More from LA's Best (cont.)

I went into Sunday's activities with more optimism. Things had been going well and I was getting little "signs" along the way. For example, "Good Time" by the Brazilian Girls popped on while I was The Limited picking out my outfit for this occasion. The news of the out-of-state Marker joining us was great news! And my departing flight only had 30 people on it! Woo hoo! No rain scheduled in the weather report, even though we were supposed to get stormed on. Things were good.

After the plane got de-iced (it was BUTT cold that morning), I took off for my first flight of the day. J was picking me up from the airport so we could meet everyone else for brunch at Masa in Echo Park. Good food and good conversation. A little surreal too. I mean, I've met people off of the internet before. Multiple times. Heck, my bookclub started from an online message board and 2 of my best guy friends were introduced to me via the web. I'm no stranger to this type of stuff. I guess it was just interesting to finally meet the people I had been communicating with, swooning with, and laughing with in the comfort of my computer screen.

The conversation mostly focused on Mark and Dance related topics. With of course, a 10 minute break where we couldn't talk about dancing at all. 3 hours later, it was off to the Hollywood and Highland area. But not without trying to squeeze 4 people into the backseat of an SUV. Fun times. We succeeded somewhat, and have the photo to prove it.

Oh, and apparently in Los Angeles, there is an American Apperal on every corner. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Hollywood was interesting. I haven't been in about 10 years so of course I don't really recognize much except for the major landmarks like the Chinese Theater, the Stars, and the cheesy would-be actors in superhero costumes. Gotta love the street performers...

Parking was a non-issue and we soon found ourselves at the Kodak Theater box office... with Mark's family. Yeah, really. Actually, I think I recognized one of the aunts from the show's audience pans during the summer. But I didn't realize this until much later. Anyway... since we were loudly discussing our favorite dancer and were all decked out with leis and whatnot, Mark's uncle approached us and struck up a conversation. Said he was meeting the family after the show in the exact spot we were standing. Well... okay then. Things were progressing quite nicely. But, we still didn't want to get our hopes up because... well, things happen... or don't happen. The fingers were firmly crossed and we were very hopeful.

One of us happens to spot Lil C walking into the theater via the stage door. He really is Lil. Like really short. Not kidding. Then I caught Elizabeth Banks walk into the theater as well. I only recognize her because M was watching Zach and Miri the night before. Thin as a rail. Also pretty short. Everyone looks so much bigger on TV. I don't understand.

Oh and bummer... we notice the warning posted on the Kodak Theater doors. No video recording or photography of any kind. Drats! So we all take a quick photo of our group before we head in and promptly hide our cameras and recording equipment. Alas... no security or bag checks. Wow... that was easy.

And the place was FLOODED with kids. The median age was maybe ten years old. Lots of chaparones and snaking lines of kids. I am beginning to wonder what kind of concert this is. I think benefit concert and I think sponsors and hoity toity dressed up elders with money to burn for a good cause. This? Was completely different. The sponsors bought groups of seats for the schools to attend and see all these performances. Yeah, the board of trustees and all were there. But they weren't the majority. In fact, the theater was pretty empty considering.

Our seats were a surprise. Front row mezzanine. I know that mezzanines tend to be a risk because you are never sure how far from the stage you'll actually be, but we had a pretty good view.

We grabbed programs to verify appearances. No Thayne... but Mark, Chels, Twitch, Katee, Josh, PASHA (!!!!), and Anya were all there. As well as quite a few notable names. The other thing missing... heavy security. I think we were going to get pics and vids just fine.

Lights dim... then relight... then dim again... more screams from the kiddos. Then out pops Nigel himself. Our Master of Ceremonies for the evening...

LA's BEST Recap (cont.)

So, if you haven't figured out what MK-O stands for, well, shame on you. Plus, that will affect how the remainder of my recap flows. If you can't stand the obvious Kanemura bias, please proceed to the next blog entry for your own sanity. (It's gonna get a little fan-girly up in here... but I'll try to tone it down a bit for YOUR consideration. Maybe.) You have been warned.

Anyway, Thursday before the concert rolls around and we still have very little word on who is performing, especially from the dance side of things. We know that Michael Johns of S7 American Idol is supposed to be there; and we know that Katee and Joshua and Twitch will also represent the Dance S4 roster. Not really thrilled about more Katua dancing, but whatever. It's for the kids, right? And meeting people I've been communicating via the interwebz with for the last 4 months. Good times.

However, our group gets word from multiple sources that, yes, in addition to Katua and Twitch, we're also going to see Mark and Chelsie. (And possibly Beyonce or Rhianna...) Mass hysteria ensues on MK-O and I'm bluggeoned by requests for "hellos," shout outs, videos, photos, etc, etc, etc.

It's a little bit of a surreal experience and I'll explain why: my tour stop for the Dance tour was one of the first ones on the schedule. Needless to say, it didn't go well AT ALL. And then to watch/read/see all of the proceeding recaps of tour stops, I felt... well... a little jealous. Silly, I know... to be so wrapped up in a celebrity. But it's a very strange conundrum as you don't get that celebrity vibe from Mark when you are talking to him. (More on that later.) So now, it was my turn for a redo... in a totally different setting. Granted, I had no idea if we were going to be able to meet ANYONE after the show. But I was cautiously optomistic. (Probably a little spacey too. It happens.) And I felt like it was my turn to bring back all sorts of goodies back to MK-O since I didn't really bring much from my original tour stop.

And of course, after this news of the Mark appearance, I failed to get anything done at work for the next two days. It was rediculous how side-tracked this news got me. I am a fan-girl; a 27-year-old fan girl. *facepalm*

I also had to figure out how I was going to get all of my typical weekend chores and shopping done on a Saturday, since Sunday would pretty much be a wash.

Saturday rolls around and I get a text message from one of the gals in SoCal about a "secret Marker" joining us from out of state. Of course, my mind automatically goes to Nora... Mark's mom. Yeah, I guessed incorrectly, but the answer to the mystery was still just as awesome. One of the Markers from Minnosota has decided to escape the winter cold and join us for a day in LA. Hooray!

I finalize my meet up plans, lay out my new outfit and scarf for the day, pack my day bag with Christmas cards that need to be addressed while on the plane, charge my camera battery, DELETE all the original copies of our Europe trip photos (oops... yay for backups!... what? I needed more space for video!), and try (and I mean... I tried) to sleep before my extremely long Sunday.

LA's BEST Community Jam (Part 1...)

Let me just start by saying that I don't make snap decisions very often. Usually, I have time to plan, prepare, and research taking trips on planes to various parts of California. And usually, they are all work-related.

This wasn't really the case about 2 weeks ago when our resident Google-fu on MK-O found out about a benefit concert being held in Los Angeles... on a Sunday that I happened to have free. Now, I didn't think it was possible to attend. Most galas like this take place in the evening, which would require me to stay overnight, miss work... etc. Luckily, this concert began at 3:00 and ended at a decent hour. After a little bit of prodding from my SoCal cohorts, and permission from my forgiving husband, I redeemed my Rapid Rewards ticket for a round trip flight to Burbank. Arriving and departing on the same day. Yeah... I'm insane, right?

What prompted this snap decision other than being generous and wanting to support the children? Well, the concert was advertised by none other than Nigel Lythgoe. Yes, the producer of SYTYCD and at some point, American Idol. So of course, the roster included stars from both shows. We just didn't know which ones. But I was secretly hoping for my favorite(s) to show up and perform.

Unnecessary fan-girling aside: the BEST program is actually a non-profit that hosts after school programs and activities for kids based in the Los Angeles area.

From their website:

LA's BEST — Better Educated Students for Tomorrow — is a nationally recognized after school education, enrichment and recreation program serving more than 28,000 children with the greatest needs and fewest resources throughout the City of Los Angeles. LA's BEST After School Enrichment Program provides a safe haven for children, ages 5 to 12, at 180 elementary school sites each day during the critical hours after school — at no cost to parents. Established in 1988, LA's BEST is a partnership including the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the private sector.

