anniversary sale

today is the first day of the nordstrom anniversary sale. so i went shopping this morning! despite the two and a half hours of sleep i got as a result of going dancing last night. i'm still doing pretty good. i think i'm still energized from popscene.

it was a mad zoo at the nordstrom valley fair store. i got there 20 minutes after they opened and i parked on the second floor of the parking structure. that never happens! it certainly didn't for the half yearly sale. there are all these things on sale that wasn't in the catalog! i saw people (mostly ladies) with arms full of clothing. it was a little scary. i decided to skip the clothes and head straight to the shoes.

i wasn't sure if this pair was going to be very comfortable but they were, surprisingly. so i got them. i got a pair of 4 1/2" michael kors platform pumps too. i'm still debating about them though. they are also dark brown. i've been on this dark brown color phase these days.

i made friends with two funny asian women who were checking me out in the michael kors pumps. they thought it was too high for them but it looked like they needed the height as much as i did. they would come by together or separately to ask my opinion about what they were trying. it was a lot of fun.

next was cosmetics for me. i'd put these two items on pre-sale so i had to go pick them up. my cousin is an assistant manager in the cosmetics department so i did my pre-sales with her. i got some other goodies in my bag too! yay!
my sister and i are going back tonight... nordstrom closes at 10p.

precious moments

last night, i came home late and wanted to see if my chunky & lollipop head (niece & nephew) were still up... and they were. my nephew says to me, i want you to have a baby so i can have a cousin to play with. omg. i don't know if someone put him up to it or not but isn't that the cutest but craziest thing?

later, i was getting ready for popscene and put some perfume on. then chunky says to me, you're yummy and asked if she could have some too. since she was going to bed soon, i told her i'd let her have some tomorrow.

i absolutely adore these babies. i don't even need to have children of my own as long as they are around. they give me so much love. ♥ ♥ ♥

back log - the 4th, blocked tear duct, & a baby shower!

4th of july

i spent independence day at muffin's new pad with sir gb. they had a grill going out on their balcony which is on a corner and faces the street. so there's no one next to you. it was quite nice actually. getting there was a little bit of an adventure as my friends(betty & gillie) & i got lost getting to her apartment. the food was very yummy and i met some cool new people i could go dancing with. heehee. all in all, it was a nice low key event. we saw some fireworks but it doesn't seem to impress me like it used to. i just wasn't interested. i think the food was distracting me. food or fireworks? food or fireworks? i took food.

thanks muffin! ♥ it was great fun.

eye update

it's been nearly a year since i had my intubation, i went back to the opthalmologist last week for a check up. i thought i was just going to have surgery and get it over with. but there were some problems... he said i had three options. they are:

1- some sort of balloon intubation where they stick a tube inside my tear duct that is blown up to stretch the tear duct. but he said that procedure almost never works. so, scratch that.

2- do another intubation. last year, the tube was too tight and rather than leaving it in my eye for a few months, it was there for a few weeks. initially, i felt drainage so i was excited that it was working. but the tightness created problems. my eye started to get infected and my tear ducts were getting stretched and droopy.

3- the last option is surgery. he'd open up the side of my nose and make an incision to try to stretch out my tear ducts. the problem here is that my condition isn't that bad. and apparently not ideal for surgery. if i went through it, i would end up with a scar on my face, which is likely to become infected since the area we are dealing with isn't sterile (my nose) and that would make the scarring worse. plus, it may not even work! ugh.

we talked it over some more and i decided on doing the intubation again. i don't think i posted in detail the whole procedure. i guess i said it didn't hurt but it really did. in fact, it was a bit traumatizing. although, now that i've been through it, i know what to expect and it may not be so bad the second time around. so, the plan is to leave it in for 4 months instead of 3 weeks. the procedure is scheduled for august 2nd. wish me luck!

my cousin's baby shower

this past sunday, my cousins (proud parents-to-be debbie & roger) had a baby shower. they are expecting a baby girl. it's very very exciting. they got married last september and were together for over 9 years before that! as they are still attached at the hips, they have been very much in love for the entire time. it's refreshing to see that kind of love still exists.

i was asked to make tiramisu and cream puffs and bring drinks. well, i was a little overzealous with the alcohol. i bought a case of champagne and two bottles were barely touched. i spent most of saturday (until well in the am) trying to finish baking the cream puffs (baking them in my mini convection oven was 30 minutes for every 9-10 cream puff, i made 40) and the tiramisu. which was a total disaster! i had total of ten tubs of marscapone cheese. out of the ten, only two was good. the rest came out curdled. i'd never been so frustrated at 4am before. on two hours of sleep, i woke up early to get more marscapone cheese to make at least a batch of it for the shower. out of the four, i purchased that morning, only two worked. so i had 13 single servings of tiramisu for about 30 people. oh well. thank goodnes for my sister who came over to help me finish up with the cream puffs. the custard didn't turn out for that so we put cool whip inside with strawber- ries. oh yeah, i cut my thumb (while cutting the strawberries) and smashed my index finger closing a door on it. all on the same hand. at least it was my left hand.

there were fun games, good food, and great people. kelly was also there for it. she sat with us in our "winning" table. each one of us (even though i was the last one to win something) got picked for prize from a game. i will post more pics when i upload them from my camera. despite everything, i had a wonderful time!

they are a lovely couple and i'm so very excited for them! congrats debbie & roger! i ♥ you both!!

adventures at kirala's

i'm posting late (sorry melissa!) because um, i was sick on thursday and have been super busy since...

last wednesday, we went on a ladies night out at this very yummy sushi restaurant called kirala. betty used to go there all the time when she lived in berkeley and she knows the owners. as well as everything to order.

as we are chowing down our scrumptuous food, i see, in the corner of my eye this really cute guy. he's in the kitchen somewhere and i see his face peek through the circular window. and he's such a cutie! i think i was pigging out on ice cream when i saw him watching me. i laughed as i caught his eye. and he returned my giggles with some himself. it was all very high school. which made it cute and obnoxious at the same time. one of the owners took me back to the kitchen to meet him but as soon as i got back there, he sort of ran away and hid from us. so, i went back to my seat. after exchanging more looks, the owner came over to me with a piece of paper. it had his name (ogi) and phone number on it. i sent back a piece of paper with my name and phone number. then we decided we were going to stop being annoying so we left.

on the way to the car, the owner was saying goodbye to us from a window above and ogi was with him. that's when we introduced ourselves. betty said it was like a scene out of a cheesy japanese movie. it was funny in a cutesy cheesy way. and we were off to the next adventure...

we end up at a bar in oakland. i can't remember the name. the bar had nice ambience. and jonna's friend charlie joins us. we were there for about one drink or so and decided we wanted to go dancing. so we head over to luka's. while en route, i get a phone call. it's ogi and it turns out he lives right by luka's. so we invite him to join us. about an hour or so later, he shows up with his friend agi. we find out that ogi is 24 and is from mongolia. he also speaks russian! but as luka's is closing, ogi suggests this korean karaoke place somewhere off of telegraph.

we get there and the karaoke is closed so we sit in a booth and drink. ogi & agi order 2 pitchers of beer and some alcohol. we have these sake-bomb-like drinks. so it's me, betty, joahnna, melissa, jonna, ogi and agi. and i remember having a forth shot but nothing much after that. apparently, betty said i had 6 or 7. which freaked me out because i wasn't sure what else i didn't remember. and um, i didn't remember the making out part. ugh.

