diamonds are a girl's best friend

as most of my friends know, i don't really wear jewelry. except for the earrings my sister gave me that i never take off (not even in the shower nor to sleep). i can't wear watches because, while i've yet to lose any, i always end up taking them off and leaving them somewhere. i did have a jade bracelet i used to wear all the time. only because i could never take it off myself. it was taken off for my thyroidectomy though. very very painful. rings are the worst for me. i lost the last one that was given to me by my sister. :( it was our sister ring and i lost it like a month after i got it. i'm still mad at myself for that.

a couple of years ago, i'd seen this swirl ring by carriere in a nordstrom catalog. it was love at first sight. i'd never known love like this before. last summer, it went on sale. and clearly, a sign that it would soon be mine. i never thought i was much into bling either. but the way this ring sparkles right after it's been cleaned makes me feel like a giddy schoolgirl. i ♥ ♥ ♥ my diamond ring.

my office space

the other day, my manager starts telling me about how i should hang out in the computer resource center on campus. that she saw a cute guy there but that she didn't know they existed on campus. it's funny, despite having crushes on my faculty, i'm not at all interested in meeting anyone at work to date. anymore. after nearly 7 years of working here, i've realized that i don't want to date academics or students (watch, knowing my luck, my next relationship will be with one of the two and i will have to eat these typed words). prime example was the kid that lied to me about his age. okay okay, so i met him at popscene. he was still a student here.

back to my manager, basically, she's scoping guys out for me! it turns out she went to a meeting and met some IT guy who was really cute. funny. then she was trying to make an excuse to get him to come over and help us so i could meet him! so sweet of her to be looking out for me like that. she's super awesome.

it's things like this that make it nearly impossible to leave this department. alas, the only way to move up is to move around. still, i'm so happy here... it would have to take an unbelievably fantastic offer or a horrendously bad situation to make me go.

thoughts on facebook

i hate it. don't get me wrong, it's great to be able to stay in touch with former students, my sister (that i live with) and others who aren't on myspace. but, even though myspace is for 12 y/os, i still prefer it to facebook. facebook is making me so angry right now. grrr!!!

don't get sucked in like i did! thanks sis!

shoes shoes shoes

one of my new year's resolutions this year was to cut down on shoe purchases. rather than buy one pair per month, it will be one pair every other month. here is the first pair of the year.another new year's resolution... rather a new rule for me is anything but black. taken from the wisdom of my dear sister and her expertise as a fashionista. in case you're wondering, the color of these mary janes are espresso which is almost black but not quite. still brown.

plus, i desperately had to replace my brown mary jane wedges i got two summers ago. the strap on one of the shoes keeps snapping off. even after repairs at the cobblery. they were one of two closed-toe brown pairs i had that i could wear in the rain.

day out with the kids

today, i took the kids to lunch. but since we ate so much (pizza, mac & cheese, cheese polenta, salad for me, and gelato), we headed over to the mall to walk off our lunch. i never put them in strollers because if i'm going to have to walk, they are going to walk too. plus, both of them are too old to be in strollers. but not necessarily too big. i just want them to get some exercise with me.

at the mall, we came across this photo booth and decided to go in... this was the last and best pose we took.

my brother's dog

about three months ago, my brother's dog was dognapped. she was taken from their backyard and had not been seen since. she even had one of those chips implanted in her in case she gets lost. but we'd heard nothing for months. we knew she'd been stolen. until last monday... she was found in vallejo. that's about 2 hours or so away. probably less, it's on the way to napa from here. it turns out that she was sold and didn't like these new owners. it was so bad that they couldn't take it anymore and took her to the pound. which is where she was scanned and my brother's information showed up. unfortunately though, he recently changed his cell phone number which was the number listed. they'd been trying to call for a week or so until they called the house number. so she's back (sorry for the outdated photo above, i'll try to post an updated pic, she's a beautiful dog). my sister-in-law tells me that she was super clean and a little chunky when they picked her up. apparently, she was taken care of really well. and we are very happy that she's home.

dinner with the ladies

last monday, we went to xanh before the new xanh opened. my friend caroline was in town visiting her twin, grace. funie & kristina also joined us. it was just one of those fantastic nights where you end up staying until closing but didn't expect to.

ugh

seeing my picture below makes me think that i need to wear more make up and get a hair cut... yuk, yuk, yuk.

happy chinese new year!!

tonight was the grand opening of the new xanh restaurant now located at 110 castro in downtown mt. view.
this year is the year of the brown rat. i think it's the earth rat. as it was the 7th in china earlier today, many celebrate the new year tonight. as i am celebrating the new year with my family this weekend, i choose to start my celebration at the new xanh. the picture on the left is the lounge. there is a wall of water on rocks. it's really cool. they now have a full bar with specialty drinks. i hope to become a cocktail waitress here. when it gets warmer.
there are 6 new plates. we had three of them and one of the two new desserts. they now have vietnamese desserts. they also have pho on their menu, as an appetizer. everything was delicious, as always. i was there on monday (two nights ago in my purple dress below) and what a difference! while both places are very hip and trendy, this new place allows for more space between tables and is at a grand scale of hip & trendy. bathrooms always say a lot about how i feel about a restaurant. i remember nice bathrooms. and their bathrooms are totally awesome, except their locks. they are a little tricky...

new fcuk dress from dc

sorry for the blurry pic but i can't seem to get anything in focus sans the flash. i got so many compliments on this dress from work that i had to post a picture...

dc trip, part deux

i found this lovely picture of the couple from their wedding website. i really wanted to take a picture of the cake and steph in her cheong sam. despite her being kinda hidden, she still looks gorgeous, doesn't she?tuesday, 22 january
let's see... tuesday was the day i ventured out on my own. i didn't really know what to do. i had dinner plans with terrence that night. i'd been to dc multiple times before. i used to date someone briefly who lived out there. so as far as being a tourist, i'd already been there and done that. it was so cold out that i didn't care to see much. but i had to do something. so i did what i do anywhere and anytime i need to kill time, i went shopping.

the problem was, i didn't know where to go. i went to the mall at pentagon city and the mall next to it. i had lunch at the nordstrom there. i don't know how i ended up at the smithsonian metro stop. i think i figured, if i can't find any shops, i'll go to the museums. i took a quick look at the national monument and took a picture identical to the one i took the last time i was there, over 3 years ago. after walking around a bit, it started to rain. it made sense to take shelter in a museum for a couple of hours but i wanted to shop. from a distance, i could see the very familiar red italicized h & m sign just a few blocks away. yay! to my surprise, zara was next door. i found a cute wool blend dress from zara on sale. i got my shopping fix and started to head back afterwards.

terrence and i went to zaytinya for dinner. apparently, they are the "mezze specialist." mezze are basically middle eastern and eastern mediterranean tapas. to top it off, restaurant week in dc was extended to this week. so there was a prix fixe menu. 4 mezze and dessert for only $30 per person. we had 8 plates between two people and two desserts. needless to say, we were happily stuffed.

wednesday, 23 january
my last full day in dc came at last and as with most vacations coming to an end, the 5 or so days i was there felt so short. the end came so suddenly. i wished i had more time there. i had to remind myself that my vacation wasn't coming to an end, i was leaving for nyc the next day. i spent most of wednesday doing laundry and packing up. and making plans with bernie. when you sleep in until noon or so and then do laundry for a few hours, 4pm comes up really quickly. i met up with yung-mei after (her) work at oya for happy hour. oya is a japanese restaurant/lounge. very cool inside. i guess it's usually packed but turns out, wednesdays are the days to go because it wasn't too bad. i was on my second drink when yung-mei showed up. i decided to have some sushi rolls to soak up the alcohol. the first drink i had was pineapple goodness. the other two where soju cocktails. the last one was this cucumber and lime soju drink, it was refreshing and quite delightful.