Good cause, yes? So since I'm in the same time zone, why not fly down and support this organization? Being in the education sector myself, I came to realize that the projects our little non-profit has been working hard for will probably affect their futures. I didn't want to jinx it all and say that every child in the theater will probably have some sort of Basic Skills need when they reach college level, but sadly... they probably will. And I don't really think I understood the impact of the Initiative beyond the drama, politics, and stress... until now. So of course, I'm even more grateful that I went. Even if it was just to get a better understanding for the shear need of these types of programs... and for our work at the Senate.

Anyway, with very little information, plans for a meet up over brunch, and carpool arrangements, I purchased a couple of tickets for the show at the Kodak Theater. December 14th wasn't quite too far off and we still had no idea who was playing or performing. But it's for the kids, right?

Fast forward to Thursday and our little group gets some VERY good news.

Links:
LA's BEST Programs and Activities
The Basic Skills Initiative

Grimace: A Rant

I think Stephanie Meyer needs to find a new word to sprinkle through her Twilight saga other than "grimaced" to describe facial expressions of her characters.

Here. Let's do the work for her:
First, let's define it:

A sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust.

Okay fine. Thesaurus suggests:

Frown, scowl, contort, screw up, twist

Why is this bugging me? Other than "grimace" being the only expression that Bella Swan seems capable of, it is also the name of a freaky, purple McDonald's cartoon character that scares the bajeebus out of me.

Case in point:

Grimace is a large, purple anthropomorphic being of the "wumpus" species with short arms and legs. One alternative theory is that Grimace is a large, walking, talking taste-bud^{[citation needed]}. He is known for his slow-witted demeanor. His most common expression is the word "duh". Originally, Grimace was the "Evil Grimace", with two pairs of arms with which to steal milkshakes. After that first campaign, the character was revised to be one of the "good guys", and his number of arms was reduced by two. Commercials and merchandise generally portrayed him as a well-meaning simpleton, whose clumsy antics provided a comic foil to Ronald McDonald. The character was retained after the streamlining of the characters in the '80s. Voiced by Frank Welker. (Thanks Wiki!)

Dude. Seriously. WTF is that? *shudders*

Geez... is it December already?

I feel like I just started this blog and here we are on December-eve... almost a year later. And the holiday craziness is in full swing. I barely had a chance to say what I was thankful for on Thursday because I was so busy thinking about the upcoming holiday cash cow. Sigh. Consumerism at its finest.

So while I wasn't arguing with M about the placement of the outdoor lights, wrestling with a cheap, fake excuse for a Christmas tree, or joining the writhing mass at the malls, I was thinking about what I was thankful for. (Oh... and I was also trying to finish "New Moon," which is dreadfully boring. The only thing keeping me interested is Edward has to come back some time. Should be interesting. *barfs*)

First things first:
1) I'm thankful my house didn't explode into a giant ball of gas last night and PG&E FINALLY showed up at 10:00 pm to fix the leak in the meter.

Oh, wait... I guess I want to be thankful for overall stuff, right?

Eh hem...

1) I am thankful for my health. Granted being "terminally ill" isn't exactly uplifting nor something to be thankful for, but hey, it could be a lot worse, right? The insulin pump could just not work for me... and then I'd really be screwed. So yay for new technology, a new president that might actually SUPPORT finding a cure, and for understanding baristas at Starbucks. (What?)
2) I am thankful for my understanding and patient husband, who knows all too well what happens when I go off the deep end.
3) I am thankful for my friends and family. Granted I don't always open up and ask for help, I'm glad to know that they'll give me a shoulder to cry on or share a joke when I need it. Or an excuse for a coffee run.
4) I am thankful that I am employed, debt free (as much as a homeowner can be), and live under my means. In this economy, that's everything.
5) I am thankful that I have shelter, a lot of sweaters to keep me warm, running electricity to cook a meal every night and a mostly full pantry and refrigerator.
6) I am thankful for my little Lucy, who gives unconditional cuddles just as long as I feed her on time. (And clean her litter box.)
7) I am thankful for my new friends at MK-O. I know I haven't met nearly enough of them in person and I can't wait to in the future, but something about that board just keeps me excited. It's the most fun you can have with people you've never met.

Here's to December and the end of 2008.

Back in the States... A few notes

M and I made it back to the states last night and bee-lined to the nearest Rite Aid to stock up on cold medicine. Although, being back in the states alone seems to have made our cold symptoms subside slightly. Not sure if the pressure is just off, or we are completely numb after our 12 hour flight home from Munich. (Probably a little of both... but that was a really looooong flight.)

Anyway, here are some things that I have come to appreciate more now that we've been to Europe.

The English keyboard: because France had its own keyboard... and Italy also had its own, it took me twice as long to type anything in English because things like ?, ", ', and @ were not in their traditional spaces. You have to realize that words like can't and won't are not used in French or Italian. So the ' was sorely missed.

Showers: While we had a shower stall in Italy, I barely fit into it. And that's saying something. The shower in France was pretty much a bathtub with a detachable nozzle that sprayed you while you tried to stand up and not get everything wet. The shower in Italy wouldn't stay on long enough so you could finish cleaning yourself.

Toilet Seats: I'm not talking about the paper liners used for public toilets. (Those I knew wouldn't be there.) I'm talking about the actual SEAT from the toilets were missing from 85% of all the public toilets I visited. So imagine going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and your spouse, significant other, or male roommate failed to put the seat down. THAT'S how it was in Europe. Luckily all the hotel toilets had one... which I found strange.

Vegetables: It's nice to live in California and have a great supply of organic fruits and vegis from local farms. In Rome and Paris: not so much. I maybe had one salad the entire time we were there. It was sad. I missed my greens. But we carbo-loaded like crazy. And with that, I think I'll make Caesar Salads tonight for dinner.

Cold Medicine: I'll have to admit - the Romans make a decent cough drop. But the rest of their supply - forget it. Not only did I have to buy multiple items for each symptom, but nothing really worked. I guess that says something about our drug market out here. We've probably made everything so strong out here that anything else fails to help.

Clean laundry: We didn't get a chance to do laundry while in France or Italy. And for that, we stunk. It was bad. I mean, I can usually wear a shirt 2 or more times before washing... but for some reason, it was pretty terrible living in a suitcase without clean clothes. Luckily our in-laws spared us the trip home in the clothes we washed ashore in. And folding laundry has never felt (or smelled) so good.

Home cooking: I admit I've gotten pretty lazy with the kitchen lately. But after eating at cafes and sandwich shops for the last week, I'm pretty excited to bust open the cook books again. One can only survive on sandwiches and crepes for so long.

Since I was so rushed while in Paris and Rome, I'll probably go back and edit my previous entries so that they make sense. (Spell check was also non-existent in these countries.) Plus we have 300 photos to go through, edit and upload. Hooray! Thank goodness for taking the rest of the week off.

Why does this always happen

So this is officially the second major vacation I have taken with M where I end up sick. M has been sick since Paris, but it finally hit me this morning. I got some experience with the Pharmacy system out here. 18 euros later, we were stocked up on enough cold medicine that I am not sure we can bring back to the states. Le sigh...

We have a lot of photos from the Colosseum trip today. That place is a total tourist trap. We couldn't walk for 2 minutes without being asked if we wanted to join up with a tour. A tour would have been fine if we didn't study this structure like crazy in school and it was more than some neatly stacked rocks. But no... no tours for us. Especially in our states. (I really don't mean that the structure is just a bunch of rocks... but with my attitude right now - they are rocks.)

More photos to come. We are on a plane home tomorrow. I think we are both a bit homesick (literally). So while we enjoyed our trip, we are going to be so excited to go home and heal. Hopefully the conjestion stays away long enough so my ears make it through the flight.

Until later...

When in Rome...

After a near Hogwarts experience, we made it safely (and maybe sanely) to Rome yesterday morning.

