The past couple of weeks have been rather stressful. Today was the day I had been waiting for. After countless sleepless nights, I was finally able to sleep in. Waking up, I decided to start the day with some fresh brewed coffee from the french press and warm oatmeal. Then a trip to the puppy park where I spent a good chunk of the afternoon talking about the world of wine while Corky and his new friend, Anna – an adorable and sweet Corgie – played with each other. Then lunch and a nap and now a relaxing evening with the remote catching up on a few shows that I haven’t had a chance to watch in a long while. This is what I consider a pretty great day.
Wow, what a life changing couple of weeks this has been. Over the past 10 days, I’ve had the following changes:
On Wednesday, Dec 2nd, I moved to a new home
On Friday, Dec 4th, I was gifted with a brand new beautiful baby niece
On Saturday, Dec 5th, I got to meet my Niece
On Sunday, Dec 6th, my Mom and Nephew helped me finish cleaning the condo
Today, I started my new job
Right now I’m sitting on the couch watching Christmas with the Kranks with Tim & Jenny and enjoying some 2002 Silkwood Red Duet an 2006 Fleur Petite Sirah with various cheeses. 2010 is going to be great!
Today is the day that my older brother an I are no longer the same age. You see my older brother and I are 9 1/2 months apart, so for 2 1/2 months out of every year we are the same age. When I was younger, this really bugged my brother. I remember us going to the LA County fair and sitting for one of those calendar pictures, you know the ones where they snap your picture then print it on a canvas with a dot matrix printer? Anyways, we’d sit there every year and the attendant would ask us how old we were. The conversation usually went something like this:
Attendant: “So, how old are you?”
Me: “siiiiiix”
Brother: “six”
Attendant: “Six, wow! Are you twins?”
Brother: “NO”
Me: “yeeeees”
He hated that. I, on the other hand, got a kick out of it . The the picture would end up with me smiling and my brother cracking a slight grin. The LA County Fair is in September, which was right after my birthday, so my brother would have to endure another 72 days of this torture until he was once again a year older than me. This happened every year and every time I think of the Fair, I think of that exact moment.
Adrian, today you are released from your 72 days of twin-ship – and I wish you the best birthday ever. When I think of how much you endured of that torture, I love you more and more. I really can’t think of anybody in this world who has a heart the size of yours. You deserve greatness, you deserve ease, you deserve the best that life can bring to you (I mean, hey, life brought you me, so that’s a start! Lucky you ). But seriously, I wish for ALL of your dreams and wishes to come true.
So the past few weeks have been hectic to say the least. I’ve taken on new responsibilities in a time when I’m still trying to find that perfect job and a new roommate. My head has been spinning with uncertainty and of course, my coping mechanism is to keep myself busy with tasks. Needless to say, the California Jaycees have benefited from my stress and have acted as my therapy. The good news is that A LOT of positive things have been accomplished for the organization. The bad news is that I’m still in a state of limbo trying to land that perfect job and getting my living situation situated.
Less than an hour ago I was sitting at my computer wondering what to do next – do I pack? clean? type? or forget it all and watch tv? I chose to play of Facebook while I sorted out the next 15 minutes of my life. Then the text came. You know, that text that just comes out of the blue, completely unexpected, but OH so VERY needed and welcomed. And now I am on cloud 9! This enormous weight of where will I live has been lifted from my shoulders. I want to thank my friends for gifting me with such a generous and wonderful offer. You have given me one less thing to worry about, you have given me the ability to breathe just a little easier once again and for that I am SOOOOO very grateful.
Whereas I pretty much grew up watching Saturday Night Live (SNL), I can’t say that I remember watching this particular episode. It’s one with Jannette Jackson, Jimmy Fallon and a bunch of other people as they pay homage to a particular portion of the wine making process. I got such a kick out of it that I had to share it with you. Enjoy!
So on occasion, and I use that term loosely, I go to the gym. I know I should go more often, and I’m working on it, but fortunately for me, that’s not the reason for my post. (See how cleverly I can get out of it?) Anyways, my gym membership is to a local all woman’s fitness center who has come up with a unique way to motivate their members to work out by issuing challenges. This month’s challenge is to walk 75 miles on the treadmill, essentially the distance from the gym to Santa Barbara. Every member who completes the 75 miles will be entered into a drawing for a night out on the town, complete with limousine and dinner at one of Santa Barbara’s hot spots.
Here it is, day 12 of the month, and I join the challenge. Corey, the gym’s only consistent piece of eye candy – and all around great guy – explained the challenge to me. I told him that the reality of me making it to Santa Barbara was that it wasn’t going to happen, but that I would go ahead and track mileage. Yesterday I completed a whopping 1.3 miles, and at this rate, I’d be happy to make it onto the 5 freeway. Corey encourage me to shoot for Filmore, which is much closer, albeit not really a “destination” location.
So here’s the compromise, I’ll just walk to the closest winery! Giessinger Winery happens to be 23.2 miles away, and is located in Fillmore. If I complete the challenge, then I will treat myself to a tasting there — Lord, I hope their wine is worth it. And, if I don’t complete my challenge, well then I may just go there anyways. Who wants to come with me?
