Monthly Archives: July 2010

by | July 30, 2010 · 9:18 am

Quasi-Gourmet

     My camera was usurped this morning (the roommate is in Florida visiting his family), so here’s the photo-booth Monster picture of the day:

We had no bananas left, so this had 3 cups of spinach, 1 cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 of a cup of frozen strawberries, 1/4 of a cup of frozen wild blueberries and the juice of 1 lemon.
     It was definitely not epic. Ah well, we shall move on. I had a bunch of errands to do: one that took me to Costco, I.E. lunch. My lunch consisted of samples of chicken-apple sausage, turkey-pesto meatballs and teriyaki meatballs. Not very healthy, but when you’re on-the-go, you can’t be picky. Plus, free lunch is always good, even if it is too few calories :).
     I was going to make Angela’s Cherry, Coconut Banana Bread, but alas, I could not find coconut butter. I tried! I called Whole Foods this morning to ask if they had it in stock: they transferred me a few times and finally told me that they had it in stock. I drove all the way to the store, dug through the baking aisle, and found coconut oil… When I got in line with my coconut oil and 10 cherries, I asked if coconut butter and coconut oil were the same thing. Turns out, they’re NOT! They told me they had it in stock, but apparently had sold out before I got there. Uncool. Whole Foods is on my $h!7 list at this moment >:(.
My cherries are pitted, frozen, and waiting to go on top of the banana bread!
     I searched FIVE other stores to see if they had it in stock, and no one carried it! C’mon! This is SoCal: all the stores should carry these crazy ingredients! Alas, there was no CocoButta. I did find whole-wheat/sweet potato gnocchi at Bristol Farms, as well as Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Half-win for them! I’ve tried to make my own gnocchi before with a recipe via Giada de Laurentiis, and that was a massive fail (Giada loves her salt. I do NOT!), so I think I’ll stick to store-bought from now on.
     Dinner was the whole-wheat gnocchi with vodka sauce and grilled zucchini, and a glass of Dogfish Head IPA.
“D-Lish”, as my friend Duck-Duck would say :). I ate half of this bowl before I was completely stuffed. Whole-wheat gnocchi is amazing, and fills you up a lot faster than the regular gnocchi so you eat less! Win-win-win!
     I saved some room for one of my chocolate bon-bons from Trader Joe’s (which Lynn coincidentally happened to have today as well! Random, eh?). I’m so stuffed that I could only have one, but I’ll try to fit a second one in later ;).
     As for now, I’m off to watch AWtR, yet again. I’m a corny, naive and innocent lady, so I’ll be watching my sweet movie with another glass of Dogfish and bon-bons and NOT feeling any guilt! Tomorrey I’ll be heading out to see “Charlie St. Cloud” in theaters on the opening day! I’ll give a full review tomorrow night after work!
What movie are you dying to see?

4 Comments

Filed under Charlie St. Cloud, Costco, Dogfish Head, gnocchi, green monster, ice cream, samples, Trader Joe's

by | July 29, 2010 · 9:28 am

Routines, Routines…

     Good Wednesday! Prepare for another quick blog. I’m tired and ready to crash. Let’s start with a picture of the love of my life that I wake up to every morning:

3 cups of spinach, 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 a banana, 1/4 of a cup of frozen cherries, and the juice of a lemon and a lime.
     This one turned my tongue green! I felt the need to Tweet that. No pictures, don’t worry, a green tongue isn’t photo-worthy, only Twitter-worthy.
     I had a few hours to lollygag around the house, so I caught up on some of my favorite bloggers and whipped up some lunch to fill me up a little before work.
Lunch was a fried egg sandwich on Great Harvest 9 Grain bread. Quick, easy, and full of protein!
     Work seemed exceptionally long. I had to take an early lunch, which made the rest of the day crawl by. I was tempted to get a “fatty sammich“, but instead went for the healthy alternative.
Say it with me now, “Mini-spicy tuna roll on brown rice”. Lunch was followed by a small gelato from Paciugo – I’m ridiculously predictable.
     When I got home, I put together a plate of pepper jack cheese and water crackers. I’ve been having dairy a lot lately, and not having any effects from it… I’m not sure why, but I’m going to go with it, since I can currently have gelato and cheese, the other loves of my life, with no troubles. 
CHEEEEEEESE! Pepper jack cheese is my all-time favorite cheese.
     We were planning on watching Paranormal Activity last night, but it wasn’t available on On Demand, so instead we would up watching all of the dance scenes in Step Up 2 (AWESOME dances! Crappy storyline, but that’s not what we watch it for šŸ™‚ ), and then watched A Walk to Remember. AWtR is one of my favorite movies (such a sweet story!), and is the only movie that is better than the book it’s based off of – at least in my opinion.
     What’s your favorite book -> movie?

