Saturday, July 27, 2013

Broken (pt. 2) #fiveminutefriday

Write. For five minutes straight. One-word prompt, five minutes, no editing. I'm linking up over at Lisa-Jo Baker (aka The Gypsy Mama) where we read, write and encourage.
Five Minute Friday


I'm still packing here in Orange County. I'm sure I must sound like a broken record by now but the A-lister inside of me has been planning this move for weeks and now that it's finally (sort of) here I feel like I still don't have enough time.
I've gotten all of my tools out in preparation. My hammer- for all those pictures I hung with our without (and then again, with) my husband's help. My spackle- for all those damn holes in the wall, some from us and others a legacy we inherited. My paint and primer- because I was positive I'd go crazy with white walls but now that we have to repaint I'm fairly sure I would have done just fine. My boxes and my tape and my packing paper.

Mr. E and I are playing an exhausting game of Hide and Seek. I drag myself home each night in the summertime heat, weary and wilted, ready to sit down and veg out to some New Girl. Mr. E slouches in some five hours later, just as tired. We'd really love to hang out or watch a movie or run errands for pete's sake! but all we can do is revel in air conditioning and a soft bed and a puppy between us.

And that's okay. I'm tucking each piece of our lives away in boxes, carefully, carefully, so they won't break and he's breaking in our new car and generally sweating about messing up at his first job- but we're doing it for each other and that's what makes it worth it.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Kiss Me


Imdb synopsisYoung woman engaged to be married finds herself in an affair with her stepmother's lesbian daughter.
We had the HARDEST time figuring out what language this movie was in. Since we were streaming from Netflix, there isn't too much to say about the subject on the screen. So similar to French, traces of German, a little English (which we all know is quite the mutt language)...we were so lost. Finally figured out it was Swedish and spent the rest of the movie hoping they would say the name of one of our furniture pieces. Or a kitchen appliance.

I wanted romantic but Mr. E was at a loss for something we hadn't seen recently in our own collection, so we turned, as always, to Netflix. "Romantic Movies," anyone?

This movie is GORGEOUS. As in, almost every frame could be a still photograph in my house. The artistry behind a lot of the shots blew me away. There was bokeh and landscapes and Swedish simplicity around every corner of the frame. Just beautiful!

The story wasn't particularly new- sort of a coming-out- but I think it was the details and the imagery that got me. Romantic, but sort of racy too, with all of the sex. Fair warning.

Shepherd's Pie (with a twist!)

Hi! We haven't died! Though it kind of came close this week if you count stress-induced heart attacks (which you should).

When I'm not drowning under packing tape or cardboard boxes, I like to find the time to cook with the crazy canned food we don't want to move (can you say heavy?). Project numero uno? Shepherd's Pie. Except the poultry staple was substituted for pork and bacon, obviously, so we'll have to find another idyllic name for my creation. I'm thinking Blacksmith's Pie, because blacksmiths are incredibly manly. And Mr. E said this dinner was incredibly manly too.
Blacksmith's Pie
1 package shredded pork
1/2 package bacon (cooked according to Megan's recipe)
1 cup (more or less) of frozen veggies
5 or 6 small red potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
BBQ sauce to taste
a little bit of flour
pie crust

I have pie crusts in my freezer because I like to whip them out at a moments notice. And by moments notice I actually mean I need to defrost these suckers on the counter all day. Roll out (dear autobots) and place in pie plate. Poke it!

Cook bacon. Please don't eat.

Cook pork in left over bacon grease, because we don't waste things, ya'll. We used a package of pork that had been pre-cooked then flash-frozen, so all we were really doing was browning the edges a little bit.

Mix meats with frozen veggies. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Ideally I wanted to make a soppy, gooey mess that spilled over the crust like LAVA, but the bacon was mysteriously disappearing, so we just stuck it all in the pie crust and cooked for 30 minutes at 425F.

Since this recipe is a little dry we added more BBQ sauce. Delish. I would work on making that gravy or adding a little bit of water and flour and butter to congeal things a bit in the pie.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

LOVED This Weekend

I didn't love this weekend. Not at all. Not even a tiny crumb-ful.

