BBQ, Korean style

Let me start this post by saying "I wish I had taken pictures of this!"

Last night Mike had a reunion with his friends he met on the trip to Israel. Significant others were invited along to meet for Korean BBQ at a local haunt. I've never had Korean BBQ until last night, but suffice it to say that I will be back for more. Soon. You order the meats you want to try and they bring them out to you uncooked. You slap the raw meat down in the middle of your table that has a built-in grill and you cook your food to your liking. We had so much food last night. We ate for two and a half hours. If we hadn't closed the place down, I'm sure Mike would've stayed for more. We tried so many amazing foods. There was pork, beef, chicken and seafood, in all types of varieties. Like pork belly. And sirloin. And octopus. And brisket. I can't wait to go back. I want to try pork neck and large intestines and tongue and calf intestines, too. I really enjoy playing with my food (fondue, build your own fajitas, create your own ice cream sundae), so this was such a fun way to eat.

The company wasn't too bad, either. Mike enjoyed the chance to catch up and reconnect with some of the folks from his trip. I had a chance to meet them and put some faces with the names I had heard so often upon Mike's return. Unfortunately, the place we went was jam-packed, and we had 10 people sitting at a table for 7, and I was on the far end and couldn't hear a whole lot. But it was a great time nonetheless.

Also, for anyone interested, I've started an additional blog. It is all about food! Shocker, I know. Check it out! http://yourreallifefood.blogspot.com/

LA Kings

We're at our first hockey game since we moved to LA seeing the Kings take on the Minnesota Wild. A group of about 40 people from Anderson are. Should be a good night.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

It's official!

I'm going to Mattel this summer. More specifically, I will be joining the strategy group at Mattel in El Segundo, mostly likely the corporate strategy group. Mattel won out over Genentech and Amgen, although it was tough to select the toy company over the top biotech firm (Genentech, that is).

I'm really excited about the opportunity. One of the biggest determinants in this decision was the chance to step out of the healthcare world and gain some other experience. As much as I love healthcare and find the biotech industry fascinating, a summer internship seems like the best time to try something new. If I don't do it now, I'm afraid I'll get the urge at 40 when I (hopefully) have a family to worry about.

But the type of work and the people I'll be working with also played a big part in this decision. As I said, I'll be doing strategy work, working in the corporate strategy group (instead of the brand or international strategy groups). I don't know my projects yet, but some of the previous summer projects included working with the CFO to determine dividend policy, cutting $100 million in costs without cutting jobs or work with the CEO as he prepares to give a keynote speech to investors at an annual toy fair. The people are also great. Most of them are former consultants who are very bright. It should be a great environment to be in for 10-12 weeks for the summer.

Breaking TV Habits

Mike and I have weird TV watching habits. We always sit on the same side of the couch, which coincidentally is the same side of the bed and the same side of the car (he mostly drives). If we are watching a movie, I usually trespass onto his side of the couch to cuddle, and then 30 minutes later move back to my side because I failed to remember, yet again, that no matter what anyone says (including myself) cuddling just isn't that comfortable on the couch for long periods of time. And it has to be 90+ degrees outside for us NOT to have a blanket on our laps while we veg. But the worst habit we have is that when there is nothing on TV we watch marathons of TiVo-ed episodes of How I Met Your Mother which are replayed thrice nightly on Lifetime. At any given time we have 20-30 episodes on the box. And we've seen them all. Several times. So in a bold move last night, we decided to set aside our reruns in favor of actually using our Netflix account and watching a new TV series: Weeds.

Suffice it to say, that show is legend - wait for it - ary (if you don't get that, please watch How I Met Your Mother. It is good, too.) Mike and I watched 5 episodes last night and 5 when he got home from school today, thus completing the first season in less than 24 hours. First, it takes place in suburban LA which cracks me up because I actually live there now. Second, some of the situations the family gets in are hysterical. Third, some of those people are CRAZY, but totally believable, and I really like that. I'm not a pot-dealing widow with two kids, so I can't really relate, but yet, I feel like I can. I understand now why Mary-Louise Parker was nominated for awards so many times for her role.

Seasons 2-6 are next. And then I think we'll head into Arrested Development or Dexter depending on whether we are feeling eccentric or just plain murderous.

Isn't this supposed to be fun??

Last night, Megan and I went to a "Sip N Scan" event at Macy's in Torrance. They had appetizers (oddly enough from the same caterer we're using), and vendor reps on site to help answer any questions we had as we completed our registry. In reality, it was just an excuse for everyone to hawk their stuff at us. Megan ate it up, scanning an estimated 20 or so items to add to our registry. Except, she didn't scan them, I did. In order to make picking out China and bed linens fun for me, I was given the pleasure of holding the scan gun. And what fun it was! First off, it wasn't even shaped like a gun, rather it was basically a PDA with a bar code scanner. Secondly, the damn thing kept shutting off and then wouldn't scan anything for 30 seconds while it rebooted. I also had trouble with entering the quantity we wanted. I'm pretty sure I signed us up for something like 15 sets of crystal candlesticks. Oh, and I didn't mention the best part yet: it took us 2 hours to drive the 15 miles from our apartment to Torrance. The event started at 6:30pm on a Friday before a three-day weekend, meaning we had to deal with weekend rush hour traffic. Plus, it was raining, and people in LA really can't drive in the rain. (I think it is because it only rains here like 15 days each year).

After Macy's, however, we had a nice little dinner at a restaurant in Long Beach called Cucina Picarelli. It's an Italian place not far from the E-Bell club, and a real potential location for the rehearsal dinner. I had Chicken Parm and Megan had Spinach Fetticini with Scallops in a basil cream sauce. They had a nice covered and enclosed patio that can hold about 25-35 people, so its currently on the short list. Oh, and by the way, thanks Kevin and Julie for dinner last night.

