Anna In LA

Exercise and Food Diary

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Wednesday's post that i missed

Exercise: 60 minutes on one elliptical. 2 sets 20 reps each lat pulls, back and shoulders, triceps, biceps.

Miles: 1.5 mi.

Polar: 710 calories

Breakfast: oatmeal, raisins, silk, boiled egg, clementines.

Snack: trail mix

Lunch: Versailles leftovers again! chicken, rice, black beans, plantains. 2 oreos and a kudos bar.

Snack: I don't remember, probably some bad shit.

Dinner: Chipotle with Simon! We both always get carnitas soft tacos with salsa fresca and corn salsa, and some chips and guac. We're thinking about branching out to other salsas in the future.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Just Another Regular Tuesday

Exercise: 30 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes each other elliptical, stationary bike, and treadmill. 2 sets 20 reps each leg press squats, and dead lifts.

Polar: 680 cals.

Miles Biked: 3 miles.

Pre-workout snack: half an apple.

Breakfast: 1 hardboiled egg, oatmeal, silk, raisins

Snack: wheat thins and hummus, trail mix, and yellow vanilla pudding cake slice (sadface!)

Lunch: Chicken Itza leftovers! Por, black beans, rice, steamed vegetables.

Snack: strawberries and vanilla yogurt

Dinner: Matzo ball soup with deli meat and a hardboiled egg. Then the rest of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Today I am rendered childish and impulsive by the cookies in my office.

Exercise: 30 mins elliptical, 30 mins other kind of elliptical. 2 sets of 20 reps inclined bench press, chest curl, shoulder press, shoulder lifts (front and side)

Polar: 640 cals.

Miles: 0 (drove today because i thought it might rain).

Breakfast: Oatmeal, Silk, trail mix.

Snack: big-ass chocolate chip cookie from Costco, more Silk

Lunch: Versailles Cuban food leftovers: black beans, rice, plantains, roast chicken, half an avo.

Snack: 4 Oreos.

Dinner: sliced strawberries and vanilla yogurt. Ben and Jerry's fish food ice cream. Salami slices.

I am in a serious "fuck it" mood today. I had 4 different sweet treats, and then when I got home from work I started doing this messed up thing I used to do when I was in high school: eat something incredibly sweet, and then to get the taste out of my mouth eat something incredibly salty. Rinse and repeat.

This morning when I woke up I drove to work instead of biking. I justified it by saying to myself that the sky looked gray, but really I was lazy about it and I would have driven whether or not it was raining.

Then I was tired at the gym and just constantly eating bad shit the rest of the day. Then when I got home, I ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream out of the carton and alternated bites with salami slices. Sick! Fucked up!

It's getting way too hard to recover from my gluttonous, debauched weekends. Maybe I need to shape up on Saturdays and Sundays as well.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

OSCARS NIGHT

Exercise: watching TV intently.

Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, oatmeal and milk, 1 applesauce packet.

Lunch: KOREAN BBQ! Went with Simon and my future brother and sister in law to a delicious Korean BBQ restaurant in Van Nuys. I got bibim neng myun (naturally), and since there were three other people, they chose to grill meat at the table! There was beef, bulgogi, pork belly, squid, and pork. So yummy! And now my hair smells like smoke and bacon.

I want to go to there.

Again.

Snack: Apple "crisps"

Dinner: Pinkberry! If my sister lived in LA, she would probably call this place "PinkBo." Large pomegranate and original swirl, yogurt chips, raspberries, strawberries. If any of you ever visit me in LA, this is where I'm taking you.

Did you notice that a lot of stars were wearing white gowns at the Oscars tonight? Holler if you hear me!

Friday, February 20, 2009

TGIF!

Exercise: 30 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes treadmill, 3 sets of 20 reps each hip abductions (both in and out)

Miles: 3

Polar: 740 cals.

