I can’t believe it’s already July (June just flew by, it was insane) and exactly three weeks until I turn 34! In case you don’t know what to get me for my birthday, feel free to check out my Amazon wishlist.
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In crazy small world news, I received an email the other day from a blog reader in Australia (hi Carly!) who it turns out is friends with Jess. None of us knew we were connected until I posted my weekend wrap-up. Apparently single Jewish girls all over the world have the same issues. Hah.
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Although I am totally exhausted, I am heading down to Del Mar this afternoon to spend the long weekend with my family. I plan on being a bum, sitting by the pool, barbecuing, and seeing Julie!
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In work news, the merger has been finalized and the new company told us two days ago that we could leave at noon today to begin the long weekend early. Our former CEO would have maybe told us at 4:30 that we could leave at 4:45, and that was if he was being generous. Also, I need to invest in some khakis as we are now business casual AND have casual Fridays–neither of which we had before. I am so excited. Well, as long as I continue to have a job.
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In crazy cupcake lady news, she now reads my blog, so say hello to her. (Hi crazy cupcake lady!) She apparently has too much free time on her hands because a few days ago she successfully asked Flickr to remove this screen shot, which I posted three months ago, from my account. She also begged the girl who maintains the discussion group to remove the thread but that didn’t happen and I highly doubt it’s going to either.
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Speaking of cupcakes, if you’re looking for something patriotic to bring to a barbecue tomorrow, why not make a flag out of mini cupcakes like I did last year? It was a huge hit at the party and tastes oh so good! And happy early fourth!
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In TV news, there isn’t really much. The Next Food Network Star is still as horrible/awesome as usual. I’m super excited for Project Runway to start. And I still have no idea who the mole is on The Mole, but everyone is beginning to bug me.
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Just a few of the random things I learned about Australia from Jess: Their crime is nothing like ours here in the States. Prostitution and gambling are legal. [Yellow Tail] wine is export only. So is Fosters beer. The word fanny does not refer to a butt. They have a sporty model of the SmartCar. Jews there are either conservative (I think more like our reform) or orthodox. And finally, really awesome people come from there.
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Remember the $175 Lucky Brand purse I’ve been visiting at Macy’s for the past year or so? Well… Jess and I went to Loehmann’s and a cousin of my purse was there for only $100 so I bought it. I love love love it!
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This week’s question: What are your plans for the long weekend?

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend! I was down in San Diego spending time with my family. Random stuff:

• Drove down straight from work on Thursday with just a tiny bit of traffic.
  Hung out with my family.
• Went to Julie’s dad’s house and hung out with her family. Spent time with Julie’s brother and sister-in-law and their two-and-a-half-week-old baby, her cousin, and a high school friend and her kids and mom.
• My parents bought me this dress at Banana, now I need to find my Spanx to wear with it.
• On Jess’ recommendation, bought a Tassi (which I love!).
• Saturday afternoon was spent swimming and sitting by the pool. I really miss swimming and think I may look up a local place (aside from a gym) where there is adult lap swim time.
• Watched half of two movies and one entire movie, none of which I remember the names of.
• Thanks to Facebook, read about two parties in the last week thrown by friends that other friends of mine were invited to and I was not. What fun. (Why does it show when people are “attending” parties you aren’t invited to anyway?)
• Slept at least 10 hours a night (I brought ear plugs so I wouldn’t wake up thanks to the gardener!).
• Sat in traffic the way back up to LA today.

As usual, a relaxing summer weekend in San Diego. Now I’m going to clean my apartment, water my very neglected plants, and then continue being a bum.
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In other news, I’m going back down to SD in a few weeks for both a baby shower and a bridal shower (two different people). My mom is one of the hostesses and I’m helping bake for both. The bridal shower is going to be a tea–any suggestions for desserts? So far we’ve come up with sables (butter cookies), world peace cookies, and linzer cookies but would like one more idea.

Work has been interesting this week. It’s been really hard going from having absolutely nothing to do to being totally overwhelmed (and super behind on blog reading). And having new bosses and new ways of doing things isn’t helping either. On the flip side, I’m really enjoying the more casual dress code.

