one down, two to go

venue: rickshaw stop
artist: asobi seksu
who: lou & ro
when: 30 october 2008 (thursday)
show starts at 8p (but really, it started at 9p)

according to their website, asobi seksu is "colloquial japanese for playful sex." in preparation for the show, i've been listening to them on rhapsody. yuki (lead vocalist) sings both in japanese and english. her voice is amazing. in some of the songs, her vocals sound as if she is shrieking, yet it's lovely. a lovely shrieking. a bit of an enigma, which also matches her appearance. in the images of her, she looks like a delicate flower. beautiful and fragile. but live, she's rocking out with all her might and hair in her face and everywhere. you only catch a glimpse of her face when she sings into the microphone. and still, her long hair is wild all over.

in rhapsody, asobi seksu is categorized under "shoegazer" and "dream pop." i think they are the epitome of shoegazer music, which often times, feels like a fight between music and vocals. in this band's case, the shrill of the electric guitar(s) battling her lovely shrieking notes. for some, it might just sound like noise. for me, it is a combination of dramatic sounds and hardcore rocking out.

and don't even get me started on the japanese lyrics thrown into the mix. japanese-pop-shoegazer is quite special, not to mention a little sexy.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

emily turns 3!

on sunday, my goddaughter emily had her 3rd birthday. i brought the kids with me. it was a day packed with projects, food, and lots of kiddies. they started off with a diy-pizza-on-a-bagel making project. after the kids made their pizzas, it was baked for their eating pleasure. the next project was a birdseed feeder on a cylindrical roll that's glued on with peanut butter. this project was quite messy. it was taken home in a bag. thank goodness, otherwise, emily would have gotten 2 extra feeders.

the last project was the pumpkin painting one. after the kids painted their own pumpkins, they could sprinkle them with glitter. and who doesn't love glitter, right? surprisingly, out of about 8 pumpkins, only one of them had a face.

despite the projects, the kids had a good ole time just playing with each other. the chunkster made a new friend named david. they even talked about going to each other's homes. they played together with my lollipop head the entire time. well, until david had to go home. it was really really sweet.

kids from left to right: chunky, molly, david, lollipop head, one of the twins, the birthday girl, ava, malia, julian, aubrey, and mateo.

we stayed for a very long 5 hours. two hours before, i was begging the kids to go home. finally, i told them, ten more minutes! i felt bad staying so long but the kids were having so much fun getting to know each other. by the end of the party, chunky & emily were "bffs." super adorable.

betty's bachelorette!

i don't often have event-packed-weekends but this past weekend was exhausting. don't get me wrong, it was loaded with fun things to do. but still, weekends are supposed to be for refueling on sleep and laziness. then again, maybe not.

saturday was betty's bachelorette spa day & dinner. all day. it started with the burke williams spa in santana row. our treatments were scheduled at 4ish but i decided to come early to make the most of the facilities since i had to leave early to get stuff ready for the dinner @ xanh restaurant. i met up with joahnna at around 3p. i went to high school with her and hadn't seen her in ages! but back in 2006, we hung out a lot with betty. it was nice to catch up with her a little bit because she wasn't able to join us for dinner. i had a detox/calming wrap at 4p. it's 25 minutes of being wrapped in a cocoon of warm towels soaked in herbs, eliminating unwanted toxins. the esthetician who helped me, tifa, was this fabulous indonesian woman. she was a mother of 3 and in her late 30's. i would have guessed that she was in her 20's. she looked SO good! she threw in a mini-facial with my wrap. it was exactly what i needed. next time, i'm going to try a facial with her.

i left about an hour after my treatment. i wanted to say goodbye to betty. she didn't get out until after 5:30. i was meeting lisa at home by 6p. i had to get ready, remember to bring the cake, menus & favors and be at the restaurant by 6:45p with lisa. i drove like a speed demon to get things ready before 7 only to have to wait nearly an hour for betty to arrive. i should've known. and since she came straight from the spa with her friend lisa, it was kinda lisa's job to get betty there on time. apparently, she didn't know it was. luckily, it turned out fine.

