Slow Moving Vehicle
I am a sloth in 2005.
No, that's not my New Year's Resolution...it's just the state of affairs of the past two days.
I had finals (as you know) right up until 10 p.m. on the 21st. Went out to dinner with my friend Bridgette and her friend, Jon, and then ran some errands on the 22nd. Went for yummy steaks with Bridge and Sheridan at Taylor's -- my fave beef in La La. I convinced the valet to park our vehicle in the overflowing lot because we were "3 girls in heels who didn't want to brave the streets of Koreatown at night." He was so sweet and wedged us in there somehow and even brought our keys to our table. The parking is free, so I tipped him $5.
The dinner was AMAZING (as always) and I really love hanging out with my girlfriends. We decided we really need to have a slumber party at Bridge's new apt -- Dave Gibbs suggests a web cam.
I woke up on the 23rd and packed up my car (including the cat) & drove up to Sacramento. I stopped by Vons and got a sandwich and put it in my little thermal lunchbox, so I could stop along the way and eat something more healthy than a Big Mac. I also discovered the rad Drive-Thru Starbucks on I-5 just past the Grapevine. I took advantage of the extra caffeine and listened to Patty Griffin. Wait...did I just say, "RAD???" I did, didn't I??? Well...it was. Rad, that is. This is also about the time I realized that I forgotten a coat OR scarf. It had been 75 degrees when I left LA. Not so in Sacramento...uh oh.
I made pretty good time -- about 6 hours -- and my mom had made these pretty yummy homemade enchiladas with a blackbean sauce. I chowed, talked with my mom and we watched some TV. My mom took me to her fave thrift store "run by the Mormons" and I found this amazing 1940's vintage grey wool coat from Lord & Taylor for $6. It fit me like a glove. And I bought it. Also bought a cute camel-colored wool blazer that just needed cooler buttons for $3. Then we stopped by Joann fabrics and I bought some yarn for my mom to knit scarves for my friends and one for me. The one for me we made out of this super soft baby chenille. I think it's the softest scarf I ever owned. My mom is totally awesome and can knit a scarf in like 2 hours.
On Christmas Eve, I carried my guitar over to Dave Puketza's for our annual Xmas Eve carrolling. We play guitars and sing Xmas and non-Xmas songs and tell stories and jokes. I love it there. He has a great family. I made them an hilarious novena candle featuring his family and me and our friend Blu as "angels." Blaspheme, for certain. They loved the candle and promise it will be a part of the holiday decorations every year.
My mom told me she would let me sleep, but didn't realize I would stay up making her a birthday card. She woke me up at 9. yawn. We had a big breakfast and opened our gifts. All of us are a bit strapped for cash and my poor parents have been amazing about helping with my finances during school. But I did get a new digital camera, which was super great! I got the Canon PowerShot A75 and I already LOVE IT! I have been using this old Kodak warhorse from 5 years ago. At the time, it was a really good camera...and still takes great photos, but it's only 2 megapixels and is like carrying around a small anvil. The new cam is fairly lightweight and fits in an evening handbag!
I had gotten my mom a velour hoodie cuz she's always coveting mine. Also some smelly soap and candles. Because Xmas is also my mom's birthday, I made her a homemade Coconut cake with pineapple filling and made dinner -- grilled filet mignon with rosemary garlic potatoes. MMmmm. Meat.
The 26th, we did our usual after-Xmas sale shopping, arriving at Arden Fair Mall by 9 a.m. and mostly beating the crowds. I was looking for sales on "career wear" and picked up a nice pair of grey flannel trousers at Banana Republic and an Anne Klein jacket for 50% off at Nordstrom.
On the 27th, I drove to San Francisco in the pouring rain (while listening to David Sedaris at Carnegie Hall -- BRILLIANT and so funny, I almost had to pull over to laugh & pee). I met up with my friend Suzanne who was out for the holidays from Ohio and we went to Citizen Cake for tea and cookies. Then I headed to Therapeia for my hot stone massage, which I think is quite possibly the most amazing thing someone has ever done to my body. Almost. or that I paid for.
