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...

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.

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!

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!!

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!

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!

Apres aujourd'hui...

That's it, after today, it shall start.

What shall start you ask? First of all, can you believe that this costs $13???

Prosciutto stuffed mushrooms appetizer at Buca. And they weren't that great. Good thing I had a $10 coupon I had to use so they only cost 3 bucks.

But that's it. I've decided... for realz this time... that I'm going to be committed. Really. I'm sick and tired of having dark circles under my eyes again. I'm sick of having lost my two-pack and toned arms. I'm sick of it. I want to be healthy and look the best I can. I'm almost 25 years old. And that picture above, I'm already not proud of. Tonight, it ends. Tonight, I shall write my declaration of Lilie's well-being.

I. No more dipping into the bag of chocolate chips when I have a sweet craving. If I crave something sweet, I shall reach for a piece of fruit.

II. I will not only eat yummy veggies and protein from legumes, but I will eat smaller portions. I'm not going vegetarian, but I'll eat lots of lentils, black beans and chickpeas for awesome protein & fiber.

III. Back to the no wheat, no dairy. This is what's giving me dark circles under my eyes. Only indulge when I have to or when there are special occasions. In moderation, still.

IV. Losing weight is not my goal. Losing inches, toning up and increasing my endurance are.

V. I shall do some type of exercise everyday, and something for my mental well-being everyday as well.

I think that's good for now. I am now also officially adding one more thing to each blog post. Say something good I did for my well-being today. As always, I encourage you to do the same, but hey, I'm not forcing ya :)

So today... I'm grateful that I received an email from a very nice former landlord in Salt Lake, we were catching up and he told me how he always considered me like the daughter he never had. He's a great guy. I'm so happy that he remarried and I wish him the best. His email brought a small tear of joy and made me really happy. I'm also grateful that I consider my boss like part of the family. I went over to her house and gave her a big hug as she's going to the East Coast for a week. I heart my job and my co-workers.

Something funny today? Oh yeah, the office flooded... again. But that's old news, because it flooded Sunday. Good thing I went in to work to notice it in time. But that means I got to work from home yesterday and today. Tomorrow I should be able to go in.

For my exercise/well-being today: I rollerbladed for about 30 minutes, walked for about 35, took deep breaths of beach air, and declared my declaration of well-being. Here's to many more good things I will do for me [don't worry, I'm not selfish, I'll still do good things for others :)].

Have a great night! What did you do for your well-being today?

Jesus Préfère Sprouts a Trader Joe's

Well, hi!

Back in LA County. What a fun week I spent in Salt Lake! Saw tons of people and had good times. I'm going to bed soon, so I'll go into details another time. 

It's so nice and sunny here... and SLC is cursed with rain, I hear. Who wants to come here on vacation? LoL. Well, it's not that warm... maybe 68 degrees by the time I get off work. But so, very, very nice. I'll tell you though, Tuesday after work I took a walk on the beach... and just realized that much more how much I like it here. I REALLY like it here. I love my apartment, my location, my job, my co-workers... I better stop before I jinx myself :p but seriously, I'm grateful for that.

At work, my co-workers like my new highlights in my hair. That's good, because I love them too and keeping them :). However, I looked really sick and pale this morning (maybe because I only ate 800 calories the day before), and I think the blond washed me out. Hmm. Gotta get that tan going again. And maybe eat a few more calories too.

What are you grateful for today? I'm also grateful that I get to show my mom this cool license plate I saw on my way to work this morning: 

Have a great night!

Joyeux Anniversaire

Just a little note, because it's getting late...

Happy birthday to my very young dad and my very old cat!

That's right, Myau the cat is now 17 today... this was back when she was actually cute: 

And my dad is just an awesome dad and it was great talking to him today. I really don't get to talk to him often. Maybe the fact that he's on the other side of the planet might have something to do with it. He's doing well, and he was about to devour a delicious couscous, which I'm sure wasn't as fabulous as the one he spends days making in the winter... but I hope you had a great day, Papounet... Je t'aime beaucoup! :)

Yum, Chorizo & cheese crustless quiche from Trader Joe's... 30 minutes to bake?!?! Ok, I hear the blog calling my name anyway... 

