Spring Has Sprung....and I have emerged a mariposa! Oh, and send Peanut home!!

Hello to all of my adoring fans!!! I have been long absent and I apologize from the depths of my soul, that you have been without my humor and insight. I have a few things to share with you this evening, to catch you all up.

1) The Twilight books have gone fantastically. I am currently on Eclipse and I must say so far, New Moon, the second of the series is by far the best. Go get it now. Admittedly, I have been reading the Twilight series since November, but I have been trying to savor every page and I don't truly enjoy reading fiction that much. Self Help books, diet books, books on religion - I am there. I can't put them down. Fiction, eh, can do without it. For the most part, I only read popular fiction so I can understand what people are talking about in dinner conversations, even if it is to say "I couldn't get past the first page." Twilight is the only book I picked up out of true interest but I am not ashamed to admit my crush on Robert Pattinson had a huge role in that.

2) Many have asked how my book(s) is/are going. I will say they are going "okay." Writing is difficult and not at all fun when you have to do it. I expect to finish all three of my books by the end of the year, in rough draft form. I will keep you posted. The book most far along is my book of Dating Memoirs. Believe me, if I dated you, you are in it....sorry. If you are one of my friends and you date, you are probably in it too. Rest easy those I love, I have hidden the names of all innocent parties. The not innocent ones....you may want to worry.

3) Current self help book I am reading and LOVING...The Bounce Back Book. It's hard to explain but its a colorful book (literally it's red) and its full of great quotes on how to deal with life's set backs and how to move forward. I got it at Target, on one of those days where my trip to buy shampoo, turned into a $100 excursion through the book, candy and mini travel bottle aisle.

4) I cannot get enough of Susan Boyle. I have cut down my watching of her YouTube clips to once a day. She makes me cry every time. I admit it....I am one of...."them." I didn't forward it on to you though, so I have kept my passion a secret for a week now. Even pretending that I didn't know who she was to some...."Susan who"?? "The girl on Brady Bunch?" If you haven't watched it...SHAME ON YOU. Also, kind of irritated that they are trying to pull the same stunt with that little girl in the tutu. She is not nearly as endearing as my Susie.

5) TV. As far as television is concerned TLC is on 24 hours a day. I have watched every episode of John and Kate Plus 8 and have dissected and diagnosed their marital issues. I have watched every episode of The Duggars at least 10 times. I have watched every episode of that Roloff show. It is ALWAYS ABOUT PUMPKINS! I think that's it. Oh, and I used to hate her but I am LOVING Chelsea Handler. She is a riot. Crack up. Cannot get enough. I also have watched Grey Gardens this week. I actually can't believe I sat through it but I was so intrigued with Drew Barrymore's performance, I literally couldn't stop.

6) I am scared about the Swine Flu. Most of you know I fear most physical ailments and as some of you know I recovered from a two month super bug myself, that developed into pneumonia. Needless to say, I would travel to Mexico to purchase the antibiotics necessary to save my life if a true pandemic occurred, however, I cannot. Adios senor frogs, adios buckets of XX, adios kids selling me things I don't need but I buy them anyway because I feel bad. I won't be visiting mexico anytime soon. First the water, now this. Its probably for the best though I don't have access to the meds. During the whole 2001 Anthrax scare I bought Cipro in Spain and then took it for two months as a precautionary measure....just kidding...kind of.

7) There is a dog lost in Petaluma, his name is Peanut. If you recognize him, alert authorities. If you have him, SEND BABY PEANUT HOME! I personally do not know Peanut but the thought of a long hair chihuahua missing, roaming the streets cold and alone...breaks my heart.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/laf/1142496747.html

Two things that keep making me laugh...

Sometimes you wanna go.....

Where everybody knows your name....Ace Wasabi....

There is a place near and dear to my heart, a place that has seen me blossom from a sloppy 24 year old, to a "mature" 29 year old. However, you can't help but feel a few years younger when you step through the doors....Ace is the Place.

