Five on Friday (2)

I'm once again joining in with the fun and linking up with Five on Friday!

1. I finally went out and bought the newest Nashville soundtrack. I own every Nashville album so far, and as much as I love the show, I think I love the music even more. And yes, I am still one of those people that goes out and buy cds. There's just something about have a physical copy and being able to look through the album booklet that I can't quite quit.
2. After I finished my Project 365 last year, I was so excited to kick off the new year and not worry about it. Except I miss it. I find that I rarely think to take photos anymore now that I don't make myself. And while I don't miss the stress, I still plan on taking it on again in 2015!
3. The boy and I stopped at Trader Joes last weekend, and since I couldn't find my normal chocolate covered fruits, I picked up these chocolate covered ginger pieces instead. I will admit that I'm a bit ginger obsessed, I always go through both mine and the boy's ginger when we have sushi, so it isn't too much of a surprise how much I love these. They do have a very strong ginger flavor which I know everyone isn't a huge fan of, but they're perfect for me.
4. I'm excited and a little shocked to share that someone nominated me in My So-Called Chaos' Best of Blog Awards! I'm currently up for The Bookish Babe (for Best Book Blog) and Courageous Commenter (for favorite comment-leaver). If you do enjoy reading my book reviews and love reading my comments, I would be ever so appreciative if you took the time to vote for me.

5. Also in exciting news for you, I'm currently hosting two book giveaways. Today is the last day to win a copy of At the River's Edge and you have till Tuesday to enter to win Marie Antoinette's Head!

Do you ever buy physical cds still, or have you completely switched over to digital music?

Liebster Love

A few weeks ago Heather presented me with Libester Award. A lot of you have probably seen this before, but just in case here's how it's supposed to work, with my responses to follow.
**The Rules:**
1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose 11 blogs you love (with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post.
5. No tag back (but please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster post so I can learn more about you)!

11 Random Things
1. I used to love feta with vinegar as a snack. I've since grown up and now enjoy feta with both olive oil and vinegar as a snack.

2. Growing up I slept with a cabbage patch doll named Bernard. Bernard was a girl.

3. I may still be a tiny bit bitter that I was never a model in an American Girl fashion show.

4. I broke both my arms at the same time at Knott's Berry Farm at a friend's birthday party. (I'm pretty sure I've used this as a random thing before, but as random things go, this is pretty up there for me.)

5. I'm not a huge fan of broccoli, but don't mind it roasted in the oven.

6. I read Les Miserables for the first (and only) time in 9th grade.

7. I've never read anything by Jane Austin. (Which is a shame, because I'm sure when I finally do I'll love it.)

8. The last CD I bought was the Smash soundtrack. (And I'm pretty sure the next one I will buy will be the Nashville soundtrack.)

9. I used to want to be a history major in college, until I realize the amount of papers I'd have to write.

10. I used to have blonde hair when I was little.

11. Some of the names of my youth soccer teams were Top Gun, Pink Lemonade, Pink Panthers, Teal Tigers, Red Hot Chile Peppers, and No Fear.

11 Questions
1. Do you play any musical instruments? If not, what do you wish you could play?
I played the flute in middle school. Although given the chance now, I'm not sure I could play a single note.

2. What is your favorite holiday to celebrate?
Passover has always been my favorite.

3. What was the best gift you received this year?
With the wedding we received a lot of amazing gifts, including one I've been meaning to blog out. But one of my most used gifts has to be the purse the boy gave me for the holidays

4. What is the last book you read and loved?
There's a few that I've read lately and really enjoyed, but the last one that I really loved would have to be The Perks of Being a Wallflower

5. What would be your ultimate travel destination?
My top 3 are Greece, Australia, and Egypt.

6.What forms of social media are you active on?
Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, and Flickr

7. What DIY or craft project are you most proud of this year?
Definitely our wedding invitations.

8. What are your top three can't-miss TV shows?
I have a lot of obsessions, but some of my favorites are The Bachelor, Grey's Anatomy, and Teen Mom 2.

9. Any celebrity crushes?
If you've been here for while it shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.

10. If you could go on any game show, which one would you choose?
Does The Amazing Race count as a game show? If so, that would be it.

11. Why do you blog?
I wrote about this in a recent Sunday Social post, but I love being able to keep a record of my life and having the ability to refer back to it

And yes, I realize I may be cheating by not linking to anyone else. But give me a shout in the comments and I'll be sure to link to you and send an award your way!

You Like Me

Back in August Heather gave me the Sunshine award. Yes, I am just now blogging about it, but late is better than never, right?
Rules of Engagement:
Include the award log either in your acceptance post or somewhere on your blog.
Answer 10 questions about yourself.
Pass the award on to 10-12 other deserving bloggers.
Add a link on your post to all of the talented winners and comment on their page to let them know they've been deemed amazing.
Thank the brilliant soul that recognized your talent and bestowed this wonderful award on you...and of course link back to them as well.

Onto my answers...

1. What would you most like to change about yourself?
I hate my feet. I've been saying since high school I needed surgery on them. I probably don't but trust me when I saw they are all crooked and ugly.

