Make a move on me, baby I cant be the one who’s always taking chances
Another day, another 20th anniversary tour (@ Lodge Room)
The first time I saw Rooney was nearly two decades ago with an ex-boyfriend at a venue that doesn’t exist anymore. So much has changed since then, but I still go to shows as much as I can, and I still love the bands I loved twenty years ago (still waiting for that Hoobastank comeback tour!).
Conference season at work is so draining. I wish I was back at the beach with these clowns! I promise we did more than just lay in bed last weekend (we also ate pizza).
This is the last time I’ll forget you
I wish I could
I’ve seen Muse a few times in my life, but I haven’t been to a show of theirs in a decade! It was like seeing them for the first time all over again. Loved, loved, loved. Thanks Nori and Desi for the invite!
After my ceiling sprung several leaks, my landlord had our roof fixed and offered to remove that god awful popcorn ceiling. I even got him to remodel my bathroom and repaint my entire apartment while he was at it!
S/O to all those LA storms for making this home reno possible…
I’ve been off the grid for a few weeks while my place was getting renovated, but it was def worth the wait! Lots to catch up on (Shi’s wedding, Jessie’s birthday, and all the BBQ I ate in between), but first I gotta shower in my new tub and make my bracket picks…
What, you don’t have a fireplace in your office??? (@ SKX Advertising)
I need one of these in my apartment! It snowed in LA today, and I’m in bed under a korean blanket wearing two pairs of pants (that’s two more than I usually wear!).
Fuck, can I get pregnant from this??? (@ Slab BBQ)
Slab has been on my BBQ bucket list, but they usually sell out by the time I get off work. I’ve been sick at home for the past couple of days, so I finally went for lunch today. They usually don’t serve beef ribs on weekdays, but today was my lucky day! I’ve been following them on instagram since they sold BBQ out of their backyard, and their ribs and brisket were some of the best I’ve ever had! Def my new LA fave.
Just when I thought I couldn’t get any luckier, we were sitting outside Milk having dessert afterwards when WEEZER and Fred Armisen roll past us down Beverly Blvd on a flatbed performing Say It Ain’t So (my favoritest Weezer song EVER) like it’s no bigs! Only in LA…
Thanks to whoever gave me this nasty cough at work! If it weren’t for you, I would’ve never been in Fairfax in the middle of a Tuesday living my best life.
You guys, I have mattresses in every corner of my studio right now.
The memory foam mattress I bought last month is too firm, my old spring mattress is too soft, and the new hybrid mattress that got delivered today is just right!
I’m selling my memory foam mattress and giving away my old spring mattress. If anyone is interested, you should know that I live in a third floor walk-up. If you’re still interested, please hit me up on Let Go, Offer Up, or if you’re local, the Buy Nothing Redondo Beach (North) FB group. Get a mattress and earn a fitbit stair badge while you’re at it!
Me on day 4 after my ceiling sprung a massive leak:
Fortunately, it’s leaking above an area free of furniture, electronics, and my hand-tufted moroccan rug.
Unfortunately, it’s in the shape of a vagina and a literal stain on my apartment.
If anyone without a hole in their ceiling would like me to stay over tonight, you’ll be rewarded with good karma, leftover pizza from Valentino’s, and me without pants on.
NOTE TO SELF: 16-year-old artists have 16-year-old fans.
I’ll spare you the video and instead post this studio recording of my favorite Billie Eilish song (devoid of screaming teens in the background). You’re welcome.
When you call my name, do you think I’ll come running?
You never did the same, so good at giving me nothing
Jay and Pammie came up to LA for the day to see this beautiful broadway show. I don’t know if it’s the holidays, or my period, or the $300 I spent on my ticket… but Jesus, I got emotional.
Thanks to Jay for surprising us with souvenir mugs! And for refraining from singing along during the show (even though he proved on the drive there that he knew all the lyrics). I know how hard it was for him to confine that urge! Ha.
…or what you eat when your lunch buddy is observing lent (@ Hopdoddy Burger Bar)
If I didn’t know the Impossible Burger was plant-based, I would have never guessed it was meatless! And this is coming from a girl who loves her meat. I’m not about to give up ribs or anything, but it’s nice to know there’s a worthy (albeit pricey) alternative out there. We usually go to the farmers market for lunch on Fridays, and I could get four mexican hot dogs (and a stomachache) for the price of one burger. Def worth it, though.
