So just a little recap...

Well we are officially in the summer season. Schools are on vacation, kids are graduating, I’m starting to melt in the RWC. Ahh, one of my favorite seasons.

The past few weeks have been super busy and the next few will be too (or that's what I keep hearing). This week provided a new nice change of pace and I have been working remote in LA. It’s been a pretty sweet deal. But let me at least catch you up starting from last weekend (and this is the reader's digest version).

So Saturday, right after attempting to cool down the hellmouth (my term of endearment for my home. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it’s hotter than hell – hence the name – when it’s warmer than 80 outside) Kate left to go to Alaska to visit her brother and I went down to Clos la Chance winery for Teresa’s birthday. Her boyfriend planned a great day at the winery and we picnicked and tried lots of white wine. I was super proud of myself for NOT getting sunburned, especially since I was sitting in the sun all afternoon, but it was such a fun day. Then we went to the Hut for a birthday drink (our old Santa Clara stomping grounds). When I got home I threw a bunch of stuff in about 6 separate bags, my version of “packing” and Carly and I caught up on Psych and tried a new pizza place – but one that delivers so we didn’t have to leave :o)

The Sunday morning, Carly packed up and caught a flight to Denver for a work-type-conference for a new program that they are trying to start at her school. I wasn’t too far behind her and threw all my bags and some treats into the Blueberry and checked, double checked, and triple checked all the doors/windows to make sure it was locked up tighter than fort knox and bid adieu to Lark and headed south. By the way, I sang the entire way and it was very well received.

I made Highway 5 my bitch and got to Commonwealth in about 5.5 hours…making only one stop for gas and a coffee (also, I am bringing back the mocha frappacino this summer…those things are CRAZY delicious). Sunday night, the Repettos threw a delicious birthday dinner for Tom’s mom who was in town from Chicago visiting. The food was BOMB – chicken, grilled veggies, a delicious panzanilla salad (quite possibly my other new summer obsession) and some homemade scalloped potatoes. Top it off with some delicious choc cake from grandma Costco and you’ll get a FULL Julie. It was so good though – worth every bite.

Monday was pretty mellow – I started a new running route around trendy Los Feliz but no celeb sightings (DAMMIT) and then started working away. Monday night, Gina and Gary had us over at their house for dinner and got ready for Claire to celebrate her graduation from high school.

Tuesday was a CRAZY busy day. Lady Di and Marko flew in and after a full day of working, we all dined on some pretty yummy tamales and headed to the Hollywood Bowl for the graduation. I had only been to the Bowl for the Sound of Music Sing-Along (jealous?) but this was a pretty sweet graduation. It was absolutely beautiful and the girls all wore long white dresses with red roses.  After a quick ceremony (no joke, just a little over an hour) we headed back to Nonni’s to toast with champagne and cake and some other goodies.

Wednesday morning, I think the entire family was EXHAUSTED. But we all rallied and went to work/did what we had to do. Tom had put us on the list for the Green Room at Jimmy Kimmel so Lisa, Sarah and I headed over to Hollywood Blvd to see them tape two episodes, one with Will Smith and one with Seth Rogen & a music performance with Lonely Island. It was AWESOME. Then we went and got dinner after the show, well they did, I had some bomb chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and the person sitting at the booth next to us was the Principle on Glee. (Thank you Google Search for knowing what “Joey Tribbiani’s doctor with Kidney Stones” meant).

If I thought I was exhausted on Wednesday, I was wiped out on Thursday. It was a low key day (including lunch with Uncle Gary so I could see his brand-spankin new office in Glendale). After work, Sarah and I went and got mani/pedis and then headed to dinner. So civilized.

Today's been pretty mellow - just working and had another delicious lunch with the Killer B's. Not sure what else is going to happen today but I can tell you I am never this active during the week! Not sure what else is on the agenda for the weekend but I think I get to see Julia tomorrow in the afternoon.Whoop Whoop!

I promise I'll blog this weekend or at least do another recap...soon...ish...

#hellotosummer

#crossyourfingersformorecelebsightings

Whoa - Definitely Dropped the Ball.

It's been way too long since I last blogged. Mi dispiace! So without further ado - let's get into Kudos and Boos...

