Bonne Année!

Happy New Year to all of you, may 2010 bring many wonderful things to you and everyone on Earth!

Continue to be the beautiful person that you are, inside and out.

I hope you take the time to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you.

May your NY resolutions be cheesy, funny, achievable and thoughtful.

Today, I'm grateful for a great 2009 and an even better projected 2010 (remember, I do projections for a living). A new year of a better me. Because my New Year's resolutions this year... will be focused on my physical and emotional health and well-being. I hate to make this about me, but I'm not out to change others. By being the best I can be by taking care of myself, I can be the best I can be with friends, family and new people I meet as well! More specific resolutions will come next year... (as in, a few days).

Happy New Year everybody! Thank you all for being such an important part of my life.

Une annee en revue

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas! What a joy to be amongst family and friends. As I landed in Salt Lake on the night of the 23rd, I shed a small tear of joy, as this is indeed, home, no matter how much freakin' annoying snow there is on the ground.

Christmas Eve was spent at home with M&B, JR, Fanou and Babe. Mom made delicious Beef Wellington (I helped with the egg wash), with gratin dauphinois (think scallopped potatoes, but even more delicious) and french Green Beans, with tiramisu cake for dessert. It was... so yummy!

Christmas Day was spent with family, I woke up and yelled "it's Christmas, it's Christmas!" like a little kid, because I still am at heart. I went over to Babe's in the afternoon, exchanged some presents, talked to his sister who's currently serving a mission in Korea, then went to my brother's new house for Christmas - what a cute house he's turned it into! I'm so proud and happy for him. My mom's side of the family was there all night, then I went to Babe's grandparents house.

This weekend was a lot of "recovery", and I watched Julie & Julia with mom... which was a pretty good show, although Julia's life was more interesting than Julie's, really... but I've got a sudden desire to make boeuf bourguignon. Or cook more in general.

Now....

New

Year

Resolutions!


First of all, I wanted to recall what my New Year's resolutions were last year, and how I've fulfilled them, as you can see here. Let's see how much I've accomplished:

2009 New Year's resolutions. Here goes.

1. Gained 8 lbs in December (gasp!) Would like to lose those again, and some more. (wow, did you know that the first one would be weight-related? Of course you did, I'm a chick) - ok, so did I lose weight this year? No. I'm very unproud to say that I've gained about 11 pounds since I moved to california. As a 5'2'' person, that can be quite a lot. What the flagnard happened???

2. Go back to the wheat-free dairy free diet - may be why #1 failed - although I've mostly been good, there are times when I'd go out and splurged.

3. Get in shape (walk to the beach, use the gym @ work, do sit-ups on the yoga ball, get a kickboxing and/or pilates DVD) - Actually technically achieved this. I did go on walks to the beach, sit-ups, gone kickboxing and got an exercise DVD. I beleive the issue is I did not issue a timeframe or frequency to this resolution.

4. Smile all day long - well, I love optimism, so I do smile as often as possible, and at least once a day, so I'm smiling right now as I've accomplished this.

5. Go to bed at 10PM on weekdays (ha!) - This has been surprisingly easy. I'm in bed by 10PM on weekdays 90% of the time. 97% of the time I'm in bed by 10:30. The other 3% I'm out in Hollywood to movie screenings, which haven't happened more than 10-15 times all year.

6. Be responsible financially (I's got bills now!) - well, look at me, I have a budget file and am keeping it up. I did just slightly spend more than I made this year, but about $4000 of it was furniture related or stuff for my apartment. I think I did pretty good.

7. Try to join a casual volleyball team in the spring - Yes!!! March 1st, 2009 was the day I met what would soon to be my official awesome Cali friends, and I get to play beach volleyball. Win. In this resolution, more good came from it: other people to hang out with when Babe's not here.

8. Limit consumption of chocolate (sigh) - Um, yeah. Again, "limit" doesn't specify a number, so I could say that I limited myself to 10 pounds a day, but that just won't fly.

9. Stop eating brownies and cookies at work! (maybe that explains the need for resolution # 1...) - worked at some point, maybe from January to late spring, but then it started again.

10. Keep loving your family & friends - Absolutely! Don't believe I've failed at that because I love everyone very dearly that is close to me.

11. Get a new PC so that I can play Counter-Strike Source in my spare time... and also because I'm sick of this POS - oh yeah. Still have the POS, but don't use it because Babe built me an awesome computer!!!

12. Make L.A. County my new home for this year and take advantage of this beautiful area - I think I've succeeded at that. I've made my apartment my new home, but most importantly I've got friends who really wanted to show me the area. Thanks to them I've discovered: Hollywood, Pasadena, West LA/Brentwood area, West Hollywood, Griffith Observatory at Night & The Grove. I took advantate of movie screenings, and have discovered: Japanese noodle places, cheap and great Italian, authentic French, delicious Vegan, gay bars, Le Pain Quotidien, an organic tea place, a very "L.A., hip lunch place", and who knows what else... but I couldn't have done it without them.

13. Be the best I can be - at work, at home, with people. - I always try my best at work, but as I'm currently getting a little bored I believe I could do more. I'm just scared. I love analysis but I'm not sure how much authority I have sometimes to make decisions or if I'm looking at the right tools. At home, I believe I do well, but again, could always use improvement. With people, I need to stop being so nice dang it. Haha. Just kidding.

Well, those are it! I will ponder these and come up with a brand new 2010 resolution in a few days. I have a few in mind, but I need to make them more specific I believe.

What's everyone doing for New Year's? I personally have no idea what I'm doing yet... I'm stuck in Salt Lake, which no offense, might not be as lively as LA County... but I'll be with the ones I love so that's excitement enough for me. Have a safe, happy and prosperous New Year!

Vite fait

So real quick, I wanted to say hello and that I'm super excited to go home for Christmas in only 2 days... I wish you all warm, fuzzy holidays, merry Christmas, Happy new Year & Happy Hannukah.

Last night I went to my friend Lillian's for a birthday party, which was great fun (as always), Leo made his signature key lime martini which was delish (virgin for me of course), otherwise I really didn't do much this weekend! Cleaned, did laundry, packed... oh, and I bought 2 pairs of boots on Thursday - something I've never done before... (mixture of I'm a litlle fashion challenged and my football calves won't fit in them). What do you think?? What on earth am I going to wear them with??

Suggestions welcome.

Today I'm grateful for great friends and holiday hugs. Have a great evening!

J moins 6

So, only 6 days to go until I'm home for Christmas... and I'm absolutely psyched! Here's what's been happening in the last week:

Thursday: Long Beach in the morning for a conference - saw the people I work for for the first time this year (is that bad?) and worked from home the rest of the day. Went to see the doctor about my knee - and her advice was basically "take it easy" - which is nice for "don't exercise at all for the next few weeks, yeah you'll get fat with all the holiday foods but you should sacrifice that for your knee."  So, I haven't worked out in 8 days now... and yes, I feel like crap. That night I went to Hollywood for a screening and completely forgot what I went to see. 

Friday night - went to Pasadena for my friend Ben's birthday, to a really yummy Chinese restaurant called the "Oak Tree Inn." The orange beef was to die for! There were 13 of us so we got to share lots of yummy stuff... then we drove around Old Town Pasadena (this was my first time up there by the way), I saw a Leonidas store, bought $8.95 worth of chocolates, and ate most of them that night. And the weight gain begins... lol.

Friday night, my friend Leo says to me: "there's still one more seat to go to the Chipmunks Squeakquel tomorrow at The Grove!" and I really didn't want to hear chipmunk for 90 minutes... but I thought what the hey, it's good company, friends are driving so I'm not paying for gas, and it's the Grove. 

Saturday: friends drive me to The Grove for the 10:00 AM movie. Lots of 7 to 10 year old kids in the theater starting to scream and squirm, and the first 5 minutes of the movie, the chipmunks started squealing and I asked myself how I would survive the rest of the morning. Luckily, I got used to the Chipmunks squeaks (Theodore is sooooooo cute) and the movie was overbearingly cute. We then went to an Italian place that was good and cheap, and at 2PM I got home and probably watched TV for the rest of the night.

