20 Something in LA LA land...

Waiting

Not much to report here.  These last couple have days have been pretty mellow... and it's sorta freaking me out.  My partner and I got a 6 week job for an internet project - one that doesn't need WGA writers so it's a go.  Unfortunately, we have yet to receive good information from the company or even a deal, and so we just wait.

And waiting?  Is one of the hardest things for me to do.  I am the first person to call myself impatient.  Have always been.  If I want something?  I want it NOW.  Whether it be a job or a boyfriend or chocolate or shoes.  For example, C and I have been eyeing this amazing camera which retails for $500 plus, and I obviously can't afford it right now but of course, it's the only thing on my mind.  Same thing for the Nintendo Wii which reminds me, I've really got to play that more often!

Anyway, I kinda feel like it's the calm before the storm, and any minute things will start happening, and I wont have a second to breathe (or eat, hopefully) and before I know it, I'll have to leave town (C and I go to Colorado & Chicago on the 17th) and then it will be the new year and (hopefully) the strike will end but then HIOLY SHIT we'll have two projects and we'll become INSANE.  Meanwhile, I can't do anything so I spend my time reading blogs and watching TV.  And Facebook.  Are you guys on Facebook?  I know some of you are, but I just got into it yesterday and before I know it, people from all walks of life are finding me or I'm finding them, and I know I NEVER wanted to get on another site like this after Myspace but then just found myself... so c'est la vie.

Also, yesterday my friend wanted me to go to the mall with her so she could pick up a couple of things and I was very adamant that I didn't want to join because I have a bit of a shopping problem.  She finally coerced me into joining and sure enough?  $100 were spent at Sephora.  But damn!  My makeup looks H-O-T today!

And last night? Just as C and I were about to leave to grab dinner, we both started smelling gas (not the farting kind!) coming from our stove.  I immediately expected the worse (meaning, I prepared for my apartment to blow up) and called the gas company, who told us to stay away from the stove, keep the apt. ventilated, and wait for a technician to come out.  So, 45 minutes later, no technician, and C and I both feel woozy.  I'm sure it was in our heads but still I called them and told them that we weren't feeling good and it was too cold to sit outside, so they moved us up to "priority".  Yeah, note to self - if ever a gas leak, always complain of feeling nauseous and sure enough someone will be at your door within minutes.  Well, after all that drama, it looks like the only problem was that the pilot light wasn't lit.  DG = Genius. 

Just another day in the life.

Food glorious food!

Today is day 2 of being on a budget.

I know this will sound strange, but in my 26 years on this planet, I have never before really been on a budget.  Sure, there were tight days and weeks where I would curb my shopping for clothes and getting manicures and beauty products, but never before where I've felt like I needed to change my lifestyle temporarily.

Now is that time.

The number one without a doubt way that I spend my money is on FOOD.  Yeah, I know - horrible.  But it is.  I am not a cook by nature, however, I love to cook and LOVE to look up recipes and LOVE to eat something good that I created, but for whatever reason, may it be long days at work or lack of energy, I don't cook as often as I like.  The days that C and I decide to actually cook instead of going out for dinner?  We end up spending WAY more at the grocery store than we would have at a restaurant.

I also have a shopping problem with food at various grocery stores.  I literally cannot walk into a grocery store without buying snacks, whether it be chips or cookies or chocolate or all three, some expensive cheese products, gourmet foods, sushi, etc.  The majority of it ends up filling up my kitchen and cupboards.  At first I don't mind the expensive bills because I feel like it's food, and we'll eat it.  But the truth is, most of the time we don't, and it ends up just sitting there and going bad.  Yesterday, in an effort to "clean" out our kitchen, we three away THREE trash bags of stuff.  Open bags of chips, cookies, candy, veggies, turkey, cheeses, condiments, cereals, etc.  It was RIDICULOUS.  I usually only want one bite of anything I buy so after that, it goes to waste.  Do you guys watch Oprah?  Did you SEE the episodes about the woman who is a hoarder and buys everything she sees and has NOWHERE to put it in her house???  I need to watch it because seriously?  I could be a closet food hoarder.  Although, I have to say that it's better that it's sit in the cupboard uneaten rather than in my tummy.

