Perspective...

Sometimes we all need a healthy dose of perspective, right? I know this is true for me. On Friday night, I was stuck in bumper to bumper crawling traffic (I have lived in LA for 10 years, believe me, if there's enough traffic to bother me, there is a SERIOUS problem), for more than an hour and a half, with a dinner party for more than 15 guests to host and no idea whether I'd even arrive before my guests. Why? Because of a road that was closed for the space shuttle. I was filled with a little rage, frustration, exhaustion, and completely overwhelmed. Mentally raging about my job (why must I work so late?!), every driver on the road beside me (why must they be on THIS road RIGHT now?!), the space shuttle (really, whose idea was it to move this thing on a FRIDAY evening during peak hour in LA?!?!?!!), the whole world really... And then I took a deep breath. A deeeeeeeeeep breath (job = a total blessing in this economy, other drivers have somewhere to be too! the space shuttle probably made some valuable contributions to our world, space technology, exploration, science (I sure hope it did, for all the trouble it caused!)... I am a lucky lady, with an amazing husband who let me rant a little, then did all of the jobs I would have been doing if I wasn't captive on the interstate, and when I arrived home, the candles were lit, the early bird guests had icy cold beverages in their hands, the birthday girl hadn't arrived yet, and I was reminded that sometimes, it's really, really important to take a breath and find some perspective.

Over the weekend, I came across this video, which made me laugh! I think it can give us all a healthy dose of perspective. And I'll be honest, given that it was over 90 degrees here today, and the weather forecast has temperatures soaring for the rest of the week, I'm gonna need some perspective! :P

Rain!!!!!!!

All my posts seem centered around the weather lately. Probably because it's almost mid-October and it feels like summer still in LA. With the exception of today. I know the weather report has temperatures in the high 80s/low 90s predicted for next week. I know my lovely scarf collection is not coming out of hibernation for a while and I know my feet are a little too toasty in the boots I excitedly put on this morning when I looked out my window and saw little puddles on my patio. But I also know it's been raining off and on all day, and I am gonna enjoy every second of it, coz who knows how long it will be before we see another sign of fall. Heck, I'd settle for temperatures under 74 and call that fall at this rate :P

AWOL



I really want to go someplace where they have REAL fall ~ like this!!!

I know, I know, I've been a little AWOL. It is for a great reason, I promise. And since I haven't had a chance to upload pics to prove it, you'll just have to wait for an explanation. But until then... I noticed a few things while out shopping this weekend. Like pumpkins and Christmas cards (I LOVE Christmas, but Christmas cards in October seems to be jumping the gun a little, doesn't it?!), and salted caramel mochas on the menu of a certain coffee place I haven't frequented in years but will likely be visiting often for the next few months. So what if it's still too warm to contemplate drinking a hot coffee, that's why they invented Frappuccinos! I wish it were already here, but all of these little signs point to ONE thing ~ someday, hopefully very soon, fall is coming and bringing winter on it's coattails!!! And I, for one, can't wait!! Meanwhile... I don't care that the weather report has temperatures soaring back up to the near 80s this weekend. At this moment, there are clouds in the sky and the air is not hot, which is as close to Southern California has been to fall so far. I'll take it! :D

Picture perfect



There are no words to describe this - picture perfect.

Wishing for winter...

Well after two ninety degree days in a row, I woke up this morning to a semi-cloudy day and because of the AC blasting, I deluded myself into thinking it was going to be a cooler day. So I made pot roast. By midday, the breeze still had a slightly cooler temperature than the sweltering weekend, but it was clear that it wasn't quite a pot roast kind of day. Still, it's nice to think there's dinner waiting for me at home at the end of a long, crazy work day. Phew. And I tried a new recipe for Balsamic Pot Roast that sounds delicious ~ I mean, doesn't this pic just make your mouth water?!?!?! Yum!


UPDATE: It's delicious!!! All three diners give this recipe a big thumbs up. We'll be eating this again!

Smiling and trying not to lose my mind...

The heat stole my motivation. Knowing that other parts of the country are enjoying the onset of fall make it somehow worse. The anniversary of September 11th makes me sad every year. Being reminded of evil and tragedy and loss so incomprehensible makes me a little apprehensive about the future. My to do list before I leave for my trip to Bali is so long that subcategories have subcategories... And in the middle of it all, I am trying (TRYING!) to smile and stay calm. This will have to be my mantra for the next few weeks. Not a bad mantra for life actually!

Over it!!!

Well it's shaping up to be another ridiculously hot day in the extended summer misery of Southern California. Sigh. I am SO OVER IT. The heat is SO irritating, so persistent and so uninspiring! I hope it's a lovely, long, rainy winter to make up for this nonsense :P Meanwhile, I'll be blasting my AC and dreaming of things like this:

And this:

And THIS: