Foodie much?

In the last few weeks I have made reservations for weeks in advance at restaurants.  The first time was last week I made a reservation at Graham Elliot for Sam's parents and us because they are only here for a weekend, and I think they will really like this place AND it has a decent amount of dairy-free options for his mom.  Plus it is not what you are going to get in Tulsa (and as a bonus the head chef was in the early round of Top Chef Masters and has done Iron Chef America).  But I only did it in advance so we could for sure get in and not want to go to some good restaurant and not be left disappointed and going someplace we just settled for.

 

Today I made two different reservations (one that I am going to cancel) at Topolobampo for the end of September.  Because I want the Top Chef Masters winning tasting menu.  I WANT IT!  There is a mole there that just makes me crazy with wanting. WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT.  I will now get.  On the last day of September.  I initially made reservation for the 29th (because if we wanted to eat before 9:00pm, that is how long you had to wait on opentable), but then one of the people intending to go with us told me Tuesdays were a no-go, so I did Wednesday.  I can't wait!

Slow stories

I am a big fan of Mad Men, and since it just started its third season it is getting a bunch of publicity (note that I just got on board with seeing episodes of all of the first two seasons right before season three started). It tells its stories in a way that most TV shows do not right now. You have to pay attention and you have to be patient and hang in there to get the reward. It is lush in its art direction and costume design, but very subtle in its storytelling, and it tends to go for more character driven, character revealing tone and mood pieces than it does plot. Plot happens but very, very slowly.

Like I said, it isn't like most TV right now. Most TV doesn't trust its audience to be paying attention and to return without big brash cliffhangers each episode.

Well, and sadly Mad Men's ratings would seem to suggest that there isn't a tremendous audience for those shows that do put their faith in the viewer. But it is magical. And awful. It is about the way that things are not always what they seem on the surface and it uses the backdrop of the (so far early) 1960's to lay that story out.

This is the Camelot 60's not the flower power 60's yet. It is much more what you would expect of the 1950's. And knowing what we do of Vietnam, the Civil Rights movements, the SDCC, etc we know that this pale, fragile facade is about to crack wide open. This show revolves around a man who is very clearly not what he seems. Early on we discover that the lead character has at some point stolen the identity of someone else. The longer you watch, the more clues you get into how that came about, how the new man with the new name and the new life came about from the old man and his old life.

It is beautiful, but ugly all at once. Things have come a long way since that time. The show doesn't hide from the racism, sexism, smoking, alcoholism, segregation, etc. that was commonplace for people of the time. Kids don't wear seat belts, people litter, everybody smokes-even pregnant women.

Lots of people who have tried the show don't like it (not TV critics though, they pretty universally praise it, but it is a brilliant story told brilliantly, of course they love it, especially in the sea of hurried, slapdash, insipid shows that fill a lot of their time). I read a blog by a TV critic who does indepth reviews of every episode--even in his day job where he at best writes a few articles each season on the show. Each post is usually quite long and always insightful, and fanatic fans like me devour it and often comment on it with comments leading into the hundreds. This morning there was a new post up. And some of the commenters are clearly not fans of the show, but they come in to post that they find it boring.

Ok, great. You don't have to like it, but why do you have to interject that you don't in a place that is clearly for the people who really, really love it. Those people make me mad! I get that those people clearly do want to ruin other people's fun, but I am sad for them that they do.

If the above sounds like something you might be interested in, I think you should take a look at Mad Men, but if you find you don't like it, I will understand. Although I would advise that it is the kind of thing that should be given your full attention, unlike many other things that can be followed in the background of using the computer or playing solitaire or whatever.

Also for Serenity fans, the crazy red headed chick who tried to convince Mal that they were married and was really like an assassin is a major character and TOTALLY awesome in this show. It also has Zoe Bartlett in it, and Wendy Preffercorn (lotioning and lotioning, oiling and oiling) from Sandlot.

So tired lately

I have been sleeping very badly for the last few days. All wakeful and restless. It sucks. I am however basically moved in. Tonight I will tackle a small pile of WTF/Where the hell can this possibly go stuff and then we are all in.

I look forward to next Wednesday, although I will schedule an appointment with my doctor for that day, I plan mostly to do nothing, lots of nothing, and then the following Wednesday I might take advantage of a whole day to go down to the Museum of Science and Industry and see the Harry Potter exhibit, or maybe I will museum it up closer to home.

