After all of my busy weekends, I was really looking forward to relaxing and getting stuff done this weekend. I am happy to say that I accomplished most of what I wanted to do! I:

• Spent Friday night being a lazy bum.
• Slept until 10:45 on Saturday, and woke up to the most bizarre dream (nightmare?) involving HWDNES.
• Went to the dry cleaners and somehow got into a conversation with the owner about weddings and my singledom, and was told, “You 34? You have to marry soon.” Nice. Everyone is concerned about my marital status, isn’t that kind of them? Not really.
• Went to the bank and drugstore where no one cared that I was sans ring. Yay for Bank of America and CVS! Or something.
• Got spray tanned. What an experience and I don’t even want to know how many chemicals I inhaled while attempting to hold my breath for the 45 second spray. My skin is pretty much still white, but my knee caps are a little tan. Not exactly the look I was going for.
• Did laundry.
• Bought a necklace and a shawl for the dress I’m wearing to Randi’s wedding next week. Now I just need a cute purse and I’ll be all set.
• Watched half of A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar when the DVD stopped working. This is the first bad DVD I’ve ever had from Netflix.
• Went to Nanette’s baby shower. Had a blast chatting with her super sweet friends while avoiding the biggest flying beetle-ish thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Nanette looks so cute and I can’t wait to meet the baby! Also, I must point out Jenn made the best desserts and favors ever ever ever.

Now I’m going to attempt to make a pizza, using Trader Joe’s pizza dough and sauce and lots of veggies. Yum.
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In other news, I have a Jdate tomorrow night and he does eat sweets. Think good thoughts.

Friday
Came home, ate dinner and watched more Olympics (what else is new, right?), straightened up a bit, did laundry, then fell asleep in the middle of 20/20. Why yes, I am a nerd.

Saturday
Slept in! Then headed out to the Valley for a haircut/color and mini/pedi and rushed home. Got ready to go for dinner with He Who Does Not Eat Sweets (HWDNES). We saw The Neighbor at the Laemmle then went for sushi at Sushi Dan and I had a surprisingly fun time. When we finished dinner, he asked me what we should do next; I suggested bowling, he suggested Vegas. (We ended watching part of a movie and talking at my house.) Uhh. I told him there was no way I was driving four hours to the desert with someone I’ve only met twice. On the way to the restroom, I jokingly told him if he could find flights, I’d consider it. When I got back he told me he checked out the flights but there weren’t any more until 6:00 a.m. Yeah, he was serious. At that point I told him I’d take a rain check.

Anyway, like I said, I had a fun time. Apparently he’s been making some major life changes this year in regards to his health and personal well being, so that’s a good sign. He’s fun to hang out with and who knows where this may or may not lead. Possibly to Vegas. Hah. We exchanged a few text messages today about possibly getting together later but he took a meeting and I am so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open, so it’s unlikely that will happen.

Sunday
Slept in, but didn’t get a lot of sleep then started my great pewter/silver/gold shoe search. I went to one of my least favorite places in all of LA, The Grove, and found nothing. Nordstrom had only a few pair of metallic shoes under $300 (!), and none of them were what I was looking for. To make myself feel better, I went to the Gap and bought two pair of pants and a t-shirt, checked out a few more stores, bought a baby shower gift, then went to DSW and Off Broadway (a few more options, but nothing in a 10, waah). After that I bought three pair of potential shoes on Zappos and DSW.com, hit the grocery store, and in a minute, I’m going to hit my couch.
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In job news, I am employed through March 31. Between now and then, I can obtain a new position within the new company and stay with them indefinitely. If that does not happen, I can collect severance and be on my way (to pastry school). Unfortunately, not all of my coworkers are in this fortunate situation and it sucks. Big time sucks.

And in weird news, I decided to sign up for a month of Jdate because I apparently like to torture myself, and one of the emails I had waiting for me had the subject line of Blog Girl and the body said, Your blog is not boring! . So uh, hi Jdate guy. And this is why I stopped writing about Jdates.

Friday
Came home, ate dinner, got bored, and made candied peanuts. Watched the Olympic opening ceremony while catching up on my Scrabulous and Scrabble games then went to sleep. God I’m boring.

Saturday
Went to Pasadena to take a tour of the California School of Culinary Arts. (Side note: I thought I was just going for a tour, but I had to take a 30-question, eight minute “quiz” and apparently I rocked it.) I fell in love with the Le Cordon Bleu Program and want to go to pastry school. And I realized that if I do get let go this Friday, it might not be such a horrible thing–I could go to school full time!

