29 October, 2009

my proposition


now that i don't feel completely alone in my desire to make new friends, i have a proposition to make.

it's a proposition to those who live near and far.

to those of you living in or around Long Beach, in the LA/Orange County-ish area, this is what i'm doing:

i am starting a blogger book club.


one that meets in person on a monthly basis.

if you don't have a blog, that's okay. if you're reading this right now, you're included. this is an invitation to you.

we will be reading a book a month, or maybe a book every two months, based on the feedback i get back from you.

the point isn't really to expand our libraries, but to make new friends. however, i think having a book to discuss will give our meetings some purpose and make them a little less "scary."

our first meeting is going to be in the middle of november. it's less than a month away, but i think we should get started before the holidays take away all of our time. we will meet at peet's coffee on 2nd street in belmont shore (long beach). future meetings can be at a restaurant, someone's house, a book store, etc.

i'm going to take on the role of coordinator, but if you live in the area and you'd like to tell your readers about the club, please do! just link to this post, or tell them to email me if they are interested. the more people who come, the more opportunities we will all have to make new friends.

if you are interested, please send me an email that includes:
your name
the city you live in
three-five books you're interested in reading
(anything goes, but i'm vetoing the time traveler's wife since so many people have read it already)
days and times you are free
(for example, if you are out of work or school at 1:00 on fridays in fullerton, please let me know what time you would be able to meet in belmont shore)
please let me know if you would like to read one book a month or stretch it out over a longer period of time

you can email me at:
jasmine.lael@gmail.com

i'll save all of your email addresses and send out a group email filling everyone in on the details.

to those of you who do not live in the area, here's my proposition to you:

1. start something like this in your own area. don't be scared; just do it. i guarantee there are women who live near you who want to make new friends just as badly as you do.
2. if you ever plan on being in my area, please let me know! i would love to include visiting bloggers.

so that's the idea. i hope you like it, and i hope some of you are interested. let's do this thing!!

p.s. if you're getting to this post late, and you'd like to join in, please do! there's no time limit.

p.p.s. if any boys would like to join, you're welcome too! happy, justin? ;)

28 October, 2009

sometimes like has nothing to do with love


i have to give this guy a big, fat thank you this week.


i have been a pain and a half for the last week or so due to abnormally bad "feminine" reasons.

levi,

thank you for making me breakfast and for helping me get my backpack together when i'm running late for school (which is most days). thank you for slipping a snack into my bag because you know hunger will make me crankier than usual when i'm in this state. thank you for doing the dishes AND the laundry. thank you for being patient with me and for ignoring half the crap that's been coming out of my mouth lately. but please don't ignore this:

i love you.

thank you for being so good to me every day, especially on days i don't deserve it, on days when you probably don't even like me very much. you know the true meaning of love more than anyone i know, and you put it into action every single day. you make my heart melt every time you tell me that i'm "your best." i feel so lucky to be so loved by you.

love forever,
your jasi

26 October, 2009

fall weekend


we didn't really get to spend much time together this weekend.

i went to see complexions contemporary ballet with my mom on saturday night, and levi went to a hair fashion show in LA last night, so we really only had sunday morning/afternoon together.

we spent it at the park enjoying fall. (and after levi got home, around midnight, we went in search of a 24 hour mcdonald's for oreo mcflurries...it might have been the highlight of my weekend.)

{this is proof that leaves do fall here in autumn...like 5 of them.}

23 October, 2009

another friday


this week, i...

