October 28, 2010

Mommy Wow! I'm a Big Girl Now

Hello Friends!

Although it has been quite a while since I've posted I thought it was about time to catch up on some of the grown-up things I've been up to lately.

I have finally managed to wrangle a big girl, day job. Starting Saturday I will be working as a cashier at Banana Republic! Try not to get too jealous, I know it's a deeply coveted and highly prestigious position that only us chosen few can have, but apparently I had what they were looking for. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out, I've worked for the company twice before and when looking for extra holiday employees experience reigns supreme. And I like to think I gave a stunning interview in my chic, well thought out, Banana Republic outfit. As part of my holiday employment I have been told I will essentially get very few days off in the months of November and December. I won't be going home for Thanksgiving for the first time EVER. If that's not a sign of growing up then I don't know what is. The company apparently has "blackout dates" where any request for time off will not be taken, these dates are essentially from November 26th through New Years. I'm really hoping I can manage to get home for more than a few days during Christmas time, but I'll have to get a feel for the managers and all that before I know for sure.

Another fun milestone in my road to adulthood was filling out my absentee ballot for the election next week. I was assuming I wouldn't be voting since I am still registered in Richmond, but apparently I thought ahead and registered for an absentee ballot which my mom brought to me during her visit this past weekend. For the first time I sat down and researched all the propositions on the ballot, the main races, and the measures on the ballot specific to Richmond. It took a solid 2 hours, but I did it and was so happy I did. I dropped my ballot in the mail this afternoon and have officially submitted my vote for this election. 'Mommy wow! I'm a big girl now!'

In other news I've OF COURSE been cooking a lot. I just got the November issue of Cooking Light Magazine and I must say I have dog-eared WAY too many recipes for my tummy to hold. I'm currently taking applications to be my human vacuum cleaner and taste tester so that I will not turn into an obese cat lady making epic meals for 7 and eating them by myself.

Here's a lil dish I created on my own that I've literally made 10 times in the past 2 weeks. It's easy and super delicious. The base of the bowl is just brown rice with boiled broccoli and asparagus. The kicker though, is the tomatoes on top. I saute red onions in olive oil, throw in sesame oil and halved baby tomatoes (mine are from the farmers market. Literally as sweet as candy). Let those get warm and puffy, then just add some 'soyaki' sauce from Trader Joes, a ton of fresh garlic and basil and viola! I pour the whole mixture on top of the rice, broccoli, and asparagus and it's AMAZING!



These bad boys were something I whipped up while I was bored last week. I hadn't used my kitchen aid mixer for a while and he was feeling lonely. They are sugar cookie sandwiches that I thankfully was able to pawn off on some friends because eating more than one of these would produce insane sugar highs and perhaps give someone diabetes. Seriously, they're all sugar. I used a basic sugar cookie recipe, rolled each cookie ball in sugar sprinkles, and once cooled I added the filling which is a butter frosting made of confectioner's sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla extract. If that's not enough to make you drool and want to hop on a treadmill simultaneously, then I don't know what will. How many times can I say 'sugar' while describing one dessert? Here it's six. Holy sugar rush!

I've made some other fun dishes but failed to take pictures so I'll have to divulge those recipes at a later date.

More soon!


October 10, 2010

Kashi Adventures

"Kashi cereal has as much protein as an egg!"

This was the phrase of the day as I broke the seal of my LA, post school, acting career and shot my very first commercial! The initial audition was last week, one of the five I went on during my week of insanity, and the call back was this last Tuesday. I got the final word that I had been cast on Wednesday, and now here I am on Sunday night with a sunburned face and my first commercial under my belt. The whole experience was very different than I had imagined but still tons of fun. And I'm not gunna lie, getting paid to stand outside in beautiful weather by the water, cheer on marathon runners and talk about Kashi cereal...not too bad. Sure I had to pee for about 3 hours before we got a break, I was in a long sleeve shirt in 75 or 80 degree weather and I walked away with a tomato red face but I'm gunna venture to say there are way worse ways I could have spent my Sunday.

We made the trip up to San Luis Obispo where we would be shooting Saturday afternoon, checked into our hotel and had then entire evening to roam the town. I instantly clicked with a few people and we found ourselves at the Central Coast Brewery sampling their 5 beers for 5 dollars. A perfectly wonderful way to spend a Saturday evening with some new people in a new place. After the brewery we made our way farther into town for dinner. I've never been to San Luis Obispo, but it reminded me a lot of Berkeley or Westwood only cleaner and with a little more of a small town feel. Westwood is always bustling but SLO had an easier, calmer feel to it. After being sufficiently stuffed by 1000 pounds of sushi we headed back to our rooms to hang for a while and eventually tried to crash early because our call time was 5:30 AM this morning!

When I woke up not only did it feel like I hadn't really gone to sleep, the TV still on and playing infomercials for things like the shake weight, total home gym, and any other awkward product endorsed by Chuck Norris. I dragged myself into the shower and met the rest of my dazed and sleepy Kashi friends for our craft services breakfast which was being served essentially in total darkness because it was 5:30 in the morning and apparently no one thought to bring some lights to help us out.

This upcoming week promises to be one with a little more free time, although whenever I say that I end up eating my words. Tomorrow I'll be hitting up the Laugh Factory to see my friend's Comedy/Improv/Music group perform as part of an MTV event. I wish I knew more about it but I helped choreograph a small segment in one of the videos they will be playing and felt it appropriate I go out and support. The group is called The Waitist and their videos are pretty funny so if you haven't seen them I'd suggest giving them a gander, I choreographed their Slumdog Millionaire spoof and was so pumped they asked me to come back and choreograph another.

Essentially it has been a crazy couple of weeks. I will write more soon, but for now I am off to dreamland because I am absolutely POOPED!