2 Comments

Filed under A Walk to Remember, fried egg sandwich, green monster, pepper jack cheese, sushi, water crackers, work

by | July 28, 2010 · 6:47 am

Fancy Lookin’ Foods

     I went off the deep end yesterday food-wise, but today I was (kinda) back on track! I woke up at 5:45am by the roommate who was heading up the coast for a getaway, and just had to get her Monsta in!

No idea what was in this. I was still asleep as I slurped it down.
     I went back to bed until 8am, then got up and had another cup of coffee. Today was my day off – Tuesdays I normally go to acting class in LA, but in order to save some cash, I’ve had to give them up for the time being. My gas tank and wallet are smiling. Since I had so much time on my hands, I decided to make a fancy gourmet lunch.
I reheated some grilled eggplant and zucchini slices and put them between some of Great Harvest’s focaccia with pepperjack cheese, lettuce and garlic-mustard aoili. It was kind of a bummer. It definitely would have been better with fresh tomato and red onion slices, but I made the best of what I had.
     I had to work from home for the talent manager today, so I spent the majority of my day on the computer. Luckily, there was plenty of time to turn on the stove and make a fancy dinner!
Trader Joe’s flatbread with caramelized onions, ham, and gruyere cheese. DROOL!
I had two slices with a side of Poor Man’s Black Velvet – cider and Guinness. Wasn’t a fan – I really don’t like Guinness. Ew.
     Now I’m heading off to watch Paranormal Activity with my roommate: he’s a big horror-film freak like me :). 
What’s your all-time favorite horror flick?

4 Comments

Filed under Black Velvet, Cider, eggplant, flatbread, green monster, Paranormal Activity, sammich

by | July 26, 2010 · 8:26 am

Sunday Night Bliss

     I normally enjoy Sunday nights, but when I don’t have to work a full shift AND get to sleep in on Monday morning, I love them even more. Today was a good day because it started with a long-awaited Monsta!

FINALLY! 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/4 cup of frozen cherries, a few chunks of frozen pineapple, lime juice and 1/3 of a banana. YUM.
Since I had a long day ahead of me, I decided to carb up and had two frozen blueberry waffles with agave-maple syrup.
   I was supposed to have someone else to work with today, but she didn’t show up, so I got all the sales and commission to myself. Muahahaha! I had a standing lunch-date with the lovely Vicky who is totally not the one who convinced me to get thirteen cookies yesterday – the ones that I totally didn’t finish or anything, and we stopped by Stone Oven for some of our favorite “fatty sammiches”.
Garlic Basil Chicken Sandwich with Basil Pasta Salad and Unnecessary Caps.
I found a flat noodle! I should send it in to the Guinness Book of World Records! I’m easily amused!!!
    Work took awhile to get through. I spent most of the day reading, and am about 100 pages into Up in the Air. Nothing has happened yet! It’s almost impossible for me to stop in the middle of a book – I’ve only done it once in my life, and I fully intend on going back to that book and reading it through! For now, I’m struggling to find a plot in this one, but I will be finishing it in the upcoming week.
     I came home to an awesome dinner. The roommates had grilled some turkey sausage, bell peppers and onions, and made a big KSS. A tall glass of cider rounded out the meal.
My cider is on my plate. I’m cool like that.
   That sums up my day. I apologize for how boring I’ve been, but such is life. I’ve got a few things to look forward to this week, so these posts will get a bit more interesting. I’m off to enjoy some music and hang-time with the roommates.
Any big, exciting things coming up for you this week?

