Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The best Christmas present...

I've been pretty remiss in posting lately...and while I don't have any specific reason I do think I find it harder to write about something while it's happening...and despite lots of activity what with all the holiday cheer and whatnot...I have been postponing posting about the one thing that's been occupying most of my time and brainwaves because of some strange feeling that putting it all into words will make it disappear in one big cosmic "j/k". 

So here it is intranets... our very first house. 




We got the keys today...on the very last day of the year...at 3:36pm and I don't think it's quite sunk in. Tomorrow will not only be the start of a new year, but also the start of all our projects....one room at a time.

Yay!!!



We are off to a New Years party....more on that debauchery and house goodies later.


Happy 2009 everyone!!!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Yes We Can!

On this November 5th, 2008 I am prouder to be an American than I have been in the last 26 years of my life. Last night I was witness to history being made. America has spoken and has demanded change and I couldn't be happier.

As I watched McCain's concession speech I couldn't help feel a little sorry for him. I watched as the old McCain made a brief appearance. He was classy and eloquent. He spoke from his heart and his admiration and respect for Obama seemed genuine. It was the first time in many many months McCain seemed Presidential. If he had resisted the urge to pander to the extreme right of the Republican party and had shown this level of integrity during his campaign he may have actually had a chance of winning. Instead he stooped to the level of many of his supporters with mean spirited ads that played fast and loose with the truth and created only a more divided America. Those supporters were the ones booing when McCain mentioned his respect for Barack Obama. They booed and even in the shadow of defeat McCain couldn't bring himself to stand his ground and ask the crowd to be quite and show the President Elect the respect he very much deserves. And that, is a big reason McCain lost (big time) last night. But that's where my sympathies for that old coot end. He made a big mistake in Sarah Palin and I am glad this country dodged that bullet.

We are a better country today than we were yesterday and I firmly believe we've begun the healing process both Nationally and Globally. I didn't vote for Barack Obama just because of his tax plans or his ideas about universal healthcare, but also because he has plugged into what this country needs: hope and inspiration. It's time for a President that can bring tears to the eyes of jaded 20 somethings. It's time for a President that says things like "I will listen to you ESPECIALLY when we disagree". It's time for a President who can form coherent sentences and doesn't stumble clumsily through every day of his weasely little life....sorry...I digress.


Today is a bittersweet sweet day though. As happy as I am about being able to call Barack Obama our new President I am disappointed with the current results for Proposition 8. I wanted to keep this post positive and hopeful, but I can't help but feel deeply wounded that so many Californians voted for a constitutional change to EXCLUDE a minority. This is not what I would have wished, but we cannot lose hope that the remaining votes still to be tabulated will change the ultimate outcome or that the Supreme Court will one more time overturn what clearly is a discriminatory ban on gay marriage. One day we will all truly see each other as equals....one day...I don't think it will be within my lifetime, but I will do everything within my power to make sure my children will see that day. If this election proves anything it is that we are making progress....yes we can. 

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Barack and Roll!

I realized last night as I was brushing my teeth (I do some of my best thinking while brushing...) that I had a knot in my stomach. A nervous, excited knot. I felt the same way I did when I was a kid on Christmas Eve. All the anticipation and potential. I believed when I was little that I would wake up in the morning and there would be a horse with a red bow on its head standing in our living room. I really firmly believed it was possible. I'd begged and pleaded for a horse and that night before Christmas my little body could barely contain the excitement at the mere possibility that my parents may have decided that it would be a good idea to bring a large farm animal into our small house in the middle of the suburbs. I felt the same way last night in anticipation of today's election. All the possibility. The possibility that something amazing could happen today. Except this time it's much more of a reality than a horse in my living room. Seriously, what would I have done with the horse? Ride him and love him and name him Artex, that's what. 

I waiting for almost two hours this morning to vote and while it was slightly irritating (mostly just due to the poor organization of the polling place)  I was excited to see so many people coming out to make their voice heard. Young, old, black, white, Prada and Kmart all coming together to make their mark on American history. I've never waited in line to vote. Not even for a few minutes...and like many other Americans I've seen on the news, I couldn't have been happier to do it. This election marks a change in American history....we will either elect our first African American President (fingers crossed) or the first female Vice President (lord save us). I am excited at the idea that the American people are about to stand up to the last 8 years and give Bush the collective middle finger. Let's get us out of Iraq, let's get our economy back on track and let's regain the respect of the world at large. The time has come.

