Although the week began with totally ridiculous drama (the friend I referred to in this post accused me of, among other things, “trashing” her in my blog), it ended with quite a lot of relaxation!

I went down to San Diego early on Friday, thus beating the traffic and even made it in time to have lunch with my parents near my dad’s office. Then I spent a lot of time in my pajamas, watched TV, read a book that I don’t want to end (book post coming soon, I promise, Dawn!), baked low fat chocolate chunk muffins, saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall in the theater and Reservation Road on DVD, and just chilled with my family. This morning we walked into downtown Del Mar and had a delicious Mother’s Day brunch at Sbicca. I’m now back in LA and for some reason, feel like I can still use another weekend.

The only weekend bummer was that Bethany was up north celebrating Elise’s 30th birthday (happy birthday Elise!) so she couldn’t join us. But have no fear–the annual classic car show and Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for Father’s Day is coming up soon enough.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. I love you mom!

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.

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!

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?

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?

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?

This week at work has been nuts. A coworker in a totally different department quit, and I have been assigned her project that is in no way related to writing of any sort. In fact, it’s all about numbers, which is something, being a writer, I suck at. Anyway, for the first time ever, I have been going in early, working through lunch, and staying late. Fortunately for me, they reclassified my position a couple of years ago and I am now eligible for overtime (something I haven’t received since I had a part-time job in high school!), which is the only thing that is keeping me somewhat sane. I am drained like you wouldn’t believe.
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You know you live in LA when instead of being interested in what is being filmed on the street in front of your office, you’re more annoyed that they closed the street and you can’t walk to the lunch place until they are done shooting.
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I am so behind in reading blogs.
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As much as I loved Millionaire Matchmaker, this made me go hmmm. Did anyone watch Tuesday’s episode? I wanted to reach through the TV and wax that guy’s eyebrows so badly.

What about Project Runway, what did you think? I liked Rami’s collection the best. (POTENTIAL SPOILER IN THE COMMENTS. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU.)
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I’m going to Vegas in a month. Have I mentioned how excited I am to get out of LA? I can’t wait.
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This week’s question I’m stealing from one of Jessica’s posts: Do you think dating was better old school (pre-Internet, voicemail, caller ID, and cell phones) or new school (with Internet, cell phones, voicemail, and social networking sites) and why? And if you’re too young to remember the old school days, please keep that bit of information to yourself, thankyouverymuch.

Things that sucketh:

• Going into the office early and leaving late.
• Paying $9 to park at the doctor’s office. And that’s without tipping the (mandatory) valet.
• The price of gas.
• The neighbor in the building next door with a drum set.
• Getting dissed by my 14-year-old Little.
• People who steal cupcake photos.
• DirecTV.

Things that rocketh:

• The annoying neighbors who had the bass on the stereo so high it shook my apartment moved out.
• Cake balls.
• People who beat up cupcake photo thieves. (OK fine, I don’t know anyone who does that, but if they did, they would rock.)
• Trader Joe’s opening within walking distance of my apartment.
• Green Giant corn in butter sauce.
• Microwaved Peeps.
• The kickass letter I started writing that I will send to DirecTV.

As always, feel free to add your own.

As I backed my car out of my parking spot Monday morning, the pole that I’ve parked next to for ten years moved a few inches and hit the passenger side mirror of my two-month-old car! (OK fine, it didn’t really move. I hit it. Blah.) Fortunately, there was minimal damage–just a bit of paint from the pole that the car wash guy was able to buff off, but I was not a happy person when it happened.
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With my new DirecTV DVR, caller ID displays on the TV! Well it did, for one day. Then it didn’t and and I called DirecTV and they told me to restart the receiver. And it worked again, once! Then I just gave up and decided I could live without the caller ID feature. But now, it decides to sometimes lose the picture when I fast forward, so I have to rewind and fast forward again. Sigh. I miss my Tivo. I should also note however, that the DVR in the living room (the prior model, which has the five (?) second “skip back feature,” and I am sadly unable to get) works just fine. And FYI for those of you upgrading–you can upgrade DVRS for free, you just pay the “handling fee.” Hopefully yours will function better than mine.
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I’ve joined a food blogging event called Tuesdays With Dorie. As you may have figured out, I adore Dorie Greenspan and her recipes, and am always anxious to try out new ones from her cookbook Baking: From My Home To Yours. Fortunately for me, others had the same idea and this event, where food bloggers everywhere all make the selected Dorie recipe and post about it on–you guessed it, Tuesday–was born. My debut Tuesdays With Dorie post was about the pecan sour cream biscuits you saw pictures of over the weekend.
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I was watching TLC the other day and saw a commercial for tonight’s LA Ink episode and swore I saw my favorite doctor ever ever ever on the TV. After rewinding, I decided it was definitely him, apparently he’s Kat Von D’s doctor now. Dr. Katz was the first doctor I went to in LA when I started college up here and the one who, eight years ago, returned my panicked 11:00 p.m. call to his answering service when I found a lump in my breast. I really hope he doesn’t stop accepting insurance and turn into one of those doctors that only caters to Hollywood. I happen to have an appointment with him next week and will have to tease him about his TV appearance.

In related news, is it weird that my dermatologist has more TV appearances to his name than most “actors” I’ve dated in the past?

