Kate's Visit

This week, I got to have an awesome time with my cousin, Kate. I hadn't seen her in about 2 years, so it was awesome to be able to catch up. We basically stayed up until 2 most nights chatting about different things, and I actually did like having a roommate to take my extra bed for the week. I was exhausted by the long nights and early mornings (for work) all week, but it was well worth getting to spend time with Kate. I was a horrible host! Kate was teaching me how to cook some good meals, so she spent a lot of time in the kitchen. She also had to bring a lot of ingredients I didn't have in the house, and she brought bed sheets and a blender for me to borrow! I felt really bad for making her do all of this, but it was really nice of her still, and I do feel better able to make good food for myself, so that's awesome too.
She arrived Monday night/Tuesday morning at 2:30am! We unpacked everything and got things set for the morning when I had work. Supai, her new puppy, promptly peed in my room, so we had to deal with that as well, but he was cute none-the-less. We finally got to sleep at about 4, and I had to get up at 7 for work. I made the omelet she put together for me for breakfast, and I promptly forgot my lunch as I walked out the door! Kate decided to meet me for lunch at work, and instead of bringing the sandwich I had put together for myself, she brought me tabbouleh!  It was delicious, and she taught me how to make a different kind later on for lunches the rest of the week. She took Supai to a nearby dog park for a while before picking me up from work. We went back home to drop the dog off with my friends who were going to watch him while we attended a taping of The Big Bang Theory. We met Shelly at Warner Bros. as the taping was just starting. It was awesome to get to see all the actors from one of my favorite shows. I was glad to get to see the taping with Kate because she likes the show equally as much. We got to see the apartment sets and basically all the characters were in the episode we saw tape, so we got to see all the actors. The MC was the same weird/creepy guy from Mike and Molly, but we just ignored him. Although, I did stand up and say that my boyfriend was most like Wolowitz in order to get candy from him. Sorry Gianni! I also got to teach Kate a little something about TV production because she had never seen anything like this before. Always glad to share a bit about my field of choice. When we got home, we made a spicy shrimp dish, which was really good but meant to have rum in it. Kate forgot I couldn't buy rum because I'm not legal yet! Oh well. It was good even without it. Another recipe I might have to try again. I also made a new flavor of tabbouleh for myself and her for lunch the next day. I had no idea what quinoa was, but it's like couscous with protein in it, and it was really good.

On Wednesday, I had my internship again, but because I got off at 4:30pm, Kate and I decided to take a walk to the Hollywood sign to give the dog and ourselves some good exercise. On the way up, we met some girls named Hillary and Lauren. They were walking their dog too, and they were really nice. They both graduated from Emerson and are living out here now working. Lauren is a photographer and Hillary is a set designer, so both in the biz! We talked for basically the whole way up and down, and I got their information, so hopefully I have some good contacts in them if ever I need it. Networking really does happen everywhere! When we got back, Kate showed me how to make the best steak recipe I've ever had. It was an Asian dish, and the steak had a nice, salty flavor. We had green beans covered in sesames and sesame oil, and a vegetable salad with a home-made dressing. This week, I've probably eaten more of a variety of vegetables than I've ever eaten in that short a time period in my life. I still have tons of leftovers of all the food Kate taught me to make, and we didn't even get to the Mexican chicken recipe she was going to teach me because we had so much other food to eat.

Thursday, I had to get up early for my RA meeting, but when I got back, Kate and I made pancakes from Aunt Margie's recipe. They were really really good! Then, we spent a few hours with Supai at Rosie's dog beach in long beach. He had a fantastic time and tired himself out. He basically slept the whole day after that. While I was in class, Kate hung around the apartment, and we went to the hot tub when I got back. We ate leftovers for dinner, and I got a smoothie ready for the morning. She has me making fruit/vegetable smoothies to get some more servings in during the day. They are really good.  We watched the premieres of Big Bang and How I Met Your Mother before bed.

Kate left to go back to Arizona on Friday, so she ate with me in the morning before I headed out to work. I had a really great week getting to see her and learn some new recipes. I was sad to see her go, but at least I get to see her again in November!