Pain(t)

Hey look at that, the word paint has the word pain in it too. For two weeks now James and I have been sluggishly painting the interior walls of the house as well as the ceilings. I had everything planned out as today being the end of all painting because today is the day we get our new furniture! Well, it's not exactly new but it will be new to us.

A year ago, I would have thought that painting would be no big deal and that I would enjoy it. Today, I dread painting (Paint Rumba invention ASAP). It's not only the fact that I have to paint but it is also that life just goes on hold when you are doing renovations. I've ignored laundry, dishes, and most importantly my time to exercise and play outside. What is scarier is that I begin to think, "how did my mom do it all?" I have a hard time figuring out how to keep things tidy and neat. I admit, there are times when my room looks like an episode of Hoarders. It's not so much of a problem of cleaning as it is a problem with having enough time.

When does one acquire time management? I know the real answer to this and I know if my mom is reading this she is definitely laughing, more accurately she is LHMFAO. I grew up with the strictest of the strict where if we slept in past 10:00 we were probably in trouble. My mom and dad embedded routine in us wherever they could. What I just can't understand is why we didn't take that with us when we all moved out of their house? It's like we did everything opposite of what we learned.

I occassionally use the "being in college" excuse where it doesn't matter if anything is in order and it also doesn't matter what a dinner or breakfast consists of, it's fuel. In the back of my head I know that having to care for someone else (I was afraid to actually say, a baby) is when time management comes into play which is where this entry ends. No babies (yet) and no time management. Sounds good. (if you know me you know that I will begin doing the dishes and laundry in the next minute). Have a great Saturday!

FREE SONG!

Amazon is featuring "Adolescents" by Incubus as their free song of the day! I have heard this song a few times now on the radio and how can you not love Incubus? Amazon is pushing for everyone to download their MP3 player so if you don't want it make sure to read the finer print below where it says something like, "skip this step and save on my computer". Ok, go!!!

form follows function

Architizer, word up posted some sweet photos of Pierre Andre Senizergues, founder of Etnies, new house in Malibu (AKA PAS House). I wonder how the acoustics are in this house?

shortcuts

This is kind of cool... make your Iphone into a DLSR! What do you think?

summer souls

Today I purchased Crocs because I am so tired of my feet hurting. The Crocs store had a perfect selection of styles and colors. These flats are called the "Adrina" flats and although they look orange in this picture they are more of a soft pink like a grapefruit color in person. I think they're perfect summer shoes!

Petco Park Party

This weekend I escaped to San Diego to celebrate my cousin's last days of the single life. We had a great spa day and ended with a picnic in Petco Park. Here is to a great summer start! Congratualtions Michelle and Terry!

xoxo

Summer Soup

If you live in an area that has winter weather in summer seasons then you know you'll want to eat soup everyday. Here is my homemade minestrone soup with fresh rainbow chard to remind you that even though it's overcast outside, summer can exist in your soup!

Rodeo beach on a Sunday

husband and wife.

scenario:

Two women in their mid-40's are shoe shopping when woman 1 puts on some sexy high heels. Woman 2 says to woman 1, " Wow, I have never seen you in those type of shoes before."

Woman 1 replies, "Ya, I haven't had to wear them but now that I am divorced I have to look good."

Woman 2 chuckles, "Wouldn't it be so funny if you run into so and so (ex-husband) and he see's you looking fantastic!"

True story, my aunt had told me she was laughing at these two women talking while she was shopping. As she was telling my mom and me the story I thought to myself, why do women (and men) go downhill after marriage? I would be so pissed if my husband gained 100 pounds and didn't care about his looks or more importantly his health. I find that a lot of people want to look good after a divorce but what's so wrong with wanting to look good while you're still married? Why not wear some sexy shoes for your husband? I understand there are circumstances for why we all lose our figure but most of the time I find that people are just darn lazy and make excuses for everything. I may not be married but I understand the importance of physical attraction and making sure that you keep your relationship hot! Come on people, lets stay sexy!

I'm getting older post.

It's funny how as children and teens when we are asked our age we add months to our years to appear older. I can remember when I was 20 I was kind of embarrassed to tell my age because I wanted to be older, I mean who really has any respect for a 20 year old? JK...

I thought that my five years in college was a waste of my time and if I thought a lot more practically I could have been in a better situation instead of feeling the regret I feel now. I have made the decision to go back to school a week ago and nothing feels more right. Sometimes we often look back and hate that we couldn't fix a bad decision but no decision is a bad one, it's just a little detour in our lives. It took me a few months of stress and painful sleepless nights to accept that where I am in life is exactly where I want to be and I have the chance to make things better before they can get worse.

When in doubt, sit down and ask yourself, "what do I have to lose?" Although age can seem like a ticking bomb especially when you're constantly seeing past friends "ahead of you" and getting everything you may want, you just have to know that there's something out there for you. It's really about relying on your own judgment and having faith in yourself -- And that's how you know you're getting older.

