a really great kiss *

have you ever noticed how recently-separated/broken up-newly-single women in the movies or on tv (most recently starter wife) always end up eventually professing to their girlfriends that they just need/want a really good kiss? and of course, they get to make out with some hot young thing?

well, i'd always thought it was lame and never thought i'd ever think that i needed/wanted a great kiss. but i go out last thursday to celebrate two things: my body scan and betty's birthday. there was a show that night that was completely sold out. i thought it would be like when the cardigans came to play there, but it wasn't. it was semi crazy. maybe it was because we showed up late and after amy winehouse played. so, we get there sometime after midnight. i had to pick up my cousin nina in the embarcadero which turned out to be quite an adventure. we get there and there is no line. and the cover starts up again at 12:15a. it's not yet 12:15. the band is still playing. and we certainly don't want to pay for the band. so we ask the guys up front, how much is cover right now? there's some signaling going on and tony (who is next to the stamp girl) takes her hand (stamp in hand) and stamps each of us. we're in, free. nice.

we head straight back to say hello to jason (back bar) and check in our coats. as we are greeting jessica, who else do we see? but my current favorite popscene guy... chris. and he's looking really hot. i'm totally thrown off because of the last couple of times we both were there. it was not hot at all. and there was no making out resulting in any of the two previous visits. so we chatted a little bit. and headed over to get drinks and talk to cousin jason (who earlier made out with amy winehouse!!). chris stays with his cousin and we hit the main bar to get more drinks. which is where will suddenly shows up. after drinks, i decided i had a mission, i'm making out with chris tonight. i say, i'll be baaack.

i head back over. i find chris and we are just chatting. somehow, i get him to smell my hair (it smelled like candy) and then, somehow, i get him to play with my hair. next thing i know, he's got his arm around me and is leading me to the back bar. we're sort of close. and suddenly, we're making out. it's very nice. my knees are wobbly as we're kissing. i don't know how long we'd been at it. and i'm getting really really warm. so i have to stop. i look up and see will from the dance floor. then go back to kissing him some more.

i realize later, that this was one of those really great kisses they talk about. i didn't think i wanted one but after making out with young hot chris, i'm not so sure how i feel about those stupid scenes anymore. perhaps they are not so stupid?

body scan --> clear!!

i had my annual body scan at o'connor hospital on monday. it is my fourth year and i had the procedures down. mostly. it helped that i put all the details on my blog last year. hehe.

here's what i went through...

10 days before the scan (or 11 since i started it on the 12th), i get on my low iodine diet. in summary, i must avoid the following foods: first and foremost, iodized salt (i think i am the only person who has non-iodized salt in the pantry); anything from the sea including but not limited to sea salt, seaweed, seafood, etc; egg yolks and whole eggs (egg whites are ok); dairy products (which means... no ice cream!!); bakery products containing iodine/iodate dough (i just avoided all baked goods); red dye #3 (random, i know); most chocolate (due it milk content); soy products including tofu and soy milk; certain beans (red kidney, lima, navy, pinto, and cowpeas); rhubarb and potato skins (plain mashed potatoes were fine); rice also contains iodine but depending on the amount you ate. i just avoided rice altogether too. what did i eat? i had a lot of stir fry with ground turkey or chicken. some turkey patties. a lot of fresh fruit. it was sort of a cleansing diet. cleansed of all processed foods.

the body scan was scheduled for monday, the 23rd. however, the week before included injections, bloodwork and one I-131 pill for the scan. but last monday (the 16th), i get this random call from the nurse at my dr's office. she says that there's some sort of shortage of I-131 pills and that i should call on tuesday to make sure i can come in for my thyrogen injections because if there is no pill for me, there would be no point for the injections. apparently, they'd given a patient an injection and found out before the next injection that there were no pills for this patient. hoping not to make the same mistake twice, carol (the awesome nurse that she is) had me call o'connor to make sure i had a pill with my name on it. later, i got a call that it was okay to go in for my injections. on wednesday morning, i went in (i had to meet with my doc to go over the side effects and precautionary information) to get my first injection on my upper right buttock. very interesting location. i didn't really notice any pain or side effect. when i removed the bandage, there was a small spot of blood on it. no biggie. the next day, i went in for my second injection and it was much different afterwards. it was painful for a while back there. later that day, when i removed the bandage, there was a splash of blood! much more than the first one. no wonder why it hurt. ugh.

