the mixology that is my life

Lovely Life

2010-09-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

1/3 Vodka

1/3 Malibu

1/3 Peach Schnapps

Splash of Cranberry

Splash of Pineapple

Mix all together, serve in a highball glass over ice, and revel in the joy that is my absolutely lovely life.

A short recap from my lovely 3-day weekend:

I test drove a Mini today. It looks similar to this one right here:

Um...just one word: obsessed.

I've been missing my 2003 Silver Beetle, more fondly known as L.C. (Little Car) as she's in the shop getting fixed. (Read: Kristen dropped her glasses in the car, bent down for 2.5 seconds to pick them up, and crashed into the car ahead of her). To fill the temporary void in my soul for a small little car (as my Chevy Cobalt rental car is a BOAT), I decided to go test drive what is sure to be my next bundle of joy. The Mini did not disappoint. More to come as progression in the "new car saga" continues...

The lovely string of events that tied my Labor day weekend together: Saturday morning consisted of Paddle Boarding in Malibu with Laura, followed by the International Street Fair in Orange in the afternoon with Melly & Laura. Along with the BBQ corn on the cob, fish taco, chow mein & lobster balls, I was delighted to partake in the food of my people *aka Aebleskivers*...

...and enjoy more beer than my liver knew what to do with. ;)

Sunday morning I met with a potential wedding client (WHOM I BOOKED!) and vividly remembered the reason that I want to plan other people's weddings for a living. In turn, this inspired my working on placecards, programs, and other paper paraphernalia for a new ETSY.com store I'm opening. These are the names of the moment for aforementioned shop:

Two Turtle Doves

Grow Old with Me

Paper Paraphernalia for Pairs

We shall see what sticks in a few days when I actually open said store.

The lovely Mr. Albert Meijer helped complete my glorious weekend with a dinner date to Budda's Belly (where I partook in my first ever Sake bombs), followed by a ridiculous midnight jaunt to the movies to see *what is sure to become a cult classic*, Machete.

That Albert guy? He makes me smile a little bit.

With loveliness and allegro,

Stormy Weather

2010-08-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

3 parts Fernet Branca Bitters
3 parts dry vermouth
1 part white creme de menthe

Pour over ice cubes in a small highboy glass, stir, and serve. Then contemplate where you can take this post.

Two things.

Thing number one: Did you know that when you type "w" into Google, the first word it auto-populates for you is "weather"?

Thing number two: When you're stuck, contemplating topics, with nothing to write, typing a random letter of the alphabet into Google suddenly gives you inspiration...

Now, take said aforementioned drink.

Suddenly, I can relate this drink to the girl I went to high school with who wrote a song by the same name. God...she. was. annoying. I can still hear the tagline of the song - "In your eyes, there's stormy weather...". Either the song was ridiculously catchy, or I heard it six times a day in the choir room and therefore didn't have the pleasure of forgetting it.

Go with the latter.

I can also relate this to the mood I'm currently in while waiting for a funk to pass. I am a strong, independent woman. I am a strong, independent woman. I am a strong, independent woman.

Although I would like to say that I can actually relate it to the weather outside, let's be real. We're in the middle of summer in 80 degree heat and our A/C has been blasting since about 10am. What I wouldn't give to hear the sound of thunder, lightning and rain. The pitter patter of the drops against the pavement while snuggled in a blanket, sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows. I've never experienced seasons. I feel like I can count on one hand the times in the past year that I have really heard a storm.

Good thing writing can take me to a cozy fireplace with a snuggle buddy and a mug. ;)

Funny how a simple letter can inspire so much. I feel like I'm 3 years old again watching "Sessee seed" (my small person [wait...who am I kidding...I was never a "small person."] name for that one show with the big yellow bird) listening to Grover and Oscar help me learn that "A is for apple".

With "w"eather, "w"ords and "w"istful thoughts,

Kristen

P.S. I Love You

2010-08-01T11:11:00.001-07:00

1/2 shot Bailey's

1/2 shot Grand Marnier

1 splash Creme De Menthe

Nutmeg

3/4 shot creme

ice

Mix the Bailey's, Grand Marnier, and creme together in a shaker with ice. Pour into a highball glass, add the splash of Creme de Menth and sprinkle some Nutmeg on top. Then sip slowly, sit lost in thought for hours, and realize just how blessed you are.

We all have...moments.

Moments define who we are as human beings.

Some exist as moments we want to forget. Even though they have wholly shaped the persons we’ve become.

Then there are the moments we live over and over again. The happiest and most vibrant moments our lives will ever know:

- Discovering your mom is bald when you come home from school because her chemo and breast cancer have won the fight.

- Your first kiss and the many kisses thereafter.

- Walking up to a podium in front of 2500 of your peers and family members to sing the national anthem at your college graduation.