2. What is your theme song?
"California Girls" by Katy Perry
Except not really, it's just the first song I could think of, and it's a California song, so why not.

3. One part of your life, a memory, action, etc. that you wish you could surgically remove from your brain?
In high school each year we would kidnap the girls who were planning on pledging our sorority. But in order to do so we had to meet up around 3am and drive around town together. So my dad dropped me off at the house one of my sorority sisters at 3am, and I rang the doorbell... and I was at the wrong house. Her house was just next door, but I still woke up strangers at 3am. I still look back on it and cringe, so it'd be nice to be able to stop.

4. What generation do you wish you had been a part of?
I would have loved to live in a completely other time. Maybe during the Renaisance or the antebellum South?

5. What was your favorite childhood toy?
I've blogged about this before, but no question, it's my American Girl dolls.

6. What is your favorite housecleaning chore?
I wouldn't call if favorite. But the chore I mind the least is doing the dishses.

7. Do you Twitter?
Yes. Follow me @shoshanahg

8. Any goals?
Lots. But as for one, I'd love to be an amazing mom someday.

9. Do you really drink margaritas all the time?
Err... not really. I'd much rather have a daiquiri, and I really don't manage those that often.

10. What is the ugliest car you've ever driven and were embarrassed to be seen in?
Considering the only car I've ever had is my current Toyota echo, I guess by default that would have to be my answer.

Moving on from Sunshine, back in October Kristyn nominated me for a Liebster award. And while October is several months ago, at least it's not as bad as August, right?For the Liebster you're supposed to name 11 facts about yourself, and answer 11 questions. To start, here's my 11 facts.

1. Anytime I've been tagged for a blogging award, I've completed it. (Even if it has taken me a month to do so.)

2. When I was 1-year-old I went to Mexico. I haven't been back since.

3. When my brother and I would play dinosaurs as kids we were draft dinosaur families. My brother's first pick was always the T-Rexs. Mine was always the "long necks."

4. In Kindergarten I used to want my name to be Amy, because I could spell it, and couldn't spell Shoshanah.

5. My favorite ice cream flavor used to be Ben & Jerry's Triple Caramel Chunk. At least it was until I stopped being able to find it.

6. In second grade I broke both my arms at the same time. I spent all summer in a pink & purple cast.

7. The first "grown-up" show I religiously watched was Party of Five, which I believe started when I was in 4th grade.

8. I love the Sesame Street movie Follow that Bird when I was little, and even downloaded all the songs in college.

9. Whenever I buy Kleenex I always buy Kleenex brand. I figured if I call it Kleenex, it should actually be it.

10. I obsess of tv volumes, and always want it on an even number. But one that isn't divisible by 10 or 11.

11. The last time I had a sip of milk was in 5th grade.

And here are my 11 questions...
1. What do you blog about?
I like to call it a lifestyle blog meets book blogging and wedding planning. (Although I guess the planning part is now finished with.)

2. If you could bring back any person from history (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
While this may not have been the intention of the question, I would have to say my mom. Part of me wishes I knew what was happening so I could have one final conversation with her. And while I realize in some ways it's better the way things happened, there's still so much I want to tell her.

3. Dogs or Cats?
Neither. I'm not really an animal person. But at times I like one more than the other.

4. What football team do you pull for?
The boy has converted me to an LSU fan.

5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, and money didn't matter, where would you go and why?
My top 3 countries to visit are Australia, Egypt, & Greece.

6. Would you rather be on a beach, the mountains, or sight seeing?
Right now I'd say the mountains, especially since it's been so long since I've been. But I really love being at the beach as well.

7. If you could change one time in your life, what would it be and why?
This is actually quite similar to Question 3 in the first set, so I'm going to go with that one again.

8. Would you work if you had kids or stay at home with them?
I think depending on the circumstance I would be more than happy in both situations.

9. What is the earliest memory you have?
I'm pretty sure it was when my brother was born, so I'd have to be around 2 and a half. I remember sitting at our dinning room table with my grandfather and sticking "It's a boy stickers" on See's lollipops.

10. What's your favorite flower?
I've actually posted about this before, but it's forget-me-nots or lupins. Although if I were to list a third one it would be confederate roses.

11. What would be your dream job?
Reality tv star

From here I'm supposed to list 11 questions of my own, and then tag 11 more people. (I was actually supposed to tag people for the sunshine as well.) But this post is already a novel, so I'm just going to end it here. Although feel free to answer any of these questions if you'd like!

You Really Like Me

The past week Amber and Suz both sent me the versatile blogger award.
The way to play the game is to link back to the person who awarded it to you, list seven random things about yourself, and tag 15 other bloggers.

1. When I was in high school my school's football team was ranked number 2 in the country. And yet I never went to a single high school football game. I'm still a little embarrassed by this, and don't like to admit it so you should feel honored I'm letting you in.

2. In Kindergarten I wanted my name to be Amy. Not necessarily because I didn't like my name, but because I could spell Amy and couldn't spell Shoshanah.

3. I hate getting rid of things. But for the first time ever I went to Goodwill a few weeks ago to donate some t-shirts. Almost all of the shirts I donated were ones I used to wear in high schools.

