I never got a chance to say thank you to everyone who emailed me during the blog hiatus–your emails really meant a lot, thank you!
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Yesterday I requested information from a few different baking/pastry schools in LA, one of which offers a program that is two evenings and every Saturday for 43 weeks! The only downside thus far is that I’m going to be paying at least $25,000, ugh. I’m going to make appointments to visit the schools and if I do end up enrolling, I’ll be taking out student loans.
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Lori wrote a fabulous essay titled “When a personal blog gets personal” that was published in the LA Times. If you haven’t already done so, go read it!
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In baking news, I made a peanut butter torte that was not only gorgeous, but delicious. And in related news, there is a weird baking blogger who deletes people’s comments when they correct something she said in a post. What is up with that?
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In TV news, how awesome is sweeps? I have been loving Law & Order lately! I think I’m finally over Grey’s Anatomy though. And are Julie and I the only ones watching Beauty and the Geek anymore? And finally, what has the world come to when Justin Bobby is the only person on The Hills saying anything that makes sense. What are you all enjoying?
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I have a second date with the screenwriter next week. Hopefully it will be more fun than the Getty date.
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I know some of you are in SD–any recommendations on small plate or new fun restaurants? Also, has anyone been to Market or Bite?
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This week’s question: What food did you not eat as a kid but did begin eating when you moved out of your parents’ house? (Either because it wasn’t allowed or because you didn’t like it.) I know I didn’t have my first Pop Tart until college, and then I would eat them almost daily while I lived in the dorm!

The Getty Center. As you can see, we had absolutely perfect weather for our visit.

Saw a really good show at UCB with Karrin. Unfortunately, one of the stars, Jeff Garlin, was super out of it (drunk? high?). Went to the beach with Jen. Went to Milk with my sister and had some really yummy desserts.

Spent a long weekend in San Diego where I baked a gazillion Passover desserts and spent time with family and friends and went to seders. Had brunch with Julie (who is pregnant with baby number three, congratulations!) at the Shack, where we would go when we’d ditch class in high school. After Passover, went to Mozza with three fabulous women. And attended a good-bye party for a friend who is moving up north.

Speaking of friends, I learned that reading a friend’s friend’s blog may lead to reading something I didn’t really care to know. And also, that if someone is a true friend, they will help, not hurt, you. And they’d eventually get around to responding to an IM.

Got my candy swap package! Speaking of candy, anyone know where you can buy Pineapple Lumps in the U.S.? Had a marshmallow recipe failure. Had much more success with flourless chocolate-walnut cookies and chocolate chip sour cream pound cake.

Got a couple of texts and phone calls from the Brit all promising “I’ll call you” and/or “we’ll get together soon” just before he got hit by The Bus. Learned I am capable of not obsessing and not driving myself crazy with thoughts of “will he call?” and more importantly, that if he doesn’t call, amazingly, the world won’t end. More recently, went on a few dates, including a second one at the Getty (where the weather was gorgeous and the date was eh). Also, had a fun first date with yet another unemployed writer.

Received a letter from XM Radio saying if I sign up for automatic debit (for an annual subscription, weird, yes I know) I would get a $12.95 credit to my account. So, my $77 a year subscription just went down to $64.05. Not bad, huh?

Got back into exercising regularly and eating well and, with a little help from Passover, lost a few pounds.

Had a really bad four days where I tried to limit my crying to while in the shower only. Entertained the idea of going to pastry school. Thought about moving to San Diego once things filter out at work; more on that later. Speaking of work, remember that crazy deadline I had a couple of months ago? Currently going through it again, this time for first quarter 2008; not fun.

Realized that some of my blog readers are fabulous people who actually care about me; learned some of my blog readers think I am selfish for not blogging. And also, there is a plugin that will automatically upgrade Wordpress and it is awesome. And as a bonus, did you know you can now post videos to Flickr?
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Yes, I know, random stuff, totally out of order, and not very detailed. And of course, it’s only some of what I’ve been up to. The last month has provided a lot of introspection as well as re-evaluation of a friendship. And blog-wise, I was surprised to find that I didn’t miss blogging as much as I thought I would. I’m not sure if that means I needed a break, or perhaps this blog has lived its life. I guess we’ll see.

