"Where You At?" A Roadmap in 6 Links

So I started this blog back in 2006 and honestly had no idea what I was going to do with it. I kept it private for about 6 months and then decided to go public by letting my friends and family know it was there. Thus far it has been a great way to document my escapades, keep my peeps updated (ha! I said "peeps"), and also to reach out into the fabulous and growing internet community that, mark my words, is slowly taking over the world -- so seriously, you need to get on board!

If it's not MySpace or Facebook, everyone has some kind of online presence nowadays, whether it's some form of social media, networking, or just a love for this big bad internet, so with that in mind, I just thought I would give you all an update on what I am currently working on in this respect and a few coming attractions that you may see down the road. So besides this here bloggy-blog, here are some places that you can find me or things related to me on the web:

(click the links in bold to see my pages, specifically)

Myspace - I know, duh, right? Everyone and their mother is on MySpace, except for those of you who are all, "Hello, Facebook is where it's at! MySpace is so 5 minutes ago!" I know you folks, and you are probably right. But I'm on MySpace, and I'm lazy, and those two things do not a Facebook Profile make. My profile is Private but I am happy to be your friend. I mean, we're all friends here, right? ha! So drop me a message that you found my blog and I will happily be your friend in this crazy world that is MySpace. I mostly use it to keep in touch with family, so you might be subjected to stupid inside jokes about our get togethers, but I do update it with other stuff every once in a while, so it's got that going for it -- which is nice.

Twitter - So what the hell is Twitter? Well, Wikipedia will call it Microblogging, but the site itself breaks it down pretty simply. Twitter is the answer to the age old question, "What are you doing?" So I usually "Tweet" daily (especially if I'm on vacation) and I swear 9 times out of 10 it is all sorts of Exciting! Groundbreaking! Things! that I am doing! Well, ok maybe it's just drivel. But either way it's kind of fun, but if you don't want to set up a profile on Twitter and follow me and others, you can certainly just see my updates in the left sidebar of this blog. (I twitter under the name follow_holly)

GoodReads - So GoodReads is basically my book reviews. I'm probably going to delete my Book List 2008 from the sidebar in lieu of the GoodReads site just because the interface is easier when I update -- and plus there are pretty pictures of book covers! And I always judge a book by it's cover -- SNAP! But seriously, click on it for reviews of all the books I've been reading lately, books I have read in the past, and look forward to what I'm going to review in the future.

Flickr - Flickr is basically my favorite toy ever! I house just about all my pictures in there, so if I have had an adventure lately, you can bet my pics will be updated. Sometimes later rather than sooner -- but I always get around to it. I've been accussed of "obsessively documenting my life" so if you want to know what's going on with me, you can probably piece it together with a quick trip to Flickr long before I get around to writing about it. I'm working on this part, people! I'm working on it!

Yelp - So this is pretty much where I tell you what I think about all the places I've been. Right now it is mostly reviews of the Sacramento area but I am hoping to expand it to places where I travel. The best thing about the great state of California is that there is so much to do, so hopefully this will be a place where I can document all my opinions, and let me tell you I have some STRONG opinions, to help others out that are looking for some fun. Check them out if you are interested -- but keep in mind it is definitely a work in progress.

Amazon Wish List - This is pretty self explanatory -- want to know something good to get me? It will probably be here. This is my ode to consumption, and also my answer to my mother's frequently asked question of "What do you want for your birthday?" -- which by the way, is October 14th. But don't you worry, I accept gifts any time of year -- and I send Thank You Notes, too! Didn't my mama raise me right? :)

And last but not least, the biggest coming attraction:

I'm hoping in the next few months to set up shop. Whether it be Etsy, or CafePress, or one of the many other helpful sites out there that let you hock your own crap! My vision includes a line of prints, cards, and perhaps t-shirts. We will see how that goes though, because I have to get through Summer and some crazy deadlines at work. But if you keep an open mind, I'll keep you posted by blogging about it every step of the way!

Wishlist

I feel like I am going in a hundred different directions. Work, travel, fun, family, life -- how do you balance it all?

I want to read more.
I want to work out more.
I want to cook more.
I want to sleep more.
I want to blog about the fabulous trip I just took.
I want to update my flickr account.
I want to fix my wireless internet.
I want my projects to manage themselves.
I want my house to clean itself.
I want to redecorate.
I want to write more.
I want to exhale.

Sigh.

What the heck am I doing in the meantime?

GrrAnimals for Ants

A funny thing happened with my underwear today and I thought the internet needed to know about it. I mean, you would totally be doing the same thing right now had this happened to you, and this was your blog I just know it. It would be a No-brainer.

Anyway -- like many American women, I have a MAJOR obsession with Target, that dirty minx. I've spoken about it here, read about it there, and generally can't get through my week without finding some ridiculous reason that I NEED. TO. GO. IMMEDIATELY. And this past Saturday, that reason was underwear.