After the visit to the school, I came home and watched some of the Olympics and before I knew it, Jen and her friend were picking me up so we could head over to the Hollywood Forever cemetery for a Cinespia screening of Sixteen Candles. Yes, they show movies on the side of the mausoleum at the cemetery. But more importantly, JAKE RYAN! I realized the last thing I had seen Michael Schoeffling in was Mermaids, so I Googled him and according to Wikipedia, he is married with teenagers and makes furniture. Wow, not what I was expecting. Anyway, the movie was really fun, we brought food and cupcakes from Toast, and while waiting in line, I bumped into everyone’s friend (and my sister’s former boss), Drew.

Sunday
Slept in then went shopping in search of a dress to wear to a couple of weddings in the next few weeks. After trying on a ton of dresses (which by the way, isn’t easy to do when you stupidly go alone and have no one to help you with the zipper), I decided on this one. I asked the guy at Banana what color shoes to wear with it (I suck at this stuff), and he told me black. I knew that was wrong so I went to Nine West, and the salesgirl there told me gold. Still not convinced, I went to Macys, and was told “gun metal.” Huh? It’s kinda like a greyish silver. Incidentally, gun metal is very similar to the color shoe Banana shows with the dress on their website. So, gun metal it is.

Knowing I would need some sustenance for shoe shopping, I stopped at Boule for a macaron (or two, they are tiny) then tried a bunch of shoe stores and came home shoe-less and frustrated. Help! Where do I buy gun metal-ish colored sandals in August?

Now I’m going to search online while watching more of the Olympics. How great is Tivo when it comes to watching the Olympics? I can fast forward through beach volleyball and basketball and just watch swimming and gymnastics. I love it!
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In other news, I am honored to have been asked to be a witness for Randi and Michael’s ketubah signing! Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve written my name in Hebrew since my bat mitzvah–I’m going to need to find someone to write it out so I can practice, otherwise my handwriting will look like a kid’s. Can anyone help?

I’m spent. Totally drained. And I desperately need a day off.

Friday
Friday night I came home from work and baked a couple dozen cupcakes for Randi’s surprise bridal shower. After I cleaned up the kitchen, I got into bed to watch TV and promptly fell asleep with the TV on (something I rarely do).

Saturday
Saturday morning I woke up to my alarm at 9:00 (too early for a Saturday if you ask me), then headed over to Nina and Will’s for the shower. All of the guests were there enjoying mimosas (alcohol at 11:00 a.m. was exactly what I needed) before Randi and Michael were due to arrive (under the premise that they were having brunch with Nina and Will), and when Randi walked in and began realizing the people in the room were her friends, the look on her face was priceless.

The shower was a lot of fun. The cupcakes were a huge hit, I got a chance to catch up with Nanette, Randi and Michael are just awesome together, and I’m looking forward to celebrating with them at their wedding in a few weeks.

Right after the shower, I got my eyebrows done, stopped at the hardware store for new fluorescent tube bulbs for my bathroom, then came home and futzed with the light for about an hour before giving up and wondering whose husband I could bribe with cupcakes to come over and help me. (Turns out my building manager says I need an electrician, so scratch the bribery thing.)

Once I admitted defeat, I got ready and headed over to Jen’s friend’s house where I met up with more people and chatted over wine. We then walked over to Cobras & Matadors (the new location on La Brea) and had a super fun and incredibly yummy meal (and more wine) and managed to totally embarrass Jen with a birthday cake and an entire restaurant of people singing Happy Birthday. It was a fun night, and I’m glad I was able to be part of Jen’s birthday celebration.

Sunday
I slept in until 10:30 and was beyond thrilled! The rest of the day has been spent running errands, going to the market, and catching up on bills, laundry, and cleaning.

I think I hear my sofa calling my name now. And don’t forget–Sunset Tan’s new season begins tonight. Oh come on, you watch it too.

Click to enlarge:

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a friend in from out of town. Jess became my ally on the cupcake discussion board last year and we began chatting on IM and quickly realized we had a ton in common. Since she was planning a trip to the US, we decided she must stop in LA following her visits in NYC and Austin.