2 Comments

Filed under Cider, green monster, kitchen sink salad, sammich, Stove Oven, waffles, work

by | July 25, 2010 · 6:52 am

Junk Food Heals All!

     Today was a very rough day. Rough food, rough work, rough headache. I attempted to start the day off right with a Monsta, but alas, there was not enough spinach, so instead I went for another set of…

WAFFLES! Blueberry waffles with agave-maple syrup, and coffee!
     I got to work and wasn’t feeling too hot. Well, actually I was feeling very hot. The A/C at work has been broken for a few months and today, it was really getting to me. Excessive heat makes me feel dizzy and sick. Since I wasn’t at the top of my game, I decided comfort food would be a good choice for lunch. Unfortunately, comfort food = ridiculously unhealthy food. I went for what I was craving yesterday.
HORRIBLE! I had a single entree of orange chicken, which is basically deep-fried fat tossed in a sugary syrup. Awful for me, but it made me feel better.
     After lunch, I didn’t meet up with a friend who didn’t convince me to go get cookies. I didn’t stop at Mrs. Fields to get thirteen bite-size cookies, and didn’t get a variety that included chocolate chip, macadamia nut, oatmeal raisin and M&Ms. I didn’t finish the entire bag by the end of the day. I totally didn’t do any of that. That would be madness.
     The painkillers finally kicked in and the headache abated, just in time for me to head home. I decided not to break the unhealthy streak and dug into some leftover thai food that the roommates had ordered in.
Pad thai and pineapple fried rice. There was no pineapple left – that happens to be my roommate’s favorite part.
     Now, I’m resting comfortably while blogging, and I’ve started to dip my toes into my latest book Up in the Air by Walter Kirn. It’s a slow starter, but I have high hopes. After I’m finished, I’ll be (finally) renting the movie! I’m just a tad behind on all the movies that have been coming out. The last movie I saw in theaters was Avatar. Yeah, it’s pretty bad.
     I realized I forgot to include some pictures of my roommate’s hat from the races, and I have a few others to add on to add some color to this post. 
She titled this: “Avatar Upon My Head” – the flowers have battery-operated lights in them!
     I got a gift yesterday from my pops who was in Arizona last week.
Earrings! I’m obsessed with dangly earrings!
These are my favorites :). I wore them to work today so I could feel fancy while also headachy.
And to end the day…
An ocean camera blocked by a seagull butt. I found this when I was checking out the Del Mar ocean cam two days ago, and it has made my week.
I’m off to work again tomorrow – unfortunately becoming my Sunday tradition instead of church :(. Uncool. What Sunday traditions do you have?

4 Comments

Filed under Del Mar, earrings, hat, Panda Express, seagull butts, thai food, waffles

by | July 24, 2010 · 9:14 am

Arrogant Bastard Riding a Fat Tire!

     FRIDAY! I’m having the most amazing Friday night ever –  it involves homemade foods and brews. What else could a girl ask for? I’m such a homebody.

     The day started off early with me prepping for work. I was feeling extra lazy, so I decided not to make the Green Monster and have some frozen waffles instead.