Breakfast: Oatmeal, silk

Snack: Trader Joe's brownie bite, trail mix, diet coke

Lunch: Steamed brussels sprouts and veggies, mixed into a Campbell's chunky canned soup. Surprisingly good, and definitely filling! I should start cooking more veggies and things to mix into the canned soups available in the office kitchen.

Dinner: boiled egg, spam, bibim neng myun noodles.Phish food: lite. Yuck!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A sick window into my relationship awaits you!

Exercise: a crazy ass aerobics class at Bally's called "Hi-Lo." Picture the most hyperactive kid in class kicking, jumping, bucking, flailing, and screaming. That was my aerobics instructor, and the dance studio was packed. It got so hot and sweaty in there I started smelling salt, like "ooh! Someone's cooking Ramen noodles!" kind of salt.

3 sets each lat pulls, back pulls, chair dips, and 2 sets bicep curls.

Polar: 700 calories.

Breakfast: oatmeal, soy milk, apricot yogurt.

Snack: Trader Joe's brownie bites

Lunch: Mastro's leftovers, one more time. Brussels sprouts, asparagus, mashed potatoes (found a lobster chunk in it!), creamed spinach, the last bit of the rib eye steak.

Man, if you were watching me trying to cut the last, last piece of meat off that rib eye bone, you would have thought I was really pathetic.

But I love me my steak.

Snack:cookies, half apple, strawberries, whatever I could find. I am always starving at around 4 or 5pm...

Dinner: soy milk, panettone!

It's no surprise that Simon's family is way more wealthy than my family. We've just started talking about a budget for a wedding, and even though we haven't really laid any groundwork, I am starting to feel like it might be harder than I thought to get a straight answer out of anyone. Just take this conversation we had last night about it:

Anna: You're hella rich.

Simon: Yeah? So?

Anna: Do you want to sign a pre-nup before we get married?

Simon: Nah, that's just silly. We're going to love each other forever! [hugs, kisses, eyes twinkle with happy tears]

[a pause]

Anna: If we get divorced, I'm suing you for 50% of your net worth.

[Simon leans in close, clutches my waist, and starts shaking me. Whispers...]

Simon: No you won't, because I'll KILL YOU before it gets that far.

[Simon and Anna burst into laughter on the bed]

Simon: Hmm. Why am I aroused now?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

LOST is so freaking lame tonight.

Exercise: 30 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes another kind of elliptical. 3 sets 20 reps each leg press, squats, and 1 set of 20 reps dead lift.

Biking to and from work, ~3 mi.

Polar: 780 cals. again!

Weight: 156 lbs., down from 160 lbs. a month ago

Pre-Workout Snack: half a huge Fuji apple

Breakfast: oatmeal, Silk, 4 strawberries, 1 hard boiled egg

Snack: Trader Joe's brownie bite. Damn you, Joe!

Lunch: Mastro's leftovers - steak, mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus, steamed brussels sprouts, creamed spinach, and then 1/3 an avo and a rainbow cookie, just because it was in the lunch room.

Dinner: Thai boom with Simon! Pad thai, shrimp curry, white rice, and beef satay.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Poll: What do the people think about short wedding dresses?

Exercise: 30 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes treadmill. 3 sets of 15 reps inclined bench press, 3 sets of 20 reps shoulder press, 3 sets of 20 reps chest curls, 2 sets of 20 reps shoulder lift.

Calories burned according to Polar Heart Rate Monitor: 780 calories.

Pre-workout Snack: half a huge Fuji apple

Breakfast: plain oatmeal, unsweetened Silk (yuck!), packet of raisins, one boiled egg.

Snack: 4 huge strawberries, 1/2 a chocolate thing.

Lunch: Mastro leftovers! A small bit of steak, creamed spinach, steamed asparagus, steamed brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes.

Snack: a mini brownie thing from Trader Joe's. 2 pieces of those chocolate macadamia pieces that come from Hawaii. I wonder if the Obamas enjoy these when they go back home?

Snack: 1 small banana, 1 strawberry yogurt

Dinner: 1.5 cups soy milk

GChat with Donna:

Donna: How do you exercise everyday? I can't find the motivation.
Anna: It's a little thing called my wedding. And fear.

