Did You Go To Blogger Prom?

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Last Wednesday was one of the coolest parties in LA, the 2nd annual Blogger Prom. This a big deal and a great way to mingle with other local bloggers. And of course, since it was basically started by a slew of foodie bloggers, you better believe it’s a killer party.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend this year (yes, sick again). I can’t figure out what I was more bummed about…missing the awesome fashion, the amazing food and drinks (I can’t believe I missed the The Cheese Impresario!), the giveaways (oh sweet Jesus, the giveaways!) or the swag bag (I heard the swag bag was beyond killer!).

Last year, they had an 80’s prom theme (which I totally failed when it came to my outfit) and this year it was a Hollywood Confidential theme. Imagine all those gorgeous dresses, fantastic hairstyles and the dramatic make up.

For photos and recaps of the event (you know, from people who were actually there), check out the official Blogger Prom blog, the photographer’s official photos, their Facbook Page and their Flickr page.  Now you can be bummed that you missed out on a great party too.

Can’t wait for next year’s prom!!

A Note From the Universe

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Aurora Borealis, the colored lights seen in the skies around the North Pole, the Northern Lights, from Bear Lake, Alaska, Beautiful Christmas Scene, Winter Star Filled Skies, Scenic Nature

Photo by Beverly & Pack

What if, loneliness was simply a feeling of impatience, telepathically sent to you by friends you’ve yet to meet, urging you to go out more, do more, and get involved, so that life’s serendipities could bring you together…Would you still feel alone?

What if illness was just the signal a healthy body sent to urge clarification of your thoughts, feelings, and dreams…Would you still, at times, think of yours as diseased?

What if feelings of uncertainty and confusion were only reminders that you have options, that there’s no hurry, and that everything is as it should be…Would you still feel disadvantaged?

What if mistakes and failures only ever happened when your life was about to get better than it’s ever been before…Would you still call them mistakes and failures?

And what if poverty and lack were simply demonstrations of your manifesting prowess, as “difficult” to acquire as wealth and abundance…Would they still cause you to feel powerless?

Well, whatever you feel, I still consider you my only begotten, my champion, and my equal.

Are we close, or what?

~The Universe

Allowing For an Imperfect Life

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imperfection is your ally

by Peter John Chen

Well, I could whine and harp about how I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to blog in ages. But really, what would that accomplish?

Instead I figure it’s best to acknowledge that I’m by no means perfect (who is?) and just jump right back in and start blogging again.

And of course, now that I say I’m going to do that, I can’t exactly think of something pithy or witty to say. Go figure.

I have realized though that often times, we hold ourselves up to some lofty and crazy expectations. In my case, I recently decided to sign up for a ten week business program with a 2 hour+ weekly commitment.

I knew that this wasn’t the best time. I was already way behind in blogging (both personally and professionally) and I haven’t touched my newsletter in weeks. I was also just finishing up my Beyond Social Media Basics Intensive with immediate plans to redesign and relaunch the program.

On top of it all, I managed to book 4 out of town trips within an 8 week window. One of those trips is yet another business conference. And all the while I need to finishing putting the office back together (some might call it organizing, I’m thinking it’s slightly closer to breaking the pre-hoarding cycle).

And as could only be expected…I feel behind in the (10 week ) program that I paid some good money for.

I could beat myself up about this. But instead, I figured I might as well practice the fine art of imperfection.

I knew before I even started that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it all. No one could.

So instead, I’ve decided to move at my own pace and be grateful for being able to do so. I have to say, once I decided to allow for this (and chose to not beat myself up), it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I’m no longer clenching my teeth. I feel more relaxed.

Which of course makes me wonder…why do we often hold ourselves up to such high and often stress-inducing expectations? Why can’t we just go with the flow and allow stuff…life…to just happen?

As Ieyasu Tokugawa reminds us, “Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair.”

That works for me.

Bonfire At The Beach: A SoCal Must

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Bolsa Chica Bonfire 05.03.08_0072.JPG

Yesterday was a first for me.  It was my very first bonfire at the beach.  And it was as cool as I always imagined it would be.

