Quiche, taxes & flowers

Hello everyone!

Just chillin' here in my apartment this calm Saturday night. What a gorgeous day - it reached 82 degrees today, and it was only about 64 yesterday... awesome!

I took Friday off of work, Mom, SD & Grand-Mere arrived around noon from the Inland Empire, we went to Manhattan Beach to walk around, visited the aquarium on the pier, tried a "rassi" chocolate croissant from Starbucks, and enjoyed the sunshine. We then went to Hermosa Beach and enjoyed walking in the sand, and I decided to take a drive in the Rancho Palos Verdes/Rolling Hills Estates area to see what the beach looks like from up there. It's quite a hill! I think that's where most of the rich people live who work in L.A. I saw some gorgeous homes! Here are some pictures from the view from the hill:

I bought some flowers to bring oxygen, beauty and fragrance to the apartment:

I love lavender!! It's the Provencal in me...

Saturday we had breakfast at "Creme De La Crepe," such a cute little French place with yummy food. So now, family is gone, Babe is gone, my brother's not coming next week... so it'll be just me again for... who knows, at least a month, either/and when Babe will come back, my brother comes to spend a week on the beach, when $teve comes to visit early April.

Well, I've got a few projects until then.

I bought some cool yet simple photo frames from Target today, and Mom brought over my 2007 Paris Calendar with lots of awesome black and white Paris pictures on there - I'm going to make a Paris collage in my bedroom. It's about time I put some art on the wall...

I would also love to have a piece of art above my couch. I saw a really cool canvas in an art store close to my house, but it's $700. I'll find something at Ikea... or maybe take a high res picture of the beach in my 'hood and have it blown up for $20? Sounds like a plan. I need the inner photographer in me to come out... or maybe just talk The Mad Scientist into coming over to take a gorgeous picture for me :)

So I've been doing a lot of thinking this week. I don't know how well everyone knows me, but basically I'm the kind of person whom if I don't have the next 5 years of my life planned out, then I feel lost. Well, just like for everyone, life throws you a curveball once in a while. Which means I have to re-plan my life, LoL. Well, when I got the job here, I imagined every different scenario that could have happened... be here forever, a year or two, eventually go to Newport Beach, raise a family in Orange County... Although I didn't have a set plan, I was surprisingly ok, because this is something I wanted to try out. If it didn't work out, then I'd come back to Utah, but at least I would've lived my Californian dream for a little while, and that's the satisfaction I wanted.

I've discovered... that whether I spend the rest of my life here or in Utah, I'd be happy. But with certain circumstances and realizations, I'm leaning towards Utah. Here are a few reasons why:

* Babe's going back to school in Utah for free. We're getting married (we're getting married!!), and if he can continue to go for free, then I totally support that and want to be there for him.

*HOW IS THERE STILL TRAFFIC IN CALI AT 6:20 PM????

*I love the beach. But as Boss Lady P would say, "Cancer is not sexy." Good point.

*With that said, I love the beach so much - but also because it's something I only get to see while on vacation. If I'm working 10-12 hour days, I don't see it. What's the point?

*I've actually gotten sick of the beach. WHAT?!?!? That's right. I get headaches if I stay in the sun too long and want to do nothing but sit on the couch for the next 2-3 hours. And I hate being a couch potato.

*Pollution. the beach is pretty, but that smog across the ocean... isn't very appealing to my sight or lungs.

*Cost of living is way too high. I can afford my apartment, but have barely enough money set aside for that downpayment on a house I'd like someday.

*Babe and I plan to be parents someday. Nothing thrills me more than the joy of knowing that I will be a mom at some point :). I would rather raise my children in Utah than L.A. Plus, grandparents would be in Utah (except mon Papa adoré, tear), and I would like them to see the grandkids as often as possible. Not just for baby-sitting favors. Family is important to me, and I want them to have a close connection. It's the Fritalian in me :)

*I never thought I'd say this... my I like my little city of Salt Lake. I'm not a mountain/ski person, yet I love the mountain landscape. People are friendly. Vegas is a 6 hr drive away. Cali only a 10 hr drive away. SLC-CDG just started last June with delta. I'm set :)