Obama 08.



Saturday, November 1, 2008

Oooh spppoooooky....

Indy was Halloween's star at my office Friday when he showed up (I had no idea!) in his Indiana Jones costume!


"It belongs in a museum mommy!!!"


Chillin....chewing his bone...completely content in his ridiculous little outfit.




Speaking of ridiculous outfits....... we had a little office party on Friday in honor of the holiday.

Why are you wearing that stupid human suit?

The cool kids....clearly....

Well...that was halloween. We didn't do much....stayed home Friday night and went to Dan's halloween party on Saturday...I showed up in a McCain/Palin Tshirt, with a black eye and a backwards B on my face....if you don't get it you need to watch the news more. 

Otherwise not a terrible lot going on here....more to come tomorrow I'm sure....

Happy Halloween and don't forget to vote!





Thursday, October 30, 2008

Margaret and Helen

This woman is wise beyond her years...and that's saying a lot...cuz she's 82.


Please take the time to read. I agree with everything she says. In my short lifetime I have cultivated a healthy distrust of politicians and the U.S. government, but in the last 20 months I, myself, have  been moved to tears at the idea of a new America....one that is centered around intelligence, listening, unity, hope....and change.

5 more days.


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Such a good daddy...

On Saturday afternoon Chris and I were getting ready to head out for a nice long walk with Indy. We'd saddled him up with his backpack full of water (to tire that little sucker out) and had arms full of bags of recycling to take downstairs. Since Chris was holding the Indy dog's leash I was carrying the heavier bags full of glass bottles. We got down to the dumpster room and realized the recycle bins were blocked off by trash dumpsters and as Chris stood inside the trash room and I stood in the doorway a single solitary Corona bottle slid off the top of my overly stuffed paper grocery bag and crashed to the ground shattering in thousands of little pieces. We just chucked the recycling in the dumpsters and assessed the damage. There was glass everywhere blocking the exit...There was a tiny little possible path for Indy and Chris to make their way out, but instead of trying to lead Indy through it Chris bent down and picked up our 90lb dog with a backpack full of water and carried him over the broken glass. It was quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen...
My boys...at the AIDS Walk

Monday, October 13, 2008

The Zen of House Hunting

Well....after spending a significant chunk of our Saturday in the car we successfully eliminated 16 of the 24 houses we drove by. We started off in Burbank and realized that really really please can we live in Burbank it's really totally cute!!! The neighborhoods are great...but like we already knew, the houses are smaller. The idea of only having 2 bedrooms doesn't exactly appeal to us, but at the same time we may just be willing to sacrifice for the kind of neighborhood that people conspire to commit murder to get into. We went and saw the castle house that I posted about and yes it is awesome. It's a pre-forclosure and is a screamin deal so the likelihood of us getting into it for below the asking price is slim to none. The neighborhood though is something out a dream. It's even near IKEA!!! for easy access to poorly built still overpriced oddly named home furnishings.

We now have 8 houses to go see with our realtor. I'm waffling between the feeling of competition to get to a house before anyone else and to just go with the flow...when "our" house is ready to be found...we will find it.....I must go to my happy place. Ommmmmmmm.......

Indy was entirely unimpressed by our adventures since every time we slowed down in front of a house he thought it was time to wrestle with dogs and eat grass. He was, however, rewarded for his good behavior with a pit stop at his old dog park. Where he promptly ran around like a chicken on cocaine, drank too much water and threw up his breakfast....awesome.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Shhh...we're hunting wabbits...err...houses.

Over the past few weeks I have been adding systematically to a document I've created entitled "houses". Any time I saw a listing online that I liked I would add it. We now have 16+ houses on this list including one 1930's French Tudor style house in what we think is a cute part of Burbank. It's a pre-forclosure that hasn't been on the market for very long so I'm sure it'll get snatched up before we even get to it...but we'll go check it out. Look cute, right! Needs some TLC but has tons of character.


Back in March when we were going out regularly with our realtor we realized that 3/4 of the houses we liked online were immediately out of the running when we drove by and saw the neighborhood. So this time we'll drive by all of them first and then go with our realtor to only the ones we think are promising. I have just finished using the google maps to plot out our 1 hour and 46 minute course of house hunting for today. We'll throw Indy in the car with us and head out to do some house hunting....wish us luck!!