In no particular order, this is what we’ve been up to:

• Shopped: Loehmann’s, Trashy Lingerie, Bed Beth and Beyond, The Beverly Center, Hollywood and Highland, Marshall’s, Beverly Hills, Gloria’s, Surfas, 3rd Street Promenade, a couple of drug stores, Trader Joe’s, and Pavilions (she wanted to check out some of our American grocery items).
• Ate: Kung Pao Bistro, Campos, The Griddle, Jinky’s, Birds, good old Kraft mac & cheese and Pillsbury biscuits, Barney’s Beanery, Sprinkles AND Vanilla Cupcakes AND Yummy Cupcakes (plus a look in but no purchase at Crumbs), Boule, Cantaloop, Pinkberry, Sno Pod (in case there was any doubt, I did not partake in the icky natural frozen yogurt). By the time we finished shopping each day we were famished (I know it sounds like we didn’t stop eating, but we did take breaks) and just went to a nearby restaurant without a wait. I promised her next time she’s in town we’ll hit some of the more fun places to eat.
• Introduced Jess to the awesomeness that is homemade Rice Krispie Treats.
• Hiked Runyon Canyon and at the top a very nice woman offered to take our picture but apparently didn’t press the button hard enough, thus no picture. Annoying.
• Got manicures on Robertson.
• Baked cupcakes for a family friend’s daughter’s birthday. (Jess runs her own cupcake business called Sugadeaux Cupcakes and let me in on her most delicious chocolate frosting recipe.)

I think it’s safe to say we have had an absolute blast and I am so sad that Jess has to leave Tuesday morning! However, I loaned her my huge suitcase (to fill with all of her purchases) that causes me to pay overages every time I use it, with the promise that I will take it back when I visit her in Australia. Hopefully that visit will be sooner than later.

Better late than never!

Friday
As I was leaving the street my office is on, I was driving next to Parking Garage Guy yet again. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going straight home so I was turning left and he was turning right. But…we waved again! I decided the next time I see his car in the structure I am going to leave a note with my email address or cell phone number, I just have to write something that doesn’t make me sound like a crazy person. Any suggestions?

Anyway, the reason I was turning left was because I was heading to Pink Taco at the mall to meet Randi for happy hour. It’s been so long since I’ve spent time with her, and it was super awesome to catch up and hear all about her upcoming wedding and what she has been up to! I’m so excited for her and Michael to get married, partially because I can say I was there the day they met! As a side note, the restaurant has the absolute weirdest hand dryer in the bathroom–you put your hands down into this thing and it blows air up and down. Hard to explain, but kinda cool, especially after two enormous margaritas.

Before I went to bed, I watched Devil’s Playground–it was good, but kinda choppy and I wish they delved more into the history of rumspringa. Next up, Who Killed the Electric Car, which stars, among others, my sister’s old boss.

Saturday
Slept in then went to the 109 degree valley for a manicure, pedicure, and hair cut and color (and I got semi-bangs! for the first time ever!). I then went straight from the Valley to a much cooler yet still almost 90 degree Del Mar. (Keep in mind since my parents live on the coast, they do not have air conditioning. Not fun.) There was a ton of traffic on the way down, and I was even passed by a man riding a bicycle on the shoulder of the freeway over by the nuclear power plant. I kid you not. That night, we out for dinner then came home and watched Fool’s Gold.

Sunday
Tried to sleep in but it was too hot (even in Del Mar which is right on the coast). Then my dad, his best friend since they were kids, and the son-in-law of my parents’ friend and I (I know, random group) went to Petco Park to watch the Tigers whoop some Padres butt (partially thanks to a bad ump call, but whatever). This was the second Padres game in a row that I’ve been to where Bud Black got ejected from the game. We had awesome free seats, courtesy of a patient of my dad who works for the team.

After coming home and chilling for a bit, we all then headed out to Kensington Grill for San Diego Restaurant Week (yeah, they have it twice a year in SD) and more importantly, to celebrate my parents 39th wedding anniversary! (Happy anniversary mom and dad!) Dinner was delicious, but the restaurant was hot and we were all sweating by the end of the night.

Monday
My dad and I went back to the ophthalmologist who did my LASIK almost 10 years ago to see if I am a candidate for a LASIK touchup. Turns out I’m a better candidate for PRK which is a little disappointing because it’s supposed to be pretty painful–when I had LASIK there was no pain whatsoever. So, I’m debating getting it done. PRK would most likely improve my astigmatism so I could ditch the glasses I wear at night, but I’m not sure if I want to go through another procedure at the moment. I’m probably going to talk to a few of my dad’s patients who had it done by the same doctor and see what their experiences were like. Stay tuned
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In other news, it appears Gwen Stefani is stalking the Baking Mafia. First Jenn saw her at Surfas, then Bethany and I sat by her at Buddha’s Belly (which by the way, is owned by a very cool Big Brother) just last week.

And in other other news, tomorrow’s date was postponed until next week. Yay!

And finally, Bethany is moving back to San Diego this week. I’m sad and am going to miss having her living two blocks away.