First, this happened.
 Behind that giant tree is our new apartment.
 Coming home from our new apartment (not home for much longer) we found the dog in the garage. NOT where she is supposed to be. She nearly gave us a heart attack when we opened the garage and found her tumbling into the daylight.

And then, this happened. 


And now I'm all out of happenings and excitement and all that's left in me is adulthood and boring-ness. Next is kids. Good grief.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Belong #fivemiutefriday

Write. For five minutes straight. One-word prompt, five minutes, no editing. I'm linking up over at Lisa-Jo Baker (aka The Gypsy Mama) where we read, write and encourage.
Five Minute Friday

I'm packing tonight. Nursing a root beer and serenading my dog to feel a little less lonely. The paper towels are peeling off of rolls, the packing paper is in piles and my beautiful china sits nestled in a box that is destined for storage.
I'm not stranger to this dance of stuff to stay and stuff to go, the sloughing off things that we've gathered over the last two years. This isn't my first rodeo. In fact, I think it's my twelfth. And this next one still won't be a forever home. 

In between the moves, the disassembling and the reassembling, the friendships tentatively made and subsequently lost, I've realized that I never needed a place to feel like I belonged there. It's never a house I remember, or a neighborhood. It was things like tupperware cereal bowls filled with Cheerios and raisins and honey. It was playing musical chairs with my parents' bedroom set because their room was too small to house it all.

It's the frames we hung on the alter on our wedding day. The Alice in Wonderland tea-mug from my world-travelling bestie. The road-sign that reads "NO STOPPING ANY TIME" we hung above the desk to inspire our inner writer.

I am the sum of all my memories. My experiences define who I have become, but sometimes it's the "things" in our life that have a meaningful impact too. Packing my great-grandmother's china isn't pleasant, but my inheritance keeps me grounded. Let's me know that I belong here, too.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Pack Pack Pack

This week was busy. Busy. Busy. Busy.The big news? Mr. E has his first job as a college grad! 

I want to do cartwheels and back flips but I'll just settle for raising my cup (of coffee) because I've been packing and cleaning the house in preparation for moving, so my energy is zilch. He's working as an Office Production Assistant on the new Zach Braff movie "Wish I Was Here". Such a good jump for his resume because it's very well-known and looked-forward-to in the industry. Here's the Kickstarter webpage; it has a very well-written concise explanation of exactly what making a movie means, what it costs and how you get all of those kittens herded into the bathtub while rolling it down a street in New Orleans made to look like LA. 

This means that Mr. E left the house before I did this morning- SO. WEIRD. We've been operating within our norm for quite some time now and this has kind of shaken things up. New sleeping schedules, I can't ask him to take food out to thaw for dinner, the dog's at home all day...Very strange.
Missing her morning snuggle buddy
I have two weeks left at my job and after that I'm floating free. Casting my net wide, here, applying to anything and everything I can get my hands on, hoping that the more resumes I send out, the sooner I'll get a bite. As great as it is that Mr. E's working, it's still project-based, meaning that he's working on this project which has a run time of approximately 9 weeks, and after that he's looking again. Which is how you do it apparently- constantly networking and keeping an eye on the date of "un-employment". Ugh. It creates a very stressful working situation, but we are so lucky to have two working adults: it makes things bearable! I can't imagine having to jump into the industry by yourself.

We're still looking for an apartment after a few hits (and misses). It's tough to find our price-range or our size, so we're jumping at every opportunity. Almost signed papers for a two bedroom in Burbank (PERFECT?) but stopped at the last minute because really the kitchen was so. small. And since I don't have a reliable job-lead yet it just seemed a little premature. But those days are ticking away!
Just to keep things interesting, Mr. E and I took a trip to see how the other side lived: visiting friends in their new loft apartment in the fabric district of Los Angeles. It's not just in the movies, people. They've converted a loft apartment into a four bedroom bachelor/bachelorette pad with a STUNNING view of the city. We fell into over-sized off-color couches and scoffed authentic LA Mexican food while watching the sun dip behind the twinkling skyline through giant industrial windows. Not only is it refreshing to catch up, but it's reaffirming to know that there are other people that are going through the exact issues that we are. We're not alone!


So while our energy is sparse and our attention spans are filled with budgets and job applications, we are still SO excited to be moving on. We need to stop fighting the change because come August this will all be over.

