Category Archives: Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Lost in a Silent Ballet

     Title is an Owl City reference. Did you get it? If you did, you win! If you didn’t just go buy the album, okay?

     Today was an awful day. Have you ever had one of those? There was no specific reason, everything was just overwhelming to me. Customers were impatient and mean, certain coworkers were jerks who kept calling everyone “jerks”, and it was a beautiful Saturday and I was at work. Need I say more?

I think I’ll blame the fact that I had no Green Monster in the morning.
I’m not saying my breakfast wasn’t wonderful – it was! I had an omelette with 2 eggs, the last few pieces of spinach that were edible, 2 teaspoons of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of goat cheese. De-lish!
     I got to work feeling very subdued, despite my mug and a half of coffee, so I ran out and grabbed another cup, plus a mini-muffin to keep my energy up.
Okay, so this muffin is only mini by American standards. I was just in a horrible mood and needed some chocolate comfort. Note to self: this does NOT fix bad moods!
     After my monster coffee – Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf makes coffee by adding 9,392 shots of espresso to one ounce of water (estimation on my part), I got the shakes. This coffee seriously made my heartbeat RACE and almost sent me into a panic attack! I was sweating bullets and couldn’t catch a full breath of air. I’m definitely sticking to my home-brewed coffee from now on!
     Lunch rolled around and I was still feeling sick and miserable from my mid-morning snack, so I took my book outside and read for an hour. My daily vitamin-D requirement was met via sunshine.
     The minutes crept by, then after 293 hours (another estimation on my part), it was finally time to clock out, so I made a quick purchase to brighten my day, and headed out.
I got a set of beer glasses!!! I’ve heard that having the correct type of glass can enhance the taste of the beer that’s poured into them, and now I can appreciate the beer to its fullest extent!
     I didn’t have the patience to hand-wash these quite yet…
An Old Rasputin did the trick, even if it wasn’t the correct glass.
     Dinner was a dairy-free Chicken Divan (Chi-Ken Dee-Vahn). Baked, shredded chicken, broccoli, a homemade “creamless cream of chicken soup”- (check back tomorrow for the recipe), and curry, baked until golden brown on top.
Don’t diss it until you’ve tried it! It’s a truly healthy comfort food!
I was invited to go out tonight, but was in such a foul mood that I didn’t want to inflict it upon any innocent bystanders, so I sat out back and sipped my brew with a lovely city view.
I am floating away…
     I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching lately, trying to figure out my life. At heart, I really am a small-town girl, and, at the moment, I don’t think LA is my true calling. I used to get excited every time I went to set to film at 5am, headed to a class or got called out for an audition, but lately I feel like my heart has been pulling me in a different direction. I’m going to give myself another month or two of acting focus: which basically means I’m going to scour the breakdowns, film and submit for every single role that fits me. The only times I seem to get called in for a role is after I send in a filmed audition – my pictures just don’t seem to be working anymore (which sucks because I JUST got new ones), and I think if I work my ass off and determine my submission:audition ratio, this will help me decide where I’m headed.
     If I go through these next two months and still feel myself at a stand-still, well, we’ll see what happens then. Who knows where I may end up? I’ve felt a calling from Ventura, a place I’ve always loved, or Northern California in a small town where there are people who are more down-to-earth like me, who love to be out hiking, biking, camping, brewing and EATING, and I’d love to find a church that I’m excited to attend every Sunday (i.e. with people my age!).
     For now, I’ll trust that God has a plan for me, and if I keep leaning on Him (which seems to be all I can do lately – I feel like I have no strength or direction of my own), He’ll eventually guide me to my true calling. I apologize if this has been a bummer post, but since almost no one reads it, I’ve decided to treat this post as my journal.
Trust in Him and keep your eyes on the stars!
Or the pretty Christmas-y lights 🙂

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Filed under Bummer, Cider, guidance, lost, night view, Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, omelette, stars

In Love with a Russian… Stout!

     FRIDAY! What a wonderful word! I’m sitting on the couch listening to one of my favorite bands, Mumford & Sons and typing while a cool breeze rolls in through the windows and candles flicker on the counter. It is possibly my favorite way to spend the evenings – I’m such a homebody!

     I set my alarm for 7am today and woke up to my lovely Owl City tone (a GREAT way to wake up!). I rolled out of bed, brewed a cup of coffee and rudely awakened my roommates with the blender.

I NEED my GMs in the morning, especially on a work day! This had 3 cups of spinach, 1/2 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/4 a cup of frozen berries, 1/2 a frozen banana and LOTS of lemon juice – the spinach was on its last day and needed the lemon to make it drinkable :P.
     The spinach has almost turned, so I don’t think I’ll be Monsta-ing tomorrey… I don’t know what I’ll do! Maybe I’ll try Vegan Overnight Oats again? I’m not sure, I’m pretty scared after last time!
     After a thrilling rally at work to get company moral up (give me a break, seriously! I could have still been in bed during this!), I opened all my registers and was berated by my stomach for not feeding it often enough. I grabbed a coupon and headed to Subway for a cheap Sunrise Melt.
This was an english muffin with an egg, turkey, black forest ham and goat cheese, toasted. It was edible, but I much prefer a scramble with lots of veggies!
     I got a lot done at work! Very, very productive, if I do say so myself.
I made these cool little paper ladders and read about 100 pages of “Insatiable” by Meg Cabot over the course of the day.
     I was craving unhealthy things at lunch, but restrained myself and instead had some sushi.
A mini-spicy tuna roll with brown rice.
     After lunch I took to my couch and read even more of my book, and also found some time (and room in my stomach) to fit in Paciugo.
I had a child size of soy chocolate and strawberry-balsamic sorbet. If you think strawberries and balsamic vinegar sounds like a bad combo, you need to try this right away!!! It will change your life – it’s that good!
     I stopped to pick up ice after work because my roommate had called to let me know that she found Magners Cider locally!!
This was the beginning to my Friday night. Notice the cool new Pumpkin Ale glass – a gift from my wonderful mom! You’re jealous, I know.
     For dinner, my roommates and I ordered Pizza Hut. Personally, I think some Fridays just beg for junk food and brews.
I got a personal pan with double pineapple and green bell peppers. There’s green on it, therefore it is healthy. I ate half of this. 
And then I ate the other half…
     Yesterday I decided that instead of drinking my standards in beer – Fat Tire, Franziskaner, Spaten Optimator, etc., I would start purchasing different beers that were well-rated in my beer book, review them and learn even more about the brewing process via tastings.
    Tonight, I got to break open the first of the fancy beers I picked up yesterday – Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout.
WOW! This beer is incredible! It’s similar to 1554 by New Belgium, but a lot richer and thicker. This had a dark coffee aroma, sweet, but not overbearingly so, and a very light bitter aftertaste. I normally don’t enjoy any bitterness in my beer, but this was very well balanced! The aroma and taste became a little more bitter over time as the beer came up to room temperature. 
I’m in love!
     After sipping this beer for over an hour, I feel like someone wrapped a warm blanket around me and covered my eyes with fluffy pomeranians.
Who wouldn’t like that? Awww, my baby Buddha!
     I am ridiculously content now after a single bottle of that beer (it is 9% alcohol though, so drinkers of legal age, beware!), and am now ready to retire to my book while listening to some relaxing music. There is no other way I’d want to spend this night. How do you typically spend your weekends?
Happy Friday to you all! Relax, breathe and LIVE!

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Filed under Buddha, Friday, green monster, homebody, Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, pomeranian, sushi