...roasted zucchini for the first time & couldn't get over how incredible it was. try it. you'll love it. leave me your email address if you want the recipe, and i'll send it to you. so easy.
...saw where the wild things are in imax with levi. we both LOVED it. thank goodness. now we don't have to take down the giant, framed poster that's hanging in our living room.
...started a new lyrical combination in jazz. ahhh, i love lyrical!
...noticed A LOT more muscle in my body. i guess all this craziness this semester is starting to pay off. hopefully, the shedding of some unwanted pounds comes next.
...baked a pumpkin pie. levi ate half of it the first night. he really loves pumpkin pie.
...maintained a pretty great mood all week. it was refreshing.
...bought the coziest black, ballet flats at target. they're lined with faux fur so they're like slippers. $15!!
...learned that a lot of you are struggling with this whole making friends thing just like i am. who knew? i've got a couple ideas brewing on this one. i'll try to make sense of them over the weekend and tell you about them early next week.

it was a good week, and i'm guessing it's going to be a great weekend!

have a fantastic one!

xo
jasmine

22 October, 2009

wanted:


i need friends.

i mean, i have friends. i can say things like "oh my friend so-and-so is from texas" or "i have a friend who used to follow the grateful dead on tour." and there are plenty of status updates, photos, and quiz results in my news feed on my facebook. you know, things like that. i know people. i have friendships with people. i talk to them on the phone. we text message and email. we even write letters...you know the kind that you actually mail.

but i don't really ever see my friends. i don't get to spend genuine, in-person, "real life" time with them. they all live somewhere else, or they're just too plain busy for me. i can't really think of anyone who i can just call on a tuesday afternoon and say, "hey do you wanna grab a coffee or a cupcake with me?" or "do you want to take a walk to the beach?" or "how bout you come over and watch clueless with me? we'll bake some cookies and reminisce about how terrific the 90s were."

when i do see friends, the time has to be scheduled in. we make arrangements a couple weeks in advance and pencil the plans into our blackberries. a lot of the time, the plans are cancelled. something comes up. life happens. i understand. i know. don't feel bad. but i really did want to see you. i really did need some human interaction with someone who knows me, someone who isn't levi or my family. i wanted to hear about the annoying guy who always steals your ideas at work. i wanted to see pictures of your new puppy. i might have even wanted to show you pictures of our new kitten and tell you about how much i hate my ballet class.

i love my time by myself. i like dictating what i'm going to do and when i'm going to do it. i like procrastinating by watching 18 kids and counting instead of doing my french homework. i need that time. but i need people time too. more specifically, i need girl time, talking time, sharing time.

and i'm not quite sure how to get it. making new friends is really scary. and it's really really really hard to find people who i feel like i can be friends with - people who are in the same phase of life as me, people who are happy to do the same kinds of things that i like to do, people around my age, people who live nearby, people who have time for me. i feel like i'm in this weird phase of life that makes it difficult to meet new people with similar interests. i'm 27. i'm definitely older than the people in my classes. i'm in a serious relationship. i don't want to go out drinking and partying. i don't have kids so i can't meet other moms at the park or in playgroups. it kinda makes me wish that they had internet "friending" sites like they do for dating. a place where i could check all the appropriate boxes, punch in my preferences, likes, dislikes, availability, and out pops a list of friendship matches for me.

but that's not realistic. i don't know of a website like that, and, even if i did, i don't think i would trust it. i'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way and just keep my eyes open for kindred spirits who'd like to come over for a cup of coffee and a friends marathon.

21 October, 2009

fun with proust, take seven - jalene


the gorgeous jalene is sharing her proust answers with us this week.

jalene has a terrific blog where she writes honestly and beautifully about her life. she is absolutely one of my daily reads. is it odd that sometimes i wish jalene was my little sister (in addition to ivy, of course)? maybe that's weird. i just really love this girl. and i know you will too.

1. what is your idea of perfect happiness?
being married, raising a family... then when we're 80 we will sit hand in hand, look at our posterity and know we did all we could to teach them to be good people.

2. what is your most treasured possession?
my freedom.
i seriously love this country.

3. what is your greatest fear?
car accidents, i've never been in one but whenever i get in a car i'm always worried about crashing.
being kidnapped.
sharks.
ya know... all those scary things.

4. which talent would you most like to have?
i wish i was amazingly good at singing.
music just has that magical quality and i wish my sub-par voice didn't kill it.

