I cry for your heart of stoneI'm gonna wait until you come home

Tonight I was supposed to write up a report for work. Instead I made about 15 thank you cards. Then did some sketches. Then 30 Valentine tags for the kid's school. I have no idea what I'm going to put them on. I am thinking maybe these cute light up lollipops. Then again, you know the whole NO SUGAR policy. Screw it. No sugar sure, but they didn't say no cuteness. Phooey.

Also, I couldn't pass up this heart fabric I saw at the craft store. Too cute. Too pink. I had to buy it. Again, I have no idea for what. I think I am going to make little VDAY gifts for a few friends. But what to make??

...I'm only happy when it rains.

It DOES rain in Southern California. While I don't like being cold to the bone unless I am well bundled, I do like being cold for a good reason. Rain is a good reason. I love the crispness of the air and the freeze of the rain. Maybe I just like covering myself in jackets and scarves.

Nevertheless this freezing wind and icy rain has lifted my spirits, and I feel way happier. It reminds me of a cold New York day, and that is one of my most favorite things ever.

The months are going by quickly. While I no longer do custom wedding invitations, with my brother getting married and all, how could I refuse? It came out quite pretty I think.

Click on pictures for flick-tastic goodness.

Pour your misery down. Pour your misery down on me.

What was a rather good week last week, (what with the Baby walking and all) has suddenly come to a screeching halt. And good god, things could not get any worse if I tried.

1. Work is kicking my ass. I never talk about work here, and I never will. Except to say, it's killing me right now.

2. The Baby is sick. REALLY sick. I can't even talk about his issues without wanting to sniffle back a few tears. I just spent Mr. Howell money on 4 kinds of drugs for this little one and who knows if they'll even work. While he wasn't born a crack baby, he is one now.

3. I just went to Target to procure said drugs. I saw root beer. In bottles. Not my favorite brand, but at this point, I'd take anything in a bottle. It was on the top shelf, high up. Higher than little 5'-1" me anticipated. And the root beer...came crashing down. *sigh* Someone kill me, please.

I did the right thing and called the operator on the red phone to tell her 'CLEANUP ON AISLE 7', if you will. She seemed rather shocked that someone actually cared enough to alert them of their own stupid mistake. What can I say. I worked retail. Finding shit like that is annoying. Being told at least prepares you for the worst.

4. My MIL is here. In the two weeks she's been here she's broken one of my drinking glasses, my ceramic knife that I bought in Japan. (I went to the kitchen supply district just to buy this knife. Imagine 9 blocks of kitchen supplies and imagine my idea of heaven.) Last but most recently, she+Baby broke my...Dwight bobblehead. I know it's not important, but it was a gift. And that was more meaningful to me than the actual object itself. 4 more weeks to go...

I've decided to medicate myself by eating enough cinnamon mentos to kill a horse. Or me. The horse isn't looking so good, and unfortunately I am still alive. Just fatter.

walking slowly down the hall, faster than a cannonball

The baby and I spent some time alone together this weekend.

Things that happened:
1. An unusually heavy plastic bear was thrown onto my foot.
2. I had snot wiped all over my nice brown sweater.
3. We played with BABOONS. (balloons)
4. I had spaghetti spit in my general direction.
5. A plastic pirate duck was repeatedly thrown at my head.
6. I had apple juice poured onto my crotch.
7. I was shived in the neck with a cracker.
8. The Baby WALKED towards me!

He also took a 2 hour nap so I could recoup. Thanks, Baby! In the meantime...


WINNER!! AND a second place winner. Email me with your address info, thanks for playing, ya'll!

Watch this!

Busy working. Busy with out of town guests. So I will let the videos do the talking. Here are some of my fave youtub-ies. (WINNER will be picked tonight!)

Say wha? A movie featuring 80's music AND Hugh Grant? SIGN ME UP. It also has Drew Barrymore in all her 'adorable stroke victim' glory.


One word: LOVEFOOL.


Depeche Mode + Thundercats = totally awesome

To the left, to the left.Everything you own in a box to the left

Believe it or not, I have been writing this blog for coming up on FOUR YEARS. Geez. Kind of lame. Who cares what I cooked for dinner, or what O.G. had to say, right? What is important are all the nice people who stop by to read what I have to say. All you not nice people can 'ROLL BACK....', nevermind.