My defining moments take shape in the form of successes:

- My mom, ultimately won the cancer fight 10 years ago. Her hair, although a consolation prize to her loss of lymph nodes, skin and tissue, grew back.

- My first kiss was awkward/shite/rushed, even. The fireworks kisses I've experienced thereafter...well...let's just say they're not all that way. :)

- My college graduation...knowing I was not only talented enough to sing one of the hardest songs in the world in front of my peers, but knowing I was singing because I had completed a double major and was graduating college at the age of 22.

This morning, Albert's great grandmother passed away.

Earlier this month, this: (http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com) amazing woman and her husband lost their child, Cohen, who was a mere 12 days old.

In March, my best friend Melissa's father had a stroke and was gone less than two weeks later.

These three moments of loss will forever define, in some small or HUGE way, Albert, Megan and her husband, and Melissa and her sisters. It took moments like these to make me realize that often, the positive moments I am so blessed with, get lost in the grunge and negative moments I let consume me. This muck overthrows the oodles (as my great grandmother used to say) I should be grateful for.

This is a reaffirmation to myself that I need to live in the moments and not only let them define who I am, but enjoy the path they force me to take.

With love and allegro,

Kristen

Paris Paradise

2010-06-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

8 oz Bacardi 151 Proof

2 oz Chocolate Syrup

2 oz Bailey's Liquor

Mix in a blender with ice and drink for the next 72 hours straight until you actually board a plane for Paris.

I'm leaving. Yup. The 72 hour countdown has begun.

Have I done laundry? no.

Am I packed in the slightest? nope to that question too.

Have I gotten all my travel documents together...negative.

So...obviously I'm super ready to leave.

Luckily, tomorrow night is a lovely dinner with the gorgeous miss Ali Dubrow, and then an early night of packing, picking up dry cleaning, laundry, getting travel documents together, grabbing a journal from Barnes and Noble so I can document the whole extravaganza. Sleep will hopefully fit in the mix there somewhere.

Work on Saturday and Sunday will be the most productive days I've had to date, but only because no one will be in the office and I will actually have a chance to get EVERYTHING done. I can't wait for the silence that is the office on a Saturday afternoon.

In other news, WE lost this evening. And when I say "we" I mean me and my Lakers. Let me tell you...I was none too pleased with the way we were playing in the latter half of the 3rd and 4th quarters. Drive the basket and draw the foul. Although the celtics play dirty ball, they get into the paint and send shit up into the air. Most of the time it actually works. We should take a page out of the Celtic's manual.

More to follow in the next 72 hours...I'm sure.

With love and Allegro!

Kristen

Giraffe

2010-06-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

1 part Midori

1 part vodka

3 parts pineapple juice

1 part cranberry juice

Add alcohol into a hurricane glass over ice, fill the remaining portion with pineapple juice and float some cranberry on top. Consume with the hopes that rhymes about ants and giraffes in the rainforest will be easier to come by.

My children's book is going quite well. It's a cute story about a Detective named Dan (He's a giraffe - hense the cocktail name) and his attempts to solve mysteries in the savannas. The problem, however, is that I chose to write this book in verse. Quite ambitious...I know now.

Our adorable little apartment is across the street from a Baptist church. This morning I woke to the sound of Ms. Jennifer Hudson's twin sister wailing gospel music at the top of her lungs...at 7:45. Needless to say I couldn't fall back to sleep after that. The alternative to sleep was of course, writing.

I was on a roll...rhymes flying from my fingertips. I reached a standstill, however, with this line...

"The rain fell down in thunderous sheets

....

Now although there are several words that rhyme with sheets:

Beats

Feats

Greets

Heats

Meets

Seats

How am I supposed to incorporate any of those silly words into a story about ants in a rainforest not being able to find their way back to the anthill? They don't sit down...they're ants.

Plus, although "rockin beats" has a nice ring to it, and definitely rhymes, lets be real. What child would care about the "rockin beats" of a giraffe and his fellow animals in the rainforest?

I'm stuck...

Back to the drawing board...maybe I'll have to change the line to "The rain poured through the trees with...zeal."

Zeal...obviously a five year old would appreciate the nuances of that word...oi vey.

With love and allegro,

Kristen

Start Me Up...

2010-06-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

3 parts vodka

1 part tequila

1 part absolut kurant

1 part dark rum

Mix all together, shake with some ice, and get ready to write...a la Gay Talese.

The lovely Miss Ali and I had Indian food on Thursday evening for our catch-up sesh *Read...3 weeks of our lives that we needed to divulge in a period of about two and a half hours*.

The food (Mango Chicken Curry) might have been the BEST thing I have ever tasted, but I digress...

Among me synopsizing the Grey's finale, along with dishing about a boy, my long winded topic of conversation for the evening related to my excursion at the Los Angeles Passport Office. Don't be jealous. I know...it sounds fascinating.

