If Heaven Came in a Pod

I can't believe I haven't written a blog about the new love in my life yet: edamame. I'm obsessed with this soybean snack. I've had in restaurants before and loved it, but nothing compares to Trader Joe's edamame. You buy it in the frozen foods section and it comes ready to cook (how else would it come?). Boil it on the stove for a few minutes and it's ready in no time! I add sea salt to mine, which I think is a must. It's so amazingly good, I eat it almost everyday. I am waiting for the day that I get sick of it...but I'm sure that's not going to happen any time soon. Bella even loves edamame, I give her the whole thing and she shells them, eats the beans and then leaves the shell! So, go buy some edamame today and eat your heart out.

This belongs on my fridge

Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run. I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It Is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm. For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required. The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:
(1) They live here. You don't.
(2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
(1) eat less,
(2) don't ask for money all the time,
(3) are easier to train,
(4) normally come when called,
(5) never ask to drive the car,
(6) don't hang out with drug-using people;
(7) don't smoke or drink,
(8) don't want to wear your clothes,
(9) don't have to buy the latest fashions,
(10) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and
(11) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children ....

I got a kick out of this.

Random Updates

Well, our third (and final) new roommate moved in last week. Her name is April and she's from San Diego. She went to Indiana University for TV production...so we actually have a lot in common. She has a little dog named Wookie, who is starting to get used to Bella. So far, so good. She's really nice and for the first time in a long I don't dread coming home from work to find an unemployed person playing video games in the dark (Josh). It's nice to actually be able to watch some TV at night or use my computer in the family room while eating dinner.

Speaking of my new roommate. She went to get coffee at the little shop in front of our apartment on Monday and was in line behind Ashley Olsen. I was incredibly jealous. The list of celebrities I want to run into in this town is pretty short, but the Olsen twins are definitely on it...someday I WILL see them. It turns out Mary-Kate and Ashley ate at Pace back in January...I guess I wasn't home that night. I think I would have noticed if I had been home because there were paparazzi shots, and it's pretty hard not to notice when paparazzi are right out front of our place.

Well, today is Ash Wednesday and while I have never given anything up for Lent in the past, I decided I really want to this year. Nikki, April and I were talking about things we should live without for the next 40 days and we all came up with a few things to give up. I will be giving up pop and wine. I drink pop at least once a day, if not more, and I have wine a few times a week. So, it will be hard, but not impossible to live without both of those. Nikki is giving up pop and meat, which the meat part might be a little hard for her, but I know she can do it. April is giving up sweets...I don't know her that well yet, but I know she can do it too. Tonight Nikki is bringing home some construction paper and we are going to make a paper chain to hang in the kitchen to count down that days. haha, we are dorks.

Well, the days are getting longer and the weather is getting a little bit warmer here, and everyone is starting to catch spring fever. I wasn't sure spring fever would exist in a town that is known for having good weather, but it does and I am grateful for that. I'm looking forward to many beach days ahead!

I heart Runyon Canyon

I am in love with Runyon Canyon. There needs to be more hours in the day so I have more time to spend there. It's hard to believe such a gorgeous walking trail is in the middle of Los Angeles...Hollywood, for that matter. It's amazing. There are views of the Pacific, downtown, the Hollywood sign and pretty much any other thing in LA you'd want to see. I took Bella there for a few hours today and it's breathtaking to look right and see the ocean and look left to see snow covered mountains. Not to mention it's a great workout that doesn't really feel like one. It's up and down hill and some parts are a lot harder than others, but it's so pretty that it doesn't feel like exercise. I stopped at the top of one of the hills that overlooks Hollywood and I was able to see the red carpet for the Oscars. There were so many helicopters and even a blimp hovering over the Kodak Theatre all night. It was pretty cool to see while walking my dog. Definitely a different view than the Ohio river which Bella and I used to walk across on a regular basis. There aren't many times when Hollywood feels calm, but walking through Runyon Canyon is the closest it gets to feeling calm. Even though there are dogs and people everywhere...there is something incredibly peaceful about being there. I can't wait until we change the clocks and it stays light out longer. I plan on going into work a bit early so I have time to take Bella to Runyon after work. Like I said...I wish there were more hours in the day so I could spend more time there!

Wow, The Oscars just ended...I wasn't expecting them to end so early...I'm still not used to living in this time zone! It's only 9pm!

Shattered

I went to get into my car this morning to go to work and the front passenger window was shattered all over the passenger seat. Someone broke into my car and stole a pair of boots and my umbrella. My boots and umbrella were in a canvas bag...so maybe it looked like a valuable bag? It definitely didn't look like a purse...but anyway, they took it. At least they left my CD player and CDs and all they got was a (stinky) pair of boots and an umbrella. Anyway...I'm cranky. I was an hour late for work and now have a trash bag duct taped to my window. Someone is coming to install a new window while I'm at work today. 134 bucks. Could be worse...they could have taken my whole car!

Where I park isn't even that unsafe...it's right in front of multi-million dollar homes. Those homes also have huge fences and gates, so I guess it makes it an easy place to break in because no one can really see you. Needless to say, from now on, I will be making the Pace Restaurant Valet guys move cars for me so I can park right out front of my place. Oh, and I won't leave shoes in my car anymore either!