That being said, to commemorate this occasion and thank you for reading, I am doing a giveaway! Remember those personalized gift boxes I made as favors last week? Now you can win one.

It comes filled with fantastic, amazing, fun and exciting things. MORE than what you see in this picture. Way more. How can you not want one? AND you can personalize it to say ANYTHING you want.

How do you win this fab prize? Just leave a comment in this post. Let me know what you would personalize it with. Tell me what you would name our band, if we had one. Whatever. Winner will be picked on Sunday. Good luck!

Long as you know, that, I could have any man I want to, Baby that's actual and that's factual

5 Reasons I might die soon:

1. Let's get this straight, the only thing I hate more than mayonnaise, is polka dots, so. You get the picture. I made the Kid some tuna salad cones with the leftover mini cones from the ice cream party. DENIED. He had no interest whatsoever so I ended up eating it - only to look at the mayo bottle and see it expired...Jan 2007. Not that bad, but bad enough for me.

2. That tiny area, below my shoulder, left of my boob, right before my armpit? It hurts. Like, killer hurts. WTF?

3. The Kid just came up real close to me. Looked me in the eye and said, "DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES." Cute...yet still spooky. (check out this youtube video. Johnny Depp touching himself is funny. That didn't come out quite right...)

4. I spent all day putting eyedrops in cause my eyes were super dry. Midafternoon I looked at the bottle and it had expired in Nov 06. Gross.

5. I was in my car singing along to TLC's "Baby, baby, baby," when I felt this...BUMP. The guy behind me hit me. I looked in my rearview mirror, nothing. No acknowledgement. For some reason I decided to put on my brake. Get out of the car. In rush hour traffic, mind you. Walk right up to his headlights and yell, "WHAT THE FUCK? You know you hit me, right? ROLL BACK MOTHERFUCKER!"

He stayed in his car. I kept standing there. He wasn't getting out. I looked at my bumper and assessed that there was no damage. So I gave him one more "ASSHOLE" and I got back in the car.
Sidenotes:
a. He didn't shoot me.
b. Anyone who is afraid of a 5'-1" asian chick yelling at them deserves to be called ASSHOLE in the middle of the street, I say.

Yeah, that last one is probably mostly why I am going to die. Someday. But hey, if you're gonna mess with my car at least give me a courtesy wave. Dick. More importantly - mmm, Johnny Depp.

Eddy: "I was taken up sweetie. I spoke to god."Saffy: "What about?"Eddy: "Well shopping mostly."

Although my party planning days are done, work is now killing me. BOOO on work! So busy. Intead of writing something interesting, I am going to copout and post a bunch of things to buy. You guys don't wanna hear me babble on anyway - on to shopping!!


Tokidoki lip gloss - Smashbox (free shipping!)
I *heart* Tokidoki, as you know. Now I can move on to make up. And shoes. Meanwhile if you are envious of my bag collection Urban Outfitters is discounting their Tokidoki bags - now's your chance.


Laundry shirtdress - Nordstroms
Gorgeous. I love love love, dresses like these. Except they rarely fit me because they are made for tall not so busty girls and that makes me weep.


Chinese Peony paper plates - plumparty.com
Lovely plates, great for a shower! Since I am now 'party free' I am planning baby showers in my head for friends who have not yet conceived or...are conceiving as we speak. I love throwing showers, if you remember, even if I tend to go overboard. I can hear my husband filing divorce papers right now.


Hane Spring Paper Organizer - MOMAstore
I am a sucker for organizing shit. You wouldn't know it by the looks of my desk. There are piles of sketches, pens, notes, more sketches. It's a nightmare. I love this simple spring because it holds a lot of papers and looks industrial.


Ugly Doll Keychain - Giant Robot
I love Ugly Dolls. The Baby has one, but I'd like to keep it for my own and hug it while I fall asleep. Here's a mini version.


Yoyamonkey wall decals - Yoyamart
Someone buy this for me, PLEASE?? I have been good, honest! I need monkey walls! I love this store, I finally went there when I was in New York last, and it's very tiny, but oh so lover-ly designed. Good god, I must have these!

If you're still here I'd like to tell you that I will write something interesting soon, but that'd be a lie. Instead I will tell you that I will be giving away something good soon. And that baby, is the truth.
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Your love is better than ice cream

Wow. That party was...something. It was supposed to be small, I swear. When people started arriving I realized...it was anything but. There were about 20 adults, and only 6 kids, but it felt like there were 100 in the room. Oh the noise. Oh the laughter. Oh the fun. I think the adults had fun, but man, it was CCRRAAZZZYYY...

