Busy Busy

I've only been in LA for about 36 hours and already I've got my week booked up. This is never the case in SF so it takes some adjusting. Not to mention work is a completely different experience. I'm used to dead silence and the occasional ONE ringing phone. Here I've got ten people, a dog, several lines ringing at once all while I'm on a call with a client. It's exhausting. I guess I've grown a little too used to my hermit lifestyle :)

Mary & I have our Ingrid Michaelson/Greg Laswell concert tonight! I've been looking forward to seeing them (for a 3rd time...) the only part I dread is the standing for several hours. Woe is me, right?

-Tomorrow night I get to have dinner with Jen and see her new place! Finally. Although I dont have a car which makes things a bit trickier.
-Friday Mary & I are having dinner with Michelle (and sweet bun) before she moves to CO
-Saturday I get to hit the town with Jen in her new city! And then Sunday we're taking the girls to the dog park...they'll love it!

We also picked out our NY dates! Mom & I are going Aug 9th and Mary & Dad are joining us the 15th and we'll stay thru the 24th. I seriously can't wait!! Mom and I have to go back early to pick out furniture and the necessities...oven, fridge, tv etc. It'll be such a new experience now that the house is ours...it hasn't fully sunk in yet!

Spottie Dottie

So my "tan" actually turned out pretty nicely. I felt like a bronzed Caribbean goddess walking the streets - I've never had such color. That is until I met up with Mary and Kelly in AZ and they out tanned me right away. I went back to being the whitest girl in the group.

The thing is, no one tells you that the tan doesnt just fade over time. Instead, you turn white in huge patches, leaving dark orangey spots where you might have some dry skin. So now I look like I have a serious skin condition on both arms. Something I hope a nice tough loofah will clear up.

Arizona was so much fun and I think the girls really enjoyed themselves. Hopefully pictures will soon follow and I'll post up some really funny (unflattering) shots of me. We gave the girls a nice taste of 4th street where Congress, Plush, IBTs etc. are. John's party was a classy event and I even changed things up a bit with my deviled eggs recipe. John had me use honey dijon instead of the standard yellow mustard and it was heaven!! Very tasty and they went faster than normal. The heat was unbearable and I was probably the biggest complainer of all time...and nobody likes a sourpuss so you can imagine how many friends I made (lost) this trip :)

If I Come Out Orange In The Morning...

I was semi-peer pressured into spray tanning tonight. Mar & Kel were going before AZ so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon since I'm EXTREMELY pale these days (okay all days). I found a place that was about 15 mins away. I knew the main gist but I was assured that there'd be a video to watch beforehand for newbies. Not so at Corona Del Sol.

The guy led me up to the room, went over the directions and then let me at it. There were no goggles - only booties & a hair cap. I didnt know exactly what direction the spray would be coming from so I decided to just jump in and close my eyes. From what M & K have told me there are two spraying times - in between you turn your back to the sprayers. I had just one 6 second spray where I had to spin myself around in circles.

I got out covered in what looked like muddy water. I rubbed in as much as I could - there was lots of excess. The color still hasnt sunk in yet so I imagine I'll wake to a nice shade of tan...errr orangey brown. Either way I figure I have a few days before the big Summertime Cocktails party at John's in AZ...

Sleeping Pattern In The Sunset

It takes me awhile to fall asleep - sometimes up to an hour. But once I do I sleep so heavily that if woken abruptly I get extremely nauseous (Jen can attest to this). Last week I woke in the middle of the night to what I thought was our alarm going off. I jumped up and sat on the edge of my bed wondering if I should stay in my room and lock my door or if I should scour the place. Once the alarm stopped I walked throughout the apartment, peaking in every room, checking the locks with my arms up like I was about to karate chop someone. Mind you I've never taken a karate lesson. Why I didnt take my pepper spray instead of trusting on my non-martial arts skills, I don't know. There was no one there - it was a car alarm with the identical sound. Go figure.

Last night I was woken again by the sound of someone jiggling on my bedroom door. The roommate wasnt home. My door wasn't locked. I panicked again. I finally came to enough to realize that it wasnt someone jiggling at my door - it was my damn shoerack falling apart AGAIN. The poles loosened and heels hit the door on their fall to the ground. This happened twice last night. By the second time I was well aware and fell right back to sleep. It is unpleasant to be woken in the middle of the night especially for someone like me who always thinks the worst when this happens. I watch too much Forensic Files.

Alright Already

Last night I broke my reading-before-bed rule. This isn't really an excuse, but it happened during the usual reading time. I was on the can, I heard gunshots or fireworks...not sure, stood up, waddled over to the bathroom window, listened as about 10 more "pows" went off. Ashley called my name, I quickly yanked up my pants and opened the door, she walked in and I said "I just peed!" because I didn't know what else to say. I felt like a proud 3 year old in training. I guess I said it because I hadn't been given adequate flushing time. I digress.

So we talked it over and assured each other that it was just firecrackers. We peaked out the windows towards the park and saw nothing. Then we heard them again. Firecrackers are quick and overlapping, these were spaced just enough to be gunshots. We probably heard about 20 shots at least within 2 minutes. So we called the local police and people had been reporting gunshots near Geary & 31st which is on the other side of the park. Nothing has been on the news or is online. Yet.

I'm leaving, I'm leaving...can the violence die down for a month or so while I finish packing?!

My New Rule

So I have this new rule (it's only been in effect for two days, today makes three) where instead of watching tv after climbing into bed for the night I read a book. I spend most of my time after work watching tv and it never ends (plus I just watched Fahrenheit 451 and it really made me miss my literature). I actually got through a book in two days! It was this memoir titled Strangers In The House and it was all over the place but I kept pluggin away at it and got it finished. I didn't think this far ahead because now the daunting task is upon me to pick my next literary selection.

Tonight I actually cooked. I've been whipping things up here and there, but I got away from cooking & baking so it felt good to be back in it again. I made caramel apple pork chops and they were just as tasty as they sound...and weight watcher friendly. For dessert I baked a banana bread pie, which sounds weird but it was heaven. You serve it warm with some fat free whipped cream on top. If you're interested, both recipes were found on http://www.aimeesadventures.com/

Michelle & Mateo were in town all last week and I got to take them to a few of my favorite places. We went to Park Chow, Cheesecake Factory, Fog Harbor Fish House & even the Daly City theatres for a little Sex & The City (sorry Jen...I feel I'm betraying you even putting that in writing). We had a really good week and I actually stuck to my workout plan and even halved my meals either with Michelle or took leftovers home - something I never do. So I'm curious to see what the results will be tomorrow at weigh in.

The most unfortunate incident of the week was when we took a taxi into Union Square, our hungry hearts set on Sears Fine Foods only to learn that they stop serving breakfast at 3. It was like some cruel joke that never ended. We, embarrassed and distraught, picked up our things and walked out of there trying to explain our lone reason for traveling there in the first place - breakfast! It took almost the entire night to get over...wahhhhh. I'm leaving in a little over a month and I need to get in as much of Al's Special as I can. My family, Kel & Michelle can vouch for me on this one...no matter what diet you're following there's always a bending of the rules when it comes to this place & breakfast.