The Winner of the Bread?

Last night, I got distracted by my book and didn’t manage to turn off the light until I looked up and squeaked when I saw 10:57 blaring at me on my clock! Oops! At least last night I managed 6 hours of sleep instead of the measly 5 I got the night before. And I’m trying to sneak in a solid 7 tonight. I’m so looking forward to Wednesday night and my 9pm self-imposed bed time.

Breakfast

Of course all I wanted (again) this morning was eggs. I thought about doing my egg + soysage little breakfast wraps but the thought was nauseating. It’s just far too much food.

So instead, I settled on 3 scrambled eggs with some cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, and cilantro.

And it was perfect.

On my way into work, I found myself struggling to keep my eyes open, completely mesmerized by the tail lights in front of me so I swung into S-bux for a misto. Sadly, my gift cards are nearing their end. I have just over 1 misto left.

I smiled at the cups today.

Love!
(PS – did you guys read the comments on Angela’s V-Day – Love or Hate post? Interesting POV’s.)

Lunch

Since I had zero time (again) to actually prepare anything substantial for lunch, it was a repeat (nearly) of yesterdays.

A can of soup I won from Brie and a string cheese.

I rarely eat beef so this was actually kind of a nice treat!

Hunger was killing me today. It’s 100% hormonal. So I had dessert.

And an afternoon snack.

Or two.

Dinner

I settled for mall food again tonight.

(I really despise how unprepared I feel when I don’t have time to cook or anything!)

At least I selected the best of the mall food today: The Nordstrom Bistro!

I ordered a chicken arugula personal pizza.

And I devoured the entire thing.

***

The other day, I found out at Nordstrom that one of the managers of another department found out she got a job at a new Nordstrom in California on Wednesday and needed to be at there on Saturday.
Wow. That’s a quick turn-around.

When I initially got hired, we heard stories from other people in management of similar things happening to them as well. Just picking up and moving for other opportunities with the company.
Naturally, this got me thinking. I started to reflect on what it would be like if I had been in that sort of situation. Would I have allowed myself to be in the first place?

At the point where I am in my life, and most importantly my relationship, the answer is no, probably not.

I think that in relationships, you know, seriously ones, with life long commitments and all that crap, there is inevitably one person in the duo that is essentially the leader and one that is the follower. I’m not saying that all are, and not in every aspect, but I think more so career wise. It’s natural that one persons career is not necessarily of greater importance, but of a higher priority.

What factors contribute to "choosing" whose career may be put on the back burner though? The paycheck? The benefits? The security? The opportunity? Fullfillment and satisfaction?

Looking at Jodus and I, it is pretty obvious. And though we have never blatantly outright said it, we both know that his career is going to be the focus for the direction that our lives go.

Partially, it’s by default. I don’t have a career. I have a job. 2 jobs. Actually, it’s 3. Nothing terribly secure. Nothing that really brings home the bacon. Nothing that is incredibly riveting or fulfilling any sort of life long dream. I’m not doing anything particularly noteworthy.

And that doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Who knows. Maybe I’ll get my crap together one day. But not tomorrow or the next day. Maybe even not next year. I’m content with being in the passengers seat on this trip because I know there is going to be great scenery along the way.

-L4L-

Olympians

Happy Monday! I can’t wait for this week to be over! The boy comes home Friday. We have a hot date planned for Sunday! I have the weekend off! Yay!

Breakfast

All I could think about this morning was fried eggs. That’s all I wanted. I’m pretty sure that is what got me out of bed. Just the thought of eggs.

Along with my 2 eggs (sprinkled in Goya), I had 2 slices of Dave’s Good Seed with some TJ’s Pumpkin Butter slathered on.

Satisfying. Not phenomenal. But it is Monday morning so what do you expect?

Lunch

Being that I haven’t been home in 3 days and I only had 1 evening off last week, there is literally no food in my kitchen. It’s going to make for an interesting couple of days.

Result for lunch?

Soup! I won this can from Brie a few weeks ago.

I’ve had it before. It’s not bad. I added lots of pepper. And I don’t like how mushy the carrots are but beggars can’t be choosers.

Dessert was 2 cookies, homemade chocolate chip!

Afternoon snacks:

Fruity!

Actually, the banana was mega mush so I tossed it after 2 bites.