it was me, lisa, loanne, hoi, lien, marie, betty & her friend lisa. we had more than enough food with plenty for betty to take home. the pumpkin burnt almond cake from peter's bakery was enough for all 8 of us (big & small slices) and leftovers for hoi to take home to her kids. in addition, we had less than a quarter to share with my brother's little family who showed up at the restaurant during our dinner. the kids joined us (me, lisa, betty, lien & marie) in the lounge after dinner too! we had yummy deviations and chatted until we closed the place down. it was loads of girlish fun.

pumpkin goodness

since the original recipe resulted in a lack of pumpkin flavor, i decided to double the amount of pumpkin and decrease the sour cream by a quarter of a cup to keep the moistness. doesn't it look delicious?

jordan knight @ popscene, again

the last time i was at popscene, was with betty and her cousin patty from taiwan. i'd met patty before but it might have been in san diego nearly ten years before. patty was back dropping her brother off in florida for school. so we took her to popscene with us. that was the end of july. and as far as i can see (in my calendar), that was also the last time we were at popscene.

last night, we got there after having just missed birdmonster. i was a little bummed because i remembered that they weren't half bad when they opened for stellastarr* back in february. however, we did run into someone we'd met at popscene before. this is the conversation you don't have in an attempt to hit on two asian girls you've picked up on before:

jordan knight(jk) sneaking up behind us at the bar: can i join this asian girl group?
us in unison: no.
jk: why?
us: because you're not asian or a girl.
me: um, have we met you before?
betty: yes, you look really familiar to us.
jk: if i'd met you two before, i would have remembered it so no, i don't think so.
me: aren't you like 25, or something?
jk: i just turned 26 last week!
me: so, what do you do?
jk: i work at a start up company in mt. view... we are developing a mobile web that looks more like a regular website...
betty interupting: yep, you told me this before.
jk zips up his mouth: well, i won't say anything else then.
me: wait, but i didn't hear about this. i wanna hear about this.
betty: let me finish what he was saying... he wants the company to do really well so he can make a lot of money and take us on helicopter rides.
jk looking like a dumbass, is totally speechless.
me: yeah, i knew we'd met before. i asked to take you home the last time and you disappeared on me. i was so disappointed.
jk: really? why can't i remember that?
me: hahah, no, not really.

the first time we'd met jordan knight, he was with a friend who called himself devo. we were at the bar and devo ordered a drink next to me. i asked him if it was a jack & coke. he said yes and asked if i wanted some. i said, sure, and took a sip of this random guy's drink. then jordan knight came up to us. patty told him he looked like someone from the new kids on the block. he answered, jordan knight, right?

i wonder if he'll remember us the next time we see him...

tsh levels

i didn't mention this the last time i saw my endocrinologist because i was too happy about my new cancer free status. while the cancer is gone, there is something else not so clear, however. my tsh levels are too high. tsh stands for thyroid stimulating hormones. they are not thyroid hormones, they are pituitary hormones produced by your pituitary gland in your brain. this determines the amount of thyroid hormones that need to be released by your thyroid. since i have no thyroid, i have hypothyroidism. meaning the thyroid is not producing enough hormones, or any in my case.

much to my dismay, my tsh levels are still too high. they were too high the last time i saw my doctor. having such high levels may potentially cause more health problems. i'm told it could be hazardous to my internal organs as well as other health issues i don't want (such as depression and heart disease). as a result, i've switched hormone levels twice now. it was .112 (the pink pill) for years. back in june, it was changed to .100 (yellow pill) and now, it is down to .88 (lime green pill). so hopefully that fixes me.

finally, i have a confession to make. i ♥ my endocrinologist. he is the greatest doctor, a compassionate friend, and loyal confidante. despite a recent and unfortunate weight gain :@), i felt happy and good about myself after seeing him. he makes me laugh and feel smart and beautiful. he is one of the coolest people i know. what is also great about him is that he is genuinely concerned about me and my well-being. i continue to see him because even though the thyroid cancer is gone, a thyroid problem still exists. rather than just be glad that the big problem has been taken care of, he insists on making sure that i am ok in the long run. this makes me happy because i was sad that i might not see him anymore. well, until he retires anyway...

thank you dr. bruhn.

all in a dream

by stella im hultberg

a great deal at $30 on bamboo. i got my print here. see my other print here.

san diego adventures w/ mien

when i was in chicago last month visiting my friend mien, she asked if i wanted to be her date to a wedding in san diego around mid-october. it was a great excuse for me to come down for a visit, so i said, sure! i booked my flight, reserved a car, and contacted some people to see. all this before i knew what a bad 2-3 weeks i would have after getting back from my very fun chicago vacation.