First Tasting

Mike and I headed to Long Beach last night to our wedding venue for a tasting. We were joined by another 80 or so folks to meet vendors, taste apps and dinner, and judge cake combos. It was a lot of fun and really got us both excited about the wedding. I was a fan of the tri-tip sliders, fried mac-n-cheese lollipops, and wasabi mashed potatoes in mini martini glasses. Dinner was yummy, too, but I think it is going to need a little work. One potential downfall of cooking a lot is that I'm starting to notice when foods are bland and boring, and some of the food last night was a little bland. Dessert was fun, though. I must've tried half a dozen pieces of cake, dessert shots, lollicakes, you name it.

The limo (!) took us back to the parking lot and we headed home with appointments with vendors on our calendars, a sample centerpiece from a florist, and heartburn from eating so much food. Friday we are going to Macy's for a registry "sip and scan." It is a serious wedding week.

Happy Valentine's

Valentine's Day actually fell on Sunday the 13th this year. At least in our house it did. Mike got his hair cut Saturday afternoon and his barber asked what he was going to be doing for V Day. (I'm not sure how the conversation progressed, but I imagine that there was an expression of panic on Mike's face then a hearty chuckle from the barber.) Mike then learned of a nearby independent theater that was playing Casablanca on Sunday night.

We had an early dinner then went to the Aero Theater to save our seats for the showing. It turned out to be a double feature, with Casablanca first followed by Double Indemnity. It was such a great experience. Mike and I had seen Casablanca at Movies on the Mall in DC (Monday nights in the summer where movies are shown right in front of the Capitol) but it was hard to hear and hard to see, so we didn't get the full experience. At the Aero, it was such a great way to see old movies. Everyone in the theater cheered at the opening credits for the title, stars, directors and music composers. Everyone laughs out loud at the jokes, gasps at the surprises, and applauds at the end. We had a wonderful time! And if you didn't already know, Humphrey Bogart was a darn good looking man. Not as good looking as my date for the evening, but nice to look at for two hours.

While there we found out that they were showing Breakfast at Tiffany's for Valentine's Day the next evening. Mike actually was heading out of town Monday afternoon for another interview, this one up in San Francisco (I will let him tell you about that) so I knew I was going to be alone on the real Valentine's Day night. Now, I have a serious crush on Audrey Hepburn. I think she is one of the most beautiful, classiest, leading ladies that has ever been on the silver screen. She has a fascinating biography, too. Though I was hesitant to go on a date by myself on the official Couple's Day, I knew I would hate myself if I missed the chance to see one of my favorite movies on the big screen. And I was so right. With a large bag of popcorn and Sour Patch Kids for dinner, I had an amazing time. There is something about seeing these movies the way they were meant to be seen. I own Breakfast and have seen it too many times to count, but I noticed things I had never seen or heard before when watching it at the theater.

I was sad to hear that I missed Gone With the Wind by one day - it played Saturday night. Hopefully they will play it again soon. They have a super schedule laid out for the rest of the month, with many screenings including panels or talks by those involved with making the movies (Angelica Houston, David O'Russell, Amy Adams to name a few to be there in February). I guess that is one of the many perks of living in Southern California! I think I won't have too much trouble talking Mike into taking me to see The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly this weekend.

Good news

Well, all that work has finally paid off. I got my first summer internship offer today! Mattel made me and offer to work with their strategy group for the summer. I don't know what I would be doing just yet, and, actually, I don't know if I will take the offer. I have two final round interviews next week, on Tuesday with Genentech in a portfolio strategy position, and on Friday with PwC Health Advisory doing healthcare consulting. I think I'm going to go through those interviews and try to get a better feel for those jobs. But at least I have an offer for a position I would really enjoy. It makes this whole six week application and interview process a lot more rewarding.

Super Bowl XLV

We had some folks over for the Super Bowl yesterday. We had a blast. We don't have a very big place, but we managed to set up stadium seating so that everyone could see the game. And we moved some furniture around (and the still-unpacked moving boxes) so that there was more space. I had a really great time cooking - stuffed mushrooms, potstickers, veggie tray, carrot bread, chocolate cookies, and lots of dips! It's the first time we've had people over to our place since we moved in (not counting Mike's study sessions.) I think we should make it a regular thing. Next up, dinner party!

Spider

Slap...slap, slap... slap, slap, slap, slap, slap.

That is how I awoke this morning, with Megan trying to kill a spider that was on my head. One problem: there was no spider (at least not one we could find). I'm guessing that Megan was in one of those half-asleep, half-awake states and was dreaming about a spider. Somehow, she projected that dream onto my head. No worries, though, I'm fine. Although, I did tell her that if she ever does that again I'm taking the ring back. (I was just kidding, kind of).

Up in Flames

I've been boring lately. Until tonight. I've been on a cooking kick over the last few days. That came to a screeching halt this evening. I bought some chicken thighs awhile back in bulk (won't do that again) and needed to cook the last six. So I slathered on some BBQ sauce and threw them on the grill. And a few minutes later when I went back to check them... they were on fire. Serious fire, spouting out of the closed grill, licking at the wooden railing, smoke threatening to infest the entire apartment building. I was totally prepared to put out the fire... if it was in the kitchen. Smother it with another pan! Air still gets in the bottom, sides, through the grill. Baking soda! I don't have enough and it is back inside. Ummm.... turn off the burners! Done, and fire still raging. Shut off the gas! Fire still going strong. Ummmm...... right, move the chicken! Surprisingly, it wasn't even burnt. Ok, fire getting under control, and getting smaller by the second. Maybe... blow on it? Sure, why not. Out like a candle.

Now the chicken is safely in the oven. I'm shaking like a leaf. And I'm leaving the grill to Mike for awhile.