Dinner

I really had no idea what I was going to do for dinner tonight. I had nothing packed so I knew I would be stuck with mall food of some sort. I ended up electing Panera for my dinner locale.

It was my first time! Can you believe?

I ordered the BBQ Chicken Salad which came with a hunk of multigrain bread.

So good!

I devoured!

Olympians

As we approach the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, I am more aware of them then ever before. Perhaps it is the close proximity and the flooding of local news, more so than years past. Perhaps it is the flooding of advertisements in the airport, on television, billboards. This year’s games are taking place a mere couple hours north of us in Vancouver. And while I would love to attend, I shall be avoiding the northern I-5 corridor like the plague.

I imagine that all hotels are booked. I imagine that the borders will be backed up more than usual. There will be crowds every where. Media every where. Athletes every where. Not really my cup of tea. But oh how I love the idea of going to the Olympics.

The boy lived in Salt Lake City when the Olympics were there. He never went. Supposedly, it was good for the SLC economy, as I’d imagine. I think he might have a jacket or something from there.

True athletes are rather intimidating to me. I truly envy the dedication more so than the actual talent that an athlete has. And as I write that statement, I reflect back on watching the Miss America pageant where I felt the opposite: those that were essentially talentless but had learned and practiced something enough I did not think as highly of. But why does that mode of though differ when I look at athletes? I’m not sure.

If anyone has any insight, I would gladly listen.

Right now, I find myself saddened by not having cable. Oh how I love watching the figure skating competitions. I even don’t mind the skiing and such. But the skating is what I truly enjoy. Hopefully I can catch glimpses at Nordie’s on my breaks. Or perhaps it might even motivate me enough to go to the gym to watch while clocking in some much needed miles on the dreadmill? We haven’t gotten any snow this year. What do they do about that? Do they lay down some fake snow? I’m obviously not attuned to winter sports. I have a tendency to avoid snow. I prefer to make “snow angels” on the kitchen floor instead of a white, wet powdery blanket.

Do you watch or plan to watch the Olympics?

-L4L-

Santa M & Santa B

It’s 7:37pm and I am sitting in the LAX airport waiting for my flight. As soon as I get home, probably around 1am, I am plugging in my computer, hitting “publish” and going to bed so hopefully this goes up without a hitch. LAX is not on the free WiFi bandwagon. Boo.

Breakfast

After the night we had last night, this morning was a tiny bit rough. When we all finally arose from our slumbers, we stumbled down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. I loaded up on some good hangover preventing remedies!

French Toast + butter + syrup

Home fries + tabasco

Sausage

Apple Juice (not OJ!)

Fruit (which I hardly had any of.)

I can see how the boy would be sick of their breakfasts after 2 weeks already! He’s ready for some of my yummy fixings! But apparently, they do have a waffle iron out during the week!

Lunch

By noonish, we had finally made it out of the hotel, showered and mostly presentable, packed, and ready to go.

First stop: Santa Barbara

So one of my favorite things about traveling is checking out the different vegetation in different areas. Don’t make fun! It’s the biologist in me!

I freaked out, literally, when I saw birds of paradise everywhere!

I love them! They are magnificent!

We started by walking down the pier and just taking in the scenery.

I am so thankful I got at least one nice day while I was down here! It was windy but sunny!

We got lunch at a cute little restaurant right across from the water and sat out on the patio.

 

I ordered the Monterey Chicken Sandwich with sweet potato fries (!!).

It was massive! I ate ~3/4’s of the sandwich and probably 90% of the fries but I easily could have split this entire meal with the boy and have been content. I have no self control.

He ordered a burger with sweet potato fries.

MONDO burger! He says that he’s been incredibly happy with the burgers he’s had on this trip! He’s such a burger boy!

We spent a decent amount of time wandering around.

And then we had our first STAR sighting!

Jodus and I went into the Starbucks so he could get a coffee and I could go pee and he recognized QUENTIN TARRENTINO!! Seriously!

I managed to get a picture of him walking away!

Yeah, that over weight guy is him dressed in the dark clothes, on the right!!

Exciting nonetheless!

But personally, this was obviously more exciting to me!

My first FroYo bar!! I had to get a froyo even though I didn’t have an appetite.

