Category Archives: LA fun

Heading Out to Get the Cars

I Have a Love/Hate Relationship With My Air Conditioner

cool_summer
It’s not uncommon for both homes and apartments in the greater Los Angeles area to not have central air. If you live closer to the shore, you don’t exactly need it; what with those ocean breezes and all the marine layer. If you live inland, or in the valleys in particular, you’re lost without it.

We’re not lucky enough to have central air. We have a window unit in the wall of the living room. Only in the living room. Which means only the living room gets cooled.

So as you can imagine, I have a love/hate relationship with our air conditioner.

Love

that we have air conditioning
that while sitting in the living room, it’s nice and chilly

Hate

that if you’re anywhere beyond the living room, the AC can’t even be felt
that if you’re in the living room, at the couch, it’s can be dare I say it…too cold
that even with the AC on all day, the apartment is never less than 5 degrees cooler than outside
that the AC doesn’t reach any other part of the house BUT the living room
that the mere act of boiling of water or washing a dish or two can leave you dripping in sweat
that I can’t because of the above, I can’t cook anything most of the summer
that once the heatwave hits (100+ days) the bedroom doesn’t that cooler than 80 or so at night and our landlord won’t let us put in a window unit – makes for a miserable night’s sleep
that each and every summer I spend far too much time complaining about the damn heat

I vow to limit my complaining about the heat and lack of air conditioning. So how’s the summer treating you so far?

So About this Blogger Prom…

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I’m really at a loss here because I have NO clue what to wear. It’s supposed to be all fun and kitschy with and emphasis on 80’s cheese. But um…the only thing I have readily available from the 80’s is my ability to biggify my Jersey Girl hair, black eyeliner and some fingerless lace gloves.

Really not sure about this. I mean, these guys are taking things WAY seriously. Times like this I wish I was Molly Ringwald or Scarlett O’Hara and could just whip up my own prom dress from some drapes or something.

I have to come up with something. I mean I MUST get into this party. Even the swag is beyond cool.

So I beg you all…please share your ideas to get this plus-sized gal (with very little time to scour the Salvation Army and Good Will type shops) into Blogger Prom. For what it’s worth…I can bedazzle of sorts with my bling that came with my Mighty MendIt (if I haven’t thrown it away).

Are You Going to Blogger Prom?

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Just asking…

The Joy of Book Club Meets the Joy of Cupcakes!

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Talk about the joining of two great ideas! And what a great way to celebrate that we’ve been joining together to discuss books for over 4 years now!

So here’s the deal…back when I was planning my birthday, I was craving some Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes from Layers Cupcakes (I tasted them a month or so earlier at a local cupcake meetup). Thing is, I wasn’t able to afford them at the time, so I did what any good blogger would do and well, I blogged about this sad turn of events.

Ebony of Layers Cupcakes (Facebook Fan Page) did what any good, modern business woman would do and checked her links (or had an alert set up) and got notified about my post. layers_cupcakes She then offered up the opportunity for me to taste some of her new, Naja Tea-infused cupcakes and asked if I wouldn’t mind blogging about them (Naja Tea Facebook Fan Page & Twitter).

Well, better than just me sharing my thoughts…I asked the whole gang of book club gals (at least the ones in attendance) to share their thoughts as well. And yes, the teacher in me created a form for them to share their thoughts anonymously.

Overall, we definitely enjoyed the cupcakes quite a bit and the experience of tasting and sharing feedback, even more so (did I mention that our group has quite a few foodies and bakers in residence). The Mix and Mingle was a hit, but Sassafras didn’t seem to have as many fans. Everyone pretty much agreed that we were hoping to taste more of the tea’s flavor.

To get a feel for our thoughts, I randomly divided the stack in half and one batch of comments for each flavor. Here are some of our thoughts (in no particular order):

Mix and Mingle

This was my favorite. Nice and light, very moist, but could maybe have used a bit more intense frosting – it seemed too light for the cupcake.
I probably should have tried this one first. The flavors were still lingering from the Sassafras. This one had more subtle flavors and I liked the topping.
I liked this one! Very tasty and delicious cake! Frosting is light and fluffy. I might have wanted to have a bit more substantial (thicker?) frosting.
This is delicious for such a light cupcake! Love the vanilla and coconut combination.
Crumb is too moist for that filling – cake needs more structure. Flavor is great. Frosting is too creamy. Needs some salt.

Sassafras

I found this to be delicious. Not much of a summer flavor since it was more spicy and fall-like. Very moist, maybe too moist if that’s even possible.
The yam mousse overpowered the other flavors making it more difficult to taste. Meringue is a little mushy.
Too many flavors – very confusing for the palate. Crumb is very wet. Icing not complimentary.
This is a nope! Did not like. Too many spices and flavors going on.
Frosting should be creamier (less fluffy). Good flavors for fall, but probably too many rich flavors for spring/summer.
I love the taste of the cake – a great surprise to have the yam. It was a little moist, but I don’t mind that. The meringue didn’t add much, maybe a cream cheese frosting would be better.

