This B-sian doesn’t have Monday off for MLK 😅

I had a v productive day today.

I spent my morning in urgent care to make sure my wound wasn’t serious and my leg isn’t going to fall off. I spent $50 and an hour in a waiting room full of sick, crying children (my worst nightmare!) for the doctor to tell me that my leg is healing properly. She also prescribed me some preventative antibiotics. I e-mailed my boss earlier to let her know I’d be out today and attached a picture of my bloody leg. She was like, ‘Why are our legs the same color? Work-from-home white!’ Way to kick me when I’m down 😂

Afterwards, I had lunch with Nori at Northern Cafe. We were supposed to go to Mendocino Cafe, but I missed a turn 🤪

Clearwater at South Bay is accepting donations to help those in need during the LA fires, and Torrance is much closer to me than where I was originally gonna drop off at the Y in Koreatown, so I dropped off my goods there. They were amazed at all the dog and cat food I gave. I felt like Cher in Clueless 😆

I’m also a monthly donor to the ASPCA. The animals need me!

On my way back home, I saw this guy in my rearview driving behind me smiling taking a picture of the back of my car. These bumper stickers make me laugh, and I love when they put a smile on other people’s faces 😊

To everyone who has checked on me since the fires started in LA, you the real MVPs 🥹

To everyone else…

Respectfully, of course.

Live music and vino??? Yes, please.

But also…

*knees crack like a glowstick*

Get you a work bestie who makes you shrimp ceviche, gives you grain-free tortilla chips because she cares about your health, chops up celery because she knows you hate cutting vegetables or doing any meal prep, and makes you get hydrogen peroxide on your lunch break so you can properly clean your wounds 😆

My phone died last night after my sister and friends went back to San Diego, and I fell asleep at 8pm 👵🏻 Pammie can’t track me or get my blood sugar readings when my phone’s dead, so she thought I was dead when she couldn’t get any readings. To be fair, I lost a lot of blood after I fell at the beach LOL. She was about to call Nori to do a wellness check! 😅 Nori was the one who took me to the hospital after I had my stroke, and my sister is happy I have someone looking after me in LA. I’m lucky to have such a good friend ✨

Shi couldn’t celebrate my birthday with me this year, so she doordashed me some breakfast from King’s Hawaiian 😋🤙🏼

I like to spend my birthday surrounded by wieners, HBU? (@ Puppies & Yoga)

We ate at Food Network’s Brooke Williamson’s beachside restaurant, Playa Provisions. Proceeds from their fish tacos went to wildfire relief, so of course that’s what I ordered. It was delicious!

Pop-prosecco? Yes, please.

I hardly ever go to the beach, even though I live literally 2 miles from the ocean on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Donna & David happened to be in town for a wedding this weekend, and as San Diegans who moved to the east coast after high school, they like to go to the beach whenever they’re back in California.

I live at least an hour south of any of the fires burning in LA right now. You can’t see the smoke from here, but you can smell it in the air, and my car’s covered in ash. We didn’t see any smoke on the way up to West Hollywood for puppy yoga, but we did see this injury lawyer billboard 😆

‘Go to the beach,’ they said. ‘It’ll be fun,’ they said.

Pardon my ashy white legs LOL, I had a little accident and slipped on some rocks 😅

Fun Fact: I’ve always wanted to be Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice for Halloween.

I instacarted some non-perishables and necessities for families and pets who have been displaced due to the fires. The YMCA in Koreatown is accepting donation drop-offs.

Pammie collected money from the girls and got me an awesome Moo Deng shirt that I wore to puppy yoga, and had leftover money, so I said to just donate it to one of these major organizations accepting monetary donations for the wildfires: LAFD, American Red Cross, Direct Relief, World Central Kitchen, or the Salvation Army. They need it more than I do. Please give what you can 🥺

I hate it here ✌🏼

Update: Just me and my ex-boyfriend planning our demise. Catch you on the flippity flip 👋🏼

I was going to spend my birthday eating my way through Smorgasburg LA, but it’s been canceled 🥺

If my puppy yoga class is also canceled in West Hollywood this Sunday, I will riot 😅

JK, I hope everyone continues to be safe 💔

Cody Fry – Symphony

I used to hear a simple song
That was until you came along
You took my broken melody
And now I hear a symphony

I was going to kick off my birthday weekend by crying downtown tonight (what else is new?), but the concert I was supposed to attend has been postponed due to the state of emergency in LA 🥺

I just got a Teams invite for a 1-on-1 performance review meeting with my new VP next week. Guys, I haven’t had a performance review in over 10 years. In the advertising department, they would just give us annual raises and bonuses without telling us. When I was on medical leave for 6 months after my stroke, I just happened to be looking at my bank account and I’m like, ‘Where did all this money come from?’ and it turns out I got a raise and a bonus and I didn’t even know. I just recently looked at my profile on Workday, and saw that my salary is way more than I thought it was, so I thought maybe I already got my raise? But doesn’t that usually happen after your performance review in the regular corporate world? I only met the VP once at a departmental meeting last year, so I’m nervous.

Also, a few of my coworkers are out because of the fires, and I just ate a Factor meal for dinner, but I doordashed some Pinkberry because I’m stress-eating.

Uhh, should I put some pants on? 😅

Update: False alarm. Get it together!

Now I really feel like an asshole 😅

Jeffrey’s dad was evacuated from Altadena (north of Pasadena) early in the morning yesterday. Luckily, he’s okay, but I can’t say the same about his neighborhood.

LA is huge and the most populous county in the United States (nearly 10 million people—its population is greater than that of 40 individual U.S. states!). I’m very far from any of the fires ripping through LA right now, so I’m okay. This is like when my mom asks me to bring home a dozen potato balls from Porto’s when I visit SD. She thinks that since I live in LA, I’m close to everything in LA. It takes me an hour to get to the closest Porto’s after work on a Friday night! She’s lucky I love potato balls her.

Stay safe, LA…

Actual footage of me driving through this ‘life-threatening’ wind storm in LA today:

Update: OK now I feel like an asshole because this wind storm is causing devastating fires across LA 😅 It’s a good thing Steve Guttenberg was in all those Police Academy movies 😆

Update: Thanks to everyone for checking on me… even just to make sure that I’m not secretly fucking someone in the Palisades 😅 You have a secret lover for five years once and no one ever lets you forget it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My old ass didn’t make it to midnight on NYE, so I didn’t see this until today. I immediately sent it to my friend and was like, ‘What in the default font is this bullshit?’

Earlier today, I just told one of our web designers to change the font they used on an email they designed, because it looked like a default font like Myriad. You never choose that font on purpose, it’s like it defaulted to Myriad because they didn’t have the font it was supposed to be instead.

I was catching up on my DMs, and saw that another friend of mine sent me this same video because they know I’m a typography nerd 🤓

I was once at the (now closed) Museum of Broken Relationships in Hollywood, and this exhibit really resonated with me.

After a relationship ends, even the most mundane objects can become painful reminders. At the Museum of Broken Relationships, everyday stuff was submitted anonymously and exhibited as art along with each object’s story of betrayal or loss. The result was a moving collection of heartbreak.

This guy met a girl in a graphic design class, and she used a ridiculous font, Davida, for her first project. He started seeing this same ridiculous font used everywhere from El Torito, to Café Du Monde packaging to a barbershop in Santa Monica. He couldn’t escape it. It became a game in their relationship, and they started collecting items they found using Davida font. They’ve since broken up, but he still sees Davida everywhere and knows all the streets he could drive down (or avoid) in LA to see signs using Davida font. He still thinks about that girl and what could’ve been.

