A Few Notes From the Field

1. I bought gas yesterday morning on my way into work for $2.05. On my way home from work it had already dropped to $1.99. Can I get a holler?

2. I went to the Twilight premier last night with a few old and new friends. Let's just say if you didn't love the book, maybe you should wait for it to come out on DVD...if not to save yourself the money, to save yourself the ear damage caused by 12-year-old girls screaming every time Edward Cullen comes on the screen. I mean, really? It's not NKOTB. Obvi.

I'd never done the midnight premier thing before and wanted to try it on for size. It's exhausting! I'm sitting at work sucking down coffee trying to stay awake until 5pm when I can drive home and fall immediately asleep! I'm just too old for this stuff :) On the brighter side, I went to this great restaurant/bar in the Gaslamp last night before the movie. It's called Dussini. It's three levels: restaurant downstairs and on the second "floor," and a fire bar and pool tables upstairs. Super cute.

3. Six days until Thanksgiving!

Las Americas or Los Mexicanos?

People are always shocked when I tell them how close I am to the Mexican border. Well, friends, here's a glimpse of how close I am. Last night Ginny and I drove down to the Las Americas Outlets. Although it's still in the US, we drove right next to the chain link fence that is the Mexican border. Puts things a bit into perspective.


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An Apple a Day

After the trip to the Julian apple fest two weekends ago, I've finally started USING said apples. Last weekend I made an apple crisp that my sister suggested. And the other night I made this apple pork chop dish while Justin was at softball and oh my God, it was delicious! So, I thought in the spirit of fall (it's 90 here this weekend, but I hear it's much colder elsewhere) I'd offer my version of the recipe for anyone interested. I am, after all, a foodie at heart. <3

1. Clean and slice apples. Use these for one layer in a pie or casserole dish/pan.
2. Rinse and season pork chops with salt and pepper. Dip in flour and sear both sides in a frying pan.
3. Sprinkle apples with maple syrup while the pork shops are searing.
4. Place chops over apples. Cover in aluminum foil (pronounced AL-u-minium fo'l) and bake at 350 until cooked all the way through. Mine were skinny and needed only 25 minutes.

We served ours with mashed potatoes and peas (me) or corn (Justin).

Enjoy!

My Drive

This, my friends, is my view on my way home from work. It's a shot of Mission Bay and a trailer park peninsula during twilight. Only in California would a trailer park be located on prime real estate :) This is one of the many reasons I love living on the West Coast. It gets me every time.
What does your drive home from work look like?

Yes We Can!

We've elected Obama, and now it's just a matter of waiting to see what he can do. I'm quite proud to be called an American right now. Unfortunately, I'd rather be called a Marylander rather than a Californian after the Proposition 8 debacle. I guess we'll have to wait to see if the lawyers and law makers overrule the ban as a civil rights issue. I just have a hard time believing that we live in a country where a black president is elected, but at the same time gay and lesbian rights are taken away from people. You'd think that the population is becoming more accepting of differences, yet clearly that doesn't count sexual differences, eh Arizona and Florida? And on top of that, we passed a proposition that gives animals rights, but can't pass one that supports human rights? What does THAT say about the hierarchy of gay and lesbians in our American society?

Just a few things to think about:
The 15th Amendment (which said that citizens could not be kept from voting based on their race, color, or past condition of servitude) passed in 1870.

The 19th Amendment (which said that citizens could not be kept from voting based on their gender) passed in 1920.

$73 Million was spent toward campaigning on Proposition 8.

On Election Day...

Thank God we live in America.

Trip to Fall

This past weekend, in addition to having a huge Halloween party at the house (which will probably be the last big event we have at that house), Justin and I went to Julian, CA. Julian formed ages ago as a mining town. It's about an hour east of El Cajon, up 3,000 miles into the mountains. Although the town center is only about four blocks, visiting is exactly what I needed to satiate the lack of Autumn in my life.

On the way to Julian, we drove through a light rain (also something I'm no longer used to). So, when we arrived and parked it was a relief to no longer be in the car. We walked the town, poked into the used book store and the craft show, and doubled back to look for lunch. We headed into a soda shop for a bowl of hot chili. When we were done, we headed back outside into the elements in search for a slice of hot apple pie.

Julian is known for their apples. We were there for the apple festival when you get to pick your own, but unfortunately missed it by a few days. So instead, we bought a slice of original apple pie (no dutch for us!) and a coffee. They even warmed the pie and slapped on a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make it a la mode! Oh my god was it amazing! I don't even LIKE apple pie all that much, but this apple pie was one of a kind.

When we were sufficiently full and had walked the four blocks a few times, we got in the car and drove around the outskirts a bit checking out the picked over pick your own orchard and wineries. On the drive back home we stopped by the look out point for an amazing view of the mountains. It was a bit blustery, but being in the clouds reminded me of back East. Gotta love California!