after we were done with our rolls and drinks, we headed over to matchbox for vintage pizza and miniburgers (aka sliders, very popular on the east coast). it's a lot of fun hanging out with yung-mei. she's so much more friendly and talkative than me. so you make lots of friends when she's around. i left to use the restroom and came back to yung-mei talking to two guys at the bar. and after we sat down, we made friends with the guy sitting next to us. poor thing, he ordered the crab cakes and failed to notice the pizza and miniburgers piled high surrounding him. i guess the waitress is to blame too. we teased her and gave her a hard time about it. and shared our miniburgers and pizza with him. he bought us drinks. what a sweetie.

that was a fantastic end to my dc trip. i was a bit sad that it was over. i'm hoping to head over to the east coast again sometime in april or may. after my last body scan, i'd go to celebrate... in addition to having a huge bash here, of course. yay!

dc wedding

initially, my east coast trip was just for dc. but then bernie came into the picture and well, how can i say no to adding a leg to new york?

friday, 18 january
i arrived at dulles on the 18th and found my way to arlington where my dear friend yung-mei lived. i was staying with her for the duration of my dc holiday. she was also my date to the wedding. i know yung-mei from work. except, i never worked with her. she was the predecessor to my former position and whenever she came to visit, i'd always go along. we got along very well. it turned out that we are both tigers and sagittarians. plus, she's half chinese. in 2003, i visited her in manhattan while she was there for grad school. i stayed with her then as well. she had this great apartment that was clearly an administrative mistake. that was my first new york trip.

by the time yung-mei and i met up, it was dinner time. she lives right by the mall at pentagon city. she suggested some places including ruby tuesdays. i'd never been there but have seen countless annoying commercials for them. so we went there for mini-burgers, chili and salad bar. it was yummy. saturday, 19 january
the big wedding day. we squeezed everything in before. like shopping. and more shopping. and getting ready. we got there just in time for the ceremony. the wedding was at the washington club on dupont circle. it was built in the early 1900's. apparently, the building was originally a residence and later housed the first women's club in dc. there is so much history there. it's really amazing. and it's been kept up beautifully.

the ceremony was lovely. from the dresses to the officiant's speech. steph, as you can see above was breathtaking. there were a couple of opera singers performing. i don't think i've been to a wedding with opera singers. fancy. the reception was right after the ceremony. after cocktail hour, that is. i was on antibiotics so couldn't partake in the alcoholic beverages. the reception was in the room next to the ceremony. i think there were about 150 people there. i'm really bad at gaging things like that and height (random). it was a good amount of people. what was interesting about this wedding was all the single women there. yung-mei tells me that there's a huge population of single women in dc and new york. i guess it's a good thing i'm in the bay area. less competition i suppose. hahah.

back to the reception... the speeches were awesome. there were 4 total and a couple of them brought tears out. her father's speech was super sweet. her best friend's speech was the big tear jerker. fantastic. the best man speech was, to say the least, entertaining but the most inappropriate. and finally her sister's speech was quite nice too. the slideshow lasted a bit longer than most but i enjoy seeing childhood pictures of my friends. the food wasn't as bad as i've had at weddings. i had a great time. i just wish i wasn't on antibiotics so we could've gone out afterwards.

sunday, 20 january
steph and erik had an open house as a post-wedding event. they have a 3-level home with this great backyard. there was still a lot of snow out that day. it was one of the coldest days, mostly because of the wind. i'd left yung-mei's with wet hair and the wind chill went right through me. i think i got wind burn on my cheeks. they were still red the next day.

i didn't get to talk to steph or erik much at the wedding so it was nice to catch up with them there. i chatted a bit with her parents, his cousin ilsa from minnesota and ate way too much. a former student and friend of my mine, terrence, was there was his lovely wife gayle. we met up at the open house and has dinner afterwards. i'd never really got to know gayle previously. they invited me to their wedding but i couldn't go. damn that ted. anyway... they are having their first baby so it's very exciting. for dinner, we went to this yummy pizza place (fomerly the thai room). at the wedding, i was seated next to them at the reception. and spent a good amount of time catching up. terrence (as he knows) was one of my favorites when he was a grad student. i'm happy that we've been able to keep in touch through the years...

monday, 21 january
i spent monday in annapolis, md, visiting an old coworker and her family. i worked with danie at scripps in san diego. i think she was there for her bf at the time (husband now), chris. my ex and i used to house sit and dog sit for them when they were away. they were part of my san diego family when i lived there. she was like my big sister.

the last time i was in dc was october 2004. danie was pregnant with her second child. before that, i hadn't seen her since i moved from san diego to the bay area. that was 2001. i decided to spend the day with her and the rest of her family. her kids are now 6 and 3 and totally adorable. at first as with most kids their age, they were shy but by the end of the day, her 3 y/o was telling me she loved me. super sweet. ugh, i wished i'd taken more pictures...

we ate at this sushi restaurant in downtown annapolis. it's right by the water so it was freezing there. i know, i'm such a wimp. the kids were running all over the place but well behaved. it's nice to see what a wonderful mother danie has turned out to be. and get this, these kids eat raw fish. they were eating the sashimi like chicken nuggets. it was amazing to see. i didn't start eating sashimi until well into my adulthood. crazy. at one point during dinner, danie says to me, wow, leaving san diego was the best thing for you! this is the absolute truth. when i think about who and how i was back then, i think, who is that girl? yuk, yuk, yuk.

when we said our goodbyes, it was a little sad. after spending the day together, it made me want to visit more often and keep in better touch with them. they are really good people.

i think i'm going to finish the last two days in dc later...

i'm baaack...

well, i got back sunday night but have been completely overwhelmed at work. and so, have yet to catch everyone up on my trip. i apologize dearly to all 5 (or less) of you out there. let's see... i'll start from recent to old as i'm sure you've all been waiting to hear about my...

weekend at bernie's (in brooklyn)

hahah. ro gave me the headline for a post ages ago. long before our fantastic first date. i flew from dulles to jfk last thursday. it was much anticipated. i don't know how long i've been looking forward to this trip. it's been a couple of months but feels like a lot longer. especially with all the flirtations on the different modes of communication (email, text and phone), it felt a little like we were dating but not. bernie met me at baggage claim. i saw him right away and headed towards him. he noticed me shortly after. and the chemistry was still there. very exciting.

we took a cab to brooklyn. i'd never taken a cab in new york before but everything i'd heard about new york cabbies were totally true. i couldn't see much but i could feel the constant swerving. not to mention the constant honking. a few times in the cab, bernie held my hand. i think he sensed my unnerving fear for my life.

about 45 minutes or so later, we got to his place. it seemed to take forever. it was frigid cold there. the snow was melting. the sun was out for a bit but not us. we stayed in my first night there. his roommate, pascal introduced quick silver screen to him which was nice for me as they didn't have a tv to entertain me with. lucky for me because i'd teased and flirted with him over the phone for the last few months, i was afraid that once i got there, i would just stand there and say, um... hey, what's up? hahah.

it all came together fine. it was a lot of fun actually. he was sweet and wonderful. he told me how much he loved it there and wouldn't trade it for anything. got it. he's not coming back. i'm glad he likes it out there. i'm also glad i have someone to visit the next time i want to go to new york. and finally, i'm happy to say that i'm not/won't be having a long distance relationship.

everytime i went outside, (and this happened in dc as well) my eyes would tear uncontrollably and my nose was like a waterfall. sorry, gross huh? but as soon as i got anywhere inside, i was fine. everything turned off like a faucet. hahah. he took me to this quaint french cafe called cafe luluc for brunch. apparently, he and his roommate go there a lot. the two of them usually split an omelette and pancakes. so i was up for that since that's what i do with my sister. except, we get an omelette and crepes to share (at los gatos cafe). but these pancakes... wow. delightfully delicious. they were probably the best pancakes i'd ever had. they were thick like a layer of cake with a nice crunchy crust, kinda. ugh, i'm craving them now... i never crave/order pancakes because i can just make them at home.

he and pascal wanted to see cloverfield. yuk. i remember watching the previews on tv and thinking, god, everything bad happens there. doesn't it? hahah. they knew nothing about it. unfortunately. it turned out to be like the blair witch project with a bigger budget. just thinking about it makes my head hurt. this is why i don't watch movies anymore! i'd much rather spend bernie's $11 seeing a lame band at popscene than watching lame movies like this one.