It was our youngest niece’s 14th birthday.  And instead of sweating it out in the Inland Empire like we typically do, they opted for a day at the beach.  You better believe I was behind that!  And while I’m not a huge play at the beach and frolic in the waves kinda gal (long story…but it has to do with being a Jersey Girl and hypodermic needles and raw sewage visiting our local beaches), I was all over experiencing this California bonfire tradition.

We’ve driven past the Bolsa Chica beach many times and I’ve always been in awe of the bonfires.  Turns out, it’s one of the few beaches that allows bonfires in the greater LA area (here’s a list of CA beaches that allow fires).  What makes it such a cool experience is that they have the concrete firepits already there and waiting for you.  You still have to bring your own wood (or buy wood from vendors).  But other than that, it’s all good.

Being that close to the ocean, and the ocean breezes leads to some might cold temperatures and quite a bit of smoke and wayward ash.  But it’s so worth it if you ask me.  Though I can’t imagine what it must be like in the winter months.

We got to the party late (fully intending to just experience the bonfire part of the event), after the sun had already set and the fire was roaring hot.  Which was great, because it was freezing (even in late July).  Luckily we still had jackets and a blanket in the car (especially considering I dressed for summer cute and not beachy cold).

I even thought ahead to pick up the ingredients for some s’mores.  Too bad the fam forgot to bring the sticks – LOL.  We managed to make a couple using the BBQ fork, but with that roaring fire, it wasn’t easy.

Oh well, maybe next time.  And I’ve no doubt, now that the nieces and nephews are getting older, that there will be a next time.

Photo: C o l i n

Kisses: What You Give When You Have Nothing Else to Give

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This weekend, as part of a beat the heat promotion, Anthem Magazine was giving away passes to the Irish movie, Kisses.  And yes, yours truly was lucky enough to not only win a pair, but was able to beat the heat as well!

While it didn’t have the happy ending that most of us Americans have come to appreciate, it was a great movie about two teenagers running away from home and heading into Dublin on Christmas Eve (full synopsis below the video trailer).  If it comes to your neighborhood or on-demand, check it out.  As Anthem Magazine puts it, it “features an original score by Lance Daly’s band, Go Blimps Go, as well as half a dozen Bob Dylan tracks, making the movie perfect for the audiophile and film buff alike.”

And yes, it is in English with English sub-titles.  I have to say, we’d have been lost without them.  Oh, and totally unrelated…I have pictures of that very Christmas tree in Dublin 😉

Synopsis

“On the fringes of Dublin two kids, Kylie and Dylan, live in a suburban housing estate devoid of life, colour and the prospect of escape. Kylie lives with five other siblings and her overworked mother. Next door, Dylan lives in the shadow of an alcoholic father and the memory of an elder brother who ran away from home two years earlier. After a violent altercation with his father, Dylan runs away from home and Kylie decides to run away with him. Together they make their way to the magical night time lights of inner city Dublin, to search for Dylan’s brother, and in the hope of finding, through him, the possibility of a new life. Lance Daly’s vision of Dublin, as seen through the innocent eyes of our protagonists, is a kaleidoscope of magic, wonder and mystery. But as the night wears on, and Dublin takes on a darker character, the two kids have to rely on the kindness of strangers, the advice of Bob Dylan and their trust in each other to survive the night.”

It’s Summertime And The Living is Easy!

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Lifeguard Stand

After a month or so of some June Gloom, summer has hit LA hard!  We went from days in the mid-70’s to days in the 100’s.  This is something I was hoping to avoid as much as possible.

Luckily,  this year won’t be nearly as difficult as the last years.  While we are still in the same apartment (we didn’t feel comfortable moving since both of us are now working from home), we picked up a portable AC unit for the back office.  So now we have two rooms that are cool enough to spend some time in.  And since the new unit is portable and small enough to move about, we can move it into the bedroom if it gets too hot in there.

Finally, we can beat the crazy Valley heat!!

Of course, in full disclosure, the actually KEEP the cool in the living room, we had to go a little ghetto and use something to block the doorway into the hall o’hellish heat.  So we have a piece of white foamcore blocking it.  It stands about 3.5 feet high and it makes a HUGE difference in keeping that room cool.  At this point, I’ll take what I can get, and this sure as hell works.

It’s keeping things so much cooler that I actually had the brilliant idea to tackle the fridge…inside and out!  Of course, the sink is too small to fit the entire shelf and the drawers, so I’m dragging it all outside.  Shelf by shelf.  Piece by piece.  The half-shelves sure look good!

