Merry Christmas!

I am sore ashamed.

For the first year ever, I didn't send out Christmas cards. I mean, I bought the cards. I have four boxes that almost coordinate with my wrapping paper du jour (thank you, Target). I even lugged them home in my suitcase with the intention of getting them sent out during all the free time I imagined having once my puddlejumper touched down in San Angelo. All that free time has been taken up with gatos and dachshunds and shopping (gross) and wrapping presents and nice, long chats with my daddy in the kitchen.

Instead, the boxes of cards will be boxed up with my presents and shipped back to Los Angeles. Better luck next year. Instead, I'm doing a blog Christmas card:

(Click me! I get big!)

It's been a good year. Thanks for being a part of it.
Here's to 2010!

12 of 12 - December 2009

Yesterday was the 12th. You know the drill. If you don't, check Chad Darnell's blog for details.

Yesterday was also the Casa Descanso holiday party, so the vast majority of these pictures are party or party preparation related. Enjoy!

10:34 a.m. - LJ in Bed.

Checking in on all of my buddies from the comfort and warmth of my covers.


12:11 p.m. - Time to get up and make the cookies.
Rolling out homemade sugar cookies on my Texas towel. If you look closely, you might be able to see my hometown underneath all the flour snow.


1:11 p.m. - Migas!

Since we weren't going to be eating anything substantial until the party, I decided to make some brunch. I went with migas, but this time actually followed a recipe. I'm so glad I did. I mean, my haphazard version is pretty darn good, but holy moly... Thanks to The Pioneer Woman, I had some of the best breakfast I've ever made. (I modified mine to include bacon because, I mean, come on...)


3:14 p.m. - Cookies are not a sometimes food.

It's on to chocolate chip cookies with little red and green M&Ms.


4:59 p.m. - Red Matter.

The red food coloring blends into the cake batter. This is about the time panic started to set in. Then I realized that it wasn't as late as I thought it was and calmed down for 45 minutes. This getting-dark-early thing is still messing with my brain.


8:31 p.m. - Queso Fundido.

Allison finishes up the delicious cheese dish.


9:46 p.m. - Feuerzangenbowle!!

Or auf Englisch... A sugar-spice wine drink in which a giant cone of sugar (called a Zuckerhut) is lit on fire over said drink. That releases more sugar into the punch. It's delicious and very festive. Also, kind of badass... I love that you can see the lights of Silver Lake through the window. I freaking love this neighborhood.


9:51 p.m. - The Spread.

We made a lot of food yesterday. A lot. Spinach dip. My brother's guacamole recipe. Tortilla roll-ups. Frosted sugar cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. Mini red velvet cupcakes. Queso fundido (not pictured). And that's not including the brie, camembert, pretzels, and chips and salsa.


10:16 p.m. - Party People!

I love this picture. My friend Jan looks so happy. This is actually one of two different pictures I took of people at the party. I like the other one, too, so I posted it here. Look! It's Chad!


11:44 p.m. - Christmas Trivia.

Yeah, so this is where I started to realize that I was three pictures short of a dozen with only fifteen minutes left in the day.


11:45 p.m. - Who burned the cheese?

Queso Fundido carnage. This is not going to be fundido to clean up.


11:50 p.m. - "Christmas in Connecticut"

The very poorly-Photoshopped poster for this movie was featured prominently in our party invitation. It played in the background while we played games. (This was after Holiday Switch had wrapped up.)

November 2009 12 of 12

Wow. Can you believe it's November already? Sheesh. In two short weeks, my family will be in town and we'll be making turkey and good gravy! (Literally.)

For now, though, it's the 12th. Not only is it time for 12 of 12, it's its creator's birthday. Happy Birthday, Chad!!

7:42 a.m. - Checking my e-mail.

Starting my day off with an e-mail check. I need to start weaning myself off.


8:24 a.m. - Poor tootsies.

