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.

ysl love from my sis

for my friends who know, i have been trying to curve my shopping to save for something very big. but for anyone who has seen this blog, you'll know that i like to shop, especially for shoes. since my sister knows about the limited shopping, she surprised me with these beautiful pointed wool pumps with a wooden heel at the beginning of september. they are fabulous and a perfect fit! it's soooo exciting! she is the best sis, ever.

new order, back after 7 long years

venue: fox theater (sold out!)
band: new order
who: lisa
when: 5 october 2012 (friday)
doors open at 7p

this is the fourth time i have seen new order. the first time was in 1993, then i saw them at the area: one festival in 2001. the last time was in 2005 for the tour of their most recent album, waiting for the siren's call. come to think of it, every show was with lisa except for the last one.
see the close-up shots of bernard sumner? i had to show off the awesome zoom i have on my point & shoot canon camera. hahah.

since i've seen them, new order started playing joy division songs at their last show but didn't before that. this is nice for those of us who never got the chance to see joy division which is most of us since ian curtis killed himself right before their american tour back in 1980. here is the setlist from the show:
1. elegia
2. crystal
3. ceremony
4. close range
5. age of consent
6. isolation (joy division)
7. here to stay
8. your silent face
9. bizarre love triangle
10. 5 8 6
11. true faith
12. the perfect kiss
13. blue monday
14. temptation
encore: atmosphere & love will tear us apart (both joy division)

we were a bit disappointed that they didn't play anything from their technique album but it was still a 5-heart show for me. we left as "love will tear us apart" was ending so we could avoid the mad rush leaving the theater. and we listened to technique "all the way" home to make up for what we didn't get to hear at the concert.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ it was a fine time.

congrats, kim & kess!

this past weekend, we ventured through the heat to attend the wedding of our long-time friend, kim. i have known him since he and my sister were in middle school. he used to come over and study with her. he and i were also roommates with my sister when we were at college in san diego.

kim is one of the most romantic guys i know so i was super excited to hear that he was serious with his girlfriend, kess. i met her a couple of times at nordies so i knew she had good taste, especially with dating kim and all. the wedding took place at the ranch golf club, which is very close to lisa's house. the golf club is on top of a hill and has a beautiful view. the only downfall was the heat. the ceremony took place outside in the burning sun. luckily, it was a short ceremony and we only baked for about 30 minutes or so.
the reception was lovely. we took advantage of the open bar and the food was delicious. i caught up with old friends and met a couple of new ones. one of the bride's maids sang a 45-minute set with her band. she only sang covers but i was still impressed with her. i thought it was very special.

at the end of the night, we all hit the dance floor to kelly clarkson's breakaway requested by willis. we danced away the night and were the last ones to leave. the happy couple left for a european honeymoon the next morning. mazal tov!!

the carnival returns

the last time we went to lisa's work carnival was 2006 and the kids had been wanting to go again ever since. every year, they would ask me about the carnival. finally, after 2-3 years, i told them that it was never going to happen so they should stop asking. so when she told me there was a carnival, i couldn't wait to tell the kids.
i took the day off and got there early, when they opened it up. the kids were in school so we had to get them. we filled up with samosas, egg rolls and hot dogs. when we returned with the kids, we started with some food and cotton candy, then we headed over to the 30 foot slides (see titanic slide below).

afterwards, we head over to the water slide. the water slide turned out not to be worth changing into swimming clothes so lisa took the chunkster to the bull ride while i waited for my lollipop head to do some rock climbing. see chunkster vs. the bull ride video above. we then spot bath tubs that you can drive. i think this had the longest line but nothing compared to the boat ride at the last carnival. after several tracks of the tub ride, we went to cool off with some snow cones. as it was starting to shut down and there wasn't much left to do (we tried the face painting but it had already closed down), we headed back over to the 30 foot slides and the kids got several rides on the titanic slide. overall, it was a fun and hot day. the kids definitely want to come back again. maybe in another 6 years though i'm not sure they'll be up for 30 foot slides as teens.

