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!

La Vie Est Belle

Bonsoir bonsoir,

It's getting late and I will be going to bed soon... it's definitely been an interesting week. Even after working 50-52 hours I still haven't gotten everything done at work... we are so busy! Great thing, the economy is recovering. But man, have I been exhausted this week! No energy to cook or anything. Let's see, this week's recap...

Tuesday night, saw "Un Prophete" ("A prophet") a very good French movie. It was a special screening at Sony Studios in Culver City (that place is huge!) in a tiny theater that seats perhaps 30 people comfortably in black leather seats. It doesn't officially come out until the end of February but I recommend it. Lots of violence thought, be ready for it. After the movie I went to an Indonesian place, apparently a food joint that most UCLA students love to go to. I had myself some delicious chicken lime soup and browsed their grocery stores with lots of good stuff. I even found an Indonesian version of French chocolate cookie thingy's - "Prince". Remember them? So tempted to buy... but I'm trying to be good.

Speaking of being good, I'm proud to say that I've lost 7 pounds since I got back from Salt Lake... simply by cutting my calories a bit and doing 100 sit-ups every morning. Hurray! Now, back to the week in review...

Wednesday I saw the doctor about my knee and another kind of pain. Again, just take it easy, but since it's been two months now why don't you get an x-ray to make sure nothing's broken. She can give me a cortizone shot or take advil to ease the pain. "Will it help me heal faster?" "No, but alleviate the pain" Well, I don't care, I can tolerate the pain even though it's a real pain in the buttocks (or in the knee, rather). If it won't let me heal, I'm not putting unnecessary drugs in my body. She suggests physical therapy since I like to keep active and right now the knee's preventing me from doing that. Oh, and you need to get an ultrasound for your other kind of pain you're having. Greaaaaat.

Friday: had my first on-property strategy meeting, which went well, although went way longer than it should have because the GM has a short attention span (he admitted himself), but they're always glad to see me and keep saying they love what I do... so that's a good self-esteem boost. The rest of the day there was so much I planned to do at work but didn't get to do because, you guessed it, other stuff came up. That always seems to happen, doesn't it?

Today was fairly relaxing, drove by an open house and decided to go in, because that's my hobby. The house was up for 2 million. You know, I thought, if it were 1.7, 1.8 million, I would've put in an offer... but 2 million was just a little off budget. :) Now, I hate lying. It doesn't feel good, and I'm horrible at it, so I don't lie. Worst case scenario, I just don't tell the whole truth... "What kind of price range are you looking for?" "Um, well, really more like under a million." (That's not lying, right?) and the questions continued... the agent really wanted to find a house that's ideal for me.... really nice lady, and she actually gave me some really nice tips, advice, and overall know-how on what to expect when I'm ready to buy a home, after she got the hinch that I'm really looking for a cheap-o house. Not that I'm looking to buy here or now anyway, I just love visiting homes. I love getting ideas on architecture, tiles, paint, molding, decorations, landscaping, etc... and if it's got a Mediterranean look and has charm, you've won me over. Nice lady. Hate lying, though.

Next I went to KP to get my ultrasound... I ran across the road by PCH to avoid a cop giving me a ticket for jaywalking (I guess they're pretty strict here), and running wasn't the best for my knee of course... why do I keep doing that?? Right after the ultrasound I got my knee x-rayed. then I stopped at Whole Foods, got my vegan food for the week and indulged in a slice of pepperoni pizza and orange chicken for my linner. At 8PM, my friend calls me as I'm in the middle of my TBS movie "Hey, we're heading to that Mexican place for margaritas, wanna join?" "Sure!" "Ok, we can pick you up. We're actually right around the corner." Lol. I got ready in 3 minutes and off we went. Of course, margaritas for them (3 of them) and coke for me. Chips and salsa too. More fun than not doing anything, right?

Tomorrow's laundry and other boring crap. No volleyball - it's actually supposed to rain the next 5 days, that's nuts!! Should've taken advantage of walking on the beach today or something.

Monday I'll be working from home and hopefully get all my projects done. I've been feeling rather happy lately. Not sure why. I mean, I could be miss pessimist and think, "Great, I'm 25 years old, my knees are giving out on me, I have pain like a 50 year old and other crap happening to me". And I did think that way briefly. But you know what? I'm lucky. I have a great life. I have tons of people in my life that I love and love me for who I am. I have a great career right now, live in a great location, have great friends, am in love with the man of my dreams, my parents would do almost anything to help me if I need it, life is good. When you think of the tragedy of the Haiti quake, we have a lot to be thankful for. And please, I encourage donating to help them out. Texting was easy and felt great!

