Round-Up

So it's been nearly two months since I've blogged and truly, life is much, much different than since my last post. Here's the quick recap/roundup:

1 - times I changed my mind on which law school I'm attending.
4 - days it took for everything to come together to change from NYU to Harvard Law!
7 - states (besides California) to which I traveled in the last month
6 - states that were a part of one week-long road trip!
2 - years that I've been married (and the anniversary which we most recently celebrated at the end of July/beginning of August)
1 - vicious sunburn I got at Lake Powell that resulted in awful peeling on my shoulders
Countless - number of mai tais I consumed in Hawaii during our anniversary/pre-law school vacay
4 - weird looks I got from people in Idaho Falls, ID.
4 - people in Idaho Falls, ID who had NO ROOM to judge me!
2470875 - number of times I've had to bite my lip in living with my in-laws for the past month and a half to keep from getting major league attitude at the BUTTINSKY-ness of it all.
800 - dollars I need to spend at minimum on law school books. I wanted to do this because...?
7 - times per day that my hubby, The Outdoorsman, referenced his grand master plan to make me governor of Hawaii so we could live there.
3 - bottles of free booze we scored on our Hawaii trip
1 - number of Hep B immunizations I need before I'm not allowed to start at HLS
2 - number of former Supreme Court (SCOTUS) clerks that will be my professor in the fall
1 - head of the Congressional Oversight Panel (formerly known as TARP) that will be my professor
1 - number of OJ's former attorneys that will be my professor
3 - approximate number of days until we leave California
13 - rough number of days until we get to Cambridge
15 - number of states we will drive through during our move

Note: I have a TON of pictures to upload from my trips. I'll put the majority on Facebook, so if we're not already Facebook friends, be sure to 1) friend me, and 2) check them out there. I'll put up some selections from the trip on the blog that don't involve family. Oh, and if you want to hang out before I leave, let me know! I'd love to see you before I go!

WANT: An apartment; DO NOT WANT: Homelessness

Apartment hunting in NYC is the worst. I've been straight West Coast (insert flashing gang signs here) for my entire life, so I've never had to deal with the insanity of apartments coming up for rent a mere 3-4 weeks before a move date, nor the absolute RIP OFF of brokers. I'm too anal retentive to leave my housing fate in someone else's hands, much less allow them to charge me a full month's rent (which, in NYC, is substantial).

I was checking out apartments on Craigslist trying to avoid paying a broker and found a gem. Mr. VF cautioned me not to get too in love with apartments since we were waiting to hear from NYU about student housing. Long story short on NYU: I got screwed and didn't get family housing. Apparently you're an idiot if you're married or otherwise coupled and then try to go to NYU because you're the only schmucks not guaranteed housing (singles, on the other hand, are living the dream). Also, no advantage for marrieds or domestic partners. You can be a regular ol' bf/gf (or whatever combo you desire) and get family housing. It's a clusterfuck. I digress.

So I found a great apartment (via pictures on CL) and one of my school friends living in the city was gracious enough to go by and look at it, confirming that it is indeed as awesome as advertised. We find out on Monday if we got the place, so cross your fingers, friends!

But wait...it gets better! It's closer to campus by a couple of blocks, will cost the same as family housing (once we pay for all the utilities), and is coming furnished which is what we wanted. Dear 8 lb, 6 oz newborn infant Jesus, please let us get this apartment!!

The Apocalypse is Upon Us

Yesterday I worked up the nerve to visit the Whole Foods near The Grove. At 5PM. On a Friday. My bravery is boundless. Incidentally, for those familiar with the area, the CVS next door is apparently one of the LA area's biggest sellers of Valtrex. Just a little tidbit shared by a pharmacist one day that skeeved me out.

Anyway, I digress. I meandered through Whole Foods while Mr. VF was on the lookout for good wine for me (aren't I the lucky one!). He finds me and says "I just saw the most disturbing thing ever. Come with me." Given that I'd just found out about the Valtrex, a million things came to mind. What I found was worse. Way worse.