Sunday: get all Christmas gifts together... and that's about it! Walked to Albertson's 5 minutes away. That's the only fresh air I got that day. What a lazy weekend.

Now, this week!

Yesterday, went to the Grove for another screening: Sherlock Holmes. It was pretty good. I like mysteries that there's no way on earth I would able able to solve them. The theater was packed. Long waiting lines, etc... oh, the things I'll do for Robert Downey Jr. We went to the Cheesecake factory after and I got home around midnight - so I'm exhausted today.

Tomorrow: work lunch at Houston's at 1PM, we're free to go after that, then another Hollywood movie: Did you hear about the Morgans. Should be stupidly funny. I got invited to see a screening of Avatar at 3pm as well, but don't think I'd make it in time... plus, Babe wants to see it with me.

That's about it! Saturday night will be a birthday party and probably when I say my goodbyes and wish Happy Holidays to my LA friends. Can't wait to come home for Christmas!!!

Today I'm grateful for the holidays and the warmth it brings - not by the weather, but from people's hearts. Have a fantastic Wednesday night!

Sapin Coloré

So, I didn't want to buy a Christmas tree... A fake one would mean I'd have to store it, and a real one would shed, and I wouldn't be able to get it in my car and in my home anyway. Since I'm not spending the holidays here, I knew it wouldn't matter.

Still, I felt a little sadness in knowing that my apartment has no Christmas spirit... and when Boss Lady M told me I could get a 12 in fiber optic tree at Rite Aid for $2.99, I added some AAA batteries and voila, I've got a little holiday cheer at home:

And it's kind of cool! Tonight, I watched "The Proposal" because that's all Redbox had. No problem. It was on my list anyway. See, every first Monday of the month, 3 conditions happen: 1. I'm usually alone, and I survived a Monday at work. 2. Redbox sends me a free night rental by text. 3. Taking 1 and 2 into consideration, I have to rent a chick flick.

And so I did. Story was so-so. I prefer Ryan Reynolds in movies like "Just friends" and "Van Wilder." ah, I'd just be spending all night on Facebook anyway :)

Tonight, I get home, after standing in line at Redbox in that dreadful wind we have today (what I'll put up with to save $1.09...), and as I'm sitting on the toilet I hear what sounds like a cow in my closet. Or someone whose mouth has been duct taped and they are tied down somewhere in my apartment. Now, if I were Quagmire, I'd say: "Dear Diary... JACKPOT!" but, I was more intrigued. So I went to my bedroom... and turns out there must be a small hole in my window because the wind was making it sing. I really hope I get some sleep tonight, it was getting loud.

But with that said, it's cold and windy tonight and I'm grateful that I've got a nice warm bed to fall asleep on, and a working heater. I'm also grateful that I was finally able to get an appointment for my knee on Thursday. Thursday will be a busy day for me; I'm in Long Beach in the morning for a conference, working from home the rest of the afternoon, getting my knee checked at 4:20, and movie night at 7:30 in Hoh - Lee - Wooooood.

Have a great night! What are YOU grateful for this fine Monday evening?

C'est bientot Noel...

Wow! What a fun week and this weekend sure has gone by fast. Let's see, a quick recap:

Work - the same, although I found out that if we were to lose our jobs, they would've called us by now. So I'm pretty set (Phew). I'm only 90% sure, because we may acquire another property and all... anyway, I'll keep you posted. But I've decided that I'll stay here for another 6 to 12 months if it all works out. Hopefully we can find out before I go on my awesome 2 week vacation to Salt Lake for Christmas!

So - Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, there were about 22 people, lots of different foods, my frozen pumpkin mousse pie tasted good but the consistency wasn't great. I also made oven roasted winter squash with garlic and parsley, and a delicious green mix salad with juicy grape tomatoes, and another salad of field greens, robust feta and sweet cranberries. Are you drooling yet? Good.

The day after Thanksgiving, I went to Bloom Cafe for lunch with some friends, and for dinner Saturday night, "Osteria Latini", in the Brentwood area of West L.A. So good! It was for a friend's birthday dinner. Total came to $75 per person (ouch!) but so worth it. After that, per the birthday girl's request, she wanted to go to a gay bar and club, for fun... so I went too. That's right, birthday girl, her husband, myself and a gay guy friend went to West Hollywood. Nice thing is, I don't get hit on or bothered at all (except for this one chick for a brief second), and, um... different atmosphere than I'm used to. I hadn't been to a club since I was what, 17, 18? So here's to me going out and having some fun and enjoying LA. I'm not going to do this forever or on a regular basis... but it was fun, different experience.

Wednesday this week, I went on a girl's night out to a special screening of "Up in the Air" with George Clooney. It was ok. Kind of a weak story, although a good point at the very end. Oh, and there's a fictional Hollywood character that is more obsessed about frequent flyer miles than I am. After that we went to "Kabuki" in Hollywood. Very good I must say! Oh, and I love miso soup. and I've yet to try tempura but it looks so good, I'll try it next time... what's great is my friends know what they're doing when they order, so I just sit back, watch, and enjoy the food that is presented to me that we share.

This weekend was filled... with a whole lot of nothing. I believe I watched about 5 hours of TV total on Saturday, did some Christmas shopping, and that's seriously about it. Today, I went to get some blood work done this morning (and holy crap, I'm healthier than I thought) then to the beach to try and play volleyball, but after 5 minutes my knee was killing me, so I stopped and watch my buddies play some 2 on 2 games. It was so cold - 56 degrees or so. Brrr. Yeah, I know, all you Salt Lake people think I'm weak. I've grown accustomed to this warm weather, dang it! :) Then, Lillian, her man and I went to In n' out Burger (in honor of Salt Lake just opening one), and went to Costco where I bought - a baked brie (mmmmmm.....) babybel (nothing like gouda in red wax), diced tomatoes, 5 lbs of carrots (for juicing), 18 eggs (can I finish them all by the 21st?), and I was so tempted to buy this saucisson I saw... that, the real French/Italian kind... but they have some in Salt Lake and I'll save the holidays for the indulging part. Oh, and some blueberries. All pretty much healthy stuff. 

This week: it's the first week of the period, so yay! Easy stuff at work. Tuesday night I'm going to see a screening of "the Lovely Bones" and Thursday night I'll see a screening of "Invictus." Both in Hollywood. Some fun nights out again. I think I'll skip on the eating out Tuesday night, because I've got some miracle soup waiting for me at home. Plus, It is a weekday... and I do work at 7:30am every morning...

Today I'm grateful that I have my health. My knee may be screwed up still, and I'm waiting for the doctor to contact me so that I can come in and be evaluated, but otherwise I'm in really good health, I feel like on my own I'm taking decent care of myself my keeping active, working out, and despite the occasional chocolate I'm eating pretty well too (I know, I went to in-n-out, but for your info, I had only been there once, it was 4 years ago, and I literally haven't had a cheeseburger in... probably 8 months.)

Good night everybody! Have a fantastic week. 

Joyeux MerciDonner

I'd like to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving! I've grown to really like this holiday.

Now, I must inform you of my background: Coming to the US at 12 years old, I didn't actually celebrate Thanksgiving until then. Considering we usually have Turkey on Christmas, I was wondering why we had to have two immense meals in 30 days. To me, it didn't mean much. Just a family dinner... and Christmas has always been THE most important holiday for me. At 17 or 18 years old, I remember having mussels and fries like at "Leon de Bruxelles" or something for Thanksgiving (remember, mom?) - and it was so good. Very untraditional, but delicious. 

And tomorrow, I'm off to have a feast with "a new kind of family". No, not ABC Family, but rather my California buddies, who I have to say are just awesome. So far there are 22 people confirmed for dinner tomorrow. Yikes! It'll be awesome fun. On the menu will be traditional turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce, and some untraditional dishes such as a Korean dish and I was thinking of making squash au gratin or something, but I have to work on my roux and bechamel skills for that. 