The overnight train was a bit of an experience. As mentioned, I felt like I boarded at Platform 9 3/4 with M and was packed away into a tiny compartment for the evening. Dinner passed the time and was most entertaining. The train ride was a bit turbulent so our dinner items always precariously tipped each time we hit a rough spot. But it killed an hour and we found ourselves back in our bunk beds (literally). M watched something on my IPod... I curled up with the Twilight series (which sadly... I have become a huge fan of all of a sudden... UGH... stupid teen romance/angst novels with totally implausible outcomes. Must buy remaining 3 books upon return.)

We arrive in a few pieces to the Termini station and find our hotel and lunch. Unfortunately, being on a rattled train for 14 hours can really mess with your head. So M and I both had vertigo for at least 4 hours. Blah! Made lunch very interesting. Speaking of which, if you order a pizza in Rome, make sure you split it. I was expecting a very expensive pizza by the slice... I got a large pizza instead. Which actually was not that hard to finish... but still. Could not finish it due to the room spinning.

After napping and reading the last half of the Twilight novel (oh shush!), we decided to take the subway for the first time to tour some of downtown Rome's hot spots. Like the Trevi Fountain. Very fun to people watch there with some gelato. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep from the night before finally caught up with me and I was not exactly a fun traveling partner. At any rate, we still managed to find the Pantheon at night... but couldn't get in because it was closed early on Sunday. Maybe later.

Today, we get our Catholicsm on and head to the Vatican. (St. Peter's and the Museum.)

Some last notes about Paris: we did climb to the near top of the Eiffel Tower yesterday which gave us some cool photos and was well worth it. The gift shop was quite entertaining as well. You don't really realize how tall the structure is until you make it to the second tier and the third tier is still a zillion feet above you.
I also kind of regret not having any wine in Paris. But wine makes me sleepy, and we were already tired from everything. I would have barely made it back to the hotel. But we did have lots of coffee and cheese. I think we did our culinary part.
And our Paris hotel: probably not going to return to it. Yes it was convenient and the staff was friendly... but compared to what we have in Rome... UGH! At least in Rome, I can actually sleep on a mattress, rather than a rock. And we have an actual SHOWER STALL in our bathroom. And a beday... heeeee.

Until next time...

Done with Paris; off to Rome

Well, M finally got sick. I knew sleeping with the window open was probably a bad idea. Hopefully we can still enjoy everything left on our trip to do list.

We covered a lot of ground yesterday. St. Sulpice, even with it's Hollywood intrigue is pretty anticlimatic. And currently being restored. But the church makes it very clear that there is no such thing as a Rose Line in the church. Nor was it a Priory of Scion landmark. Oh well.

The Orsay museum was a lot more interesting than I originally imagined. All of the stars of Impressionism can be found here. I enjoyed it thoroughly... but my feet did not. We were so exhausted after touring the facility.

We take the overnight train to Rome tonight. And we aren't exactly sure if the station we were told to go to is the right one. I guess we'll soon see. Wish us luck!

Notes from Europe Part 2

The Lourve was huge. But I think we covered every room featured in Rick Steves' audio tour, as well as those featured in DaVinci Code. We even found the Holy Grail, according to Dan Brown. M has taken a liking to French Romanticsm; something I didn't really study in Art History. And we came back to the hotel with a ton of postcards... and a need for a really long nap.

Today we are walking all over Historic Paris. Our intention is to climb all 400 stairs in Nortre Dame tower and hang out with the gargoyles. If we have enough energy, we'll swing by St. Sulpice; another DaVinci Code landmark.

It's pretty cold here. Not really rainy. Just cold. Our room doesn't have A/C and it gets quite warm at night. Pray I don't come home with a cold because we have to sleep with a window cracked just to stay comfortable.

'Til next time.

Notes from France

First things first: This keyboard is nothing like the one at home.

We arrived safely to Europe yesterday via the longest flight ever. Much to our surprise, we were able to get a free dinner on board. A very rare thing on planes these days. Granted, it did taste like it was a free meal, but at 35000 feet, who cares? Watching WALL E on board more than made up for it.

After checking into our hotel, we discovered that shower curtains dont exist at this hotel. It makes bathing quite an adventure. I'm not really sure how else to describe my reaction.

We took on the Metro system as well as French dining right away. NYC seems to have trained us well. The Metro is very intimidating at first. But quite entertaining. I've already seen two people have full conversations with themselves, an inpromptu puppet show, and had a half full pack of gum stolen from me; all while on the trains last night.

We saw the Eiffel Tower last night. It was illuminated in blue LED lights. Since the tower is such a phallic symbol, you could say it was the biggest display of blue balls I've ever seen. Yup, I went there.

Our hotel room is the size of a small closet and the bed is as hard as a rock. But we are only here for a couple nights. Hopefully our backs and shoulders hold out okay.

We are going to go explore the Lourve today. Very excited. And the coffee here is FANTASTIC. Starbucks needs to take note. A tiny cup of Joe here is like drinking a triple shot.

Until later... Internet access is 8 euros for 1/2 hour. So you might not see me write much. But we are here and safe!

'Twas the week before Europe

What a week!

First things first: we have a new president that I am actually excited about! Watching Obama win the Presidential election was inspirational, for a lack of a better word. I am so thrilled and hopeful to have someone "fresh" in the office with new ideas. Hopefully we'll see lots of good change in the next four years.

Sadly, to quote the news and a variety of sources, chickens in California now have more rights than same-sex couples. I was a big No On Prop 8 supporter and I'm bummed that this passed. I'm hoping for appeals, turn overs, re-votes... whatever. Another member on a board I post on put it so eloquently when she stated "This isn't about schools, or religion, or whatever... it's about PEOPLE! It's about giving people equal rights in this state to marry who they love!"

I traveled to Los Angeles this week to take part in our annual Fall Session. This also marks the end of a very LONG event season. We now get a little bit of a break to play catch up and prep for the start of the Winter and Spring event season. It didn't go as bad as I thought it would, but we had some surprises. I think I'm just uber stressed from a number of other things on my plate, both personally and professionally, and it didn't help that I was getting "emergency" phone calls and emails all week.

I did meet with two lovely ladies from the MK-O boards on Wednesday. They were a hoot to hang out with and I can't wait to meet everyone next year (hopefully) at the ginormous get-together I'm helping coordinate. Of course, I had to let my co-workers in on a secret part of my life that, yes, I have a number of friends that I've never met in person and we all chat via the internet. My boss was very concerned that I was going to be "Marker-napped" or something.

Speaking of internet friends being awesome: Diana went to the SYTYCD tour in NJ a few nights ago and got me a "shout out" video from Mark Kanemura. I collaborated with her on a project we called "The Postcard Book" and she passed it on to him at an earlier show. (Basically a photo album with postcards from all of his fans... since we're kind of all over the place. Photo is here.) He LOVED it and thanked me as personally as you can via a video camera in 13 seconds. The video can be found here. It's on Facebook, so you have to be a member to view. And it's a bit on the dark side. But the "Jen" in the video is ME! YAY for celebrity endorsements!

And I'm busy packing. I am so relieved to have re-read the security and luggage requirements for our airline. Turns out that they DON'T count a purse as a carry on bag. THANK GOODNESS! I was really worried. I can bring on my big purse and not have to worry about that being the only thing I have on the flight.

Life in a Carry On Bag

I'm panicked over how I'm supposed to fit a weeks worth of my life into a TSA acceptable carry on suitcase. I didn't think I'd be this worried about it... but lo and behold, the trip is two weeks away and I haven't even considered which BOOK I'm bringing to Europe, let alone my laundry. And early reports are calling for cold, rainy, New York-winter weather in Paris. So that means more bulky sweaters.