Dress 1

Dress 2

Dress 3

Dress 4

Monday, February 16, 2009

Today I got a lot of errands done.

Exercise: 60 minutes of spin bike at Simon's house, 2 sets of sit ups before I was over it.

Breakfast: woke up too late.

Lunch: 2 slices of pizza, 1 apple.

Dinner: 1 english muffin, 2 slices fried spam, 1 hard boiled egg, and some chocolate.

Over the weekend, Simon and I drove to San Diego to hang out with Biran, Tiffany, Alex, and more high school friends. It was so fun! We ate lunch at a good tacos place, had some pinkberry, and then spent the night playing this awesome card game called NERTS! where everyone gets their own pack of cards. I made it to the final round, then lost miserably.

Biran's girlfriend Tiffany loved my engagement ring, and she kept on putting it on and role-playing a proposal. I bet Biran loved that. Biran and I also got to talk about my work out plan for the next few months, and this are my new action steps:

1. Up the cardio to 60 minutes a day.
2. Avoid processed sugars (white, powdery).
3. Eat half a boiled egg at breakfast.

I think he said more things but I tuned them out because I felt overwhelmed. I will try this for a few months (2-3) and then come back to him for more tips on how to take it to the next level.

This was the best Valentine's Day weekend ever because I got to spend it with my love, but also with my friends so it was extra fun. On the drive home I asked Simon if he was getting along better with Alex. At first he grumbled but eventually he said:

"Well, he's interested in public transit. And we read the same blogs."

And that made me smile.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Best Valentine's Day Ever!

Exercise: Biked 5 miles to gym, then work, then Ugo's Italian Cafe, then to my friend Jeremy's house, then back home. I love biking now, even though it's really cold and windy right now! 30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes other kind of elliptical, 3 sets each lunges, quad extension, hamstring extension, and hip abductions in and out.

Breakfast: Since I didn't have dinner yesterday and I went to the gym before I had breakfast, I was starving by the time I got to work! I took the lunch that I had brought and ate it all before 10am. 2 spam, 1 fried egg, noodles, stirfried vegetables, picked radish, steamed brussels sprouts... a pungent, stinky feast that I only felt comfortable eating outside my office, in the courtyard.

Lunch: Then I had my breakfast: oatmeal and a packet of raisins.

Snack: navel orange

Dinner: Biran and Tiffany are in Los Angeles! Because they came down, all the high school friends got together and we ate at Ugo's Italian Cafe in Culver City. The food is always just aite - the prices are what keep us coming back. I ordered shrimp linguine, had a glass of red wine, and the appetizers were calamari, meatballs, and slices of bread.

Simon came from work and he brought me K's Chocolatiers truffles, chocolate bears, and chocolate covered pomegranates. They are from a fancy shop in Beverly Hills - the title of this blog post is a link to their site. He remembered that I saw them once on a food network special and that I was drooling over them. Then I got to share it with all my friends. It was the best Valentine's Day ever.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

X'otik!

Exercise: Biking to and from work, (3 mi.), 30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes treadmill, 3 sets each lat pull, shoulder work, triceps, upper back stuff I don't really know the name of.

Breakfast: chocolate croissant

Lunch: I went a little crazy here because work catered lunch from X'otik! because we had to listen to some Smith Barney guys talk to us about retirement plans. Boring!

Steak, chicken, fish, pasta, steamed vegetables, salad, pita bread, strawberries, brownies, roast potatoes, curry.

And then I had seconds.

Then thirds.

Dinner: Watching Private Practice after going to the gym.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

It has been a crazy PMS week

Exercise: 3 miles biked to and from work, 30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes stationary bike, 3 sets each leg press, squats, and dead lifts. My thigh muscles are getting more defined. Is it because of riding the bike to work?

Breakfast: Oatmeal, raisins.

Lunch: noodles, stirfry vegetables, steamed and seasoned Brussels sprouts, and a fried egg. Fig newton cookie, an orange.

