A Sunburn and Great Finds #3

Well, well we have had quite the weekend! Friday night Jared got off work at 7 so we had two options for the evening out - 1) go to Home Depot and buy some stain to fix up our dresser or 2) go to Hollywood. We opted for the latter, although I was slightly disappointed that my home decor project was going to have to be put on the back burner. Needless to say, my spirits were lifted after walking around the glorious Hollywood. Grauman's was a must, of course. We walked around the Kodak theatre and indulged ourselves in a Johnny Rocket's malt.

Jared posed next to Jimmy Stewart. Classic. JO does the best impression!
I too went classy - Natalie Wood.

Saturday morning we went to the LA temple and on the way home we stopped by a thrift store and found these lovely items to add to our home decor! Seriously, check craigslist or freecycle - there are ALWAYS people giving away good stuff! Or the local thrift store - LA is just swarming with bargains if you look for them. We then rushed off to the beach while the sun was blazing and laid out for a good 2 hours. And yes, my skin has received its first sunburn of the 2009 summer season folks. It's glorious! JO had work all evening so I just finished up my primary lesson and worked on our apartment decor. I'm loving this marriage deal.

Well, what you are about to see is horrific. Every Thursday night JO has class from 7-10. I take advantage of that time by going to the gym. This Thursday night was different from all the rest. He got out early from class while I was gone and he decided to pull a little prank which results in me looking like some sort of wide-eyed squirrel cartoon that should be in a dreamworks digital short.

3 months down!

Well 3 months ago today we were blissfully married... and things just keep getting better and better! I'm working full time at a nutrition firm, New Performance Nutrition, as the PA to the CEO of the company. I'm really enjoying the job and I'm very fortunate to be working so close to home! LA traffic is NUTS but I work a stone's throw away from the LA temple, which is only 15 min away from our house taking the streets. Jared is in school and working part time as a very handsome valet at a well-to-do hotel. Mostly we just like being with each other and enjoying the awesomeness of LA.

LA has taught us a thing or two. The first would be the benefit of living OUTSIDE of a major city where parking doesn't cost $.50 for 15 min EVERYWHERE. Or the fact that when you run an errand that should take only 10 minutes will take you an hour due to the untimely amount of traffic at any point of day. Or the fact that a blissful trip to Target requires getting on the freeway for 10 miles when I previously enjoyed the close companionship of the store only a quarter of a mile away from my home. HOWEVER, despite the fact that we have our quarrels with LA, the city has offered us some really really blessed things.

GREAT FINDS #2 - ENTERTAINMENT

#1. The Getty Museum. It's free and it's lovely. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than in an art gallery? We very much enjoyed ourselves.

#2. The Griffith Observatory. The Mr and I love space. On our honeymoon we went to DC and spent hours in the National Air & Space Museum. We both love space ice cream. This is how excited we get when we partake of the freeze-dried dessert:


So the Griffith Observatory was quite an overwhelming experience for us with the live star show and all. Our friends Amy and Kyle joined us for that little excursion and it was quite fun.

#3. THE SANTA MONICA LIBRARY is the gift of all gifts. It has an extraordinary collection of books, magazines, movies, documentaries. EVERYTHING! We have frequented the Santa Monica library more than any blockbuster due to its fantastic selection and convenient cost = free. We will most likely not own a blockbuster card so long as we live in LA.

#4. Some nights we just sit at home and make family videos. Maybe all nights...

Series #1 of "Great Finds.."

The Mr and I have decided that we are going to create a series of blogs about "Great Finds." I think everyone enjoys those every once and a while and we decided "What's better than sharing this greatness we discover?" This first "Great Find".... NO PUDGE.

If there is one thing that I love more than JO it is dessert. As previously mentioned, Mr Oakden has limited me on my sugar intake to twice a week. Awesome. I've been coping but I don't think anyone but my family could ever understand the deprivation I am under. I grew up in a family where we had dessert every night. And I'm not talking about dessert as in a twinkie or a big cookie -those were just after-school snacks. Dessert in my family looked something like this....