Recession Idea #1

I remember my cousin-in-law asking a restaurant for a Filipino discount earlier last year. Now, you ask yourself, what the eff is that? Well, it is what we Asians do when we are stretching our dollar. When in doubt, always ask for a recession discount.

blog changes

Due to popular demand, this blog is here to stay. Although I enjoy using Wordpress settings and site in general more, people have told me to STFU and not leave this blog.

Just so you know.

Ok, if you agree to agree click this link:

I like you, kinda.

see you on the dark side.

MEATLOAF!

My mom asked me why I have been cooking so much and I thought, yea why have I been? I came to the conclusion that I have something against leaving things to die, like food rotting. I've not only wasted so much food this year, rather my whole life, but it's like a challenge figuring out what I can make with a few ingredients hanging around in my fridge.

I came across this awesome meat loaf recipe ( "Ma!! The meatloaf!!!" -- Wedding Crashers) and since it's so easy to make and I have to feed my boyfriend I decided that the rotting onion in the fridge would do the trick. Now, I know you girls reading this are probably thinking "ew, meatloaf? meat? fatty?" .... yea, it's not the greatest but I try to make it healthier by using turkey meat and honestly, when you live with a guy you can't make salads and think that's going to hold his appetite down. I had to alter a lot of my eating habits to compensate for not only him, but my time and money. Here are some (crap mobile) pictures of my meat loaf prep.

Here is what you need, I am sure you get the picture. I used the japanese style breadcrumbs from TJ's only because it is what was leftover in my pantry.

Step 1: Saute chopped onions with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Once the onions are translucent, add a little less than 1/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce, 3/4 cup of chicken stock, and a teaspoon + 1/2 of tomato paste.

Take ground turkey (1.5 lb) and put in a bowl with sauce from above and 2 whisked eggs and some breadcrumbs. I usually see how much liquid is in it and if it is really juicy I add more breadcrumbs. Then in a casserole dish I used my hands to shape it in a rectangle and put a little ketchup on the top (totally optional, the bf loves it). I also put a bowl of water below it so the top wouldn't crack. 325 for 1.5 hours. BAM, so good. I made it the other week with spicy cooked carrots... steam for 8-10 mins, make a sauce of lemon juice, olive oil, cayenne, salt, cumin and parsley.

I miss summer.

Here is a meal I prepared for us one summer day; it's fried green tomato BLTs with oysters and hot sauce. I'm dreading walking into the cold kitchen to make chili verde for Christmas dinner. Pictures to come on my chili verde cook off tonight!

Jew dog!

Here is Lia with her favorite hat. She isn't Jewish but sometimes she wants to be so we put this hat on her.

Bike accidents

This took place in front of my work. I decided from now on, I am going to be wearing a helmet. One of the many downfalls of getting older; everything is cautionary. I recorded the conversation because I felt bad for the biker and no one saw the accident.. and I took pictures like this without them knowing. 

Books and juice.

I totally have been avoiding blogging. I felt like i needed time to buy me some valuable writing topics but it really doesn't matter because I end up with nothing of interest. I have been reading books to escape too many days off of work. So far, The Time Travelers Wife is no. 1 this month. It was really slow the first few hundred pages but its proven itself halfway through. Books are so addicting. How could you not want to read!! Its like once you close the book you are constantly wondering what is happening in that world of that story you are on? What are the characters doing? It is like the story is always alive and when you put it down its on pause. The words are always and will always be there. TTW (Time Travelers Wife) is such a different read than I am used to because each page is basically two characters point of view. My friend said she cried reading it, so far I have had my first "gasp" at something in the story. It is one of those.

Audiobooks are amazing. My friend let me borrow How I Paid for College and I love it! It is a perfect driving story. I didn't really do any research on the novel to see if it was fiction or non-fiction but I am pretty sure it has to be fiction. It is so dramatic and has a "wtf-esque" to it. I sometimes find myself thinking, I wish I read this book instead of listening to it.

I am off to read TTW and hopefully start to finish the rest of books I have read 3/4 of the way through.

Google AdSense

Out of complete desperation for money I decided to add Googles "AdSense" to my blog. I really don't know how much money I can make out of it.. I guess that means I should find some more followers to follow this lame blog which I have really been censoring and am getting really tired of censoring. Thats all. 

This past weekend was the Dipsea race from Mill Valley to Stinson... James ran the race and placed 164th out of maybe 1800 people? I say that with a question mark only because I really don't know but I know that there are open runners and it it probably close to 2000. Here are some pictures from the race that I took and that are truly sad only because I couldn't figure out how to work the camera and didn't get a good shot of James running. However, Lia met some really ugly Cavaliers with bodies that resembled a foot stool. I know, totally random. 

And above is that guy who collapsed... 

 The winner of the race, Pilcher!

 My only picture of James (sorry!)... the backwards hat