Two of Trader Joe’s frozen blueberry waffles with agave-maple syrup and a HUGE mug of coffee!
     My roommate was blending up a Monsta for herself as I was headed out the door, watched as I longingly stared at the blender, and added some extra spinach for me. She put it into a to-go coffee mug with a straw sticking out, and I drove out to work, happy to be sipping away :). Roomie, you be amazing! No pictures, because I was driving, and that would just be unsafe.
     Work was very mundane. I read. A LOT! I read about 100 pages of my book before lunch. I headed out midday, prepared to try something different, but ended up getting the usual mini-spicy tuna roll with brown rice. I was planning an amazing meal of fried, syrupy, double-fried foods, but decided that my body would prefer something boring and healthy rather than artery-clogging.
     I got home, ready to enjoy my Friday night with some friends. We started with an old classic.
Fat Tire! This beer holds some amazing memories for me. Every sip is a link to my past :).
     I spent about an hour sipping and reading the last few chapters of my book: The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I am officially done! This book took longer than normal because I haven’t had enough free time, and now that I’m done, I’m very bummed. Does that ever happen to you – you feel really depressed because you’ve finished a book that made you feel like you were part of the story? This is an AMAZING book! It’s so well-written and riveting! I’ve been recommending this to everyone I know – including you! Tell me as soon as you’ve read it!
     Next came dinner! It was a Friday-Grill night! We started with the remains of the jalapeƱo-cheddar bread from Great Harvest.
Left: a mix of onions, zucchini, red bell pepper, olive oil, salt and pepper. Right: JalapeƱo-cheddar bread brushed with olive oil.
     The bread was a success! Although, it’d be pretty difficult to ruin this, even if you burn it, as I have before. Personally, I think a little charcoal makes it taste more rustic.
Those jalapeƱos were put into the bread WHOLE. No seeds were removed! This bread is torture. Amazing, delicious, painful torture!
Those grilled veggies were placed on a whole-wheat pizza crust, which was topped with provolone cheese and fresh basil. Ridiculously healthy and ridiculously happy :).
     I tried out a beer that I had tried before, but didn’t really like. Arrogant Bastard – loved the name, hated the taste. However, with my newfound appreciation for beer, I decided to give it another go.
This beer is VERY fragrant – almost perfume-y. It has a floral scent, a clove flavor and a very BITTER aftertaste. I had my last sip half an hour ago and I’m still tasting the bitters. Blech. Not my cup of tea – or glass of beer. The bottle and cap make it a little better:
“You’re Not Worthy” – To see the bottle description, go here! It’ll make your day :).
     After dinner, we listened to some music and just enjoyed the peaceful night. This party will be ending early for me. I have to get some sleep so I can be awake and alert for another day at work – I need to refuel my bank account after the extended weekend hanging out with my cousin. I hope you have an amazing weekend!
Which part of Arrogant Bastard is your favorite? Mine is definitely a tie between “Do” and “Not”.

2 Comments

Filed under Arrogant Bastard, beer, Fat Tire, Friday, friends, grill, waffles

by | July 23, 2010 · 9:10 am

Back to Reality

     I am officially back! I had an amazing few days hanging with my cousin and having an extended vacation, but today sent me straight back to reality – work, Paciugo and sore feet.

     I woke up early this morning and had two massive cups of coffee, and reheated the rest of my amazing gnocchi dinner. I haven’t had a Green Monster since Tuesday morning! It’s awful! SAVE ME! I sped off to work full of carbohydrates and caffeine, ready to work!

     However, there was no work to be done. It’s very hard to work when everything is clean and there is nobody around. I wandered, visited See’s, and stared at the clock until I could finally escape for lunch.

Another mini-spicy tuna roll with brown rice? I need to expand my repertoire.
     I went to my couch and read my current book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett for forty minutes, and desperately tried to keep my eyes open. Doing nothing can be very, very tiring! I really recommend this book – I spent the whole day staring longingly at the book in my little cubby, wishing I could take it out to read.
     After lunch, I went with my friend, Michael to get some gelato and had a small with chocolate peanut butter, butter pecan and amaretto chocolate chip, and Michael had a small of apple pie. There is no picture because I couldn’t be bothered with waiting before I devoured it! 
     The day finally finished and I raced home to heat up some leftover pad thai for dinner. Pardon the picture – it tastes much better than it looks!
I LOVE THAI FOOD!!!
     After dinner, I went down to the train station to pick up my roommate who has been in San Diego at the opening day of races at Del Mar. Tomorrow I’ll post a picture of her hat that she made just for the occasion!
     That basically sums up my day. I was kind of lame with the pictures, so I’ll add some to the end of this so you don’t feel totally robbed… 
Magners with a view!
What is this? 
This be some crazy caveman stuff!
What is one food you could eat forever and be happy? Mine’s a tie between thai/indian/sushi/anything edible…

3 Comments

Filed under cassette, Del Mar, gelato, Paciugo, pad thai, sushi, train station, VHS, work

by | July 22, 2010 · 5:59 am

Picture Apology!

     It’s been a long, long time, I know. My cousin came over to hang out on Sunday and one day turned into four. Instead of detailing every single second, here’s a few of my favorite pictures from the past few days :).

