karlywood

Linguine with Walnut-Sage Pesto

2012-01-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

tonight i was a little adventurous and tried a new recipe from Fitness Magazine for dinner- Linguine with Walnut-Sage Pesto. that means it must be healthy, right? i'm posting it below, so you can decide. it's beyond delicious and not that hard to make ;)

Ingredients

1/3 cup walnuts
1 9 ounce package fresh linguine (6 ounces dried)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon packed fresh whole sage leaves
1 large clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus additional to taste
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until lightly golden and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Let cool.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the linguine according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.
3. Combine the parsley, sage, garlic, salt, black pepper and walnuts in a blender; pulse until finely chopped. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend well. Add 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan; pulse quickly to combine.
4. Transfer the pesto to a serving bowl and add 1/3 cup cooking water. Add linguine and toss to combine, adding remaining pasta water as necessary. Top with remaining cheese and additional black pepper to taste.

everywhere that Mary went

2012-01-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

last week i borrowed my first e-book from the local library for my Kindle. It was amazingly easy and i can't wait to make it a regular habit. i just used my library card and searched for a book i wanted on my library's digital page. once I checked it out, it took me directly to the Amazon page for the book and I was able to sync it to my Kindle. FOR FREE! hallelujah, it's like stealing candy from a baby. the best part is, it auto-returns itself in 21 days. no late fees!

not that i needed anything else to enhance my experience, but the book definitely helped. i wrote earlier on Scottoline's newest book, "Save Me" and how much i love her writing. i picked "Everywhere that Mary Went" because it's first in a rather large series of "Rosato and Associates," a string of books on powerful female lawyers. i love me some big series because i love knowing where my next ten books are going to come from. i've also read a few of the newer books in this series and i like the girl power vibe.

this novel is written very well. it reads quickly, but tells a deep story. i love how it intertwines the main character's personal life, her struggles with religion (this isn't a Christian book by the way), work and love life. it's definitely a thriller and keeps you going until the last page. Mary is an attorney nearly 10 years out of law school and works at a prestigious law firm. She hates her job, but can't think of leaving her potential career in the wake. Mary suddenly begins receiving stalker notes at work, and begins the task of figuring out who is sending them and whether or not they are linked to the hit-and-run accident that killer her husband a year earlier. you will definitely be surprised at just who comes out of the wood work!

coco blue

2012-01-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

new color! enjoy Chanel's Coco Blue:

The Witness

2012-01-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

I've been a fan of Dee Henderson for more than a few years. She pretty much captured me with "Danger in the Shadows" a Christian thriller that was actually pretty creepy. So, you can imaging my elation when i found Dee Henderson's newest book, "The Witness" as a FREE book for my Kindle! Hallelujah! I've been in a thriller mindset anyways, as a means to offset my rather peaceful reading of my beloved Amish books. It was meant to be.

I'm not super critical of books most times because i really just love the art of reading. but i was very disappointed with this book. there was something about the way that it was written that made it really laborious to get through. seriously, it was like each page had the most complicated string of words that made it like a puzzle to interpret. Henderson also used really weird phrases that i think she made up to be unique. Someone in the book said they needed a "slice of time off." slice? really Dee? another odd phrase was one of the characters being encouraged to "come out of the cold" as a way to describe a request to stop running from their fears? what the? don't try so hard Henderson. i felt like this was said at the end of every chapter and i wanted to rip it out of the book!

there were 7 main characaters, not to mention 2 antagonists/villains. that's WAY too many characters to get through. Top it off with the male characters being referred to by their first names at times, then only by their last and i almost threw in the towel.

i also didn't like how there was one story introduced at the beginning of the book, (that was then resolved 2 chapters later) only to have a completely different story with mostly new characters for the remainder of the book. i actually liked the first plot line, thank you very much

the book FINALLY got good at the 80% mark. i know this because my Kindle tells me so. really Dee? I have to suffer through 80% before it gets good? and then it's only good for 5% blech.

if you like Dee Henderson, then I can't tell you not to read this because you probably will anyways. but if you don't know, then start with "Danger in the Shadows" and skip this one all together. you'll thank me.

rainy owls

2012-01-23T10:49:00.001-08:00

During Christmas, my office had a secret Santa gift exchange. I received an awesome owl umbrella and today was the first time it saw the rain!

Jamaica Me Crazy!

2012-01-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

my new Essie color for this week, Jamaica Me Crazy. it's a very pretty, pinky magenta color with micro-glitter. love it!

working on my fitness

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

i've been trying to update my fitness wardrobe to include some actual athletic-like fabric, instead of my usual men's tank tops. since i refuse to over-pay for something that i will no doubt wear out quicker than anything else i buy, and that i will ruin with sweat, i like to take advantage of the Champion brand garb at Target. love it! today i happened across a sale on racerback, duo-dry tops and got the colors below:

i can't wait to ruin them with sweat!

the waiting

2012-01-21T17:10:00.000-08:00

book number five of my fifty book goal was Suzanne Woods Fisher's "The Waiting," the third book of her Lancaster County Secrets series. It wasn't a typical series in my opinion, as each book was set in a different time period with completely different characters. Normally I wouldn't care so much, but the first book in the series, "The Choice" was so good that I wanted the subsequent novels to continue the story. oh well.

i've come to really enjoy Fisher's Amish novels. they are much more realistic and true to honest, human behavior. Where Beverly Lewis' books are focused on the humble, God-fearing nature of the Amish people, Fisher's incorporate real feelings of fear, doubt, and questioning that are common to all people- Amish or not. It gives a much deeper involvement in the book, as I'm not constantly balking at the almost ridiculous perfection of Lewis' Amish characters.

this novel tells the story of Jorie King, as she waits for her beau to return from being a conscientious objector in the Vietnam war. While she waits, she is given heart-breaking news that Ben has been killed. the ensuing story weaves the tale of an Amish prodigal son and Jorie's decisions she must make when she finds new love in her neighbor. This book turned out better than i thought it would!

i have the best husband

2012-01-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

dave came home today after a business meeting and showered me with blessings. aka, gifts from my favorite stores: JCrew & Madewell! i had to brag at the wonderfulness that is my husband.

after criticizing my choice of an ugly color the other day while we were out shopping, dave got me the shirt i wanted, in a color he preferred. i have to say, i love it!

he then meandered into Madewell (on his own!) and bought me this super cute stripey oxford in pink. nevermind the weird model in this photo.

it's not the best picture to show the shirt, so here's another in a different color. i will probably wear the shirt more this way then the way of the creepy model.

hooray for awesome husbands!

yarn bombing

2012-01-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

a few months ago i was reading the back pages of Time Magazine and saw an article on a new fad called "yarn bombing."

YarnBombing.com defines the act as "the art of crochet and knit graffiti." Fabulous, i say. Basically, people go out under the cover of night (or apparently, at planned events) to spice up boring old nature, sculpture art, or just plain old light poles. think of it as beautifying the unbeautiful.

The first few photos i found on the topic consisted of lovely, knitted trees in a park:

then i found a little more extreme versions of crochet glory (the Bull on Wall Street):

sometimes, it's just a simple yarn headband for an old, sad log:

whatever it is, i absolutely love it.

Smooth sailing!

2012-01-17T07:04:00.001-08:00

My polish for the week, Essie's Smooth Sailing. Hopefully that's how my week will be.

Peters Canyon

2012-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

after nearly seven years of marriage, Dave and I have decided to take up a hobby together. i suggested scrapbooking, but he wasn't too keen on the idea. so we picked up hiking, and are going to try our new trails on weekends. This past Saturday we headed over to Peters Canyon in Santiago Hills (Orange). it was the perfect day for hiking! a little overcast, so it didn't get too hot. here are some pics:

painter tee

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

i redeemed the rest of my JCrew gift card and bought this cute painter tee that i've had my eye on for awhile. it's charcoal gray and has an exposed zipper on the back, which i can't show you because i can't save the picture. but if you truly want to see it, you can click here.

i've decided that i just need to start buying the things i really like, instead of buying clearance items that i nearly hate. of course this means i may buy things at full price, only to find them three weeks later half off. but at least i won't not buy something that i may never find in my size come clearance time.

save me

2012-01-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

maybe it's because i now have a lawyer for a husband, but i can't get enough of legal thrillers. i really enjoy Lisa Scottoline books because she has a legal background, but writes amazing tales of strong, empowered women. she always weaves a legal twist into each of her stories, and her latest book, Save Me, is no exception.

to summarize, the story is about a mother, Rose, who is caught in an explosion at her daughter's school. she is forced to choose between saving her daughter, and the child who bullies her daughter. the aftermath is the fight between Rose, the crazy parents and critics of her decision, and herself. She unravels a story much larger than she ever could have imagined, and discovers the best part of herself in the process.

i loved this book because it kept me guessing at every turn. there were parts where i was truly mad at Rose and how stupid some of her decisions were. but then i realized that she was making normal attempts at wading through such a traumatic situation- and that i probably wouldn't have done any better. if you love thrillers- read on!

the judgement

2012-01-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

my third book of the year was Beverly Lewis' The Judgement, the 2nd book in her Rose Trilogy. as you can tell by the book cover below, it's also an Amish tale. This newer series is not one of my favorite from Beverly Lewis, but i've begun to enjoy it more with this second novel. Lewis' "Abram's Daughter's" series was amazing- a must read. Anyways, back to Rose.

this second book in the series continues to follow Rose, the youngest of probably 8 children as she carries out her secret engagement to her beau, Silas Goode. Don't worry, keeping engagements quiet is a normal Amish tradition- no scandal here! It also follows her sister Hen, and her separation from her English husband.