It’s been nearly a decade, and I still think about this exhibit 💔

People at work kept messaging me ‘Happy Birthday’ today, because they have the date wrong on a department flyer that went out on Teams. It is not my birthday, but it is my 12-year work anniversary today 😵‍💫 Whoever made this flyer mixed up the dates. See the shit I’ve been dealing with for the past 12 years? 😆

During the pandemic, I got the squirrels in my parents’ backyard a little picnic table and set up a video camera so we could watch them eat the unsalted nuts we’d leave out for them. Aside from Tiger King, it was my quarantainment 😆

I got my dad a Birdbuddy (a smart bird feeder with a camera and solar roof) and a bag of bird seed for Christmas, and we set it up yesterday. We got our first visitor today 🥰

My sister’s husband heard me losing my shit over the bird videos, and he was like, ‘Please get a dog already!’ I applied to adopt this pup last week at The Labelle Foundation (a rescue in LA). His post has over 5,000 likes, so I was probably one of hundreds of applicants. I haven’t heard anything back 😔

My boss, Gaye, is on vacation, so I’m Gaye this week 😆 She always puts me in charge when she’s out because I’m the most senior designer after her.

One of our project managers had to ask the retouchers to do a small edit. Their director e-mails us back, and CC’s our boss, saying we need to include the original file in future requests. First of all, we had to do some digging for the original file, because the designer is also out today. Second of all, give the project manager a little grace, it was her first time e-mailing you, and you didn’t need to CC her boss. Third of all, how dare you? 😆

Another time, the requestors were openly talking shit about one of our designers, and even though I agreed she was a horrible designer LOL (who no longer works here), it was like when someone talks shit about your family, like I’m allowed to, but you’re not! I will go mama bear on your ass. I ain’t the one 😆

Shi wants to spend her birthday sound bathing at the Integratron, so we’re gonna spend a wellness weekend in Joshua Tree next month. I haven’t been to this place in nearly 8 years, and I can’t wait to go back ✨

It’s Filipino tradition to consume 13 round fruits on New Year’s for prosperity.

Christine also told me that it’s Filipino superstition that if I go to bed with my hair still wet from taking a shower, I’ll go blind LMAO, so IDK what to believe 🤣

I made some P.F. Chang’s copycat chicken lettuce wraps in case this party wasn’t Asian enough.

At our last holiday party, my 18-year-old cousin’s boyfriend was excited to see what desserts I made. He told my cousin, ‘She’s the one who made the cinnamon rolls at the last party!’ and she was like, ‘How do you even know that?!’ I’m hoping to start another fight with these Golden Grahams s’mores bars 😆

One of my earliest memories is of my grandma making mochi on NYE. It’s an Asian tradition that’s supposed to bring good luck for the year to come. I made some this year in her memory ♥️

I found out that the party I’m going to tonight doesn’t start till 8pm! Last year, I celebrated NYE east coast time and was in bed by 9:30pm.

Actual footage of me, my sister and her husband @ 9pm PST:

(via @ilovebobah)

I remember one NYE, I was throwing up well after midnight into the morning at my friend’s house after drinking too much whiskey and I thought I was gonna die. I used to be fun 😅

Happy New Year from this old broad 👵🏻

KBBQ, cackles, Cheetahs and crack for Pammie’s birthday 😆 (@ SOT Korean BBQ)

(via @missoneil)

My family understood the assignment 🎁

My family always asks me to make an invitation whenever we have a party. Have you guys ever heard of that free service called Evite? 😆

Spoiler alert: I’m the fun aunt.

The loudest, most intense game of LCR I’ve ever played. If your family doesn’t gamble at holiday parties, are you even Asian???

$60 and several loud environment sound alerts later, that’s a wrap on Christmas ✌🏻

When I do go to church (CEO status – Christmas and Easter only), I go with my family to Bonita Valley Community Church. It’s a lot more entertaining and livelier than the catholic churches I went to as a kid. I’ve seen a rotation of singers throughout the years, but there’s an older man who’s been there since we started going. He has a beautiful voice and plays the guitar also. I noticed he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, and I leaned over to my sister and was like, ‘He’s not married. Do you think he’s gay?’ Then I was like, ‘Is that what people wonder about me when they find out I’m in my 40s and not married???’ And Pammie was like, ‘I don’t think anyone has ever mistaken you as gay.’

Anyway, Merry Christmas from this strictly dickly old broad 👵🏻

• TOPS Malibu New Year Wish Sparkler
• Lost Farm Cherry Lime Chews
• Sugarfina Mistletoe Kisses
• Chuao Chocolatier Snuggle Up S’mores Mini Bars
• See’s Candies Scotchmallow Trees
• Christmas Hot Chocolate Drink Bombs
• Reese’s Christmas Chocolate Peanut Butter Trees
• Christmas Rudolph Trail Mix
• Kit Kat Christmas Milk Chocolate Wafer Candy Miniatures
• Hershey’s Kisses Christmas Milk Chocolate
• Christmas Milk Chocolate Stocking Stuffer
• Hershey’s Kisses Christmas Grinch Milk Chocolate
• Skittles Littles Stocking Stuffer
• Pelon Pelo Rico

Nothing humbles you more than a 2000s themed 21st birthday party where everyone was born after you graduated high school. Pammie wore her *NSYNC shirt, and I was gonna wear my old New Found Glory or Hoobastank shirt from the early 2000s, but thought I’d further date myself with this Oregon Trail shirt.

It took me a while to get my life together in LA. I had to make sure I had everything I needed before Christmas because I’m planning on staying in SD till New Year’s. By the time I started heading down, it took me 4 hours to drive down to SD. I was too tired to go to the party, so I just doordashed some Taco Bell and fell asleep with half a chalupa next to my face 😆

Pammie said a lot of the guests were wearing Juicy Couture tracksuits, something I never wore, not even in the 2000s.  It did remind of a funny story when someone I knew wore Juicy Couture track pants out, and didn’t realize she had them on backwards, so the big ass ‘JUICY’ was emblazoned across her vageen instead of her butt 🤣

On Late Night with Conan O’Brien, he used to have a segment called ‘In the year 2000‘ where he and his guests would make predictions for the future (i.e. they predict that in the year 2000, the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox will meet at the World Series… up in the bleachers where they’ll have a great view of the Yankees and Braves LOL). He continued to do this bit after the year 2000, and this was peak Conan.

My work bestie’s mom is Mexican, and they taught me how to make tamales for the holidays 🥰

Her dog was wearing an Ohtani Dodgers jersey. I’ll allow it, partly because her dad is Japanese, but mostly because Kona gave me all the cuddles.

Thank you, Ohtomos! I had such a great time.

We get it—you’re rich. The spoiled kids that go to the high school I drive by every day in Manhattan Beach have better cars than me: Teslas, Mercedes, BMWs, Audis. When I was 16, I drove a third generation Toyota Camry on its last legs. My sister drove it before me, and my mom before her. My parents had money, but were big believers in you earn what you get. My dad made me get a job when I was 15, and I’ve been working ever since. I can afford to get a nice ass car now, but I’d rather spend my money elsewhere, like vacations and flying first class ✈️ So I’ll just keep driving around in my 10-year-old Mazda hatchback until I’m forced to get a new car.

