Indy May 28, 2008

On Memorial Day, Yarbs and I did a little shop shop.  I didn’t end up purchasing anything, but she did get a really cute shirt.  We picked Boom up for lunch, then we went to the cinema to be one of the many viewers of the latest Indiana Jones movie on its opening weekend.

Like most everyone else I have talked to, I was a little disappointed with the movie.  The cartoonitron gopher in the first 5 mins of the movie was super cheezy, as was the ending.  But I am not sure if it is b/c I am older now than I was when I saw the other Indiana Jones’.  I think I need to re-watch some of the older ones, to see if I like them as much I think I remember I do.  I did love Short-Round in the 2nd one (and that is also one of the many nicknames I call Ruby).

You can definitely tell that Harrison Ford is older, less agile and slower than he once was.  But this is the role that I have liked him the best in - who doesn’t love Indiana?!

Anyway, looks like Shia LeBoeuf (sp?) is being positioned to take over the I.J. series.  Not sure how I feel about that. I think Tad Hamilton (Josh Dumell, my one major star crush) would have been a good one to take over as I.J., but I guess no one asked me

Helping me be cooler April 19, 2008

When I got home from H-town, a package was waiting from me from my awesome friend Neener - 3 CDs!

I have ripped these songs into iTunes and am really enjoying the album! Pretty chill, and not poppy / top 40, which is good for me. These are the other 2 CDs:

I haven’t yet had a chance to rip these songs, but I am excited for some new, different music! It takes a lot of effort to keep on top of cool music, and I am just too lazy. So I like it when my friends can intro me to new good stuff. Thanks, Neener!

Update - Am listening to the N.O. Jazz Vipers right now.  I really like ‘em!  Different sound than Citizen Cope (he’s a bit darker) - big band and upbeat (and jazzy, imagine that), so far.  I love the horns!

Books April 18, 2008

My good friend up in DC, Ward, reads quite a bit.  And she is really good about giving books as gifts.  She gave me this book years ago - and I never got through it all the way.

So a few weeks back I decided to read it in it’s entirety - and I really enjoyed it.  It is definitely quirky and unusual, but very funny and well written.  His descriptions of things really is great, and very amusing.  The ending was a little anti-climatic for me, but overall a good read.

Yarbs gave me a book to read when I saw her for lunch in Houston:

It was good - a quick read.  I literally read it all in one sitting.  Sad, but also reassuring in the human spirit.  The main character is definitely likable (and young!) - she goes through so much in her 11 years.  Makes me realize (though it is fiction) that I have been very lucky in my life.

I’ve been so ADD recently that it has been hard to get through books - I seem to have too much to do and feel guilty about taking the time to read.  But is is good for me, I need to remember.  And now that the house is clean and I can’t mess it up with crafting, I think there is gonna be some good reading time ahead for me.

Yummy! April 1, 2008

I have been obsessed with this new cereal:  Nature’s Path FlaxPlus® Pumpkin Raisin Crunch

All organic, of course, and packed with yummy stuff!  The pumpkin seeds with the crispy flakes and chewy raisins is a great combo.  This was literally an impulse buy one day and now I love it.  I have to regulate the amount I eat, otherwise I’d have a huge bowl every morning!

And it has lots of fiber, vitamins and minerals and omega-3s, so that is good.

Book Review April 1, 2008

These days, I have been feeling a bit ADD.  Seems like I have more time for just snippets, so reading a mag seems more efficient than just a few pages in a book.  I started a few book a month or so ago, and finally finished one of them!

March by Geraldine Brooks, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2006.  I like to read Pulitzer Prize winners as I assume they have to be at least well written, if nothing else.  (Tho I think Waiting by Ha Jin was a PP winner, and I did not enjoy it at all.  And really didn’t think it was well written.)

She takes the absentee father from Little Women and weaves a story where he is the main character.  He is a Chaplain in the Union Army, and it is a it like a historical fiction.   I enjoyed it.  It was an easy read and interesting plot line.  She delves a little into how slaves were treated, and it is horrific (human decency clearly skipped some people - to be able to treat another human being so poorly, just because they look a little different).  And shows that even people on the Union side, still had their prejudices.  To think, that this all took place less than 200 years ago is really amazing.

Jabba!! March 31, 2008

Boom and I stumbled upon Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew sometime around the 4th round - and we loved it ever since! The finale was this week, and we watched it this weekend - and one of my fav crews - JabbaWockeeZ - won! They are tight and really good! I also really liked BreakSk8 - guys from the MidWest that danced on rollerkates! They won $100K and the title of America’s Best Dance Crew - not exactly sure what will come of it for them, but very cool. and highly entertaining to watch! I am thrilled that they will be continuing the competition in June!

I joked with Boom that we were likely the only people over the age of 25 that watched the show.  Oh well, I liked it!

I was really surprised and quite pleased at the number of Asian dancers in the competition. Living in (Fort Worth) TX and VA, I haven’t ever really experienced the West Coast for any length of time - and out there 1 out of ever 4 peeps are Asian. It gives me hope - when I move to H-town I am gonna take a hip hop dance class. I think Yarb has actually taken one before, and I will force her to take with me again! Too bad I have no rhythm, but perhaps a hip hop dance class will help!