O RLY?! As if the clothes weren't bad enough, now we have wine for the poseurs too?! JFC, I thought I was going to die in the middle of the store. I think I hear the galloping hoofbeats of the Four Horsemen.

Funemployment Cooking

Thanks to Claire's link from Facebook today, I have come to know and love a new term - funemployment. This is my life now to a tee ever since the layoff. I actually love my life again...at least, until I go to law school and realize how oppressive life as a law student/lawyer is (don't get me wrong, I'm excited about school, but I think I have a healthy dose of cynicism/realism about what the profession is and is not).

As part of my funemployment, I'm starting to cook again...and when I say cook, I mean real effort-taking meals, not the college student method of cooking where you make a pot of spaghetti. I was craving Italian food, so I decided to make chicken parmesan. I've never had it before, but I like chicken and I loves me some cheese, so I went for it. The Mr. adored his and begged me to make it again last night. I refused because I don't like eating the same thing like, nightly. BUT he did say that I made him a believer in chicken parm because the chicken stayed pretty moist (even upon microwave reheating).

Stats on the project:

1- number of pans I used to pound the chicken breasts.

1- number of pans that I destroyed while pounding the chicken breasts

2- number of nights that this fed both the Mr and me.

4- paper plates I used while making this to reduce my clean-up

3- number of times I spilled the egg mixture onto the floor while dipping the gigantor chicken breasts.

assload - amount of cheese I put on each breast

1- number of times I giggled like a schoolgirl while writing the above

Here is a pic I took with my phone of my creation:

The Sauce:
1 28 Ounce Can Imported Diced Italian Tomatoes

4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Decrease To 1 Tablespoon If Wanting To Make A Lower Fat Version)
Salt & Pepper To Taste
3 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Basil [Ed note: I skipped this part]
Dash Of Red Pepper Flakes

The meat:
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Cup Flour
Salt & Pepper
1 Egg [Ed note: since I only keep Egg Beaters in the house, that's what I used. It was fine]
2 Tablespoons Milk
2 Cups Italian Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 Thin Slices Mozzarella Cheese
3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Sauce:
Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, and add the garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, but before it takes on color, add the tomatoes. Turn the heat to high, and as soon as the sauce begins to bubble, turn back down to medium low. Season with salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes and add the basil. Cook for another minute or two and remove from the heat.

Chicken:

Season the flour with salt and pepper, and place in a plastic bag. Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/2 inch thick. Place each breast into the bag with the flour, and shake until it is well coated. Beat the egg with the milk in a bowl. In a second bowl place the bread crumbs. Dip each chicken breast first into the egg mixture, and then into the crumbs.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a frying pan, heat the butter with the olive oil. Once the butter mixture is sizzling, fry the breasts until golden on each side. Place the chicken breasts side by side in a baking dish. Spoon some of the prepared sauce over the cutlets, and then lay a slice of mzzarella cheese on each. Finally, sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Note: if you have a working broiler (I don't), bake the chicken for 15 minutes, then do 5 minutes under the broiler for more bubbly cheese.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted!

Back when I was still under the delusion that I was going to be able to take my car to New York, I talked to Mr. VF about driving across the country. There's so much in the middle that I haven't seen since I've stuck mostly to the coasts. I want to see what life's like in flyover country! Sadly we decided to fly when we move and so I thought my summer vacation was a bust. I love when I'm wrong (when it goes right)!


I'm going to...

NASHVILLE!

OK yeah, I know it doesn't sound too thrilling to most West Coasters, but I'm excited to go. I've heard from multiple people that Nashville is a pretty cute town and, of course, I expect to cause some shenanigans in town.