Friday, October 10, 2008

I'm easily annoyed by...

being forced to endure the sounds of other people's mucous. Snorting, hacking and coughing. I think I'm overly sensitive to it, but it DRIVES. ME. CRAZY.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Was thinking about it and....

I actually really like the end pieces of the bread.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Let them eat avocados...

Sunday morning we headed to the farmer's market to pick up our week's worth of organic produce...ok, I really go for the free samples. Better than Costco. mmmmmm

As we headed into the tent with the avocados I began my inspection of the goods. I gave a few of the avocados a little squeeze to test for ripeness. We had planned on eating one of them that day and I wanted it at its peak. As I'm going about my business...thoroughly enjoying the vibe at the market...a guy maybe in his early 30's next to me picks up three avocados and mumbles, "after you've squeezed them all..." Thinking he meant the comment in a joking "oh you've touched all the produce!" kind of way I simply gave him a sideways glance and a confused half smile. I proceeded with my inspection of the produce. Finding all of the avocados to be rock hard I was getting a little bummed and then this same guy mumbles under his breath very passive aggressively that I was ruining all the avocados. I responded with "i don't want a rock hard avocado". He responded, getting obviously worked up "people set those out on their countertops where you put your finger and.....[trailing off]. I just said, "you don't know how hard I'm squeezing them and I'm not ruining them." As he started to walk off I looked at Chris and loud enough for this guy to hear said "What an asshole!". The guy turned around and mumbled something about not being an asshole, probably said something rude and then wandered off. 

The entire exchange left me with ruffled feathers and a bad taste in my mouth. It also had me second guessing myself and my knowledge of how to select produce. I've gently pressed every single avocado I've ever purchased, have never ruined one and have always picked perfectly ripe avocados. We ultimately just grabbed a bag of six and went on our way...I noted that all of them in the bag were hard. 

Later that day we went about making sandwiches. Mine was going to be a pita sandwich with hummus, cucumber, carrot and avocado all from the farmer's market. As I went to cut open that avocado....guess what? Rock hard, completely unripe and entirely unedible. I was understandably irritated and felt a strong desire to find this passive aggressive asshole with a lack of understanding of produce and make my point one more time.


And for those curious...I found this online.




"A ripe avocado is relatively firm, but will yield to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. Color cannot always be trusted to determine whether or not an avocado is ripe. Indeed, the squeeze test is the most accurate.
If you plan to use avocados immediately, buy ripe ones. But if you want to buy them a few days before you plan to use them, you can buy them when they are hard and do not yield to squeezing. Then just set them out in a cool place and wait for them to get ripe."

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Five years down...

I probably should have mentioned this back in June...but as of June 2008 I have lived in Los Angeles for five years. FIVE WHOLE YEARS!!! That's 19.23% of my life!! I did the math!! It wasn't hard...basic algebra...

My Los Angeles five year anniversary came and went and I'm pretty sure I didn't even notice. When I moved to LA I was 21 and my plan was to try LA out for 1 year and see where that landed me. I would like to be able to tell you what I planned to do after that first year but the truth is I never had any idea. All I knew is that I couldn't live my entire life in one area of the country. I couldn't go to elementary school in Sunnyvale, high school in San Jose and college in Santa Clara, settle down, never live anywhere else and still be happy. Even now I still think I'd be missing out if I never lived outside of California. 

I can very vividly remember the day my parents, my brother and Linus helped me move in...I took one look around my apartment and at the downtown skyline from my balcony and thought, "I'm going to be here a lot longer than a year".  Even as I had that thought I never considered I'd still be here five years down the road and even crazier that my life would be what it is now. 

I've learned a lot in those five years. The most important thing is that everything I say won't happen or that I say I would NEVER do seems to happen. I'm not talking about when I said "I would never do heroin", I'm talking about when I said in college "I'll never move to LA" or "I'm not dating Chris".  I now hesitate to say absolutes out loud and I fully expect the unexpected (wait...does that make it expected then?). The truth of the matter is that I tried to leave LA but couldn't pull the trigger. I almost moved to San Francisco and enrolled in culinary school (the baking and pastry program thank you very much). I had filled out the application, visited the school, spoken with the admissions rep... I just couldn't I can't even begin to wrap my brain around what my life would be like if I had made that decision. I'm not sure exactly what it is that has kept me here so long, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a certain fella....and all the possibilities of what could happen here if I just gave it time. I can happily say that five years later I have some of the most amazing friends who I wouldn't trade for the world, have found a steady job working in the entertainment industry and have a really cute dog who, fingers crossed, will eventually calm the F down.



Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I have no title for this post.....

Some of you may be aware of the dangers of bpa/bisphenol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A) , which is in so many plastic bottles and can...well... be really bad for you and your unborn children...not that I have any....in case you were wondering. A few months ago Chris picked up a Sigg bottle which is made from aluminum and therefore has some fancy shmancy lining (the company itself describes the lining as "secret formula lining") and has benefits in its own right, but for my money still tasted and smelled a little....metallic. While at REI picking up a backpack for Indy....I found this guy... my new Klean Kanteen. It's made of stainless steel and is easy to klean (hehe), non toxic, sanitary and most of all tastes completely metal free. I love it and not only have I ditched my constant use of plastic bottles, but because I have less guilt...I'm drinking more water! Cheers all around!!!



Go get one. Save the environment. 




And while you're at it...help some people who have HIV/AIDS. 

October 19th will mark the 5th year I've participated in AIDS Walk Los Angeles. I'm sure most people reading this blog received an e mail from me about it already, but if this reaches a few people who didn't get that e mail then it's worth me writing about. This year I've decided to take Indy with us on the 10K walk...we'll see how he does around all the people and little dogs! He wants to play with them so bad!!! They...however...are freaked out by the excited 85lb monster pawing at them....

To sponsor me and help me reach my goal of $700 (we did it last year people!!) click here. https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=278287&lis=0&kntae278287=DF895004157D495B92C8BC8E775FA6F6 
Every small donation helps and don't forget...it's tax deductible!!! Hurray!

Indy really wants you to sponsor him too! He's got his backpack and he's all ready for his first AIDS Walk!



Thursday, September 18, 2008

From this delinquent blogger...

I don't really have anything to say. I've thought about writing a few different posts since my last (which was tragically too long ago) and always decided against writing in favor of giving my brain a rest.

To say that the last couple months have been busy would be a dramatic understatement. I finished up on the show I've spent the last year and a half working on and am now onto a new show. Every single second of the last two months has been spent with my brain active and running and I'm exhausted. I'm just about in the home stretch...at which point I think I'll be able to relax for maaaybe a few days and I'm so looking forward to this weekend. 

I've thought many times in the last months about posting political blogs and have quite frankly found myself too angry to post how I really feel and actually too involved in watching the news and reading up on the day to day developments to keep up and post the latest on this piddly blog. However I will direct everyone to www.factcheck.org a non partisan political fact checker that investigates the claims both candidates or the media are making for accuracy. 

I think that's all I have for now....but I promise to be better from now on....

Thursday, July 31, 2008

SHOW US YOU'RE NUTS!

It's that time of year again folks...ok...so we do this every season...but it's still fun!! IT'S KICKBALL!!!!

Summer is the best time for kickball...I know what you're thinking...any time is a good time for  kickball...and you would be correct sir, but the warm nights make for less pulled muscles and more refreshing post game beers! This past Monday kicked off the Season 5 Summer 2008 kickball chaos. This season our theme is Nuts and Honeys: Prison Love. Big props to Sam for coming up with the theme as well as the idea for our striped prison pants and the awesome felt prison bars that go up around the dugout. Check it out:


Just a little bbq and lot of strips of felt...that's all. 



Very important top secret construction meeting.



The result. After lots and lots of hot gluing. That's a jail I would be proud to break out of!



She's in for aggravated assault. 25 to life.



First game of the season against Redrum. Tied 2-2.



These are the Nuts & Honeys. 
Don't drop the soap.


Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Because I share good things...

Peanut Butter: *tap tap*

Jess: *turns around*  "Oh! Hi."

Peanut Butter: *shuffles feet* *looks down* "Ummm...hi."

Jess: "How've you been?"

Peanut Butter: "Ok. I'm doing well. Gettin by, you know....."

Jess: "Yea."
(pause)

Peanut Butter: "Haven't seen you around too much...."

Jess: "Yea....I've actually.....(pause)....I've been seeing someone new."

Peanut Butter: "oh! oh really!oh! well that's really great! Congratulations!"

Jess: "Yea...things are going really well....you should meet him sometime...I mean...unless you don't want to"

Peanut Butter: "No no! uuuhh.....yea....uhh....sure....we could do that. What's his name?"

Jess: "PB2".

Peanut Butter: "ouch".

Jess: "I know. I'm sorry.........(pause).....this is kinda weird...I think I should go."

