2012, a thursday

So hot today! Supposedly only low 60s, but when I was sitting on the balcony I was sweating through my sundress. Found out I got straight A’s last semester, so didn’t do anything constructive the rest of the day, just read and did crosswords outside, had a popsicle, repotted some plants, watched the UK ‘Being Human’ and finished up ‘Justified’. Moved on to ‘Breaking Bad’ and it was so engrossing I ended up watching it until after 2am.

2011, a wednesday

Yoga, made a few small edits to the site, German lesson, ‘Twin Peaks’ tribute episode of ‘Psych’ so now naturally I want to watch all of ‘Twin Peaks’ again.

2010, a tuesday

worked out. coded all day. still coding. i don’t know how i did this professionally for so long.

2012, a wednesday

Yoga, errands errands errands. Lots of errands and lots of irritating running around. Watched five hours of ‘Justified’. Damn, that’s a good show!

2011, a tuesday

Yoga, worked on the website a bit more. Made a delicious lunch. Booked plane tickets for IL next week, made some plans for the weekend, posted some inspirational bits and pieces on my site. Watched last night’s ‘Castle’ and was completely delighted by it.

2010, a monday

worked out, went to the ortho to start my last round of invisalign. surgical strike at target, drove to santa monica to pick up my new(-to-me) tivo from (my savior) ellen. spent the rest of the afternoon updating it/setting it up/creating season passes and catching up on blogs from the holidays. spent some time stressing about what i need to get done before i leave at the end of the month. plan to spend the rest of the night reading and listening to music.

2012, a tuesday

Up early, Elaine dropped me off at the doctor for my squeeze-it-in-while-I’m-here appointment. Meghan and Lacey picked me up and I spent the drive to Aroma falling in love with Caleb’s sweet smile! Great lunch, insanely fun to watch Caleb watch things. Back to Meghan’s – spent a lazy afternoon talking, petting the dog, and almost falling asleep because the whole thing was so calming and peaceful. Lacey drove me to LAX, and I watched ‘Catch and Release’ on the plane. Had some panic at the baggage claim, that I would miss the airport shuttle, but managed to catch it. Chilly walk from the bus stop to my apartment at midnight-ish. Made myself some holiday tea, marveled that my apartment is way bigger than I remember it, had a glorious night’s sleep in my own bed after three weeks away.

2011, a monday

First lazy day of the new year! Well, not really. I got a new theme for my site and spent all morning/afternoon tweaking the CSS and PHP to get it looking just so. Forgot to eat for most of the afternoon—a common pitfall for me when I’m coding. Put on some ‘the X-Files’ reruns while I was working, and enjoyed some red bean paste mochi.

2010, a sunday

got up early and met elaine and terry for ‘avatar’ in IMAX 3D at universal citywalk. it was still awesome. we went to versailles in the food court for lunch then walked around the mall for awhile. spent a lot of time watching the stationary skydivers do their thing. came home, did not a whole lot. read some more, then caught up a bit with cameron when she got back.

2012, a monday

Venice! Lora, Ben and I met Nathan, Megan, Jula and Terry at Venice Ale House on the Boardwalk. Had a nice but long (not by choice) brunch. I had a really awesome bloody mary made with soju. Spent the next few hours walking along the boardwalk and watching the skateboarders. Back to Hollywood, finished packing up, and relaxed a bit before Lora dropped me off at Elaine’s. Had a chill night with Elaine – ate Indian food, had my first ‘the Bachelor’ experience (conclusion: all of those girls are freaking psycho). I really enjoyed the familiarity of being at Elaine’s and just hanging out like we’ve done so many times before.