C and I also have schedules where we eat out more than average.  Mondays and Tuesdays, he is at work late and eats there, so I'll usually just pick something up for myself = $15 each meal at least (Oh yeah, I should add that I hardly ever get fast food, so there isn't an option for me to get a 99 cent gordito or whatever's on the market).  At least 1 and sometimes 2 nights a week,  I am out with a friend or a family member for dinner so there's more money spent and more reason not to go food shopping.  Friday and Saturday nights C and I usually eat out, and Sunday night we tend to order in.  You see where the problem is?

I have a few friends that set schedules for their dinners.  They sit down on Sunday, figure out what they're going to eat every night that week, go shopping for all of those ingredients, and cook accordingly.  At first, C and I quietly snickered because how "planned" and "boring" and absolutely no spontaneity...  But yesterday?  We became one of those couples.

It actually was a lot of fun going to the grocery store together, walking up and down the aisles slowly looking for the items on sale, checking prices and crossing off a list.  (Except going to the grocery store the week of Thanksgiving is a BIG no-no.  Do not do it unless you HAVE to.  These people are RUTHLESS!!!)  We came home last night, cooked my famous turkey chili, and enjoyed a nice healthy dinner. 

Today, I went to Costco and various other stores to get some more ingredients.  I ended up buying bulk chicken and salmon, which I separated and individually froze, large amounts of veggies and fruit which I already cut up and put into tupperware, and some extra things we need. 

So we are stocked.  Thanksgiving will be at my mom's, but other than that, every single meal for the next week will be cooked here in the house by me!  I guess there is a perk to being unemployed after all!  Tonight we are making this really great BBQ chicken recipe with corn and onions and peppers.  Tomorrow is homemade pizza on wheat dough with tons of veggies.  And Friday (if not T-giving leftovers) is salmon with veggies and brown rice.

If you guys have any easy healthy dinner ideas pass them my way!

the ring talk

Hey guys - I know it's a late time to post today but I've been running around all day.  First to the gym and then down to Orange County to visit my best best friend for lunch.  It was such a fun break in the week to just have girl talk about, you know, boys and TV and weddings.  She is getting married on October 27th, and we both can't believe that it's creeping up so fast.  Actually, it feels like just yesterday she got engaged but really, it was back in November so I guess it's been a while.

And to continue on the whole wedding kick, after lunch she asked if I would come with her to look for a wedding band to match her engagement ring.  Well, hello?  What kind of girl who is just DYING to look at engagement rings herself wouldn't want to??  So into a jeweler we go and start looking.  It was a little difficult for her as she has more of an antique looking ring which I honestly LOVE, and most wedding bands are very sparkly and almost overshadow her ring. 

Anyway, blah blah blah, what I'm trying to get to is that I got to try on like 50 rings (I'm sure the store LOVED us) and I felt SO overwhelmed.  I'm not the kind of girl who has always known exactly what kind of ring I want - but I know what I don't like.  I think I found something that really was my ideal ring, but then I started to wonder about other women and how they judge other people's rings.  For example, my sister has a lovely round (excuse me but I still dont know all the cut names and style names) diamond on a plain platinum band which looks beautiful on her, but when I tried the solitare style on my finger, it didn't move me all that much. 

SO my question for you ladies (and men? if you're even out there?) is, what is your favorite style of ring, what kind of ring do you have or want, etc... AND THERE WILL BE NOOOOO JUDGING HERE!  I promise!  Lurkers are welcome too!!!

Achy shaky legs

This morning I decided to switch up my workout routine and go hiking at the famous Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills.  I used to live right at the entrance for three years so I know the hike well, although I can appreciate it a lot more now that I don't leave my apartment and smell dog urine and poop immediately (that's not a joke).  I get there, find a parking spot (AH-MAZING) and start to hike.  It was gorgeous - you get the most BEAUTIFUL views of LA without the smog and noise... very serene.  I listened to my iPod, thought at moments I was gonna pass out, and made it back in a little over 45 minutes.  Not too bad.  Except my legs are literally SHAKING... like I'm nervous and my knees are gonna go out.  This is a very strange sensation to me as I work out all of the time - run, stairmaster, eliptical, lunges - you name it, I do it.  Strange but I kinda like it...