SO fascinating, in fact, that Ali's beyond brilliant idea to write about said line at the passport office is just what I'm going to do.

Let the tackling of the seemingly mundane commence...

With love & allegro,

Norwegian Iceberg

2010-06-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

3 parts Vodka

4 parts Sprite

1 shot blue Maui

Fill glass with ice, shake ingredients together, drink SUPER cold and with some warm Norwegian Christmas cookies that I may just make in June.

When I talk about something right before I fall asleep, it's all I can think about the next day.

i.e. : Last night Albert and I were discussing the fact that I am ridiculously white. Translucent...even. This conversation was spurred in tandem, however, with the fact that I am Norwegian. Now, let's be honest. There are very few things that *common people* know about Norwegians other than their Viking-ness and freakishly tall figures (enter...me, the 5 foot 11 inch blonde amazon).

What I know of being Norwegian, however, is the fact that we cook some MEAN pastries. I mean, MEAN. (for those of you that weren't paying attention, I used the word "mean" twice with two totally separate "meanings"!) ;) I crack myself up.

WARNING: The following images are not for the hungry or feint of heart.

Sand Bakkels - Basically a cupcake paper made entirely out of shortbread. You fill these with whipped cream or peppermint ice cream. My grandpa makes them by the dozens. My brother can eat at least 7 in one sitting. The best part is that it is mere impossible to eat one without getting whipped cream on your nose.

Try.

No really.

Fattigman - Deep Fried Cookie Dough covered in powdered sugar. When I was too young to deep fry (knowing I would do exactly what my mother feared) it was always my job to put the freshly fried cookies inside a bag full of powdered sugar and shake until the little bow-ties were smothered in it.

Krumkake - This fondly reminds me of every Christmas dinner I've ever experienced at my Grandparents' house. My Granny (a 6 foot 2 inch Viking, similar to myself) to this day, asks me to help her in the kitchen with the stuffing of custard and berries into the little waffle cookie cones. Any portion of the cones that brake, I get to eat.

It's a tough life.

Finally, the delicacy we have the most often at our house...

Ebelskivers - These are breakfast.

I know...right?

Ebelskivers are traditional little puff pastries (almost crepe like) covered in powdered sugar and *traditionally* Lingonberry Jam.

Salivating Yet?

You scoff at the silly names, but all you really want to do is go steal my mom's Sand Bakkle pan and bake...

be honest...

With love and Allegro,

Kristen

Writer's Block

2010-05-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

3 parts Bourbon

1 part day old, cold as hell, coffee

Pour into a mug and try to squelch the never ending fear that the story you are writing won't be good enough.

I have writer's block.

...Not in all capacities. I can still blog. I can still recount the amazing night I had on Friday in a six page, very detailed spread. What I can't do? Bring a plot to fruition.

I have this preconceived notion that the first piece I write, has to be the one. The piece that will land me at on the New York Times Bestseller list, AND Oprah's Book Club within mere weeks of its publication. I'm blessed with the potential and the drive to do it. Hell, my six page spread took me less than an hour last night. The problem is that every plot I envision, every idea I start to map out, leads to self-doubt. I realize that the story that I'm developing sounds too similar to _____ movie or is too closely related to ____ book.

I have never chosen failure as an option. I will not now.

With love and Allegro,

Kristen

Star Wars

2010-05-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

The perfect drink to mix with the ambitious Yoda, Darth Vader, StormTrooper and Boba Fett sugar cookies I am about to attempt...

1 part Southern Comfort

1 part Amaretto

1 part Sweet and Sour Mix

1 part Sprite

Mix all together and serve at a nerdy party. Or...at the cousin's fourth birthday for the adults that are indulging his Star Wars obsession...

My baby cousin is turning 4 in about a month and a half. In order to celebrate his birthday I have decided part of his gift will be a plate full of these babies....

via these cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma :)

The only problem with said adorable cookies is the frosting portion. Looks hard, no? Before I get the final versions off the ground in July, I'm going to attempt some practice versions once or twice. Pictures of the disproportionate and disfigured little guys to follow...

Along with the awesomest sugar cookies of all time *that's right, awesomest*, this evening I have decided to be ridiculously ambitious and attempt not one, but two different cupcake recipes.

This one...

Blueberries and Cream Cupcakes (Extremely tasty and practical for breakfast tomorrow morning)

and this one....

Tres Leches Cupcakes: not necessarily practical for breakfast, but let's be honest. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, I'm not working, so obviously that's an excuse for eating the afore pictured cupcake anytime I damn well please. :)

MMMMMM...

Love and Allegro,

As Night Falls

2010-02-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

Ingredients for a cocktail that will put me to sleep before my work has even begun...

