Today has been a really long day at the office. It’s almost 4pm and I’m totally hitting a wall. To pass time, I’ve been checking out JibJab, a funny site that my coworker just showed me yesterday where you can make random eCards and personalize them. It’s a complete riot and is making me feel better as we speak, er.. type.

The other thing that’s helping to amuse me for the next hour or so before I head home is this V05 Flirting Game I told you about a couple of months ago. The questions are totally random and I can’t wait to find out who my match is every time. Play for yourself!

As if I didn’t have a million other things to do, I decided to start another blog called The Living Room Chef.  So if you’re into food, are looking for easy homecooked recipes, and think the photo above looks really yummy, head on over and start cookin’!

Enjoy!

This just in from The Daily Cookie Guest Blogger, Jeannie!

Since I posted my top 5 reasons why I love LA, I felt I had to balance it out with a post to show some love to my adopted city of New York.

My relationship with New York is tumultuous. There are days when I really dislike New York (the rats!) and there are other days when I am in love with it (tanning while reading magazines on the Great Lawn in Central Park). Eventually, I hope to be as in love with New York as much as I am with LA. Here are 5 reasons why I still live in this crazy, chaotic, boisterous city.

Moving, Going, Coming And Leaving:  The entire city is like a human tidal wave. People are on trains, buses and subways going to work. Adventurous couples can do European weekend getaways out of JFK, LaGuardia or Newark. Or for just a dollar, you can take a bus to D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and a handful of other popular cities nearby. New York is confident in itself that she encourages you to leave knowing you will always come back.

Injera, Peking Duck, Ratatouille and Empanadas for Dinner:  My most favorite thing to do when people come to visit is to take them out to eat. Whatever their preference, there is a restaurant in New York that serves it. New York offers a wide range of choices for all types of foodies. Even Mario Batali has multiple restaurants in Manhattan to serve each of the dining classes (Otto – casual dinner, Lupa – refined and classic and Babbo – the gourmand’s dream). The city is an equally opportunity, international food court!

The World on the Streets of New York:  Have you ever walked down a street where English is the only language spoken? Have you ever walked down an avenue and saw the same color faces? If you’ve answered yes to either of these questions, you obviously don’t live in New York. New York is a magnet that attracts all types from all parts of the world. It’s exciting to be in a city where you can hear a woman arguing with her mom in Mandarin, a mother chatting with her sister in French and two men talking about baseball with New York accents.

Shop ‘til You Drop (or until your credit card company tells you to stop):  The city is dense with reasons to open up your wallet. When I lived in Manhattan, I’d run out for a cup of coffee and come back with a US Magazine, plastic earrings from a street vendor, and a pricey scented candle from Aedes de Venustas. The shops are like the sirens in the sea beckoning me and my wallet.

A Neighborhood for Each of Your Personalities:  So you’re feeling cranky today and want service and attention? Get brunch in Brooklyn. You’re feeling flirty and want to show off your latest designer handbag? Go shop with the cool and beautiful in SoHo. Are you feeling lonely and want to be reminded that you are not the only person on earth? Head up to 42nd Street and walk up Broadway. The neighborhood to match your mood is never far away. It’s just a short walk or an even shorter train ride away. When you find it, mentally file and return when you are feeling that way again.

I’ll wrap up this post with a picture of me from my first winter in New York. This would never happen in Los Angeles.

What’s your favorite thing about New York?

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This just in from The Daily Cookie Guest Blogger, Jeannie!

It’s been a week since I’ve been back from an awesome Los Angeles trip. I went back for my good friend Carol’s wedding and was able to squeeze in some SoCal fun with friends and family as well. Although New York has been my home for the past 3 years—I will always be a California girl. So to help explain my love for Southern California (extremely different from Northern California!), I thought I’d share the top 5 reasons LA will always have my heart.

The Beautiful, Sunny, Dry Weather: When the weather is mild and predictable, there is less anxiety over what to wear, when to rotate in sweaters and snow boots, and having rain cancel outdoor plans. I’ll admit that in the Valleys (both San Fernando and San Gabriel) it does get really hot during the summer months, but it’s a nice dry heat. There is none of this sticky, humid, icky, 3 showers-a-day nonsense. And an extra plus for year-long warm SoCal weather—not having say goodbye to your open-toed sandals and flip flops!

The Beaches, Deserts, Mountains and Outdoor Malls All Within Driving Distance: On my first full day in LA we drove out to the desert in Temecula for some wine tasting at Ponte Winery. On my second day, we hit up Zuma Beach. On the third night, I met with my gal pals for tapas in Santa Monica. And on the fourth day, my bride-to-be friend and I shopped for my bridesmaid dress at a strip mall in the foothills of Burbank. As Cher’s father said in the movie Clueless, “everywhere in LA takes 20 minutes.”