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.

europe - last stop: zürich

st gallen was my first time in switzerland. despite the conversion to the euros, lisa and i still had to convert our money in each country. the swiss use swiss francs because they are special. on friday evening, we made our way to zürich. lisa's good friend from high school (thao) married a swiss guy (martin) and has lived in zürich for about 6 years.

switzerland is a marvelous place. the trains are always on time. everything seems so clean and well maintained. when we traveled from milan to st gallen, the italian train broke down so we had to switch trains and ended up arrived 10 mins late. we had a 3-minute connection that we missed so it took us another hour before we were able to meet up with brianna in st gallen. oh well. at least we made it, right? back to zürich... it was great, martin met us at the train station right as we arrived. he also helped us get our bus tickets and guided us back to their place. thao came home shortly after we were able to settle in for a bit.
we spent the weekend chez thao & martin. i personally had a fabulous time getting to know the couple and look forward to seeing them again either by returning for another visit or hanging out when they are in the states. on saturday, we explored zürich (out and about for gifts). unfortunately, it rained most of the day. the sun decided to show itself on sunday. thao & martin took us to the swiss alps in lucerne. it was a truly wondrous experience. You can find some photos here. we hung out in old town lucerne afterwards. it's interesting how nothing is open on sunday. so we couldn't do much. luckily, the businesses at the train station were open (packed actually) and we were able to pick up food there. lisa and i flew out the next morning back to london for half a day, equipped with enough swiss chocolate to last a year, or so.

after which, we spent a few hours at harrod's and shopping. funny how after shopping in zürich, london seemed cheap. and the next day, it took us over 20 hours to get home between layovers and delays.

europe - stop #3: st gallen

on st. patrick's day, we left venice and took the train with a stop in milano to st gallen. we were there to visit brianna and steve. it was really wonderful that brianna was there, otherwise, i would have never made it to st gallen. *thanks brianna!!*
we were only there for half a day but it was a full day's worth of st gallen. brianna and steve took us to their favorite st gallen eatery: restaurant marktplatz, which is conveniently located up the street from where they live. once our cute swiss waiter found out we were americans, his english came out. even though steve was trying to use his german, the swiss guy insisted on speaking to us in english. i had a big plate of crinkly fries and schnitzel which i nearly finished but couldn't, to my dismay.

the next day, we went to the abbey. the interior of the abbey (as seen in the top right of the collage) is beautifully ornate. the abbey dates back to the carolingian era (8th century). we also visited the library, according to wikipedia, is one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. there is an amazingly detailed ginormous astronomical globe that is an exact copy of the original globe, currently presiding at the swiss national museum. apparently, the original was stolen from st gallen by zurich troops during the battle of villmergen. while they returned some of the stolen goods to st gallen, they didn't return the globe. in 2000, st gallen prepared to reclaim the globe. as a resolve to keep out of the courts, zurich was ordered to make an exact copy of the globe to present to st gallen. honestly, i think the copy is much nicer (compared with pictures of the original). the colors and images are so much sharper, vibrant and defined. unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures.

brianna also took us to café pelikan. brianna and steve were on a quest for the best cappuccino. the cappuccinos at café pelikan, won unanimously. i don't know if i could consider myself a capp connoisseur, but i do enjoy a good capp every now and then or everyday. and not only was the cappuccino quite delightful but the ambiance was uber adorable. both lisa and i agreed. later, we tried to do some shopping but it was slightly disappointing. the style and prices were completely disproportionate. anything i liked, even slightly, was $$$$. :(

europe - next stop: venezia

it was my first time in venice. we had a conference on hebrew literature co-hosted with the ca' foscari university which was the first business university in venice.

lisa and i arrived at the venice marco polo airport around 4:30p. we took a bus to the piazzale roma and checked into our hotel by 5p. we missed the opening talk but thankfully, made it to the dinner reception. the reception was hosted by our very gracious italian hostess at her typical venetian home which was absolutely amazing. something from the 16th century or so. she had this great room where there were about 30+ of us, hanging out comfortably. we had good food and good drinks. it was lovely to finally meet the people i had corresponded with in the last few weeks.
the next day, we headed over to the piazza san marco (st mark's square). we were there a week after the carnevale of which there were still remnants of (confetti everywhere). we walked around for 4 hours and barely made it back for lunch. venice has so many small alley ways that all look the same. it is very easy to get lost. in fact, we got lost every time we went out. unfortunately, it rained very hard on our last day there. so much that we stayed cooped up in our hotel room. it finally eased up in the evening and we decided to set out for some shopping... to our dismay, we only had one hour. it took us quite a while to get back to the hotel but we did eventually get back. luckily, venice is super safe and a great place to get lost, even at night.i bought two pairs of shoes in italy. this pair was the one that was more fun.

europe - first stop: london

wow, i can't believe i haven't blogged about europe... yes, it's been that busy.

