Really, what I want right now is...

To flounce around in heels at night.

To have time for the gym every day, and work on trimming my waist down a bit.

To build up my wardrobe more, with a few key and a few fun pieces.

To work my way through Entourage and Mad Men with my Netflix account.

To kick ass at work.

To get back into the rhythm of reading books.

To rebuild my savings a bit.

To spend quality time with my friends.

These are the things that are important to me right now, and how I want to build my days and weeks. If you think you can fit into this program without messing it up, great. If not, leave me alone.

Things you will always find in my car

Since I spend so much time driving for work, it often feels like I live in my car. And maybe I could, considering all of the shit that is in there on a regular basis.

- A half full bottle of water

- A yoga mat

- Small first aid kit

- Jumper cables, flares, and a tire patching kit, all in a neat little car emergency kit

- Gym towel

- Hands free headset/earphones

- Hand wipes

- Baseball cap

- Garmin GPS

- A granola bar

- Pens

- Suntan lotion

- A blanket

- Book on learning Italian (this really needs to go, I have no idea why it is still in there)

Interestingly enough, most of this shit is tucked away pretty neatly. I swear I do not drive the equivalent to a rolling dumpster.

Ok, probably my favorite picture EVER. Of my whole life. EVER.

And I mean that.

More pictures of the scrumptious Mac 'n Cheese contest over on Chow.com.

Snag.

Lately I can't sleep.

I go to sleep just fine, and I've been waking up in the middle of the night for a few hours, and then I'll drift back. I'm not sure what's up. When I was a little girl I had phases of pretty bad insomnia, but it straightened itself out around college and I've been fine ever since. I hope this isn't a precursor that it's coming back...

I've been going to bed really early lately, like asleep by ten, and I wake up around 2 or 3, then go back to sleep at some point for a few hours. But if you add up the hours, I'm getting plenty of shut-eye, sooo...

Maybe I should force myself to stay up a little bit later. Maybe I should get back into the habit of setting my alarm, so that I know I'll wake up in time once I've back to sleep. Maybe it's no big deal, because even as I sit here writing this, I'm not tired.

I suppose we'll see.

Sorry, y'all

I know. I've like, barely posted at all lately. But I've been busy. Doing things like...

- Actually working on a challenging and rewarding job

- Hitting the town with fabulous friends

- Making Macaroni 'n Cheese for hundreds of people

Yes, you read that last one right. On Sunday I had the blessing/curse experience to participate in SF Food Wars's first competition - the Mac 'n Cheese contest. Seriously, everyone should check out the website. This group is too cool. I stupidly got myself involved in the contest thanks to a bit of shit-talking via Twitter, and the next thing you know I had agreed to represent the Southern states by bring a baked mac 'n cheese that included lots of cheddar, sour cream, bacon, and looove, y'all.

Although there were several moments during the planning and execution that I cursed myself for getting myself roped in, the contest itself was a ton of fun. And, added bonus, my recipe will be featured in the Chow.com article about the event later this week! Very exciting. Here is a picture of my little station, that featured "Miss Erin's Deeply Southern Mac 'n Cheese".



So, that's about it. Working, cooking, going out, and oh yeah - dating. (Mainly, the person who provided the very beautiful flowers that adorned my station.) Those are the things that have kept me from doing less and less writing and relaxing lately. Which I'm pretty much ok with. Because there has been some time to kick up the footsies.

Too much

I woke up last night at about 3am, bothered by something. My tummy, mainly. I had eaten way too much at dinner last night, and my stomach still felt so full it was difficult to get comfortable in bed. No good.

But something else was unsettling. These last few weeks have been great to the point of overwhelming, and I just need a breather. Too much stimulation. Too many new situations. Too much food. Too much wine. Too many social engagements. Too much shopping. Too many emails. Too much to plan for. I don't want to come down from any of the highs I've been experiencing, but I need some kind of break. And furthermore, I feel like kind of a jerk to be complaining right now - I mean, things have truly been awesome.

I just need things to level out a bit, I suppose. I had a very rough few months, and then careened into an awesome few months. And while I am incredibly grateful for the awesome few months, I also am craving a bit of a slow down and a return to normal.

But with the visitor, event, and job schedule of the next few months, it doesn't look like it's coming anytime soon. Guess I'd just better keep holding on. And stop whining. These are the days.

What I want to be when I grow up

Yeah, my creativity sucks lately. Sooo... I'm blatantly stealing a post idea from my most favorite blog ever. Here's what I want to be when I grow up:

- the Hostess with the Mostess
- someone who has a really tight family
- still a size 6
- out of room for stamps on my passport
- someone that friends come to with their problems
- a partner
- holder of a solid career
- a yogi
- peaceful

Grace in Small Things

1. Smoky almonds

2. First paycheck from new jobs!

3. Morning hikes (and an excuse to wear my new hiking boots)

4. A schedule that has me back to Flexible Fridays

5. This little face

This shit is way better than anything I could ever come up with

One of my besties is constantly regaling a group of us with the crap that goes on in his office space. Here is an email from yesterday:

"Background Info - We have a coffee machine in the office that makes individual cups of coffee and tea. Next to this machine is a case of drawers that hold the various coffee and tea packets. (a pic is attached)

So amusing event of the morning...

