I know a place, where the grass is really greener… Oh oh.
LA weekend 1
Cool sunshine, sultry palm trees, hazy roads, satin tans. The scent of pleasure carried on the ocean breeze has made me feel immediately relaxed in this hectic city. It might be the fact that I’m living with a friend this co-op rather than all on my lonesome, but I can’t seem to get the exciting tease of summer out of my system. Two months of crazy nights and sun-smooched days lie ahead, what more could I hope for? Well aside from the fact that you all should come visit me. There’s plenty of room in this apartment!
I’m living with Brett at Midvale Ave near UCLA’s campus in a building that has a workout room, a pool, a sauna, a hot tub, and luscious flowers dotting the lobby beneath our balcony. We share one bedroom and a bathroom in a two bedroom apartment with two other girls. They are friendly, the kitchen is functional, and hey – we both have beds and neither of them are mattresses on the floor, woohoo! Weird observation though – there are WAY too many mirrors in this building.
So I guess I shall begin from the beginning of my journey. A farewell breakfast with my Mom and Nana at Bob Evans (miss you guys already) then CVG for an 11AM flight to Atlanta. Off from Atlanta to catch the long ass flight to Los Angeles. During this weird time when I was not at all hungry but knew that I would need sustenance in about 3 hours on the plane, I made the dumb decision of buying an orange bliss latte from Seattle’s Best because…well because I wanted to. Anyway, let me just say that drinking lots of coffee at Bob Evans and then again right before a flight across the country is a silly idea.
LAX. Finally I was in La La Land. I was then approached by an Indian/Mexican (he introduced himself this way) who wanted to sell me a book on Yoga (which is ironic because I’m reading “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert and she details the process, purpose, and effect of such a practice). This led to me meeting some overly tan dude from NY who works for Men’s Vogue and sews his own clothes. Brett soon arrived in the white mini-van, the white mini-van that is oh so sexier than your typical LA BMW. Oh yea, we sexy Ohioans ridin’ in our Dodge Caravan…
(Sunset Blvd on the way home from work. Traffic = 50% of these ppl’s lives)
We drove through some hellish highway junk on the 405 then arrived out our lovely abode. Settled in enough we immediately set out for… INDIAN FOOD. Lordy how I needed food, Indian food more than anything – Why? Because it has saucy remedial qualities and I will never tire of its spicy yummness. So at New India Grill I ordered Saag Alu and, prepare yourself, I liked it better than ANY Indian dish I have ever consumed. The spinach was whipped up into a puree in which the silky texture of heavy cream, spices and vegetable blended into perfect union of pliable sauce that wrapped my tongue in titillating delight. (haha yes I just used that word to describe food.) Oh, the Garlic Naan was up to standard as well, not soggy, not burnt, just the right amount of doughy. Brett got the Tikka Masala, which was, as always, tomatoishly wonderful.
I can’t tell you how well I slept that night. Adding 3 hours to your day really steals the energy from your body and brain. I think I fell asleep holding my book above my head for 5 minutes before dropping it on my face. oops.
Friday – practice drive to work, traffic, grocery shopping, traffic, HOME, sunbathing, reading for 3 hours, intensely sweaty workout, and then…NIGHTLIFE. We went to Westwood Brewing Company where, margarita in hand, Brett and I signed up to sing “Lady Marmalade” at the upstairs karaoke. Mahaha omg, we picked the hardest song ever with about 6 different voices going in and out of it. We had some guys jump up on stage to help out our pathetic attempt, though if I do say so myself, I mastered yelling “hey, Hey, HEy, HEY!” into the mic. So much fun though and of course then hunger strikes. We went to Habibi Cafe for some midnight eats. The food was good – some spicy Greek hamburger type thing wrapped in pita with a special sauce, but the restaurant itself was dumb, expensive, and did I mention dumb? Anyway we then walked home and I again clonked out.