(Ok and perhaps a shirt, and a necklace, and a pair of shorts, and a pair of pants for Garrett, and generic Fruity Pebbles, and perhaps a magazine or two, but frankly I don't think that's any of your business)

Now don't get all squeamish, I didn't IMMEDIATELY need underwear or anything, it wasn't like that, but something about an impending vacation made me feel like a few new underthings might just actually make the whole "packing" process bearable, so to the red bullseye I went, and promptly picked out some very cute but very sensible Hanes Her Way bikini briefs. I hate that word "briefs" by the way, but it's certainly better than "panties" (shudder) so it will have to do.

Anyway, last night I went to throw them in the washer and I was shocked with what I found when I pulled them out of their package "What are these underwear FOR ANTS?" I said to myself, and then I realized that they were wrapped around a WARNING! insert, that basically said -- and I'm just paraphrasing here -- but something to the effect of: Yeah, these undies look hella small, but you bought the right size and they will fit. This is a special microfiber material that stretches to the size of YOUR ass, yes even your ass, so just tumble dry low, mmmkay?

Following said instructions, I washed and dried my barbie doll underwear, and when I pulled them out, they looked like this when I layed them out on A PLACEMAT:

Oh, does that not look so small to you? Because I understand that my chubby little hands are not the scale to which one usually reaches when looking to illustrate "small," so this picture may not make you fully understand the midge-factor of these underpants. But let me put it to you this way, even though that hand is fat, do you think there is any way in the world that this hand could eclipse the entirety that is an ass? I mean am I right? Right. Moving on.

So just to drive this point on home I thought I would show you my new bun-warmers next to a 16 oz. container of cottage cheese (with pineapple! yum!) And yes, I do see the irony of comparing something that covers my ass to cottage cheese, and no I don't need you to rack your brain for a snarky comment. It was pretty much all I had in the way of food-in-comparable-sized-containers available aside from the can of French Fried Onions in the cupboard and I seriously wasn't about to let the internet know that I have some of those.

Whoops.

Anyway, like I was saying, the cottage cheese:

Now, really. Really? Cottage Cheese Sized Underwear? WTF?

Although to my absolute shock and delight, the stretch-factor of these underwear is an 11 out of 10, so miraculously these not only fit but stayed put the entire day! I was surprised to find that the Hanes Her Way Warning was in fact telling the truth, and I would not have to return undies to Target which always makes my nose crinkle and makes me feel a little skeevy.

But I'm just telling you right now, if Hanes comes out with a Yoplait sized bra, that's where I'm drawing the line.

Prelude to a Grill

Red Onion tossed with Olive Oil and Savory, Asparagus marinating in Garlic Olive Oil, Yellow Peaches -- a few for grilling and a few to be turned into this!

Summer's bounty never ceases to amaze me, and I really can't get enough of our tiny little grill. It's small, but it can cook a mean Mesquite Chicken like it's doing tonight as well as crisp up a veritable buffet of fantastic produce.

Can you hear my stomach growling from where you are sitting?

Why I will NOT be The Next Food Network Star

Do you know what I want to tell you? About how delicious my gourmet dinner was last night. The one I cooked from scratch and ate on fine china -- using all the correct forks even -- with palette cleansing sorbet between courses.

The problem is, I wasn't able to cook that gourmet dinner last night because I was too busy LIGHTING THE OVEN ON FIRE COOKING PAPA MURPHY'S PIZZA!!!!

Last week, having an overabundance of stone fruit lounging in the kitchen, I decided that I'd try to harness my inner gourmet and whip up a plum cake tatin. Who says you can't whip up fresh fruit desserts from the scraps about your kitchen after a long day of work? Ina Garten seems to be able to do it just fine, Martha Stewart would look down on you if you couldn't, right? So I stubbornly thought to myself, why couldn't I? And actually, it turned out to be surprisingly successful. The cake was incredibly tasty, it used up my fruit that was going to go bad, and surprisingly, besides my pie dish overflowing slightly in the oven, it was totally flawless! Garrett and I gleefully enjoyed its decadence and I might have even felt a hint of victorious smugness as I crawled into bed that night with my belly full of fresh summer fruit.

Ah, smugness.

Not so much what I was feeling last night as I preheated the oven to pop in my pizza. After about 5 minutes I started smelling a bit of smoke and quickly plumes of blackness began to come out of the oven. I opened the door to see what was going on, and the bit of plum cake that had overflowed last week (oops! sorry, oven! guess I forgot to clean you!) had ignited and now my oven (er...my boyfriend's oven) was full of BRIGHT ORANGE FLAMES!

My mind was racing and in that moment I wasn't sure if water was going to solve my problem or make it worse -- you know kitchen fires (HOLY SHIT!) so just in case I took our stash of flour and dumped it all over the flames -- and on the up side, the flames went out.

Downside -- 425 degree oven that is still hot, covered with brown smoky flour, and a TAKE AND BAKE pizza sitting on the countertop.

As I calmed myself down in the mess of my kitchen, I swear I heard the oven whisper.

