Weekend Update...

Wow, this weekend FLEW by me at mach speed. I cannot believe that it is already Sunday night! On Friday night we went over to our friends K&M's place for dinner and pumpkin carving. We had some really good laughs and a great time carving pumpkins, although their pumpkins were significantly better done than ours. My husband called them "ringers," like they were pretending to be novices like us, but in reality, they carve professionally. I mean, they had stencils and everything. I consider myself fairly crafty, however, I found out that pumpkin is not my medium. Here are their pumpkins:

A Spooky Bat!

A Haunted House...
Here are OURS: Just your typical trouble-making Jack-o-Lanterns:

On Saturday I co-hosted a very lovely baby shower for my favorite mommy-to-be Jules! I mentioned in my post from Friday that I spent the better part of the day working on the centerpiece for the brunch, which was a diaper cake. This was the 1st baby shower I have ever attended, can you even believe that? The brunch was so much fun, and I just can't wait for this little bundle to arrive! She is going to be the best dressed baby in the Bay area, that's for sure!

What baby wardrobe would be complete without a little Juicy??

Most of today was spent relaxing with my husband. We went to Chevy's for lunch, one of my favorite places :) And then we drove around in Sherman Oaks and went to a few open houses. We saw one place that I LOOOVE, it's just a tad out of our price range for now, but who knows, they may end up reducing it soon.

Turn that frown upside down!

That is exactly what I am doing today. Yesterday I was pretty bummed... thank you all for your kind words about my rejection, it made me feel a lot better :)

I had a second interview with another company yesterday afternoon, and it was a total disaster. By about 2:30 PM my day was in a downward spiral. I got so emotional about it, my poor husband had to hear my cry into the phone. This guy who I interviewed with was such a jerk, he was purposefully trying to humiliate me. Trying to accuse me of inconsistencies on my resume, quizzing me on AP Style guidelines like he was some deranged English teacher. As my dear friend MK says, PR isn't about writing rules, it's about relationships and connections. I have to agree. I mean, I know how to write a press release, I have done it many times without incident, this guy just would not let up. Needless to say, I sent off an email saying, thanks, but NO thanks on that one.

I called my sister Haley and she insisted I come to Malibu to meet her for lunch. Ahhhh, this was just what I needed. She had me looking at the bright side in no time. (And the burned side, Malibu is pretty scorched, but luckily not as bad as San Diego or Orange County. Being a former student at Pepperdine, it was sad to see the Castle reduced to rubble. And the hillside scarred with ash.)

The rest of the evening was spent licking my wounds from the day, and putting myself back together with the help of my sweet husband. Isn't it an a amazing thing that husbands do, to make you feel better no matter how bad of a day you just had? Within a few hours, I was scouring the internet again, looking for new opportunities and firing off resumes.

This morning, I wanted to stay in bed, but I dragged my butt up to meet MK for a YAS spin. It felt SO great! The music got me so pumped, and I had the best work out I have had in a long time, really helped clear my head. Then we walked down the street for a little coffee and girl talk. Which is always the best!

I ran a few errands and got home to get busy. We are going to a pumpkin carving party with our friends Kate & Mark tonight at their new place. So I made a batch a gluten-free chocolate cupcakes! It is from a fabulous mix that my mother-in-law sent me, it's made with hazelnut flour and tastes deceptively like a real cupcake, yay! I decorated them for Halloween, natch.

I also managed to pick up a little housewarming gift for K&M, what else but my favorite garlic chopping machine, and a little spat couture :) (I realize that the spats are too big for the gift, but oh well!)

After this was all squared away, I began on my project for Julia's baby shower, which is tomorrow, yay! I can't say what it was just yet, in case the mommy-to-be reads this today... Ill post pics tomorrow.

And then, to put a cherry on this day.... they arrived.... The boots I have been dreaming about, Frye, Adrienne Button Up Boots, my mom ordered them for me when I was home last weekend, Thank you mama! They fit perfectly, and I LOVE them!

Did My Hair Go Flat?

Did I stumble into some bad lighting? (Clueless, anyone?)

I did not get the job at company B. Boo! She said that the other gal had more experience than me. Not a whole lot I can do about that. Eh, her loss I suppose. But I can't help feeling a little sad and dejected. Not sad not to not have that job, but just sad to be rejected in the first place. It's really hard to put yourself out there, so vulnerably, essentially selling yourself to a work place, to then be told, you are not the one. I know, I am being a little bit of a cry baby, people get turned down for jobs all the time. Someone has to not get the job, and that someone was me this time.