Saturday morning I spent lazily reading, then we laid out by the pool for a teensy bit, then we hit the road for Santa Monica which was only about a 20 minute drive (more with traffic I think). We waltzed the 3rd street promenade with all of its outdoor stores and crazy performers and crowds of tourists and shoppers. I bought some $15 Gap jeans – do you know how much of a miracle that is? Usually they are $60!!
We continued down the palm lined strip and turned the corner to find Vanilla Bake Shop, a place often referred to on the Food Network by “Ace of Cakes” and Giada.
Um. Okay so I should probably not be allowed to write about how good these were. 3 mini cupcakes for $5. Coconut Chocolate, Raspberry Lemon, Spicy Carrot. I shiver just thinking of the sugar love that coated my teeth after eating these. Collectively, the icing on these minis was twinkling air that winked on my tongue and flowered through my taste buds to the comfort of my tummy like lightweight ivory. The cake part was moist as well, not a dry crumb was left behind on the paper skirts.
I devoured them. Yea, that’s right, I ate all 3 by the end of Saturday night, they’re small and I swear I’ll still fit into those new jeans by the end of the week – I SWEAR. (If I go into the flavor of each, I fear I might write a book.)
Before eating ALL of those lovelies, I did in fact eat dinner. Brett and I walked back to the Santa Monica Pier – ahh famous ferris wheel! – and put our name in at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Me and seafood are new partners, but we got along quite well. After waiting for 45 mins for a table, we were seated and ready to split some Forrest Gump styled shrimp. Crispy, battered, spicy sauce, fried peppers, juicy mouthfuls – the popcorn appetizer basket was incredible. Our main dish : “I’m Stuffed!” Shrimp - Large Shrimp with Crab Stuffing, baked in Garlic Butter, and topped with Monterey Jack Cheese served with Jasmine Rice. BahYUM – the crabmeat was succulent and the flavor combination was perfect, especially with that little bit of lemon. I was full after this. A child of Paul and Debbie Appiarius full of seafood – imagine that!!
Sunday ended in pure relaxation, taco making, and movie-watching.
Monday was first day of work. Let’s list it : CNN building (sweeet!), name a movie and BLT most likely worked on it and has it hanging in their labyrinth hallways, I’m working with an amazingly nice and awesome supervisor, I’m in Hollywood, I stayed busy all day and actually managed to impress a wee-bit, I got lost going to the bathroom, I get to punch a paper time card (don’t ask why this is fun, it just is) and mainly I’m working on cool stuff that I can’t tell you about! This will strictly limit my discussion of work…but hey, the less you have to read, right? haha. I’m so happy right now – I just finished reading “Eat, Pray, Love” (such good messages in that book), I just had an awesome weekend, I just had a great first day of work, I’m in California, and I still have the whole summer ahead of me :D
Miss everyone though…so much – come visit !!
Also, I started a new illustration – go me! Here’s preview of it below (it’s a close crop and is UNFINISHED) – I know it’s the same old Amanda style – but this time – SHADING!
LA LA girl
So I opened photoshop after coming home from my cousin’s rehearsal dinner and why do I start drawing even though I’m dead tired and ready for bed? BECAUSE I LOVE IT and it’s addicting. Also, I guess I’ve been itching to get any kind of illustration out of my system…school sucked away my drawing powers!! haha just kidding, but now I can draw whatever I want even if its a crazy, scratchy sunglassed girl with lips far too big for her face. I think I have California on the brain :D
Here is my quick 1.25 hour illustration/sketch/whatever-thing-ma-bob.
DAAP Slap’d
DAAP Slap’d : A humorous song/music video about the University of Cincinnati’s school of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP).
This was a Digital Design studio project for Spring quarter 2010. The class assignment : create a virtual tour of DAAP. Our result : An SNL-esque music video of a song that parodies the daily life of a DAAP-er through silly lyrics and awesomely awesome dance moves. We had sooo much fun writing/singing/filming/dancing/editing/goofing around that this school project hardly seemed like homework. Despite this, it admittedly took a lot of hard work to produce this in 3.5 weeks. Anyway, we’re happy with how it turned out and with the response it’s getting! Thank you to everyone who reposted this and spread the video to their friends!!
DAAP Slap’d
Artists : Manria feat. Poolside
Created by : Amanda Appiarius, Maria Fox, Sarah Meek, Rachael Chiseck, and Josh Whelchel
Download the mp3/lyrics at music.poolsideband.com
memory lane + yummy yummy tortellini
I had the best Italian dish of my life today. Pompilio’s in Newport, KY has been there…foreverish (1933) or at least long enough for my Mom to remember ordering 39 cent pasta while her Dad went through five baskets of free bread. This restaurant visit occurred because today my Mom and I drove around with my Nana through Covington, Newport, Bellevue, and Southgate to see where she grew up. We started out at Reality Tuesday and ate some godly pastries (a blueberry danish and raspberry white chocolate scone), and some drinks…I got a coconut, almond latte – it was strong, but holy hell did I need it after this weekend (ohhh this weekend mahahe). Anyway, back to the Italian – if you haven’t been over the river to this comfy, laid back icon of Italian goodness with its fresh ingredients then you are missing out. In fact, this place wins over Olive Garden and I’ll even go as far to say it beats the upscale Maggiano’s (in Kenwood). I ordered the Chicken and Cheese Tortellini San Luci - Sautéed chicken with garlic, sun-dried tomato and artichoke cream sauce. SOO good, and guess what…I didn’t have to ask for extra sauce!! I always have to ask for extra sauce with my pasta so it was bizarrely satisfying to be served noodles drenched in plenty of creamy goodness, no bothering the waitress with my sauce fetish.
My Mom and Nana split the Lasagna…which also looked tantalizing.
So overall our day trip through my Nana’s Kentucky was a lot of fun. I won’t type up all of the details…mainly because I’m sure it doesn’t interest many of you and because I would have to refer to my Mom’s notes, which I am too lazy to do. Mainly, I learned that my Nana’s family moved a LOT and that for the most part, the whole family (aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas) all lived within a close vicinity or even in the same house. Also, she had to walk a lot, to the dentist for example, and she roller skated all over her neighborhood, learned everyone’s name on her street, teased bus drivers with her friends, hung out outside of bakeries, and had what I view as an awesome small town childhood in Southgate. This is when we revisted my Grammie’s house (my great great grandma who passed away a while ago). I remember going here as a kid but of course then it seemed like a five hour drive to get there when in fact it is right around the corner from Newport. This house though, is a place of so many memories – coke fizzes, a green carpeted porch, stone flower beds, gumdrops, ice cream sundaes, toy trains, a swing glider, and a scary upstairs bathroom. I loved visiting Grammie – it was a retreat for all of us and as a little girl, it became a house both haunted and magical with it’s heady perfume scent, empty bedrooms, and porcelain figurines. Not to mention Grammie herself, the woman who gave me my sweet tooth, like a queen bestowing knighthood, she fed me sugar in all ways possible – drinks, food, ice cream and love (hehe I’m being corny).
One last thing I want to mention is the apartment where my Nana lived for a little while (she was an Eastside snob :p ). It’s a few blocks from Newport on the Levee and it is gorgeous. I want to live here!
Finally, one more last thing, an update about school and such -
I’m excited about the DAAP Slapped music video.
This summer, I’M GOING TO L.A.!!!!
the end.
ouchies.
I will explain the ouchies part at the end. Though I suppose it could be applied in such ways as “ouchies that food was so good it hurts” or “ouchies I spent time drawing instead of doing homework” but really I’m referring to “ouchies, damn you horse!”