2011, a sunday

another night with only five hours of sleep, maximum. rained all day here in LA. elaine picked me up and we met up with renee and terry for lunch in little tokyo. elaine and I both got the new year special soup – ozoni! chicken soup with veggies and big balls of mochi. I got the mitsumame and ice cream for dessert – yum! we also hit the japanese grocery, and I got some green tea mochi and red bean mochi. home, cleaned and finished unpacking. found out I got all A’s last semester! HUZZAH!

something new: new restaurant: suehiro café / new food: ozoni (good-luck new year soup)

2010, a saturday

worked out, elaine, renee and terry picked me up and we drove to monterey park for dim sum. it was so good, and so satisfying when at the end we finally got the dishes we’d been waiting for. we walked around a bit, then once home, i ran some errands and read all afternoon and listened to music. went to elaine’s and met up with the same group again and we walked to the sunset 5 to see ‘a single man’. andrew and amanda met us there. the movie was fantastic, although i spent most of the movie feeling alternately mind-blown by how hot nicholas hoult has become and ashamed/dirty of thinking such things of someone so young. also, elated that lee pace had a cameo. after that, terry, elaine and i went to elaine’s and hung out for awhile.

2011, a sunday

Sleeping in didn’t work out; we were all pretty perky by 9am. Lora made AMAZING vanilla waffles, bacon and a cauldron of eggs (Lora: Ben how many eggs do you want? Ben: Just, like, a cauldron of eggs). We walked to the Arclight and saw ‘the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ which was really good, but really affecting – we spent a lot of the next few hours being kind of quiet until someone (usually me) would burst out with something like, “geez. that movie!” We took the Metro downtown and met Angie, Paul and Renee for good luck New Year noodles at Suehiro. Back at Ben and Lora’s, we finished putting together the jigsaw puzzle. Success!

2011, a saturday

got maybe 5 hours of sleep then ran a couple errands, cleaned and unpacked a bit. alex, megan and I met up at 9ish and went downtown for an early birthday celebration for megan. we had dinner at pete’s, then danced for hours at bar 107. lots of fun! stayed till last call, home, couldn’t resist reading more of ‘his majesty’s dragon’.

something new: new restaurant: pete’s

2010, a friday

woke up around 9am on maria’s couch, just in time to see clayton leave for work. about an hour later everyone else was up and around. renee went home, but alex and i stuck around. maria made an awesome breakfast for us, then we watched tv and movies and talked the rest of the day. we watched ‘inglourious basterds’ on blu-ray. i got home around 7 and took a much-needed shower. planning to go to bed early and do some reading.

2011, a saturday

Nice leisurely morning with Renee – she made breakfast burritos! Lora came to pick me up and once we got back to her and Ben’s apartment, we spent the afternoon playing cards and drinking wine and relaxing before the big night. Their friends Kourosh and Yalda came over with some mystery Persian fruits, cardamom puff things, and American and Persian pistachios. We went to Jeff and Laurel’s party and tried to not be too freaked out by all of the police helicopters overhead and the fire trucks racing down the street every 15 minutes. Headed over to Little Temple and spent the rest of the night dancing! At midnight the Brazilian drum line and Carnaval dancers came out and put on an amazing show. Eventually we went home, but since Ben, Lora and I hadn’t had a real dinner, we were starving. We walked up to Ralph’s – closed! – walked back, and then Lora raided the fridge and freezer to put together basically a whole meal, which we ate at about 3am.

2010, a friday

up early, post office fiasco (long story short – they didn’t enact my vacation mail hold) that took 1.5 hours. to maria and clayton’s to hang out with maria and help her clean and pack up the car. vince and patty came over and elaine brought bagels. after maria left, vince and elaine and i hung out for awhile. home, a few minutes to myself then started getting ready for the night. met up with elaine and megan at meghan and josh’s. lots of good food and saw some people I hadn’t seen in awhile. then to megan’s to meet up with her friend jessica, to elaine’s (she let me borrow this great beaded blouse she got in france), blake picked us up and we got to a party off laurel canyon just in time to grab a drink and count down the new year. turns out the party was being hosted by the coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck people! no sammiches in sight though :( stayed until about 2am, then went to duke’s on sunset for breakfast. got in bed a bit after 4am.

2009, a thursday

worked out, wrapped gifts. drove to lax and picked up elaine. went to maria and clayton’s for new year’s eve party time! there were about 10 of us and we did a hilarious white elephant exchange and ate lots of yummy food and had a variety of champagnes. moved the party to sardo’s where we had a table reserved and drank and karaoked our hearts out. alex and terry came after all, which was a nice surprise, and we all toasted the new year then went back to a neighbors’ apartment for some post-drinking snacking. alex, renee and i crashed at maria and clayton’s. it was the best new year’s i’ve ever had, party because of what we did and because everyone was so ready to have a good time, but mostly because i spent it with people i love – my LA family.

