Channel Islands

Not sure why it took me so long to blog about this, but in August 2011 Jimmy and I took a mini vacation to check out the Channel Islands.  It was meant to be a 6 month celebration, but it was difficult to pick the perfect weekend.

I don't remember if it was intentional, but we dressed alike for the day.  The one hour boat ride was thrilling because of all the bouncing.  We went through Island Packers.  We ran around the boat like little kids and tried to reenact the iconic Titanic scene at the bow of the boat.

Upon arrival we discovered that this National Park was full of trails and nature.   There were these AZN kids with speakers blasting terrible dance music from their portable speakers.  Jimmy and I hauled ass to get away from them.  Stop ruining nature!

See my candid duck face and Jimmy showing off a little bootay.

There were great views off the cliff where the ocean met land.

There were a lot of photo opportunities, but we were hikers that day, not models.

I surprised Jimmy with a cupcake during our lunch picnic.  That shit hard to hide.

Muah muah muah. JIMMYYYYYYY

This year Jimmy wants to hit the Channel Islands again, but bring some friends along for a day trip.  We only went to Santa Cruz Island so there's more to explore.  Come join us!

January Recap

Let's be honest. I just eat. January's highlight is this Bi Bim Bap dish that Jimmy whipped up at home. He made the sauce from scratch and grilled the pork. One of the best meals I've had. Especially since he adds that one special ingredient that you can't get from any restaurant.

Other meals worth noting:

• Exorbitant Cheese plate and wine pairing from Providence
• DineLA at Spice Table in Litte Tokyo - Finally got to try Laksa which was delicious!  (Thought about celebrating national noodle month, but then realized that I always celebrate noodles.)  The Lamb skewers were my favorite.
• Ethiopian dinner from Meals by Genet - going clubbing after was a terrible idea since the sponge bread made us al bloated. We all looked like we wanted to die.
• Enjoyed my afternoon Tea set at Chado Tea Room
• Had the WORST brunch ever at Canele (not everything written in LA Weekly is credible... my rant is on Yelp) 
• Enjoyed a Taiwanese brunch at Huge Tree Pastry and a late night snack at The Prince

I eat so good, it hurts so bad.

We checked out the Culver City Art Walk which is much better than the Downtown LA Art Walk.  People in Culver City seemed to appreciate the art more rather than just wandering around because it's cool like they do in downtown.  Also, folks looked like they were from New York wearing tons of black and layering while they criticized objects that don't affect their lives.

We also checked out the Digital Darkroom exhibit at The Annenberg which I thought was very interesting.  "Digital Darkroom features the work of 17 artists from around the world that explore the intersection of art and technology."  Lots of photoshop.

...and in between was lots of chilling in my Russian hat and girdle.

Ignia Leap Year in LA

Sandy, her boyfriend and Aaron decided to visit me at the same time!  Both parties had cars.  Perfect - here are our spare keys and you're on your way.  What a way to vacation in LA: rent a convertible.

Angelina Jolie's leg also came to visit us.

I'm showing off my Giraffe Socks!  Thanks Sandy!

We ate:

• Marouch Restaurant - Very filling Lebanese (not Lesbian food)
• Marielas Tacos - Amazingly cheap Wet Burritos
• Hwang Jang - Used to be my favorite AYCE KBBQ until it got really popular

We viewed some art:

Sliding around the Getty Villa

Made Art at the MOCA

Found a hidden village in the Fashion District. 

Reenacted school life @RoyalT

It was really bright.  Jimmy so handsome

A week later Sandy mailed us a thank you goody bag!  Her favorite coffee, jam, tea, oatmeal and bread.  So sweet.

December Recap

This is what I ate:

• Claypot Catfish @Tai Sui
• Apple Pie @ The Apple Pan
• Indian Buffet @ The Indian Restaurant 
• Lulu and Lamb @ Elena's Greek Armenian Cuisine
• Homemade Tamales from our neighbors!
• Shaking Beef @ Tai Sui

This is what I made:

This is where I went:

Saw Brandon Boyd at the Rose Bowl Flea market.. didn't know who he was so I went up to him and asked to take a picture  for my friends who were bashful teanie boppers.  Yallz owe me one.

Winter Wonderland

3 months behind. But Merry Christmas everyone!  It's become a tradition to have these makeshift photobooths at 321 parties, but the results are hilarious.  I told Jimmy that my "budget" to buy props for the booth was no more than a dollar per item.  Apparently that's not a real budget because I probably purchased 20 random objects for this thing.

What added to the diaster was fake snow and shipping peanuts.  The room was a diaster after the evening, but we got some good American Beauty shots.

Tradition has it to play white elephant.  TWO rounds, but while I was a bit too drunk really to facilitate.     But it was 2 hours of hilarity.

Everyone except Ed...per usual

321 Family Grows

The thing about 321 is that it fosters conversation... even between rooms and hallways.

Jingle Juice got everyone all loose and in the spirit.

:D

Year of the Dragon

Kevin texted me to go a random Chinese New Year festival in Rosemead.  He reminded me how much I LOVVVVEEEEE festivals.

Something about the booths and bad entertainment and the house clutter that's passed around.

I think it's a great way to spend the day signing up for things you're not entirely interested in and watching this Chinese woman since La Bamba... except she was actually singing La Lamla... because she couldn't pronounce the Bs.

Epic.

Spent the evening playing Bầu Cua Cá Cọp which is a Vietnamese gambling game, majong and other board games.

The week after I went to the Downtown LA Chinatown parade.

White ppl in Rice Hats look funny

Confetti shooting from dangerous $3 cannons.  I have one in my car.

Lion dance

Small Talk

Jlo can't make small talk.  As a result he ends up having deep conversations with people in the most casual settings such as bars and lounges.  But somehow it's always natural.

Last night in Chinatown Jlo was able to get me to talk to him about relationships.  He gave me such an amazing perspective because he experiences the same first hand.

Basically he made me aware of the errors of my thinking. He made me aware that even though I claim to be an astounding communicator I'm actually just a great (small) talker.  Listening... is something I still need to work on.  So that night, I actually listened to Jimmy instead of just listening to myself and I have to say, Jimmy is a superhero for dating such an asshole.

To be less vague I've made Jimmy feel that his insecurities were invalid.  I've said word for word to him in pure aggression. "Your feelings ARE invalid."  But Jlo repeated to me the point that Jimmy has been trying to make for months - Feelings are NEVER invalid because you can't control them.

"I know you'll work it out because I know you love him."  Jlo said to me.  So that night I let Jimmy know that I love him with all of my heart and did my best to listen to everything that he had bottled up for a very long time.   That's what happens when your boyfriend refuses to listen to you.

All I can say is I'm sorry, but I'll work on it to make things better.

Doing the Cha-cha

I make small talk.  I make small talk at work, I make small take with my friends in LA.  And I always make note about how I really don't know much about my friends.  The stereotype in LA is that we are superficial.  Aside from being vein, it's also an issue with surface level friendships.  To be honest LA was boring me, but actually talking to Jlo about something that mattered to me made me realize that I need to put more effort into getting to know my friends beyond throwing kick ass house parties with amazing themes.

I think my quest to explore LA should encompass the exploration of people beyond "how's your day" and "how is work."

In Chinatown when our boyfriends got shy, Jlo and I danced in the streets to the rhythm that surrounded us.

There's me as a gazelle.




I tweeted that it was a "feel-good" saturday because Chinatown surprised us with raw hidden LA.  Stress-free cheap dinner, art galleries along Chung King road and a DJ playing sexual healing jams at Mountain bar.

Found Live Music