A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 46

Real People, Real Emails...

"I am helping a friend and he was under the impression that you offered dial up to those who get your daily newspaper. Is this true or does he have to get it from somewhere else"

We area financial news paper...not an internet service...

Do you know who you are emailing?

DIY Projects

Hey All! Don't forget about the Scentsy Party I am hosting! 

We have extended the end date to 9/2/12!

I found this DIY project on Pinterest! 

Thank you! It was so fun and very easy! 

A bit messy!

I went to Home Depot and bought a strip of wood that was 12", well it ended up that they aren't actually 12"x12" so that was kind of annoying because the pictures were 12"x12" so I was going to have to cut them.

Then I painted the sides and a little bit of the front with some grey paint I bought at Home Depot.

I cut the pictures to fit the wood pieces. Some of them were a little off, fortunately it wasn't too bad and you can hardly tell now!

I bought Modge Podge at Michael's (Home Depot doesn't have any?! What!?)

And put the modge podge on the wood piece and on the back of the pictures.

Then I arranged the picture on the wood to make it fit the best.

After I put the picture on the wood, I put the modge podge on top of the picture. Making sure to go 1 way, so all horizontal.

I let the modge podge dry (it drys clear!) and then I put another layer of modge podge going the other direction, so all vertical.

I let the glue dry. Doing the modge podge in both directions really gave the pictures a lot of texture!

My only complaint is that I bought a crappy paint brush so some of the bristles got caught in the modge podge and dried, so I can't get them out. And since it is glue, it picked up all kinds of dust and crap, so if you really look at the pictures up close you can see dust particles and crap in them...which is a little frustrating..I am not sure how to avoid that - so just be mindful and pay attention when you do this! :-)

Also, when you are painting and modge podge-ing, make sure to pick up the pictures every once in a while because as these dry they will stick to the newspaper or whatever you put down under them. So then you need to rip it off once its dried.

After the modge podge dried, Rich screwed two holes into the back of each picture and then tied wire around them so we could hang the pictures.

Then Rich hung the pictures for me!

I am soo pleased with the outcome!

(Yes, I did have 6 pictures. The 6th pictures is not a landscape, so we decided it stuck out like a sore thumb, so we found another place in the house to put it!)

These turned out really well and I am so happy that this wall isn't just white any more! It definitely makes the apartment feel much more homey!

Hamburger Mary's

On Sunday the Alpha Gamma Delta Junior Circle decided to do a last minute date!

We decided to go to Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood.

It was hilariously fun! We all had a blast!

There were 8 of us and it was a much needed girls night out with Goblet drinks, laughter and Bingo!

You play "Legendary Bingo" from 7pm - 9pm on Wednesdays and Sundays!

A lot of Bingo and it isn't your ordinary game...they have different ways you can "get" Bingo!

It was a blast!

This sister is seriously one of the best, most kind, and genuine women I know.

I am so lucky to have her in my life!

One of our gals won a game!!

"Pelt her! Pelt her!"

When someone wins, everyone else balls up their sheets and the winner runs around the bar while they get hit with everyone else's bingo sheets!

She won a Girls Night In Basket full of like 25 chick flicks, tissues, candy! The whole shebang!

It was amazing!

Next Junior Circle event? I think so!

Group shot!

What a fun night spent with sisters and friends!

Operation Free

Last week was Rich's last event!

I am so proud of all of the time and effort and work that he put in to his job this summer!

He did an awesome job!

His last event had a panel of speakers discussing Operation Free and Clean Energy as a National Security Topic/Issue.

The event was at the Los Angeles City Hall in the Tom Bradley Room - the top of City Hall (over 40 floors above the city!).

It started at 7:00pm which made for amazing views of Los Angeles as the sun was setting and then amazing views of the city lit up at night!

Before the event

The next president of the USA? I think so!

After the event 

It is so easy to think of the city of Los Angeles as a busy and dirty place.

But last Tuesday, I was able to see some real beauty come from this city that I now live in.

Isn't it breath taking?

I am not vowing not to take my time here for granted and to see the simple beauties of this bustling city and to appreciate them!

Thank you, Los Angeles for opening my eyes!

Guest Post

Good Morning All!! 

The lovely Tracy over at Then I Got to Thinking asked me to guest post for her today.

As most of you may know, she and I are RL friends :-) 

(That is blog code for "Real Life")

She and I met in college and were in the same sorority together.

Tracy asked me to reminisce about our friendship.

So I took an awesome trip down memory lane: going through old photos and digging through old memories!

Go check it out!

Veggie Menu (Week 6)

Monday we ate leftovers :-)

Tuesday: Was Rich's big event downtown! I am so proud of him! We got home very late, so we just had raviolis from costco. We added zucchini and made a yummy sauce of ricotta cheese and balsamic vinegar to go on it, it was very tasty!

Wednesday: We went out in West Hollywood at Dan Tana's Italian Restaurant! We went out to celebrate the end of Rich's summer contracting job!