Whenever I see a light gray car, I’m like, ‘Ugh, I hate that color.’ One of my ex’s would rather work on cars than spend time with me, and the color reminds me of primer and it’s triggering 😅 I really don’t care what kind of car you drive. I’d prefer you drove a stock, unassuming car that no one pays attention to. If I ever got hit by a car, I’d probably just be able to tell you what color it was and that’s it. I wouldn’t be able to provide you with the make or the model, because it’s not something I care about. I’d make a horrible eye witness 🤪

When your sister’s birthday is the week before Christmas and she’s a Potterhead ⚡

Remember that show Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Nickelodeon in the 90s? My sister and I would always reference this one episode and say, ‘I’m cold’ just like this dead kid from the show. I was hanging out with Alicia maybe 10 or more years ago, and she said, ‘I’m cold’ just like the dead kid and my eyes got big like saucers. ‘Is that from Are You Afraid of the Dark?!’ I’d never met anyone before that got my reference. It was in that moment that I knew we’d be best friends for life LOL.

Anyway, last full moon of the year tonight and it’s called ‘Cold Moon’ 🥶

Are you even friends if you don’t coordinate your outfits??? 😜

(@ LA Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. LIVE)

Who needs a Christmas tree when you can just throw some fairy lights on a fiddle leaf fig bush?

You know you live in LA when free parking is a gift 🎁

Baby boy had his first chicken adobo last night, and I wanted to be just like him, so I made some for dinner, except I ate it with hella rice (it’s raining today and I’m carboloading to keep warm—is that how it works?).

You’ll be the saddest part of me
A part of me that will never be mine
It’s obvious
Tonight is gonna be the loneliest

I do a lot of things by myself and it usually doesn’t bother me—I live alone, go grocery shopping alone, go to John Mayer concerts alone LOL.

I flew by myself once on Valentine’s Day, and when I was already seated, the flight attendant was like, ‘Are you flying alone?’ I was like, ‘Uh, yes’ and he was like, ‘Do you mind sitting over here so this couple can sit together?’ I’m like, ‘First of all, yes, I mind, and second of all, it’s a fucking 45-minute flight. I think they can manage sitting apart from each other for an hour.’ JK, I totally moved, but only because I was in a middle seat and I was promised a window seat 😆

Over the weekend, I had dinner with my sister and her husband + the bestie’s family for her daughter’s 21st birthday. There was 9 of us total, so 8 of them got the chef’s special (soup, a shared appetizer and an entree). You can only order the chef’s special in pairs, and I was the odd man out as usual, so I just ordered off the regular menu.

Last night, I had a pair of tickets to finally see Chino at The Observatory North Park, but I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to go with me. Usually I’d rally and go by myself, but it was a Sunday night, and I had to drive back up to LA after. I work from home, so I could’ve stayed in SD, but I like working in my underwear being in my own space.

I remember when Shi’s husband was talking to my sister’s husband at a party, taking in the craziness around him,  and he was like, ‘I wished I met Shi sooner. So I could have had all this with her longer.’ When we told Shi what he had said, she was like, ‘He could’ve had all this sooner!’ 🤣 She liked him for years before he asked her out. Years, y’all. He just wasn’t ready yet.

Anyway, my life is not a movie, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that it may not be in the cards for me. I’d rather be alone than be with someone who treats me like shit or someone mediocre who doesn’t light my heart on fire ✌🏼

Actual footage of me waiting for the lion 😅💀

If you thought I was gonna make cookies for National Cookie Day, you weren’t wrong. It would’ve been easier to grab some cookies from Crumbl, but I wasn’t into their selection this week.

I followed this recipe and they were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made yet. The sea salt and chocolate combo is *chef’s kiss* 🍪

This tracks. Can’t wait to see Chino this weekend 🖤

I am much too sensitive to do this Suspect Challenge, but I love watching other people get roasted. I can name a few people who would absolutely roast my ass—my sister’s husband, my dead grandma on my mom’s side (ok, on my dad’s side, too LOL), and Christine’s kid, Zoey. She once told our friend (who’s a girl), ‘I like your mustache!’ so I always make sure my shit’s threaded and on point if I know that crazy 6-year-old is gonna be there 😅 She really knows how to humble the shit of you.

Here for the sides ✌🏻

They call me ‘Salami Mami’ (JK, no one calls me that LOL).

My friend told me once that giving birth to her kids ruined her tits and her nipple to breast ratio. I was like, ‘Are they like a pepperoni on an english muffin?’ and she was like, ‘More like a salami on a Ritz cracker!’ 😅 So now I can’t make a charcuterie board without thinking about her big ass salami nipples 🤣

I love Rice Krispie Treats. I used to pick up a Marshmallow Dream Bar whenever I’d go to Starbucks and wash it down with a venti Pink Drink. Nowadays, Nori makes me get an unsweetened iced green tea from Starbucks after splitting a donut from Randy’s. What has become of my life???

Anyway, I thought I’d indulge a little for the holidays with these Fall Leaves Rice Krispie Treats 🍁

Pumpkin pie hack: I got a big ass pumpkin pie from Costco, used a biscuit cutter to cut out individual servings, and topped them with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. Adorable!

My sister’s husband braved Costco, and I instacarted everything else I needed.

Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Grandma’s birthday, or a Thursday, I always make Furikake Chex Mix.

I will always pick a regular potato over a sweet potato, except when it’s baked into a casserole with candied pecans and covered with marshmallows.

My cousin’s wife’s name is ‘Kass,’ and she says it’s short for ‘Kassandra,’ but he tells people it’s short for ‘Casserole’ 🤣

Did they not have PF Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps at the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Mass?

If your family doesn’t gamble at holiday parties, are you even Asian???

My cousin threw a pool party for her 11-year-old son’s birthday today in San Diego. I spent the morning gathering all my shit because I planned on staying in SD for the week for Thanksgiving. The party started at 1pm, but I didn’t leave LA till 2pm, so didn’t get there till 5pm. I showed up 4 hours late wearing my bathing suit and ready to jump in the pool. The sun had already gone down, and the kids already went swimming (apparently I didn’t get the memo that none of the adults were swimming 😅). They heated the pool for me, and the kids got to go swimming a second time. Since I was the only adult in the pool with the kids, I made sure they all knew how to swim first before enjoying the jets and hard seltzers in the jacuzzi 😜

The bestie asked if she could call me this morning, and I knew something was wrong because she never calls, always texts. I think the last time we spoke on the phone was when her grandma died a few years ago. She calls me and tells me she got diagnosed with breast cancer 😔 She is my third good friend that has gotten breast cancer in the past five years. We used to joke that there was something in the water at our high school (my two friends who got breast cancer went there, and we know some other classmates who have also gotten various cancers) but Alicia didn’t go to my high school. I’m starting to think the common denominator is me 😅 Anyway, please keep her in your prayers 🙏🏼 She has an appointment this Tuesday to discuss stage and treatment. I’m hoping they caught it early, and she beats this just like my other dear friends who kicked cancer’s ass 💕

They found the lump during a routine mammogram, so please get your breasts checked regularly. I had my first mammogram last year, and when I saw my primary care physician this year, I asked her if I should do it annually. She said that my breasts were squishy and not very dense, so it was very easy to see there was nothing wrong during my first screening, and I don’t have to do one every year. So yay for squishy bewbies 🎉

I have no debt and no kids, and my job allows me to afford the lifestyle I’ve grown accustomed to 😅 In the end, you can only depend on yourself, and I’ve never wanted to be financially dependent on someone else, especially a man ✌🏻

Also, if these frequent earthquakes are an indication that the big one is coming, I should probably start wearing pants.

