Stormy with a Chance of Mashed Potatoes and "Meat"loaf...

It has been a most stressful week. Mostly work. Okay 99% work related. And today was AWFUL.

Thus comfort food! "Meat"loaf and mashed potatoes with dill and earth balance buttery spread-SOOO tasty! And don't forget a delicious adult beverage of Magners Cider and Framboise beer. :)

Thank goodness I have the most amazing boyfriend ever who snuggles me and makes me delicious vegan meals!

I am excited to "vacation" in Michigan next week. Visiting family and friends. And then we get to rescue our PUPPY!!!! I CANNOT wait until we get our new family member! Our home is so ready to love and snuggle our new lil buddy! Can't wait to find and rescue him/her! We did see a little pup that was pretty cute over at beaglesandbuddies.org named Freckles-she is pretty precious!! We'll see who we fall in love with and who falls in love with us and we take home-I'll keep you posted!

Cloudy with a Chance of Vegan Quesadillas & Mediterranean Salad

Sorry again for another little break from blogging, so many things have been happening! Loads of work, friends getting engaged, friends losing family members, friends getting married, getting ready to adopt our very own puppy, preparing to fly back to Michigan, just LOADS!!

So it's been a busy time at both jobs. I got back from camp and had tons to catch up on at both jobs. Then my co-worker at my newer job went a week-long vacation so that was very busy. We're still dealing with a lot at my older job with that pending court decision. Just loads had needed to be done at both places.

My dear friend Lizz from Betty Rockit: Domestically Challenged got engaged! YAY!!!!

Two of my friends lost their grandfathers, which I am just so sorry for their losses, it was good to talk with them about it and my Aunt and connect on that level.

A friend from high school got married! I am so happy for her and her new husband and their new journey together! Congrats!!!!

Joe and I are finally expanding our little family to include a puppy!! It's time, we feel it. So we are going to rescue a little guy or gal after we get back from Michigan!!!! We both wanted a beagle (since we grew up with them and know how much goes into their care and feel comfortable with their rigorous training needs). Joe wants a puppy specifically. We found a perfect little cutie but we need to meet her first. We'll see if she is meant to be our dog. I am just so excited to love a little pup! We have so much love to share with a rescue dog and I cannot wait!

We leave to visit our families back in Michigan next week. We fly out Friday night and arrive at 5 am Saturday morning. I am excited to go home to see everyone, to hang out with friends, to meet Joe's new nephew and cousin, to hang out by the lake, and to spend some quality time with the fams. But I am also nervous because I am trying to reconnect with my grandparents (whom I haven't had a relationship with since I was 8-long story). It is just a little awkward but I am glad to be trying to have a relationship with them. I am excited, but a little nervous/scared. Wish me luck!

I am also so happy that I got to hang with my dear friend tonight and eat delicious vegan food together. We had amazing Mediterranean salad (mixed greens, quinoa, tomatoes, kalamatta olives, cucumbers, sprouts, hummus, vinaigrette, and avocados) and seitan quesadillas (seitan, cashew cheese, green onions, pico de gallo, sprouts, cilantro "cream"), and we split a bottle of red wine. I also had a yerba matte (my new obsession). It was just so amazing and our waitress was a doll! I completely recommend Flore Vegan Restaurant if you're in or around Silverlake. So tasty. I love living in LA for restaurants like this!!!! And I loved catching up with my friend Blair! Great night.

We also had an amazing dinner "party" last night with friends at my boss' house while he was outta town. He needed someone to stay with his dog but ended up asking me and my bf AND another gal who works for him. So we ended up chatting and deciding to do dinner, then she invited a friend and I invited a friend. So it was a mini-party. Joe made crispy tofu and veggie stir-fry, chow mein with capellini noodles (so I could eat it too-no egg noodles), brown rice, white rice, king pao chicken and honey-garlic chicken (for the non vegans). It was a feast for kings! SO amazingly delicious and just fun. It has been a great weekend!

So I've been busy with loads more coming up but I am keeping up with all of you and PROMISE to post more frequently than I've been. I am so sorry to the 8 of y'all that read this-I <3 you!!! Hope all is well with you (from what I've read for the most part you're doing alrighty-YAY). Thinking about you all and hope things get a little sunshine-ier for everyone!

xoxox

"Remember finder's keepers, losers weepers..."

Classic movies breathe new life into my soul! The beautiful costumes, the amazing talent, the gorgeous cinematography, snappy dance numbers, catchy musical numbers, breath-taking costumes, flawless hairstyles and make-up. OH HOW I LOVE CLASSIC FILMS!