2 oz Grey Goose L'Orange Vodka
1 oz White Grapefruit juice
2 Coriander Leaves
7 Red Peppercorns1.5 Tsp White Sugar
Ginger
Orange Zest

Muddle the peppercorns, add the ginger and muddle again, add all other ingredients with ice, shake, double strain, and garnish with an orange. Now...vow NOT to take a nap because you still have to drive to Orange County and back before work at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Doesn't this cocktail sound and look amazing?

Mmmmm...I can understand why people become alcoholics. ;)

I had a phenomenally fantastic weekend. Pictures and new blog to follow shortly.

For the time being, I leave you with my opinion of ice dancing. Yup. You heard right. It was on yesterday evening, and is concluding with the medal ceremony tonight. I couldn't be more thrilled. I had never watched this (what I presumed to be quite pretentious) event. I even had to look up the rules, which, believe you and me, are no laughing matter. Did you know that ice dancing didn't even become an Olympic sport until 1976? And when it did, the first rules stipulated that you had to remain linked in a dance hold to your partner during the entire program! Since the early 80's, the rules state you can be up to two arm lengths away from your partner, however and throwing and spins are highly discouraged.

The bestest *that's right, I said bestest...just go with it* part of the whole event? The use of music. In regular partner ice skating, the skaters can dance to the phrasing or the melody of a piece of music. In ice dancing, the dancers must always skate to a definite beat or rhythm. How awesome that a piece of music and its movement dictates your choice of choreography on the ice!

It was love at first twizzle.

*and for those of you wondering, a twizzle is a multi-rotation turn common in the sport*

Love and Allegro,
Kir

Milk Punch

2010-02-18T23:03:00.001-08:00

Ingredients for a drink that will (no doubt) taste delicious:

3 oz Burbon
3 oz Milk
1/2 tsp Dark Rum
1 Tbsp Sugar Syrup
Nutmeg

Shake liquor and milk with cracked ice, strain into a chilled highboy glass, sprinkle nutmeg on top, substitute for real milk and drink with the divine Chocolate Peanut Butter Nirvana Cake I will be making tomorrow morning...

exhibit a: Chocolate Peanut Butter Nirvana Cake
exhibit b: New bundt pan which inspired said cake

exhibit c: Day plans tomorrow
exhibit d: Here
exhibit e: With these lovely ladies
Literally, what could be better? Um...nothing.

Love & Allegro,
Kristen

Mexican Asshole

2010-02-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Ingredients for dealing with a douche bag:

1 oz Tequila
1 Splash Tabasco Sauce
1 dash Worcestershire Sauce

Shoot. Revel in the fact that you were the bigger person.

Men are ballsy.

Exhibit A:

Jason. An EMT/server at claim jumper. I thought he was cute, and I left him my number on the top of our receipt. He didn't call so I wrote him off. A week and a half later, suddenly I was his #1 priority.

Our conversations, however, went a little something like this.

Jason: hey, its jason from claim jumper. so i put ur number in my server book, but couldn't remember for the life of me where i put it. until now when i was cleaning out my book ha. so hows it going?

*this text should have been my first clue....*

Kristen: Hi! I'm great. Stoked to have one more day of weekend before work again on Monday. What are you up to?

Jason:When you texted me back i was sleeping. i'm at the fire dept today working. where do you work at?

*Again...my gut should have said...STOP. Ending a sentence with a preposition? REALLY?*

Kristen: The Renaissance hotel in Hollywood. I work in the events dept. :) How was work? Long day?

Jason: I'm still at work. Don't get off til 6:30am tomorrow. 24 hour shifts.

*And that...my friends...is the way the rest of our conversations continued....completely stunted by the fact that he responded with one word answers and never posed questions back. Not to mention the fact that he never asked me anything but "What's up?" on numerous occasions.*

My favorite part of our short lived text message relationship, however, was this:

Kristen:...what are you studying?

Jason: Just going over all my info...

Jason: Send me a picture of urself?

Kristen: Really?

Jason: Ya. :)

*And that, my friends, was what I thought would be the end of this apparent relationship. I did NOT text him back.*

Then a week later on a Saturday night:

Jason: What's up with u today?

*I didn't text him back AGAIN*

Then on Sunday night:

Jason: Hey whats up? What r u doing tonight?

Kristen: You're ballsy.

*I love myself for this comment. I know that I'm egotistical for saying that, but comon.*

Kristen: Watching the golden globes.

Jason: How am i ballsy?

Kristen: You were persistent even after I shut you down and didn't send you a picture

Jason: Oh alright.

Kristen: That's all you're gonna say? :) Really?

Jason: Well I'm guessing you weren't interested anymore.

Kristen: Your request caught me off guard. It was quite forward of you. I don't know if it means I'm not interested.

Jason: Well you never replyd or sent me a text after that.