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, aside from the apocalypse, I love my plan.... and it's way too detailed and of course, in another 6 months another curveball will be thrown at me and everything will change again... but it's okay. Everything will work out anyway. Considering I love planning, if I have to re-plan my life in 6 months, I'm okay, it's kinda boring here by myself anyway... plenty of time for that. Ooh, and although I have a year and a half, I have a wedding to plan... sometime. How fun! I've been watching "Whose wedding is it anyway," and although I'm not going to have a $40k wedding (which believe me, I have no problem with that), I'm getting some fun ideas... and with my frugal abilities... it'll just be the best darn $2k wedding ever :)

Oh, before I forget, today I'm grateful that I spent an awesome day with my parents. I love company. What made me LoL today was an old angry guy with a pipe in his mouth in a small car yelling at the guy in front of him because he didn't see the green arrow to turn left. You really think he's going to hear you? Just honk nicely! Wow. It just looked like it was straight out of a cartoon. Ah, older people. Gotta love' em.

That's enough for tonight... Hope you were entertained, if not, then I'm sorry. I'll go back to talking about food and diets and work in my next post. Have a great Saturday night!!

Zee Best Weekend... Ever

Wow, it's been a while.

So I last left you on the night of Friday the 13th. After I wrote my blog, I just watched TV. Around 8:30 or 9pm, I get a call. It's my sweetie!

Me: Hey babe, how's it going? It sounds like you're outside...
BF: Yeah, just going for a walk...
Me: What's that sound in the background?
BF: Oh, that's just people passing by in a car
Me: Um, babe, it kinda sounds like you're at an airport... omg, are you at the Salt Lake airport?
BF: No... well, I'm actually at the Long Beach Airport
Me: WHAT?!?!?

So I go get him. I couldn't believe it, he said there's no way he'd get on a plane before Sunday. He surprised me, the sneaky boyfriend!!

He really wanted to be here for Valentine's. What a sweetie... and Valentine's turned out to be probably the best day of my life. We grabbed a jamba juice, walked on the beach and did other Valentine's Day things... so much fun. I was so happy to see him. Ditto for him. It had been about a month...

Since I didn't know he'd be here for valentine's, I didn't make any dinner reservations. We walked by a few places, most were sold out. We decided to just go to Buca di Beppo since it's close to my house. We had a lovely dinner of penne pasta, artichokes, sundried tomatoes and chicken, and a tiramisu heavy of the rum for dessert. After dessert, BF puts a small box in front of me...

Me: "For me? Do I open it now?"
BF: "Of course!"
Me: open, see a big beautiful ring, gasp silently.. "Is there something you want to ask me?"
BF: "Um, yeah.... will you marry me?"
Me: "Of course!" I get up, kiss him, shed a small tear of joy.

We go back home. At the restaurant, we had a tiny table right by the kitchen, so probably didn't want to get down on one knee... so he did it at home to put the ring on... it's beautiful.

BF is now the fiancé, and I couldn't be happier to confirm that I'll spend the rest of my life with the man I've loved for the past 7+ years...

He stayed the week, and it was really great. We cooked together, took walks on the beach, had great conversation, had fun just hanging out. I can't wait to get married... although we've decided on Summer 2010. Plenty of time for me to plan!

He, however, will stay in Utah as he got the opportunity to go back to school for free and should be starting this summer. I'm so happy for him. In a time when it's hard to find a job, why not get an education instead so that when we come out of this recession he will have an advantage with a degree.

Of course, this means that I'll spend the next 18 months probably living alone here in SoCal, and am thinking about going back to Utah in the spring next year. Who knows! I'll survive.

It's now lonely here again, and I'm adjusting. My parents are in Palm Springs for the week though and will come visit me all day Friday and spend the night before they drive back home. Hurray! I'll have Friday off - well appreciated after yet another stressful week at work.

And now, I leave you with a picture most of you probably wanted to see.... Have a great night!

De La Folie!

So excited it's Friday...

I basically didn't want to jinx it yesterday, but Friday the 13th is usually a lucky day for me.

Today, work was... slightly stressful, very busy, and extremely eventful.

What happened today:

Twice today Boss Lady M told me good job on something I took the initiative to do.

Something got screwed up because a certain someone changed something in one system and not the other, nothing I could really do, let's just say that work on Tuesday is going to be an interesting day for me, perhaps a nightmare for others.