2011, a friday

Up crazy early. Drove to Midway, said goodbye to Mom and Dad. Flew to LA and saw some great snowy scenery on the way. Arrived to beautiful, sunny, warm weather. Renee picked me up, then we went back to her place. Angie came over and we went to see ‘A Dangerous Method’, which we all enjoyed, and gave us a lot to think about. Renee and I went to City Tavern and I got a giant delicious burger (my first real meal of the day!) and a little 3oz glass of a smoky vanilla ale. Mmmm! Christine arrived – a great surprise! Renee and I went back to her place and watched the Freud/dream episode of TNG before bed.

something new: City Tavern

2010, a thursday

up early, packed, off to chicago. met up with eric for lunch at the airport since he was stranded there after a bunch of flights were cancelled. long flight, back in LA later than scheduled. dinner with maria, clayton, meghan, josh, megan and elaine. unpack, try to relax, think of what I have to get done tomorrow during the day.

2009, a wednesday

got up super early (3am pacific time) and mom drove me to o’hare. the flight was uneventful, but painful (terrible headache) and annoying (kid kicking my seat non. stop.). terry picked me up and i spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking, running errands, and weeping over my now-dead tivo. hooked up the electric blanket and am waiting for it to reach full-on coziness.

2011, a thursday

Spent half the night coughing and throat-clearing. Plans to work out and get up early went out the window. All day indoors, blowing my nose and trying to get all of the sick-feelings out before I fly to LA tomorrow. Have to get up super early (compared to when I’ve been getting up here) tomorrow so should probably pack some tonight but…I really want to milk the relaxation and stresslessness of being home for all it’s worth.

2010, a wednesday

slept in, mom and I saw ‘TRON: legacy’. looked/sounded great, script was meh. home, got dokobots for the iphone (fun robot-collecting/tracking game), last dinner in the qc, ‘back to the future’ marathon on amc.

2009, a tuesday

worked out, went to lunch at shanghai with mom, grandma, and most of my mom’s side of the family. chris arrived around 4, then we picked up grandma and met dad and aunt pat and uncle denny at city limits for tacos. went to bed early.

2011, a wednesday

Yoga, feeling more congested and tired, so went to the clinic. It’s not strep, so I just got a prescription for a decongestant and was told to try not to talk. Went to Pagalo’s for lunch with Mom and Grandma – my first time there, and the pizza was soooo good! Home, tried on NYE dress for mom to alter, sacked out on the couch and felt kind of miserable for the rest of the night. Did crossword puzzles, semi-watched TV, snuggled with Mom and watched the first ep of the Patrick Stewart series ‘the Eleventh Hour’. As of 5 years ago he was still insanely ripped for a dude his age (or any age, really).

2010, a tuesday

slept in, yoga, did a lot of trying on the pants mom was altering for me. chris rolled in about 6, then we left to pick up grandma and meet up with dad’s whole side of the family for tacos at city limits. had a great time, home to watch awesome youtube videos and football.

2009, a monday

worked out, went to lunch at chick-fil-a and orange julius with scott and conrad. walked around the mall a bit. had the christmas half-smokes and chili from ben’s in dc for dinner. finished ‘john adams’.

2011, a tuesday

Shopping day. Mom and I braced ourselves for a long day out. Neither of us like to shop and I was starting to feel sicker, but it had to be done. Shockingly, the single fastest and most productive shopping trip, ever. Got everything I needed at the first places we looked (as-comfy-as-can-be-hoped-for nude pumps, proper undergarments for a semi-sheer dress, and even some gifts we found by chance). ‘Pride & Prejudice’.

2010, a monday

slept in, we all went to see ‘the king’s speech’ which I really liked. we went to the mall for the annual buying of calendars, then to exotic thai for early dinner. home, ‘band of brothers’ marathon.

2009, a sunday

slept late, had lunch, went to see ‘sherlock holmes’, got a calendar at the mall and the book the ‘john adams’ miniseries was based on. had leftovers, watched ‘john adams’, read ‘john adams’.