Here is my tentative list of needs:

• A pair of jeans
• Comfortable shoes
• My new Lands End coat
• 2 pashmina wraps for scarves, dress up, etc.
• 3-4 different tops... probably in all black or dark colors
• Gloves
  
• Another pair of pants (prefer jeans, but we'll see)
• PJs and underly-things for a week
• Flip Flops for the hotels/train
• Toothbrush and paste
• Insulin pump supplies and basically anything I would need to stay alive for a week without access to a hospital (there is the bulk of my suitcase, unfortunately.)
• My quart size bag of 3 oz bottles - as many as I can fit
• Stuff to keep my crazy wavy hair under control in rainy weather
• Minimal make up supplies (powder, eyeliner, lip gloss... done.)
  
• My IPod
• My camera
• My passport
• My French, Italian and German phrase book (because I failed in the podcast department)
• Copies of the cool stuff to do from my tour books (because Rick Steves' says don't bring all the tour books with you)
• Copies of all our travel docs, important info, blah blah blah
• Our rail tickets
• If I can find it: a used paperback copy of "Angels and Demons"
• If I can fit it: my flat iron. However, this may be a lost cause because of the weather.

Somehow, it's all going to fit. I don't know how. But it will. Right?

Current Annoyance: Political Lawn Stakes

Ah yes: it's political blog time. I know, I know, if you wanted to read a blog about the upcoming election, you'd go look for one, right? But honestly, until November 4th rolls around, you are going to be inundated by this drek, no matter how far you run away from it. (Unless of course you are going all "Castaway" on us for the next 2 weeks.)

Anyway, my current annoyance right now with this whole election thing are lawn signs that support or oppose propositions, mayoral candidates or political parties. I'm all for freedom of speech, expression and tacky lawn decor, but why combine them all at once? Because here in Natomas, no one believes in just putting ONE lawn sign out. No, to really get the point across, you need 3 or more. Sometimes even 20. I drove around my neighborhood today... and a couple days ago and discovered the following:

• You aren't a real Kevin Johnson supporter unless you have 3 lawn stakes poked next to each other on the same property. Not one on each corner of the lot; not one by the door and one in the planter box. Nope! They all need to be sitting next to each other. Sometimes forming geometric shapes. Up next, crop circles in Iowa...
  
  
• Heather Fargo signs for "Progress" can be found on the Richards Blvd corridor, which has been sitting "under construction" for as long as I've lived here.
  
  
• Yes on 8 signs often come in multiples. But seriously, if you are going to put 20 of these signs on your lawn (gosh I wish I had a picture of the house that did this), and NOT expect to get your signs destroyed, you really are out of touch with reality. Sadly, I really wanted to get a photo of this house that had all of these signs up. But I drove by today and they had scaled back to 3 signs. However, there was some dude on the side of the house fixing MORE signs. Maybe I'll get lucky this afternoon. I know HOA regulations call for conservative lawn decor, but I don't think this is what they meant.
  
  
• A McCain/Palin lawn sign + a For Sale/Pre-Foreclosure sign = irony.
  
  
• Neighbors with A McCain/Palin sign next to an Obama/Biden sign: wow, guess those two won't be lending sugar any time soon.

Anyway, where do I stand? I'm non-partisian. And we don't have signs like all our crazy neighbors do. Because even if you have 12 zillion signs on your lawn, you still only have one vote.

Choose wisely kids!

I Wish I Were Baking

So I got sent home for the second time this week because my co-workers don't want to catch my version of the plague. (It's just a cold... but whatever.) My idea of resting is plopping down in front of the laptop high on Zicam. While I'm here, I might as well throw out a recipe for some cookies I made last month... since you are healthy and can bake... and I can't. (Jealous!)

The cookies are from this $3 book I found at Michael's a couple years back. They are great for fall (that is, of course, if you consider weather in the high 80s to be "fall"... ugh.) On the bright side, the recipe contains rum. Woo Hoo!

Spiced Cookies:
3/4 cup sweet butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp dark rum (okay... it's not that much... but still...)

Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets. (Or use a non-stick pan like everyone else does.) In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and dark brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Sift the flour, salt, spices into mixture and mix well until all the ingredients are combined.

Stir in the dark rum.

Using 2 teaspoons, place small mounds of the misture onto the cookie sheets 3 inches apart. Flatten each mound slightly with a fork.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

It seems to happen every year...

I remember this time last year. I was fresh off of the wedding day and honeymooning in Disney World. Half way through the trip... I got really ridiculously sick. I mean... those kids are flippin' carrier monkeys for all things unpleasant.

Well fast forward a year... and I'm sick again. Almost at about the same time. It's not bad... but not good either. Not when we're in the middle of planning 7 events at once and I need to somehow fly to LA and back... repack... then fly to Europe. Gosh, I hope I'm not getting another ear infection. I will not be able to stand it.

Oh and a word of warning: DayQuil mixed with a tall latte is NOT a good idea. As my co-worker so elegantly put it: I was spaced out AND strung out. Stapling papers was HIGHLY amusing for no apparent reason this afternoon.

Lost it... I've Completely Lost It!

Okay, so... I've officially lost my mind thinking I can do this. But the instructor I met with tonight at the studio asked me what my goals were for dance. And I didn't really have any to name publicity.

Anyway, the instructor brought up the possibility of competing and doing shows. My other option was the social aspect... which is fine, but not something I want to dive into. So I said, well, why not? What else am I supposed to do? (I have friends, thanks... and a husband...)

We start the orientation and I re-learn the WCS combo from Wednesday as well as a little bit of Salsa. Instructor goes on about memberships and lesson packages, blah blah salespitch blah. Then starts talking about the competition thing again. He said that this could definitely be a possibility, but I have other ideas for you that I just can't think of right now. But it'll be good. (Okay...)

Starts talking about the competition time-lines and the shows they do. There is a apparently a large one in May next year. So I've made that my goal: to take enough lessons (both private and group) so that I can freakin' COMPETE in West Coast Swing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes... I've lost my mind. And I need ballroom shoes... like now.

Slightly Overwhelmed

This time last year, I was planning our wedding. This task now seems strangely easy compared to my tasks this month. Between, the million meetings to coordinate at work, the MK-O projects I've volunteered to do, and the fact that I'm leaving the COUNTRY in a month: I'm a bit stretched. I don't think it's hit me until now.

I'm sitting here staring at our itinerary for November and I'm completely lost. During the summer, I was all gun-ho about the whole trip. I researched, bought all my tour books, started learning the language, etc. M thought it was too early to worry about this stuff so I stopped and focused on other things/people.

Well, here it is, October 6th and I'm sitting going WTF are we going to do? I don't remember any of my research, let alone the language. And this was supposed to be my department. I apparently love to plan things. But for some reason, I can't motivate myself to do so. Not even my fuchsia passport holder seems interesting. Maybe it's because there is SOOOOO much I want to see that I can't fathom picking what to see. I mean, we're only there for a week. Or maybe I'm terrified of finally venturing outside of the country. Or terrified that I will drown in work back at the office that I won't have time to enjoy the planning process.

I don't really know. All I know is that our flight leaves really early to Paris and we don't get there until the day after we leave. This whole time zone thing is seriously going to mess me up.

Doing a rain dance

My little rain dance must have worked. We are finally getting spit on after almost 9 months of nothingness. Even if it's just a little bit of rain, I love that it's overcast, but still warm enough to go outside in a t-shirt and jeans. The humidity is not doing anything for my hair, but hey, the rain is sorely needed around here. And everything smells clean and refreshed. I can't wait for the winter months and my warm sweaters and bright green peacoat. (At least I can get away with wearing my fuchsia rain coat now.)

SYTYCD Tour 2008

Well I've finally caught up on sleep from being up until 2 am last night. MIL and I went to the "Dance" tour in San Jose and stayed behind for the informal meet and greet at the end of the night. I have photos, videos, and a review on MK-O's forums. We got everyone's autograph at the meet-up and saw some of my favorite dances from the season.

Photos can be found here.
Videos are here.
And... the review is here. (I am a Mark fan-girl, so consider yourself warned. It's a little heavy.)