Decided on a project

Inspired by my coworker Michael's little sister (the Broke Ass Bride) and in search of a project, I am going to blog my wedding planning (because lets face it I was going to do it anyway). However I am going to do it in its own spot. Not sure where, but I am going to join the avalanche of bridal bloggers. They all have a cute little Miss ________ name. Like Miss Meatball (the broke ass bride who is a vegetarian but whatever) or Miss Cupcake or something. I am thinking of unique Miss names that haven't already been taken, and I think I might decide to be Miss BLT for no other reason than I have been obsessed with BLT's lately.

What think you all?

Feelings of Inadequacy

I am applying for a new job. But not applying for any and every new job like an escape. I am applying for one very specific new job. At the zoo. It will be really cool and a job I could love with my whole heart. It has like almost everything I could hope for in a job. That is assuming that it is full time and has benefits which it didn't totally specify. However, if it close to full time, that is good enough. If I really need benefits, Sam and I can elope which would actually solve all sorts of wedding planning woes.

Anyway, Sam is looking at my resume which I haven't looked at/touched in over a year. He is some sort of zen guru of resumes (and he will gladly help people out with them because he likes it), but he kept sending me IM's today as he looked at it that freaked me out like I don't even know how to do a resume. Although I knew it had severe formatting problems because it was originally done in word or it might have been word perfect, and now the copy I have of it is in Google docs and things got weirded out as it changed, but the important part was all the resume stuff was in one place, like the information was there. That is the part that is hard to resurrect. It even had some contact information that is accurate.

So I feel inadequate about my resume, but fortunately the zoo hasn't seen it yet. I hope that it will be turned in tomorrow.

Procrastination

I am at it right now. I am lying in bed typing this and watching some Mad Men. I should be heading to my apartment to finish the packing up and throwing away and cleaning up. I will, and I think I will do it the long walky way where I can stop and have an orange julius.

Well now I really have to move

I booked some movers and booked the freight elevator at Sam's.  So now I really have to have stuff done by next Wedneday at noon.  However, I have a lot of time between now and then and I already have several things packed.  It will be ok.

 

That is really all I have for today.  Except for the fact that I really enjoy that Corner Bakery (a yummy kind of quick kind of cheap lunch chain here) has an insane plethora of tasty caffeine free beverages to choose from at lunch.  A Lemonade that is more lemonade than vaguely lemony wateryish stuff.  A caffeine free diet coke.  Some juice choices. AND, their lemon-lime soda is Fresca!  Which is not lemon lime but it delightful and citrusy!  It has been making my afternoon all afternoon.

Possible Project

I have been thinking about being better about focusing on doing productive and enriching things outside of work. Like art projects or exercise or better eating rather than watching crap on the tivo. But I am not sure what to do and I am lazy. Although I have been getting a lot of good reading done lately so I am not totally a a wusstastic washout.

Anyway, I probably should get beyond the total move in to Sam's before I start anything but here are my thoughts on the horizon.

1) Make audio recordings of the solo autobiographical things I want to work on and post them here and maybe other places for feedback. This is an especially good idea because I think it is an ideal first step to see where exactly I need work. As I feel I am many steps away from getting a space and just doing it as well as from hitting open mic nights and just doing it. And I think this is the right first step that should maybe illuminate some of the other steps I must take.

2) Starting a new blog. This blog would document every bit of food I eat for an enitre year. It is inspired by some art I was reading about in the New Yorker as well as being an ideal writing exercise. Plus I think the variance between the total junk food crap I like, health-ish food we make at home, Sam's forays into foodiness, and the great restaurants we hit in Chicago and elsewhere would make a great variation. Also I think it might be a bit of a diet aid because I might be able to see where I go wrong and/or at least stop eating quite so many candy bars at work.

Idea number 2 however has the marking of a MAJOR time consuming undertaking. What does anyone think? Which should I take up?

