February has bid us adieu and it packed quite a punch for a short month! It still feels like there is a surreal-ness to this year. Am I the only one who feels this way? Some days I have to pinch myself (sometimes repeatedly) and ask myself “is this real?” and the answer appears to be “yes”. And sometimes I need multiple hugs from Max to carry on afterwards.
Oh February, What Havoc Have You Wrought?
So dramatic. But my life is kinda dull. And I kinda like it that way. 😀
Funnies — Because Laughter is Better than Crying
This is my happy place. I visit here often.
This kills me. The expression on the cat and husky’s faces are priceless. Priceless!
That cat is a badass and knows it.
Hehehe. Dogs and cats.
Seriously, have you seen a cuter face?
I’m guessing a lot of dogs think those are their names. Max thinks his is “no!”
My book loving friends can relate!
LA Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
California has pretty much been in a drought forever but this winter we got rain. Lots and lots of rain. We had a mega storm on February 17 which not only brought torrential rain but heavy winds that huffed and puffed and tried to blow me away. Because I am a genius, I waited until the storm hit to walk to the store because I thought, “Hey, it’s just rain. I won’t melt.” At least I was 99% — okay, more like 92% sure I wouldn’t melt. 😀 And I didn’t melt but almost blew away Dorothy-style. Seriously. I had a construction worker holding on to me so I didn’t blow away to Oz.
Courtesy LA Times
Lunar New Year
The library staff hosted a Lunar New Year lunch and one of the librarians invited me to join them, which was so sweet. To be completely honest, even though Koreans do celebrate Lunar New Year, I typically associate new year with champagne and fireworks, not feverish cleaning (so luck can land in your home) and dumplings. 😀 But I wanted to represent, so I made these tasty Korean Lettuce Rolls. Like usual, I forgot to take pictures at the actual event.
They were delicious. Spicy but not make-ya-sweat spicy and overall really healthy, if you’re into that kind of thing. I’m not. But trying to be. 😀 You can get the recipe at my sister blog, Eat Laugh Purr.
Girls Brunch
We get together every other month for brunch. This time we went to Claire’s at the Museum. The food was spectacular but unfortunately it rained that day so the view was not good. It’s right on the ocean. We agreed that we would come back this summer when we could sit on the patio and enjoy the ocean views.
‘Ol Bessie Gives Me a Scare
So after brunch, I went to my car and it wouldn’t start. And the oil warning light came on, which about gave me a heart attack. I whimpered while my friend called her husband to come get us. Even though my oil level appeared fine, I didn’t want to press my luck and make things worse. So I towed my car to the garage … where it started. Sure, I looked like the stupid girl who knows nothing about cars (this is true) but who cares!
‘Ol Bessie is alive! And I didn’t spend thousands of dollars to revive her. It’s a miracle!
Max, The Destroyer
This is Max. He is adored, pampered and deeply loved as all cats (and dogs) should be.
He has me wrapped around his big white mitts and knows it. He also woke me up the other day hacking a hairball. Rude. Then later, after lunch, he decided to throw that up too. Now, normally I might freak out about him being sick, but he is tearing around the place and happy as can be so I know he’s just being a shit. (He sometimes gobbles his food too fast and throws it back up). That night, I’m reading in bed and he is curled next to me. When he suddenly lurches up and hacks another hairball … on the bed. I yell. He shrugs because … cat.
Food I Made, Ate and Loved
So literal. I’m never gonna be that girl who makes food and eats to survive. No, I devour food like Homer Simpson because food is yummy in my tummy.
The Citrus Arugula Salad I paired with baked salmon and it was delicious. The navel and blood oranges were so juicy and sweet and the pepitas gave it a nice crunch, while the goat cheese added the right amount of tang. The Spicy Parmesan Kale Chips made the perfect afternoon snack when I wanted something both crunchy and salty.
These are my good-for-me recipes and they were fabulous. But this is me. I don’t always eat like this. Sometimes I eat like this …
In my defense, it was for Valentine’s Day. And I’m a food blogger, so by law I had to make the Coffee Ice Cream Pound Cake and Chocolate Chip Croissant Bake. And maybe I … like chocolate.
Favorite Posts in February
These are my five favorite posts from around the blogosphere this month.
- Budget and the Beach: Defining Success
- Organic Butterfly Blog: When the Floodgates Have to Break
- Jana Says and TexErin-in-Sydneyland: Ladies of the 80s: a Jana and Erin Playlist
- Life According to Steph: It’s Not about Being Political. It’s about Being Human.
- More Coffee, Less Talky: Things I Love: Holy Grail Makeup Products
One Last Laugh
Adulting does make me want to go native or Gollum some days.
So what were your February highlights?
Tanya
I’m linking up with Kristen for the What’s New with You link-up. Be sure to check out what’s new with everyone!
