California Dreamin, Part 1

On friday morning, I flew out to Los Angeles California. One of my close friends moved out to Silicon Valley back in May, but she was heading to a work conference in LA and invited me out, so I went.

She arrived several hours after me, so I waited/relaxed at one of the outdoor bars overlooking the pool. Once she did make it, we were both pretty tired, so we got some pizza and hung out for a bit before going to sleep. Being that I was leaving on Monday, we knew that we had a busy couple of days ahead of us.

patio livin

one of my favorite shirts, and Stella

Saturday morning we were up early. We got in a cab and went straight to Santa Monica Pier.

me and my Starbucks. I treated myself to one all 3 days

I didn't realize this was the end point of Rt 66

excuse my finger

landmark

love this shot

obviously slightly obsessed with the ferris wheel

After the Pier, we headed down to the Promenade because we heard they had some cute shops and restaurants. However, it was basically like an outdoor mall- all of your regular stores like H&M and Express. The only cool thing about it was the random farmer's market we ran into. I tried pomegranate juice for the first time (gross) and garlic infused cheese (meh), and bought some blueberries, homemade SAGE honey (SO good), and all natural tee tree oil soap. I'm not a huge fan of farmer's markets in general, because they're usually overcrowded and I don't buy a whole lot of fruits/veggies, but I loved this one.

seen on the street- truth 

cool flowers at the farmer's market

Lisa and I

We also had lunch on the Promenade at a place called Cabo Cantina. We had delicious sangrias and I tried fish tacos for the first time. I don't know why I've waited 30 years to try them. They were ah-mazing. So good that I ate them before snapping a pic #bloggerfail

Then we decided to walk to Venice Beach. They said it was about 1 1/2 mi, but in 90+ heat, it felt MUCH farther. On our way, we passed the apparent original location of Muscle Beach, and some street performers, where this guy was in the crowd, just chillin with his boa. Because, California?

not even kidding. and yes, it was alive and slithering around quite a bit

The first thing we noticed about Venice Beach was the smell of pot. "Oh, we must be here." There were stands lining the sideway and all sorts of people, but mostly artists, stoners, street performers, and a few "normal" looking tourist types like us. I'm not gonna lie, I did not feel particularly safe there. We walked around for about an hour before feeling like we had enough. 

upcycled transfortmer

another upcycled creation of the Star Wars variety

"artist" doing his thang with the change people left for him 

This guy freaked me out. And why is he above a CVS? I will never know

We went back to the hotel and rested/recharged a bit before changing and heading to Sunset Blvd for some drinks and dinner. We were originally planning on trying to find a place to have drinks, eat and dance later, however, the very friendly concierge at the hotel told us that no such place existed on the Blvd. We could either have drinks/dinner in a bar, upscale drinks and dinner in a lounge, or go to a club.

I honestly don't remember the last time I went to a club. Though originally it sounded appealing (clubbing on Sunset Blvd? How could we not?), our old lady status caught up with us after dinner and we decided against it. Too much work- standing on line, paying cover charges, only to have to fight your way to the bar for overpriced drinks and onto the dance floor, to possibly be grinded on by um...anyone? No, thank you. So we grabbed wine and beer at a liquor store, went back and changed into PJs and brought our brown bags (yes literally) down to the pool where we hung out until we finished everything we had to drink. Hands down, my favorite part of the trip. I loved just catching up with Lisa.

watermelon martini

ridiculously good lobster ravioli 

this store, because who doesn't want mo'of me?!!
I just liked that the sign had my name in it

Cali Confessions

on Wednesdays, we confess. So let's just get to it:

I buy more souvenirs for myself than I do for other people. I have collections- ornaments, magnets, shotglasses, and most recently mugs. I don't buy all these things for myself on each trip, but I try to get at least 2.

I almost raged out during our trip to Hollywood. We went to a souvenir shop and I got most of my souvenirs there, and then we walked down the road less than a block and saw all the same stuff for $5. So my $65 bill could have been about $25. Again, rage.

I normally don't buy myself clothes as souvenirs, but I was literally sweating through my shirt (tmi?), so I got one. And I wore it out of the store. And it's super cute and I love it.

my shirt, along with a very anorexic Marilyn Monroe

I almost missed my flight- twice. The first time was due to train delays (I took the train to the airport). The second was due to my scattered brain. I though my flight home was at 5pm, so I woke up at 10:30a preparing for a relaxing day by the pool. I checked my flight on my phone and flipped out when I realized that my flight was actually at 11:40a, and (they said) it took 40 minutes to get from the hotel to the airport. However it only took 20 minutes (and $50... ugh) and I made it!