I like Thanksgiving - and this time of year - because it's the anticipation of the holidays. People are nicer, people are starting to think about what they're grateful for, which technically, is something we should do everyday. In fact, that's what the rule of my blog is, and I apologize if I may not have lived up to it on every post... but today, I'm grateful for a lot of things.

I'm grateful that I have found a great group of friends here and will not be spending Thanksgiving alone. I'm grateful that friends I have known for just 7-8 months are able to seek advice for me and confide in me. I'm grateful for friends that want to help me discover L.A. and are taking me out to a bunch of new places. I'm grateful for my family and friends. My family, just like other families, has its own drama... but we all love each other, and I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that people change and stop judging others before they get to know them or get their side of the story. I'm grateful to have a loving fiancé whom I love and adore and want to spend the rest of my life with, and I know that he truly feels the same about me. And if you don't see that when we're together and start forming your own opinions about how we're too young and stupid to be in love, then you're judging too quickly, so just stop it already. Please. 

So I've been doing some thinking... and I haven't fully decided yet, but a lot of things seem uncertain concerning my job. But basically right now with my job, I may have an opportunity to come back to Salt Lake for good as early as January 4th. Allow me to explain.

My field is creating 19 new positions where one can work remotely from virtually anywhere. With that said, some jobs in our clusters will be lost. Our cluster doesn't seem to be one of them. In fact, we may be able to hire another person, but that's still not certain. So, basically, I'd say there's a 84.37% chance that my job is safe. I'm grateful for that. When will I know though? No clue. Hopefully soon. But if I lose it, I'd like to know soon because the last day for me to apply for the remote position is December 4th, the hiring will be done by December 17th, and the first day to start work is January 4th. You know what's funny about this? That this seems like the perfect plan according to this post back in February. Allow me to post the important paragraph of that post:

From February 28th, 2009:

"So, what's the plan for my next 5 years you ask?

Well, the ideal, perfect plan: I stick with my job for a year and gain some great experience. I find a comparable job back in Utah to start on Monday January 4th, 2010, and my last day at my current job will be on Friday, December 18th, 2009 (I like details, can you tell?). That way I will only have to file one state tax return (quite a pain to do my taxes this year, which Mom and I finished yesterday by the way, hurray!! ). I have a beautiful two weeks to relax for Christmas before I start my new job. I will live at my parents's for a few months to save money, then Babe and I will buy a house ready to go when we get married in August 2010 (I assume August during summer break with school, and so that the Frenchies can come when kids are out of school). We have a wild crazy wedding night. And the rest is... well, we'd like to have kids before we're 30, and I want to know the joys of being a mom before the world ends in 2012 according to the Mayan Calendar. Lol. Just kidding. Sorta..."

Well, would you look at that! To the T. Except that my last day here would probably be December 21st instead of the 18th... sounds like a brilliant plan, right? I could probably live back home for at least a few months, save money as I'll have a comparable salary and no $1400+ rent, and have my life's plan back in place.

Sounds perfect. Except for one thing...

As much as I want to go back to Salt Lake, I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet. I like my little life here in Cali. I like the woman I've blossomed into. I like being independent. I like going out and meeting new people and discovering new cultures. I like all that. Granted, I don't want to raise a family here. But my "fun years" in Cali is plural, so I was wanting to spend perhaps one more year here, maybe 6 months. I do miss everyone in Salt Lake enormously... but I think being away almost makes that bond stronger because you realize it more. 

So... the question is, do I apply for the job. If I lose the one I have now, absolutely. It would be meant to be. "Maktoub - It is written." I will apply, hope that I'll get it, and be back in Salt Lake and be happy. But if I get to keep the one I have now... do I want to right now? 

Last night, as I was taking a shower, I was fixing the curtain rods. I slipped, tripped, and fell flat on my back. I hurt my elbow. Thank goodness I did not get knocked unconscious. What if I did? I'm all alone here, would anyone notice? What if something happened to me? How long until someone would call me, realize I'm not answering, and start to worry? If this happened on a Friday after work, no one would really realize until Monday when I don't show up for work. That scares me slightly sometimes. Ok, actually I've never really thought of it that much because I don't dwell on it, but things like the tub accident last night makes me think of these things and why living alone can really suck.

So this would be another reason why I'd want to go back to Salt Lake. However, I'm still undecided. This is brand new info by the way, we found out about this on a 13 minute brief and weird conference call on Friday.

Anyhoo, enough about this... I obviously have a lot on my mind and need to go to bed. I've shared a lot more than usual today. But basically, I wanted everyone to know that I'm grateful for everyone in my life and my situation. I'm grateful that, heaven forbid, if I were to lose my current job AND not get the remote one, I could come back to Salt Lake and Mon & Brent could take care of me until I get back on my feet. I am really lucky to have such a loving family.

So... now happy stuff! Thanksgiving starts at 4PM tomorrow, I will be making frozen pumpkin mousse pie and who knows what side dish. Ooh, and a salad too. Because my friends like my home-made balsamic vinaigrette :). And the rest of the weekend is just - relaxing and catching up on bills!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, please don't eat too much but enjoy yourself. I know I will :)

Joyeux Anniversaire Megan

First of all, a very happy birthday to Megan, one of my best friends from Salt Lake. She's a great gal with many artistic talents that I admire and love! Hope you had a fun day today :)

So this weekend was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, gorgeous. I have never, EVER spent a November in the kind of weather where I can wear shorts (and I NEVER wear shorts unless it's uber hot and/or I'm by a beach). Saturday was spent relaxing, and I bought a vacuum, a crepe pan, and groceries. The rest was filled with nada. But Sunday.... was THE most beautiful November day. Blue skies, not a cloud in the skies, air clear enough that I could see the tip of Malibu... and about 73 degree weather. I played a few fantastic games of beach volleyball, and we all met up at my place after for crepes. But really, it wasn't a crepe party... it was a few crepes made from scratch by moi (and everyone claimed that they loved them, yay!) and they all brought some food of their own, so it was more of a potluck. I somehow was able to fit about 18 people in my 300 Sq ft living room. My friends brought over some folding chairs, I had my couch, my dining room chairs, a yoga ball, a storage ottoman... and we were just fine. We even played charades at the end of the night... not sure what inspired us but I don't think we've ever laughed so hard. I heart my California buddies.

Another exciting thing, is that for Thanksgiving, we're all gonna hang out again. we're calling it the "California Orphans Thanksgiving" - as most of us don't really have family here. Can't wait! I also can't wait till Christmas when I come home!!! I feel very very happy.

Today I'm grateful that I didn't go into my usual melancholy stage when Babe left back home, and that I'm able to find my own happiness even though I'm far from the ones I love. I guess this is what independence is all about (t'was about time!). Still, it's hard being lonely. It build character I guess. Thanks everyone for supporting me - as I've now been in California for almost a year. A year, can you believe it? I still can't. I still imagine - if 10 months ago I could travel to now, and see that I've got a salaried job, live in Southern California, get to play beach vball and live 3 blocks from the beach... I would die of shock. I have to say, I'm kinda proud of myself. And it feels good. It's tough, darn it, I'm sacrificing a lot... but it feels good.

Have a great night, until next time...

Je Retourne a La Solitude

Hi everyone!

Wow. What a great past few weeks. Babe came to see me, was able to spend my 25th birthday with me, and he got to meet all my Cali friends as they threw me one of the best birthday parties ever. About two dozen people met up at L&D's house, and we had ourselves a feast on their outdoor patio at night around a campfire, with dishes from probably 10 different nationalities, and I even had a made-from-scratch birthday cake with Eiffel Towers and Arc de Triomphe's on them. 

The past few weeks have been interesting. Even after 8 years of being together, Babe and I keep discovering new things about each other. I love spending time with him. I love coming home to him and saying "honey, I'm home!" and he greets me with a sincere hug and warm embrace. We talk, we laugh, we cry (well, I cry rather, lol), we enjoy each other's company... what more could I ask for?

