Wrong Gender

We had a pretty busy weekend. Filled with fun and laughter and relaxation. This Saturday was the first Saturday in MONTHS where Jared didn't have to work. So we took full advantage by catching some rays and making that awesome video below.

In other news, last week my friend had a baby shower. I saw a tutorial on Martha Stewart on how to accentuate a simple wrapping of a present which looked easy enough. It involved cupcake holders and glue. I can do that! So I just grabbed a regular lunch size brown paper bag, glued the cupcake sleeves on top of one another to create a "flower" effect and glued that on to the bag. Then I hand stitched the top of the bag shut just with a needle and thread. Tada! I figured myself to be pretty crafty after that, plus it seemed like the perfect ornamentation for a little girl gift.So the night came to go to the shower, my friend Amy picked me up, broke the news to me that SHE is pregnant {yay!} and I failed to realize that she is holding a BLUE baby bag. Didn't think anything of it. We walk in, I lay my present down next to all the other presents, which also happened to be wrapped in BLUE and GREEN, not PINK. Still doesn't dawn on me. So we sit down to play games. The first game was formulating as many baby names as possible out of the mother-to-be's name. So I start writing down girl names with the letters available. Then somebody blurts out a girl name and asks if we could write down names of the female gender. The answer was no. Wait, what?? Why are we only writing down boy names? It then dawned on me that maybe there was a reason why all the gifts were wrapped in blue and we were only writing down boy names. I turned to my friend who is the mommy to be and asked her if she is having a boy? The answer was a most definite yes. DAAANNNGGG! I told her right then that I royally screwed up, thought she was having a girl, got her a girl gift and wrapped it all dainty in celebration of a girl. It was embarassing for maybe 1 second, maybe.. But I think I pulled it off cool enough so when she got to my present there were still ooo's and ahhh's, but luckily my other friend is having a girl, so she got the gift at the end of the night. Memo to self - ALWAYS read the baby shower invite!

Whew. Also, I made this meal last week and Jared and I liked it so much we made it again last night!Ingredients

Serves 4

• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 ounces linguine
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each), cut crosswise into thin strips
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 napa cabbage (about 1 pound), thinly shredded
• 2 cups frozen shelled edamame
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, and rinse under cold water; drain again, and set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, in a medium bowl, toss chicken with cornstarch; season with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook chicken in two batches, until light brown on the outside and opaque throughout, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate (reserve skillet).
3. Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet; add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 1 to 3 minutes. Add cabbage, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 2 to 4 minutes.
4. Add edamame, vinegar, soy sauce, chicken, and noodles; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until noodles and edamame are warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes.

Got Bikes?

As you know, Jared and I have recently acquired "new" bikes. We have thoroughly enjoyed them to the max! And we wanted to share. We present to you our short film.

Today I feel...

I hate days when nothing is wrong, yet everything seems wrong. Sulk party over here. I'm def looking forward to the weekend.

Today’s topic : friendship.

I love friends. They make everything a gigabillion times more fun.Good thing I married my most ultimate pal. Being with Jared has made my life exponentially more merry. Not only do I have someone to watch old Roger and Hammerstein’s with, but I always have a person to trim my hair when the ends are split. And I’m confident that he appreciates all the times I meticulously rub his face when he’s got 5 o’clock shadow and remember to buy him Old Spice when he runs out. It’s a win/win all-around! But before MR JO wound himself up in my eternity, I had many a friend. My greatest of all, Ms Emiley Morgan! Em and I met freshman year at BYU in the DT dorms. The first Sunday as I was getting ready, she marched into my room asked if I had a boyfriend. I said yes, I did. She said she did too and that we needed to be friends. So I went along with it. Good thing I did because she is a keeper! We pretty much thought we were untouchable in college, which was verified when we both went to the UK our senior year - she to Scotland and I to London. She was one of my 3 bridesmaids. She is my ultimate BFF.