Apparently my roots are blond...

Ever since SYTYCD ended in August, I've been downloading new music to my IPod religiously. The show opens my ears to new music every year; this year was no exception. (Thank you, Mark Kanemura, for bringing Santogold to my headphones.)

So during my downloading spree, I decide to dip into my long buried hip hop roots (really though, I'm about as hip hop as Cat Deeley) and I downloaded some Kanye West. As overplayed as they were, I thoroughly enjoyed the radio edits of Stronger and Golddigger. So of course I wanted to add these songs to my collection. The versions that popped up on ITunes were the first ones I downloaded. They were explicit versions, but I figured that they can't be that bad. I've downloaded explicit music before and nothing has shocked me yet.

Apparently, explicit really means explicit when it comes to Mr. West. I started listening to Golddigger on the way to work this morning and discovered what the un-edited version of the song REALLY says. I believe my reaction was "oh... Oh... OH MY GOD!" Hit forward... next song. Dang it. And I totally bought that song too. Now I feel all embarrassed to listen to it. I can't listen to it at work for sure... so I'm limited to my headphones and solo car trips.

I wonder if ITunes allows you to return songs... probably not and probably one of the downfalls of the digital music age. Then again, it was just $0.99.

What else crept into my playlist: Goldfrapp is making its debut, as is Coldplay's new album, M.I.A. (which practically beat me into submission after hearing "Paper Planes" five times last Wednesday), and Fiest.

Well, I'm Glad I Like Jamba Juice

So if you remember last Tuesday, I ended up needing to go to the doctor for my swollen foot fiasco. Well, this week, on Tuesday, I decided to eat some zapped enchiladas for lunch. Totally forgot the whole "let sit for 1 minute" deal and completely FRIED the roof of my mouth. I actually have ulcers on my gums from the heat. (Sorry if this is TMI.)

I went to the dentist this morning to make sure it was not anything more serious (like a mandatory root canal or something... I swear I floss... most of the time). She just said no, that sucks. Don't eat anymore hot foods. And it'll heal in about 2 weeks.

WHAT? Two weeks??? I can't chew anything on the right side of my mouth. Drinking water stings! WTF am I going to do for 2 weeks!?

I think the best part of the appointment was that the dentist gave me a scrip for the pain. It's called "Magic Mouthwash." No joke. Yes, apparently I'm five years old. It's apparently a combo of about 3 different pain killers in liquid form. And it has to be made from scratch. And no pharmacist in their right mind wants to mix this crap. It probably tastes like ass anyway. I'll stick to the double doses of Motrin and frequent trips to Jamba Juice. (Which is about the only thing I can tolerate without screaming.)

Did I mention I hate Tuesdays?!

Work It Out

My swollen ankle extravaganza has finally subsided, so I decided to strap on the tennis shoes and head to my second West Coast Swing lesson. It was technically a "dance party" night, but they offered a free lesson with admission. I didn't stay for the party, simply because... well I like swing dancing... I HATE the swing scene. I think I even saw a guy I used to dance with 8 years ago. He hadn't changed a bit. Luckily it was dark and I escaped without anyone noticing.

Anyway, I popped into the beginner lesson with another couple. We did this little tension exercise do demonstrate the relationship between a lead and follow. It involved linking hands and bending our knees together while standing in front of each other. So of course, since I'm sorely out of shape and my hamstrings are tight, bending my knees with my lead was a challenge. Yes! The simple act of bending my knees/squatting was painful! The lead/instructor kept saying "straighten your back!" and I couldn't.

This dancin' thing is going to involve a lot more work, isn't it? My core is shot, legs are tight, and I'm dancing kind of heavy. I'm out of shape.

Inspired to fix this mess I discovered last night, I went to my little pygmy gym this morning while M headed for some work at the office. I managed to do 30 minutes of light cardio and a little bit of weight training. Then came home to do some housecleaning.

I am SORE! Everything hurts. I mean, I feel great and all... but my legs are screaming at me.

I've got a long way to go apparently. And to think I was going to quit the gym and just focus on ballroom. Looks like I need the supplemental activity as well. Darn it!

We Have a Dancer Down...

So of course the minute I decide to take dance seriously, I end up with a swollen foot that doesn't allow me to put on the ballroom shoes I haven't even purchased yet!

Long story short, I get really bad reactions to mosquito bites in the areas below my knees. Usually entails antibiotics for 10 days, a pointless dr. visit, and flip flops at work. It's that bad. And Sunday was the day that Newman Center decided to hold their night mass outside... and I wore flip flops... and no bug repellent. I totally got bit. I was really hoping that the reaction wouldn't be as bad because I'm a little older and the bite didn't look that bad yesterday.

Well I wake up today and the bite looks awful. (I'll spare the gory details.) Off to the dr. I go, grab the meds, buy a heating pad to keep blood flow to the infection.

This all occurs after I come home from my first West Coast Swing lesson and purchasing 5 lessons for future Wednesdays. Guess I'll have to sit on my behind just a little bit longer. *annoyed*

Why Didn't I Pay Attention to This Last Year

Our friends came over last night and introduced M and I to the Robot Chicken "Star Wars" episode. Granted we could only see clips of the episode that aired last year, it's still pretty flippin' hilarious. (And probably not work-safe, so proceed with caution... unless you have headphones.) I realize that I'm supposed to be 27 years old, but this had me giggling like a silly tween.

Link to the clips on YouTube.

And then if you can get over the fact that Palpatine sounds exactly like Quagmire, this one is pretty good too.

Starbucks Says It's Fall

The first day of September was greeted by the pre-mature return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I say pre-mature because it's still ranges from 95-100 degrees outside here in Sacramento. And of course, you have to enjoy this beverage hot! (How sadly inappropriate.)

The only downfall of this drink is that there is no such thing as a "skinny pumpkin spice latte." So my insulin pump goes into overdrive just so I can indulge in this seasonal venture. But it's sweet, decadent, cinnaminy goodness is SO WORTH IT. Until of course, I need to retest my blood sugars.

Pretty soon, we'll see the return of the Gingerbread latte and the famous red cups, which somehow signals the start of the holiday season.

Other signs that it's fall:

• Fall colors are back in fashion. Say hello to bold hues like chocolate brown, amethyst, and burnt orange! It's all over Macy's now kids. Go shopping.
• I have the sudden urge to return to college to learn something new. But it's short lived when I realize that I can't attend most of the classes and I would have to do homework again. (No thank you.)
• I can finally wear a majority of my wardrobe again... it's all sweaters. And scarves. And pashminas.
• The phones are suddenly busier at work again. And they won't stop ringing until late May 2009.
• No More Reruns! CSI, The Office, and House are all new! And The Fringe looks kind of interesting too.
• I'd say trees start turning pretty colors and there is a crisp feel to the air. But since I'm in Sacramento, "Fall" actually lasts about 2 weeks and is scrunched between summer and bitter, cold winter. Blink and you might miss it.
• It's Election Season. Time for campaign ads, false promises, and a whole lot of uncomfortable conversations with co-workers. (Generally speaking, that is...)

zOMG, Stop!

Okay, seriously. What part of a 3-day weekend to people NOT understand? I made the mistake of checking email this weekend for work and I had 43 (!!!) new emails. All sent from 5:00 pm on Friday to Monday at 1:00 pm. I mean, yes, there were some from my bosses... to be expected. But was I the only one NOT working this weekend?

Oh, and when I arrived at work today at 9, I had 16 ADDITIONAL messages. Majority of them all asking the same freakin' question.

Ugh! Can I go hide under a rock now? Please?

I have The Touch

So, after contemplation and one dead IPod Mini battery too many, I decided to head to the Apple Store at Arden and upgrade my IPod. This was a totally unnecessary purchase (seeing that I already have a Shuffle for the gym I never go to), however; I felt it was time to be rid of the Mini from circa 2003.