After reading my last post and thinking about stuff I have going on at the moment, I decided to take the rest of the month off from blogging. I’ll definitely be back in May (if not sooner…you know how I can’t stay away too long) and of course I’ll continue baking, so feel free to check up on me on the baking blog.

See you soon!

Vegas was fun (yes, there was eating, drinking, flirting, and gambling), but I think I’m either getting too old for it or it’s just lost its luster for me. Or quite possibly both. Or maybe it was seeing all the couples that bummed me out. A lot. Anyway, as much as I enjoyed getting out of LA for a weekend, I am very much looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and not waking up to the Bellagio fountain tonight.
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And for those of you following along at home, the Brit called from out of town the night before I went to Vegas. He’ll be down south for business for a couple of weeks but said we’ll chat soon. We shall see.
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In other news, this blog is so boring again isn’t it? I really need to figure out what to do with it.

…to Vegas! Where I will meet up with my friend from Seattle then eat, drink, gamble, and flirt with cute guys. Hopefully not in that order. I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Awesome weekend!

Friday
Came home from work, made dinner, watched TV, then went to sleep. Terribly exciting, I know.

Saturday
Slept in, cleaned my apartment, lounged around, made Gooey Chocolate Cakes, and stayed in my pajamas until early evening. I finally got dressed and met up with Eve and her friend at Eve’s condo for drinks and chocolate cake before heading over to The Happy Ending for Fun Joel’s birthday party. We had the whole upstairs room to ourselves which was really cool.

We walked in and chatted with Tamara very briefly, got drinks at the bar, wished Joel a happy birthday, then were approached by a few guys, two of whom had British accents (swoon!), and one of them was even taller than me in my three inch heels. Right away, the tallest one told me he liked my “spectacles” and that I have sexy eyes. Oh, and it came up that he’s Jewish, did I mention that? We chatted with the group for a while, he asked for my number and I obliged, and we chatted some more. I don’t really remember how we got separated from everyone else at that point, but we ended up on the balcony (read: fire escape) with all the smokers (so much for fresh air) for the majority of the night, where we talked some more, he told me I have a “nice bum,” and then shared a few kisses. It was a fun time, and I dig his accent.

After last call, the three of us girls and the Brits (they’re brothers) and their friends all headed across the street to In-N-Out, then over to Eve’s condo for a couple more hours. When I got to my car, the Brit hugged me and said he’d call and we’ll go out soon. We’ll see if it happens, especially since he’s going to London for a month beginning next week. And if he doesn’t call, it was still a fun night and a much needed boost to my ego.

Sunday
I woke up four hours later at 8:00 because the moron in the building next door was playing his drums (!), then tossed and turned for a couple of hours hoping to fall back asleep. Unsuccessful at getting more sleep, I decided it was time to start my day and went to the market (where I saw Wee-Man and another guy whose name I can’t remember) then came home and did laundry. Now I’m going to plant myself on the couch and hope I don’t fall asleep too early tonight. Zzzz.

Even though I’m trying to not set myself up for disappointment, it would be kinda cool if the Brit calls.

I received an email this week via my baking blog asking if I would like to review recipes from a review copy of a new cookbook, how fun is that? They’re even sending me an extra copy to giveaway on the baking blog, so I’ll let you know when I post the contest.
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What is up with all the New Yorkers who move to LA then continuously whine about how they don’t like pizza/bagels/Chinese food/deli in LA. Hello, it was 85 degrees and sunny with no humidity this week. Shut up about the bagels.
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I lost a game of Scrabulous to a 19-year-old. That is embarrassing. And by the way, QI = best Scrabulous word ever.
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I still want to try The Waffle, who’s game? They have waffles. And a bar. How can that be bad?
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The battery on my Blackberry hasn’t been holding a charge very well so I called AT&T in hopes of them sending me a new one. Since it’s still covered by its one-year warranty, they told me to call the warranty center to have a new battery mailed to me. So, I called, waited on hold for 10 minutes, then got disconnected. Three times. Finally, I got a CSR who told me to remove the battery from my phone, look at the area on the back of the phone above the SIM card, and “describe what the tiny circle or square looks like.” Umm, I couldn’t find the tiny circle or square so I asked what color it was and was told “I can’t tell you that, I need you to describe it to me.” What the hell?