i flew into san diego last friday on the very last flight. it was scheduled to arrive at 11p but to no surprise, it would be delayed. the only problem with this is that i had to get to the car rental place off site before it closed at midnight. luckily, i made it on time.

once i got to the car rental place, there was another problem. the only car they had left in the category of my reservation was a minivan. quickly, i pictured both mien & i stepping out of a minivan in our formal dresses. that was a no. the only other car available was an suv. for $5/day extra, i think i got a good deal talking up the guy at the counter. then again, who knows.

i got lost on the way to chula vista where mien's family lives. i didn't get there until close to 1a. i felt bad for arriving so late but it turned out ok. her family is super nice.

before the ceremony, we stopped by mien's sister's house to visit with her niece and nephew. both very sweet and cute kids. we stayed about an hour and had to stop by the store to get me some make up brushes since i'd forgotten them altogether. ugh. i knew i'd forgotten something.

the ceremony started at 2p and it was at least 30 minutes from where we were. mien has been friends with the bride since high school or before. i guess i met the bride sometime during ucsd but couldn't quite remember it. the ceremony took place in scripps ranch in this very lovely church. it was dome-shaped, almost like the pantheon in rome, with the hole at the very top. it was also a very catholic ceremony. i don't remember when it was over but we left to pick up some fast food at jack & the box. after which we got ready retouching our make up and doing our hair. cocktail hour began at 5p but we didn't leave until 6. we got there in time for the salad portion of the dinner course. it was at the sheraton hotel in the bay tower at harbor island. you can see the san diego skyline past the water. it's really a lovely sight.

the wedding was kinda blah so we left a bit early. the music was so bad that even though we really wanted to dance, we didn't. so we headed downtown to the gaslamp district, which is now all the rage. back when we were in college, it was absolutely pathetic. as we drive onto broadway, we found ourselves next to a car full of cute boys. being in an suv is good for looking and flirting with boys in cars next to you. at one point, the car stopped early at a red light to be next to us. we found out they are cute foreign boys. my favorite... german boys. heehee. we lost them soon after we'd found them. oh well.

after a few times around the block, we parked in the horton plaza parking structure. don't do this if you don't plan on getting validations. it's $$$. i'd only ever parked there while shopping at horton plaza but didn't know where else to park. so we walked around. we walked and walked. finally, we came upon a nice hotel we didn't mind lounging at. it was the us grant hotel. and at the very same moment we were about to go to the bar there, there were two other gentlemen thinking the same thing. except, they beat us to the locked door first.

upon seeing us behind them, one of them mentioned that we ought to find our way in together. but before we could say yes or no, they'd already begun chatting it up with us. turns out that they were two business men from florida. at first, i was talking to ron and mien was chatting with siroos. but later, we switched. i don't remember exactly how it happened. siroos asked me what ethnicity i was. i asked him if he could guess. he answered, does it start with a p? and we ended up chatting together most of the night. they were in the ice cream business. siroos was explaining to me that their specialty was pomegranate ice cream with dark chocolate. in addition to the unique flavor, they put their ice cream in a tin can. then i said, because it stays fresher! siroos said i was right! i was in disbelief and told him i saw this on the food network. he says, we were on the food network! and i respond, well, what show was it then? he answers, unwrapped. he was right. and continues to tell me that he was on that show!

i remember watching the episode with my sister and the part specifically about the tin cans. and how we ought to put our ice cream/frozen yogurt in tin cans. now, this is just the sort of thing that happens when i am out with my dear friend mien... fun fun fun.

your ex-lover is dead

venue: the fillmore
artist: stars
who: ro & betty
when: 6 october 2008 (monday)
doors open at 7p

i know i just saw them two days ago but they are fantastic. and if they played again tonight, i would be going. even though they recite the same thank you speech at every show, i love them for it. they are consistent and appreciative. it would not be a stars show if torq didn't say all that.