More drainage, ex boyfriends, crazy cupcakes, cousins, and more

First of all I need to say that I saw someone wearing one of the shirtdresses that are popular now, but her dress may have just been an actual shirt and it was indecent. Like she was walking down the street and I think I saw her hoohoo. Because it was like a big man's shirt but with exaggeratedly long front and back with big styled curves in it. But in the dresses they usually button down well past where they would in a real shirt otherwise a vajayjay would pop out and inappropriate times. This shirt/dress did not button down that far. I live near a lake and there is a breeze, so I think I saw her hoohoo. But she looked scary and was smoking so I didn't say anything.

Still having major drainage issues at night which are leading to snoring a lot and coughing and really crappy sleep. I have been trying to salinate my sinuses in a neti pot fashion, but may also buy these eucalyptus tablet things that you put in the shower and they create good vapor. Oooh, thai food might be a good idea too! Really spicy thai food.

Last night I got some texts from my baby brother who was at Red Robin in our hometown with friends where he saw my ex-boyfriend Jesus boy (who was given that nickname because of his very overt and sudden rebirth in Christianty as an evangelical but who know has grown a beard and hair to look like Jesus to play him in his ministry--weird, I know). Jesus boy was at some sort of bachelor party. My brother was weirded out, but he used to like Jesus boy a lot when we were dating and he was fun and not so serious about the god business. My brother kept texting me if he should go say hi, and I said he TOTALLY should just to talk to him to see how he was because this is fascinating to me. Although my brother seemed to get nothing interesting out of the conversation except that he says congratulations on my engagement and that my friends Sergio and Uriel say hello. Boring, not exciting. I will have to call brother to pump for better information.

Last night I got out of rehearsal and back down town in time to go to MORE a cupcake bakery down the street. Their motto is that if you can eat it or drink it they can make a cupcake version of it. My boss ordered their cupcakes for my birthday for the office and they were delicious. So belatedly for Sam's birthday I wanted to get him some birthday cupcakes. I got two Red Velvet ones and then two of the savory ones they get press for. We haven't tried the maple bacon one yet, but we did have the BLT flavored cupcake. It had like a white bread with bacon pieces in it cake (that was more cakey and sweet than white bread but obviously was inspired by) and they frosted it with like a ranch dip frosting and slices of cherry tomatoes. IT WAS AWESOME and crazy. Like the first bite you thought umm, no this is really strange and I cannot like this, but the second bite you went no wait, this is delicious and savory frosting is a brilliant idea and then you wolfed the rest down. We split it in half and loved every morsel.

Also yesterday (because well what didn't happen then), my cousin and her fiancee stopeed by on their cross country driving trek from Seattle to Boston where they both start grad school very soon (the fiancee at MIT and my cousin at Boston University). We let their cats stretch out in my apartment bathroom, let their car park for free on my street and I took them for Potbelly's sandwiches around the corner. It was great to see her, and I might have to make a trip to Boston!

Post cold drainage

It leaves me with the grossest morning feeling and just a pinch of congestion all day.  This leads to a general uncomfortableness.

 

Also my hours are probably going to be upped at work, which is kind of sucky and not.  Not sucky because I am paid hourly and if my hours go up I will get paid more but sucky because I like not having that many hours.  I like my afternoons and freedom and it is worth the drop in pay.  And if they go up it is likely I will start hunting for something else to do.  Just because I like this job a whole lot less for every hour over thirtyfive hours a week that it makes me do.

 

On the happy front, I got my engagement ring yesterday afternoon.  It is beautiful and very green and a lot more ring than I am used to wearing as well as freaking me out because it is a lot more possession than I am used to having.  I keep seeing me wearing all the possessions I have that would equal it on my finger which is bizarre.

 

Also Sam's mother, my sister, and my mother are all planning our wedding for us already.  I am not sure that is the best idea.  It is already stressing me out and I haven't planned anything yet.  We haven't set a date.  At the very least Sam and I are making it to his 90 days mark which is still a few months away.  I can't handle weddings.  Although his parents said they will pay the deposit for us to reserve our space, if we have it picked out in order to get things started because we will likely have to reserve it way in advance.

 

AUGHHHH!!!  My friend Heather (Yellow Heather) always advised me to elope with an orphan.  I already wish I had.