Unfortunately, Sarah's cat died and she ended up having to drive all the way back to L.A. Her lovely dad, Dr. Lum, still invited me to stay in the guest room and he took Suzanne and I out to chinese food in SF. There is just NOT good chinese in La La. bleah. Dr. Lum grew up in SF's chinatown and knew the owner of the place and ordered in Mandarin. The food was INCREDIBLE. I ate and ate and ate until I thought I might explode. Then we all went back to Dr. Lum's and watched House of Flying Daggers on DVD (Dr. Lum has friends in Hong Kong!) which is one of the most beautiful martial arts movies ever made. I'm a huge fan of HK films -- used to go see them first run at the Chinese movie theatres when I lived in SF. But I just loved this movie. I can't wait for it to be released in the US on DVD. A definitely buy.
Woke up and went to Green Apple Books -- one of the best used bookstores in America. I spent $100 on used books, including a couple of gifts. My mom used to work for Edward Teller when she first moved to California, so I got her his Memoirs for $5. I also got Dave a book called The Hidden Book in the Bible, because he loves stuff like that. The rest were for me. Books ranging from Don DeLillo to Jonathan Littman to Thomas Pynchon to a book about the Cathars. Not sure when I think I'm going to read all this. But at least I have books for a while.
I was supposed to have dinner with my college boyfriend and his new girlfriend in Oakland, but he called and had the stomach flu, so I just drove back to Sacramento. I ended up getting a drink with my friend Jerry Perry who i've known since I was 16. I used to have a radio show in high school that broadcast thru all of Sacramento (KYDS). It was 1985 and we were the coolest radio station in Sac because we played Bauhaus, the Cure, Black Flag, Nina Hagen and all kinds of stuff no one else was playing back then. Jerry ran a club downtown called The Vortex which was a teenage dance club that played all that same music. Being the born marketer, I approached Jerry and offered to advertise The Vortex on our show and give away passes, as long as Tanya and I could always get in free. We all became local celebs. Once I moved away, Jerry stayed and opened the Cattle Club where bands like Pearl Jam and the Deftones played before their stadium days. Jerry is still a music promoter and publishes a music mag called Alive and Kicking. Even tho he's married and the father of a 10 year old, he hasn't really changed. He just looks a bit more like Kyle MacLachlan than he used to.
I spent most of my Sac break hand-crafting gifts for my friends. I made eye pillows with flax seed and lavender. I made dream pillows with camomile, lavender, roses, mugwort, spearmint and lemon grass. And I made sachets with roses, lavender and rose oil. I hand made them all, including sewing tiny roses on the velvet strings to the sachets.
The nite before I left, we went out to the Olive Garden for a "nice meal." That place is always packed in Sac. Oh, I forgot to mention I also ate at an Applebee's, which is the first time I've ever eaten at one of those. Sacramento = chain restaurant heaven. Both experiences left my stomach feeling unwell.
I drove home on the 30th, listening to an audiobook I purchased called RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. Yep, you read that correctly. And AudioBook. I gotta tell ya: I find them incredibly relaxing while driving. I'm such an NPR nut, that I listen to a lot of jabbering in the car, but there t'aint but mariachi and/or Christian radio in some of the rural areas of I-5. It's really pretty interesting and made the trip go pretty fast. But it's somewhat strange to be listening to someone describe basically being raped while you're driving. It's not all that bleak. But...wow. It was 7 cds and much longer than the car trip, so now I need to finish listening. But without a long car trip, it seems weird to just be driving around L.A. listening to it in tiny pieces. Hmmm.
New Years eve was at Dave & Peter's. I spent the day with Bridgette and Lou after my power went out at around 11. We got breakfast at Fred 62 and then walked around Vermont St, shopping. I bought a cute corduroy jacket which I will wear as soon as it stops raining. Bridge and I paid for and provided the appetizers and wine for the evening and it was a small group of us, having a good time.
Since then, I have barely left the house and my greatest accomplishment is putting away my clean laundry and uploading my photos from the new digicam. I really need to clean my house, but I just can't seem to get motivated. And it has been raining so much, I'm thinking of building an ark.
Tomorrow, however, is a new day and I plan on going to the gym and cleaning my bathroom (if nothing else). I love having nothing to do. It will all start again in one week, so I gotta be slow moving while I can.
