My Big Fat Gypsy Tv Marathon

Every once in a while I watch a ton of tv and after the rough week I had and a crazy Halloween, a girlfriend of mine and I watched about 6 episodes of My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. 

For those who don't know it's now on Netflix Instant and centers on the big events in the American Gypsy community.  The gowns are incredible feats of tulle and crystal and the men's hair puts the bros of the Jersey Shore to shame. One thing I really like about the series is that it doesn't feel super judgmental nor sensational. But perhaps that is because it is based on the British series that was fairly straight forward. When your subject is as fascinating as the Romanichal community you don't need to fake it. 

There is no way I can watch a show featuring that much glitter and glam and not get a bit antsy for a bit of my own, not to mention I love crafting while watching. I guess I feel less like a lazy sod if I'm creating while I sit on my tuckus. I ran for the closet and grabbed a pair of chunky heels that were on their way out and got to gluing. Sure I only finished one but I guess the right foot will have to wait for the second season to be released. And wait I will for another round  of fueds, family and young love. 

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Pain in the Neck- Battling the Back

Two weeks ago I assisted my mother, newly retired, with installing ceiling fixtures for her craftsman bungalow. The following day it felt as though an ice pick had made its way into my shoulder blade. After heroic attempts at massage by the boyfriend, several hundred milligrams of ibuprofen and constant applications of Salonpas patches, I gave up and called a chiropractor. My first visit, 6 am due to my failure to get day off, was odd and a let down. X-rays were taken, weird machine hooked up to monitor breathing and a quick meeting with doc took two full hours. Two hours with no treatment. I wandered in the next day for the continuation and this time it also took 2 hours and no adjustment. This time I was instructed to use a lumbar stretching chair, then had my head strapped into a neck stretcher (seen above) and sat for 15 min in it. When is the last time you sat unrestricted by a phone, book or tv? Well I survived and they moved me on to an electrofeedback machine that feels like a light muscle spasm. 

Frustrated and still in pain I decided to go to Target and buy a new pillow, I am not getting great sleep due to my arms constantly falling asleep. I purchased a contour memory foam pillow that helps align my head comfortable to sleep on my back. Now I only wake up once a night with my arms falling asleep. 

My third appointment at the chiro started out the same with stretching and electronic stimulus. Then they moved me to a table that slides to stretch the spine. Finally I received an adjustment on my lower back. But in all honesty I just don't think I can handle a month of 6 am visits to the office three times a week. For one: that's prohibitively expensive and second: my time is way to valuable. Sure sure, I know that it's worth the effort to live pain free but I'm way too stubborn for this malarkey. 

Sitting on my lunch break yesterday, high on excedrin migraine for a blinding migraine, I made an appointment for my very first acupuncture. I'm looking forward to trying out a bit of eastern medicine. Who knows perhaps reiki is next! 

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A to Z USA- aka a lazy Sunday in Azusa CA

Nestled in the San Gabriel foothills, just 32 miles east of Hollywood, is the town of Azusa. A to Z usa is how it got its name. A small town that has a touch of the frontier and a dash of early and mid  20th century architecture. Sleepy little neighborhoods filled with Eicher-esque houses framed by elaborately pruned ficus bushes. 

This Sunday took us to Monrovia, just west of Azusa, on a work errand and since we were on that side of town needing breakfast we quickly looked to yelp for a greasy spoon. We headed to the best sounding breakfast joint on the list, Flappy Jack's Pancake House. How could we go wrong?! Well, there were dozens of people waiting outside for tables. We cut thru the parking lot and redirected ourselves to Flo's Coffee Shop on the historic Route 66. 

It was just what the doc ordered. Simple classic food in what looks like a former Mexican Restaurant. Handwritten signs advertising specials and Corona banners decorate the walls. We could have been roadside anywhere along Hwy66 and this would have fit in. Forget the hipster $14 Benedicts and bottomless mimosas, sometimes all you need are pancakes, eggs and coffee in a white ceramic mug. 

Bellies full of vintage style breakfast we decided to go vintage shopping as we stumbled upon Nit Pickers, an adorable vintage store on Foothill in Azusa. 

