Autism Awareness

April 2 was Autism Awareness Day, so this post is a few days late. Autism is something I've been reading a lot about lately. One of my cousin's (he's really more like a baby brother to me) is border-line autistic. He's a senior in high school now and is very high-functioning. He's a very smart kid, he's just is a little off sometimes. He doesn't have very good conversation skills and is very very socially awkward. It's really hard to talk to him. I can only understand about half of the things that come out of his mouth. Lots of what he says in nonsense. He talks mostly about cartoons. He's like a a 10 year with bad manners. The worst thing about it is that his parents ignore it like there's nothing different about him. They never took him to classes or anything of the sort. It makes me so sad and upsets me when I think about it. He was such a good kid growing up. He's very sweet and considerate. Classes could've helped his development so much. He gets frustrated and very easily upset, especially when he's talking to people. It's very hard for him to express himself. Because of this, he gets frustrated when he's trying to talk to somebody and they can't understand what he's saying. So if he's talking to me and I say to him "What did you just say? Can you say it again?," he'll just say "Nevermind. Forget it" and start rambling again about something else. Recently I found out that another one of my cousin's has been diagnosed as autistic. He's three years old. He hasn't started speaking yet, which is why his parents were getting him tested. He can say "hi" and "bye" but that's pretty much it. Thankfully, his parents are taking him to classes two times a week.

This whole autism thing is pretty scary. It seems like more and more kids these days are being diagnosed as autistic. I saw this article on CNN the other day that I found it pretty interesting. Hopefully they can find out what causes autism. I know it will be awhile from now. I do what I can to help. Have you ever heard of Good Search? It's a search engine powered by Yahoo! With every search you do, money gets donated to an organization or school of your choice. I use it as my search engine and I've designated my organization of choice to be Cure Autism Now. You should try it too. Pick an organzation you like and help them out too.

A little TMI

A few months ago my doctor switched the type of birth control I was on. It's one of those low dose estrogen ones. I was told to give it a few months to see if it was a good match for me. All was going well until last month. Normally that time of the month comes for me like clockwork. It comes on Wednesday and is gone by Sunday. Last month it came and went. Then 2 weeks later I had it again! This time it lasted for 10 days! I chalked it up to my body adjusting and what not so I didn't do anything about it. Yesterday I had some spotting again. This time I made a phone call to my doctor and I'm scheduled to go back in next week to switch the type of pills I'm on. I'm told the problem has something to do with the low levels of estrogen. I hope things get back to normal soon.

Maybe I should just quit

At my job, we work one Saturday a month. For some reason, the Saturday we work always happens to fall on a day where there are some good sample sales going on. Since I can't go, maybe those of you that are fortunate enough to NOT be working can go instead.

Seychelles Warehouse Sale
4/4 (10am-5pm) and 4/5 (10am-4pm)
Save on women's flats, pumps, wedges, boots, sneakers and more
202 N. Nash St.,
El Segundo 90245.


The Warehouse sale
Los Angeles Convention Center
Petree Hall
1201 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015

RSVP Now for FREE admission
$5 Admission without RSVP


Sunday April 6, 2008
10:00 AM - 04:00 PM

Or join us a day early at our VIP Private Sale.

Saturday April 5, 2008
10:00 AM - 04:00 PM



Buy VIP Ticket now for $15
or at the door for $25

A GIFT BAG for the first 200 customers.
(VIP Day only)

Sunday morning surprise

You know what really sucks? Going to church, sitting down and then jumping right up out of your seat because it's all wet and then having to sit through the whole service with wet pants. That happened to me Sunday morning at church. The first thought that ran through my head was "Oh god, I hope its not pee." Ew, can you imagine if it had been. Luckily for me it was just rain. It had been raining Saturday night and apparently the roof at church has some leaks in it. As soon as I sat down, my butt felt wet. I immediately got up and went to the bathroom to try and dry off as much as possible. It's not like my pants were soaking wet or anything. They were just wet enough for it to be annoying and uncomfortable. And I was wearing leggings. Leggings! Let me tell you, sitting for an hour with wet leggings right against your skin is not a good feeling.