Kristen: I didn't want to send you a picture. I still don't. :)

*Thus ended that short-lived, whatever you want to call it.*

Exhibit B:

Jose. He asked to be my Facebook friend about two months ago. We had several mutual friends. They were all from high school. He looked to be about my age, living in my hometown, so I figured we probably had a class or two together.

Yesterday evening, he chatted "Hi" to me.

*I ignored him.*

Today, he chatted "HI" to me again.

I responded with, "Hello. Do I know you?"

Jose: UM...I DUNNO.

Kristen: Did you go to FUHS?

Jose: YEAH. WERE YOU LIVE?

*Again, my spidey-sense should have been tingling. I need to STOP talking to this creature who only understands UPPER case on the keyboard. I don't need to be yelled at. Sir. And really, WERE I live is not any of your business if you spell "WHERE" like that.*

And yet I continued.

Kristen: LA

Jose: YOUR HOT. CAN I HAVE UR NUMBER?

Kristen: Nope. Thanks!
*And that is when I un-friended Jose.*

I'm on a roll in the men department.

It's my own damn fault, I guess. I should just become a hermit.

:)

"I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells." - Dr. Seuss

with love and allegro,
Kir

Leaving Las Vegas

2009-04-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

1 oz Triple Sec or EverClear
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Gin
Fill with Lemonade and Ice
Add 2 Tablespoons of Sugar
1 Splash of Sprite

Layer and Stir, Garnish with Lemon. Cry all the way home because the days of laying by the pool and being drunk around the clock are over (for the time being...).

It had been a while since I had been to Vegas, and a trip was QUITE necessary. What I love about not only being a girl in Vegas, but being a girl with three of your most attractive girlfriends is the fact that men just fall at your feet. I mean, for starters you are wearing practically nothing and men just eat that up. The fact that there is a lack of clothing is an excuse for drunken boys to make lewd comments and make complete asses out of themselves.
See picture below for example of ridiculously short dresses/shirts. A shirt can count as a dress...right?

Then you throw in the fact that there are four of you, who are all completely different in both looks and size, and you have a winning combo. Let me tell you! Laura is short and has red hair, Cam is medium with dark blonde hair, Melly is medium with dark brown hair, and then of course there's me. The ridiculously tall platinum blonde one.

Together we are somewhat of an eclectic (shall we say?) group. Basically....we are hot. :) But I digress.

I think this one of Laura and I showing our height difference is one of my favorite pictures of all time. How funny. Right?

So after a wonderful two days of gambling, drinking heavily and developing skin cancer, we drove home and back to reality...

Sad really. Considering that Vegas is practically giving their rooms away to even turn some sort of a profit right now, I believe there shall be another trip to sin city sooner rather than later. :)

After leaving Vegas, I journeyed home, packed another bag, and drove straight to the parentals. It was only 11:20 at night and the drive was only going to take me an hour. I figured better then than at 8am the next morning.

The next morning? Flying.

See? Said pictures from amazing flying experience.

My friend Chris is learning to fly and needs to rake up some hours. Insert me, totally reaping the benefits of having a friend who is a pilot. We flew to Catalina for lunch. Just lunch.
Then we flew back. It was fantastic. I even got to fly and experience some zeroG's. (Is that what its called when you lose your stomach like on a roller coaster?) And I did lose my stomach. Only once. Thank GOD it was before lunch, but you all know me and how much my tummy disagrees with whatever I do most of the time. It was two seconds of discomfort and then an up-chuck free plane ride the rest of the way there. yay!

Finally, to finish off my work free week I helped my mommy in her classroom so she could get ready for Open House. It went swimmingly and I was glad I could be there and be a part of it all. I don't know how she would have gotten everything done at a reasonable hour without me there. Thank goodness for having the week off.

You wanna know the best part of my whole vacation?

Perfect...I shall tell you.

I took paid time off for the whole thing, so I still get a paycheck like I had worked the whole week! Isn't that lovely!?

I believe it is.

Now, off to Mike's for some bowling, dinner, and date number three! Weeeeee! (Rhyming much?)

LOVE & ALLEGRO!
K

Daylon's Bedtime

2009-03-28T00:07:00.000-07:00

I have no idea who the hell Daylon is, however it is getting close to my bedtime and therefore...

Ingredients for a cocktail to lull you to sleep...

2.5 oz Vanilla Vodka
.5 oz Triple Sec
2.5 oz 7-Up

Pour Vodka into a glass, add the Triple Sec, then add 7-Up to taste.
Hope that after the cocktail's done, I will have an easy time falling asleep.

The irony is that I work at 7am tomorrow morning and I'm not tired and can't seem to fall asleep. The irony is that I worked close to 12 hours today, was running around like a chicken with my head cut off ALL DAY LONG, and yet I'm still awake. The irony is that now, as I am typing this, my eyelids seem to be closing.