last friday was the I-131 appointment at o'connor. i had to get bloodwork done right before the pill appointment across the street from the hospital. it used to be a really long wait but in the last couple of years, there has been no wait. which is nice. after the bloodwork, i went to outpatient registration. that took a while. then headed down to nuclear medicine. amanda, the front desk admin was there four years ago when i had my surgery there. same with dr. yen, my nuclear medicine doc. he's the coolest guy ever. always so nice and remembers me every year. we talked about how i had one year to go and i was going to be out of his hair forever. he replied that they didn't want to boot me out just yet. aw. then there's bruce, one of their techs has been there this whole time too. he's super nice. always calls me 'doll.' another tech is jennifer, who's been there at least the last 2 times i've gone. there's something really special about coming to a place, and going through a procedure that scares the hell out of you and yet, the people there that care for you, remember you and really do take good care of you. i can't thank them enough. so, i get my pill (hahah, there's a label with my name on it!) at ~9:30a and i can't eat until 11a. ugh. i was already starving. and there was this weird taste in my mouth. yuk. before heading off to work, i go grocery shopping. as soon as it hit 11a, i'm stuffing my face with almonds. mmm.

the weekend is a little boring for me since i'm still on my diet. i basically spend it alone (except the mornings when my niece and nephew wake me up). i just cleaned and ran errands. then monday, i go in for my scan. i get my lemon drops (to help keep me salivating, i know, sounds gross) as usual. the scan machine is set up like a bed, with pillows and blankets. it's quite nice. they put on some enya to help me sleep/relax. the first part of the whole body scan takes 30 minutes. there's this top part that comes down about an inch or less from my face and slowly scans every inch of my body. next is the neck scan which takes about 15 minutes. i doze off for about 5-10 minutes for each part. they have these panels in the ceiling of an island scene with palm trees and the ocean for you to look at while lying down. it's quite serene. when it's done, dr. yen comes in to tell me i'm okay or not. and i'm good to go! yay!

it's been a bit of a ritual for me to head over to nordstrom for cappuccino afterwards. i try to see some of my cousins there. and then, i head to work. i got to work around lunchtime and adriana (my work colleague & friend) is waiting for me to have lunch. she's waiting in my office with a cute floral arrangement as well as two pints of ben & jerry's. she's the sweetest ever! i've been craving ice cream SO MUCH. we had turkey burgers and came back to the office for some ice cream. yum! thanks adriana! you're the best! ♥

rocking the night away with kevin spacey

venue: the warfield
artist: the shins & viva voce
who: lou
when: 17 april 2007 (tuesday)
doors open at 7p

i've been wanting to see the shins for a while now. every time i found out that they were in town playing, it was always too late as the shows were always sold out. this time, i was keeping a watchful eye out for them.

lou and i met up after work. he works about 10-15 minutes away from me. it's nice because we have lunch sometimes. otherwise, we probably wouldn't see one another much. we got to the city sometime after 6:30p. we had plenty of time so we went to bloomingdale's for a bit. then we went to get a drink at the gold dust lounge. there was a lot of red velvet decor which made me feel like i was anywhere but san francisco. there was a certain charm about the place. we had one drink and chatted for a bit.

we tried an irish bar on the way to the warfield but it was completely packed so we just decided to head straight to the warfield to get more drinks and lou something to eat. we had tix on the balcony. i hadn't been on the balcony in ages. previously, it was all general admission, including their balcony seating. now, there are different prices. i always forget to get balcony tix.