*types in underwear*

I haven’t had soda since the stroke, but I used to drink three cokes over an hour lunch with Nori, followed by a venti Pink Drink from Starbucks that I would finish before even going back home. Sugary drinks didn’t used to affect me back then. Nowadays, if I’m not drinking water, I’ll have an iced coffee or alcohol (only drinks with a purpose LOL). We were having lunch earlier this week, and of course I just got a water. We split a combo which came with a drink, so Nori got a soda. There was a beverage station next to us with various lemonades and fruit punch Kool-Aid. I was like, ‘If I were you, I’d get some of that Kool-Aid and add a splash of Sprite!’ She let me smell her cup before she drank it 🤪 What has become of my life???

If I could’ve given birth to you when I was in high school, you’re much too young for me 😅

File under: Questions I ask myself on the regular.

(via @tracytalkspodcast)

6’2″ is my sweet spot, but the taller a guy is, the more concessions I will make 😅

(via @localspookydude)

✌🏻

Before my department joined the Digital group and had a Teams meeting last month, I hadn’t had a meeting since 2020. I haven’t even met most of my web team because they started after the pandemic. I want to make a good impression at our in-office meeting tomorrow, and my anxiety is through the roof, so I’ll probably take an extra dose of Prozac 😅

I’m really self-conscious about my voice. My speech was altered after the stroke. I worked with a speech therapist for a few months, but it wasn’t covered by my insurance, so it was $100 out-of-pocket per weekly session! I definitely sound better almost two years later, but my speech is still delayed and some people have a hard time understanding me. After the stroke, I sounded like Marge from The Simpsons, but now my voice sounds something more akin to Squirt from Finding Nemo 😅 Other than my voice, you can’t really tell I had a stroke. I have a hard time writing by hand and opening jars LOL, but I can still walk, drive, type, photoshop, etc.

Most people don’t know I had a stroke, and I always feel compelled to explain why my voice is like this when I meet new people or haven’t seen someone since before the stroke.

I have a friend in public health who has been WFH since 2020 (with the occasional in-office executive meeting), who got a new VP who believes face-to-face is better. She’s being required to go in 3x a week now (people managers 5x a week—her old boss quit as soon as the new VP announced the requirement). She’s allowed to pick which 3 days she’s in office (which tells me being in-office is arbitrary, because her team won’t all be in-office on the same days), and people who live too far to come in (whether they moved or got hired after the pandemic) will be out of a job and given a severance package, but must continue working there for the next few months to get that severance until the requirement is in effect. She’s a high performer, but the reason she’s so good is because she WFH—she’s able to attend zoom meetings at 6am with Europe and 6pm with Japan, all while being supermom to her three young kids. Another friend of mine works at UCSD and has a hybrid schedule, so has to go in a couple days a week and had to hire a nanny to watch the baby she had last year. My friend who works in the print department at my work has to come into the office every day, and she lives in OC! So me having to go into the office once a month for this digital summit is no bigs.

(via @littlefenders)

Update: I was anxious over nothing. The meeting was only an hour and a half, and the VP took the web team out to lunch at North Italia afterwards. Since some complained that the presentation shown on the TV was too small, the sound wasn’t loud enough, and parking sucked, the VP suggested the next monthly meeting be held in a private event space up the street at Topgolf! Now that’s a meeting I could get behind…

Hey, do you wanna come over
I got a record to play ya
Like back in the day

311 dropped their new album today, and I haven’t listened to them since I’d make custom Nokia ringtones to their songs in the early 2000s 😅

What I can appreciate about a band like 311, is that, like Red Hot Chili Peppers, they haven’t changed their sound since they were popular 20 years ago. I heard this new title track on KROQ today, and I couldn’t tell if it was an old or new song.

You live too far away
Your voice rings like a bell anyway
Don’t give up your independence
Unless it feels so right
Nothing good comes easily
Sometimes you’ve got to fight

Random Fact: Nick Hexum (311’s lead singer) dated Nicole Scherzinger for 4 years and wrote Amber while he was with her.

I read some other unsavory details about Nick when I went down the google rabbit hole. Never google your heroes, folks.

311 was at Innings Fest this past year, but they were on earlier in the day, so we missed their set. I’ll be out of the country during Innings Fest next year, so I’ll have to miss Incubus, Fall Out Boy, The Black Keys, Beck, Neon Trees, Gary Clark Jr. and The Kills, among others (all of whom I’ve seen live before, but it’s been at least 10 years for most of them).

(via @parker.carbone)

(via @JoshuaMoore831)

Beaver Moon and last full supermoon of the year tonight ✨

This screaming beaver is all of us 😆

When your coworker just gets you 🖤

Coffee in a skeleton cup because I brought my Starbucks cup back to LA with me and forgot it up there.

We got our covid and flu vaccines a few weeks ago and it took both my sister and her husband out, but I had zero negative side effects as I usually do with any vaccines or drugs. When Pammie was like, ‘IDK why Mayan never feels anything after vaccines,” Dennis was like, ‘It’s because she’s dead inside.’ I mean, he ain’t wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Welp, I’ve got no kids, and the unsweetened almond milk I put in my cold brew every morning is shelf-stable.

We (just barely) survived the four years Trump was elected before, we’ll survive the next four…

If not, I have a friend and old coworker who’s a digital nomad. She works completely remote (like I have for nearly 5 years now), so has spent the past year living abroad. The only downside is she has to work US (PST) hours, so depending where she is, her schedule could be completely out of wack. I looked into countries with digital nomad visas. Thailand seems the most lucrative with their visa being good for up to 5 years. Being out of the country for the duration of Trump’s entire presidency, plus I get to see Moo Deng??? Win-win ✌🏻

(via @mcfamliife)

…or me doing an everyday task and thinking about the roadkill I saw on the freeway last week.

me: OMG! That was a dog!
Pammie: Are you crying???
me: No 😭
Pammie: (trying to make me feel better) I think that was a raccoon…
me: But I like raccoons 😭😭😭

After the stroke, I was staying at my sister’s and Christine came by to walk with me. I was still rebuilding my stamina, so we paused on the way back at a bench around the corner. This big ass raccoon came out of nowhere. He looked like Rick from Shirt Tales, and I’m pretty sure he waved at me. I’ve never seen Christine run so fast 😂

Sometimes when I’m sad (all the time), I make myself sadder by watching this video of a raccoon trying to eat cotton candy:

Also, on this one episode of Chopped, one of the secret basket ingredients was a whole ass suckling goat, and when they took that baby goat out of the basket, I changed the channel and cried LOL. I still think about it from time to time and get misty eyed.

I’m back in SD for my mom’s birthday today. I pretty much just go back to my apartment in LA to water my plants 🪴

Kevin Garrett – Love You Less

But there’s a place where we’re together
That’s what I’ll keep on telling myself

I was supposed to see Kevin Garrett tonight at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He’s one of my favorite artists and that’s one of my favorite venues. He was the first concert I went to after the stroke and the last concert I went to before everything shut down because of covid. I usually try to catch him whenever he’s in LA, but I sold my tickets, because my cousin who also lives in Redondo got a nose job today and needed a ride to and from the hospital. LOL ok it was a procedure to correct her deviated septum, but still a nose job 🤪

I took her to the ER once, and we were there till two in the morning laughing and eating vending machine pop tarts. She told me I’m great company, because I took her mind off of being at the hospital.