Andria’s!
Trying to squeeze into the cave meant for kids at the aquarium.
Mummy mermaid at “Pirate Days” in Ventura Harbor.
Arrrrgh, a pirate show!
We followed the clues around for fifteen minutes trying to find a special treasure chest. Plenty of time on our hands :).
We stopped by Dargan’s for some bread pudding since we were in the area.
Sunday night was a hot one! It called for a night out back.
Reconstructing the dinner party from on set.
Artsy shot of the candles with the city in the background.
We took a hike to the waterfall on Monday.
Views of the river.
Breakfast in Carpinteria at The Worker Bee Cafe in Carpinteria.
And finally…

the amazing gnocchi dinner we made last night. Gnocchi and grilled veggies tossed in vodka sauce, and a thick slice of grilled jalapeno-cheddar cheese bread from Great Harvest Bread Company. This was my first time grilling bread – I definitely recommend it!
     I apologize for being away so long, but let’s hope that the pictures make up for it. I’ll get back on track tomorrey when I’m back from work. 
What’s your most recent “fancy” meal you made?

2 Comments

Filed under Andria's Seafood, Bread pudding, Dargan's, gnocchi, Ventura

by | July 18, 2010 · 5:55 am

On Set: Day Two!

     Here’s what today consisted of: Monster, work, granola bar, work, Subway, work, home, leftovers.

     Now that we’re over the boring part, let’s just pretend today didn’t happen. I’m gonna tell you about yesterday, my second and final day on set!

     Started the day off with, of course, a Monster.

My roommate made this GM: 3 cups of spinach, 1/2 a banana, 3/4 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, a crapload of frozen cherries and lemon juice. Thanks, roomie!
     We were filming in Pacific Palisades yesterday, and had to park on the ocean. It was rough sitting there waiting for the shuttle to come get me as the waves crashed on the shore and the salty breeze whispered through my hair. Poetic, no?
     When I got to location, I had to take pictures. This house was beautiful, and the view was even better.
The back of the house with Mr. Director.
View of the trail that leads to the ocean.
      I got hungry, as I do every few minutes, and the craft service table was hollering at me. I grabbed a hot cup of coffee (It was a nice chilly 65F when I got to set), and a big piece of buttery, sweet blueberry pound cake. 
No idea why the time-code showed up. I’m not totally saavy with the camera yet…
     My co-star Matt finally arrived in the shuttle and Mr. Director walked us through our first scene, then we were sent off to wardrobe and makeup.
Getting my makeup done makes me hungry.
When kissing scenes are involved, I make the guys WISP!
     We shot a few scenes that took about 4 hours including all the wardrobe changes – SO MANY WARDROBE CHANGES, then went to my favorite part of the day: LUNCH!
I love catering! I had a burger made with sundried tomatoes and bleu cheese, a big salad with a drizzle of french dressing, and two 4-cheese raviolis. HAPPY!
     After lunch came more makeup. My poor face. The lovely makeup artist had some fun with wardrobe.
Beautiful, dahling!
     The sun had finally set so we were able to move on to the most important scene.
Whaaaaa? What is this???
     Some scenes were filmed, drama occurred, and I got to get some cool shots of the set that the art department did an AMAZING job designing!
This is how I want my dinner parties to be! LOVE candles! And fake wine :).
     I took some pictures from the balcony to get some of the action. I had to use manual mode so the flash wouldn’t go off and destroy the scene, that’s why it’s blurry.
Cameraman and Mr. D with the monitor.
     We wrapped the day around 10:45pm. That would be a 12 hour shoot, folks. I was in heaven! I wish it hadn’t been my final day. I could do this forever! Love love love love love it! Love the exhaustion, love the pain, love the friendships that are created so quickly, LOVE IT! All my teetering on the fence is over. Acting is definitely my main passion, but I feel like I’m finally able to balance it with everything else in my life. I’m a happy girl!
     I had a beautiful, but long, late night drive up the PCH and got to see the moonset. Anyone ever seen a moonset? Me neither until yesterday, but it was awesome! The red crescent kept getting lower and lower until it disappeared into the ocean. The air was scented with salt and campfire, and the upbeat CD that my DJ friend gave me kept me alert and awake. When I got home, I showered off all the makeup and hairspray that had accumulated throughout the day, and CRASHED.
     This show will be airing mid-August. Once I get the official date and time, and I’m finally allowed to tell you what the project is, you’ll be the first to know. I’m going to go sit out back and enjoy my freedom and the sweet summer air for now. 
Wonderful day to be alive :).