I think my trade up was even more justified when I took the Mini in to the store and had team members oogle the antique model and say "wow! I haven't seen one of those in YEARS! It's the Paperweight version." *sigh*

So after an hour (yes, that includes a 25 minute wait just to GET into the store), I have my hands on a new IPod Touch. The Touch comes complete with a huge color screen, calendar, photo viewing space, and I can access YouTube and Gmail on it. And the GPS will be handy in Europe, if I can find a free internet cafe. Oh yeah, and it plays all gazillion of my songs too.

And here is a nifty tidbit: if you have an old IPod and you want to upgrade, you can recycle your old one and get 10% off your purchase. It saved about $30, which is what it's going to cost me to get a case for it. (I'm such an Apple-sucker... Ugh!)

So when this pretty penny is paid off, it'll be about time to upgrade the OS on my lappy. But we'll wait until I can't stand Parallels Desktop anymore.

Belated Birthdayness Commences

Yesterday, my birthday celebration continued when my brother-in-law and his fiancee brought over a really yummy cake from Bella Bru. The cake was so pretty! I mean, it doesn't compare to the cartoon character creations my mom made when I was under 10, but it came pretty close. Especially with the paisley design on the chocolate pieces.

Here I am with the candles lit:
Now soon after this was taken, NASA called and said they saw a strange beacon of light emitting from our coordinates into space. But it was only a check up to make sure nothing was wrong. C mentioned that I should be happy that I didn't need to use ALL the candles in the box. Thanks...

As for the cake: very good! Very rich chocolate and it sent my insulin pump into overdrive as I enjoyed a very healthy slice. Final score: cake slice - 30; insulin pump - 0.

LOLz! SYTYCD style...

I have to share this "thread" with everyone outside of message board land. We're all familiar with ICanHasCheezburger correct? (Speaking of which, I need to make some for Lucy...) Anyway, I was introduced to this thread on IdolForums. com and it's full of Macros from SYTYCD Season 4. I snagged some samples for here, but you can see all the contributors and artists in action at the link above. Enjoy!

What's Up with The Del?

I had the opportunity to stay at the historic Hotel Del Coronado last week for work. The hotel was built in 1888 and is probably one of the most famous hotels on the California Coast Line. Photos and souvenirs boast photos of Marilyn Monroe, past presidents, and other dignitaries. Needless to say, it's an important place... and the hotel staff knows it.

Some images:

And of course, the hotel is haunted. But no ghost sightings were reported during our trip.

Now for my review: the property is huge. There is the original Victorian tower and then the newer "Ocean towers." The Victorian is where we stayed. The rooms were a variety of sizes. Some colleagues had rooms with large bathrooms and small closets; others had vice-versa. Some had views of the garden; others (Me!) had views of the sewage truck cleaning out the parking lot drains in the mornings. And did we mention that this hotel is very close to the San Diego Naval Base, so planes turn their afterburners on right as they pass over the hotel. Ugh! At least it stopped at 10:15 so we could sleep.

Food wasn't bad. The breakfast buffet is swarming with kiddos. (*Eh hem*... SPOILED kiddos.) Drinks, other than non-alcoholic beer, tends to range anywhere from $7.50 to $15 a DRINK. And apparently the cabanas are for members only. It's $80/day. There is a resort charge, but it doesn't cover parking. (That's another $23.)

But it's so charming! Gah! Give me a break. I'll admit the beds were comfy and the shower supplies were awesome, but way to nickle and dime me for everything I do. I can't complain too much. I mean, I did get paid to do this for 3 hours. Sweet!

I really need to start a YouTube Account...

Lucy is always a source of entertainment. Since she's still kind of a kitten, she's still got a lot of spunk, and not a lot of sense. For instance, take her run in with one of the neighborhood pigeons this weekend:

Natomas has a load of ugly pigeons roaming around. One decided it'd be cool to hang out on our backyard patio. Since I'm evil, I decided to drag Lucy from her perch in the front room and put her in front of the glass patio door to "watch the birdie." Lucy gets anxious, as expected. But the bird wasn't moving. So rather than listen to Lucy howl at the window, I decided to scare the pigeon away.

I exit to the backyard through the garage and find the pigeon staring into space. I start clapping my hands to make it fly away. Instead of taking off instantly, it hobbles over to the glass door where Lucy is lickin' her chops, spots the cat, takes off and flies directly into the glass door. I now have pigeon snot on my glass door!

Pigeon flies away to another roof, but in the house, Lucy is standing on all fours, arched back, tail straight up in the air, eyes focused. Girl was ready to go into attack cat mode.

Unfortunately, the bird was probably bigger than she was.

"Late Twenties"

I officially become part of the "late twenties" crowd in less than a week. And what am I doing? Going to Disneyland of course! And, working... sadly. My birthday conveniently falls in the middle of a very long, very draining, event where about 50% of the attendees have probably never flown anywhere before. *sigh*

Hopefully, the trip with M to the Magic Kingdom makes up for craziness that will ensue. I just hope I'm not too tired to enjoy it.

New Website

I am spending my day off focusing on "the business." So I went and bought a domain name since all the county stuff is official.

minordetailsdesign.net

There isn't anything there, yet. But it's hosted... and there will be something there eventually. Woo hoo!

Vendor Rave: Tower Graphics

So, I swung by the old Alphagraphics building on J Street to get Shirley's wedding invites trimmed and the envelopes finished. To my chagrin, Alphagraphics is no longer Alphagraphics. The owner broke away from the chain and is now Tower Graphics. I went in 30 minutes before closing and Bob, the owner helped me, no questions asked. Even brought me to the back of the shop to make sure all the pieces were cut correctly. (Very glad I did because some pieces were backwards... something Kinkos wouldn't catch! Ugh!)

When it came down to the envelopes, he recommended offset, which blew the budget. So we tried running the envelopes at the laser printer in the front office. They worked, so we hung out and fed the envelopes through. All before 6:00. I paid... and left. Very nice. None of this "it'll be ready in 48 hours" thing.

Visit them at www.tower-graphics.com

Shirley & Jody - Invites

Woo! This project is approved! Done! Now on to printing. Printing will be done by both moi and a little bit of Kinkos action. (Ugh!) Hopefully I can sneak into Alphagraphics on the way home tomorrow, as they are my first choice. Here is a sampling. (Note, my friend's last name is not Sangria... but it sounds cool.)

Score! New Bedding

As some have figured out, Linens and Things is closing in Natomas. Hopefully the empty store will make way for something useful, like a Trader Joes. Mmm...

Anyway, everything is on a minor clearance right now. And M and I have decided to use the chain's misfortune to find a new bedding set. Especially since the current bedding shrunk in our washing machine after a foster kitty accident. (It's Dry Clean only for a reason, folks.) Plus, M never really liked my choice. (Whatever...)

So LnT put their entire Nate Berkus line on a bigger clearance than everything else... which now makes it about the same price as everything else. Either way, I managed to get the complete bedding set for $200. The comforter alone cost that much at regular price. Score!

Smoke Screen

If you've been living under a rock lately, you probably should stay there. Northern California is burning! And since we live in a valley with about 842 different fires surrounding us, it looks like mid-December, feels like mid-July, and smells like that nasty bar from college that didn't follow the "no smoking in enclosed spaces" law. Gross.

Here is the skyline on a good day:














Here is the skyline now:














Yuck...

Je vais bien, merci.

Footnotes for the last few weeks since I've been casually absent.

• The Basic Skills Initiative is guaranteed to change California college students and faculty. It apparently took over my life for about 3 weeks and I'm finally FINISHED with the regional meeting road trip. 6 2-day meetings in less than 2 weeks. UGH! Granted I didn't go to all of them, but I did have to help re-set up a majority of them because they were poorly organized.
• During my road trip, I managed to pick up some basic French phrases for our trip in November. However, since these are free podcasts, I can only go by what I hear. I know the website has free downloads, but I will probably have no idea what I'm looking at.
• I tried the Wii Fit and I LOVE it! Hula Hooping on a video game? Who needs a gym? I can do yoga with a funky CGI trainer who's lips don't move. Fun stuff.
• Lucy is our psycho "child." She's destroyed a good chunk of her toys and I find feathers all over the house. She's scratching her post... and the rug... and the carpets... and the ottomans.
• I really need a hair cut.
• I've been riding the bus for the last couple of weeks. $1 a ride. A/C. Good for the environment and I'm just saying NO to $4.50/gallon gas. HA!