Enough with the lovey-dovey stuff. I am now back to me living by myself - which usually means 3-4 days of mild depression, then cheering up again. This time though, I have to say, I'm doing pretty well. After dropping off babe at the Airport Thursday morning and a long day at work, I came home, it was dark, and no one to greet me... it was more wierd than anything. Got used to having someone there. But I'm getting through it - because there are some positives of him being gone - he's not taking over the computer so I can be back on! Yipee! Hahaha.

So, what's new with me, let's see...

*Had a fabulous birthday, thank you everyone for the birthday wishes, always appreciated :)

*Got some cool presents too this year... fondue pots, cash, flowers, Windows 7, edible arrangements, gift cards, thinner eyebrows, 40 year old family picture, and more...

*Had 70 degree weather for my November birthday, which has never happened in my life...

*Coworkers took me to our usual birthday lunch, where they take the birthday person somewhere (my choice, a delicious French restaurant in Culver City, Fraiche) and split the cost between them (had a merguez sandwich - so good!!! The chocolate panna cotta and pineapple upside down cake with coconut ice cream were to die for)

*This weekend, I get to relax, organize my apartment a bit, throw away all the unhealthy foods in my fridge to stop eating all the crap I've been eating lately

*Usual volleyball on Sunday I hope, then possible get-together at my place after from French Crepes - because I feel like it (I don't have to eat them though! All for my guests)

*Thanksgiving: no idea what I'm doing yet, but I'm staying in Cali. Have Thursday and Friday off from work, might see what the Irvine Cousins or San Diego Aunt and Uncle are doing, see if I can invite myself... otherwise, Boss Lady M invited me to her house and her crazy family (her words). Boss Lady M's family is Italian, so you know there's bound to be some delicious food...

*Christmas: I'm so excited, I just booked my plane ticket! I'm coming to Salt Lake and I'll land late on Dec. 22nd and come back early Jan. 5th, ready to go straight back to work.

Nothing else new... except that I might switch to Verizon and get the new Motorola Droid, and I may be getting a cat too... but I have to fall in love first. I went to a few pet shelter places and they really don't warm up to me at all. Maybe I'm a bitter old woman. We'll see. Plus, if I'm going to Salt Lake for 2 weeks, I don't want to deal with it right now... 

Today I'm grateful for the weekend, getting some rest, not being awakened at 5 in the morning by the smell of bacon... tomorrow I'm going to sleep in till 7:45am... and it's going to feel so good!!!!!

Have a great weekend you guys.

La Fille De Ma Mère

As I was about to celebrate another year, I decided use my last Costco SpaFinder gift certificates and get new eyebrows. Then I took this picture... and decided, wow. Doesn't this person....

Look a lot like this person??

Yep, I am my mother's daughter.

So I'm totally going to bed, which is really sad because it's a Friday night and not even 10:00 PM yet... but I'm exhausted. It's been a long week. I haven't been getting great sleep and have been getting headaches and been a little grouchy this week. But not to fear, Babe's still here and my vball buddies are throwing Leo and I a fabulous birthday party tomorrow night!

Thanks everyone for making my birthday memorable... I had a great birthday, more details and pictures on that later. I'd like to congratulate my favorite texting buddy, $teve, who is heading off into a new adventure in Lake Tahoe... and I'm just super psyched for him because he's been waiting for that for a while. Congrats, $teve!

I'm also happy for another very important person in my life and a new announcement... but won't announce that until it's official. But I'm really happy for him too :)

Good night everybody!

Semaine Occupée & YogurtLand

First off I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to one of my best friends, VS. She turns a quarter of a century old today... and I will soon follow in a couple of weeks. VS is a great friend, I've known her since 6th grade (my first year in the U.S). She's also awesome because she's married to a great guy who loves France... so I approve :) LoL.

So this week was busy at work. My colleague was on vacation starting Wednesday, my boss all week (surprisingly, taking a vacation to Utah for some reason). Thursday and Friday afternoon was all me trying to handle the job of 5 people... if the need would arise. Luckily it didn't get too crazy, just really lonely in the office Thursday. Boss Lady M called to check how I was doing, etc... she's awesome. She told me to just work from home on Friday, which I did. I got to listen to 104.3 My FM and tried to listen to the song that would make me win 4 Disneyland tickets... but no luck. Still great day though. And yes, I did get some work done...

Thursday night was fun, I had dinner with some of my friends (Vietnamese noodle salad). The slightly odd part was one of my friends brought her ex-mother in law AND her current boyfriend... which I thought was hilarious... but hey, if they don't mind, I don't mind. I got a phone call from the Houdemon family in San Francisco, about to return to France... thanking me for showing them around when they were in L.A... and it was absolutely my pleasure and I loved hanging out with them. They're good friends of my mom's and I hadn't seen them in 11+ years. They're hilarious and always in a good mood. Their son is fascinated with California so I thought I'd show them Hollywood, MJ's house, Rodeo drive, Manhattan Beach Pier, and Santa Monica Pier & 3rd Street Promenade... all in one day. What a day! Mom & Brent were here too... so it was awesome. Always love to see them.








Last night I watched "Marley and Me" which was ok... I hope I never turn out like the Godzilla wife & mother that Jennifer Anniston was in the movie. But at the end, I bawled my eyes out... I don't want to give away the ending to those who haven't seen the movie. Tonight, it's vegetarian pizza and shrimp spring roll night, "The Proposal" wasn't available on RedBox... so in search for a Romantic Comedy and/or Action night I'll either watch "Legally Blonde" (love that show, I don't know why...) or "Independence Day" (I could watch Will Smith all day...). Pretty low key weekend. It's been gorgeous though, 75 degrees today... hope I can play volleyball tomorrow.  Oh, and I discovered "YogurtLand" next to Trader Joe's which is absolutely yummy and cheap...  

Babe's probably coming Monday night, and will be here for about 2 weeks... which is pretty cool. I can't wait to see him; I love him so much. The giggling, the talking, the hanging out, the fighting, the make-up s...nuggling... I miss it all. Can't wait to see ya babe :)

Tomorrow will be Volleyball and making crepes for work's October birthday celebration. Next week I get to restrict the heck out of my hotels so that we can make some serious money. Woot woot!

Have a fantastic Saturday night, until next time.

Video

How do I post a video on blogspot? I upload my video, and when it's done uploading, buffering and all that fun stuff... even after it plays normally... it says "can't upload because the html tag is not closed" or something like that.

A little help, please

Fondue Chinoise & Coupe de Fruits

So it's safe to say I've worked my full 50 hours this week... and then some (regular weekend morning stuff I have to do). Point is, everytime I got home, especially after kickboxing, I was absolutely exhausted and let my apartment get messier and messier everyday... and that just doesn't fly in Lilie's world.

So I decide to throw a fondue party. That'll motivate me to clean my place up. And I did. Last night (Saturday) I invited Leo, Lyndon, Ben & Renée (Japan, China, China & Spain) over for dinner, and we had tons of fun. And this is when I realized, in a way, that I love entertaining. Well, scratch that, I love doing dinner parties (I really don't think I'm the most "entertaining" person out there). But I love preparing everything, making sure my apartment is clean, everything is organized... especially since this was a group that hadn't been here before. It all has to be perfect. I like to impress, ya know. It went really well, we had good conversation, we laughed a lot... I heart great company. the Cheese fondue was great, I decide to be daring and in addition to bread, I had grapes, granny smith apples, mushrooms and red bell peppers (leftovers, really! lol). I also made nice cantaloupe and strawberry fruit cups for dessert - as you can see below. I finally found a use for my martini glasses:

Friday night I actually had "Shabu shabu" which is basically a Chinese fondue - and it's brilliant. Instead of deep frying everything like a fondue bourguignone, she used vegetable broth instead. It was so yummy! Very different. my friend Lynn is from Singapore, her husband's from Germany, and we had my friend from Malaysia and older woman from Korea over too. I love the diversity that's around me - so many different cultures, and oh-so-much yummy foods that I've never experienced before. Here's what a shabu-shabu table looks like:

So that's about it! This morning I went to a place called "Bloom" for breakfast in West LA, and it was pretty good... owned by a French guy... and suddenly, out of nowhere, the Blues Brothers started driving down Pico Blvd...

