Rainy Day musings

Lazy Sundays become lazier when it's raining- this is a fact. Here's a rundown of the best things to do on a rainy Sunday (according to me). 

Read A Confederacy of Dunces. Why? It's  ripe with quick wit and intellect while on the surface it's a funny and relatively easy read.

Watch Six Feet Under if you haven't already because it's AMAZING. It's right up there with House, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones as one of my favorite dramas because it's so well-written and captivating. It revolves around a family who own a morgue- do I have your attention now? Every episode begins with a death just like every episode of House began with a mysterious ailment. Somehow this individual will play a part in the story and it's fun to watch how it all connects.  It's a decade old so you'll see cameos from Skyler White, Dwight Schrute, and the Evil Queen before they rose to fame.

Listen to Alabama Shakes Gimme All Your Love, Run Run Run by Kelly Clarkson and John Legend, and Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie.

Bonus: Watch this clip of Louis C.K. talking about how he took care of his dog after she ate dark chocolate. It doesn't sound like a funny situation but he's that good.

Enjoy!

Life gets in the way...

This last week was a little rough but there's no need to go into details, let me share some good stuff.

Point Dume, Malibu

I was supposed to go on vacation to Sequoia but things didn't work out so I ended up going to Malibu instead. One of the things I love about living in LA is the abundance of beaches including my favorite spot, Point Dume. When I'm there, I forget everything and the only things that concern me are the waves, the breeze and the rocks.

What's your place of solace?

Every time I go to the beach I pick up a sea shell, rocks or mussel shell as my own little souvenir of that trip. One thing I also brought back was a sun burn- yeah, those are always fun especially for those of us with alabaster skin! Alas, it wasn't as bad after multiple applications of aloe vera lotion (thank god). I told my best friend to remind me of my stupidity (for not reapplying sunscreen!) and she gladly obliged (of course).

via Pinterest

On Thursday, my friend and fellow blogger, Melanee,  invited me to a sale's event at her family's jewelry shop in Beverly Hills and how could I resist jewelry??

She's in the grad program I just graduated from!

My best friend and I ended buying each others xmas gifts early (we'll give them to each other xmas day though). I also bought my mom a necklace which I gave to her right away because she's worse than I am when it comes to jewelry. :)

We capped the night by visiting the famous Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. It was the first time for both of us so we had to try the famous chicken and waffles. I got a side of potatoes and gravy and she got mac and cheese, collard greens and cornbread. It was all delicious except the collard greens is definitely an acquired taste.

Carol's Special (a breast & a waffle)

We sat right in front of this photo

 I ate the entire waffle but I could barely finish half the chicken let alone the mashed potatoes. I have to say, the mac and cheese was superb!

What are some famous restaurants in your area? Are they as good as the hype led you to believe?


All in all it was a good week with some rough spots in between. Tune in this week for my review of Beauty Choice's Rodial Glamtox eye pen. 

Baby girl got her nails done

Red nails for the diva

Sometimes there's nothing better than staying in, relaxing at home having some girl time. As you can see, I enjoyed it a little too much with my babygirl, Bella. While most people I've talked to don't think it's nice of me to paint her nails, other pet lovers like me admit to doing it every once in a while. I have to say, with no modesty whatsoever, my girl is gorgeous and pulls this look off flawlessly :)

As for my nails, well there is no picture worthy of posting because somehow they never seems to last longer than a day. Granted, my sister says I'm the worst when it comes to nails because I don't put in enough time and maybe it's partly that and also the fact that I haven't been really excited about a color in a while. The last polish I bought was from Sephora called Kiss me on my Mistletoes, and as the name gives you an idea of the time of year that was, it's clear I need some inspiration.

What are your favorite nail polish brands? Colors? What's your routine?

Check out You Are My Color's nail polish giveaway! Click here

Never thought I'd say this but...

post aqua aerobics

ATTEMPTING to rock climb

... I miss working out! My summer membership at my gym ended and I'm contemplating renewing  but it's costly for this unpaid intern! What I loved most was the exposure to different work out routines. I went to Spin classes, extreme bootcamp, yoga, pilates and body sculpting among others. I had never worked out like that before and boy, it was intense! I remember coming out of class dripping in sweat (my Zumba instructor once pointed out my excessive sweating in class *redface*) yet I loved knowing I had a great workout.

In the meantime, I'm trying to continue exercising on my own but it's not close to the same level nor do I have much motivation since it's just me. BUT I do love walking my dogs and that is motivation to at least stay active. 

What motivates you to workout? What are some of your favorite classes? Least favorite? I admit, Spin is a great workout but every.single.time I was in class I hated myself because it's HARD!

50 shades of crazy

The original romantic hero

I started my internship almost three weeks ago so I've been super busy acclimating while trying to keep up my gym routine at least three times a week. To sum up my current state in a word it would be- tired. LA mag is great and I've learned a lot but, like with anything new, it's intimidating and overwhelming at times. I loved going to the gym to release the stresses of the week but unfortunately my gym membership for the summer ends this weekend. Of course I'm debating whether or not to renew but as I'm  currently working at an unpaid internship I have to think twice about all my expenses. In the meantime I'm going to TRY and at least workout half an hour a day (or every other day) to at least keep my muscles toned.

** Check out my first blog post for LA Mag**

But on to some good stuff (re my post title). I finally caved and read Fifty Shades of Grey. The cons: badly written, overwrought chapters and some really cheesy dialogue. The pros: as far as the genre goes, it's good enough, good music (e.g. T.Tallis, Chopin, Roberta Flack). When the main character continues to declare herself "unworthy" you practically agree with her (never a good thing for the heroine) and her talk of him "owning" her is a HUGE turn-off. Yes, Christian is definitely twisted and I don't think I could tolerate a man that jealous and controlling however, I can see the appeal when he's all "hearts and flowers." I do appreciate that the characters are developed enough that it kept me reading, that is very rare for an erotica novel (ok, I've read a lot but maybe not that many). As for the BDSM aspect of it, I have to say I don't think it's the best window into that world since it's not really about a BDSM relationship. I admit, reading about caning, fisting, and a cat (not the living kind), was definitely shocking but it was not something that she actually explores in the book. I feel that is part of the reason why it appeals to so many women- it's sexually explicit but in a raunchy/romantic kinda way without it being real BDSM. Overall, it's good escapist literature and if I had to choose between this and Twilight, I'd stick with this. On that note, I'm curious as to who will be in the movie and so I've compiled a  wish list ;)

Ian Somerhalder as C. Grey: Copper hair, sex appeal & that gaze- it works 

Natalie Portman as A.Steele: She plays the innocent girl/sex goddess so well (see Black Swan) 

Cause really, who else could play Elena but Kim Cattrall?

I know this is kinda random but Hector Elizondo as Taylor

Blake Lively as Kate: I think she has enough sass to pull it off

Cillian Murphy as Hyde cause he plays bad guys so well

Those are the only actors I can come up with so far. I got into the book pretty late in the game so there was already talk of who would play in the film; as I was reading the books, these actors kept popping up. I think Elizondo would take the film into the Garry Marshall realm but when Taylor is constantly described as "avuncular," this guy comes to mind.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Did you feel as clueless as Ana about the whole world of BDSM?

I'm currently reading In the Land of God & Men by Sylvia Paternostro and Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. Good reads!

Any suggestions are appreciated.