I've got awesome coworkers who helped me through this busy day today. We also had really good laughs. I heart my coworkers!

Today was officially the first day these past few weeks where my life made sense again, that work is hard but I'm gettingoing through it, I'm noticing things and pointing them out, I'm asking questions, things are working out again - and my thirst for knowledge keeps growing. What an awesome feeling.

I left work at 5 in the middle of what would usually be rush hour, yet it only took me 30 minutes to get home. I was smiling the whole time.

Since it rained most of the day today, It got dark early, and knew I couldn't get home in time to walk to the beach... so took a scenic drive home along the beach, and took a few pictures for the one day photo project, which I shall post soon. What a peaceful end to a busy day.

BF and I had a two hour conversation last night, and he reminded me what a talented, smart, caring person he thinks I am. That + my mom's email the other day just brought a big, huge smile on my face. I love you guys!!

So, I'm still in Cali if you're wondering... because BF just might get here... although not in time for V-day, but at least in a few days, and will probably stay for a week. I'm uber excited. Older Bro is in San Diego this weekend, maybe I'll give him a call if BF doesn't arrive tomorrow and we'll hang out in Orange County or something...

Happy Valentine's Day, be sure to tell those you love that you love them and care about them and will always be there for them. Don't just say it though, mean it and do it :) Thanks for being such awesome friends and family!!

Voyage gratos? Count me in!

Hey everybody,

Well, work was a little less stressful today, especially after my depressing meeting was over. I got home and got surprised by the two last things I was waiting for to be a true Californian: my checks and my Delta Amex card. Skymiles, here I come! Can't wait to get a free flight... because I was looking to perhaps go to Salt Lake this weekend, but it's a big ski weekend with president's day... and the first price that popped up LAX-SLC was $1100 and I almost pooped myself... but then found a reasonable $227 round-trip, but it would make me get back Tuesday, which is too important of a day at work to miss... so I think I'll just stay. I'll see. If I do fly over, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Otherwise, nothing too exciting, except that I get to cook tonight again - "Unstuffed peppers" which is basically a lot of bell peppers and ground turkey (except that I'll do ground beef instead). It'll be awesome! Oh, and I guess we might get new toilets in our apartments... whatever, the one I have is fine, but if my neighbors can have more flushing power, then more power to them.

That's really it for today... I'm grateful that I won't have to spend as much time on the laptop Saturday since it won't be as busy as I thought... and I get my stand/hand mixer (5 year anniversary gift) on Tuesday!

Tomorrow's Friday the 13th, which can only mean one thing... absolutely nothing. Actually, it's the One Day Photo Project again, so I'll see what I can take pics of... maybe me freaking out at work?!?! LoL. Have a great night... and happy Friday the 13th...

Un Peu de Philosophie

Hey all,

Well, as I try and relax after my most stressed out day of the year, I thought of something I learned back in college. For once, a class where I'm thinking about AND using the material. The problem is, I forgot what the process is called.

This class was taught at the U as part of my Biz Management major called "Leadership in Organization: Power, Persuation and something else." Well, I truly enjoyed that class - but only because it was mostly a lot of philosophy and the professor gave us real scenarios where we'd apply what we've discussed and studied. One of my best college experiences.

Why was I stressed out today? Oh, just a few freak-out moments that turned out to be just fine. But also the fact that Friday and Saturday we'll be super busy at the place I'm maintaining, so I have to be on my toes to make sure it all goes right. Got some great help today, which I'm grateful for. But Saturday morning, it's just my laptop and I, baby!

So, back to what I learned in that class... which made perfect sense... and either tells me that the worst - or best - is ahead. Here is a curve. The curve represents my life (or rather, my emotions, which control my life, LoL)
Now, Think of these as happy and not so happy moments. The rule would be that as you move somewhere new (we talked about this in my Leadership class because we were talking about business professionals moving away from their town, or even overseas), you get high points and low points. As you arrive, everything's brand new, fabulous, people greet you and are nice, you experience extreme euphoria. But then, reality hits: your job's hard, you get homesick... and basically eventually it evens out.

Now, when I first moved to So Cal - it's obvious that I was at Point A. I got a sweet apartment a few blocks from the beach, I finally found a good paying job that gives me the responsibility and challenges and math I wanted, and I was excited to finally become an adult. I think (or at least hope) that I was able to convey that message when I first started my blog.