6 Comments

Filed under Acting, bride, catering, director, granola, green monster, love, wine

by | July 16, 2010 · 9:30 am

On Set: Day One!

     I take it back about yesterday being unbearably hot. I mean, it was hot, but today took the cake! Where we filmed in LA, temperatures got up to 105F! Speaking of cake, here’s a picture of my monster – it’s been a long day, don’t ask about my cake reference.

A sunrise monster! This has 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/8 a cup of frozen berries, 1/2 a banana and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Perfect to sip at 6:30am when the temperature is already 81F outside. Summer is officially here!
     My roommate went out for breakfast with some friends from church, and he brought me back his leftovers!
Now THIS is a breakfast burrito! Eggs, refried beans, pico de gallo, cheese, sausage and marinated potatoes in a delicate flour tortilla. It’s from a local restaurant, so each one is lovingly made, not mass-produced.
     Traffic was looking sketchy, so I headed out around 8:30am to get to set. I wasn’t supposed to be there until 10am, so I figured I’d get there with about half an hour to spare, which keeps me calm and gives me time to make sure I have everything I need. Today, I was LATE! I hate being late! I got lost and had to backtrack to find my way to location and got there ten minutes late. I know it’s only ten minutes, but I pride myself in always being to places on time or early. 
     Location was in a beautiful house in the middle of Hollywood Hills. There was a side-view of the Hollywood sign that I tried to get, but all pictures failed. When I got inside, they still had six scenes to get through before I even started! Turns out those ten minutes REALLY didn’t matter! I didn’t mind at all. There was air conditioning, and I’d brought my book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and was able to read a few chapters before they brought me in for makeup and wardrobe.
The makeup table that has EVERYTHING you could ever need!
So many clothes!
     I only had half a cup of coffee before I had to get on the road, and all the coffee on set was lukewarm, so I improvised.
Ice, lukewarm coffee, raw sugar and Silk creamer! Magic! Other crew members followed my lead and soon iced coffee was flowing like water.
     I also had a wide variety of snacks to choose from at the craft service table.
Cookies, chips, sweet bread, Chex mix…
Nothing exciting, but it was the healthiest choice there.
     We broke for lunch around noon, and I loaded up my plate with the delicious catering.
Salad, grilled chicken, creamy polenta with spinach, ricotta and parmesan, a slice of pineapple and a slice of watermelon. There’s nothing like ice cold watermelon on a hot day! All of us actors sat around and enjoyed the view, and realized how small Hollywood is: Heather and I both competed in a Massify competition, we both lived in Boulder, CO and know a bunch of the same people. This city is SMALL!
     Matt, my costar in the show, and I had two hours after lunch until we finally were called to set. Hair was straightened, makeup was touched up, and we tried our hardest not to drip sweat. I’m gonna keep saying it – It was so hot! We had 16 scenes to get through in five hours. Dough was smeared, magazines were chopped, clouds were gazed at and parties were thrown! That’s all I can say :).
     After about a million wardrobe changes, we were finally released. I fought traffic all the way home, and was greeted with a home-cooked dinner (reheated).
This is some pesto chicken from Trader Joe’s (I find that their pre-marinated chicken tends to be ridiculously salty), and a bunch of bell peppers, eggplant, onions and zucchini grilled on our new mesh grill pan. Grilling really brings out a lovely smoky flavor! My roommate said he could go vegan if all veggies tasted like that, and that’s saying a lot! He loves his steaks and tri-tip.
     I’m going to go crash now since I’ve been up since 6am. Call-time tomorrow is 10:30am, so I get to have a full cup of coffee before I head out to set. Stay tuned for day two on set!
Tardiness (on my part) is my pet peeve – what’s yours?

4 Comments

Filed under Acting, breakfast burrito, filming, green monster, Hollywood, makeup, polenta, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, wardrobe