Bear with me…I’m in the process of switching from my evil hosting company with NO phone support and crappy email support to a wonderful hosting company with super nice and helpful people.

Also, it appears that the nameserver change has not fully propagated yet, so not everyone is able to see the post I’ve made today.

If you can see this post, please leave a comment. Looks like I’m back in business.

And if anything looks goofy or you get any errors, let me know.

Thursday (I know, technically not the weekend but whatever)
First day of tennis! I walked in and warned the other students I haven’t picked up a racket since high school then surprised them and myself with my more than stellar skills. I guess playing tennis is like riding a bicycle–once you learn, you never forget.

Anyway, I had signed up for the intermediate class and I kicked some butt. There are only four of us, and the rest of the students are super cool. In fact, one girl and I swapped numbers and are going to play after class next week.

Friday
Met up with Eve and annabel lee for a young professionals event — services and dinner (and margaritas) — at AL’s synagogue. I got to spend time with the girls and met some really fun people. And it was way more fun than you’d ever expect Shabbat services and dinner to be.

Saturday
Had brunch with my other set of girlfriends (the married ones–but I love them anyway). We went to C & O (who knew they had breakfast/lunch?) and a fabulous time was had by all.

That afternoon I went to Target (loving the new one-way lanes in the parking garage), hit up Trader Joes (they don’t sell chocolate chip twists anymore–what’s up with that?), then came home and crashed. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time, so I stayed home and caught up on sleep that night. I don’t want the mono to make a reappearance.

Sunday
Spent forever and a half working on getting my site transferred to my new hosting company! It was such a pain in the ass, but it’s done. And Bluehost is awesome.

After that, I ran more errands, cleaned up a bit, helped a client out on the phone, then made cold peanut sesame noodles that are to die for. I followed Denise’s directions but substituted rice vinegar for the red wine vinegar (made more sense to me) and also added chicken and shredded carrot. It’s so good!
- - -
And in more blog related news, I’m not sure why, but all of sudden that little icon thingy next to external links (when viewed in Firefox) seems to have disappeared. Now I just see a space next to all of my external links. Anyone know why? Fixed. I’m so smart.

Here we go:

Flirt #1

Message: We seem to have so much in common, let me know if you agree.

Well, considering you a) are 44-years-old; b) live in Colorado; and c) don’t want to have any more children, I’d have to go with no.

Email #1

Subject: Hello
Message: Hi, your profile looks interesting…email me if you would like to chat.
Xxxx

Someone please explain to me what the deal is with these emails. Why can’t he say exactly what he finds interesting about me? And give me something to respond to? Or completed essays?

Email #2

Subject: hi
Message: Is there a reason we keep checking each others profile?

Um, he looked at mine. So I looked at his. Then he looked at mine again.

Email #3

Subject: hi there
Message: i am Xxx
i would love to hear from you soon
have a nice day

Again, say something I can respond to. Anything. Or at least have completed the essays.

Missed IM #1

Message: Hello?

Three. Separate. Times. After I already told him thanks, but I don’t think we’re a good match.

Grrr.

If you willingly move to Los Angeles, you are not allowed to talk smack about the City. Or its pizza. The Valley however–totally different story. Kidding! Well, sort of.

If you decide at the very last minute you want to get over two lanes of traffic into a left turn lane on Santa Monica Blvd. in Century, then at the last minute realize that lane is a U-turn only lane, too bad. You must make the U-turn.

If you have an SUV or large car and park in a compact spot, you will have to pay the non-validated parking ticket price times 20 on your way out of the parking garage.

If you use the word irregardless, you must carry around an unabridged dictionary for the next three months.

If you say, I’ll call you, but don’t, you will be forced to use Jdate as your only source of dates for the next six months. It’s up to if you want to pay the subscription fee.

If you wait in line for 30 minutes for a $3.25 cupcake in Beverly Hills, you may never take Fountain again. Sunset or Santa Monica only.

If you are in a pre-paid exit lane at the West Hollywood Target parking garage but do not have your parking ticket validated, you are no longer allowed to use the Formosa entrance and exit. From now on, La Brea only.

Rules will be strictly enforced.