4. Speaking of old clothes, the dress I wore to my 8th grade graduation is still in my closest. Maybe I should have donated that as well?

5. I loved Jamba Juice in high school, and feel like I'm being disloyal with my current addicted to Smoothie King. But there's not Jamba Juices in Louisiana, so I guess it's really their fault.

6. My favorite Disney princess is The Little Mermaid, mainly because Ariel is my middle name.

7. I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year, only because it will be my first time handing out candy at my own house.

I'm not actually going to tag anyone else, but mainly because I tend to forget to post my awards then feel guilty. But if you feel like listing 7 random things about yourself, this award is yours!

And speaking of forgetting to post my awards, Amanda sent me the Happy 101 award back in March. Yeah... at least I'm remember to post it over half a year later right?
For this one you're supposed to list 10 things that make you happy (try to do at least one of those things today), and send it one to 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

1. Spending the day outside tanning and reading magazine
2. The smell of any baked good baking in the oven
3. Surprises
4. The start of the new fall tv season
5. Eat fruit picked from my own backyard
6. Spending time with old friends
7. Roasting marshmallows and making s'mores
8. Having the time to sit around doing nothing without feeling guilty
9. Reading (and loving) a new book
10. Couches that you can fall into and relaxing

Again thanks for thinking of me and I promise will do my best to share the next award a receive within less than 6 months.

~Shoshanah

Book Blogger Appriciation Week

I know there's a lot more than book on From L.A. to LA. But even so my entries about books do make up a good portion of the site. After my small redesign a few ago, its easy to quickly find all my book entries. With that said, I think there's more than enough book-y posts for this site to qualify as a book blog. Hence the reason I'm registering myself for Book Blogger Appreciation Week! I'm hoping these links are able to give the feel for the books of From L.A. to LA. I hope you all enjoy!

Niche Category: Best Historical Fiction Book Blog
Juana the Mad
The King's Bastard Grace
Professor Plum in the Library with the Rope
Show Us Your Life: Children's Books
The Spanish Bridegroom

~Shoshanah

Better Late Than Never

Almost a month ago now, Andie at Sweet.Sourthern.Spirited sent my the Sunshine Award.
The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. And its rules are pretty simple

1. Post the logo on my blog
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers
3. Link the nominees' blogs so others can get to know them
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from

Except I'm breaking the rules a little, because I'm not sending this to 12 fellow bloggers. Instead I'm sending it to all 65 of my followers. But if you really want it too, then feel free to become a follower and its yours!

I know it seems waiting a month to post the Sunshine award is a long time. Except that Anais at Through Green Eyes sent me the Beautiful Blogger Award on December 2, 2009!
The rules for this one are a bit more complicated, because not only do I have to pass this on to 7 bloggers I have to post 7 things about my self. To start with 7 things:

• Yesterday I tired Starbucks' new Dark Chocolate Cherry Mocha. It tasted just like a chocolate covered cherry. Very delicious, but not quick delicious to replace my normal latte.


• Speaking of Starbucks, Tuesday I'll be there for free pastry day. Not sure what type of pasties they'll be giving away, but I won't be missing it.


• Growing up I used to sleep with a Cabbage Patch Doll named Bernard. Bernard was the name that came with the doll, and I decided to keep that name, but that Bernard would be a girl


• Last weekend I went to Target to spend a $75 gift card. Except my total wound up being over $200!


• The Backstreet Boys just released their Spring tour dates. They aren't coming to Louisiana, so I'm thinking I might need to head to NYC to catch a show with some friends.


• At work I always have a box of Kleenex on my desk. I always buy Kleenex brand (I figure if I'm calling them Kleenex they should actually be Kleenex), and I always make sure to buy the boxes with the best design


• Flowers are starting to bloom in our new back yard! I would have liked to have taken some pictures today, but while its been nice and in the 70s all week, it decided to drop down to the 50s today. Hopefully next weekend will be warmer and I'll have some backyard pictures to share.

Now for the 7 bloggers I'm sending the award to! Well I don't want to put any pressure on anyone to remember to post this within the next 3 months (or almost 4 since that's how long its taken me!), so instead this award goes to the first 7 people to comment on this post!

Even though its taken me a while to post both of these awards I really do appreciate them. Thanks Andie and Anais! And on the same note thanks for everyone whose stopping by a reading. I'm loving being able to take you from L.A. to LA and beyond!

~Shoshanah

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

Where the Wild Things Are
Last week I wrote about how excited to see this movie, and this past weekend I finally got to see it. Except... it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Actually I'm still a little disappointed by it.

Don't get me wrong, visually it looked amazing. The wild things looked likes the jumped out of the book right onto the screen. And actor who played Max did pretty amazing in his role. So there were a few high points.

The low parts? It seemed to take forever just to get to the wild things. And once you were in the thick of them, it really wasn't that exciting. The movie seemed to drag on forever, and that was just for me. We saw a matinee showing, so there were a good amount of kids in the theater. And halfway through the move all of the kids seemed loud and restless.