Last night I went out with one of my bosses to a networking party that one of the networks we work with threw.  I wasn't drinking (come on, I need like one day off) and I wasn't eating (although those mini pizzas and cheese plates looked damn good) because C had dinner waiting for me at home (good boy).  I prepared myself for the ultimate faking you'll see.  I mean we all work in Hollywood so I guess its par for the course.  Typical conversation:

"So what are you working on?"
"Right now, we're on a bit of a break but we have some really exciting..."
"WELL, I just got this fabulous project that everyone was talking about blah, blah, blah, blah!"

A giant WHO-CARES!!!

But I looked really cute - I just bought this adorable white and green dress which I will take a picture of and post eventually cause it's too darn cute not too.  So I actually made some contacts just off my dress - love that!

And now I'm about to go shopping at the new Steve & Barry's (I've never been) where they carry Sarah Jessica Parker's new line "Bitten".  I've obviously been watching too much SATC at 11pm every night ;)

UPDATE: Here is the dress but I took the picture off my camera phone so its a bit fuzzy...

Weekend in a nutshell

Oh, so sad to be back to Monday - how does it happen so fast?  This weekend was once again incredibly busy but tons of fun.  Friday night, C got home late from work and we just walked up the street to a small Italian restaurant where we gossiped and laughed over pizza and wine.  Afterwards I had an incredible urge to bake (this happens every so often when I am a little buzzed) so we headed to the grocery store and I got all the ingredients.  I then proceeded to make a huge mess in the kitchen while C looked on as if I were crazy.  But the best part is that I fell asleep while the cupcakes were in the oven.  Thankfully C knows this about me and made sure that all was good and our apartment didn't burn down. 

See, he knows this about me.  About a year ago we went to a karaoke birthday party where I got a little too buzzed or (who am I kidding here) drunk.  On the drive home I saw a donut shop and just about screamed that I wanted C to stop so that we could get DONUTS!!!!  I will preface this by saying I am NOT nor I ever have been someone that eats donuts so C just kinda laughed it off like "no you don't - you're drunk, lets get you to bed".  Of course I took that as "OMG! You think I'm too FAT to eat donuts!???" So when we got home I wanted to prove to him that I didn't care that he thought that (he didn't) and so I called a grocery delivery service and ordered 1 large box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, cookie dough, 1 large Twix Bar and a bag of candy corn.  Well, I fell asleep before it arrived (naturally) and C ended up with the bill.  He NEVER lets me live that one down.

Anyway, back to my weekend - we woke up on Saturday and went to go visit my sister who just moved into a new house with her husband (soooo jealous, their pool and backyard is bigger than my house), cooked breakfast, and then C and I went to run errands - Sports Authority (I hate), Best Buy (I love) and we actually ended up purchasing new phones - the Helio Ocean which is so cool I can't even tell you.  Then it was Mexican and margies for dinner.

Yesterday we hung out at my mom's with some other family, swam, ping-pong, etc and then made it to the annual Summer Concert Series in the Park that we go to every year on Sundays from June to September.  We love doing this - we get together with a bunch of friends, bring wine, cheese, fruit, pita, hummus, etc.. and just hang out, relax and enjoy.  It's a perfect end to a perfect weekend.  How were your weekends?

Summertime in the city

Today is officially the first day of summer.  Officially, I mean calendar-wise, but for me, personally, summer has been going on for quite some time now.  Let's see - April 21st to be exact.  And living here in LA, you can actually say that and mean it.

Today the weather is a solid 78 outside.  I'm inclined to say that the weather was pretty much the same in the end of April.  But today I am CELEBRATING the summer by going to the beach!  Well, not so much the beach but the Santa Monica Promenade which is technically the beach but really, its all shopping.  But being on hiatus my choices are a) go shopping near me, which is great and fun and oh so trendy or b) go shopping where at every corner you can see the ocean...

Is this even a real debate?  I LOVE the ocean - born and raised in LA allowed me to see it all the time growing up.  Living across the street from the ocean and seeing it from MY BEDROOM BALCONY all through my starving college years wasn't so bad either.  Sometimes I need the ocean to breathe (I mean, who are we kidding here, I live in pollution, USA)...

Summer can also mean new beginnings, new diets (yeah, sure) and of course new sundresses, products, make-up and shoes!!!  Hurrah!  Cheers to the summer!