I got berry tart and chocolate nonfat froyo and topped it with all kinds of fresh fruit, mini gummi bears and two sour worms.

It was to die for!

We hopped in the car and hit the road for Santa Monica next. We liked it so much on Friday afternoon that we wanted to enjoy it sans rain!

Again, we took the PCH down there and it did not cease to impress.

And we hit town with a little time to spare to walk down the pier and catch the sunset!

Love it!

After the sunset, we walked up and did a lap down the 3rd St Promenade before settling on some dinner.

We were enticed by a 50% off Super Bowl Happy Hour sign at this cute little Italian place and decided to stick with their appetizer/soup/salad specials… and water. We were still in no mood for alcohol!

I ordered the butternut squash soup.

Jodus ordered the minestrone.

And we split a Caesar salad.

Then the sadness came. Jodus took me up to LAX and dropped me off. I’ll be excited to have him home on Friday!

I had about an hour to kill before my flight boarded so I bought a $2.29 bottle of water (GR). And perfect timing! My flight is now boarding! TTFN!

-L4L-

TDP 4 Life

Breakfast

Rain rain rain! Nothing but rain here! Sadly.

We did breakfast at the hotel since it was included with the boy’s stay and we are all for taking advantage of free food. I loaded up!

Oatmeal + brown sugar + raisens

Sausage

Home fries + tabasco

Tea and OJ

 

Fruit + 2 HB Eggs

I only ate like 2 pieces of that fruit. I don’t like the green melon.

Jodus got pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, and home fries. Breakfast of champions!

The hotel is right basically on a golf course so we had a decent view while we dined.

We stayed awhile and chatted because we knew the cleaning crew was in our abode. Can I please get a daily maid service for my house? I think I need it.

Lunch

After breakfast, we went to the room and hung out. I did some interneting. He did some TVing. Then we settled in for a movie since it was raining and I’m cranky in the rain.

We watched Zombieland, at the behest of Jodus’ kid brother.

I fell asleep halfway through. And stayed asleep while the boy started lunch.

I guess it was just that good of a movie!

Jodus had some food that he had bought to make in the room (to save money on going out) and needed to use it up a bit before he leaves next Friday. So he whipped up a mock Chicken Parmesan.

He semi-poached the chicken breasts in a skillet, sprinkled with garlic pepper seasoning then added a jar of sauce and topped with an Italian cheese mix.

And steamed some veggies topped with lemon pepper on the side! Not too shabby for a little hotel lunch, hu!

I only ate about half of my chicken but all the noodles! I was really proud that he had bought whole wheat pasta noodles, 2% cheese, and other responsible food items (plus beer!).

Just as we were finishing up our (late) lunch, my dear friend Claudia called to inform me that they were under an hour away! YIPEE! She willingly made the ~2hr trek up to see me and I am soooo happy!

Claudia and James got married in November in VEGAS! Congrats, bb!

Claudia and I actually “met” a couple of years ago on The Daily Plate, tracking calories and being scandalous. And then we fell in lurve!

We hung out at the hotel for a couple of hours just sitting around… drinking… chatting. I had some of this wine:

3 glasses actually. When in California, right?

Then Greg, also from The Daily Plate, showed up to cause some trouble!

Lordy he’s tall!

After a bit more schmoozing, we headed out to dinner at Cabos.

Naturally, we started with margarita’s.

And chips and salsa.

And freshly made guacamole.

I ordered the Camarones A La Diabla… HOT!

And boy was it HOT!

It was so good!

Claudia annihilated a burrito.

James went white and got a burger.

The boys went with burritos as well.

We headed back to the room for… um… more drinking. I had 2 glasses of champagne.

Between the 5 of us, we went through 3 bottles of wine, a bottle of champagne, two 12 packs of beer.

Which lead to drunk photo shoot.

All in all, we had a great night! Claud and James ended up crashing on the pull-out.

-L4L-

Beautiful Day

Let’s talk beauty for a hot minute.

What’s your regime like?

I think that there are two main camps of women and their beauty regimes. No, not necessarily low maintenance versus high maintenance. I think that there are the women on one side that constantly maintain their upkeep. They regularly file their nails, get their eyebrows waxed, keep on top of coloring their roots, do weekly facials.

I’m of the other camp.

But you knew that.