I have another 2nd interview this afternoon for another gig.... so I'll keep y'all posted. (And I'll try to keep my hair from going flat again)

October is National Celiac Awareness Month!

I just found out that October is National Celiac Awareness month... Granted, it appears that only the states of Nebraska, Michigan, Colorado, Iowa & Oklahoma have signed proclamations declaring it as such, but still, it's a start!

About a year ago I found out that I have Celiac Disease, which is defined by the Celiac Disease Foundation as: A lifelong autoimmune intestinal disorder, found in individuals who are genetically susceptible. Damage to the mucosal surface of the small intestine is caused by an immunologically toxic reaction to the ingestion of gluten and interferes with the absorption of nutrients. About 1 in 133 people in the United States suffer from this.

Wha?!

Well, at the time of diagnosis this disease wasn't exactly news to me. My mom suffers from it, and ironically, so does my mother in law. (Coincidence? Or proof that the disease is far more prevalent than we all think.) My husband thought he had it when we first met, then had more tests to discover that he was lucky, and does not have it. But to quote my doctor upon hearing the diagnosis from my gastro-specialist: "You kids are screwed." Yeah, thanks.

Basically what this means for me is no wheat gluten. No flour, no cupcakes, no bread, no pasta, generally anything totally yummy, is pretty much off limits for me. And it is really surprising how many foods you would not think of include hidden gluten - like soy sauce for example. Malt flavoring, salad dressings and many preservatives. It has been a rough year trying to manage this, but at least I have a great support system, and I can basically control my symptoms with my diet. But the gluten always seems to get in, and cross-contamination is a big part of the problem. I am not supposed to have even a crumb of wheat, so this means I can't even use a toaster that has had regular bread in it. It's a lot to take sometimes. Especially for someone who used to LOVE cupcakes, cereal, pasta, bagels (sigh) I used to be a bread head! But it became not worth it to me to suffer the symptoms, just for the instant gratification of what ever it was I was eating.

There are some, um, interesting gluten-free bread products. Let be the one to tell you that a cupcake made with tapioca and rice flour, does not come close the dreamy confections from Crumbs that I recently read about on Weezermonkey's blog. But I recently heard about a bakery, called BabyCakes, which offers gluten free baked goodies that was supposed to open this fall, but I just read that they have pushed the opening to late 2008, boo. Oh well, I hear scientists are working on a pill that would allow people with this problem to ingest gluten with no problem, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for that.

Otherwise, I can always sneak it on special occasions, like the night of our wedding, when we got back to the hotel room, to find a few slices of the most delicious looking cake I had ever seen, I couldn't resist it.... I can't say I felt great the next day, but I was on such a high that whole weekend that I didn't let it get me down :) Although out cake baker, Cake Divas, made the top layer gluten-free, (hence, why were cutting into the little top layer) They gave it a great effort, but the gluten-free top layer tasted like cardboard, yuck! All the rest of the layers were regular cake, so our guests didn't have to suffer!

And now you know the meaning behind the name of my blog... Since rice is a popular substitute in a gluten-free diet. ;)

Ooops!

Well, I guess I have again fallen behind on my blogging efforts. My trip to Colorado was great. The dinner for The Home Front Cares was a huge success, and I was so proud of my dad and all of the hard work he put into it! He helped raise a ton of money for a lot of families, and that is a great thing!

The weather in Colorado was so nice, until Saturday night. Sunday morning I woke up to 3 inches of snow. I was a little afraid that my flight was going to be delayed, or even cancelled, but luckily it wasn't. I also awoke to hear about the terrible fires in Malibu, and with Haley living on campus at Pepperdine, we were all really worried. She evacuated campus with no problem and headed to a friends house up north, but it was so scary not hearing from her! I am so worried for all of the people being affected by these fires, I hope and pray that they can put the flames out soon.

It was so nice to come home, I missed my husband SO much!

I had a 2nd interview yesterday for Company B. They are down to 2 candidates, and I am one of them...woo hoo. She said they would be making a decision in the next few days, so we shall see. I also have a second interview with another company, on Thursday. Interviewing is wearing me out. I get all of this nervous, anxious energy and and I dont really like that feeling.

Judgy Wudgy...