The wheels on the bus

Recently, a bunch of my friends and I went wine tasting in Temecula. We took a shuttle tour from Go Grape. So. Much. Fun. We did the vineyard picnic tour. It's really a good deal as you get a box lunch, transportation to four wineries, and at least 5 glasses at each winery, all for about $100 a person. We were lucky and got to go to 5 wineries since our tour was running ahead of schedule. I started out drinking every single glass that I had. By the third winery, I couldn't do it. I was getting so drunk. I only drank the ones I really like, then I gave the others to The Boy.

The tour starts in the morning. They pick you up from your hotel, along with other groups that are going on the tour. You all pile in and go from there. It's funny to see how the atmosphere on the bus progresses throughout the day. At first everyone is quiet and talking only to their group of friends they came with and using their indoor voices. By the end of the day, when everyone is good and liquored up, all of that is thrown out the window. Our bus was pretty rowdy by the time we left the last winery and were on our way back to our hotel. Girls started dancing in the aisle. People were hooting and hollering. It was some good times. I highly suggest everyone try it some time.

A little time off

I've been off from work this whole week. I've been doing a lot of nothing. I've been sleeping in (which I never do. I'm an early bird), playing with the dog, and watching movies on On Demand. It feels good to just hang out for a few extra days. I did drive up and hang out with The Boy for a little bit. This is what we did.



Yup, that's Kanye West. I know it's hard to see, but it really is him. He was at the club Area in Los Angeles Tuesday night along with Common. It was crazy crowded up in there. I'm talking standing shoulder to shoulder with some sweaty/smelly people, but it was worth it. They basically did a little mini-concert. They performed Go, Flashing Lights, Stonger, Good Life, and a few others I can't remember right now. What makes it even better is that it was free to get in. My friend has the hook up and was able to get us in without a cover charge. Perez Hilton even posted about it.

Where have all the girl scouts gone?

I love girl scout cookies. My most favorite of them all is the thin mints. I could eat a whole box of them all by myself. Seriously, I love them. This year I haven't seen any girl scouts at the stores, which is odd because I go to the grocery store A LOT. Once a week at least. I didn't realize that this Sunday was last day of girl scout cookie season. I am so sad. If I had known, I totally would've driven around to find me some cookies. The Boy actually bought some cookies a few weeks ago, but he didn't buy the kind I liked. What good is he to me if he can't even buy me one little box of cookies? He just might need to be replaced.

It's getting hot in herre

It's like it's summer outside. The sun has come out and the air conditioning has been turned on. You know what that means? A trip to the mall. I'm in need of some new tank tops and short sleeved clothes. I picked up a few tops at Nordstrom and Forever 21. This was my first big shopping trip in awhile. I wanted to buy so much stuff. I forgot how much fun shopping can be! My bank account, however, does not agree. More than half of my new clothing is for work though. That makes me feel a little bit better about my purchases. This shopping trip is definitely helping me get out of my weird funk.

Where ya been?

It's been awhile since my last post. I wish I could say it's because I've been so busy with fun and exciting activities. Alas, I cannot. I've been around, just reading other people's blogs. I just haven't posted in awhile. I've been in a funk the past couple weeks. It's not really a depression, but depression-like. I come home at the end of the day and just want to be alone. Didn't want to go anywhere. Didn't want to do anything. It was an overall blah feeling. I started writing a few posts, but never finished/posted them. I've been uninspired and unmotivated lately. I think it's over now. I'll try to post something less depressing and more exciting tomorrow. For now, I have an accounting book calling my name.