No, that's not my New Year's Resolution...it's just the state of affairs of the past two days.
I had finals (as you know) right up until 10 p.m. on the 21st. Went out to dinner with my friend Bridgette and her friend, Jon, and then ran some errands on the 22nd. Went for yummy steaks with Bridge and Sheridan at Taylor's -- my fave beef in La La. I convinced the valet to park our vehicle in the overflowing lot because we were "3 girls in heels who didn't want to brave the streets of Koreatown at night." He was so sweet and wedged us in there somehow and even brought our keys to our table. The parking is free, so I tipped him $5.
The dinner was AMAZING (as always) and I really love hanging out with my girlfriends. We decided we really need to have a slumber party at Bridge's new apt -- Dave Gibbs suggests a web cam.
I woke up on the 23rd and packed up my car (including the cat) & drove up to Sacramento. I stopped by Vons and got a sandwich and put it in my little thermal lunchbox, so I could stop along the way and eat something more healthy than a Big Mac. I also discovered the rad Drive-Thru Starbucks on I-5 just past the Grapevine. I took advantage of the extra caffeine and listened to Patty Griffin. Wait...did I just say, "RAD???" I did, didn't I??? Well...it was. Rad, that is. This is also about the time I realized that I forgotten a coat OR scarf. It had been 75 degrees when I left LA. Not so in Sacramento...uh oh.
I made pretty good time -- about 6 hours -- and my mom had made these pretty yummy homemade enchiladas with a blackbean sauce. I chowed, talked with my mom and we watched some TV. My mom took me to her fave thrift store "run by the Mormons" and I found this amazing 1940's vintage grey wool coat from Lord & Taylor for $6. It fit me like a glove. And I bought it. Also bought a cute camel-colored wool blazer that just needed cooler buttons for $3. Then we stopped by Joann fabrics and I bought some yarn for my mom to knit scarves for my friends and one for me. The one for me we made out of this super soft baby chenille. I think it's the softest scarf I ever owned. My mom is totally awesome and can knit a scarf in like 2 hours.
On Christmas Eve, I carried my guitar over to Dave Puketza's for our annual Xmas Eve carrolling. We play guitars and sing Xmas and non-Xmas songs and tell stories and jokes. I love it there. He has a great family. I made them an hilarious novena candle featuring his family and me and our friend Blu as "angels." Blaspheme, for certain. They loved the candle and promise it will be a part of the holiday decorations every year.
My mom told me she would let me sleep, but didn't realize I would stay up making her a birthday card. She woke me up at 9. yawn. We had a big breakfast and opened our gifts. All of us are a bit strapped for cash and my poor parents have been amazing about helping with my finances during school. But I did get a new digital camera, which was super great! I got the Canon PowerShot A75 and I already LOVE IT! I have been using this old Kodak warhorse from 5 years ago. At the time, it was a really good camera...and still takes great photos, but it's only 2 megapixels and is like carrying around a small anvil. The new cam is fairly lightweight and fits in an evening handbag!
I had gotten my mom a velour hoodie cuz she's always coveting mine. Also some smelly soap and candles. Because Xmas is also my mom's birthday, I made her a homemade Coconut cake with pineapple filling and made dinner -- grilled filet mignon with rosemary garlic potatoes. MMmmm. Meat.
The 26th, we did our usual after-Xmas sale shopping, arriving at Arden Fair Mall by 9 a.m. and mostly beating the crowds. I was looking for sales on "career wear" and picked up a nice pair of grey flannel trousers at Banana Republic and an Anne Klein jacket for 50% off at Nordstrom.
On the 27th, I drove to San Francisco in the pouring rain (while listening to David Sedaris at Carnegie Hall -- BRILLIANT and so funny, I almost had to pull over to laugh & pee). I met up with my friend Suzanne who was out for the holidays from Ohio and we went to Citizen Cake for tea and cookies. Then I headed to Therapeia for my hot stone massage, which I think is quite possibly the most amazing thing someone has ever done to my body. Almost. or that I paid for.