I don't check my voicemails until I have like 10 and can't stand the stupid notification any longer. As I was checking them last night after I got home, there was one from my friend (we'll call her Lisa) saying that she WASN'T going to be able to do the Cali trip at all. She left the vm literally a week before I flew out there (obviously after I purchased my plane ticket). I'm glad that I didn't hear the message until after I got back, and she changed her mind, otherwise we might have been friends any longer.

My favorite night of the trip was the one where we ate dinner on Sunset Blvd but instead of hitting a nightclub afterward, we went to the liquor store. I picked up a 40 of Corona and she picked up a bottle of wine, we hailed a cab and went back, changed into loungewear, and sat drinking straight out of the bottles (classy broads) on the poolside lounge chairs talking for hours. Security had to come over and tell us that #1, we weren't suppose to be there but #2 he'd let us stay if we kept our voices down because they could hear us across the patio. Oops.

The vacation curse is alive and well. While it sucks, I'm still grateful to, ya know, not be pregnant. 

The most random fun night was Sunday. We were originally planning to go to Ink, Michael Voltaggio's restaurant (he won Top Chef), but we weren't hungry around dinnertime, and not very interested in his menu. C sent me a link to a comedy show starting at 9pm. The show was only $15, but we found a Groupon (I really love that site) that we purchased through Ebates (apps are the best) and got tickets for $10. The show was at The Comedy Store (owned by Pauly Shore's mom), and had about 15 different performers, one of womch is my absolute favorite, Whitney Cummings. I didn't know much about her before her show, but I adored the show and her ever since. I wish we could be like BFF's, but I think she's too badass for me. I may have tried to find her after her set but she rushed into a waiting car. Anyway, the venue was small and we got front row seats! They also made fun of Lisa and I- which I loved. 

Other than Whitney we saw several other famous people, though I don't know who any of them were. As we stalked the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (yes, we're those people), we spotted a young couple getting out of a black sedan, and literally running inside, and another black sedan pulled up and waited for an older woman to be escorted by a guard into the car. Neither our camera nor eyes were fast enough to figure out who they were. Also, while we were walking on The Promenade in Santa Monica, we noticed a group of young girls surrounded some poor male. He was signing autographs, but was pinned against one of the storefronts. I felt kind of bad for him. I approached the group and was like "Uh, who's that?" She breathlessly informed me that it was blah blah from Pretty little Liars. Obvi, I didn't catch the name, and I don't watch the show. But I did get this pic before walking away. 

anyone know who this is?

I made an ass of myself in front of the Southwest ticket people. When I was boarding, I handed the guy my boarding pass and he took it. I was confused. I was like, "Um I need that. It has my seat number on it doesn't it?" He gently told me no, it's open seating. "What does that mean?" "It means you don't have assigned seats. You find one where you find one." Oh, okay then. I wound up sitting in a middle seat, but both young ladies were great- one slept the entire time (against the window), and the other was so into her book she hardly noticed my presence at all, except when I crossed my legs so it would no longer be pressed up against hers. And no one had to go to the bathroom so win!

Have something you wanna get off your chest? Confess it with Kathy!

Confessions

I try to dress professionally for work. But I was so cold yesterday that I threw on a (slightly oversized) sweatshirt over my work pants and headed to class. I'm aware that I looked slightly ridiculous but IDGAF because I'm not trying to look cute sitting in a freezing lecture hall surrounded by recent grads.

I haven't established a new work/schoolwork/other responsibilities schedule yet and it's making me anxious and slightly stabby.

I also haven't received my rented textbook from Amazon yet, so I'm already behind in schoolwork. Ugh.

In a terrible last minute (literally) decision, I benched CJ Spiller in last week's fantasy league. The guy who I put in actually got NEGATIVE points. this made me the "public shame" of the week, which was announced in an email to the team. *hangs head*

I leave for my trip on Friday morning and haven't packed shit. Or planned shit, because the friend I'm going with have stopped responding to all forms of communication. I'm just hoping she shows up at the airport to pick me up at this point, especially since the only reason I'm going (other to see the beauty that is California) is to see her. 

I'm cutting cable... right AFTER the Mindy Project season premiere #priorities

That's about all my brain can handle today. Linking up with Kathy of course.

Back in the Kitchen: Mini Frittatas

After a long (um, most of summer?) hiatus, I found myself back in the kitchen last week. I eased my way back into the swing of cooking with this super simple mini frittata recipe. 

