Better Late than Never – Thursday Thirteen: Friends & Gratitude

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Today is Thursday and that typically means that I should be doing a Thursday Thirteen, but I decided late last night to skip it this week. Instead, I was going to write up a poignant post on friendship. But you know, just now as I started writing this, I figured I’d combine the both. So here we go…thirteen reasons I’m grateful for my friends…

1. filled our freezer with food when my father-in-law (FIL) passed away
2. sent donations to the American Cancer Society in my FIL’s name
3. drove an hour+ to attend my FIL’s funeral, burial and wake, all during a visit with family to be by my side
4. allowed me to live rent-free for a month
5. let me move in with her when I was at a financial low point
6. bought me my favorite WW-friendly, ice cream from Baskin Robbins
7. hosted a full on dinner party for me, my hubby and my two other friends when we were back in Albuquerque visiting
8. passed along baby clothes that they no longer needed so I could pass them on to my sister-in-law since she didn’t have local friends of family to pass things on to her
9. sent me a priority envelop stuffed full of convention freebies and deluxe hotel toiletries (more than once!)
10. snuck home a piece of chocolate cake, squished into a pilfered coffee cup from a work function
11. convinced me to fly to LA and attend a Memorial Day party where I wound up meeting my husband
12. shared a vacation rental (not once, but twice) and opened their home to us – even though some folks may think it’s weird that we’re such good friends with my hubby’s ex
13. were there to support me financially, emotionally, lovingly during any one time or another

I could go on and on, but really, I’m just so grateful for my friends and would do anything for them (and they know it!)

Gotta Love Those Mini Melons!

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I am addicted to those Dulcinea watermelons. They’re thin skinned so they’re easy to slice up. They’re virtually seedless (every once and a while a seed or two can be found). They’re the perfect size for just the two of us over a couple of days. The majority of the time they have just the right consistency and sweetness. And well, they’re just perfect. What more could you ask for in a watermelon? Especially when you’re addicted enough that every other day you’re at the store buying a new one? Luckily, they’re only 1 WW point per cup.

And did you know that in Japan they grow their mini watermelons into shapes? Think how much easier it would be to slice up a square watermelon. They actually grow the melons in glass boxes so that the melon will naturally assumed the same shape – and then charge upwards of $80US for them! I hear they do similar silly things with their cucumbers.

I Think the Universe Has a Message For Me…

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And it’s not to eat tostada pizzas all day long. Sadly, it’s not. Earlier today, I met up with Megan Crane to interview her for my website’s blog. I brought the recording equipment with me so we can hopefully run it as audio and not have to transcribe it. So we’re sitting at CPK, chowing down on our salad pizzas (tostada pizza YUM!) making small talk, just fine and dandy.

The waitress comes and clears away the plates and we set up the recorder and the mics. I through it on to do a test to make sure the controls are right and boom, we’re off! We’re talking, we’re laughing, we’re getting some really good, really casual, really breezy, quality stuff. Then I look down to get a time check and fuck a duck! I managed to re-pause the machine so nothing, and I mean NOTHING recorded!

Then, on the way out (here’s where I really go “what the fuck?”) I get into my car and realize that I can’t find my cell phone. Now obviously, I know I had it considering it rang mere seconds before we started the interview. So I tear apart my pockets and my backpack and then run back upstairs. Of course, it’s no where to be found. So I head back down to the car, check my backpack again, reach into a pocket that I already checked at least twice and there it was (boy am I grateful that it wasn’t gone).

So obviously, the Universe is trying to send me some sort of message through my cell phone. For those of you counting along, this is like the 4th time I’ve misplaced or forgotten my phone in less than a month. So what’s the message? Disconnect? Communicate by not speaking? Don’t talk on the phone any more? I have no idea, but it’s something. And I better figure it out before my phone disappears for good!

One of the Cool Things About Living in SoCal

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A while back, the hubby and I were driving back from brunch and took a different, more scenic route home through the hills. And as we were twisting and turning along, admiring the houses, I scream “a Frank Lloyd Wright house! Turn around!!!” Thankfully, my husband, does on occasion listen to me. He turned around at first opportunity and let me oogle it for a few minutes.

The hubby was cute though, he looked at me, all confused and asked me how I knew it was a Frank Lloyd Wright house. I explained that I had seen one of his concrete block homes before and I noticed the National Registry plaques. I get the same way when I notice some Green & Green’s. I think he sometimes forgets all the art appreciation classes they make elementary teachers take – LOL.

This is the Alice Millard House, “La Minatura”* (built in 1923). It was his first concrete block house. It wasn’t the one we saw driving in La Crescenta (see below for that one). I do know where this house is though (not all that far from a slew of Green & Green Craftsmans).

This is the one we saw while driving – James Daniel Derby House* – built in 1926 (according to the National Registry)

* these are not my photos – I told myself that I’d go back with a friend (and I did), but I never got around to taking my own photos, we just did a drive-by.

Overheard: While Out Looking at Open Houses

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We were driving around a local neighborhood looking for a particular open house that was starting in a few (without a map, mind you)…

the hubby: Ooh look!!
me: What? Where? (checking for street signs)
the hubby: A squirrel! (pointing up to the electrical wires above)
me: A squirrel?
the hubby: Ruuuff! Ruuuuuff roooff!
me: What?!?!
the hubby: That’s what Griffin says when he sees a squirrel.
me: ?? (baffled, but amused I just shake my head and continue to look for the correct street)

What Do You Save From Your Adventures in Wine?

