It's a bomb! No wait, it's an ad!

Reason number 247 why Aqua Teen Hunger Force sucks:

Ad Campaign Triggers Bomb Scare in Boston

Long time, no write

So i just decided that not writing between October and February is shameful, so I'm getting one Jan. entry in before the month ends so I don't feel quite so bad.

Let's see...what have I been up to for the past few months...

John and I went to San Fran for Thanksgiving weekend. We drove up, along the coast (this is THE most amazing stretch of road I've ever seen), did some super-touristy sightseeing, ate some friggin amazing food. Stopped in Paso Robles, which is about halfway between San Fran and LA, to do some wine-tasting. Stayed overnight at the Paso Robles Inn, where our room's only source of heat was a fireplace and had a huge steak dinner.

I got promoted (finally) and have been both loving and not-loving that. I'm fairly good at what I do, it's WAY better than reception, and greatly increases the likelihood that I can transfer to the Boston office at some point. These are all huge pluses. The downside is that the VP I support is moody and intense, but I'm dealing.

My office's holiday party was a huge hit. Well we almost didn't quite make it there due to the cabbie's ignorance, but we did finally make it. Great food, fun people, free drinks, getting dressed up - all fun. Getting assigned to the head of the office's table was sightly scary, but it ended up being fine when we realized everyone at the table had lived in Boston at some point or another and loved it there.

John came with me to Ohio for a few days before Christmas - that was both great and awful - depending on which side of the family we were with at the time (I'll let you guess which was which). Then I had some time to hang out with my family before heading to Pensacola for a few days. My dad's house looks AMAZING! I know what all he went through to get it finished, but it was totally worth it in my opinion. Got to see Nick, Maggie, and some other high school people, which was fun and not nearly as awkward as I imagined it to be.

New Years was anticlimatic, which didn't really bother me. Something about LA and the options I had - I don't think the "doing nothing" option is really worse than any of the others. I'm fully planning on leaving this city for New Years next year, though (Hint, hint F). I'm not opposed to going all out, just not if it's not going to be worth it.

January has flown by. Seriously, where did it go? We went from being desperate to find a new apartment and move by mid-February, to just seeing what we find and moving whenever we found something decent, to throwing in the towel all together. Dude, we have it made compared to what else is out there. No thanks - I'll stay and, now that I've seen the alternatives, I'll love it.

We got some new neighbors across the hall, who are very cool and fun and we've been hanging out with them quite a bit. This always helps since most people in our complex think that they will get a lethal rash if they say hello to one of their neighbors. It's quite refreshing, actually.

I'm starting my price search for Boston flights for the summer, so get ready Boston-folks. Not long until John and Ash return for a visit! Hopefully not much longer until they return for good!

Wait...It's Halloween?

As my 2nd Halloween in California is about to come and go, I've realized that I pretty much just don't celebrate the fun holidays (4th of July, Halloween, New Years Eve, etc.) anymore. Case in point, this will be the 2nd year in a row that I am not dressing up at all. Part of this goes back to the fact that you actually have to be sober enough to drive after whatever it is you might choose to do. Now tell me, how fun are these holidays if you have to stay sober? Hello - "Boston holiday drinking"? Another part is that, while we have made a few friends out here, we don't really have any close ones, at least not any that are having parties we can go to. The other problem (this is the biggie) is that all the people I used to enjoy sharing these holidays with are...not here. Or rather, the problem is that I am not where these people are. Without these people, I just don't get excited about these holidays as I used to. Before you try to tell me this is my own fault, just stop. Trust me, I know this. I'm having trouble forgiving myself for this. I just hope that by the time I do get to be in the same place as these people, we're not too old to celebrate in fun ways.

One Week Down

It's officially been a week since I started this temp role as an admin assistant. It definitely got off to a rocky start. I'm starting to settle in and I'm more comfortable with my new responsibilities. Hopefully things will continue to go well. I really this to go well because the thought of having to go back to Reception after breaking free is too horrifying to entertain.

Good News, Bad News: Volume 1

Good News: Local radio station is hosting a small, private BTE show
Bad News: Show is by invitation only (a.k.a. you have to win the tickets through the station)

Good News: I usually can't really listen to music/radio/etc. at work, but since I'm not at Reception and since my cubicle neighbor is out today, I can.
Bad News: I don't have a radio so I have to listen to the station's streaming audio which has a delay meaning I'll hear the contest announcement, but will be too late to call in.

