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July 13th, 2008
10:48 am
Yesterday I cooked a vat of German potato salad in preparation for today's beach picnic. I don't know what really defines a German potato salad, but I cooked it with beer and mustard, and there's no dairy or butter in it. It turned out more like a potato mash because I cooked the potatoes too long, but that's fine. It still looks not bad. Next time I'll use less parsley, onions and beer, and add more pancetta.
After I got done with that I felt so hot that I walked down to the supermarket and bought a pint of ice cream and ate the whole thing in one sitting, which I've never done before. It was Ben and Jerry's Willie Nelson's Peach Cobbler.
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June 22nd, 2008
01:34 am
So I really did end up getting chosen to be on a jury. It was a really fast, tiny case. A theft at Target. During the trial we weren't allowed to shop at Target. And I just happened to be out of a ton of things I needed to get at Target. Finally, the trial ended just as I was on my last roll of toilet paper.
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June 10th, 2008
12:56 pm
Teehee. That's that retarded stripe in the griptape I was talking about.
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May 20th, 2008
11:48 pm - weekend report
Waxed my car on Saturday. I've decided that it will get waxed once every six months. That should be just enough to keep the clearcoat minimally protected at all times. I love my red Subie, but can't be too careful with it because city living is just an inevitability of gouges and scratches.
Had a massive craving for hainan chicken, so I stopped by Savoy. When I was in school, my mom used to stop by Savoy for takeout on her way home from the office, bringing us the hainan chicken or various pizzas. I loved it then and ten years later it's still my favorite dish in the world.
Went to Little Tokyo to get some Beard Papa cream puffs, and to pick up some car supplies to replace the ones I lost in my last car. See, when I had my car accident, I never expected it would end up totaled, so when the tow yard instructed me to retrieve any personal belongings from the wreck, I didn't bother to take *everything* because I figured I'd get the car back. Because I didn't, it's been a minor hassle to replace the stuff that was in there, like my windshield sunshade, mini trashcan, fobby Broadway mirror, Thomas Guide and my skateboard!
Visited Sarah and her baby. Her apartment has grown exponentially more filled with educational toys since the last time I was there. There is now a keyboard, a choo-choo train decal on the wall, various books and geometric toys strewn about, and a giant easel displaying the Korean alphabet. The baby is only 8 months old. Classical music is constantly playing as background muzak.
Got home and decided to assemble a new skateboard to replace the old lost one. Now that summer is here and I'll be making more trips to Abbot Kinney, I thought it'd be nice to have something to skate up and down the street with. At 1:00am, I got the bright idea to cut a stripe into the griptape. It took longer than expected because I had to keep changing exacto blades. I exhausted myself and ended up cutting the edges really sloppy. My downstairs neighbor must hate me for the racket caused by a screwdriver scraping on griptape. And the stripe looks questionable. I may end up just ripping it out.
Had brunch on Sunday with Kat and John at The Alcove. It was an absolute zoo there, but luckily they recognized what a hot, torturous day it was and actually had sprinklers spraying mists of water all around the patio seating area, a la Magic Mountain. And there was this unbelievably chipper waiter walking around offering people cups of ice water.
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11:45 pm - two weeks ago
Had a delicious brunch at 3 Square Cafe with my old coworker Shuwen. Ordered the German apple pancake. Never knew such a thing existed, but it's exactly what hit the spot. Every time I go to brunch on a weekend and opt for something sweet instead of savory, this is exactly what I'd want. Sweet but just spongey and heavy enough.
Walked around Abbot Kinney until I'd bought enough cute junk, then stopped by Jin Patisserie for a slice of the loveliest caramel cake and an equally lovely jasmine tea. In my opinion a tea and cake pairing is right up there with a good food and wine pairing.
Had dinner with Ely at Pure Luck. He arrived at my doorstep wearing a metallic gold jacket. When I asked him what he'd done that day, he said, "I got a tattoo today. I'll do 'the reveal' when I take off my jacket." When he did, it was worth the wait. It was a tattoo of... a pencil!