Snack: hot chocolate. Then some chocolate.

Dinner:Tender Greens with simon! He had chicken bbq salad, and I had flank steak, baby spinach salad with hazelnuts and goat cheese, and mashed potatoes. We switched plates half-way.

Snack: More chocolate.

My PMS is so obvious that my mid-manager asked me if I was ok and needed to talk or take a walk. Awkward! I need to better control the journey from my feelings to my face - stop showing my emotions so much.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Octo-Mom Angelina Look-Alike

Exercise: 3 miles biked, 45 minutes elliptical. 3 sets each bench press, shoulder press, chest curl, shoulder lift (forward and out to the side), bicep curls.

Breakfast: Oatmeal packet, stolen silk, raisin pack

Lunch: White rice and fried fish from last Friday (it was still really good!)

Snack: freakish stress snacking: 3 cookies and a hot chocolate. Work has been crazy hectic lately and I just can't deal! Biran advised me today to just get a bar of dark chocolate and break off a piece if I need to "take the edge off" (ha ha ha) instead of sugary cookies and hot chocolates. I think that's a great idea!

Dinner: 1 cup soy milk, 1 cup green tea, 1 mochi with red bean filling.

What are people feeling about the Octo-Mom Angelina lookalike? I read in the LA Times that people were outraged on a number of levels: her irresponsibility, her irrationality, etc. I thought it was fascinating to watch the progression of the news coverage on the births - first from medical marvel, pledges of charity and support, to confusion when her background and homelife were made public (single, 6 other children, no income), to outrage and vilification.

I talked to my friend IK (I think of him as "the smart one") and he said that it would have been an interesting situation if it were transferred to a country with state-provided health care: If a woman on disability and welfare with six children came to an IV clinic and asked to have more embryos implanted, the hospital would have red-flagged her case and denied the fertility treatment on behalf of the state welfare system.

My Mom had the best breakdown, though. She said:

When people say they are angry at her, they're really just mad about welfare in general. For me, since there aren't any laws yet against having too many children, or how to have children, she has done something within her legal rights. I pay taxes, and I know where all my withheld pay goes. Taxes are for welfare, and welfare is for people who can't support themselves. I understand this system, and I'm OK with it.

What do you all think about her?

Monday, February 9, 2009

I crave chocolate like a confused vampire who keeps on eating chocolate instead of drinking blood.

Exercise: 30 mins. elliptical, 15 mins. treadmill, some lame-ass sit ups.

Breakfast: Oatmeal, raisins, stolen silk.

Lunch: leftover Korean noodles (jjol myun?) from my lunch with Jenn, 2 slices of spam. God, it was still SO SPICY even two days after I had first eaten it!

Snack: Hot chocolate

Dinner: Special K with Strawberries, Soymilk.

Today Biran sent me some notes for tips on more nutritious eating. There were a lot of good tips he included. Later on this month we are going to craft a work out plan to make my body look more like Beyonce's. I am not joking. I specifically asked him, as my wedding gift, to help me look like Beyonce. Here are some of his food tips:

1. Avoid the Bad

Whenever I am eating a meal, and someone asks if I want dessert, or a second helping of something delicious as fuck, I ask myself “Will I be glad I at this 20 minutes from now? 1 week from now? 6 months from now? Is it worth it?” Sounds stupid, but it helps. If I can just withdraw myself from my instinctual urge for momentary gratification for those 10 minutes, my brain can focus on another activity and forget about whatever was delicious as fuck.

So that’s one thing that helps me avoid things I know not to eat.

2. Don't make yourself sad

Don’t shut out everything you like to eat. It might make you sad. Just eat the unhealthy things in small, controlled portions. Make a mental note of it, and do a little extra the next time in the gym to knock off those calories. When I was super healthy in college, I went to the Cheesecake Factory and ate a cheesecake. Later that night, I ran 5 miles to burn it off. Freakish? Yes. Excessive? Maybe. Homophobic? No. It works.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Omikase makes me gase!