The particular one I'm watching/enjoying currently is "Summer Stock" starring Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. It was a movie he did with her to give her career a little pluck when it was in a down-turn. Just fun little dance and song numbers. Gene is flawless of course. Just reminds me why I wanted to be apart of this business and the actors that inspire me. Perks me up a little in my soul.

On the acting front I have an audition tomorrow for the role of Titania in Billy Shakes 'Midsummer'. Wish me broken legs-I'll keep you posted :)

"How much did they get paid to invent television? Nothing!"

Some movie reviews...

I finally watched the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"-boo! I just felt it was anywhere near as amazing as the book is to me. It was cute but so off from what the story is. Just disappointing I guess.

Watched "The Country Bears" movie...HORRIBLE!!! DO NOT WATCH THAT MOVIE. That's all I can say about it.

"Observe and Report"-meh, okay, not great. Don;t like the use of derogatory words like f*gg*t or racial slurs. But there were a few mildly funny parts. Again, not great.

"Away We Go"-BRILLIANT! Loved it! Maya Rudolph, John Krasinski, Jeff Daniels, Catherine O'Hara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and more. So perfect. Poignant. Sweet. Hilarious! SO good!

That's it for now. More later of course! :D

"Just be careful watching your comings and goings..."

My boyfriend took me on a surprise date tonight. It was amazing. Man oh man do I love my guy. He just does little things like this that remind me how amazing he is!

I am SUPER exhausted still from camp (and now catching up with work!) and he surprised me by taking me out to one of our fave little local West Hollywood restaurants-Hugo's! It's vegan friendly and so delicious! All local, organic, and homemade food. Too perfect. We even got a vegan blueberry cheesecake to take home and eat whilst snuggled up together. Just a perfect little evening to brighten a long sleepy work filled day. :)

Almost all caught up on work though (I am flying through all the stuff I missed)! And I did pilates therapy today-oh boy did my back NEED it! It kinda feels good to get back into the groove but I could definitely use a week's worth of sleep! And I miss my kiddos and my fellow counselors still! But my bed and real food I can eat are more wonderful that I can say! :)

Hope your week is going amazingly thus far (and that you all got yesterday off-I[m slightly jealous of you though)!

I'm Baaaaaaaaacckkk!!!!!!!!

So friends I am back after my long hiatus.

After my Aunt died things got really busy. With family stuff. Then with work stuff. Then I went to teach/be a counselor at a camp for kids 7-17 for acting. I taught auditioning technique. There were so many rewarding moments at camp and a couple that pushed me to the edge. Then the drama of the wedding from hell last year continued when the bride posted lies about my mother, her business, and I on her blog. She said I was paid to work the wedding which is false. 1) Never would I do that, 2) Never would my mother do that, 3) There are records to prove that this is so false, 4) I only helped my mom at that wedding because she was balling her eyes out in the kitchen because stipulations that were agreed upon for the wedding contract were completely violated. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell her how hurt my mother is by that and now this blog entry and let her know that my mom is watching for more slander to see if she needs to speak with a lawyer for defamation of character and slander about her business. My mom was so broken hearted (all over again) about this. Which was just more stress during camp week.

Despite the drama/stress there was fun though. Those kids just reminded me all over again how much I love what I do. And they were so talented and I was so proud of all the hard work they put in and how much they all learned. Plus my fellow counselors were such amazing people! I am so glad I met them and all those kids too!! It was very rewarding. I am SO exhausted though!! I napped yesterday for 5 hours and slept in until 1:30pm today just trying to recuperate! Long week of kids and long training before that. 10 days of running around and not a lot of sleep or vegan friendly food! I got sick one day (on our field trip day to be exact) from eating rice with butter in it (unbeknownst to me) and spent the day vomiting. Not the best day but it all turned out okay when my fellow counselor took me to the nearest Ralph's for pedialyte and pepto bismol. I was much better the next day. I am sure that this week will be pretty busy too. Coming back after 10 days leave is a lot of work to catch up on.

Hope all goes well this week for me and all of you! I finally caught up on all the blogs today, boy there was a lot going on while I was gone! Hope everyone's 4th has been amazing!!! Mine has been very relaxing, loads of sleep and hanging out catching up on blogs and HBO shows I missed on my DVR. It feels good to be back in my own bed that's for sure!! Hope to post pics soon! :D