Just an FYI for those of you that normally use Bloglines to read my blog. None of my feeds seem to be updating in Bloglines since switching to my new hosting company (we’re not sure why, but they are working on fixing it). So in the meantime, either use a different reader or visit the site directly. Sorry! New info: it appears the old and new feeds may now be working. I have no idea.

- - -In more blog news, I moved my baking blog over to this domain and installed Wordpress. So check out the new site.- - -Last night annabel lee and Eve and I attended a screening of When Do We Eat, an absolutely hysterical comedy about Passover. Some of the stars include Jack Klugman, Michael Lerner, and so-cute-but-so-young Max Greenfield. After the screening there was a Q & A where writer/director Salvador Litvak, producer Steven J. Wolfe, and actor Michael Lerner entertained questions.

The film is opening limited this weekend in Los Angeles, New York, and south Florida and wide(r) in two weeks. If it’s playing near you, go see it–it’s so much fun.

- - -In TV news, what has happened to How I Met Your Mother? Are there no new eps? I miss my Ted.

And in The Amazing Race news, I so dislike Lake. He just continues to bug me every week. I think for the first year, there isn’t one specific team that I’d like to see win–they’re all kind of just eh. Who are your faves?

And finally, very cool reader Valerie pointed out that the eight eps of Love Monkey will air on VH1. Set your TiVos!

- - -Timewaster of the week: Inspector Parker

1. My dry cleaners is now a dry cleaners slash flower store. Interesting concept I suppose.
2. I baked (then froze) Passover brownies that are pretty good.
3. My tennis class still rocks. As do my volleys. The funniest part of class is that there is a pigeon that follows the pro around. It’ll even sit in his hand and let him feed it. Very odd.
4. I spent $45 on custom blended powder foundation and $35 on the brush. I was told the powder should last me six months. For that price, it better.
5. A neighbor of mine supposedly recently inhereted $4 million and showed an interest when I asked him about investing in a bakery. Anyone have any advice or reference material about writing a business plan?
6. Going to the Hollywood Farmers Market and Target alone on a Sunday is depressing. Too many young couples with babies in tow. Sigh.
7. Next week I’ll be down at my parents house Wednesday through Sunday. The seders are Wednesday and Thursday nights and I’ll be baking tons of desserts for each. The rest of the week I hope to sleep, relax, hit the batting cages with my dad, play tennis with my mom, and have lunch with Julie and the boys. Should be fun.

As many of you know, Passover begins tomorrow night which means I’ll be down in San Diego spending part of the holiday with my family. Each year since moving to California, we have attended seders with the same group of families, many with children close to my sister’s and my ages.

We’ve grown up together–many of us went to Hebrew school and junior high and high school together. We went away to different colleges but caught up over school breaks and at Jewish holidays. We’ve met each others friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, and significant others.

But now, the group dynamics are changing. People have fiancés, and spouses, and growing bellies…and babies! They are celebrating holidays with other couples, back where they live, rather than driving down to San Diego to be with their parents.

Yet I am still going back to San Diego, sans boyfriend/fiancé/husband. And I will entertain questions about my dating life, I will tell people I have in fact, heard of Jdate. No I have not tried e-Harmony. Yes it’s lovely that your friend’s daughter’s sister’s best friend’s mother met her husband on Jdate. No, I did not know that you have a friend who has a friend who has a son who is Jewish and lives in LA and is an unemployed screenwriter; of course you can give him my number. Aaarrgghh.

And I will try to be excited and happy when I hear about engagements, weddings, pregnancies, brises, and baby namings.

Because I am excited. But I’m also not.

I’m down in San Diego (baking apple crisps), then heading to seder number one.

Happy Passover/Easter to everyone. Have a wonderful holiday. If you’re looking for good Passover dessert recipes, they’re over here.

Wednesday
Left the office around 12:30 and headed down to San Diego. Arrived in about two hours, and immediately got to work on two apple crisps for that night’s seder, changed clothes, and headed over to our friend’s house. The seder was fun (well, as far as seders go). We sang, we laughed, we had the host’s daughter on speaker phone all night (she lives in Northern California), it was a good time. There were only 11 of us and my desserts were a huge hit.