Anyway, even though I was having a shitty day doesn’t mean that everyone else should have a shitty day. My cousin’s surgery was pushed till after 5pm and she couldn’t eat anything for the whole day before it, so I got her her favorite food from Jon & Vinny’s, her favorite ice cream from Jeni’s, blueberry pop tarts and homemade molasses cookies for when she could eat afterward.

I’m a fucking peach 🍑

I woke up today to the news of Trump winning, and I got my period, ironically. It’s like my uterus was revolting against Trump’s stance on reproductive rights and abortion. How anyone could vote this convicted felon, rapist, sexist, racist, and misogynistic narcissist back into office is beyond me 🤯

I was driving behind this idiot Trumper last weekend who had the sticker ‘Proud American, Embarrassed Californian’ (among others) on their car. I’m about to cricut a ‘Proud Californian, Embarrassed American’ sticker for my car. So disappointed in America today, but especially you, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania 😔

Anyway, I might move to Spain for the next 4 years and work on a sunflower farm, IDK.

A woman’s place is in the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office

(@ Manhattan Beach Art Center)

I have waited so long, Mrs. President

I see you want a taste,
But don’t wanna wreck your life
I think you know the game,
So go ahead and take a bite

The stars have aligned, and Chino’s side band, Crosses, announced a show at The Observatory North Park. Crosses’ music is softer than Deftones, but still fronted by Chino 😍 Just bought my tickets this morning. See you next month! ✌🏻

Update: Originally had tickets to the Saturday show, but the bestie wants to have dinner that night, and I haven’t seen her once this year! Just bought tickets to their Sunday show 😅

I followed this recipe and it smells like Christmas up in this bitch 🎄

Homemade chicken sotanghon and depressing Deftones music on this rainy Saturday ✌🏻

Yes, I made these skeleton bone sticker decals with my cricut, and yes, they glow in the dark 💀💚

Same time next year? 🖤

Just sold my GA floor ticket to the (sold out!) Dia De Los Deftones festival in San Diego this weekend on Stubhub, because I don’t know anyone on this lineup except the Deftones (among other reasons).

I was hoping to catch them on tour next year, especially with The Mars Volta opening (a band I haven’t seen live since 2008 @ SDSU!), but they’re gonna be in LA the week I’m in Japan. Pammie has to be back in the US after that first week for a work conference in Scottsdale, but I might extend my trip a few days to go to Thailand to see Moo Deng 😆

Deftones – Risk

I know what to say to take you
Higher, higher
No one else can take you higher
But I will try

The Mars Volta – The Widow

Freeze without an answer
Free from all the shame
Then I’ll hide
‘Cause I’ll never, never sleep alone

The stars will align someday, Chino 🖤

When your sister’s a Potterhead and you love Halloween ⚡

We always go whenever the Padres have a Harry Potter theme night 💛⚾💙⚾💚⚾❤️

This door cover from Spirit was perfection 🕯️

It’s a bit much, but so is this house. Also, I don’t half-ass anything—I always use my full ass 😜

Pammie gave me full creative control over the Halloween decorations at her house, as long as it was Harry Potter themed.

We started it last weekend, but needed to order more supplies, so we finished it this weekend. When I was leaving to go back to LA last Sunday, I was like, ‘Don’t finish it without me!’ and Pammie was like, ‘You had to twist my arm to help you while you were here, I’m def not gonna do it without you’ 😅

We followed this tutorial and it turned out so great!

Vendors:

• Floating Candles with Wand, 20 pieces (3)
• AAA batteries for floating candles and wand (61!)
• Govee RGBIC LED Strip Lights, 32.8′ (3)
• Gorilla Heavy Duty Spray Adhesive
• BUTUZE Premium Polyester Fiberfill, 900g/31.75oz
• White foam core boards, 20″x30″ (18)

Also, Pammie put out her Christmas Harry Potter decor because we had leftover fiberfill and she couldn’t wait 2 days.

Dylan: What are you carving?
Me: Michael Myers.
Dylan: Does Michael kill people?
Me: Only little boys named Dylan.

Narrator: And that was the last time Auntie Mayan was invited to a Halloween party.

Auntie Mayan doesn’t fuck around when it comes to Halloween 🎃

Thank you, Christine, for hosting 🖤🧡

(via @sbrbnla)

It’s gonna be a shit show in LA tomorrow, and it’s gonna take a week to fix the gate in my parking garage (though when someone broke into our garage the last time, my car and my mango hi-chews went untouched LOL there were BMWs, Teslas and a Maserati in my garage—nobody was trying to fuck with my Mazda hatchback). I’m driving down to SD tonight and spending the week there anyway.

I was gonna drive down tomorrow morning, but there’s been a company re-org and now the web department reports to someone new and we have a teams meeting in the morning. You guys, I haven’t had a meeting since 2020 😅 I don’t even know what half my team looks like because they started after the pandemic.  Also, I haven’t spoken to any of these people (off Slack or email) since the stroke. I’m not even sure most of them know I even had a stroke! I was sure my boss told them why I was out for 6 months, but I was chatting on Slack with my project manager, and I made this offhanded joke about having a stroke, and she had no idea. I’m like, ‘What did my boss even tell these people about my 6-month absence???’ The higher ups knew and didn’t even send me flowers while I was in the hospital, so IDK why I expected my coworkers to know. It happened right before the superbowl, and my friends saw the big Snoop commercial and were like, ‘They can afford Snoop for the superbowl, but they can’t afford to send their employee of over 10 years flowers in the hospital?!’ Yes, I’m still bitter, and yes, I dried my tears with the raise and bonus they gave me while I was on medical leave.

Anyway, here’s some actual footage of me driving in LA traffic:

When I went to the dispensary to pick up gummies for the gift bags, I was like, ‘I’ll take 7,’ and the guy helping me was all, ‘Do you need something to help you sleep?’ and I was like, ‘Nah, these are for Halloween gift bags,’ and he was like, ‘Fuck! Can I come to your party?’ 😜

Get you a friend who gives you all treats not tricks for Halloween (It’s me. I’m the friend).

• Lost Farm Triple Berry Fatso Live Rosin Gummies
• Sugarfina Zombie Brains
• See’s Caramel Apple Lollypops
• Beetlejuice Halloween Bugs & Grubs Sour Gummies
• Beetlejuice Lollipop Rings
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, Ghosts & Bats
• Sour Patch Kids Halloween Zombies Theater Box
• Ghoulish Green Twix
• Ghoulish Green Snickers
• Ghoul’s Mix M&Ms
• Kit Kat Marshmallow Crème Witch’s Brew
• Skittles Littles Halloween Minis Candy Megatube
• Skittles Shriekers Sour Candy
• Utz Halloween Pretzel Treats

All the birthday girl wanted was to throw some clay with us at a pottery class in North Park (@ Teralta Art)

We had coffee at The Dojo Cafe before heading over to the workshop, so all the girls rode in my car. As Chel was putting her stuff in my trunk, she was like, ‘Why do you have a pair of heels back here?’ I was like, ‘Just in case I need them’ and Christine was like, ‘Need them for WHAT? Who you fucking?’

Nobody, damn! 😅 Can’t a girl just keep an extra pair of heels in her car?!