I finally noticed a tiny white square and practically squealed with joy at my desk and asked the CSR if that was the correct answer, which fortunately it was. What’s the big secret about the tiny circle/square you ask? If it’s white, it means your phone doesn’t have water damage. If it’s some other color (don’t ask me what color, I have no idea), it means your phone does have water damage. Am I the only one who wasn’t in on this secret?
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Remember the whole merger/acquisition thing going on at my office? Well, the shareholders approved it, so now it’s up to the regulatory agency to do the same. Stay tuned.
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In TV news, The Hills did not disappoint did it? Speaking of the show, if you haven’t already, you must read B-Side’s recaps and while you’re there, check out his fun post about his celebrity sighting at my favorite yogurt shop. In Top Chef news, how did I not notice until last night how cute Ryan is?
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In other news, I’m leaving for Vegas a week from today! I. Can’t. Wait.
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This week’s question: If you could choose anyone to play yourself in a movie about your life, who would it be and why?

It’s 3:30 and I’m still in my pajamas if that’s any indication of what my weekend was like. Here are the boring details:

• Got out of work three hours early then proceeded to sit in more traffic than during rush hour on a regular workday.
• Spent entirely too much time fighting with a crazy woman online who eventually got herself banned from a cupcake discussion board.
• Went to the market and found tons of new Passover stuff and bought boxes of matzo cake meal for my mom as her local store in Del Mar doesn’t carry it.
• Made Hamantaschen.
• Got canceled on by my Little again, this time because she’s sick. I’m beginning to think I’m just not cool enough for her anymore.
• Caught up with Jen over salads at Tender Greens. We had planned to go to Akasha but apparently they aren’t serving lunch on Saturdays yet. Whoops.
• Hit the sale at Banana Republic and got some cute tops.
• Went to Target with my sister.
• Went to sleep with a horrible allergy-related headache and woke up with an even worse one.
• Wrote most of my letter to DirecTV.
• Finally caught up with Julie.
• Finished the redesign of my baking blog. I’m having a few issues, so if you’re good with Wordpress plugins and want to help, shoot me an email please.

After two crazy busy weekends (two weekends ago I was in SD, last weekend my parents were here), I finally got to catch up on stuff and laze around and be a bum.
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In other news, if you like the original formula Coke (made with real sugar rather than corn syrup), go to your store now–Passover Coke is available, just look for the yellow caps!

Also, I ordered XM Radio for my car because my coworker found the most amazing deal–$77 for the entire year.

Happy Easter to those celebrating today!

And finally, I’m going to Vegas in less than two weeks. Woohoo!

Totally random post today. Just go with it.

I’m now writing for Inside My Target Cart. If you love Target, you’ll love the blog!
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Does anyone know the secret of how to retract the retractable hairdryer cord without injuring yourself?
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In random news, my XM Radio trial ran out in my car and I miss my 80s station and up-to-the-minute LA traffic. Does anyone pay for it? Are you happy you did?
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Tuesday we celebrated a coworker’s birthday at a most delicious Korean place on Sawtelle called Tofu Yya. I can’t wait to go back, mmm.

