In effort to be serious about this whole expanding my food horizons thing and trying new things, I accepted an invitation. Earlier this week I attended a dinner for Cruzan Rum at Sushi Samba here in Chicago.

I’m not going to lie, the “sushi” in the name of the restaurant kinda intimidated me and I almost said no. But then they were all, RUM cocktails paired with every course and then I couldn’t refuse. Hell, if the food sucked and they refused to serve me chicken fingers, at least I could probably get drunk.

Then I got there and was a little confused. All the others who were attending were big Chicago bloggers, like Gapers Block or Chicago Foodies. Here I am surrounded by food bloggers and club/bar owners and answering the “oh your part of the media?” question with “Hi, I’m Jamie. I have a blog called Oh! How Lovely! and I write about my puppy, fictional vampires, Lady Gaga’s ass and hating sushi”. I really doubt I was the only one a tad bit confused by that.

But whatever, I ran with it.

Our table was covered with glasses. There were probably at least three different drinks at my table setting at once. It was kind of ridiculous but I was NOT about to give up my raspberry mojito until I was done with it, dammit.

And the food? Well, I tried lots of things I never had before.

Here’s a breakdown of the courses that I yanked from the chef’s twitter account. Yes, he tweeted the courses as they came out with photos. Pretty neat, huh?

Cruzan rum dinner scallops watermelon chili (pic)
Rum dinner tuna sevieche malaguta coconut and key lime (pic)
Blackstrap glazed salmon (pic)
Beef short rib and single barrel demi arepa roasted corn (pic)
Chocolate banana cake. Banana rum ice cream. Maple and plantain chip. (pic)

As for what I thought:

The scallops were kind of salty. They were okay but I’m not a huge fan. I definitely did not like the sevieche. The cold, the coconut and the tuna just did not work for me. The salmon was okay. I’m not a huge fish person so whatever but it was good. The short rib was fantastic! If they hadn’t of given us huge portions of each course, I easily could have finished this but I was stuffed. The dessert was nice. I liked the ice cream a lot. I’m not a huge chocolate cake fan and it was pretty rich but it was good if you’re a chocolate cake kind of person.

All in all, my first step into being more adventurous with my eating went well. I’m proud of myself that I least tried everything, even if it looked or sounded weird because I didn’t know what the hell was in it. Maybe I can bump myself up to eating like an 8 year old now.

I’m now taking recommendations for my next Chicago spot to try.

Preferably a place with raspberry mojitos.

It’s been awhile since my last book post so I figured I was about due for another (here are the first two).

Let’s see, I finished all of the Charlaine Harris books that have been released so far. And I can’t get enough. Especially now that True Blood only has like two episodes left. Looks like someone might be checking out those books again!

After talking with Suz at BlogHer, she convinced me to try some more Jennifer Weiner novels. And I did and really liked them. I read Certain Girls, Little Earthquakes and Goodnight Nobody. I really liked Little Earthquakes but Goodnight Nobody got a little too mystery novelish for me. I own and loved Good in Bed so I had to read the follow up, Certain Girls. And OF COURSE, the only copy in all of the Chicago Public Library was large print. So that was a little awkward haha

A few people recommended Sarah Dessen in my last few book posts and Miss Zoot has been raving as well, so I picked up a few of those. I didn’t realize that two of her books are what How To Deal was based off of. And I adore Mandy Moore and this movie so that was pretty neat. I read Just Listen and This Lullaby. Both good, quick reads. I’ll definitely be picking up a few more of her novels.

And lastly, I picked up Julie and Julia because of all this hype about the book and the movie. Basically? I HATED IT. I couldn’t finish it and I hate not finishing books. I got about half way through and just had to stop. I couldn’t force myself to do anymore. Plus, Julie called her blog readers, “bleaders”. And for some reason that just irritated me like no other. Julie was just whiny and annoying. But I hear the movie is much better and it’s all because of Julia. I mean, hello, Meryl Streep is amazing. I doubt she can do wrong!