despite the same horrible bloc party copy cat opening band, it was still a great show. while the stars set was mostly the same as the one in santa cruz, they did end it with heart which was different from saturday. the sound at the fillmore is much better than the rio theatre. we also commandeered this location that was not only next to the bar but also came with a nice view of the stage and seating!
the thing with stars is that it puts me in such a happy mood, i couldn't be mad or angry at anything. basically, they give me this great high and that's why i would see them again and again. i've also decided that one of my favorite songs by stars (other than the very thing) is your ex-lover is dead. it's such a beautiful song. the music, the words and the feel of the song is just really lovely. the song is about these two people who have a past together but are re-introduced to one another much later. nothing specific is rehashed but the love they shared was something deep and a little painful. i love this verse right at the end:

there's one thing i want to say, so i'll be brave
you were what i wanted, i gave what i gave
i'm not sorry i met you, i'm not sorry it's over
i'm not sorry there's nothing to say

if you want to see the video on youtube, click here.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

sad robots

venue: rio theatre, santa cruz
artist: stars
who: grace & betty
when: 4 october 2008 (saturday)
doors open at 7:30p

i think this is the 5th or 6th stars show i've been to. i wish i had a record of them. i tried putting one together recently but that was before my move and i can't remember what happened to that list. this stars show is the first show i'd gone to in santa cruz. it's been a while since i was last in santa cruz. going on saturday made me remember why.

santa cruz is a strange place. it doesn't quite belong in california. i feel like i'm in a different state when i am in santa cruz. not only the people look different but it feels different. in a bad way. and people are not very attractive there either.

the rio theatre is basically a movie theatre converted to be a venue. which means, the sound might be good for movies but it's not that good for live music. it's nice that there is plenty of seating but it's not so nice that there is no bar. also, it was an all ages show which meants lots of young people making out in front of us, next to us, behind us. everywhere. we were surrounded by ugly couples making out. blegh. next time, i will have to sneak in some liquor. i think i can tolerate 18ish people better when i'm drunk. it's just unfair to have to be around them totally sober.

the opening band was horrendous. they were called think about life. the singer basically shouted all the songs. it was dreadful. when stars finally came on, they made everything better. well, most things. this feeling came over me. even though i pretty much listen to stars on a daily basis, hearing them live reminds me how much i love them. and how excited i am to be seeing them again, tonight at the fillmore. they have a new ep out called sad robots which includes 6 songs. 5 of those are new. they sang quite a few of their old stuff. songs from their first album, nightsongs. in fact, they ended their show (the encore) with tonight. thank you stars. and thank you ro, for introducing them to me oh so many years ago.
rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

beach house

venue: swedish american hall (downstairs from café du nord)
artist: beach house
who: ro & lou
when: 28 september 2008 (sunday)
show starts at 7:30p

we arrived in the city early for dinner. remnants of the folsom street fair (earlier in the day) were still pretty obvious. i've never gone and have only heard about it. if you've never heard about it, think kink and leather. or just google it.

we ended up at this sushi restaurant on castro, called osaka. it was pretty good. i got the sunomono which was a cucumber and seaweed salad with tako that was particularly delightful. we also ordered a bunch of special rolls that were unique and flavorful. i hadn't had sushi in a while so it hit the spot.

this was a first time to the venue for a show for all of us. i'd been to the swedish american hall for a wedding back in october of 2004. wow, that was nearly 4 years ago. that was the only time i'd ever been upstairs. i am no stranger to the downstairs venue at café du nord. we are the type of friends that see each other once or twice a year. but also the type i'd love to see more often if given the chance. it was there that i met one of my most favorite bands ever, the trashcan sinatras. we had dinner there and were guaranteed prime seating. our waitress was so cool that i couldn't help but tip her generously. she even came by to thank me for it. and when we stayed past closing, she didn't kick us out like the rest of the crowd. that's when we went to the back room and met the band.

back to upstairs. it was set up like a middle school auditorium. there was this tiny make shift stage that wasn't really a stage. it was packed. there were no seats left when we got there. we ended up in the balcony upstairs standing to the side. note to self for the next show there: go early to get seats. despite the cold temperatures outside, it was quite warm inside.

the beach house are a duo from baltimore. in rhapsody, they are filed under the dream pop category along with the smashing pumpkins and feist. which doesn't seem right. their music is indeed very dreamy and ambient. but as a live band, you get their passion and splendor. victoria legrand who is the singer, was lovely, sweet and funny. i found myself enjoying them much more than i expected. thanks ro!