My husband wasn’t invited to share his thoughts (but he did get to eat some leftovers). He said that these were the best cupcakes he’s tried of what he’s tasted around town. He loved that they were flavorful, but not overly sweet (his typical complaint about cupcakes).

I don’t know about you, but now I’m craving some cupcakes!

Michael Jackson’s Final Resting Place

Whale Watching in Marina del Rey

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June Gloom finally lifted today. So having the first beautiful day of June, I demanded (no really, I did indeed demand) that we head out to Marina del Rey to visit the breached whale that’s visiting.

He’s on his way north to Alaska and has decided to take a bit of a break, call it a vacation, if you will here in LA. He’s been there for a couple weeks now, just hanging about. The authorities aren’t too worried as he appears to be in good health and is quite playful. Though they are concerned with just how close some of the boats have been getting.

I only took a few pictures because I realized early on that 1) I can’t see a damn thing on my screen in the bright sun so I don’t know what I’m even pointing at and more importantly, 2) whales aren’t easy to photograph – they move around, they’re always in a different spot and well, they’re not on the surface for too long. So only the bottom two photos actually caught the slightest glimpse of the little guy.

It was a fun day though. And once again, while I remembered to sunscreen my face and decolletage, I left my arms and neck untouched. And um, yeah…sunburn. Go figure.

This Looks Like a Fun Way to Help Out Locally

100 volunteers + 300 orange trees = 100% to feed the hungry!

FOOD FORWARD is an all-volunteer grassroots group of Los Angelenos who care about reconnecting to our food system, making change around urban hunger and stopping food waste. Several times a month volunteers convene at a private property they have been invited to and glean the excess fruit on their trees, donating 100% of it to local food pantries. They run picks, big and small, with their next large event to be held June 28th at CSUN where over 100 volunteers (all ages welcome) will glean free fresh fruit from a grove of over 300 trees in one day.

Their current main receiving partner is SOVA Community Food and Resource Program, which distributes food to over 7,700 clients a month across all of Southern California. In just 4 months and 20 picks, they have gleaned over 14,000 pounds of fresh free fruit for the hungry which would otherwise fall to the ground or ended up in land fills.

Come join this inspired and growing new group of urban gleaners on June 28^that CSUN! Following the same format of their hugely successful first BIG PICK in March, they are inviting you to volunteer for either the 9 am-12 pm shift or 1 pm-4 pm shift. At noon all participants are invited to join a potluck picnic in the orchard. This time, the 1-4pm afternoon session will be open to children and families. More info/sign-up at www.foodforward.org!

To hold your spot for June 28th, email them directly or call Food Forward at 818-530-4125 – leaving your name, email, age, and phone/cell number.

Source: Jen’s List

Photo by Stewart Johnson

I Can’t Believe it’s This Cold in June!

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Seriously, I’m sitting here in my slippers and a fleece sweater thingie. Granted, there are still windows open here in the apartment as well, but most are closed. My widget says it’s only 65 degrees out. In June. In Los Angeles.

That’s just insane.

And I think it might be giving me a migraine. Or the overcast skies are. Or maybe it’s all the coffee I had earlier at a brunch meeting. Either way, I’m cold and feeling some migraine twitching. And I seem to be having some challenges focusing – caffeine? migraine? Shivers? Hell if I know the reason.

Of course, this totally messes up my whole wardrobe choices for tomorrow’s speaking gig. I mean if it’s 65 here and it’s not going to be much warmer in Costa Mesa tomorrow. It’s typically about 5-10 degrees cooler when you head south and towards the ocean (though we only seem to be a couple of degrees off right now). Either way, I’m so not looking forward to it.

Will that stop me from wearing my cute new outfit? Hell no. But it certainly won’t make me happy.

Now back to work…

I Said I Would Blog and Dammit, I’m Blogging!

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The Live Music Edition

You’d think that as someone that teaches others how to blog, I’d know not to freak out when I hit a schlump. I mean, I tell my clients all the time that it happens. I also suggest that they have some stuff written in drafts so that they can have something, anything to post without the pressure of having to create something.

Do I follow my own advice? Hell no!

I didn’t even have anything worthwhile in my drafts. But in my defense (yeah, yeah, here come the excuses), I really couldn’t look beyond how damn exhausted I was. Next semester I’m going to have to come up with a better plan.

But good news…I’ve been to concerts. Many, many concerts.

Let’s see, in the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen Carrie Rodriguez at McCabe’s, some bands I did like and some band I didn’t much like at the Troubadour (of course I can’t remember their names – but I do have photos somewhere), the Indigo Girls at the House of Blues in Anaheim (no photos), the Allman Brothers at the Greek (I love the Greek, it’s my favorite venue for shows), and last night we saw REO Speedwagon and Styx at the Nokia.

So you see, I have been busy. While we wait for the FOREVER time it takes videos to upload, I’ll share some photos with you…

Maria Taylor