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May 19th, 2008
10:29 am
Ugh. Over the weekend the cleaning people came and emptied out the office refrigerator, wiping out ALL of the sandwich making supplies that everyone had been storing in there. All the tomatoes, lunch meats, mayonnaise, everything. It's as if a natural disaster blew into town. People are wandering out of the kitchen saying, "What am I supposed to do now??"
I'm SO annoyed because they also threw away my soy milk (Kikkoman Pearl organic unsweetened) and I had to have my cereal with....regular milk! It tasted soooo strange and disgusting!
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May 13th, 2008
08:33 am
Yesterday the temp in L.A. was a high of 65º. Over the next course of the next three days it will keep climbing until it hits 95º!
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I've been upping my jogs from three miles to six miles each time. It's actually a nice distance and a nice pace, and allows me to go running less days of the week. But because of the increased impacts on my legs, I'm now in desperate need of yoga.
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May 4th, 2008
08:35 pm
On Friday night I went to The Standard downtown for Sharm's birthday party. It was my first time at this location. Begrudgingly had to pay $20 just to get to the rooftop bar. I guess The Standard is considered the iconic L.A. hot spot, but I think it represents the worst of L.A. The decor is just all over the place. The entrance is totally "swanky" in the typical glass and palm trees style. Very Miami (not that I've ever been there). Then in the lobby there's an Alexander Calder mobile. The hallways are wallpapered in 70's ironic forestry murals. The hotel rooms have "HELLO, My Name is (insert room number here)" labels. The rooftop pool area has those Austin Powers-ish spacepod waterbeds. So there are at least five different aesthetics going on, none of which are clever or new. Not to mention that the clientele at The Standard are all old and greasy. Give me the Hotel Figueroa any day.
Then since we were downtown, we went to our un-favorite ghetto dance club, the one that always has a line outside but is empty inside. I don't think we were there very long. The only thing I really remember there was taking helium balloons and tying them to my wrists.
On Saturday I took John for a belated birthday dinner at Comme Ca. I loved it there! They get mixed reviews, but it was all joy for us. First, it was more cozy and casual than I expected. Butcher paper on the tables, that kind of thing. The waiters had the CUTEST uniforms. Burgundy and navy short sleeve plaid button up shirts with skinny ties. We had THE nicest waiter, this Southern dude. When I ordered a glass of rosé champagne, he filled my glass, then asked me to drink half of it on the spot so he could empty the rest of the bottle into it. Everything we ate was good. I ordered the pork belly special, which turned out to be the same slab of pork fat that my grandma used to make in her Chinese dishes. The desserts, which were from Boule, were amazing. I think John and I just had a really good time here. Experience wise, it was actually more enjoyable than, say, A.O.C. Which is a bit like saying that I like the BMW 1-Series better than the mid-90's M3. Blasphemy. But I loved Comma Ca. The reviews talked about the noise level a lot, but you know what, it turned out to be a fun noise level, the kind where the cougar and her younger physical trainer date in the table next to you would turn and ask if you liked your dessert.
Then I went to a birthday party where I was the only girl. Ah, just like the good old days. I complimented the birthday boy on his Dior sneakers. He was pleased and said, "Oh, you could tell!" But really I couldn't. A year ago I had seen him wear these same sneakers and asked if they were Pony, and he said, "No, they're Dior," but he must've forgotten that conversation. The boys debated whether it was appropriate yet to be wearing shorts (by Trovata) to an evening party and whether their shorts lengths were too short (no). Then we all went to The Abbey. Ah, the good old days. Got free Patron shots there, the first time I've gotten *anything* for free. The bartender was so nice that he even offered to take our napkin that we just spit three wads of gum in, to throw away.
