Dinosaurs!

I've been wanting to go to see the new dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum since I moved down here. Unfortunately, it was under construction until last July. Then it was crazy crowded because, apparently, everyone loves dinosaurs as much as I do or something. Since this is probably my last weekend here, I HAD to go.

 For some reason we managed to walk in through the back of the museum and found our way to the dinosaur exhibit last. Which, in hindsight, was probably better because I wasn't nearly as excited about anything else. 

By the time we got to the dinosaurs, we only got about half way through the exhibit before we had to go to the Butterfly Pavilion for our time slot. Oh boy, I haven't seen people being so aggressive with nature like that since watching The Crocodile Hunter.

Either kids aren't used to being around butterflies in the city, or they don't quite understand the whole "look but don't touch" concept for observing nature. I felt bad for the frustrated staff and the accosted butterflies.

 We made our way back to the dinosaurs, Yano and I stopping to take pictures almost constantly (his are much better than mine). I couldn't decide which dinosaur I had a bigger crush on; the magnificent Parasarolophus or mighty Tyrannosaurus.

It was definitely a toss up.

Seriously, look how awesome they are. 

This was the best adventure to have before I move back up north. Yes, there are museums in San Francisco, but I am trying to do all the things I wanted to do before I leave. So after we had worked up quite the appetite walking around the complicated layout of the museum, I suggested we go somewhere new to eat. Yano racked his brain for ideas and finally came up with a microbrewery in Silverlake.

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into by sitting down at Good Microbrew & Grill. It started with the giant beer menu. After finally deciding, our beers showed up in giant glass goblets. I had to hold mine with both hands.

Of course we find an awesome brewery to hang out at right before I move away. Isn't that how it always works? I definitely want to come back for Mystery Beer Night one day. $3 pints!

The problem with going out to eat after not eating all day is that everything on the menu looks delicious. I decided to throw caution to the wind and order the mac 'n cheese bacon bit burger. I mean, how could I not? It combines two of my favorite foods. Yes, I can be a food monster sometimes.

It is always fun being the smallest person at the table with the largest meal. 

Changes

Well that was a rather pathetic attempt at updating regularly. It has been almost a whole month! I promise there have been multiple extremely legitimate reasons why I have fallen off the map for so long.

It started when I hopped on a train to Santa Rosa to help my sister out the last week of her pregnancy. She went into early labor the night before, so I sat on the train willing it to move faster so that I didn't miss being at the hospital when our Little Miss showed up. Luckily, she waited for me and I got there about an hour before she was born.

Welcome Lily Eileen!

Photo courtesy of Yano.

She is the most precious baby ever. I even got to name her! It only seemed fair that I would get to name my sister's firstborn since she named me.

So I missed updating that week due to running around trying to get everything ready for Lily and family to come home.

Let's see...what did I do next...

Another reason I went home was to help my mom out at work and make some extra money. Wait. I feel like I am missing something...

Oh! The reason I need extra money is because I decided to be crazy and make yet another big life change.

Yup, it is official boys and girls. I am moving back up north.

Now, before you think that I am completely irrational and impulsive, let me explain my reasoning. After moving to Los Angeles, I've sort of just been floating along without any real goals in mind. So one day after randomly finding my old acceptance letter to SF State, I decided I needed to go back to school. Finally, a goal! Since my heart was still set on the Creative Writing program at SF State, I realized I was in the wrong city.

I swear, one of these days I will settle somewhere. Maybe.

So there you have it! I have been running around trying to sort out plans to move and freaking out about making such drastic changes (again). I've been back in LA for a week now and I haven't packed a single thing. My procrastination has reached pretty epic levels.

Alcohol always helps. 

Imaginary Snow Ball Fights

As a professional baby sitter, parents pay me to hang out with their kids. It is pretty awesome (except when work is suuuper slow). I get to play with Legos, sit at the pool, build sand castles at the beach and hang out at the arcade on the Santa Monica Pier. Sometimes I wonder why more people don't work with kids, but then I realize that most people can't. They just don't have the patience.