And last night I had a very fun and long overdue dinner with Nicole, Lori, Samantha, and Abby at Taste. While my former neighbor was working, he sadly wasn’t our server. Instead, we had a girl who sounded like she was practicing for the interview portion of the Miss America pageant. No joke.
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Did anyone else get an email pushing Jdate’s new toolbar? Yes, you can have a Jdate toolbar alongside your Google and Yahoo ones. Seriously.
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This weekend I’m finally having my Little over for a sleepover. It’s so sweet how excited she gets whenever she stays over. She walks around and looks at everything and always says, “You’re apartment is so clean and pretty.” Her house is filled, and I mean filled, with junk.
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In TV news, How I Met Your Mother is back! I am kind of over this yellow umbrella thing though. Anyone else watching Beauty and the Geek? I think I miss the old format where they have geek/beauty teams, and I’m kinda hoping that’s what the big surprise is next week.
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In baking news, I’m feeling brave and am going to attempt hamentaschen this weekend. Maybe I’ll enlist the help of my Little. I’m sure that’s what every 14-year-old wants to do when they’re away from their mom’s house, right?

Speaking of sweets, I’m participating in the The Great Candy Swap–each participant gets matched and sends (and then of course, receives) a minimum of $10 worth of candies unique to their area. Any suggestions for local LA candies? I was thinking of hitting Boule, Jin Patisserie, or the Farmer’s Market. What do you think?
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This week’s question: What music has been playing on your iPod lately?

Email #1
thinks you are enchanting~! heartstopping ravishing~! breathtaking~!intrigued….ps..we live 5 mins apart~!aroma cafe for coffee?

Since when is the Valley five minutes from Hollywood? Even on a good day, it takes at least 12 minutes to go through the canyon. And even weirder, he wouldn’t know I live in Hollywood because my profile says Los Angeles. Whatever.

Email #2
His email:
Hi, I’m Xxxx. You’re a gorgeous lady, and your profile really resonated with me. I’d like to get to know you.

My response:
Thanks for the email, but I don’t think we’re a good match. Good luck with your search!

His response:
That’s for damn sure.

These men are 16 and 17 years my senior, respectively.

My mom came into town Friday night then my dad drove in Saturday. It was a super busy weekend and we did a ton of eating, as evidenced below:

• Did the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure at the Rose Bowl on Saturday with my sister and mom. Fortunately, we had beautiful walking weather–mid 60s–and the rain and wind didn’t kick in until much later in the day.
• Had yummy salads with my mom, sister, and aunt Nan at Joan’s On Third. (Side note: they have amazing green beans, I think they’re in an XO sauce! And their vanilla cupcake was just sorta eh; it reminded me a lot of Sprinkles.)
• Hung out with my family once my dad got into town.
• Had dinner with my family and aunt at The Farm.
• Had brunch with my family, aunt, and Bethany’s friend Brittany at Jinky’s, where I bumped into my neighbors.
• Hit my side mirror on the pole again. Don’t ask. Not happy.
• Went shoe shopping and to Surfas with my family.
• Fought with my mom.

Have I mentioned how cool it is that I’ve been able to see my aunt so much lately? It’s always fun spending time with her and my family.
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In other news, the Jdate profile embellisher hasn’t read my email nor logged on since he emailed me corrected his height. Also, I got brave and emailed a cool sounding guy from the same town as me in Michigan who now lives in LA and received a rejection email in return. I guess I get an A for effort, right?

Tuesday morning, I got to work before the air conditioning turned on, and also before sunrise, which I watched from the lunchroom. No one should ever have to go into an office at that hour.

Wednesday morning I woke up at 2:30 freaking out that I messed up my redlines for the very important project from hell. (I didn’t of course.) The rest of the day was filled with more fun edits which not only kept me really busy, but took time away from playing Scrabulous. Also, I had to stay a little late which forced me to postpone my eyebrow appointment to later in the evening. (By the way Lori, I’m still going to the place you referred me to; I love them!) On my way home from the eyebrow place, there was a ton of traffic and I was in a bad mood and started crying and decided I wanted chicken McNuggets (don’t ask me why), which I haven’t eaten since I saw that movie Super Size Me in the theater in 2004. For whatever reason, I craved them and probably won’t eat them again for another four years. Blech. Anyway, I then got home, ate, and read the comments on my last post and started crying again because I felt like you guys were attacking me for something I didn’t even say, and then I read Amy’s and Keith’s comments and thought yay, some people get it and then I thought maybe I just shouldn’t write about dating anymore. Which then turned into, maybe it’s time for the blog to end. Then I ate some Cadbury mini eggs and felt better, at least until the pimple under my eyebrow (weird, right?) started to hurt and that’s when I just got really annoyed. And that concludes my stream of consciousness and run-on sentence packed paragraph. After that paragraph, I bet you couldn’t tell my job title has the word writer in it, could ya?