Peanut Butter: *sniff* "Yea...me too...I....have to....y'know...be somewhere."

Jess: "Ok. Maybe I'll see you soon?"

Peanut Butter: "I don't know....maybe".

Powdered peanut butter, my friends. The oil is squeezed out of roasted peanuts and what you're left with is the nutty powder that smells...well...slightly nutty. Just add water and you've got yourself low fat peanut butter!!! The flavor is not as intense, but it is a really great substitute and I have to send a big shout out to Sam for turning me on to this. I do, also have to admit that I mix in a teensy bit of crunchy real peanut butter for a more solid PB & J. I just ate some on an organic brown rice cake. Take your judgement somewhere else. I heart my food. 

Next time I'll tell you about the Organic Nitrate Free Grass Fed Beef Hot Dogs I discovered. Oh sweet baby jesus in a onesie they're the best tasting hot dogs ever. Tastes like real meat! That wasn't abused! Happy cows = tasty BBQ!

Links you must know about:






Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Why it's important to think before you speak...

Me (to Indy): Stop being an asshole.

Chris (in Indy's voice): You're the one with the asshole.

Me (to Indy): That's right. We both have assholes. Yours is under your tail. Mine is brown.....and has fur. (pause.....pause).....That didn't come out right. 




See...cuz Indy is BROWN! And he HAS FUR!!! Siiiigh....it made sense in my head.


Monday, July 21, 2008

Weekend In Review

Pop Quiz

This weekend I:

a.) yelled at a small child
b.) showed up dramatically overdressed to a party

Answer:
c.) both a & b
(did I not mention that was an option?)


In August I will be attending my friend Amy's wedding and while I'm not in the wedding party I have been asked (along with 5 other high school friends) to wear any shade of green. I've had a hell of time finding a green dress that won't set me back the GDP of a small country so at the suggestion of my good friend Samantha Kraft we headed downtown bright and early (ok, it was 11:00) to check out the array of bridesmaid dress/quinceanera shops in the fashion district. When we arrived the streets were already overflowing with bargain hunters and it was beginning to get hot. The bacon wrapped hot dog carts had been pulled out and the streets smelled like grease and garbage. After over two hours of disappointment (and after Sam stepped in a wet pile of trash) we decided it was time to go and started walking towards the car. A young girl (maybe 7 years old, give or take) walked toward me and as she finished eating whatever deep fried lunch item she had in her hand I watched as she took the many layers of paper and leftover food, crumbled it into a ball and tossed it into the gutter of the street. Not 10 feet from a trashcan. She was looking at me the whole time. I didn't even think and said sternly, "Pick it up!". She didn't. To which I responded, "You little brat!". I said it loud. I was livid. Aside from the time I saw someone throw a beer can out of their window at a freeway offramp I have never really witnessed this kind of blatant littering. I like to assume that the massive amounts of trash that collect on freeway shoulders and city gutters ends up their accidentally. That no one would INTENTIONALLY toss their garbage anywhere but the proper trash receptacle. I guess I was wrong. It's even more disheartening that it's a kid. A stupid little shit kid. This world is not only being destroyed by wealthy money hungry oil men who want to destroy the only remaining undeveloped wilderness this world has with drills, but also by little kids whose ignorant parents don't care enough to teach her anything about respect. God, it's depressing when I start thinking about it. This is why I hate downtown LA. It's dirty, smelly and chaulk full of people who are just trying to get through the day and not thinking about a world outside their own. So we headed back to the valley where it was even hotter, and had lunch with Chris. It was nice. I had the hawaiian chicken sandwich. I'm on a pineapple kick right now. But I digress.

That night we had dinner with friends and saw Dark Knight at an IMAX theater. It was everything I hoped it would be. Anyone that says Heath Ledger is only being talked about for an Oscar nod because he's no longer with us can suck an egg. He's brilliant in this movie and it is a damn shame this was his last performance. 