I make money while building card houses

(made out of dinosaur flashcards)

I, on the other hand, absolutely love babysitting. I get to do all the things I do in my free time (Legos, arcade games, nonsense conversations) and get paid for it. Maybe it is because I am just a big kid trapped in an adult body. Most likely. 

The only problem with having such inconsistent work (sometimes I go an entire month without getting any gigs) is having to work extra long to compensate. I just worked 20 hours in two days. It was the twelve hour day that nearly killed me. When I came home today I was totally ready for cupcakes and beer.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I don't normally celebrate, but since I was making cupcakes, I decide to be festive, much like on the 4th of July. 

So there shall be green frosting!

Now, after deciding to make cupcakes, I realized that I didn't have any frosting. All of my plans, ruined! Then, like a light from clouds, Yano walked in and said, "can't you make frosting?" I dragged myself over to the computer, found a recipe and realized, why yes! I can make frosting. It was a beautiful moment. 

I was inspired to make four leaf clovers out of sprinkles on top of the cupcake while mixing the ingredients together. Did you know that frosting is basically just butter and sugar? Neither did I. 

Here is the first attempt. Not so successful...

As you can see, it looked more like a green blob than a clover. *Despair* Then again, Yano saved the day by busting out his graphic designer skills and printed me some clover stencils. I learned that I am not so good at making clover stencils freehand after a couple beers. 

Behold! Less blob-like and more clover-ish cupcakes. 

And look how cute the look in my cupcake carrier. 

Also note the pirate papers (pirates celebrate St. Patrick's Day too, right?)

Happy drinking and cupcake eating, everyone!

What's Going On Here?

I started writing this post yesterday, which was also the day I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair and didn't notice until my hair dried all greasy on top. So needless to say I didn't get very far. It was mostly just about how I didn't know what to write about. Unfortunately this has been happening more and more. It makes me a little sad.

What have I been up to lately?

Last weekend I hitched a ride up to the Bay Area to give my friends hugs and cookies. Saturday was the busiest day. It included hiking in the hills of Oakland, going to a little bar in Hayward that served Sierra Nevada Hefeweizen on tap (which I didn't even know existed) and ended in a sleepover with two of my favorite people ever.

Old picture, but it's the only one of all three of us (smiling).

They really are the best.

This weekend started at Canters after a babysitting gig in West Hollywood. In case you don't know of this wondrous place, Canters is a restaurant/deli/bakery on Fairfax that's open 24/7.

I didn't get off work until eleven, so we decided to go since not much else is open. I have never been, despite driving past it and talking about going since I moved here. Even being half starved from not eating for eight hours, my meal defeated me. It might have been the fries.

I swear there is a sandwich under there. 

The rest of the weekend was a blur of video games (I decided to restart Final Fantasy XIII) and futile attempts at writing this blog post. It only took me two days! I almost started posting regularly (Fridays). Maybe next time. 

One last thing:

Rocksteady perler bead craft: FAIL. 

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever

This was the title of the recipe that my sister emailed me last week. I am always skeptical whenever there are such wild claims as this, but I figured the only way to find out was to try it out.

If you are curious, the recipe is here.

I don't have an extensive knowledge of chocolate chip cookie recipes, so I can't really say if this one is the best ever. I can say, however, that it is pretty damn good. So good, in fact, that it is now my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I probably should write it on something other than scrap paper. 

From what I can gather, one of the reasons that this recipe is superior is because it calls for two different kinds of flour; bread flour and cake flour. Apparently, the bread flour makes the cookie more chewy. 

I couldn't find any cake flour at the store, but according to the internet, you can just add cornstarch to all purpose flour. For example, if your recipe calls for 2 cups of cake flour, you use 1 3/4 cups all purpose and 1/4 cup of cornstarch. An excellent thing to know for the next time I make a cake. 