The most important meal of the day

I love me some breakfast. It's probably my favorite meal to go out for. Yesterday I had breakfast and Cafe on Park with my friend, Lana. It was my first time eating there and it was SO good. Whenever we go out for breakfast, we order a sweet dish and a savory dish then we just share them. This time we ordered the Captain Crunch Pancake and a meatloaf, sundreid tomato, spinach, onion, and mozarella cheese egg scramble. When they brought out the pancake I was surprised. It was the biggest pancake EVER. It's kinda hard to see its humungousness from this picture (which I got off of yelp), but trust me - it's HUGE! And super yummy too.

The egg scramble was also very very tasty. Cafe on Park is a definite winner. I've heard good things about their waffle. I'll have to go back soon and try it.

Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow the boy and I are going out to dinner. Nothing too fancy or expensive though, just a simple and relaxed dinner. We don't even exchange gifts. He gets me flowers, but that's it. It's okay though, because I'm not really into Valentine's Day.

I was going to just cook dinner at home. Then I realized that I can't even remember the last time the boy and I went out for a nice dinner alone. We've been together for so long, that we often find ourselves just hanging out at home or only going out when there are other people involved. Me thinks that we need to have date nights more often.

1500 Ocean Review

Restaurant week was a few weeks ago. We went to 1500, which is located inside of Hotel del. I failed to recap about it for two reasons: laziness and a lack of pictures. The boy forgot his camera! Instead, I've gathered a bunch of pictures that I found on other websites or blogs.






Here's what we ordered:
Appetizers: Celery Root Soup: Grilled mushroom, chive oil and Cured Yellowtail: Jicama, chili, avocado mousse

Main Course: Seared Diver Scallops: Squash puree, shaved brussel sprouts, almond brown butter and Grilled Angus Beef Culotte: Olive oil crushed potatoes, smoked bacon, persimmon salad

Dessert: Warm Chocolate Chipotle Cake: Caramel ice cream, banana and Mango Crème Brulee: Fennel compote

Everything was very very good. They also start you out with bread for the table. There are 2 kinds of bread, cheese biscuits and something else. I don't remember what the other bread is because I didn't like it and I LOVED the cheese biscuits. I probably had about 4 of them. I really wanted to have more, but I was being self-conscious about how many I had. Nobody else was eating as much as I was. Everything we had was perfectly cooked and tasted so good. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough of it! Not that the portions were small, I just wanted more :) My meat was perfectly cooked and the crushed potatoes were the perfect compliment to them. The bacon added a nice touch to the potatoes. The scallops, were again, perfectly cooked - brown on the outside and nice and buttery on the inside. The cake was sooooo good. I'd never had chocolate that was spicy, so I was really excited to try this out. I enjoyed the little kick the spice gave to the desert, the boy not so much. The mango creme brulee was just as good, smooth and creamy. Perfect for anyone who doesn't really enjoy chocolate.

Bread basket (Following pictures stolen borrowed from Alice Q Foodie)


Chipotle cake


A few notes, not food related. It was difficult to get a reservation. When we got there it wasn't very busy and I saw lots of empty tables the whole night. Weird. Maybe people didn't show up or they underbook so that hotel guests won't have trouble eating there if they want? The service was great. The waiter was very attentive. There was also a guitar player at the restaurant. We were seated a few tables away from him. At first I thought it might get annoying, but he wasn't overly loud or anything. It ended up being nice background music. The decor was elegant and nice. It wasn't as stuffy or old as I had expected since the del is an old hotel. It would be nice to go back when the weather is warmer so that we could eat outside and enjoy the nice oceanside view.

Overall, it was a great meal. And at $40, a definite steal!

Time to stock up

In need of some wine? Check out Wally's tent sale in Westwood this weekend. I sound like a commercial, don't I?

That's it for this post. I tried coming up with something else fun and/or witty to add, but I got nothing. That's all. Just go by yourself some good and cheap wine.