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

triton pride

according to the 2009 guidebook for america's best colleges from the us news & world report (see story here at ucsdnews), uc san diego, my alma mater was recently ranked the 7th (tied with university of wisconsin-madison & georgia institute of technology) top public schools. that's out of 164. not too shabby for a new-ish university. uc san diego is #35 nation-wide (262 schools). very very exciting. go tritons!

speaking of san diego, i am going down next month for a visit. can't wait!

cousins!

my brothers' babies. how fast they grow. our tubbers is 15 months old but is almost as heavy as his cousins! have you ever seen such sweetness?

ugh, one more pair

these were too beautiful to pass up. they are iridescent hence the color is "oil." in different lights, they are dark green or dark purple. and i ♥ them! they are by kate spade and still on nordstrom.com for $295. i got them for less than a third of that price. yay!

shoe-o-rama

my bad. i know i was only allowed one more pair of shoes but i couldn't help it. these were $30 each! yes, even the boots! they are charles by charles david shoes.

lou, you were right, i owe you $20.

last days in chicago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

half way through - lisa arrives!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

back! and chicago continued

am finally back! can't believe my vacation is over! :( but it's nice to be back in my bed and with my family. too bad i got back in the middle of a heat wave, yuk. anyway, on to the rest of my trip...

day three - friday night in wicker park
i got off to a late start on friday as well. i planned on going to the shedd aquarium but it's almost $30 to go! seems like a lot. i decided to wait until lisa gets here to see what she wants to do.

i started with a cappuccino from the fix cafe (again) and then off to magnificent mile (again). ha. i went to filene's basement. i always seem to find something there. i got this very pretty purple dress by max studio there. it actually fit, perfectly. i went across the street to the water tower place mall to pick up a make up brush for mien at sephora. there was an mng by mango store there. there's one in the sf shopping center but i've never purchased anything from this store. they have such cute things at great prices too. it's a little nicer than h&m but more along the lines of zara. it's based in barcelona. penélope cruz and her sister, monica, both designed for mango. the dress pictured was my first mango purchase. yay! apparently, purple is all the rage for this coming season.

i met up with mien at pretty much the same place as yesterday. we went to chicago burger for some junk food (aka bacon cheddar fries and burger nachos...mmm). i showed mien my purchases and it made her want to go shopping. so we went to nordies at north bridge. she got a pair of cute shoes. she also got quite a deal at the ann taylor loft store. i was done for the day if not for the week.

it wasn't until past 9 or so that we got back to her place. we watched some tv and putz'd around (as i do) a bit. i don't remember when we finally started getting ready but it was after 10. i did mien's make up using the new stuff i got her. she wanted the smoky eye look. thank goodness for miss pursebuzz and her make up demos. i was able to give mien a look she really liked. she is my first makeover! then, i got ready and it was already midnight.

when i was there back in 2006, we had gone to the lincoln park area, the night mien & i met so so many boys. we decided on wicker park as it is where the "artsy" types go. as opposed to the "frat boy" types we found in lincoln park. the first place we went to confused me a little. but we were hungry and heard that they might still be serving food. so we went to pint, this pub that made me feel like i was in lincoln park. not only were we the only asians there, there were all sorts of typical midwestern cut outs. all the guys looked alike. i didn't really notice the girls. when we first walked in, there were these guys too drunk to know the meaning of subtlety, not to mention charm. they stared at us like... we were the juiciest pieces of meat there. wait, we were. ha. and, do you know how hard it is to look around anywhere else than two feet in front of you to avoid eye contact at all costs?? they got the hint and moved on to their next victims. we moved upstairs to people watch in the dark. after one drink, we decided to get some polish dogs on the corner. we might have been hungry but it really really hit the spot.

on to the next bar, across the street was rodan. it was very artsy here. different types of people and yes, even other asians. hipster types. nerds and geeks. i felt like i needed my glasses there. the music wasn't as hip, then again, maybe it was for chicagoans. it was all reggae, and turns out, is really fun to watch people try to dance to. we weren't there long before it closed, at 2a. we had one round of drinks.