In non-doctor related TV news, what’d you think of last night’s Project Runway? I loved Chris, but human hair? Kinda creepy.
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Thank you for your kind comments to my last post; I’m still thinking about where, if anywhere, this blog is going.
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This week’s question: What scent instantly takes you back in time? For me, whenever I smell pipe smoke I immediately think of my Papa and Uncle Max.

While many of you are reading this, I’ll be at the cardiologist having an electrocardiogram (ECG) and echocardiogram (ultrasound). Not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but I have a congenital heart murmur that is caused by one of my valves having a narrow opening (imagine a cinched garden hose). So, I go to the doctor every other year for him to check it out and make sure the valve isn’t narrowing a lot. I think I’m his favorite patient, because I’m a good 30 years younger and much healthier than everyone else in the waiting room.

The reason I mention the doctor at all is because I’m more excited to go there than I am to go to my office to work on proxy battle stuff. Is that sad or what?
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Last week I mentioned my friend Keren invited me to a show her friend was producing on Valentine’s Day. We went to see Mortified (yes again), and as always, it was a blast. I remember the first Mortified show I saw was at the tiny room at The Knitting Factory; now they’re selling out King King in Hollywood. I’m so excited for them! If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely check it out. And they have shows in other cities, so there’s really no excuse.
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The Googler is bitter. Oh yes he is. I looked at his blog last week and saw a collage of 64 Jdate women, yes he ganked their photos, (What the fuck? Who does that?) and a post about how they either disappeared (not unlike what he did to me), or neglected to return his phone calls or emails. Of course, I recognized a friend on there (and my sister recognized her friend as well) and immediately sent them the link, then proceeded to send it to more of my friends who in turn sent it to their friends who sent it to their friends, etc.
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I made red velvet cake balls yesterday. Crumbled red velvet cake mixed with cream cheese frosting, rolled, and dipped in chocolate. Yes, seriously.

And in other food news, someone is stealing some of my cupcake photos and trying to pass them off as her own. I’ve twice now asked her to remove them from her Flickr stream and she is ignoring my requests so I filled out a copyright thingy on Flickr. Who steals cupcake photos? Hmm, maybe I should hook her up with The Googler.
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Are car washes in parking structures only an LA thing? It’s come up in conversation with people who live outside of LA and they think I’m nuts when I say I dropped my car off with the car wash guy in the morning when I got to the office.
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TV: I am embarrassed to admit my three current favorite TV shows are Celebrity Rehab, The Millionaire Matchmaker, and Project Runway (who do you want to win?). I’ve also been catching random episodes of Heat and am enjoying it even though I find the chef super annoying.
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This week’s question: What is your favorite made up band name? You know, when you hear two words together and think, “that would make an awesome band name.”

Last weekend, I drove down Robertson and passed two men wearing only underwear and holding volleyballs standing outside of Kitson . What. The. Hell. Then this week on the same street, I passed a car pimped out in the Gucci logo.
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Earlier this week during lunch in Century City, Karrin and I saw a woman wearing tapered jeans with zippers at the ankles. I wore these in the 80s. Sigh. If that stupid way of folding at the ankle comes back, then we’re really in trouble.
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My Little and I were having ice cream earlier this week (it was in the 80s here) when her new science teacher walked into the shop. She looked at me and asked my Little, “So this must be your very young mother?” to which I was a little surprised and responded with “I’m her volunteer Big Sister but I would be proud to have a daughter like her.” I never know what to say in those situations, but I wanted the teacher to know that she is part of the Big Sister program. Any suggestions on how to respond?
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Being Valentine-less today, I accepted Keren’s plus one invitation to join her at a friend’s show tonight. Should be fun!

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I made cookies!
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I’m heading down to San Diego for the long weekend tomorrow after work. I can’t believe it’s been two months since I last saw my parents. That’s insane, considering they are only 120 miles away. What are your plans?
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If you haven’t already done so, please tell us what you’ve read lately. Speaking of books, Jessica’s book, The Fug Awards, is out! Go buy it!
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Have you seen the Pedigree dog food commercial (click the one that says KING) where the family moves and doesn’t take their dog? Every time I see it, I want to cry.
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This week’s question: In honor of Valentine’s Day, tell me about a song that you find sexy. It can be due to the lyrics, the beat, the band, whatever. For me, “Out of Control” by She Wants Revenge comes to mind.

Earlier this week, I met with my Little, her mom, and our caseworker to celebrate our four year anniversary as a match. I still can’t believe it’s been that long–it feels like just yesterday she was 10-years-old!
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You know those moments when you realize you’re just a big dork? I had one of those yesterday while reading an article in the LA Times about–the multiple uses of parchment paper for baking and cooking! Seriously. I love the stuff, and buy it in huge quantities from Surfas.
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As you may have heard, it’s been cold (for LA standards) here lately. Once the temperature hit 65, people break out the scarves and gloves and hats. It’s OK, you can laugh. But the part that bugs me, the part that I just don’t get, is seeing people bundled up from head to almost-toe. Why almost? Because they are wearing FLIP FLOPS. With a hat and scarf and gloves. What the hell people?
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My Vegas weekend is completely booked now! We decided to stay at Bally’s–definitely not the hottest hotel, but it’s relatively inexpensive, in a good location, and connected to Paris. Does anyone know if it’s possible to buy discount show tickets anywhere? We’d both love to see a Cirque du Soleil show without having to spend a small fortune.
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In dating news, there is none. And I took my profile off Jdate. I need a Jbreak.
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Just a reminder to those of you who feel the need to complain in the comments about the content of my blog: As far as I know, no one is forcing you to read it, so if what I write bothers you that much, stop reading! And secondly, if someone is forcing you to read it, please tell me exactly how they go about doing that, because I’d really like to know.

