this feeling's called glorious

and i don't need you or anyone
oh this feeling is glorious

i've got hope and hate
and i'm feeling kind of great
kind of great

lyrics from glorious by adorable.

birthday extravaganza!

***yes, i'm back dating!***

first and foremost, i'm a proud h-o (home owner)! i finally got the keys to my condo on the 19th which is perfectly timed before my birthday. i was supposed to close last month and get the keys in october but this is just as good.

now onto the good stuff... birthday food adventures!! i started off my birthday with dinner at justin's in santa clara just down the street from where i now live. my lovely and fabulous bff took me. clockwise from top left: fried ravioli, baked brie, beet salad, winter prix fixe tasting w/ beers: salmon salad, rabbit & chocolate panna cotta; and sea bass.

for my actual birthday (saturday), my dear sister spent the day with me shopping and eating. i needed a couch and a dining table for the condo which i found for such good deals at the c&b outlet in berkeley. after that, we went to sausalito to hit the very last benetton shop in the bay area. and shopped some more in the city. and of course, we had to have dinner at one of my favorite north beach restaurants where the boys are extra nice to me. even without reservations, we didn't have to wait.

on sunday, i was invited to hot pot at my friend funie's place in el cerrito. the food was abundant and delicious! and the company was awesome and fun. it wasn't for my birthday but gets to be included in the birthday extravaganza.

birthday dinner slideshow

i had such a great time at my birthday dinner at e tutto qua that i put together a slideshow about it. enjoy! thanks everyone!!

20 years ago...

in celebration of my 20-year high school reunion, i decided to post age 16 ½ y/o pictures of myself. enjoy!

birthday goodies!!!

as i have in previous years, i spent my birthday with my dear sister. she took the day off to go to the city with me.

the rings above are from her. they represent us and our birthstones, in the form of diamonds. they are cognac diamonds on yellow gold (topaz for november) and blue diamonds on white gold (turquoise for december).

i picked up this pair of shoes for such a bargain! i picked up some other goodies too. we finished our day in the city with a birthday dinner at the house.

the monday i returned from my birthday week off, my office staff surprised me with these flowers. this was the first year that my staff has done something like this for me. they are too sweet.

and this was my 3rd year taking all of thanksgiving week off. i'm hoping to make it a tradition.

black swan

for halloween this year, my good friend invited me to a party in the city. i haven't dressed up in years.

in early october, as i looked around my apartment for costume ideas, i found an old dress i bought in high school. for my senior prom, i made my dress but i bought a back up dress at guinne sax. see the top image of the dresses below. when i put it on, i thought... dark ballerina! which then lead to black swan. this was actually an idea my cousin gave me this summer while traveling together in new york. she had planned on being black swan. thanks debbie!

this dress is almost 20 years old and finally worn! it was very exciting.

as you can see, i first removed the horrendous long sleeves. then i moved the petticoat up and cut the dress in half. i added feathers and gems to the bust of the dress. i bought a tiara and basically colored it black with sharpies. now, i had to figure out the make up. and thanks to a youtube tutorial, i was able to get the make up done myself. i walked in 6-inch heels for over 3 hours and the make up lasted about 8 hours. i was pretty impressed with myself.

chopped

i cut my hair and this is the first picture of me from the smashbox photoshoot. see how excited i am?

holiday festivities

on saturday, i left the house at 4p to go to stephen & rowen's annual christmas party. but first, i picked up funie who graciously came as my date. we got there a little early just before 6p. i wanted to come early as parking in the castro area is limited and a bit frustrating. we found parking easily. i also wanted to take pictures of the tree before the crowd came. the tree is amazing. i'm told there are over 600 glass ornaments (click on the image to see a close up). stephen is a collector of santas so if you can imagine, his place is covered in santas. every corner, nook and cranny. it's a santa wonderland. the food is also delicious. i hadn't eaten since breakfast so come 6p, i was quite famished. so i ate and looked at santas, ate and looked at more santas. it was a fantastic party. we left after nearly 2 hours.
despite all the food and being a bit full, funie and i decided to go to our usual italian restaurant in north beach, è tutto qua. i get my flirtation fix fulfilled there. all the italian boys are cute and fun. plus, we were celebrating my belated birthday and funie wanted them to sing happy birthday to me. their spaghetti neri is especially yummy that i actually finished it. funie and i ate most of the panna cotta too, which is so so scrumptious. after about 3 hours, we finally asked for our bill. the boys were disappointed that we were leaving so soon.

after dropping funie off, i got home at 1a. i was out for nearly 9 hours! it was like a work day, if i worked the swing shift or something. and on sunday, i didn't leave the house... at all.