Monday, July 15, 2013

The Fisher King

stars3_zps85f66ecb photo stars3_zps900bf54b.jpg Imdb synopsis: A former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.

Mr. E and I are unsure about exactly how we feel about this movie. For one thing, it was very 90's...for another, seeing Jeff Bridges play anything but The Dude is strange. But we stuck through it to get to the end and overall enjoyed the movie

This movie was pretty run of the mill- it had some interesting elements to it: production design for Robin Williams and his living space, the careful tread between reality and insanity. The acting was really good but I thought they focused too much on Jeff Bridges in the beginning to the point where the movie didn't really start until much later than it should have.

I liked the themes of the movie, the accountability in this technological world where there is no accountability, the avoidance of permanence and of stability, and the desire to look for meaning in life even when it's not part of the accepted societal bounds.

Robin Williams was kind of a diamond in the rough in this movie. You don't really see him do serious very often and even though his character was amusing, it wasn't focused on his comedic antics. So he could sit naked in Central Park and it worked for him. Even if I didn't really want to see Peter Pan in all his glory (sorry, childhood).

Friday, July 12, 2013

In the Words of Mr. E: For Brie

Mr. E shows his head! His agreement to post once a week didn't quite come through, but his voice is still heard. These are his words: mostly true, sometimes made-up, always awesome.

So this week I thought I’d set aside 5 minutes and write for myself for once. But I’m not sticking to the theme because I already have something I want to write about.

I tell her all the time, probably 6 or 5 times a day, but I only tell her because it’s true: My wife is awesome.

It’s always a sobering reminder when I open up her blog to catch up on her posts (at least the ones I haven’t already proof read) and I see how much she writes about me. First of all, I don’t think I’m actually as cool and talented as she thinks I am, but the way she supports me makes me want to be the man she sees me as. I’m not sure what I did to deserve such utter devotion and support from such a wonderful woman.

Umm… that was already five minutes? I still have more to say… does anyone else cheat on these things?

I guess I’ll just sum it up. What I am trying to say is that I constantly strive to love my wife the way she loves me. There’s nobody I’d rather go through this crazy life with. I want to thank her publicly for being my best friend, my lover, and the one thing I can always depend on.

Love,
Mr. E.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Present #fiveminutefriday

Write. For five minutes straight. One-word prompt, five minutes, no editing. I'm linking up over at Lisa-Jo Baker (aka The Gypsy Mama) where we read, write and encourage.
Five Minute Friday

I inwardly winced when he told me how much time he had left on the countdown. Only a matter of hours to go before the deadline closed and his film school dreams would dwindle in despair, bitter and cold. I could only imagine what this would do to him.
Throwback Thursday, ya'll
We spent the last few months prepping: he was researching financial aid, I studied for finals; he ran between three schools for paperwork, I submitted 15 pages on Midwifery in the Middle Ages. So when he surprised me with a final project (due tomorrow) I wasn't sure how much energy I had left in me. We were running on low and we needed a miracle.

The prompt was vague (of course) and his idea was sweet, but when he presented the video to me all I could do was cry. This isn't that surprising since I cry with all of my emotions, but I was over- and under-whelmed all at the same time, full of love and pride for this man I would one day call my husband, but also terribly disappointed that his procrastination may have cost him the college he really wanted.

Two minutes, 19 objects to tell 19 years of his life with Elton John's "Daniel" playing softly in the background, the song he was named for.

I gave up sugar and he gave up milk in a two month fast and prayer session. I prayed more than I have ever prayed in my life, harder, stronger, more sincere to get that man into his dream college. He needed some good news after the last year and a half and our hearts were tired, but we knew that faith, love and a little bit of movie magic would see us through.

And it did.
Mr. E got in on the action too! Sort of prompt-less, but five minutes all the same!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

My Five Year Letter

Dear self,

We just came home from a night in Burbank and by we I'm not talking royalty. My husband pulled the best impression of your young self that I've ever seen, head lolling to one side, deep breaths in and out as the street lights lit his mohawk between on-ramps and off-ramps so narrow they may actually have been blue prints for the Death Star. Tonight was magical and mystical and still a road block.