Our office admin comes up to my desk: Jason, would like to start ordering the coffee and tea from now on?

I'm like RANDOM!!!!!!!!!! And with my usual smirk I respond - Well I hardly ever drink it and I'm on the road most of the time. Maybe Martin (co-worker) would like to do it, you could ask him.

Admin (mad b/c I'm not taking her seriously) -ARE YOU THE ONE REARRANGING THE COFFEE AND TEA DRAWERS?

Me (No Idea what she's talking about) - No, that was Brent. (random guy in the office)

Admin (practically yelling) SOMEONE HAS DONE IT TWICE THIS WEEK! WHO EVER IS RE-ARRANGING THE COFFEE AND TEA, CAN ORDER IT FROM NOW ON. THE SUMATRA WAS WHERE THE JASMINE TEA WAS, THE TEA WAS WHERE THE KONA COFFEE WAS, AND THE KONA WAS WHERE THE SUMATRA WAS! AND LAST WEEK SOMEONE MOVED THE SUGARS!

At this point a crowd has gathered and I make the fatal mistake of laughing.....

She, fully perturbed, announces/screams to the whole floor. WELL I THOUGHT IT WAS JASON, SINCE HE'S A JOKESTER, BUT WHOEVER IS RE-ARRANGING THE COFFEE AND TEA BETTER STOP IT!!!! OR ELSE THEY CAN ORDER THE COFFEE AND TEA FROM NOW ON!!!!! I'M TIRED OF THIS. THEY'VE BEEN MOVED TWICE THIS WEEK, SO STOP IT!

For their safety, the gathered crowd has now taken cover.

She storms off. Although innocent - I'm officially persona non grata with her! lol

Needless to say we've all been gossiping like little school girls as to:

1) why rearranging the display would totally fuck up the reordering process?

2) who would feel the need to rearrange the display to fuck with the admin?

3) who outed me to the admin as being the likely suspect? - We have figured this out. It was Harlee (that's right, her name is Harlee). She told the admin that when our group is on the road, Me and Martin are the pranksters. So it must have been me or him.

So this led to question #4) why did she yell at me and not Martin?"

My happy dance

I can always sort of gauge my level of personal satisfaction with my life with one thing - am I singing along to the radio in my car? When I'm brooding and unhappy I usually just drive along, giving not much thought to what is playing on the radio. When I'm in a really good place, I'm singing along to pop music, driving with the windows down, and generally reveling in the freedom and release I feel.

Lately, I've been singing along for sure, and I've even noticed a new development - dancing in my apartment. Boogie-ing to Michael Jackson while I get ready to go out, blasting the radio as I blow dry my hair, hell, last night I even caught myself shaking my booty a little bit to an upbeat commercial on the TV.

So I guess life is pretty good right now. Happy dances all around.

Fabulous Foodie Week

Right now I am three days into a week that basically sums up the entire reason that I moved here to the Bay Area.

Already happened...

Tuesday night - Glasses of wine at Bin 38. We started off with the Seghesio Arneis, which was bright and lively with a really nice weight on the palate, and moved onto a Vermentino (name of the producer I didn't catch). Then we scooted down Chestnut Street to A 16, which is definitely one of the hottest foodie spots in the country right now. We sat at the bar and shared a pizza with olives, anchovies, and hot peppers, along with a bottle of juicy red wine from Mt. Vesuvius (again, I'm bad about remembering names of producers...) and lamb meatballs. The bartender treated us to a strawberry and ricotta filled crepe for dessert that was to die for. The conversation was lively, and the food and wine were amazing. All in all a great evening.

And planned...

Thursday - drinks in Napa with a wine-pro girlfriend who I haven't seen in months. We get to catch up on our various romantic scandals, I get to finally hear about the few months she spent in New Zealand this spring working a harvest, and we'll sip and nibble our way through downtown Napa, one glass at a time.

Friday - Already have tickets lined up to see Julie and Julia. To say that I cannot wait is a ridiculous understatement. I can barely even watch the previews, I feel such a strong connection to this movie. I absolutely devoured both of the books that it is based on when they first came out, and profoundly loved them both. My and my girls (Jason and Rodrigo, natch) are seeing a 7:15 show at a theater that allows drinks inside - as all should - and then heading out for French food and wine at one of our favorite spots afterwards.

Sunday - Dinner at Saison, the new Sunday-night-only hot spot in the Mission. Run by two up-and-coming San Fransicso hot shots, the reservations are hard to get, the food is supposed to be amazing, and the buzz is huge. Added bonus - my dinner companion is all for dressing up for the occasion. I can't wait to slip into my heels and really enjoy making an event out of a random Sunday night.

And now I'm off to the gym. So that I'll look pretty in my dress on Sunday. Happy foodie-ing, everyone!

Grace in Small Things

1. The phrase "take the paper" in lieu of reading or subscribing to the paper

2. Treating myself to an afternoon chick flick

3. Really feeling ok when something you knew was going to happen finally does

4. Taking a few hours to slowly get your apartment back in order after a whirlwind few days left it looking like a bomb went off inside

5. Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark" album