If you’ve ever lost anyone to cancer, been in love, or if you have a pulse and are breathing, this movie will make you cry 😭

They showed this trailer for Babygirl during the previews. It comes out on Christmas, but it’s def not a holiday movie I’ll be watching with my family. I will, however, download it illegally and watch it on my projector in the privacy of my own home 😅

(via @rvxmendoza)

…or me and Nori after we ate at the same Peruvian resto for lunch for the second time this week (we would’ve gone yesterday, too, but it was National Pasta Day, so we ate at North Italia 😆) and the guy remembered our order (a Shack Sandwich with an extra plate because we split it, and a side of fried plantains). Papi takes care of us 😜

Cuz it’s you and me
Like Sid and Nancy
I can barely keep my head up
It wasn’t meant to be
It wasn’t meant to be
It’s only in my dreams
Make my bed go to sleep

Phantogram’s new album came out today ✌🏻

I first saw them at Outside Lands in 2011. We were waiting for The Joy Formidable to go on, and Phantogram performed and I was blown away. I’ve seen them live several times since then, mostly at festivals and some small shows around LA.

They’re touring next year, but their last show in LA is while I’m out of town. They have an earlier show in SD, but it’s at SOMA (an all-ages, standing room only, non-alcholic converted cinema that I haven’t been to since I was a kid). Hard pass. Mama needs a seat and her alcohol 🤪

Surround yourself with people who care if you’re not pregnant alive 🥰

My phone was blowing up with the news of One Direction’s Liam Payne’s untimely death today.

This was like when Prince died and everyone was texting me about it (except Shi, who was sending me corgi videos LOL).

So we play, play, play all the same old games
And we wait, wait, wait for the end to change
And we take, take, take it for granted that we’ll be the same
But we’re making all the same mistakes

IDK if it’s because I’m on my period or because I’m a teenage girl trapped in a 42-year-old’s body, but Jesus, I got emotional listening to this 1D song 😭

We had plans to watch a movie with the girls tonight, but had to reschedule because we thought the movie came out last week, but it was limited release only. I have serious FOMO, so I was gonna stay in SD this week to watch the movie, but when we rescheduled to next weekend, I was like, ‘I gotta go home and water my plants. Plus it’s a full moon this week, so I have to charge my crystals.’ 😆

Anyway, tonight is the biggest and brightest supermoon of the year. Harness that energy, y’all! ✨

I woke up today with a headache. I used to get migraines all the time before the stroke (I would pop Excedrin on the daily!), and I only got one headache post-stroke (when I got covid). I took some acetaminophen, and the headache went away, otherwise I feel pretty normal. I also started my period again today. I just had it last week! I messaged my doctor like IDK what is going on with my body right now. She said go to the ER if the headache persists or if I have stroke-like symptoms again (slurring, double vision, any numbness), but I feel fine.

If you don’t hear from me, call the LAPD to do a wellness check, because I’m likely bleeding out alone in my apartment 😅

Nori and I were sitting outside Starbucks, and I was looking at the bank next door, and I was like, ‘How come nobody’s in there? Are they closed?’ This went on for a few minutes until I saw this big ass sign on the door that they were closed today for Columbus Day.

me: I thought Columbus Day was canceled?
Nori: It’s been replaced by another day. In… Indi… Indonesian…
me: Indigenous???
Nori: This better not make your blog!

I have trouble pronouncing some words after the stroke (vegetable and adhesive, among others LOL), but I can say ‘indigenous’ 🤣🤣🤣

Good Thing (@ Kia Forum)

I have made the decision not to answer your calls
‘Cause I put everything out there and I got nothing at all

Another time, we were talking about both of us having seen Sam Smith live before, and we realized we went to the same show in LA before we knew each other. We were trying to remember who opened for him, and she was like, ‘That guy who sings that one song… Idaho?’ and then I remembered, ‘BUDAPEST! George Ezra.’

IDK how I got ‘Budapest’ from ‘Idaho’ but I got there 😅

Anyway, according to this article, Wal-Mart and Chick-Fil-A are both open today LOL.

…or me blasting the A/C in my apartment because I haven’t paid an electricity bill in 7 months thanks to California’s climate credits 😅

Chel has this giant persimmon tree in her backyard that her mom planted when we were kids. Her mom passed away from cancer 20 years ago, and the house is Chel’s now. She doesn’t take care of this tree, but it continuous to flourish year after year. She always offers the fruit to my mom and our family, so we came over to pick some persimmons.

Chel was at Legoland with her kids, but she left the side gate unlocked so we could access the backyard, and some water and ciders in case we got thirsty. Always the hostess with the mostest, even when she’s not home 😆

At Chel’s sister’s baby shower today, Shi and I played a game where I had to bottle feed her like a baby. She couldn’t stop laughing, so she kept choking on the bottle 😆

I usually kill at baby shower games. I once won a dirty diaper game by identifying 10 out of 10 melted candy bars (some without even having to smell them). Just let me have my weird ass flex 😜

I completed another StepBet challenge, but I still have 87 more miles to do by the end of October in this Nike Run Club challenge 😅 We don’t win any money, but bragging rights are enough motivation for me 😆

Now I know how Jimmy Fallon felt in Fever Pitch. I may live in LA now, but I’m San Diego born and bred, baby 💛🤎

(via @itsgivingmario)

The Padres may have lost the series to the Dodgers tonight, but at least I know I’m not the curse now 😅

If you’ve ever messaged me anything in this lifetime, I don’t ever delete shit (my new phone holds 1TB, and my cloud has been full for two years). Anything you’ve said can and will be used against you if you ever betray me. Consider this your miranda warning 😆

Addendum: If your message incriminates me too, I’ll never use it against you 😅

The Padres lost big time at the last two games I attended against the Dodgers (last night in SD and a couple weeks ago in LA). I won’t be at Friday’s playoff game in LA, so we’ll see if I’m the problem 😆

Is it me? Am I the curse? 😅

This is the highest I’ve ever sat in this stadium 😅

It’s hard to go back to the 300 level once you’ve experienced padded club seats behind home plate and free food and alcohol at the Home Plate Club 😅

At least I can dry my tears with this souvenir towel they gave away at the playoff game.

Does @localspookydude live in LA? Asking for a friend.

When you weren’t anticipating going to a Padres playoff game while you were in SD, so you buy an extra Cricut and customize some gear.

After my dad’s birthday dinner last night, we were watching Game 3 at my parents’ house when my dad decided that he would like to go to a game now. My sister’s husband gave up his ticket, so my dad could go in his place tonight. Don’t give Dennis too many kudos—I bought our tickets, and my sister’s letting him go to Vegas without her this weekend 🤪

LFGSD ⚾💛🤎

Today marks five years since Rocky’s been gone. Life hasn’t been the same without you, bud 🖤

Actual footage of me looking for Game 4 tickets on Stubhub:

Game 3 is on my dad’s birthday, and he already said he had the best seat in the house (on his sofa in front of the TV) and didn’t want to go to the game for his birthday, so I was hoping the Padres would win one in LA and there’d be a 4th game in SD.

LFGSD ⚾💛🤎

I don’t remember what I wore yesterday, but I remember what you said in the group chat on November 22, 2022 at 4:43pm 🤭

Also, I don’t know what my blood type is, but I know for damn sure I’m a Hufflepuff 💛🖤

Soju, beer & KBBQ (@ Sot Korean BBQ)

It was my first time seeing the girls since I moved back to LA, so they were like, ‘How’s LA? Who you fucking?’