Funny enough I did like the ending of the movie. As in the way the movie end, not the fact that it was actually ending. I am glad a saw it, because I would feel like I was missing out if I hadn't. I do think this would be a great movie to use as background noise, and I mean that in the best way possible. Like the type of movie you have on when you're cleaning the house. Since you wouldn't be complete attention to the movie you would get bored, yet you'd be paying enough attention to still feel the charm of the actual movie.

And while were talking about mythical creatures, almost forever ago now, Anais at Through Green Eyes sent me a Dragon Loyalty Award!
Its one of my favorite awards, since I love the picture show much. Thanks so much Anais!

I'm supposed to in turn present this award to 3-10 loyal fans. I only hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

1. Amber at A Little Pink in the Cornfields
2. Baker Girl at An Extended Vacation
3. Carissa at The Lovely Dove
4. Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans
5. Jill at Peeptoe Pumps and Pearls

~Shoshanah

Over The Top

Kelly at Keeping up with Kelly sent me an Over the Top award!
The rules for this one, well there's a whole list of questions.

1. Where is your cell phone... on the table next to me
2. Your hair... its wavy at the moment
3. Your mother... in California
4. Your father... also in California
5. Your favorite food...probably lasagna
6. Your dream from last night...Its rare when I remember my dreams, and last night wasn't one of those nights.
7. Your favorite drink... I'm almost always drinking water. But besides that it would be Vanilla Coke
8. Your dream/goal... white picket fence and all that jazz, eventually of course
9. What room are you in... the living room
10. What is your hobby... blogging! Ha!
11. What is your fear... being alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years... I'll be over 30 then. Yikes
13. Where were you last night...sleeping
14. Something you are not... tall
15. Muffins?... I would love a chocolate chip muffin right now.
16. Wish List items... I want the Jon & Kate book, 8 Little Faces
17. Where did you grow up... straight out of the LBC, aka Long Beach, California
18. Last thing you did... order a pizza online
19. What are you wearing... tank top and shorts
20. Your TV.... the boy is watching something on tv
21. Your pets... are also in California
22. Your friends... are all over
23. Your life... happening as we speak
24. Your mood... hungry for my pizza
25. Missing someone...everyone not in Louisiana
26. Vehicle... my Echo
27. Something your not wearing... shoes
28. Your favorite store... Victoria's Secret
29. Your favorite color... sky blue
30. When's the last time you laughed...earlier today
31. When's the last time you cried... is it bad if I say yesterday I teared up when watching the TLC special on the Duggars when Anna had her baby
32. Your best friend... is in California (sensing a trend here?)
33. One place you go over and over...the movies
34. One person who emails me regularly...my parents
35. Favorite place to eat?...It changes on a regular basis. I've been craving sushi lately

I'm and supposed to send this off to 6 people. But this is such a fun one, I want to open it up to everybody. Enjoy!

~Shoshanah

Are You Informed

The Informant!
I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. I'm a fan of Matt Damon and the movie looked like it would be really funny. Unfortunately, that didn't quite seem to be the case.

Yes, there were funny parts. But overall the movie wasn't really funny. The whole movie included a voice over narrator by Matt Damon which I really wasn't a fan of. Overall, I'd say the movie was pretty boring, and a little predictable.

I can still admit Matt Damon was good in the role, and fairly unrecognizable. I mean you knew it was Matt Damon, but it was a role unlike most anything else he's acted in. He was probably one of the high points. The actually story of the movie is pretty unbelievable, and from what I can find online it is fairly true. I do think they did have interesting subject material, but they way it all played out didn't make it seem very interesting. I think they could have cut a lot of the movie out, and come up with something a lot better.

If I could go back, I wouldn't have seen this. Instead I would have seen Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Hopefully, I'll still have a chance to see that one in the next few weeks.

Also, Lisa at Lisa's Yarns sent me a blog award!
I doesn't look like there's any rules to go along with this one, but if I'm mistaken let me know! And I want to send this award out to all of my followers! Thanks so much for following and for reading along!

~Shoshanah

Tag! You're It!

A few days ago Amber at A Little Pink in the Cornfields tagged me to do a 5 sexy things meme. Here's how it works:
* Write 5 things that make you feel sexy
* Post a pic if you dare!
* Pass it on to 5 lovely bloggers

So let's go

Underwear from Victoria's Secret
Really, any time I buy underwear I buy there's. I by from most of their lines, but their Sexy Little Things line? Well, I have almost everytime type of underwear offered in that line. But I don't actually have the underwear in the picture I found, I guess that means its time for a shopping trip!


Matching Pajamas
And honestly most of mine are from Victoria's as well. I will pretty much refuse to wear pajamas if the don't match. Most of the ones I do have are the same style a tank top and pants.

Tank Top and Shorts
This is really my all the time around the apartment outfit, and what I'm wearing now actually. Although I don't need these to match. And I don't think I have any tank tops or shorts from Victoria's Secret. But I would definitely wear these LSU ones if I had them.

Make-Up
Yes, this one is a bit general and no there's no picture. But I wear make-up so rarely, that when I do put it on, I almost instantly feel different.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Is there really an explanation needed here?

And the 5 I'm tagging are:
1. Amber at Girl with the Red Hair
2. Ashley at Spoonful(s) of Sugar
3. Baker Girl at An Extended Vacation
4. Kelly at Keeping Up with Kelly
5. Suz at 30 Before 30 List

Also Kelly at Keeping Up with Kelly sent me the Kreative Blogger Award!