There are quite a few "judgments" in the book, between Hen and her marriage, Nick Franco, the bishop's foster son who leaves the Amish community (and coincidentally the boy who Rose truly loves), and Rose's mother's failing health calling her "home to glory." I have to admit, i've come to like many of the Amish sayings. I can't think of a better way to talk about sending someone to Heaven.

jcrew wins again

2012-01-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

for Christmas, Dave gave me a black, cable knit sweater from his parents. it was a super nice sweater, but was made from angora. aka itchy, hairy, rabbit hair material. while i liked it a lot, i knew that i would always hesitate in putting it on. i hate itchy stuff, even if it's JCrew.

So today i exchanged it and took advantage of the 40% off final sale! hi yo! i was actually looking for just a new sweater, but found these lovely wedges instead. Regularly $150, and i got them for... wait for it... $30! mine are actually a light tan color, but this is the only color i could find on the website to show you:

i still had some money to spend so i also bought this necklace i've had my eye on for quite some time:

and the best part is i still have some money to spare!

dear kindle, i love you

2012-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

and now i have a new cover for you!

the cover i was given for Christmas (at my own request) didn't fit. that was probably the only fail that i can credit to Amazon, because it clearly stated it was for the Kindle Touch. anyways, i ordered this one and finally received it yesterday! I love it! It's a cloth cover, with plenty of padding and a sweet design. it has a magnet on the front so it "snaps" closed:

it flips back like an easel, rather than a book. I figured this would be good so i don't have to use two hands whilst reading. speaking of easel, it also has a flap so that i can sit up my Kindle and read with NO hands! to top it all off, there are holes in the back for the speakers (which i probably won't use much) and space on the bottom so i don't have to take it out to plug in!

now i can throw this baby in my purse and be on my way.

Hot Magenta!

2012-01-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

My new colour from Sally Hansen Xtreme:

Please don't mind the poor paint job!

Catching Fire

2012-01-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

i finished my first book on my Kindle! it was glorious.

i've read Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire before, but was able to "borrow" this from the Amazon Lending Library for free, since I'm an Amazon Prime member. I'm actually glad i borrowed a book i've already read as the first book on my Kindle, so that i could ascertain whether or not i liked reading on it, as opposed to having a potentially poor experience with a bad book.

it did not disappoint. i love being able to "turn down the pages" as a bookmark, and also being able to see what percentage of the way through i was while reading. the Kindle also has a built in dictionary that you can use to define words you don't know as you are reading. for example, I now know what a "hassock" is, as Katniss's mother props her foot upon one in the book (a hassock is pretty much an ottoman.)

that being said, Catching Fire was just as good, if not better than the first time I read it. The first time through i was so intent on finding out what happened that i read quite speedily. this time around, i took my time and really absorbed the book. i'm excited for the first movie installment of the series, and after reading this book, am even more excited for how they will depict (spoiler alert!) the area for the Quarter Quell games from Catching Fire.

i love Peeta even more this book, and am pretty much over the potential love affair between Katniss and Gale. Katniss defines love as being a verb in this series, even though she doesn't realize it. it's not about feeling passion for another person, it's about showing them you love them- even if it means sacrificing yourself.

if you haven't read the Hunger Games series yet, I really don't know what you're waiting for. You have three months until the first movie comes out. do yourself a favor and get reading.

the search

2012-01-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

it's no surprise that i've lead off the year with an Amish book. i seriously can't get enough of prayer caps, home made rose petal jam, buggies and beards. there's something so endearing about the Amish- so much so that i want to be one.

this author in particular is becoming one of my favorites. apparently there are a ton of Amish writers out there, unbeknownst to me. regardless, i've stuck to good ole' Beverly Lewis and Suzanne here. for those of you wondering, yes, Amish books CAN be scandalous too. Out of the past 5 I've read, there has been some trace of a deep dark secret or illegitimate children in each one. oh yay!

them days

2012-01-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

i blame my high blood pressure this evening on a less than spectacular day.

but to keep myself in good spirits, i will life mine eyes to the heavens, and remember:

Speaking of change...

2012-01-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

i've decided to take it up a level this year in my fitness goals. I'm actually VERY proud of myself and my performance throughout 2011. I maintained a 4x a week gym goal for about 95% of the year! I definitely noticed a difference in my energy and physique.

but now it's 2012.

rather then set myself up for failure, i've decided to up my visits to 5x, but only every other week. until i cut back on some of my commitments, i know i won't be able to make 5x every week. between high school groups, Bible study, budget coaching, work, and the food pantry, my evenings aren't always available. but i figure 9x over the course of 2 weeks should be manageable.right? let's hope so.

and to keep myself motivated, i will remember:

It's a New Day

2012-01-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

It seems the popular thing to do right about now is to post about something i want to accomplish in the new year. i'm really excited about this upcoming year actually. i want it to be one of great change.

change in our living situation, family (hello new pug!), priorities and plans.
i want this year to surprise me.
i want the Dodgers to go to the World Series.
i want to read 50 books. seriously.

i'm excited for what God will do for Dave and I this year. We have been faithful with our finances and our time and I know we will be rewarded. I know his mercies are never ceasing- they are new every morning. I'm hopeful my patience will endure, and that I can continue to trust God implicitly as he carries me along my great journey. Happy New Year.

Paisley

2011-12-30T15:58:00.001-08:00

I just have to say that I love my new JCrew shirt that Dave lovingly gifted to me for Christmas!

i'm waiting for you iphone 4s

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

that's right, i'm waiting. i've been waiting (not so patiently i might add) for my up and coming new iphone to find it's new home with me. you see, i was a little late getting to the party when the first iphone came out. we were a 1 income family with a law student for a husband, and couldn't afford the data plan. so when i could afford one early last year, all there was to choose from was the 3g and the 3gs. back then, there wasn't much difference. so we got the cheapest one, said law student having not quite graduated, taken the bar, or gotten a job.

i was beyond excited. i paid too much for screen protectors and a $35 case at the AT&T store, but i was happy. then only 3 weeks later Apple of course, updated their OS, which subsequently slowed my awesome iphone down to turtle speed. then 1 more month passed, and the iphone 4 came out. clearly, i was now living in the dark ages.

ever since then, my map application will freeze up my entire phone to the point where it will even crash my text messages, and i won't even go into how slow everything else is.

i tried getting my upgrade 2 months early, but AT&T clearly is run by money-mongering fools and wanted to charge me $400 as an "early upgrade." they also assured me that this was a savings, because if i bought the phone at full retail, it would be $600. well how-de-doo! thank you AT&T for saving me $200 instead of $400 by just giving me my upgrade! yes, i realize this is a luxury problem. but i'm still beyond irritated.

so in preparation for my phone, i am planning ahead. i am getting a white 4s, because i'm not settling for a sub par phone again. and the white ones are perty.

i bought my screen protectors online, instead of buying the 2 for $35 pack (!? how can they even sell something so ridiculously priced!). thank you 3 for $10 pack.

and now i'm trying to select my primo phone case. lately i'm in a bit of an owl lover phase, so i'm really wanting this one, but it's $40 (kind of takes the point of buying online instead of the store because it's not cheaper). but it's so cute! (by Uncommon)

but then i found this cute watercolor one that i also really love. (Agent 18)

which one, oh, which one?

December 10th cannot come soon enough, let me tell you. i plan to waltz in that day to my nearest AT&T store unhindered. hopefully, Apple will wait more than a month to come out with the iPhone 5.

snow white & the huntsmen

2011-11-22T22:15:00.001-08:00

Kristen Stewart hasn't done a ton to impress me. here is her chance. this looks pretty awesome:

thanksgiving

2011-11-22T21:55:00.001-08:00

it's been a bit hard to keep up with this dual blogging thing. Since i've been doing semi-weekly posting for the Total Life Coach website, the last thing i sadly feel like doing is doubling up over here. through all of my new endeavors, i realized i've loaded down my schedule quite a bit and when the time comes for me to actually sit down at the computadora, it's actually the last thing i feel like doing.

anyways! now that my diatribe is over, on to Thanksgiving! this year, Dave and i decided to do our own thang and cook dinner- just the two of us. at first i was a little hesitant, because holidays are the times you spend with family, right? yes, true. but we kept thinking how nice it would be do cook whatever we wanted, at whatever time we wanted, and have wine and lay in front of the TV. and it sounded good. and we're in our 30's and can do our own thanksgiving darnit! actually, the fam has been supportive of us doing our solo day.

so, i have my boxes of Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing mix and my 13 pound turkey defrosting in the fridge. i know, 13lbs for 2 people? we'll be sick of turkey by Christmas, but i couldn't pass up a $6 turkey! all i can say is that thing better be good and defrosted by Thursday morning. a few years back i forgot to take my turkey out of the freezer until Monday night and spent the better part of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving soaking my wrapped turkey in a rubbermaid plastic tub in the bathtub. i had to change the water every 30 minutes as it defrosted one half pound at a time. ever since, i've been a little paranoid that it won't be defrosted in enough time. even though it will have been out of the freezer for 3.5 days (which is more than enough time per the butterball website) i'm still a little anxious!

i'm looking forward to quite the nice holiday. we have much to be thankful for.

i took a sickie

2011-11-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

at least that's what they call it in Britain. basically it means i took half of yesterday off work to lay on the couch to hopefully beat whatever cold/coughish illness is trying to get the better of me. i haven't taken a sick day in YEARS and it was the weirdest feeling.

i got home around 12:30 and noticed that most people in our apartment complex must work because the parking lot was a ghostland. fine by me. after eating my chick fil-a for lunch (i had to do SOMEthing to make myself feel better) and putting on my pajamas, i spent the rest of the day on the couch. i got caught up on my Tivo and went in and out of consciousness. then i took a much anticipated Nyquil (kirkland style) and had the best night of sleep i've had in forever. i closed my eyes at 9 and didn't open them until 5:15. no joke, i don't think i even moved.

now, it's back to work :(

Organizational Bliss

2011-11-07T07:28:00.001-08:00

Check out my new page on my blog! If you need any organizing, let me know!

