time to catch up!

i apologize to all my loyal blog readers for the uber delay in posting...things have been crazy. without further ado, here's a recap of our last few weeks:

VALENTINE'S DAY

brandon and i decided to forego gifts this year in favor of saving for europe. we did actually get each other cards though (his to me was SO cute, and he also printed out little favor coupons from the internet -- i.e. one free night of doing the dishes, etc. -- it reminded me of an elementary school project but i thought it was adorable :). we timed our latest netflix for that night and i cooked a fantastic candlelight dinner.




the menu: indonesian ginger chicken, seasoned rice, baked veggies and lehi mill muffins (yes, they're our favorite things ever and i stock up every time i go to utah). and for dessert, i made chocolate molten lava cake from scratch! brandon said it was the best thing i've ever made -- we ate three in two days :)

BUSINESS TRIPS

saturday i went out to my parents so i could go to katie kirkland's bridal shower, which was a blast. brandon had to work the super smash bros. tournament downtown and met me there later that day. we stayed at my parents' for the long weekend and had so much fun just hanging out.

tuesday he left for san francisco to go to the game developers conference, and i left for the high desert for a motorcycle intro.


this is my sweet ride. i drove it the whole week and had to do lots of five-point turns :)


this is where the track was located. while driving out there i felt like i was going to the middle of nowhere where the mafia shoots you and leaves you for the vultures. but it was fun.


and this is me freezing my butt off in 55 mph winds.

after my event ended on friday i returned to my parents house to stay for this weekend also, since brandon wouldn't be home till sunday and i didn't want to be by myself. i got tickets to the nascar race (from one of my super nice colleagues) and we tried to go to the nationwide race but it was rained out :( that place has some awesome views though.



today after church i drove home and we are finally finally back together. i can't wait to get back into the normal routine and back to regular life.

my two cents

okay okay...i wanted to be all dramatic and just post the image of the article...but you know i had to share my input. ESPECIALLY when they said what they said about tithing! LOL. instead of writing back all my blogger friends individually, i figured i'd just post another blog about it and let you read it at your leisure :)

first things first...this whole thing started back in july or something. working at a PR agency, we get a lot of emails from journalists looking for sources/input/help on various articles. my supervisor got an email from real simple looking to do financial profiles and forwarded it to me as a joke because we had just got done talking about how freakishly budgeted i was when it came to grocery shopping. it was a slow afternoon so i responded to the email, and a couple weeks later they said i was a finalist.

long story short, they chose ME to represent the "20-something" group (i think they just liked that quote about how i cry when i make major purchases, which i put in the original email). i kept a journal of ALL my spending for 30 days (you guys should try it, it's amazing to see where all your money goes). in december they sent a stylist and a beautiful french photographer who said i had a nice smile to my home for a four-hour photo shoot...(that's my apartment in the background, but you can't really see)...i lost track of how many rolls of film they used after 17. just for that ONE picture! a chat with the writer and a couple of fact checks later, and here i am. the magazine just went to subscribers last week, but i'm sure you can buy your copy on newsstands next week :)

the picture is okay i guess...i don't wear that much make up but whatever. as for the story...i cracked up about the tithing part. if there's anything i'm doing RIGHT with my finances, it's definitely paying my tithing first. (for those of you unaware, members of my church pay 10% of their income to the church. it's not really about financial support, though, it's more a matter of having the faith to pay up because God asks us to. and let me tell you, making that sacrifice has blessed my life WAY more than you'd think.) oh well...it will be great material for a sacrament meeting talk one day!

OH and another thing i'd like to clear up -- my rent is NOT $550. i WISH. they made me prorate all the costs i share with brandon, so 550 is my share based on my income. try doubling that and then adding some...that's my "bargain" rent for living in lovely los angeles.

other than that the story was fine. and just so you don't think i'm TOO frugal or anything (in the article i sound like such a tightwad) i DO know how to get wild and crazy. case in point...got my hair did and went uber shopping this weekend. let's just say payday can't come soon enough this week or lyndsey might be in a little trouble.

thanks for everyone getting so excited over this...you are great. xoxo

page 229 in the march 08 issue of real simple

(just click to make the image bigger)

from the camera phone...

sorry for the grainy quality of these, but like an idiot i've been traveling without my digital camera of late.