She came to LA to visit a couple of weekends ago! Reunited. Of course, I took her to Sprinkles. We decided to walk Rodeo in what I thought would be a leisurely walk by Tiffany Co. But no. Emiley had a load of gift money there and bought a necklace. That will be my first and most definite last time ever witnessing someone I know buy something from Tiffany’s. We then explored the racks of Forever 21 on 3^rd St. And I even made her peruse the Goodwill. Actually, she wanted to. You want to know why? Because when I picked her up, I was wearing a remarkable dress. And when she saw me wearing that remarkable dress, I blurted out the truth - that I bought it for $4.99 at the Thrift Store. Yes, folks, I am an expert thrifter. We finished the evening with a ferris wheel ride on the Pier. We debated getting ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, but for the sake of our bodies, we didn't.

Friends are great.
I think I'm going to start doing a friend spotlight.
I have so many great friends out there that I just adore.

Get a load of this Beaut!

Last night I came home to this surprise!Jared and I have been wanting bikes for quite some time. It seems that if you live in Santa Monica, you must be the owner of a 2 wheeler. Jared recently acquired the most incredible red retro bike from his Dad, and I was still without my pair of wheels until last night! Isn't it dandy? Jared spotted it on Sunday all by himself and brought it home to surprise me. I have visions of myself putting a basket in the front and morphing into the typical LA eco-friendly citizen and peddling my way to Trader Joes. Or to the beach. But there's only one problem I have with this bike thing. I feel like I need to wear a helmet. My whole childhood, my dad made sure that I always wore a helmet, so it just seems like I need one. And I kinda want one. Just in case for protection. But I'm pretty sure that a beach cruiser with a helmet do not go together.

Monogamy.

Yesterday morning as I was driving to work, I heard on NPR the speculation that the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, is allegedly having an affair. But his wife, Carla Bruni, isn’t a victim; she is involved in an extramarital affair as well. Apparently for the French [as stated on NPR], there is nothing immoral about adultery, and it is actually expected and accepted. It got me thinking about this world we live in. Why does anyone in this world want to marry? If I weren’t a member of the Church, I would probably agree with Carla Bruni’s notorious remark that she is “easily bored in monogamy.” This isn’t to say that I’m bored in monogamy now - I am receiving the most joy and satisfaction being wed more than ever before! But if I didn’t believe that there was more to this life, an eternal progression between Jared and I, would I be so committed? I’d like to think so. But maybe not. Why invest time in a relationship that will terminate anyway? And if there’s no life after this, who’s going to hold you accountable? No one. So do what you want. Which then got me thinking about something I had never really thought about before.

I have never entertained the thought of there NOT being life after this life. NEVER. I’ve heard people talk about death being the end, but I just shrugged it off, knowing the truth. But yesterday as I was under a freeway overpass, listening to the story of this affair, I decided to place myself in that mind-frame of THIS LIFE IS IT, just to see a change of perspective. It was frightening.

If I believed that my only purpose on this earth was to get an education, work my whole life, get wrinkly and die, I would most definitely question the existence of humanity. And I would most definitely not care a lick about the consequence of my actions. Wow, way to be optimistic, I know. While I’m sure you can still have happiness in life without believing that there’s life after death, it only makes things that much more joyful and consequential with the belief in things eternal.

So what is it that keeps anyone together out there without the belief that marriage lives beyond this life’s existence? I'm deeply curious. Jared is, to say the least, my… everything? Cheesy, cheesy, I know. But if I lost him, I would seriously lose all reason for living. Kinda like Bella when Edward left her, except I wouldn’t have weird convulsions in bed, speak monotone and be in love with a fictional character. I can’t bear the thought of starting a family, going through decades of experiences with Jared, only to find that once I die of cancer… that’s it. For real? We only get some 50+ years together? THAT'S IT??? As I was thinking about all of this my mind became engaged in a fit of worry. I was engulfed in this dreadful idea that what if there was no God, no salvation? What if I died and it ended up that my beliefs were just beliefs? That God did not exist, my soul died along with my body, my knowledge and experiences were gone with the wind and I was lost in history? I decided right then that I would never be able to leave the church. The principals are just too good. I am so thankful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Happiness.