Organizational Bliss!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

my Halloween nails:

booties

2011-10-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

since i have an awesome husband who lovingly gave me his Vegas winnings, i could no longer resist the urge to satisfy my bootie (bootie= small boots for all you less than pure minded folk) need this lovely Saturday. whilst multitasking between a conference call and internet shopping, i happened across these lovelies at Nordstrom. Once off my call, i literally threw on clothes and drove there as fast as i could.

normally i'm not this obsessive about shoes, but i've been looking for booties for awhile now and my money was already burning a hole in my pocket. so i went. i tried them on. i bought. and they are cute and comfortable and i'm wearing them tomorrow. i love my booties.

i like traffic

2011-10-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

blog traffic that is!

so to toot my own horn, i am now directing you to my latest and greatest gig thus far:

my new musings for my life coach's Total Life Coach blog! I have been given a great opportunity to blog my brains out on the many meanderings for family, faith, fitness, and on and on... I'm not gonna lie, when I first heard about it, I got all sweaty and nervous. But then I realized that i have been sharing my notables via blog for more than a few years and i rather enjoy it. and i love all things books, and that's because i love the beauty of the written word. there is something so deep and satisfying about sharing someones vision of a story. while this blog surely isn't a nobel contender, it is part of my vision.

Won't you be my friend and visit? Traffic it up! Now that you are ultimately excited, click here!

the plain way

2011-10-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

the last few years i have been completely, and utterly fascinated with the Amish. that's right, i said the Amish. most people are surprised, because what would i find interesting and intriguing with such plain people? everything, that's what.

i love:

the idea of not being allowed to wear makeup and fashionable clothes. i like not even knowing they are popular even more.
quilting
making applesauce
horse and buggies
barn raising
living on farm
living such a spiritually motivated and focused life

i'm not too much of a fan of beards, but i can live with that.

i have been fueling my love of all things Amish by saturating my reading and viewing habits with Amish pleasures. I rented Harrison Ford's Witness. loved it! i read Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth. amazing. i have reorganized my Netflix queue to include several Lifetime Amish movies and quite a few PBS documentaries. I've also begun collecting quite a few Beverly Lewis and Suzanne Fischer Woods books. i love me some Amish.

i would absolutely die to go on a vacation to Amish country in Pennsylvania, specifically Lancaster county. Dave was a little worried at first and quickly told me that he had no desire to visit the Pennsylvania Dutch, which made me a little sad. but i know i'll get there one day. even if i have to buggy there myself.

there is a season

2011-10-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

i've been somewhat amiss and absent around these parts as of late. these last few months, i have felt as if i've lost sight of who i am and the person i know God made me to be. i feel as if i defined my life by the circumstances i have found myself in, instead of the path he has laid out for me. so i set off on a journey to find myself, and it's only now i feel like the brush has been cleared and i can somewhat see his many, many desires for me.

what do most people do when they're unhappy?
complain? probably.
become complacent? most likely.
worry? yes please.

not far from the stages of grief, i felt like i was experiencing all these emotions and more. i was sick and tired of the rut i had dug and wanted desperately to get out. i'd done the responsible thing- i had put my husband through law school. i was frugal. i was horribly and impossibly bored. i was sad (to put it lightly) that i wasn't completely happy anymore. so i got myself a life coach. was it a coincidence that my 30th birthday was right around the corner? at first i thought no- that's just a cliche. but maybe not. either way, it didn't really matter.

after 5 challenging sessions, i realized that i don't have to have everything figured out right this second. i'm a woman of many passions and it was time for me to start putting them to good use. so i started "trying on" different things, in the words of my life coach, Tammy.

i signed up to work at the church food pantry.
i'm meeting with an amateur photographer to pick her brain.
i'm going to be a budget coach for women who need help with their finances.
i met with the women's pastor and learned about women's Bible studies and retreats.
i emailed a ton of professional organizers to learn about their business.
i set up a time to meet with a Biola professor.
i'll be managing my life coaches' blog.

why hadn't i done any of this before? probably because i thought that i would always be happy in what i was doing. the truth it, my life was missing a huge piece- service to others outside of work. ever since i piled up my schedule (which i was frightened to do before), i find myself less worried about work. i know i'm piling up my heavenly treasure, and i know that God will lead me to His ultimate plan for me. now i see the journey for what it is- not just a burdensome task- but His outstretched hand.

my near death experience

2011-09-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a day like any other. at least it started out that way. after spending an hour on the phone with AT&T UVerse customer service in an attempt to get back my random HD channels that were suddenly blacked out, i made a trip to the gym. after which i got ready for the drive up to USC with Dave where i would meet Betsy for a girls day.

about 1/4 of the way to USC i realized i wasn't going to make it in time due to the horrid traffic. typical. so dave dropped me off at Union Station and i gold lined it over to Pasadena. totally typical day right? taking the train in LA? i'm cool like that.

so after quite the nice girls day, which may or may not have included 3 peach bellini's, i meet back up with Dave for the drive back home. i was the good designated wife, so i was quite surprised as we piled into the good ole honda when it wouldn't start. nada. no juice. so we got jumped. only the car was too dead and it didn't work. so we called triple a. then we got a diet coke and poured it over the corroded battery. then we got jumped again by a different car. and it worked! but by then triple A was there. so they tested the battery and said it was ok. so i start driving.

but i could tell right away that something wasn't right. the lights were flickering and i could feel the car heaving as it struggled down Hoover St. but everyone just kept telling me that the battery needed to charge itself, blah blah blah. and of course i couldn't pick up any reasonable amount of speed because the USC game was over and the thousands of lame USC fans were jamming up the ugly streets of LA.

and as Dave tells me to get in the left lane in preparation for the freeway on ramp, the car dies. yes, dies. DIES! no lights, NOTHING. my heart pretty much stopped because holy crap we are in ghetto LA at 9pm and the car is in the MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING STREET! it's so dead that i can't even get the car in neutral. and dave and billy (who's been here the whole time) have to pee and there are hundreds of cars and mean people who are honking at us and the hazards won't even go on. i am shaking!

so i call triple a back and tell them their stupid tow truck driver just left us in the lurch and we are now blocking traffic without proper emergency lights. dave is beyond peeved. about 1/2 way through the wait for the tow truck i get the car in neutral and we (and by we i mean billy and dave) push the car into the turn lane out of the immediate way. the tow truck driver finally arrives and is like "what happened"? um, i don't know mr. tow truck driver, you failed your mission! isn't it obvious! the whole time i have been envisioning someone smashing into our stalled car, so i don't really care what happened just get me out of here! he finally jumps us and somehow i get out of the way onto a side street where i follow the truck to his shop. my foot is practically seizing with adrenaline and my leg is not far behind with the amount of shaking that is going on. the tow man still keeps saying that the battery is fine. finally i tell dave- just get a freaking NEW BATTERY! i am not about to drive us home on the freeway with a battery that may not last the hour.

ten minutes later we are on the 10 freeway heading home, new battery in place. i was too afraid to risk it so it was an air conditioned-less drive so as not to waste precious battery power.

and that was my saturday.

Not Today

2011-09-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

Shameless plug for my church's new movie, Not Today. i'm very proud to say this was a home grown film from the OC and Yorba Linda Friend's Church! enjoy:

Not Today Trailer from Not Today the Movie on Vimeo.

Hunger Games

2011-08-31T20:18:00.001-07:00

i am beyond excited:

Dave's 31st Birthday

2011-08-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

now that both Dave and I are post 20's, we like to do old people stuff for our birthdays. so for dave's 31st, we went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw John Williams. It was a perfect summer night after quite the sweltering day, and we enjoyed some awesome movie music.

we came prepared with many snacks:

be brought friends:

the weather was gorgeous:

there were light sabers:

and we had a nice surprise: James Taylor! Not only did he do a special reading with an instrumental piece, but he also did a special acoustic rendition of "Sweet Baby James"! i have it recorded but am not sure if it's something that i should post, for fear of copyright issues. So if you want to see it, let me know and I will try and get the 50MB video to you.

magic bullet!