Friday
Left work and noticed the guy in the car next to me on Santa Monica looked familiar. After staring for about 30 seconds, I realized it was the parking structure guy! He waved and said hi and I was kicking myself for taking the shortcut home, otherwise we would have been next to each other in traffic. Anyway, I called my friend Karrin (we work together) to tell her about Parking Structure Guy, and as I described him and his car (black Infiniti), we came to the conclusion he is the same guy that stares at her every morning in the garage. So, either a) he thinks we’re the same person (which for some reason, happens more than one would think); b) he’s gay and has very specific taste in beards (tall, Jewish, dark hair); c) he flirts with everyone. We shall see!

Later that night, I had drinks with The Brit (uh huh, that Brit) at The Well. We talked a lot, and he filled me in on what had happened when I hadn’t heard from him, as well as the events that indirectly helped lead to the drama filled demise of a friendship (and consequent stupid blog comment from someone I don’t even know). It was a fun night and he asked me out for Tuesday. I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday
Slept in then picked up my sister, got gas (and the weirdest 16 ounce soda can) and headed down to San Diego, making a quick stop at Krispy Kreme in Orange County. We made it to Del Mar in pretty good time, even with the golf at Torrey Pines and the fair in Del Mar so that was a nice surprise. That evening I spoke to the music industry guy on the phone, we barbecued with some friends, then I hung out with my family and went to bed early.

Sunday
Slept in yet again then went had a lovely and delicious Father’s Day brunch at Il Fornaio in Del Mar. We then went back to the house and swam and sat by the pool–I even have tan lines to show for it! As usual, a wonderful weekend with my family and I’m looking forward to heading back down there next weekend for the Padres/Tigers game (and San Diego restaurant week).

Happy Father’s Day dad, I love you!

Thursday
Thursday night was dinner with the baking posse at Fraiche. The company was as always, lovely. And the food was very good. The waitress however, neither lovely nor good; in fact, she was a downright bitch. You can read a more detailed account of what went down and why I won’t be returning to Fraiche over at Jenn’s blog.

Friday
Came home and relaxed then went to sleep early. Exciting, I know.

Saturday
Slept in then went out to the Valley to meet Laura, a college roommate I haven’t seen in over 10 years (!!), for coffee. It was so nice catching up (I still can’t believe she has a seven-year-old daughter!) and we laughed so hard we were nearly in tears.

On my way back to the City, I realized Laura and I have really been through a lot together–a roommate in the dorms who attempted suicide, a roommate in the house who was slipped a Roofie (or what we now believe was a Roofie, as this was years before GHB was all over the news) then consequently raped, and of course, the Northridge earthquake. I know it doesn’t make sense, but that all seems like forever ago, yet it also feels like yesterday. I’m so glad Laura and I are back in touch (thanks to Laura being friends with Julie’s sister-in-law which I was reminded of on Facebook) and I know we will be friends for years to come!

Straight from coffee, I met up with my sister and her friend Ava at Century City mall for a quick bite to eat and to see Sex and the City. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I didn’t cry during the movie at all. I think the two men sitting next to me cried enough for all three of us though.

Sunday
Picked up my Little and headed out to Temescal Canyon for the annual party for all the Bigs and Littles. We had a nice picnic and talked to some of the other matches, then we had the opportunity to do the Ropes Course. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), time was limited, so it was mostly Littles that did the course. Let me tell you, my Little has no fear whatsoever! The instructors kept commenting on her enthusiasm and they even dangled her from the line a few time. I was terrified, but she really enjoyed it.

Now I’m home and finally doing laundry and cleaning and then intend to plant myself on the sofa for the rest of the night. I’m beat.
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In other news, tomorrow is the first of two Jdates in as many days. Please think good thoughts.

I spent the long weekend with my family down in San Diego. Amazingly, there was no traffic (thanks to the price of gas, I’m assuming), and I made it both there and back in near record times. The weather was weird–rainy, then windy, then sunny, then cloudy, then sunny again, but it worked out well for us as it wasn’t too hot as we walked into downtown Del Mar for brunch and a walk on the beach.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, watching movies (The Great Debaters and Recount), eating (I tried fried pickle chips), barbecuing (you name it, we made it), shopping (got a bunch of new books and new cordless phones, yes, I still have a landline). I tried to talk my dad into going to the batting cages me with en route to Frye’s, but he didn’t want to because was tired from cleaning out the garage (where he found an old school Detroit Tigers license plate frame that is now on my car–I love it).
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In other news, Saturday I logged on to Jdate and noticed the Brit’s brother in the list of people who viewed my profile. I wonder if he recognized me from when we all met at the party, because I wasn’t totally sure it was him until I read his profile. And in case you were wondering, he likes to work hard and party hard and is looking for someone who likes long walks on the beach.

And in more bizarre news, I got kicked out of an online baking group for “dropping below the participation requirements” because I did not participate “at least two out of four weeks.” When I joined the group, the minimum participation was “twice a month,” which is not the same as two out out every four weeks. Whatever.