5. what or who is the greatest love of your life?
what? music. definitely.
who? don't have one quite yet. ;)

6. what is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
i have the worst memory.
not like flaky-memory, but if someone tells me a story or says something to me i simply cannot retell the conversation to someone else.
muscle memory? great! words? no bueno.

7. what do you value most in your friends?
i could go on forever about my friends.

i value that they will tell me what they really think is best for me
and still love me when i make mistakes.
and most of all, they are the best examples in the world.
i look up to each and every one of them.
they are my family, my rocks, and i love them so very much.


here's what
jalene said about her favorite photo of herself:
And here's my favorite picture of myself. This was hard... I've never thought about a favorite picture of myself. I guess I like this picture because it's in Oceanside, CA... one of my favorite places ever. And I honestly was just genuinely happy in this picture.


thank you, jalene!

20 October, 2009

care packages & kitties


i got the coolest care package in the mail yesterday from two beautiful and talented girls:

and

maddie sent me a print of a photo of hers that i LOVE,
and lee made me this ridiculously insane and awesome mobile.

seriously, it must have taken soooo long for her to make. i love it.

we can't wait to find places for our new treasures.

little did they know, they also included a gift for gretel - bubble wrap! she went nutso for it.

so we made a video.

and to make up for putting another kitty video on my blog, i set it to a good song!




thank you so much, maddie and lee! your package totally made my day. i LOOOVE it!

19 October, 2009

change of plans


our weekend didn't go exactly as planned.

we didn't get to go apple picking.
we got a flat tire (again. 3rd this month).
we decided to skip the pumpkin patch since they don't even grow the pumpkins there.
my camera broke again, and dropping it didn't work this time. (these pictures were taken with the camera i don't like.)
and we haven't seen where the wild things are yet (maybe tonight).

we did:
watch away we go (loved it), hang out with my family, make hot apple cider, and carve pumpkins though!


my pumpkin:
jasi
{cupcake}
levi

sometimes things don't go quite as planned, but you can still have fun anyway.
and that's the moral of this story.

16 October, 2009

this one went by really fast


this week, i...

...read in the bathtub for two hours without realizing any time had gone by.
...ate a mcdonald's happy meal and enjoyed every single bite.
...learned that you cannot play tennis when the court is wet even if it's not raining anymore.
...went to every single one of my classes. (i still have one more class later this morning, but i will go.)
...wondered if my own human baby could be as cute as my gretel bug.
...realized that i should live in a place where it rains more than four times between october and april. i'm in the best mood ever when it rains.
...decided that the project runway judges have lost their minds this season. (although i haven't watched last night's episode yet...don't tell me who they kicked off!)
...had the most fun ever going from grocery store to grocery store with levi in search of nutella. (he's cute. i love him.)
...found out that french is getting just a little bit easier for me.
...thanked God for the life he's given me.

(i'm obviously the sassy one on the bottom.)

plans for the weekend:
- dinner with my friend melany
- apple picking with levi & my family
- pumpkin patch with levi
- maaaybe doing where the wild things are in imax tonight if we can get tickets

what do you have planned for the weekend??


15 October, 2009

i can't stop.


it's not unusual for our cupboards to look like this:




i love my parmesan fishies!


a lot.

14 October, 2009

fun with proust, take six - meg


good morning, friends!

have you met meg?

have you read her honest, poignant, sweet blog - the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell?

have you seen her beautiful, friendly smile?

well have you??

if not, please check her out by clicking right here.

but first, get to know her a little bit here:

1. what is your idea of perfect happiness?
i just read the loveliest memoir by doris kearns goodwin detailing her life growing up in rockville center and the golden age of baseball. I was particularly taken by how she described the love and affection shared by her parents (every night they'd sit on the porch together and share a cocktail). Upon the discovery of her mother's death she says, "Halfway up the stairs, I heard my father calling for Jeanne, home for the holiday weekend. 'Jeanne! Jeanne!' he cried. 'My pal is gone...My pal is gone.' I ran to my parents' bedroom. My father was sitting on the edge of my mother's bed, sobbing into his hands." My idea of perfect happiness? That at the end of my life I can look back and know that I've spent it with "my pal."