i don't really remember much else but waking up in betty's spare room and being sick all day on thursday which wasn't so fun. :(

a carnival with the kiddies

last thursday, my sister invited me and the babies to her work family carnival. she took our nephew last year but as it was just the two of them and he didn't want to go on any rides, it was a bit boring. this year, chunky is old enough to go so we both took them.
we waited in line for... gosh, it could've been an hour or so, for this water ride inside this kiddie pool. and at the last minute, jaden didn't want to go. thank goodness chunky still did. but it only lasted a minute, she started looking very lost and then cried until she was taken out. i have it on video, it's actually quite hilarious.
the train ride was better. the line was shorter and it went faster. plus, lisa & i could ride in a train car with them. the train went in circles around the parking lot.
there was this huge pokemon where kids were playing inside. chunky kept saying poke! poke! and there didn't seem to be much of a line so we went over to check it out. it was okay. just a bunch of babies inside chasing balloons that were being blown by a fan. chunky seemed to really enjoy it. she wanted to stay even though our turn was over.

we took a food break after all this waiting and playing. they had hot dogs, soda, popcorn, beef taquitos, cheese & bean quesadillos, hummus, spinach dip with flat bread, meat balls in tomato sauce (random), egg rolls, and ice cream. we oinked out. it was fun.
jaden saw someone with a stuffed tiger so he decided he wanted one. we went to where they had them. it was this bowling game. it seemed kinda hard so i didn't want to play. i was sure i would've lost it for him. so, we had jaden play. the guy in charge was really nice. every pin that jaden hit, he gave him. he even gave jaden 3 extra balls to bowl. the last one was soooo close. it ricocheted off the side and hit the very last pin. and he got his white tiger.

afterwards, we took them up this high slide. actually lisa took them, i was in charge of taking pictures. but the battery in my camera died so i couldn't get one. i tried taking it with my camera phone but it crashed my phone. i had to restart the phone. then, the kids got their arms painted with flowers (for chunky) and butterflies (for jaden). i took a picture of it with my camera phone but it didn't come out.

everyone had great fun. can't wait for the one next year! thanks lisa!

like two peas in a pod

after the grad party, betty and i headed up to the city to meet up with her friend huy. we got there a little late but it was still hopping in the castro. i haven't gone on a saturday night in ages. it's been so long that i don't even remember the last time i went. we met up with huy and his friends at the bar. there was an event earlier in celebration of hunter's (huy's best friend) return from north carolina. he moved for school and is back. he's really cute and has this sweet southern accent.
between huy & hunter, they seemed to know everyone and anyone. we were stopped so frequently when we left the bar on the way over to another club/bar destination. what would normally take 5 minutes, took 10-15 minutes! i guess it didn't help that it was packed everywhere. there were gorgeous and friendly men everywhere we went! at the second club, we met keith and azul who we chatted up for a bit. the great thing about gay men is that they are totally honest (well, to straight women anyway), fun, hilarious and so complimentary!
despite having to work the next morning, i didn't look or notice the time. well, i couldn't because i left my phone in the car but, i never asked what time it was. afterwards, we went to have pizza. it really hit the spot. we ran into more of hunter & huy's friends there too. surprise, surprise. they saw us eating inside and came in to say hi. even though we'd only just met hunter, it felt like we'd known and hung out with him & huy for ages. it's no wonder they are best friends. they are both lovely. their friendship reminds me a little of mine with betty. it's so refreshing to meet new people like us, hahah.

spike's graduation party!

on saturday, spike had her long-awaited-not-quite-done graduation party. her parents dr. tom & kathy drove across the country to be with her on her special day.

there was a lot of good food, drinks, and 4 different cakes... mmm. i think the carrot cake was my fav. it was a lot of fun. nice to catch up with some people i hadn't seen in a while. both betty and i were happy to be a part of it. congrats muffin!

we ♥ you!!

finally, everyone is looking at the right camera. yay!

adventures in curling chunky's hair

fun fun fun

out celebrating with betty

when betty and i are together, we have too much fun. it started off at the village to celebrate the end of the school year teaching for her. we went to the village for drinks and dinner before heading out dancing. the strangest thing happened to us there, we sort of picked up on this guy, together. his name was sebastian and is from montreal. we asked him to come dancing with us. and he did. we never ever do that. play tag team in picking up men. he was such a cutie. he was so charming and friendly. maybe we couldn't help ourselves.

at popscene, he was even more fun. he danced with us all night, bought us drinks, and humored us with our paper-airplane-making games. will was there too but at first, he ignored us. not sure if he was trying to get us to go to him as he is always coming to us. he even walked right by us and didn't say a word. whatever will. eventually, he saw us and ended up in the vicinity of where we were. i guess his friends met up with him there so he was dancing with them. and after his friends had gone home, he finally came over and danced with us. i was a little intoxicated so i was jumping all over the place and jumping into will all over the place. i think he loves it. he loves the attention anyway.

it was so much fun. we might see sebastian again tonight. i'll have to bring my camera.

good news for coffee-addicted alcoholics...

i heard about this on npr this morning:

A study shows coffee may help offset liver damage caused by alcohol abuse. Alcoholics who drank more coffee were far less likely to develop cirrhosis. But researchers warn that coffee does not erase all risks of heavy drinking.

i guess i don't need to cut down on my coffee intake!

my new shoes

they are dark brown mary jane wedges with a 3 1/2 inch heel.
aren't they the cutest?

another 5am saturday

last week, it was the mediterranean dinner party with lou, ro, betty, johanna and gillie. the dinner started at 8p but i was up until 5a. needless to say, i slept in last sunday until gosh, i think it might have been 4p. i went to the village and had a nice chat with anthony until 1a that night.

this past saturday, it was me and betty with joe and his friend jesse. we were at the village drinking and being merry. but got kicked out by the new manager dan (anthony had gone home) and so we met up with joe and jesse at some dive bar. it was fun. after last call, we hung out in betty's car talking and listening to music. it was quite an adventure actually. not sure what time it was when we started heading over to joe's but i started fading at 5a and that's when we called it a night.

i woke up at 2p on sunday and met up with betty for a late lunch sometime before 4p. i stopped by the village to say hello to anthony. apparently, he'd been running around shopping for me for my "surprise" on tuesday. he said i was hard to shop for. um, ok. i'm dying to find out what the heck it is. betty knows but promised she wouldn't tell. she's good about secrets that way. damn her. (hahah, just kidding betty!) gosh, tuesday is already tomorrow! can't wait...

update

so, what happened last week that made my week so horrible?? well, for starters, one of my students attempted to commit suicide. i'm not sure if i want to say anything else but that she's okay and is going to take a leave of absence. i've been here for nearly five years and in all those years, i've never experienced this sort of thing. it was just too close to home. how does someone in their early 20's, who has her whole life ahead of her, think life could be so bad that it's worth ending? i just don't get it.

otherwise, things have been okay. i may be spending too much time at the village with my friend anthony. anyway, that's it for now...

an angel... sometimes

yesterday, after coming home from work (with a short nap on the train) and seeing my 5 y/o nephew, he says the sweetest thing to me...

you look pretty today.

