Girls’ Night Out

Apparently Tuesday is the new Thursday (I didn’t know this) – so the girls and I have decided that Tuesday is girls’ night out. Here are the highlights...

Dinner at BCD Tofu House (yummy and super affordable). The bowl of tofu (I got mine with veggie but you can choose seafood/meat) comes in a bubbling casserole served in a stone pot, so hot it will cook the raw egg you drop into. It also comes with Korean side dishes including an entire fried fish. It was so much food. I had leftovers.

Barcade is an arcade for adults with a bar. It’s tiny and in a remote location in K-town. They have Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Asteroids (all the old time faves). Very funky crowd – great mix of people and good music you can definitely bop to. Free red vines to boot. That’s a deal folks.

From a review on Barcade – Barcadia mania!!!!
Who says LA doesn't have underground culture? Every Tuesday, geeks and rockers converge at this semi-secret party held in a K-town apartment to play old-school arcades. There's no sign outside, so make nice with the security guard in front so he'll point to the right door.Once inside, follow the string of white lights up the stairs to the second floor. Barcade looks like a fraternity den with a makeshift DJ booth decorated with a light-up goose. A DJ plays loungy tunes from The Roots to Al Green, which can barely be heard over the sound of space ships blowing up, Pac-Man getting eaten by ghosts, and the clanging of pinball jackpots. Game geeks are asked to be gentle with the classic machines, which include Centipede, Playboy Pinball and Rampage.

Wound Up Tight

I think I am wound up way too tight. I blame it on growing up in CT (half serious). I had a very fabulous week and hung out with extremely chill people..... authentically chill people, if you know what I mean.

This week consisted of going out with friends for dinner, eating glorious food and laughing. We went out with three couples that were older, childless, travel the world and are extremely carefree (and have incredibly nurturing relationships with their significant other). Being around them made me feel so light. Lately I've felt heavy -- granted all this heaviness has been created by my own craziness in the brain -- feeling as if I'm running out of time (to do only God knows what).

Finally, the heavy curtain has lifted. So what I've learned this week is that I need to relax and just LET *IT* GO. Life is short and I waste too much of it worrying. There is no timeline. There are no rules. I define my own happiness. I can still dream of what I want to be when I grow up and still play in the sand box.

Playing the Field

Hubby and I got Verizon cell phones so we could gab it up as much as possible. While we're doing long distance we have a ritual to talk to one another until we fall asleep at night.

This is what hubby told me before I fell asleep: Hubby had dinner with one of his friends last night. (They're very similar in the fact that they have these stressful "corporatie" jobs but different in their personal lives.) Hubby's friend has been in a long-term relationship (lives with her currently). When the subject of marriage came up he told hubby that he was not ready to settle down b/c he wanted to "play the field" – whatever that means. So as hubby is telling me this story he says to me, "I just love you so much… being around my friend makes me realize how lucky I am….I am so grateful that I found you….I really do have it all." Love you too baby.

I have girlfriends who are beautiful, intelligent and just plain amazing that find themselves with boys who aren't ready to settle down and want to "play the field." When I married Hubbyy he was 22 – we had dated for one month. He had most certainly not played the field before he met me. He proposed to me at the SuperStar parking lot and we ran off to Reno to get married that night. We'll have been married for 2 years this September.

So why did I get so incredibly lucky to find literally the most exquisite man in existence but not some of my girlfriends? Is it karma? Is it fate? Who knows – but my ass needs to stop this depression-career-bologna ASAP. As in the words of my favorite Carrie Bradshaw, "Every girl is looking for the right man, the right apartment and the right job." (paraphrase). 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Bare Escentuals

I admit it I love makeup. I can spend hours in Sephora and spend a mad amount of money. My sin has been mascara and eye shadow. I have never been into foundation – I don't like anything "cakey-like" on my face and I have really sensitive skin.

BUT at the same time when I go to these fancy-schmancy parties with hubby I want my face to be perfect (I know it's not important but whatever). I just discovered Bare Escentuals Mineral Foundation. I am like in love. I bought the starter kit and my face is dazzling – looks so natural almost dewey and not heavy at all. It takes me no time at all. It also came with this awesome instructional video. This is coming from the girl who hated foundation all her life. I use there foundation under my eyes and say good bye to dark circles.

Maybe I should have sought work at a makeup company doing brand advertising…. hmmmm

Tamarind Chili Vegetable Soup

I have been reading food blogs and am very jealous. People take pics of there food (I wish I had a digital camera). I am a total foodie – I think, breathe, sleep food. I am always thinking what my next meal is going to be. I ADORE cooking. I think it comes from the fact that my parents have owned Indian restaurants forever. I miss being in the Bay Area when I could drive to their restaurant and load up on MAD amounts of food. I'm getting hungry.

I recently purchased a masala daba (sp?) for my spices (a must have and so CUTE). After the gluttony of pigging out this weekend on my mom's cooking and savoring traditional Bengali dishes I decided my body needed a good health cleansing.

My ingredients came from what I had available in my fridge/pantry:
½ an onion in the fridge
3 cloves of garlic
Vegetable stock
Frozen veggies
Tamarind paste
Spices (chilli powder, panch poron, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, cumin, pinch of turmeric, sea salt)

Tell you the truth I didn't know what I was going to get. But the soup was seriously off the hook like I could potentially sell it. I'm having it for dinner tonight.