I now find that - since I've been living alone for a month, I'm pretty darn bored. I miss company. TV, the phone and the computer helps... but it just isn't the same. Not only that, but my job that I love has become... well, realistic we'll say. It's HARD. There's still so much crap that I don't know that I feel I should know by now. Today my neck is so cramped from all the stressing I've done, and I had a big stomachache, I thought I was going to get an ulcer. I don't even know what an ulcer is. No wonder I'm losing my hair. Plus, the bills. Dad was right - even after my first electric bill (remember?), you get a ton and it's not that fun after all.

Now the question is... Am I at point B, or C right now? Well, that depends how you look at it. I could think I'm at B and it's still going to get worse still, or I like to think a little more optimistically and think that I'm at C and this is the worse it's gonna get (for a little while at least), and things can only get better from now on. I just have to keep my head up.

Unfortunately, at Point B or C, some people can't handle it and go back home. Not me. I'm here to tough it out. It's time I become emotionally strong. I'm 24, darn it.

With that said, I can't wait for Point D! That's probably the time I'll go on a 2 week vacation to Tahiti in a few months. Nah, I have trouble flying over that much Pacific Ocean. Realistically, Point D will be when I get to visit Salt Lake and see the ones I love :)

Eventually, I'll be at Point E... and that's basically I would say 9 months to a year from now, when I'm fairly settled and feel uber comfortable with my job. Can't wait for E.

So there you have it... I took a nice walk on the beach after work to decompress, saw dolphins actually jumping out of the water... how majestic! I took a ton of deep breaths... and man, that felt good. Me in a good mood right now. Just wishing for an upper back massage...

Well, I'm going to finish the ratatouille for dinner tonight and add some scrambled eggs to it, in France we call that a "brouillade" I believe. It's good! have a good night.

Ah, C'est Bon La Ratatouille

Tonight on the menu was ratatouille - it was yummy! I think it's the second time I ever make it by myself. If you ever want the recipe, just holla. My recipe comes from my mom, an excellent Fritalian cook.

Anyone seen the Disney cartoon? It was a really cute show. And it taught me that "anyone can cook," as that chef would say. Heck, if a mouse can cook, so can I, right? That's a little bit of inspiration and encouragement :)

Mom's used to add crushed tomatoes. I used fresh tomatoes and a little bit of spaghetti sauce. I think it looks better with just real tomatoes and no sauce or cans. You tell me.

With real tomatoes:

With tomatoes and extra sauce:

Thoughts?

Grateful for not indulging in a Milano cookie today, although I was tempted. My feel-good thought of the day: I couldn't wait to get home and cook. I think I'll make a good wife someday, and that makes me happy :)

Assurée - Rassurée

Good feelings of the day:

* Got my medical insurance card in the mail

* Got a check from the DMV for $52 because I overpaid when I registered my car

* I was actually done with everything at work at 4 and left at 4:30

* Got a reminder that I haven't ordered my 5 year anniversary gift with my company, which was over a year ago, so I browsed the catalog, and there I found it... a stand mixer which duals as a hand mixer - perfect for making crepe batter, chocolate mousse and whipping up some good stuff. And it's FREE!!!! Now, if I can only find room in my kitchen for it...

* Ate really well today. Home-made fruit Smoothie for breakfast, steak and lots of veggies for lunch, apple and almonds as a mid-afternoon snack, and tonight - about to cook some lamb with green beans and maybe some applesauce for dessert.

So, most people liked the apartment pictures, which is good, considering I don't have great interior decorating skills. Mom & SD say that my kitchen counter is too crowded - which is true, but I still have the counter space I need...

Wait!!

Omg! I'll be right back.


(Hold Musak)



(6 minutes later).

Wow, I just had an epiphany again (been having a lot of those lately).
I knew that the dish drainer is what's taking up half the space.
Since I have two kitchen sinks that are a fairly decent size, and I'm only one person, why don't I just use one of the sinks to put the dish drainer in?!?!

Voila! Look at that counter space!

The dining room is still a bit messy, but it's all paperwork I gotta file...
Huh? HUH??!!!!!! My genius days show up once in a blue moon.

Have a fantastic week.