On Sunday I woke up and had brunch at Flore with my friend who is a Buddhist vegan yoga instructor who works at Diesel. We met up so he could analyze my astrological charts, haha. Flore was cute but it's definitely that type of vegan place where the food just screams, "fake food!" I think Pure Luck is still the only vegan joint I can be really into. Then we moved over a block to have tea at Casbah. I had a piece of baklava. Then I went home and napped. Then tried to go to Pure Luck for sweet potato fries but found out they're closed on Sundays, so instead went to Fatburger. It's the first fast food I'd eaten in months (not counting the Chicken McNuggets in Palm Springs). I'm not missing much after all.
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08:17 pm
In addition to reading my book-a-month, I try to slip in secondary books. Maybe graphic novels or stuff I've been trying to finish. One book I'm reading on the side now Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It's one of those classics I've always meant to read. I saw a copy on V's shelf so I borrowed hers. Well guess what. Brave New World suuuuuuuuucks. I'm sure it's one of those things that are so groundbreaking for its time. But WHATEVER. It's just so filled with the most simplistic and heavyhanded references. No subtlety whatsoever. For example, in the book the brainwashed masses worship a god named Ford. Ooh, deep. Rolls eyes. It doesn't help matters that V obviously read this book in a basic high school English class because it has all these bubble-letter drawings of her own name or "Spice Girls Rules!" in colored pencil on various pages.
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09:53 am
Last Saturday my parents wanted to visit me and they wanted me to cook for them. I've never cooked for *anybody* before but I did it. I just assembled a bunch of stuff that I like to eat. Nothing involving techniques or sauces. For an appetizer I made toast with sliced crimini mushrooms and prosciutto on top. I did a salad with spinach, arugula, sweet corn and avocadoes. I grilled ahi tuna steaks. I had only meant to sear them but the steaks cooked through much faster than I expected. It's probably a good thing, because even though everybody knows (via Alton Brown on the Food Network) that searing is the ideal way to prepare tuna, my dad probably would have been apprehensive about me giving him undercooked food. Then for dessert, since it was my brother's birthday, I bought carrot cake cupcakes from Lark. (YUM). They were happy.
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May 2nd, 2008
04:58 pm
A while ago I stopped eating in the work cafeteria because their ingredients seemed unfresh (after biting into a frozen eggplant) so I started bringing sack lunches. But being a total lagger in the mornings, I didn't have time to make a sandwich, so I simply brought all my sandwich materials and kept them in the work fridge. I became known as the sandwich girl in the office. People would see me making my sandwich and ask me to sell them one (no, thanks).
Eventually this became a trend and everyone started bringing their sandwich supplies. Whereas before the office fridge was virtually empty, every shelf is now filled with entire loaves of bread, and jars of pickles and mayonnaise. When lunch time rolls around, people start their sandwich assembly. We wait in line to use the toaster, and counter space is at a premium. It's like we've all reverted back to our fifth grade lunches, except now our ingredients are all organic.
I don't think it's so much that people love sandwiches, I think it's because the economy is bad and people are trying to save a nickel here and there by brown bagging it. So I really hope things start looking up cuz I can't even fit my cheese packs into the fridge anymore.
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April 21st, 2008
09:34 pm
To continue the weekend:
I was wrong! The two parties on Saturday night were not actually Aries parties as their real birthdays fall during this week, which means they're Tauruses. Oh well, it's okay, the parties were still a blast. Went to Ely's birthday. Drank his famous Pimm's and lemonade, plus two potato tacos, tons of strawberries and cheese. Ely lives in one of those houses with a ton of stuff to look at, that just makes you crack up the more drunk you get. Such as: a balcony door tied with shoelaces, an "I Voted" magnet modified to say "I Farted," a martini glass with legs as the stem, and an Ewok mug. My only regret is that we had to leave before Ely's sister's band played, but party #2 beckoned.
Emma's party was at the Hotel Figueroa. We arrived totally smashed already. This was actually a joint birthday party for Emma, Emma's friend Chanel, and a dude named Matt. So Katherine made cupcakes with the Chanel logo on them and bunnies. I felt like a rockstar helping to carry them in. I ate one of each kind. They were delicious, especially the almond one. Note: this night in history marks the first time I start to appreciate cupcakes. To be perfectly honest I was never fully onboard with the whole Magnolia and Sprinkles craze. But Kat's almond cupcakes. Oh man. Debauchery, debauchery, fast forward.