In related news, I’ve been toying with the idea of implementing reader registration or making my blog password protected. I’ll keep you posted.
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I have no question for this week, so instead, tell me what’s on your mind.

(Poll added, see bottom of post! Sorry in advance about the ads.) And it’s been removed, apparently the domain expired. Random.

I voted at 7:30 this morning. And it was a pain in the ass.

I got to my polling place–the International Cinematographers Guild–to find the parking lot closed which I vaguely remembered was the case the last time I voted. Then I circled the block a few times in hopes of finding a meter in a neighborhood (morning rush hour in Hollywood and permit parking neighborhoods make for very difficult parking), couldn’t find one, and opted to brave parking in the strip mall next door. Why have a polling place with no parking?

When I finally got to the front door of the Guild, it was locked, and I was buzzed in by the receptionist. I found the polling place, heard lots of yelling in Russian (there is a large Russian population in my neighborhood) and watched a very unhappy man walk out the door complaining about how he is unable to vote.

Then it was my turn in line. I gave my name and address to the first person and signed the sheet (got the requisite “oh your name is Hilary! like Hillary Clinton!” joke), received a ballot from a second person, and repeated my name and address to a third person. Unfortunately, this woman could not find me on her list and yelled so everyone in the room could hear, “YOU’RE NOT ON MY LIST!” She asked me to repeat the spelling of my last name, apologized for not hearing me well because she had a sinus infection, and again said “YOU’RE NOT ON MY LIST!!” Then she asked, “WHERE ARE YOU?” to which I responded, “excuse me?” and got a “WHERE ARE YOU?” and the look of death in return. The woman next to me in line looked at me sympathetically and shrugged her shoulders. I am here. On the other side of the table from you. The real question is WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? because you’re obviously on a different planet than the rest of us.

“Um, what do you mean by where are you?” I finally asked her, and she said, “WHAT IS YOUR ADDRESS?!?!” and at that point, I half expected her to throw in a DUH! for good measure. The next five minutes were spent by me repeating my address, her transposing the numbers, me repeating it again, and her telling me the list isn’t in any order, and “YOU’RE NOT ON MY LIST!!!” until I finally asked if that meant I could not vote. “OH NO, YOU CAN STILL VOTE! I JUST NEED TO CHECK YOU OFF BY THE END OF THE DAY!” Whatever. I have no idea what that meant.

And I voted. I think. Hopefully my vote will count, even if I am not on that second list.

Monday night I dropped a prescription off at Longs and decided to run into Fresh & Easy (horrible name for a market, no?) while the pharmacist did his thing. I’m not sure if I’m missing something or if the store is just majorly disappointing. Sure, it’s really bright and the aisles are wide and you don’t run into people like at Trader Joe’s, but eh. I picked up a thing of blackberries (yes mom, I started liking blackberries) and the “use by” date on the package was that day. I checked all of the packages and they all had the same date. Not good if you ask me. I think I like TJ’s better, but perhaps I’ll give Fresh & Easy another chance.
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All these years of working in corporate America are beginning to take a toll–on my feet! Lately I’ve noticed that when I get home from my work, my feet and shins totally cramp up. The cramps only seem to occur after wearing regular heels, not boots, but in the meantime, I need to figure out a solution without a) spending a fortune on new shoes and b) getting all of my pants hemmed.
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To people that I know in person: I’m thinking of participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Saturday, March 15. Want to walk to with me? Also, I want to go to the Bad Religion show at the HOB on Sunset in March. Interested?
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In TV news, I now have unhealthy obsessions with both Celebrity Rehab and The Millionaire Matchmaker. Every time I see Jeff Conoway I’m just shocked he’s the same person that played Kenickie. Also, I haven’t watched anything that was on last night so please don’t spoil Project Runway for me.
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I have a stupid pimple on my chin that goes away then comes back a few weeks later which is becoming quite annoying. But couple that was the fact that I am getting wrinkles while I still have pimples, and it just pisses me off.
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In travel news, I’m meeting my friend Cyndi in Vegas in April! She’s going to fly down from Seattle and I’m going to fly out from Burbank ($59 each way…nice!) and we’re going to spend Thursday through Saturday in Sin City. It should also be noted that the week before I head there, I should know a little bit more about the job situation, so hopefully I won’t be gambling away my last paycheck. Just kidding, I wouldn’t do that.
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In chocolate news, someone nominated my baking blog for a Death By Chocolate food blogger contest. Both a reader and blogger will win trips for two to Napa to attend a chocolate festival! So go ahead and register as a reader (which enters you in the drawing), then when the voting begins next week, vote for my baking blog, and maybe we’ll have a chance to chat while we stuff our bellies with chocolate up north!
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It’s been a week since I last heard from The Googler. Another one hit by The Bus. And no, he’s not horribly ill or anything because a while back he told me about his blog so I read it yesterday and he’s been posting regularly, and made no mention of writing from a hospital room or anything. Why guys are wusses and say “lets go out again” then do the disappearing thing will always remain a mystery to me. Why not just say “it was nice meeting you” or whatever. Lame.
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Last night I went to a Big Brothers Big Sisters mixer at a bar called The Sapphire in the Valley. It was a really cool place (probably because it reminded me a little of The Well) and if any of my friends move to the other side of the hill, I would definitely be up for drinks there, although I might bring a flashlight–that place made The Arsenal look bright.
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If you haven’t already, please tell me about yourself!
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This week’s question: What is your current guilty pleasure TV show?