The Killers RULED

Seriously, Lollapalooza as mostly hot and I mean some of the stuff we heard was good but not good enough to override the fact that it was hot sticky crowded and smelly and then Chris and I went to the Killers. We got decently close and we danced the whole concert. Well, Chris danced a bunch of the concert. I did not stop dancing! I never ever did!! It was so fun and they were a great show. Brandon Flowers is a smidge pretentious and then they play a song that makes you leap up and down. It was great. Super fun. I may not ever go to Lolla again because I am not really a large outdoor concert festival kind of girl. But that concert was an awesome experience that was worth it.

Things I pondered today while on a bathroom break

I don't love my job. In my defense I am not sure what job I would love. Well I think I would love blogging and tweeting as a full time job and some people do that, but I think I too lazy to work my butt off how it should be to get my own blog in the state for that to happen, and I don't know how you get hired for that job otherwise. Like, where would I get that gig? But related to that I might see if I can work my way on to be a contributer to a few local blogs I read, but I bet I have to clean some stuff up to get there. Yes, Julie and Julia and Diablo Cody are leading me to the fantasy of my blog being discovered and me being somehow magically not doing my current job and doing something cooler. Ok, this was not what this post was supposed to be about. It was supposed to start like this:

I don't love my job, but I am kind of apathetic about working right now and think no one REALLY loves their jobs, like 5 people do, and I didn't win that lottery, instead I won the one where I have naturally curly red hair and tons of it, so I don't get to complain. But arguably, I do like the part where I get stuff ready for my boss and take care of him and get him all settled and calm, you know like a nanny or a mom or a 1950's housewife. WHAT? Yes, I said that. Would it then make more sense for me to start having some babies and be one?

Ladies and gentlemen I started to ponder this today.

Then I thought it all the way through and went, ummmmmm NO. Because here is the thing, I can quit this job. Or find a new one. I don't think that is really how it works with being a mom. I guess I could be a nanny, but I didn't really like that when I did it either. Anyway, the point is that popping out babies is not a good choice for me right now. AT ALL. And I weirdly pondered it as a solution to not really loving my job. So maybe I need another job. Or maybe this is really just post-vacation work dislike. I mean what work does anyone like when they come back from a week of vacation?

My cold is diminishing

Thank the good lord!  It is so nice to feel kind of clear.  After many days of feeling gooey and stuffy, I can mostly breathe again.

 

Last night I made chicken tacos and a peach tomato salad for dinner.  Both were very good!  The peach tomato salad was easy and from the New York Times.  Cut wedges of peaches and wedges of tomatoes add slivers of red onion, some red pepper flakes, cilantro, and dress with olive oil or lemon juice (I did olive oil).  It was soooo yummy and beautfiul and we have some left over for today for an after work snack.

 

I find myself checking my email compulsively to see if they sent me an email about picking up the ring.

 

I also still haven't told anyone at work.  Is that weird.  I just am not like close friends with any of them, and other than Patrick I would just feel weird if they got all excited.  Plus I feel stupid without the ring, and I have an intense desire to just show up one day with the ring and see who notices.  I mean, I am very happy and I want to marry Sam, but it feels so weird to tell people about the engagement.  Like I don't really need to announce it.  I have announced it to the people I want to announce it to and going further just seems weird.  Like digging for compliments.  Like saying you think you are really fat or really ugly around your best girlfriends who are never going to agree with you even if you weigh 900 pounds and are the elephant man.  I just have told all the people that i want to mean to tell.  Other people can or cannot find out and it is kind of immaterial.  I mean we haven't even started planning a wedding yet.  There is plenty of time.

 

 

Busy and Sick and Vacation is SOOOOO over

Yeah, so I am back at work.  Except not yesterday when I was curled up in a fetal position in bed in a pool of my own snot and drool because I was sick.  I still am sick, but not the immediate horrible sick of a bad head cold, the like after effect.  Augmented with medicine head.  Yeah.  Thank goodness for Tylonel cold night version that knocks me out and puts me to sleep.

 

Anyway, back in rehearsal.  Plus back at work, plus we have guests coming in for Lolla this weekend.  They get here tomorrow.  We are Lolla-ing it up on Sunday with the Killers.  It will be hot this weekend which is what I will want coming off a cold. 

 

So I am busy and sicky.  Although we have a Roku and I lurve it so much.  If you have fast internet and you netflix and you don't have an xbox 360, you should get one (your xbox 360 will do stream your videos too) and you will be in love and happy and watch movies forever.