And I’m just telling myself, as I sweat through it all, that I’m just clearing the clutter and old energy to bring in something bigger and better!  I can’t exactly get a new place to love if I don’t love the place I’m in, right?  Or else it would just be more of the same.  And after nearly 10 years of bitching about this place, I figured it was time to learn to love it.

So a ‘cleaning we shall do!

Green and Gorgeous in LA

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Last night was PrettyCity and Shape Magazine’s Green and Gorgeous event here in LA. A business acquaintance of mine, Golden Alchemy were there performing facials, so they made sure to let everyone on their list know about the event.

The event was held at Environment Furniture Showroom off of Beverly Boulevard.  I had fears that maybe combining women, beauty products, food and drink might wreck some havoc on the gorgeous furniture, but they really did a great job.  At no time did you feel like you were in a furniture store.  There was not only plenty of room to move about, but there were tables full of vendors as well as beauty treatment booths all around.

I got there early enough that I was able to try out a few different treatments.  From the folks at Bliss Hollywood I received a brief, but oh so delicious and much needed chair massage from Rosie (I can still feel the work she did in my shoulders) and a quickie Triple Oxygen Treatment.  My skin absolutely LOVED all that oxygen!

I also decided to go a little curlier than usual and spent some time with Brigitte from Orange Berlin, a European-inspired, eco-chic Pureology concept salon (okay, I’m not 100% certain on the officialness of their Pureology concept-ness, but that’s the line they use…and I love it!).  Of course, slave to the ponytail that I am, I just pulled it back today before heading to teach.  But it did make for a fab ponytail!

They also had chair massages available (which I didn’t get to try) from Tikkun Spa, an holistic spa with integrative services in both the healing arts and holistic medicine.  I’d love to check this place out, they have every cool thing you’ve ever read about: a jade room, an ice room, a clay room, a salt room, infrared therapy, and mugwart soaks.  How cool does all that sound?!?

In the back of the store, ROB|B OPI Concept Salon (the only OPI concept salon in the US – and where I have a mani/pedi waiting for me thanks to Groupon!) was offering up polish changes. And sadly, I wasn’t able to spend any time getting facials from Golden Alchemy.  I have to say, they were using some odd, tribal-looking wand and rubbing it over some gals face and all I could think while getting my curl on was “I so want that! Whatever it is.”  It looked totally relaxing.

I have to say, these past couple of years, I’ve been to a few different fashion and beauty events.  This event was my favorite by far.  We were also given an amazing goody bag full of tons of eco-friendly, full-size products!  I look forward to trying all the scrubs, lotions and potions.  And the lippies!!  I’m a very happy girl whenever lip balms (this one is super yummy), glosses and lipsticks are involved!

Great job Pretty City!!

I was hoping by now that someone would have posted photos or video from the event, but no such luck.  You’ll just have to trust me that it was a great event.  If I find anything over the next couple of days, I’ll be sure to post it up.

Summer is Right for Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

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In the winter (or what passes for winter here in LA) I can’t get enough of tea.  Strangely enough though, once the warmer temperatures hit, I turn to iced coffee.  And while iced coffee may well be one of the least expensive things on your local coffee shop’s menu, it’s super easy to make at home. So easy, you’ll be rolling in the dough with all the money you’ll be saving this summer.

The key is to make sure you use good coffee (says the girl that’s just using whatever she has lying about).  I’ve noticed that when I don’t use good coffee, it can be a tad more bitter (think: Starbucks). The cool thing though, you can easily adjust the strength and the flavor – see my modifications below.

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

Swiped from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from The New York Times

Yield: Two drinks

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)
Milk (optional)

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.

My Modifications:

  • I typically make double or triple batches so I have a jug ready to go whenever the mood strikes in the fridge.  Consider yourself warned, I think this results in a much stronger blend so either add more water or milk. But it’s already chilled and doesn’t require ice.
  • I don’t measure the water, I just eyeball it.  I like mine with lots of milk, so I probably add more milk than the average person – so I use less water.
  • I like to sweeten the entire jug (at least lightly), so it’s totally ready to go.
  • I strain my concentrate just using a coffee filter.  It takes a bit longer (it’s one of those single cup brew cones), but it works just fine.
  • I’ve found that using a wide mouth jar (right now, a recycled quart canning jar) makes cleaning up after the sludge of leftover grinds MUCH easier (especially compared to the glass juice carafe that I used last year).
  • Using either flavored syrups like Torani or flavored creamer makes for a lovely, decadent coffee.
  • I tend to let my sludge concentrate do it’s magic overnight – though to be honest, I’ve never timed it.