birthday presents!!

a few weeks ago, i celebrated my birthday. and as most of my friends and family know, i generally like to celebrate all month long. in addition, i don't mind opening presents early. even if it is several months early. i got a new messenger bag from my sister in late august. she got it for me after i bought myself a matching wallet.

as usual, i bought myself new shoes, two pairs, though only one is shown here. the other pair are snow boots, not particular exciting but necessary if i should ever find myself in snow again. i'm not planning on it anytime soon but you never know, right?
these are gray wedges that are close to 5" high with platform heels. they are quite comfortable and i am super tall in them!

this year, my dear sister took me to a french bistro called chapeau! for my birthday dinner. they are known for their foie gras and highly recommended by friends and yelp. the food was quite delicious, especially the foie gras. she also gave me a turntable earlier that morning. i have 5 vinyl records but didn't have anything to play them. i've always wanted a record player, however, it didn't seem practical. there is something really special about playing vinyl. it feels nostalgic even with new music.

on black friday, i purchased a new camera. i've had this camera in my "cart" for half of the year. it is always fun to have a birthday around thanksgiving, as there are so many opportunities to shop for yourself. on cyber monday, i got myself a clarisonic mia. it is yellow and works really well. my face feels so much softer and smoother. it's great for daily use on sensitive skin. i highly recommend it!

i also received these beautiful tulips (my favorite flowers) from my dear friend ashley. she is a sweetie. all in all, it was a fabulous birthday! thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate! ♥

vinci park

earlier this summer, my friend jolene was in town from alabama where she is an assistant professor. i met her last year when she was still a student. all summer, we talked about going to happy hour at xanh restaurant in mt. view. she would tell me how her boyfriend, han, was always going there. but he would never take her because he told her they didn't serve any vegetarian items there (she's a vegetarian).

well, jolene and i finally made a date to go. and while we were catching up and enjoying the various types of vegetarian food we ordered, she was texting her boyfriend about it. he was going to come and pick her up as she was staying with him during the summer. when he showed up, she introduced us. as he offered his hand to me, he says, we've met before... i know you. he didn't look familiar to me, at all. and when he knew what my last name was, i got a little scared. i told him i was really sorry but i didn't remember him. i asked him where/when we knew each other. was it high school? he said, no, before that. we know each other from vinci.

i went to 4 different elementary schools (meadow homes, burnett, northwood and vinci) and i was at vinci park elementary from part of the 4th grade through the end of 5th grade. so i asked han, was it in mr. snydal's class? was it 4th or 5th? he didn't remember. he only remembered that it was a combo class (which meant it was 5th grade) and that he hung out with two kids in that class. one was me and the other kid was a boy named brian. han moved to cupertino after vinci so we went to different schools after that.

i knew i had that class picture so i told jolene that i would go home and find the picture, scan it, and send it to her. upon returning home, i directly went to my room in search for that class picture. after 15 minutes of looking, i found it! there is only one asian boy in the class and i remember him. coincidentally, i remember his name was han. i also recognized the brian kid as well.
after showing the picture to several colleagues and friends, it turns out that i have not changed at all. well, maybe the hair is different. what do you think? can you find me?

my new do

after over a year of growing my hair out, i finally got a much needed cut & style. i am fabulous again thanks to gina, at faux salon (in dt campbell). she is the best!

know better learn faster

venue: the independent
artist: thao nguyen + the get down stay down, the portland cello project w/ david schultz
who: john
when: 21 november 2009 (saturday)

last month, i went to my last show of 2009. and similar to the number of shoes i purchased, it came out to a low total of 9. in 2008, i went to a total of 17 concerts so 9 is quite sad for me. i actually saw thao back in september with ro. and had planned to see her while i was in chicago over halloween. unfortunately, it didn't work out. what's funny is that i was going to see thao in chicago with john (who lives in chicago) and ended up seeing them with him here.

before the show, we went to dinner with my friends, grace and bob. we ate at espetus churrascaria in the city. if you've never been there, it's a fancy brazilian steakhouse smorgasbord. all the m-m-m meat that you can eat. and i ate and ate and ate. i took a break and ate some more. i ate more than john did. in fact, i ate my money's worth and his! i think he was a little scared of me afterward. hahah.

after dinner, we walked grace and bob back to their place (also where we parked) and headed over to the independent. we got there early so we could get good seats. in my ripe old age, i find that i don't mind sitting through opening acts if i can secure a seat. normally, i don't care for a good view as i can't really see anything unless i'm on the second floor. the independent does not have a second floor that is open to the public. however, the areas next to the walls are spaces that are a few steps above ground level. and i was pleasantly surprised by the opening bands. david schultz started off the night. he was charmingly folky. next up was the portland cello project. i really didn't know what to expect when i realized it would be mostly if not purely an instrumental set (with the occasional vocalist stepping in). they did a bunch of instrumental covers but the most impressive of them, was the super mario brothers video game theme. it was very entertaining.