Free Parking: You might have to pay a little if you want to get spitting-distance close but if you have legs and don’t mind a little walk, there is plenty of free parking in Los Angeles. There have even been times when my friends and I went a little out of the way to get free parking (beach day in free-street-parking-Malibu instead of $10-per-car-Santa Monica) but it has always been worth it. As a matter of fact, my friend Lisette and I saw a dolphin that day in Malibu. I doubt we would have seen the creature in Santa Monica.

LA Radio Stations: My favorite stations are Power 106, 102.7 KIIS FM, Star 98.7 and 106.7 KROQ. While navigating through the streets of LA, I can always count on my auto-save stations to deliver Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Summertime, De La Soul’s Buddy or something from 2-Pac. If I’m feeling international, I’ve even got Spanish stations to tune into.

Toilet Seat Covers: I attribute this reason to the germ freak in me. My New York friends can attest that I will only pee in certain public restrooms. I’ve guess it’s because I’ve been spoiled with toilet seat covers available all over Southern California. I know, I know—that sliver of tissue paper is not exactly an instant germ-killer but for some reason it gives me some psychological comfort. Is it so wrong to have feelings for a state that is concerned with the hygiene of its constituents?

Huge thanks to Janelle, Duane, Eddie, Margie, Lisette, Elizabeth, Carol, all of Carol’s family, Reggie, Lillian, Cabo, Sinia, Audrey, Veronica, Veronica’s adorable kids, Victor and my parents for making this LA trip my favorite.

Have you ever been to LA? Do you love it or hate it?

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Yesterday, we hit the road at our regular scheduled time at 1pm only to be stuck in traffic immediately trying to head down the mountain. It took us about an hour to drive 5 miles (we barely made it out of the actual city of South Lake Tahoe) so we decided to turn back around and head back to the city early this morning to avoid sitting in the car for 9 hours instead of the 4 it would normally take us to drive home.  (more…)

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday yesterday - I’ve been having a really fun time on my mini vacation. Yesterday we drove up from Reno to Lake Tahoe to see my mom and check out the fireworks show over the lake.

We spent the whole day at Mom’s nail salon, Escape Nail Spa (shameless plug - if you’re ever in the South Lake Tahoe area, come pay her a visit at Suite #9 in the Raley’s plaza right next to Heavenly. They were voted 2007’s Best Nail Spot in Lake Tahoe!). It was a blast and I felt like a princess getting prepped and pampered for the holiday festivities.

Check out my patriotic manicure - it’s a fireworks show right on my fingertips! I can’t remember what color they used but it sure was red with lots of sparkle thanks to silver and gold glitter polish as well as a rhinestone on each nail. It’s definitely a lot crazier than what I normally wear but hey, it’s a blingin’ holiday and I can’t say no to what Mom wants to do, right??

Hope you’re all having an awesome weekend - I’m off to the casinos to try and win back some of the moola I lost in Reno.

Happy Friday guys! I’m heading off to San Diego this weekend for a wedding. It’ll be super fun, doubly so because I’ll get to see my aunt and her family as well. Don’t you just love seeing family and friends anywhere you go? I do!

Since I haven’t packed yet and we’re leaving tomorrow night right after I get off work I figured I’d make this entry short and sweet with five fun facts about the beautiful city of San Diego.

1. The San Diego Zoo is home to four giant pandas - the largest number of giant pandas in the United States! In 1999, Hua Mei was the first giant panda born in North America to survive to adulthood. Tons of people lined up for hours to visit Hua Mei and millions watched her grow up via the zoo’s Panda Cam. Now, affter watching Kung Fu Panda last week, I can’t help but secretly want to visit the zoo on Sunday if we have some time before our flight back to San Francisco. (more…)

Okay Ladies, I’m going to be in my cousin’s wedding next Saturday, Nov. 10th, and my bridesmaid dress is Persimmon AKA orange - LOL. I’m looking for some beauty advice on color palettes that you think would go well with this color of dress. Here’s a picture of the dress and my dyed-to-match shoes! Note that the color of the dress is more orange than red like it looks in this photo.

Look forward to your advice!!

PS - Go Giants!

There’s me on the far right dressed up as a roaring 20s flapper - or Catherine Zeta Jones if you’re referencing Chicago. And the rest of the gang are my co-workers!!

Here’s one of me and a hot stewardess, Susan!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Go Trick or Treating and have a safe day!

If you grew up listening to ABBA with your parents (like I did), you MUST check out Mamma Mia, you’ll love it! I was fortunate to catch them in San Francisco this past weekend on their national tour and it was AMAZING! I loved how they weaved in all my favorite ABBA songs into the story line of a girl getting married, looking for her birth father to give her away on her wedding way. It was a real feel-good show and got everyone on their feet by the end.The San Francisco show runs through Sept. 22nd at the Orpheum Theatre and you can buy tickets here. A friend of mine told me that if you buy it at the theatre directly, you can save $20 but I’m not sure if that’s true. Leave a comment and let me know so that I don’t have to pay full price next time. =) If you’re in another city, find out whether or not the show will be near your hometown here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!