Julie and Julia should've been Juliana encontrarse Juliana

Ever seen that movie? Julie and Julia?? No? Oh, ok, good, I haven't either, but I do know that its about some girl named Julie trying out Julia Childs recipes for 365 days and writes a blog on it..
Let me tell you, last night in my kitchen, it was battle zone de la Mexicana!! I'm almost too embarrased to write about this in the first place, and of course, as it was rolling around in my head to post or not to post, Kelly gets the bright idea to "Post it on the blog!". So here we are.. and my confession..
I take great pride, and I mean great pride, in knowing how to cook Mexican food, and even twisting it just a little, but still keeping the overall "Homemade" part. While I still need to learn how to make beans (this should be #1 on how to make), I'm good at the rice, tacos, tamales, enchiladas, you get the picture. And I even take greater pride, because my taste is not the normal average persons. My allergies have made it extremely hard to taste any one particular spice, so I bank on color, consistency, and measurements.. and then make other people taste since I cant... and alter from there... To get back to my confession, I thought that even though I've been sick, I was feeling pretty good and decided to cook dinner for Kelly and Patty (roommates). So I'm flipping through my recipe book for Albondigas, and I stumble across a recipe for Sopes. As I look at the ingredients, I realize that I already have the Masa Harina and everything. Great! That's what I'll make!! Recipe looks pretty simple, and it can be a "new" thing for me to post.. yay!!! Clearly, I forgot that Mexican food, while its cheap and simple, really does require some processes to be perfected. Had I come to this realization BEFORE I decided to dig in, I would've just stayed away completely.
All I have to say is THOSE LITTLE SONS OF BITCHES ARE HARD TO MAKE!!!!!!!
Not only did I mess up on the dough the first time,

 
which turned out to be soup, I attempted a second batch of dough, and messed that up even worse!! After adding 3-4 more cups of Masa Flour than required, I got the consistency of dough and started rolling those balls out,



flattened them and started frying, and realized that I was getting fried dough. 
 
I read the directions again, and realized I skipped a whole half-page of directions. So then, I realized I had to cook them on a grease less griddle first, let them cool, shape into mini cups, THEN fry!!
So I tried again... and again.. and again.. and again... By the time dinner time came and went, I still wasn't getting it.. I just don't understand!!
And to add to the situation, Kelly was past helping (thank you intoxication), and could only come into the kitchen, inspect, laugh, and walk away..
I finally gave up... So I stuck with the tried and true, Flautas and became a success only after my battle zone mexicana...

Dough, flour, and grease were everywhere, and dishes where piled high to the sky, and the whole house was in a haze of smoke from me frying the living hell out of rebellious dough..
Needless to say, I tried, failed, and I'm more than sure will try again.. But maybe this time, I'll consult someone who's actually made them before.

Another new thing I tried was Almond milk.. Since I'm lactose intolerant, milk with my beloved cereal is usually a no-no, and I use horrendous, watered down rice milk.. So I picked up some Almond milk after remembering that my friend Audra recommended it one time, and all I've got to say is: YUCK AND DOUBLE YUCK!! Sorry Audra, but I just cant do it.. So 2 attempts at "new" has completely backfired in my face, but I wont give up just yet.

Oh! Also on Saturday, I worked overtime in the ER and the abulances were coming non-stop.. One of the poor paramedics had mentioned that he and his team were so busy that they weren't able to stop for coffee yet, so he was working on fumes.. I felt bad, and after 2-3 times of them coming back saying the same thing, I thought, HEY! I'll give him my starbucks gift certificate, and they can go and get coffees on me, and a "new" thing, to give a gift to 3 complete strangers.. So the next time he came back, he had a coffee in his hand.. DAMN!! This whole new thing just isn't workin for me this week.

And to add to the situation as of right now, I just tried and attempted to post pictures throughout my blog, which is new (yay!) and i just taught myself, but I had to create a whole NEW account to Flickr because my original one disappeared.. This is not my week.