in mid-march, my sister and i went to london, venice, st. gallen, zurich, back through london and finally home. there was a bit of a snafu getting to london where we arrived half a day later than planned. but we arrived at london heathrow late sunday night (~9pm) and after about an hour or so getting through customs, we finally checked into our hotel by 10:30p. we hadn't eaten anything since the breakfast that was served on the plane so we made plans to go to the hotel restaurant at 10:45p, before the kitchen closed.

our hotel was conveniently located between buckingham palace and westminster abbey. we got up early and left to go sightseeing at 7 in the morning. we caught the monday workday rush. first stop, westminster abbey. next to that was big ben and then over to house of parliament to the queen's garden next to it. we took some silly pictures with phone booths on our way to st. james park. and more silly pictures through the park on the way to buckingham palace. it was amazing, it took us only 2 hours to see all of this. we had time to go back to the hotel, pack up and then head over to a coffee shop to leisurely have coffee and pastries.

and then at 1p, we caught our flight to venice.

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!!

congrats, serena & tom!!

i have known serena since ucsd (in 1998). she is one of my many good friends i know from alpha phi omega (aphio). through aphio, she was also one of about 10 house/apartmentmates during my years in san diego. and though i lived with her for a mere quarter (taking over anne's room), she is really the only former roommate i am still in contact with. but not only that, i consider her a truly great friend. despite the fact that we don't talk for weeks or months at a time, we still find the time to catch up every so often. i actually met tom back in 2003 when i went to boston to visit serena. they were friends at the time but he always seemed pretty nice.

this is me with my lovely sister at joe & carl's house before being dropped off at the hotel to catch the party bus.on the left: me & lisa just getting on the party bus.
on the right: the party bus, broken down in the middle of the street after smoke came out of the back.
this picture was taken from my seat at the reception. it was a fantastic view of the stage and the very cool jazz band that played all night long. it was exciting to be placed at such a fantastic table with nice people and not be all the way in the back somewhere random. thanks serena (& tom)!
to the left: after the unveiling of the, wait for it... candy bar!!
to the right: the aftermath... a couple of sad empty jars.
finally, right before lisa and i took our leave, this is me with the beautiful couple. the food was a chinese banquet and trust me, i've had my fill of this cuisine. but i've never really had chinese banquet food served to me. and the food here was delicious. not to forget, the very cute older chinese lady serving us was genuinely sweet and so efficient.

we had a wonderful time. unfortunately, i wasn't feeling well and didn't get to bust a move on the dance floor. but coming soon... our silly photo booth picture.

warning: don't click on this image...

... or, you'll get lost in peanut butter cookieland.

happy birthday, sweet lisa!

#2.1-j lekman - happy birthday, sweet lisa
by lablogotheque

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.

last days in chicago

day seven - tuesday, shopping & hancock observatory
lisa and i went shopping on tuesday. actually, i really just went for her. i'd pretty much finished all my shopping. we walked and walked. for hours and hours. we planned on going to the art institute of chicago museum. in the summers, they are opened until 9p and if you go pass 5p, it's free!!
on the way, we went through the millenium park. if you look in the middle of the picture (above), you can see a tiny tiny reflection of me and lisa in the bean. the park is really lovely. there are gardens and sculptures, everywhere. it was a great summer day to be out and about.

upon arriving at the art institute, it turns out that they were closed!! the free summer nights had ended, the day before! what horrible luck. so we did some more shopping while waiting for mien to get out of work.

we had dinner at kamehachi at the streeterville location where angel is the restaurant manager. we got there before mien so i had a drink at the bar. it was a tokyo cosmo and was yummy in my empty tummy. needless to say, i inhaled the edamame. i ate tons, as usual. so so many rolls... we had the dragon rolls, the green turtle rolls, the spicy tuna rolls and the rainbow rolls. on top of these rolls, mien & i shared the steak teriyaki. mmm meat. delicious!

angel mentioned that it was going to rain on wednesday, so if we wanted to see the hancock observatory, we ought to go after dinner. and we did. it was super crowded. i think everyone had the same idea we did. the hancock lounge is on the 99th floor of the john hancock center. as we were seated, this group sitting in a prime viewing booth, got up to leave. our cocktail waitress offered us the table as some much older people tried swiping it from us. denied! ha! stupid old lady said they'd tip better. people suck, don't they? despite them, it was a happy ending to a really long day.

day eight - september 3rd, field museum & white castle
our one day of culture was here, at the field museum. the field museum is chicago's museum of natural history. it took forever to get there on the bus, and then, it took another forever to get tix. there was one cashier talking to these people f-o-r-e-v-e-r. geez. so we got the basic tix figuring we didn't have time for the special exhibits.