it was really a nice relaxing & chill weekend. i'd been busy every night that i was in dc so i didn't want to do much except hang out with him. we ate in most nights and watched a lot of ramsey's kitchen nightmares. i highly recommend the british version as opposed to the american. it's so much better when you get to hear gordon ramsey swear as much as he does and not have to deal with the bleeps.

on sunday, i packed up and got ready while he made me breakfast. i didn't think about his show until sunday. and well, missed out. bummer. :( he ordered a car to take me to jfk all paid for in advance. he took great care of me. i will definitely go back to visit him. that is, when it's warmer. a lot warmer.

leaving tomorrow

tomorrow is my big east coast trip! i leave for dc very early tomorrow morning from san jose. i have a wedding to go to on saturday (according to weather.com, it's supposed to snow that day. yuk.) for one of my former students from my first job at stanford. i've kept in touch with her since she graduated in 2002 (i think?). it's very exciting. i'm also planning to visit an former coworker from san diego. she lives in annapolis with her family now. i haven't seen her since 2005. it will be nice to meet her daughter and catch up. i'll be in dc through mlk jr. and i leave for new york next thursday (1/24) for a few days which is also quite thrilling because i'm finally visiting bernie in brooklyn. plus, he's got a show on his brazilian photographs. very very exciting...

see you on the 28th!

home computer sick

on sunday, my laptop kinda died. it won't start. it says it's missing a file. no more dells for me. no more dells for anyone i know who had one. i'm getting a macbook next. hopefully. i suppose this dell made it through 3 years but still, i'm not ready for it to die quite yet. ugh. i still have files on that thing i need to back up. grrr.

back dating...

happy new year!

happy 2008 everyone! i hope everyone had a safe & fun new year's eve!

my holiday events

at work, we started our winter shut down at 3pm on 12/21 (scheduled to return to work on 1/03) which didn't leave me much time for last minute shopping. i think i was mostly done anyway. i just had to finish baking. this year, i baked 400 cookies (snicker doodles, oatmeal butterscotch w/ pecans and holiday chip cookies) for work alone. i baked another 250 on xmas eve for distribution in holiday tins. so, i baked nearly 700 cookies last month alone. can you guess how many i ate? none! i had to balance not working out with not eating my cookies.

we had xmas at my parents' house. it was a potluck and our cousin from oregon came down with his 3 daughters & wife. it was lovely. my mom's birthday is xmas eve so i brought a cake & strawberry cupcakes (i'd baked that morning). my sister made her very yummy & spicy mac-n-cheese. she made this for my birthday. it was delightful. we exchanged gifts, spent time with one niece & two nephews, and ate so much food that i will be dieting the entire year as well as going to the gym at least 3x/week if not more. our cousin's daughter said they had so much fun that they wanted to come back the next year. it was warm, cozy and even a bit exciting. a perfect time spent together with family.

my new year's eve was spent at my long lost cousins' house with my sister-in-law's family. i made white chocolate bread pudding (from nordstrom) for the first time. it's my brother's fav. i meant to make it for him on his birthday but ended up picking some up from the bistro at nordies. anyway, it took ALL day. there were so many steps i had not anticipated that i made us late an hour to dinner. luckily, they were not quite ready for us when we came. the bread pudding turned out fabulous. i made so much that we have bread pudding for the next couple months. before we left, we had some asti to toast in the new year.

before new year's, my mom asked us to go see our sponsors in pleasant hill. we were sponsored here from vietnam by two families, the underwoods & the williams. there's this unspoken love between us. we are so grateful to them for giving us opportunities we wouldn't have had we not come to the states. and they are as proud of us as grandparents would be. they come to weddings and we visit once every few years. recently, mr. williams suffered from a stroke and is getting on with his age so my mom feared it wouldn't be long before he left us. so the underwoods hosted a little gathering. we spent about 2 hours catching up and hearing stories about us when we were younger. they also briefly discussed the ordeal it took for my parents to get us here. i was only 2-3 y/o at the time and don't remember much. it turns out we were stuck in japan before coming to the us for a year. there were problems getting into the us. and apparently, they knew someone in japan who pulled some strings for us. i never knew about that. they also still have letters from my dad. it would be great to read those some day.

pictures to come...

i spent a good part of my break sleeping 10-12 hours/day and hanging out with my chunky monkey of a niece. she was my shopping buddy. sleeping so much and not working out at all was fantastic. but alas, back to dieting & getting to the gym again...

reflections on november at bimbo's

last month, i went to 3 shows. all at bimbo's. while i see bands at popscene almost everytime i go, popscene is mostly for dancing. there's only ever a handful of bands that play there (per year) that i actually want to see. but seeing 3 bands all at bimbo's, that's rare. and might i add, unplanned. it was supposed to be 2 but voxtrot postponed their september show to tour with the arctic monkeys. ew, whatever.

the jens lekman show was pretty impressive. it's hard to believe he's only in his mid 20's. he's an amazing singer/songwriter/performer. he's one of those rare natural artists. but, i still can't get over the level of passion in which torque (et al.) exert during their shows. they are super cool, funny & awesome. i've seen them about 5x with the first one about 6 years ago. and there is a huge difference between the first shows and this last one. i've seen the hard work. the sweat & blood. and tears shed to produce such art. it's almost magical. as for voxtrot, i'm still trying to get over the disappointment. ugh.

while i rated both the jens lekman & stars shows 5 ♥s (that's a whole lotta love), the stars show was definitely the best of the 3 last month if not out of the entire year. i would most certainly see mr. lekman again. no doubt, the next stars show is a must but i'm almost sure that i will not be attending the next voxtrot show. boo.

office & popscene

venue: 330 ritch (popscene)
artist: office
who: nina, her friend kearny & will
when: 13 december 2007 (thursday)
doors open at 10p

last week, i went to popscene to see this band called office. they are from chicago. i'd heard them through a couple of cds joe (sorry ro!) had made for me. so when i saw that they were playing at popscene, i thought, i wanna go! my cousin nina had expressed wanting to go to popscene so i asked her to go. the last time we were there together was... wow, the night i met bernie back in september. crazy crazy. and a crazy night that was.

before popscene, i met up with my thyroid cancer sister, funie. she lives in oakland and since it's across the bridge to sf, it worked out perfect. i'd hang out with funie and meet nina for popscene after. funie & her friends decided on karaoke. this whole in the wall place where the clerk barely spoke english. luckily, funie is taiwanese and was able to speak with her for us. this place was like a hole in the wall. you could miss it if you weren't paying attention. there were 4 of us and the private rooms were $25/hour. more of their friends were supposed to show up but it was just us for a little over an hour. her friend erika and i sang and knew the same songs. it turned out that she was 32. funny. this place even had the song come go with me by expose. i haven't sang this song since middle school. ridiculous. what's even more ridiculous is the video my sister, cousin debbie & i made with this song. we had a dance routine and lip synced. debbie's brother lam was the mc. we also had matching outfits. it was so much fun. but alas, the video has gone missing. but i swear debbie & roger have it!

back to karaoke, i sang this song with erika. i didn't really know the words but oh my, i think debbie was only 10 y/o and we were singing songs about sex. then again, i think most of the songs from the 80s were about sex. i stayed there a little longer than i'd planned and didn't make it to popscene until close to 11 instead of 10. luckily, nina was with her friend kearny and they were waiting for me in their car. when i parked, this black civic parked in front of me. and who comes out of it? our long lost friend will! i didn't know he drove but i suspected it had something to do with his gf.

i met up with nina & kearny in line. ken, one of the bouncers (he's the one that asked me if i was chris's girl, if so, it was a shame because i was too fine for him! hahaha), he let us in for free on my birthday last month (with lisa & allen). i didn't really expect him to do it again this time. but then i see him whisper something to the cover chick and she stamps our hands without taking any $$. score! i need to bring him cookies the next time i go...

