It's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

Hey all!

Last week I put up my Christmas tree. Which was an adventure all in itself. I went to Big Lots first cause the commercials make that place look so nice...lies, all lies. First of all, the place is a disaster. I couldn't find ANYTHING, and then when I asked for help the workers there didn't hardly speak any English. How is that allowed? It's like if I went to Italy and tried to work and communicate, I don't know Italian...sillyness. So I went to Target, which was also a zoo, but at least they had what I was looking for. I had to ask for help - but at least the employee understood English. So after 3 hours of trying to find a tree I got home to put it up :) He's a little 4 1/2 footer pre-lit, which saves soo much time. I baked cookies and Jen and I painted them for the tree. That was really fun. Milo really liked it when I strung the popcorn garland. (which made the house smell like popcorn for a week) Oh well, it looks nice. I'm going today to see if I can get Jen's christmas present and get it under the tree before she gets back from San Fransisco on Sunday.

I'm coming home sooner than I had expected! YAY so that makes it 6 days!! I'm so excited. I - on a hunch - checked on southwest to see what it would cost me to change my flight to sooner, and it was actually going to cost EXACTLY the same amount. The only catch was that I'd have to take a half day of work on Friday the 19th. Sooo I talked to all my boss' and they said it's fine if I take the half day cause I've worked so hard these past few weeks. And as long as all my Christmas stuff is done before I leave then it's fine! Which I'll have done on Tuesday THANK GOD.

The Christmas list this year has been a nightmare. I don't have time to do my normal job AND the Christmas list. The only way I got it done is by taking it home with me and working an extra 3 hours each night last week :( I'm two employees rolled into one inexpensive (for Alkemi) little package. They're getting such a deal with me. Oh well - 6 DAYS...can't wait to go back east and go skiing (yes, Uncle Steve, I wanna go skiing) Oh about that --- I'd like to get new boots, does that mean I have to get new bindings?

Anyway, it's still early and I haven't had any coffee yet....here's the rest of the pictures of the tree:







Love ya,
Tan

Thanksgiving

So I spent Thanksgiving with Courtney. Which was a blast as usual! I talked to the fam via video chat. Which ultimately made me sad. No matter how long I've been away from home it still doesn't get easier. I miss everyone so much and to see Lily, Mason, Elijah, and Megan all growing up without me around is tough. I wish I could be there...but eventually I'll be able to scoot home for every holiday! That would be ideal.

For dinner Courtney and I made Turkey - which was SO tasty. We made a rub, that's what all the chefs on the Food network tell you to do. The phrase of the night was "I saw this on the food network, I got it!"
But the trick is to put the rub between the skin and meat...which means you have to put your hands in there. It was SO cool. At one point I had my hands in up to my wrists. WILD! But along with the turkey we made, sweet potato casserole, and purple Palin potatoes. Palin potatoes are made with Alaskan purple potatoes, and absolutely no crazy fixins'...nope no extra salt or garlic or anything that would make them tasty. I know we're nuts.
I made a pumpkin pie and Courtney burned the apple pie. Nick made the green bean casserole and stuffing. Boy was it a good feast! MMmmmm The rest of the pics are of our fantastic spread!





Green Bean Casserole and Apple Pie:



Sweet Potato Casserole:



The nicely set table:



The spread of delicious food:

Long Time, No Post

So...I thought I was busy with work before - I was painfully mistaken. I have been working my little fanny off. I like it though. I'm learning a lot about trailers and the process. I feel like I'm actually working there and not just answering phones. This past week I got the opportunity to meet a real celebrity. Mark Ruffalo (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0749263/maindetails) is in one of the movies we're doing a trailer for. We wanted to see if we could get him to read the voice over for the beginning - and what do ya know...he wanted to! So we went over to a recording studio and had him read some lines and he LOVED our trailer. He liked it so much he actually gave me his e-mail address to send him the final version. Crazyness. That's what I love about this city...anything could happen. :)

28 days and counting!! I'm SO ready to head back east. It' time for a break...plus I sort of miss the seasons. I don't think it's been below 80 degrees out here yet. Today may be different, I don't know - haven't been out yet. I want the time to go by fast but at the same time, the two weeks I'm there is going to go by even faster! :( Plus I have a lot of knitting to do before I can come home...Christmas presents don't knit themselves!!!

Alright gotta get some coffee.
Love,
Tan

Good Morning!

Wow what a week/weekend! This past week was crazy at work - I think I say that all the time :) It's good though, it's making the days go by faster and the weekends all that much more appreciated. 49 Days and counting til it's time to come back east for Christmas!! YAY


I went to an LA Kings game on Thursday. One of my boss' friends called me up and said "Hey I've got two extra tickets to the game tonight, they're yours if you want them." and I said...HECK YES - He knows I'm from Buffalo and that us Buffalonians like our hockey as much as we like our Labatts! We had AMAZING seats...11th row up, on center ice. I've never been to a hockey game before and now I'm hooked, I'm already looking at prices for Sabres games when I'm home. :) Might be a bit pricey for me though...we'll see.

