Wet jeans, free shots, 'Pretty Lights' and more

First, the wet jeans thing:


One of the dryers in my complex is not working (which I found out two hours and $2 later), so I had to resort to drying my jeans this way. Let me tell you, the weather has not been warm, and even after letting them dry in my open-window bathroom for two days and then putting them under my bed covers for a full day, they were still icey cold when I put them on. Yeah, I guess I went through some desperate measures, and it would have been a lot easier and made a lot more sense to just go to a laundromat, but A) I was being stubborn, and B) I did not want to spend any more money trying to get my pants dry (though I did frequent Starbucks more than was necessary).

So, that random tangent aside, it was Thanksgiving weekend. I made Tawnee's sweet potato cornbread (which I believe she got from the "Gluten-free Girl" blog, and it was definitely yummy. I also made about the third batch of pumpkin-chocolate-chip cookies in a month:



Still have leftovers. Come and take them, please!

Next, the free shots thing. Some of my girlfriends and I went to Fred's Mexican Cafe in the Gaslamp on Saturday. I've been there before, and there's really not much interesting to say about it except that we were some of the few people in the restaurant (guess 7ish on Thanksgiving weekend equates to low-turnout, but who knows), and we got a round of shots from the manager because he liked our singing. This is funny because A) I was the only one of the four of us singing, and B) I have a horrible voice. Thinking about my duet in my middle school's musical performance of "Grease" still makes me cringe. So that (followed by Henry's Pub, Whiskey Girl and Syrah) was Saturday. And here I am being a total cheesy tourist:



The following night, I went to see Pretty Lights at the House of Blues. It was an awesome show that definitely held my interest despite my grogginess and overall low energy. The drummer was awesome, the DJ was awesome, the lights were awesome ... but I think the most awesome was the people-watching. Oh. Em. Gee. I've never been to a rave, but I imagine one to be similar to this concert -- only way "worse" (for lack of a better word). There were so many people who were clearly on drugs (my guess is ecstasy?), and I even got offered a little baggie full of pills by some girl who looked like she was 15 years old, complete with a mismatched outfit and those '80s-looking sunglasses that are suddenly in style. Needless to say, I politely declined because drugs are just not my thing. I did accept a glow-stick bracelet from another girl, though. The best way to explain how this show was is to show you:



So that's my long weekend in a nutshell. Forgot to mention that I've gotten hooked on "Dexter" (just finished Season One), but holy moly am I having some F-ed up dreams as a result of watching it right before bed.

Snooze

I need to not set my alarm (and coffee pot) for 5:15 a.m. if I'm incapable of getting out of bed before 7:10. I really wanted to go to a spin class at 6 a.m. (ha!) but did that happen? 'Course not. Maybe I should keep my phone in the kitchen, next to the already-brewing coffee pot, so that I'm forced to get out of bed to silence my beyond-annoying alarms (Belinda Carlile, frogs and banjos, Antoine Dodson, whatever the day's alarm may be...).

I did do some yoga last night (sub was not that great, but I felt bad for him 'cause a ton of people just walked out of this class halfway through), and I did Bootcamp the night before. I love that Bootcamp class -- the next five weeks will have themed classes ('80s, camo, crazy socks, etc.) ... fun stuff!

And I'm happy that I, once again, am enjoying pumpkin oatmeal. Thanks to Tawnee for tipping me off that Trader Joe's stocked up on canned pumpkin (epic fail to Henry's).

That is all.

Pumpkin and stuff

I have officially, painfully decided to move back home for the sake of paying all my crap off and saving money for either travel or homeownership.

Not only will I save in rent, but also gas and electric, cable, groceries ...

But I will miss living by myself, and I'm sure I'll want out again pronto. Hoping time flies by in that respect.

In happier (for me) news, I made some delicious oatmeal this morning: pumpkin, oatmeal, honey and cinnamon. It honestly tasted like I was eating some fancy little seasonal-Starbucks thing for breakfast! Yummm.



Nutrition value of pumpkin is pretty good too, which is great for me 'cause I love it. Granted, it was from a can, but still. It boasts Vitamins E, B6, A and C, and also fiber, Pottasium and low fat, to name a few.

Please be advised that this picture does not do it justice, and truthfully, might make it look a little less appealing than my description. But it was delicious and nutritious ("... and I made it for the family that I -- looove.") Trivia Question: In which lovable '80s/'90s series can that lyric be heard? Answer: Full House. Author? Danny Tanner a.k.a. Bob Saget a.k.a. raunchy old guy. It's when a bunch of 'em are sick and he makes them lunch ... "tunafish and salad" came before the "delicious and nutritious." How I know all this? Tooooo much TV as a kid, and apparently nothing better to do. Wow! That was a tangent!

Hiking, cookies, sitting on my arse

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend, which is kinda what I intended. I baked pumpkin-chocolate-chip cookies Friday night while watching my all-time favorite movie, "Bend it Like Beckham," for about the bazillionth time. I don't know why I love that movie so much! The cookies turned out delicious, but next time I think I might try cutting down on the butter -- they definitely didn't need all of that, and it would definitely be healthier with less. The next morning, I worked off all that dough with a new hike up Cowles Mountain ... the back/service-road way, which was really refreshing compared to the way my friend and I always took -- up the front, along with everyone and their mothers. So crowded. Anyway, this "new" way (for us) was pretty freakin' steep, and the next day, I was feeling the soreness -- in ONE buttcheek only. How does that happen? Haha. This way was one of my new favorites because it was quicker, way less-crowded, and it was maybe a better, if not an equal to, workout.

I went to Costco after some hiking and Jamba with Rachel to meet up with my family -- Costco trips with your parents are a blessing when you're out of nearly all the daily essentials. Plus, samples are always exciting.

Anyway, not much else to say since my weekend was so low-key, but I'm excited for next week being a three-day workweek (with the last two paid and off!) ... not to mention food, shopping, and sleeping in. Thank goodness.