it totally throws me off because i'm so used to his usual you look funny (accompanied by some giggles) comments about my appearance. since he was being so sweet, i decided i'd spend some quality time with him. so, we go downstairs to my apartment and as i'm cooking up some dinner, he says...

you look like an angel. and later says it again.

children are brutally honest that they really mean what they say. so i have no idea where all these compliments came from. maybe i was having a good hair day, i'm not sure but i know i wasn't used to him saying all these nice things. he's usually driving me up the wall. but he wasn't and it was really wonderful (considering the week i've been having, ugh, i'll post about it later).

he's a great kid and i love him to pieces.

voxtrot... my new addiction

i know i've already ooh'd and aah'd over them but i can't stop. i put one of their songs on my phone/mp3 player to listen to and i keep playing it over and over. this song, the start of something is like a really long smiths's song. you expect it to end half way through but it keeps going and going. it's really energetic and lovely at the same time. it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. and i want to break out dancing. anyway, i was thinking about them and how they have a couple of songs for downloads on their website. they have a couple of more songs to listen to on their myspace page. i listened to all of them, over and over. and can't get enough. so i went and ordered both their eps. i hope they come soon. i really need more to feed my addiction on.

they are so good. it's a bit refreshing. i can't get over how much i like them. it's so rare these days. i know there is good music out there but i'm always disappointed. nothing has made me stop in my tracks like this in such a long time. they seem so genuinely talented.

i wish we had gone to their gig at the bottom of the hill. that would have been awesome. oh well.

the start of something... voxtrot

venue: slim's
artist: elefant, voxtrot and some forgettable opening
who: betty
when: 27 may 2006 (saturday)
doors open at 8p

betty and i saw elefant on saturday at slim's. we were there for the first opening band but i can't even remember them because they were so unoriginal. they sounded grungey. it was very 90's. slim's was actually really packed.

the reason i like elefant is for this song called make up. it's a really sweet and romantic song. and unlike most of their other songs which are on the cheesy side. or, it's the way their singer sings them. he's such a drama queen. he sounds like he belongs in theatre. there are a few other songs i like on the first album but the second one hasn't grown on me yet. they were okay. betty remembered them from popscene ages ago. i don't. that's how it is with most bands i see at popscene, they are all forgettable. it's sad really.

speaking of forgettable, well unforgettable more like, surprise surprise. i found myself truly enjoying the second opening band. they were called voxtrot and are from texas. they introduced themselves as 80's revival which initially turned me off. but with every song they played, i was in jaw-dropping shock the whole time. i liked their entire set. i think i liked them better than elefant. they were just so cool and fun. i'm getting their cds! so, does that mean i like 80's revival? um...

after we heard make up, we decided to leave so we could hit the dance floor at leisure for a couple hours. it was after midnight when we left. we had less than two hours. despite the expected crowd disappointment, the music was still pretty good. and we danced our hearts out. it was so much fun. we always have so much fun.

good times...

it was a night of dancing non-stop (for me & betty, anyway) and vic trying to catch up with us. at the dna lounge last saturday in the city. the night was popscene vs. new wave city. the big dance floor was all 80's and the small room upstairs was the indie/brit pop room, which was a lot more crowded than the big room. they played oldies like send me an angel by real life and unbelievable by emf. aside from the gross 40 y/os and gigantic 6+ foot woman, we had a grand time.

afterwards, we got crepes from the crepe-a-go-go place we try to frequent after nights at slim's. it was yummy and the guys working there were hilarious. they wanted us to join in their dance party in the truck but we decided to have our own dance party out in front while waiting for our savory crepes. i didn't get home until after 3 and didn't go to bed until 5a as i was still buzzing from all the fun we had. my legs still ached yesterday from dancing but it was all worth it.

thanks for the memories (& the pics), vic!

observation

now that the sun has come out, sort of, open toe shoes (sandals, what have you) have come out. one thing though ladies, please, please, get out those callus stones/shavers/filers and home pedicure sets because if you are going to show off your feet, make sure they are presentable! trust me, people do look at your feet! and they are disgusting. sorry to break it to you but someone's gotta say it.

annual body scan...

my body scan for my thyroid cancer was this morning. i've been on a low-iodine diet since last saturday. and i think i've dropped at least 4 lbs. all i eat is fruit and veggies. i'm allowed up to 5 oz of meat/day. i'm always hungry. it sucks, i'm dying for a big piece of brie with crackers. ugh.

so here's what the scan entails:

early april, i see my endocrinologist with results from a recent blood test for my thyroid hormone levels just to make sure i'm ok in the medication department. then we schedule appointments for my thyrogen injections, I-131 pill and then the body scan. and i have to start this low-iodine diet 10 days before the scan.

22 april, i start my low-iodine diet. i buy a big container of fresh, pre-cut fruit from costco. then i pick up some fresh and frozen veggies from trader joe's. one thing, i can have alcohol! woo hoo!!

26 april, first thyrogen injection in the right upper butt cheek. i know, eek. but first, i get weighed and since the last time i was weighed (early april, see above), i'm 4 lbs lighter. i think it's the diet. i've cut out all processed foods. anyway, i go in to see my endocrinologist but i don't see him. i see him the next day so i don't have to pay my copay until the next time. nice. i have to stand on one leg and they inject the thyrogen in the side of the butt cheek of the leg i'm not putting pressure on. it hurts a bit and is sore for a while.

27 april, second thyrogen injection in the left upper butt cheek. so, i get these injections to trick my body into thinking i have no thyroid hormones in my body. that way, when i have the body scan, it doesn't detect the hormones and confuses it with cancerous thyroid cells. previously, patients were required to be taken off of the meds and went through hell. at least that's what i'm told. i never had to go through it. thank goodness.

28 april, 131 iodine pill. thyroid cells are the only cells in your body that absorb iodine. this body scan is specifically for thyroid cancer as it scans for iodine cells. basically, the iodine is like a dye that gets soaked up by thyroid cells. getting the 131 pill requires to fast starting at midnight the night before. oh and i had to go in for a blood test before the pill.

today, 1 may (can't believe it's already may), the whole body scan. i went in at 8a. they give me sour candy (lemon drops) to stimulate my salivary glands. then i lay down on the scan which they set up nicely with pillows and blankets. about 45 minutes or so, the top of the scan, which has these cameras in it, comes down about an inch from my body and scans my whole body very slowly. since i'm not allowed to move, i fall in and out of sleep during this time. after the body scan, my neck is scanned for about 10 minutes, then they put this plate beneath my head and scan me for another 5 minutes. finally, my nuclear medicine doctor reads the charts and tells me if i'm okay or not.

and today, i'm okay! two more years until i am cured! yay!

destroy everything you touch

venue: mezzanine
artist: ladytron
who: betty, lou, rich, ro, quyen, jen & jonathan
when: 28 april 2006 (friday)
doors open at 8p

this was the second time i saw ladytron live. the first time was at bimbo's during their first album tour. it was with pretty much the same group sans betty. i felt almost the exact same way... on a few hours of sleep from going to popscene the night before and dying because my heels were killing me. and it being very late. ladytron didn't come on until midnight or so. we left a little early and that was close to 1am. i was dead tired and glad i wasn't driving...

i forget who the opening band were, but that pretty much says it all. they were forgettable. that's better than saying they sucked, right? which they did. i would have so skipped them had they come up on my online radio station i subscribe to.