First, hello and welcome to everyone who got here from Kristin’s blog. Feel free to say hi!
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Did anyone else watch Notes From The Underbelly on Monday? There was a dog on the episode, and his name was Guster! In other TV news, I am so glad that TK and Rachel won The Amazing Race; I think they deserved it way more than anyone else. Is anyone else watching Celebrity Rehab? No? Um, yeah, neither am I. How about Project Runway? I love Ricky, but enough with the crying already! Who are you rooting for?
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Tonight is date number two with The Professor. We’re going for Indian food in Beverly Hills. In related news, The Googler emailed me and said he was sick. Achoo achoo. Of course, still no mention of getting together again. I think he’s definitely in the path of The Bus and am not expecting another date.
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This weekend, I’m having dinner with Jami, Jenn, and Nanette at Simon LA, one of the restaurants participating in Dine LA. I am really looking forward to checking out the restaurant and tasting their food, especially their desserts.
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Speaking of desserts. I’m extending the header image contest deadline a few weeks, so if you’re interested in entering, there’s still time!
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Today is my half birthday. In related news, I now have a link to my Amazon Wish List on my blog in the lower right part of the sidebar. You know, just in case.
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In “only in LA” news: My office closed early yesterday due to the drizzle, I mean rain. Yes, seriously.
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This week’s question: How did you meet your significant other?

1. Come home from work in a good mood and excited to have a night with nothing to do and decide to make Mark Bittman’s easy and fast peanut brittle.
2. Decide to heat up a package of Trader Joe’s frozen bean and rice burritos, but first drop the package on your little toe.
3. Follow the oven instructions exactly.
4. Notice a burning smell coming from said oven and open it to find the plastic you punctured with a fork, per instructions, is burning. Remove plastic and cover with foil instead.
5. Notice a new burning smell coming from said oven and open it to find the paper-ish container holding said burritos is also burning. Remove burritos from paper-ish container and just wrap the suckers in foil.
6. Take burritos out of oven and notice they are not completely hot, so stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds and go wash your face.
7. Return to find the microwave smoking because you accidentally set it for 3 minutes, not 30 seconds.
8. For some reason, decide to still make the “easy and fast” peanut brittle.
9. Find yourself unable to melt sugar over low heat, per the recipe. So instead, try it over high heat.
10. Add peanuts, pour onto cookie sheet.
11. Think, hmm, I bet that little glob of hot melted sugar would taste good, so you stick your finger in it.
12. Yell five million obscenities and run finger until cold water, only to find your water pressure is next to nothing.
13. Yell more obscenities and stick your finger under the bathtub faucet.
14. Wish your fucking blistered finger didn’t hurt so badly. Cry. Also, wonder why you are such a moron sometimes.

The end. And this post was typed with only one hand. Impressive, I know.

My weekend actually began Thursday night when I met up with Kristin and Tamara (a fellow LA blogger whom I had never read before, but am now so glad I met!) at Edendale Grill in Silver Lake (Silverlake? I never know which way to spell it.) for martinis, martinis, and more martinis. Kristin was in town for business, and after getting to know each other via our blogs for the past four years, it was really great meeting her. She is just as sweet and fun in person as she is on her blog. And as we sat outside sipping martinis in the 50 degree weather on the patio near the heat lamps, Tamara and I in our jackets and Kristin sans one, I couldn’t help but laugh when she called our freezing cold weather “warm and balmy.” But I won’t hold that against her, especially because within her first hour of being in LA, her rental car broke down on the 405 and she had to deal with the asshats on the freeway. What a “welcome to LA” moment; at least things could only get better from there!

Friday I left the office and headed straight to everyone’s dream–a very empty Target. It was so nice to stroll through the aisles and not have kids running all over the place, or have to wait in a huge line to pay. I also happened upon a really inexpensive piece of art to hang in my kitchen. I love it in all of its cheesy glory. After Target, I hung my “art,” had sushi delivered, and scraped wax off of my menorah while watching bad reality TV.

I also had to search my apartment in order to find a piece of paperwork that allows me to make medical decisions for my Little while she is with me. (I was taking her Disneyland the following day, and it was one of those things I felt I should have, just in case. And it is now in my wallet, where it should be.) Aren’t you jealous your evening wasn’t as exciting as mine?

The next morning, I woke up right after the sun, packed some snacks, and picked my Little up and headed off to Disneyland. Amazingly, there was no traffic so the ride there was uneventful, save for me wanting to shoot someone after listening to about half a dozen Kelly Clarkson songs. When my Little is in the car, she somehow gains control of the radio.