2011-08-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

awhile back, i blogged on my plight for a personal blender. luckily, i didn't have to wait long, as my 30th birthday came with many a surprise! my dad and step mom gifted me with my much desired Magic Bullet!

ever since then, i've pretty much become my own personal Starbucks. ok, well maybe i've just mastered the iced mocha but i'm ok with that. it's not uncommon for me to take pictures of my magic bulleted drinks and text them to people, as they ooh and ahh with jealousy.

see, they look pretty awesome, am i right?

anyways, i'm still working on perfecting my smoothies. i've never been able to make them better than spoonable, and i get impatient when everything doesn't chop. i HAVE realized that the bullet is better for pureeing or chopping up very finely. not too much if you just to chop up a pepper. unless you want obliterated pepper that is...

owlies

2011-08-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

for whatever reason, the past year or so i have taken a real liking to owls. not creepy ones, mind you, cute ones. i have a few necklaces and a cute coffee cup from my step-mom (see below), and i keep my eye out for the occasional shirt. there are so many cute designs, and my pinterest page has been blowing up with all my owl finds.

so yesterday i was killing some time at Marshalls and found these adorable owl mugs! i'm not quite sure how easy they will be to drink out of, but who cares! i was just going to buy two of them, but then the 3rd one was just sitting there all alone and i had to buy it! see how cute?

in a nutshell:

2011-08-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

this is what i have been up to:

i just got back from a rousing trip to Louisville, Kentucky for work. (and just in case you didn't know, Louisville is pronounced "lowel-ville)

my husband killed my hydrangea plant while i was gone by not watering it :(

i went to a wedding for our good friends Julie and Mike

i turned 30

i've been nail polish shopping

i promise to write some more updated posts, but felt it was important to at least let you all (and i by all i mean all 2 of you who probably read my blog) know that i'm alive.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

2011-07-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

can't wait! and i'm excited that Lisbeth Salander's is starring!

cajun shrimp

2011-07-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

a bunch of girls and I went polish shopping on Friday (yay, payday!) and here is one of the OPI colors i picked up: Cajun Shrimp. i really like this color because it's so bright and summery. the formula was also great- it went on smooth and glossy. i also picked up a pretty cool new cuticle pusher for $3! it gets a ton of goopy cuticles off quite easily. however i think i was a little overzealous and scraped too hard, because my nails stung a bit. oops.

i was desperately hoping to find some new Essie's, but alas- only nudes were there. however, they DID tell us a new shipment would be arriving tomorrow. hi yo! don't be surprised if i show off some more purchases....

and whoops, my little easter basket no longer sustains my growing collection. i had to upgrade to a rubbermaid box. it's a bit roomy, but all the more room for more colors! (note, my super cute cajun shrimp toes)

the Preacher

2011-07-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

since i absolutely fell in love with Swedish literature by reading Stieg Larssen's "Millenium Trilogy," i was very excited to hear of best seller Camilla Lackberg, and her success with Swedish crime novels. apparently, Ms. Lackberg has been around for quite some time, and as a result is the most lucrative author in Swedish history thus far. which must mean that she's pretty darn good. so i reserved her 2nd translated novel at my dear library and eagerly awaited to take it with me on vacation.

i really enjoyed the simplicity of this novel. by simplicity, i don't mean under detailed or boring. if you've read Larssen's novels, you'll agree with me that he sometimes describes locations with painful detail- noting specific streets and regions which you'd only be familiar with if you were Swedish. trying to wade through all svendergarten's get's really old. But Lackberg somehow chronicles quite the horrific story with poise and straightforwardness. she is very plot-driven, which agrees with me because i can get straight to the story.

this novel details the discovery of a dead woman in the bottom of a cave. through the investigation, detectives discover she is a mirror image of two murders/disappearances of women 25 years earlier. the story utilizes characters from Lackberg's prior novel, "The Ice Princess" (which i'm reading now) and does a good job of integrating a few side stories as well.

if you enjoy mysteries, i would definitely recommend both this author and book. i can't wait to get deeper into "the Ice Princess" and will be sure to let you know how it goes!

irrational? i think not

2011-07-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

as i've grown older (yes, i admit it) i find myself constantly trying to stave off all sorts of random, irrational fears. i'm not quite sure if it's boredom, or just watching too much late night newscasts, but it's getting a little crazy. what are some of these oddities you might be wondering? oh i'll tell you:

checking to see if my husband is still breathing at night- what a weirdo, you might be saying to yourself. but i swear, there are moments when he is silent as a fox! of course, there are times when he's loud as chewbacca, but the stopped breathing part is the most scary. sometimes. sometimes i just elbow him to make sure he still moves.
chipping a tooth- too me, losing an appendage or chipping a tooth is my worst nightmare. sometimes i find myself running to the bathroom mirror after eating a particularly crispy Wheat Thin just to make sure i didn't do any damage.
umbrella blowing inside out- not a new fear, but SO EMBARRASSING. i absolutely find this to be the worst social fear out there. i can't quite explain it but in extreme weather i have been known to forgo the umbrella all together. it's just not a good risk.
looking at other drivers at night time- you will not catch me looking at anyone at night. this i know has been because of too much news. i am constantly afraid that i will pull up next to someone, then watch as they roll down the window and gun me down. i know it's morbid, but people have died on the freeway down the street because of random shootings! i swear it.
coming home to a burned down house- i have NO idea where this fear came from. it could be when we first moved into our apartment and didn't have renter's insurance and i kept imagining a worst case scenario and we lost all of our earthly possessions. who knows. but it's not odd for me to scope out the apartment as i drive by to make sure it's in tact.
car accidents- ok this one isn't too much of a surprise, given my accident last year. but it drives Dave crazy. every time he's in the driver seat, you can bet i'm in the passenger seat holding on to the "oh shoot" handles every time the traffic slows down. sometimes i even act as if i'm "braking" so that i feel a little more in control.

ok this list is longer than i thought it would be. even though it looks like i live in fear, i swear that i don't. i'm a pretty peaceful person. mostly ;)

Grape Juice

2011-07-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

que color! i was a bit hesitant to try my newish China Glaze "Grape Juice" after the Flying Dragon experience. in my opinion, glitter colors should be SHINY not matte. but hi yo! this color is amazing. it's shiny and vibrant and i love it.

AND it goes with my new purple romper. what more do i need?

Napa 2011

2011-07-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

now that i've had time to get back in to the swing of things after taking two weeks off from work (which, let me tell you, i could get used to) i figured i would share about our Napa vacation. Dave and i originally were planning to go to Washington D.C. because Dave has never been and there's so much to do there. But after weeks of searching for decent hotel rates, we discovered it just wasn't going to happen. Apparently the week we wanted to go was a popular time for East Coasters. so we decided on a place we've always wanted to go- the Napa Valley.

after a 6 hour drive, we made it to Oakland to drop off our car at Dave's friend Tim's condo. Then Travers picked us up to take us to San Francisco to stay with him for two days. We had an awesome time going to the King Thai Noodle House for $5 Thai food, and perusing the annual North Beach festival. I also got to meet up with my long lost college friend Heather for some major catching up. We had lunch at the Embarcadero and feasted on delicious cupcakes from Ghiradelli Square. it was so nice to meet up with her, but we both agreed that it made us miss each other even more!

after two days in SF, Dave and I hit the road for Napa. We couldn't check in to our hotel right away, so we hit up our first winery. Before leaving for vacation, i asked my Napa-expert friend Tania for some recommendations. I also picked a few random ones that were close to our hotel for the first day, and made sure they were notable via their website. the first winery didn't disappoint! we headed to Trefethen and enjoyed a crowd-free tasting. We had totally forgotten it was Father's Day, but it paid off because most people don't go wine tasting that day. why- i don't know. because it sounds like it would be a pretty awesome day to me!

Then we headed for the hill wineries for the Hess Collection. This winery was about 20 minutes off the beaten path, but so worth it. It's next to the Christian Brothers monastery, and hosts a huge art gallery. The moment we stepped into the foyer, we were handed a glass of rose' to take with us on our walking tour. great start! we took a short tour of the grounds, winery, and art gallery before sitting in on a nice air conditioned video presentation. then it was off for some tasting! we didn't buy any wine here, but i have seen both Hess and Trefethen wines at Henry's and Trader Joe's. all in all, this estate was BEAUTIFUL and i definitely recommend.

that was all we did on our first day in Napa besides head back to the hotel for a much needed nap. then, we took the recommendation of Heather and had dinner at the Rutherford Grill. delicious!

the next day we wanted to pack in at least three wineries, and our first stop was Hall, near the top of the Valley. they had some amazing wines and the "bartender" was very friendly and shared his knowledge with us. it was nice to take our time and it probably helped that it was 10am when we started here. oops. too early? as i like to say, "it's noon somewhere." we made our first purchase here and i can't wait to try it again on my birthday! (we made most of our buys to take with us for dinner on my big 3-0)

all the wine drinking was making me hungry so we stopped at Dean & Deluca for a delcioso sandwich. i was a little scared for Dave since he doesn't eat sandwiches, but he took one for the team and tried out a ham brioche. i don't think he hated it too much.

then we were off to the Rubicon Estate just down the road. this was a beautiful estate and it's owned by the Coppola family. for a bit more of a fee than the other wineries, we got to walk the grounds and mini museum that houses one of Coppola's Academy Awards, as well as some of the barrel rooms.

the wine was quite tasty, but before we could purchase any, the estate had a power outage. it must have been a doozy because it was still out til late the next day when we came back to add to our collection. i can't wait to try the Cask we bought! for the last winery of the day, we took a quick jaunt down the road to Heitz Cellars. This is a small winery, but that's fine by me because their tastings are FREE. yes, free! they also have a beautiful back patio with quite the view. My favorite selection out of all the tastings was actually the Port. I'm usually not one for them, but it was a perfect finale to the day of tastings. We bought a bottle for my b-day here too!

that ended our tasting for the day, and after a nap we headed to the closest Whole Foods and bought cheese and bread for dinner. it was sounding so good the whole day. We had it by the pool and played a few rounds of cribbage (i know, i sound SUPER old) before finally relaxing in the room.

our last day took us to St. Supery right across from Rubicon. i would have to say my personal favorite here was the Moscato, mostly because it was a super hot day in Napa. the refreshing, chilled wine prompted us to buy two bottles ;) the grounds here were also very beautiful, and there was a pretty cool viewing room from upstairs.

we decided to take the back roads around for awhile and ended up at Rutherford Ranch. i'm not going to lie. the "chocolate and reds" sign really lured me in. however, this was the least of my favorites and i can't say i really enjoyed any of their wines. the chocolate was the best part.

our final winery of the trip was to Pine Ridge, also on the back Silverado trail. this was definitely a higher end winery, and i desperately wanted to go on one of their cave tours. But you had to have called ahead of time. :( By the time we got here i was "wined" out. I had a bit of a wine headache and couldn't choke down much of my tasting. it was still good, but i had reached the end of my palette, so to speak.

all in all we had an amazing trip! i can't wait to go back and would definitely encourage everyone to give Napa a visit.

yellow mellow: redux

2011-06-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

i've been wanting a new yellow polish, especially after watching Pretty Little Liars and seeing one of the girls wearing it. i've been too lazy to drive over to Little Saigon, so i just picked up Sally Hansen's Xtreme's Mellow Yellow at Target. I knew i didn't have this before, so i was a little surprised when i tossed it into my nail polish basket and discovered:

apparently, Sally decided to do away with the old mellow glitter two tone version and keep it simple with the new bumble bee shade.

i also decided to crackle it up on my toes!

there's more to Napa than wine

2011-06-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

it's called the Napa outlets. hi yo! one day, when Dave and finished wine tasting early we stopped in on the Napa Valley outlets. seriously, if i lived this close to a place like this, this would be the only place i would shop. And if it weren't for the "souvenirs" we were buying at the wineries, i would have dropped a lot more shopping here. as it was, i restrained myself.

i found this cute summer dress at the JCrew outlet ($20!)

and i found my 30th birthday dress at BCBG MaxAzria:

let's just say, it was over 75% off and silk. the color is a bit more navy than in the picture, and i can't wait to wear it. if i wasn't convinced of returning to Napa before this, i am now!