viva voce came on first. the band consists of two members and they are husband and wife, kevin and anita robinson. for some reason, that makes me like them even more. kevin plays the drums and anita plays electric guitar. i didn't see a bass guitar. and they both sing. it makes for a very sweet rock and roll band. in the middle of their set, kevin opens up for a q & a session. that was pretty funny. no one ever does that! there was one guy in the front with his hand up. he had the same question i did. where is the bass guitar? to which kevin responds that the bass was this box to this right and that it was very complex, that a diagram would have to be drawn and we (the audience) shouldn't concern ourselves with it. hahah. their set was very rock. anita totally rocked out with her many electric guitars. at one point, she even busted out a two-headed electric guitar! very impressive.

when the shins came on, i didn't know what to expect. usually, bands don't sound good live. they usually suck live. but the shins were quite different. i was utterly surprised. as lame and cliché as it sounds, i got lost in the music. i was in this bizarre daze. with every song they played, the more love i felt for them. it was the strangest feeling, that was just so overwhelming. i got chills. i couldn't move less do anything but watch them. it made me want to listen to all of their albums again, over and over. all i could think was, WOW, they are absolutely, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, unbelievably, fucking fantastic. *big sigh*

afterwards, lou asks me, didn't you think the singer looked like kevin spacey?? james mercer (their singer) had a beard and we were on the balcony floor of the warfield. i could barely see their faces much less be able to tell whether he and kevin spacey shared any sort of resemblance. but the next day, i googled "the shins," and it was true. he looked a lot like kevin spacey. bizarro. but cool because i love kevin spacey!

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ again & again

kelly's birthday surprise

months ago, my best friend kelly's husband wrote to her girlfriends to invite us to a birthday surprise girls' night out. he planned one last year and it was very successful. she had a fabulous time. so he decided to do a part deux. unfortunately, this time no one was available. due to the numerous health conditions i suffer to which i have relating medical appointments scheduled throughout this month, i thought it was be the perfect opportunity to see her for her birthday. especially since it was the weekend following her birthday (last friday). and if i waited until after my appointments, i couldn't see her until may, for her april 6th birthday. that just wasn't right.

i volunteered to fly down to surprise her. i booked the flight and made reservations for sunday brunch. it was easter sunday and most brunch places were full. it had not occurred to me how terribly busy it would be but i will get to that later. this also worked out well because i was scheduled to go on my low-iodine diet starting the 12th of april. it continues for 10 days. this diet is actually good after our pig out feast last sunday. i'm hoping to shed a few pounds.

back to kelly's surprise birthday weekend. so far, everything is good. she's got no clue. i'm scheduled to arrive when her husband is leaving work. everything is perfect. on the day of my flight, it turns out that my flight is delayed. over an hour. and while i am waiting at the airport for my flight, who calls me? kelly. of course. as we are chatting, suddenly, there's an announcement made about my flight over the intercom. if you are on flight... going from san jose to burbank... oh shit! i ask her if she heard that. she said no and asked where i was.
me: um, at the airport. her: oh, are you going somewhere? me: no... i'm... waiting for... er, someone. (yikes, dead give away but maybe she won't notice?) her: um, i gotta go. (crap, she figured it out)

later, i called her husband to update him. first, the flight is delayed a bit longer. and second, i blew it. kelly knows. he said she'd called him about 4 times and mentioned it. so he 'fessed up. but she was still surprised. i called her back and told her as well. she was still very excited and that's all that mattered.

for sunday brunch, we went to the castaway restaurant which sits on top of a hill in burbank. the view would have been lovely had it be a clear day. but all we saw was white fog. and despite having reservations at 11a, we weren't seated until close to noon or later. it was easter sunday and completely packed. the food was decent. their cappucinos were pretty awful. we were pretty hungry so we couldn't really complain. i think i did 3 rounds of eating. finally, i was so stuffed, i could barely move. when i looked around, no one looked familiar. we'd out-eaten everyone who were seated at the same time we were. it might have been 2 hours later. oink oink.

we spent the rest of her birthday weekend eating (at old country cafe with joe in alhambra, a cute french cafe in pasadena, and port's in burbank) and shopping (h&m). and i was able to spend quality time with her daughter emily, whom i adore dearly. she is my future niece-in-law. i miss her! ♥