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Do you save the labels? Do you save those foil covers? Do you save your corks? Or do you just savor the flavor and maybe take some notes?

I ask because we’re of the cork saving mindset. And now, as our collection grows, I’m trying to figure out what to do with them. I just recently pulled them all out of the junk drawer and transferred them into a square, clear, glass vase. But sadly, the vase has no home. I saw a photo once of someone that had a HUGE jug full of corks next to her fireplace.

So I ask…what do you save from your adventures in wine?

Thursday Thirteen – 13 Things I Do Daily

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1. check my email (over and over and over)
2. write either a blog or an LJ post (quite often more than one)
3. track my food at WW.com (well, as of this week I’ve been doing it again)
4. visit my site and do something admin-y
5. talk to one or another of my friends (business or pleasure)
6. try to figure out what’s for lunch or dinner (though I’ve been trying my hand at menu planning the dinners at least)
7. catch up on the blog-o-sphere
8. gulp down obscene amounts of water (right from the tap even – I’m weird like that)
9. basic hygiene (brush teeth, wash up, etc)
10. kiss all my boys (the hubby as he leaves for work and returns and the boys every chance I get)
11. reflect on my day (before, during or after – and sometimes all of the above!)
12. read a book or a magazine (really depends on my mood)
13. watching something, anything that we’ve got set up on the DVR (lately it’s been Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe & G4’s Attack of the Show)

Sometimes it’s the Simple Things that Matter

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I used to absolutely love getting my brows waxed. I’m not a fan of the pain. And I don’t much like the lingering redness. But man do I love how it all looks in the end. I’ve recently started getting threaded instead of getting waxed. There’s still pain, but it’s must more temporary. Same can be said for the redness – in the time it takes me to pay, the redness and pain are gone.

I seem to be one of those compulsive tweezing, kind of gals. Typically, I can’t go into the bathroom without checking for strays. And I must keep a pair of tweezers in my purse and in my travel bags. So as you can imagine, the two weeks leading up to my waxing or threading is one of THE more difficult things for me to handle. I hate knowing that my brows are scruffy, and hairy and look insanely unkempt. I hate going out in public imagining folks are looking at me thinking how bad my brows look.

And even once they’re done, I have to use self-control of a different kind and do whatever I can to not touch them (stupid sensitive skin)! And yes, I do touch up once I’m home. What can I say, I seem to be compulsive like that.

But ah, in the end…so pretty. And so worth it!

One Boy, Two Boy, Three Boy, Love

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Today was one of those days that when the hubby left I was just bursting with love and gratitude. Maybe it was the way our cat was scared of the lawn guy’s blowers and was crying and hiding behind my hubby’s legs. Maybe it was the way that our dog was barking at the lawn guys trying to keep them away from us. Maybe it was the way that my hubby just looked at me before he kissed me goodbye as he left for work.

I don’t know and can’t rightly say for sure. All I know is that I love all of my boys and today, all day long, my heart was bursting with love. As I’ve said before, sometimes, all you need is love.

Now I Remember – Damn that Bristol Farms

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I hit up Bristol Farms this weekend and while almost falling for the succulent $6.99/pound cherries, I was reminded of this post I wrote up last August. Somethings never change, I guess…

I know the experts say that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping hungry. Well, whatever you do, DON’T go to Bristol Farms hungry!!! In general, that place is pricey. But man, when you add hunger into the picture it’s just crazy expensive!

Doesn’t help that at lunch time they have samples of all sorts of goodies out and about; cheese, turkey AND egg salad sandwiches, fig spread, sausage, pastries, crackers and dips, you name it! I went in to take my JOLT picture for the 26 Things and ended up with $25 worth of crap! I picked up some croutons (um…I don’t really like croutons!), a bottle of Boylan black cherry cola (yum!), a bottle of black tea with ginseng and honey, a pineapple coconut muffin (so good!), an oatmeal scone for the hubby (I’m such a good wife – or would that make me an enabling wife?) and a cup of iced coffee (to have with my muffin).

But hey, it could’ve been MUCH worse. I tasted some bing cherries so I thought I’d pick up a bag. They weren’t the sweetest, but they were still tasty and you guys know how I love me some cherries! So I get to the check out (after also picking up a Domino magazine – yeah, I needed that!) and get all rung up. Um…the cherries are $24!!!!!!! WTF?!?!? I ask if I’m reading that correctly and she tells me that yes, they’re $8.99 a pound. So apparently, those tasty and PLUMP cherries in the pre-packaged bag weighed 3 freakin’ pounds!!! Hello…it was a smallish bag!!!!

Needless to say, I left the cherries behind. I may be a cherry slut (make that a cherry-less slut – ha!), but I just can’t permit myself to spend $24 on mediocre cherries. Just think what I could buy at a farmer’s market for that price!

The moral of the story, stay away from Bristol Farms unless there’s a special occasion or you need a yummy hostess gift. I knew I should have gone to that soda store in Highland Park instead! Come one, if it’s good enough for the Food Network, it’s good enough for me.

The funniest part of this to me was the response I got from some random guy…”Maybe you should get some psychological help. Just a suggestion.” I guess he just didn’t get it. Oh well.