2. what is your most treasured possession?
family photo albums.

3. what is your greatest fear?
oh, there are so many from which to choose. dying before i've ever been truly loved. i mean, my family loves me of course, but...you know what i mean.

4. which talent would you most like to have?
i would love to be a really great dancer. i can't imagine what it feels like to move as they do. i'd even settle for enough groove to get me through a night at a club, but this white girl ain't got rhythm in any sense of the word.

5. what or who is the greatest love of your life?
that story has yet to unfold. and i can't wait.

6. what is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
my inability to listen well.

7. what do you value most in your friends?
i've been thinking about this a lot lately. and i think what it comes down to for me is effort and follow-through.

and meg's favorite photo of herself:


isn't that the cutest photo?

i hope you've enjoyed getting to know meg a little bit. i just adore her, and i know we'd be terrific friends in the "real" world!



13 October, 2009

who loves glee?


i do, i do!

i was in love with all the yellow dresses in last week's episode (i want quinn's - the one on the right):


and i kinda wish i could dress like emma every day...although i'm not quite uptight/prim & proper enough to pull off this look all the time:

she's so darn cute!

i really really really wanna be in glee club!

cameras


these are the last photos i took with my camera before it broke when levi dropped it (i had already dropped it twice before he did this, so it's not his fault):


so levi bought me a "new" camera at the pawn shop this weekend.

i was really excited because it was small and didn't weigh ten thousand pounds like my panasonic lumix.

buuuuut i don't like it!

so i decided to drop my old camera again to see if that would make it work.

guess what?

it worked.

so weird.

so now i have a casio exilim that i need to sell on ebay or something since pawn shops don't accept returns.

sigh.


09 October, 2009

i'm grateful


this week i have been grateful...

...for sunday night drives home from my mom's house on pch. it feels like it's just me and levi on that long stretch of beautiful road.
...for a desire to tidy up the house and cook.
...that God is helping me to be more content with my life, my finances, my body, my hair, everything.
...for southern california sunsets. i don't think anywhere else can top them.
...for sleepy kitties in my lap.
...for my new twitter background - it makes me smile every time i see it. and for twitter in general. at first, i thought twitter was weird, and i didn't like it, but now i love it. it's like tiny little mini blogs. so much fun!
...for my little pumpkin candle house.
...for not one, but two, ditch days. i'm terrible, i know, but i enjoyed those days so much.
...for my buddy, levi.
...for cooler weather, happy walks, pumpkin everything, and gorgeous fresh flowers.


hope you all have a beautiful & grateful weekend!

08 October, 2009

gremlin.



little gretel is growing up!

almost all of her fuzzy kitten fur is gone. it makes me so sad. why can't she just stay little forever?

gretel has accrued many nicknames. here are some of them:

gretel-bop
gretel-bot (like a robot)
bot
gretel-pop (you have to sing this one...to the tune of nsync's dirty pop)
gremlin
monkey (she has an m on her forehead)

there are more, but i think 6 is enough for now.

gretel really loves food. human food. she's always "starving." every time i walk into the kitchen, she meows pitifully. she probably is hungry a lot of the time since she spends all her waking moments playing like crazy. she's hilarious. some of her favorite human foods:

cereal milk
whipped cream
ricotta cheese
tomato sauce
peas
macaroni and cheese
parmesan fishie crackers (just like her momma)
peanut butter
chicken (that's a no brainer)
baked potato

she and lily are now the best of friends. they keep each other company all day and play like wild animals all night. we love our little kitty girls. when levi comes home, he says, "ladies, daddy's home" in a really deep, funny voice. it cracks me up. hopefully, when we're (finally) able to get a puppy, we fall in love with a boy puppy for levi's sake. we need to balance things out around here!


guess what?















jussssst kidding! it's only my gretel baby.