I’m the kind of girl that lets herself go a bit until eyebrows are crazy, nails are breaking, roots are an inch long, I haven’t gotten my hair cut in months. Then I power through and fix everything at once. I spend a random morning, like today, using Biore strips. Tweezing the eyebrows. Using my fancy face scrubs. Trimming my nails. Maybe painting a clear coat on them if I am feeling especially zealous. I only dye my hair when my roots are so bad that I’m embarrassed every time I look in the mirror.

So I guess that’s the big/irregular stuff. But what about the daily?

I wash my face with Aveeno facial cleanser everyday. I moisturize daily with Neutrogena moisturizer. I wear Mineral Wear powder, eyeliner, and mascara. I wash my hair every other day. Yep, that’s right. If I wash my hair everyday, it gets too dry. On special days, again, when I’m feeling especially zealous, I might even put on eye shadow or blush. It takes me maybe 8 1/2 minutes to get ready in the morning.

Breakfast

I had a repeat of Tuesday’s breakfast. It was just so good I had to have it again!

And I don’t learn my lessons. I had two again.

And it was waaay too much.

But I ate it all anyway.

3 eggs, 2 tortillas, 3 Morningstar Soysages, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, Chalula.

I basically skipped to the airport after watching Grey’s and Private Practice this morning! I took my car to the Master Park, shuttled over to SeaTac, checked in, and got myself a soy misto at S-bux with more than enough time to spare.

After doing a bit of reading, I decided to take advantage of SeaTac’s free WiFi and caught up on my Google Reader. I wish that all airports would jump on that bandwagon!

Yes, I have a pink laptop!

The flight and boarding and everything was completely seamless. No delays. No issues. I love flying like that.

There were beautiful snow covered mountains jutting up out of the pillowy white clouds.

I have no idea what mountain that is.

I obviously never took Washington State Geography.

I would guess it is Rainier but I might be lying.

I spent the flight writing a bit, playing some games on my laptop, and doing a bit of reading. I enjoyed a Gingerale and Snack Mix while the gentleman next to pounded two Alaskan Ambers!

The soy nuts in this mix were so good! I should by myself some next time I go to the store. Mental note!

When I arrived at LAX, I was greeted by this!

Er… I mean… THIS!

(Hehe, we split the Clif Bar after corresponding via text message that we were both starving!

Lunch

We drove from LAX to Santa Monica via PCH (1).

Unfortunately, it was raining the whole drive.

We made a quick pit stop for lunch after I spied this little gem!

I loved the decor!

It was so small and cozy! There was literally only 4 tables! It was more a cafe than a restaurant.

We both started with tea.

I ordered the soy chai latte.

He got a green tea mint mate.

For lunch, I elected for the falafel + salad.

It was heavenly.

The boy ordered the Vardi Channa Bowl.

We so enjoyed our meal and it was a perfect late lunch!

We hit the rainy road again and continued our journey down PCH (with a little “lost” detour) to Oxnard, where his hotel is.

I love Marriott Residence Inn’s!

After freshening up, we headed out again. This time, we went to Ventura for dinner. After checking out the scene, we decided on a local brew pub for dinner!

 

We started with the sampler.

 

I really only liked the C St Wheat. Sadly.

I ended up ordering a 10oz pour of it after dinner, actually! And the boy ordered a pint of IPA!

Mmmm… beer!

For dinner, I chose the Vegetable Muffaletta with extra pesto!

It had amazing potential. But something was missing in the execution. Satisfactory, yes, but amazeballs? No.

Jodus got the Bacon & Bleu Burger. It’s his standard.

And LOTS of ketchup with his fries.

That wasn’t quite enough.

Isn’t he a ketchup whore?!?! Love that boy.

After dinner, we were walking back to the car and saw this ridiculously massive “antique” shop! Check out the insanity we found!

On the way back to the hotel, we ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple things. I was SHOCKED to see 1) alcohol in grocery stores as WA only permits hard A. to be sold in state liquor stores and 2) how ridiculously CHEAP it was to buy a handle of booze!

 

Haha, we are simple people.

I’m off to enjoy the rest of my evening with my darling. So happy to be with him! Hoping the rain ceases tomorrow!

(BOY! That was a doozie of a post! Did you make it all the way through?!?! )

-L4L-