Happy early birthday to me

I scored a pair of Lanvin ballet flats at the Barney's sale this weekend. The boy actually bought them for me as part of my birthday gift. They were quite the splurge. I also got a Top Shop top. The boy picked up a pair of shoes. I was hoping to find some boots. No such luck. I only saw two pairs of boots in my size. Both pairs were just eh. I didn't spend much time browsing the racks of clothes at the sale. By the time we got there, I had a horrible headache and just wasn't in the mood. There are many things that can cause me to not be in the mood. Headaches. Uncomfortable clothing and/or shoes. Crowds. All three non-shopping mood causing factors were present on Saturday.

Before heading home, we ate at Bossa Nova over on Pico and swung by Beard Papa's for some yummy cream puffs.

Here is a rundown of my Sunday

• Slept in. Missed church - oops!
• Walked the dog. Had breakfast then gave the dog a much needed bath.
  
• After everyone was clean, the boy, the dog and I all fell asleep on the bed. Can we say lazy?
• Woke up from aforementioned nap and did homework while the boy watched basketball and played xbox.
• Had dinner with the boy and his parents before driving back home to San Diego.

Currently

• Wishing it wasn't Sunday night and that I didn't have to work tomorrow
  

going to see Barney

No, not that Barney. A better barney. On my way to Santa Monica to check out the semi-annual Barney's warehouse sale (oh, and to see the boy too). I'll let you know how it is.

40 days and 40 nights

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. During this time, you're supposed to give up something such as chocolate or candy or smoking or drinking. It's a sacrifice you're making. In the past, I've given up soda, coffee, and chocolate. I've been trying to think of what to give up this year. I was having a hard time coming up with something. I don't drink soda or snack as frequently as I did in the past. I don't smoke. So instead of giving up something, I decided I would DO something everyday instead. I'm going to do some kind of exercise every day. Some sort of exercise for at least 10 minutes a day. I won't necessarily go to the gym everyday, but I will at least do one of my work out dvds or yoga here at home. In a way, I'll be sacrificing my time. Lately, I've been too lazy to go to the gym and I come up with a gazillion excuses to not go. I have to much to do. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I don't feel good. It's too cold outside. It's raining, etc, etc, etc

Burger Lounge

Last night I ate at Burger Lounge in Kensington with the boy. I was looking forward to it, as I've heard so many good things about the place. We both had the Grilled Lounge Burger with cheddar cheese. We also had french fries, onions rings and a chocolate malt. The food was good, just not amazingly good. Nothing that I'll find myself craving. I'd go back if someone else wants to go, but I probably won't go back on my own. It's basically fast food, only higher quality ingredients such as tall grass fed beef. Maybe I just had high expectations going into it. I was expecting a mind-blowingly good burger. The fries and onions rings were really good, probably my favorite part. The breading on the onion rings is nice and light. Both the fries and the rings were seasoned with parsley and kosher salt, making them deeeelish.

I hear the turkey burger is better than the beef burger. If I go back, I'll try that instead.

Happy Super Tuesday

Well, I didn't technically vote today. I sent in my absentee ballot awhile ago. I've never been to an actual polling place. I've always voted via absentee.

Suggestions, please

A group of my friends would like to go wine tasting in Temecula. Any suggestions on wineries, tours, or hotels we should look into?

It's picture time

My lazy butt finally found my camera and its cords and stuff. Here's some pictures of what I cooked over the weekend.

Lemon blossoms

I would highly recommend the lemon blossoms. They are probably one of my favorite things to bake. Plus, they are super simple to make. Anybody can do it. No special baking skills necessary. They are lemony, sweet, and just a bit tart. I could eat the whole batch in one sitting. They aren't the prettiest mini-muffin, but they are soooo good.

Here's the recipe (from Paula Deen):

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Glaze:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel
To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.



BBQ chicken pizza

I like making this because it requires very little prep and effort on my part. Just cover with toppings and put it in the oven. Done. The hardest part is chopping all the ingredients.