At one point I looked over at sko_G and he looked dazed. Like he was trying to figure out an escape route. I don't blame him. Maybe he would have been happier if he came in his HOT DOG OUTFIT.

With so much hullabaloo I forgot to take a picture of the hot dog setup. We grilled them all and kept them warm in this huge roaster and it worked really well. There were tons of condiments, yellow mustard, dijon mustard, ketchup, relish, onions, pickles, pepperoncini, but I think the fave food was the little smokies, for sure. Well, anything with bacon and brown sugar - you can't really go wrong.

On to the ice cream. We had chocolate, raspberry sorbet, coffee, green tea, chocolate malted crunch, root beer sorbet and sko_G's homemade amaretto (excellent). But the hit of the day? The soft serve machine. Oh the excitement when I turned that bugger on. And I mean from the adults! They were lined up with their mini cones and it was lot of fun. That thing works pretty well too - except for the sprinkles dispenser.

It was a great day. The Kid was overwhelmed and happy. But most importantly - I am now...party free. My calendar is clear for the rest of the year. Whatever will I do with myself?


*Click on pictures for notes.
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picture pages, picture pages, time to get your crayons and your pencils

I am tired. The party was a hit...but I'm tired. So instead I will give you a bunch of pictures that are not related to each other. Cause that's how I roll. Random-like.

The Kid likes yogurt for breakfast. EVERY. DAY. It's boring.
I like to surprise him sometimes.

Mini Connect Four (er, three) using Smarties.
I gave these to the ADULTS at the party.

Mexican lemonade. From Nanette.
Tastes way better than regular lemonade. ¡Prometo!

Party favors for the kiddies.

Click on the pictures to see all the extra notes. I will post about the party tomorrow. Right now I am going to drink some Mexican lemoñade and pass out.

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"I miss Dwight. Congratulations universe. You win."

It's always hard to pick an Office quote for these posts. But this one won out. Not just because I *heart* Jim...ok that's exactly why I picked it. I like guys with funny hair. For those of you asking, I do not watch the Office until 10pm. At that point I can watch it free of commercials and get my 30 Rock on, as well.

Yes, I loved this episode more than any this season, I daresay. And not just because Jim still loves Pam, but because I actually laughed out loud for the whole 30 (17-tivo) minutes. Andy's cell phone. Celebrating Oscar's "Mexicality." It all made me crack up. Also per the Office, I plan to now label all my lemonade bottles with a Spanish letter ñ. Cause you know, I love the ~tildes~.

I think I am all set for the ice cream party. This week I made green tea ice cream and coffee ice cream. I am going to make 2 batches of vanilla for that machine thingie, and maybe one more something else. We will have like 8 ice cream flavas for our guest's enjoyment. And tonight I made Root Beer Sherbet which is so goddam delicious, I cannot tell you.

Root Beer Sherbet recipe, HERE.

*animated gif courtesy of Schmiss.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Good and Bad. Week in review:

Good:
Cupcake Cones.
Bad:
Cupcake Cones, DENIED.

Good:
While he has been potty trained for a year, the Kid can now pee by himself, standing up.
Bad:
Watching him pee all over the wall this morning.

Good:
The Baby took three steps all by himself for the first time.
Bad:
He is sick AGAIN. Deathly ill. Snot everywhere. Ew. Poor kid.

Good:
Valentine's Day is coming and I love pink.
Bad:
Check out the tag on this Paper Source box. Is it just me or - doesn't it seem really offensive?

Good:
Eating fried chicken for dinner.
Bad:
There is no bad when it comes to fried chicken.
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No cupcakes...for you!

Guess what? I took the cupcake cones in to the school only to be...DENIED. Yup. No go for the cones. What did I do? I threw them on the ground and screamed, "Well screw you then!" No, I didn't do that at all. But it might have been a fun day at daycare if I did.

They said they no longer accept homemade goodies and that it had to be HEALTHY food so I should go down the street to the market and buy pre-packaged store bought food. How that is healthier, I have no idea, but I get where they are coming from. Who knows what people put in their baked goods, I guess. Even if I brought in fruit I'd be denied, it has to be STORE BOUGHT.