Thursday
Woke up around 9:30 and immediately began baking. Three dozen brownies, two batches of matzo brittle, five dozen meringues, a ton of mandel bread, and six apple crisps later, we were out the door to seder number two. This one was a bit larger (33 people), and we were the only ones bringing dessert. I was seated at the “kids table” which consisted of two friends from my Hebrew school class, another friend a year younger than myself, the 26-year-old Israeli nephew who kept calling us “so American,” a high school senior, my sister, and a married couple with a 7-month-old baby. The conversation was interesting to say the least. The seder was long. Really long.

Friday
Slept in (finally!) and met up with Julie and her boys for lunch–there’s nothing like trying to get two kids out of their car seats in a parking lot in pouring rain. What an experience! Lunch was fun of course, even when her three-year-old pretended to be shy around me.

Went down to my dad’s office and got my eyes checked, then met up with my mom and sister at the mall where we did some damage at Nordstrom. I got new bras (including the Oprah bra, which apparently is a really popular one, but I don’t watch Oprah so I have to believe my sister and mom when they say that), and some really ugly but super comfy shoes (mine have a red swoosh). After that, we went home to relax for a bit before dinner.

Saturday
Slept in (finally!). Lounged around in pjs until well after noon. Ran errands with my sister, came home, and relaxed. That evening, my sister’s new boyfriend came into town and we all went to Kemo Sabe for my mom’s birthday dinner. [ed. note: Her birthday is Monday. Happy birthday mom!] It was delicious and a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to go back after Passover.

Sunday
Slept in again (yay!), had lunch in downtown Del Mar, then sat in traffic all the way back to LA.

Happy Birthday mom, I love you!

I know, this post is long overdue. I’ve been on a chick lit kick (try saying that three times fast) as of late. I just finished Monkey Business by Sarah Mlynowski and Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern. I really enjoyed them both. Now I’m about to start The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki Gemmell.

What are you reading? And, if you read a book that someone posted about in the comments in part one, part two, part three, or part four, let us know!

Email #1 (I initiated the email exchange, this is his response)

[Hilary], I am really just sticking my toe in the swimming pool on jdate…just feeling out the waters. I’m in a bit of a funk from getting out of my last relationship… just to warn you.

it’s not you that makes me unresponsive…you’re very attractive.

i am just not looking for the same thing that most girls are looking for on jdate…i imagine. there’s a disconnect.

Huh? Unresponsive about…? Disconnect from…?

Email #2 (different guy)

Your like the energizer rabbit…..still going (that I know of 2 1/2 years here)! You are Jdate! I hope they appreciate you!!

Glad I wasn’t here for a year and a half …this a tough place,
no doubt you agree to some extent!

Good luck!

Fuck you. Have a lovely day.

Contest: Design a new header image (reflecting my July birthday–i.e., have it say 32 instead of 31) for my blog.

Prize: A dozen cookies or cupcakes baked by yours truly.

Leave a comment or email me if you’re interested in entering.

Update: Um, I have to admit I didn’t think anyone would be interested in this contest so I didn’t really think it through. Stay tuned for the specifics (color, size, deadline, etc.). But in the meantime, do let me know if you want to participate.

- - -Speaking of cookies, the next recipe I’ll be trying is for chocolate crinkle cookies.- - -In case you haven’t heard, Pauly has a couple of book signings coming up for his new book, The Lost Blogs. You know I’ll be there to make faces at him in the crowd.- - -In dating news, there is no dating news. Rumor has it, there’s a massive dating drought and Hollywood was hit really hard. Or something.- - -I was invited by annabel lee to go to the Dodger game this Sunday. I’ve been told we have awesome seats and as it turns out, LA is playing Arizona, which means Shawn Green will be playing. [ed. note: Yes, I am aware he has fully sucked the last few years. But he's still cute dammit.]- - -And finally, in TV news, did anyone else watch What About Brian? What’d you think of it? I enjoyed it, even though it’s not really true to LA.

In TAR news, 1) How shocked was Phil that Fran and Barry won that leg of the race? 2) The PhilPackage is back! 3) The hippies knocked elbows while on the bus, which is something AL, Esther, Eve and I witnessed over sushi and have taken to doing. Does it mean something specific? 4) I don’t like Ray and Yolanda anymore. 5) I want the hippies to win.