ENJOY!!

And if you want something yummy to eat along with your high octane iced coffee might I suggest Blueberry Boy Bait (again from the Smitten Kitchen site).

Wanderlust and Honest Tea…Sounds Like a Plan to Me

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A little known secret about me…I love, love, love to enter contests and sweepstakes (which is probably why I enjoy arranging for the contests on ConstantChatter too).  I haven’t done it much here, but in my not so distant past, it wasn’t uncommon for me to create massive lists of various contests.  And lucky me, I’ve even won one or two – sadly, no cars or awesome vacations, but some fun things like a necklace and some bath and body products.

Well, I recently heard about the Wanderlust Festival. To be honest, I’ve never heard of the Wanderlust Festival before.  But, then again, I’ve only recently started trying yoga.  Basically, we’re talking about a lifestyle festival combining music, the world’s top yoga teachers, organics, and sustainability in the breathtaking Tahoe, CA.  Music artists and yoga instructors such as Shiva Rae, Seane Corn, Baron Baptiste, Moby, Thievery Corporation and many others will be featured.

Seems the folks behind Wanderlust are  teaming up with Honest Tea (some yummy bottled tea!!) and Whole Foods and giving away a pair of tickets, with full-access to the festival, three yoga classes and access to the stage INCLUDING a two night stay at Squaw Valley Lodge and a $500 American Express Gift Card.   And on top of all that, the winner will also receive a one year supply of Honest Tea & Honest Ade.

They’re also doing some first and second prize winners as well, but you’ll have to check out the official rules and whatnot for the details.  It’s pretty much a text-to-win kind of contest, so head on over to the nearest Whole Foods before 5/31 for the correct key word that you can find on their specially-marked displays.

Me, I’d be happy just to visit beautiful Lake Tahoe, work on my savasana and drink my iced tea!

Best of luck!

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It’s Official, He’s Joined the Masses!

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I know I haven’t been around here much these past couple weeks, but we’ve had quite a bit going on.  You see, we’ve been gearing up for the big layoff.  We knew it was coming, and to be honest, we are quite excited about it.

And now it’s official. My husband is officially a socio-economic statistic.

Well, technically, it was official last Monday, but I was too busy running errands to say much about it.

Now both of us are working from home.  Although for the past week, I basically spent most of my time trying to get things in order.  I figure with the temperatures about to be on the rise and the hubs now working from home, I needed squeeze in one super good cleaning and do as much laundry as possible (still have sheets & blankets to do…hate the laundromat!).

On top of the basic household chores, I’ve been doing some shopping. I mean, FSA funds are use it or lose it, so you better believe we were using it!  That’s a lot of doctor appointments to squeeze into two weeks.  So I also spent a little time on Drugstore.com in their FSA store.  Did you know that condoms and athlete’s foot treatment qualify for spending down those FSA dollars? Who knew.

Not to worry though. He knew it was coming (they all knew it was coming).  His next project launches tonight!!  Woohoo!

And presently (or at least until I’m done teaching this semester), my primary goal is to come up with lunch and dinner menus.  We figure we spent a good chunk of our money eating out (together for dinners or alone for lunches), so the quickest and easiest way for us to save some cash from the getgo is to cook at home.

Now if only I knew what to cook.  Or how to plan a menu.

Any suggestions?  What’s your favorite at home, lunch item?  What about dinner – what sort of easy recipes do you fall back on?

In particular…any killer ideas for leftover rotisserie chicken (we tend to eat a lot of rotisserie chicken here…especially when the triple digit days come and it’s just too crazy hot to even boil water).

In the meantime, I’m sure things will be getting pretty interesting at Casa de LA Blogger Gal…two of us, working from home, all day, with a dog that barks at anything in a two bedroom apartment that in mere days will surely be 85 degrees WITH the air conditioning running.  Oh  yeah, it should be fun.