This pretty much sums it up:

I suppose in all fairness, I should explain that was in the Valley, where I volunteered at the Big Brothers Big Sisters booth at the Israel Festival. (Where, in typical Israeli fashion, the first word anyone said to me was slicha as they whacked me with their bag.) When I got back to Hollywood, the temperature was “only” 95. Summer hasn’t even started and I’m already over it.

In other news, when I wasn’t outside sweating like mad, I organized my linen closet, cleaned, talked to a Jdate boy on the phone, did laundry, ran a million errands, made a nice dent in my sofa, and went to Target and Angelina’s (best frozen yogurt!) with my sister.

And now I have to return to the couch to finish watching a Lifetime movie about a detective who is investigating the murder of her pregnant sister. There is also another pregnant woman, and I have a feeling the detective’s brother-in-law is the father of that baby too. But I missed the first 10 minutes so perhaps that was already explained and I’m way off. We shall see.

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!

Awesome weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Easter to those celebrating today!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another not terribly exciting weekend.

• Went to Target to get a hairdryer, spent $50, then came home and realized I forgot to buy the hairdryer.
• Went back to Target for the hairdryer.
• Bought two huge tubs for my cookie cutters and sprinkles. They are both filled to the top.
• Organized more cupboards.
• Saw Definitely, Maybe with Karrin.
• Bought new Clinique lipstick and lip gloss. Rumor has it they are going to start putting SPF in their lip products shortly. Yay!
• Was supposed to have my Little over for a sleepover but was told “I’m really busy, I have a lot going on this weekend. Can we do it in a few weeks?” Yes, I was dissed by a 14-year-old.
• Made more cake balls for my coworkers. This time, I made white cake with vanilla frosting with rainbow thingies in it.
• Went for a walk.
• Went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and Bed Bath and Beyond.
• Spent entirely too much time on the phone with DirecTV because my new DVR sucks sucks sucks and they don’t care. Also, they charged me for my free receiver then signed me up for a $5.99/month “protection plan” without my authorization. I got the charges reversed and the plan canceled and they offered me a $5 credit for three months because I was “patient and understanding,” but I think the whole thing was a scam. Sadly, DirecTV is the lesser of the three evils in my area. Ugh.
• Relaxed on the couch.
• Cleaned up my apartment as Esther will be staying with me for a couple days this week and my parents will be here the following week. Did I mention my mom, sister, and I are all doing the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in a couple of weeks? We’re walking for my grandma (she died when I was a teenager but was a breast cancer survivor), and also a family friend who is a survivor.

In other news, there is yet another baked goods photo thief. Only this one is stealing not just my photos, but my posts too. What the hell people?

And in other random news, I have 10 unread messages waiting for me on Jdate and for a brief second I actually considering rejoining so I would have something to blog about. Yes, my life is that boring at the moment.

Nothing exciting to report as I spent most of the weekend in bed fighting off something. Two nights of 11 hours of sleep, what the hell?

In other news:

• The cupcake photo thief saga is over. My photos were removed from her account, finally. Yay!
• I made Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits (minus the pecans) as part of Tuesdays With Dorie. More about that coming soon.
• I bought and assembled an Elfa unit for my makeshift kitchen pantry. For whatever reason, my apartment doesn’t have a pantry, so I decided it was finally time to invest in a real shelving unit and turn the broom closet into a pantry. Why are Elfas so damn expensive?
• I replaced my old DirecTV Tivo receiver with one of their new DVR receivers. It is so much faster. Hopefully I can sell the Tivo receiver on ebay.
• DG apparently IMd my sister on Jdate, and even after she told him she was my sister, he continued to want to correspond. Kinda ick.
• Thursday night, I went to an awesome LA Theater Works staged reading of The Paris Letter at the Skirball. The story was great, and the reading was taped for The Play’s The Thing which airs on NPR. And oh! Guess who was in the cast? None other than my future husband, Josh Radnor, who was sporting major facial hair and a Jewfro of sorts. The rest of the cast included Neil Patrick Harris, John Glover, Ron Rifkin, and Patricia Wettig. I know, quite a treat!

And now I’m going to close my doorwall so I can watch the rest of the red carpet arrivals without hearing the helicopters above the Kodak Theater.

This weekend I went down to SD to visit my family and I:

• Picked out new sunglasses at my dad’s office.
• Relaxed a lot.
• Slept a lot
• Ate a lot.
• Was joined by my friend Karrin who drove down from LA for a short visit.
• Had a delicious dinner at Pacifica Del Mar.
• Watched Gone Baby Gone.
• Walked down to downtown Del Mar, ate breakfast (and chatted with three families we knew), then walked back home.
• Removed an insane amount of spyware and other crap from my parents’ laptop.
• Noticed someone is stealing some of my cupcake photos and passing them off as hers.
• Had lunch with Julie and her boys.