Exercise: pre-menstrual naps.

Breakfast: 2 slices fried Spam (lite!), 2 fried eggs, re-fried rice.

Lunch: chicken noodle soup from Subway, 1 medium original-pomegranate pinkberry with raspberries, strawberries, and yogurt chips.

Dinner: Omikase menu at the Katsuya restaurant in Studio City! Today was Allie's birthday celebration dinner. She is 28. There were 8 courses:

1. an amuse bouche of sea urchin, fruit, and soy sauce
2. a trio of tastes: seared scallop and black caviar, king crab and cucumbers, and seared tuna slices
3. broth with shrimp ball
4. assorted sashimi - toro and king crab with avocado
5. miso cooked black cod fish, steamed vegetables
6. tempura: vegetables and fish
7. 6 different sushi - eel, egg, spicy tuna on a toasted rice cake, needlefish, tuna, scallop
8. fresh fruits and mochi ice cream

As the dinner drew to a close, Simon and I started whispering to each other, "God, all of a sudden I'm really gassy. We gotta leave, right now."

And for the rest of the drive home we took turns farting horribly, blaming the other person, and then rolling down the car windows. It was kinda sweet in a sick way, and it reminded me of my parents' marriage.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Is it independence or self-made loneliness?

I have so much to say tonight, for some reason.

Simon has been asking more and more if we could live together. There's just something that rubs me the wrong away about it, although I know many a happy couple who are living together and it has either led to marriage or lifelong partnership. Every time someone finds out I'm engaged, they are surprised to find out that we are not living together. Some of the more outspoken people come right out and say, "Do yourself a favor and live together at least a year before you get married." Others just make a little surprised noise, like, "eewoohh... well, good for you!" The Evangelical in me is still a little shocked at being confronted with the exact opposite value I was raised with. It's weird - I haven't seriously attended church in years but I'm still little priss when it comes to a few things.

Here are my reasons against it:

1. Loss of independence. I'm savoring my "singleness" by taking care of myself, doing what I want, making my own plans, etc. As it is, every time we hang out we end up lounging and watching DVDs. I still don't have many friends in LA, and I need to be a go-getter! Going on friend dates and such, build up the network of girlfriends DC has shown me that I need.

2. Chores. I don't have enough confidence in Simon's housekeeping abilities. I hate the thought of us both working demanding jobs but me doing more housework. It happens! It's sociologically documented and it's called a woman's "second shift."

3. This statistic I heard that couples who live together first are more likely to get divorced than those who just get married and then live together. I think this scares me a lot because it's so mysterious. Why does this happen? It's so counter-intuitive.

4. Everyone knows that if you live together first, the wedding presents aren't as good. (ha ha ha. but seriously. Everyone knows that).

5. Making my parents sad.

6. Making myself sad for not saving anything special for marriage.

7. I like the intentionality of our Wednesday date and our Saturday or Sunday date. I feel like maybe if we lived together we'd be lazy about our time together and count watching LOST and surfing on our laptops side by side as a date.

8. We spend money really differently. We've both agreed that when we get married, we'll combine our bank accounts. But for now, I'm not sure we could agree on a budget. He thinks its strange that I save money for "tithe" (since I hate church, this is basically just money to invest in an org. or charity). I think it is strange that he eats lunch out every day at work, even though his office kitchen is fully stocked. Drama.

I asked Simon for a moratorium on the request to live together until June, the month that I can move out of this house if I choose (I verbally agreed to 6 months here). Then we would re-evaluate the idea. I wonder how I'll feel in the summer time.

Sex and the City Sequel Confirmed!

Exercise: walk to work (.5 mi, as I took the bus to the gym), 30 mins. elliptical, 15 minutes treadmill, 3 sets each row, shoulder press, lat pull, bike home (1.5 miles)

Breakfast: Oatmeal, Silk,raisins, and an apple

Lunch: Leftovers from Royal-T/Cafe, the chicken, fried rice, and Roy and Simon's unwanted creamed spinach! They're crazy to give the spinach up.