So, what a fun weekend! Saturday went to Ikea, got a killer deal on a bookshelf that I'm using as a TV stand as you can see:

I just finished decorating it tonight. It's not great, but it'll do for now. I need to get the DVD player out of there (and my old PC too).

Seriously, will you stop??? I think my neighbors are gettin' it on next door again and it sounds like the beginning of an earthquake. And you know how paranoid I've been the past few days.

Back to the weekend... Sunday was Beach V-ball all day, 10am to almost 4pm... at 10 am the water was so serene, and a couple of dolphins were really close to the shore... it was pretty cool. It never gets old even after the 20th time you've seen it. When I got home I baked a scrumptious frozen apple pie and claimed it as my own recipe, and then brought it to a really fun BBQ. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

Clockwise, from top: Lillian, me, Mayou, Tak's evil spirit, Christine, and a guy taking up 1/4 of the picture. May I clarify that I am not standing next to a naked chick and Lillian is indeed wearing a strapless dress, $teve...

Leo and the girls...

We were way too happy that we won all those games today...

So, that's about it! I worked today from 8 to about 2, got home, did some cleaning, brother's coming Wednesday night, I get Friday off, Saturday we drive up to Salt Lake... and that is where the real adventure will begin :)

Today I'm grateful that I was able to re-arrange furniture all by myself. What are you grateful for this beautiful Memorial day? Have a great night!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, if you weren't across the country, I would've cooked this Chef D'oeuvre for you:

Grass-fed Filet mignon steak with organic green beans, mixed mushrooms and crumbled goat cheese.

But it didn't stop me from splurging last night :)

Happy Mother's Day to my awesome mom!

Paresseuse

Hi everyone!

Well, it's the happiest morning of my week - the day I get to sleep in till 7:30 or so. Yes, that is sleeping in for me. I love it! 

The weather's not great this morning though. But guess what - it's clearing up! So instead of being lazy this morning, here's my to-do list before go enjoy the near future sunshine:

-Laundry

-Bills & Budget

-Vacuum (there's sand everywhere, it gets stuck in my shorts when I play Beach V-ball)

I already ate breakfast, looked at my inventories and cleaned my kitchen, and it's only 10 AM. Not bad. If I finish everything else by 1300 hours, I might go tan or something if it looks better out there... or maybe buy food, the fridge is empty. Hmmmm... buy food, or get skin cancer.... I have to decide which one is more appealing. I'll get back to you on that.

Other than that, nothing too exciting... volleyball's scheduled to start at 2:30 tomorrow, so I'm excited for that... tomorrow is Mother's Day and in case I don't post tomorrow, I'd like to wish a very happy day to all you wonderful moms out there! It's also my StepMom's birthday tomorrow, so I'd like to wish her a happy birthday! (Mother's Day in France is in June I found out). As to my wonderful mom, she is off to a fun 9 day trip on the East Coast... I hope you have a blast! I'm so glad to have her as my mom, because she rocks and I miss her so much! Sorry I couldn't see you this year... we'll have a mother-daughter day next month when I come over, I promise. I also would like to wish a happy Mother's day to my future mom-in law, who is one of the most caring individuals I know and I know she sees me as one of her daughters... Happy Mom's Day!

Also I'd like to give a shout out to... me, because I worked out 45-60 minutes everyday this week, and lost 2 pounds in doing so! I can do this! Woo-hoo!

Today I'm grateful that it's the weekend, which means free minutes on my phone... lol. Seriously, this is killing me. I get about 4 hours a month, and last night I was having the best conversation with my sweetie, but being the cheapo that I am, after 40 minutes, I said "holy cow honey, it's been 40 minutes... do you mind if I call you back after 9?" Sigh. Long distance sucks. I miss you hun... and hope that I can see you before next month.

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend.

Cheering for Dick

I apologize for the teaser of my title... but I'll talk about that in just a bit.