Sight-Seeing

Wow, this month has been going so fast, but it's still only the 18th. There is a reason why February only has 28 days, and I'm ready for it to be over! Even though the weather here in LA doesn't even compare to a Cincinnati February, it's still rainy and chilly and I'm done with it. As you know, I spent the first weekend of February in Seattle. I made a slide show of some of the pictures I took...I am going to put some music to it, then I will post it on here. This past weekend my mom was in town and we had so much fun! It was a jam packed weekend of sight-seeing, and it was fun to be a tourist in LA, since I haven't really gotten to do that yet. On Saturday we went down to Newport and went whale watching. We didn't see a whale, but we saw so many dolphin, it was amazing. Sunday we went to the dog park, then hiking at Runyon Canyon. We worked up an appetite, so we headed to Santa Monica and had a late lunch/early dinner on the pier. We drove down to Venice to watch the sunset and finished up the night walking around Hollywood. Things were a little crazy in Hollywood because they were setting up for the Oscar's, but we did get to see a lot. Monday was a rainy day and so we went to see "He's Just Not That Into You". It was pretty good and has an amazing cast...which is funny because when they first started to cast that movie, they didn't want any big names in it, and it ended up with some amazing "big name" actors. After the movie the rain cleared up and the sun came out...so we drove around and did some "celebrity" homes sight-seeing. You can't see a whole lot since all the houses are hidden and gated. We did see where Lucy and Ricky lived while raising their family and I really liked that. Oh, and we went to see the house that was used for exterior shots on The Brady Bunch, that was fun. I'm sure I am forgetting something that we did...it was a crazy weekend. Oh, we had In N Out Burger, and of course, Pinkberry. That pretty much sums up my sight-seeing weekend. I'm exhausted, but I think I'm becoming a good LA tour guide! Who wants to come visit me next?

Apple Chai Tea

Well, I had an amazing time in Seattle this weekend. It was a very busy weekend and I'm exhausted! I took over 200 pictures, so I will probably make a whole seperate blog with a slide show of them all. So you will have to wait on those...

One thing I discovered while in Seattle was the Apple Chai Tea Infusion drink from Starbucks. Allie got it at the original Starbucks and I tried it and I was hooked. It tastes like Apple Cider deliciousness. haha. I am about to go get one...I have one free coupon left. Ok, so if you go to Starbucks, try that.

My mom is coming out to LA this weekend and I can't wait! I hope it doesn't rain too much....

Kinder Bueno

Kinder Buenos are probably the best candy bar ever made. I ate them constantly while I lived in Luxembourg and stocked up on them when I moved back to the states. I brought them back for family and friends to try. I even kept an empty wrapper to remember the candy bar by. I have never found anywhere in the states that sells them. I always said I was going to order them in bulk and have them shipped to me or something, but I could never justify spending that much money on a bulk supply of candy bars. So, it's been a good three and half years since I have had a Kinder Bueno. Until last night that is. Something amazing happened. I was walking down the candy isle at the market in front of my apartment, and there they were. A box of Kinder Buenos. I felt like I had instantly been transported to the Match market in Luxembourg. For a fleeting moment I wanted to grab the whole box and run for it and never look back. However, I knew that wouldn't be a smart idea since I go to that market almost every day. So, I bought three. The owner of the market was so excited about my purchase he started a conversation with my about my love for Kinder Buenos (which I was more than happy to talk about). I can't believe I have been living this close to candy bar heaven for the past four months and didn't even know! Go ahead and laugh all you want at this ridiculous blog. I don't care. Now all I need to find are the pretzels I used to buy in Lux too.

The Way I See It #296

The Way I See It #296

By the time executives get married, take on a mortgage, raise kids, cope with the crabgrass, climb the corporate ladder, do their best to manage career pressures, build their net worth and get into their 40s, they've lost touch with what they believe in and care about most deeply.

-Allan Cox, CEO coach and author of Your Inner CEO: Unleash the Executive Within

That is what was written on my Starbucks coffee cup today. I think it's really sad and I refuse to let that happen to me. People say you can't have it all, but I'm pretty sure you can. While I don't think life should revolve around work or vice versa...I do think that if are you spending five out of seven days at work it should be all about that you believe in and care about most deeply.

Superbowl Sunday: Big Ben

I am not the biggest football fan, and honestly don't even know all the rules to the game.  I grew up watching the Bengals and of course, went to all of Turpin's football games when I was in high school.  Some of my best football memories come from when I was at Miami and I interned for ESPN.  It was fun to assist journalists and sit in the broadcast booth as ESPN's top college football announcers went on and on about how amazing "Big Ben" was.  I thought of him as the football player who lived down the hall.  I knew he was good, I guess I just didn't realize how good.  Anyway, I will never cheer for the Steeler's but it is kind of fun to watch Ben Roethlisberger  play in the Superbowl (again).  

Happy Dog

Here are some pictures I took at the dog beach a few weeks ago.