the night was supposed to be pretty interesting... ro and quyen who stopped speaking to rich and usually don't agree to go anywhere he'll be. but they did this time, so it was interesting how everyone would mesh. at first, ro didn't really acknowledge rich but later, they said a few words at each other, not necessarily to one another. i'm not sure that quyen said anything to rich. i didn't see anything interaction between them. it was a little disappointing but a good start, i suppose.

ladytron was good. there were two extra people on stage. betty mentioned she didn't know there were 6 people in the band, i thought there were just 4. apparently, they were from a different band on tour with them... or something. it was the first time for us at the mezzanine, bigger than we expected it to be. it reminded me of this club i went to in LA with joe & eric over halloween weekend last year. they did evil, that was a highlight. but i can't seem to remember the rest, aside from the overall exhaustion and my feet ablazed with pain. the show was pretty good but i prefer the smaller venues with seats and stuff.

betty's baaaack!

my partner in crime is back from china! i saw her at the gym last night and said enough omg's to pass as a 14 y/o (that's how old my gym instructor told me i looked but i'm sure she was joshin' me).

omg, omg, omg! i'm so excited! we're going to popscene tomorrow. i know i just went dancing with my sister the other night, but it wasn't popscene and popscene is in a category all on its own. besides, it's my cardio for thursdays. heehee.

come dancing...

i called my sister on friday to see if she wanted to come dancing with me in the city. she accepted and we caught up with each other. it was really nice. i realize how much i need her. she's my little sister after all. we were so close at one point, it's really sad that we started to grow apart...

tonight, we went to the fragrance fair at nordstrom. she hadn't seen our cousin debbie in a while so that was a nice mini reunion as well. we had a good time shopping.

yesterday, i started my low-iodine diet. for those who know me, i am having my annual body scan on may 1st for my thyroid cancer. i didn't have to really do the diet last year but i did it for the first year. the thing with being on a diet is, when you are restricted to certain foods, that's all you seem to crave. i am not allowed dairy products on my diet amongst many other things. but i so want some brie and cheddar. i've been eating so much fruit, i'm not sure it's good to have so much. luckily, i can have wheat bread (no white) of which i really enjoy. i've been eating wheat toast with egg whites. sounds yummy, doesn't it? i have 7 more days on this damn diet. good thing, alcohol is allowed. i'm still buzzing from the pinot grigio tonight. heehee.

so i keep going back and forth with the ex thing. i miss him but i don't and not in a pathetic way if at all. i'm leaning towards not. but my heart still flutters a little when i see a picture of him or when i hear his voice on the phone. it's funny, he told me once that my taste in music was so rare in a girl. i seem to be finding the same thing being rare in men i meet, which seems to be one of my top ten if not my top non-negotiable trait. oh well, moving on...

which transitions to the next topic very well. usually, i'm an optimist. and even an incurable romantic, if i do say so myself. but after going to happy hour with a work colleague and discussing life over a few drinks, he brought up a very interesting point. what exactly is love? as a romantic, it's something of passion and is unconditional. when you know you can't live without someone. that's love. but as i've experienced, you can pretty much live without anyone and everyone, but yourself. love seems to be a very misconceived notion. i think many of us want to believe that you can just live on love. but that's not so. you really have to work at it. if you don't, you don't have love. you get hate. and some other unnecessary evil emotions. i've always thought that if i really loved someone, we could always work things out. but it just doesn't work that way. it's a two way street. if one of you don't want to work things out, the relationship is doomed and love is non-existent. rafal (my work colleague) makes a very interesting argument. he says...
i know how it feels to like someone
i know how it feels to really really like someone
i even know how it feels to hate someone
but, how does it feel to love somone?
it's something that people like shakespeare created in his stories and poems.
despite being an eternal optimist, i couldn't help but agree with him. maybe one hopes that they know what it is to love someone. maybe it's something that slaps you in the face. or, it might be something that creeps up on you. i know that i feel love and i don't know if i can explain it. i just know i feel it. well, i hope that i do because i don't think i could really be myself, without feeling love for my life and my surroundings in which i am more than thankful for.

one last thing, to my partner in crime... happy belated (yesterday) 31st birthday betty!! miss you tons!

missing my pisa

i don't think i've really spoken to her since before her birthday in december...

swansongs

i've been listening to a lot of polak lately. i recently purchased their first album (out in 2000), swansongs. i got their second album when it came out in 2002 (i got it in 2003) and absolutely was addicted to it. the singer from polak was in the band adorable. he's got this really sexy voice. it's a little raw and a little dark. it's hot. and the songs are really deep and melodic. i loved adorable and still do. i always love polak. there are so many underrated bands out there, adorable and polak are two of them.

i seem to get into these phases... i am so in my polak phase right now where i just want to find out anything and everything i can about them. unfortunately, they don't have much out and i've got most of what's out there on them. bummer.

mee's going away

last saturday, april 15, i had my first dinner party in a really long time. i love to cook, especially for friends & family. i used to have these theme dinner parties during the mlk days. i almost forgot how fun it is.

the menu started with caprese. then there were three main pasta dishes, lasagna (of which the sauce i'd started making since noon and finished at around 4 or so), pesto, and carbonara. i used ground turkey in the lasagna and turkey bacon with turkey sausages in the carbonara. so, it's a little leaner than if i used the regular stuff. i also made some garlic bread. and for dessert, i made tiramisu with khalua, as always.

jackie is my former boss. she actually hired me. and connie is the one who convinced her to. so, i have the both of them to be eternally grateful to. they are also great friends to me. i no longer work with them but this is what we call our ips gang. jackie is married to rob. spiro & mee are former ips students back when jackie was the ips administrator, my previous position. anyway, the lot of them brought me flowers and ate my food with a full appetite. i could not ask for better guests. even little cena (she's 2!) was a gracious guest. may is her lovely mother and also expecting another little one.

mee is finishing up his phd in political science. he will return to thailand and work for their ministry of foreign affairs with his good friend netty (who was also part of our ips gang but finished up last year). i have known both mee & netty since i started at stanford nearly 5 years ago. it's hard to believe that mee is leaving. on the one hand, it's great for him and thailand. on the other hand, he will be missed very much. he's been a great friend to me over the years. i suppose i will just have to go to thailand to visit them both!

my goddaughter, hopefully...

this is kelly's beautiful little girl, emily. she is 5 months old and one of the sweetest babies i know! everytime i visit her, she's always smiling at me. she was so good when i watched her. even though it was only for about 30 minutes. her cheeks are so jiggly and she makes me giggle!

she's going to grow up to be such a beauty! she's already a darling...

behind in postings

kelly's surprise birthday

on april fool's day, my best friend's husband decided to surprise her by planning a surprise party the weekend before her 32nd birthday. he offered to fly me down to burbank but i couldn't take him up on it and since i was planning to visit her for her birthday anyway, i booked my own flight. i had a voucher so it didn't cost me anything. and surprised she was! seeing her speechless and confused was so wonderful!! i was so happy to be part of the occasion!

we decided to take her out on an all girls' night out to asia de cuba in west hollywood at the mondrian hotel. joanne and karen drove up from san diego to also surprise her. gail, her landlady and friend was also in on it. kelly's husband stayed home with their 5-month old daughter. i was told that everything at the mondrian in white. the staff/waiters are all dressed in white. when we pulled in, it looked like there were a bunch of house painters in spotless uniforms. it was really posh and fun. apparently, there are celebrity sightings at the mondrian.