Today, I had the privilege to work from home... today they decided to replace the carpet in the office after the flood (finally!). The office has been so stinky anyway that we wanted to prove a point - that we just can't work under these conditions, so we all worked from home. It was... really interesting! I am at my laptop all morning, went to the dentist at 11 AM, had a steamed artichoke with home made vinaigrette and sweet potato pancakes for lunch... all while enjoying a bright apartment and an ocean view and working most of the morning in my PJ's. I could deal with this :). I missed the office interaction though, everyone at work just cracks me up.

I'm grateful and proud of myself because I rollerbladed for about 30 minutes today and 45 minutes yesterday. I'm really trying to be good again so that I can be ready for bikini weather!

Last night I watched "City of Ember," which I thought was pretty creative. If you want to see a fat Bill Murray, and find out why he's on the chunky side... and want a little fun and adventure and creativity... I recommend it.

So, Sunday night's dinner was pretty fun! I had really spicy Malaysian food... and good company. There were 12 of us total, at a round table with a lazy Susan and shared some seafood curry, seafood crispy noodles, chicken curry, spicy crab, spicy beef, and other spicy stuff... and what looked like a Japanese Tiramisu, but it was more of a sponge cake. Here's a picture of some of my volleyball buddies:

Now, when Frenchies are about to drink, lift up their glass and say "Cheers," we say "Tchin Tchin." Well, everyone's asking me to speak French, as they drink their sake and beer and I sip my ice water. They say Cheers and I say "Tchin Tchin". Being with a lot of Asians, it turns out that means (or at least sounds very similar to) "penis" in Japanese (or was it Chinese?). So yeah. My whole life I've been cheering for Dicks.

Good night everybody!

Une chenille dans mon poivron?

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I hope you all had a great day. It's been a pretty good week! It's the slow(er) week at work, so I was able to work on projects I've been putting off for a little while... so there's a good feeling.

I had a really fun weekend. Too short, though.

It all started on Saturday when I went to NY&Co to buy a really cute pair of shorts and a great pair of pants, for $30 total. I heart good deals! But I know you don't care. So I'll move on.

Saturday night I drove to Orange County to see my cousins André, Pegah, Mesia, Matt & Seneca, my uncles and aunts, and we had a wonderful dinner at André and Pegah's, who have one of the most beautifully decorated homes I've ever seen. It was wonderful to see everyone again and meet Matt's side of the family. We were all in town for Seneca's baby blessing, and she truly is a blessing! I am so happy for you Matt & Mesia for having found such a beautiful little girl and that all the adoption papers went through.

I ended up sleeping over (not planned, I had no clothes for church the next day, and made a huge taboulleh for the potluck Sunday that sat in my fridge), but I did anyway because I knew Pegah would have a sassy outfit she would let me wear the next day :)

After Seneca's blessing and the potluck, we went back to the house, chatted a bit, and they packed a picnic for the beach as I drove home and ended up playing beach volleyball with my new shorts. It was fun! I also went out to dinner with them, there were 8 of us. The guy sitting across from me, a graphic designer (so I assumed would be into video games) shook my hand... because he was impressed that I would still pay Counter-Strike Source. We talked for 20 minutes straight on how gungame deathmatch is awesome, and I tried out my very limited WoW lingo. It was a very geeky conversation. Very fun, though.

That's about it! Not many pictures from the weekend except this one of Pegah and I, but I'm sure Matt & Mesia will post some on their blog.

Oh, and if you wondered what the caterpillar in the bell pepper means... I made a ratatouille last night, and as I cut my Trader Joe's green bell pepper in half, a green worm with legs was inhabiting it. I called Mom. "Mom, do I throw the other bell pepper that was touching it away?" No, you'll be fine." It was a good ratatouille though... and had to show pictures to my co-workers to find out it was a caterpillar. A green worm with legs? Close enough.

Today I'm grateful to have finished a bigger project at work... and still have time to finally take my car for an oil change. I'm also proud that I worked out when I got home after that :)

Good night!

Bum on Fire

I love eventful days, don't you?

Had one of the best days this month.