Disneyland was a lot of fun, albeit expensive even with free passes (given to me by my airplane friend Hilary): Parking was $11, lunch (burgers and fries and sodas) was $20, dinner (skewers–who knew? and drinks) was also $20, and dessert (ice cream sundaes) was $10. Fortunately, I did a good job of packing snacks so the only extra thing we bought was $3 cotton candy. I don’t know why I felt the need to share that with you, I’m sure you don’t really care. So anyway…

Like I mentioned before, I had not been to Disneyland since college, and I have to say, the fast pass thing is amazing–no more having to wait two hours for rides! Except that Matterhorn didn’t offer a fast pass which ended up being alright since the line was only 30 minutes, but the new submarine ride was two hours and neither of us felt like waiting for that. We also didn’t get a chance to go on Space Mountain because when we arrived at our fast pass time, the ride was closed “for repairs.” Uhh yeah.

To wax nostalgic for just a moment, the minute I walked into Disneyland, I had a flood of emotions. I remembered going to the park in high school with Julie, Marisa, and Josh, all of us wearing high school sweatshirts and having a blast. And I remembered my first visit there with The Ex, and getting caught in a downpour and wearing yellow ponchos and walking around with soaking wet shoes. Then I remembered my last visit there with The Ex, and his horrible fraternity formal and us fighting and breaking up and getting back together. Thankfully, I have new memories, even if they do include a 14-year-old asking me, “Was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride the same back in the day?”

Sunday morning I woke up at 7:30 and couldn’t fall back asleep even though I was thoroughly exhausted. I watched TV then decided to throw some laundry in, and by 11:00 I had already done four loads and cleaned my apartment. I saw my sister briefly, then ran errands. Now my eyes are beginning to close and I’m quickly fading so I think it’s time to take a short nap. I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow.
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In boy news, The Professor and I are going out next week, The Googler appears to be the latest victim of the The Bus, and there is a possible setup in the near future.

Last night I went to Taste with my cousin and my aunt. Great food (mac and cheese with truffle oil, among other things) and super fun conversation, as always. And my former neighbor was our server so we had stellar service. After dinner, they headed over to The Jazz Bakery for a show, but I went home and crashed.

Tonight I am supposed to meet Kristin of Better Now. Years ago, she wrote a now-defunct blog and was one of my first readers. I can not wait to meet her!
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In dating news, the guy I went to The Arsenal with (let’s call him The Professor, because well, he is one) asked me out again and I accepted. We’re getting together next week.

Earlier this week, The Googler and I both said we’d like to hang out again and since then, we’ve exchanged a bunch of silly two sentence emails with no mention of a date. I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to some of them, because it’s not like he asks anything, they’re just random links and thoughts. I kind of get the feeling he just wants to correspond via email rather than see me in person again, which isn’t something I’m interested in and don’t really understand the point of. Unlike chocolate and peanut butter (yep, I baked again), email and dating do not go well together.

It should also be noted that both The Professor and The Googler are musicians, and the Googler is also an aspiring writer. Big surprise, huh? At least he’s not a comic.
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In TV news, I am so behind in my Tivo, so please don’t tell me anything about Project Runway. Or anything else that is on on Wednesdays for that matter.
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Have my fellow Scrabulous fans seen this? Waah.
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Radar has a post about the picket lines being the new way to meet (unemployed) men. They obviously don’t frequent Jdate, because I’ve been meeting unemployed writers that way for quite a while.
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Saturday is take two at Disneyland with my Little. I think it’s supposed to be in the 60s and sunny, so it should be a good day to visit Mickey. The last time I was at Disneyland was for The Ex’s fraternity formal (also the first time I ever had my hair straightened at a salon), and we fought the entire night following the party. It was a miserable trip and I am looking forward to making new Disneyland memories, even if they are with a 14-year-old.
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Remember how I lost my Bluetooth? Well, it turns out I lost my camera battery too. They were both in the same pocket of my purse, and now I’m wondering if someone ganked them. It’s not usual for me lose stuff like that, and I’m totally bummed.

Speaking of my camera, I discovered it has a macro setting, so now I can take pictures of the stuff I bake and it won’t be blurry (see above). Duh. I guess I didn’t read the manual thoroughly.
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This week’s question: Have you ever had/considered plastic surgery? If so, what procedure?

If you live in San Francisco and are interested in architecture, food, fashion, art, or local stuff (schtuff I suppose), then check out San Francisco Shtuff. My sister’s friend Jillian is writing for it so go visit and say hello!
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My baking blog is more popular than this blog now. Am I really that boring? Or are my baked goods just that good?
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Tuesday’s date was…nice, but not riveting or anything. We met at The Arsenal and had a drink, decent conversation, and then took off, all within an hour. If only all Jdates could be so easy. (As an aside, they had lights on! It wasn’t pitch black inside! I asked the bartender what was up, and he said they decided to make it a little brighter in there. Yay!) Anyway, until I received an email (what’s up with the second date emails?) from him yesterday in which he invited me out again, I thought it was obvious that neither of us was terribly interested in the other. Whoops.