The Kid was sad, he wondered why he couldn't give out the cupcakes that he painstakingly sprinkled so lovingly. So off I went to buy crappy Hostess muffins. Some birthday.
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mini me

$550 later, the car is back. And I got rid of the personalized plates. Take that stalkers! This took me ALL day to accomplish and I had to go to three different places - the DMV, the police, then the impound lot. (Did I fail to mention that this is actually not my car? It's um, someone else's car...who lives with me.)

Long story short I spent all day getting this stuff done, my head was all crazy, and....I forgot to pick up the Kid. Oh. Crap. It was past 5, and I always like to get there early and be the first to pick them up. I can't stand the thought of their little lonely selves being the last ones there. Luckily daycare doesn't close til 6, so I wasn't really late, just later than I would have liked. I am very hard on myself, as you can tell. The Kid didn't even notice. Still, I felt awful.

To make up for it, I let the Kid help make the 'treat' for his school birthday celebration. I filled MINI CONES (too cute) with cake batter, so they came out like mini ice cream cone cupcakes. Just enough sugar for a 3 year old, if you ask me. Then I frosted them and he added the little sugary sprinkles.

Check out what I rigged up to carry these things to school. Yes kids, Mommy just bought a pair of faux croc 2-1/2 heel pumps. But it was only so I could carry the cupcakes in the lid, honest.

Mini ice cream cone cupcakes how to, HERE.

I hope the kids like them, along with their gift boxes. It's going to be a fun day, as long as I don't forget and leave him there again. ~sigh~ .

Party on, dude.

Now that the car is back, (well, I know where it is at least) I can concentrate on the important things...the Kid's birthday! I didn't even realize it was so soon.

I am not inviting his classmates to our ice cream party, cause hey, I can barely handle these two, why would I want 12 more running around here? So I am making them that 'treat' (more on that later) and I made all the kids personalized favor boxes. They look expensive, but they only cost me $2.50 to put together. Not bad.

I will be giving one of these away next week, when my mind is more clear. This week I barely know what day it is. So stay tuned if you want free stuff. Free is good.

click to see what's inside...

THIS JUST IN!

Good news. Car found. Better news - it was not stolen after all. It was impounded. At least it wasn't from parking in the wrong spot cause I told you I check that sh*t. No, they said that the registration was expired for an entire year, which I find hard to believe. I'm working on figuring that one out. The reason they couldn't tell me that in the first place, when I called to report it stolen - was that it doesn't go into the system immediately, so the police just said, "Yeah, sure. It's stolen." Gee, thanks.

Also, the registration sticker on the back was ripped off. So THAT was stolen. I'm not surprised, it's happened to me before. People steal those stickers all the time, yes, even if you cut the sticker.

I don't care. I am relieved. I feel 100 times better and thanks for all the thoughtful comments. I started to panic earlier today when the Kid kept freaking everytime we left the car and telling me, "We can't go to the market, a stranger is going to stole the car!" ~sad~
More importantly HAHA Too will be home soon. Yay!
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GTA. Grand Theft Auto: City of Angels

The Kid: "Mommy...someone stolded, our car?"

I have lived in Los Angeles my whole life. I have never been mugged (I can't tell you how many people I know who have. Too many) I have never been stabbed while shopping at the mall (my mom was, last year), and I have never been punched in the face on the street (that happened to my co-worker, a girl).

Things that HAVE happened to me? I HAVE had a bum throw a cup full of soda at me. I HAVE been hit by a car while walking across the street. And now, I HAVE had my car stolen.

I kept standing there between the two cars, looking at the empty space and going, I know it's here...somewhere. I kept hoping that it was towed so that I'd have no one to blame but myself. No such luck. I am pretty diligent about reading all the signs before I park. I was surrounded by Beamers and Mercedes, but yes, go ahead and take my 7 year old Honda with the personalized plates and backseat full of kids stuff, cause you know I won't be needing that car seat to get my Kid home or nothing. Not only was the baby car seat in it, but my Kid's personalized backpack full of Thomas trains, the Baby's blanket, and oh yeah...HAHA T.O.O. Bye monkey. We will miss you.

It was also the coldest day in the history of the known universe, and the Kid and I both have freezer burn on our faces and hands from standing outside. And oh yeah, did I mention the old lady, O.G. was with us too? Yeah. Great. We were all at a restaurant for a wedding shower. So here I am with an 86 year old lady and the Kid, standing on the street in the freezing cold with no car. Thanks thieves, you guys are the best.