The Rules for this one are as followed:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might not know.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Thank you Kelly for the Award!

1. In middle school I went through a phase of having creative Halloween costumes. I was a picnic one year and the night sky the next.
2. I didn't actually come up with those "creative" ideas by myself, they were both from American Girl magazine.
3. The boy decided to make breakfast for dinner. So right now I'm eating eggs and hash browns. Not a huge surprise, but you didn't already know that did you?
4. My all time favorite meal would probably be lasagna with a ceasar salad.
5. The first movie I remember seeing in the theater as The Aristocats
6. When I was little I used to sleep with a cabbage kid named Bernard. That was the name the doll came with, so I decided to keep the name but that Bernard would be a girl.
7. I'm so excited to watch the new season of Survivor which premiers in 5 minutes

Not the best secrets I know, but I'm running out of time (see my secret #7). So really, I'm going to cheat a little and let ALL of my readers have the Kreative Award. If you're hear I truly do appreciate you! And like all bloggers, I love reading each and every comment you leave!

~Shoshanah
Images courtesy of Victoria's Secret

7 and 7

Amber at Girl With the Red Hair sent me this award!
I'm not really sure what the same of it is. The image is called premio meme award, and if you look really closely the award itself say Meme blog 2009 award. So I guess I will officially call it Premium MEME 2009 Award.

Let's begin. The rules of the Premium MEME 2009 Award are as followed:

"To accept this award, the recipient must list 7 traits about myself and then pass the award onto 7 other bloggers who deserve recognition for the personality they share through their blog."

And we're off.

1. I have a ginormous sweet tooth. If I could I would love off candy 100%. This means of course I waste far to much money at the movie theater.
2. Continue with number 1, I love Little Debbie snack cakes. My favorite are zebra cakes, although I love buying the holiday themed ones. The 4th of July ones of probably my favorite, although silly me forgot to buy any thing year.
3. I don't really enjoy shopping. I think part of it is because I don't like spending money. I think part of it is because I don't think I have any fashion sense and want someone to tell me what looks good or not.
4. I am always smiling. And no, this is not necessarily a good thing. Its not good when someone dies, and you have to turn away because you literally can't get the smile off of your face.
5. I am obsessed with bad reality television. Anybody else planning and watching 16 and Pregnant tonight?
6. Going back to number 1, my favorite candies are normally fruity, sour, and chewy. My all time favorite would be Zours.
7. If I could the only shoes I would wear would be flip-flops and Uggs.

I'm not actually sure how much the list above is classified as "traits." I'm thinking it might be more correct to have listed things as, procrastinator, sweet tooth, easily excited, and so on. But it looks as if this is what other people are doing, so who am I to argue? And of course the 7 bloggers whose personality deserves recognition

1. Amber at A Little Pink in the Cornfields
2. Carissa at the lovely dove
3. CeeCee at Pin-Up Paper Rockstars
4. Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans
5. KAC at A Boston Belle
6. Karie at Wife of a Wounded Marine
7. Lacey at Perks of Being a JAP

~Shoshanah

Finally Getting Honest

Lacey at Perks of Being a JAP sent me a Honest Scrap Award. The funny thing is I was awarded this a few months ago from CeCe but never actually listed 10 honest things about. This time I'm sticking to the rules!

"The Honest Scrap award comes with a caveat or two. Firstly, you have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Secondly, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Thirdly, let all the people you've given the award to know that they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something). And finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you."

1. I drink a lot of water through out the day. I'd say easily 6 or 7 glasses. If I had to pick anything to drink most times I will go with water. Even for breakfast.

2. When I was drinking all the water as I kid I would get a new glass every time, and leave them scattered around the house. Now that I do my own dishes, I kept the same glass and refill it multiple times. I guess its payback because at any given time the Boy had 5 or 6 glasses he's used around the apartment.

3. In first grade I wanted to be either an Astronaut or an Ice Cream Man. Way to have a wide range of expectations.

4. I like the idea of scrapbooking but never actually make the time to sit down and be creative.

5. In high school when they were filming The United States of Leland at my school (I've never seen it, but it does star Ryan Gosling.) my friend and I sneaked into to the closed off areas of the school and ate doughnuts from the craft services table.

6. I haven't tasted a drink of milk since 5th grade. And that last experience in 5th grade still traumatizes me.

7. I can't ride a bike. I've actually forgotten how to do it. Seriously.

8. When I was little I assumed I'd get married when I was 18 because I'd officially be an adult. Thankfully that didn't happen.

9. I always have my toilet paper come off from the top of the roll. And will actually change it if its not.

10. The first time I took my driver's test it started hailing in the middle. It was raining so hard that I couldn't see the lines on the street. I thankfully passed the second time.

And I'm awarding the Honest Scrap Award to the following bloggers! I'm trying to spread the love and send these along to blogs I've never tagged before. If you haven't been to any of these before, I suggest you check them out!