And also, life is short. I'm living it up. I'm going out with friends and discovering LA County without spending a fortune. I'm going to Vegas in 2 weeks with my buddies (nothing too crazy), will spend a lovely weekend with Babe for Valentine's, the next weekend in Palm Springs with M&B, Mom's coming back in April to Orange County, $teve is planning to visit SoCal in April/May too... the next quarter is all planned out! LoL.

I wish you all a fantastic holiday weekend!!

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!

J moins 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now, this week!

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

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

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

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

Sapin Coloré

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

C'est bientot Noel...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good night everybody! Have a fantastic week. 

Joyeux MerciDonner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From February 28th, 2009:

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

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

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

Sounds perfect. Except for one thing...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joyeux Anniversaire Megan

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

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

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

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

Have a great night, until next time...

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!

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!

Best things

Best things today:

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

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

*Drove home listening to my favorite song

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

Happy Tuesday!

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!

Café Marmalade

Busy day today:

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

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

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

Later, Gator.

The Art of Doing Nothing

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Les Vacances...

Jamie: "Beach, septic tank. Beach.... septic tank... hmmmmm... why would you come to Utah on vacation?"

LoL. Well, I am indeed in Salt Lake... for a vacation. "But you live in a vacation," said 2 or 3 people yesterday. "Well, sometimes I need a vacation from the vacation."

:)

Well, it's been a great week so far. My brother came to Cali Wednesday night, Thursday I worked and he walked around the neighborhood and beach (the sun didn't make an appearance once), and Friday we went to the Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade, which was a lot of fun. We had a late lunch at "Monsieur Marcel" and it was delicous - and very French. We just had a charcuterie & cheese plate - and a delicous tartin tatin with ice cream for dessert. Yum - or should I say "Miam."

I even found an H&M - and bought a really cute leopard print bikini. When you live at the beach, 2 swimsuits aren't enough... and we walked around shops and stuff. My brother likes to shop so it was actually fun.

Saturday, drove up to Salt Lake... left around 8:40 (9:00 if you don't count the stop for gas) and arrived at 8pm. We made great time! 10 hours and about 4 stops. Probably because my bro was driving. I swear I closed my eyes after we passed Baker and 30 minutes later I could see the Vegas skyline. After I got home and freshened up, I went to see my sweetie... for the first time in 6 weeks. It was great. Sunday we hung out basically all day and saw a movie, and it was actually really good.

Guru: "What should we see?"
Me: "I was thinking T4... or Star Trek"
G: "You've never seen the Star Trek original series though... let me ask someone that's seen it if they think it's ok"
M: "Do I need to? Can't you just brief me on it?"
G: Well, I could... ok, let's see what you need to know..."
M: "Here's a question: is this happening in the future?"
G: "OMG..." (unstoppable laughter) "Ok, maybe T4"
And the clerk says that she saw it, loved it and was able to understand it even without seeing the original movies. So we go see. Guru briefs me first on Star Fleet Academy, the space Federation, Spock's control of emotions... and the movie was GREAT! They explained it well in the beginning, too. "I might even start watching old Star Trek movies," I say. That is, only if the special effects were that good... which I know they're not.

So it was a great day. We had chicken on the BBQ and ratatouille for dinner, and that was Sunday. Monday I brought my car to the dealership for service, besides needing new brake pads it's in fine shape (woo-hoo!), took Roxy on a walk to wheeler farm, I ran 7 minutes, and on the way back Roxy had to stop and rest - she was exhausted, the poor thing. I actually carried her for about 5-10 minutes (she was probably thirsty too, it was a warm day), then she was fine again. I then got Guru from class, went to dinner and hung out.

Yesterday I went to my old work around 11:15 to see former co-workers, had lunch at the Chubby Toad with $teve and The Mad Scientist, and ended up hanging around for 3 hours before leaving to get Guru from class. We then went to the Gateway, came back home, then I was going to play Petanque at Liberty Park - but a crappy rainstorm ruined it, so we went to Gourmandise, my uncle's bakery instead.

Today, I'm having lunch at Gourmandise with my mom and my aunt, then getting highlights!!! So excited. I think that sun-kissed caramel streaks in my hair will go just perfectly with a California tan. Pictures maybe on the next post...

Today I'm grateful that Salt Lake doesn't really smell like a septic tank. Have a great day!

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!!