we didn't actually see anyone but had tons of fun. the food was so good. it was an asian and cuban fusion. i'd had asian fusion before but not with cuban food. we had 3-4 appetizers and 3 main dishes. it was family style and more than enough food for the 5 of us. i had a pineapple mojito which was their specialty (they also had mango mojitos). i'm not a big mojito fan but it was delish!!

we started with lobster potstickers, grilled pesto shrimp, fried riceless sushi rolls, butter fish, pan-seared ahi tuna on top of wasabi mashed potatoes, and a cuban chicken dish thai coconut sticky rice steamed in a banana leaf. it was all soooo good.

we all had a lovely time and kelly felt like a regular person again, being out and about. happy 32nd kel!! xoxo!

day five - monday, march 27th

for my last day in chicago, i decided to see the sights. i had planned to go up either the sears tower or the hancock observatory and then spend the afternoon at the museum of contemporary art. so i headed back to the magnificent mile and walked along the street. my first stop was the hancock observatory. it cost me $11 to go up 80 miles. it was pretty cool. this was straight down from the top.

next, i decided to check out the museum of contemporary art. in the back of my mind, i was thinking... hmm, maybe i should check if they would even be opened. many museums close on mondays. and as luck would have it, they were closed, of course. i decided that i was done with seeing the sights, so i went shopping. across from the john hancock center was this lovely presbyterian church.

i shopped until mien got off of work. i got two new belts at filene's basement. we met up at marshall fields. she bought me some of their signature mint chocolates. it was quite yummy. we decided to have dinner before my flight. we walked around and stumbled upon this place... she'd never been there but was curious. the bistro 110 was good. they gave us a card with my name on it and a recipe for oven roasted garlic. they served it with the bread. i'm going to have to try it sometime.

mien took the train with me to the airport. we talked the entire way. it was so nice to see her and chat in person. we've caught up over the years on the phone but there's something special about being able to see emotions and expressions. she watched me go through security and didn't leave until she could no longer see me as i headed towards the gate. i had so much fun. i can't wait to go back when the weather is warmer.

buenos dias!

hola!

i'm taking a beginning spanish class, so expect some spanglish in the coming posts...

me gustas la clase d'espanole. heehee. that's probably wrong huh?

day four - sunday, march 26th

sunday was the day before my last day in chicago. mien and i took the train to chinatown for dim sum. unfortunately, when we got to triple happiness, everyone else in chicago was thinking they'd have some dim sum too. so we went down the street for lunch. not dim sum but good and cheap. afterwards, we walked along the main chinatown drag. went into a few stores and i bought some ergo candles that are made out of soy and burn faster than wax candles. the scent is called trio. i've actually bought this candle in a different size. the scent makes me think of my childhood... ah, the memories.

we got boba before leaving chinatown. i had a papaya milk tea with boba. it was huge and cold. they mix papaya with milk tea and ice so it's more like a shake. i could barely hold it in the brisk cold weather. we got back on the train and were off to armitage, an area of chicago that's really quaint and cute. there were victorian buildings with bay windows and it made me think of san francisco. it was really charming. mien and i did some shopping at the lush store there. i got this lemony flutter stuff for my cuticles, elbows and feet. i love products! especially multi-functional products. i've been using it every night.

after lush, we had some hot chocolate at the ethel's chocolate store a block up the street. i think this was one of the best cups of hot chocolate i have ever had. it was rich but not too rich and sweet but not too sweet. usually, hot chocolate makes me sick and my stomach churn. but this one didn't. i wanted more. the two of us had a lovely chat while sipping our hot chocolates. it was so nice to just lounge with a cozy cup of hot chocolate. mmm...

so recently, mien and i had one big thing in common. we both had younger musician boyfriends. hers was 24 and the epitomy of a rock star, tatoos and all. mine was 25 and looked like more like a business student. anyway, they were younger, hotties, and fun. that was two years ago, since then, we've lost our rock star boyfriends. mien took me to hear her ex-rock star boyfriend sing in wicker park. this was where they met. it's a piano/jazz bar called davenport's. the bartender made us this drink called a rootbeer float, it was soooo good. i could've had 3 more. the music was good. i was impressed by her ex. who knew his voice would come out of someone like him. big voice but looks like a kid. and plays the piano like a pro.

we didn't stay too long. we went for some dinner before it was too late. so we headed up the street and found this wine place. we were still full from the chinese food earlier so we just had some appetizers. since i was in a wine café, i decided to have wine. i think there were 6 different pinot noirs in the flight i tried. they were closing so we stayed a short time.

we cabbed it home for facials, incense burning (mien purchased the same place i got my candles), and a chick flick. we put in under the tuscan sun, i'd only seen it once and it was a while back so i was up for seeing it again. it was one of those films that help pick you up from a bad relationship. sort of to give you an ounce of hope that there are good times to come. like spending time with an old friend you haven't seen in nearly five years in a city that's brand new to you.

day three - march 25th (continued)

dinner at rinconcito sudamericano was with mien's doctor friends camille, cliff, julie, tyler, and hoang. there were two others but i didn't meet them and they left early.

it's interesting to have dinner with lawyers one night and doctors the next. conversations always seem to be work-related. a little boring if you aren't in the field. we had dinner at this great peruvian restaurant. it was really good. it was a little funny because they brought their own booze. the restaurant provided glasses for us to drink our booze in.

afterwards, tyler (julie's boyfriend) had to go home because he was on call the next morning. so the rest of us were off to have some drinks. cliff and hoang were in front, while us girls (me, mien, camille & julie) squeezed in the back. we're lucky we're all small asian women. we went downtown to this bowling/billiards place called xxx strike. it was a cool concept. bowling alleys, billiards, and lounges to just sit, chat and drink. i thought, why don't we have any of these in california? i spoke too soon, there's one in hollywood.

it was a lot of fun. we just lounged, drank, and chatted about life and love. camille and julie got hit on while mien and i chatted away with cliff (camille's fiancé) and hoang (their single guy friend they seated across from me at dinner, thanks mien). it was mellow but still a lot of fun. i definitely did not want another night to end at 5a. this night ended sometime around 11p.

back to the chicago trip...

day two - friday, march 24th
mien had to work on friday, despite our late night, so i did what i always do while on vacation... i went shopping! the big shopping avenue in chicago is michigan avenue, otherwise known as the magnificent mile. i took the 145 bus ($2 for the ride) there from in front of mien's building. it was so easy and convenient. i was first dropped off at the start of michigan ave. lucky me, it was a mall...

it was interesting, there were all the same stores as there are here in the bay area. i went into the benetton store, club monaco, bloomingdale's, h&m, nordstrom, etc. there was a filene's basement there (kinda like loehman's) where i found the perfect pink bag that matches my pink shoes. it actually started to snow while i was in h & m. needless to say, i spent a lot of time there. here's a summary of my purchases on friday:
@ benetton
2 (one white, one camel) button up shirts
@ h & m
1 black sweater, 1 white tee shirt, 2 pairs of fancy panties, 1 pair of brown tights, 2 shirts for jaden, 1 top & 1 pair of overalls for chunky, a bunch of hair stuff for chunky (i think that's it)
@ filene's basement
1 pink furla bag
@ ethel's chocolate
box of assorted chocolates (for my coworkers)

i think that was it on friday... mien had hoped to get off of work early but it wasn't possible so i went home around 4p. she came home shortly after i arrived. we hung out and watched tv for a bit. mien took a little nap. we had a dinner to go to at 7p. it was her friend debbie's birthday. around 8ish, we cabbed it to uncle julio's hacienda to meet up with mien's lawyer friends.

