop. So that's the story, at least what I'm willing to tell.