by the time thao came on, the venue was packed. it looked like a full house. she was so excited about being back in the city (it was the end of their tour). when i saw thao and the get down stay down play back in september, it was prior to the release of know better learn faster. they played one song (body) from the new album. back to the current show... seeing thao live is a treat. she is so uniquely energetic and genuine. i don't think i've seen many (or any) musicians move the way she does while playing her guitar. it's interesting because she doesn't have the prettiest voice out there, nor are her lyrics particularly thought-provoking. what she does well is how she combines her vocals and the music (with the help of an awesome producer). the end result: amusing, upbeat and catchy tunes that i don't want to stop listening to.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ yep, still girl-crushing on her.

delayed update

here is the long awaited photobooth picture. despite the large numbers counting down, in case it's not clear, i wasn't pay attention. but it was fun fun fun!!

bling! ...because i ain't waiting for any man to buy me some...

i got my first one in the summer of 2007. it's nearly 2 years later, and due time for the second one. this is the bony levy swirl ring by carriére from nordstrom in 18k white gold, diamond weight per ring is 0.51ct (totaling 1.02ct), g color and vs clarity.

i'm debating a third one...

happy 1st year anniversary to me!

last year, today, i kicked cancer's ass. naturally, i had to celebrate. it was planned last minute, but quite successful. betty and i went together. grace, bobby, tony and jordan showed up later to make our intimate party better i went to my usual place, xanh, to celebrate. shea, their bartender is the coolest. his presence helped make the celebrations fabulous. he also makes the best deviations.

and the cherry on top, kelly gave birth to her second beauty. so i had to go visit and meet sophia grace. please help me welcome sophia grace keiko burich. born earlier today @ 2:56p weighing in at 7 lbs & 15 oz and 20" long. what a cutie!

congrats to kelly & chris! and emily for being a big sister! ♥

me kissing my lollipophead

i made this animated gif file on gickr from the webcam pictures below.
fun fun fun.

new hair, new glasses

last weekend, i got my hair cut. shorter, flippy, with a different part, complete with bangs. specifically bitch bangs, is what my hairdresser calls them.

today, i got my new glasses. they are very pretty wine colored transparent plastic frames with bling on the arms which most of us ladies love. i also got transition lenses in case i find myself wearing them in broad daylight, as they will most likely only be worn at night between the removal of my contact lenses and bed. that might be 20 minutes a day.


this is webcam fun with my lollipop head.

another birthday present...

... from myself! ha. they are elf-like booties but i think they are so so pretty...

day of mmm birthday food

first stop, was santa ramen in san mateo. this is the new santa location. the original one was a hole in the wall. this one is much bigger but works the same way as the former location. you wait in line to get in. you also order before you are seated. the one on the left is the miso ramen (mine) which comes w/ pork. lisa got the soy sauce ramen w/ corn. it was mmm goodness. good comfort food after a night (& result) of 10+ drinks.
the next meal came after a visit to the california academy of sciences and some shopping right before closing time. it was dinner at the house in north beach. lisa took me here back in early may. we ordered the exact same thing we did the last time (minus one appetizer & one entree). we started with the deep fried salmon rolls. that's me ready to inhale my angus flatiron steak cooked medium complete with their yummy wasabi noodles. mmm meat. next to me is lisa, with her grilled sea bass and soy noodles with green beans.
and last but not least... dessert! again (as we did back in may), we went next door to the steps of rome as the house does n0t have the extensive dessert selection or espresso drinks that steps of rome carries. clockwise from left: me w/ lisa, white chocolate profiteroles, the boys who took our picture, and finally, panna cotta with strawberry & chocolate rightness. it was mmm so wrong but it feels so right all at the same time.

birthday drinks & cupcakes @ xanh

two saturdays ago/the day before my birthday, i had a very last minute birthday celebration. i figured, i'd squeeze in some drinks with some friends & family after my sister cooked me a very yummy dinner. having it at xanh is always convenient as the only thing i had to take care of were cupcakes. i made strawberry and coconut cupcakes while my sister made my birthday dinner. i meant to take a picture of the cupcakes. the above collage include the few pics i got with my camera before the batteries died due to overwhelming flash use (and forgetting to recharge the batteries). there were boys thrown into the mix of ladies later. all in all, it was a very good birthday.