Simi Valley

Fitting I was in Simi Valley at the Reagan Library, once again, in a week that commemorates President Reagan's 100th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Mr. President.  Once again, this country could use a taste of your optimism and your outlook.  And your good sense.

The trip was fine, barring the the UPS snafu. I'm just happy to be home, though not in the 30 degree weather. Can I swap that out?

New Music Lately II

The new Iron & Wine and Decemberists have been playing on repeat lately, both on my computer and my ipod. I am sure traveling out to CA tomorrow, I will be listening to them yet again.

What else...Stornoway's Zorbing...how I missed this track last year, I do not know. I knew I had heard it but had no idea it was new or old or what. I found it free on Paste and it is on the ipod.  I'm also liking Amos Lee, Middle Brother and its first single, Me Me Me.  Deer Tick, Delta Spirit, and Dawes...how can you go wrong?

Music in 2011 is off to a good start!

Ten for Tuesday

1. Pizza for lunch. Vapiano's for dinner. Yes, I do love my carbs.
2. I was wavering on the new Iron & Wine, but I like a few of the songs on there. So maybe I'll get that tonight.
3. I DO NOT want any snow. I liked being able to run this morning, outside. I am too lazy to do much more.
4. This California trip is going to be so long. At least I can celebrate President Reagan's birthday a week early there.
5. We've been majorly into the Office lately. Season three done, season four to come.
6. So much to pack.
7. Not sure about watching the State of the Union tonight. I probably will get sucked in.
8. Some friends have been disappointing lately.
9. Already one month since Christmas.
10. And less than six weeks til I'm 35. How the hell did that happen.

RW2: Charlie Palmer's

Great experience at Charlie Palmer's on Saturday night with friends. Everything was delicious...the pork gnocchi, the sirloin (not a trace of fat, and cooked absolutely perfectly. This is why I am still a carnivore!), and the carrot cake-esque dessert (not to mention the bites of the cheesecake). A great bartender afterwards, with port and old fashions. And the best part--no corkage fee for wine! We enjoyed cabernets from Cakebread and St. Supery. So good, so much fun, and I definitely would go back.

RW: 701

With the exception of the juvenile bartender, I enjoyed 2/3 of my courses at Restaurant Week at 701.  I had the chestnut and mushroom soup, which was a great, flavor-filled starter, and then moved on to the red snapper with saffron risotto, peeky toe crab (though not much of that), and lemon.  The dessert was eh: a lemon poppy seed cake, though the marsala ice cream was delectable...I would have preferred a plate of that. The cake tasted like it had been sitting out all day. Eh. Anyway, I am looking forward to Charlie Palmer's on Saturday. It will be a treat, and I'll need a good workout before that!

Thirty Years Ago

The media is naturally making a slightly bigger deal that today marks the 50th anniversary of JFK's inauguration.  But it also marks the thirtieth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's inauguration.  In a few weeks, we'll be commemorating his 100th birthday, remembering him with nostalgia and fondness.  He's missed in a country with so much polarization, demonization.  Yes, he had his critics in the day, and he was hated by the far left.  But he was a man from a different age, and  this country needs his kind of leadership.

And my concept of what was 50 years ago, or 30 years ago, certainly has changed, right? 1961 does not seem so long ago, and neither does 1981, especially 1981.  And yes, ten years ago today President George W. Bush was sworn into office. I remember that day, being there with Andrea and meeting Liz for drinks...actually, how funny is it that a full decade later, I'm meeting her for dinner. So happy to have been friends with her for over a decade. Wow how does time fly.

Happy Things II

A glass of wine. Or two. Risotto. No travel this weekend. Tall black boots. A cup of apple cider tea. Throwing junk away. A good 7 mile run on the treadmill. Secret wonderland body lotion. Mac & cheese after working out. All kinds of cheese, actually.  Girls night on Thursday, couples night on Saturday.

Having a better place to live. Eventually. Sigh.

Blue Valentine

I saw Blue Valentine today.Wow, what a bittersweet, achingly saddening movie. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling were so real, so evocative of the emotions of pain, sadness, love, heartbreak.  Everything from the near abortion scene, to the blowout at the doctor's office, to the sweet tenderness of that first date and the music/dance...to how she stopped driving to run to the woods and to be near tears.  To him blaming her for not locking the dog cage.

Best movie I've seen in a while. And god do you want them to make up and be together.  Yet you understand why they are being torn apart.

Both she and Natalie Portman in Black Swan nailed their performances.  Both Oscar worthy.

Reality Bites: 17 Years Later

Was Reality Bites really 1994? Did I really start college 17 years ago, nearly a half of a life ago? It's my own half-life.

Is this true: "It’s essentially a time capsule constructed entirely of flannel, denim, Big Gulps and pre-corporate alt-rock."  It was the era of flannel denim of freshman year, the myriad of slurpees, and the peak of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, etc. etc.

That does seem like a long time ago. Before the internet, cell phones being ubiquitous, ipods and ipads and everyone had a laptop.  And yet, that is a time I will never forget.

No more Town and Country

First they close the Brickskeller, now Town & Country.

On Saturday, the Town & Country will shake its last martini and close its doors for good. And in what denizens say is a final insult, the lounge will be turned into a Thomas Pink haberdasher.