Yesterday we had 9 realtors tour through our condo, the "pricing committee" as my realtor calls them. See, we wanna move into a house, and so we are taking the 1st steps towards that goal, which would be seeing what we can get for our westside condo. Ugh, the real estate market in the greater Los Angeles area is so frustrating. Sellers are stubborn and wont reduce their prices, and buyers are entitled and wont pay, being on both sides, I can completely understand both sides. It was a little intimidating having these people parade through our home, judging as they walk through each room. I mean, I like to think our little place has style, but a page from a pottery barn catalog it is not. What, you mean not everyone uses their 2nd bathroom as a storage closet? Well, where else am i supposed to keep the luggage? And the yoga ball? And how was the news? Um, not terrible, not great. Probably not what we could have gotten for it 2 years ago. But there's the catch - two years ago we could have sold for top dollar, but could never have bought a house at top dollar. Oh well, as Michael Buble would sing, That's Life!

Tomorrow I'm taking this blog on the road! I am going to Colorado to visit mi familia. My husband is staying home (boo) to work. I am really excited to see everyone. And the reason I am going is to support my Dad (yay). See, he has been working really hard putting together this dinner for The Home Front Cares, which is an charity organization that helps our troops and their families get back on their feet after they come home from the war. He does such amazing work for this organization, putting this dinner together and helping to raise a ton of money for their cause. He reads me the cases sometimes, and I can't help but get a pit in my stomach to hear their sad stories, it gives incredible perspective. I stay out of the political madness of this war, because just honestly, I cannot wrap my head around it at all, but I do believe strongly in supporting our troops and their families who are sacrificing so much. I am so incredibly proud of the work that my dad has done and I am excited to be a part of the dinner tomorrow night!

Ding Dang Y'all!

I am afraid that our darling Britney may have finally reached ROCK bottom. This may not be breaking news to anyone who has turned on a television or picked up a glossy tabloid in the past ohhhh, year or so, but I just read something which leads me to believe the girl has officially hit the bottom. She has pink eye. Yup, need me to say it again? PINK EYE. Ewwwwwwww! I know she has kids, and thus can be exposed to it easily, but come on, she doesn't even have custody of those kids y'all! I guess when you have children things like pink eye and lice (ew, just saying it makes me gag) become more of an occupational hazard, and not that big of a deal, but I am sooo not there yet. This summer I had a bad allergic reaction, my eye got so pink and I called my doctor in hysterics because I was sure I had the plague, er, I mean pink eye. Luckily, it wasn't, phew.

Well, the good news Brit Brit, is that you can only go up from here! I am rooting for her to clean up her act and return to the pop sensation we all knew and loved. Gimme More!

Call Now! Operators are standing by...

I have fallen in love with a gadget that I think belongs in every kitchen in America, and beyond as far as I'm concerned. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial... Last month, while my mom was visiting, we made a trip to one of our favorite places, Sur La Table. Since the wedding I have been cooking more, really getting into and really enjoying it. My one major complaint? I looove using garlic, but HATE the way it makes my hands smell for days! I get that faint garlic smell that just wont go away. I have tried rubbing my hands on stainless steel, but honestly the only way I have found to avoid it, is to not touch it all. Which is fine, except that requires me to handle garlic with surgeon like precision. I end up using two forks, a knife, at times rubber gloves, all of which can be totally clumsy. So my mom suggested this little device called the Garlic Pro E-Zee Dice.

See exhibit A:

See, you put your peeled garlic into one side, fit the two pieces together and then twist! Viola! Oh - and to make life even easier, I buy my garlic pre-peeled in this handy little jar from Pavilions. It last in the refrigerator for a few weeks, and I have fresh garlic at my clean smelling fingertips! And you can put it in the dishwasher. It really does a great job mincing:

Oh, and I also got these really cute spatulas - one with pumpkins and one sparkly/glittery!

I call them "Spat Couture." The girls of Juicy should get on this!

2 months later...

Yesterday was our 2 month-a-versary! I mentioned our 1 month-a-versary a month ago (duh) but I have yet to share a lot of the amazing details of our day. Our wedding day was the most amazing day of my life, I have never been more excited, happy, anxious, passionate about something ever! Everything went so smoothly, and everyone had the best time! We were so lucky that all of our friends and family from all over the country were all able to be with us here in southern california to help share in our celebration. We were married at Shutters Hotel on the Beach in Santa Monica, and it could not have been a prettier day. I remember waking up so early because like a kid before Disney Land, I was too excited to sleep! The day went SO fast, I was so sad to see it passing by, but so enjoying every moment that came and went. And at the end of it all, I ended up married to my best friend, the most amazing husband ever.

Here are a few pictures...

*Photo credits to our AMAZING photographer Becker and his talented 2nd photographer Marisa Holmes.

2 interviews in as many days...

Job interviewing is hard y'all!