My analysis is that writing puts me to sleep? That doesn't make any sense at all! ;)

As for the fact that I have been away from the blog for a few days, I have been working on a documentary screenplay idea that I am trying to formulate into a script, and I'm still plugging away at my children's book. Finally, I have a really hot new scene for my romance novel that I am still trying to flesh out. All the details are there, its just a matter of making it as enjoyable to read as it is and was to do...

And with that, I'm finally dozing off.

More to come soon. Definitely before Vegas on Sunday night for an early birthday EXTRAVAGANZA!

Allegro!
K

Blue POLARbear

2009-03-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for a completely bi-polar day:

1 oz vodka
1 oz chilled blue peppermint schnapps
1 dash of crushed ice

Shake Schnapps and Vodka together until well mixed, add ice, shake lightly and then pour the thing into a glass, shoot it, and realize that your problems are completely what you make of them and definitely need to be put into perspective. OFTEN.

Watchmen. WORST MOVIE EVER. Let's start with that. Soft core porn to an atrocious version of Rufus Wainwright's Hallelujah is not so much fun, especially when you are sitting next to your date (second date) and you aren't at that point in your relationship yet. For that matter, you aren't even holding hands during the movie. Aside from the silly movie where arms were chainsawed off and sex was awkward, I had a lovely night. After the movie Michael Calderara (yes...that's his last name....worse than Rude? I think NOT!) walked around Hollywood and got pizza and talked till midnight and had a fabulous evening and I even got a little peck at the end. :)

With that said, I had a fairly routine day at work. Just 10.5 hours of nothing new. Hard work and a lot of it, but a redeeming, completely unexpected $20 tip. :) What wasn't the most routine part of my day was calling and talking to Jordan. WHO I LOVE and I LOVE TALKING TO. I could make that a routine part of my day, but both of us are always so crazy busy that it is a joy, if only weekly.

Jordan is always brutally honest with me. Thank GOD. After my sob fest on the phone with him about how selfish and self-absorbed I am when I get caught up in my own insecurities, especially living here in LA by myself, I came to the realization that I have some AMAZING things working for me, and I AM NOT allowed to be bi-polar and depressed.

I forget the fact that I have a job in this ridiculous economy and I got taken out on a wonderful date last night. I have friends who surround me, and I live with cable and food in my fairly newly furnished apartment. There is NOTHING for me to complain about. Jordan is a godsend for listening to me and making me realize that.

As a side note, I am glad that ANTM and IDOL kicked off the people that I wanted them to kick off. Now to FRIENDS for a mood-picker-upper and bed. Work at 6am is MIGHTY EARLY...

LOVE AND ALLEGRO!
K

Cloud 9

2009-03-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for an absolutely wonderful day:

1 oz Frangelico
3 oz vodka
1 oz chocolate syrup
4 cups coffee
1 cup milk
10 cubes ice
2 tablespoons sugar
Top with whipped cream

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until ice is well chopped. Pour in a coffee mug and top with a generous amount of whipped cream.

One of the most amazing things about living alone is the fact that I can be naked all the time. I love cooking naked and getting ready while naked and eating naked. I happened to be getting ready while naked yesterday and who should call, but the guy I went on a date with on Friday night. He TOTALLY asked me out on another date! Tomorrow night we are going to see the big blue penis in Watchmen and then maybe out for a drink. After he hung up, I danced naked around my living room. :)

Following that, I cleaned my apartment a bit, went out for frozen yogurt with Ali, bought a box of my favorite Girl Scout Cookies (TAGALONGS!) and proceeded to spend the rest of the night at Cam's with Melly. We made dinner (pasta, green beans and chicken), dessert (An amazing chocolate swirled with cream cheese cookie bar), and watched RuPaul's Drag Race (which, if you haven't seen, you must start watching immediately. It's on LOGO and it is drag queens who complete challenges like on ANTM. The show is absolutely FIERCE!)

Needless to say after a day like that, I was on cloud 10. It's a much better place to hang out than cloud 9, although I thought a drink aptly named "Cloud 9" would be quite fitting.

For the remainder of my last day off before 8 days of straight work, I will be doing a spreadsheet (for work...actually), cleaning my room, and going to see Liz and a bunch of amazing people for her birthday dinner. Glorious!

Allegro,
K

Shut the Hell Up

2009-03-15T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for a REALLY bad theatrical production of "A Chorus Line."
.5 oz Bacardi 151 proof
1 oz Crown Royale
1 oz Jager
.5 oz Everclear
Squirt of Grenadine

Pour Jager at the bottom of the glass.
Mix Crown, Everclear & 151 separately to layer on top of the Jager.
Splash the grenadine.
Pray that the actors STOP singing.

Underwhelmed doesn't even begin to cover it. Singing was not the strong suit of the show. For that matter, neither was dancing. Being that the show is about DANCERS, one would think that an important aspect of the show would be...you know...DANCING. Very disappointing.