Recent searches that landed people here:

• pictures of people that are having guys kiss the girls
• cl sucks [ed. note: yeah he does!]
• a good sign if a guy wants to see you again?
• story of stupid love
• can i date a jew if i m not jewish?
• blackout i was stuck in the elevator
• then he said let s just be friends
• can i get pregnant at age 33 years old
• naked cleaning service
• does jessica simpson like jewish people
• well dressed good kisser no chemistry my friends liked him
• husbands who squish cockroaches
• girls covered in frosting
• can you catch mono if you re nine years old?
• things to do on a thursday night at 10:49
• internet dating sucks fat
• when you love someone that you have a child with and never married to them and meet many years later
• peep torture
• playing contact sports without a spleen
• what to do with cookies after taking them out of the oven
• how old is valerie on jdate billboard
• we seem to have so much in common let me know if you agree

Write a story using at least five of the search phrases. And if you’re a new reader, tell me how you got here. Please.

This weekend I:

• Clicked my way to a food blog written by the now-wife of the idiot [unbeknowst to me engaged] guy I was dating whose registry I found on the Internet a few years ago. The Internet is scary. And no, I’m not posting the link.
• Went to a super fun girls’ only dinner party where my cupcakes were quickly consumed by some really cool women.
• Paid $3.06 a gallon for 87 in the Valley. So cheap!
• Got my hair cut and colored.
• Went to Best Buy and Sportchalet (also in the Valley) and was reminded what it’s like to go to a store and not have to deal with a parking structure.
• Began tweaking a new theme for the blog (any volunteers to help with some css questions?). Header image details coming soon.
• Went to the Dodger game with annabel lee, her coworker, and his wife. I tried to kidnap Shawn Green (LA played Arizona), but no such luck.

Fun weekend! Now it’s laundry time.

For anyone interested in the header image contest, here’s the info:

• Size: 762 x 190 px
• Format: gif file
• The look: Something clean (but fun) that will go well with the layout of the new page.
• Colors: Up to you. I tend to like blues and purples, but am really open to anything. Keep in mind, the colors on the current page are just temporary, I will change them to go with the header. If possible, please provide me with a hexidecimal color that I can use to create a color scheme.
• Text: Superfluous Juxtaposition and The musings, rants, ramblings, and general observations of a 30-something Jewish girl in Los Angeles.
• Deadline: Friday, May 12.
• Prize: A dozen cookies or cupcakes. (A bakers dozen if you include little icons to go next to the sidebar categories (Favorite Posts, Recent Comments, etc.). If I’m mailing them to you, you’ll probably get cookies as I haven’t yet experimented with mailing cupcakes.

Please leave a comment or email me to let me know if you’re planning on entering.

As a side note, I’m debating letting my readers vote for the winner. No worries. They rock! And of course, I always have the final say.

Have no fear, I have not forgotten about my readers; this week has just been super crazy (and it’s only Tuesday night!). Anyway, so far, I:

• Met Randi for a fun dinner (and flaming margaritas) at El Compadre.
• Have been battling three enormous zits that are threatening to take over my entire face.
• Went a whole day at work sans Internet access. (Boo technology!) And survived to tell about it.
• Spoke to the lovely Ari on the phone for the first time ever. And she rocks.
• Finally had a girls’ night dinner (and some amazing wine) with Eve and annabel lee at Violet. I have to disagree with Mair over at Losanjealous about the mac & cheese–I think Luna Park’s is much better than Violet’s.
• Have played a ridiculous amount of phone tag with my Little. It shouldn’t be this difficult to get ahold of a 12-year-old, should it?
• Have begun psyching myself up for Speeddating Wednesday night. I begged Eve to go with me, so at least if the guys suck, she and I will still have fun. Check back later for our gory details.
• Began emailing with a new Jdate guy who a) doesn’t live with his parents; b) has a job; and c) isn’t a comic. I know, such progress!
• Found another new recipe I don’t have time to try.
• Have twice forgotten to pick up three pair of shoes from the shoe repair guy.
• Learned that my dry cleaners turned dry cleaners/flower store turned dry cleaners/flower store/jewelry store probably is not the best place to go for dry cleaning.

Off to bed!

*I’m too tired to try to come up with a better title for this post. Live with it.