Well, back up... Getting to the point where you get a call for an interview is hard first. I have sent countless resumes to different companies, and I have said it before, but most of them go to a black hole where resumes and time consuming custom-tailored cover-letters go to die a slow death. (Not to mention the fact that I wanted to do something more creative, but the more practical I try to be about that, the more I realize how difficult it would actually be, and it wouldn't pay the bills :() But a light shown threw the clouds last week when I got emails from not one, but two of the companies I had sent my resume to. I had one interview yesterday, and one today, both at 9AM. Luckily, I am a morning person these days. (I say these days because I used to be a "rise at noon" kind of gal, but somehow in my old age I have started to get up earlier and earlier, something I always thought would never happen to me.) Let's call yesterday's interview Company A and today's Company B.

Let's start with A, because I knew pretty much the moment I walked in that it was not somewhere I could see myself working. You know, sometimes you just get a feeling. And as I walked into this place, I was stunned by the mess and clutter. Now, I have been in this field for a while now, and I know as much as the next gal that clutter happens, but really? Even on my worst day in my last office job my desk never looked liked that. I mean boxes, papers, wires, coffee cups strewn across the place. Not to mention the walls were painted the brightest shade of fuchsia pink I have ever seen. And then the woman who I was having the interview with said the strangest thing to me. It went something like this: "I am divorced, with a two-year old, and the other partner here is also recently divorced, but don't worry, we wont rain on your married parade." And she followed that amazing statement with this gem: "So, I imagine you have a thick skin, and if things get crazy and we start yelling you understand not to take it personally?" Ummkay. Ohhh boy. The minute she said it, I want to run for the door. This was the sort of place that sucked the life out of you, I know because I have seen it before. I have been in it before, and I ain't going back. The girl (who I would be replacing, she is high-tailing it back to the east coast) emailed me and asked if I could come in for a 2nd interview to meet the other partner. After sleeping on it, I am going to politely pass. That is just not the place for me.

Now, Company B. Very cute, chic office, in a great neighborhood not far from my house. Small company. Almost Zen-like. A candle burning during the interview, pale blue painted walls and a starfish on the table. And the owner, one of the nicest, most down to earth women I have met in this industry. I felt a real connection with her and her company. It genuinely seemed like a great place to work. She asked me to come in for another interview to meet another senior person there next week, so I am excited about that. I sent her thank you email as soon as I got home, and also a handwritten one mailed today, hopefully that will set me apart from other candidates. So everyone keep your fingers crossed and send me positive vibes, hopefully I will be gainfully employed soon! Then my husband can stop calling me the desperate housewife of brentwood county.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes...

So, yeah, I did it... For two years I have telling my stylist, (who after spending all day with me and my bridesmaids on my wedding day earned her nickname, Spritzy) to make me as blonde as she possibly could. I was on a mission, my Blonde Ambition tour, as I called it. I wanted to be blonde, blonde, blonde for the wedding. So blonde that you may need shades to look at my blonde hair. And truth be told, I got it. People that I hadn't seen in a while at the wedding were saying to me, "this is the blondest I have ever seen you!" Ahhhh, music to my ears. So then why did I feel compelled last week to ruin what I had worked so hard to build up? I don't know, call it my version of the "wife chop" (think Katie Holmes-Cruise post wedding) where girls cut their hair really short immediately after getting hitched. Me, I added low lights, and bangs. Ummkay. Did I fall victim to the Reese bangs? (which I am sure every stylist in this country loathes... She comes out one day with short side-swept bangs and for some reason, we all think we can do it.) Let me tell you, if you have never had bangs before, trust me, they are a little hard to manage. That's the conspiracy, we see all of these celebrities in magazines and think we can have their hair... and believe me, if we had a $4000/hour stylist doing our hair every morning, maaaybe this would be true. But we don't. To compound matters, my husband comes home, and in the sweetest possible way, he makes it pretty clear that he preferred the blonder hair. I don't fault him, he has only known me as a bottle blonde. Scarily, I am not even sure what my natual hair color is anymore, isn't that sad? I have been heavily highlighting my hair since the 9th grade, and before that it was a sort of dirty blonde, mousy brown shade (attractive, I know). One time, many moons ago, I tried to go more natural, and I just didn't feel like myself, so I was back on the bottle in no time. Here's the thing: I get restless with my hair, the color, the length, and I want to change it, and almost immediately after i make the change, regret ensues. I am trying to get used to it, but I think I am definitely going to add a few more highlights around my face shortly. And the bangs, well, I am going to stock up on bobby pins and wait it out... as my mom says, they should be grown out by Christmas! Great. Without further adu....