Thursday: Ricotta Stuffed Spinach and Broccoli Pizza Pie

This was amazing!

So, as you may notice, I get the recipe and then alter it to what we have in the fridge as well as to what our taste buds like!

We had some basil that needed to be eaten, so I chopped up some basil with the spinach and sauteed it. 

Soo delicious with the basil! Yum!

And I added some red onions to the insides as well!

We used the herb pizza dough from Trader Joe's - best things ever!

I didn't bake it in the pie pan because, well, I didn't read the directions and had already started using the pizza stone (And I hate doing dishes, so I wasn't about to dirty the pizza stone for no reason! HA!)

This was delicious! I would absolutely recommend making this!

Friday: Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Penne Salad with Goat Cheese

This was also amazing!

It was so light and perfect for summer! 

I didn't add the olives, because I don't like olives...ha!

And we used an herb goat cheese from Trader Joe's -- yummm!

Saturday: Spiced Black Bean, Grilled Avocado, and Goat Cheese Tacos
The grilled avocado were amazing! Definitely recommend making these!
The tacos....not my favorite.
They were tasty and the spices were great. It was hard to get them ground fine enough to not have kernels...so if you already have the spices ground, use that!
I think they would have tasted much better in corn tortillas, but we used the chile & onion ones from Trader Joes - if you haven't had these, you haven't lived...

Sunday: Pasta With Marinated Tomatoes and Mozzarella
This wasn't my favorite dish either...
I did however, forget the most important ingredient...basil! WHAT?! Oops!
I felt like this was too hard to eat - you couldn't get it all on your fork in one bite!
In the marinating, I also added the balsamic reductions, about a teaspoon - which was very tasty!

This whole "eating more veggies" thing is making our menu so much more interesting!

We love it! 

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 45

I just spent 45 minutes with this guy and at the end of the call her asks: "Whats your name again?" 

I respond with: "La Tache" 

Customer: "Can I call you Sam?"

......?

I guess there is a first for everything...

I am a reading machine!!

A machine I tell you!

This summer I read:

Half the Sky

Awesome book!
Read it.

It will empower you to be a better woman and to change the world!

I promise!

House of Stone

I heard about this book on NPR.

It took me a while to get in to the book, so it took me longer to read.

I liked that there were two different points of views.

This is a true story - and it is very captivating

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I could NOT put this book down!
I loved The Kite Runner and thought this book would be great also - and it totally was!
Again, I really liked the two different perspectives that Hosseini provided his readers.
This book also started many conversations with my husband about marital roles etc
Must read!

Water for Elephants

The Orphan Master's Son

I hate to admit this...I had to return The Orphan Master's Son...I just could not get in to it...

I didn't finish it and I hardly ever do that!

I picked up The Favored Daughter instead

I am super in to this book!

I heard the segment on NPR and picked it up

(Listen here)

I have been very interested in women's rights books, as you can tell from the majority of the books above!

Enjoy my reading list!
I love to read. I love reading and getting out of my every day life and escaping to a great book or story, or even another life!

Veggie Menu (Week 5)

Tuesday: Rebecca Miller's Pasta With Ricotta and Heirloom Tomatoes

This was very tasty! I don't really like tomatoes (I am teaching myself to like them!) 

These heirloom tomatoes were delicious! Sweet and tasty! 

Soo good!

This was light and filling, definitely recommend this!

The best part about this meal?

Rich made it for me!

How lucky am I?!

Wednesday: Italian Vegetable Quinoa Bowls

This was sooo tasty and really easy!

The flavors are great!

Thursday: Vegan Quinoa & Sweet Potato Chili

I loved this!

We used chicken broth, because that is what we had :-)

And we used yams, not sweet potatoes (did you know they are different!? A pet peeve of mine when people say sweet potato when they mean yam! ha!)

We just added some avocado and cheese to this!

It was sooo good!

The sweet from the yams were sooo tasty! 

I think that I would add more spicy to it, it wasn't as spicy as we would have liked.

Friday night we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather so we went down to Santa Monica to get some bread and cheese from Bay Cities (the best Italian Deli around!) 

We then headed down to the beach and watched the sun set! 

What a beautiful sunset!

Saturday night we went out to dinner with our friends in Newport Beach to Sol Cocina

We were there for happy hour, so we got some yummy drinks and delicious food with awesome friends!

I had the Tacones - Chipotle Shrimp

Oh.My.Gosh. Ahhhhhhmazing!

Another beautiful SoCal sunset!

Sunday: Double Bean Burgers with Avocado Basil Cream

These burgers were very tasty!

And I made the avocado spread without sour cream and with Ricotta Cheese.

This was delicious, and honestly, didn't need any other condiments on it.

I think if I was to make this again, I would make it with basil, in the burgers, instead of cilantro. I think it would have really complimented the avocado spread!

 Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 44

Here is another name silliness!