Thanks for keeping me on track Maria Tortilla :)

** See below for explanation of picture..

It's January 14Th, fourteen days into my New year, and resolution, and I'm already behind.. hahaha!! My goodness, I just might have set my goal a little high, since I'm a huge huge procrastinator, but I'm still trying and thanks to Maria Tortilla, she's keeping up and keeping me in line.. hahahaha!! But it's not to say that I don't think about this everyday, because in the truth of it, I think of my resolution every single day.. I could be at work, busy as hell because my co-worker is out, which means I'm by myself with her work and mine, or on the toilet, and at any given moment, I always tell myself "I need to do the blog, I need to say the things I've been doing".

So, here we go again..

One of the things that I've been pretty proud of, or maybe I should use the word scared of, is my need and want to say yes immediately to anything in order to fulfil my "new" resolution. In Which, lets face it, I usually like to "play things by ear". It's such a safe sentence or phrase.. It leaves me without full-on commitment if something were to come up unexpectedly, in which, I absolutely hate cancelling on people. It makes me feel terrible!! In addition to the plain fact that I am late to just about everything in life. And in all truth, most days I'm physically or mentally exhausted, and to think of adding anything to my day, makes me tired just thinking about something else. My safe sentence just gives me relief that I don't have to think about my carefully planned budget immediately (will I have enough gas? Can I skimp somewhere else in order to go to dinner? do I really need to save for Christmas? ect..ect..), and I don't have to look at my calendar to see if I've got something else going on. So with my little explanation, I had a friend text me randomly one day, asking if I wanted to go to Vegas.. ( I love Vegas) I gave one big chuckle and responded "sure!" without even thinking twice.. HUGE HUGE HUGE change for me.. hahahahah!! I still make myself laugh just thinking about my irresponsible response. I didn't even ask, who, when, what, where will we be sleeping? The when question should have been my first, but I didn't even dare to ask, knowing that I'd be going right back into my "safe zone". Turns out, I've got til February, and we're still working out the kinks as far as rooms, but my quick response turned in my favor. And with that one word of "sure" it spiraled me into making another vacation plan that I've been putting off for months now.. I'm gonna be poor before I know it.. hahahahahaa!!

First let me say that this particular vacation I've been putting off for awhile, because Kelly wanted to make plans BEFORE we even went to Italy.. I refused to make plans for a big vacation before I even went on the first one.. Especially since she wanted to do it within 2-3 months of just getting back from Italy. There was just no way to conceive something like that in regards to work and most important, money. And now I have given the "yes" to go on another vacation. She's been dying, and I mean absolutely dying, to go to Mexico. Mainly for the beaches, food, and resorts. Personally, I've been to Mexico countless times, and I love it, but I will never, ever, go without a male friend. I'm not down for getting raped, or sold to a sex trade in Mexico. And while it could happen anywhere in the world, there is just something about Mexico that always screams "danger" to me. Maybe because those are my peeps, and my "mother-land", and I know how sick some of those bastards can be. (Need I remind you of the lady and the donkey...) So instead, with my now-careless word "new" I enticed her to go somewhere like Fiji.. hahahaha!! I still laugh just thinking about the craziness in it.. Freaking Fiji!!! Its either that, or the Caribbean.. Either one, I've never been to, so that takes care of "new" this coming Summer... Oh and I cant wait!!

One other "new" thing, was the re-newel of a friendship. My Stacy Michelle. God, how I loved her so!! And while its kinda weird to call it a renewel, especially since neither of us ever weren't friends, at one point, I let life get in the way, and before I knew it, time flew by... I am terrible at keeping in contact with people (I've got good intentions, but my mind can be flighty at times).. And while we never really had a blow-out, or a fight, (how could anyone ever fight with her??) I'm still calling this a "re-newel". Only because we live at two opposite ends of California (we used to be roommates), and time has flown by.. On top of that, I used to drink an absurd amount of alcohol in that crazy house with her, and some memories have been forgotten, and I'm holding on like hell to the ones I do remember (cake fight! and beans) Regardless, I'm putting this up because I'm makin new memories with my shmish.. (quack?)