Fun day. I'm about to head to volleyball. One thing I want to say though - I'm really, truly, so grateful to have friends out here. I mean, nothing beats being with my babe or my parents or other family and friends... and I've only really known my friends in Cali for 6 months... but really, they're awesome. They're so friendly and hospitable... and when I know I've got the potential to be a depressed wreck, it sure is nice to know that they're there for me when family and loved ones are farther away... and for sure, when I move back to Salt Lake, I'm going to miss them a lot. Utah friends are really hospitable too, don't get me wrong... it's just different out here. Anyway, I'm rambling.

Speaking of rambling, another reason why I love dinner parties now... is because I found a killer deal on clearance dinnerware. I think I just need to find cute placemats (mom, the forest green provencal ones you gave me don't really match anymore), and I'm in business and will throw more parties, that way it'll force me to cook, discover my own culinary talents... I just need test subjects. who wants to be my test subjects???

Updates on who's coming to see me... Mom, Brent & some Frenchies from Cavaliere (or Cavalaire?) are coming on Thursday to discover what is great California after they discover Salt Lake, Vegas, Bryce, Zions and the Grand Canyon. It'll be great to have them over for a few days!!! Then, Babe's sister will be coming back from her mission from Brazil on the 15th - so he's gotta be there for that... then the plan is for him to come live with me for about a month until he needs to get back to register for school. Then, the week before Thanksgiving I get to hang out with Dr Mookie & friends for a few days... Mid-December I get to see JR & L, and Christmas time will come... and a beautiful week's vacation will enable me to spend time in Salt Lake with family. How awesome!

Tsunami

My heart goes out to those who lost their lives because of the tsunami. 

Can you believe there was another one out there and another in Peru too??

Well, apparently the whole state of Ca-li-for-nia is under a Tsunami watch, but I believe that was yesterday. Just a foot or two of inundation. Don't think I'll be affected. If I am, then I'll be able to go to work on a boat.

"I'm on a boat!"

Anyone heard otherwise? If so, let me know. I'm not a great swimmer... :(

New York, Salt Lake & torticollis

Hi everybody!!!

I know you're all dying to hear about my New York City trip. Despite the huge pain I currently in my neck, I will try to describe it as fully as I can and even use descriptive adjectives like I used to at my old job. Please note that uploading pics on blogspot is a pain in the neck (and I've had enough real pain for today) so if you'd like to see more I posted a few more on Facebook, you may access them here. I took almost 600 pictures total so I'll pick out the best ones :)

First off, I flew to Salt Lake on Thursday night (Sep. 10th). Friday I spent most of the day catching up with my sweetie, Saturday I had lunch with my mom, grandma and grandpa who are visiting here from France, and Sunday we departed for NYC. We arrived and had a crazy cab driver take us to the fabulous Marriott Marquis right in Times Square (our first New York experience). I have to say that seeing downtown from my airplane seat was just breathtaking. So beautiful. So many skyscrapers. So much going on on such a small island. We arrived around 5PM, we walked around Times Square a bit and that night we ate at John's pizzeria and had a delicious fresh mozzarella and tantalizing pepperoni pie which was absolutely delicious and not too greasy. We then went to bed early to start our real vacation for the next few days.

Monday, Day 1:

Wanted to bring mom to her conference by 9AM. Wanted to take the subway. After walking a few blocks, realized that we were at the wrong "station." Decided to take a cab. Took mom to NYU in Washington Square, dropped her off, and Brent and I had the rest of the morning to visit some of the city. So we took the subway (the right one this time) to Rockefeller Center and tried to find the today show - but couldn't. Turns out we were only about a block away from the plaza where I could've shaken hands with Al Roker. So we walk back to Times square (not very far, only 10 minutes or so), buy bus/tour tickets that include 3 days of double decker buses, admissions to the Empire State Building, ferry to go to Liberty & Ellis Island, Museum of the City of New York, and a 75 minute cruise on the harbor. So we hopped on the downtown loop bus like a bunch of tourists, went through the flatiron district, Soho, and got off at Chinatown - I had me some beef curry (not that great) and then we went over to Little Italy and suddenly realized that it's where we should've gotten lunch - because everything looked so flippin' good. They had gorgeous dishes and tempting desserts... Mom then met us in Little Italy, we got back on the bus to go downtown to the ferry to go see Lady Liberty. We didn't get off on Liberty Island - it was way too crowded and we didn't have tickets to actually go inside. We went to Ellis Island though and learned a lot about immigrants. We learned even more patience as we waited about 90 minutes in line to get back on the ferry. We got back on the bus, went through some iffy parts of Manhattan and got back to the hotel, fairly exhausted, and we went to "Bourbon Street" for dinner where I had me some yummy jambalaya. 

Tuesday, Day 2:

All 3 of us went to the Rockefeller Center to get on the Today Show around 7:15 AM. Shook hands with Al. 'Twas fun. Lotsa people. Had to fight to get a good spot and hope to get on TV. Didn't get on TV. 8 AM - got on the downtown loop bus to get Mom to NYU on a scenic route. Brent and I continued on to go do the Brooklyn tour, which unfortunately didn't start until 11am - so to kill time we walked over Wall Street, saw some rich dudes chillin' by the NYSE, then we walked over to the World Financial Centers to see from above what they were doing to Ground Zero. It was just a whole lot of construction, really... I later found out that there was an actual memorial (and by later, I mean only yesterday at work). We then walked back to meet Mom, took the subway to Times Square, walked about 5 Avenue blocks to take our cruise, in which Mom & Brent fell asleep at the end... but it was pretty cool, another fun way to see New York. We passed by the Statue and admired the Brooklyn bridge from afar too. It's only 3PM and we're exhausted. So we walk back to the hotel, rest our feet, then take the tour bus to the Empire State Building. Perfect timing - it is now about 6:30 PM and it's crazy crowded, but I have some shots during the day as well as sundown shots. I planned it perfectly. We then walked back to the hotel - on the way, went to Macy's that takes up a whole street block and is 9 stories tall. Our feet needed rest - so we took the night bus tour which took us to parts of Manhattan as well as Brooklyn, the views were just astonishing. Plus, our bus had no torque... so going 10 miles an hour on a scary bridge over the water was just perfect for pictures. Because of construction, the 2 hour tour took 3 hours, and back at the hotel around 11:30 PM we were exhausted. Are we all just getting old???

Wednesday, Day 3:

I walked Mom to the subway so that she can go to NYU, and I decide one last time to get on the today show. September 15th would have been cool because I wanted to make a birthday sign for my little brother and sister. Going back on Wednesday, the 16th, I suppose I could've had a sign that said "Happy birthday Mad Scientist" but I couldn't find a marker anywhere. I'm sure they'll understand :) But guess what... this time, Matt & Al and I-forgot-the-girl's-name got outside and I was right there in the background, waving, with my bright red tank top. I then got a pic with Matt. Awesome!! So then Brent met me at the Plaza and we went to a little cafe place - I had an amazing prosciutto, mozzarella and scrambled egg panini. Very different. Very yummy. Excuse me while I stop salivating... ok, I'm good. To kill a few hours we walked over to Grand Central, which is gorgeous, and then over to the public library. The library is an amazing, amazing place. So much culture. So much history. So much marble. Such a quiet place in the middle of hectic Manhattan. I loved it. We started taking a tour and within 20 minutes, Mom called saying that she was done early with her conference - so we met back at the hotel and took the uptown bus tour. Here we rode alongside Central Park, saw some cute places, saw Jerry Seinfeld' s current apartment, Harlem, Morningside Heights, Columbia University, the Upper West and East sides. We visited the Museum of the City of New York, which was pretty interesting. So hungry - we try to find a place... and Mom's iPhone led us to an address which had graffiti tagged window shutters on an abandoned building... too funny. We were in a borderline ghetto part of town - so we got back on the bus, found a panini place a block from the Museum of Metropolitan Art, then walked over to Central Park and admired the Great Pond, the Great Lawn and the Obelisk. Back on the bus, we visited the rest of the uptown tour... passed 5th Avenue shopping and the Ritz-Carlton Central Park and the Pierre Hotel. Back at the hotel, I get ready to meet my friend who was working at Battery Park on task force - so we hung out in Times Square, and had NY style pizza while my parents were on their won to see a Broadway show - The Phantom of the Opera." Becca & I went to the M&M's store, Hershey Store, I bought some bright orange New York flip flops (I got my flippy-floppies!) and I pretty much went to bed after that! We had to leave around 9 to catch our flight, and it was a really fun-filled 3 days of awesome culture, history, diversity, skyscrapers, people watching, different neighborhoods.... could never live there (maybe up to 6 months on task force or something) but I would sure love to visit again...

So there you have it! This weekend I went to Manhattan Beach to watch some professional beach volleyball, got a free massage, did some laundry, made this for dinner, watched "Dance Flick" (as expected, stupid but hilarious), and Sunday morning I helped my friends move from 9 to 1:30, then played Volleyball till 6 and had Korean for dinner with all my buddies. Such good food! They sure know how to pick these places.

Well, I'm really tired... hope I entertained you all...

Today I'm grateful that my neck is feeling much better than yesterday. I was in so much pain last night that I was almost in tears. Have a great night everyone!!

Mise a Jour

Not Soup du jour...

But just an update - Salt Lake was great, New York City was fabulous, I'm now back in L.A... and as usual, entering the slight depression phase when you realize you're waking up alone. Then a week later, you realize, "oh yeah, this is the life I chose right now for my career" and you get used to the loneliness.

I'll write back in a week when I'm cheerier and come out of that phase.

Today I'm grateful... that next week I know I'll come out of phase 1. 

Have a fantastic evening!!

CRAZIEST....

KICKBOXING....

CLASS....

E   V   E   R  !  !  !  !  !  !  !

I can't wait until I go again. 

Motivée

Well, I canceled my LA Fitness membership and decided to go to 24 hour fitness instead. I pay half the price, have newer equipment, kickboxing classes as well and on the way home from work - exactly halfway too, so I pass the major traffic and it's smooth sailing home when I get out.

Win?

Win.

No Beach Vball today - we did yesterday instead. Today was a fun day of relaxing, cleaning the apartment and looking for birthday presents for my darling younger brother and sister who will be turning 14 in about a week! I miss them very much and they will be entering their last year of Junior High. Almost like Freshmen. As Lois Griffin would say, "Get the Freshman!"

Martinique, summer 2006

I'm proud to say that I've been to the gym every single day this week except today. Tomorrow I have a free session with a personal trainer, Tuesday and Wednesday night is kickboxing, and Thursday night I fly out to Salt Lake... and embark on a wonderful journey filled with family, good friends, fun, and 10 days off work. Hurray!

Last night we celebrated Oak's birthday, our youngest volleyball player (only a year younger than me). We went to his parent's Thai restaurant for dinner which was a lot of fun - good food and good company. I carpooled with Lillian & Erin, who showed me downtown Los Angeles... and I saw where L.A. Live is going to be, as well as the JW & RZ that have started to build. They're huge! 

Tomorrow night I'm going to a labor day BBQ. What a fun weekend! Although I'll be working tomorrow, I'll be doing so from home and ending early. Have a great night everyone!

La Chance

Well, LA Fitness is darn lucky.

Despite the fact that the oblique muscles ab machine was broken yesterday, all machines are slightly older and and I'm just not feeling that gym yet, tonight's kickboxing class was actually pretty decent. 

It felt so good. Half the moves were the same as Gold's gym on Van Winkle, and the other half were new but with the same basic moves. It's been almost a year since I've gone and I'm pretty proud of myself, even though I'm absolutely sore everywhere, I was able to stay the whole time - didn't mess up too much (I couldn't, I was in the front row. I always go in the front row because I'm motivated to do better there).

I'd love to get into kickboxing again. And I have to say, if it weren't for that class I'd probably cancel my membership. I think I'll try it out for a few months though (luckily I'm on a month-to-month membership). That way I can get back into weight training too. My workout videos at home can only do so much.

I know, I know... some of you might say "but you've got a beach right there where you can walk, run and breathe beach air and you play beach Vball 1-3 times a week." Very true, my friend. But here's the thing, Beach Vball is fun but unless I'm playing 2 on 2, it's really not working my endurance much. Running on the beach? I tried it and... somewhat gave up. Running's not my thing. Walking - sure, I like to walk, but again, no muscle toning or real endurance building.

I want to be able to kick some butt... oh, I dream of the day that I will be able to beat Babe in an arm wrestle. 

It must be late, I'm hallucinating. Babe's stronger than he looks. 

Good night all!

Papillon Social

Well, it took about 8-9 months, but I finally feel like I have a life outside of work now besides the casual beach volleyball game & holiday BBQ's.

Last Wednesday I went over to Lynn's house who invited me over for dinner because she felt like cooking a bunch of new things or things she hadn't cooked in a while (in other words, I knew I'd be a test subject... which I have absolutely no problem with!!!) and she made delicious dishes of curry, eggplant with chili sauce, some kind of spicy beef and pork and deep fried prawns. Everything was absolutely delicious! She's from Singapore and her husband's German. She also invited Lillian who's from Malaysia I believe -and her boyfriend who's very American and I swear has the same facial hair as a Backstreet Boy. A fun Wednesday evening.

Friday - round 2 - Lynn wanted me to try her apricot glazed salmon that she learned from a past Argentinian neighbor, and so the same gang was invited over for dinner... it was fantastic too. Easy to make too. Maybe I'll try it someday.

Saturday was Volleyball at 11am with a very "different" crowd. Instead of the really nice and gentle same-sex couples I regularly see on Sundays, these were hard-core tatooed 250 pound 40-50 yr old hockey players shouting & swearing like there's no tomorrow. I was laughing so hard inside. "COME ON! YOU'RE THE STRAW THAT STIRS THE DRINK! F*** I'M SWEATING. OH F***, I'M SWEATING REAL BAD. F*** I GOT SUNSCREEN IN MY EYES DAMN IT!" A little too much swearing for my tastes... I don't think I'll make Saturday vball a new weekly thing.

Saturday night was a Filipino friend's birthday party in Orange County, where at least 10 different nationalities were present, including another Frenchie. We had awesome food, even French cheeses that I can't believe when I went for it it was gone - but there was foie gras leftover so I thought I might have a little taste even though I'm not a huge fan.

Sunday was usual Beach V-ball, cleaning the house, dinner at an Italian restaurant, and last night Lillian invited me over for dinner because she "felt like cooking" so we had a ladies night in (4 of us) and had yummy spicy food.

Also - I got a gym membership to try out LA Fitness for the week - I'm not uber impressed yet (went to pilates tonight and it was boring as heck) and yesterday they spent over an hour convincing me to join that I barely had time to work out. I'm going to go everyday this week though and can cancel by Saturday if I choose to do so.

Today I'm grateful to be in a state with so much diversity. Also for friends I get to see and for trying all these delicious new foods. My heart goes out also to those who have lost their homes in the SoCal fires. For those who wonder, these fires are north of LA and are at least 25-30 miles away from me thus are not affecting me directly, so I'm fine. The fires in Palos Verdes were a lot closer (5-10 miles) but those were extinguished pretty quickly.

I wish everyone a fabulous week - and hope to see some/most of you on my next trip to SLC in two weeks. Yeah, baby!

Best things

Best things today:

*Got an email from my dad telling me about his vacation - miss you Daddy!