My tongue is sore from cheap Mai Tais. My elbows hurt from rubbing with professional amateurs. His teachers told him to meet and greet with the lower levels, the little ones who are looking for the right talent to bring them to the top.  Well, we did that, and were staunchly told in no uncertain terms that no one ever truly makes it. Glass ceilings and nepotism and type-casting run rampant in that old town, so who are we to change the game?

She talked to us from under the weight of years of hard work, drudging and slogging to get where she wanted, with opinions louder than the quiet voice in our hearts. She drowned out the optimism and talked right over the determination we both had. He and I sat quietly awash in her words and her wisdom of experience. Once we got back in the car we looked at each other and shared a moment and I knew she hadn't permanently silenced us.

We needed to hear what she had to say, just like we need to hear what everyone has to say: give us your wounded and your heartbroken, your sordid tales, your mistakes and your success stories. We want to hear them because we want to know, deep down, that every tale is different. Each story gives us hope that we, too, can be successful because we're not unique but we still have miles and leagues and fathoms separating us from them.

Listening to stories of the people that made it is inspiring and down-heartening all at once: the story goes that Harrison Ford was a handyman who happened to read lines one day. That Spielberg never got into USC despite his repeated applications. But they're household names now, so what gives? How can we tell that story too, but different?

Brie, the reality is, we may never make it, but in the end we'll make something for ourselves all the same. Big money and a million dollar home and agent-led movie offers was never the goal. Our conversations of the future always ended in doing what we wanted to do and being happy for that opportunity- and in that respect we're already halfway there. We may never make millions, have faces and babies splashed on tabloids or name our own sidewalk stars, but we'll enjoy what we're doing because we worked too hard to settle.

We'll make it because we're starting with the support system and the rest can fall into place afterwards. We'll make it because I knew from the moment he told me he wanted to be a movie director, the moment he confessed (by accident) he loved me, the moment we said "I do" and presented ourselves as Mr and Mrs E, that I would support him. His goals, his dreams, his wacky baggage were all packed and stowed with my own and ready for the ride we now steer together.

We'll wade through the muck with the rest of them, start from the bottom and work our way to the top, taking our turn at all the major milestones, but we have each other and that's years ahead of everyone else here. That's what sets us apart. He doesn't do this alone; I can't let him.

So here it is, your five-, ten-, fifteen-year plan: Just remember. Remember how bad you want this. Remember how hard you worked for this. Remember all of the side-gigs and pity projects and the hours and hours we've logged to get that one step farther. Remember the innocence and the naivete because you'll lose it in the City of Lights, piece by piece, and what's left over can leave you bitter and wary. We don't mind wary but we can do without being bitter. We have opportunities and blessings farther than the eye can see and there will come a time (or two) when we'll have to rely on just the memory of good things to keep us going.

Love,
The young and restless you

Monday, July 8, 2013

A Separation

Imdb synopsisA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
We are on a foreign movie ROLL, people.
One of the hallmarks of a good movie is whether or not you have strong feelings about it. Hear me out! If a film has gotten under your skin, made you cry, annoyed you (because of content, not production choices)or otherwise impacted you...it might be a good movie. There are plenty of movies that I've seen that I am NOT crazy about. I didn't like them, I would never watch them again but I would still recommend them to a friend because they are experiences that must needs be had. Punch Drunk Love is a good example. A Separation is another.

I really liked this movie because I thought it told a good story. The characters were compelling- even though the culture is different from my own, the story was not so farfetched that I couldn't relate. You are constantly guessing whodunnit, which story is correct. The dialogue (and subsequently the subtitles) is so fast paced I found myself wondering how the movie was directed- was it ad-libbed? Improvised? Methodically played out? 

That being said...this movie drove me crazy. The characters were so convincing that I had a hard time liking ANY of them. Much like Game of Thrones shows you reasons to like even the most hated characters, this movie kept throwing reasons at you to DIS-like characters. What you at first thought was black and white is, in reality, so murky that fish could swim through and you wouldn't see them.

It's really no wonder this movie won so many awards- there's a depth of human emotion here that many movies can't even begin to attain.

