Baby Steps

I cooked chicken and green beans last night. Wasn't up for cooking fish, but I did marinate it so I can cook it tonight (wait-are you supposed to marinate fish?). Trust me-the chicken was way more appetizing than it looks in the pic. And I'm a bit miffed because I took a pic of dinner last night and somehow it disappeared off my camera. I had it on a plate with silverware and all that jazz.

So this pic was taken two minutes ago. Its the leftovers. In Tupperware. Taken in my cube. I'm grateful that a) most people are out for the holidays b) my boss isn't here wondering what's wrong with me because I'm taking a picture of food instead of working, and c) everyone that did see me take this pic already knows there's something a bit off about me.

I'm mashing potatoes tonight. This should be interesting.

Wanted: Fire Extinguisher

My parents decided to orphan me over Christmas. In all honesty, I can't really hold it against them. I already went home for Turkey Day. I think the only way they could ensure that they wouldn't have to see me again so soon was to haul ass out of the country.

So I spent the holidays visiting Jared and Sharon. Those four days can be summed up in three words: 'ice cream' and 'sleep'. Oh wait-I cooked two meals. Within 24 hours. Shocking. I should backpedal a bit and re-hash my old goals (which obviously have flown by unaccomplished). When I moved to LA, I told myself that I would cook at least one meal a week. In a few months' time I should have enough recipes down to be able to whip up something on a moments notice. I figure I eat 2 meals a day (plus around 10 snacks, but I'm not counting those), so that's 14 meals a week. All I have to do is cook one meal a week. Sadly, that proved to be a tad bit ambitious. In three months, I've cooked two meals. And I can't remember what they were, except that both included meat of some sort and the results didn't quite look like the picture accompanying the recipe.

Needless to say, cooking two meals in a 24 hour period is completely unheard of. But I did it! Christmas Eve I made pizza. From scratch. Can I repeat it? Negative. I made the crust from scratch. Of course I wasn't paying attention to the amount of each ingredient (that would be giving me way too much credit), but I made the crust!

For toppings, I added cheese, chicken, spinach, more cheese, onion, tomato, and then more cheese. Here's a pic of it: I'm very proud of myself because let's face it-a year ago I didn't even know where the oven light was. Also, all of us are still alive and kicking.

There's even proof in the pic that I made it: the crust is not quite a circle, not quite a square...
The next morning I made French toast. Technically not as impressive because Jared added the milk and I put more stock in dinner than breakfast. But let me reiterate: all parties who consumed my cooking are still alive and kicking.

My 2007 New Years Resolution is to cook one meal a week. I'm making it a New Years resolution because in general no one keeps their resolutions anyway, so I won't feel so bad for breaking it. Also, if I cook a meal a week for two weeks before quitting I'm already leaps and bounds ahead of my past resolutions (not to cuss-I broke that 5 minutes after I made it).

I'm making fish tonight. Wish me luck.

Coming Out of the Dark

Yes, I can hear Gloria Estefan's song blaring in my head. But this is cause for celebration. After living for three years without television, I finally got cable!! Well, it wasn't exactly three years. The first year of law school, I got NBC. That's it. So it was all about the Olympics and Law & Order that summer. Then, 2nd and 3rd year law school, nothing. I was living off of Netflix.

However, last night, I came back from Christmas vacation, and had cable waiting! Well, that's not exactly true. I fumbled around with the remote for a good ten minutes. That's not my fault though. My old remotes had maybe 15 buttons between the three of them. This one remote has 100. Between turning every damn thing on and then inadvertently turning everything off, I'm surprised there wasn't a huge dent in the wall.

My first foray into the exciting world of cable, and what do I watch? VH1's Lifestye of Rich People, blah blah blah. Let me break it down for you-its a show to make the common folk like me feel like I'm poor. (By the way, according to the California real estate sector, I'm hovering precariously close to the poverty line. Oh wait-that's wishful thinking. I am below the poverty line!!) Now I'm thinking about how I'm living in poverty and that makes me sad. I'm going to go jonesing for sweets.

Why Am I Here?

This is what I've realized after one weekend with J-Unit in town: I need a kid to validate my existance. J-Unit came into town December 6th- 11th.

Thursday night I took her to my company Christmas party. Mind you, this was a Christmas shindig only for employees ie no +1 allowed. But honestly, when have I ever followed the rules? The party was at Nic's Martini Lounge in Beverly Hills. It's a pretty cool place. In the back is the vodka tasting room, aptly named Vod Box. J-Unit and I donned fur coats (faux, much to J-Unit's chagrin) and I downed 4 shots of vodka, and didn't pass out. Amazing. I also had a strawberry martini before entering the Vod Box.

We went home where I subsequently passed out on the couch for two hours. Figures.

Friday night after work Nico, J-Unit, and I headed out to San Diego. J-Unit got us two free nights at the W Hotel. It was an incredibly cool hotel. I especially like the part where the lobby is turned into a 'club' at night. Didn't even have to leave the building!! Maybe the girl taking the pic was super close to us-maybe we all have big heads. Regardless, this is at the lobby/club at the W Hotel



Saturday we went to the San Diego Zoo.

Here's a pic of us outside the hippo exhibit:

For going to the most famous zoo in the world, I have an inordinate number of pictures with fake animals...
Here's some fun facts I learned at the Zoo (it is suppose to be educational in edition to being fun):
1) Giraffes regurgitate EVERYTHING
2) Zebras are black with white stripes (oh wait-I have a picture of a real zebra!)

3) In order to keep polar bears in San Diego, they have to put them on a diet of veggies and fruits so they don't gain weight and get hot and fat (or something along those lines). Here's a pic of Nico and I outside the polar bear exhibit

Sunday we high-tailed it out to Disneyland!
We rode all the cool rides: Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Carribbean, and Thunder Mountain (or River, I forget).

This is Nico and I on the famous Mad Hatter Teacup ride. J-Unit didn't join in the festivities because she didn't pay good money to yak after a ride.


Here's a pic of me playing the piano on the way to meet Mickey. This is where 5 years of piano lessons have gotten me:
And this is our group pic with Mickey. For some odd reason, no one was as excited as I was. Hummm...