Saturday Night Dinner March 24, 2008

This weekend, we went out to dinner on Saturday night at a new(ish) restaurant in Richmond - Lulus.  I had been wanting to go there for a while, as it seemed like everyone else had been there.  We went with our friends Sam and J - whom moved to RIC at the same time as us!  So it was nice to catch up with them.

I liked the Lulus decor - it was a little funky and modern.  And it is smoke free until 10 or 11, which is great!  As for the food, we got Lobster and Crab Fritters w/ mango dipping sauce (OK), I got a Side Salad of baby greens, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, croutons, and raspberry vinaigrette (pretty good and pretty large!) and the Orecchiette Pasta w/ lump crab meat, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, roasted garlic and parmesan cream sauce (pretty tasty - a good amount of crab meat, and the cream sauce was not too thick).  Boom wasn’t too impressed with the food.  We didn’t get dessert, so not sure how they were on that front.

I guess it was pretty good overall, but not outstanding in any way.  I would go there again, but likely it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Weekend Movies March 10, 2008

Boom and I had a very laid back weekend - when he wasn’t working, we just hung out.  And on Sat and Sun we rented movies.  Two very different (from each other and most other) movies.  In the end, both were uplifting, but I am not quite sure how they got there.  I liked them both, but especially “Once”…

“Once” won an Oscar for Best Song “Falling Slowly” and made us want to download the soundtrack.  It was also a sweet movie - and I loved it b/c there was nothing sexy about it at all.  Not that I am aganist sexy, but it was refreshing to watch a movie where that was not at the center of all things.

“The Darjeeling Limited” was very random and quirky.  I enjoyed it as well.  Had the same sort of feel as “The Royal Tenenbaums” (same director) and “I Heart Huckabee” (tho I realized that I may not have seen that movie yet).

Greening it up… March 10, 2008

Even before the onset of my veggie phase, I have been trying to replace regular household items with less toxic, organic things. Like my dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, toilet paper (recycled), etc.

When I really started focusing on organic foods (better for you nutritionally and better for the earth), I also started thinking about our everyday “beauty” regimen. Skin is our largest organ - kinda scary/odd to think about; we brush our teeth 2x a day for 2 minutes each time (and you know some of the toothpaste must get ingested); and on and on. So I’ve started replacing our grooming products with organic items.

My newest addition to our healthier grooming:

I thought Boom was really not going to like it, but he has been remarkably OK with it. (Perhaps I have been wearing him down, or perhaps since it is the only toothpaste we have in the house, he is fine with using it - by default)

And some of our other items:

The Burt’s Bees shampoos smell great! They don’t really suds up as much as conventional shampoos, but that is ok.

The JASON organic lotion also smells really great. I love lavender! It works quite well, too!

The Juice Beauty cleansing skin milk has been OK. I found in the beginning it kind of dried out my skin, but after it got low enough to where the pump couldn’t work, it kinda thickened up and now seems to work better than before. I think I’d like to try more of this line - I like that 95% of their ingredients are organic and really want to explore some of their other products.

The Giovanni shampoo really suds up - and uses peppermint for a great tingle on the scalp. I’ve enjoyed it thus far and really like the modern packaging. Would also like to try other products in this line.

The Weleda lotion is interesting. I LOVE that it comes in a glass container. and a bunch of beauty editors really love this line. The lotion smells pretty good - citrusy, but is a little thin / watery. I think this would be best during the summer, when a thick lotion is not needed. So I haven’t been using it too much recently.

And even Boom has gotten into it:

Looks like Recycline also makes toothbrushes - we’ll have to give them a try!

So all this may not seem like much, but it is a start. And at least we are creating a market for these sorts of products.

DinDin February 28, 2008

Last night Stevie and I checked out a new restaurant, Verbena. It was pretty good. I (well, we both) had a mixed green salad (which had a ginger sauce - yum), crab cakes (mostly crab meat, tasty, but the sauce was a little rich) and we shared the vanilla creme brulee (very yummy - and it was big! I am a creme brulee purist - I hate it when places offer odd flavored creme brulee). It wasn’t inexpensive, though. The bill was just south of $100 for the both of us. We did have 3 glasses of wine between us.

The decor was nice! They had totally re-done it from when the space was Carltons. It was traditionally modern. Had many “traditional” elements (stamped tin ceiling, mouldings, etc) but they were used in a clean, slightly contemporary way. I enjoyed the decor. and I didn’t notice anyone smoking - I dunno if maybe people were smoking upstairs in the bar, or if it is a smoke-free restaurant (that would be lovely).

Of course the best part of the evening was catching up with Stevie!  She is one busy gal, so getting to see her one on one was quite a treat!  We even got some of her wedding (in Nov) planned!

The only issue is my tummy did hurt a little last night, I think it was due to the richness of the crab cake sauce. It seemed very heavily on the butter side. I just should not have eaten as much as I did, but it tasted good at the time.

Verdict: I’d go back. When the weather warms up, Boom and I will be able to walk there, which is always nice.