FOODFEST AFTERMATH

I don’t want to post about how fat I’ve become since this past Thanksgiving holiday. It’s pretty obvious that I am not the lone soldier feeling that post-holiday poundage piling on. The last time I worked out was last Friday, and I am still teetering between going to the gym after work today… or not. At first I was resigned to call this a ‘fat’ week, but I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t be so lazy. Eh. We’ll see how I feel later.

So. Knock out the feelings of fat, and substitute with feelings of stress. Part of me feels super anxious to get my gifts all packed-up and sent off to wherever they’re supposed to go. But another part of me feels like I have at least till the beginning of the second week of December. Hmmm. Part of me feels the angst of the holiday food situation. But another part of me says “eff it.” Still, part of me is stressin’ over finding a new pair of pants, even if the ones that I want cost like $145+. Eh. I already tried going for the $40- pair, but I had to send those back. Grrr. As you can see, I can be phased by stupid things.

Whatever.

So this past weekend, I had two nights of serious dining. Leah came through L.A., so you know the foodie-fest was imminent. Saturday night we had dinner at Morel’s at The Grove. Instead of dining casually at the café, we went upstairs for the “real deal” dinner. We dined on kobe beef, a tuna steak, and some other fish dish. It was pretty yum – even after I spent $80 on my portion of dinner. Ha! Eighty-shmeighty. It was a YUM meal, and I hadn’t dined like that in a long time. Sunday night we went to Hollywood, of course forgetting that the Hollywood Christmas Parade was being taped that evening. Boo. We ran into a bit of a traffic issue, but it was very short-lived (thank goodness). We finally found our way to Sunset and Vine, and we had dinner at Charcoal – an Adolfo Sauya project. It was actually very yum, and we hearted it ALL! Leah got the sea bass, Ning got the ahi steak, and I had the gaucho skirt steak with chimichurri sauce. Uh, yum. That, a couple rounds of drinks, and a funnel cake to end things --- all made-up a very yummable dining experience. (Yummable. That’s my new word.) We went home happy, but not overly stuffed. It was perfect. Def would go again.

Anyway. Soon enough, the real world came back to bite me in the ass. So now Holiday 2007 Phase I has ended. I am eagerly awaiting Phase II. I need to crack the whip and get all my presents boxed, wrapped, and sent. Christmas will be here before we know it.

Pass the bottle… OF LAXATIVES.

HEARTING THANKSGIVING TO DEATH

It's been a busy house here in Santa Monica. I left the office at noon today, and trucked it home. Brought the left-over bagels from work, and shared them with the roomies. We started cleaning the apartment, and then prepping for our debut Thanksgiving meal. We have a few guests coming over, so we want to make this good. I made the pumpkin cheesecake, and luckily there was enough batter to make a "sample" one. Sho' nuff, we tore that sample shit up. Uh, yum. This one's a sure addition to my repertoire. I chopped the veggies and herbs for the pumpkin penne that I'll make in the morning, and I get to throw a roast into the slow cooker before I go to bed. Uh, excited much?! Hell yeah!

Gina just completed the gingerbread house, and it's super cute. So proud of her!

Ning put together the giblet gravy (a la Emeril), and I'm liking it - a lot. She's also got the turkey marinating in the fridge, and her potatoes are ready to be thrown into the oven for the final melt-down. Yum.

In other news, my foodie-friend - Leah - will be here on Saturday, which is great because it means I get to revive my opentable.com account. Not that I've let it go or anything. The last time I used it was this past March, and I have a reservation in place for this Sunday, and another reservation for next month. I was hoping to score a 1,000-pt reservation, but not-so-much. Oh well. I'm eligible to redeem points anyhow. I can be such an opentable.com whore.

The food frenzy begins tomorrow. Actually, it started today so I forced myself to go to the gym tonight. Eh. Futile attempt, to be completely honest.

Happy Thanksgiving!

PRE-TURKEY DAY PROVOCATIVE THOUGHT: MAKING _____

Why is it that Filipinos say that they have to "make" poo-poo, pee-pee, tae, ihi, utot, blah-blah-blah, yada-yada? I don't get it. I mean are we actually "making" those things? Aren't those natural occurences of the human body? Is the body actually making poop or pee?

I am now finding this all too disturbing.

It is even more disturbing that I catch myself asking kids this... "Do you have to make peepee?" As if this is the way that we should be conditioning children to think about the poo/pee process!

GOSH!

CIAO, BELLA!

A good friend of mine (from college) was in town for a wedding not too long ago, and we were lucky enough to meet up for dinner at Bella in Hollywood. I had only gone to Bella once before, and I barely remember that experience. From what I recall, I was pretty much phaded after a pretty long night next door at L'Scorpion. The birthday festivities were crashing fast, and we stumbled into Bella for one more round of drinks before trucking ourselves out to some random diner in West Hollywood for late-night eats. This night would be a completely different experience.

I was a little hesitant about going there... afterall, it is one of the spawns of The Dolce Group -- known more for their affiliation with Ashton Kutcher more than anything else (think Dolce Enoteca, Les Deux, and Ketchup). I was expecting over-priced fare, not-so-exciting flavors, and a vibe more concerned about ambience and kitsch than the overall dining experience. I was pleasantly surprised to find Bella to be quite the opposite.