Geek-Out Moment: Guitar Hero

I'm not one to play video games. The extent of my gaming prowess extends out to Kirby's Dreamland and MarioKart. Basically, non-gory, cutesy games with catchy music.

Until I was introduced to Guitar Hero III.

Not only is it not gory, but it has much better music. And if you stare at the screen long enough, your eyes start playing tricks on you. (Like, ficus trees begin to wave at you and stuff. Whoa... [/Keanu Reeves voice])

Anyway, so I was really terrible at this game at some point. However, after much practice, I finally beat the evil record producer at the end of the Easy level today. Woo Hoo! I feel confident enough to battle those stupid 10 year olds often found on YouTube. Or at least hang out with David Cook. (Hello!?)

Here's Lucy!

Because you all probably want to know what our cat is like. Here is a quick sample.

Current Annoyance: City Limits

So to follow up on my attempt to obtain a business license from Sac County... apparently I live within City Limits. So the county can't extend a license to me. Which is fine, except Sac City doesn't exactly make it as easy to obtain a business license. Argh! No online web forms, no concrete information online, nothing. I have to go to city hall to talk to someone. Which is completely crazy in this digital age. Lame!

In other news, we bought our tickets to Paris and Rome, booked our hotels and we're working on the rail pass. We also adopted a cat. Woo Hoo.

Almost official

I sent in my application for a business license today. We'll see what happens. Though I will be pretty bummed out if I can't get the name I want and have already have my heart set on.

At least I can finally obtain business legally in Sacramento County.

Current Confusion: EuroRail, et. al.

First, I'd like to admit that M and I are considering a whirlwind 2-week stint in Europe. (Seems to be the trend this year... first NYC, now Europe in the off-season.)

Planning the trip, while all still concepts, seems to be fairly easy. Except for the trains. I do NOT understand this system at all. No matter how many times Rick Steves' can lay it out.

First, you can buy EuroRail passes for different countries, not including the Great Britain area, which is a completely different ballgame. You can purchase them for any number of trips in a certain month, or buy a monthly pass for unlimited travel in a country (I think). Then you can buy combo run passes that allow you a certain amount of travel days in anywhere from 3-5 countries. But with these passes, you can only buy first class tickets. However, if you are traveling in a party of 2 or more, you can get a 1st Class Saverpass, which is the same prices as a second class ticket. And then of course, if you want to travel from a country to another country, say France to Italy, you need a completely separate pass AND a reservation, but you can get a discount if you are a EuroRail pass-holder.

OMGWTF???

Seriously, the amount of time spent trying to figure this blasted system out, you could have rented a car and drove to France. Or at least flown. I don't mind country hopping by air. Get us there a lot faster than a night train. Although the "Harry Potter" approach to traveling seems quite appealing.

Continuing the search for the perfect solution...

Banana Flat-Bread

To cut back on the calories and sugar, I decided to take on Hungry Girl's recipe for Banana Bread. The recipe cuts out things like butter, real eggs, white sugar and white flour. My problem arose when the bread, which looked great coming out of the over, practically deflated after cooling. It could have been that I needed more time in the oven. Or it could have been that I used a glass pan over a non-stick (which seems to cook better in our oven.)

At any rate... it's okay. I feel a little better about eating it. However, it's a little soggy from the bananas. And without further ado:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
Optional Toppings: no-calorie spray butter, Cool Whip Free

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine both types of flour, Splenda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (in other words, all dry ingredients). In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, egg substitute, applesauce, and vanilla extract (all the wet ingredients). Add this mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until just blended. Spoon batter into a large loaf pan (about 9" X 5") sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, and then cut into 8 slices. If you like, spritz with some spray butter or spread on some Cool Whip Free. MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Refer-a-blog: Photoshop Disasters

Because my fellow design cohorts can sit and view this site and both laugh and hang their heads in shame. Don't worry... we've all been there I'm sure.

Photoshop Disasters

Ugh... hold the salt!

M and I tried a Paula Deen recipe for pork chops tonight. Boy... it was like eating a salt lick. The recipe calls for sliced chops with 1) a light coat of House seasoning, which is mostly salt, 2) seasoning salt and 3) Jerk Seasoning mix, which also contained a lot of salt.

Proceed with caution in this recipe. I'm sure you could cut out the House Seasoning and be fine.

Dora's Jerk Pork Chops
2 pounds boneless pork loin
House Seasoning recipe follows
Seasoning salt
Jerk Spice, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice pork loin into chops about 3/4-inch-thick. Coat lightly with House Seasoning and seasoning salt. Coat with Jerk Spice, being sure to cover all sides. Bake until cooked through, about 30 minutes.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Jerk Spice:
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried, crushed Scotch bonnet pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well-mixed. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 1/2 cup

CRAP! How did I miss this??

I can't stand sob fests, so I skipped most of "Idol Gives Back" last night. However, apparently I missed the So You Think You Can Dance? alum out-perform the current Idol crew. Dang it! I missed me some Pasha, Benji, and every other talented boy from that show. Err.

You can view the craptastic quality video below. Or download it on Itunes. Some proceeds go to charity.

I Followed a Trend...

I had a credit from a Macy's return, so I broke down and bought a pair of Crocs. I know, I know... they aren't all that cute and trendy as hell. And lord knows I don't need another pair of shoes. But I wanted something I could do the following in:

* Slip on to walk to the mailbox, but not worry about walking through someone's muddy sidewalk. Nor burn my feet on hot cement through my cheap flip flops.

* Garden - because flip flops aren't practical and my gym shoes are too expensive to tramp around in the mud casually. (Running through mud is okay...)

* Walk around in Disneyland - because this is apparently what all the Disney freaks wear in the summer at the park. We'll see... my feet are picky.

* Wear socks with non-closed shoes - because I'm a nerd. But this will help in early spring when it's not warm enough to wear the flip flops, but too warm for my fuzzy slippers.

And really, do I need another excuse to buy shoes I can run over with my car or walk through rivers and NOT have them fall to pieces? I think not.

New York Diary Part 6: The End

Fast forward to 5:20 am Sunday morning. M and I roll out of bed, pack our last minute belongings and head downstairs to check out. Our ride is already downstairs. We grab a bagel for breakfast and say good bye to NYC.

Some key notes:
* Flying home on an early Sunday is actually a pretty good idea. There is virtually NO one on the road, so even a taxi fair would be cheap.
* The main Jet Blue terminal at JFK is terminal 6. Our driver saw the first possible Jet Blue terminal and stopped there.
* There were only 3 working bathrooms in the JFK women's bathroom. So go early.
* Your flight back to the west side will probably be A LOT longer than your flight in. Our flight home was about 7 hours. It was quite strange to arrive back at SFO at 10:45 am when our flight home took off at 8:00 am in NYC. The head wind was just terrible.

M and I had a blast in NYC. I don't know if we'll return any time soon, but it was still nice to experience it.

Dinner Inspiration - or M's New Favorite Meal

M loves this new chicken dish I found in the Rachel Ray book. So I thought I would share.

Honey Nut Chicken Sticks

* 2 pounds chicken tenders
* Salt and pepper
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 eggs
* A splash milk
* 2 cups honey nut flavored cereal, such as Honey Nut Corn Flakes
* 1 cup bread crumbs
* 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
* 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
* 2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick brand Montreal Poultry Seasoning
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil (eyeball it)

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Place flour in a large, shallow dish. Coat chicken in flour.