Yesterday, in all of my infinite wisdom, I wore practically new heels to the Warner Brothers lot. Now, given the fun time I had on the lot yesterday, I'll take a few blisters any day, but hoo boy did my feet hurt. On the other hand, it was a great reminder of a great day. And hey, I felt like I looked sharp. Beauty is pain, right? (Please disregard the gross looking toes -- I'm in dire need of a pedicure.)


9:45 a.m. - Breakfast.

Grabbing a breakfast burrito from The Stand with no taters. Hooray, protein!


11:21 a.m. - Starbucks.

It's time for my iced tea. I've taken to drinking my shaken black tea during the day in lieu of having a snack and Diet Coke. It's been very helpful with my attempts to get back in some sort of shape. And, hey! It's yummy and caffeinated.


12:05 p.m. - Negotiating.

I finally heard from someone regarding the rights on a book. Doing my due diligence and calling a lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. It's very exciting.


1:42 p.m. - The Fox lot.

It was a gorgeous day in Los Angeles. The sky was just such a gorgeous shade of blue that it almost looked like something you could only see in a movie. Appropriate that I got the pretty blue sky behind a movie and television studio. I'm also amused that I managed to get Nakatomi Tower in the background.


1:50 p.m. - A mooooovie.

I didn't intend for so much bunching, but I couldn't resist this picture. This was just past the Fox lot on Pico.


2:15 p.m. - Mrs. Winston's

Best salad bar ever, even if all you see in this picture is lettuce.


4:10 p.m. - My afternoon joy.

Burt's Bees chapstick, Starbucks' shaken black iced tea, and the Lollia hand lotion I bought in Austin.


5:31 p.m. - Ode to West Texas.

I was just mapping something out and then my own personal version of Fodor's happened.


7:22 p.m. - Goodbye, Joy.

Well, not goodbye goodbye, but this was Joy's last Cellar hurrah as a Lifetime employee. Layoffs suck. Doug looks possessed in this picture. (Sorry, Doug.)


9:08 p.m. - Homeward bound.

This was taken driving through downtown Los Angeles. The sign indicates that the on-ramp to the Hollywood Freeway (101) is coming up in about a mile...


And to end it all off, I must implore you all to watch Everything She Ever Wanted on Lifetime on Saturday (Night One) and Sunday (Night Two) nights. Gina Gershon, Ryan McPartlin, and Victor Garber. As my dad likes to say, "It don't get no better than that!"

October 12 of 12

Yesterday was the 12th. You know what that means. And if you don't, then you clearly don't know Chad Darnell or read his awesome blog.

My company is cool enough to give us Columbus Day off, so I spent the day hanging out with my mom who was visiting from Texas. The main event -- which you can probably tell from the pictures below -- was the Warner Brother's VIP Studio Tour. If you've never done it, I highly recommend it. Well worth the $45 admission -- and much cooler and more informative than the Universal Backlot Tour. I took pictures where I could. Some areas were off limits for cameras, though. This was my second time on the tour, so I was able to watch my mom experience it all -- but even I got some surprises. Our tour guide took us on the sets of two of my favorite Warner shows. Alas, my Inner Geek became my Outer Geek at that point. So. Cool. If you take the tour, ask for Bob. He was fantastic.

Here we go, though...

9:50 a.m. - Morning Has Broken.


We stayed up late -- really late -- watching TV the night/morning before, so we let ourselves sleep in. I know I'm biased, but I think my room is really cozy.

10:39 a.m. - Mixing It Up.


Mom starts mixing up the chocolate cake. Mama, I tried not to get you in this picture. Promise.

11:53 a.m. - Chocolate Cake!


The cake layers cool while we get ready to go to Burbank. Is it just me, or do they look kind of like giant hamburger patties?

1:11 p.m. - A Little More...


My mom got her first real taste of Poquito Mas. (We split a Traditional Vegetarian burrito with pinto beans, no salsa, cut in half.) I'm always amused by these signs. I mean, I understand their purpose -- but it doesn't mean I'm not going to sneak a picture anyway.

1:40 p.m. - Thufferin' Thuccotash!