*Finished my analysis at work and I actually think it holds water. Can't wait to present to boss tomorrow and GM on Thursday.

*Drove home listening to my favorite song

*Am currently having great conversations with my favorite texting buddy :)

Happy Tuesday!

Les Russes

Played Volleyball briefly with some Russians today.

"What's your name?"

(I say my real name)

"Hor-e-ny?"

So that's a first. My name sounds like "Oh Really", "Orally", never heard "Horny". Hope he wasn't just asking. Or maybe I just need to speak up more.

Ca fait drole

It's such a weird feeling, when you go from 3 people living in your apartment for 5 days... then 5.... then 2 en amoureux... and then it's just me again.

Sigh.

Well, at least I had a blast these past few weeks! My best friend from elementary in France, Laure, came to visit with her boyfriend, Maxime. I hadn't seen her in at least a couple of years and it was my first time meeting him. They discovered LA, Malibu, took a day trip to Vegas (yes, a DAY trip... I told them they were nuts and should just spend the night there...), Hollywood and Orange County. Not bad for 5 days and crazy 9 hour jetlag!

I wanted Maxime to try something very American: a root beer float. Problem is, from past experience, I know that most Frenchies do not like root beer. "It tastes like Coke that tastes like medicine." That's what I used to think ages ago... but I'm pretty americanized now. However, Max likes Mr. Pibb. So I told him to try a Mr. Pibb float when we stopped for ice cream. When they first saw it, dropped the ice cream in the soda and saw the chemical reaction, the look on their faces was priceless. He loved it! Laure also tried some kind of shake with melted marshmallow cream (also very American) and loved it. It was really fun. It was a really hot day in Hollywood/ Here's proof, because I usually never wear shorts unless I'm on the beach...

Babe and I had a few days to ourselves and we always try to make the most of it. To give you an update, he decided to start school in the spring. I was a little pissed at first (ok, really pissed because I'm like that), but all of his counselors highly, highly encouraged him to start in the spring because a) all the good classes for fall are pretty much taken b) he should start job shadowing to see what he wants to do and start doing some volunteer work because the college of law and other fields he's thinking of going into really look at that stuff c) it's important for him to get good grades and get in classes he's interested in. Well, whatever works best for him... I trust him to make what he believes is the best decision. It'll just take a little longer than expected to graduate, but that's ok. Many people get married and have families while going to school. I know he wants to be better prepared for everything and I know he'll do very well and make me proud :)

August 13th was Babe's birthday. His younger brother, Ty-Dogg, came here for the week so that they could spend some time together on days when I was at work. On his b-day, we went to "Spark Woodfire Grill" (Right by the RI Beverly Hills) and he had the best kobe burger ever. I had a tasty shrimp pesto pizza. We then ventured through L.A. and visited the automobile museum, wanted to go in, and it turns out we got in for free. We got tricked by the Johnny Rockets waiters who told us we could go in through the restaurant, and suddenly we're inside. It wasn't until we were finished that we passed the admissions office. Oops! Well, we were only able to spend about 45 minutes anyway because of parking. It was really interesting. We saw really old cars and such. Something different. Always up for that...

Happy birthday to my man who doesn't look a day over 22.

That's about it! Getting really excited for my next trip, which will be a Salt Lake/ New York combo the week after labor day. Meanwhile, I've got a month to do the following; We'll see how I progress every week. How's that?

*balance checkbook

*eat healthy

*exercise at least 5x a week

*try either bikram yoga or 7 day complimentary gym pass

*enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

By the way, I haven't been to volleyball in a while - been spending time with the man and letting my left wrist rest a bit. I'll start it up again this Saturday, followed by a great BBQ with friends.

Today I'm grateful that even when I'm lonely, I still get phone calls, sweet emails and quirky text messages. Thanks for those who are thinking of me. I think of you guys too :)

Have a great evening & a la prochaine.

Dark & Bitter

Well, today was such a fun day - was able to finalize my stay in New York City in September (can't wait!) and was able to get an employee rate in Idaho Falls by calling them directly for my mom and some friends in October.

Otherwise, short day at work, got almost everything done, and at 3PM our GM was hosting a BBQ with all the managers. He's got a beautiful Mediterranean style home in Manhattan Beach and we ate yummy bratwurst boiled in beer and onions before they hit the grill. Really good and hit the spot. Especially considering I just had a donut for lunch (bad, I know).

Now - a few weeks ago, we were all given a sheet for each manager and to write what we thought about one another. Funny, sentimental, etc... and it was hilarious. There were about 20 of us or so. Some of them included:

"Hot mama"

"His hair never moves"

"Looks like Tom Cruise's older brother"

"could be a stunt double for Sergio" (another manager that was there and I swear they look like twins)

"I like my women like I like my coffee: Dark and bitter"

It was a lot of fun. Everything that was said was nicely printed and framed. Here's what people think about me in the office:

*She's a breath of fresh air

*Very positive attitude

*She's an adventurer

*Independent, kind, smart

*She fits right in!

*She brings a little European culture to the office

*I need my sunglasses... that is one beautiful engagement ring

*Loves to play Beach Volleyball

*Willing to learn more and more

*I've heard her crepes rival Chef Dean's

(Chef Dean is the executive chef at the hotel, the one who likes his women like his coffee)

So that's about it!

Plans for this weekend: Saturday night small Get-together and BBQ with friends, maybe go to Manhattan beach or Hermosa Beach for the surf festival during the day, and usual beach V-ball on Sunday.

Coming up: Babe should be here next week, the week after my best friend from elementary in France is coming to visit with her boyfriend (haven't seen her in a couple of years), in September I'll be in Utah for a few days then taking off for NYC to discover this fabulous city.

Today I'm grateful for the weekend and am extremely excited to see friendly faces everyday.

Here are some pics from today's work BBQ.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Qu'est-ce-qu'on se marre

Well, it's been a while... but it's getting busy at work and budgets and such. Now, for the not-so-boring stuff...

Mom came over for Pioneer Day weekend and we had a blast! So fun to have company, and my mom's always a treat to have around. We can suddenly burst out laughing till we cry... like that one time at the post office, remember mom? (j'etais dans le bus et j'ai vu une femme sortir.... ENORME... et puis le conductuer du bus avait un pif..... ENORME). Qu'est-ce-qu'on s'est marrés!

So it all started when I picked her up at LAX late Friday morning, and we went straight to Santa Monica. We had lunch at Mr. Marcel, and had fun stroll on 3rd Street Promenade, bought goodies at L'occitane, got myself a leopard print bikini top and blue dress shirt at H&M (not planning to wear them together), and had fun on the roller coaster on the pier, watching the ocean from a few dozen feet in the air with a few thrills. We went for a walk on the shore - it was packed, by the way! I then introduced her to the gigantic Whole Foods in El Segundo... and this is where we both had the time of our lives. So many goodies! Sushi bar, handmade pizza bar, mozzarella balls bar, little lemon raspberry tarts bakery... we grabbed some things and had dinner while watching "It Could Happen To You", with Nicholas Cage. I had never seen it but got the DVD one Christmas from the in-laws to be. It was kind of cute!

Saturday morning we walked on the beach for an hour and a half, then had brunch at "Yellow Vase", a cute French style café that's very yellow and sell awesome gourmet chocolates as well as flowers! Their roasted vegetable garden salad and my green chile omelet was to die for. We then got ready and I decided to show my mom Orange County and bring her to my favorite Beach, Salt Creek Beach at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. "Why don't I take the 55 South and we'll get out at Newport Beach and just take PCH down to Dana Point? PCH is cute down that way. And although it was cuter than I remember, it took us 2.5 hours from my place to our final destination... that's just nuts, it was only 60 miles away! But once we arrived at the Beach and the waves were awesomer than I could imagine... the water wasn't too cold... we went in and the waves took us away... so strong that I even had a slight unintentional wardrobe malfunction in the left torso area I'm embarrassed to say... but we totally had a blast. Isn't it funny how you get really hungry after being exhausted from the being in the water?? Luckily coming home only took a little over an hour (Thanks, Interstate 5) and we watched "27 dresses" while eating leftovers and went to sleep.  

