Cooking and Voting and LACMA-- oh my! EPIC POST

Okay. So I'm a slacker. It's Saturday and I'm going to write about Monday through Wednesday. It's been a busy week. So sue me. But it's been a great week and I feel like I've had the perfect blend of productive and fun. I've also been submitting for roles on LA Casting and Actors Access every day. I even booked an audition, but the director changed her dates and I couldn't go at the new time. C'est la vie... but it's nice to be considered, at least.

Monday was spent cleaning the apartment and researching for the Tuesday election. I posted to my other blog, as I wrote about last time, and got tons of hits. It was really a shock. But I felt good about making a conscientious effort towards my voting and made myself a tasty veggie medley to nibble on while I researched. Look at the color! Roasted potatoes, carrots, and red onion with just a little EVOO, fresh thyme and basil, salt, pepper, and fresh sauteed spinach. It was soooo tasty and satisfying! I also made a homemade vegetable stock (LP helped, thanks!) to use for a soup recipe the next day. I hadn't been able to cook as much lately, so I felt great about this. I did all this and worked the dinner shift!

Tuesday was just fantastic. I slept in a little, made myself a healthy berry-banana smoothie and an egg on a bed of spinach, then walked to our polling place with my current and former roommate. Yay for voting! I felt really informed and prepared with my little sample ballot filled out and ready to go.

After voting, I took our five full bins of recycling to the center--a herculean task, I assure you! Turns out we actually had $17 worth of stuff! WOW! There was about 72 lbs of glass alone. And I hauled that around by myself! It makes me glad that we don't throw all of that away. (Random side note: when driving back I was listening to Market Place on NPR and even that reporter commented that on Project Runway, MONDO was robbed. Completely unrelated to the topic at hand, and I totally agree. It just had to be said.)

After that, my friend Amy and I got fancy coffee and shared a crepe at Solar de Cahuenga in Hollywood. Nutella and Strawberries....mmm. Amy swears that she saw Josh Radnor of "How I Met Your Mother" out on the patio where we were sitting. I was completely oblivious, but she was probably right.

We waited until 5 PM, which is the magic hour for me in LA, because after that the LACMA is free to local residents. That leaves 3 whole hours for leisurely browsing before they close. The museum has a great collection for being as small as it is and I've been there quite a bit. And I always have to take a peek at my favorite painting of all. I geeked out the first time I realized it was there!

But we especially wanted to see their newest building and the latest exhibit on the History of Fashion. The clothes were GUH-OR-geous. Amy and I had an interesting conversation about feminism and fashion. She regrets not getting to dress so outstandingly today, but I feel like you can dress however you want... hoop skirts and corset? SURE! But if I felt restricted in my clothing options, you can sure as hell bet that I would rebel against whatever it was I was expected to wear. Even as recently as my mother's generation, girls could get sent home from school for wearing pants. PANTS, ladies! I can't imagine not getting to wear jeans, and I love that I have the option of wearing a skirt if I feel like it, men's clothes if I feel like it. Punk one day and feminine the next. Isn't it FANTASTIC that we have choices? I feel privileged.

I love the outside "sculpture" at the LACMA... its iconic light posts. One of my favorite LA image.

After a couple hours at the museum, I took Amy home and then went home to cook! I used my homemade stock in a Butternut Squash, Green Apple, and Leek soup! I took the recipe from the November/December issue of Vegetarian Times. My brother got me a subscription for Christmas and I definitely want to renew. They have a lot of great ideas and are a major source of inspiration for me. I wanted to test-drive the soup before Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays and I asked off for it this year so I can really make a feast! My oldest brother hosts, but I always bring something vegetarian. The soup was definitely a winner!

Tuesday was a great day, and I was so eager to make Wednesday great, too. LP got me up early when he forgot his keys, but I thanked him for it because that gave me the time to make Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes for breakfast! From a technical and taste standpoint, these were the best pancakes I've ever made. I even had leftovers that I ate the next morning for breakfast, spread with a little peanut butter (to go!). I spent the rest of Wednesday running errands before going to work at night.

And the rest of this week? Well, I doubt I'll have much time to update, but right now I'm in IOWA for my cousin's wedding! I'm so excited to see family that I haven't seen in two years or more, but I'm not so excited about the chilly weather. Going from 98 to 27 degrees is freaking brutal. But more on that to come!

Houses, Dogs, Weather, Babies and Gender-Political Issues (whew!)