On Sunday morning, I had brunch with Rina at Dusty's. I had only been at Dusty's at nighttime before, on a random date. But what do you know, brunch is great here! This totally replaces Figaro as my favorite French-style brunch. I like that Dusty's has a huge menu but that everything is still fresh and not watered down. Had the Dusty's mimosa, which was made with fresh OJ and strawberry puree. I had eggs moliere and Rina had a lamb burger, which was deliciously gamey. For some reason when I hang out with Rina we REALLY just have free license to pig out. After Dusty's we walked into Lark's Cake Shop. Here I sampled their red velvet cake. Mark this day in history as the first time I appreciated red velvet. To be perfectly honest I never was fully onboard with the Magnolia red velvet cupcake. To me, red velvet was always such a nothing flavor, because it didn't taste like anything. But the one from Lark. Oh man. Maybe it was the block of cream cheese running through the middle. I also ordered a salted caramel cupcake. But the red velvet. Oh man.
Then immediately following, we went to that gelato place on Sunset and Hyperion. I never remember the name of this place, because their gelato is just never that memorable compared to, say, Scoops. But we were in the neighborhood, so why not. I had the fig almond gelato. Which sounds like my perfect flavor but again, just not that memorable.
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09:25 pm
Now why would anyone want to stop production of Polaroids?
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April 19th, 2008
05:48 pm
Woke up this morning with a stye in my eye, which now happens every time I crash on the couch without washing out my eye makeup.
Got up early to go get an oil change at Santa Monica Subaru, not realizing that they closed down. Poo, I was hoping to get some reading done while crossing this task off my list. Since I was on the west side, I took the opportunity to pick up a book that I lent to Open Marriage Girl. So at least I got to check an alternate item off the to-do list.
I did some shopping on the way home from the west side to the east side. Went to Sportie LA to use up my store credit on some sneakers. It took forever to decide on something I wanted. They have a huge selection, literally overflowing and stacked on top of one another on the shelves, so it's super chaotic and takes forever for someone to check if they have it in stock. I had gone in there with this imaginary sneaker that I wanted to buy. It was a red quilted satin hi-top Nike with a blue swoosh and gold lettering. I dreamt it up and don't know why it I thought it would actually exist. Ended up with a pair of PF Flyers made out of Tyvek.
I also walked along Beverly Blvd eating a banana, drinking water and taking cliche pictures. Picked up the latest copy of Vice magazine, which is pretty good except for a horrid fashion spread in the middle of a white cat dressed in different dresses and wigs. I thought I had overcome my fear of cats after living with one for a while, but these photos brought the phobia back. I cut out the pages with an x-acto knife and will give the pages to Katherine tonight because she likes cats, and likes knowing about phobias. One thing we both agree upon is that it's a major no-no to send someone a picture of their phobia as a joke (like the time someone sent her a pic of a caterpillar), because it's actually super offensive. So don't ever send me these pictures of the white cat as a joke because I will hate you.
I accidentally wore a tank top thinking that the heat wave was continuing, but instead it was 60 degrees today. At least I got to drive with the heater on, which is good for the car. :) As opposed to skipping an oil change, which is bad for the car. :(
Stopped by K&L to buy some drinks to bring to the other two Aries birthday parties tonight. Got them bottles of Sofia Coppola sparkling blanc de blanc because it comes already wrapped in cute party cellophane, and it actually tastes good. Then I got a mini bottle of Taittinger for myself, plus a random rosé just cuz it had a neat bottle, and a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape for Thomas the chef as a thank you for the picnic he prepared.
Was craving some granola, but I'm trying to avoid overindulging on carbs so went to Pure Luck to have some jackfruit tacos. It was delish, but when I got home I was still craving granola so I just had a bowl. Proof that you should just get want you really want in the first place. I hadn't done the dishes and was out of cereal bowls, so I ate the granola in a Pyrex measuring cup instead. Which turns out to be more ideal than a normal cereal bowl. A) You get to measure out the exact serving size of cereal listed on the box. B) It's clear so you can monitor clearly if the berries you added are evenly distributed at the bottom. C) It has a handle which makes it super easy to hold your cereal while typing an LJ entry.