The place wasn't overwhelmingly mod (unlike it's sister spot, Geisha House), and it wasn't super-intimidating. It was cozy (as cozy as an L.A. cucina can get, at least), and the service was nice. We started off with a round of drinks at the bar, then went into appetizers with fried calamari. That was standard - nothing out-of-the-ordinary (think Maggiano's or Buca di Beppo). But the main entrees were what really hit the mark. Because I was an idiot, I had eaten before heading out to dinner (working out prior will do that to you). So by the time I got to Bella, the only thing I could think of having was a salad. I chose the Insalata Bella, which was a mix of chopped greens, mozz, salami, and avocado -- tossed in a vinaigrette. It was a simple salad, but very flavorful. The salami wasn't too salty, and it actually went well with the avocado and mozz. My friend had the Pollo Con Picata, a chicken dish prepared with lemon butter and a caper white wine sauce. Her boyfriend went with the Osso Bucco D'Agnello -- braised lamb shank with parm risotto. My other friend went with a steak dish, which ended up being more of an arugula salad with steak chunks. Not at all what she was expecting, but it tasted amazing nonetheless.

All in all, the experience was decent because everyone cleaned-off their plates. The drinks flowed, and since we were stuffed, we skipped dessert. And after parting ways with my old friend, the other half of us went along our merry way to make the best of our night out in Hollywood: Pig 'N Whistle, Geisha House, L'Scorpion... and then a quick stop at Stone Fire Pizza Co. in West Hollywood for more drinks. Good company, good food, and plentiful libations all make for a perfect night out in Hollywood.

PRE-BEDTIME WRAMBLINGS...

It's Sunday night, and I'm reeling off of the two drinks I made myself. Note to all of you sane people out there: never make yourself drinks at night. I'm in bad shape. I should never be given free range to use a bottle of vodka, a shaker, and whatever else is in the fridge. I've consumed an olive martini (sans the vermouth), and then a vodka/coke zero - as if the coke zero was to make-up for the fact that I was literally effin' myself up. I'm surprised I'm actually concentrating hard enough to edit this post accordingly. I should be going to bed.

Oh, per my last post... I totally didn't play the game right. I posted that joint, and then forgot to post on each person's page that I wanted them to "play the game." Whatever. I'm buzzed right now. If I wasn't, I'd probably be more sympathetic. But right now ---not so much. I'm trying to watch "The Wizard of Oz" on TBS as I type this. I should be in bed, but I want to scare myself by seeing the witch. But now that I've seen "Wicked" the musical, I'm over her. OK, so she's on TV right now and I'm totally not scared. Whatever.

Damn green bitch.

Anyway. So wanna know something great? I totally finished Christmas shopping for all the kids in my life ---well, all of the ina-anaks that I have, and my nephews (and niece!) back home. *pat-on-my back* I'm super excited about it! I'm halfway through with my shopping. I hate shopping, unless it's for myself. Note to self: I'm in need of gray jeans or cords. I'm thinking Citizens of Humanity, or Diesel - since they come in my length. The one thing that blows about premium denim is having to get that shit hemmed. Effers.

What the fuck? I should be in bed. I want Carl's Jr.

Fatty.

(SIDE NOTE: I often times have split-personality-esque conversations with myself.)

BLOG GAMES

Fine. I get it… I’ve been laggin’, but it’s better late than never…

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. (***I don’t get it? Just follow along… you’ll figure this out…)

B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

***

1. I was playing with a pair of scissors after school one day (in high school), and started cutting my hair while talking on the phone. Apparently, I wasn’t keepin’ my eye on the prize, and I fucked-up my ‘do. My parents thought I was a complete idiot that day, and they took me to my uncle’s house so that he could fix it in his garage. OK, embarrassing.

2. Like someone else had mentioned, I was busted for shoplifting at an AAFES store when I was 14 or 15 (Tin, you were def NOT 13… we were caught the same Summer! LOL!). It was a potentially big deal, but since my dad was already retired, I didn’t have to get called into a meeting, and I didn’t have my “day in court.” But I was cuffed, and pulled into a “back room,” and my dad and siblings were present. I know that dad was ashamed of me, and when I got home my mom was the livid one. I was banned from the BX for a year, but didn’t have to do community service. I shoplifted a bottle of hairspray after that incident (because I was dumb), but luckily I didn’t get caught… and I realized then that I didn’t get the same “high” I did when I previously did it. Oh well. That was the last time I ever “did it.” Lesson learned.

3. I am a self-diagnosed OCDer… and I live my life according to straight, clean lines. Everything has to be in order, or else I will go insane.

4. One of my weaknesses is French fries… Even if I’m stuffed to the point of hurling, I will stuff those fries into my mouth like my life was on the line if I didn’t.

5. I am mean-spirited, and have only come to realize that I’ve been so since I was a very young kid. I once believed that I was influenced by other potentially mean kids around me as I was growing up, but now that I’ve looked deep into my soul I’ve realized that it was me all along. (ie, When my siblings and I were young, we went to The Philippines. We were hanging out on the terrace/balcony of my grandparents’ house – which was over the patio. My grandmother was already experiencing bouts of senility then, and she was sitting on the couch in the patio. The floor of the terrace was made up of planks of hardwood, with slits in-between. I got my siblings and cousins to drop pokeno chips through the slits so that they’d fall on or near my grandma. She had no clue what was going on, and we laughed so hard. I remembered that incident when she passed, and I cried so hard. I am mean.)

6. I have surprisingly (and successfully) navigated people through the Hollywood hills/canyons NOT knowing exactly where I was going three times (twice sober, once extremely drunk). Each time I told the driver to take a certain turn, I’d look the other way and make faces as I pleaded with God to help us get out of the dark, scary canyons… ALIVE. Needless to say, God is GOOD!

***

I tag the following: Ate Cooks, Steveee, Jason, Arl & Crisa…

Be well, sweater monkeys.