In other Jdate news, I spoke to a new Jdate boy on the phone last night and we made plans to have drinks on Sunday. He mentioned he went to the same college as Julie and about half of my high school, so we played a quick game of Jewish geography. Turns out one of his best friends is a guy I went to Hebrew school with. Small world! Dare I say I’m excited to meet him? Think good thoughts please!
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In TV new, yay for new TV! My Tivo is so happy and content now that it has Law & Order, Big Medicine, and Project Runway to record. And how about The Amazing Race? I was so glad TK and Rachel didn’t get eliminated. Last night was apparently the season finale of The Real World, which my Tivo did not record. Fortunately (unfortunately?) MTV seems to replay that show constantly so I can catch it another day. What are you currently watching?
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In other news, January is National Mentoring Month, who knew? Now is as good a time as any to check out your local mentoring program. Trust me, it’s an amazing feeling! If you have any questions about being a Big Sister, feel free to email me.
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This week’s question: Do you volunteer? If so, what do you do? If not, what would you like to do?

Confession time.

When I’m bored, I will do one of three things: bake, watch TV, or look people up online. (I guess I’m easily entertained.) So when I found my PMSing self with too much free time at the office today, I did the one thing I could do from my desk–I Googled. I looked up an ex-boyfriend (whom I am convinced must have moved to another planet, because he has no online presence whatsoever). I looked up past dates (I want to see if they’re married, divorced, fat, bald, living on the other side of the world, whatever). I searched for former co-workers. And I checked up on some old friends.

And then I decided what the hell, I’ll see what’s new with The Ex. (Yes, I am aware this is a horrible and stupid habit. Why I do it, I’m not quite sure. It’s like a form of self torture actually.) In the past when I Googled him, all I found was legal information about the business he recently sold as well as his super skinny IMDB profile. OK that’s not true, I once saw his wedding pictures. No, his wife isn’t pretty. And he was chubby.

This time though, oh boy, this time was different. I found his personal website, which included a picture of him from his wedding as well as a picture of his wife standing with his parents. And he had written a short bio, in which he referred to his wife as “the love of my life.” That’s when it hit me and I felt my stomach twisting into a million knots. The man that chased me for eight years, the man who begged me to get back together with him–he has a new love of his life.

The weird thing is, this wasn’t news to me! A year and a half ago, he told me over the phone that he was getting married. And I saw the wedding pictures. I knew he was with someone else. But reading those words, on the Internet, out there for everyone in the world to see–for some reason, that defined it for me.

So now, I’ve decided no more Googling. No more “researching dates” or whatever I want to call it. MySpace will be used solely to check up on my Little, Facebook only for Scrabulous, and Google for querying recipes and celebrities and other useful pieces of information. Because really, I think today put me in a place emotionally that I’d rather not visit again.

I’m so confused as to what day of the week it is because not having to work Tuesday totally threw me off. Let’s play catch up, shall we?

New Year’s Eve was a lot of fun! Nicole had a bunch of us over for dinner and drinks (and champagne Jell-o shots with raspberries that were just soooo good) then we headed over to The Village Idiot to ring in 2008. They had a private one year anniversary/new year’s eve party for their friends and family, and since Nicole is friends with the chef (yes, The Chef), we were on the guest list. It was a fun night, kinda mellow, and celebrated with good friends. What more could I ask for? And no, it was not awkward when I saw The Chef; he wished me a happy new year and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and it was all good.
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Speaking of boys, on New Year’s Day, I met another eharmony guy. This one didn’t yell at me and actually offered to pay for my dinner and margarita (seriously, like I needed more alcohol at that point), but he was very weird and definitely not for me. It should also be noted that both eharmony guys used the word hot, and not to describe temperature of any kind. The dancing hairstylist said, “Axl Rose used to be hot.” (hello, red flag number one) and the new year’s day dud said, “You live in Hollywood? That is hot!” Seriously. It’s like eharmony is filled with 14-year-old girls.
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In random news, did you know Flickr now offers stats? I had no idea, but I activated mine!
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In TV news, there are new episodes on this week! I’m getting my Law & Order fix (finally!) and am so hoping that TK and Rachel win The Amazing Race. Who are you rooting for? I’m also trying to get into The Biggest Loser, but I think the lack of two solid teams is making it less exciting. Or maybe I’m just over the show.
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In totally random food news, my new favorite store-bought treats are the fleur de sel caramels from Trader Joe’s–both the chocolate and plain caramel varieties. Oh so good! Speaking of sweets, don’t forget about your chance to win cookies, baked by me! And also, click on the picture to the right to check out all the yummy treats I baked in 2007.
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This week’s question: Did you make any new year’s resolutions? If so, what are they?

This weekend was quite productive for a change!

Friday night, I came home from work sneezing and blowing my nose like mad. I figured I was getting sick, so I just took it easy, spoke to the Dancing Hairstylist, and went to bed really early.

Saturday morning I felt a million times better (apparently it was just allergies), so I left a message for the Dancing Hairstylist telling him we’re for sure on, then ran a ton of errands, finally returned the jeans I thought I was in love with, bought a pair of jeans I really am in love with, and bought two tops for $15 each (!) at Express. I also made the dough for World Peace Cookies for New Years Eve, and managed to squeeze in some laundry. Then I showered and got dressed and waited for the stupid football game to end so that the Dancing Hairstylist and I could go to a movie.

And I waited and waited. I played a game of Scrabulous with a girl whose husband was glued to his Wii, then I tried on tops to wear on New Year’s Eve. Then I began getting into my pajamas and the phone finally rang, an hour after the game had ended. The Dancing Hairstylist said he was on his way and would be there shortly.