Inside we explored racks of vintage clothes and tchotchkes. I even found a gorgeous orange Bonnie Cashin coat from the 60's.  Win! 

Next time I head out east I'm going to make sure it's Saturday so even more of the awesome thrift and vintage stores are open. 

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What in the heck? Window shopping in hell. Aka Weho

Oh jeez wewhores is there no end to the design travesties? Found myself on the wrong side of town, the center, on my way to the Improv to see Jen Kirkman. And right there in the middle of Melrose  Sigh

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Proof- foofy pastries and killer coffee

Don't you love typing a huge wit laden blog post or email only to have it disappear as soon as you quickly check an email or take a photo? Take 2:

I found myself in Atwater Village today hungry and uncaffinated. I usually hit Bon Vivant or Kaldi on Glendale blvd just east of the 5fwy. But for today I thought I would finally try Proof, open for a while now but with hours that I do not tend to be in the area. 

As soon as I walked in the smell of coffee wrapped me up in it's promise of roasted chemical relief. A small number of pastries stared at me, no single one saying "girl you know I'm the one." So of course I settles on two- pain au raisin and almond croissant, my go-to choice. 

I knew that any establishment that smells like this must have perfect regular coffee. I save espresso for places that I don't trust to make a good cuppa. I was right, the coffee was that perfect brew, not too Britney and bitter and not to fruity sour. You might say Goldielocks picked the right mug today. As for the pastries, you raisin was a hit. Flaky but not the kind of flaky that ends up all over my shirt, almond croissant is probably deep within my cleavage. The raisins were sweet and plump. Win. Not enough almond in my almond croissant though. I like to know I'm eating almonds. I want a thick creamy layer of almond between buttery pockets of pastry. Sorry guys but no go on that one. Too dry and not enough punch for the $4 ticket price. In fact my only criticism is that all this cost me $10. An that's not even a prepared barista drink. Next time I'm just having the coffee. 

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Slightly burnt delights and soggy toast

Occasionally I get asked my culinary philosophy and my response is resoundingly,  "You can cook if you try." All that television food porn has made cooking food seem a lofty artistic goal that requires stainless steel full tang knives hand forged by blind monks and recycled bottle bowls endorsed by bleach teethed celebrities. Well shit why try right? "I always screw it up." "I can't follow a recipe." And "ugh cooking is too hard." are all bullshit excuses for not turning on your stove. I think I've followed about 8 recipes in my life. What's my method then? I read multiple recipes for each dish I want to try. I treat a new dish like its a vocabulary word. Learning to cook isn't instantaneous, it takes making mistakes to get a handle on it. I learned by tackling one dish at a time and as I went along I started to understand that certain things just click, like basil and tomato. 

As for fixing things- a dish usually has a blend of basic flavors. Like chords in a song. Say I'm cooking in the key of Thai, I'm going to be spicy, sour, sweet, a little salty and a tiny bit bitter. If I make a dish and it tastes blah I add lime, Thai food's sour flavor. If its still not there I add the heat, red chili paste, or salt, fish sauce or soy. If my dish is too hot- add sweet, agave or honey. To salty? Sour or sweet. See where I'm going with this? It's a balance of flavors and when it swings too far you just need to correct by adding the other flavors. But a warning: sometimes too much is just too much. I've had the lid to a salt fall off into a dish.  FAIL. 

But don't get down! Burn chicken? Oh well suck it up and set a timer next time. Start small and work your way up to the dishes with 25 steps. 

Happy burning! 

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Cheesy Instant Lunch upgrade

Holy college dorm lunch!!! I just saw a coworker blow my mind with his Instant Lunch upgrade. Add water to the noodles, once the noodles are soft dump the water, then add a packet of cheese from an Easy Mac kit. Mix well and add milk if you've got some or even a shelf stable coffee creamer and some hot sauce. Then eat it.  Yeeeeeeaya!!! Better noodles than Easy Mac and more filling. 

(Note: I don't vouch for the nutritional value of this meal)

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