1. Baker Girl at An Extended Vacation
2. Emily at The Adventures of Little Miss Pissy
3. E-Money at Bros Before Hos
4. Erin at Cardigans and Kisses
5. Kim at Perfectly Cursed Life
6. Mallory Ann at Just A Preppy Beach Chic Girl
7. Meg at Southern Pathways
8. Mishi at The rest of my life so far
9. Suze at 30 Before 30 List
10. Rachel at Rachel's Pink Thoughts

~Shoshanah

Geaux Tigers

Since tonight's LSU game is starting I figured now would be a good time to write about yesterday's LSU game, right?

We had been hoping to go to last night's regional game LSU vs Baylor. Last year we showed up at the stadium ticket-less. After waiting in line a while, some nice guy walked up to us and gave us two tickets for free. So we were hoping to have it happen again this year. Unfortunately on our walk to the baseball stadium we passed several people with their fingers up showing the number of tickets they were looking for. Not a good sign. We finally got to the ticket line, which had around 40 or 50 people in it. And this was around 2 hours before the game.

So instead of waiting for 2 hours in a line and not getting tickets we decided to walk across the street and watch the game at Walk-Ons. We get there, and put our name on the list. They told us it would probably be about an hour, and they took our cell phone number so they could call us if need be. Of course it was so crowed that every time they tried to seat a table the yelled the name a couple times. And it looked like each time they tried calling them on their cell phones. Some people did get seated, but overall they were not met with a lot of success. We were were smart and sat right next to the hostess stand. And after trying to seat a table and not being able to find 6 different parties (phone calls and all), I'm pretty sure the hostesses gave a little cheer when they called our name and finally had someone to seat.

Wasting Time While Waiting to be Seated When we finally got seated we figured we'd start out with an appetizer. After all we were planning on staying for the whole baseball game. We went with fried mozzarella, which turned out to be some of the best fried mozzarella I remember having.

Fried Mozzarella at Walk-Ons It came in little balls which surprised me at first. I'm not sure I've ever seen fried mozzarella that way before. But when you think about it, you normally buy mozzarella in little balls, so it makes a lot of sense. The best part about them was that they were a little spicy. And the marinara was pretty good too.

For my main course I went with stuffed shrimp. Although it wasn't real descriptive of the name. They we pieces of shrimp wrapped with more shrimp and crab and fried. So maybe coated shrimp would be a better name? Either way they were good, but not as good as the cheese.

Wrapped Shrimp? The shrimp also came with fries and hush puppies as you can see. And if you're curious the Boy had a bacon cheeseburger. Sorry for the lack of picture, I have a hard enough time getting him to take pictures, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't let me take pictures of his food.

Again, since we were there for several hours, we felt a bit obligated to order dessert. I present you with a messy martini...

YUM We "shared" this. Which meant the Boy took two bites of only the brownie, and declared, "I feel sick." Which last me to polish of the rest. I happily obliged.

This was my first time eating at Walk-Ons and overall I was pretty happy with it. I have technically been there before. Once for drinks and another standing in the bar watching an LSU football game. It can be a little expensive (especially if you're ordering both an appetizer and dessert). But either way its fun, and the fried mozzarella is pretty good.

Some Walk-Ons product placement And if you're curious last night we won 2-1. Right now we're beating Minnesota 2-0. Geaux Tigers!

~Shoshanah

P.S. While my computer was on hiatus, Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans gave me a Mender of Broken Hearts Award. She's almost always the first one to comment on any of my entries, and said some of the sweetest things about me. If you aren't reading her I suggest you check her out!
With that being said I can't find any official rules for the Mender of Broken Hearts Award. But luckily, I haven't needed anyone to mend my own broker heart, and hopefully won't in a while. If I ever did here's a few girls who I'm sure would come to my rescue:
Amber at A Little Pink in the Cornfields
Amber at the new Girl with the Red Hair (Think of it as a blog-warming present!)
Carissa at The Lovely Dove
Anais at Through Green Eyes
CeeCee at Ceecee's Cozy e*home

And if you wanted to know, LSU is currently up 5-0!

Lemonade Means Summer?

Yes, I am posting a little late today. And yes, I promise to explain, tomorrow perhaps. I am keeping you in suspense. Yes, I saw Star Trek this weekend. And yes, I will post my review. Again, suspense. So what will I be posting?

Cyndi at Just An Everyday Bitch sent me an Awesome Lemonade award!


Of course, I'm immediately start thinking about how lemonade is a sure sign that summer is almost here, my first summer that I don't have off from school. But that isn't quite the point. So here I am listing 7 awesome things about myself:

1. I built a shelf for the apartment for the weekend, completely on my own.
2. I actually started attempting to decorate the apartment of the weekend.
3. I went to both Japan and Israel last year.
4. At the end of the summer I will have officially held my first full-time job for 1 year.
5. I earned a M.S. in Mathematics almost exactly 1 year ago.
6. Two years before that I went to Preakness (aka the second of the triple crown horse races)
7. Also two years before that (aka 3 years ago) I graduated from college with a B.A. in Mathematics & Chemistry.

And now I'll send out a few pieces of awesome-ness myself.