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending" ~Maria Robinson”

** On my way home from Stacy's moms house, I couldn't help but notice the gorgeous day in January that we were having.. So I called up Kelly, and went to the beach. Another New thing, going to the beach and laying out in the sun in the dead of winter.. This picture was taken while I was driving on the 101 freeway on the coast in between Ventura and Carpinteria.. Oh California, How I love you so....

New New New New!! and Late Late Late Late

So, my ultimate goal was to write a post every single day......

As you can see, I've skipped about 4 days!! hahahahaa!! BUT the good thing is that I have more than a valid excuse.... I haven't had access to a computer in days because.......

#1 New and biggest thing, I have moved to a completely different city! Yep, that's right, I moved to Goleta, "The Goodland". I'm terribly terribly sad that we (Kelly and I) moved out of the Santa Ynez Valley. It was a perfect little country town where you see everyone you know by just driving through town, and you could go into the grocery store and the employees knew your face. We had a cute little cottage house on a small ranch and our landlord was incredibly nice and easy going, and we were surrounded by rolling hills, oak trees, and horse ranches. Its seriously a paradise. The only problem was that we were paying a lot for it, the commute (45min to work each way) was starting to wear on us and our cars, and I think overall, we both felt like our lives were slowing down to a pace that did not match our ages. In addition, I am coming to the point to where I need to start making a huge effort to put money away in order for me to go to school full time and finally finish what I started years ago. Overall, it was a change that needed to happen, and to stay in the Valley wasn't the the most economical choice. **Side note: Huge Shout out to Brian Bull and Kelly's Dad, Tom.. Without those two guys, I don't know how we would have moved all of our heavy and huge things to our new spot. While I'm sure I would've attempted to do it all myself with Kelly, I must remember that I'm not as big as I sometimes think I am. And I'm glad that Kelly recruited them. So, Thanks a million guys...

OK, back to my resolution..

#2 New thing, which isn't that big, but hey, its new.. I tried out a new breakfast place called, Cody's. Now, since I've lived in Goleta and Santa Barbara before I originally moved to the Valley, I've gone to quite a few breakfast places (Its the thing to do in Santa Barbara) and considering the fact that I'm a creature of habit, this is a big feat for me. On top of the fact that I do things out of habit, I also order certain plates out of habit because I just like to stick with what I know I love. So......

#3 New thing, I ordered the Santa Barbara Omelet. OK OK, so I know you're thinking, so what? Everyone orders omelets. But you must understand, I truly believe I order omlettes maybe once a year, if even that. No shit. My normal "safe" plates that I'm guaranteed to love anywhere is either Huevos Rancheros, or Eggs Benedict with the sauce on the side. I NEVER order anything else...So, I surprised Kelly and myself (hahahaha!) and ordered the omlette with tri-tip, avocados, salsa, cheddar cheese, and SOUR CREAM... With that word being in all capitals, it leads me to my next new thing..

#4 New thing, eating dairy simply for pleasure and not because I have no choice. I am fully Lactose-intolerant, and while I do have lactose pills that let me eat anything dairy, I skip over any pleasures in life just so I don't have to pull out an embarrassing pill just to digest a dairy product. Normally I would've just asked my waitress to hold off on the sour cream, but I thought, what the hay! I'm gonna order it because I love it, take a pill, and stop depriving myself of the good shit in life.. I even ordered corn bread instead of my usual sourdough toast, and loved every single crumb..

Overall, even though I missed a few days of blogging, I made a huge effort to do things different to make up for not fully following through with the resolution my first week, and I've got to admit, I'm already loving this "new" resolution.

To explain the picture, I saw this car in the Kmart parking lot and it made me laugh so I thought it was too funny to not share it :)

** Another side note: Stacy Michelle, You bet your cute little ass that one of my blogs are going to be about us flying in one of those air tube, parachute simulator thingies...