As always, it was fun being down in SD with my family, and I won’t let two months without seeing them happen again!

Now I have to get back into work mode. Sigh. I wish I had just one more day off…

As much as I love spending time with my friends, every now and then I crave a weekend with nothing on my calendar. This was one of those weekends. I:

• Didn’t need to use the heat lamp in my bathroom for the first time in months. (It was in the 80s here!)
• Slept in both days, and watched the Food Network in bed.
• Finally went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought: a simplehuman trash can (did you know they make $299 ones?!), storage containers, a new tub mat, and a mattress cover to replace my way too old one.
• Went to my stupid neighborhood Ralphs and couldn’t find half of the stuff on my shopping list. When I asked the checker what was going on, she said that is everyones complaint since “they turned the store into a liquor store.” Seriously. Four aisles of wine? Whatever.
• Went to Surfas and stocked up on sprinkles, parchment paper sheets (one of my most favorite kitchen things ever), and other stuff I haven’t had the chance to buy lately.
• Cleaned and did laundry.
• Got back into my pajamas and filed my taxes online, read, watched TV, and lazed around.
• Made Snickery Squares, which include: shortbread, dulce de leche, caramelized peanuts, and chocolate.
• Saw my sister briefly.
• Made dough for Valentine’s Day sugar cookies that I’ll make this week.
• Spent more time on the couch.

Now I’m finally going to take a shower, then I think I’ll plant myself back on the couch. Ahh, Sundays.

Friday night I picked my sister up then the two of us met my aunt for dinner at Mishima. Yum! I haven’t been there in well over five years, and I have no idea why. The food is Japanese comfort food and consistently good and inexpensive. I need to remember to go more often. As usual, it was a fabulous night as Bethany and I both love spending time with Nan.

Saturday the plan was to sleep in. Unfortunately, that did not happen and I instead found myself jolted awake by the sound of pounding on the roof. At 8 a.m. On a Saturday. I guess my landlord wanted to take advantage of a rain-free day to patch the roof, so the roofers were here bright and early. I threw on some sweats and headed over to a very quiet and empty Target and bumped into my friend David within the first five minutes of shopping. I got the usual stuff, as well as some cute art for my dining area.

I got home, lounged around, then met my friend (and fellow Big Sister) Keren at Little Next Door for a very fun and long overdue lunch. It should be noted that my hot chocolate was a whopping 16 ounces. That is just nuts. Straight from lunch, I visited briefly with my aunt, then came home, relaxed for about five minutes, and changed clothes.

My friend Karrin then came over and we headed over to Birds for a fun and yummy dinner before the awesome ASSSSCAT show at UCB. (By the way, if you live in California you may find this hysterical.) As we were walking to theater, I bumped into my neighbor (the one who, through her husband, I found out went to my rival high school down in San Diego). She mentioned she was meeting a friend for dinner at a different restaurant then going to UCB, so we decided to meet up in line following dinner. Anyway, she and her friend are both super sweet, and we played a brief game of San Diego Jewish geography while waiting in line for the theater. It was cool to chat out with her, because the only times we usually talk are when we’re either doing laundry or unloading groceries from our cars.

Sunday morning I was able to sleep in, yay! I lounged around, did laundry, and decided to go the market. I got there and couldn’t find a parking spot (even in the back, where you have to take the elevator down!) and went home. If the parking lot was such a madhouse, I didn’t even want to see the inside of the store. So instead, I did some stuff around my apartment, went to Bed Bath and Beyond, came home, watched TV, then decided to try the market again, this time with success. That afternoon, I lazed around some more, rearranged furniture, started my taxes online, and baked cookie bars. Quite a good Sunday!
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You may have noticed I didn’t mention the Super Bowl. I did get invited to a couple of parties, but aside from the $10 square I bought at work, I have absolutely no interest in the game and decided to opt for a productive day instead.
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And in totally unrelated news, my Jdate subscription is over. Should I: a) completely remove my profile; b) hide my profile; c) leave my profile up and see who contacts me?

Speaking of Jdate, that segment of The Early Show about Jdate is scheduled to air tomorrow (Monday) morning. Set your Tivos.

My Almost Fifteen Minutes of Fame
Thursday morning I received an email via my blog from a producer at The Early Show on CBS saying that she thought I would be the perfect voice for a piece on “non-Jews on JDate with the larger story of Jewish people intermarrying in general.” Other interviewees include two non-Jewish people who use JDate, a rabbi who will offer his opinion on non-Jewish people using JDate and talk about why he thinks it is important that Jewish people marry other Jewish people, the CEO of JDate and possibly an author.

