30 July 2008

happy 300th blog post to me!

it's hard to believe that i've been actively blogging for nearly 4 years now. but it's 300 posts today! i know, fantastic huh?

in celebration of the 300th post, i've decided to write about my date last night. so there's this guy that i met from a temp job i was on in 2001, when i first moved back to the bay area. we went out once back then but it didn't really lead to anything but harmless flirtations. even after i'd left that assignment, i'd see him out and about in the city at random clubs. there was one unforgettably drunken night where i danced with him all night. there are some funny pictures from that night that are stored away somewhere on my computer at home. that was 2003.

the last time i saw him, it was at a wedding sometime in the fall of 2005. he was a groomsman and i was there with my ex. we didn't really have a chance to catch up that night. he'd instant message me randomly through the years. mostly, a hello, how are you here and there. he'd always ask me if i was married with kids.

a few months ago, i heard from him again. we chatted a bit. and kept chatting. even on the phone too. it was his birthday last week so i invited him to xanh for some pho you, pho me which is made with their very own special pho recipe. the noodles are hand-made and the beef is filet mignon. mmm... anyway, we planned to meet at the restaurant. we talked the entire time and ended up there until closing. i had a really good time with him. i'm kinda shocked about how well it went... and ended.

28 July 2008

thoughts & dreams

as i hype myself up for my upcoming trip to chicago, there have been random thoughts going on in my head. as a result, have been producing some bizarro dreams.

a couple of weeks ago, i was contacted by an old friend i met through my ex from san diego. at first, it was a little strange since i didn't really like any of his female friends. but i found a kindred spirit in her. when she called for him, i found myself chatting it up with her more and more. this was nearly 10 years ago. when he and i broke up in 2001, her friendship meant a great deal to me. it was as if we'd been friends all along sans him.

she moved to chicago for medical school after 2001. chicago is an endearing city to me because i almost made it my home in 1999. my ex got into northwestern for medical school and although he never asked me to move for him, he made inferences to it. for instance, he said med students who have significant others with them do better in medical school. so i started to look for jobs in the area. we made a trip there to find housing. and ended up signing a lease with a deposit made on a quaint 2-bedroom little house by the school. but when it came closer to our move date, he got into the med school at ucsd, which was where we were. he asked me, where do you want to go? since i had a job in san diego and had a place, i told him i wanted to stay. and after his first year at ucsd, he blamed me for having such a difficult time there. i blame him for being such a stupid ass.

anyway, i moved back to the bay area in early 2001. and our friend ended up in chicago after all these years. i lost touch with her when i was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2003. i lost touch with a lot of people. recently, she instant messaged me out of the blue. it was perfect timing as i am planning a trip to chicago. sunday night, we found time to catch up over the phone. it was really nice hearing her voice again. she told me that she had contact with my ex about 6 months ago. that he was doing a fellowship at the children's hospital there. and they met up for coffee. weird that he ended up there after all these years. it turns out that he has not changed, at all. but this wasn't news to me.

lately though, i've had these disturbing dreams of getting back together with him. this has happened twice now within this past week. and i don't know why. well, it's from recently being contacted and told that about him being in chicago. really strange as i have nothing but repulsed feelings towards him. second thought, it might be interesting to run into him after all this time.

25 July 2008

home sweet home

this is the monstrosity of an office building that i come home to everyday. our apartment is actually in the top right corner of the house with the two windows facing the side.

16 July 2008

devoted

venue: broadway studios (north beach)
artist: julie plug
who: jen & lou
when: 12 july 2008 (saturday)

i can't believe the last time i saw julie plug was in 2005! i think this was my third julie plug show. their singer, des, is super cute and has a fantastic voice.

before the show, we had some pizza and drinks. drinks at gino & carlo's conveniently located next door to the pizza place. it was good stuff. totally hit the spot. north beach is a really hopping night spot. it was lively and crowded. much fun!

after our pre-show adventures, we headed over to broadway studios which is located in the middle of the strip clubs. it was my first time there. we hoped to miss both of the opening bands but we were not so lucky. we caught pebble theory. ugh. they were horrendous. their sound was generic and noisy. nothing really original. despite having slept past 1 or 2pm that day, i couldn't stop yawning through their entire set. yes, they were that bad. and to top it off, they weren't even cute. damn them.

i thoroughly enjoy seeing julie plug. not to mention the fact that i always see them with lou. which is always fun because he knows des. he is quite the devoted fan. their songs are cute and catchy. really poppy but indie. takes me back... ahhh. i've been listening to them for quite a while. it's a shame they are not bigger than they are. they are a musical gem. you can have a listen here, on their myspace page.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

13 July 2008

august/september booties

i couldn't help it. they were 70% off and i really like booties. they are dark gray patent leather with a 3 ½" heel. i know it's not august yet but this just means there are 3 pairs left that i can buy until the end of the year...

our toothless baby

she lost her first tooth!