Snacks: hot chocolate, peppermint tea, 2 wheat thins.

Dinner: greasy "3 item" Chinese food plate - fried rice, kung pao chicken, and a whole fried fish! It was a pretty good deal ($8) considering I got an entire fried fish. I ate everything but saved half of the fish. I picked all the meat off the bones and I put it in a tupperware for lunch next week. It's this place around the corner of my house called China Wok, which means I can walk there. On the way back I saw one of our homeless peeing in a patch of grass. And I also noticed 3 women hanging out on the corner. Might explain the occasional condom wrapper I find on the ground. Who am I kidding? This place is fucking gross.

This morning I found out that my Mom reads this blog. I was really surprised, but I remembered that I sent around a link to it when Simon proposed last week. Re: the engagement - people everywhere are offering to help me when I start planning. I'm grateful, but a little scared. How much help am I going to need? Mom, if you're reading this, I was kinda hoping to pass everything onto you...

Tonight I biked home in the rain. It was horrible! Everything was so slippery, and I had a hard time keeping my shoes from slipping on the pedals. Because of the wet ground, my brakes were screeching and sliding a bit. The worst part was that my back wheel kept on flipping dirty street water onto my bum. It soaked the back of my jeans and I felt really grossed out.

Right now I'm curled up in bed. I'm in the middle of three loads of laundry. It's kinda looking like Friday nights are laundry nights. How lame is that? I didn't used to need to do laundry every week, but ever since I started going to the gym I've racked up work out towels and shower towels and work out clothes and sweatbands and 2 pairs of socks every day... It's a lot, and an unintended consequence of going to the gym 5 days a week. Of course, I could just be like those other people at Ballys who show up and you can smell that they wore that outfit to the gym yesterday, and the day before. YUCK.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

It Rained Today

Exercise: biking to work (1.5 mi.), my heart beating really fast at work because it was so stressful today.

Breakfast: Oatmeal, stolen Silk, raisins.

Lunch: Campbell's clam chowder, half an english muffin

Stressed out snack: 3 chips ahoy cookies and a hot chocolate

Dinner: Restaurant week with Noah at Beacon! I had a stirfried mushroom salad (so good! Delicious chunks of cheese), fancy fried catfish and sweet potato chips, and a trio of sorbets. My favorite flavor was lychee! And we also split a bottle of Cava! I'm really glad Noah picked me up at work and dropped me off at home or else I would be driving while tipsy...

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Royal-T/Cafe

Exercise: 4.6 miles biked! From my house to the gym to work, then from work to the Royal-T Cafe back home. 30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes stationary bike, 25 minutes of half-hearted sit-ups.

Breakfast: oatmeal, milk, 2 packs of raisins.

Snack: banana

Lunch: leftover pasta from yesterday

Snack: granola bar, trail mix

Dinner: Restaurant Week! Today I met my friends Liz and Roy at the Royal-T/Cafe to enjoy the prix fixe meal.I had smoked salmon canapes (yum!), chicken breast over fried rice (meh! Only a half-step above Panda express, imho), and a red velvet cupcake! The restaurant is a combination cafe, art space, and kitsch store. Such an interesting place!

Simon and I met Liz and Roy, our dear friends, in Culver City. They are hilarious! Simon said that he likes them because everything they say is funny. I love them for their stories and also because of how affectionate they are over each other. They live in an apartment together on the East side. I met Liz when she was volunteering at Sojourners, and I was so happy to find out that she was getting ready to move to Los Angeles. Now we are Los Angeles friends and we have so much fun together. They absolutely love our ring, and our dinner conversation ended with Roy asking Simon what his purchasing process was. I think it made Liz feel secretly excited to hear him plan.

The next time we hang out they are taking us to an LA chain called King Taco. Simon looks forward to getting diarrhea from there.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Best Day For Regular Meals Ever

Exercise: 3 miles biked back and forth from work, 30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes precor, 3 sets each squats, leg presses, and deadlifts.