it was 2a and most places were closing, except for one. not too far from rodan was nick's. they had an outside patio and they closed at 4a. we had two more hours, woo hoo! we ordered drinks and sat in the back. it was a little empty, outside anyway. not too long after we got there, this very midwestern guy sat down at our table. apparently, when mien went to the restroom earlier, he made her high five him. after chatting us up for a bit, his friend came by. his friend kinda looked like carlton from fresh prince of bel air. he was cute and charming and unlike his midwestern friend, closer to our age. carlton was 30 and his side kick was a mere 22. i don't remember what happened but carlton started talking to a girl in the table next to us and mien was talking to side kick baby (skb) and this random guy started gesturing to me. asking if i was with carlton and skb. i said no and excused myself to talk to the random guy. his name was tony and was a cop. he had two friends with him. a couple. she was in her mid-40s and her boy toy was in his late 20s. tony was cute and turning 32 on tuesday. said he hadn't seen anyone interesting all night until he saw me and he wanted to spend his birthday with me. i wonder if those lines actually work? i told him i couldn't because my sister was coming on sunday and i couldn't leave her. and when he found out i was from california, lost interest. oh well. went back to our table to see how mien was doing. after revealing that she had a bf, skb lost interest and started talking to me. he was tickling and hugging me all night too. weirdo. then 4a came round and we got kicked out. mien was talking to carlton quite a bit while skb was flirting with me. she told me that carlton was really into me and that the girl he was talking to wasn't cute and was just a friend. oh well. i'm not in chicago to find a man, i'm there to have fun.

day four - saturday is for recovering
nisa and i had planned a spa day on saturday. but it turned out she had to work. and mien didn't get up until past 2p. before that, nisa called at 8ish to touch base. i'd gone to sleep only 3 hours before that. i saw the sun rise over the lake. it was so breathtaking, i had to take a picture (see below). doesn't quite do it justice.
we had tac quick thai food for a late lunch. its located near the red L line. it was really good hip thai food, one of which mien frequents. i hadn't had thai in a while. there must have been a cubs game going on because many many cubs fans passed us up as we ate outside. tac quick is between lakeview and wrigleyville.

afterwards, we took a walk and stopped in at the fix cafe. unfortunately, it was closing, forever! and saturday night was the farewell party. we just had to pick up something to bring over to georges' potluck on sunday night and we could then head over to the party. i'm not sure where we walked but we walked long and far. it was a nice walk. some coffee and some shopping, for mien. we got back, had some italian sausages (mmm meat) before we headed out to the fix cafe.

one of the owners was there, eric. mien knows him through a coworker of hers. he seemed pretty interesting for someone who is 26 or 27. he'd been in the military and is finishing school for geology. we didn't stay very long until we decided to head out for some drinks. we went to the bar on buena otherwise known as the bob. they had a great selection on european beer and was very conveniently located a couple of blocks from mien's place. we chatted about boys, like always.

day two - thursday @ avec

happy birthday muffin!

today, i went to the fix cafe. it is literally across the street from park place towers. it's a very quaint, charming coffee shop. i noticed that a chalkboard by the front had "4 days left" on it. mien mentioned it might not be doing so well. i wonder if this is any indication that it will be closing. hope not. it is very cozy. except, i had no reception to watch any vcast videos on my phone. at least there was enough reception make calls. i called my dad and my niece (aka my baby). she told me she loved me very much. such a sweetie but it's not going to cut my trip short. ha.

i went shopping today. i took the 145 (or was it the 146?) to downtown. conveniently located by mien's office. it's only the second day (i leave in a week) and i finally got my arse to the magnificent mile. i always seem to find something at the benetton store there. two brown skirts for work. i bought what i picked out despite all the pieces the lovely sales girl from the ukraine tried to push on me. i seriously had more than 10 things she brought for me to try on. i went to h&m afterwards. i had about 6 plus items in my arm to try on. tax in chicago is over 10%. quite a lot compared to the bay area and nyc. so i didn't want to buy too much. i ended up with 4 items and put a lot back.

it worked out perfectly as i was done with h&m, mien was done at the office. so we walked toward each other to meet up. we met up on this lovely bridge and headed over to avec for dinner. one of my students recommended avec to me. mien had been there a few times but it'd been a while since she last went. it was better than i'd ever imagined.

it was packed when we got there but didn't have to wait too long for table space. i say space because you share a table of about 8. we sat at the end of this table with these three people. as soon as we sat down, one of them said, so, you finally got here. it was the start of something none of us imagined.