After the movie (yes, it was a late night for us) we headed home to change for Karen's birthday extravaganza. As Karen is want to do she gave the party a theme. This time it was "you'll never wear that in this town again". Each guest was supposed to show up in something that they'll never wear again. Karen wore a bridesmaid's dress, Chris wore leather pants (awesome), Mike wore his 'house shirt' that his girlfriend won't let him wear in public and I wore my glittery gold full length gown that I bought for a fraternity formal in college. I love this dress. It's so outdated and amazingly gaudy and despite leaving the house feeling incredibly insecure as to whether anyone else at the party would be dressed up, I rocked my glitter dress. Before we left I texted Karen, "am I going to feel silly if I wear this dress?". Her response, "no. we need more people like you". That should have tipped me off. I showed up to what was basically a backyard party full of people in jeans and t shirts. I immediately felt awkward...so I poured myself a drink. There I stood in the backyard of someone's house in a full length formal gown surrounded by folks in jeans and t shirts, holding my red party cup. At some point I just gave in to the fact that while I felt out of place, wearing a full length gold dress covered in glitter to a party is a fantastic conversation piece. I felt less awkward...partly due to vodka soaked watermelon (mmmm) and partly due to the fact that multiple girls came up to me at some point and said, " I totally have that dress in (fill in color)!!! I wore it to my Senior prom!". Awesome. I like to think that I made everyone else feel underdressed.

Happy Birthday Honey Apple!














OH! You wanted to see the full length dress? Well allow me to present you with what I look like when I'm not ready for a photo. Enjoy.

Friday, July 18, 2008

I might regret this in the morning...

Wow. Ok. So I'm a little afraid to put this out there for all of the internets to see...but I have a confession to make and I have a feeling I won't be alone...so I'm just going to go ahead and say it.......

I think I have a tiny little baby crush on Josh Groban.

*cringe*

Are you done judging me yet?

I know. You all thought I was so cool, what with my deep love for Peter Cetera and all, but I think you're going to have to agree with me on a couple things. And then you might disagree with me on a few others.

First of all. Regardless of your taste in music you have to admit that damn that boy has an amazing voice. Adult contemporary pop is not exactly my kind of thing but I could listen to that kid's velvety smooth crooning for more than just one song...I think.

Second of all his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's "I'm F***ing Ben Affleck" revenge video (in response to Sarah Silverman's "I"m F***ing Matt Damon" video for those of you who live under a rock) was genius and wins him major cool points in my book for not taking himself so seriously.



So I happen to stumble across his video for "You Raise Me Up" (I refuse to talk about exactly how I "stumbled" across it) and figured that while I worked I would listen to the song...but I totally got sucked in to this video for the following reasons:

1.) Turns out Josh Groban is hot. Like a goofier Christian Bale if you will. I almost think his toddler boy locks work for him.
2.) Um, hello? Gospel choir backup? Works like a charm every time!
3.) The struggling ballerina finally mastering the lift! What an inspiration! Get it? YOU LIFT ME UP! It's both literal and metaphorical!

Here's the video for you ladies to drool over...er...watch.



(I know...I'm confused why he's sleeping on that couch too! But doesn't he look cuddly in his hooded sweatshirt?!)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I churrdon't want those churros.

Here you go....check out the reviews for Xooro (see previous post). http://www.yelp.com/biz/xooro-santa-monica

I guess there's still a market for "Churronimo!". Now don't any of you go stealing my idea. Especially the name...the name is the best part.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Sometimes it's just so hard...

I haven't uploaded any of the three pictures I took from our weekend getaway to San Diego just yet...so I'll hold off on blogging about how awesome it was for the time being.....instead I'd like to share a conversation I just had with my friend Sam over IM. 

My brother Dan posted on his blog a conversation with Linus and tried to get us all to see how frustrating a conversation with Linus can be, but after reading that conversation I just saw how frustrating talking to either Dan or Linus is. So now I will top his post...and show you fine people what I have to deal with on a daily basis.

JESS: mmm menchies

SAM: mun chi chis?

JESS: menchies. have you never gone to menchies?
SAM: no

JESS: well my dear

SAM: what is this you speak of?

JESS: http://www.menchiesyogurt.com/
it's frozen yogurt
and they have 10 rotating flavors and it's self serve
and so you get your yogurt
and you choose your toppings and do it all yourself
then you pay by the weight
pretty great

SAM: what is it with you and rotating foods?

JESS: what do you mean?
i like other rotating foods?

SAM: http://www.xooro.com/
clikc on products then fritters


JESS: oh no. i know. i posted that
but i'm talking about the flavors are constantly changing!

SAM: watch the fritter rotate

JESS: iknow!
haha

SAM: what?
constantly changing?

JESS: menchies. rotating flavors. as in...they are constantly changing the flavors
are you high?
you're high aren't you?