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05:13 pm
On Thursday I met up with my friend Yui to watch the Kurosawa movie The Hidden Fortress (which was great!). Yui is one of several Japanese friends who are openly super nationalistic. When she gets drunk at the club she starts yelling, "Japan is the best!" amidst boos and hisses.
Anyway, during dinner I brought up the topic of astrology, because I'm a Sagittarius and she's a Cancer, and I alluded to how this combo usually doesn't really get along (it's true, I find Cancers super drama and overbearing. I once read a book where they're described as the "smothering mother"), but that Yui and I get along wonderfully against the odds. She then started to get slightly huffy about astrology, because it turns out she used to date a Sagittarius who would always say, "Sagittarius is best!" and even had a tattoo of the Sagittarius archer. Which is hilarious because *I* wanted to get that same tattoo (briefly)! bwaha. So apparently there is such thing as having astrological pride, which is very similar to nationalist pride.
I really don't know much about astrology but I do pay attention to it and believe there's something to it. To a Sagittarius, the only superior sign is Aries, and the worst sign is Cancer or Virgo. And I do get the sense that Cancers and Virgos have inferiority complexes about their sign. But now I'm just being astrolog-acist.
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April 18th, 2008
11:44 am
I'm starting to wonder if I have a Carb Face. You know, those people with a normal body but with a round face from eating too many carbs. I always thought it was just baby fat but hmm...
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April 15th, 2008
02:20 am
1. Are you ready for 100 questions? Yes
2. Do you watch college football? I take pride in living a life without ever coming across any ball sports. I don't watch TV, I don't talk to people who follow sports, and I don't frequent sports bars. :D