You may be wondering, "Gee Violet, how are you taking this trip when you recently got laid off work?" Good question (although you should be ashamed of yourself for being so nosy. Just kidding. But really). I originally was going to skip it. It's a big meet up of friends who are living all over the country and they picked a place that is "central", though it was mostly inconvenient for me since I'm on the West Coast. The trip is scheduled for 4th of July weekend and it was going to cost me several hundred dollars to make the trip. IN THIS ECONOMY, saving for law school and being jobless, etc, I didn't think it would be smart to make the trip. On a depressed whim, I was inspired by Claire and decided to check American Airlines to see if I had enough frequent flier miles saved up. It was either 50K miles roundtrip in coach or 50K miles roundtrip for business/first. Needless to say I'm scheduled for a trip to Nashville in first class. The best part is that it only cost me $10! They will have to pour me out of the plane in Nashville and back in LA!

In fact, since we're all young and broke, this trip is going to be relatively on the cheap. We're sharing hotel rooms, college-trip style and doing low key activities. Now I get my pre-law school trip without any of the guilt!

Haters: Traitors to the Human Race

I planned for my first blog post back from the Memorial Day weekend to talk about the fab wedding I attended, complete with (crappy) pictures. Instead, I think that yesterday's events deserve more attention. The California Supreme Court has decided by a pretty large margin that my loved ones are not allowed to get married. I am more than a little surprised and disappointed, but there were some good signs amidst the ruling yesterday. For starters, the dissenting Justice Carlos Moreno said the ruling was "not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution." He then goes on to say, "[I]t places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities."

I haven't sat to read the hundred plus pages of opinions written by the Court, but I intend to do so one day (if law school hasn't killed my will to read cases at some point).

I knew there would be protests and rallies galore last night, so it made me smile a bit when I got an email with links to pictures from a rally in the Bay Area last night, courtesy of my Uncle Rick. I wrote about him on a previous blog, so see if you can pick out which guy he is in two of the pics :)

www.shutterfly.com/pro/jidesign/052609

I'd have put the pics here myself, but they're copyright protected. I loved seeing a community come together, from the common folks to the religious. It seems like religious folks get a really bad rap in all this. Granted, some people do vote for Prop 8 and say it's due to religious reasons (see the moron quoted in the LA Times), but not all religious people are bigoted or zealots and I like that some of the pictures are able to capture that. Enjoy!

Nice To Know You....Goodbye

It's been pretty evident to everyone and their mama that the economy is for shit right now. Working at a nonprofit, things have been especially tight...especially working at a nonprofit that is predominately funded by corporate America, like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, et. al. The Executive Director of our office told my coworker and me the other day just how much trouble we were in -- at least $100K in the red for our office with only about a month left in the fiscal year.

I got an email last week from one of our VPs from our headquarters in NYC wanting to meet with me today and the email didn't sit well at all. I was agonizing about it since the moment it arrived. Apparently, my Spidey-senses were on point because I was laid off. My boss was also laid off, leaving only 1 person (who is part time to boot!) left working in the LA office. I was shockingly calm. Perhaps it was knowing that I'm leaving for law school shortly? Perhaps it was receiving a severance payout equal to when I was planning to quit anyway? So yeah, now I'm getting paid for the same time frame as I was planning to work, but now I don't have to get up early or deal with bullshit. Sounds like a total win to me! In all, there were something like 10 other people laid off today, in addition to others who have been let go over the last couple of months. It's a lot when we have no more than 50-60 employees! The future of the LA office is in jeopardy -- they'll finish up the end of the school year and then re-evaluate.

The only bummer is that I wish I could have gone out in a blaze of glory. I dream of one day being able to peace out and say, "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, and fuck you, I'm out!" Since I was robbed of the opportunity to do so, there's one person that deserved a special shout out that I'll give here:

Maynard - fuck you. You're an idiot, a terrible teacher, and a pain in my ass. You talk to women as if they were only there for your personal amusement and pleasure and otherwise less than you. You're the worst kind of human being. You might fool people with your BS, but I can see right through you. You do your kids a disservice and if I was a parent, I'd be at the district office every day to complain about you. Pro tip: sitting at your desk and playing on your computer (or whatever you're doing since you're awful about returning business-related emails) and schmoozing with the general public does absolutely NOTHING to teach your kids. Do your fucking job!