SAM: hahaha
no

JESS: i don't believe you

SAM: i still don't get it

JESS: what don't you get?

SAM: why would they do that?

JESS: so you have variety
of frozen yogurt flavors

SAM: ahhh
i was thinking it was this machine

JESS: oh sweet jesus sam
hahaha

SAM: that rotated flavors or something
and then you said you could pick

JESS: hahahahaha
haa
oh man
i'm crying

SAM: but i was confused as to how if all the flovors were changing
hahaha
ahhhh
good times

JESS: too good
tooo good

SAM: i will be visiting there soon
it is almost a full moon and i gather i will want something sweet

Friday, July 11, 2008

Churrofftoagoodstart.

Back in May, during our annual pilgrimage to Disneyland in honor of Mother's Day, my family and I were standing in a two hour line for the "Finding Nemo" ride (overrated. bring back the yellow submarine!) and having a discussion about the vast superiority of Brazilian churros over the americanized version they sell at amusement parks. Now, while it's hard to go wrong with fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar, Brazilian churros take the entire category up a few notches by taking the empty center hole and filling it with....wait for it...condensed milk custardy goodness. 

I think I just drooled on my keyboard. 

So while waiting in line we were talking about our new family business venture of gourmet varieties of churros. The American public would go CRAZY for these things. All different flavors! Sweet! Savory! Delivery! Churros at your doorstep!!! GENIUS!!!!! I even came up with the brilliant name for the family business. Are you ready? You might not be ready. It's pretty awesome. "Churronimo!" Say it out loud. I just blew your mind, huh? Now...it's not like I've been working late on a business plan and I'm not necessarily accusing Disney of planting spies within their lines. Ok. Yes I am. That whole place is bugged, man. Seriously. I open my Daily Candy email this morning to find.....this:  
www.xooro.com. I'm not sure if I'm going to sue or not, but I might write a strongly worded letter to Disney. That letter may or may not be covered in cinnamon sugar, custard and chocolate icing.....drooooool.




Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hello. My name is Jessica and I have a drinking problem.

So...it's 5:09pm....and I'm work avoiding by checking what I could redeem my 20,000+ american express rewards points that it has taken faaar too long for me to accrue despite overspending consistently...and I go to take a sip of water from the cup that's sitting by my computer...."mmm this is going to be refreshing", I think....just as I proceed to pour the rest of the glass down my shirt....not just on my shirt. IN/DOWN my shirt. Not a drop made it into my mouth. 

Awesome. 

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Daily Thought... Chiropractors

I keep waffling back and forth as to whether I feel better or worse after visiting the chiropractor. Yesterday was my fourth visit out of the six that are approved by my insurance. I pretty seriously tweaked my neck while in Kansas City over this fourth of July weekend (pictures and stories to come once I steal them from Chris..the pictures..not the stories...those will be mine) and am starting to feel that I've had more aches and pains since my first visit almost 4 weeks ago than I did before going...coincidence? or is my body really just fighting the adjustments. Hmmm.....
That's my problem too!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Daily Thought....must think of new title for daily thought posts....this is getting redundant already.

Trader Joe's non fat Greek style blueberry yogurt with sliced up bananas is everything I hoped it would be and more. It is the bright shiny beacon of happiness in an otherwise completely mind numbing day.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Daily Thought

Why is it that english muffins only taste good when toasted? When not toasted it's just regular bread, right? I think not! All other breads taste delicious both right out of the bag as well as after a trip in my broiler (we really need a toaster oven). So...what is UP with english muffins!!?!?!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

How I spent 2 hours of my life...

When I started my day I had over 800 unread emails in my inbox.

These are not from one day. I have a problem. Just like how I can't fold clothes, match socks or make the bed with any kind of consistency...I have a problem deleting junk e mails....Whew! That feels good to admit. They say that's the first step....admitting you have a problem. So today I decided to do something about it. I took the second step. And started deleting. I'm now down to 43 unread e mails in my inbox. I deleted 882 emails today. It feels good. My index finger kind of hurts. 


Things are looking up...things are definitely looking up...

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

4 years and counting...

As of today, Chris and I have been dating for 4 years (plus that first nine months of pretending we weren't dating that I refuse to forget because dammit we deserve credit for that time too!). To celebrate we finally took our first romantic "weekend" getaway. After dropping the pooch off at Double Dog Dare Ya (and we do!) we headed up past Santa Barbara to Solvang for some wine tasting and well...that's all we had planned really....