3. Who will fill this survey out after you? Who knows.
4. Who was the last person to send you a text message? Rina
5. Last time you went swimming in a pool? Palm Springs last week
6. Are you happy? Totally.
7. Where was the last place you went shopping? Target
8. How do you feel about your hair? It's getting long and shapeless but I'm not about to do anything with it.
9. Where do you work? Disney
10. Last thing you ate/drank? a glass of 2006 Domaine La Grange Tiphaine Touraine-Amboise (white Loire wine)
11. Do you wish you were someplace else right now? nope
12. Last time you smoked a cigarette? Almost never. Probably at a park a few years ago.
13. Do you have any expensive jewelry? Not really, just a couple of sentimental things passed down from my grandma.
14. AIM or Yahoo? AIM and Gmail chat
15. What classes are you taking now? none
16. How many hours on average do you work a week: 45
17. Who do you like right now? bwaha
18. Favorite NFL team? BWAHA!
19. Do you watch the Olympics? I get sucked in, especially when China's up
20. Last restaurant you went to? Twin Palms in Pasadena, for work. ew
21. Who was the last person to call you? Thomas
22. What's your sign? Sagittarius (fire sign!)
23. Do you have a favorite number? 23
24. Last time you did volunteer work or made any donations? It's been a while, but it was to the ASPCA.
25. What do you spend the majority of your money on? alcohol and film developing
26. Where does your family live? Hac Hts
27. Are you an only child or do you have siblings? I have a younger brother
29. Every been called a bitch? Yep, rightfully.
30. Got any guilty pleasures? I like buying sunglasses. I indulge a lot, in a lot of stuff.
31. Do you drink beer? No, I don't drink anything with bubbles other than champagne.
32. Have you ever experienced true love? Not sure, maybe.
33. Did you ever collect Beanie Babies? No.
34. Ever bought anything online? I buy everything online.
35. Myspace or Facebook? Myspace because it's more trashy and fun.
36. Do you have T-Mobile? No I have Verizon. It's expensive but it always works.
37. What was your favorite subject? Art.
38. Do you sometimes wish you were someone else? No.
39. Do you usually fall for the "man whores" or the "sluts"? Um no.
40. Were you an outcast in high school? No.
41. Last time you saw your parents? Saturday.
42. Do you have any talents? I have passable talent in art stuff.
43. Ever been in a wedding? No
44. Do you have any children? No
45. Last movie you watched? In the theater: Persepolis (skip it). On DVD: 24 Hr Party People (watch it).
46. Are you missing anyone at the moment? No.
47. Did you take a nap today? No, I can't take naps, they make me too anxious.
48. What was your high school's mascot? Mustangs.
49. Ever been on a cruise? torturous 8 days
50. Favorite vacation spot? New York probably
52. Do you have any wealthy friends? I know some rich bitches.
53. Ever met anyone famous before? Not really.
54. Favorite actor? Bill Sage
55. Favorite actress? Parker Posey
56. Are you multi-tasking right now? Nope
57. Could you handle being in the military? I can't handle "roughing it"
58. Are you hungry or thirsty? No
59. Favorite fast food restaurant? Astro Burger on Santa Monica and Gardner
61. What is your average cell phone bill? $60
62. Do you own a camera phone? No, I have a pre-camera phone era Nokia
63. Ever had to take a sobriety test? Yes, pupil check.
64. Do you believe in Karma? Relationship karma and book karma.
65. Can you speak any other languages? Mandarin
66. Last time you went to the gym or worked out? Jogged today
67. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Around 20
68. Do you have a photo hosting site that you use? Flickr forever
69. Last place you were? Target
70. What is your college mascot? orange dot
71. Ever been to Las Vegas? A couple times.
75. What do you think is your best feature? My youth.
76. Have you ever been gambling? A few tugs on the slot machine only.
77. How old are your parents? They're both 57.
78. When is the last time you updated your blog? Just now
79. Do you have your wisdom teeth? No
80. Favorite place to be? At brunch on a weekend
81. Have you been to New York City? Yes
82. Favorite sit down restaurant? Dunno if these are really sit down sit down places, but I love Square One, Pure Luck, and Shaab
83. Ever been to Disneyland? I practically live there. -_-
84. Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Cheburashka
85. Last thing you cooked? I boiled a sweet potato.
86. How is the weather today? Too sunny.
87. Do you email? Constantly.
88. Last letter/piece of mail you received besides junk or a bill? A wedding invite
89. Favorite store? any of those Japanese stores: Tokyu Hands, Muji, etc.
91. Last voicemail you received? from the photo lab
92. Do you drunk dial/text? Way too much
93. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone? Running up a 3-digit texting bill
94. What is the best city that you have lived in? Los Angeles
95. Favorite band? Saint Etienne forever
96. Last time you were sick? Lost my voice last week
97. Are you bored right now? No
98. Last concert you went to? Blonde Redhead. It was so good I don't go to any other concerts anymore.
99. What do you think about before you go to bed? Shut off your thoughts. Try to drift off.
100. What are your plans for tomorrow? Have to go to a work retreat in Palm Springs. We're taking a party bus that will have plenty of booze.
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01:59 am
People, for the last time, when somebody tells you their puppy just died, the correct word to use is "Aww," not "Awe." They mean TOTALLY different things.
Also, the correct spelling of "woah" is "whoa."
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01:55 am - worth $40
Shiseido SPF 55 for face and body
Swear by it. After an entire winter of zero sun exposure, I used this at a pool party for an entire afternoon under the Palm Springs desert sun, with stints in the pool and the hot tub, and it protected me the whole time. No burn! ^__^b
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April 2nd, 2008
12:11 am
Tonight I went another round at H&M just to complete my spring and summer wardrobe. Now I don't have to worry as I've got a whole arsenal of disposable junk to wear.
When "Can't Get You Out of My Head" came on over the loudspeakers, I overheard this conversation exchanged over the employees' walkie talkies:
"It's Kylie! It's Kylie!"
"So, what?"
"She's performing tonight on Dancing With the Stars!"
At which point I rushed home to turn on the TV.
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