Kudos to all the moms out there - especially Lady Di! In case you're living under a rock, it's Mother's Day and I think that Lady Di had a pretty awesome weekend. First, Lisa flew up for the weekend and the three of us went for a lovely walk at the Stanford Dish. It was a ridiculously beautiful day but definitely warm at the wee hours of 9 am. It was Lady Di and Lisa's first time walking it so they claim that I was trying to kill them, which is absurd, but we all survived (with tighter gluteus we hope!) Then Saturday night we went see Mary Poppins up at the Orpheum Theater in SF. It was a great play - just a little long. And who doesn't love singing some of those awesome songs. Then this morning, after getting our prayer on, we made a delicious brunch, I hit the gym, Lisa and I got Mani/Pedis, and then cooked dinner (and Auntie Cath & Michael came up as well). It was an action packed weekend and I am pooped! But, well worth it.
Boos to season finales. These just seemed to sneak up on me! I can't believe we're already in mid May and most of our shows are wrapping up. There are so many unanswered questions already hanging - #whoisthemole #whoispregnant #willtheygetmarried #willshetellhimhesherbabydaddy #willtheyfinallygettogether Just FYI those are not all the same show. But you get my point - and most still have an episode or two to go! Ahhh the stress!

Kudos to Kelly graduating! This Friday, Lady Di, Marko and I are getting on a plane and heading to San Diego to see Kelly Mac graduate from SDSU. She's getting her degree in Media Studies and all set with a job. It will be a quick trip down there but a good time!
Boos to the Office signing off this week. Only one more time do we get to see what happens at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton. I have loved this show and all of the people on it and the only good thing that is coming from this episode is all of the guest starring roles this week! I believe Kelly and Ryan will be back and I can only hope that good ol' Michael Scott will make one more appearance. I wonder if they have any openings for him. That's what she said. (Sorry I couldn't resist.)

Kudos to Claire BB! Tomorrow is her 18th birthday and boy it would be nice to be her right now. She decided on Davis, probably have little homework/tests/projects left so she's pretty much ready for graduation, which is just a few weeks away. Way to go Claire!!
Boos to a new week already. Man these weeks seem to go too fast.

Not my most interesting blog post, but I am a little rusty #hatersgonnahate #lotstocatchupon

Trips to Target in the 'Burbs

Yes, it’s been over two month since I last blogged. What better way to get back into it then with a crazy story about a typical trip to Target. Disclaimer: This may only be crazy to those involved and there is a very strong possibility that you will read this and say, huh. But it was ridiculous at the time.

So a couple of weeks ago, Kate and I went to Target for some random items (mostly because we wanted to get the complete season 1 of Girls). We were going at our usual browsing pace – let’s go down this aisle, oh can we check out their latest decorations, let’s price out patio furniture – and we were just about ready to pay when we went to the card aisle. So it’s just the two of us and some older lady in said aisle and as I am picking up a card, all of the sudden we hear this “blehhzoooooommmmm” and the store goes pitch black. I immediately clutch Kate’s arm and am ditching the dumb card that was in my hand and our cart and say, “Let’s get out of here” and just as Kate’s grabbing her purse the lights come back on. But just for a second cause then they went out again. This time for a very short amount of time, and the lights finally came back on and stayed on. At this point, if a slight breeze were to come up, I would be knocked to the ground.

It took us a few minutes to collect ourselves in the card aisle – still shaking, thank you very much – and we were ready to get the heck out of this place. So we made our way to the checkout and all of the computers are rebooting because of the outage. As we were waiting in line, Kate was going to run and check for one last item, but thinking that the power would go out again, I yelled out to her HURRY!! Luckily, the lights stayed on but the computers were still out of commission and pretty soon the entire store is ready to check out and no one is moving. About 20 minutes later we were finally walking out with some shaky legs and I was looking for a Xanex stat.

A few weeks later, Kate was auditing the very same Target and found out that the power went out because of a car accident that wiped out the power grid. So what it comes down to is that kate and I lost probably 2 years off our lives because two cars decided to fender-bend. Not necessary.

Call me Chef...

I'm going to breeze right past the fact that this is going to be my third post in one week (holler!) but instead, I'll brag about another one of my January goals...I have already made my homemade meal for the week from scratch. Yes, I'm just a couple more dishes away from opening my own restaurant. HA! Just kidding, I wouldn't go that far.

Yesterday I made some delicious Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice. The recipe was from Cooking Light a few months ago and the pictures just looked so scrumptious and said it was "super fast" that I thought ok, this sounds basic enough. Maybe I'll try it. Sidebar: My theory on Cooking Light is that it's basic and healthy - whereas some other magazines or cookbooks are written for the Julia Childs out there, not the Julia Boninos.