seeing all the animals was really interesting. it's amazing to see wild animals up close and personal like that. thank goodness they are long dead and stuffed! the bird exhibit seemed to go on and on and on. if you like birds, this is the place to go to see them. so so many birds. we spent a lot of time looking at the animals. on the other side was chicago history. we breezed through it. it wasn't as interesting as the animals. we thought we'd been there for 2 hours and it felt like they were closing so we rushed out. while riding the bus downtown for some more shopping, i realized we were an hour off. we were only at the museum for an hour or so which was fine because it gave us another hour to shop around.

i found myself back at the water tower place mall since lisa wanted to try out some wow bao buns on the first floor. we tried the coconut custard bun the day before and wanted to try out the savory buns. here i am eating the chicken curry bun which was quite tasty. it was very popular there too. we don't think it would do as well here since there are tasty buns everywhere in california!

mien, linda & lisa go to white castle:
we had quite the adventure going to white castle. none of us had ever gone. mien's been in chicago for about 8 years now. it was our last night so we decided to go. first, mien had to reserve a zipcar to take us there. we did that on my phone. then we had to get a cab to the car from where we were. we got there, saw the red mini she reserved but her card didn't work. so we called in and it turned out that rather than reserving the car at 10:30p, we reserved it on 10/30 as in october. so, she changed that reservation to 11p that night. it was 10:40 or so and we couldn't get into the car until 10 minutes before the reservation. mien decided to walk home to get a pillow. while we were back at her place, she'd left her bag there and just took along the pillow and her wallet. we get back to the car and oops, she'd left her zipcar card in her purse. so, we go back to her place and then back to the car. we get into the mini. this was my first time in a mini which is funny because i wanted to buy one before i got gigi! i pulled up white castle in my vz navigator and it gave us the nearest locations. apparently, it was slightly off. we ended up on the freeway and in an area that mien had never really been to. after countless wrong turns and mien nearly running a stop sign, we made it. we weren't sure that we'd get back in time to return the car after having to go back and forth from her place. we'd made it back just in time with 10 minutes to spare! after passing this house (with a bunch of guys hanging out front) on the corner about 10 millions times, they saw us one last time and i heard one of them say, there, those girls are!

half way through - lisa arrives!!

day five - sunday w/ lisa
lisa was arriving sunday evening which meant, i was half way through my trip. :( but was ecstatic that she was coming! on saturday night (more like, sunday morning), i didn't get to bed until 4a. and i get this call... from nisa! she wasn't surprised that i answered. we talked for a bit and she asked me what i was doing with the men i was meeting in chicago. was i loving and leaving them? or trying to get into a relationship with them? my answer was, loving and leaving them, of course!

mien and i started off the morning getting crepes at la creperie. but before that, we got ambushed. well, mien did. a big friendly-looking guy came up behind her and lifted her up. then, a woman came over to me and said, you must be linda. it was sue and angel, mien's friends. sue was supposed to meet up with us the night before but we got out too late. so, they joined us for crepes.

la creperie was a cute and charming place. they served everything on these very country english (probably french) china. i had the poulet & fromage de chevre (chicken & goat cheese) savory crepe. mien had the poulet au curry (chicken curry) savory crepe which i would strongly recommend. it was so flavorful. both angel & sue were really nice and so cute together. we sat in their outside patio in the back. it was such a lovely day to be outside under shade.

we walked around and shopped a bit afterwards to walk off our brunch. while mien & i took the bus back, sue who is quite the walking machine so she and angel walked back. we got back in time to pick up a zipcar and pick up lisa, except, lisa's plane landed more than 30 minutes early. so we picked her a little late...

we still had the potluck at georges' from avec on thursday. it started after 7:30 and we didn't get there until after 9, or was it 10? as soon as we walked in, clearly looking out of place, people gave us all such a nice welcome. we went in to say hello to georges and then were introduced to everyone else. apparently, georges has this potluck (no politics, no religion) every sunday. rain or shine. even when he's in germany every 4 or so weeks. and the food, was absolutely amazing. there was steak, sausage, salmon, pasta salad, and la pièce de résistance was... georges' paella. made specially for pescetarians sans sausage and shrimp for those allergic. it was so good, i had a second helping. and, i took the paella home. heehee.

we ended up drinking and staying until 2a or so. poor lisa was so tired. and boy, georges was coming on pretty strong to me. after several attempts hinting at leaving, mien finally got it and we left. it was very flattering and fun but i was in love 'em and leave 'em mode!