Everything from that point on went downhill, and the night turned to crap in about five seconds. Highlights included him: making fun of my new car; getting pissy because he spent $2 to park in the Arclight garage without seeing a movie because we got there 10 minutes before it started and only the first row was left; yelling at me for pointing at a stop light/lane/street, because “it’s rude and someone may think you’re pointing at them”; getting mad at me for saying that the passenger seatbelt wouldn’t retract when I unbuckled it; scolding me for eating a late lunch and skipping dinner (while planning on getting a pretzel at the movie we did not see) and insisting I will have a diabetic episode because of it (seriously…huh?); suggesting “you get the first round, and I’ll get the second round” at the bar, after inviting me out on a date; refusing to put the heater on in the car, because “the inside temperature is 65 degrees already, what do you want me to do, sweat?”. And there’s more, but I’ll spare you the details because my head hurts just thinking about the night.

Sunday morning, I slept in then got to baking for New Year’s Eve. I made chocolate cupcakes with pink buttercream frosting and silver dragees, and baked the World Peace cookies. The cupcakes taste good, but the frosting is a huge mess–I apparently over-beat it, causing it to get too much air, thus making it nearly impossible to pipe and then sort of deflate. I’m kind of embarrassed to bring them, but I’m hoping to redeem myself with the World Peace cookies.
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In other boy news, I didn’t mention this when it happened, but I was kissed by a boy with a girlfriend (who knows I know he has a girlfriend), and who split from his ex-wife because she cheated on him. I’ll never understand guys.

DG met a girl he really likes. And even though I don’t want to be with him, hearing him tell me he met someone made my heart hurt a little.
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And finally, I hope everyone has a very fun and safe New Year’s Eve. See ya in 2008!

I went down to San Diego last Friday night to celebrate my dad’s birthday and a belated Hanukkah with the family. The drive down was awesome–very little traffic, and I got to spend time in my new car! The weekend was a lot of fun and I ate more in those couple days than I think I ate in the entire week prior. Stuffed. Myself. Silly. I also got to see Julie’s beautiful new house and ate about a dozen of the delicious cookies she had just made.

On the drive back to LA, the outdoor temperature display on my car went wonky and kept saying it was 75 degrees outside at 8:00 at night. It was actually somewhere around 55 or 60. Then my ipod went black and kept scrolling “connect to power” and when I connected it to my car charger, nothing happened. Same thing when I connected it to the computer via the USB. Finally, I tried the wall charger (that did not come with the iPod) and that worked. All three ways of charging used the same USB cord, so I don’t know why only the wall outlet charge took. Any ideas?
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A while back, I found a three months for the price of one coupon for eharmony and decided to give it a go. For the past two and a half months, I had no matches that were even remotely interesting (they kept trying to set me up with people in Colorado–what the hell?). Then I matched with a local guy and we went through Dr. Warren’s stupid process and finally exchanged emails and decided to meet up on Christmas Eve.

We met on the westside for Chinese food and a late night drink and made plans to hang out again on Christmas Day. So, while you were opening presents and celebrating Christmas, we went bowling (he won the first game, I won the second game) in the Valley then for deli at Canter’s (where I bumped into my Little’s best friend and her mom). Both dates were a lot of fun and I am looking forward to hanging out with him again on Saturday night. As for a nickname, my friend and I already started calling him the Dancing Hairstylist because yes, he does hair, and yes, he teaches dance. And yes, he is straight. And while it was kinda cool to be able to talk about flat irons on a date, it was definitely a little odd.

Also, we somehow ended up on the subject of batting cages and he didn’t believe that I could hit a fast pitch (but I can!) so we ended up betting dinner on it. One of these days he’s going to owe me. Stay tuned.
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That’s it for now. I’m back at work tomorrow (waaah) and already looking forward to the weekend. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas/wonderful day off.

Happy Birthday Dad, I love you! Can’t wait to come down to San Diego tonight to celebrate with everyone.

Monday night I had a fun dinner with Samantha at Bossa Nova. We hadn’t seen each other in almost a year, so we had a ton of catching up to do. Plus, I had never eaten at Bossa Nova before and it was delish!
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In TV news, due to the writer’s strike, my TIVO is empty and I have been forced to flip the channels and endure commercials. My least favorite at this moment? The stupid Kiafest Flashdance commercial. I cringe every time it comes on.

Did anyone else catch the ad for Law & Order? It’s coming back in January! New episodes!

In celebrity sighting news, I have two this week. Monday night we saw Ali Larter eating a few tables down from us at Bossa Nova, and last night I saw Mindy Kaling in the lobby of my office building.
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In happy news, yesterday marked the one year anniversary of being tonsil and Strep free. Woohoo!
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Wednesday morning I had a Big Brothers Big Sisters breakfast meeting at a committee member’s office in Beverly Hills. Since it was raining and I was wearing three inch heeled boots, I parked in the building’s parking structure rather than the public lot up the street. One and a half hours later, I paid $21 for parking. And since the credit card machine was broken, and one of the members of the board of director didn’t have any cash, I paid $15 for him too. I like to think I have good karma coming my way.
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In other news, I’m going down to SD tomorrow for my dad’s birthday (happy early birthday Dad!) and to spend the weekend with my family, and see Julie’s new house. I’m coming back to LA Sunday night though, because we have a half day of work on Monday (Santa comes in and everyone brings their kids, oh so much fun) and then Tuesday I’m of course off–I’m either going for Chinese food and a movie with a friend or lounging around in my PJs all day; haven’t decided which yet.
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Also, next week I have a date, and hopefully there will be alcohol involved because I’ve been craving a martini. Stay tuned!
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If you’ve emailed me lately and I didn’t respond–sorry! My email is all wonky again.
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This week’s question: What gift are/were you most excited to give this year and why?