if you don't know, i absolutely love dancing at popscene. i get on this big natural dancing high. i suppose irish car bombs help too. but i have this big smile almost the entire time. funny, this is actually how bernie noticed me on the dance floor. anyway, i needed my dancing fix. we get on the dance floor and i see will over by the stage dancing by himself. as usual. normally, he would join us but he didn't and i felt bad for him so i went over to him. and we dance the entire night. we also chatted a bit on the dance floor. it was really nice. he's living with his gf now and no longer lives in the ghetto. hahah. he seems happy too which is great.

when office came on, we went and sat down in a booth. i didn't recognize any of the songs. i don't even think they played the two songs i knew. i was really disappointed. despite that, i still had tons of fun with nina, kearny & will. we stayed until closing and walked out with will. i spent the night at nina's and made it to work on time the next day. thanks nina!

rating: ♥

caroline's 23rd birthday & drunk dialing

my younger cousin turned 23 recently. it made me a little sad as i am ten years older than her. and i chose to be 23 for a good 8 or 9 years. now that i think about it more, i'm glad that i'm no longer in my 20s. i dare say i am even happy to be in my 30s. i choose the age 23 because it was one of the best years in my life. school was done, i travelled to europe, and thought i found the one i was going to marry and have babies with. it was truly the age of innocence for me. but now, who wants to be innocent at 33? pas moi!

last year at my cousin's party, i think i had 4 or 5 shots of vodka. i can't remember. then i had some plum wine or guinness. i mixed. and then it was all over for me. next thing i knew, i was waking up in my cousin's bedroom with her sleeping in the bed next to me. i suddenly saw flashes of yakking and what not. at first, i had no idea where i was. that's never good. this year, i told myself... i only want to get drunk enough to drunk dial bernie. so i stopped at 3 vodka shots. i planned on coming into work on sunday so i couldn't pass out anywhere but in my bed. i even texted him a warning message. possible drunk dialing tonight. he texted me back right away. he was going to bed soon so i had to call him soon. and i did. i can't remember a whole lot but it was nice hearing his voice and chatting with him. i'm a little smitten with him. clearly.

anyway, poor caroline got sick as did many others (including a 40 something y/o man who yakked everywhere). not me. i drove my mostly sober ass home. i even went to the office the next day. and hung out with a 4 y/o the entire day. having spent quality time with my dear cousins and their significant others (aka my cousin-in-laws & future cousins) is always such a joy despite how rare it is. it makes me really happy that i have such a lovely relationship with them. i'm also happy that bernie picked up when i drunk dialed him. heehee.

tube free!

last thursday, i had my last appointment with my ent doctor, dr. falsafi. he's been treating me since late last year and we actually said our goodbyes that afternoon. i saw him for the first time last december. despite having numerous specialists treating me, it's still a little sad to see them go. with all of my health issues, i feel extremely fortunate to have received such great care from most of them.

i had a total of 3 surgeries (done by the good doctor) all within 2007. now that being in his care is over, it's kinda bittersweet. i'm sad i won't see him anymore but i'm also happy that my problems have been resolved. for the most part anyway. i mean, seriously, i breathe so much better. i can't believe i didn't for most of my life. i don't miss the tube in my eye at all. hopefully, this is also goodbye to any pink eye recurrences.

thank you dr. falsafi!

your biggest fan? not quite.

venue: bimbo's
artist: voxtrot & new division
who: alex & betty
when: 30 nov 2007 (friday)
doors open at 8p

the night started off at burger meister in north beach on the way to bimbo's. unfortunately, we found ourselves sitting by the most obnoxious douche bags from the marina. i don't even think they were drunk. not that its an excuse for being obnoxious but it happens. not them. they were totally annoying. we hated them. so did the rest of the patrons there. we ended up staying longer than we should have.

we head over to bimbo's close to 8p. i love bimbo's. it's really a great venue. small enough where the musicians themselves are walking about. that's where i met david gedge from cinerama/wedding present. the sound is awesome. the ambiance is much better than the other venues. you can't beat the girl in the fish bowl either. it's so quaint. and the ladies restrooms are monitored by the coolest lady ever. the only problem is that it's cash only. but there are plenty of atms around so no biggie.

we got there early and scored a nice table off on the side right next to the bar. perfect location if you ask me. it was also a good spot for people watching, more like, stalker spotting. we saw a girl in a hideous dress stalking ramesh and then the rest of the band members. i'm happy to report that, thanks to my awestrickeness when it comes to rock stars that i can only blurt out one thing (along the lines of... i love your music). and then i'm gone.

the opening band was called new division. i overheard someone say that they were supposed to be like joy division. um, wrong division. they were nothing like joy division or any of their one songs. they were all over the place. one song was like toad the wet sprocket, another song was very 80's. the first song was ok but they went downhill after that. they kinda sucked. it's a harsh world out there and i'm not one for pacifying.

voxtrot started off great, as usual. their energy on stage was comparable to the energy in their songs. very jumpy and upbeat. especially their bass player, 70's guy who looks like a cross between topher grace and alex's german bf. more like topher grace though. then, towards the end (thankfully) their ratings fell rapidly. these slutty hags went up on stage and started dancing on stage. not only were they drunk & ugly, they were horrid dancers. ugh, in cheap grotesque sequins dresses. to keep this post brief, voxtrot allowed the sluts to stay on stage and did not seem to realize that we paid to see them, not stupid ugly old dancing sluts on stage. so we left.

rating: ♥ very very disappointing...

birthday events

on friday, i turned 33. i'm closer to my mid-30's. ugh. but as most of my friends know, i like to celebrate my birthday all month long. i started with my new red shoes. last weekend, i went to los angeles for a mini holiday. it was the only weekend i could get away before my big work deadline on december 4th. coincidentally, it was the baby shower of my college friend, sandra. i hadn't seen her since her wedding. kelly also surprised me with a trip to the bliss spa at the w hotel in los angeles. i'd been dying to go back to bliss since we had our muffin spa day there back in 2005. it's been over 2 years since i'd gone to any spa. so it was the perfect birthday surprise. we both got facials and chilled out in their lounge munching on brownie bar. we both also had extra treatments. she had the refining fruit acid wash ($25 extra) added on which is like a mini chemical peel. i had the microdermabrasion ($65 extra) added on and basically, they sand your face to make it smoother. usually, you get more than one session of these but i don't think i need to do it again. we both sat in the sauna for a bit, took individual steam showers and bought our products. it was much fun. and while i wanted a spa day with my sister (who suggested it to kelly, thanks lisa!), kelly is the next best thing. thanks kelly! ♥

last wednesday right after work, i brought home my birthday gift to myself. a new 2007 acura tsx with navigation system. it's carbon grey with ebony leather interior and a 6-speed manual transmission. i'd had my heart set on a mini cooper s but with all the bells & whistles i wanted in the mini, i got standard with the tsx. and more. everything has voice control. i'm still getting used to the commands. not to mention, talking to my car. and it is SO MUCH fun!!! the bluetooth is also really cool. if i call you on the road, chances are, i'm talking to you from my car!

on thursday, lisa & i cooked thanksgiving dinner. this year, there were no parents or unmarried significant others. a first. we all get along with my sister-in-law's siblings that they are really like family. i've been spending the last 8 or so thanksgivings with the pham family. it's been really great. lisa made the most amazing stuffing from scratch and corn pudding. and since my birthday was the next day, we celebrate my birthday on thanksgiving as well. it's a good excuse to have cake after dinner. i usually get myself the pumpkin burnt almond cake from peter's bakery but ro (thanks ro!) told me about aki's seasonal pumpkin cake. so i ordered one. it's called the pumpkin delight and it is quite delightful. really moist and flavorful. i'd say it was much better than the pumpkin burnt almond. mmm. i also got a yummy strawberry birthday cake from trang's sister jade.