After much consideration, I turned it down for a variety of reasons, but I am anxious to watch the segment. And I referred the producer to a few people I know so there is a chance of seeing some familiar faces when it airs February 4. Stay tuned!

Date
Thursday night was date number two with The Professor. We went for Indian food in Beverly Hills. The restaurant looked really cool, but the food was just sort of eh, kinda like the night itself. The Professor is a really nice guy, but we don’t really have much in common and there is zero chemistry. It was a pleasant night, just nothing special. Oh well.

Friday
Came home from work exhausted, made dinner, watched TV, then fell asleep before 11:00. That’s it.

Saturday
Slept in then saw Juno with Karrin at the new Landmark theater at Westside Pavilion. The theater is just like the Arclight–you get an assigned seat and there are no commercials. The only somewhat sucky thing is that you can’t print your tickets at home, you have to go to a kiosk. Aside from the that, it’s a cool theater and there is a Barnes and Noble about two feet away. Anyway, the movie was awesome! It’s one of those I know I’ll end up buying and won’t get tired of watching.

Saturday night I was supposed to have dinner with my friend Hilary. While I was in the movie, she left me a voicemail saying she got a last minute invite to the SAG awards (!) and was running around the city trying to find a dress and needed to get a manicure and pedicure and all that stuff. We’re going to reschedule for a night that isn’t the eve of the only awards ceremony that people are actually attending.

Since I had the night to myself, I decided to be somewhat productive and went to the hardware store and bought a wrench so I could put my new license plates on my car. When did license plates start fastening with bolts instead of screws? Silly. As am I, because after 15 minutes, I still couldn’t figure out how to put the stupid plates on. A new (and cute) neighbor offered his help, and even between the two of us, we couldn’t figure it out. Finally, after stepping away and coming back, I got it. All by myself.

It should also be noted that my new neighbor’s car, as well as two other cars in the garage, got broken into around midnight on Friday. The really bummer part is that the break-ins could possibly have been prevented as a bunch of us called our building manager numerous times during the past week to tell him the garage wouldn’t close. For whatever reason, he never got around to fixing it. Miraculously, he was able to fix it around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday; go figure. I felt really badly for my new neighbor (who by the way, is a writer from NY), as he just moved in a week ago.

The rest of my exciting night was spent spackling over nail holes in the wall (a 101 in 1001 item), browsing the new cookbook I bought earlier in the day, and watching TV and hoping the power wouldn’t get knocked out because of the crazy winds.

Sunday
Slept in yet again then went into the garage to do laundry and bumped into the new neighbor while I was in my pajamas with my hair in a ponytail and no makeup on. Figures. The majority of the day was spent on the couch (watching horrible shows such as something on a DirecTV channel about three girls who go on a road trip to meet people from online, yes seriously, as well as a show about a bridal boutique) in said pajamas, until about 4:00 when I decided it might be a good time to actually take a shower.

That night, Jami, Jenn, and Nanette ditched their husbands (and kids) for dinner and drinks at Simon LA. We all ordered (side note: it’s crazy dark in that place, good luck reading the menu) off the Dine LA menu–can you guess which dessert I chose? The service and food (appetizer, entree, dessert) were both outstanding, as was the company. It was so much fun to talk to a group of girls about fondant and baking and really horrible reality TV and it was a really lovely night. Nanette took pictures of everything we ate, so stay tuned for a link shortly. And Jenn sent us home with goodie bags of homemade mini donuts that are the cutest thing I’ve seen in quite a while!
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Also over the weekend, I found myself at three different grocery stores in search of Kraft Caramel Bits. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find them anywhere and am beginning to wonder if they’re not available on the west coast. Has anyone seen these at their market? If so, where do you live, and would you possibly want to mail me some?

Friday
Came home from work and fought with my neighbors for the washing machines. Who knew Friday nights were so popular for laundry? Did a couple of loads, had dinner, and watched my new favorite horrible reality show, Miss America Reality Check. I still don’t exactly get the whole point of the show, it’s not like they’re picking Miss America, so why is it on?

Saturday
Slept in then headed out to the Valley for a mani/pedi and hair cut and color. I chopped off another two inches (!) and went darker. My natural color is close to black, and while I don’t want to go there, I was just getting tired of the light brown with blond highlights. I’m still getting used to it.

That evening, Jen and I had dinner, saw P.S. I Love You, and went for drinks. The movie was good, but of course, nowhere as good as the book. I think I cried throughout the entire book, and only found myself tearing up twice during the movie. And Jeffrey Dean Morgan with an Irish accent? Sucked.