Speaking of which, I bought a pair of khakis at the Gap Tuesday night. They happened to be on sale, and all of the sale stuff was an additional 20% off, so they ended up being only $17! I’m going to try to find another cute pair this weekend. Also, anyone have suggestions on where to buy cute yet inexpensive polos? I bought one at H&M that gathers at the bust, but I couldn’t find it the last time I went to the store.
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After shopping Tuesday night, I came home exhausted yet a little stressed and decided to bake. I was out of granulated sugar (how that is possible, I do not know) and found a delicious sounding recipe for brown sugar brownies (AKA blondies). I wanted to make enough for my coworkers, so I doubled the recipe and printed it out. I mixed the batter then when I went to add the chips, my brain apparently stopped working and I doubled the already doubled amount of chips. Of course, I didn’t realize this until I cut into pure chocolate. Yep, the insides were just melted chocolate. I had to chuck the whole thing in the trash and was not a happy person. Of course, I tried the recipe again again last night and they are delicious albeit still a little too chocolaty. I’m sure my coworkers will be happy today though.
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This weekend, aside from dinner with Jen, I have nothing else planned and am so looking forward to it. Three of the past four weekends I have spent in SD, and the other weekend I had Jess (I miss you!) in town from Australia. This weekend is a Hilary Weekend!
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In interesting probably only to my dad news, Milton Bradley is blogging. This is my favorite comment. I could just imagine the poor editor fearing for his life.
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Since I promised, here is a picture of my new purse. Trust me, it looks a million times cuter when it’s not laying flat on a kitchen table.
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This week’s question: What three words would you use to describe yourself?
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Boring again, I know. Can you tell I’m sharing less and less on the blog? I still need to work this whole blogging thing out.

Remember the “Hilary weekend” I mentioned in my last post? It only sort of happened. I’m one of those people who can’t just sit around all day because I get bored and think about everything that I could be doing. So instead of staying in my pajamas and being a total bum, I ran a million errands and got tons of stuff done. Of course, most of it could have waited, but I was feeling motivated. Here are some highlights:

• Went to the mall with Karrin straight from work on Friday. Checked out a few stores but I think I wasn’t in the shopping mood and consequently, didn’t buy anything.
• After shopping, came home, ordered in sushi, watched TV, then went to sleep.
• Slept in both Saturday and Sunday, thanks to the eye mask I bought a few weeks ago.
• Ran errands.
• Went to Target where I bought a remote control tower fan (how cool is that?), got about 75% of the way through putting it together and realized a piece was broken, and took it back to the store in about five pieces for an exchange.
• Got the dumbest cashier ever, returned home frustrated, and put together the new fan.
• Met Jen at Akasha for drinks and dinner–small plates, which were all fantastic. Dessert was just ok, we shared a salty chocolate tart which pretty much just tasted like a big World Peace Cookie.
• After dinner, we walked down the street to meet up with some of Jen’s friends at Vinum for more drinks, where I had a fabulous time and bonded with one of the girls over dating horror stories.
• Cleaned (we’re talking mopping and everything) my apartment.
• Went to the market.
• Made cake balls for my coworkers.
• Made and froze World Peace Cookies dough and Sables dough to slice and bake in a couple of weeks for baby and bridal showers. I’ll also be making cupcakes and tarts. Stay tuned.

Now I’d like another weekend please.
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In other news, remember Crazy Cupcake Lady (CCL)? I thankfully haven’t heard a peep from her since she had Flickr delete my screen shots, but someone on another discussion board mentioned to me that CCL thinks that someone in that group who disagreed with her or went off on her or something is actually me, and that I created a fake account so I could join the group. What. The. Hell. I have way more important things to do with my time than create a fake account and pretend I’m someone else on a cupcake discussion board.

Even though I have a bookshelf full of books I haven’t yet read, I’ve been a total slacker lately and haven’t touched them. (I partially blame Netflix.) But what are you reading? And if you’ve read a book that someone posted about in the comments in part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven, part eight, part nine, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, or part 14, let us know!