I know those things are replaceable. Yes, I know things could have been worse. But it's very hard to not feel angry and violated when your CHILDREN'S stuff is gone.

The Kid told me tonight, "Mommy? I think a stranger took HaHa T.O.O. I miss him."
That...made me cry.
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Harvey:"Me so horny. Me love you long tim." Pam: "Who's Tim?"

This Office episode was very good. It was all about love, so much so - maybe it should have been a Valentine's Day episode. I was sad to see Dwight quit, actually. That idiot Andy could have gone, I would have been fine with that. I really liked how the sales calls showed that the Scranton branch are very good at what they do. It was a very smart way to add to the character's personalities.

Also: 30 Rock is my most favoritest show in the whole world. Yes. More than the Office. I said it.

Tonight I realized that I only watch those two shows. I don't watch tv. I barely use my tivo. Therefore I never see commercials either. So when I was speeding through 30 Rock, I stopped. And there was McDonald's selling some weird ass 'middle of the cinnamon roll' breakfast thingie. Lately I have been craving cinnamon rolls like nobody's business, but a bowl full of the 'middle' of something sounds absolutely disgusting to me. I will pay the extra 50 cents for a bowl full of the outside of the food too, if that's what it takes, Ronald.

Pretty please? With sugar on top?

I know I keep asking for help/ideas/etc. lately, but this time I really need it. You had such excellent ice cream ideas, I'm sure you will help me with this problem. The Kid's birthday is coming up and I am supposed to bring something for his class to celebrate. NOT CAKE. NOT COOKIES. NOT CUPCAKES. Eh...wha?

Essentially they don't want the kids hopped up on sugar. I dig that, I mean, I don't have to stay with them all day, the teachers do. But what in the world am I supposed to make instead? They said, "...muffins?" Ew. I just picture toddlers sitting around poking at bran muffins with their plastic forks. Makes for not such a fun kid's bday party if you get my drift.

I would love to make these SUSHI CUPCAKES. How awesome are they? They are cupcakes, with candy. MMM. I'm sure that is wayyy not allowed.

I would really really love to make these Martha Stewart animal cupcakes. Again, the sugar content would kill a horse. However a three year old would probably be just fine. Horse = dead. Kid = alive and well.

I don't want to stay away from sugar entirely, but I don't want to make something blah. It's a 3 year-old's party for goodness sakes. I think I am still going to go with cupcakes, just not frosted up like crazy, you know? So I am asking you, any ideas? Anyone, anyone? Bueller, Bueller...?

*OH, and hey, I hear this is delurking week. So if you have never left a comment before, now's your chance. Lemme know how you got here and hopefully you'll stay a while. I'll bake cookies.

It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood, a neighborly day for a beauty.

I bought these new pull on boots from Naturalizer. They are leather, knee high, and have a 2"+ high heel, just how I like. They also have a fabric back, so you don't have that, 'damn I have fat calves and can't zip this sh*t up' kinda problem.

They must look good, cause today someone said I was 'sexy' and someone else said I looked 'cute.' Not bad, two compliments in 24 hours.

When I take the baby to daycare you are not allowed to wear shoes in the classroom. I get that, cause god knows what kind of slop you are dragging in there on the soles of your shoes.

Therefore, I wear flats into the school, then when I get back in the car, I change to heels. Oh, I also put on my sweater in the car cause it's darn hot carrying a 20 pound baby, a jacket, a diaper bag, his food and holding the hand of a toddler.
Oh.
And....jewelry.
I put on my jewelry in the car too, cause I don't want to the baby to get snagged on anything. Jeez. Now that I think about it, I must look like goddam Mr. Rogers, sitting in my car changing clothes every morning. God knows what the other parents are thinking.
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good vs. craptastic

Did you see it this morning? The clouds parted. The sun came through. The heavens opened up and there was singing. Yep, the kids went back to school today. Thank god. They are much better off without me around, let me tell you.

Lately something great has happened only to be followed by something that annoyed me. What's up with that? I decided to make a mental list in my head to keep tabs.

Things that annoy me:
1. If the sign says, "3 cars per green light" that does not mean, car number two - that you should stop and sit and wait for the next green light. It means you GO dumbass, because inevitably, I am always car number 3.