Who's the smug one now?

Elvis Lives!

Last night Garrett and I went to see the Red Elvises over at Old Ironsides (I know, I know, another night of missed CSI: Miami re-runs, what to do?) and had such a crazy good time! I have seen a lot of live music lately, but more in the vain of sensitive rockers, or mellow indie bands, so what a refreshing surprise it was last night to see music performed by such -- well -- performers. There were times when I wasn't sure who was having more fun, the crowd or the musicians.

Wikipedia calls them a "Rockabilly Band", but when we rolled up to Old I there was a bright red van parked out front that looked a lot like this:



And really, I thought that was a more accurate description. Right to the point, ya know?

So it was definitely Kick-Ass, but rather than Rockabilly, I would say it was more of a mix of rock and roll, reggae, and wild kitschy cover tunes. With their Russian accents and god-awful rhymes at times (hey, speaking of rhyming! Check me out!) the music was as hysterical as it was powerful. The hysterical part probably had much to do with the fact that the singers were wearing silk pajama sets and gold shoes -- and I mean, check out that bass...



Anyway, such a fantastic night! Check out the Red Elvises if they come to a town near you.

I love summertime!

Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous!

Is their really anything better than family?

Garrett and I spent the long weekend down in Monterey visiting my cousin Sara and her boyfriend Paul; however, we were also joined by my cousin Jim, his girlfriend Gina, my cousin Jeff and one of his friends. I want to tell you about all the crazy things we did (including dancing to Hulk Hogan Anthems, watching Jem videos on You Tube, re-enacting Hall & Oats performances) but seriously, I spent 99.9% of the time trying NOT to spit my beverage out of my mouth or pee my pants from laughing so hard!

Is it any wonder I'm exhausted?


Jim and Paul during quieter and calmer times

We headed down Thursday after work and I swear when I got to Castroville I could just SMELL the ocean! The climate was so insanely different than the ridiculous heat up here in Sacramento and I was totally jazzed. Friday morning Jim and Gina joined us:

Jim and Gina getting in some quality lounge time

And Jeff followed shortly thereafter. We BBQ'd some hotlinks, enjoyed some adult beverages, lounged, watched the Giants game, and generally enjoyed each other's company. I discovered that Bud Light Lime isn't even as disgusting as I had previously thought, and that shots of Bourbon are eerily similar to drinking A BLOW TORCH! I would not recommend this to others. Then it was time to head out for fireworks in downtown Monterey and do you know what the best part about the fireworks were? That I got to wear this:

That's right! I had to wear a scarf, folks! So that I wouldn't freeze my ass off and I LOVED IT! Ok technically it was a pashmina that Sara has been using as decoration in her guest bedroom, but Tim Gunn would be proud 'cuz I think I Made it Work!

But even better than my newfound love of Bud Light Lime, or that my Winterwear was not at all out of place, I think hands down the best part of the fireworks was this:


I mean seriously? How can that not make you feel like you live in the best country ever!?!

Afterwards we headed to a couple of bars in downtown Monterey. A friend of Jim's was having a cd release party for their band Yell or Trolley so we caught their show.


All in all -- a FABULOUS Fourth of July! I Hope yours was equally exciting!

The Fleet Foxes Will Knock Your Soxes Off!

Ok, so my title needs work -- I'll give you that -- but what I'm trying to tell you is that the Fleet Foxes show totally rocked!

Garrett and I have pretty much mastered the art of being homebodies (FYI -- the recipe includes delicious homemade dinner, CSI: Miami reruns in the background, Couching, Bad Reality TV on the DVR, and reading in bed by 11 -- you know, in case you were wondering) so when the opportunity presented itself to go see a show in San Francisco on a Thursday night, we weren't exactly grabbing our keys and heading out the door. However, when we discovered that tickets were only $10, my inner-bargain hunter said this was something we could not pass up.


So into The City we headed after work Thursday evening and honestly, despite the fact the most of California is covered in smoke right now, it was a fantastic drive. And when we got there, lo and behold the parking was ample! and free! Can you believe our luck??? Neither could we! When we finally got inside we saddled up to bar, ordered a drink ($4 for a beer? Are you serious? That's all? But we're in San Francisco?), and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that not only was it Summertime -- but indeed the livin' was easy...



When the band finally came out, they performed an amazing set and I was totally blown away by how great they sounded live. The above pic was my awful attempt to capture how magical they were, but either my camera sucks, my photography skills suck, or a little bit of both. Aside from the fact that some drunk smelly guy was dancing the whole time in front of me, even though we were packed like sardines in the club, (which in my concert etiquette handbook has always meant NO DRUNKEN DANCING YOU SMELLY DOUCHEBAG!!!) we enjoyed every minute of the show and were so happy that we took the plunge and headed down even though it was mid-week.

*For your viewing pleasure I found a clip on You Tube that has halfway decent audio...I call this one Not Tonight, Horatio Caine.


How freaking great are they? Ok, I'm done dorking out now. :)