Now that the City has approved the Hail-A-Taxi program, I won’t have to feel badly for those stranded tourists walking along Hollywood Blvd. trying to flag down a cab as it speeds right past them. Why yes, until now, you were unable to hail a cab in Los Angeles–you had to either call one or go to a designated taxi stop area. And the new rule is only part of a six month test program, and only in downtown and Hollywood. Seriously. We are weird here.
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Someone in Liverpool has gone through and read every single page of my blog in the past week or so. Whomever you are, please say hi!
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In TV news, I am still baffled by The Mole. And I’m unsure how I feel about this season’s Project Runway cast, what did you think? Also, I’m ashamed to admit I started watching the Tori Spelling reality show. I haven’t followed all of her family drama though–why doesn’t she have any money?
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In Scrabulous news,it appears cunt is an acceptable word but afro isn’t? Uh, OK.
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What is the deal with people not knowing how to proceed at a four way stop? It’s like they forget all rules of the road when they have to stop but there is no red light.
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My birthday is a week from today. Just in case you forgot.
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If you haven’t already done so, please tell us what you’ve read lately.
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Check out the cutest baby shower invitation ever.
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Does anyone have any suggestions for a good lotion with self tanner that won’t make me stink all day?
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I finally got around to watching Who Killed the Electric Car. How did I go all these years without knowing the whole EV situation? Insane. Next in my NetFlix queue, Jesus Camp!
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This week’s question: Do your thighs touch? And if so, does it bother you?

Yet another fun and productive weekend! Random stuff:

• Did some damage at Banana Republic. The first top I got in lime, the second in black.
• Saw Mamma Mia with Jen at the Landmark theater at Westside Pavilion. Interesting notes: 1. Some idiot couple brought their baby who cried the entire time. Annoying. 2. The movie was amazing and translated so well to film. 3. The entire theater busted out laughing when Pierce Brosnan starting singing; it was amusing. 4. I saw a bunch of people dressed in Batman attire walking around the lobby.
• Made chocolate peanut butter fudge to take to work.
• Spent seven hours putting together the stupid sideboard for my dining area. Lost one of the pieces and now one of the doors won’t close. Now I need to call Ikea and see if I can order one weird screw/nail thing.
• I have a reader in Toowoomba, Australia. Every time I see the name in my stats, that annoying Chumbawumba song gets stuck in my head.
• Went to Surfas to buy some stuff for the showers I’m baking for next weekend.
• Went to Trader Joe’s where I bumped into Will.
• Came home and collapsed

One of these weekends I’ll actually relax.
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In other news, I watched Jesus Camp last week. What a scary movie! I felt so badly for those kids. Next up in the NetFlix queue is The Kite Runner–I read the book but never got around to seeing the movie.

In other, other news, I turned my car on last week and there was a wrench on the dashboard. Apparently that means it’s time for some sort of maintenance (this time, my first oil change). How cool is that?

And in Crazy Cupcake Lady news, check out what one of her supporters is saying. Uhh yeah.

Why didn’t I think to invent something like the Tassi?
Why do I love the Tassi so much?
Why don’t I ever win the drawing at Trader Joe’s?
Why did Ralphs get rid of the Ralphs Club Card and make everyone fill out new things and get new cards?
Why do I keep seeing cute boys on Facebook then find out they were born in the 1980s?
Why am I not freaking out about turning another year older?
Why haven’t I seen Parking Structure Guy in a couple of weeks?
Why am I just now beginning to freak out about the solution to “redundancy in staff” that should happen next week?
Why did I sign up for another month of Jdate?
Why is Crazy Cupcake Lady so crazy?
Why does my neighbor in the building next door insist on playing his drums around 3:00 a.m.?
Why am I obsessed with really bad reality shows?
Why did I just now discover the ready to bake chocolate chip cookie dough at Trader Joe’s?
Why are there always a million people waiting in line for brunch on the weekends at The Griddle and Toast, but never at Jinky’s?
Why do we have cockroaches at the office? And why must they fly?
Why are salty and sweet together so awesome?
Why am I asking you guys this stuff?