Things that amuse me:
2. Someone stopping me and asking me if my boys are TWINS.

Things that annoy me:
3. Sending out my brother's wedding invitations only to see that I got the date wrong. The year to be exact. I would like to kill myself now.

Things that amuse me:
4. The Kid telling me, "Mommy. I love you more than armpits."

Things that annoy me:
5. Not knowing how to change my work voicemail. Oh well, I'll just leave it as Lisa Gonzalez, cause it just means that I'll be getting less messages, thank god.

Things that amuse me:
6. Getting knitted strawberries in the mail. That is the awesomest of awesome.

Things that annoy me:
7. My Aunt telling me that I'd love Pinkberry, however she didn't bring me any, she just brought over the empty bag to show me.

Craptastic always wins. It hurts more. ~sigh~

Am I right? Am I wrong? Or am I just dreaming?

I always tell the Kid to have 'sweet dreams' before he goes to bed. My mom always told me that, and I guess it just stayed with me. Whenever I lay my head down at night, I always try to think of things that make me happy. It's a nice way to drift off to sleep.

When I tuck The Kid in bed, he gives me a list of demands: "Mommy. Kiss me. Hug me. Put my blanket on me. Tell me you love me." I swear to god. Every night. Suddenly he's a drill sergeant. I tell him to think of 'nice things'. He usually tells me it's cupcakes, Disneyland, or Nanette.

In the morning, when he wakes up, I ask him what he dreamt about. It's always the same. BOATS, boats and more boats. WTF with the boats? Is he going to be a spinach eating sailor man? I need to look up some dream analyzations for that schiznit. I half suspect he just tells me 'something' just to shut me up. "Yeah mom, I dreamt about...boats last night, yeah. That's it. Now where's my breakfast??"

Kevin: "I hear Angela’s party will have double-fudge brownies. It will also have Angela."

Ok, enough with the Vegan baking. To not use butter and eggs is a sin, I tell you. Plus no one wants to eat that crap when you tell them there's no butter in it, no matter how good it tastes. And I'm not one to sit around and convince your ass to eat my baking. So screw it.

As with everything I bake - I seal it for your protection. I mean, uh, for freshness. And of course I have to put a label on it. A cute one.

Back to basics - I *heart* bundt bakeware a little too much. So much so that I got the 'stadium' pan as a Christmas gift, but I found that unless you really get into the decorating, it just looks like a big 'ol bowl. So ferrgetit. I am very particular about my bakeware, so I returned it and got...THE CASTLE PAN. Oh yes. Anything architectural I will have in my hot little hands.

I made this plain boring cake recipe for O.G.'s bday. The woman adores white cake. She does not like flavor or something. Anyway, it came out cute as is. These pans are worth it to me cause they are NOT one hit wonders. I use the hell out of them. Last night I came across THIS ONE and I - must -have -it. It will be mine. Soon.

Castle Cake how-to, here.

Also: I saw THIS on the Williams-Sonoma website. Wow. Sprinkles has hit the big time now. They are good. That much is true. But as a baker, I am hardpressed to pay $3.50 for a cupcake.

Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.

O.G.'s 86th birthday is coming up this weekend. She insists she doesn't want a big deal, but if I know her, she'll want a steak. The woman loves meat. However...

O.G.: You know what I *LOVE*?
Jenn: "I have no idea."
O.G.: "Those brownies you make, with no eggs and no butter."
Jenn: "The vegan ones?"
O.G.: "Yes, the VEGAS ones. And I like those pumpkin oatmeal cookies."
Jenn: "Uh, they are vegan - and you do realize what that means don't you?"
O.G.: "Vegetarian?"
Jenn: "Um, kind of, but also, no eggs, dairy, meat...all the things you eat."
O.G.: "Oh god, why would I want to be one of those?"
Jenn: "That's what I'm saying. You'd stab a cow in the face if you could."
O.G.: "Don't I know it!"
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Is that a Muppet Babies tattoo?

Wow. That Office was...painful? In a lot of ways. That shot of Pam crying from the end of the hallway was really nice though. Camera work. It's a good thing.

To me the funniest thing was in the deleted scene up on nbc.com. Dwight says that Jim told him there was a meeting at 4am but he was the only one that showed up. That made me laugh out loud.