I’ll start of by admitting that I am guilty of visiting Reality Tuesday Cafe yet again. This time I got a coconut frappuccino…um best thing ever! Smoothly summery. I went there to take pictures for my class project (to be posted in 4 weeks) and to do a small illustration for my Mom since this past weekend was Mother’s Day. I love doing these quick doodles and this one was especially fun since it featured me and my brother in a very stylized sort of way. I really don’t think I look like myself in this drawing all that much, but hey, it’s cute so whatever.
After spending about 3 hours at Reality, Maria and I were sort of hungry, so we attacked this slice of Peanut Butter Chocolate cheesecake. It was good, very good, and dense. It pales in comparison to Cheesecake Factory, but honestly, how can you beat them? We actually couldn’t quite finished the slice so it was back to Clifton with some leftovers and not much school work accomplished, at least not nearly as much as we would have liked. School is getting to that point where we may be pulling some all nighters soon, but I’m okay with that. I am in love with our music video project on DAAP. Written and recorded by Josh Whelchel, Maria and me – it’s our heavenly voices and awesome rap skills and it’s a secret until we’re finished with the video part. pshyea.
This post might be kind of scattered, maybe I have a slight concussion, I don’t know (I’ll get to this later). First I’m going to talk about these oh so powerful balls of ice cream found at your nearest Godiva for an over priced $2.20 a piece (but totally worth it). Also, you can sign up for their card (not a credit card) and get one free truffle a month! wootwoo. Anyway, so far I’ve only tried the mint chocolate chip truffle, but its frighteningly cream powered with green mint chocolate was beyond my resistance. After one nibble I shoved the whole thing in my mouth for a cool, ice-creamless ice-cream experience. The other flavor I got was orange creme (can’t wait to try). They had various other “ice-cream” flavors like lemon sorbet, or caramel pecan sundae….or something delicious sounding like that. I may have to go back for more, poor wallet.
In continuation of encouraging people to try new food places in Cincinnati, I want to promote Andy’s Mediterranean Grill. Pricey, but quality. The food is Lebanese and they feature a lot of kabobs, hummus, tahini, and other goody stuffs. My friend and I ordered falafels as an appetizer (my first experience with such things) and they were yummy! I <3 chickpeas. We split the Shish Tawook (winner of the Best Entree Award in Taste of Cincinnati) – four skewers of marinated and charbroiled chicken breast served on a bed of rice. This was the most seasoned and moist lemony bite of chicken I have ever had and it was tasty enough to satisfy me after only one kebob (mm leftovers!) We also ordered hummus, which isn’t the best I’ve had – I love Myra’s hummus more than anything – but it was still tasty with a hint of lemon yogurt. Surprisingly this food didn’t stuff me too much and there was room for baklava. This was also my first experience with baklava and my lord, it tasted like Sunday morning drizzled in sunshine honey. The crunchy nuts and layered flakes filled and slathered my mouth with sweetness. yum yum.
Now that I’ve covered the food, I’ll go back to when I said I think I might have a slight concussion. Yes, I think I almost died or was paralyzed this past Saturday. I was riding Laddie, a young Arab/some other breed. He was well behaved through my lesson until we cantered. This, of course, is when something spooked him (I was told another horse tried to bite his butt) and he shot off down the arena. I had control I think, I was leaning back, doing things properly, but then he tripped and I went slow-motion sailing over mane and neck in a fearful arc toward the ground all the time thinking “holy shit my neck”. I landed on it, kind of, and my head. My helmet bill split open, thank god I was wearing it (I always do), and then I ate dirt, literally. I survived with a sore neck, a helmet mark on my forehead, a scraped and bruised chin, and a crooked jaw. OUCHIE. I wasn’t mad at Laddie, these things happen, but I can’t wait to get on in two weeks and canter that horse into the ground with his overdeveloped neck muscles and jittery disposition. So here’s the damage – not bad – but I kind of have a headache/ear ache today. I’m thankful to say the least, I was lucky and I guess maybe I have skills when it comes to landing/rolling after being thrust from the back of a large animal.