after dinner, lisa & her bf allen took me to meat is murder night at popscene. it's a tribute to the smiths & morrissey. a smiths cover band, this charming band, was also playing. i hadn't been back to popscene since september and was dying to go dancing again. most of the popscene characters were there so we got in for free (thanks ken!) and for the most part (except for the first drinks allen had to pay for), we got our drinks for free (thanks to chris). dancing was so much fun. lisa took two car bombs with me. she'd never had them before. we didn't get home until 4p but it was totally worth it. thanks lisa! thanks allen! you guys are the best!!

a tradition i've started on my birthday is getting my haircut. i thought i just wanted a trim but i usually let my hair dresser, gina, do whatever she likes. she does in fact do whatever she likes and it always looks hot.

on saturday night, my brother & sister-in-law took me and lisa to this new restaurant in palo alto, called shokolaat. let's see, the only good thing i have to say about this place is that the dessert was the best thing there (even though we ordered 3/4 of the dinner menu). it was overpriced (over $200 for 4 of us) and there was a racist elderly woman sitting next to us who did nothing but glare at us all night and made racists remarks at us. i didn't know these people still existed. we were the youngest patrons dining there and not the only asians there either. next time, i'll go to xanh for my birthday.

thank you all for sending/leaving birthday messages on friday. i was napping from noon to 5p recovering from the night before at popscene. despite unfortunate events, it was still a lovely birthday.

in our bedroom after the war

venue: bimbo's
artist: stars & lloyd cole
who: alex, andrew, betty, ro, lou, jen & jonathan
when: 14 nov 2007 (wednesday)
doors open at 7p

while i was just at bimbo's no more than 5 days before the stars show, i hadn't seen torquil campbell perform since the memphis show which was earlier this year in may. not too long ago. having two doses of the torq is quite nice actually. another wouldn't be too bad.

torq campbell started off as a child star and still works as an actor. i saw him on sex & the city. he was also on a couple of law & order episodes, which i love love to watch. it makes me like him even more. hardly possible. anyway, more about torq later.

we get there and there are flowers all over the stage. not on the floor but on their instruments sticking out where ever flowers could stick out. lloyd cole opened the stars show. he used to sing with the commotions (i think). he went solo in the early 90's and i actually have his album (don't get weird on me, babe). there's this one song that i loved. it was why i bought the cd. it was called she's a girl and i'm a man. very catchy. alas, he didn't play it. however, he did play are you ready to be heartbroken? in which camera obscura (ro reminded me of this) has a song called lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken based off lloyd cole's song. cool, huh? i was really impressed with lloyd cole. even after all these years, he still really rocks. and doesn't look too bad either.

now, this is my fourth time seeing stars. and they just get better and better every time i see them. the thing you don't hear on the album is torq's passion. he sings with overwhelming passion that you can almost see it ooze out of him on the stage. he's jumping around and so completely into the music. he's also very funny and uber cool. both alex and i decided that we love him. words cannot describe the extent of his coolness. also, amy millan has one of the loveliest voices. i adore her voice. and at first, she didn't stand out quite as much as torq but you can tell she got more comfortable. the played most of the songs off the new album and the last one. i think the oldest song they played was on peak hill(right?). my first fav song by them is the very thing, but i don't think they've ever played it live. :(

they did two encores. the last one, torq convinced (very easily) most of the audience standing to sit down. it was like story time in elementary school all over again. and really awesome. that was a first. as for the flowers from the beginning, during their set towards the end, they threw them out to the audience. no one does that either.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ the best stars show yet.

mcdreamy sighting

last year, i discovered i had a crush on one of my faculty. if you'd asked me about him before, i would have told you, very unlikely. we referred to him as mcdreamy. i even went to dinner with him alone, once. but it was merely a school girl crush. especially after i found out that he had a girlfriend in the uk. it stayed a crush. how could it be anything more? after all, i was on a mancott.

anyway, mcdreamy was here this past week for an orals exam of one of his students. i had two really nice chats with him. one was when he first arrived from london (where he shares a flat with said gf). it was great having him around again. i even sort of might say that i missed him. but of course, there was no mention of the gf. at all. there is never any mention of the gf. i found out from someone else. the second chat was the see you next year chat. last august, i'd told him that i might start looking for another job on campus. he didn't approve. he asked me how the job hunting was going and i told him it wasn't. that the department was too good to me. it would be hard to leave. he responded, i'll see you next year then. that was thursday.

today, i was up in the city shopping. on powell street. as i crossed the street with my friend funie, i see mcdreamy crossing the street with his baggage probably on his way to sfo. he didn't see me and i was too shocked to say anything. it all happened so quickly. i think it might have been a sign?

quite the swedish ladies' man

venue: bimbo's
artist: jens lekman
who: ro
when: 9 nov 2007 (friday)
doors open at 8p

the last time i was at bimbo's, it was back in february for the camera obscura show. this month, i will have seen 3 shows at bimbo's. funny. last night, i went to bimbo's to see jens lekman with my very good friend romano. i'd been listening to his songs since i got a hold of night falls over kortedala (thanks ro!) before it was even released in the us. and i'd been looking forward to his show since i heard he was playing.

we got there during the opening band's set. they were called something statue and were from half moon bay. they weren't too bad. but they weren't who we were there for. we were there for jens lekman, swedish hotties on stage (his bandmates), and to be surrounded by swedish hot things. that's right, surrounded. it was packed.

listening to jens lekman in the car or at home is nothing like listening and/or seeing him live. he's really cute and surprisingly small for being swedish. his voice is flawless live. there's also a lot of horns and violins in his music. it's very orchestral yet with witty lyrics that are also silly at the same time. his harmonic arrangements are amazing and grandeur. you really want to listen to the words, all his songs tell a story. most of them ridiculous and funny. he started of talking about the last time he was in the area and his fond memories of rollerblading in sausalito. hilarious, really. and during many of his songs, he tells you the background on the story. more than you get from the song. it reminded me a little bit of sondre lerche when we saw him at slim's back in 2004. he gabbed a lot between his songs and you wished he'd just shut up and play. not jens, his stories were so personal and such a treat to hear.

he ended his set with two encores. the last song was his very own rendition of paul simon's call me al. which is funny because camera obscura also ends one of their last songs with it. and apparently, jens seems quite the ladies' man. shoot, i'd do him.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ it was magic.

december wedges

i know, it's a bit early for december shoes...

but it was the nordstrom half-yearly today.

and well, i picked these up...

a halloween treat

ten years ago (yes, 1997) in san diego, our household decided to throw a twin peaks themed halloween party. my friends (lou, ro, rich & quynh) were down visiting from the bay area. it was the first and only time they came to visit me during the 5 plus years i called san diego my home. not to mention lou's first time on an airplane. very very exciting!!

it was also the best halloween party, ever.

lisa and i were (& still are) huge twin peaks fans. we bought red flannel bedding to give the whole red velvet curtain effect. aside from the alcohol, we served cherry pie, donuts (?) and coffee. we played twin peaks on the tv and the soundtrack in the patio on the boom box. across the courtyard, our neighbor was also throwing a halloween party. our parties were interchangeable. people from our party went to his party. and people i didn't know showed up at our party. since i was drunk (see below, on the right) before people even showed up, i didn't care.

the picture at the top shows the twin peaks cast. from left to right: smella as "joan chen's character"; clair (one of our roommates) was "laura palmer found dead in plastic"; me as "audrey horne"; and lisa as "shelly johnson, the waitress."

good times. good times. (right lou?) heehee.

earthquake country

last night, at approximately 8pm, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6. the epicenter was in the alum rock area which is down the mountain from where we live. and i was meeting with betty at chevy's. we were waiting for our food when it felt like someone was kicking at my bar stool, REALLY hard. i turned and looked at betty, wondering if she was the one kicking my chair. but everything was shaking and kinda rolling. some glasses fell. the tvs hanging were swaying. all but one chevy's employee stayed calm. the one darted straight out of there! we all just waited for it to pass. and it did with no real damage to place. we just stayed and finished our meals.

on my way home, i received a call from my dad. he told me the earthquake originated in alum rock and couldn't get in touch with anyone at home. this worried me. what about the kids? are they ok? they must be scared. and i wasn't home to help them. so, i raced home. as i was going up the mountain, i passed some large rocks that had fallen at this hairpin turn. and was glad that i wasn't there when it happened.