2011, a monday

Yoga, saw ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ with Mom and Dad and it was super fun. Called Maria, yummy dinner, watched the rest of the ‘Being Human’ marathon on SyFy.

2010, a sunday

slept in, yoga, lunch and bears game (they won!). further enjoyment of the novelty of cable tv. finished processing the photos from my mom’s visit in november. leftover soup for dinner and watched ‘scrooged’, then ‘national treasure’ for the umpteenth time.

2009, a saturday

went to aunt an uncle’s to have christmas with my dad’s side of the family. had a great time playing lots of apples to apples, eating bourbon slush and stuffing myself full of mini eclairs and cookies and dips and cheeseball and mini sandwiches and pigs-in-a-blanket and ugh i’m getting a tummy ache just remembering it.

2011, a sunday

Slept in, Christmas day at Aunt Pat and Uncle Denny’s. Unfortunately, the cold or whatever that’s been chasing me all week kind of caught up to me this morning and I was really tired and maybe a little feverish. Napped a little during presents, round 2. Ate so many mini cream puffs. Home for the Bears game by the fire.

2010, a saturday

christmas day! over to uncle denny and aunt pat’s by 1, then spent the whole day doing presents, eating, playing games, more eating, more eating. home, exhausted, did not even make it through my cup of tea before I passed out on the couch.

2009, a friday

worked out. it started snowing! headed to my aunt and uncle’s for christmas with my mom’s side of the family. lots of food, my male cousins got a wii, so we played some sports resort, and I read some books to my female cousins. went home a bit earlier than usual due to the weather. opened the rest of my presents. ate some leftovers with my mom and watched some more ‘john adams’.

2011, a saturday

Yoga, relaxed, saw ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ with Mom and Dad – it was really good! Home, spaghetti dinner and presents with Grandma, ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘the Fifth Element’ on TV, read some more ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

2010, a friday

yoga, went to lunch at shanghai with mom and grandma. spent the afternoon making more banana pudding, helping mom with the soup, talking to grandma and watching the tng marathon on syfy. christmas eve dinner – chicken corn chowder, brie en croute, red pepper and onion relish. delicious! whitey’s peppermint ice cream with homemade fudge sauce for dessert.

2009, a thursday

got a hair cut from tiffany, made the last batch of christmas cookies. had my grandma and aunt and uncle over for christmas eve goulash, cookies, and bailey’s by the fire. had christmas with mom and dad and grandma then watched the rest of ‘it’s a wonderful life’ with my dad.

2011, a friday

Up early, helped Mom finish the soups and hors d’oeuvres. My mom’s side of the family arrived at about 5:30 and we spent the rest of the night corralling kids, eating too much soup (they were both really good) and opening presents. The desserts – pumpkin dump cake and peppermint-ginger ale-Bailey’s – were both really good too! After everyone left, started reading ‘How the States Got Their Shapes’ and was totally engrossed until I fell asleep and the book fell on my face.

2010, a thursday

dentist, ‘true grit’ with my parents (mattie ross is my new hero!), dinner at applebee’s.

2009, a wednesday

worked out, made more christmas cookies. caught ‘avatar’ in 3D with my parents and it was awesome. made more christmas cookies. had a nice dinner and spent the night watching tv cuddled on the couch with my parents.

2011, a thursday

Yoga, made the mistake of calculating the ‘nutritional’ info for the coconut pie. Almost 1000 calories per slice. Yyyyyyyyeaaaahhh. No wonder it was so good. Spent the day making soups (cozido and basil tomato parmesan) and hors d’oeuvres for tomorrow. Watched some ‘American Horror Story’. Dinner, ‘A League of Their Own’ (“Let’s make like a bread truck and haul buns, ladies!”).

2010, a wednesday

slept in, spent the day snuggled up on the couch watching netflix. at night, got a pizza joynt pizza (so good I couldn’t stop eating it) and watched ‘heist’ and ‘hidalgo’ with mom.

2009, a tuesday

slept in, went christmas shopping with mom then made cookies and peanut clusters. went to city limits for taco tuesday then came home, had some cookies, and watched the first two eps of ‘john adams’ plus the david mccullough documentary (i must now read all of his books).