Beat eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Combine cereal, bread crumbs, paprika, poultry seasoning, grill seasoning and vegetable oil in food processor. Transfer breading to a shallow dish.

Place a nonstick baking sheet near chicken breading station. In batches, take flour-coated chicken and coat in eggs, followed by breading and place on nonstick cookie sheet. When all the chicken has been coated, transfer to oven and bake 15 minutes, until evenly brown and cooked through.

Cool and serve, or pack up for a picnic! This chicken may be served hot or cold.

*Note... cold chicken squicks me out, so I prefer these hot with some jasmine rice on the side.

New York Diary Part 5: The $18,500 Question

Saturday was our last full day to explore all the landmarks we wanted to cover in our short trip. Since we explored most of downtown on Friday, we decided to head uptown.

Central Park: Our subway dropped us off right in front of Central Park West. We avoided the zillions of runners and started making our way to the east side. Note: definitely bring your running shoes. Sadly, we didn't see the Great Lawn or Strawberry Fields, but this park has a TON of fun looking playgrounds. If I were 10, I'd totally dig this place. But M and I proceeded to walk along, avoiding more runners and bikes and falling roller-blading kids.

FAO Swartz and The Apple Store: First, the Apple store in NYC is underground and crowded as hell. But you get to take a glass elevator down and all you see above ground is a giant Apple symbol on glass. Very cool if you are an Apple fanatic. Next door is the best toy store on the planet: FAO Swartz. Granted, the Toys R Us is pretty neat, but this was a must see as well. The piano from Big is still in the store, but is heavily guarded and can only be seen in action when there are scheduled demos. There are stuffed animals galore. An entire section devoted to Harry Potter collectibles. (No, nothing came home with me, sadly.) And there were lego sculptures of Spongebob, Chewbacca, and, yes, Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nice.

Tiffany's: M and I continued our path down 5th Avenue and stopped at Tiffany's. Not just any Tiffany's... THE Tiffany's. We had to experience all four floors of fine jewelry goodness. Our stroll through the diamond floor went something like this:

M: "Am I reading that correctly?"
Me: "What?"
M: [points to shiny tennis bracelet in a glass case] "Does that really say $18,500?"
Me: "Well, yeah."
M: *groans*
Me: "Maybe there is a discount floor..."

Sadly, there wasn't a discount floor. So we left to find something to eat.

Carnegie Deli: Even if you can't stand meat, you should eat at this deli in NYC. (Okay, if you are a vegetarian, maybe you should skip it. But still...) Much like Sardi's, there are pictures of all the celebrities that have passed through this little restaurant. (Except they are actual photos and not freaky sketches.) The restaurant is so packed that the staff has to guide you along the way to your seat... and then you get real comfy with strangers. How this restaurant would fare in a fire, I'm not sure. But they survive somehow. Order a big pastrami sandwich. But you can probably split one meal between 2 people. And the cheesecakes are MASSIVE. CD is cash only, so be sure to have enough for the food and tip. Maybe you'll spot Woody Allen.

Top of the Rock: The Rockefeller Center is a good alternative to visit if you don't want to wait in line for the Empire State Building. It's the same view and probably about the same price. Here, M and I were skyrocketed to the 67th floor of the building and froze our behind off looking down at the city. We managed to see the Statue of Liberty from our view as well as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square, and the Brooklyn Bridge. And the other good thing about the Rock: the NBC studio store is on the bottom floor. So you can grab all the Dunder Mifflin shwag you want. And since it's still cold outside, the ice rink is still open and still busy. However, I'd stay inside and grab a coffee.

Some other sites worth noting in this intermission: Grand Central Station was busy and big. Strawberry is a really cool, Forever 21-like shop for everyone over 21. The Chrysler Building isn't apparently open on weekends. And walking from Central Park to Times Square is a HAUL. Take a freakin' subway.

TKTS Experience: Mental note - The TKTS booth is a madhouse around 5 pm because all the shows are looking for last minute attendees. It's cash only and popular shows generally don't get discounted. The attendant looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked for Wicked tickets. Avenue Q wasn't much of a discount either.

Serendipity 3: (Note, there isn't a 1 or a 2... don't ask.) M and I were starving, and since all the Times Square restaurants were booked, we decided to head Uptown East. Serendipity 3, the coffee bar, ice creamery and restaurant from the movie is near Bloomingdales between East 2nd and 3rd. It's also not as easy to get into as the movie makes it. I also wouldn't expect service with a smile, either. A table for two at 6:30 pm was going to take an hour and 45 minutes. At that rate, you better home it's worth it. Luckily, there was Patsy's Pizza on one corner, and Dylan's Candy and Dessert Bar on the other. We put our name down at Serendipity and figured we would return for dessert. We were glad to experience traditional, NYC style, pizza. And then Dylan's was a diabetic nightmare. So much chocolate and brightly colored confections. (If you can grab them, get the chocolate covered grahams.)

Finally, we check back into Serendipity and our name is almost up. We are escorted, quite literally, about 20 feet behind the registration desk. It's THAT small of a parlor. No wonder seats are a commodity. And the lights scream "we have a short somewhere... please fix." But maybe that's part of the charm. After being ignored for 10 minutes, we finally get water. Luckily we only asked for a Forbidden Broadway Sundae, which was heavenly! But we couldn't finish it. Sad. S3's specialty is the Frozen Hot Chocolate. Often served to couples with two straws. (Everyone say "aawwwwww!")

We left within a half hour and headed back to the hotel early to pack and prepare for our early-ass departure the following morning.

Dear John [Mayer],

How is it that this seemingly simple song can tug at my heartstrings? *sigh*

Take all of your wasted honor.
Every little past frustration.
Take all of your so called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations.

Say what you need to say (x8)

Walkin' like a one man army,
Fightin' with the shadows in your head.
Livin' up the same old moment
Knowin' you'd be better off instead

If you could only...Say what you need to say (x8)

Have no fear for givin' in.
Have no fear for giving over.
You better know that in the end
It's better to say too much, than never to say what you need to say again.

Even if your hands are shaking,
And your faith is broken.
Even as the eyes are closin',
Do it with a heart wide open.

Say what you need to say (x7)

Say what you need to, Say what you need to...

Say what you need to say.

One More: Design Plug

Shirley and Jody (my buddies from another post) changed their minds on the design after it was submitted. They decided on a different path and theme, and this is what I came up for them. Oh how I wish I could draw... but the floral patterns are actually dingbats for a font I found on Dafont.com. You should definitely check it out if you are slightly illustration-challenged, like myself.

New York Diary Part 4: A Coffee Conundrum

While in New York, we realized that Starbucks (even though a store could be found every quarter mile) was not the sole stakeholder in the East Coast Coffee industry. Surprisingly, Dunkin' Donuts coffee is quite well received over there. In fact, some east coasters think that Starbucks is *gasp* overrated and their grounds taste like they've been burned. (However, us west coasters apparently have a similar take on Dunkin, which is why they failed miserably in this time zone.)

So M and I took it upon ourselves to try the opposing coffee brand. Granted, we did visit quite a few Starbucks and I did order my traditional fru-fru latte here and there. However, as we rushed out our hotel room on Sunday morning with nothing but a bagel, and the choice of DD coffee or nothing at all, we tried the coffee.

After sitting in the airport, sipping our first tastes, M exclaims, "I don't know what the big deal is. It's nothing special." Since I only had milk and Splenda in mine, I concurred because I rarely drink non-expresso'd beverages. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And getting up at 5 am is a desperate measure. So we continue drinking, blah blah blah. Finally, toward the ends of our cups, M exclaims again, "You know, this is pretty good coffee, now that I think about it."

So there you have it folks. A west coaster's mind has been changed. I have a feeling I'll be buying a lot more coffee at Target now. (Since I can't seem to find it anywhere else.)

Hopefully Smart N Final picks up on the DD trend and I can buy this crack... er... coffee in bulk.