Tag... I'm it!

A special thanks to my friend Weezermonkey for tagging me, this is my first time being "tagged"!

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:

(1) Gift wrapper at a kids store
(2) Receptionist
(3) Sales at Abercrombie & Fitch (which lasted precisely one 6 hour shift before I quit)
(4) Publicist

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:

(1) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
(2) Steel Magnolias
(3) Office Space
(4) The Notebook

Four TV Shows I Like to Watch:

(1) CSI:Miami
(2) The Office
(3) Lost
(4) Hell's Kitchen (both BBC version & Fox's)

Four Places I Have Vacationed:

(1) Hawaii
(2) Israel
(3) Europe
(4) Puerto Rico

Four of My Favorite Dishes:

(1) P.F. Changs Chang's Spicy Chicken
(2) Rice pasta with pesto and parmesan cheese
(3) Chicken Tacos
(4) Cupcakes (gluten-free, natch)

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

(1) Gmail
(2) Perez Hilton (embarrassing I know)
(3) Drudge Report
(4) Yahoo (my homepage opens to Yahoo)

Four Places I Would Rather Be:

(1) Hawaii (Lanai to be specific)
(2) Having a nice dinner with my hubby
(3) At the spa
(4) At Thanksgiving dinner...yum I can't wait!

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging:

Well, I don't actually know 4 other bloggers, (hey I'm new!) so I will tag two that I do know...

Silly Colorado
Stumptown Blogger

Rut-Ro...

I am constantly trying to improve my cooking repertoire, but it is very easy for me to fall into the chicken and rice rut. I usually make stir-fry with my own homemade teriyaki sauce, and steamed white rice. My husband thinks I am the best chef in the world... and that is why i love him. He could eat chicken and rice every single night and never grow tired of it. But lately I have been craving a little more diversity in my diet, and I like to try new things for the fun of it. I like cooking, and hope to become better, and they say practice makes perfect... So I collected a few recipes, and I am gonna start trying them out, starting tonight! Tonight I am making Tandoori Chicken. I know, sounds like chicken and rice again, but baby steps! At least it is an interesting way to cook the chicken. I have the chicken marinating right now in a mixture of yogurt, curry spice, paprika, ginger and garlic. Then I am going to bake it in the oven and serve it with basmati rice and steamed broccoli. Sounds yum, right?! I'll update later tonight to tell you if it works, and share the recipe if it's good!

This is sort of a strange thing to share on my blog, (especially considering some of my friends who read this blog will know exactly who/what I am talking about) but I had my feelings hurt a little bit today. An old friend, a friend who due to a loooong story, is no longer really a close friend, did something that made me very sad. And I have to quietly wonder to myself, why? The sad part is that I will never know why things are the way they are between us. I know this is so ambiguous, to the point where one would wonder why I even shared it, but I needed to get it off my chest. I guess what I really need to do is let it go, and move on from it. It's just hard sometimes to lose a friendship that you once really valued. That's all.

Weekend Update...

I could have been a good little blogger and not let everything pile up until today, but I was too busy having fun this weekend to jot it down. So here it all goes...

Friday night I went to see Super Bad with my husband. I know, we are way late on this one, but it was pretty funny. A little disgusting at times, in my opinion, not quite as funny as Knocked Up, but overall entertaining.

On Saturday I met up with MK, Grandma and Splashie to look for bridesmaids dresses for MK's wedding. It was so much fun! Especially as a recent bride, it was really fun to be on the other side, not having to be the one making the decision! All I had to do was try on a bunch of really cute dresses! We went to Thread on Melrose first. I had never been there before, so it was cool to see what all the fuss was about. We didn't really looove any of their dresses though. So we headed over to our group staple, Jenny Yoo. My bridesmaids wore Jenny Yoo, and we wore them for Grandma's wedding two years ago, so it was like going home. Without further ado... a few pictures...

After that I went home to get ready for our blind date... yep, you heard me right, my husband and I had a blind date with another couple last night. Some of our friends, who live in Northern California have friends that live in Santa Monica, and thought we would all get along smashingly, so we made plans to meet them for dinner. It was too funny, S and I were there early, and every couple that walked in the door that looked a little aimless, we immediately made bets on whether or not it was them. When they actually did arrive, we had a lovely dinner. They were a really nice couple, and they are planning their wedding for June 2008, which is exciting.

Overall, it was a very nice weekend, mostly because I actually finally got to spend some quality time with my husband! He has been working SOOOO much lately (think 80 hours/week) and I miss him. Now we have another 5 days until we can do it all over again...