Thing That Are Keeping Me Going Today

It's a pretty slow week at work or at least the adrenaline of needing to know so much new information has slightly subsided. But I can feel an achy throat coming on and a desperation for a yoga class, and sitting at my desk all day is weighing on me. BUT THERE IS SILVER LINING. Namely these things:

1. SERIAL Podcast: I already finished the podcast and felt disillusioned and unsatisfied, although it's amazingly well-done. I just wish there had been more of a resolution. Then this happened:
Key 'Serial' Witness Writes New Affidavit Supporting Adnan SyedRead more: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/serial-witness-never-recanted-alibi-adnan-syed-20150120#ixzz3PUHdfipn 

2. From NPR: "The songs of Elliott Smith are widely revered — especially by those who came of age in the '90s — but a new generation of listeners is only beginning to discover him. Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith is likely to expose new fans to the great singer-songwriter... This album, by Jessica Lea Mayfield and The Avett Brothers' Seth Avett, was made over a four-year period with great love for the man and his songs."
3. Reminiscing about three days ago, when my weekend was full of housewarming parties, birthday brunches, reunions, and yummy food and drinks. Grateful to have so many good friends from undergrad and law school. Also special shout out to Cass and Kelly (pictured below) for letting me crash with them last week:
4. The entirety of Taylor Swift's new crap. I hate myself because I love it so much. I've also memorized all of it. "Wildest Dreams" is kind of my song right now. God help me. Anywho, this cover makes my obsession slightly better?


Listen to "Somebody that I Used to Know" here.

5. Meditation. I've been meditating for a few minutes in the morning and evening and even in the afternoon when I get a chance... just five to ten minutes to center myself, which has helped keep my energy up and my anxiety... winninnggggggggggg

xx

Life Lately

I meant to update my blog over the weekend and then I got food poisoning from chile relleno from Don Antonios in Santa Monica. Literally died.

But Veronica brought over my red gatorade and my favorite sour candy and after about 30 hours, I was back to normal. The weekend was amazing though.

Alene and I checked out Allumette for Dine LA on Thursday. I have to write a full review. It was really amazing. The dishes I was a bit wary of ended up being my favorite, i.e. fish over tapioca pudding. Then I met my old roomies and Evan at the Hermosillo for a catch up session and chocolate mousse.

Friday, Christable and I hit up Gillian's birthday at King Eddy's in DTLA - great hipster (cheap) bar and great to see G :) Then we went to the Satellite to see Vim Dicta and Hindu Pirates and meet up with Ellie and Travis. We played pool and drank tequila and ended up gorging on bourbon pecan pie at Brite Spot at 3am. And then as Christable described, Evan landed like an eagle and picked us up.


On Saturday morning, I made banana pancakes for a mimosa brunch for Cassi, Evan, Matt, Patrick, Ivana and Brooke. Lots of mimosas. Then Don Antonios happened (I'm still queasy thinking about it.) I still thought I could get it together, so Cassi, Christable and I checked out Hotel Cafe for Okapi Sun's set and then hit up Bootie LA. Bad idea. Hot sweaty bodies writhing around you and the smell of cheap alcohol will really catalyze your projectile vomiting due to food poisoning. 

I spent the entirety of Sunday in bed watching Netflix until Veronica saved me with my favorite sick food. Since then, I've been taking it easy and catching up on work, namely that UN petition, a motion, an opposition, proposition research, a scholarship app, law review stuff, etc.

And of course, I also did a girls date dinner with V at our fave place, Edendale. - oxtail au jus. I can't even. So good.

I picked up some stuff at the Americana last night and checked out Din Tai Fung with Aline  - phenomenal. Review coming later.

Add in a few hikes, including the two hour one with Tawsh and Matt this morning, ginger shots, and catching up on Oscar movies, I'm feeling pretty good about this week.


AND MANDZ IS COMING TO TOWN THIS WEEKEND. Plus dinner with my mom and some gardening, I am a happy camper.

The only thing I need now is some yoga to stretch out those post-sickness muscles.

LA Catchup

Things have been madness since I returned last Friday.  I'm so grateful for my family and friends and how fun this week has been and all the wonderful things that will happen. A brief synopsis:

Saturday:

• Law Review Orientation
• Late lunch with Annie (new housemate - she's amazing, fyi), Veronica, Grant, Aline, Max and Lauren (our fave subletter ever) at Square One at Echo Park Lake. I got the Squash Blossom Burrito - delish. (Grant - we need to do our vegan dinner soon; Max - you need to get on board with face touching; Veronica - can we just get married already?)
• FYF - I love you Devendra Banhart (and Jacy, Aline and Evan - I've missed you more than you can imagine).

Sunday:

• Jeff - thank you for always putting up with my craziness - I love you, almost as much as I love coffee and Banh Mi.
• Brunch wtih Christina at Red Hill - get the mimosa with the homemade sorbet and the kale salad. Also despite the crazy people around us, Christina was the funniest and most amazing. I love her so much and can't wait to go out with her again).
• FYF - Beach House and Washed Out for the win. And reuniting with Molly was the icing on the cake.

Monday - Thursday:

• Classes - wow. I forgot how to read. 
• Hermosillo welcome back - I love my friends almost as much as I love deep fried brussel sprouts (special thank you to Anthony and Jackie for traveling to me - I felt so loved!)
• Walks around Silverlake Res, hikes at Elysian, nachos with Cassi at El Chavo, fun work meetings (more on that later), and general merriness.

Friday:

• Edendale dinner (Omg the Eden Dip) with Veronica, hightailing it around the Eastside, including Bar Stella, 4100 (oh the views) and Footsies. 

Saturday:

• Coffee at Square One with the pups and Jacy (becoming my favorite dog walk, especially with Sophie trying to chase the heron pictured below).