07 October, 2009

ditch day


so my camera broke (i need to replace it if you're selling one - click on the link to see what i'm looking for).

we managed to take some pictures yesterday before it broke...unfortunately i don't like how my new hair looks in annny of them. to tell you the truth, i'm not really loving my hair in general right now. it's a work in progress. levi and i have a plan to get it where we want it. the first step will be adding some contrast to the color - probably this week. the second step is growing it into a new cut. blah.

so interesting, i know.

anyway, levi and i played hooky yesterday.

he didn't have any clients...so i ditched school.

terrible, right?

totally worth it though.

i baked the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies...but i didn't like them! they were spongy & fluffy instead of dense & chewy. did i mess up?? it was still fun baking them though. i also made my cavatappi bake for dinner and switched up my tomato sauce recipe a bit. it was delish.

the best part of the day was taking a beautiful walk with levi and sharing the most perfect pumpkin spice latte at peet's. heather made it. she makes the best drinks ever. i love her.


unexpected time together is the best.

i love levi, and i love fall. have i mentioned this before?

06 October, 2009

crap.


my camera is officially dead.

like forever.

:(

does anyone have a little (in decent condition & working) canon digital elph that they're looking to sell?

i don't know what to do without a camera. i'm so sad.

smile, it's fall!


this week, i want to

- use the crock pot (beef stew, yummmm)
- bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (thanks chloe & olivia)
- continue improving my tomato sauce recipe and make my delicious cavatappi bake. oh yumm.
- take pictures! (my hair is now dark brown & shorter for fall)
- keep up in french
- order photos to be printed so we can frame them & hang them on our walls (and then maybe i can actually show what our house is looking like these days)
- put things in the mail
- pretend it's cooler than it really is and take "brisk" walks with levi
- stay positive


what's on your to do list this week? any delicious pumpkin recipes to share with me?

05 October, 2009

a surprise for me


i totally forgot about these pictures we took about three weeks ago!

levi surprised me with a trip to the hollywood bowl to see pink martini!

i had never been to the hollywood bowl before, and now i want to go all the time. that place is so cool. you can bring all your own food and drink and picnic there. the sound is fantastic. and there is just something so romantic about listening to music under the stars.



red bulls on our way - we were sleepy. looks safe, huh? levi's got his eyes closed AND he's taking a picture while driving...don't worry, we were at a red light!



i think my favorite part was the lighting. i got so excited every time the lights turned colors. so pretty!


ugh - levi is ridiculously handsome - inside & out. i'm so lucky.

we missed the sing along sound of music a couple weeks ago (mostly because levi doesn't like musicals - i would have pushed the point further but we want to save money), but we will certainly be back soon! hollywood bowl, we love you!


02 October, 2009

this week, i...


...ate an entire box of fruit roll-ups all by myself.
...had to "reset" my mood every single day.
...didn't have a chance to respond to all your incredible emails. you have no idea how much they mean to me though. i keep rereading them.
...watched lily and gretel make friends! they play all the time now!
...almost lost my little gretel gremlin baby. she got out when we left, and levi didn't discover it until he got home and heard her crying under the front window. i cried when he told me.
...didn't study as much as i should have.
...wore foot undies. hehehe!
...went to a pretty intense yoga class with levi.
...lit my very last belgian waffle candle. and they're discontinued. boo! but i did make a funny mustache with the shadow from the light of the candle:


what did you do this week?

01 October, 2009

fall is flying by!


it's already october!

and without meaning to, levi and i have been testing out halloween costumes for the past week.

some of our favorites:



flapper


levi as a giant banana


me as a giant chicken...it was so hot in that thing.

truth be told, we most likely won't be dressing up this year.

sad, right?

but we don't really want to dress up if we can't do it right, and i don't think we really want to spend the money this year on dressing up as these two:


you just wait though! some day, levi and i will dress up as the adorable, semi-creepy, almost incestuous margot and richie tenenbaum.

it's perfect!

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