Grey Area

2011-06-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

since i can't find Essie's "smoking hot" i bought the next best thing- Sally Hansen Xtreme in "grey area." Mind you, this photo has snaggly cuticles and is from a painting 5 days ago, but look how in tact the polish still is! this is the reason Xtreme wear is one of my favorite types of nail polish. that, and the fact that the colors are pretty amazing. this painting lasted through San Francisco and many a wine tasting. beautiful!

My first Napa winery

2011-06-19T12:14:00.001-07:00

Trefethen winery

napa shopping

2011-06-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

it may seem like i do my fair share of shopping, what with my amazon "issue," but that's mostly household shopping- not clothes. in fact, i really can't remember the last time i bought an article of clothing, much less bought some that was for fun, not work. with our Napa vacation quickly approaching, i managed to squeeze some cashola out of the hubs to get me a little something for some primo wine tasting!

seeing as how i didn't have much moolah to work with (which is fine, i'm still grateful and love a challenge) i tried my hand at Forever 21, or XXI (which i think sounds less teenagish). i ended up wandering around much longer than i wanted due to a heck of a headache, but mostly because i couldn't make up my mind. also because the store i went to is in a converted Mervyn's and it's horribly big. too big. way too many departments and only 1 dressing room that smells like B.O. After the 2nd trip in there, i just started trying on things over my clothes. luckily i chose to wear my spandex workout pants out and about.

after about an hour, i settled on this cute shirt:

and a pair of shorts. i'm usually not one to wear shorts, but i've been working too hard at the gym to not!

and i needed a necklace, so i bought one of those too.

ta da!

i had just the right color of heels already and now the only thing i'm missing is a glass of vino!

Kat & Mike

2011-06-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

my first true black tie affair was Kat & Mike's wedding this past weekend. this proved to be quite the affair, combining Kat's Persian background with Mike's Italian background. i learned a lot about the Persian culture (thanks to a handy dandy pamphlet provided by the bride on Persian wedding traditions), and it was so beautiful!

the wedding was held at the Wilshire Ebelle in Los Angeles, and had a traditional "wedding spread" or "Sofreh aghd." It looked a bit like a stage in the middle of the room and held symbolic items such as apples, figs, candles, and honey to name a few.

Kat, the bride:

during a part of the ceremony, members of the bride's family held a silk scarf over the couple. I found this info on this part of the ceremony: "A scarf or shawl made out of silk or any other fine fabric to be held over the bride and bridegroom's head throughout the ceremony by various happily married female relatives (mostly bride's close family members). A needle and seven strands of colored thread to figuratively sew up the mother-in-law's lips from speaking unpleasant words to the bride! The shawl that is held above the couple's head throughout the ceremony is sewed in one corner by the needle and threads."

the ceremony was very short, and then we went on to celebrate with some AMAZING Persian food for dinner.

me, my dress, and Dave had a great time! I'm glad to say I have another wedding to enjoy before the year is over, and can't wait to see Julie and Mike on their big day!

Flying dragon

2011-06-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

this is one of my newer colors from China Glaze. my only prior experience with CG was using their "crackle" coat, which i love. i was ready to start trying out some of my newer summer/bright colors, especially seeing as how i just started my 2 week vacation!

i didn't realize how much glitter was in this color, something i'm not quite sure how i feel about yet. glitter is horrendous to get off. anyways, this color went on surprisingly matte, another thing that was weird seeing it has so much glitter:

i had to put on two coats and two top coats to make it as shiny as i wanted. as you can see, the extra coats made quite the difference in color from the pic above!

i'm ok with the glitter for now (it helps i've already received complements). welcome to summer!

my rented runway

2011-06-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

before i blog on the wedding my dress took me too, i wanted to share my Rent the Runway experience as i promised. it helped that renting a dress for the first time was accompanied by the fact that this was more "dave's event" then my own. the wedding we went to was one of his law school friends, and i didn't feel so pressured to be a spectacle (as i normally do? not so much...)

the dress came right on time (thursday, 2 days before the event) and i was happy to find that UPS left the package on my doorstep instead of making me come get it because i wasn't home. the people at RTR are very organized and i found my two dresses inside (dry cleaned), along with a pretty cool garment bag (that i get to keep!), a goodie bag with a sample Biore makeup remover and Hollywood Fashion Tape (don't need a Janet Jackson moment), and instructions. I was also given two huge Priority Mail envelopes to return my dresses in first thing today. the dresses were very clean and in great condition- no snags or missing sequins, etc. They didn't have a weird dry cleaner smell either (which i hate).

first off, it is genius that they allow you two dresses in different sizes as no extra charge. i ended up not fitting into the dress i thought i would. let's just say that i only like cleavage in the front- not the back. it didn't help that the zipper on this one was also SUPER stiff- it was like breaking into Fort Knox just to get this thing down so i could get the dress off. the bummer about the dress that i DID fit into, was that it looked like it had been altered in a few ways: the boning in the front (around the bust area) looked like it had been replaced. All in all, not a big deal because the size 2 that didn't fit had this part starting to poke through from too much wear and tear. However, when it was replaced, it altered the way that rouching was supposed to be on the top part of the dress. so the dress didn't actually look too much like the photo, as promised. also, there was supposed to be a mini-train in the back, and the size 4 had a miniscule one in comparison to the size 2.

i figured it wouldn't hurt to call RTR and at least let them know that they sent me two dresses that didn't really look too much alike. Since one of them fit, they wouldn't give me a refund, but they did give me a 25% off coupon for next time! i didn't even request anything, i just called under the pretense that i wanted to let them know. their customer service is awesome, so i would rent from them again should i have the need (which, given my wedding history is probably a sure thing).

all in all, i would definitely recommend renting a dress from RTR based on my experience. it was a fun way to get dressed up and not feel like i had to love a dress and wear it 50 times to get my money's worth. oh, and i had a great time at the wedding!

just one more

2011-06-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

today is my last day of work before i embark on my two week vacation. oh, how i can't wait.

i plan on catching up on my couch time, going to the beach, driving up to San Francisco, Napa, and back. i plan on getting my hair done. i plan on going to a wedding, and a bridal shower. i plan on getting my sanity back, and taking the first vacation alone with my husband in three years. ok it looks like i'm planning a lot and it starting to look not so relaxing. i still can't wait.

Happy hour

2011-06-09T19:14:00.001-07:00

Now thats a mean glass of happy hour wine.

i can't wait to move

2011-06-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

too bad it's not anytime soon. but my apartment complex just reiterated my passion to become a home owner once again last night.

over the past few years every time a tenant moves out, our complex refurbishes their old apartment. they put in new cabinets, counter tops, hardware, etc. basically i'm really jealous of all the "new" apartments because my looks like something out of the 70's. anyways, that means that our apartment has really old, well everything. lately it's been ridiculously hard to even get IN to our apartment because the deadbolt is sticky. so earlier this week i put in a work order to come look at it.

oh, they looked at it alright. dave and i came home late last night after a movie (9:45) and found a note that said "replaced deadbolt. pick up your new keys at the office before 6pm." and the door was looked. with our new keys. that were in the leasing office.

really? because that's smart. because EVERYONE comes home before 6pm?

my heart started racing as i imagined myself sleeping on the walkway between the stairs and our front door. or coming in to work late because i had to sleep in my clothes at a friends house and then having to wait until the office opened, where i could rip them a new one for being so stupid.

luckily there is an after hours emergency line, which we utilized. after dave gave them a piece of his mind, we spoke to Diego himself, the guy who replaced our lock. his response was, "well you put in a work order."

ok yah. so i put in a work order 3 days ago, and you replace my locks and don't tell me. genius.

luckily this whole ordeal only took about 15 minutes and we were safely inside, where i proceeded to not fall asleep due to all the excitement. needless to say i'm ridiculously tired and all the more looking forward to polishing off this week so i can start my 2 week vacation. come soon vacation, come soon.

breaking DAWN!

2011-06-06T07:20:00.001-07:00

personal smoothie

2011-06-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

i was sweating myself away the other day at the gym flipping through my back issues of Fitness magazine and came across a new diddy that i think is genius! it's the personal use blender! basically it's a mini blender that then turns into a travel mug so you can take your freshly blended smoothie with you. the add i saw was for the Oster My Blend (in a variety of pretty colors):

but after reading several reviews in which people remarked on how leaky it is, I'm leaning a little more towards the Hamilton Beach version:

however, i'm finding that there are a TON of options out there. and seeing as how i don't want my smoothie to taste like burnt blender motor (like i've heard w/the Hamilton Beach) i've also found a few others, like the Maxi Matic:

i'm not sure why there are huge walnuts on display in this picture, because i'm pretty sure that would rip the maxi matic right up... anyways it looks a lot like the Magic Bullet, something I've always wanted. oooooooh, Magic Bullet:

I've always been a fan of Cuisinart and they have one too:

so many blenders, so little time. Any suggestions?