(Updated–see the bottom of the post.)

You guessed it–Eve and I speeddated tonight. It was interesting, and thankfully nowhere close to as horrible as last time. In fact, I might even call the experience pleasant. I know, what a shocker, huh?

Of course, disorganization reigned supreme, as there were about five or six women and eight or nine men. We each got to meet seven men, and as my luck would have it, I missed out on meeting the cute doctor (originally from San Diego no less!). And fortunately, there were no majorly blatant freaks.

I did put a few yeses, although I can only remember two of them really well. The whole thing is rushed–they ring a bell (yes, literally ring a bell), your date sits down, you write his name on a card, and you chat for seven minutes. Then they ring the bell again and your date ends. At that point, the guy moves to the next table and you have to indicate on the card whether or not he was polite and whether or not you would be interested in swapping spit phone numbers. He apparently does all this while walking to the next table. The lame thing is, there is no break between dates, so you are literally circling yes or no as the new guy is sitting down. Kinda silly.

Halfway through, the bell ringing woman gathered us all in a group (keep in mind, we’re in the middle of a very open Coffee Bean at Santa Monica and Beverly Glen) for a little dvar torah (bell ringing woman’s description, not mine) about Aish. People were very obviously annoyed at this point, as we were all there to meet other singles, not hear a lecture about the organization. But whatever, we got over it and continued dating.

Of course, after the last bell, Eve and I, along with another girl, compared notes and all determined the guy in the pinstripe suit was really cool.

I’ll update this post on Thursday and let you know if I have any matches. In the meantime, I have to get the sound of ringing bells out of my head before I go to sleep.

Update: I didn’t match with the pinstripe suit guy, but I did match with the other one I remembered putting yes to. So, we shall see what happens!

Help me please:

1. Is $30 too much to pay for eyebrow waxing (in the City)? Right now I pay $22 but the salon is way out in the Valley.
2. Does anyone have the name and number of a cleaning lady that they’d be willing to share?
3. How much is gas by you? A gallon of 87 around the corner from my apartment is $3.31. Insane.
4. A couple friends and I are toying with the idea of taking a karate/martial arts class. They live on the Westside and I live in Hollywood–I’d love to find somewhere in between. Any suggestions?
5. After trying out a bunch of racquets during my tennis class, I have finally decided on the Wilson nCode nSix-Two. The cheapest I’ve found it for is $169.99 (strung), but that doesn’t include shipping. Anyone know of any discount sites or stores in the area?
6. Why did I suddenly stop receiving Jdate email notifications?
7. Should I make chocolate crinkle cookies or homemade Oreos if I have time this weekend?

As always, thank you!

Friday Night
Came home, ate dinner, worked on my blog theme, and crashed. I was exhausted.

Saturday
Woke up way too early to attend a class on how to write a business plan. And now I’m even more confused on this whole making a living without having to work in a cubicle thing. I think I’m scratching the opening a bakery idea and going smaller–namely baking at home [ed. note: Anyone know the legal aspects of doing that?] and selling locally and seeing where it can go. Who knows, I still may change my mind.

That afternoon I ran errands then came home and quickly got ready to meet up with a friend to see Thank You For Smoking (it was awesome and had a bunch of Groundlings in it!) and dinner. The night was fun and relaxing, and it was nice catching up with my friend.

Sunday
I was supposed to have an outing with my Little, but she cancelled because she’s sick so I had the day to myself. I slept in (finally!) then tried to make a dent in the pile of stuff on my kitchen table. I also took a look at the calendar for the next two weeks and not only do I have things going on every single day after work and on the weekends, I even double booked myself twice. I’m thinking I may have to decline an offer to sit on one of two volunteer committees–there’s just not enough time in the week anymore. But I digress.

The rest of the day was spent learning I have no hot water, running more errands, doing bills, laundry, and everything else I won’t have time to do next week. Then…I made homemade Oreos. Oh. My. God. So good.

Now I have to figure out a way to clean at least some dishes without hot water. Ugh.

And oh…while I was making my Oreos, my match from Speeddating called and left me a voicemail. Yay! Update: Just called him back … we chatted a bit and made plans for dinner a week from Monday since I’m all booked up this coming week. Think good thoughts!