i got home and my sister was home. she couldn't really call anyone. she was trying to get back to her boyfriend. she said everyone was fine. the power didn't go out. she was on the road when it happened so she didn't feel it. same with my brother & sister-in-law. they actually didn't have a clue. when i checked my room, there were pictures that were crooked and a few things that fell off my shelves. otherwise, in the same messy condition i'd left it that morning. my sister's room on the other hand, lots of things fell off her shelves. later, lisa says, damn, i can't believe i missed it!

apparently, this earthquake originated on the calaveras fault and 5.7 miles deep. the "big one" is speculated to come from the hayward fault. the last time the calaveras fault made any noise, it was back in 1984 which hit morgan hill with an earthquake at a magnitude of 6.2. still, this is nothing compared with the damage done by the 1989 quake (with a 7.1 magnitude). smaller shakes are so common here that i usually sleep through them. i have to admit, it was a little exciting to have one rolling through. we were due for one. i'm just glad there wasn't much damage as a result.

btw, happy halloween everyone!

control

in theatres on october 26 (now!)

sf- landmark lumiere
berkeley- landmark shattuck

anyone want to see it with me?

thoughts on bernie

thanks to my osoms, bernie is becoming less and less wonderful. it's not to say that he wasn't wonderful. the freshness of his wonderfulness is fading.

i've decided, while i prefer being chased by bernie (well, men in general), there's not much option for a relationship. for two reasons. one of them being we had one date. granted, it could have been 3 dates in one, it was still just one date. second, he's in new york and most likely will not move back. and there is no way i am moving out there. if you want to know why, ask my niece. keep in mind that she's a little scary sensitive with the subject of me leaving her. despite not having a romantic relationship with bernie, i'd still like to be friends with him. i still think he's pretty awesome. he's funny as hell and not bad to look at either.

this is really interesting to me because there are two categories i generally put men in. the "friends" category and the "dated" category. i no longer speak to men in the "dated" category. ex-boyfriends are in that lot. however, some "friends" have been able to move from the "dated" lot. considering all the boys i've "dated," the transition doesn't happen often but is still possible. once they are "friends," they can't move back to "dated." while bernie is moving from "dated" to "friends," i might consider the option of moving him back to the "dated" category. i don't know for sure but we'll see. being "friends" with him gives me the freedom of emailing him for no reason. and without any pressure.

maybe a "flirting" category would be best for me to put him in? nah, i flirt with my "friends" all of the time...

october & november animal print boots

i'm wearing the leopard pair right now...
btw, they were 90% off! that's why i got them both.

weekend of birthdays

this past weekend was much fun with too much food. ugh. i'm still full from all the birthday celebrations. on saturday, my best friend kelly came up from LA to visit and threw an informal birthday party for her daughter (who turns 2 today), emily-anne. last week, on thursday, i took half the day off to play hookie with kelly. i went over sometime before 2p and didn't leave until past 10p! it was so much fun. i really miss hanging out with her. she's such a great friend...

on saturday, i went over for more food, cake and a game of tripoley. i rarely play card games but since everyone else was playing and the night was still young, i decided to try. basically, it's 3 games in one and 3 ways to win. first, you match up any high hearts you have. there are 9 pots of money you play. then, you play poker with 5 of the cards you have. and finally, you play russian rummy. whoever gets rid of their cards first, wins the last pot. i think i stayed until all of my chips ran out which was close to 11p.

on sunday, it was trang's mother's birthday brunch at dim sum. i stuffed myself silly. both days. then trang & i took the kids to chuck e. cheese. i don't really remember the last time i went. when i was a kid? can't be. anyway, we stayed for a good hour or so and then we went to the gilroy outlets. despite being really tired, i'm always up for shopping. after a full day, i cleaned for a bit and rewarded myself with a nice, relaxing bubble bath. i love my bathroom. since we're moving in december, i need to make the most of it!

ugh, i'm still recovering. i hope to hit the gym this week, except, i've got this awful cough that's keeping me up nights. usually though, i feel better during the day. nights are pretty bad even though i try to sleep at an incline. i hope it goes away soon...

random work incident

i'm usually at work until 5:30p to catch my 5:49p train. our office closes at 5p and there's a room in front of my office which i am responsible for. the room is our grad student mailroom so mostly, people i know come through this entrance.

last night, sometime after 5p and as we were closing up shop, this random student comes through my office. i start towards him and say i'm sorry, we're closed.

he says as he continues through the office like he belongs there, oh i'm sorry, i just need to drop something off.

i'm sort of in his way and he just moves around me. i'm in complete shock. i'm speechless (rare, right?). and i just give him this combination of a dirty & confused look. i stare at him while he puts this card into one of our faculty mailboxes and heads out. he turns around and apologizes again and finally leaves.

i follow him out so i can lock up behind him. this is why i work with grad students. undergrads here have this sense of entitlement and they feel like they can do whatever they want. ugh, drives me up the wall!!

this morning (less than an hour ago), the same guy comes into my office. his name is steven. and get this, to apologize! this NEVER happens. he says he wants to apologize for being rude last night and had been thinking about it all night. again, i'm speechless with shock. finally, i tell him that i appreciate his apology. it's funny, after going off on undergrads doing what he did, it turns out that he's a grad student. figures, undergrads who do this never apologize later.

is there a full moon coming up? no, there was one recently. maybe an earthquake? totally bizarro.

the start of something?

i was very excited about my date with bernie on saturday. he called in the afternoon to touch base on our plans (like he said he would). he suggested sushi, i said i love sushi! we were on for dinner at 7p. i would pick him up where he was staying. he texted me the address and i was ready.

but i got a call from my parents asking if i could pick up the kids from vietnamese school. the school is just down the street from us and i had car seats so i said i would. what they didn't bother to tell me, according to trang, was that they were supposed to babysit. i told trang, as long as she or my brother got home by 6p so i can leave, it would be fine.

6pm rolls around and nothing. i'm rushing around getting ready, throwing clothes here and there. the kids were hungry so i had to feed them. there was leftover food and dirty dishes everywhere. i thought, ok, i'm not going to worry about that stuff. but what do i do with the kids?? i had to leave, now! so i tell them to put their shoes on and i was going to drop them off at my parents. as soon as i was about to load them into the car, i saw the garage close with my brother's car inside. so i yelled his name and he opened the garage. saved! the kids ran inside and i was ready to go. except, i still needed gas for the car. i texted bernie, running late, had to babysit & need to fill up but on my way!

i got there around 7:30p and i was really nervous. we'd had this great phone conversation. he seemed really cool so far. he calls when he says he will or when i ask him to. so far, this guy was perfect. and as it turns out, cuter than i'd remembered. we have dinner at this cute sushi place in japantown. it's tiny. i have this funny wasabi story i tell. and it's also a good way to tell someone about my thyroid cancer. since i've lived with it for 4 years now, it's not so hard for me to talk about it.

the story goes... one time (at band camp, heehee), i lost my taste buds. i'd undergone radiation treatment and it was maybe a month or so later. all of a sudden, in the middle of the day, i couldn't taste anything. the duration of the lost of taste buds was about 2 weeks. during which, i'd gone out to eat sushi. and i thought, since i can't taste the wasabi, why not put the whole ball in with my soy sauce? afterwards, i still couldn't taste anything and for a second i was fine... until my eyes began to water and my nose started to run, profusely. while my mouth couldn't and didn't react to it, the rest of my body did! it was pretty funny.

bernie was really concerned for me. and shared his health issues with me. it's crazy and scary that your body starts to fall apart when you get older. but, that's the process of aging. we talked about everything and anything. until the restaurant closed. we weren't done hanging out so he took me to this wine bar. i have no clue where it was. it was in a really nice neighborhood where there was no parking. after we finally found decent parking, it was a nice walk to the wine bar. he offered his arm to me while walking down the hill. he said he always offers his arm to ladies walking downhill in heels. i just figured he was giving me a reason to hold on to him. but i could see that it was that he was a gentleman.