We arrived around 12:30pm. Too early to check in to the hotel, but just in time to enjoy some really delicious sandwiches and.....a beer? In wine country? Yup. That's how we roll. 

Show us your beer Chris! "Don't mind if I do!", he says.
Ok, let's back track. The REAL first thing we did was stop off at the visitors information center...where they're supposed to give visitors, ya know, information. Instead we encountered a grumpy old (and I do mean OLD..like, WELL over 35) woman who handed us a map of California and told us the tasting rooms were all around town and that we'd find them. Um....ok. That wasn't helpful. (I actually said that. I hope she heard.). 

So after lunch we found a visitors booth with a woman who gave us some great 2 for 1 coupons, a local map of downtown and some recommendations of her favorite tasting rooms. And off we went! TO THE OLIVE HOUSE! It's more than just olives! Says so on the sign.
This was our first tasting of the day and we sat at the bar and chatted up the young guy that was pouring. We splurged an extra dollar and did a wine/olive combo tasting which I LOVED. We also really dug their Pinot Noir. (stop me when i start sounding froo froo, but the weekend WAS all about wine... and our love. right. our love).



Solvang is a Danish town (history lesson in a later blog post) so all the architecture is quaint and old school but still feels very new and clean....so we...

stopped to take a picture in front of one of the windmills...because how could you not. This one's for lease in case anyone is interested. 

Then we were off to Trio, a winery that the friendly visitor's information lady said was her favorite. "I have yet to taste a wine from them that I didn't like", she said. That's almost an exact verbatim quote. Turns out...we only sort of liked one of their wines. They age most of their wine in either stainless steel or an oak/stainless steel combo and I'm not sure if that's why, but I was not a big fan. Oh well. 
At this point we were starting to feel the effects of the beer, sun and wine...
...so we might as well keep that going! On to Stolpman! This room was a bit more sophisticated than, say, the olive house and had some great wines. We really liked their Sangiovese...a wine I'd never tried before. yay! We're learning!

Hey Chris! How do you feel about Merlot? 
Yea...me too. :)


Next stop on the booze train....Wandering Dog! 
I really liked this stop. We walked in to find a woman at the bar with her 11 year old white lab! I bypassed the wine and made a b line for the puppy!!! At this point Chris and I were at our most social so we hung out and chatted with the gal behind the bar and the owner of the dog and ultimately walked out with a bottle of Blair Fox Syrah.

How's the vino?
"mmmm...that's goood", he says.

Seeing as how we were a bit tipsy and it was around 4:30 we headed back to the hotel to check in and take advantage of the complimentary cheese and wine tasting in the restaurant. Did I mention it was complimentary? That means FREE!

Hadsten House Inn. Recently Renovated. :)
Don't be fooled. That bed was reeally uncomfortable.
That's right. Hydrate, baby.

After a short (ok, not so short) nap we headed down to the restaurant for dinner. It was part of a one night package and was included in our stay, but if it hadn't been I'm not sure we would have made it down. Still full from lunch and olives (ok, wine too ;) ) and exhausted from walking around in the sun we were pretty content to hang out in our air conditioned hotel. The food was admittedly mediocre. I had a spinach salad that I'm sure contained baco-bits and no real bacon and my halibut was a bit fishy and lacked much of a taste other than salt. We took our desserts to go and headed back up to the room. 

I hate to be a negative nancy, but this chocolate volcano cake seemed suspiciously like those Sara Lee microwave cakes. 

Yes. We were watching SNL while we ate dessert. Yes. That's Mike Myers in a bathtub. 

What do you mean that's not real fire??? But it looks so warm!!! Very convincing, Chris. 


The next morning we headed back into town (read: walked a block into town) to check out the restaurant that had been overflowing with people the day before. Turns out...where there's smoke, there's fire...cuz this was an AWESOME breakfast. Danish pancakes, bacon that I'm pretty sure was fried in butter and brown sugar and coffee...yes...must...have...coffee.....mmmmm
This is also where Chris decided to tell me, "I don't really like olives". I feel like our entire relationship is a sham. 


So I made him try on this hat.

And have a face off with my other boyfriend. 
There's too much sexy in that picture.

On our way back down to LA we made a pit stop in Santa Barbara. Took a quick spin around the UCSB campus and logged some beach time. 

That's quite a big camera you got there Chris. 


And then it was back to LA.....
with our souvenirs.


Happy Anniversary Baby. :)