The Fonda is across the street from the Shake Shack in Hollywood, so we skipped the headliner for a shack stack and some crinkle fries (yes, I have a problem).
There is a hell and it’s my apartment during the hottest heat wave in LA 🔥🔥🔥
I’ve been stuck at home with the flu for 4 days (I tried to go to work yesterday and they sent me back home!). I’ve gone through 2 seasons of Game of Thrones and 5 boxes of tissues (for all the sickness coming out of my nose and mouth, not the tears coming out of my eyes when Khal Drogo died—yes, I’m that far behind). I escaped to my parents’ air-conditioned house in SD for the holiday, and it took me 4 hours to get here in triple-digit weather. I guess everyone else had the same idea. Some of my relatives are staying at my parents’ house this weekend and they’re sick, too! Misery really does love company. And air-conditioning.
I thought it was too late in the year to buy a portable a/c unit, but climate change is real y’all. My windows don’t open, so it would have to be a sliding door unit. If anyone has any suggestions on brands/installation, please send them my way!
Museum day with Pammie and this clown (@ The Broad)
I went shopping for pillows, because I literally only have two in my apartment. My mom was like, what do your overnight guests use? I’m not sure who what she thinks I’m doing in LA, but my life isn’t as exciting as she thinks it is! Pammie and Shi slept over last weekend, and I didn’t have enough pillows for all of us, so my sister had to improvise with the teddy bear I got on Valentine’s Day! 😂 I made it up to her by taking them to Shake Shack twice that weekend. You’re welcome!
Just when I thought my week couldn’t get any worse 😩
My favorite wings EVER are from this Portland transplant. I thought that I had seen all I needed to see during my last two trips to Portland, but I have half a dozen reasons to go back now…
Pammie and I snagged tickets to the last day of LACMA’s Rain Room exhibit on LA’s rainiest day ever and got more wet outside than we did in the exhibit 🌧️🌧️🌧️
I think I might get married in this Lloyd Wright stunner. I just need to find a husband first! Just kidding (they also do baptisms, so a baby daddy will suffice).
I’ve wanted to see Radiohead live since I first heard Exit Music (For A Film) in the 9th grade. You guys, that was 20 years ago! Yikes.
I kind of expected them to stick it to LA and not sing Creep, but no Paranoid Android or Karma Police, either??? You’re killing me, Thom! OK Computer is my favorite album of theirs, so No Surprises was my favorite song of the night:
Sabrina and I got separated on the way back from seeing her favorite 80s band at the pier. They cut off the line for the metro after she got on, and she turned around just in time to see me mouth, “I have your keysssssss!” from outside the train as it pulled away from the platform. I waited 15 minutes for the next train with these kids who were discussing the ending of Lost (that I had somehow avoided finding out for the past six years in futile hopes that I would start watching the show someday). They got on the train with me, and I missed my stop because I was too preoccupied listening to them ruin the endings of shows I’ve never seen. I got off at the next stop and tried to text Sabrina that I had to wait another 15 minutes for a westbound train, but her phone was in my bag, too! I thought she would for sure push me onto the tracks once I finally arrived at the station half an hour after she did, but she was just happy that I was okay. She even brought me pastries from Uplifters Kitchen today as a thank you for the pizza I brought for us to share at the beach!
Remember that name. He’s gonna be big! Also, he liked my video, so I can die now, obvs. Please invite him to my funeral. And request that he sing this Sam Cooke cover ♥
Live from the Artists Den: Young the Giant (@ El Rey Theatre)
When your sister, your cousin and Baberaham one of your best friend’s husbands enter a contest for you to win tickets to see your favorite band’s secret show, you know you’re loved… especially when one of them wins and they take you as their guest! Young the Giant was just as good as the first time I dragged everyone to go see them five years ago! They’re coming back to LA in October, but I’m considering missing their show to go on a trip with Shi to NYC instead. I don’t even know who I am anymore.
Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opens next week, but Pammie, Shi and I were able to attend a sneak preview. I’ve only seen a few of the movies, but I went partly because two of my favorite Potterheads were in town, and mostly because I was promised butterbeer. Shit was magical. Check it out if you’re in LA with $115 to spare.
My favorite wings EVAR are from Pok Pok in Portland, and now they’re in LA! If you didn’t have a reason to visit me before, I can give you half a dozen now…
My mom and my sister visited me in LA this weekend, and we had Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And since that wasn’t Asian enough, we took pictures of our food and posted it on instagram.