day six - labor day @ navy pier
we spent most of the day at the navy pier, along with everyone else in chicago. we took a 30 minute boat ride cruising around the lake. it was amazing. 30 minutes was just the right amount of time. i couldn't imagine doing the 1 hour tour.

still going strong... kinda

... celebrating, that is.

to those who came out to my preliminary celebration at xanh, thank you all for coming on such late notice. i'd also like to thank my brother & his family for their generosity. and for those who sent me congratulatory messages via text, phone and email, i am much appreciative to you as well. they (as well as you, the sender) mean a great deal to me.

it's been so busy since the last post last monday. at work as well as home. i'm moving soon (next week? maybe? hopefully?). and, i have two meetings this week that i have to prepare for. another meeting next week. yuk.

let's recount the previous week...

monday, april 28th
clear body scan (see post below)! woohoo! i went to nordstrom for my traditional double capp right after but this time, no cousins there (it had been caroline there for at least 2 of the 5 years) to get a congratulatory hug just yet. i later got one from lily (thanks!). then off to the office to see my coworkers and tell them the news. i'd brought some mac & cheese from the last meal. and of course, after work, met up with people at xanh from 6p until closing. i didn't think i'd be there that long but people kept coming and going. i was getting messages left & right about the clear scan. i truly felt loved.

friday, may 2nd
for the rest of the work week, it was hard to get anything done. i was still in this surreal state of mind. did i really beat cancer? i was completely fearless about spreading my happy news, despite being unofficial. finally, friday came and lisa took me and another friend out to dinner. but before dinner, lisa and i went to verizon to get her a new fancy phone.

she got the enV2 (maroon), the newer version of my phone (orange). it had just come out. it was so new, they didn't have any samples at the store to play around with. and going for $179.99 with a 2 year contract. i showed some skin and she only paid $79.99. score! we got a family plan together, got the phone, transferred over her address book and all this was done in less than an hour!

she'd made reservations at the house at 9p. even at that time, it was totally packed. apparently, they are known for their grilled sea bass with garlic ginger soy. and that's what lisa had the first time she'd gone so she had it again. the house is also known for their warm wasabi house noodles with angus flatiron steak, which is what i ordered. we also had two appetizers, the ahi tuna tartare with roasted nori chipstuna and the deep fried salmon rolls with chinese hot mustard. i'd never had anything like those rolls. they were crunchy, soft, flavorful, spicy, and delicious! very special. i could barely eat half my entree as i enjoyed the appetizers completely and tremendously. the wasabi noodles were also full of flavor and with just the right amount of spice i like. the steak (cooked medium) was sooo good. slightly chewy and yet still melts in my mouth. mmm meat. just thinking about it makes me salivate.
afterwards, we went to the steps of rome café for some espresso drinks and dessert. i'd been craving gelato since i started my low-iodine diet. i ordered a double capp, which unfortunately, was more like a latte. next time, i will just get a single. the gelato was really rich and totally hit the spot. this resulted in me being a very happy full girl.

saturday, may 3rd
we celebrated my dad's 68th birthday on saturday. wow, 68. and there's no other place i love celebrating than at xanh restaurant. they have these sectioned off rooms where you can have private events. since we got there so early, this mini xanh room was essentially ours. we ordered nearly everything on the menu. there was so much food. i couldn't help myself. i totally oinked out. i'd been starving for 10 days before the scan. i indulged like i had the night before. it was great except that my sister-in-law had to work and missed most of it. :(

photo taken with lisa's LG enV2

that night, i went to leisure with louis and betty. i hadn't gone dancing since the end of march. and even though there were a few 40-somethings, i was surprised to see a lot of kinda cute guys there. i was just so content to be dancing to music i love after so long of a period that i didn't pay much attention to the boys. i know, shocker huh? hahah

sunday, may 4th
the nordstrom private shopping event where they wine and dine you so you spend oodles of $$. that was the case for me anyway. not to mention my friend grace. heehee. it's more fun when you're not the only who spends a lot of money.

let's see... i got two pairs of kate spade shoes (will post pics once they are delivered to me), a cream marc by marc jacobs bag (always wanted a cream bag - see right), and tons of cosmetics. and tons of goodies came with my purchases thanks to my special sales person (thanks debbie!). makes me a most joyous shopper. but, no more shopping for a while!! right lisa?

last meal

my last meal before my 10-day diet. i had two generous helpings of this spicy mac & cheese with tomatoes. it was delicious! my sister made it specially for me. she also made it for my birthday last year.

it's been 4 days on this damn diet and i soooo want a bite of this mac & cheese... and ice cream would be nice too. :(

i am officially starvin' marvin.