What's been on my mind most, lately? The lyrics to Beyonce's "Irreplaceable". I mean, if you can't rhyme anything with 'minute', maybe you should just rewrite that line rather than use the same word twice? Cause it's really annoying. You must not know 'bout me.

LINKaliciousand they be lining down the block just to watch what I got

I have been online shopping a lot lately. Meaning, "looking at crap on the internet and pretending I was buying it when I was just putting it in my virtual shopping cart and then closing the goddam window."

Here are some of the things I thought were cool:


Pig Baking Dish - Sur La Table
Dude. Check it. A pig. A baking dish. Totally awesome.


Hello Kitty apron - Sanrio
I don't usually cook with aprons, but I love this one. It features a VERY 70s H.K. design - the one I first remember seeing as a kid. The one that made me love the design and want to work for H.K. someday.


Scorpion Clip - Kate Spade
Believe it or not, I adore big jeweled pins, just like an old laydee. They look good on boucle suit jackets, just saying. Very vintage-y. This one's a hair clip, but can be made into a pin easily I am sure. I like it cause it's KILLER. If you don't like that, check this out, a mink bobby pin. Mink. Just like J-Lo's eyelashes, bitches!


stuffed donkey - auction
Myra HAND MAKES some awesome stuff. Just check out ALL THIS! She is auctioning off her little donkey - all proceeds go to benefit the Kim family, which is a good thing.


personalized silicone spatulas, pink - Williams Sonoma
Hell yes I want my name on them. What?

Also, thanks for all those ice cream ideas. Man, now I really don't know what kind to make. They all sound so good! I think I am going to go with a couple of 'base' ice creams then two or three 'specialty' ones. I'll let you know when I figure it all out. I'm sure I'll try some test runs. Come over and eat some, please.

Flava Flav!

I need big time help. I am planning an ice cream party for the Kid's upcoming birthday and I need some ideas for flavors. In the past I have made coffee toffee, green tea, lychee sorbet, and watermelon sorbet.

You will never guess what I got for Christmas - a soft serve ice cream maker, can you believe it? Just in time for the party. I am enlisting sko_G - fellow ice cream lover (just look at his freezer!!) to make chocolate ice cream - but coming out of this machine I fear it may look more like Unko Chan than I'd like. So we'll probably stick vanilla in there. Heh.

And get this, with all my ice cream eating of past, I think I now have...lactose intolerance. I feel barf-tastic when I eat ice cream lately, which saddens me, as my days of eating ice cream for breakfast, may be over. ~sniff~

Anyway, my brain is rattled (as usual of late), and I need ideas. So I want to know: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

It's not easy being green

Throwing parties gives me the opportunity to make little snacks. And by little I mean tiny. This year I decided to make little green tea cakes, filled with sweet red bean (an). My hopes were dashed when I opened my cabinet with no an to be found. There was certainly no way I was going to the Japanese market again. That place is hell on earth from Christmas to New Years.

Every New Year's is the same. People loading up on crazy ass things you only see once a year. I of course have no idea what these things are called so I usually grab a worker, point to someone else's cart and say, "Where's that?" One thing that EVERYONE buys is burdock root. And that is a seriously scary looking thing. It looks like a long skinny brown tree, and everyone has at least two in their cart at checkout. I refuse to cut and cook up a tree so I've never made it. My family loves to eat it, so they usually buy it premade or from the freezer section.

Back to my an-less cakes. I used my maccha roll cake recipe and adapted it to this petit four pan that my mom bought me at Surfas. It came out pretty cute. I bet they'd be perfect for showers, but after that last one, I don't think I'll be hosting one any time soon.

Green Tea Cake recipe, HERE.

Oshogatsu

As always New Years meaning cooking. I always wonder what other people (non-Japanese Americans) do on New Years Day. Recover from hangovers I suppose. I wake up early, turn on the Rose Parade and start my own parade of cooking non-stop.

People started coming around 11:30 - and by noon I had passed out. I was tired. I was only out an hour, but when I woke up, most of the food was eaten. So that's a good sign.

Tradition is a big thing of course, and you can't start off your morning unless you have a bowl of ozoni, Japanese New Year mochi soup. Everyone's soup is different, but mine must have been especially good this year, as O.G. downed four bowls of it. Well, at least she'll have good luck this year, or she'll be peeing like a racehorse tonight.

As you can tell we had A LOT of food. I am starting off this year FAT.

All New Year pictures, with food descriptions, HERE.