Unfortunately, Sarah's cat died and she ended up having to drive all the way back to L.A. Her lovely dad, Dr. Lum, still invited me to stay in the guest room and he took Suzanne and I out to chinese food in SF. There is just NOT good chinese in La La. bleah. Dr. Lum grew up in SF's chinatown and knew the owner of the place and ordered in Mandarin. The food was INCREDIBLE. I ate and ate and ate until I thought I might explode. Then we all went back to Dr. Lum's and watched House of Flying Daggers on DVD (Dr. Lum has friends in Hong Kong!) which is one of the most beautiful martial arts movies ever made. I'm a huge fan of HK films -- used to go see them first run at the Chinese movie theatres when I lived in SF. But I just loved this movie. I can't wait for it to be released in the US on DVD. A definitely buy.
Woke up and went to Green Apple Books -- one of the best used bookstores in America. I spent $100 on used books, including a couple of gifts. My mom used to work for Edward Teller when she first moved to California, so I got her his Memoirs for $5. I also got Dave a book called The Hidden Book in the Bible, because he loves stuff like that. The rest were for me. Books ranging from Don DeLillo to Jonathan Littman to Thomas Pynchon to a book about the Cathars. Not sure when I think I'm going to read all this. But at least I have books for a while.
I was supposed to have dinner with my college boyfriend and his new girlfriend in Oakland, but he called and had the stomach flu, so I just drove back to Sacramento. I ended up getting a drink with my friend Jerry Perry who i've known since I was 16. I used to have a radio show in high school that broadcast thru all of Sacramento (KYDS). It was 1985 and we were the coolest radio station in Sac because we played Bauhaus, the Cure, Black Flag, Nina Hagen and all kinds of stuff no one else was playing back then. Jerry ran a club downtown called The Vortex which was a teenage dance club that played all that same music. Being the born marketer, I approached Jerry and offered to advertise The Vortex on our show and give away passes, as long as Tanya and I could always get in free. We all became local celebs. Once I moved away, Jerry stayed and opened the Cattle Club where bands like Pearl Jam and the Deftones played before their stadium days. Jerry is still a music promoter and publishes a music mag called Alive and Kicking. Even tho he's married and the father of a 10 year old, he hasn't really changed. He just looks a bit more like Kyle MacLachlan than he used to.
I spent most of my Sac break hand-crafting gifts for my friends. I made eye pillows with flax seed and lavender. I made dream pillows with camomile, lavender, roses, mugwort, spearmint and lemon grass. And I made sachets with roses, lavender and rose oil. I hand made them all, including sewing tiny roses on the velvet strings to the sachets.
The nite before I left, we went out to the Olive Garden for a "nice meal." That place is always packed in Sac. Oh, I forgot to mention I also ate at an Applebee's, which is the first time I've ever eaten at one of those. Sacramento = chain restaurant heaven. Both experiences left my stomach feeling unwell.
I drove home on the 30th, listening to an audiobook I purchased called RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. Yep, you read that correctly. And AudioBook. I gotta tell ya: I find them incredibly relaxing while driving. I'm such an NPR nut, that I listen to a lot of jabbering in the car, but there t'aint but mariachi and/or Christian radio in some of the rural areas of I-5. It's really pretty interesting and made the trip go pretty fast. But it's somewhat strange to be listening to someone describe basically being raped while you're driving. It's not all that bleak. But...wow. It was 7 cds and much longer than the car trip, so now I need to finish listening. But without a long car trip, it seems weird to just be driving around L.A. listening to it in tiny pieces. Hmmm.
New Years eve was at Dave & Peter's. I spent the day with Bridgette and Lou after my power went out at around 11. We got breakfast at Fred 62 and then walked around Vermont St, shopping. I bought a cute corduroy jacket which I will wear as soon as it stops raining. Bridge and I paid for and provided the appetizers and wine for the evening and it was a small group of us, having a good time.
Since then, I have barely left the house and my greatest accomplishment is putting away my clean laundry and uploading my photos from the new digicam. I really need to clean my house, but I just can't seem to get motivated. And it has been raining so much, I'm thinking of building an ark.
Tomorrow, however, is a new day and I plan on going to the gym and cleaning my bathroom (if nothing else). I love having nothing to do. It will all start again in one week, so I gotta be slow moving while I can.
posted by spycygrl at
11:06 PM
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