The Food:

My friends and I began going to Ace around 2003 and when I first began going there I was a sushi novice, ordering the same standard rolls, California Roll and Philly Roll. I understand putting Philly Rolls in a sushi review, may automatically discredit me, but i dont care. Through the years I have branched out and can say I have tried a majority of the menu. Because of my estimated over 50 visits, we now have the menu down to a science. If you have not ate there, order everything on the below at least once. If you have been and haven't tried everything below, you must.

The below is the standard list of foods consumed on an average Ace night.

Edamame

Seaweed Salad

Tuna Tartare

Spicy Green Beans

Chicken Fingers

Spicy Tuna Roll

U2 Roll

Crunchy Sake Roll

Spider Roll

Beverages: 8.7 Sake Bombs.

The People:

The majority of people are from on-campus (i.e. the marina). If you can get past that and hopefully skate by without an awkward run in from an ex-coworker you hate, a boy that never called back or the boy you never called back, you are down for a good time. You will encounter one of the following situations on any given weekend. Either you will hear the strong clanking of sake bombs from loud annoying tables or there will be the families surrounding you, annoyed that you are clanking said sake bombs. The question still remains, who brings a baby to Ace Wasabi at 9 pm on a Friday. I don't have kids yet, so I will refrain from answering. Lets also not forgot the staff. Can't write a review without mentioning Kyle, who somehow knows everyone and miraculously always remembers your name.

The Rest:

1) Don't sit at the table by the light switch (you will be too tempted).

2) Don't let the guy with mohawk serve you.

3) Put all your requests in the jukebox, you will hear them all before you go. If you hear, bad medicine or your love, I am probably there (or an ex-frat guy).

4) Asked to be moved if you get stuck in the back corner.

Think thats it! I am officially now craving the U2 Roll.

Things you eat at the Moo

I was very lucky and blessed to get to visit my dear friend Jessica and her husband, Richard’s restaurant, The Moo Creamery on Tuesday evening. It was so good, that the 15 minute detour off the 5 has now become essential. Clearly a labor of love, Jessica and Richard have worked endlessly on this restaurant since September. Even though it has only been open two weeks, it has been packing crowds at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Moo Creamery has the kind of menu that will make you salivate upon first glance. It combines the best burgers, sandos and ice cream EVER. The day before visiting the restaurant, I stared at the menu for at least a good two hours trying to figure out my eating strategy. Since I only have one stomach, I carefully debated over the Patty Melt, Sliders (that included one chicken slider, one sloppy joe slider and one regular slider) and the Hawaiian Burger. The half onion ring/french fry combo was a no brainer. This debate literally continued until we entered the parking lot at 8:30 pm the next day.

Upon arrival Jessica gave us a full tour of the restaurant. Best part of the tour by far was the ice cream room, it was freezing (see my breath cold) but it smelled so good. After that we took pictures with my new t-shirt and we met the staff (who btw all clearly love Jessica - what else is new). Confident in her ability and having barbecued with Jess in the past (on our mini smokey), I settled on the sliders and Rob, my partner in bako crime, selected the Patty Melt. I loved my choice because I got to taste everything. If forced to choose which slider was the best I am going to have to say that the Sloppy Joe was tops, for the sheer reason you can’t really get Sloppy Joe anywhere. After we ate, Jess let us taste her personal creation called Bacon Love Ice Cream. While it may sound odd, it was delicious. Caramelized bacon with home made vanilla ice cream, enough said.

So I am going to have to now say goodbye to the mandatory In and Out stop in Kettleman City when driving to and from LA, and say hello to the Moo Creamery in Bako.

http://www.moocreamery.com/

Things You Do To Avoid The Dentist

It all began one blustery morning approximately 12 days ago. The day to be exact was Wednesday, December 17th. I had woke up vvverry early for my dentist appointment, since apparently even getting to that office on time, is still considered late. I decided to be over ambitious and devote my morning to getting my teeth drilled and fitness. Hence, I dressed in my cutest work out gear since I would undoubtedly see at least 118 people from high school (as you do in Petaluma) from the mere half a block walk to the gym from my car. I opened the door to the great outdoors and saw that a beautiful coat of frost covered everything. I carefully walked down to my car and realized due to the thick ice covering the windshield that I would indeed be late for my appointment - quite possibly the worst offense at Brian K. Sibbald's office. I had to sit in my freezing car for what seemed like forever, shivering, while Gypsy Jo (my car) warmed up. Finally when i could see out of a three inch portion of my windshield I headed on my way. Five minutes and sliding through two stop signs later, I arrived at the dentist ready for pain and for a lecture about timeliness.