12 July 2008

collecting & selecting

last night, betty and i saw the ladies from the ashby house. i haven't seen them since 2006. it was july for jonna's birthday as it was again last night. that's when i first heard the term, collect & select. the theory behind this phrase is that you get all the guys you are crushing on and/or the ones chasing you in one room. the best scenario is to get them all at an event where you are the honored guest, such as a birthday event. and at the end of the night, you select. brilliant, if you ask me.

jonna was celebrating her birthday at bar kitty's in emeryville. at first glance, i couldn't imagine meeting any cute boys at this place. it just wasn't the type of place i'd go to. but i wasn't there for me, i was there for lovely jonna. as well as heather, melissa and charles (who incidentally also knows my scar buddy). lucky for us, jonna greeted us outside in the line we'd been waiting in for 20 or so minutes and got us in soon after. the bar was surprising. there's an outdoor patio that takes you inside where there's a bar and a itty dance floor that was really packed. our friend heather towers above most people so it was easy to find the rest of the crowd.

we were served one very good and generously-made irish car bomb (as long as we didn't throw up, i guess people can't hold their liquor) and a tom collins. the car bomb took me two breaths to drink instead of one and it hit the spot. it made me feel all fuzzy inside and ready to hit the dance floor. i saw this cute boy there but he was with some chick and was too young. after working up a sweat for a bit, we retreated back to the bar.

collection
while we were catching up, the same cute young boy came up to me while totally checking betty out. as if i didn't notice. he introduced himself (boy #1) to me and waited to cut in on betty. when he leaned in, i told him that she's engaged and not interested. then boy #1 tells me that he's hitting on me and brings me outside where his friends were sitting. he introduces me to boy #2 and boy #3. i asked boy #1 how old he was but refused to tell me. i asked boy #2 how old he was, 33. boy #3 wouldn't tell me either. boy #2 was really cute and harmless-looking so i sat myself next to him. he told me i looked 22. major brownie points. even if he was lying a little bit. when he told me his age, he added '1974' so i asked him when he turned 34. december. which meant i was older than him. fortunately, boy #1 got the hint and left. boy #3, was coming on to me really strong. told me that both he and boy #2 were interested in me. all the while, i was trying to talk to boy #2. asked him if he was single and told him he was really pretty. boy #3 joked that was because boy #2 was gay. and invited me to his birthday party next weekend. boy #3 even offered to pick me up from san jose to take me to his party. even attempted to entice me with my new pretty gay friend, boy #2 being there. finally, betty and heather came over to save me. the bar was closing so we had to leave. but before that, i decided i wanted to say goodbye to boy #2.

selection
i spotted him and came up behind him. he told me it was really nice to meet me and asked if i was coming to boy #3's birthday party. i told him i was actually more interested in him than his friend. so i had to decline. he said he could tell. i guess i was more obvious than i thought. but apparently not obvious enough to give his friend the hint. boy #2 asked me for my number which is a little fucked up because i told boy #3 that i didn't give out my number. but couldn't help it and gave it to him anyway...

06 July 2008

july 4th adventures

popscene re-established 2008

last thursday, i went to popscene with betty. we haven't gone dancing there in sooo long. there have been a lot of changes since the renovations took place back in april (?). it wasn't just a face lift. it was also a lift of two of our very favorite popscene people. we assumed the two left popscene. however, it was the opposite. it also turns out that popscene is now new home to douchebags as well as emo kids. an unlikely combination but as it is, they both suck, in every way possible. i'm afraid that my popscene era is coming to an end. it's no longer as fun. there's no more eye candy and hardly any room to dance. big bummer. i suppose it's time to put my dancing shoes away. i'm getting too old for this anyway.

at least jason is still there. we also heard that josh now works at the beauty bar in the mission. apparently, he still does sound checks for bands at popscene. we decided to call it a night and head out to the beauty bar to see if josh was there. it was 1am when we left and there was still a line outside of popscene. this never happened before.

a funny thing happened as we drove into the mission. we were stopped at a stoplight when i noticed this guy in the car next to us just staring at me. i don't know why, but this always makes me laugh. and as a result, the guy thinks i'm smiling (really big) at him. luckily, he went straight and we turned left. after we parked, we found ourselves surrounded by 3 french men. or so they said. at least that's what i thought. one of them was telling me that they were from france and asked us where we were headed. i told him the beauty bar and i asked him where he was from. he said dijon. like the mustard. my response? shut the fuck up!! dijon my ass. i referred them to betty as she lived in france for a year or so. when she heard they were from dijon, she said, oh? i lived in marseille. oops. oh well, i wasn't interested anyway. they got the hint when we saw josh and completely ignored them. later, josh asked us if we came with those guys. hahah.

4th of july

i spent the 4th recuperating and hanging out with my niece and nephew. we watched fireworks that night from the new house. they were small and aside from the two large trees blocking our view, but we could almost see all that was going on from the front steps. next year, we are hoping to watch the fireworks on the rooftop. that should overlook those trees.

saturday adventures

on saturday, i went to the deanza flea market with my sis for fresh kettle corn. i heart kettle corn. especially when it's nice and warm. i can't really eat kettle corn otherwise. spoiled, i guess. we had pizza for lunch afterwards.

i had planned to go to the fillmore jazz festival with louis & rich (& pati!) but was invited to a housewarming at my friend thao's place in south san francisco. it started at noon but i didn't get there until after 4p. which was ok because the party goes until 9p. i thought i'd be able to head over to the festival to meet my friends but it was getting too late. i'd decided not to until i spoke to rich and he said they were waiting for me. so i headed over and met up with them for an hour or so. i'd never gone and they said it was better last year. there's really something about being able to drink in public. we ended up at the boom boom room for a while. that was fun. i spent most of the time chatting it up with pati. afterwards, we went back to thao's for some munchies. both louis and rich had previously met thao, ages ago at popscene. despite being such a full day, i'm glad i made it to all my events!