Sunday
Slept in again then ran errands, including one that crossed something off my 101 list–I finally took my jar of coins to Coinstar at the CVS in West Hollywood. The machine has an option now that if you choose a gift card (rather than cash), you get the full amount back. So, I cashed in $19.07 in coins (mostly pennies) and now have an Amazon gift certificate for that amount. Pretty cool. It should also be noted that CVS had a display of Easter candy. In January. What the fuck? The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around and cleaning.

Sunday night, I met a new Jdate guy for drinks at The Well. As luck would have it, they were closed for a private party, so I suggested The Woods instead. As we were talking about the bar, a guy in the parking garage overheard our conversation and said he worked at The Woods, and after a few minutes of chatting with him, we discovered they were opening late. Apparently the private party at The Well was for all of their employees at all four of their bars, including The Woods. Of course. So instead, we ended up at (where else?) the Cat and Fiddle down the street.

Over a few hours, we had two rounds of drinks, shared some food, and had fun and interesting conversation. At one point, I was telling him about my Little and he referred to the award I was honored with last year. I asked him how he knew about that, because I didn’t remember sharing that information with him (and my immediate thought was that he had found my blog, which I’m still not 100% sure he hasn’t, so if you’re reading, then um, hi!), and he said he Googled me (he knew my first and last name). I was more than a little surprised, and thought it was really funny that right when I give up Googling, my Jdate Googles me. The date ended with The Googler giving me a hug, and honestly, I have no idea if he is interested in going out again. I thought he was nice and funny and cute, and if he asks me out again, I would go. If he doesn’t, then at least I had a fun Jdate.

And now I need to go to bed because it’s almost midnight and I have to wake up in about six hours.

This weekend, the plan was to go to happy hour with Randi on Friday, take my Little to Disneyland on Saturday, and do laundry and other exciting stuff on Sunday. Thanks to the rain, that’s not how the weekend went down.

Friday afternoon at work, we received [a very unusual] email from our CEO stating that the office would close early due to the expected rain/floods/mudslides/end of the world. Apparently, he wanted us to get home before southern California turned into one big traffic jam. Yay! But boo, because that meant I would have to sit around an empty office for more than an hour before I could meet up with Randi, so we rescheduled our drinks for another night. So instead, I decided to go to Target. I figured the place would be a zoo, considering Trader Joe’s was crazy the night before. I had not seen TJ’s that crowded since the grocery strike of 2003–it was insane. Anyway, Target was empty and I did my shopping, came home, immediately changed into PJs, and spent most of the night on the couch watching really warbled TV (anyone else watch Miss America Reality Check?) thanks to the wind and my DirecTV satellite.

Saturday, I stayed in my PJs until about 5:00 and got so much done–I cleaned, did laundry, watched more TV, paid bills, stalked exes on MySpace and Facebook (MySpace is much better for stalking, if you must know), shredded and recycled bills, and caught up on the phone with my friend up in Seattle. Then I got dressed and picked up my sister before heading out to eat (California Chicken Cafe in case you care) and then to see Atonement (great film, no I didn’t read the book) at the Arclight with the half of Hollywood that actually went out in the rain. I have never seen the parking garage that crowded before, there was a line to get in! On our way back home after the movie, Sunset was nearly empty; it’s like LA shut down the minute it started drizzling.

Sunday I had very long overdue outing with my Little. We bought stuff to make memory albums, had some photos printed at Target, then went to lunch at Daphne’s where she inquired about my new boyfriend. Apparently her friend that I bumped into on Christmas Day told her how she saw me with the Dancing Hairstylist and assumed he was my boyfriend. I told her we were no longer dating and she asked why. I just told her he wasn’t for me; I figure she’s still too young to tell her what she has to look forward to. After lunch, we went to the Beverly Connection to check out Old Navy and Steve & Barry’s (junk) then my Little requested ice cream from Coldstones. Fortunately, I was too cold to even consider eating it. Side note, we looked in the windows of this random looking place (see photo to the left). Anyone know what it is?

After dropping my Little off at home, I stopped at the market then came home and baked chocolate caramel brownies and talked to a Jdate guy on the phone. Now I am going to make dinner then plant myself in front of the TV yet again. I love weekends.
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In boy news, the new year’s day dud emailed me the other day asking me out again. I sent him a very nice email in return, thanking him for a nice evening, but that I wasn’t really feeling it. His response? “Yep. I love chicks that yawn on dates.” Nice response for a 37-year-old man. Nevermind the fact that a) he is the one who emailed me to ask me out; and b) it was new year’s day when we met.

In other news, Tuesday night I’m meeting a Jdate boy for drinks and I&#