*I had a great hair day
*I put on a cute business outfit
*I was smiling on the way to work
*Heard "Right Round" By Flo Rider Ft. whoever, and it's a song I love to crunch my core with in the car
*Got to work, found out that we got our bonuses from last year - and I didn't think I'd get anything cuz a) hard times and b) I was only there for a month. I did get something I thought hey, maybe enough for a gourmet sandwich - but it was more than that. Yeah, made my day.
*Got some work done... and finished a project I wanted to do today... I love the satisfying feeling of accomplishment!

Then I got home, it was a beautiful late afternoon, did my core workout for 45 minutes, burned some calories, then turned on the oven for a scrumptious salmon dinner I was going to make, so I started preheating the oven. By the way, try this: Salmon with dijon mustard spread on top and lemon cut in thin rounds. It's delicious! (I like whole grain mustard better, personally). Preheat to 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes if frozen. You're welcome.

Well, I didn't get my salmon. In fact, my bum - and much more important things for that matter, like, you know, my belongings, and my life, almost got on fire. Yep, my oven caught on fire.

Luckily the smoke detector started beeping, I ran toward the oven, the dutch oven on top of the stove (which wasn't on by the way) had black smoke coming out of it. I thought, "Did I accidently turn the stove on intead of the oven?" Well no, I opened the oven... and flames are coming out of the rectangular holes by the oven door. What do I do? I turn off the oven, open the front door, windows... the flame finally went away but it took about 90 seconds. That was a long 90 seconds. Meanwhile, my legs are shaking and I call the maintenance lady on site and left a message. She came over 20 minutes later, was scared for me, and looked at what was up. She's really great by the way, you could tell she cares. She looked at the oven and under the oven (where some people put cookie sheets and stuff). Well, my muffin pan was in there, with a piece of what looked like burnt paper on top (ashes by now), and we determined that was probably it.

Hold on... phone call...

Ok, that was the maintenance lady that called, wondering if I tried turning the oven back on again and if everything was ok. I haven't turned it back on but the stove's going with black beans right now. I'll try my salmon tomorrow... and make sure the place doesn't burn down.

So anyhoo, I started cleaning since it looked like this:


And the oven's fine. I grab the sponge to get rid of the black on the stove, but realize I didn't want to use the same sponge I clean the countertops with. Why don't I use the older sponge I used to clean the oven with the other day? Where did I put it... oh yeah that's right, under the....

Oh, Sh*t.

I guess sponges aren't flameproof...

Babord ou Tribord?

The weekend is coming to an end... but it's been a good one!

The Queen Mary, in Long Beach, was doing a free admission special for SoCal residents, today being the last day. I thought I'd check it out since it normally costs $20+ and it's only about 15 miles from my place. It was... well, a giant boat. Here, see for yourself:


And I'm glad I went, because I wasn't too into it... it smelled like wet wood the whole time and felt like... being on a big boat. Why am I glad I went? Because if I had actually spent money on this I would be a little dissapointed. Now I don't have to go back or tell family and friends that it's a "must see." I stood in line for 20 minutes, and when I got out there was a line, I kid you not, probably .75 miles long. Again, aren't we in a recession? LoL.

The parking was the fun part. Being the cheapo that I am, I wanted the best bang for my buck and knew there was a free bus from downtown, and I found a $3 spot for 2 hours. Allrighty!

Here are a few pictures from today:

View from the boat, Downtown Long Beach

Russian Submarine (that one was $10... too claustrophobic to go...)

Oh yeah, it's a hotel too... I'd rather go on a cruise!

Captain's stateroom...

And then what was probably the highlight of my day: I saw an Irish store with lots of imported foods from Ireland and England. I grabbed a "Lion" bar. Haven't had those in over 10 years:

That's about it for today! Went to the beach to find my volleyball buddies, but they weren't there. I texted Leo and he said most people were out of town and we'd do it next week. I just got an email too for a BBQ this Saturday with the team. Sounds awesome!

Otherwise I walked on the beach for about an hour, and the rest has been fairly lazy. Oh, except that I did laundry.

Today I'm grateful that even though I got lost (stupid google maps directions) getting back home, I still found my way - just because I found Pacific Coast Highway. Once I'm on PCH, I know exactly where to go! See mom? I'm doing fine without a GPS or iPhone...

