…los angeles magazine has this interesting bracket-style best of los angeles tournament. they’re down from 64 to 32.

my votes
1. disney hall vs. getty center; getty center
2. amoeba music vs. in-n-out; in-n-out
3. langers vs. central library; langers
4. grauman’s chinese vs. studio back lots; neither, can i have the library back?
5. moca vs. the arclight; moca
6. topanga canyon vs. capitol records; either
7. spaceland vs. trader joe’s; trader joe’s, no question about it. i hate spaceland
8. huntington gardens vs. palm trees; palm trees
9. union station vs. pinks; union station
10. the beach vs. farmers market; farmer’s market
11. the hollywood sign vs. chateau marmont; hollywood sign
12. mccabe’s vs. griffith park; griffith park
13. kcrw vs. hollywood forever; wow, this one was really tough. hollywood forever screenings
14. la brea bakery vs. venice canals; la brea bakery
15. pch vs. the light; pch, no doubt
16. the weather vs. taco trucks; TACO TRUCKS, according to ben transplants stay for the weather, locals stay for the taco trucks.

this was my dinner tonight–i made it all on the fly:

1-1/4ish pound filet mahi mahi
1 lemon
sprig of dill
1/2 pound spaghetti
1 T olive oil
1/2 small onion
1 garlic bomb
1 basil bomb
1/2 cup small tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup asparagus spears, cut to 1-inch segments
1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
1/4 white wine
1/2 T chicken base
salt and pepper

* cook pasta in salted water until al dente.
* meanwhile, season fish with salt and pepper; poach in lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/4 cup water, and dill. let cool then flake.
* after pasta is al dente, drain. sweat onion in olive oil on medium-high heat, add garlic and basil bombs, then tomatoes and asparagus. let asparagus cook for a minute, then add peppers. deglaze with wine, add chicken base. let cook for a minute or two.
* add pasta and fish to vegetables, toss and serve.

yum!

i love my friends.

<3

…bacon-wrapped hot dogs. what are they called? my current favorite is ‘dirty dogs’.

…and i know that i’ve been pretty obsessive about the state of my finances lately. being able to buy a house is very high on my list of priorities, as is being able to afford the wedding of our dreams. after the wedding my list will include buying my husband-to-be his first motorized vehicle. i’m also pretty lucky that my husband-to-be trusts me to handle all of this.

so, i need to get this of my chest: my credit cards are at zero. and, if things to as planned, we’ll have 15k for our march ‘09 wedding, 35k for the down payment on our home by december ‘09, and my husband-to-be’s vespa by august ‘09.

i freak out about a lot of things, and money is one of the ones that i freak out about often. but when i look at things in perspective, like, how all the bills are paid, and money has been put into savings, and there’s still money leftover, i know that i’m doing right with myself and the trust that my partner has given me.