Things that sucketh:

• 71-year-old men checking me out on Jdate. And 55-year-old men emailing me. Ick.
• Uggs, and other furry boots.
• The writers’ strike causing me to have an empty Tivo, thus forcing me to watch live TV and endure the stupid ass Kiafest Flashdance commercials.
• The writers’ strike causing friends to be out of work.
• Job insecurity.
• Allergies.
• Having nothing exciting to blog about.

Things that rocketh:

• Bossa Nova. (Thanks to Samantha!)
• Scrabulous.
• Rain! In LA!
• My new car.
• Losing the three pounds I gained in Texas. Julie, we will be going to the spa, I promise!
• Going to SD this weekend to celebrate my dad’s birthday and give him the most awesome birthday present ever–a lighted “Welcome to Tiger Stadium” sign. And to celebrate a belated Hanukkah with my family. And to see Julie’s new house.
• A half-day on Monday and no work on Tuesday.

As usual, feel free to add to the list.

Monday morning, I had another appointment with my dermatologist. This time, instead of offering up botox or laser treatment, he tried to set me up with his friend, a 47-year-old nice Jewish boy who lives in Ventura. He also asked how my Jdating was going and told me I need to find a “nice guy” who may be a little “boring” but will “make a good husband.” It’s like he’s channeling my mom.

Speaking of Jdate, The Chef is not interested. I emailed him thanking him for taking me to the concert, etc. and he responded with a pretty bland email and no mention of another date. Oh well. At least now I have a chance of finally sitting at a very coveted window booth at his restaurant!
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Anyone want to do the Chinese food and a movie thing with me on Christmas?
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P.S. I Love You opens in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait to see it. The book was so good, I hope the movie doesn’t suck. In more movie news, I stayed up until midnight earlier this week watching Grease 2. It’s just as bad now as it was in 1982. Go figure.
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In car news, I’m over this whole selling my car thing. I’ve lowered the price again and now I keep getting phone calls from people who claim they are so interested in the car then never make an appointment to see it. (Anyone else see the dating analogy here? Well, minus the whole price part.) Aaaarrggghh. I’m giving it a couple more weeks then I’m probably just going to trade it in. I know I’ll lose money that way, but it’s a small price to pay for my sanity.

On a brighter note (I’m trying not to get my hopes up), I am meeting a woman at her mechanic’s shop tomorrow morning because she and her husband are really interested in the car and want him to check it out. Please cross your fingers that they buy it!
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Am I the only one that finds Victoria Beckham extremely weird looking?
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In job search news, I have decided I would like to work for this company. Their benefits are amazing (20% reimbursement for fresh produce purchase (?), celebrity sighting intercom announcements, bring your pet to work, and oh yeah, mandatory Martini Fridays). And while their website is sort of annoying (pop up windows, really?), I think their staff retreats in Cancun or Palm Springs could possibly make up for it.

Actually, job search is sort of on hold until after the new year. Unless the kind people mentioned above would like to hire me. Then I’m all over it.
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This week’s question: When you got a new car, did you sell or trade-in your old one? Was is aggravating? Easy? Tell me about your experience.

Every year, the City of Los Angeles sends a calendar to LA residents. And every year, I find a huge error. In 2006, they added an extra day to a month that had only 30 days. (Duh?) This year, they labeled December 5 with “Hanukkah Begins at sundown.” Not only did they capitalize random words, they have it on the wrong date. Hanukkah began December 4 at sundown. The Hanukkah error I can almost forgive, but everyone should know the proper number of days in each month. It’s not like that changes year to year. Way to go City of LA!
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Last week I was waiting in line at the worst Rite-Aid in the world (Fairfax and Sunset) when a man came up to me and asked me something (I have no idea what) in Hebrew. Aside from prayers and the such, my Hebrew is pretty much limited to, “How are you?” “I am fine,” “I need a pencil,” “Where is the book?” and “I don’t speak Hebrew.” I opted to go with the latter with him, being as the other responses wouldn’t have fit the situation as well. According to the guy, neither did the one I chose. He apparently didn’t like my answer and went off on me (in English now) saying that I obviously understood what he was saying or I wouldn’t have answered in Hebrew. Um ok. Lesson learned. Next time, I will ask “Where is the book?”
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On The Hills, Spencer was picking up wedding invitations from Soolip, one of my favorite stores in LA. It’s the most amazing paperie I have ever visited. (Jenifer, this is the one I was telling you about!)
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Today marks day four of my attempt to cross off #47 (Wear my hair naturally curly for two weeks in a row) from my 101 in 1001 list. Unfortunately, my hairdryer not only decided to quit yesterday, it flamed up and smoked too. That’s how I love to start my Wednesday mornings. Fortunately, I bought a new one last night and my curls seem quite content. Good thing there’s rain in t