Category Archives: Buddha

by | December 13, 2010 · 10:37 am

Adorable Puppy Attack!

     This has absolutely nothing to do with anything, except for the fact that I miss my little Buddha (her actual name is Sonoma, but her name changes with my mood: when she had that swollen face, I called her “Puffer“. When she’s yapping away for no good reason, I call her “Shaddupyadangdog!“. When she’s being adorable, I call her “Ooooohlookatthebaybeeeeee!“).

I’m strange. We all knew this.
“Hey Buddha, wanna play?”
“WHY AREN’T YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO ME, MUFFINHEAD?”
“GIMME THE CHIP!”
That is all.

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Filed under Buddha, ooooohlookatthebaybeeeee, pomeranian, Puffer, puppies, Shaddupyadangdog, Sonoma

by | October 22, 2010 · 6:45 am

Swollen-Faced Puppy!

     I got some good news last night: I booked that audition I had on Monday! I’m still waiting on all the info, but what I know as of now is that it’s b-roll footage (the footage of what goes on while the spokesperson is talking) for a commercial. That’s all I’ll share for now until I know that I’m not crossing any lines! I film on Sunday :-D.

     Today I woke up bright and early and went to the gym! I spent 35 minutes doing cardio on the elliptical (HR at 170 or above the whole time! Not sure if that’s healthy or maybe the reader was broken?) and then did some pull-ups and core weights. I finished up with a foam roller on my IT bands which hurt so bad I teared up! Foam roller is no longer my best friend – it’s more of a necessary evil.

I refueled with a mug of unsweetened jasmine green tea and a Halloween Monsta!
     I was about to head out the door for work when I saw this:
Swollen-faced Buddha!
     The entire right side of her face was swollen to high heaven and I, the spazz that I am, freaked out and thought that she’d been bitten by an evil deadly poisonous spider and that after her face had finished swelling, her throat would close up and she would die. I called into work telling them I’d be late and kept an eye on the pooch waiting for the telltale signs of her imminent death so I could take her to the vet. She promptly went over to her food bowl and devoured its contents, then brought her bone over to me to play. I went to work.
     Work was work. Boring and long and long and boring. I came home at lunch to make sure that the Buddha was still alive (she was), had some leftover chana masala and forced myself back to finish the final hours at work. When I got home, I realized that I had a leftover sweet potato that needed to be used up, so I made more fries!
I peeled and chopped up a small sweet potato then tossed it with olive oil and garlic salt and baked it at 450 degrees for about fifteen minutes, flipping halfway though.
I also finished up the leftover lettuce, lentils and egg white salad that was in the fridge. Kitchen Sink Salads make me happy!
     I have tomorrey off so I’ll be making some butternut squash and apple soup and grilling some salmon while reading “The Girl Who Played with Fire” (book number two in the “Dragon Tattoo” series) and sipping tea. My life is hard!
Any recipes you’ve wanted to try but haven’t had the time to? Maybe I can test a recipe tomorrow or Friday for you 🙂 I need a challenge!
(Preferably not a SUPER expensive challenge!)

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Filed under audition, booked, Buddha, chana masala, gym, Halloween Monster, jasmine green tea, kitchen sink salad, sweet potato fries, The Girl who Played with Fire

by | June 26, 2010 · 8:47 am

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

by | June 21, 2010 · 9:12 am

HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY!!!

     I repeat what I said in the title. BEST. FATHERS’ DAY. EVER. Honestly, epic! Many, many pictures to follow: Hopefully you can handle the awesomeness…

I started with a mini-Monsta. This had about 2 cups of spinach, a little soymilk, frozen cherries, half a banana and some lemon juice. I had to have an appetite for lunch!
     First, I had to give my pops all of his loot. He was very, very spoiled :).
We have (from the top left, going clockwise) chocolate tortilla chips, a Guinness mug, a grill pan from Williams Sonoma, a stationary bottle opener, and some authentic British pub mats.
     For lunch, we headed out to… INDIAN FOOD! I had two gigantic plates: don’t judge! It’s a weekend of celebration. I can get back on track tomorrey. (I say and spell the word “tomorrow” like tomorrey. Deal with it.)
I had gigantic servings of saffron chicken, daal, vegetable korma, LOTS of naan, and for dessert, carrot-butter pudding and one of those doughy-syrup-covered balls. YUM!
     After lunch, we walked around for a bit and ended up in a furniture store. Woohoo…happy fathers’ day :P.
     Then, we wandered over to Dargan’s, the local Irish pub, and had some drinks.
My pops had a Black Velvet (Strong Bow cider and Guinness), my mum had a Strong Bow cider, and I had a Bass Ale.
We were COMPLETELY stuffed, but we somehow managed to fit in some potato skins :). HEY! It’s a weekend for celebration!
     There happens to be an amazing used bookstore on Main Street, that I must stop in every time I’m in Ventura.
     We saw a new pub that we’ve never tried before, called Bernadette’s – LOVELY Bernadette, the owner, showed us around and made us feel entirely welcome, and Allison helped us with everything we needed – I sense a new Sunday tradition! They had live music, so we decided we had to sit for a spell.
I’d like to introduce you to Black Carl. Seriously, go to their site and listen. They are incredible!
That’s the drummer using a beer bottle as percussion. BOOYAH!
Everyone needs to go to their site and subscribe and follow and listen and LOVE them! Tell them the Bexter @ HikeBikeEat sent you :). I bought their CD onsite and got a bunch of awesome pins and matchbooks.
     We all seemed to enjoy the music. <– Video goodness!
There were lots of feet bouncing to the beat: rhyming makes me happy :P.
My pops, trying to read the Black Carl button. “BLACK CATS???”
We get along very well…
…Most of the time :). 
Tattoo courtesy of Paciugo, baby!
I found one of my new favorite drinks, recommended by my cousin Allie who is currently traveling all over Europe! Magners = deliciously crispy, dry, and not too sweet!
My dad definitely had a great time. My mom enjoyed it once the music got started, teehee!
     After an amazing day, we headed back to have some awful, awful dinner…
White Castle burgers and Franziskaner – my dad wanted it, so I had to have some – it’s Fathers’ Day!
…And cuddle with the Buddha!
(No, I’m not actually strangling her) She gets VERY possessive over her chips! I almost lost my entire hand after this picture.
     And now I will leave you, having forced many, many pictures unto you, and watch the rest of The Next Food Network Star. I finished The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud: meh. I have a feeling the movie will be better, at least based on the trailer. It was a good/okay book, but wasn’t anything too memorable.
Happy Fathers’ Day to all the dads out there!

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Filed under Bernadette's, Buddha, Dargan's, Fathers' Day, Indian Food, irish pub, Magners, Potato Skins, Ventura