Breakfast: Oatmeal, 2 packs raisins, milk, banana.

Lunch: spaghetti and meatballs, salad and steak, 2 slices fancy pizza, 2 brownies, I don't even remember. There was a lunch event at work and I lost my shit when I saw the fancy catered spread. While everyone was networking and listening to the speaker, I was stuffing my face.

Dinner: 3 fish tacos, guacamole and chips. Simon's treat from Baja Fresh! Grapes and leftover Mrs. Beasely's cake.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Oh yeah, and something horrible happened at the engagement dinner

Exercise: bike to and from work (3 mi.), 30 mins. elliptical, 15 minutes treadmill (woo hoo!), 3 sets each bench, chest curl, shoulder lift, and lat pulls.

Breakfast: Maple syrup and brown sugar oatmeal packet (with extra fiber!), milk, 2 packs raisins.

Lunch: Can of soup! Chicken and corn chowder, half an avo, diet coke

Snacks: Trail mix, banana

Dinner: The ultimate sad (filipino) single lady dinner - fried garlic rice and a chopped up hotdog. Green tea. Get ready to read the saddest thing ever: while I was eating I touched my bangs and felt that I had accidentally gotten some hotdog grease in it. So I dipped my fingertips into my hot tea and then smoothed out my hair with the water.

I forgot to mention one horrible thing about our engagement night! We went to the lovely Crustacean, but we were seated right up against another couple. We were separated by a rail, but they were elevated on a short stage right beside us. This, no joke, is an exact transcript of this awful couple:

Man: Don't you just wish you could be one of those boys, you know, those boys who got touched by a priest? You grow up and then you've got millions of dollars coming your way in a lawsuit.

Woman: How dare you say that! How dare you say that to me, knowing what happened to me when I was a little girl! I told you, I told you that time about when I was small and then I visited my neighbor and he took off his pants and exposed himself...

[continues trivial but obviously traumatic story for 5 minutes]

Man: You're overreacting. How does that have any effect on you now?

Woman: You just have no idea...

Blah blah blah. They just went on and on, so loud about what molestation is, the perils of organized religion, insensitivity, etc. And they weren't even eating anything! Just having flight after flight of wine tastings.

Oy! Like the last thing they needed was more alcohol.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Superbowl Sunday!

Exercise: Lifting up my left hand to show everyone my ice.

Breakfast: a slice of leftover Mrs. Beasley's cake (dense dark chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, a Ganz standard) and two servings of Top Chef.

Lunch: at the Portuguese Bakery around the corner! I ordered the french toast made with special Portuguese bread and Simon got an omelette with linguica, bacon, and cheddar in it. Then we switched halfway. Just one of the wonderful benefits of being in a couple: tasting two different meals at restaurants. My parents taught me that!

Dinner: Superbowl party at Allie's house! (Simon's sister). We arrived after the first quarter, I watched the second quarter, and then I had a third of a bloody mary and fell asleep during the second half. Simon held my head in his lap while I napped. The party woke me up in the last two minutes and I got to see the most exciting part of the game!

Other things I ate at the party: KFC chicken thigh, chips, guacamole, and salsa, a biscuit, a cookie, two magic bars (I don't think that's really the name of them, but they have chocolate and caramel chips, graham cracker crust, and coconut shavings).

I miss my parents and my aunt and my sister and brother. I wish they were with me right now. I miss my girlfriends in DC and my high school and college friends in the Bay Area. I feel so happy, but I wish I could share it with everyone I love. It felt good to reply to everyone's Facebook messages, though.

Yesterday Simon and I went back to the ring shop (Matthews, part of the Michael B. shops in Los Angeles) because the ring is a bit too big. The jeweler welded a small platinum bar to the inside of the band to make it snugger. While I was waiting for the ring to be fixed I got a manicure (OPI Linkin Park in the Dark) because I figured everyone would be looking at my hand for a while.

Back to work!