Everyone in Hollywood is pregnant....

Natalie Portman, Alicia Silverstone, Kate Hudson, Jewel, Selma Blair, Tia Mowry, Jane Krakowski, Victoria Beckham, and Marion Cotillard are among those who have announced pregnancies in the past week or so.

Ask me I feel bittersweet about this? A group of people with three married couples amongst the single ladies?

Yes, I am. And I think of Alicia Silverstone, who is about my age, and I feel bittersweet in starting to wonder if it will ever happen for me.

I used to think I'd be satisfied if X happened. But there is always Y lurking. And I hate that, I hate being jealous and I have not knowing. I should be practicing the true spirit of gratitude that I preach. But oh is it tough.

A Time to Grieve

President Obama is now speaking in Tucson, at a memorial service to honor and remember the victims of Saturday's awful shooting.  My reaction: I am wanting him to be a leader, as he is our president and presidents serve as the one who can bring the country together at times of grew sorrow.  I want him to transcend the horrible politicalization of this, going beyond the blame that the far left has for the right. 

I will never forget President Reagan's speech, nearly a quarter of century ago, after the Challenger disaster, a tragedy that claimed seven victims and was the first real national tragedy I can recall.  His words was the first step in attempting to heal this nation, which so needed it. 

Obama is doing good in eulogizing these victims, who were young and old, workers and retired, Republicans, too.  But I hope he knows, he can do more good by transcending the bitterness of this, and heal.

Happy Things

So in a sad week, with darkness and snow and January and bad things happening, I want to name a few things that make me happy.

Little things. Like homemade garlic bread. Or girls weekends or nights out.  Or long weekends off. Or good books. Or good wine. Or playing scrabble with the husband. Or bacon. Love the bacon.

Value of Life

From Ross Douthat.

This is the paradox of America's unborn. No life is so desperately sought after, so hungrily desired, so carefully nurtured. And yet no life is so legally unprotected, and so frequently destroyed.

Awful

Horrible news from Arizona.  Prayers to Representative Giffords, who was shot in the head.  And so sad a judge, her staffer(s), and others were victims to this act. What a coward, the idiot who shot them. 

Trip One, 2011

Trip one is 2/3 done...just a pesky across country flight and breakfast ahead of me. And drive. Ugh.  Dinner here last night.

Much rather be with my family, and my brother and SIL. Much love on this sad day.

Republican Congress

Bye Nancy Pelosi!

Biggest Loser

I'm watching a few minutes of the Biggest Loser. Premiere episode. OMG are these people big.  Seriously. How do you let yourself weight nearly 400 pounds, or even more.

I know some criticize this show's extreme method.  But gosh, when you get that big, you need an extreme solution.  There is a woman talking about how she has miscarried because of her weight.  Is that the wake-up call you want? 

I do like how Ali Sweeney is not a twig. She is a reminder you don't have to be that tiny to  be healthy and strong. 

Anyway, I won't get too sucked in. But it is easy to...

Detroit in Ruins

These pictures are sad, but there is more to Detroit than this.

I feel like the Lions winning 4 in a row, going 6-10, is a sign that the city can turn around, too.  If a football team can go from winless to having hope, so can a city, right? Right?!!

The Originals

I was flipping through some of my old diaries from 6-7-8th grades. I guess New Year's Day always makes me feel a bit introspective.  I was so childish, so easy to crush on boys who never cared at all for me, and I was so lonely.  I wish someone had served as more of a mentor to me, at a time I was really struggling with grades and how to fit in.  I did not appreciate my family nearly enough, and  I was a typically teenager in so many respects.

That was already 20+ years ago, 2/3 of a lifetime ago.  Sometimes I still feel like that young girl. I never was secure enough to pick up the phone or confront friends who betrayed me, or to feel confident enough in myself to stand up for myself.  Those years are so damn formative.  They never stop affecting you, do they?

What I Will Remember: 2010

Our blizzards/snowpacalypse/snowmaggedon in February.  Being off of work of work for a week, almost.

And then our crazy hot summer.  Dave Matthews is 100 degree heat, ugh.

Finishing my half-marathon in under 2 hours.  Shaving 8 minutes off my ten miler time. 8:20 miles!

Celebrating the arrivals of many babies in our circle.

Toronto with two of my best girl friends. Miss those ladies terribly.  Louis. Awesome coffee and food and company.

"No-Snowed in at Christmas."

Thanksgiving at Cowboys stadium.  Runner up in the fantasy league.

The beauty of St. Lucia, the most anticipated vacation ever.  Good food and a great meal.  Lots of kayaking and time watching the World Cup at the Pub. Making friends with staff.

Checking out the Atlas Room and its seafood chowder. Lots of good stuff on H Street like the Biergarten and Liberty Tree. 

Having my brother and SIL visit.  So fun and miss them, too.

Julie's wedding.  Having mom and dad there and getting drinks at South Padre.

Mood swings.  Trouble sleeping.

Our new TV, sofa,, bar, dining room table, and coffee table.  Buying out Crate & Barrel.

The blue screen of death and my new laptop with this crappy keyboard.

50 degrees on NYE.

Lots of work travel.

Finding out I will have a niece, and she will be perfect, no matter what obstacles she will face.  And she will be so loved, as much as her big brother loves his ipad!