at the wine bar, we talked more openly. it's where it all came out. there, i told him that if he was as cool as he seemed, i was going to be upset that he was leaving. he told me how happy he was when i first texted him. even though he got it at 3 or 4 in the morning in hong kong. then he held my hands. and told me he really wanted to kiss me. i remember him saying this at popscene (yes, i know, i didn't mention it below). it was so cute. i couldn't say no to him at popscene and i couldn't say no to him this time. so i leaned in and kissed him. before we knew it, the wine bar was closing. and we were off again, but where?

he hadn't been in the country for a few months and didn't really know where to take me. he was staying with friends and i didn't really want to go back there to hang out. so despite having left my apartment like there was an explosion, lisa wasn't home and it was an option. i asked him, do you want to come back to san jose with me? he answered, as long as you don't mind dropping me off here tomorrow.

in the car, he held my hand for a bit. still making me laugh non-stop. i don't know what it was about him. something really special. at popscene, there was something then but i didn't know what. i still don't know if i know. my concept of time during this date was completely obsolete. i don't remember when we got back to san jose, at all. but he loved the view and the apartment despite the mess. he didn't seem to care. he just wanted to be with me. and i wanted to be with him.

we hung out until 2p on sunday afternoon. it was a lot of talking, kissing, holding and cuddling. something i've never done for so many hours. with anyone in one sitting. not even with the live-in bfs. and i think we would have stayed in bed much longer had it not been for hunger and thirst. damn those essential life necessities.

we had waffles and pancakes on the way back up to the city. i dropped him off and was already getting sad. he held my hand in the car. and kissed me when he left. said he would try to have dinner with me before he left if he could finish all his stuff.

i'd never had such an amazing time with someone i'd just met. it was so open and comfortable. i don't think we tried very hard to impress one another. at least, i couldn't tell. it was so genuine. i'm completely thrown off. it's bizarro. but now, i'm so very sad. :(

my renewed faith in men

first, there was the best date ever which was officially the first date after coming off my mancott (i think?) and now, there's bernie. yep, the guy i met at popscene when hot hot heat played, while not waiting for chris. despite being slightly drunk, there was something about him. enough of something that i let him give me his number. and since he is moving to new york in the very near future (next week), i figure, what have i got to lose? so i texted him. and he texted me right back. from hong kong. told me when he was coming back and when he moving. and then he asked me if i wanted to hang out. i texted back, yes! call me when you get back! that was mid-september. i hadn't heard anything from him after. honestly, i didn't expect to hear from him at all.

but on tuesday, the day he came back, i got a call. from him. this is second part of the renewed faith. i was so shocked that he called that i was too scared to pick it up. i let him go to voice mail. i called him back the next day. i think we were on the phone for over two hours. and i was laughing the entire time. lisa could hear me in the kitchen from my room with the tv on. ha. it makes me smile just thinking about our conversation. i was so impressed with him. i mean, the fact that he called when i asked him to. and the last part of the renewal was the phone call. i haven't been on the phone like that with a guy since the dreaded ex.

and so, i have a date with bernie to look forward to on saturday. yay!

lucky me & the lucksmiths

venue: 12 galaxies
artist: lucksmiths
who: ro
when: 23 september 2007 (sunday)
doors open at 9p

before the start of the academic year (stanford started on the 24th), i'd gone into the office sunday afternoon to catch up and prep for the following day. we had all sorts of events to look forward to this week. but before monday, i had the lucksmiths to really look forward to. i'd also recently received my annual raise (5%! a first!) so the plan was to leave around 6p to head up for dinner before the show. ro had some recommendations and we ended up at delfina for dinner. there was an hour wait and since there were two opening bands and we were there at 7p, it wasn't a problem. we just went to the tartine bakery for some coffee and pre-dinner desserts. ro had macaroons and mexican cookies and i had bread pudding. yummmmy!

at 8p, tartine's had closed and we headed back to delfina's. almost the moment we arrived, ro got the call that our table was ready. what perfect timing! we started with snails raised with rosemary and other herbs. i forget what others. we were being adventurous ordering the escargots. i'd never had them. ro had never had them either. and they were delightful. they did in fact, as our waitress said, melt in our mouths. it was a successful attempt at being daring in terms of food. we both had the fulton valley range chicken with olive oil mashed potatoes and royal trumpet mushrooms which was delicioso and we might have enjoyed it more had it not been for our pre-desserts. oh well.

i think it was after 10p when we headed out to 12 galaxies. we were both first-timers there. it's set in the mission district which is really dirty and seems shady if you've never been there. there are lots of hip bars and restaurants there so it's quite a popular area. personally, i prefer noe valley, but it's a lot more expensive. hence, i live in the south bay.

the venue was basically this long room with the stage set up at the very back. and like the rickshaw stop, there's an upstairs with a great view of the band. also similar to the rickshaw, it was hotter than hell upstairs. we just stayed downstairs. we caught the second opening band. there were like 20 people on stage dancing around. the sound was bad. they all looked like they were having fun but it was really random. and kinda awful. i guess there were about 13 people, really. whatever. but when the lucksmiths came on, the sound got better. then again, it might have been their lead singer's voice. it was so melodic and perfect. he didn't miss a beat. and on top of that, he played drums standing up. it was a fantastic show. i was most impressed. thanks ro!

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

hot hot heat with chris

venue: 330 ritch (popscene)
artist: hot hot heat
who: alex & nina
when: 13 september 2007 (thursday)
doors open at 10p

last thursday, i went to popscene with alex (who hadn't been there for over a year) and cousin nina. it was popscene's 11th anniversary party so they had a special guest band, hot hot heat. we'd seen hot hot heat there before and it was a great show. we were really excited about seeing them again. the only thing i wasn't excited about was the line that would probably reach to the end of the block. as these kinds of bands do at such small venues. luckily, nina offered to wait in line for us at 9p. alex and i got there shortly after 9:30p and as usual, i tried flirting my way in to avoid the line. fortunately, the boys know me and it worked. they also know that i sort of have a thing with chris (not exactly sure what it is yet), with whom they tease me about, incessantly. i suppose i can't blame them. that's what i get for making out with him in public.

after waiting at the front and saying how scary the line is, they tell me, you don't have to worry about the line. i call nina up to the front. i asked jorge to get chris so i can say hi to him. jorge returns sans chris and tells me that chris told him to take care of me. what a sweetie. *sigh* meaning, chris is allowed two guests, there are 3 of us so it's a 3 for 1 deal on top of hopping the line. it was $13 for the 3 of us. that's actually cheaper cover than a regular popscene night! score!

we also got in before 10p! i love popscene... we go over to say hello to jessica, have some drinks with josh and then more drinks with jason. chris walked by a few times before i finally i was able to say thanks to him. he's really busy working and still, he sits down to chat with us. he's seriously the sexiest thing ever. i hadn't seen him since our date on labor day. i'm really itching for another make out session with him. but he's too busy. :( at one point, i surprised him from behind when i went over to have a little chat with jason about chris. and i got a few kisses out of him but i wanted more.

finally, chris gets the ok and we head to the back. we're a little less conspicuous about our making out these days. especially since he was working and all. i'm not sure if this was before or after hot hot heat came on. but i didn't recognize any of their songs until the end when they started playing the old stuff. we snagged a table in the back so we couldn't see much but we could hear them fine. i couldn't pay much attention with chris walking back and forth in front of me. after the band, we hit the dance floor. we were dancing as usual and there were these guys dancing near us. i was a little drunk and found myself dancing with this one guy. his name was bernie. he's 35 y/o and moving to new york. he said he lived in san francisco for 10 years. he told me he thought i was 24 but noticed that i knew the words to all the songs he knew. when i told him how old i was, it made sense to him. he also told me he thought i was the cutest thing. very sweet. he also told me that i danced very well. i don't even know how long we danced. i didn't notice anything around me, like chris. both alex and nina saw chris walk by as i danced with bernie.