As I entered the office I slipped through the door (which according to Dr. Sibbald is not up to code because he has owned the building since the 70's and it doesn't have to be) and braced myself for the three judgy ladies behind the front desk. Much to my surprise, they said nothing. Come to find out, they in fact never wrote down my appt at all and I had now had to come back the next morning. I would lie and say I was really upset but I was successfully able to avoid the dentist for yet another day and I was actually quite happy. Got back in the car and realized that I had forgot my ipod so I was forced to return home before the gym, which of course was good because I had to re-do my hair and make up....jk...kind of. I pulled into the driveway, got out of my car and was ready to happily skip my way into the house when I slipped on a patch of black ice. Sorry, slipped doesn't do it justice, I fell, HARD on my right side. Purse EVERYWHERE! I sat there for a moment wondering if I was a) Dead or b) Paralyzed. Fortunately, I was neither but I realized I killed my arm. I heard people walking close to the house so I high tailed it (in order to avoid having to talk strangers) and crawled up the driveway. Once inside, Deedee and I then spent the next 20 minutes assessing whether my arm would require medical attention. Of course, since we are afraid of any physical ailment, we agreed that the emergency room was in order. After a 30 minute drive, a 10 minute dialogue about the noise in my mom's car, and 20 minutes of circling the Kaiser parking garage we arrived to the Kaiser Emergency Room. where I have visited in the past for arm breaks, dog bites and one particular painful incident in which I swallowed a whole peppermint and was choking to death.

Luckily they admitted me straight a way to a large room that was occupied with one other person behind a white curtain. Somewhere between the waiting for the nurse, waiting for the Dr. and waiting for the radiologist, the white privacy curtain swung open. Behind it sat a girl with platinum blond hair, at most 18 years old, sitting there in pajamas with smeared eye make up. She introduced herself as Diana. She was admitted the night prior for excessive drinking. She was very upfront that drinking was all she had done (sure). I wondered how drunk one has to be, to be dropped off by friends in your pajamas at 1 am. I was asking her a few questions (as I was incredibly curious) when I was interrupted by a nurse who had fabulous hair. She promptly put the white privacy curtain back up. Obviously a white piece of cloth does not block sound and Diana asked to be released. She was then denied by Fab Hair Nurse because her "levels" needed to be normalized. The nurse left and Deedee and I resumed conversation about the car noise while I waited for the xray results.

Within two minutes, we soon began to hear a whipping noise from the other side of the room. Our curiosity was not peeked for long, as Diana flung opened the privacy curtain yet again to reveal that the whipping noise was not a medical device but her arm restraints used to tie her down the night prior. We proceeded to watch Diana do a lyrical dance in her bed with the arm restraints when the Dr. finally returned and placed back, ONCE AGAIN, the privacy curtain. Luckily, I did not require a cast and was released by the Kaiser staff just in time as Diana was getting restless and decided to begin ripping off her acrylic nails and throwing them towards us. Nothing else really to report except for the fact that Tylenol with Codeine does absolutely nothing for pain. God bless you drunk Diana, wherever you are.

Happy News!

Hey Guys! Will post soon about my last three days - I fell on ice on Wedneday and have been quasi out of commission. In happier news, the Duggar Family just had their 18th BABY!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/18th_baby

BTW- This is Deeds response to my Fun Dip Post

Deeds again. Linnie, I have one question. Have you ever eaten an apple? I probably put them in your school lunch box, which you probably never ate (no blame on that) along with room-temperature milk (I really am so sorry about that one). I just can't envision you walking in the kitchen, grabbing an apple, and biting into it as you walk away from the fridge.