I never realized how much of a security blanket the Church is for me. The Church gives me complete guidance to who I am, where I came from and where I’m headed after this life and It provides a cushion for all of life’s blows.

Yeah, I just had a spiritual experience that sprung from Sarkozy’s affair. And I liked it. To find out more about the LDS church, beliefs, marriage and life beyond this existence, click here.

LA just got more awesome

We had heard a rumor that Cafe Rio opened up at a location near us. We were unbelievers. I personally felt that if this was true, then they would have announced it over the pulpit. But truth be told, it was true. Cafe Rio is now in California. The nearest location is 20 min away from our home. We ate there last night. Proof:

Preparing for the GRE + Great Find

How am I supposed to remember how to do that, seeing that the only math I’ve had since 11th grade was one semester of on-line Stats? Any highschoolers want to help out? This test is going to slaughter me on the arithmetic portion. Let’s just forget that when my boss orders food delivery and the guy needs change for $100 that I have to whip out my calculator, and let’s move on to happier, more promising areas of acceleration for me like… cooking!

I think I have found my new favorite past-time. I love when the weekend comes around and it’s time for grocery shopping so I can pull out a new recipe and give it a whirl. We had some pretty good ones last week, and this week is looking on the upside as well. I can see how addicting it must have been for Julie to imitate Julia. I find myself imitating Martha Stewart, and not just with her cooking. You should check out her tutorials on how to spice up your curtains.

Also, take a look at this GREAT FIND. How many times have you walked by a bowling alley and wished you could afford just one game? Just wished that you could put on those long-toed, putrid colored shoes that someone else’s smelly feet have been in and just slide around in them for an hour or two? And what about picking out your personal shiny greasy neon ball that will be solely yours for the next 60 + minutes, along with the stuffy smell and 80’s music blaring? Well, my friends, you can have all that and more by signing up on amf.com for their e-club. When you register on-line as a member of AMF bowling club, they email you a coupon for 10 FREE GAMES! Si, 10 free games. The catch: You have to use within 30 days and all games have to be used on the same game. Therefore, make a league out of it and get 10 friends together, and each week/month have a different person sign up for the club and tada – bottomless games at AMF for 10 friends! [you still have to pay for shoes though] If you don’t have any friends, you can just go by yourself or with your one-and-only, like JO and I did! Except we are lucky and we do have 1 set of friends that came along with us. Nevermind the other 4 couples we invited – they were busy with prior engagements or didn’t like bowling, not dislike us, right JO? We’ll keep you posted on next month’s tournament. 

What a Chef I am

I LOVE food. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I go throughout my day eating pretty healthily, so when I come home I want something super satisfying and tasty [still healthy] to make up for all the rather ordinary stuff I've been eating throughout the day. Cooking for me is my daily release. I love the creativity involved. The past 2 nights we've had rather delish meals, if I do say so myself, and both left the husband in praises so they must have been good.

Sauteed Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

Serves 2

Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh)

Directions

1. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; saute until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.
2. Pour chicken broth into hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour any accumulated chicken juices into sauce. Right before serving, drizzle cream sauce over chicken.
   

I served it along side baked green beans. YES, baked GREEN beans. It's rather good, and leaves the fresh green beans with a grilled taste. I tossed the beans lightly in 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and salt, added some crimini mushrooms [JO liked that] and baked for 20 min on 400.

TRY IT!

$29.99

Swimsuit season is coming up. I usually just look at jcrew swimsuits and wish that I could justify spending $100 on material that I'm just going to get 80% sweaty in and 20% wet in. But luckily enough target pulled through for me this year. Take a look at this beauty for the lovely price of $29.99