Good News (recap): I could potentially win tickets to see my beloved BTE
Bad News (recap): I can't actually win the tickets

My Hero

Confession time. I have this, well, problem. I get mad (I mean really mad) when other people do shitty or rude things and get away with it. You know the types: the person who turns into your lane, cutting you off, and then they don't speed up so you have to slam on your breaks. Or the person who races you to get in an express line at the store, and then has, oh, 30 or 40 items instead of 10. This is why I use my horn WAY too much when I'm driving. This has also apparently caused me some personal embarassment, not to mention John as well. I do realize that, realisticially, there isn't much I can do about these things. I can't control other people. Unfortunately, in the moment, I tend to talk about whatever it is that is pissing me off in a purposefully loud voice. I guess I figure that these people probably don't know that their being ass holes and if they overhear me saying that they are and why, they will learn their lesson. So not true, but it hasn't stopped me thus far. Afterwards, when I'm calming down, John always asks me what I think I can do to stop them from doing what they are doing. My answer has always been "nothing."

But Tina Fey, or rather her character on 30 Rock, is my new hero. For those who didn't happen to watch the premiere this week (and other than this gem of a moment, I can't say you missed much), let me explain. Basically while Tina Fey's character is in line at a hot dog cart, she confronts a cutter. To avenge the slight, she buys ALL the hot dogs and proceeds to hand them out to “the good people” who stayed in line behind her [borrowed from Give Me My Remote]. Brilliant. This woman is my hero. Now when John asks me what I can do, I will say, "Buy all the hot dogs." Well, you get the idea.

How Did It Take Me 24 Years....

To discover the wonder that is sushi? Yes, I realize I'm incredibly behind and should have made this discovery long ago, especially considering that I'm already borderline-obsessed with other styles of Asian cuisine. But, alas, since my introduction to sushi (some California rolls at a work event last week), I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Ok, that's not really true, but it has been something I think about whenever hunger strikes.

Not convinced that it wasn't a fluke, I had some more over the weekend. Yes, I can officially say that I love sushi. Or at least I love the two types I've tried thus far. I'm far from understanding the whole art of eating sushi, but I'm well on my way. I also love wasabi. I'm not sure how I've never had that either. In any case, I'm addicted and now I'm craving sushi at least once a day. It's like now that I know what I have been missing, I have to make up for lost time. Maybe I should just eat it constantly for a while and either get tired of it or at least get to the point where I don't feel the need to eat it daily.

I Can Kiss Reception Goodbye!

Well, for now at least...

As of next week, I am temporarily being promoted to an admin assistant while one assistant goes out on medical leave for 6 to 8 weeks! The even better news is that, provided I don't screw up, there's a good chance I'll be able to (quoting my boss) "transition into a permanent admin assistant role!" Yeah, ok, I'm super excited. Granted this is not a huge leap in terms of a career move, but to me, anything that gets me out of the reception rut is a good thing. Please cross your fingers that I don't screw up. I need this to go well. The VP I'll be supporting is a high-level, intense, German guy. He's generally in a good mood and tends to be humorous, but I'll get to see the bad moods too. My boss cautioned me to "keep a thick skin" when it happens. WHEN it happens, not IF. Great. I suppose in order to KEEP a think skin, I'll need one to begin with. Can I buy this somewhere?

In equally exciting, somewhat related news, John's boss may be sending him to a conference in Nor Cal in his place later this month. My understanding is that it is five days of hands-on instruction on how to install/configure solar systems. This would be such an amazing opportunity for him. Cross those fingers one more time that he really does get to go.

All in all, this week has been phenomenal for both John and me!

OH, and I get to see BTE in 2 weeks! You know that never hurts.

Baking attempt #1: Zucchini Bread

I'm going to push the almond pear tart back a few days because I have been craving zucchini bread. I found a great, easy recipe, but I was a bit worried when i couldn't find any zucchini at the grocery store but we went downtown to this indoor farmers market type place, Grand Central Market, and I found some there. In hindsight, I should have shredded the zucchini into smaller pieces, maybe using a cheese grater or the food processor. Also, I needed to adjust the temperature of the oven since the bread ended up almost burning on the edges, but still gooey and uncooked in the middle. The muffins are decent though since they are easier to regulate. Not bad for a first attempt. I still have another zucchini so maybe I'll give it another go this week.

Paramount Studios

My company hosted an alumni event for former employees at the Paramount Theater at Paramount Studios Thursday night. They arranged to have private studio tours going on throughout the night. I took some pretty lame pictures towards the beginning of the tour and then my camera battery started to die. Then we pull up to a storefront on the "New York Street" on the backlot and the guide tells us that it was where they filmed the shoplifting from the five-and-dime scene from Breakfast at Tiffanys. Of course I was freaking out and the guide even let me get out to take a picture in front of it. I was trying to see if I had enough battery power for one last picture and accidentally took that one last picture...of the ground.



And that was the end of the battery life. Bum-mer. Luckily one of my coworkers who went on a later tour made sure to get some shots of the building for me. Other than the camera catastrophe, the event and the tour were awesome.