Midnight Cami

2011-06-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here is my newest nail polish! i've wanted a sparkly navy shade for quite some time and found "midnight cami" from essie. as you will see, i haven't gotten much better with only painting my nail, but the surrounding skin also:

Chino Hills State Park

2011-06-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to be outdoorsy and enjoy the beautiful weather. So we ventured out with the Steele's and hiked our way through Chino Hills State Park at the top of Fairmont Blvd in Yorba Linda. It was GORGEOUS:

Breaking Dawn sneak

2011-06-03T08:44:00.001-07:00

heck yes!

Tags: 2011 MTV Movie Awards, Movie Main, Twilight: Breaking Dawn

half way to Nigeria

2011-05-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

last night i helped francesca battistelli record her new album. the recording studio used cassette tapes. it was also the first day of school and already 8:30. i knew i was late. naturally we took the train home to get ready and my old boss was there. he asked to use my iPhone charger when we were about 1/2 way home. aka. Nigeria. i told him he couldn't because Dave had taken my charger first. while we were waiting for Francesca to record her album, i wondered around the recording studio. there was a separate bridal boutique with amazing wedding dresses. i told my co-worker about it.

Quiche

2011-05-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

i decided to try something new for dinner tonight and made quite the awesome Spinach, Ham, and Cheddar quiche, if i do say so myself. i've never made one before and was surprised with how easy they are, and how easy it is to make a healthy one. enjoy my recipe!

Spinach, Ham & Cheddar Quiche

Ingredients
6 large eggs, beaten (or 1 1/2 cups of egg whites)
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream (regular or soy milk is also a fine substitute)
2 cups chopped, fresh baby spinach
1 lb ham, cooked and cubed
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust
9inch pie plate

Instructions
Combine eggs, cream, salt & pepper in a food processor or blender. Place pie crust in pie pan. Layer spinach, ham and cheese onto pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35-45 minutes until egg mixture is set.

I personally used egg whites and soy milk instead of the regular eggs and heavy cream. I also didn't add any of the salt and pepper, because the ham has enough flavor of it's own. I'm sure it would have been even more amazing with the heavy cream, but figured i would save that for the holidays (i.e. when i'm already eating a ton of fatty food and one more thing won't make a difference). Delish!

dragon tattoos. american style

2011-05-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

having read the "girl with the dragon tattoo" books, i am a die hard at believing it will be hard to replicate in American cinema. Sweden in and of itself is a huge character in the "millennium trilogy," so i'm not quite sure how director David Fincher plans to translate this Swede-loving story. but my husband showed me the new teaser trailer, and i may have changed my ways.

it doesn't hurt that the trailer is set to my all time favorite Led Zeppelin song- "the Immigrant Song." dare i say it- this looks amazing:

update: if you didn't catch this before, you'll have to wait! Stupid Sony pictures removed it for some "copyright" biz. Never fear, I shall re-post when it hits again!

newbies!

2011-05-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

i went nail polish shopping for the 2nd time this week and picked up some new colors! i'm trying to get ready for summer with some brighter shades, but couldn't help also getting the new Katy Perry color, "the one that got away" from OPI too. it's glorious! special thanks to Jill for being a good shopping buddy :)

sheets

2011-05-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

for our wedding, Dave and received a lovely duvet cover. we also got a fitted sheet from the set we had registered for from another guest. that's it. just a fitted sheet. no flat sheet. no pillow cases. no shams. no throw pillows. no bed skirt (which coincidentally is fine because i think bed skirts are a little old ladyish). so we scrounged the sale section at Macy's until we found our matching flat sheet and then hodge podged together the rest of our bedding. i found some fabric i liked and made new covers for some old pillows and mix and matched our sheets. we were newly married and poor.

but now that we're long time married and i have a lawyer for a husband, we are hitting the road to nicer bedding! well, that and the fact that our old duvet is beyond worn out. we searched at Macy's this weekend but realized we're still not rich enough to drop $500 on new bedding. heck, sometimes all $500 gets you is a freaking duvet cover! but low and behold, Macy's on the web had something in store for us! Not only could we afford a duvet which came with two shams:

but we could afford sheets too! hi yo!

crackle

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

i've been reading my friend Jill's nail polish blog and started to experience withdrawals from purchasing new colors. so on my day off i drove the 20 minutes to my favorite nail supply in little Saigon. i wasn't super impressed with the selection this time around, and was bummed they've raised the prices of my beloved Essie polishes to $3.50 a pop. i did however find out they secretly stock quite the plethora of shatter/crackle polishes behind the counter. hi yo!

it was actually quite the luck that i saw them, and still don't quite understand why they don't put them out with the regular polish, but who cares! i've never used a shatter polish before and didn't quite know how it works so i only bought the 1 black mesh color from China Glaze. but i'm a believer and plan to go back this week because i'm already obsessed. these polishes are amazing on your toes and it doesn't matter if it chips because it all blends in anyways. love.

leave the fridge alone

2011-05-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

last night i had a dream that dave was unhooking our refrigerator and taking it with him to social gatherings to use as a party fridge. he would do it with ease and would lay it down sideways in his car. it made me mad when i heard he was laying it down because i knew it would ruin the fridge. it wasn't weird that it fit in the back of his Accord.

when i asked him about it, he lied and said he only did it one time. then i did a stake out and saw him wheeling the fridge around on a dolly taking it to youth group. his C-group co-leader told me dave had been bringing our fridge to events for quite some time. i confronted him again and he confessed. it was our new black fridge, and i was mad.

bikini to match my wax

2011-05-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

in the spirit of my latest bikini wax, i decided to buy a new bathing suit. seeing as how i haven't bought a decent one since my honeymoon, and the hot pink one i bought for Costa Rica last year from Old Navy bleeds hot pink dye every time i wear it, i thought i was long overdue. Victoria's Secret has been catching my eye ever since they started carrying MLB apparel, so i went there first in search of a new suit.

behold! my newest bikini! don't i look amazing? ha, i wish that was me. the pattern and the style of the bottoms are my favorite parts. i like some color, but after my electric pink suit- nothing too flashy. i also need something to cover up some of my love handles and this will do the job quite well! i'm also secretly hoping they will send me some sort of coupon like last time, but we shall see.

wax on, wax off

2011-05-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

this past Friday, i became a woman. remember in sixth or seventh grade when that's how they described getting your first period? i always felt weird saying that. as if that was the only path on the way to womanhood. most women i know would rather avoid that part of being a woman altogether. not to mention it was super awkward to tell your mom when you hopped into the minivan after a long day of sixth grade.

anyways, obviously i didn't become a woman in that way on Friday, seeing as how i'm nearly 30. eek. no- i got a bikini wax. i was going to insert a link to wikipedia's definition of such an activity, until i realized that it's super racy! if you feel so inclined, go take a look at it yourself. me posting in the first place is racy enough for me.

nearly every woman i talk to is absolutely flabbergasted that i haven't done this before, but whatevs. i'm sorry, i didn't feel like being tortured whilst in an otherwise pleasant setting of a day spa. i've also seen my share of others partaking in a variety of waxing experiences, as well as the waxing scene in "The 40-Year Old Virgin." Not to mention, that almost everyone i talk to says "you haven't done it before? oh, well it hurts really bad." well then, sign me up!

i'd had enough of the peer pressure though and gave in. no actually, it was just that i figured that i'm almost 30 and have wanted to try it for a long time and was tired of being afraid. so i bit the bullet and my esthetician said i did a great job! will i return? yes. did it hurt? umm. yes.

that ball has some english

2011-05-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

dave has an awesome "contact" who works for the dodgers. ever since the whole McCourt drama has been raging, we've been sticking to tuning into the dodgers on TV. but the other day i asked if we could go to a game, and dave had already arranged to have tickets from our guy! it was drizzling this morning so we dressed relatively warm for the game. we never know where we're going to sit, so today was QUITE the surprise. we showed up for the game and found out we had field level BOX SEATS! they were FIVE rows from the field and AMAZING! plus the sun came out and there was a nice breeze. the only thing that was missing was my sunscreen. oops.

MATT KEMP!

i could get used to this view

the dodgers lost, but the day was beautiful nonetheless. i'm so glad the season goes until September, because i'm crossing my fingers we'll run across these seats again!

and the winner is...

2011-05-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

so i went with the bagdley mischka for my upcoming black tie affair. i will keep you all updated with my "rent the runway" experience, which will hopefully be a good one!

anonymous

2011-05-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

i saw this trailer today and am more than excited for this upcoming film on shakespeare:

rent the runway

2011-05-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

i don't often have cause to wear a designer/runway dress, but i have a black tie wedding coming up that i'm not about to break the bank on. my boss told me about a website where you can rent designer dresses for SUPER cheap. well, less expensive then what you pay to but the dress. for example, you can rent a Carlos Miele dress for $300 instead of paying him $2,750. i think that's a steal.

i'm not really in the market to drop $300 on a dress if i'm not going to buy it, but i also don't want to be stuck with an evening gown that i'll never wear again. so at this point, paying $50-100 for a dress that people will gawk over for one night sounds pretty good. the website is Rent the Runway for those of you that are interested. for the fee of a dress, they will send you the dress, plus an additional one in another size in case it doesn't fit (for free)! you also pay $5.00 for insurance and they won't charge you anything extra if you accidentally damage the dress. saweet! you you can also rent accessories, which pretty much sealed the deal for me. i hate shopping for accessories in a rush and can never find exactly what i want, so i end up settling for something cheap and that i won't like.

now, i'll need your assistance with picking a potential dress. Sorry in advance that the pictures are small, but i can't make them any bigger without blurring them!