Our Last Disney Trip

Disneyland was the epitome of childhood for me. Other kids got to go to Disneyland, but we didn't have the money. Plus, travel with four children in an F-150 is not fun no matter how you swing it. The first time we went was magical- no shame riding the little kid rides with younger siblings, I learned that I hate roller coasters and drops, and the sheer intake of sugar could power a small planet.
My best friend in high school would regularly skip school (
any school administrators here?) to make use of her year passes. Every once in a while I would go too.
It seems that everyone has their fool proof way of making the most out of a Disneyland trip. You would think, since Mr. E and I lived only 4 miles from the park that we would have made more of an effort to go. But we're cheap and fairly broke and we can't even afford a smartphone much less a year pass. But we know how to hit all the high points just the same. 
Now, most of the time we're tried and true Peter-Pan-first-ers. As soon as that park opens you better be in a line in Fantasyland because otherwise that wait will kill you at nine o'clock. Good grief. Teacups, Mr. Toad's, Smallworld, these rides are high priority. This time around, however? Mr. E and I booked it to Indiana Jones- and we weren't disappointed. First ride of the day and we waited less than ten minutes. Seriously. The line looked a little something like this...
It was about here we got a little fastpass happy- the park wasn't all that crowded so fastpass return times were pretty decent. Ideally, the more people buying fastpasses, the farther our your return time. If you have a fastpass swiped already you need to wait until it's return hour has started until you can swipe again. Which can really help or really hinder your experience. All other Disneyland trips that I have gone the cast members have been super accommodating if you're over your fastpass time- I've used fastpasses we got from the morning to use during fireworks. This time, not so. Apparently they are sticking to that time like glitter on a princess. Which was kind of disappointing.
Mr. E and I made sure to tackle all of our favorite rides (minus the Matterhorn because Mr. E thinks he will die): Space Mtn, Indy (thrice), Buzz Astro Blasters, the Haunted Mansion, and the new Cars ride. We also hit up quite a few shows- the new Beauty and the Beast show at Fantasy Faire, Mickey's Magical Map at the Fantasyland Stage, even learning to draw Jack Skellington at the Animation Academy. 
Since this was going to be our last trip for a while, we made sure to hit all the rides we've meant to go on but just never made it to: Nemo's Submarines and World of Color. The last would have been a lot cooler if you didn't have to peek through a forest of baby limbs on parents' shoulders just to see the lights.
Possibly the best way we ever did Disneyland was with Mr. E's brother and family- they had a huge two-seater stroller that held food for 30 people (oh, only 7? Seemed like 30) and was convenient for the little kids to ride on. Since there were four adults we could switch off for every ride- one or two stay behind with kids who aren't tall enough, the others grab "family passes" from the cast members and fastpasses to ride again later. We spent MAYBE $50 on food for all of us because we packed lunches with chips and brownies, had plenty of candy snacks (dollar store, holla!) and most ice creams or goodies we shared between all of us.
I think a big perk for us is that we routinely go to Downtown Disney for free date night, too, so we weren't feeling the urge to go through any of the shops since we've seen it all before. We're really going to miss listening to those fireworks every night at 9:30pm on the dot! (not.)

Saturday, July 6, 2013

LOVED This Week

We burned the dog on Thursday. On accident, of course. Just a little sparkler dust that caught a hair or two- she was so oblivious she didn't even yelp.
I'm constantly surprised by this dog. Most people talk about dogs and fireworks, warning that they're an unhealthy mix. But Ripley, sweet thing, has grown up with fireworks popping in the distance every night at 9:30pm sharp- thanks Disneyland. So when fireworks exploded overhead at Newport Beach, she didn't bat an eye. She may have shivered and shook from all the new people, the other dogs, the whining and the crying, the smells and sounds of a new place at night, but bright explosions over head? No problem.
We let our sentences dangle for her, waiting until she catches on to the unasked question: "Do you want to..." She uses our shins as a springboard, jumping between us, mouth wide in that doggy smile. She loves the car and often lounges over the window one arm down the side and her head resting between the frame and the mirror. We took it one step further on Thursday and bundled her up for a basket-less bike ride. Pedestrians couldn't get enough of her, face sprouting from our neck as she leveraged herself to see where we were going out of her backpack cocoon, without a care in the world.
I took her out before bed last night and marveled at her supreme calm as Angels Stadium lit up, a cacophony of bangs and booms, and she, undisturbed, chased June beetles.
I wish she could share some of that unruffability with me. Just a scoche.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Tomatillo Salsa

Is anyone else on a personal life quest to find the best salsa out there? No? Just me? Well that's okay. We'll fall on those swords salsa bowls like the martyrs chips we like to eat.