incidently, i met someone from the bay area who knows my sister-in-law's family. and now that i've thought about it some, i think i went out with her brother once or twice. it turns out that mien met jennifer at some law convention. jennifer approached mien as they were the only asian girls there. it turned out they were both from california! and that sparked their friendship. jennifer went to hastings law school with my sister-in-law's sister. i went to the hastings law school graduation ceremony, meaning, i went to jennifer's law school graduation. to make a long story short, it's a very small world.

after dinner, we headed to the clubs and bars. i'm not sure exactly where it was but it was debbie, jennifer, this guy that's sweet on debbie, mien and me. our first stop was the lion head pub & the apartment. upstairs is the apartment complete with two bedrooms in which one bed we settled in. at first, there wasn't anyone interesting to talk to other than the people we were with. then there was this german guy i was talking to. he was nice. his name was robert. he was in chicago working temporarily making some new hip replacement technological device. it was cool, i wasn't interested but he was cute and friendly. i told him i spent some time in germany back in 1998. he told me he had a little daughter. then he had to go hang out with his friend patrick. after german robert left, there were two guys walking by. the first one started talking to me, and then the second one started talking to me too. after that, we started heading out...

as we're walking to the car, i was having a nice chat with debbie, telling her to come out to the bay area to visit me and i'd take her out and it would be so much fun!! then, we were stopped. in front of this bar, john barleycorn, with a guy waving at us to come inside with him. i looked at mien and she says, hey, he's cute! let's go have drinks with him! the rest of the gang decided to head home and let us stay out. it was already 11p, i thought we were going home...

steve was his name. i was a little surprised, this sort of thing never happens! mien was all for it so i went along with her. when we got inside, steve went to get us some drinks. then i saw this really cute guy so i smiled at him. and he approached me! who knew that smiling at someone would get them to come over. that NEVER happens here. he told me i was pretty and i said thanks. then steve came over with our drinks and took us away to meet his friends in the other room. his friends were matt and dave. steve was talking to me, i wasn't really paying attention... mien told me she thought steve was cute and i thought dave was cute so we switched places. apparently, steve didn't like it so he took me to the bar to get me another drink.

at the bar, suddenly, there's this girl freaking me from behind! i was like whoa! what just happened here?? after i had my carbomb, i went back over and met the girl who freaked me. she had 3 guy friends with her whom i also met. i think they were filipino and thought i was too. i was talking to one of her friends who incidentally is getting his mba at usc but is home visiting. it was kinda cool to meet so many people.

later, dave left and it was just me, mien, steve and matt. i don't know if john barleycorn closed and that's why we went to another club. so, the four of us hopped into a taxi and they took us to this club. it was freezing outside and there was a line so i wasn't looking forward to waiting. fortunately for my wussy californian ass, matt knew the bouncer and we bypassed the line! during the short time we were in line, mien and i managed to meet a couple of more guys... hahah. i don't remember what the club was called but it was dark and really crowded. i paid cover since steve was out of cash. so he made us wait for him at the bar while he went to the atm. surprisingly, while waiting, i met a couple of more guys! it was never ending. i don't even remember their names but they were really nice. steve showed up soon after and took us upstairs where we bypassed yet another line! mien and matt stayed on the dancefloor dancing while i went to a lounge area with steve. i was having my 3rd or 4th guinness. holding it next to my face so steve wouldn't try to kiss me. he was sweet but i just wasn't interested. he told me i was pretty and that when he saw me on the street, he wanted to meet me. he also liked my hair. of course he did.

when it was finally time to head out from this club, i walked by one of the guys we met at the bar, he told me to be careful. um, okay, thanks? that was kinda weird. steve was holding my coat and when i got it back, my cell phone was missing! so i made him look for it. he found it quickly. someone had left it by the dj upstairs. we cabbed it back to matt's place. not sure where it was. apparently, matt and dave are roommates. they had a pretty nice place too! there, i had another guinness. again, so steve wouldn't try to kiss me. we hung out until mien and i realized it was 5am. time to go home. so we shared a cab with steve and we were dropped off first. mien paid for the cab. steve asked if he could come up with us. our answer was a straight no, you can't. then i told him if he wanted to find me, he could look me up at my work! that was it. mien and i went upstairs and slept until 3p the next day. what a night!

i asked her if this was normal, being picked up off the street like that? she said no, it was unusual and that i shouldn't expect it the next time i came for a visit. awww man!

day three - saturday, march 25th
so we woke up at 3p on saturday and it was only because mien's friend camille called her! we had dinner plans with them... so before getting ready, while listening to music, eating chips and chatting. i finally decided to take some pictures of the view from mien's apartment on the 42nd floor.
it was the view of the lake that convinced her to buy.

new shoes!

i know i'm supposed to make updates on my trip but i couldn't help myself, i had to post this. i just got them and can't wait to wear them when it stops raining. aren't they pretty?

day one - thursday, march 23rd

i've decided to go over my trip day by day. let's see, last thursday was sunny and in the 70's. it was hot. and about four hours later, through different states and a different time zone, it was suddenly 6p and about 30 degrees outside. yikes!

my good friend from college, mien came and picked me up in baggage claim. she was so sweet! she told me i looked younger than i did the last time she saw me in 2001. she too looked better than i remembered her. it was a lovely reunion. we were off to take the train back to her apartment in the lincoln park area. my friend caroline was going to meet up with us as well. after we dropped off my stuff at mien's apartment on the 42nd floor of her building (great view! photos to come), caroline was on her way over. ten minutes later, she was in front so we headed out to wicker park to check out this dessert place she wanted to take us to. along the way, in the car, it started to snow. flurries they called it. for native californians who have no idea what that is, it's snowflakes all a flurry in the air! it was lovely actually.

so the dessert place we were heading to is called hot chocolate. but before dessert, we had to get dinner. so we walked up damen street and saw just what we wanted... feast restaurant smelled so good, we couldn't help ourselves, we had to have us a feast! i had the marinated skirt steak with garlic mashed potatoes, chimichurri sauce and tobacco onion rings. mmm, just thinking about it.

afterwards, we headed to hot chocolate for dessert. the three of us had hot chocolate (of course!) with homemade marshmallows... yum! caroline had this coupon, spend $35, get $25 off. what a deal! so we also had the warm brioche donuts (a signature dessert) and their snickers bar inspired dessert. i can't wait to go back!

after caroline dropped mien and me off, poor thing, she got hit from behind! but she's ok and got her car fixed (along with some other dents) so it's all good now. mien and i stayed up until 3am catching up and watching the snow fall from the 42nd floor. to the left, a view of the city. and to the right, a view of the lake. it's an amazingly beautiful view. a bit breathtaking with the snow and all...