we started off with some wine. red and french. the guy who so nicely welcomed us offered his wine glass for some. we asked for a new glass for him. we ordered a whole bottle and had much to share. in turn, he shared some of their red snapper. very good. tender yet crispy. perfectly cooked, if you ask me. mien and i started with a cheese assortment. there was the la tur (made from goat, sheep & cow milk) from italia. then we had the la serena torta (sheep's milk) from espana. and finally, the sao jorge (cow's milk) from portugal. the la tur had the consistency of goat cheese and was our most favorite of the three. at first, when they brought the cheese out, there were 4 pieces. it didn't seem enough but turns out, was more than enough. we enjoyed it with the cheese accompaniments which is a must because, surprisingly, brings out the flavors of the cheese even more so. amazing, really.

we ordered way too many dishes. all so so good. we had the following:

norwegian salmon tartar with yellow wax beans, avocado, cilantro and pickled jalapeno - this was a brilliant combination of tastes and textures. maybe i just really like tartars. who knows.
"la quercia" prosciutto with market peaches, lemon, slivered almonds and marinated manchego - even when i was in milano, italia so many years ago. i shied away from prosciutto with mellon. but this was a special request from mien. so i tried it and it was fantastic. the peaches and prosciutto topped off with cheese. de-lish-shaws. mmm.
pan-roasted hangar steak with rapini, roasted corn, smoked paprika lima beans and beans herbed butter - all you have to know about this dish is... hangar steak with butter. gorgeous. perfectly roasted medium. really.
slow roasted crispy duck with marinated market plums, tarragon, grilled onion and savory streusel - this was unfortunately, our last dish. so we only had a bite of it. but boy do i love duck.

last but not least, we were treated to some splendid muscat by our especially kind table mates. there was john, caroline (they are married, caroline is from manchester, england. home of the best music out there. she agreed with me. john was born & raised in chicago), and georges who is john's bff from 1995. georges is from lebanon. great people to sit with. we had the best table there. they were so pleasant and fun. it was great. we were invited to georges' potluck on sunday which we plan on attending... good times, good times.

day one - lake michigan & harvey

i started the day waking up after noon. nice huh? it was really 10a for me. i stayed up chatting with my friend until really late. she had to go to work this morning too. bummer. so, i putz'd around for a few hours. i had brunch/lunch. made some phone calls, sent some text messages, replied to some work emails, etc. and headed out around 3ish or so for some coffee at dollop.

then i decided to go to the lake that park place towers overlooks. it took a while to actually get to the lake through the path filled with cyclists, rollerbladers, runners, pedestrians, dog-walkers, breeders (um, i mean, baby stroller-pushing-people) etc. then through the golf course to the lake where people sat and watched the lake as boats sailed by. it was amazingly serene, like a warm cup of green tea. i felt like i was on vacation. just sitting there and not having to worry about time or doing anything. then i met harvey, this nice elderly man who walked by me. i smiled and said hi. he came over a second time and asked me where i was from. then we chatted it up for a good 2 hours. he took me over to the dog beach to watch the dogs play in the water. he was very much a dog lover. stopped nearly every dog that walked by us. he was a very sweet old man.

before i knew it, it was nearly 7p. i'd made dinner plans at 8 and i was getting late. so he walked me over to my street and said, if i see you again, great. we'll say hello and chat. if not, take care. he also added that he thought i was a lovely young lady. aw. like i said earlier, harvey is a sweet old man.

i met up with my friend nisa at cafe iberico for tapas. like the directionally challenged retard that i am, even with my vz navigator, i got lost. i finally made it over and had a delightful but loud dinner. this place was quite happening for a wednesday night. totally packed. we yelled at each other the entire time there. nisa and i ordered 4 tapas (claims, potatoes in special spicy sauce, baked goat cheese wrapped in eggplant and chicken skewers with rice), ½ a pitcher of sangria and we were totally full. the tapas were portioned much nicer than i'm used to. i think we could have just gone with 2 or 3 dishes. we headed over to berry chill for froyo. they are chicago's version of red mango/pinkberry. it felt very pinkberry-ish. i tried their pistachio. ugh. good thing because i ended up with the regular tart with mochi. the cups & spoons were really cute and cartoon-like. nisa walked me to the metro at around 10p. she lived a few blocks away (in river north). it was lovely seeing her. we're going to try to meet up again.

mien came home after midnight. that's right, from work! we stayed up chatting until nearly 4a! and she has to go to work in the morning... yikes!