OMG Gollum is RIGHT ON THE MONEY with that meme hahahahahah!
thanks for the shout out.
we had crazy rain/floods last year so many times that flooded major highways, railways etc and people had to get RESCUED via life rafts!! it was nuts.
I know, right? I hates those nasty, nasty billses too. 😀 It’s been crazy the amount of rain we’ve gotten this winter. We desperately needed it but all the flooding and such, not so much!
I want a girls monthly brunch!!!!
I didnt even notice the Huskey in that first picture. & laughed once I saw him 🙂
Glad your car worked out OK – I HATE HATE HATE car issues. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed my cheap fix holds out for awhile.
I love having a girls brunch. I wish I could have one with all my blogging friends! Yeah, that husky is freaking adorable. Such a great expression! I hate car issues too. They make me feel stupid because I have no idea what’s going on. Fingers crossed your car fix holds!
lol @ gollum.
Max is so pretty! my cats haven’t hacked up hairballs lately and both KC and I are like.. i bet there is one under the couch or something haha.
that brunch looks delish! that sucks about your car, but thank goodness it started again. i hate car issues because i hate feeling so helpless and reliant on trusting someone else, you know?
holy rain batman! that’s terrifying.
Max is pretty. And he knows it. Probably because I told him that repeatedly. 😀 He has no self-esteem issues, although no cats do. 😀 I hate hairballs. They are so dramatic with the hacking.
I hate car issues too. Like you, I feel helpless because it is completely outside my realm of expertise. And now I’m the dumb girl who had a working car towed. 😀 Oh well. I’d rather it work than pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars because I broke it!
All those animal pics were the absolute best!!
My dogs do things allllll the time that make me was to call them vet. Then I later realize they were just acting that way because they were being assholes or felt ignored or just wanted to. Lol.
Your food porn is making my tummy growl. It’s lunchtime here and I haven’t gone yet- bad time to read this post!! Ha!
Animal memes are truly my happy place. Whenever I get in the dumbs, it’s where I go to laugh. Pets, goodness do we love them. Emeril, my cat before Max, had some health issues towards the end of his life, so when I got Max, I constantly accused him of being sick. Now, I just give him side-eye over his dramatics! LOL!
My cat is a jerk and will throw up for no reason. See also: my dogs.
Thanks for the shout out! Glad you liked the playlist!
I loved the playlist – every. single. song! Max seems to go in spurts. Sometimes he throws up a lot and other times we can go for long periods with no incidents. The worst was when he tried to hide it under some clothes that I had tossed on the floor and I stepped in it. Gross!
Max and Astro look like they could be brothers.
Korean lettuce wraps. I need some of those in my life. Going to your sister blog right now to get that recipe. Also, why am I not following you there?!?
They do look like brothers, which is probably why I have such special affection for Astro. He’s also a real Mama’s boy like my Max too! Oh, I hope you enjoy the Korean Lettuce Wraps. They are really yummy and not hard to make at all, which is another big bonus in my book!
Max is so cuuuuuuute! I love pictures of him 🙂
Glad that we have had a respite from the rain because it was seriously getting crazy! Thanks for mentioning my blog post Tanya 🙂
He is adorable. I am very proud Mama of my handsome boy. But you already knew that! 😀
I hate whining about the rain because we needed it so desperately but I miss the sun!
Bahahaha! I love Smeagol. I was actually writing a “Lord of the Rings Time Wasters” post with Smeagol/Gollum memes, but that one’s new to me. My sisters live in California and I was teasing them when they said it had been raining a lot, because they’ve already forgotten things like what it’s like to have seasons, but that is some legit flooding. I’ll take back all my teasing now. 😛
As soon as I saw that meme, I laughed so hard because I could relate. I hate those nasty, nasty billses too! While, to be fair, Californians are terrible winter wimps and have no idea how to drive in any rainstorm. But we have had a lot of rain and that storm in particular was a doozy. Big wind, lots of rain and not so great drainage led to lots of flooding.
Thanks for sharing the link!
I can’t believe the rain in CA this month.
You’re welcome! I’m hoping we can have a few days of respite from the rain. I miss the sun!
How was I unaware of your food blog?!! I just subscribed on Bloglovin. One of my cats also eats his food too fast and throws it up. It’s gross. I call him our bulimic cat! I haven’t brunched very much. But I’d love a monthly girls get together with friends. I’ve been preferring linner on the weekends recently – a late enough lunch that makes me not hungry for dinner, so a light snack is all I need later.
Thanks for subscribing to Eat Laugh Purr, Nancy! I appreciate it! Max just goes through spurts with his throwing up and it’s really gross. I try to tell myself that there are worse things but cats are so dramatic! Oh, I like the sound of linner but I’ll be honest — I’d still probably eat dinner. I just like food. 😀