It always amazes me to watch Chef’s cook. They come up with these concoctions that just sound and look delicious. Of course I’m watching a cooking show at the moment called Chopped. The premise of the show is similar to that of Top Chef, however it’s scaled down to a winner per show, rather than per season. In Chopped four Chefs converge in a single kitchen to put out 3 courses. Each course becomes more and more complex and with each evaluation the judges select their least favorite dish and then “chop” the Chef off the show.
In this particular episode, Chef Gavin Mills, Sous chef – Mas Farmhouse in New York, N.Y., made an incredible looking dish of tomato and mussel ragout with potato and celery root hash. Confession time — I have no clue what ragout is, but I’m thinking he’s referring to a stew of some sort? And then celery root, i wouldn’t even know where to begin with celery root! But the dish looked incredible!
Now I’m definitely no Chef — but I’ve never starved. However, I am inspired and curious. I love the fact that Chef’s have creative freedom to produce amazing experiences — much like that of a wine maker, just with more immediate results. Last night I met an Executive Chef from the Playboy mansion. And he was telling me that one of the challenges he loves is going to a friend’s house, raiding the pantry and seeing how creative they can be. To be honest, that sounds like a great time! The challenge would be intellectually stimulating, and the pleasure of stimulating the taste buds would be rewarding — pair that with a delicious wine and I would need a moment of silence!
Ok, time to look at culinary courses at the local college!
PS: for desert Chef Gavin made roasted figs with almond and sabayon. — again, no clue what sabayon is — but YUM!
I don’t have a Mac, not that I don’t want one, I do — but I just don’t have one. But as I was talking with Vanessa (my rockin’ roommate from afar – not to be confused with my dog-owning roommate) on the phone last night, she was telling me about how her Mac is wiggin’ out and making a weird noise. I tell her about another Mac user friend who had the same thing happen last year and that although I didn’t know what it was, I do recall it being fixable. Today Vanessa called me to tell me that the RAM card was loose and that all one has to do is recede the card. Cool –I confess that I have no clue how to recede a RAM card in a Mac, but I will file it away in my mental file cabinet for future reference should the question arise in random conversation, OR if I ever actually got a Mac.
Now you know!
PS — just in case Santa is reading — a MacBook under this year’s Christmas tree would be AWESOME!
One of my guilty pleasures is watching Gossip Girl. I know, cheesy, but it’s a show that actually makes me think. What I think about every week is — WHAT IF there were a “gossip” blog like “gossip girl”? or is there and maybe I just don’t know it. Gossip Girl’s identity is unknown, but what if you knew who it was? What if her identity became public — what would she do? Assuming it’s a “she” of course. Would she continue to post her findings? I mean she is truly the source of information about the socialites of New York’s Upper East Side. What would her followers do if they were cut from their life-line of current happenings? Would they Twitter their gossip? Or is Gossip Girl “twittering” already? Would they even care of the gossip, or would they be relieved that their laundry is no longer so readily available?
What if there was a real-life “Gossip Girl” in your town. Would you follow her? It seems like it would be difficult not to — on the off change that your name was to be mentioned at some point in time. Would there be a mission to discover the source’s identity? Probably lawyers lined up to take on the various “slander” lawsuits that would no doubt surface.
Gossip Girl — a guilty pleasure, yet the thought of there being a real one out there fascinates me. How would she do it? And, at what cost?
Shhhh… don’t tell Peter! We’re currently conducting an impromptu, unofficial non-voluteer meeting. The topic — Beer appreciation. We are evaluating the tested and true Belgian beers — Leffe and Hoegaarden. The verdict.. yum! Come back for an in-depth eval later!
Today is the day that my older brother an I are no longer the same age. You see my older brother and I are 9 1/2 months apart, so for 2 1/2 months out of every year we are the same age. When I was younger, this really bugged my brother. I remember us going to the LA County fair and sitting for one of those calendar pictures, you know the ones where they snap your picture then print it on a canvas with a dot matrix printer? Anyways, we’d sit there every year and the attendant would ask us how old we were. The conversation usually went something like this:
). But seriously, I wish for ALL of your dreams and wishes to come true.
So on occasion, and I use that term loosely, I go to the gym. I know I should go more often, and I’m working on it, but fortunately for me, that’s not the reason for my post. (See how cleverly I can get out of it?) Anyways, my gym membership is to a local all woman’s fitness center who has come up with a unique way to motivate their members to work out by issuing challenges. This month’s challenge is to walk 75 miles on the treadmill, essentially the distance from the gym to Santa Barbara. Every member who completes the 75 miles will be entered into a drawing for a night out on the town, complete with limousine and dinner at one of Santa Barbara’s hot spots.
It always amazes me to watch Chef’s cook. They come up with these concoctions that just sound and look delicious. Of course I’m watching a cooking show at the moment called Chopped. The premise of the show is similar to that of Top Chef, however it’s scaled down to a winner per show, rather than per season. In Chopped four Chefs converge in a single kitchen to put out 3 courses. Each course becomes more and more complex and with each evaluation the judges select their least favorite dish and then “chop” the Chef off the show.