Friday was Halloween, so Happy Halloween to everyone. I didn't get too many pictures, as my digital camera is still non existent. But I was a Bond Girl. Not hard to do, just wear a tight dress and carry around a gun. Courtney is the one in ALL gold. She's the girl dipped in gold from a Bond movie. Jen's the other blond - she went as Edie Sedgwick (model for Andy Warhol) We had a blast at the party.


Saturday was Lindsay's birthday dinner. I (naturally) made the cake...and forgot to take a picture of it. I'm sure Lindsay has a picture somewhere of it. The group was some of her friends and work people. It was a good time. I took Jen and Courtney along. Jen was a trooper this weekend - she's not a big fan of social events...and she stuck with me Thursday (hockey game), Friday, and Saturday! So proud of my roomie :)

That's all for now!

<3
Tan

Happy Halloween!

Hello all! Busy week and it's only Tuesday! UGH. Oh well, that means I'll still have a job in the future. :) YAY

Jen, Courtney and I carved pumpkins on Sunday. We had soo much fun...I carved a pumpkin for Milo too. I'm not sure how into Halloween he is. He sniffed it a little and sorta looked scared.

I also decorated my desk at work. I'll post pictures of that soon. We had a lot of fun doing it, but I was pretty busy so I couldn't really enjoy it too much. Oh well

Here's some pics of our Pumpkins:

This is Jen's Pumpkin



Okay so all of a sudden Blogger is taking forever to upload photos. I'm going to post the rest tomorrow :( sorry

Later,
Tanya

Going Green

So I had an internal debate about a Swiffer this weekend. Long story but I decided to google what the environmental impact of a Swiffer is. I found this wonderful website http://planetgreen.discovery.com/ It has so much "green" information. Now I'm not normally a "tree hugger" but I gotta say - Our planet is going downhill these days and I don't want to contribute any more to that than I already have. So I've decided that I'm going to do my best - no promises - to cut down on my impact on our earth. I think that means I'm going green!

Some things I'm going to do to reduce my impact:

1. Not buy or use anymore of those swiffers. I'm going to cut up old t-shirts and use washcloths, and attach those to my swiffer.

2. Buy a broad leaf plant. This will keep the air in my home fresh and filtered - if I get enough of them. I'm open to suggestions on this one because, I killed the bamboo plant at work. So I need something that's not going to die if I don't remember to water it every day!

3. Start using at home cleaners. By this I mean Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Lemons....I know crazy! But I'm reading on tons of websites that these three items are the key to keeping your house clean and green. Apparently you can even use vinegar as a fabric softener....so if you have someone who's allergic to detergents you can use it and it will break down the detergent better than fabric softener.

4. Recycle corks. I drink a lot of wine...and by that I mean. Around 1 bottle a week. Depending on the week ;) I've looked up some really great uses for the old corks that I normally just throw away, but I can do sooo much with them. If you're interested you can go here http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/reuse-cork-ideas.html

That's all for now - I'll let you know when I'm ready to take the leap and get those worms! (hannah)

Next up: Milo goes green!

He likes to snuggle.

xoxo
T

Hello

So I made it through my crazy week at work. I thought it was never going to end. We had to let go two people a couple weeks ago. One graphics guy and an editor. As is tradition in Alkemi (from what I hear) when we let people go...we start to get busy again. And BOY did we get busy. I worked 4 hours of OT just this past week (that's unusual for me). I'm starting to do a bit more now that we don't have an associate producer. I'm sort of taking on the responsibilities of that position. Which is good! I love being busy and I'm really enjoying the trailer making process. We got 2 pretty big jobs in on Friday so that's exciting. (more on that later)

So yeah I'm seeing good things happening...I just wish I saw these good/big things in my pocketbook :( but that's alright. I'm young and single so I don't have anyone to worry bout except Milo and he's taken care of :) So I have to look at things in a positive way. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, a place to work out, I've got it better than a lot of people in this country.

Okay I have to eat something - still haven't had any breakfast. Milo says HI!



Love you!
T

I'm back!

I know it's been forever since I've posted on here. So I went through and deleted all the past posts and I'm starting fresh!

News:

I've moved. I no longer reside and the little apartment on La Mirada Avenue. :) I now live in....the Hollywood Hills! Yes, you read right. I'm a resident of the same zip code of some of Hollywoods finest...and no I don't mean the police. Apparently Eva Longoria Parker lives somewhere in these hills - probably not true. Lots of reality show people buy houses here because it's cheaper to buy. I'm super happy with our place! Milo loves it here too. He has lots of windows to sit in! (I'm putting pictures at the end)

In other news I got a raise at work. Yay!! I should be able to start paying off those student loans soon. (yes I know Uncle Steve - I'll go back to school when I figure out what it is I want to do- I PROMISE)

Milo recently had a trip to the doctor. He apparently has allergies. Allergies in a cat?? Believe it! So it's just a little cortizone shot and he's all better.

That's all for now. I've got a much more active life - so I'll be able to post things more often. Sorry but still don't have a digital camera - the old one is still broken. :( So you'll have to do with the grainy cell phone pics.

Night all!
Tanya

This is the Living Room from the Dining Area:


This is the Kitchen from the Hallway:


This is the Dining Room from the Kitchen:


That's all the pictures I can handle for now...more later :)