A Long Time Ago We Used To Be...

…really into this awesome show called Veronica Mars. Last year I donated $25 bucks to become an official Kickstarter Backer for the Veronica Mars Movie Project. It was a no-brainer for two reasons. The first being that I love this show and the idea of bringing these characters back to life in any form was something I wanted to get behind. The second reason is they sent me an Official Veronica Mars Kickstarter Backer T-shirt. I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt (good=free). If there was a third reason it would be this.

As an official backer I have been receiving updates from the show's creator - Rob Thomas. In one of the email updates I received, Rob mentioned the cast would be at PaleyFest in March. PaleyFest is the ultimate TV fan festival. They have live moderated panel discussions with the casts of various shows at the Dolby Theatre (i.e. where they host the Academy Awards). Uh…you had me at ultimate TV fan festival. I bought tickets and started dreaming of warmer days with temperatures that didn't start with a minus sign.

Bryan and I decided to make a mini-vacation out of the trip and explore LA/Hollywood/Southern California. The last time we were in LA we didn't have much time to explore anything, so we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get out of Winter and defrost for a few days.

The following are some of the things we did on our first day in LA. I'll blog more about what we did on the other two days as well, but like most of our trips we crammed it too full to talk about everything in one post. If you find yourself in LA/Hollywood or want to go to PaleyFest next year, here are 5.5 things I would recommend.

1. Spend Time at The Getty: Our vacation started at The Getty. We spent time at The Getty last time too, but it's so beautiful and free (only $15 to park). Bryan spent the first part of our visit trying to recreate pictures that we took the last time we were there.

Left: Our visit in 2011 / Right: Our visit in 2014

Last time we visited The Getty we took the Garden Tour which I highly recommend. As we were walking around the gardens I remembered a lot of what the docent shared on our first visit. This time we decided to do a Focus Tour of the Impressionism paintings in the Galleries. They were also doing a special exhibit on Jackson Pollock's Mural, which was amazing. Photography wasn't allowed, but here's a link to the exhibit on The Getty's website - http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/pollock/.

2. Check out the LA views: It was a beautiful day and it was the first time seeing no snow on the ground in months for us.

3. Stuff Your Face at In-N-Out Burger: A must when you're in California. I've had In-N-Out Burger a few times, but for some reason it was the best "burger" I've had that night (I order a grill cheese with lettuce, tomato, and pickle). Bryan ordered some time of double x double or triple x triple or whatever they call it on the secret menu that he loves so much.

4. Stand Where the Famous Stood: Last time we were in Hollywood we couldn't visit Chinese Theatre because they were holding a special event so we spent some time being tourists before heading into the Dolby Theatre. This totally reminded me of that scene from My Girl 2 except I was not with my cousin who I later (spoiler alert) creepily made out with in the airport in front of our parents (who are brothers). Did anyone else think that was weird? 

5. Show Up Late and Bring a Sweater: We finally made our way to the Dolby Theatre for Veronica Mars. We got there an hour early because I'm a psychopath and felt like I was going to miss something if I didn't get there right when the doors open. For future reference, there is no point to get there an hour early because nothing happens and because they blast the air conditioning so you'll be sitting in an empty theatre watching your toes turn blue. There was also this guy who was "organizing" the people who were waiting to get into the theatre by Paley Center members and non-members. The Members got to go in before the non-members which I, as a non-member, did not know about. We non-member losers got pushed to the side by the guy working the front door as he let the Members in He explains to us, "See folks this is why it pays to be a member." Then about 20 seconds later he let the rest of us in. Did I not mention that there were only like 15 Members? Wow - it really PAYS to be a member. We could have saved seconds.

Move out of the way, we're trying to take a picture!

The Veronica Mars Discussion started off Rob Thomas introducing a video/documentary that covered the whole Kickstarter process and the cast at different events. Pretty cool stuff, but about 20 minutes too long. I feel like I'm complaining a lot here, but at this point I was freezing and was waiting to see and hear from the cast not watch a movie full of details and clips that I had mostly seen before.

But then my frustration quickly disappeared as the cast walked out on stage. I had to keep stopping myself from watching the screen above them and remind myself that I can actually look at the person talking because I'm sitting in the same room as them!

5.5. Catch a Midnight Movie: After the live panel discussion we went back to our hotel to power nap before heading to see the Veronica Mars Movie showing. Let me just tell you now - that did not happen. At this point we had been awake for almost 20 hours, we flew across the country, walked for hours at The Getty, drove in LA traffic, consumed a million calories of fast food, and sat through a live panel discussion. By the time the movie would have finished we would have stayed up an entire day. It would have been awesome to say that we did that, but I am the Youngest Senior Citizen after all. Don't know what Bryan's excuse is...

The Luckiest Moment of My Life

Luck is a purposeless, unpredictable, and uncontrollable force that shapes events favorably or unfavorably for an individual, group, or cause.

A couple in Peoria marry in 1981. A year later they learn they cannot have children and join a support group for married couples with infertility problems. They learn about alternative options like international adoptions. It’s 1983 and they send out 50 letters to various agencies and universities that might be able to help. They get nothing but polite rejection letters back. They hear back from an agency in Chicago. The agency receives approximately 700 requests a year for adoption and have only 20 babies to place. At the same time they apply to all local agencies and wait. 

It’s fall of 1984 and the couple finally get an interview with Counseling & Family Services.

