The Sun Will Come Out Today

view from my room, the way it should be.

 

A few things made me extremely happy today...

first, i woke up BEFORE my alarm clock this morning. honestly, the only time that ever happens is when i've set my alarm clock for noon after a late night. but not today. the alarm clock was set for 7:30 AM and my eyes just naturally opened up at exactly 7:11 AM this morning. to top off that miracle, sunshine was everywhere in my room (i sleep with my curtains open) and i was so happy to be up, awake, and not feeling the slightest bit groggy. i know, annoying, right?

my mom picked up some mouth-watering strawberries from a local stand. fresh, organic & cheap! i top it on hot oatmeal with vanilla soy milk & honey, and if you've never had that combination before, trust me, you'll want to :)

 the tree in our front yard is in full bloom now. every fall, my dad chops off all the branches on this thing even though my sister and i gripe about how ugly it looks. he insists it's better for the leaves when they come in. and boy, have they. welcome back, buddy.

 

  after lunch, i made flan with my mom. it's our new obsession since we've discovered the perfect recipe. seriously, it's delicious. if you're my friend and you enjoy flan, just let me know and i'll make some for you the next time you're over.

then i got the best gift in the mail since kristen sent me twilight doorknob hangers for my birthday. my dear friend mr. jake kilroy has made himself into a rockstar with his self-produced EP, Great Western Skies. it's trippy and giddy and makes me want to run outside with flowers in my hair in the '70s (not sure if that was his intention but that is my review). plus, it has undoubtedly made him about 234987x hotter in my eyes. but he was pretty darn hot anyway. if you're curious about mr. jake, go here.

...

tomorrow: jackie's art show at Phlox. will be bringing my camera to document this momentous occasion. will then post on here and embarrass her with plenty of flattery.

The Week in Review

I spent last week in LA and it was pretty magical. So magical that I wish I had some photos of my own to share, but since my sad little camera died on Monday (even though I FULLY charged it before leaving), I'm going to lift a few photos from the web to make this post somewhat interesting.

stolen from google images

Remember how in Minority Report Tom Cruise was living in the future surrounded by really cool computers that could be controlled with your hands? Well, as Adam and I learned last week, that future has come to the present. We attended an event on 5D and learned that right now, models of those computers are being built and used. Yup, the mouse may soon die out in the future. As will sitting down at a computer.

stolen from Theodore O. on Yelp

I met up with my friend Wooge on Wednesday night and gave in to peer pressure to eat meat. And not just any meat...a whopper of a burger at Father's Office. It was delicious but I'm going to make sure they fully cook mine the next time. Any redness, even a little bit, makes me cringe. The sweet potato fries with the garlic aioli sauce though...heaven.

from the LA Times website. i couldn't find a bigger photo to steal.

On Saturday morning, Adam and I went to the LA Times Festival of Books. This was our fifth time at the event and it was awesome as usual. We went to a panel discussion on how human beings have evolved over time and a Harvard professor argued that cooking has been a core part of our evolution, especially in recent years when fast food liberated women from kitchens and men from depending on women for food. (Interesting, although I personally don't want to award fast food with that much credit.) 

The Writing Nook

my current writer's nook

my dream writer's nook
...
big windows, plenty of sunshine, fresh flowers, the color white & framed artwork = perfection.
one day, one day...

Good things come in threes

Top 3 things from yesterday...

#1: getting a surprise bouquet of my favorite type of roses (purple) from adam for no reason at all. that easily made my week.

#2: going to SusieCakes in brentwood for the first time and OD'ing on sugar...specifically red velvet, vanilla, strawberry & mocha.

#3: sugar OD continues at the David Geffen School of Medicine Banquet, aka "The Geffen Olympics." a wonderful and very funny hosting job by Edison alums Steve (who won Most Likely to Take Dean Parker's Job) and Adam (who won Most Likely to Be a Doctor Turned Politician). can you spot their names on the program? there was a delicious 3-course meal, awards, speeches, and dancing...

...all enjoyed with the lovely ladies at the table, the sweet and innocent Anishka & the devious and not-to-be-trusted Anisa (muhaha).

And then my camera died. so that's all, folks.

Ride On

Tonight I went to the Hammer Museum's Bike Night event celebrating the city's biking culture. It featured live music and bike-related short films called Bike Shorts. (ha. ha. get it?)...

some lovely art including a projection of a glowing tree moving in the wind, along with all of the bikes from the bikers in attendance (i walked there. felt a bit like an outcast.)...

a bar with free drinks surrounded by plenty of hipsters...

and my favorite part of the night: a FREE, all-you-can-eat vegan bar catered by Whole Foods.

oh and Pee-Wee Herman also showed up to introduce the screening of Pee Wee's Big Adventure. didn't stay for the movie, though.

***
i've been wanting a bike for some time now...i heard the salvation army has beach cruisers for $10?

earlier today:
-THE WAR ON CAR STENCH CONTINUES...i helped spray adam's car for a good 20 minutes with two bottles of Lysol and Glade. i would post pictures but i've yet to figure out how to embed photos in the middle of a post. i'll try this weekend.
-1 hour phone date with kristen. big smiles after that.

tomorrow:
-attend the UCLA School of Medicine Banquet. get to dress up and enjoy FREE food again. i am well fed this week.
-go to SusieCakes for the first time
-drive back to HB in stinky car.

A Wild Imagination

yesterday i had a conversation with adam that went like this...

adam: i need you to help me with something. it's something really disgusting.
me: what is it?
adam: my car smells terrible. i think something died in it.
me: what?!
adam: i think there's either a rat or a mouse that somehow got in and died in there.
me: how do you know? did you see it?
adam: i think so...just come with me.

we went out to the car and adam opened the door. he was right. it smelled awful. he pointed to underneath the passenger seat.
"tell me," he said. "do you see something there?"

and i saw it. a big black rat. i could even make out the tail and the fur.

i wanted to die.

adam had two plastic bags with him which he used as makeshift gloves to pull it out.
it wasn't a rat.
it wasn't a mouse.
it was just a black umbrella.

do we have wild imaginations or what? or, really really sad imaginations.

footnotes:
-the stench (whatever it is) is still there
-we searched the rest of the car, from the front seat to the back to the trunk to the hood. nothing.
-adam's dad is convinced something DID die, but possibly in the body of the car. shiver. it's being taken to a mechanic on friday. (can you imagine what he might charge?)
-to be continued...after buying boatloads of air freshener today.