~home sweet home~

i'm baaaack... and while i had a blast in chicago, it's so good to be home. but not so good to get back to the grind. oh well. i'll post more about my trip later so come back!

getting ready for my trip but one little snag...

i'm sick!
:( ugh, i'm sluggish and achy and i don't feel like packing yet... even though i leave tomorrow!! anyway, i wanted to show off my new lulu bag.

see you next tuesday!

so busy these days

this weekend flew by so quickly! i guess that's what happens when you are a busy busy girl like me. ;)

work has been pretty crazy, planning and organizing... our admit day was friday and despite going to popscene the night before, i made it there on time to set up for all the events. i even remembered to wear a green ribbon for st. patrick's day. at the reception later in the day, the students came up to me one by one to tell me how much they liked my new hair do. it was so sweet. even one of the student's 8 y/o daughter told me that she liked my hair. her father, one of our students, asked me where i got it cut because apparently, no hairdresser will cut layers on his wife's hair. strange. gina will do it in 10 seconds too. so, i have to remember to send him gina's information. at the end of the reception, he was telling an admit (who only applied to ivy league schools except for stanford) that a great reason to come to stanford was because of me! and another student who was still there, seconded that vote. i love my students... they are so sweet to me! when his daughter was saying goodbye to me, she told me she thought i was pretty. aw... what a cutie...

i left work around 6:30p and headed home to drop off some things before going over to my best friend's parents' house. kelly was back home all week but sick and very busy so i didn't get to see her and emily until the end of their trip. we hung out catching up with one another. it was so lovely to see her and just chat with her. she lives in burbank and i'm hoping she will move back up. but despite the distance, we're still very close and always have a great time together. we went to the nordstrom trend show early the next morning. they gave out these really cute make-up cases. see above, isn't it cute? she left later saturday evening and i miss her already!

on saturday night, betty and i went to berkeley to a birthday party (happy 31st heather!). heather is a great salsa dancer so there is always dancing there. we got there a little late but people were coming even as we were leaving sometime after midnight. it was a lot of fun. except for the lame girl who, the first thing she said to me was that she didn't like the beer i was drinking. um, okay, whatever stupid girl. sometimes, i just hate people.

today was a full day. i had planned to do laundry for my trip but ended up not doing any at all! i had lunch with my brother and sister-in-law, their kids and their friends. ugh, i was stuffed so i helped them clean up while they caught up. then betty called me up and asked if i wanted to go out for dinner. sure why not! not long after, my cousin debbie calls me to see if i was busy for dinner. so i call betty and we planned to have dinner with my cousin and her husband at xanh. but betty flaked and my other cousin lam and his fiancé were invited so it was the five of us. we had a great time. the food was delicious as usual. i love my cousins and their significant others, i always have a wonderful time with them.

scratch that...

...missing the ex part. i'm having the time of my life (with all the girls nights out). i refuse to be pathetic because i am spiky, tough and energetic.

drowning my sorrows

um yeah, if sorrows is what you call missing the ex. i went out tonight with my partner in crime and made friends with a true bartender (who will give free drinks to cute girls), joe at the village. we stayed long after closing, which seems to be a bit of a problem for us but they don't seem to care. we talked life, love, sex, and touched a bit on religion even. then we were good to go. thank you betty, it was just what i needed. you're the best!!

the wedding present... again

venue: slim's
artist: the wedding present
who: betty
when: 24 february 2006 (friday)
doors open at 8p

tom f-something was the opening band. and they were these brothers who were random country- rapping-i-don't-know- what-but-they-sucked- so-bad kind of band from new york. they sort of reminded me of this really small and bad version of the bare naked ladies. it was sort of a performance and might have been entertaining had i been drunk. there was this annoying guy in the corner who kept rooting them on... noooooo, don't encourage them, you jackass!

finally, the wedding present came on. david gedge was so cute and sexy. i love his voice. and the way he sings... with all his gestures, it's like he's just talking to you in a very melodic tone. i don't remember the show being so good the last time we saw them with alex and the gross glory guy. and maybe it was because i was too distracted by glory but this time, i was really impressed, i think more so than the first time we saw them at bimbo's when i met him. i would SO see them a fourth time.

random chick on marguerite shuttle

so i know i just got this haircut but i'm still getting used to it. since i wasn't in the office on friday (and i got my hair cut on thursday after work), my work colleagues had yet to see my new do. i noticed that one faculty didn't recognize me right away. funny. so, the top is a lot shorter than i'm used to. i was just getting used to having bangs (cut last december but i sported the no bangs-look for years)... needless to say, i'm feeling a tiny bit self-conscious about my hair. i know i'll get used to it...

this evening, after running to the shuttle to catch my 5:49p train, i got on the shuttle and sat next to this woman i've been taking the same shuttle with for at least the past 2 years if not longer. we've never really spoke to one another. she turns to me and says... what a cute haircut on you!

thank you random chick on the marguerite shuttle!!

my new do

the conversation i had with my hairdresser last thursday...

gina: your long hair is hot! what do you want to do with it?

me: i want it short.

gina: short? but it's hot long.

me: my boyfriend and i broke up so i need it short now.

gina: ohhh, i understand... it's going to look so hot.

15 minutes later, she created my new do below. she's a genius... i love her.

last day of lunar year celebration

tonight i went to dinner with my great friend betty and her mom, along with her mom's friends to celebrate the last day of the lunar new year. we had lots of delicious chinese dishes and humorous conversations in mandarin and broken english. right now, i am soooo full.

earlier today, i had a nice chat with a friend in germany. it was really nice chatting and hearing his voice. he's hoping to come out for a visit next month. and we've decided to meet up for dinner and take a drive. it's something i'm really looking forward to. matthias, thanks for being such a sweetheart...

adrien brody

tonight i think i made myself a revelation. i think that adrien brody is totally sexy. yeah yeah, he's got a slightly large nose but still, he's hot. i saw king kong tonight and he was just so dreamy. not to mention, a great actor (hence the academy award win). especially in the jacket, even though that was with keira knightley. i don't know what it is exactly, but wow.

citizen cake & popscene

last night, i went to a birthday dinner with betty and her tgw friends. we went to citizen cake. which actually took me back to summer of 2003. betty and i were at a popscene event and there were these guys from spain. one of whom was very sweet on betty. so we were dancing and his frumpy friend was apparently, sweet on me. but i didn't want to dance with him. i'd noticed matt (matty as he liked to be called) standing around. he was cute and seem to be by himself. so when he walked by, i grabbed him and asked him to dance with me. and he did! afterwards, the cute young guy from spain wanted to hang out, so we invited matty and his friend steve along. i think we went to sparky's, our usual after popscene hang out. and matty spoke a little spanish, so he was chatting with the spanish guys. we found out that matty was from boston and worked at citizen cake and very gay. which brings me back to last night. as we walked in, i saw someone who looked like him at the bar. i asked our waitress if his name was matt and if he went by matty, she said yes! but rather than try and see if he remembered us from nearly 3 years ago, we just had a blast eating and drinking. citizen cake is known for their desserts, i had a passionfruit mousse cake. it was very fresh and very tasty.

after dinner, 3 out of us 6 headed over to popscene to continue the birthday celebra- tion. we've been missing will since before new year's. nothing was going quite right, many usual characters were MIA ... franco, jessica, josh, even mr. jessica, and of course will. the band sucked. our tom collins were too strong and chris gave us tequila shots, blegh. so we went outside to get some air and a smoke. when we got back in, josh was there (maybe he was there before we went outside), our drinks were a little more watered down, the band was over and done with, and to top it off, will suddenly appeared! out of nowhere! actually, he was on the other side but still, he finally appeared. then everything was much better and we had a happy ending. happy birthday georgia peach!