Sachin + Babi

Fancy yet youthful

Bagdley Mischka

Swanky and slinky

Halston Heritage

Who wouldn't want to wear a Halston dress?

Nicole Miller

This one comes in black too, but I kind of feel like it's a bridesmaid dress.

Fancy enough?

I still feel that i'm too young (even though my 30th is approaching quicker than i'd like it do) to wear a long dress (although the bagdley has my attention). i guess if you're going to wear one anywhere, it would be to 400 person Persian wedding, right?

joyful noise

2011-05-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

i will be the first person to admit that i do not have the most amazing singing voice. speaking yes, but not singing. just kidding.

usually i don't give a rip how anyone sings unless i just spent $10 for their CD or they're leading me in worship. i know everyone says that it's what's in the heart that matters, but i disagree when you are a coined worship leader. if you want to guide your congregation in moving worship- you gotta be a decent musician and singer. and even though my church can sometimes go overboard with the light show and trashcan/stompesque ensembles, they lead a pretty good worship time.

most of the time the music is so loud that i really can't hear anyone else around me. but tonight was another story. in addition to the weekly services, once a quarter Yorba Linda Friends has a "Lift" night of worship. and on this particular night i had quite the neighbor.

i was minding my own business attempting to involve myself in worship, when i hear YELLING from right next to me. that's right- yelling. i know that the part of the song was quite the crescendo, but really? i proceeded to carry on. only the next song was even worse. i swear, this was tone deafness at it's finest. it got so bad that at one point, my friend on the other side of me was holding back laughs in awe of the sheer awfulness of my joyfully-hearted neighbor. i made her go pretend to go to the bathroom so that when she came back we could move two seats over. but i could still hear her 4 additional feet away. it was so outrageous that i was actually worried the people in front of me thought it was me singing.

luckily, i didn't ever look her straight in the face because i was afraid i would give away how horrified i was. that and the fact that i didn't want her to know who i was in case she caught on that i couldn't stay focused due to her singing.

i know that i'm not the only one to ever have this happen, and i sure as heck know i'm not the only one who has gotten the "make a joyful noise" speech. i know Jesus doesn't care how i sing, but i'm pretty sure my neighbors do.

is it my turn yet?

2011-05-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

i have major issues when it comes to stop signs. i don't know if it's social anxiety, or just plain fear- but i never seem to know when it's my turn to go. just to clarify, i'm not one of those drivers that does the good ole "California roll" and just hesitates and steals a person's turn. i'm the person that starts, then stops, then starts, then stops, then waves another driver to go, then they don't go, then i go, then they start to go and then end up honking at me because i finally went. yeah, i'm that person.

just last week i was approaching a 4 way stop that i go through almost every day and i began to feel a little nervous. and as luck would have it, a scenario much like the one i just mentioned happened. only this time the person coming towards me did an exaggerated little swerve and then sped off. even though i KNOW it wasn't me, i drove away feeling embarrassed! no joke, when i got to the gym i looked all around the parking garage for fear that the driver would see me and wreak havoc upon me or point and stare. luckily, no such thing happened.

even though i've been on high alert for a jumpy driver in a black SUV, i've been paying special attention to turns this last week at stop signs and i think i'm getting a leg up on this whole process. we'll see.

2011 Walk for Cystic Fibrosis

2011-04-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

this is the second time Dave and I have participated in walk for Cystic Fibrosis for our Bible Study friends who have a daughter with CF. It was the perfect day for a 3 mile walk, and it was a great day to support our friends. we walked around the Eastlake Village (manmade) lake in the midst of some blustery wind, but had a great time!

Dave & EJ

Ryan & Dave

Gwin & EJ

Annabella, our team mascot

Gwin and I (courtesy of Dave's mad photography skills)

let's go dodgers

2011-04-29T19:00:00.001-07:00

i couldn't help myself.

Final Harry Potter Trailer

2011-04-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

the final HP trailer was released today!

Pictures of You

2011-04-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

i've been flying through books lately. before i even finish a book i'm highly anticipating my next one. i have about 6 books awaiting my reading. and i love it. my step-mom loaned me Caroline Leavitt's "Pictures of You" and i thought that since Jodi Picoult had a comment on the cover that it was sure to be good. and it was. depressing, but good.

the basic story tales two women as they are leaving their husbands. on a very foggy day, one women ends up getting into a car accident with the other, a mother and wife. she ends up killing her and the story follows her and the husband of child of the killed woman. don't worry, i didn't ruin anything for you. this all happens on the back cover and the book and within the first chapter. i have to admit after i finished the first chapter that i was concerned about any ensuing action to keep my attention. and truthfully, this isn't an action packed book. i was surprised by the ending and a part of me kept waiting for everything to come together perfectly in the end. but not so fast. all in all, i would definitely recommend this book, especially for a book club. enjoy!

save me

2011-04-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

anyone who knows me well knows that i love me a good sale or an amazing coupon. my sister in law probably remembers the early days when my nephew was born and i would mail her tons of diaper coupons. i get excited when Sunday comes because we get the newspaper and i immediately go straight for the coupon section. i got seriously angry when Vons stopped doubling coupons, and Ralph's started doubling only up to a dollar. and i pretty much light up when i know that JCrew is doing their extra 30% off final sale items.

don't hate me, but i haven't been uber concerned with saving energy as much as money, even though i know they can mean the same thing at times. well, i have seen the light because we got our first electric bill since having our new refrigerator and we saved some money. 15 dollars to be exact. 15 DOLLARS. in one bill. when it's normally only $47. that's nearly 30%! i knew our old fridge was probably an energy guzzler, but i really had no idea. now i just have to figure out what i want to do with the $15. what? oh, didn't i tell you? i'm not the saver in this family, dave is. i'm the spender.

won't you be my follower?

2011-04-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

while my blog is purely recreational, i couldn't help but want to spy on those who spy on me. so i installed Google analytics to see how many visitors i have on a daily basis. obviously i'm not super famous like Perez Hilton, but it's still nice to see that at least SOMEone is perusing my blog here and there.

that being said, i am very jealous of my sister in law's 18 followers when i look at my lowly 8. so all of you out there that i know blog stalk me, man/woman up! follow me! i need to feel loved, and how better to do that than following me?

magical mystery tour

2011-04-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

between the two of us, my husband is the party planner. don't get me wrong, i enjoy planning a partay here and there, but most of the time, i like it when he takes care of everything. my friend pointed out to me that i probably enjoy planning more than i think, but when i have to plan for my super picky husband, it can can suck the joy right out of everything. so when he told me that he had "some things in mind" for our anniversary weekend, i was more than grateful.

and so, for the weekend, he planned...... a night at the Huntington Langham in Pasadena! The last time we stayed there it was the Ritz Carlton and it was the night we got married! it was such a nice weekend, and we had an amazing time. the hotel is beautiful:

our view from our room:

the lovely couple:

and they had the cutest toiletries i've ever seen:

and to top it all off, we had dinner at the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. the food was every bit as good as i remember, and the memories were even better.

this is the only pic of me in most of my dress, which i love and had to get a semi-picture of:

cheers to 6 years of marriage! i am more than excited to see what the next 6 years bring us, and to be able to share it with such a wonderful person.

(six)

2011-04-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

today is our six year wedding anniversary. i can't believe it was that long ago that we were here:

rather then giving each other the traditional wedding gift for a 6 year anniversary of iron, i ordered a personalized cake just for us. it was beautiful! i didn't want to eat it:

but we did.

Dave also got me flowers at work, my ultimate favorite (getting flowers at work i mean). also beautiful:

and this afternoon we are off on a magical mystery tour. i mean trip. to somewhere that i don't know, which is what makes it a mystery. anyways, here's to my 6 years of matrimony!

may the bird of paradise fly up your nose

2011-04-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

Dave always get mad at me when i play around with him and try to block his nostrils. he says it's because i always block the one that he's breathing out of at the time. at first, i scoffed. i mean, come on. you have two nostrils for a reason right? but apparently, we don't use them simultaneously, according to the leader in nostril excellency, Psychology Wiki:

"Nasal Cycle is the name given by western medicine for the readily noticeable yet regularly missed pattern in human breathing - we do not breath equally (50:50) using both nostrils. At any given time, either the left or the right nostril is more actively breathing. Further, this one-sidedness reverses on a periodic basis. Much research has been done on the duration of nasal cycle."

when i was a kid i always remember my dad singing this lame song called "may the bird of paradise fly up your nose". i always thought he was making it up because how dumb of a song is that? i probably also thought this was weird because i was always envisioning the ever-so-popular California landscape plant, bird of paradise. how on earth was a plant going to fly up anything?

but again, i have been stumped because it actually IS a song. trust me. google it. and the bird of paradise is actually a bird. with wings.

i wonder which nostril the bird of paradise would know to fly up?

angels are singing!