I spent the night at Cambria and Laura's apartment last night after Cam and I left the Fiesta Cantina. (For those that don't know, the Fiesta Cantina is one of the gayest bars in L.A. with 2-4-1 drinks everynight from 1030 on.) I had never seen so many beautiful queers in one place in my whole life. (And that is saying something considering that I grew up surrounded by them at the theaters where I did shows!) The walls even had paintings of gorgeously speedoed hunks. On top of the cheap booze, the evening was lovely because of the company I kept while at the bar. :)

This morning I endulged in champagne brunch with my girls at around noon and then a nice long nap to sleep off the bottle and a half that I had to drink. What a glorious Saturday.

Allegro!
K

Dazed and Confuzed

2009-03-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Recipie for a good first date:
1 oz Tequila
1 oz lemon juice
Shake with ice.
Pour

Los Angeles. Center for every 20 something person in California to go out on a Friday night and get ridiculously wasted.

Los Angeles. The OTHER city that never sleeps.

Los Angeles. The most difficult place in the world to meet people other than those you work with, due to the pure and simple logic that everyone drives everywhere.

See, here's the problem: People at clubs are either ashamedly handsome and completely full of themselves, or quite unattractive and try to hit on you, thinking that they are in fact, the shit. Regardless of the type, any girl who comes to LA looking for love is tragically going to be looking forever, if not longer. Enter "GooddateLA".

Now, I'm seriously one to judge. I am. I mean, I am the kinda girl who will sit in judgement of the types of people that join online dating services. HOWEVER, with that said, I met a boy. A nice, amazing southern boy who pulled out my chair and paid for dinner and knew exactly how to end the evening...A kiss on the cheek and a hug with the awesome open ended invitation for a second date. And I couldn't be more thrilled.

More to come, just know that Ketchup on Sunset Blvd not only has good Vegetarian Lasagna, they have a good ambiance for flying sparks and handsome boys.

The Orange Curtain

2009-03-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

I lived in Orange County until I was 22 years old, behind the "Orange Curtain" as I have fondly come to call it. My life growing up was spent completely oblivious to the fact that there was civilization outside the bubble. I didn't know that in the "real world," botoxed stay-at-home-moms weren't the norm and people who owned 5-bedroom houses with pools and yards were fortunate and spoiled.

An example of the sheltering that is my adolescence: there were no homeless people in the city where I went to college because the Irvine police department picked them up, gave them $5 to not return, and moved them from Irvine to Santa Ana (a neighboring, far less classy city). I think in all of my 22 years behind the veil, I maybe saw 2 people sleeping on the street.

When I landed a job in Hollywood I vowed to hate living here. My first premonition was that it was dirty and too crowded with too many cars and that there were too many homeless people living on the street and that I didn't feel safe walking in the dark and that everyone was out to get me(the list could go on and on and on). Little did I know that after only a few months of living in a place all my own, LA and I became BFF's. Yes, there are too many homeless people living on the street, but believe or not after talking with some of them, they WANT to be homeless. Yes, I don't feel safe walking in the dark, but that's why I drive everywhere. Yes, there are too many cars, but see previous point...I'm not the only one who doesn't feel safe walking around the city.

I mean...let's be honest.Where else in the world can you eat somewhere different for dinner, EVERY NIGHT for literally the rest of your life? Where else in the world can you walk into the Arclight and see Vince Vaughn? Where else in the world do you get to see the pre-screenings of movies before they are out for all the public to see?

The only other place I know is the only other place I've lived. New York City was my home for a quarter of college, and someday, I'm sure I will move back again. I love the rush of the subways and Canal Street and the high-rise skyscrapers and the Broadway shows and the people and the carts on the corners and the fact that it snows. But in all my time in the city, not once did I ever have a fear of walking alone. Not once did I ever hate commuting by train. Not once did I hate seeing a Broadway show (yes, there were some bad ones, but they were all still magnificent pieces of art in their own respects).

After developing a dear love for the city known as Los Angeles, even though I claimed I wouldn't I have realized that I am not the only one in the world who recognizes the solid difference between the two BEST cities in the US of A. Alec Baldwin explains the dichotomy perfectly and therefore.....drumroll...........

His Conan interview:

Alec: You're going to live in LA...YOU IDIOT!

Alec: LA is so much different than New York.

Conan: Ok...tell us. What is the difference? I mean people love to talk about this, but in your estimation what is the difference between NY and LA?

Alec: In LA you have to drive everywhere. You gotta drive to go to the bathroom. I mean you get in your car to go to the bathroom...but the other thing is that in LA, people are very showbiz-y, cozy. You know if you had like the worst TV show in the world...if I did like Alec Baldwin, LOVE BUS. The reality show with me and a bunch of middle aged women and they're competing to be my lover. You're in LA and people won't even see the show but they'll read the trades and be like...hey Alec. How you doing man? LOVE BUS! Great man! You're looking great! Everything's great!