The second reason (and I can't believe I've never thought of this) is because it calls for dark chocolate chips.

This recipe was especially dense. It definitely tested the limits of my little hand mixer and I started to worry when it almost stopped completely. It made me really really wish for a KitchenAid.  

I would like a purple one. 

Anyway, after nearly killing my tiny mixer, I had to do the most difficult part of the process. I had to put the cookie dough in the fridge for 24-36 hours. Ughhh.

Exactly  24 hours later (it just sort of happened, I promise I wasn't waiting around counting down the minutes) I popped the first batch into the oven. I did, however watch them bake. Now the recipe says to form the dough into balls roughly the size of golf balls and sprinkle it with salt (it activates the sweet). I decided to up it a notch by sprinkling it with sea salt.

Fellow bakers know, the first batch is usually not perfect for any slew of reasons. Not with this recipe. At exactly 23 minutes, I took the cookies out of the oven; they were perfect.

Unfortunately, due to the size, you can only bake six at a time.

I couldn't wait for them to cool, I immediately poured myself a glass of milk and broke open a cookie. Let me tell you, it might have been the best cookie I've ever eaten. It was warm and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. It was everything a chocolate chip cookie should be.

I am officially addicted. 

So if you are looking for an excellent cookie recipe, I urge you to try this one. I couldn't find anything I didn't like about it. The website has all kinds of delicious looking recipes, including one for Boston Creme Cupcakes.

I think I've found my next baking project.

Legos and Time Travel

Last Saturday I was scrolling through Tumblr (oh the infinite scroll) and found some pretty elaborate Lego creations. I was both amazed and inspired. So I jumped up and rummaged through my closet to pull out my small collection of Legos.

After digging through my plastic container, I realized I had some pretty awesome mini-figs and accessories. 

While assembling the whole cast of Lego men/women, I decided to put together my latest set (Power Miners!) and watch some Netflix. 

 

It was definitely a time/space travel kind of day. 

I love the Star Trek movie. I am too young to have watched the series, but I never get tired of explosions in Space. Lunopolis really bent my mind with talks of alternate dimensions and the like. I think the point of the movie was that we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes if we try to time travel, but I'm not sure. 

Either way, it is a good watch; especially if you are into alien conspiracies and/or time travel. 

Side note: I really need to keep up on updating every week. I made a big deal about it a couple posts ago and haven't been very good about it since. 

First step in organizing my life: regular updates.

Perspective

It's weird realizing that everyone around you is growing up. Whether people are building or destroying their lives; they are progressing in some way. Some days I look around and feel like everyone is moving faster than I am. Some days, I feel like I am flying.

Nothing puts your life into perspective like a new baby in the family. Yes, I am going to be an official auntie in April. I literally cannot contain my excitement.

Last weekend was my sister's baby shower, which I don't usually enjoy (due to the overload of cute things and lack of beer). However, since I was a co-host, I made an effort. I even stayed up until 2am the night before making the favors.

Hot Chocolate on a stick!

I hand-tied every lopsided bow.

I actually enjoyed the shower. Since I was hosting, I didn't have to participate in any of the games and got to busy myself during the opening of presents. I realize that is the majority of what goes on at a baby shower, but I really only go for the people.

Oh, and the cake of course.

Cake by Firegoddess Cakes.

My dear friend Amanda never ceases to amaze me with her cakes. Everyone in the Sonoma County area is lucky to have her talents. 

Perspective, right. Lately I have been thinking about my life (and how messy it can get) and realized that I need to start cleaning up. I am going to be an aunt soon (hopefully the favorite) and I need to set a good example for my future niece. 

So this year, I aim to figure out some things. Clean up the messy parts. To show I mean business, here is a very serious picture of me:

 Miss Firegoddess and I don't mess around.

Side note, every baby shower should to include fake mustaches.