We've gone through quite a few different salsas in our time, young and inexperienced though we are. Fire-roasted, chunky, filled with veggies, more like ketchup, so hot you can't touch your nose, all shades of green, lime-flavored, now with mangoes, fresh from the garden and restaurant staples. Now, we can add making our own to the list.

Mr. E and I have this back-breaking addiction to lime. Can't get enough, squeeze it on everything to make it taste better (edamame, anyone?), drown it in juice and serve it up. I was singing to the salsa gods when the restaurant I briefly worked at had an amazing enchilada dish with tomatillo sauce- it was to die for. And then I got fired and now we hate them. I found a similar sauce at a different local restaurant and vowed that if THEY could re-create it, I could too.

I'm not sure I was entirely successful, but this salsa was pretty good all the same. I did a quick Google-search for green salsa and came across a Cafe Rio knock-off from Our Best Bites- great how-to there, too!
Green Salsa
2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, minced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and membranes removed if desired (and I desire. Always.)
8 tomatillos, husked and quartered or halved
1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
4 c. chicken broth

2-3 Tbsp. sugar (optional and to taste)
Saute onions and garlic in a large pot until fragrant*. Combine tomatillos, cilantro and both peppers in the blender. If things aren't blending very well add chicken stock. 
Pour the tomatillo mix over the onions and add the rest of the ingredients. At this point I transferred to the crock pot to cook for four hours on low- I figured we liked slow-roasted stuff and there wasn't anything particularly raw in the mix, so I wasn't worried about thorough cooking. The mixture turns from a bright shamrock green to a deep Halloween-witch warty type of green and that's good.Serve with chips or on homemade enchiladas but make sure you make extra for your hungry father-in-law because he'll eat you out of house and home. At least he liked it. 
I really liked how much the chicken broth added to the salsa- not an ingredient I ever would have thought of. I think, in the end, there was too much chicken stock or not enough veggies on my end, so it was a little saucy and less chunky. Plus we could have always added more lime. The recipe says the tomatillo is enough, but I say never.

*In making this salsa I cried. Profusely. Mr. E is not an onion eater (of any kind, ever) so I've spent the last two years subbing out onions for radishes- similar texture, sometimes the same bite and not so bad! But I figured heck, it's salsa, you've gotta have the real thing. So in cutting an onion for the first time in 2+ years, that odor hit me like a ton of bricks. Mr. E walked into the room, glared at me and walked out again to leave me in a eye-leaking mess next to that damn onion. Once I started cooking them (and the garlic) it wasn't so bad, but it'll be a while before I try that again.

Link up! Wow-Us-Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, Tutorial Tuesday, Not Just A Housewife,

Monday, July 1, 2013

LOVED This Weekend

This weekend was all about re-charging. We spent the majority of Friday stuck in traffic navigating our way down to a dance recital for our neices. I never expect traffic in San Diego County, especially now that we've been to LA and back a few times, so when we get hit with a 20mph crawl along the 5 I am beyond annoyed. But the girls were adorable and danced beautifully (no stage fright this year!). We love supporting them and their interests.
Upon coming home Mr. E and I worked to put the house in order. I personally feel that whenever the world has become too much or too stressful, the first order of business is always to clean house. If I can right the wrongs of my toothpaste-stained mirror and clean the cobwebs from the corners of the house, by doing so I create firmer ground to stand on and face the rest of my life. 








I feel much better facing dinner inquiries if my sink is empty and my counters are wiped- otherwise I'm constantly reminded of all the things I'm behind in, pile after pile shouting my name. Laundry from last weekend! Mop the footprints from the floor! Vacuum the carpet full of dog hair!



Once done I feel justified in taking a nap- or two- and watching movies or playing video games with Mr. E because we don't want to think about anything else. Finishing a level or two on Mario Galaxy sure doesn't hurt, either.

We broke our self-imposed hibernation to meet up with Mr. E's friend growing up at a Korean BBQ place in Tustin. All you can eat and highly recommended for two grown men.
Please let there be fantastic sunsets in Burbank through all of the smog of LA!