It’s 1985 and a 22-year-old woman in South Korea meets a waiter. They start dating, she gets pregnant, and he leaves. When he leaves, she decides she wants a better life for her daughter. One that she couldn't give her.

At the same time the 22-year-old is making this decision, the Peoria couple is accepted into the Counseling & Family Service program. The couple goes through a home inspection and parenting courses. 

It’s summer in 1985 and the Peoria couple is granted their foster care license. It’s winter and the couple receive their first life changing phone call. A local baby would be available through a private adoption in five months. They do not know if it will be a boy or a girl.

It’s 1986 and they start planning out the rooms for their future children. They know their Korean baby will be a girl so they paint those walls pink. In the other room they paint the walls beige and put up stripped green and white wallpaper.

It’s April 17^th and their son is born. Three days later he’s in his new home for the first time.

Sixteen days later a baby girl is born in Korea. It’s July and they finally see a picture of her.  

It’s August and the baby girl is on a plane with five other babies on a 12 hour flight to Chicago. As she sits on the plane, the Peoria couple make the three hour drive to Chicago O’Hare airport. 

Only one adoptive parent is allowed to go to the plane to get their new baby. As the plane touches down, the Peoria woman takes a shuttle bus underneath the airport to get to the plane. She sits with a bottle and some diapers and wonders if one bottle will be enough. The bus arrives and the parents go onto the plane to get their child. Back on the shuttle bus there isn't much talking. All six parents are sitting looking at their babies. They arrive to the main part of the airport where the baby’s father, aunt, and cousin are waiting. Many pictures are taken.

After they take pictures in the airport they say their goodbyes and make their way home. They glance into the backseat every so often to make sure she’s all right. They arrive back in Peoria at 11:00pm, greet the babysitter who says their son is asleep upstairs, put their daughter in her new bed, and go to sleep.

I started my life being incredibly unlucky and incredibly lucky. I was born into a situation where my mother couldn't take care of me, but I was lucky because she made the hardest decision - to imagine a better life for me. Even today I continue to think of myself as lucky. I'm lucky for the 25 years I got to have with my Mom before she passed away and with the time I have now with my Dad and brother. I don't know if I agree with the definition of luck. It's not purposeless. I tend to agree more with what Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose."

2014 Foodie Fest

A couple weeks ago The Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce hosted its first Foodie Fest, a two-week long event with deals at local restaurants. Kind of like Restaurant Week in Chicago, but it's two weeks and not in Chicago, so maybe not like Restaurant Week in Chicago.

Here are some of the restaurants that I checked out:

Sushi House - $10 Deal

$10 Deal:  Miso Soup, House Salad, Sweet Potato Roll, and Spicy Tuna Roll 

Blue Max - $20 Deal

$20 Deal - Garden burrito - 2 egg whites and 1 whole egg, scrambled, fresh spinach & chopped tomato w/ roasted potatoes & salsa, fresh fruit, and a bag of coffee beans to take home!

New Rebozo - $20 Deal

$20 Deal - Fruit guacamole with chips, cheese enchiladas with mole sauce, and flan

Trattoria 225 - $30 Deal

$30 Deal - Mini Butternut Squash Ravioli- brown butter, roasted walnuts and fresh sage, risotto – arboro rice simmered in broth, cream, herbs, parmesan cheese , and trio of crème brulee - vanilla bean, chocolate and mocha crème brulee (not pictured because I ate it too fast to take a picture. Yep.)

Two Foodie Fest Tips for Next Year: 

1. Only get the deal if it's actually a deal - some weren't that great. It seemed like some restaurants were just trying to throw stuff together to make a $10, $20, or $30 deal.
2. If you can substitute something that you like better - do it! The Blue Max deal was actually for the Max Breakfast which has meat in it. Since I don't eat meat I asked if I could sub an equal priced entree and they let me!

The Youngest Senior Citizen Makes...Cauliflower Pizza Crust!

A couple years ago I got this recipe for Cauliflower Pizza Crust from a friend. I kept buying a head of cauliflower, but never took the time grate it to make the pizza crust. I finally decided to try it tonight, but quickly realized that the grater was not my friend. I pulled out my mini food processor and quickly shredded the head of cauliflower. Here's what to do next:

1. Put the cauliflower crumbles in a bowl and heat in the microwave for eight minutes (no water needed)
2. After the cauliflower cools down a bit add an egg, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and mozzarella cheese and mix together. I didn't measure the spices (but if you like measurements check out the recipe)

Shredded cauliflower, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, egg, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese 

3. After you mix this together, take a cookie sheet or a pizza pan, spray with cooking spray, and then make two pizzas. Spray the crusts with a little bit of cooking spray and pop this in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.

4. While the pizza bakes, make your pizza sauce (one can of tomato sauce, one can of tomato paste, basil, oregano, salt, and a little bit of sugar -or use a store bought pizza sauce) and prepare the rest of your toppings.

5. Once the crust finishes baking, turn your oven to the broiler setting (literally didn't know our oven had this), put on your pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and toppings

6. Place the pizzas under the broiler for 3-4 minutes and then enjoy!

So it doesn't taste like pizza crust, but it doesn't really taste like cauliflower either. It's almost like an eggplant parm/lasagna texture in the shape of a pizza. I really liked it and will definitely try it again with different ingredients. Also, I'm really sorry for how gross our stove looks in these pictures - definitely time to clean it, but we're too busy stuffing our face with pizza.