What you need:

8 large eggs

1/2 cup of milk
1T salt

Some fixins (I used ham, cheese, and spinach, but you can use whatever you like/have on hand)

Cooking spray

Oven ready- one minus fixins

What to do: 

Set the oven to 350 and spray your muffin tin. I cannot stress this enough, because of course I forgot the spray and this made taking them out and cleanup a bitch. 

Mix everything in a big bowl. (The original recipe says to just mix the eggs, milk, and salt, pour that into the tin, and put fixins on top, but I didn't like that because I wanted fixins all up in my frittatas.)

Pour into muffin tin. The mixture should fill a about 3/4 of each cup, otherwise you get oversized frittatas (see below).

Pop in oven for 20-25 min, until they become puffy and you see the edges become golden.

Enjoy!

Nom. 

I had a few with Thomas' English muffins and froze the rest for an easy to go breakfast. 

Friday Favorites

App:

YPlan is an app that gives you a curated list of things to do that night, and sometimes discounts and specials. Right now, it's only available in NYC, San Fransisco, Vegas, and London.

Obsession:

Alchemy. It's a game/app where you put one element on top of another and get new elements. You start with only fire, water, earth, and air. As you can see, there are 270... actually that pic must be old because now there are 380. I have been playing for a week and have currently unlocked 148. Addicting!

Money saving tip (minus the shopping one- just make a wishlist)

10 Ways to Avoid People by Stephanie.
I will definitely be utilizing some of her ideas this weekend!

Funnies:

Shit Amanda Says by Amanda/Voyage of MeeMee literally had me laughing out loud at work today. This girl is hilarious- check her out!

Jam: 

Habits - Tove Lo

Confession: Private Goals

I mentioned a *private* goal yesterday. Personally, I don't like it when bloggers do this, because I'm nosy! True confession: I did it because I wasn't sure I could or wanted to accomplish it. I've been struggling with the decision for several years. You see, I work at a college. Which means I could get a free Master's degree after one year of employment (I've been here for 4 1/2 years). However it's a technology college, and my undergrad was in Psychology. There are no Psych Masters programs or anything even remotely similar offered here. They will pay partially for a Master's at one of their sister schools, but you have to pay up front and then get reimbursed. I don't have that kind of money.

After further thought, I realized that Psychology really isn't my passion anymore. When I was studying for my undergrad, I was thinking I'd continue and get my Master's in Psychology or a related field and then work as a guidance counselor in a high school. That was the goal. However, that goal has changed- I don't want to be a guidance counselor anymore. That realization raised the daunting question:

What do I want to be when I grow up? 

But that question scared me, so I stopped thinking about it. (Lame, I know.) I enjoy my job, and get further training for it through conferences throughout the year. I don't need anything else to do it well. I got a promotion last year, which was awesome, and I continue to do well in my position (at least I think so. I"m pretty sure that's the consensus). They put me on special projects, ask me for my thoughts on future systems, and I feel useful and needed.

So, I didn't really think much about continuing my education. Until last Thursday. I was walking out of the office with a coworker who is my age and he was headed to class. "Hey, why aren't you taking classes?" he asked. I said I didn't know what I would take, explained the Psych undergrad, etc. "So get an MBA." "But I don't have any business knowledge/credits." "It doesn't matter- you can still get one. Just take one class at first. That's how I started. Now I'm taking two a semester and I'm almost halfway finished." This came as a surprise. What do you mean I don't need any prior business knowledge?

I kept it in the back of my mind and continued on with life as usual. Then on Sunday my mom brought it up completely randomly. The last time she mentioned getting a Masters was a few years ago, when I first started my job. I told her I'd think about it, and I did. All weekend. I did some research online. One class wouldn't be that bad. I came into work yesterday and called my friend, who works in Graduate Student Services. She recommended a class and section, I signed off, and had my first class yesterday!!

Though I was burnt out after the class (thankfully it's only once a week), I really enjoyed the material and I'm looking forward to next class. I'm sure I won't feel this way about all of my classes, but it's a great start. And though I still don't know what I want to be when I "grow up," I feel like this is a step in a positive direction.

Have you gone back to school? Do you have any tips for me? 

Confess yo'self with Kathy

September Goals

As you may or may not have noticed, I didn't create any goals for August. Well actually I did, but I forgot to post them.  So needless to say, I didn't complete them. But today is the start of a new month, and I'm ready to take it by storm! 

Continue working on the Summer Bucket List

read two books

start meal planning

cut cable

blog (at least) twice a week

purge my closets
purge/organize my kitchen (thanks for this idea Kathy!)

pay off one student loan
*private goal-may be more on this later*

plan and have an awesome time in Cali

Do you have any goals this month?