Quick recap: more Eric, large print sucks, love Sarah Dessen and Julie and Julia blows.

What’s everyone else reading right now?

On paper, that is.

When I feel like things are getting a little crazy in my life, I always feel better if I write things down. I’m a fan of lists and planners and all that good stuff.

I think of myself as pretty tech savvy and on my gadget game and I love my iPhone and iCal. But it just doesn’t have the same effect for me.

I like having things spread out in front of me. Seeing my month/week/day on paper. Being able to take notes. Crossing things off. Physically being able to take a pen to things and check it off. There is so much more satisfaction in it than just clicking delete.

In my book, nothing beats a good organizer.

I’ve been depending on my iPhone too much and just haven’t been feeling as put together as I would like. I think I’ll feel better once I have my shit together in front of me and not just on a screen. It might be kind of silly but it works for me.

So right now, I’m currently looking for the refill for my adorable Angela Adams organizer.  But a refill seems impossible to find so I might have to find another. It’s hard to find the perfect one! If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Getting my life together one step at a time.

Let’s do it.

(edited to add)

I would not object to one of these Erin Condren planners magically showing up on my door. It’s seems like the perfect planner but as an jobless bum, I don’t think I could justify it!

I have this theory.

I think most people are either a Friends kinda person or a Seinfeld kinda person.

Personally, I think Friends is the greatest show ever. I really doubt I could get sick of it. My sister has somehow managed to acquire the whole series so I’m waiting for her to burn everything for me because dude, 10 seasons? That shit is expensive. But I need it.

Anyway, I think it’s hilarious and can’t get enough. But I’ve met people who HATE Friends and think it’s not funny in the slightest.

And a lot of those people are all about Seinfeld. But I just don’t think Seinfeld is funny.

Where do you stand on this Very Important Issue?

OR

P.S. Friends is obviously the right answer here.
P.P.S. But I mean, I guess we can still be friends if you like Seinfeld.
P.P.P.S. Or if you don’t like either, you might not have a soul or sense of humor. Period.
P.P.P.P.S. Except Maggie because she is awesome and definitely is not soul-less. And we both find humor in watching baby hookers in go go boots named Tootie or Toddlers & Tiaras as some might call it.

Well it seems to be that time again. You know every couple months when I have a bit of a meltdown about my body. Yeah, that time.

After seeing pictures of myself that have popped up from BlogHer and other events, watching a show full of hot bitches take off their clothes and some photos of something else that bothered me, it’s time to crack down.

Seriously.

SERIOUSLY.

When I look in the mirror I don’t see it but when photos and video roll around, I get embarrassed. How could I have let myself wear that or sit like that? Or fuck, I really look that bad?

So yes, it’s time to get things moving again. I’ll be starting the Shred again and taking more long walks with the pup. Heavily restricting my food intake, lots more water and all that good stuff.

I’m ready to see the numbers drop and some changes. For good.

If you need me I’ll be in front of my tv crucio-ing Jillian Michaels.

That bitch.

20SB video blog from Jamie Lovely on Vimeo.

Alright, so here is my first video blog for 20SB vlog day. Where I talk (kinda) about what 20SB means to me but mainly look everywhere besides the camera and just sort of ramble and be awkward.

If you don’t know what 20SB is, it’s only the best network on the internetz. So go join if you’re in your 20s. I hear they have an effing awesome community admin.

P.S. I have no makeup and the bangs were not cooperating because I didn’t straighten them so pay no mind to my face.
P.P.S. I do have lychee flavored lipgloss on though. Yay!

I got an incredible amount of satisfaction from this email.

Not going to lie.

I couldn’t help snapping a photo on my iPhone of my morning.

Edie pup laying on my pillows with her head resting on my laptop. She’s supervising my tweeting right here. Always in the middle of all the action.