It was already going to be a late dinner since I was going to Spin and that didn't get out till 7:15 and they claimed it should only take 20 minutes so I thought this would be a perfect day to test it. I started off with all my ingredients in front of me - much like Rachel Ray, but here's the rub, it only cuts time if you have them all prepared in little bowls ready for you to dump into the pan. Not when they are in their sealed containers staring at you waiting for you to do something with them. The most likely solution to this predicament...get myself a sou chef. I enlisted Carly to help chop. Thank god, I don't care for mincing...so tedious. Yes add that to the list of why I don't cook.

I tried to stick to the recipe exactly. I am not one of those "Oh i thought this would be good in here too" and totally go rogue on it until I've done it exactly as it says I should at least once (reading between the lines - this almost never happens, with the exception of a cocktail recipe). But I did "cheat" and use some 3 minute rice from Trader Joes. Although the recipe did call for instant rice, so I guess I wasn't completely cheating.

Another thing I learned from this recipe - it says only cook for 5 minutes but that isn't the case. Especially when it comes to cooking chicken. I may have overcooked it but cooking chicken is not a maybe kinda sorta thing (although maybe when I'm a pro it will be but not this early in the game).

Anywho, I probably read the recipe for about 15 times and about 45 minutes later, yes over twice as long as it should have taken me, I dined on the concoction and I have to admit it was pretty good. Confession, if I were to order this at a restaurant, I probably won't sing it's praises and say it was decent, but for my completely homemade cooking (with the exception of my instant rice), I'll take it.

Since I don't take pictures of my food (again, only on the rarest of occasions) I can't prove that it was edible and looked decent. But Carly was my taste tester and she enjoyed it. And, if really want to see what it looked like, google a pic and yes it would look exactly like that*

*No it wouldn't.

#Idontinstagramfood

Kudos and Boos

Told you I would blog more in 2013, so without further ado - Kudos and Boos from the past couple of weeks.

Kudos to Pitch Perfect. Why I didn't see this in the theaters, I have no idea. This movie was AWESOME. Kate and I rented it on OnDemand and boy was it well worth it. We watched it twice in one weekend, Kate bought the soundtrack and then Carly bought the actual movie. It's got everything - a capella music, a humor, decent plot and Rebel Wilson is so hilarious. I think it's going to be one of those movies that we just watch on a rainy day.
Boos to a house divided. Tomorrow's the BCS game with Notre Dame and Alabama fighting for the title. Let's just say the Lark is a house divided, but luckily we are fair weather fans so no painters tape will be put down and after the game it will be all rose petals and sunshine. But for those three hours, some words may be exchanged. #goirish

Kudos to Gone Girl. This was one of the most talked about books in 2012, making all sorts of lists, so during my break I decided that I should finally sit down and read it. It's a suspense book and it's not usually my cup of tea, so I did try to read it a couple of times before but it just kept creeping me out so I would only read a chapter and then go off to another book. But since I had time to read during the day, I started and could NOT put it down. There are so many twists and turns but fairly easy to keep up with it. And a good way to distract you when you're on the elliptical at the gym, it would almost make me want to keep going. Almost.
Boos to Gone Girl. This book had it's creepy moments. And sometimes I couldn't sleep. Yes, I get scared easily so someone who likes this stuff may be able to handle it a little better than I could. But it was a little tough to fall asleep a couple times. Good thing I was on vacation.

Kudos to Scandal. I've said, oh I should watch this for about the past four months since my friends at Netflix keep putting it in my "Shows you should watch" list and we finally started watching it last week and we got so addicted we finished the first season yesterday (calm down, it was only 7 episodes). Kerri Washington needs to take a chill pill at least once an episode but it's so addicting and so much easier to follow than Revenge (esp these days). And you know, who doesn't love a good Shondra Rimes thriller?
Boos to getting back to the real world. Last week's three day work week was pretty awesome...if only they could always be like that.

And since tonight Revenge and Downton Abbey comes back, i got to go get my ducks in a row so I can watch them...until later this week.

#2downyeahya

2013 - Here We Go

Well it's already 2013. And seeing as we're 6 days into the new year already, it's time to get going on my blogging since that's one of my new year goals.