so much to do, so little time

i've been so busy lately with social events and plans in general. and next month, i have a trip to chicago to look forward to. i almost moved there in the summer of 1999 with an ex who got into northwestern for med school. he was on the waitlist for uc san diego and then got in, so he asked me where i wanted to go. of course, i choose to stay in san diego. he then blamed me for med school being so hard for him, that he might have been better off in chicago. but then, would he have cheated on me with that undergrad? hmmm, um yeah, i'm glad i didn't move to chicago back then.

anyway, i am finally heading back to do some sight seeing and be a tourist. chicago is always a stop over for me when travelling east (boston, dc, london, etc) so it's funny that i never actually saw the city. i am staying with a friend from ucsd who coincidentally has problems with her younger musician boyfriend too. so, we are going to paint the town red. i absolutely cannot wait!

as for the rest of february, i have birthdays to celebrate, dancing to do, bands to see and a restaurant opening to look forward to enjoying. life is wonderful.

coming home to a ted-less apartment

today, ted moved out. he's moved to the city. and it was a bit bittersweet to come home to what i'd recognized and been used to for the last 4 months. but 4 months isn't even that long. it's a chance for a new beginning and i've got plans for the new space. i can't wait to make great use of it.

cheers

last night, betty and i went to our favorite restaurant & bar at santana row, the village café. where almost everyone knows our names, well our faces anyway. we had our usual vodka infusion shaker (red raspberry, yummm) and jorge made me this delightful creation he calls splendor. splendid it was indeed. it had pineapple infusion with some bubbly and midori. it was delish! we also had our usual steamed clams (which were so big this time!), linguica on the side. i looooove my sausage! hehe

anyway, i had a nice chat with anthony about life and relationships. he usually just sticks his tongue at me or calls me a vixen but it was a little refreshing to be serious once in a while. we chatted until well past closing and when i looked up, the restaurant had closed, only jorge and betty were left aside from us and it was midnight! anthony walked us out to our cars and we went home, happy and intoxicated with life.

another new year's celebration...

sunday marked the year of the dog. it was a day full of fun and celebration. i spent mot of the day shopping in the city. we went to h&m and zara. and loads of money was spent, thankfully not entirely by me. then we went out to eat at this unlikely restaurant. with all the neon and cheesiness on the outside, you would never know that it was great. and we were there until they closed! they even lit up some firecrackers for us! yay!

on the new year, there are things that you are not supposed to do such as cleaning and other miscellaneous chores. you're not supposed to cut your hair, nails or anything else from your body. you're not supposed to cook either. so what are people supposed to do for eating? go out. actually, i think what usually happens is having leftovers from the new year's eve dinner the night before. of which i'd spent with my family. my mom cooked up a feast full of foods that are good luck. one other thing i didn't know about, you should have a person who is of fortunate virtue to be the first person to walk through your front door. so, we had trang's friend's mom do it. apparently, she's very lucky. and luckily for me, she walked through my apartment too. here's looking forward to a great new year!

new year's eve adventures

last saturday, ted and i drove up to marin county and over the golden gate bridge (for ted's first time ever!). he needed a sound pedal repaired and this guy came highly recommended. he was a really nice guy too. the type to talk your ear off but also the type to help you out by explaining in detail how things work.

we then headed back to the city to go to h&m, unfortunately, they were closed so we went over to anne & dave's place (ted's new bandmates). we were hungry so we went to dinner at this mayan restaurant a couple of blocks away from their very cute apartment on the border between mission and dolores. this is our ideal location of where ted and i want to live. the four of us had a lovely time chatting and getting to know each other. they are the nicest couple ever!!

after dinner, we went over to their friend allison's house in noe valley. her house was amazing. i really didn't think they rented out homes like that. she lucked out, the owners moved to germany. so she'd been there for years and years. we were just hanging out when she noticed my feet and asked me what size they are. i'm a size 5 in shoes. she proceeded to bring out these cute brown boots and told me she had planned to ebay them but hadn't the chance and wasn't sure if she might ever do it but wanted to see if they fit me. they did! so i left with a new pair of brown boots. i will try to post pics soon of me wearing them. it also turns out that allison works in the biotech industry and studied marine biology at san diego state during the time i was at ucsd and scripps. it really is a small world out there, isn't it? we're also the same age. it was nice chatting with her about science... it sort of made me miss it.

anyway, allison and others had to leave for a show. so we went back to anne and dave's to figure out what to do next. there was a party of anne's coworker's in the haight so we headed off that way. i offered to drive so i had to put away a few things in the trunk and i can't remember if i closed it but i assumed it was closed. i think we were 3/4 to the house when i saw bright red and blue lights behind me and heard sirens and instructions to pull over. i was driving pretty safely, didn't have too much to drink at allison's so i wasn't sure what was going on. it turned out that my trunk wasn't closed and that it was bopping up and down while i was driving. and we had NO idea whatsoever!! apparently, it's an offense and warranted getting a traffic violation for. who knew? since i was not a tax payer in the city of san francisco, he asked anne and dave if i should get a ticket. they said no, of course not! geez... what an ass.

we arrived at our point of destination moments later. i was able to find a parking space around the corner to the house. this place was anne's coworker craig's place. when i walked in, i saw that they had fillmore posters in picture frames! i've been looking for these for a while. i was afraid i might have to get them custom framed. they said there's a place called cheap petes(??) that sell them for $19 each. so now, i am very excited about finally being able to frame my beautiful south and jesus & mary chain fillmore posters. yay! craig and his partner (dan?) had this great apartment with a rooftop patio area where we all ventured up to and champagne in hand, welcomed the new year with fireworks going off and a beautiful view of the city all around us. it was so picturesque. but the cold eventually soaked through and we were headed back into the house. as we were chatting about music (as most musician and music lovers do), anne asked ted if he was a trashcan sinatras fan. he pointed towards me as i LOVE them. it turns out that craig is a huge fan and went to almost all of the same tcs shows i did! it's always so awesome meeting other tcs non-creepy fans! as 2am approached, we decided to call it a night.

after dropping off anne and dave, we drove back home. i felt okay to drive and was alert enough i didn't ask ted to take over. but after 30 minutes or so, it began to hit. i was soooo tired! i wasn't driving in and out of lanes, just not so straight in my lane. then, as i started my deceleration to exit 1/4 mile away, i saw them again, those damned lights! i exited one exit before my home exit and pulled over to the side. the copper asked me if i was tired and i said YES! that we were coming home from the city. i told him i had two glasses of champagne before midnight (it was 3am by now). he checked my eyes and noticed my left eye was red and watery. then he made me step to the side to follow his finger with my eyes. my contact lense from my right eye came out during the test. and i had to try to put it back in the wind blowing my hair every which way. he told his partner that he noticed my eyes and that it was strange. so, his partner did the test with following his finger. i then remember about my blocked tear duct and told them i was awaiting surgery in march for it. the first copper brought out the breathelizer and with all my might, i blew hard into it knowing i was sober. he then said that he would stop wasting my time and go out to catch the actual drunken drivers. stopped twice in one night and for the first time, not for speeding... what a great way to start off the new year. i must be the luckiest girl ever.

future american idols

yep, all four of them. ;)