1. Amanda at One Happy Panda
2. Erin at Cardigans and Kisses
3. Jennifer at Crazy Shenanigans
4. Lora at Honey Nut Lo
5. Melissa at New Girl on the Post
6. Mrs. Ruby at Ruby Red Slippers
7. Sara at Sara in Israel

Again, thanks for the award! And even more thanks for coming back and reading! And thanks for all your comments! I love reading them!

And I promise an actual (on-time) post tomorrow!

~Shoshanah

Weekend Recep

Overall I'd say I had a fairly productive, and yet still lazy weekend. Let's see, there was...

Sushi for Dinner on Friday


California Rolls, Crunchy Rolls, and Salmon Rolls
Did several loads of laundry

Saw a movie
Fighting
Again, this weekend was not one of my picks. Honestly, the best part of the movie for me was watching Chanam Tatum. I was not a big fan of the fight scenes and cowered into the Boy during most of them (which makes me so glad I wasn't dating him back when he was fighting back in his college days. I probably would have died trying to watch them). I did like the love interest in it, Zulay Valez . And according to imdb the actual actress' name is Zulay Henao. Coincidence? I'm guess they probably liked her name so they named the character after her. It had a happy ending so that was good. My thought is if you're forced into seeing a movie with your guy there's worst ones out there.

Cleaned the bathrooms

Finished a book
Strike Zone by Kate Angel
This book was lent to me by a co-worker, otherwise I would have never opted to read it. It's one of those cheesy romance book they always have an excerpt from in the back of Cosmo. I always wonder who read actually reads those kinds of books. Well now its me. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. And if my co-workers lend me more book like this I would probably read them. But I don't see myself going out and buying anyways.
And in case you're curious... the book is about an adventure seeking girl named Taylor Hannah. Who used to be engaged to a star MLB pitcher Brek Styker. (Yes, even the names tell you its a cheesy romance novel.) But Hannah left Brek at the alter 3 years ago to go sky-diving instead. After Taylor learns Brek is engaged again, she has to see him one last time. Cheesy? Yes. But overall a nice change from the chick lit and the historical fiction I'm normally reading

Laid out at the pool

The plans for the rest of the night?
I'm planning on making some noodles. They're made by Ming Tsai who used to have a show on the Food Network. I figured I loved his show I'll love his noodles right?



And of course I'll be watching the new episodes of Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.

~Shoshanah

P.S. Carissa at The Lovely Dove gave me a cute blogger award.

Which means I'm supposed to list 10 uncute things about me

1. My feet. (You'll just have to trust me on this one. But I seriously have ridiculous high arches and toes that curl under)
2. All the piles of clean folded laundry on the couch. I guess I didn't quite finish doing laundry
3. All of the candy and dessert in the apartment begging me to eat them. (Let's see there's leftover Easter candy, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Little Debbie snack cakes, See's lollipops...)
4. I can't wear nail polish because when I'm bored I'll just pick it off. It normally lasts only a day for me.
5. That all I've eaten so far today is a piece of toast with jam, a granola bar, and Easter candy. Not the healthiest of days.
6. The fact that most of my apartment is completely bare and undecorated. And we'll been living here since January.
7. I am always shedding. There are clumps of hair all over my apartment.
8. I am always sneezing. I have a box of Kleenex close to me at all times.
9. That I really hate driving. And so when I do have to drive somewhere I will probably get lost.
10. Amazing Race is starting, which isn't really uncute, but a reason to finish this up.

Finally I'm awarding this to 5 blogs that I feel are cute!
1. Amber at Amber Alert
2. Amber at A Little Pink in the Cornfields
3. JLC at French Kiss
4. K Pod at Two P's in a Blog
4. Leslie at Pretty Random Things

Edit: Just finished the noodles. Not that big of a fan. Ming Tsai I'm disappointed in you.
Also after rereading the uncute things I ate today, I now remember I left half of them out. Oops!

Teddy's Juke Joint

This past weekend I went to Teddy's Juke Joint with a friend. What's a juke joint you ask? Well I'm not quite sure myself, but luckily we have wikipedia, "Juke joint (or jook joint) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States." After reading that it makes a lot more sense than the explanation the boy gave me, "Juke like a jukebox, its just a bar that plays popular music." It fits pretty much all of the wiki definition, except I didn't see any gambling going on there.

First, getting there was an adventure in itself. We met up with some friends and followed their car out of town. I decided to drive, since neither one of us really trusted any one else who was going to drive and not drink. The place was outside of Baton Rouge, technically in a city called Zachary. Although really it was in Rural Zachary, which is a nice way of saying in the middle of nowhere. We drove down this poorly lit road in the middle of nowhere (in the pouring rain I might add) and of course drove past it. Which meant we had to turn down a little side street to turn back around. What should have been a nice 3-point turn turned into a 12 point turn for me. Like most places in Louisiana instead of having sidewalks next to the road there are huge ditches. My worst fear is driving into one of them and not being able to get my car out. So I was overly cautious turning around and managed to do so successfully.

We do finally get to Teddy's and park in their gravel parking lot. We ran to the door to try to stay somewhat dry in the downpour. (Kind of silly because one of us forgot our id, so we had to run back out to the car.) Once we were id-ed and ready to go in we had to each pay a $10 cover. The guys who we had followed arrived a few minutes before us and they didn't have to pay the cover. Call it bad timing, because the bouncer was only there about half of the night because the bar itself was so tiny.