it was late and we had to get going. so, alex got our coat check stuff and i was saying goodbye to bernie. he asked to see me again. gave me his card and phone number. he was really very sweet. after seeing bernie off, i looked for chris to say goodbye to him. just as i turned around, there he was, walking towards me. he pulled me inside the bar, asked me if i was drunk and we made out for a bit. i'm not sure if it was because i was a little drunk but he seemed really into it. i mean, he's usually into it but more than usual. it was nice. :D maybe seeing me dance with bernie was a good thing? anyhow, i don't know how long i was there with him but i heard the djs announce closing time. oh shit, it's 3am?!? alex wanted to leave by 1! so off i went. and off the three of us went to go home. except, we had to drop nina off at her friend's place and we got lost getting back on 101. we ended up by the golden gate and was finally on our way home. i think it was close to 4a when we got back to mt. view.

i got up around 7:30a and caught the train in mt. view. the train that i've been missing all week because i can't get my ass up early enough to get it at 7:45a in san jose. yet, on 3 hours of sleep (a wee nap), i made it into work on time. and i'm there all day. that is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

rating: ♥ ♥ (hot hot heat)
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (for chris)

september mary janes

i've been looking for some gray shoes and have been into wedges lately. these are really cute!

tube update

last thursday, i had an appointment with my doctor for the removal of my tube. while he probed the tube in my nose and stuck some forceps in there, he decided to leave the tube in for another three months. he mentioned that he thought i was healing nicely but just wanted to leave the tube for a bit longer. i figure, it's better than having it put in a 4th time. and since i don't feel it, it's no biggie.

otherwise, i am feeling quite well and getting the most out of these glasses. alas, i will have to postpone the daily wear of eye make up until the winter. oh well.

best date ever

so there's this guy i met at popscene. his name is chris. i don't really remember how we met him but it might have been in a drunken stupor. it was 2003 (i think) and he was 23. he worked at popscene and i'd always made it a point to introduce myself to the hot guys working there. he once asked me out on a date back then and i told him he was too young. plus, he lived in the city and didn't have a car. but then, i ended up dating ted, who was 23 when i met him. we all make mistakes, don't we?

since i've been single again, i've found myself drawn to chris more and more. he's funny, witty, and not to mention super hot. i even gave him my phone number, which is something i never do anymore. and lately, we've been making out there, in a dark corner (or not) at the club.

this past monday, he called me and asked if i wanted to hang out. i thought to myself, hello? i need a little more notice. but then i thought, well, i haven't gone outside yet. i've been cleaning all day. i'm a mess and chunky is sleeping my room. oh yeah, and it was hot as hell. i needed to get myself out of there. i texted him, would love to hang out, what have you got in mind? it turns out it was "perfectly overcasted" in the sunset. so, i left chunky upstairs with the nanny and off i went.

now, if you don't know, i haven't been dating for a while. since my mancott was imposed last year, i've been slow getting back into the dating scene. at least, i think i have been. so i'm really nervous on the way up. and this is usually a sign that i like the guy. then again, it might be the fact that since we have only ever seen each other at popscene, we've never actually seen each other in broad daylight. sans the intoxication of alcohol. i had no idea what to expect.

i get there at 5p and he lives on this very cute yet narrow street. the neighborhood is very quaint. his house is also very cute. 5p is a really odd time for a weekday but not only that, it was labor day. most shops start closing and bars have yet to open. he suggests a movie. we look at our choices and nothing looks exciting. so he says, let's go for a drive.

we're driving along and i say, wow chris, this is fun ... uh, driving. he laughs at me and tells me that he is taking me somewhere. and asks me if i like champagne and cheese? who doesn't like the bubbly? he takes me to the ferry plaza on the embarcadero. it's a nice walk along the embarcadero from the car. the place he wanted to take me to is closed but we go somewhere else for some bubbly. he's really quite charming. and really really sexy. i am SO attracted to him. plus, he's a great kisser. one of the best, actually.

afterwards, he's "driving" again and i don't know where. i'm just assuming we are heading back to his place. then he asks me, have you had soju? and i recall the last time i had soju last year. except, i remembered ogi being 22, not 24. so i tell chris the story... the last time i had soju, i made out with a 22 y/o boy and didn't remember it. i remembered having 4 shots but betty said it was more like 7. and i woke up with swollen lips and thought to myself, what the hell is wrong with my lips?? i think he liked that story. we were headed to the rohan lounge, this korean fusion restaurant/bar. it was very cool. when we got there, it was totally empty. so he took me across the street to this divebar for beers. i really enjoy divebars. they have so much character to them. and they are super random. after our beers, we went back to rohan and it was better. there were people there.

it's a very cool and hip place. there's an area for a dj and a nice ambiance for a date. chris ordered us two flights of soju, one sweet and one dry, and some food. the sweet soju is really good. the dry stuff is like vodka. i've only ever had the dry stuff. the plan was to alternate, for me, it was one sweet, one dry, sweet, etc. by the third shot, i really started feeling it. i got a little clumsy, like dropping a slippery pineapple on the table. then i say to him, wow, i'm a little drunk. um wait, you know you don't have to get me drunk to make out with you, right? because, well, that's a given. then, he sits down next to me and kisses me. it was very sweet. the owner/waiter comes by and sees the pineapple on the table. and says to me, next time, you get a fork! no more chopsticks for you if you are going to be dropping food! hahah. it was one slippery pineapple the size of a dollar coin! sheesh!

so far, this date is quite outstanding. i'm really surprised. pleasantly surprised. i had no idea what to expect, at all. we go back to his place and get comfortable and well, um, i stay until midnight and head home. i'd sobered up quickly and was able to drive home. it was really amazing... why i waited 4 years to go out with him is beyond me. i wish i'd skipped ted altogether and went straight to chris. seriously, no idea about him.

update #2 on recovery #2

funny story at the hospital the day of my surgery (over 4 thursdays ago)... i'm at o'connor which was where i had my thyroidectomy done 4 years ago (almost to the date!) and this nurse, mimi helped me prep up. i couldn't help but notice how familiar she seemed. especially as she asked me all of the same questions i'd been asked before. in the middle of it, she stopped and said to me, have i helped you before linda? i tell her that i was just thinking the same thing! it's really nice to be remembered, isn't it?

as far as my current recovery goes, i'm healing well. aside from coughing up this tiny plastic thing which apparently is from the gel form they stuck in my nose to hold something in place. it also seemed to be the cause for the sore throat/ tonsilitis symptoms because after it was out of my system, i was fine. well, except for the congestion. but my doctor pulled the gel form out along with some really gross stuff. my nasal cavity actually felt empty after that. it was amazing. a bit traumatic but absolutely necessary. i can breathe deeply again!

one last thing though. the tube in my eye comes out this coming thursday. i don't really feel it so it's not a big deal. i just hope it doesn't hurt too much!

happy labor day weekend everyone!

august sunset

our view this month on our mountain.

update on my recovery #2

hi all,

thanks for all the messages and concern. i'm recovering well, much better than the last surgery. on friday, as lisa is working from home next to me, she says... i can't believe you had surgery yesterday, it feels like we're just hanging out. after the last surgery, when she came to pick me up, she cried at the sight of me. she said i looked really messed up. this time, it was different. i didn't look swollen, and didn't need help getting into the house. i was up and about on friday. the only thing i'm really having problems with, are my tonsils. they are so swollen that if i don't keep my tonsils down my throat, i choke a little bit. my throat is so sore right now. and it's hard to take any solids down.

otherwise, my nose is fine. my face is fine. as long as my tonsils get better, i'll be a-ok. i'm hoping to get back to the office earlier than the 20th.

xoxo

t minus 7 hours and counting...

i have surgery today, in the morning. hopefully, this will be the last one for a long time. i'm having an endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy done. dcr for short. i'm hoping all goes well as i have a bit of a cough. this should fix my teary left eye, for the most part anyway. and if i'm lucky, i'll leave the hospital with an eye patch. i kinda dig the pirate look. ;)

see you soon! ♥

ps, happy birthday lou! (on the 10th). posts on my mini break will have to wait until later!

august wedges

these were $41, including shipping!