Conan: Everything is great no matter what?!

Alec: Everything is great if you're in show biz. Like when you're in New York, you're in a cab and you could have done Shakespeare in the Park and the driver will be like..."Alec, i saw you at the public the other night. What happened Alec? It was terrible. You didn't seem to be in control of all your faculties when you were out there."

Conan: They just give it to you straight.

Alec: "I mean you're no Ray Fines, Alec."

Conan: You don't get that!

Alec: But I mean, people in NY have an opinion.

Conan: And you are exposed to it because you're out there. You go, you get a bagel, you're not in your car, you're not insulated.

Alec: You're not insulated. (EXACTLY!)

Conan: I can't wait to be insulated....

:)

a baby panda diaper cake!

2009-03-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

So here are the pictures of the diaper cake that I made...

The cake is comprised of diapers, bibs, socks, teething toys, three bottles holding the bottom two layers together and a rubber ducky which holds dirty diaper trash bags...

so silly!

ASS + CHAIR = WRITING

2009-03-08T01:46:00.000-08:00

Oh Stephen King, how I adore thee. Isn't this an amazing quote? I almost want to change my blog to read this as the title...

The biggest problem for me is not the actual writing. That always seems to flow out of my fingertips. The biggest problem I face when trying to write is the lack of time and energy I have when I get home at ridiculous hours or when I choose to start writing before I go to bed at almost 2 in the morning...
NO.
WAIT.
3 in the morning. Fucking daylight savings time. I like the one in the fall. Its the spring one that really screws us over. I don't like losing an hour of sleep, thank you very much.

So today I went to the first of MANY baby showers that I will be attending in the next month or so. I decorated the house and make a three layer diaper cake. I don't know how to add pictures on here yet. When I do, I will post a few of the cake and the party. All in all it was a huge success and I am quite excited to see lots of new little ones brought into this world, especially by my friends.

Analogy: Kristen's Friends: excellent parents.

I have a theory. You can tell whether or not someone is going to be a good parent by the name that they choose for the child. Catherine Novella, Olivia, and Henry James. In all three cases I have a feeling the children are safe from ridicule.

I carpooled with my friend Teresa to the shower this morning and back again this evening at the end of the shower. She is an inspiration and a wonderful force to be around. Our conversations were enlightening to the point of leaving me wanting to serve my community more than I do already. (I made myself sound self-righteous there and I apologize. My intent was explaining that in addition to Secret Acts of Caring [my non-profit organization, I could be doing so much more for people on a day to day basis in places like Santa Monica and Venice.)
With Teresa there was a lack of superficiality. We could be honest and completely judgment-less. So refreshing.

Although I could novel about this process for quite sometime, I'm taking my refreshing self and falling asleep to gear up for the big day tomorrow.

ALLEGRO!
K

Acceptance

2009-03-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

This is hanging in the cubicle of the person whose desk I am sharing today and I thought I would write it down to embrace its ideals...

"Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation - some fact of life - unacceptable to me. I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Absolutely nothing happens in this world by mistake and unless I accept life completely on life's terms I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitude. When I stopped living the problem and began living the solution the problem eventually went away. Acceptance is the answer."

Now back to work. More later. :)

Allegro,
K

Hello Gorgeous...

2009-03-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

Isn't that a wonderful way to start a phone conversation? One of the many loves of my life answers the phone that way when I call. (And I have a pretty fantastic feeling its only when I call.) :)
How can that NOT put you in a good mood? I mean...let's be honest.

This post will remain quite concise and to the point, only because I have to get up quite early for work in the morning and I have a big day ahead of me what with trying to lotto RENT and find time to go to the gym for 2.5 seconds.

Work today consisted of a training class that was far too basic for myself as well as all of the supervisors at my property, but I digress.
The highlight of my evening was driving an hour to get to a yoga studio in Santa Monica. Power Yoga, a donation based studio, forces me to take a really refreshing look at centering my body and soul (I sound SO incredibly hippie right now and for that I apologize to those of us in generations X & Y who don't get off on the ideas of peace and love). I didn't like the teacher as much this evening as I did the night before, but I am finding that most of the time I favor men as teachers over women.
TANGENT: The exception to this rule would be Carol Burke, PhD professor of journalism at University of California, Irvine. This is one of the women I respect most in this world, and one day I aspire to be half the writer she has become. Plus, she really liked me, and anyone who really likes you is always nice to have around, right?
Now back to my half eaten lettuce wrapped Boca Burger, and my DVR for some much needed Chuck, and American Idol finalists.

I depart with these words of wisdom... "A hypocrite is a person who - but who isn't?" - Don Marquis

Allegro,
K

I have a love/hate relationship with being a girl...

2009-03-03T17:22:00.000-08:00

and let's be honest, what girl doesn't?