Teddy's was really just a wooden shack. When I got there I started to say it was kind of ghetto, and while that would have worked as a classification in California, here in Louisiana you would say that it was kind of country. There were probably 20 people inside the bar, of which 15 were there for the same birthday party as us. Considering what I hate most about going out is being somewhere where there isn't enough space to move, I love that this had more than enough space for everyone.

They had a live act playing on the stage most of the time and when they weren't playing Teddy was djing. Yes, Teddy is the actual owners name. A large black man who was wearing what looked like sheriffs outfit from an old western. His wife Nancy was working the bar; she was an older white woman with long grey hair. Needless to say they were an interesting couple who you wouldn't have assumed would be together.

The bar itself was decorated full of knick-knacks. Hanging from the ceiling were odds items like an LSU football helmet, a trumpet, and a tricycle. Honestly, it kind of felt like a bar you would see in a movie (most likely a horror film). The best part about the bar was how intimate it felt. Teddy gave the birthday girl a T-shirt as a present. Nancy came up to us individually and thanked us for being there.

This is supposedly one of the last Juke Joints left in the country. According to wikipedia, places like the House of Blues are modeled after them, but there they really don't come even close. So if you ever happen to be in Rural Zachary you should stop by, its just down the road from the youth correction facility!

* * * * * * * *

Completely changing the subject here, but Lesli at Pretty Random Thoughts sent me a fabulous blog award!
Thank you!!!

The deal is I'm supposed to name 5 guilty pleasures:

1. Angel Food Smoothies from Smoothie King
2. Jon & Kate Plus 8 and 18 Kids & Counting on TLC
3. Little Debbie Snack Cakes (Preferably the holiday editions, and my favorite of those are the 4th of July versions)
4. Coach purses
5. My Entertainment Weekly subscription

And send this award of to 5 bloggers I feel deserve it (and yes, I actually did this again instead of saying that everyone I know deserves it):

1. Anais at Through Green Eyes
2. Andrea at A Country Girl's Life
3. Carissa at The Lovely Dove
4. Christian at A Domain
5. Lauren at La Di Dah

~Shoshanah

25 22 Hours in California: Part 3 - Afterword

Of course not long after I arrived (22 hours in fact), it was time for me to fly back. I hadn't checked a bag on my flight to California (good thing considering that that went), but I checked one on my flight back to California. My mom is slowly forcing me to move my stuff out of the house. Besides renting a moving van, moving my stuff from California to Louisiana isn't the easiest of task. But I am doing it little by little.

Also going back on the flight with me was leftovers. (The Boy said I wasn't allowed to go home without him unless I brought back food. Ha!) So my mom loaded me up! 3 large tupperwares of brisket, 2 small tupperware of charosets, and 1 of chocolate matzoh. I've flown with leftovers before and haven't had a problem. They've always needed to look at the bag by hand, but once they see its food, its not really a problem. Of course, not quite how it happened.

They needed to hand search my bag as expected. I told the security woman what it was made some jokes about it, and what not. The problem was the brisket it meat packed in its juices. Mainly meat, but a little liquid. So first she had one of her co-workers look at it. Then she told me she would have to check with her supervisors to make sure it was ok. Seriously? This is was airport security has gotten to? Luckily, I was able to make it through. And considering the problems I had with my flight to California, this wasn't really a big deal.

The flight was non-stop, so after reading my Cosmo, American Wife and listening to my ipod, we arrived, 30 minutes early. Luckily, the boy is always early, so he was there waiting from me.

From the airport we were driving straight to his parents' house for Easter dinner. It's funny how different holidays are for his family and my family. For Passover everyone dressed up at least a little, the table was set with the nicest dishes...
His family's dinners are for more relaxed and laid back. Kind of opposite from what you'd expect from a California versus a Louisiana holiday. Not that either one is better, its just an interesting contrast. For dinner there was fried fish, french fries, and salad. And of course for dessert we had our Easter baskets!
This basket is technically for me and the Boy to split. Except he hates candy and chocolate, except for dark chocolate and there isn't any dark in the basket. So of course it will be up to me to eat it all. I think I can handle it! Of course I've been trying not to, since it's not quite kosher for Passover!

Now that I am back into real life, I'm trying hard to get caught up with everything. I've almost caught up with my google reader, but I haven't yet unpacked. (O Yes, I have my priorities right!) So I wanted to give a big Thank You (and Congratulations!) to the newly engaged Cece for an honest scrap award!

Yes, I know there are rules am I supposed to follow where I write 10 honest things and award 10 people, but I forgot to watch The Hills on Monday, and a repeat is about to air, so I am awarding this to ALL of my readers. (Yes, the easy way out I know). But Thank You again! I really do appreciate it!!

P.S. I watched 18 Children and Counting last night, and started tearing up when Anna found out she was pregnant AND when she stared telling other people. Yes, I am a bit of a loser!

P.P.S. I'm thinking it will probably be Lil going home on American Idol tonight, and I don't really see the judges saving her.