*Blatantly stolen from Jenn, but I am not providing any answers. Or Depeche Mode lyrics.

You may have noticed me raving about my Tassi lately. Well, the lovely folks at Tassi have noticed too, and they are giving one away to one of my lucky readers!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and Sunday, July 27. (Open only to residents of the continental U.S.) A comment will be chosen at random by a random number generator on Monday, July 28 and the winner will be notified via email. Good luck!

I’m heading down to SD this afternoon (no, not for Comic-Con). Instead, I’ll be enjoying a delicious birthday dinner with my family tonight and the rest of the weekend will be spent either baking for or attending a baby shower and a bridal shower. You don’t even want to know how much stuff I will be baking. Thankfully, when my parents redid their kitchen they put in double convection ovens–what a time saver!
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Work is kicking my butt and stressing me out big time. I have so much stuff to do, my boss is out of the country, and I have to give a presentation to the new VPs next week. Yesterday I had a minor freak out and cried as I was on my way downstairs for lunch. Is it obvious I don’t handle stress well?
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In TV news, I think Nicole is the mole, anyone with me? And The Next Food Network Star is still horribly blah but I can’t stop watching. I watched about 20 minutes of Date My Ex and then I had to turn it off, anyone else see it?
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The other day on my way to work I was listening to the 80s channel on XM and this song called Strokin’ came on and I literally laughed out loud through the entire song. How have I never heard this before? Here’s the video if you want to watch it. Hopefully you’ll be sas-ified!
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If you haven’t already done so, enter to win a Tassi!
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Last night I was supposed to meet Jen and a bunch of people at Rush Street for happy hour. Instead, I packed clothes and a ton of my baking stuff then proceeded to work on my presentation. Happy hour vs. presentation. I lose.
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In other news, today is my birthday and I’m leaving early. Woohoo!

Thursday
(Kind of boring, and mostly about traffic, me crying, and my search for a restroom off the 5 freeway. On my birthday.)

Around 1:00, an hour before I was set to leave work, one of my coworkers stopped by and asked if I had heard about the accident on the freeway near Camp Pendleton. I had, but earlier in the morning and apparently had no idea how bad it was. A minivan hit a truck, then the minivan went out of control and ended up on the shoulder of the freeway (the driver got out). A Vons grocery truck then hit the minivan and pushed it up the hillside, then the grocery truck flipped over, spilled 60,000 pounds of meat and dairy onto the road, then burst into flames, causing a brush fire on the side of the freeway (the driver got out before it exploded). This was all at 5:00 a.m. When I was set to the leave the office at 2:00, most of the lanes were still closed and traffic was backed up 20 miles so another coworker mapped out an alternate route for me to take.

Well, an hour (and only 10 miles into the alternate route) later, I heard on the radio that they had opened all of the lanes on the 5 so I made my way on to that freeway. It was totally backed up and when I put the radio on, all I heard about was how traffic was horrendous so I burst into tears because a) work was stressing me out and b) I began wondering if I should have stayed on the alternate route. However, a few minutes later I heard there was a really bad accident on one of the freeways I had to take for the alternate route and apparently that freeway was even worse than the 5. Happy birthday to me.

About two hours into my drive I pulled off the freeway in search of a restroom only to find two gas stations, one without a bathroom and one with a bathroom swarming with bees, so I then drove around for 20 minutes until I found a fast food restaurant with a bathroom. I got back in my car and burst into tears again, because this was not how my birthday was supposed to be.

Almost five hours (and only 110 miles) after I left my office, I finally got into Del Mar and was in no mood to get back in the car 10 minutes later to drive down to Hillcrest for our dinner reservation at one of my favorite restaurants, Kemo Sabe. So instead, I opened my amazing presents (a larger KitchenAid mixer from my parents and Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt from my sister), then we went to a local sushi place for dinner and called it a day. Not quite the birthday I was hoping for, but I made it to Del Mar safely, was able to celebrate with my family, and the restaurant did put a candle in some mochi for me. And really, that’s what is important right? (Yes, I say that now. But at the time, I was not a happy camper.)