• Catching up on Orange in the New Black (so amazing, I want the new season - did she or didn't she?)
• Scoops ice cream with Annie and Ariana - yay for roommate bonding and salty oreo.
• Reuniting with Lennie and Jenaba - I've missed them.
• Eat.See.Hear with Sam, Jacy and Christable - Pulp Fiction, hot dogs with avocado, arugula, and basil aioli and hot chocolate from Brasil Kiss. Yum. Sam - thank you so much for introducing me to such a legit event and thank you to Christable and Jacy for putting up with my craziness and listening to my stories and for being so great in general).

• Brew Co/Daily Bruin reunion with my faves, including Alene, Anthony, Jess, Machiko and Matt Stevens. 

Sunday:

• Relaxed with brunch with my mom, Labor Day Sale shopping with my aunt, and yummy Indian before cleaning my room and getting my life together.

Monday:

• work work work in the morning.
• Lunch with Priyah and Whitney at Wurstkuche - You can't go wrong with the Austin Blues. Also I've missed Priyah tremendously since she moved and so happy I got to spend a couple of hours with her.

• Massage with Aline
• BBQ with Paige and Aline - adobo steak, corn on the cob, fresh green salad and dessert: bananas with melted truffles, marshmallows and vanilla ice cream.

The next week is crazy - I have a report due for my consultant position with LAFLA due tomorrow. I start back at Hadsell tomorrow and Hoffman on Wednesday. I need to sift through some law review articles and do my reading for class. Thursday - HH with Lorna and Haley and dinner with the girls (Aline, Alene and Seda) on Thursday.

Also starting my new workout plan - Beachfit and YogaHop on Wednesday and applying for some fellowships. Shit is about to get real, but I'm hoping to keep up the updates on this blog as we go along.

xx

Bruges + Brussels

So whenever I said I was going to Brussels, peeps be like "Have you seen In Bruges?" No, I still haven't BUT now I can say, I have seen Bruges. AND I reunited with Elisa, my old friend from London. (Saying "old" makes me feel ancient, but two years ago is far too long to go without seeing this girl.)

So first things first, Elisa and I met in our Foundations of Health Policy class at LSE. We were the only people under 72 in the class so we became fast friends. Now Elisa is living in Utrecht and I'm in LA and we havent seen one another in ages. So Elisa met me in Bruges and then came to Brussels for the evening and today.

So yesterday morning when I woke up to skype Evan, there was the fiercest, loudest thunderstorm ever and the idea of navigating a new city, even with Elisa, seemed a bit, well, awful. But the minute I got there and met her, we had sunshine, 75 degree weather with a slight cooling breeze. We had lunch in a gorgeous square, coffee in another gorgeous square, a nap near a canal, and dinner at yet another gorgeous square. The cobblestone streets, the afternoon glow, the slow, easy place of the residents and tourists, the brick and stonework, the pretty canals, and the trafficless streets were ridiculously relaxing. Also we tried the local beer, Brugse Zot, which is a refreshing golden ale that I actually enjoyed. I'm going to see if I can get it in the states.

Elisa and I managed to get home before a terrible storm and woke up this morning for a jaunt to the market and brunch at Potemkine, this lovely gallery, cinema, bar, cafe, restaurant place that I've been wanting to try. We had coffee, mint tea, grapefruit juice, pain au chocolat, smoked salmon bread, parma and fruit, chickpea salad, etc. Yum. Definitely going back.

It was amazing how easily Elisa and I fell back into our conversation and stories and similar sense of humor and wavelength. I'm so happy I got to see her and it can't be another two years before I see her - so I think she should plan a trip to LA asap :)

Almaz is coming over for tea so gots to go

xx

National Day in Brussels!

Alexandra and I arrived back in Brussels just in time for the National Day Celebration. National Day is, you guessed it, a National holiday celebrating the King. This was a particularly special National Day as the previous king, King Albert II, abdicated for his son Philippe. There was a festival, parade, marching bands, zip-lining, fireworks, waffles, wine, live music, etc. It was hectic and fun and there were soooooo many people. The energy was palpable and I learned a few new French songs. 

On Monday, Alexandra walked the entire city while I was at work and we met up with the crew for a Monday market with free-flowing wine and conversation. Alexandra left Tuesday and I was terribly homesick for a moment. So I bought beet juice, skyped my mom, who called Sophie a "pompous little brat," inhaled some pasta and read Rachel Maddow's book until I crashed.

I'm feeling a bit more chipper today and looking forward to Matheus' Italian dinner tonight and Elisa's arrival on Friday  :-)

A few photos:

The Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Fleetwood Mac - In that Order

It's been far too long since I've posted, but this has been the summer of the Staples Center. My mom and I saw cried over the Rollings Stones in May, then I saw Beyonce in June with V, Tawsh and Scott and then Fleetwood Mac with my mom again on July 3.

All three performances were mind-blowing, but Mick Jagger most definitely has my heart. It was an almost transcendental experience to be able to share that with my mom and like holy mother of god, does that man have energy.

I also saw Mumford and Sons with Aline and Evan at San Manuel - beautiful venue, disgusting parking; Cold War Kids with V, Stef and Aasim at the Fonda; and did Jazz Reggae with Dianne and Molly and amigas.

my god

tawsh scott v and me

new hat

aline and me at mumford

molly and me at jazz reggae

girls at the CWK

cold war kids

Oh hey Mick

mommy and me 

Lodge Life

Just finished a quiet brunch with Jacy: honey wheat banana pancakes, scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. Currently doing a bit of work and planning a hike. Happy St. Patrick's Day! xx

 Beer tasting at Mammoth Brewing

 Snuggles

 Lodge Life

 True Love

 Coconut latte and mimosa

 IPAs with Jacy

Baby found a pinecone