this is me, my hair lady paula and her 14ish-year-old daughter ryanne just after i chopped off all my hair. i had to show that we are all matchy-matchy...same haircut, different side parts. i guess we all have good taste right? paula has cut my hair since i was 16 and i love love love her. i saw ryann's cute hair the last time i was in...it took me a couple months to build up the courage to cut it so short, but she was there for moral support and we totally did it :)





on another note, it has been so so gorgeous in cali this weekend. those of you living in arctic states like utah are probably going to roll your eyes when i say its been freezing lately, but it has gotten pretty cold. this weekend was one of those that make me so happy to live here. we were sitting in young women today and i looked out the window and all i saw were palm trees and blue skies...it was awesome.

this afternoon brandon and i took a lovely sunday drive up to malibu to enjoy the sun. we walked on the beach and watched the waves and surfers and it was lovely.

.new.

oh yeah. and my sister got engaged.

my evening at the laundromat

so once in a while we save up all our laundry and head to the local laundromat. this is beneficial to us because not only can we do multiple loads at one time (tonight i had four loads plus a comforter to wash), but it is cheaper than doing it at home where it costs $1.25 per washer load and $1.25 per dryer load. FREAKING RIP.

i used to be scared of our laundromat because we are usually the only white people there and they play spanish TV really loud and people are usually either coughing their lungs out or begging for money. lately i have come to enjoy it though because with three years of high school spanish under my belt i've become friends with the little owner man, and also because when i am at the folding table, folding jeans and underwear next to the short latino moms folding jeans and underwear i think hey, we are all a little more alike than i usually realize.

i also tend to run into interesting characters while there. tonight as i was walking out to the car i walked by an african-american woman and her young son. i unfortunately didn't hear the beginning of their conversation but i'm sure it was awesome, because all i heard was:

mom: "hilary rodman clinton."
son: "who?"
mom: "hilary RODMAN clinton."
son: "that's a stupid name."
mom: "shut up."

then they walked inside.

brandon came with me tonight and helped with the washing portion but then i graciously allowed him to go home so he could go to his precious basketball practice. i wasn't really happy about this because that meant i had to fold ALL the clothes by myself and then carry them all out to the car and home. this also meant i had to fold all the socks.

i HATE folding socks. hate hate hate. i remember reading in real simple or something about these little sock clips you use to clip socks together so they don't get separated in the washer, and i think i could really use some of those. i don't wear socks that often because i mostly wear flats or heels, and if i do they are usually the black plain ones i've worn since my punk rock days so they're easy to identify, but brandon is another story. he has a million and they are all different. and because he used to be a bachelor, even the pairs don't match each other because at some point they had bleach spilled on them or were torn apart by a rabid dog so it's all basically a guessing game to find the matches.



tonight i stopped counting pairs of socks at 32. that was just the colored ones, i don't know how many white ones there were but i'm guessing i was up in the 50s by the time i was done. i spent two hours, start to finish, doing the laundry tonight and by the time i was done it was too late to go to the gym. so now i will enjoy my unfit body and watch another episode of jon & kate. the end.

so...we're moving...

this is my first post of february :)

and i would like to take this opportunity to inform you that we have actually found a new apartment and will be moving to pasadena on march 15.

just to give you a little background on the new place: it has a DISHWASHER, garbage disposal, carpet, walk-in closet, private parking space, gated entry and swimming pool -- none of which we currently have at 1755 hauser blvd #1.

and in case that's NOT ENOUGH...check out the following destinations within ONE mile of walking distance:
*trader joes (all i need in life, angela :)
*24 hour fitness
*gelsons supermarket
*H&M
*the biggest forever 21 in LA
*cheesecake factory
*crate & barrel
*paper source
*DSW
*the train station (we will both be commuting by train to work now...fully comped by the workplace of course)
*pottery barn
*basically anything you could ever want. this area with all the shops is called "old town pasadena," along colorado blvd (where they do the rose parade every year).

i'm looking forward to the change but i really will be a little sad to leave the "downtown" part of LA. we've had a lot of fun and adventures in the hood, though i am excited for all the new things this move will bring.

so go ahead, be jealous of my upcoming daily walks to h&m :) and then book your tickets and come out here to visit!!!