I wish everyone a great week!

Un Peu De Paris Dans Ma Chambre

It was about time I started doing my Paris collage and started hanging a few things.

Today was very productive I have to say. I went for a walk, bought $7 worth of Macarons (the French ones, not the coconut macaroons), watched "Big Fish," went to Target to buy SuperGlue and vaccuum bags, went to Pier one to return a piece of furniture, went to Michael's to try to find art to put in my dining room - something that represents food - and I've yet to find my bonheur. I then went grocery shopping, got home, ate some California rolls, got a 1 hour massage, put my Paris collage together and hung other items. The aparment is feeling more "homy," little by little. Wow, after reading this sentence again, the word HOMY looks like HORNY. That's kinda funny. Sorry if I confused anyone...

Got some updated pictures for you:

Hung paintings and got a side table

Found a place for my plant

I love candles... even above the loo

More candles in the bedroom

My Paris collage up close:

And what it looks like above my bed.
It would look way cooler if I had a bed frame...
and cooler bed sheets...
but it's a start.

So that's my day! Today I'm grateful that I get a little Paris in my bedroom, and I had a huge smile on my face after I hung everything. It's a good feeling to accomplish things that will make your living environment more pleasant. Sometimes the ocean view just isn't enough :)

My interesting thought of the day - as I hung the Paris frames, I saw the very first spider in this apartment. Not that I'm scared, but I wanted to kill it - so I hopped on the bed, took a paper towel up to it... and thought I had smashed it... but no, as I took the paper towel off it fell to the ground and started running, so I screamed really loudly. I caught it in time though... and the apartment is now spider-free. Or, so I think.... I wonder where the little bugger came from?

I hope everyone's having a great weekend, I'd like to give a shout-out to my sweetie who became an uncle a few days ago, and who will come see me hopefully very soon. I'd also like to give a shout-out to the non-dairy "Tofutti" cream cheese I bought today, because hey, it doesn't taste that bad!

What made your day/weekend? A bientot...

Promis: Les Photos!

Happy Sunday!

Well, what a fun day today. As promised, I'm posting pictures of my apartment!!

First, I just want to say... that I went to Whole Foods this morning and forgot how heavenly this store is. They had so many yummy things and I just wanted to try them all... they have a sushi bar, this one had a whole wall of ready Asian hot foods, paninis, gelatos, breakfast buffets... holy crap. Good thing I've got self control, since it's the last day of the fruit flush - and I need to be good. My self-control is what I'm grateful for today :). The store is neat and clean... much better than Sprouts, where I've been going... and full of organic goodness. Given, it's a little more expensive... but that just means I need to be extra careful, and dang it, I want to take care of my body.

Not much else going on today, it poured rain this morning as I went to the store, and now it's cleared up and the sun's rays are warming up my living room couch, where I'm typing this... it feels nice. Maybe I'll go on a nice little walk later.

So here are the pictures of my apartment, as of yesterday, Saturday 2/7, after 7 weeks of moving in:

Kitchen (counter space as maximized as I could make it):

Bathroom (going with a beach theme, lots of white, sand and ocean colors):

My bedroom with the new furniture & bed:

Living room with new coffee table:

And that's about it for today! It's starting to look decent... although I still need more (bedside table(s), lamp for the living room).

Another thing at Whole Foods - I was actually looking in the wine section, something I've never done (I don't drink) to try and find a bottle of Marsala wine. There's this fun Chicken Marsala recipe that I'd like to try and although I could probably use 2 Buck Chuck, it says going for the Marsala is totally worth it (although, would I really know the difference?). Is Marsala considered a cooking wine and maybe I was supposed to look in the cooking aisle? How expensive is a bottle of Marsala? Is Marsala a name of wine like Merlot, Chardonnay, etc? Can I just buy 1.5 cups of Marsala? LoL. Thanks in advance for the advice. By the way Mom - Costco has a TON of organic wines.

My feel-good thought of the day: I'm all caught up on my bills and got my work laptop to work with my wireless connection last night - for the first time. I may be able to work from home from time to time now! Maybe President's day? I'll run it by boss lady :).