Tout Va Tres Bien, Mada-meu la Marqui-seu

It's a typical Tuesday night, I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like...

Wait, what?

It's Monday!

The start of another week. But a week can't start until I tell you about my weekend:

Friday night: really nothing, except that I got an email from my doctor saying that my knee x-ray came out normal. So all's well, I'll just keep letting it heal slowly but surely, and will try physical therapy. Rather good news to start the weekend, don't ya think?

Saturday - errands, walk on the beach (5 day storm made a new 5ft cliff down there), went to friend's house for dinner (Malaysian curried noodles - oh so so good), poker and Apples to Apples.

Sunday - Beach volleyball (I actually played this time! I stayed by the net as the setter, didn't move more than a step... and I have to say, my knee does not feel any worse at all). I then went out to dinner to have Pho, and saw "The Book of Eli" with a couple of friends. Very good movie! I don't want to spoil it... but in a way, at the end you feel like "The Sixth Sense" where you go "Oh, that makes sense and I want to go watch the movie again to confirm it!"

Anyhoo, I've said too much. Really good movie though.

Yesterday and the night before, while watching some TV, I started doing bicep curls, triceps exercises, and shoulder exercises with these 5 LB weights I have. I love doing it in front of the TV! It's brainless! Except for one thing. After only 2 days of working those arms, at work today, in the middle of my meeting, I put my elbow down on the table and rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriip! Shirt rips by the elbow. They all thought I was going to turn into the Incredible Hulk. My complexion has been rather green lately... :)

So this weekend I should be going to Vegas, baby! That's right! Vegas with the Volleyball peeps. They want to party and dance, and I'll just go to the all-you-can eat restaurants! Lol. Who knows. I'll keep you posted and post some pictures!

Today I'm grateful that I had a great day at work, left at a decent time, and have been on Windows Live talking to my sweetie for 3 hours. Saves my cell phone minutes :)

Good night everybody!

Cartes de Visite

Oh, another thing to add to my New Year's resolutions:

Not a biggie, just more for a fun factor:

Collect business card from every single place to eat I visit. That way I'll keep them and look back someday at my California years. Again, I'm not staying here forever, and I'm all about souvenirs... and I can reminisce about how much I used to go out to eat and why I like food so much. I'm grateful to have discovered so many places last year... may this year be just as great.

That's all, folks! Hope you're having a great day!

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!

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...

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!

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!

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!

Yes, White Bread Contains Wheat Too

So I just wanted to say hello on this fabulous Saturday morning.

Last night I was going for a run, but ended up playing volleyball (very poorly I might add) for about 90 minutes. Went to bed at 11pm, woke up at 6:55... and felt refreshed, although I was awakened by my room shaking. I think there's a homeless person living above me who periodically jumps up and down for fun. Great.

So far today I've talked to my sweetie on the phone, watched some funny videos from collegehumor.com, watched half of "National Lampoon's European Vacation," made a delicious zucchini, bacon and avocado omelet (protein overload) and seen what my friends are up to on Facebook.

So today, my to-do list:

-Go to an AT&T store and see about getting my own plan (still on a family plan at home), see if I can get a great deal on a snazzy new phone while I'm at it because mine is over 2 years old

-Walk to Von's for some groceries (organic summer berries on sale! Yum!!)

-75 degrees today and the marine layer's gone, I'm going to get some sun and show off my new bikini

-Clean the apartment a bit

-The rest is free time. There's a festival at the Hollywood Riviera today and tomorrow. It won't be as fun alone, but I might check it out.

Today I'm grateful that I get a day off. Today, for my well-being I shall walk and breathe beach air. Here's to a great weekend :)

Au Revoir Les Stars & Arrete

Well, you may all know by now that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson are gone... that's too bad. I'll listen to "Thriller" for old times' sake. If you see my mom, ask her about how my French is so bad that I told her that a fishbone got in MJ's heart. "Arrete cardiaque!"

Pssss, Psssss.....

Well, it's been a pretty good week - I'm able to catch up on work as there's not much going on right now. I've been doing good on my declaration of well-being. I did 45 minutes of strenuous ab exercises yesterday and 5 minutes abs + 40 minutes cardio today. I also ate a delicious dinner of baked halibut and ratatouille. Healthy AND delicious? Yes, the combo exists. And I feel great.

Right now, just listening to some bootyshaker songs. Last night I watched "My Fake Fiance" with Melissa Joan Hart & Joey Lawrence. Why you ask? I wonder that myself. I've seen stupider, but this just topped it. Sigh. I'm lonely though and need a good romantic chick flick once in a while, no matter how cheesy.

The office smells semi-terrible still from the drain leak, but once you're in it you get used to it. Then you get up to go to the restrooms, come back 5 minutes later and it smells terrible. I should never leave. Ha!

Today I'm grateful that I got home in under 30 minutes. And that I made my mom laugh so hard today. And that I have a goal and I'm sticking to it.

Have an absolutely perfect evening.

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!

Et un Autre...

Yes, we had another earthquake today. I thought it was the huge cooler coming on! No biggie, just a 4.2 magnitude and it lasted about 3-5 seconds and there was light shaking. It originated only about 5 miles east of work though...

Sigh... why did I come to Cali again? Oh yeah, the beach, a great job opportunity, sunny weather. Ok, good. Just had to remind myself for a second :)

Today I'm grateful I get to watch the American Idol Finale! And that lunch at work was actually decent, it was chicken with a tomatillo sauce. Yum!

Well, not much else to say. I'm getting really excited for Memorial Day weekend and my week long vacation in Salt Lake... The only thing planned for this weekend is Beach V-ball all day, starting at 10AM on Sunday, followed by a BBQ with my buddies. Will be oh-so-fun! And I'm excited to see family and friends in... less than 2 weeks now!

Till next time, Ciao.

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!