Customer: Ok Lakeisha, is it Lakeisha?

Me: No, La Tache

Customer: Oh, OK, will you spell it?

So I spell it, he repeats each letter- so I assume he is writing it down... (and he even asked: is it a capital "T"?)

After I finished spelling it, he says: Alright, Lakeisha...

Me: NO LA TACHE

Customer: Oh, is that how you would say it phonetically?

Me: Well that is how you say it...?

Oh boy, people are so silly!

Britney

Good Morning All!

So since the Olympics closing ceremony I have been listening to the Spice Girls Pandora Station. And let me tell you, it has completely changed my life!

It is an awesome mix of music bringing me back to my youth! 

It is totally amazing!

Britney, Christina, BSB, NSync, Destiny's Child

Oh boy it is amazing!

So I have to mention the huge transformation that Britney went through.

Yesterday I listened to this:

Today I listened to this:

Hey Girl, Haaaay!

Both songs are pretty much talking about the same thing, they have a very similar message.
You can tell how much she grew up in such a short time period!

Gotta love me some Britney!

Baby Brother

My family spent some time with friends at the lake.

My mom sent me this picture of my youngest little brother!

Watch our girls, he is going to be a heart breaker!

Look at that smile!

What a handsome fella!

Funny Commercial - BMW Pre-Owned

We saw this commercial during the Olympics and I almost peed myself laughing!

Enjoy!

Veggie Menu (Week 4)

So Monday night, it Yoga night. 

We ate leftovers from Saturday - I told you there was a lot of leftovers!

Have you ever eaten at Daphne's? 

Greek Food? 

Good Stuff! 

(I think it may be a CA chain)

Tuesday and Wednesday it was just me, Rich was gone for work, so again, I ate leftovers ;-)

On Wednesday, I made a yummy treat because we had a ton of zucchini and summer squash in the fridge that needed to be eaten. And since it was just me, I ended up making brownies with them!

Our food processor has a feature to grate things. I have always knows this but had never used it.
And my, oh my! It was amazing!
So easy!
I'm sad I have been afraid to use it before!!

Thursday: Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls 
Our own version...of course!
The quinoa=ahhhhmazing!
Make this and just eat it plain!
I cooked it with half chicken broth and half water
So tasty!
We used pinto beans, because that is what we had
(I think this is pretty much the story of our cooking lives)
I also cut up some roma tomatoes and sauteed them in with the onions and the garlic.
We grated some cheddar cheese and cut up an avocado (half per bowl - we like our avocados!)
Voila! Dinner is served!
And SOOO good!
(Yes, caps were necessary!)

I also made a snack.
As you saw before, we had a lot of squash and zucchini so I made Zucchini Patties that also had summer squash.
We snacked on them and then ate them for breakfast!
To eat them for breakfast, we just put them in the toaster oven for a few minutes, until fragrant!
They were amazing!
We used just the egg whites.
So cheesy!
I used the 4 Cheese Blend from Trader Joes - soo yummy!

Friday: Leftovers!

The best about having leftovers and only eating for 1 for most of the week, no trips to the grocery store!

Woohoo!

Saturday: We went out to dinner to http://www.nonnaofitaly.com/

We found a Travel Zoo coupon for this place! It was amazing!!

The restaurant was deliciousWe decided that the place was soo tasty, but a little expensive, so we wouldn't go there without a coupon.

We double date-nighted! With our super awesome friends!

Totally love this girl!

Sunday: We watched our neighbors 9 month old son and the family wined and dined us!

Google + Hangout

I just did the google+ hangout for the first time with the 3 best gals!

What a fun time!

Clover reunion!

I totally recommend google+ hangout if you haven't done it already!

Sunday Social

Good Morning All!!

It is a beautiful day, here in Los Angeles!

Really it couldn't be better!

It is about 80* in our apartment...it's hot...we are contemplating buying a fan...what do you all think???

I am linking up with Neely over at A Complete Waste of Makeup to talk about food - and as you all know, I love food!

Lets get started!

What's your guilty pleasure/comfort food? 

I love cookies and brownies - sweets in general! 

We never buy them and I hardly every make them - but this week i have made both...and we are on sweets overload!

I also love Sea Salt & Vinegar chips... my mouth is watering just thinking about them!

What's the weirdest/craziest thing you've ever eaten?

Escargot! 

I ate them at a French Restaurant in San Francisco and they were amazing!

And then we ate them again when we were in Paris!

They are quite tasty, if I do say so myself!

What foods do you avoid at all costs? 

Before a few weeks ago, I would have said mushrooms or tomatoes.

But since we are trying the vegetarian thing, I have had to force myself to get over my dislike and eat it all anyway!

What meal reminds you of your childhood?

Spaghetti!

Share one of your favorite recipes and the story behind it.

Right now I love this: Sweet Potato and Tofu Enchilada in a Mole Sauce And I can't wait to make it again!