I've been house sitting since last Thursday while my brother and his family made the Grand Tour of Iowa to visit family. None of them (except our parents) had met Baby Z yet, so I'm sure it was pretty exciting for all of them. MORE exciting though? Me getting to house/dog sit!!! Here's the highlights:

1. Having people over.  We haven't been able to host a get together or party since we've lived together. It was nice playing hostess and Jake used the grill to make fajitas and everyone enjoyed a porch and a backyard.
2. LAUNDRY. Holy shit I think I've washed everything I own, plus Jake's clothes, plus towels and all our bedding. Not worrying about quarters or timing is an amazing gift.
3. Cable/TV. On Thursday night, I got to watch Project Runway before midnight on a big screen TV. I've been numbing my mind with bullshit shows like "Bridezillas." We don't own a TV, so we normally just play movies on our laptop and watch Netflix/Hulu.
4. Having a Dog. Although Spike is a bit of a jerk, I fell in love with him the first time I watched him for my sister-in-law. Spike and I lived together for three months and I adore him...even if he is a pain.

   

   Our First Kiss, 2008

    
5.  Space to Live. There's an excess of room in this house, and it's spacious, clutter free, and CLEAN. I'm naturally a clean freak, but I've made concessions and sacrifice in the name of cheap rent and love. Having some time to chill and focus has been great. I also like eating at a table instead of on my lap. That's nice.

 The only downfall of getting to enjoy this house is that it's in Burbank, which is farther away from my job, which has meant a longer commute and more gas burned. Since LP's commute is already ridiculously long, he hasn't been able to hang out with me much while I've stayed here. Sad. We miss each other and I don't care much for sleeping alone.

Los Angeles has been cool and rainy while I've been staying here. I'm currently bundled up in my favorite sweatshirt. Hooray Ernie and Bert!!!! I also went to Locali and snagged my favorite vegan marshmallows. These are cheaper than the ones they sell at Whole Foods (Sweet & Sara), which are delicious and gourmet, but cost about $7 for a half dozen. Dandies sell for about $5 and you get 10 oz. and lots of marshmallows that taste exactly like the non-vegetarian variety. I've been eating them plain, making s'mores, and putting them in hot chocolate! I found a great vegan recipe for spicy cocoa. Perfect on these cold nights.

Last night, the family returned to L.A. and this evening marked my first night of watching the baby. Z was pretty strung out from all the traveling and time zone changes, so I wasn't surprised when she cried, and cried, and cried, and eventually cried herself to sleep. Poor thing. Although, she did go down at her usual LA bedtime, so I'm pretty pleased with myself! And Z.

My brother and sister-in-law have a nanny (she's amazing) who watches Z during the day when they work, so she's able to come by while I work a lunch shift. Thursday and Friday though... I'm watching her all day!! Eek!

After work, I stopped by Target to pick up this awesome thermal from the Boys' Department! It's super cozy and it came in a package paired with matching long underwear! Woo hoo! Guess who's going to be snuggly and warm tonight?!?! And, of course, I had to pose for this photo with my "sexy" silly model face. What could possibly be more appropriate?

And that brings me to the final point that I mentioned in this post's title. Gender-Political issues. And babies. As I was strolling past the kids' section at Target, I noticed the cutest little T-shirt. It was baby blue and had a little stethoscope print around the neck! ADORABLE! I was hoping it was appropriately placed in a gender neutral kind of section for babies. It wasn't. It was on a rack labeled "Boys' Licensed T-Shirts" and was displayed next to the Toy Story, Spiderman, Tonka Truck, and other similarly branded clothing. There were also little boy T-Shirts to look like police officer and firefighter uniforms. I figured, surely, these same career related clothes will be located on the girls' rack, too.

In the clothing section for babies and toddlers, the racks are intermingled for boys and girls. But they are clearly defined by pink and blue signs. Labels. At 6 months, we're already putting labels on our kids. When I found the rack for "Girls' Licensed T-shirts" it was NOTHING put princess gear. And pink. How fucking depressing. So you know what I did? I bought the doctor shirt. For my niece. FUCK YOU clothing manufacturers for deciding that my niece wouldn't have career goals some day.

She may decide to become a baker or a stay-at-home mom or a teacher or a CEO or a pop star or maybe, just maybe, a doctor. Whatever she wants to be, that's cool. But maybe we should treat all kids equally, regardless of gender. They can wear whatever they want as they get older and decide what labels they want for themselves...but we don't need to be bombarding them with it from birth. This t-shirt is a little big now, but she'll grow into it soon enough.

If you want to know more about gender-neutral clothing and child rearing. Check out Pink Stinks! or one of my favorites (even though I don't have kids), Offbeat Mama.
Someday, when I have kids, I'll probably dress them in bright, colorful clothes and neutrals as much as possible. There's nothing wrong with having some pink clothes for girls and trucks for boys... hell, I love pink because it looks good on me. But I don't think it needs to be so extreme on each side. I just wish more manufacturers gave better options for kids.

End rant.