In somewhat related news, I’m (obviously) still employed, and one of these days (when I’m no longer employed there), I will fill you in on the drama. Possibly. Maybe not. I don’t know, I’m paranoid.
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I made another Tuesdays With Dorie recipe! This time it was Russian Grandmothers’ Apple Pie-Cake. I thought it was just OK, but my coworkers gobbled it up in no time.
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In TV news–anyone watch Beauty and the Geek or Top Chef? What’d you think?
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My mom is coming into town Friday night so that she and my sister and I can do the Komen breast cancer walk on Saturday (my dad is working then coming up to LA later that day). Of course, it’s supposed to rain (!) which would kinda suck. Whatever. Walking in the rain is still preferred over redlining documents.
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If most of this post doesn’t make any sense, it’s because my brain is only focusing on the document from hell and really boring legalize. Sorry.
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This week’s question: You just won $1 million (after taxes to make it simple). What are the first three things you buy/spend it on?

First, some background. Jdate has this thing called Clicks. Basically, if you think someone’s profile is cool you click yes on this little heart thing. And if they think your profile is cool, they click yes. And if you both click yes to each other, then you see two little hearts next to each other (aww) and receive a click email. So, I clicked yes for this guy, he clicked yes for me, I sent him a flirt (free way to correspond), and he wrote this back:

Hi,
Your profile is sweet and your pictures are cute. I have to say though, much of my profile was written by my very generous friends. I’m really 5′ 6″* although the rest of the profile is under-embellished (or at least subjective).

Who actually believes his “friends” wrote his profile? Not I.

*His profile said he was my height, 5′9″.

Friday evening I came home from work exhausted, ate dinner, made part of the next Tuesdays With Dorie recipe (apple pie-cake, details later), packed a bag, then crashed for the night.

Saturday I slept until 11:00, drove out to the Valley (on the way stopping to fill my car up with $3.63/gallon 87 gasoline!) and enjoyed a manicure and pedicure then had my hair colored and two inches cut. I headed down to San Diego straight from the Valley and made it to my parents’ house in just about two and a half hours which isn’t bad, considering I was coming from Chatsworth.

That night, we all went out for dinner then to the drugstore where I bought my first ever Cadbury creme egg. The wrapper said it had a fondant center so I was all excited to try it. Ewww. I’m not exactly sure how I’ve managed to go 33 years without ever having tried one of those nasty things, so I’ll assume it’s because I’m Jewish and never had an Easter basket. Or maybe I just always knew the goodness that is Cadbury mini eggs. Moral of the story: Cadbury creme eggs = gross. Cadbury mini eggs = yum. Bonus: I can’t believe I just wrote an entire paragraph about Cadbury creme eggs.

Sunday morning I again slept in then headed to the Del Mar Fairgrounds with my mom and sister to meet up with my dad and the dog for the Ugly Dog Contest. We had a bunch of friends there too, so Da Vinci had his own cheering section. Like last year, my dad and Da Vinci participated in the “dog who looks most like its owner” category. Unlike last year, Da Vinci didn’t get first (but still placed with third). And yes, there were some really ugly dogs there!

Following the contest, we had a celebratory (okay, not really) lunch at Pacifica, then I packed up my car and headed back to LA, once again, sans traffic. As always, a wonderful (yet super short) 24 hours with my family.

And now I’m going to watch really bad TV.
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In other news, I broke down and paid for Jdate. Think of it as a momentary lapse in judgment, as well as wanting to read an email from a cute, sane sounding boy whom I “clicked” with. Sadly, the email was to basically fill me on an “embellishment” in his profile “written by very generous friends.” I kid you not. Stay tuned, there are some real gems in my inbox.