matzo ball soup

today i'm a bit under the weather.  i awoke in the middle of the night with a sore throat and the first signs of a cold.  i went back to sleep, hoping it was only a bad dream and i'd awake perfectly fine.  no such luck. 

so my day has been filled with consuming nutrient-rich foods and beverages, which my doctor is delivering to my bed, in the hopes of flushing this bug out as fast as possible. 

i'm right in the middle of my busy season at work and have no time to be sick.  and next week i'll be outside all day working at a surf contest. . .on the beach no less.  sounds cool. . .but it's definitely not if you are sick.  they are long days. . .it can be cold. . .and there are only porta-potties.  ick! 

anyhow, my day started with one of my doctor's (aka husband's) infamous fruit bowls, a cup of tea with honey and one of his power-packed juice blends (orange, apple, cranberry).  that was followed by a shot of wheat grass and my favorite sicky soup. . .matzo ball. 

you see, out here in los angeles, we have these wonderful jewish delis.  they've got all kinds of crazy things on the menu that this midwest girl never knew existed. . . like gelfilte fish, fried kippers, knish and kishka.  i don't partake in those selections.  but what i really love to eat when i'm sick is a big bowl of hot matzo ball soup. 

and on the days when i am 100 percent, i love two sandwiches they do particularly well. . .the corned beef reuben and the beef brisket.  you may have had one of these before, but unless you've had one from a jewish deli, you haven't lived.  ask my mom.  she's a big fan.  so when i'm eating one, i love to call her and tell her just to make her jealous.  (really, i'm trying to encourage her to come out for a visit though!)

a rose by any other name

kris, these are what my roses are looking like today. . .

 

back back to cali cali

it's so good to be home!  and especially going into a sunny, mid-70s weekend.  i plan on doing a whole lot of lounging.  dreamy! 

but first, i work.  lots to catch up on after being away from my desk for the last week.  my family is still asleep, so in this quiet house, lots can be accomplished.  just a minute ago, i peeked around the corner and saw this.

you see, as soon as i get out of the bed in the morning, i'm replaced.  any chance she can get, daisy likes to take over my spot.  she does the same thing if adam gets up first.  (but that never happens.)  but usually he comes to bed after me at night, and daisy warms his spot until he arrives.  then she begrudgingly moves with lots of whiny grunts to show her discontent at being relocated.

and you may wonder where blu is in all of this?  here she is at the foot of the bed. 

she tried to look away in disgust as i was taking this picture.  but i insisted she look at me.  speaking of blu. . .tomorrow is her birthday.  she will be 15!  quite an accomplishment i'd say.  and we couldn't be happier that she's still holdin it down with us. 

where's waldo?

you may be wondering where in the world i am?  or maybe not.  today i'm in new york city.  yesterday i was in palm springs.  i arrived here at 1 am. . .that's only 10 pm west coast time.  i crashed in my closet-sized hotel room immediately upon arrival and then woke up at 7 am. . .which is 4 am west coast time.  and that is when the time change hits you like a ton of bricks.  ouch!  but it's now 1:30 in new york which means my day is more than half over.  and that's a good thing.  i'm a little delirious! 

blast from the past

this is an exciting week.  i have guests coming. . .two of my best girlfriends!!  berit is coming from seattle and anne is coming from philadelphia.  but the three of us spent the better part of our 20s in portland together.

berit and i met our freshman year in college; we lived across the hall from each other at the all-girls dorm GSP.  not sure what GSP stands for. . .but we liked to say it stood for "girls state prison".  ha. . .so dramatic.  i believe this photo is from freshman year. . .we look like we were 12!

our sophomore year, berit and i moved into our first off-campus apartment together.  oh the fun times we had there.  life was so easy and carefree then.  this is a picture of us in that first apartment on the day we moved in.  of course we had to have a papasan chair and ottoman from pier 1!

our junior year, berit moved back to kansas city and i moved in with new roommates, but our friendship continued.  i even coerced berit to come along with me on a spontaneous trip to santa barbara.  she is always up for an adventure!

berit and i share a love of music and we consumed about every live music event possible in our years at KU.  here's a look at us all done up on the way to some concert or another.  hair couffed and lips lined. . .check, check.

after i graduated from college in 1997, i was looking for a new adventure.  berit had been living in portland, closer to where her parents had moved in seattle.  she suggested i come check it out. . .so i did.  here's a shot from our first portland apartment. . .back then i had a lot of long, extra bleach blonde hair.

shortly after i moved to portland, we outgrew the one bedroom apartment she was living in and found a cute little two bedroom cottage to move into.  here we are on the front porch with berit's mom and a few friends. . . including one friend whom berit went on to marry.