(via @kelseydianeblog)

Although, I was wearing my Rams shirt when I came home from the game the other weekend, and my neighbor started chatting me up about football in the parking garage. I have lived in this same apartment for 12 years, and he’s lived in this building for a decade, yet has never spoken to me before that night. He was asking if I went to the game with my boyfriend, and I tried to tamp down the urge to roll my eyes. When I was leaving for lunch last week, I ran into him again in the parking garage. He was already in his car, so I didn’t expect to have to chat, but he stopped in front of my parking spot and proceeded to talk to me from his car. I should have told him I went to the game with my boyfriend, but I’m a terrible liar. I don’t shit where I sleep, man (at least I don’t anymore 😆).

I was looking through old posts and came across this post of ‘Where To Get Dinner With Someone Who Talks Too Loud’ and realized the resto I was recently taken to was on this list.

Pijja Palace is a sports bar on Sunset 10 minutes from Dodger Stadium, but I went there the night of a Padres/Braves game, so these Angelenos didn’t give a shit. I’m sure it’s much rowdier when there’s a Dodgers game on.

The only other restaurant I’ve been to on here is Guelaguetza, and I can confirm that you can still hear me over the live mariachi band 😜

When your boss’ name is ‘Gaye’ and you have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy 😅 I’m the most senior web designer after my director, so she always puts me in charge when she’s out.

Also, is this offensive to the LGBTQIA2S+ community? 😅 I was going to remind the team that I’m Gaye on Monday, but now I’m rethinking my approach…

(via @tazdog416)

I will def not be sharing this pronoun joke with the team 😅

Update: My coworkers passed the vibe check

When people ask me what made me move back to SD, I’ll say it was The Condom Concierge 😜

My toxic trait is doordashing iced coffee every morning and not finishing it, then letting the cups accumulate and having to rinse them all out at the end of the week. Relax, I’m not a completely disgusting human being, I recycle 😅

I get my lashes done once a month by this lady who lives in Arizona. She lives part time in Tucson to help out with her grandkids, but she still has a lot of clients in SD, and she comes to my sister’s or Christine’s house so it’s convenient for us—Yes, Christine and I have the same Brazilian waxer and lash artist. I’ve even gone to her eyebrow lady when I needed a serious threading in a pinch. If you don’t share the same estheticians, are you even friends? 😜

We were trying to schedule our October appointment at our last session, and I wanted my lashes to be refreshed for my Halloween costume, so I was like, ‘Are you available the week of Halloween? Will you be with your grandkids?’ and she was like, ‘Oh, I don’t celebrate Halloween. I’m Christian.’ 😳

I also finally saw my neighbor today. Everyone else around me is still there from when I lived in the building before the stroke, but my next door neighbor moved in while I was gone. I smiled at her and said hello because I was coming when she was going, but she just grimly smiled at me and kept walking. She probably saw my Halloween decorations and was thinking, ‘Oh, so you’re the witch who lives next door.’ She’s lucky she’s quiet, or else I’d put a curse on her 😆

Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness month, and today marks the end of Jessie’s treatment, so we are celebrating this weekend! 🥂 I am so grateful to have two of my dearest friends still with me after they both survived breast cancer 💕

I got this card from five dot post, who continues to promote cancer awareness after her husband passed away from cancer a few years ago 💛

After we went to the Rams game, we took the bus out of traffic because it was impossible to get a rideshare at the stadium. The last stop was in Playa del Rey, down the street from Chef Brooke Williamson‘s resto, Playa Provisions. We were gonna grab dinner there before heading home, but they had a private event that night and weren’t accepting walk-ins, just reservations! I forgot you either have to make a res or wait in a ridiculously long line to eat at a good resto in LA 😅

Anyway, I would never choose to have Indian for dinner, but I’m also easygoing and down to try anything (except baby animals and Highland cows LOL). I avoided all the lamb dishes, of course, but the malai rigatoni was def something to write home about (@ Pijja Palace)

It was like an Indian take on perfectly al dente vodka pasta. Maybe I like Indian fusion, because I really enjoyed the Tandoori Chicken Poutine at Maneet Chauhan’s restaurant in Nashville, too.

This place was also oddly a sports bar, so I got to catch the Padres playoff game during dinner. They won again and swept the Braves to win the wild card series!

People were asking me if I was gonna go to a playoff game at Dodger Stadium, but the last time I went to a Padres/Dodgers game at that stadium (last week LOL), Padres lost big time, so I don’t wanna jinx them 😅

The series is best-of-five in a 2-2-1 format, so game 3 will be in SD. I’ll be in SD next week, but game 3 falls on my dad’s birthday, so I’m hoping the Dodgers don’t sweep, and there’s a game 4 I can possibly go to in SD.

Also, I might have to go to a game if someone’s able to find me this cute ass Padres jacket Alex Morgan (SD Wave soccer player) wore to a game last month 🔥

Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon

After dinner, we went to Larchmont Village for Jeni’s ice cream and cookies from Levain Bakery, and this guy was playing ‘Harvest Moon’ on the sax on the street. It’s a Neil Young song, but I only know it because Lord Huron did a cover 😆

On the way home, we saw the coolest house decorated for Halloween in Highland Park 🖤

If anyone wants to come over, I have garlic breath and I’m wearing no pants. Spread the word 🗣️

Not to be dramatic or anything, but I would die for this baby hippo.

Me the month of October vs. me the rest of the year.

My cousin from LA went surfing in SD this weekend, so she stayed at my sister’s last night. We walked to this KBBQ place nearby, partly because she loves KBBQ, but mostly because she loves to get her steps in (@ Sura Korean BBQ)

Whenever people compliment me on my perfectly pulled soft serve, I tell them it’s because I used to work at Mcdonald’s when I was 16🍦It’s just one of my many skillz 😜

When I went to the Dodgers/Padres game, I mused aloud, ‘There’s a guy named ‘Mookie’ (Betts) on the Dodgers. That’s a weird name.’ My phone must’ve been listening to me, because this popped up on my feed today. Is ‘Mookie’ a common name in baseball? I googled it and both players had different government names, but chose ‘Mookie’ as a nickname.

One time, we had a computer glitch at work, and everyone’s email reverted to their government names. Mine stayed the same because I use my government name (Marion) at work, but our print producer Nick Nickerson’s name changed on his email. I was like, ‘Wait, Nick isn’t his real name? He chose to be called Nick Nickerson???’ We also had a guy named ‘Robert Roberts’ at my first job when I was fifteen. Did he choose to be called that, too? Did he know I’d be blogging about it 27 years later? 😅 (Yes, I was fifteen 27 years ago. Do the horrifying math).

Do you stay up late at night googling if people eat Highland cows or are you normal?

(via @best_vacationrentals)

I found this Airbnb in Canada that has Highland cows on the property.

Nori’s been to Scotland, but she didn’t get to see any Highland cows (they’re from the Scottish Highlands) while she was there. I found some places in North America you can see these cute hairy cows, and then I went down the google rabbit hole wondering if they slaughter them here.

I love BBQ (smoked beef ribs are my favorite), and now I feel like I have to ask what kind of cow I’m eating at restaurants like in Portlandia 😅

As a rule, I don’t eat baby animals (lamb, veal or suckling anything)—just adult animals who have lived a full life LOL. And now I have to add Highland cows (at any age) to that list 😆

I wore my Padres hat and lived to blog about it (@ Dodger Stadium)

It’s National Dumpling Day, so we had to get a Home Run Platter. I don’t make the rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I love a big ass wiener Doyer Dog between my legs.