Sunday was more of a chillax day, we walked on the beach for an hour, did squats for the last 5 minutes in the sand to get buns of steel, and Mom helped install a bunch of stuff in my apartment! The clock in the dining room, the filtered showerhead in the bathtub, we went to BBB to get a space saver above the loo, and some cute decorations above the dining room table. We then went to Beach V-ball, played for a few hours (A big thumbs-up to Mom who played very well for not having played in 30 years!!!), we then went to a fabulous place on the Riviera that I wanted to try called "Turquoise", a delicious organic place of Mediterranean tapas, surprisingly delightful blends of flavors, and an exquisite experience - with a really handsome & charming waiter to top it off. I'll be back! For the food, not the waiter... :)

So that's about it! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend... I'm excited because I get to see Babe soon, hopefully early next week.... it's been 6 weeks already and it's just too darn long!!!

Today I'm grateful for great friends, a great mom, a great man by my side and just life in general. Have a great night!! Here are some pictures...

Salt Creek Beach

Mom & I @ Salt Creek

Sandy toes...

Santa Monica

Thanks, Mom for a great Mommy-Daughter weekend!

Café Marmalade

Busy day today:

Had to do practically everything at work by 10:00 AM, then meet with boss, then strategy meeting @ 11, then Café Marmalade for colleague's birthday, followed by another meeting at 2, then back to work to finish a few things. I have to get used to this fast-paced thing called the real world.

Tomorrow I get to work from home and I couldn't be more exhilarated. Since everyone else is, if I have to work alone, I'd rather do it at home in my leopard PJs.

That's about it! Today I'm grateful I had a good meeting and that my hotels are doing well this week. How about you?

Later, Gator.

Quand Yen a marre, Ya Malabar

Friday - Work & Beach V-ball

Saturday - Groceries & Beach V-ball & huge steak with ice cream cake

Sunday - Beach Vball & crashing on the couch

I am.......... so.......... sore.

YAY!!!!!

So that was my weekend. I also have this really annoying fever blister that won't go away though. I hope it disappears before I meet the event management team on Thursday.

Today I'm grateful that my new webcam arrived, I can now have crystal clear pictures and video in HD and sing and put myself on youtube. Last time I sang, someone told me not to quit my day job, but I'll prove them wrong. mwouahahahahahahahahahaaa!!!

May you all have sweet dreams.

I'm Committing Carbocide!!

What a week!

First off, last weekend.

Friday - tried to get a Volleyball court at 3PM on a Friday that everyone has off. Fun. I walked up and down the strand and finally found one that just vacated. After a few hours, we had a potluck at Ben & Renée's, and it was really fun! Ben can sure BBQ...

Saturday - woke up at 6:30 and left at 7 to get V-ball courts again as it is the busiest day of the year and people have gotten in fights before trying to hold a court that early. 

Why was I assigned to get the courts you ask? Is it the fact that I've got great big muscles and can fight off a gang of pissed off middle aged men? Is it because I look intimidating enough that they won't even dare try to fight me?

Good guesses, but no. It turns out I live the closest. And there's nothing like a morning workout on the beach on a beautiful day, so I volunteered.

Except that the morning V-ball turned into an all day feast, and moralité: I was there from 7:30 AM to 6 PM with 75 degrees and clear afternoon skies.

Please, aloe vera, and my sweetie to rub it on, I need you NOW. MAINTENANT. AHORA.

Sigh.

At least my face isn't peeling anymore - now it's going to my shoulders. Gosh darn it.

Did I learn my lesson? Yes. I will not only apply sunscreen everywhere but I will re-apply every 3-4 hours. and maybe go home from noon-3 on similar days. 

It was so much fun though. We played 2 on 2, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, and you guessed it... 5 on 5. At night we watched fireworks from the beach and Ben & Leo gave me big hugs as they are so happy that they have found me because they think I'm such a nice person. But the truth is, I'm so glad I found them. They're really cool people, most in their late 20s to early 30s, married or gay, and they want me to hang out with them a lot. And honestly, I'd love more friendship... in this state too.

Last night actually, Leo, Lillian, Renée and I went to a special screening to see "Brüno." I thought it wouldn't be as bad as Borat. Borat just plain disgusted me. Brüno was.... WOW. I was cracking up a lot, but seriously... sex-wise, I think it was worse than Borat. At least I had a fun night out in Hollywood, and went to a Thai place: "Palm Thai" after with an Asian guy doing Elvis impersonations. Went to bed at 11:30 and got very little sleep... but it was worth it to have a weeknight off the couch :)

Not much else going on! If you want to see pictures of the 4th of July, they're on Facebook. If you don't have to Facebook, I guess you'll have to beg me to post them here.

Deal?

Today I'm grateful for meeting great friends. For my well being today, I'm eating negative calorie soup. That's the kind of soup that takes more calories to burn than digest.

Tomorrow - work and beach V-ball.

Saturday - relax and run errands

Sunday - more Beach Vball.

Yes, yes, I'll remember sunscreen. Have a great night!

A L'instant Critique, Quand Tout L'Monde Craque, La Tactique C'est L'attaque

Wow.

What better way to spend a Thursday night than spend a few moments on YouTube watching old cartoons that I grew up on... in France and in FRENCH. Awesome!!

Tic & Tac, Rangers Du Risque (Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers)

La Bande a Picsou, Ooh-oo-ooh! (Duck Tales) > Listen to both the French & English version. The Ooh-oo-Ooh in French is about 2 tones higher. When I first sang it, people thought I was way off key. Well ok, Maybe I was. But not as much as you thought :)

Bisounours (you guess this one)

Super Baloo (Tailspin)

Ok, time for Counter-Strike or something. I get to sleep in tomorrow!! Woohoo!

The Art of Doing Nothing

I'm having a lazy day. Although I worked my full 9 hours and stared at Marsha all day, my neck and back are absolutely killing me. I just don't want to do anything. I rarely have those days, so I hope I'm okay.

I'm going to cook some hamburger meat tonight, probably on a bed of spring mix lettuce. Pretty boring. At this point, I just want to crash on the couch and watch 2 full hours of Family Guy. 

Why am I feeling this way? It's cloudy so I don't want to go to the beach, and I really don't have the energy to work out. I guess I can skip a day. I think that I just can't wait until the 3 day weekend and hang out with great company along with some beach v-ball.

Today I'm grateful that I get to relax and do nothing, with no one telling me to do the dishes or something. I'll do them on my own terms :). For my well-being today, I shall take a nice hot relaxing bath. Yeah, that sounds just delightful. 

Until next time... hope you all had a fabulous day!

Le Festival

I actually ended up spending about 3 hours at the festival yesterday walking around. Great people watching. If I had kids, they would've had a blast. If I had friends to hang out with, we would've had a blast. If I had my sweetie with me, it would've been even better. But going by myself was tolerable. There was food, music, arts and crafts, and a henna tattoo stand. I'm sooooo tempted to get one on my lower back. But one day, I was told it means Bull's Eye. I still want to because it looks darn cute. Any objections? It only lasts 2 weeks! :)

Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

Prizes...

Giant waterslides...

Polynesian dancing

Pet adoptions

Music & a beer garden

Tons of booths with arts & crafts, jewelry, inventions...

Dr Mookie Love, this was just for you...

Ferris wheel!

Overall, a pretty good day! Got a massage at 6PM, made a delicious homemade dinner of curry jumbo shrimp with rice and lentils, and watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic," which was so-so. At least the actor was easy on the eyes. I then played Counter-Strike Source for about an hour and went to bed!

Today I'm grateful that I just got invited to a BBQ after Beach v-ball today. I heart company! Today, for my well being & exercise, I'll play volleyball for probably 4 hours. Works the legs & the arms. Have a great Sunday!