2011-04-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

because this morning I got an email confirming the following:

Water for Elephants

2011-04-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

like my sister in law, my Water for Elephants book has been patiently awaiting my reading. after finally finishing my boring Jodi Picoult book i was able to start reading and halfway through the book, i am more than excited for the movie!

the new, second trailer is amazing:

pet owners

2011-04-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

i cannot wait until the day that i am a pet owner. i have been planning to get a fawn colored pug and name her Pearl for over 5 years. i've been thinking about it for so long that i now believe she will need a companion. a black pug named Lola. but that's neither here nor there because i'm a true pet lover, and as long as i live in a 1-bedroom apartment there will be no pets here. it's just cruel.

my downstairs neighbors however, do not share my stance on animal cruelty. not only do they have a mangy, ugly small yippy dog- but they have a dog that DOES NOT STOP BARKING ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY. i don't blame it. it lives in a 1-bedroom apartment and can't get outside. it's left home alone all day. and it's owners are chimneys who never stop smoking the nastiest cigarettes i've ever smelled.

so i did what every apartment living young person would- i called the leasing office and ratted them out. bad idea? i think not. they aren't the only ones with pets, but they are the only ones within my ear shot that don't contain them. my other downstairs neighbors have a cute wiener dog that is very well behaved and i don't hear a peep from it. and if i can hear this dog upstairs, i'll bet they can hear it too. plus, this ruins the whole point of my taking a day off work to relax if all i can hear is stupid Bailey (that's the dog's name) yapping all day. so yeah, i called the leasing office and they're going to remind all the pet owners about common renting courtesy. this just reinforces how EXCITED i am to hopefully move out of this place sometime this year. Just this month, and quite possibly today, we have celebrated 6 blissful cramped apartmentness living years in our apartment. and next month marks the first month that we will be living month to month! no lease! good things are on the horizon!

just in case you were feeling disgusted by my actions, you can take a look below. this is how happy both I and my pugs will one day be!

finishing touch

2011-04-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

does anyone else find this commercial completely disturbing? i don't know about you, but i never seem to find myself in the situation where i need to pluck my facial hair. and i sure as heck don't find myself needing to shave it. because i'm not a man. rest assured, i am not placing these issues in the same category as bleaching and taking care of a rogue hair or two. no, this device is practically an electric razor for female facial hair.

hot dog casserole

2011-04-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

even though the title of this post and recipe sounds a little red neck, true hot dog and casserole lovers won't care. this is the most amazing recipe for some comfort food lovin'. there's nothing a little crock pot can't fix!

Hot Dog Casserole

10 hot dogs cut into bite size pieces
One large can baked beans
1 cup barbecue sauce-hickory flavor
1/2 cup catsup
2 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

dodger wear

2011-04-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

i haven't gotten a new dodger shirt in a few years, mostly because they are a) always really expensive for women, and b) they are usually ugly. and of course i refuse to pay a lot of money for an expensive, ugly shirt.

i do not however refuse to pay for an expensive, cute shirt. so i gave in when i found out that Victoria's Secret carries MLB licensed apparel in their Pink line! hi yo!

on top of it, i also got a "Secret Reward" card that gives me $10 off my next purchase (not so secret anymore, since i acted like i was going to redeem it and didn't so i could find out how much it was worth)!

Songs of the Humpback Whale

2011-04-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

As i've mentioned many times, once i find an author i enjoy i will pretty much commit myself to reading most of their collected works. Jodi Picoult is no exception. i've already read most of her recent novels so my step-mom loaned me one of her first books from the 90's, Songs of the Humpback Whale. it was a bit of a transition having just read all of the Harry Potter and Hunger Games books to go to such an adult read, so it took me way too long to get through.

The basic story follows a family through a 3 week journey across country as the wife and 15 year old daughter flee an inattentive husband/father. it already sounds much more exciting than it really was. the husband is a famous whale scientist who tracks the love songs of humpback whales all over the world, leaving the wife and daughter home without him much of the time. the wife has about enough, and after an argument with her husband, takes the daughter and "runs away" to her little brother who lives on an apple farm in Massachusetts.

the story is told through about 5 different points of view and normally i'm quite fond of that style of story telling. but there were literally parts of the story that were repeated word for word, which was completely boring. i just wanted the story to end. but then when it did, i was pissed because it ended completely the way i thought it would when i started reading page 1. all in all, i would never read this book again and you wouldn't be missing anything from Picoult's collection if you didn't either.

black tie invite

2011-04-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

just when i think the whole wedding thing is dying down, i get another invite in the mail. only this is probably the biggest wedding invitation i've ever seen:

i had to black out (or in this case, purple out) our address since my paranoid husband is fearful we will end up on some scary website since he's a federal employee. can't say i blame him. anyways, in case you can't fully comprehend the magnitude of this invite, here you go:

a 10 inch invite!? it is literally bigger than my head. but the scariest part is that the wedding is BLACK TIE. of course i immediately think that i must get a new dress. because black tie? i have my typical wedding attire, but nothing that even comes close to such a fancy affair. so if anyone has any ideas or a fancy schmancy dress they want to lend me, please let me know.

Dodger time

2011-04-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

every year, i pick one dodger player to be my favorite. i know this year the outlook doesn't look that great for the team, what with Frank McCourt and all of his shenanigans. but i still remain hopeful that James Loney will carry us through the long season.

that being said, we've gotten the Dodger season off to a pretty good start so far. At the end of March, Dave and I traveled with friends to Glendale Arizona to see the last home Spring Training game of the season. I was horribly sick, but powered through as a testament for my love of the Dodgers. they didn't win the game, and i actually don't remember too much of it (probably due to the massive amounts of day-quil i consumed over the course of the trip), but we had a great time.

then last Friday, we made it all the way to Dodger stadium on a Friday night (we even made it by the 3rd inning) to see the Dodgers beat the former World Champs (aka the Giants, blech) in the 2nd game of the season.

and even though as a i write this, we are at 500, i'm optimistic that the next 20 back to back games will do us some good. baseball is back!

Subscribe & Save

2011-04-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

amazon has lured me in yet again. two words: Subscribe & Save. it's this amazing (i'm now seeing the close relationship between amazing and amazon. coincidence? i think not. anyways.) program that let's you sign up to order certain items at regular intervals. you get to pick how often you want to order, like 1 month, 3 months, etc., and then you get to save an extra 15% off whatever you order! and you don't have to remember to go back in and order, it's just a like a magazine subscription.

for example, i was searching for Tigi S Factor Smoothing and Lusterizer hair product at my beauty supply. it's $35 per bottle which is outrageous. i checked it out on Amazon, and they sell it for $18.20, already a steal. but THEN, if you sign up for a subscription you get it for $15.47! it's ridiculous. ridiculously good that is.

my most recent purchase involved a ton of dishwand refills. i ordered 7 packs of 3 sponges (which you can't even get in the store) for $15! that's about $.75 per sponge if you think about it when compared to the $1.5 i normally spend. i know, i sound way too over excited for someone who's talking about sponges.

Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce

2011-04-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

yesterday i was in the mood to try a new recipe, so with the help of a newly visited website, Epicurious, (thanks Betsy!) i tried this recipe. i definitely recommend if you don't have a ton of time and want a dish that isn't just shake and bake style pork chops. I served mine with basil orzo and steamed broccoli. i have to say, i don't cook a lot with shallots, but i will now! they really made the sauce tasty. enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 (3/4-inch-thick) pork chops
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (1 to 2)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup country-style Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.             

Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high  heat until hot. Pat pork dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add oil  to hot skillet, swirling to coat, then brown chops, turning over once,  about 8 minutes total. Transfer to a shallow baking pan, reserving  skillet, and bake, uncovered, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Let  stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, pour off fat from skillet, then cook shallots in butter over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add broth and any juices from baking pan and boil, scraping up any brown bits, 2 minutes. Add mustard and cream and return to a boil, then add lemon juice and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

color me mine

2011-04-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

over the least few years, i've grown a slight obsession to nail polish. so much so, that i feel the need to re-paint my nails every week with a different color. i also apparently feel the need to photograph them for the world to see, as i noticed while i was scrolling through my phone pics:

as you can see, i like quite the variety of colors. the more unique the better. this problem has grown so bad that i now need to keep a running note of all my colors, so that i don't buy two of the same one:

i'm also brand specific. i used to buy Sally Hansen Xtreme colors only, because they have pretty awesome wear and tear and the colors are pretty sweet. only i found a nail supply store over in Westminster that carries Essie brand for only $3 a piece! they are sold every where else for $8. so i can't help it. it got so bad at one point, that i had 5 colors in my repertoire that i hadn't even worn. but that's neither here nor there at this point. i've caught up!

i also find it necessary to photograph my colors to prevent buying too many of the same shades. i've caught myself buying a fair share of pinks and greens. go figure.

matrimonial madness

2011-04-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

since we've been out of college for quite some time, Dave and I's (dave and me's? that doesn't sound right) wedding attendance has substantially gone down. for awhile there, it was as if someone was getting married every month in the few years that we left Biola. though, that's not all that surprising being that we attended school where we did. Yesterday we went to a wedding of a very good friend from college, Dan Combs. it was a blast to see everyone from Biola- yet scary to see how much time has passed so quickly. there were more than a few babies, receding hair lines, and a few extra pounds.

every so often I like to take count of all the weddings we've gone to together over the last 10 years. the list has become impressive to say the least.

David & Karly Wood
Amanda & Josh Auer
Nicole & Kevin Williams
Stephen & Paige Miyabe
Jen & Ben Schoening
Melissa & Jamie Tressen
Bryant & Jodie Tallman
Zach & Wendy
Steve & Jen Rose
Kevin & Allie Gustafson
Steve & Carol Moehl
Brady & Juliet Goss
Heather & Phil Ward
Dave & Cerissa Hocker
Billy & Sammi Fair
Joe & Jamie Bryant
Glenn & Alicia Grimes
Kevin & Stacy McPhee
Tim & Lori Jalowiec
Joe & Sarah Stehly
Robin & Paul Sutherlin
Kristen & Jason DeBie
Josh & Christie Logsden
Chris & Julie Kimbro
Matt & Rachel Burns
Mike & Amber Marion
Steve & Spring Tenney
Justin & Norma Weir
Caleb & Betsy Smith
Dan & Michelle Combs