Garlic fries in a helmet? Yes, please.

The Dodgers beat the Padres 7-2 and clinched the division title, but both teams are going to the playoffs. Catch you in the postseason ✌🏻

(via @meekanyce)

Am I nasty? (Don’t answer that).

…or me when people tell me it’s too early for Halloween decorations.

No one else in my building has decorated for Halloween yet, but some people in the neighborhood have.

This last pic isn’t a Halloween decoration—I just saw a black cat in someone’s front yard 😅

Get you a work bestie who makes you shrimp ceviche, and a work bestie’s mom who makes you nopales (cactus) salad 🦐🌵 Yes, I was good and ate it with grain-free tortilla chips, and yes, I’m pretty sure I was Mexican in another life.

Gracias, Nori and Mama Nellie 🥰

Tamales tutorial soon? 😜

Finger the water
2 in the H, 1 in the O

@chefreactions reacting to a @cedriklorenzen video is the comedy I needed today 🤣

The Padres just secured their spot in the playoffs! ⚾ Also, my dad got jokes 😂

I put my Etsy shop on hold after the stroke, because making sales and mailing shit out was the last thing on my mind. When Chel saw my Halloween decor and found out I made the door hanger on my Cricut, she was like, ‘You should sell these!’ I fucking should, huh? There’s gotta be other disturbed people out there 😈

I don’t always talk shit about babies, but when I do, they’re the kid of an ex 😅

Lillian is a home chef based in San Diego, and she made my sister’s Harry Potter cake for her birthday a few years ago.

She’s on the new season of Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship and today’s theme was Beetlejuice! It’s showtime! Let’s gooo 🖤💚

I may or may not have followed this guy home after my Target run today.

@thicmyers, is that you, babe? 🖤🔪

My cousin’s birthday is coming up, and she and my sister both did so much for me after my stroke, so I treated us all out to our first football game at SoFi Stadium, VIP style ✨

Did I just meet my future husband? 😜

Garoppolo is the new Rams’ backup QB, so he was suited up, but didn’t get to play at all, and McCaffrey (my cousin’s favorite Niner) wasn’t even there because he’s been out with a calf injury since the season started. Oh, well. We were there for the 50-yard line club seats and complimentary food and beer at The Gallagher Club!

The guy at the tri-tip station saw me holding my plate of nachos, so he cubed up the meat and put it on top of my nachos without me having to say anything. I love this silent understanding between me and the tri-tip guy 😂

They not like us

AJ Mclean of Backstreet Boys was at the game, so they featured him on the jumbotron when they did stadium karaoke to I Want It That Way. Lebron James, Dalton Knecht and Chuck Lidell were also at the game.

The Niners were leading up until the final two seconds when the Rams scored a field goal and won. It was such a good game!

Partly because parking was $100, but mostly because our tickets came with free alcohol, we just uber’d there. It was impossible to get a rideshare after the game, so we took the bus (my first in LA!) out of traffic to the last stop in Playa del Rey, and took a 15-minute uber home from there.

We had reservations to go to Pizzeria Bianco in DTLA for my birthday last year, and I texted my cousin who also lives in Redondo and was like, “I don’t think I can make it. I had a stroke and I’m in the hospital.” 😅

We ate at the one in Phoenix when we were there for the inaugural Innings Fest, and were so stoked to hear that they were expanding to LA. We finally got to go and it was just as good as I remember it being 🍕 Now if only they’d open a Cornish Pasty Co in LA so we could get our PB&J pasty fix!

Since Pammie visited me in LA this weekend, I took her to this Harry Potter themed cafe nearby inside Del Amo mall in Torrance.

Pammie ordered Goblin Snot (an iced matcha with white chocolate cream) and I got Phoenix Tears (passionfruit and mango sparkling refresher with lemonade topped with edible gitter). Phoenix Tears have immense healing powers (according to Harry Potter Wiki) ✨

The cafe was cute, but my sister has better Harry Potter decor in her house 😆 They could definitely work on their marketing and branding. Our iced cups, for example, should have stickers with their logo on it. ‘Snot’ and ‘Tears’ were just scribbled on our cups with a sharpie 😅 My graphic designer eyes are very judgy 👀

A countdown I could get behind (@ The Home Depot)

They had this giant 12-foot skeleton, and I’m trying to convince Pammie to let me propel it from her rooftop 💀

The news of Dave Grohl came out that he had a baby outside his marriage. It’s unfortunate for his wife and kids, but it doesn’t make me like the Foo Fighters’ music any less. I think The Strokes frontman, Julian Casablancas, is a total asshole (I’ve been to a couple of their shows where he proved it by walking off the stage early), but I still love The Strokes’ music and his side project band, The Voidz.

I’m not completely forgiving, though. I don’t listen to R. Kelly or Diddy’s music anymore 😅

Said I know that it’s somebody’s birthday tonight somewhere
And I know somebody’s gonna celebrate tonight somewhere

My birthdays haven’t been the same since R. Kelly was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2022 😅

me: When did we go to that Foo Fighters show in Phoenix? Last year?
Pammie: No, two years ago. We didn’t go to Innings Fest last year.
me: Why didn’t we go last year?
Pammie: Because you had a stroke!
me: Oh, yeah 😅

The weather’s cooling down a bit (anything under 70° is cold in California), so I got Pammie a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) lamp like in Broad City 😆

She keeps her house at a cool 68°, but she needs her sunshine for her mental health ☀️ I, on the other hand, am equally sad rain or shine 😅

LA has 2 MLB teams, 2 NBA teams, and 2 NFL teams, and I’m reaping all the bennies 😆

I went to lunch with Nori at Calif Chicken Cafe this afternoon in El Segundo, and it was right next to the Chargers Team Store and the Chargers Training Camp. I’m going to my first Rams game at SoFi Stadium this weekend, and I feel like a traitor, but I’m not trying to get murdered, so I’ll be wearing my Rams shirt 😅

I kept quiet so I could keep you

Frozen pierogies from the ‘Meals for One’ section at Target are my new guilty pleasure. Just kidding (they aren’t in the ‘Meals for One’ section. Just because I could eat all of them by myself in one sitting doesn’t mean it’s a single serving 😅).

If I could be who you wanted
All the time
And it wears me out
It wears me out

Slowly building back up my insane plant collection now that I’m back in LA 🌿

If you thought I was gonna doordash Shake Shack for National Cheeseburger Day, you weren’t wrong 🍔

My sister lives in the ‘burbs, so I felt relatively safe walking around her neighborhood by myself in San Diego. When I walk around my apartment in LA, though, I bring my pepper spray and box cutter and wear my Dodgers hat 😅

A few years ago, my new neighbor hung a letter and bag of candy on everyone’s door introducing himself and his dog to the building. I remember throwing away the candy and thinking, ‘This is LA, man. We don’t do that here.’ LOL. I still don’t remember his name, but his frenchie’s name was Stella 😆

When I made the door hanger on my Cricut, I asked Pammie if she could help me weed it (the vinyl stickers). She was like, ‘I’m already disturbed. Please come in.’ I was like, ‘I know what it says… I said, ‘WEED’ it. Not read it.’ LMAO. I know I sound like a baby sometimes after having the stroke, but I haven’t developed an Elmer Fudd speech impediment. I can say ‘read’ 🤣

Anyway, I hope my Halloween decor thrills all my gentlemen callers doordash delivery guys 💀🖤

Is somebody gonna match my freak? 😜