Just a quick recap - the end of December was awesome. What's not to love though, a nice long holiday break, Christmas, a trip to Sonoma, New Years Eve, movies, visits from the So Cal Boninos? Sounds like perfection. (I told you it would be a quick recap)

Unfortunately, it's back to the real world so let's go into some of the new goals I've cooked up...
1. Cook a real meal from scratch once a week...I don't cook but I can microwave something like nobody's business. So this year, I am going to try and cook something with real ingredients once a week. And I am proud to say, yes I cooked last week. On a week night. When I was back at work. Go me. I found this recipe on Pintrest and it's for Spinach Parmesan Quinoa and boy was it an easy recipe. I mean obviously since I was able to make it and bonus - I survived. One week down...51 to go.

2. Read the newspaper. Usually I get my news from 10 minutes of Good Morning America as I am running out the door, whatever they chat about on the radio (I am usually in the car during the celebrity trash) and then I get the rest of my news from People.com. I will breeze through the SF Chronicle website once a morning, but maybe I'll pick up an actual throw-away paper and read that daily. Although it is six days in and I have yet to do it. But in the words of good ol' Scarlett O'Hara...tomorrow is another day.

3. Blog/Tweet/Yelp. I am slowly starting to tweet so let's see if I can keep this going. And since Lady Di and I are still keeping on with our Friday Lunch Dates, I would like to start yelping about those encounters - maybe I'll blog about those too.

4. This one's always at the top of everyone's list, but being healthy. So far no alcohol for me...I was aiming for all of January, but let's see if I can do it. I mean 6 days so far, why not another 25?

Ok, that sound do it for my new year goals. Maybe seeing them written down will help me keep up with them, but who the heck knows.

Now on to my second post of 2013 (one more than December 2012)...kudos and boos...stay tuned.

#bloggingin2013 #sixdaysdone359togo

Kudos and Boos - December Update

Hellooooo out there!

Rather than say sorry about not blogging, let's go straight into Kudos and Boos. It's Sunday after all. So without further ado...

Kudos to Disneyland in November. After Thanksgiving, most of the fam took the Monday after Christmas off and we all headed to Anaheim. Yes I am talking about all something from wayyyyy back in November, but moving on...we went there to celebrate Nonni's birthday which was two weeks before. And just to add a little extra kick, it was an awesome day to go since we practically walked onto almost everything. Actually, most of the people were all setting up shop in the brand spankin' new Cars Land at California Adventure. Nonni desperately wanted to go see it, so her granddaughters took her over there (we're so good to her) and took her on the ride then hopped back across the way to Disneyland to meet up with the rest of the fam. It was a great way to spend a Monday and Nonni LOVED the whole day.
Boos to all of the recent tragedies. All I am going to say is that I'm keeping all the victims, their families and communities affected in my thoughts and prayers. There's not a whole lot more to say than that.

Kudos to Claire for getting into Fordham! As she's in the middle of her senior year, she got pretty awesome news a couple of weeks ago. It was her first college acceptance and I am sure she'll hear from many more, but I totally remember my first college acceptance - what a relief. So proud of her!!
Boos to end of Gossip Girl. An end of an era if you will. Tomorrow we'll find out who Gossip Girl really is, if Dan and Serena will make up, and if Chuck and Blair will finally be together. Ahhhhh so many questions will need to be answered in the two hour finale. And I am sure most of you are on the edge of your seats because I know I am. Kate and I are preparing for the end today and watching Season One on Netflix. It's only the nice thing to do.

Kudos to Silver Linings Playbook. Kate and I saw this yesterday morning (special shout-out to the first movie matinee pricing!) and we both walked out of the theatre thoroughly entertained and without one bad thing to say about the movie. It's kind of flown under the radar, but getting a lot of press since it's up for some SAG awards and Golden Globes. But the story line was enjoyable and the acting was phenom. And I have to say, yes Bradley Cooper and Robert DiNero were great, but Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic. I cannot recommend this movie enough. Go see it!
Boos to the Bev Hills Housewives bombshell. So many questions are unanswered but thats what happens when legal matters take over a reality show. For those of you who don't watch the show, Monday night a bomb was dropped but Bravo eliminated the entire thing so we only know that something terrible was said, but not what it is. We may never know, well until the case is closed, but goodness we need some answers before the end of the season. You better believe we've got a list of questions going.

Ok, I'm going to try to blog this week. I'm hoping to at least. But maybe I'll be inspired since I've got 5 days of work until Christmas break. That's some exciting news right there.

#IGotToFinishXmasShoppingASAP