Also, interesting notes: 1. I drove behind and in front of the same two cars for more than two hours. No one was changing lanes or cutting people off. I guess everyone knew there was nowhere to go. 2. I heard on the radio that when all the lanes were finally open, there were a bunch of cars stuck on the freeway because they ran out of gas.

Friday
Woke up, then a bunch of the hostesses arrived and we all got to work baking, making the stuff for the tea sandwiches for the bridal shower, and getting everything else ready. Watched an hour of TV. Went to sleep.

Saturday
Woke up, then a bunch of the hostesses arrived and we assembled all of the tea sandwiches, decorated cupcakes, and finished setting up. Had the shower. Cleaned up. Baked, decorated, and prepared baked french toast and blintzes for the baby shower brunch. Went to sleep.

Sunday
Woke up, prepared more stuff with the hostesses. (Anyone see a trend here?) Had the shower. Cleaned up. Sat on the freeway for two-and-a-half-hours back to LA.

The showers were gorgeous, the bride-to-be and the mom-to-be both looked radiant, and everyone had a great time. Of course, I felt a tinge of jealously throughout the weekend, but I know my time will come.

Now I am back in LA. I just realized that today was the first day I have been outside since Thursday night. That’s how busy we were. Now I’m going to collapse on my couch.

Click to enlarge:

Thanks for checking in! Everyone is fine, just a little shaken. Being in a highrise during an earthquake is never fun.

What a week! Tuesday morning as I was watching the news and getting ready for work, I saw that a woman had been killed at 6:00 p.m. (totally light out!) Monday evening in the parking garage across the street from my office. It was huge news locally and pretty damn scary! Our building management even sent out a memo saying they were offering security escorts to our cars after work. The murder was the only thing anyone was talking about until…

The earthquake. Yes, only a few hours after learning about the murder, we had an earthquake. It was relatively small, but when you’re in a highrise and you’re shaking, it’s scary. Really, really, scary. And after living in Northridge for the Northridge quake, I get freaked out by earthquakes very easily. You probably would too if on January 17, 1994 you discovered your kitchen to look like this (after sunrise of course, because the power was out) or your school’s parking structure, down the street, to look like this. So to the girl who made the ridiculous comment (yes, I know who you are), you’re no longer welcome here; please go away.

Anyway, back to the crazy week. Following the murder news and the earthquake, a few coworkers and I were taken to dinner at Rock Sugar by some people from our new company. There was a ton of fun conversation. And food. And wine. And champagne. And dessert. Four hours later, I thought I was going to have to be rolled out of there. Yesterday was an all day meeting (which included my presentation–it went well!) and when I got out I had a package waiting for me in the mail room. When I opened it up, I was thrilled to see a belated birthday present–five different “Cake In A Cup” flavors–from Jess. She had cake mailed me to! Is that an awesome friend or what? I can’t wait to plan a trip to Australia to visit her.
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You know the law requiring handsfree sets while driving? So not enforced. At least one third of the drivers I saw during my FIVE HOUR DRIVE down to Del Mar last week were holding their phones. Idiots.
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How bummed are you about Scrabulous? Thankfully, Scrabble beta is on there now (when it’s not down).
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What’d you think of The Next Food Network Star winner? I think the judges made a good choice. In other TV news, is anyone else watching Hopkins? It’s like a network version of all of those awesome shows on TLC.
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The winner of the Tassi is none other than JustJenn. I know everyone is anxious for Jenn to wear it to work, right?
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For those of you who don’t check my baking blog regularly, last weekend I posted about Salted Oatmeal Cookies that were pretty damn good.
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Quite possibly my longest Thursday post ever.
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This week’s question: A city in LA approved a one-year ban on opening new fast-food restaurants because they say those restaurants contribute to the higher-than-average obesity rate. Thoughts?