Mom poses with Daffy Duck in front of the Warner Brothers tour center. I was so excited that my mom got to do this tour. It was so much fun seeing it all through her eyes.

2:57 p.m. - Ever Dance With the Devil in the Pale Moonlight?


The amazing Bob (our Warner Brothers tour guide) tells us about the Batmobile and Tumbler on display at the studio.

3:09 p.m. - I'll Be There For Youuuu.


Aside from the fact that I love the fact that I have a picture with my mom "inside" Central Perk, I hate this picture. That stupid (but necessary) hoodie did me NO favors. Ugh.

5:36 p.m. - Barnes & Noble.


My mom has a tradition of buying a book on Hollywood history every time she's here. She wasn't about to break that tradition this trip, so we stopped at the Studio City Barnes & Noble on the way back to my part of town.

7:21 p.m. - Chinatown!


This was actually our second visit to Yang Chow this weekend. On Saturday night, we picked up slippery shrimp and sauteed green beans. It was enough to make my mom want to return.

7:46 p.m. - Chinese Food. Om nom nom.


In addition to Saturday's leftovers, we picked up some Szechuan beef, combination fried rice, and spring rolls. So, so good.

9:14 p.m. - The Finished Product.


Mom shows off the finished cake. There's actually another version of this picture that I like better, but Mama would kill me if I posted it. I had her say "cheese!" and it turned out hilarious. That one will have to go in my private scrapbook.

11:29 p.m. - Updating the iPod.


Mom was leaving the next morning at 6:50, so I wanted to make sure she had some primo tunes.

Yeah, I'm a sap. You got a problem with that?

Very excited to watch Jim and Pam get married on The Office tomorrow night. I'm going to eat homemade tacos and guacamole. And then I'm going to cry.

12 of 12 - September 2009

12:16 a.m. - Being nosy.

One of my favorite TV shows was filming in my office's courtyard Friday evening. After dinner, my roomies and I went back up to my office to watch what all was going on. We were there a while -- ah, the hurry-up-and-wait nature of television.

8:15 a.m. - Caaaaable guy!

The Dish Network guy was supposed to be here between 8 a.m. and noon and he showed up at 8 on the dot. Because the standard def receiver is in Allison's room, she moved her base of operations into my room.

10:23 a.m. - It's so beautiful!

HD Dish hooked up. Basking in the TV's high definition brilliance.

12:41 p.m. - Chinese dumplings. Om nom nom.

Pork dumplings. Pork and crab dumplings. Shanghai rice cakes. Broccoli. I love Din Tai Fung so much.

1:19 p.m. - Baked goods. Om nom nom.

Perusing the Chinese bakery in the same strip mall as Din Tai Fung. It smelled amazing and I ended up buying half a loaf of bread to go with lunch tomorrow.

2:04 p.m. - Nap time!

The only solution for food coma and early-to-riseness on a Saturday is an afternoon nap. Kids don't know what they're missing out on when they throw a fit about having to take a nap.

5:03 p.m. - Raider! Power!

Listening to the Texas Tech football game over the Internet -- and reading the comment thread at the Raider Power forums.

8:27 p.m. - Out for a walk.

I've lived in the neighborhood for four years and I'm still completely charmed.

9:15 p.m. - Visiting my friend Ralph.

Or, as he's known in other parts of the country: Kroger.

9:44 p.m. - Late dinner.

Turkey and brie sandwiches for the roomies and I to eat while watching Iron Chef America.

11:23 p.m. - Watching DVR in my room. Because I can.

Because we have a dedicated HD receiver in the living room now, the old standard definition was hooked up to the TV in my room. This is great for my embarrassingly lackluster television-viewing habits.

11:41 p.m. - Getting some writing in before midnight.

Gotta love a good bar scene, no?

Think Blue.

Happiness is being stuck in a car somewhere outside Dodger Stadium because a brush fire caused them to close the Elysian Park exit, but not caring because you and your friend are singing "Mr. Roboto" and random Britney Spears tunes at the tops of your lungs with your windows rolled down.