@hotxtea‘s yarn art installation can be found over the pedestrian bridge just north of the pier. It’s def worth checking out before the city takes it down!
I don’t know what’s sadder—is it that part of my job as a web designer at Skechers involves creating e-blasts for the cafe inside our office building (how else would you know that tomorrow’s special is chicken tikka masala?!), or that while googling BBQ photos to use for their 4th of July special, I immediately recognized this spread from Smoke City Market???
If you’re looking for the key to my heart, a platter of smoked BBQ beef ribs will unlock all the mysteries.
Highlight of my day: After lunch with my coworkers @ Pitfire, the cute cashier slipped me a free jumbo chocolate chip cookie on my way out.
I met up with my coworkers outside afterwards, thrust my cookie in the air and was all like, “FREE COOKIE, BITCHES!” Our excitement was short-lived, though. When we got back to my car, I had two parking tickets—one for an expired meter (my friend paid the wrong one) and another for not having a front license plate (I mean, if my car was meant to have one, it would have come with holes drilled in it).
I owe the City of Manhattan Beach $96 for that free cookie!
The last time Deane and I tried to eat Churro Borough, they sold out at the pop-up they were having at our beloved Ramekin (RIP!). Now that they’ve set up a brick and mortar at Ramekin’s old spot, they’re even more popular! Hopefully we’ll get to have churro ice cream sandwiches again before we’re on social security.
Jon Favreau and Roy Choi hosted an El Jefe pop-up from one of my favorite movies tonight! Chef was everything, and so was this sandwich (and so was this soundtrack!).
Make a donation of $10 or more to sponsor my participation in San Diego Humane Society’s Walk for Animals and receive a bag of homemade beer bones made with repurposed spent grain locally sourced and generously donated by LA craft brewery, Progress Brewing!
You can donate HERE. Please put your address in the “Personal Note to Walk Participant” field if you want dog treats. If you’re in LA or SD, I can probably just meet up with you 🙂
I battle my obvious love of dogs on a daily basis.
I can’t watch a cute puppy video on youtube without clicking on all the related videos. Next thing I know, I’ve lost three hours of my life watching 103 videos in a puppy surprise playlist and have been crying for at least two of those hours. Just kidding. (I cried for all three.)
When Pammie asked if I wanted to do a walk for animals, I immediately said yes without knowing any details other than dogs were somehow involved. Her office organizes this huge fundraiser that includes a bake sale where homemade dog treats are sold for donations, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to combine my love for dogs with my love for baking and get involved.
I reached out to some local LA craft breweries, and Progress Brewing in El Monte was generous enough to donate some spent brewing grain towards my cause. I drove out to what the dude described as “east of east los” with nothing but a 5-gallon bucket and a friend to witness my death in case the dude chopped me up into little pieces and dumped my body in the mash tun (I did meet him on the internet, after all).
Kevin, the co-owner of Progress Brewing, was actually a really nice guy. He asked if I preferred “Black IPA” or “American Red” doggy biscuits! Ha. I went with American Red, obvi, since I’m not a fan of IPAs. Dogs are also allergic to hops, so if you’re going to repurpose spent grain, make sure the brewery didn’t mash hop the batch you’re getting.
It’s best to use the spent grains within the first few days after brewing, otherwise they’ll go bad. I used a FoodSaver and froze them in portion-sized bags for storing and later use, since they gave me around 40 pounds of grain.
Here’s a simple, all-natural recipe if you want to try making these at home:
Ingredients:
4 cups spent grain
2 cups organic barley flour
1 cup natural peanut butter
2 organic eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients and mix with your hands until a thick dough forms. Roll out the dough on a generously floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters like this cute dog bone.
Line the biscuits on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 225 degrees and continue baking for 2 hours. Cooking them the additional time at the lower temperature will help ensure they dry completely, extending their shelf life.
The dried biscuits will keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container and even longer if you freeze them in zipper bags. You can give them to your dogs straight from the freezer as a cool summer treat, or, if you’re in LA, in the dead of winter when it’s 90 degrees out!
He took me to Home Deeps to get a tire pressure gauge and made sure my car was safe to drive, but he also took me to Compton to get BBQ for dinner. Idk if he wants me to live or die, tbh.
My favorite place in LA is closing for good this weekend, so I had to go there one last time before I went home for the holidays. Deane and I cried into our last chocolate bread puddings ever, and then we ate our tears (@ Ramekin)