portland is where i first met anne.  i was working for a temp agency, getting placed in random administrative type jobs until i landed a permanent gig.  the temp agency called me for a receptionist position at a pr agency.  they had called anne too, whom i didn't know at the time, for the same position.  but they called me first, so i got it.  she got called in for another position that became available at the same agency.  so we met on our first day of work.  we were both the newbies so we ended up going to lunch together.  the rest is history. . .we became quick friends and spent the next several years going to lunch together every day and happy hour nearly every night.

here's a shot of us in las vegas. . .during my dark haired years.  they didn't last long. . .i'm a blonde at heart.  and i've tried going dark a few times since, but i always revert back to the blonde pretty quickly.

one thing i love about anne is how direct and forth right she is.  she's from the east coast and she tells it like it is.  here's a great shot of anne. . .probably about to speak her mind.

anne moved to philly shortly i moved to LA.  i miss her, but fortunately i get to see her at least once a year when i'm out on the east coast for work.  or we plan a little adventure together.

i'm so excited for my girlfriends to visit!  these two girls have been with me for most of the ups and downs of life and i love em.  here's anne being a "snake" in front of the snake pit on melrose during my bachelorette party weekend in la and the three of us shopping on robertson after my bridal shower.

i spent yesterday preparing the guest rooms.  we actually only have one official guestroom.  the second room was adam's studio. . .turned my sewing/craft room and will eventually be a nursery.  but i threw an air mattress covered with a feather bed, and i think it will do.  i wanted to crawl in it!

we'll only be here for one night. . .then we are headed to palm springs.  we rented a great house. . .

and we're going to a big, three-day music festival called coachella.  anne and i attended the same festival in 2004 and it was no less than 104 degrees in the shade.  here's us then, baking. . .

it's not supposed to be that hot this weekend.  regardless, it'll be so much fun to reconnect with the girls.  and i'm also pretty excited to see some of my favorite bands like. . .Muse, LCD Soundsystem, Pavement, Phoenix, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Fever Ray, MGMT and Grizzly Bear. . .just to name a few.

and it also won't be too shabby to spend some time in the dessert, laying out by the pool and soaking in the hot tub with the girlfriends without a care in the world. . .just like old times.

it's official. . .i'm married!

the ceremony was several years ago. . . october 14, 2006 to be exact.  but up until now, i haven't had a wedding band to prove i was much more than engaged. 

don't get me wrong.  i told my sweet husband that i didn't need a wedding band; that the engagement ring was enough.  we were on a tight budget and already spending so much on the wedding.  and we were using the credit card for the honeymoon.  i just didn't know where he would come up for money for the ring and it just didn't seem important. 

you see the engagement ring was particularly special to me.  it houses one of two diamonds from my grandma's ring.  my sister has the other.  because it's so special, it seemed to make up for the rest. 

but fast forward a few years, and people continuously asking when i'm getting married, and i have been ready for a wedding band for awhile!  but it just seemed silly to spend the money. . .until now. 

so on friday, when adam asked me if i wanted to go look at rings, my heart did a flip flop, i broke into a smile and said "let's go!"  crazy what the thought of a little platinum and diamonds will do to a girl.   despite having a ton of work to do, we decided to take a little lunch break and head into hollywood. . .to phillip press. 

phillip press is the name of the jeweler who custom made my engagement ring and he's genius.  so we looked around his amazing store and i zeroed in on a band that caught my eye.  but mr. press himself was not there and i really needed his advice.  so we left, empty-handed, and braved the friday afternoon rush hour traffic back to the valley. 

today (saturday) i called to see if he would be in the store and he himself answered.  so we trekked back into the city.  i assumed we would merely be doing a consultation and that he'd have to custom make my ring.  but low and behold, the band that had caught my attention was meant for me.  it was a perfect fit and mr. press confirmed it was a great design to compliment my existing ring.  he threw in a 25 percent discount and we were sold. 

so i got to walk out of the store sporting my new bling.  hoooray!  i can't stop looking at it.  it's so sparkly and beautiful.  and for the rest of the day (at least) i will be the perfect wife.  ha!

the photo really doesn't do it justice.  you'll just have to see next time i'm home!  the second photo gives a better idea of the detail. . .think small square diamonds in box settings all the way around with engraving all along the sides of the band.  my diamonds aren't quite as big as the ones pictured.  but it's still amazing! 

i told adam we should do this much more often.  i was kidding (kind of).  now i think i'll go get a manicure and use my hands a lot when i speak.

San Francisco Treat!

Tomorrow I'm going to San Francisco!  This may sound like fun, but it's not really going to be that much fun.  I won't get to ride a streetcar.  I won't get to visit the Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 or Chinatown.  I won't go to Ghiradelli Square or trek down the world's crookedest street, Lombard Street (pictured).  I won't cross the Golden Gate Bridge or visit Haight and/or Ashbury.  No. . .I won't get to do any of those fun things.  I'll be flying in, driving to a meeting, giving a presentation, driving back to the airport and flying home.  But fortunately, I've seen all of the aforementioned attractions.  This trip is strictly business.  And with any luck, KHPR will garner a new client.  So wish us luck!