saturday night

So besides school work this month I have been making some good friends and some fun social friends. The first day I hung out with them all back in October they invited me out to this thing called Vegan Happy Hour which takes place on Thursday nights at like 5pm at a bar in silverlake, called the Shortstop. I never could make it out last quarter because I had class all night on Thursdays. But this quarter I have that night free so I've stopped by, multiple weeks in a row now. Usually I run out of time to contribute, but Vegan happy hour operated pot-luck style and so you're supposed to bring a vegan dish for everyone to share. This week, I was finally on top of my game and I made vegan chocolate chip cookies.

Vegan dishes are really interesting because they have no animal products in them. So the cookies didn't have eggs or butter or oil, instead I used organic flour, sugar, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, baking soda, unsweetened applesauce and vegan chocolate chip cookies. It was strange seeing how the consistency of the sugar, applesauce and vanilla was so similar to the batter with eggs. Then when I cooked them I knew they wouldn't rise or spread out, but they really just baked exactly how i plopped them on the cookie pan. When they came out of the oven they were rather tough on the outside but then when you bit in the inside was all soft, almost fluffy. I think the texture of it all made it more delicious. Without all the butter and everything they were also fairly low in calories. Vegan food is awesome. It's such an experiment.

Next week I'm planning on making a maccaroni dish, it's got chili powder and beans in it. Should be good! I like cooking for other people, it makes it feel like its worth it when you can watch others enjoy it. My cookies went fast, and Julie, the bartender who organizes vegan happy hour, asked me for the recipe. They were probably the easiest thing I've ever baked, just intuitive somehow. We even share our dishes with people who don't know what's going on, it kind of creates community, it's pretty fun.

In fact some guys started playing pool with our friends and they bought the boys rounds of drinks. My friend Erin and I just sat, amused, in the corner talking. At one point one of the guys came and stood nearby us, just waiting to interject a hello I assume... when my friend Erin reached around my shoulder and said, "i'm just going to stop you right there, at the intersection, she's taken" and smiled. So for all of you who may worry about me down here in LA, if I'm not bold enough, my friends will be for me! :) Of course I'm not dating anyone, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Today I went to school and worked for a while, with my friend Ashley. She leaves next quarter to move up to northern california and prepare for her wedding! She'll graduate with me back at SPU and then get married! I can't believe it. And I have to suffer my final quarter without her by my side. It'll be rough, but I think I'll be able to handle it. It's nice having someone you can meet up with at the computer labs and talk to at intermitted times, as opposed to sitting in complete silence for five hours. It's weird how that can really dry out your throat.

I'm a little all over the place with my thoughts this evening, but I was just sitting here, missing my family, and thought about how everyone wants to keep up on me, I just need to write more! My mom and dad are in Arizona today and my mommy's birthday is tomorrow!! Happy Birthday Mom! I wanted to come home and surprise her for her birthday present, but then I found out she was going to be in Arizona. If I hadn't seen her a couple weeks ago I would be really bummed, but I think I can hold out for a little longer.

Tomorrow is the Oscars and I'm going to watch them with a bunch of my friends at their house. In the morning I'm going to church with my friend Erin, who is leading worship, I think with her brother and sister in law. She's such a blessing, just to know her. We can relate on faith things and also on a super normal hang out level. It's so refreshing not to have to weed through layers in order to find who a person is... that can sometimes be the case even in church. But I find that we're really real with each other.

I've seen some celebrities lately, it's really silly to call some of them celebrities, considering they haven't really done anything that notable. It's amazing how our culture wants to put everyone and anyone on pedestals. Anyways I've seen Lauren Conrad from this MTV show called the hills, I passed her in my corner whole foods. I saw this girl Jael who competed on America's Next Top Model. I think I may have seen, but my friends for sure saw Scott Speedman from Felicity and other more recent things I'm sure. I went to a birthday party with my friend Ashley and saw Erica Christiensen from the movie Traffic, they grew up together. I've seen a bunch of random people... it's weird recognizing them as if you know them, which makes you look and be curious... and then you place the face, then continue on your way.

I'm going to head to bed and get some sleep to keep up my energy and health in this blustery weather. Seattle, take it back please! haha, the year I move is the year they get record rain fall this month... seriously?

love you all, miss you all.

letter of explanation

Clearly I have been less than on top of my goal to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of my life in LA. Forgive me. This past two months has been a whirl wind, I can hardly keep track of time, much less a blog.

So let’s start from where we left off. Being in Seattle was amazing but it made it unbelievably hard to come back to the city of concrete and fallen morals. Of course not every aspect of LA is horrible, but the city couldn’t look any less appealing after a few weeks of enjoyment in my favorite city of all. When I got back I was in this lull, I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing or why I was here. I hadn’t really established a friend base yet, I think mainly because I was set on the idea of LA being temporary. Why would you form friendships and alliances when you’re just going to walk away from them? It was a very poor decision on my part, for friends were exactly the thing I needed to return to, instead of a quiet, lonely house.

I don’t want to be dramatic so I will cease the talk about my era of mild depression. More recently I have been spending time with some really wonderful people. They are all very talented, some musicians, some actors and just some plain old creative people. It’s exciting to see them all doing what they love, and LA seems to encourage creative careers. It’s nice to see people pursuing something creative with passion and all their time, instead of giving their dreams the temporary cold shoulder. I have to say, it’s quite refreshing and inspiring.

Also recently, I made a trip out to Salt Lake City to join my parents and sister to honor and say our earthly goodbyes to my uncle. Although it was a hard time, because of emotions and grieving, it was really wonderful to see how branches of our family all melded together. I feel that I am welcomed there with open arms every single time I go. It makes me want to go out there more often! If only air miles were always free and vacations were endless. Sometime I think it would be fun to make a trip myself, or at least be home to help entertain when they come up to visit my parent’s place. I’m going to use my upcoming graduation as a way to get my cousin Carrie to come up and go out dancing and karaoke-ing with Marin and I.

Time in Utah was short, but wonderful. I didn’t want to leave home at all after winter break, because that was just the beginning of the grieving process, so it was nice to feel some resolution and hang out with my parents. Nothing tops time with family.

I miss home, I miss Seattle, I miss my friends in WA. I miss my family, and I miss my bedroom. But I think it’s a good thing to have time away because it makes you appreciate the time you do get so much!