Every night...

So when I was put on restrictions by my dear husband I felt a little something like this:

"Can I have your number?
Can I have it?"

But all of that longing has been cured people! A brilliant woman, Lindsay Frucci, has mastered a recipe for chocolate brownies that are NON-FAT. For real. The name - NO PUDGE BROWNIES. I can not claim this find for myself but attribute all glory to JO's brother's roommate who introduced this delightful treat ot our tummies. No Pudge has been purchased by the elated Oakden Family and now enjoys its short lifespan in our pantry. Besides that fact that it's fat free, No Pudge also has the capability of being prepared in 1 minute. If you just want a little taste of brownie and don't want to bake a whole pan, you just take 2 tbsp of brownie mix + 1 tbsp non-fat vanilla yogurt, mix together and microwave for a minute and huzzah - you have a warm, gooey brownie. No Pudge is featured in our banner pic - yep that's what we're holding - no pudge in small crouets. Where to retrieve this find? None other than Trader Joe's. However, if you live in Utah or some other non-organic non-go-green-fanatical state then you will have to order on-line at www.nopudge.com.

In going along with the theme of great finds, we would like to share with you our second discovery - We would like to introduced everyone to the 99cent store. I've always had this desire to be the ultimate wife-mother-cook-decorator-baker all-in-one. Since I have been married I have found myself consumed in hours of collecting healthy recipes (I know, that seems contradictory to my passion for dessert but I like my meals to be healthy) to bring the taste of satisfaction to JO's palate. But there's a downfall to this "be an awesome wife and cook ridiculously amazing meals that should be in Southern Living" kick. It sucks up a ton of mula. Organic food is not cheap and so many recipes call for an array of ingredients. But no fear - the 99 cent store is near! We shop there. And love it. Judging from the outside appearance you would believe it to be grimy and meager in quality. Nothing could be more untrue. They carry namebrand products like Philadelphia reduced fat cream cheese, kraft fat-free dressing, eggs, soymilk - all can be found for a dollar. Their selection of produce is unreal. Great find # 2 on the Oakden list goes to 99 cent.

There's nothing sweeter than Sweet Baby Ray's..

There is nothing sweeter than Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce. Before the day of our marriage, the Mr and I decided that it would be necessary for us to own an hibachi grill to appease our occasional desire for charcoaled meat. We fulfilled that goal last weekend by the courtesy of Wal-Mart's most gracious prices. At precisely 5:30 pm yesterday I excused myself of my working woman duties and traveled in my little car down Olympic Boulevard and made my way to our lovely home. When I approached our apartment I beheld the most wonderful sight - the most gorgeous man I had ever seen was there on my front porch. I said to him "JO! What are you cooking up over there?" Mr had begun the grilling! It was only 20 minutes later that we partook of our savory bbq chicken smothered in Sweet Baby Ray's. And if it's even possible that something could be even better and sweeter than Sweet Baby Ray's it would be the fact that I could hear JO softly singing Jason Mraz outside while I was preparing the meal indoors. I have an amazing husband. My husband has a wife. And that wife is me. "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend..." If you dont know that song then you should. Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat "LUCKY"

Well, we've caved, or rather I've caved. Jared is nice enough to let me indulge myself in more time wasted on the internet by exposing our personal life for everyone to see! Honestly, who could ask for a better man? He's also nice enough to tell me that I'm only allowed 2 desserts a week. He's always looking out for me. So us Oakdens, we go back a long ways. Here's a brief rundown of us.

7 years ago Jared and I looked like this:


We grew up and decided to look like this:

Time has done us well.

We used to live here:



But decided there was more to life than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy us, and we were tired of temporary highs so we decided to move here:


Every day has been a high so far.

We're just getting started with this blogging thing. This one was a little lame but believe me, you'll want to be blog-stalking us pretty darn soon...