kelly & chris burich

my best friend kelly got married yesterday at the ralston hall in belmont. i had the honor of being her maid of honor. and despite starting the day at 6am and ending it at around 11pm, it was worth every minute to share this lovely day with her and her new husband chris.

we got ready at the san jose marriott where there was an anime convention. needless to say, we did not blend well with the anime fans consisting of geeks and gals in costume and regular attire. my cousin debbie did hair & make-up for me, kelly, and kelly's mother. i didn't recognize myself after she was through with me! she's been known to work miracles... and of course kelly looked very beautiful.

the church ceremony was at 1pm and i was very nervous! it went off very well despite the missing presentation of flowers to the virgin mary. it was so exciting for me to be there next to kelly at the church. it was one of the shortest catholic church ceremonies i've been to yet.


me & ted


my lovely cousin debbie & her fiancé roger

despite the 3 cocktails on a very empty stomach, i was able to give my speech without a hitch. it was not only slur-free with minimal word stumbling but also tear-free which was my main concern. and, i made the guests laugh, twice. yeah, i know, i'm awesome.


chris & kelly doing the garter belt gig

this was after the bouquet toss that actually initially landed at my feet. it was between me and joanne and we both jumped away from it! afterwards, kelly told me i was supposed to catch it and that she aimed for me. i knew she was!

today, kelly's parents had a luncheon at their home for the opening of the gifts and a nice spread of food. ted and i stuffed ourselves. and then they are off to australia tonight for a 16-day honeymoon. i'm so jealous.

sandra & pedro

me and ted at sandra's wedding in pasadena, as many of you know, is my favorite place in the world

jerk in the lame yoga class

yesterday, i went to my usual step class at the gym. the class before is the lame piyo (pilates-yoga) class. the instructor erma yelled at me and others previously, so until i can, 1) yell at her for being such a sucky yoga teacher or, 2) make her cry for being such a sucky yoga teacher, then i will always come to this step class bitter and give erma dirty looks. sure, i wrote a letter to her boss complaining about her but she's still there, isn't she?

as soon as the class starts getting up from their rest phase, i make my way in to get my step, risers and weights. the step is this big clunky bench that i usually drag with one hand while i have the risers in my other hand. while the music is still on, the piyo class is over so i drop the step and it makes this loud clash on the floor. then, to my left, i hear someone say, can you be any louder? i look over at this jerk and say, actually, i can. i proceed to get my weights and he walks by right as i get back to my step. i then throw my dumbbells on the ground barely missing his feet and say to him, is that loud enough for you? then he walks off saying something about not wasting his time blah blah blah.

if you're going to throw something at me, just because i'm a small person don't think that i won't throw 10 things back at you.

hoi's big three-o bash on sunday

yesterday, hoi and her husband sid threw a lovely brunch at maggiano's in a private banquet room. there were about 30 of us. and SO MUCH food!! it was great.


the sok family @ maggiano's (sid, matthew & hoi)

after an attempt to walk off a very filling lunch (including double orders of desserts per the birthday girl) around santana row, not to mention to pick up hoi's birthday card, betty and i headed over to hoi & sid's place for the opening of gifts and birthday cake. we thought we were taking our sweet time walking around santana row but we were only the second group of people from the lunch to show up. for the next several hours, we sat around watching tv, chatting, trying to play sceneit?, eating cake and watching little matthew run around.


me with hoi's little sweetie, matthew

betty and i were the last to leave. i realized that since the lunch began at noon and we were leaving at 7p, we'd spent nearly a work day with them. i'm sure they were glad to see us go, finally.

spike's potluck

alex had a mid-quarter dinner party last night. i brought sangria and some cheese & crackers. alex had strawberry daiquiris and kumquat water. christine (from ips) came with margaritas. i met sanford, ena & sir philip, tahu, keira & her husband. erin (a former ir student), curtiss and danny, whom i'd previously met were there also. it was a fun group.

alex prepared the following menu of which was... as my 4 y/o nephew would say, yummy in my tummy! with a swirling hand gesture over his stomach.

jamaican jerk chicken

mango salsa--she also added papaya

black beans and rice with cilantro pesto

spicy pineapple slices--add vanilla ice cream (it's delish!)

stuffed peppers--she substituted portabello mushrooms for the octopus

jamaican hot pepper shrimp

when alex throws a party, she throws a party! still waiting for betty's recipe for her spicy bell pepper shrimp dish... i imagine that will take a while unless one of us physically watches her send it on her computer.

trashcans

venue: slim's
band: trashcan sinatras
who: kiki & spike
when: 11 may 2005 (wednesday)
doors open at 7:30p

it was my 6th tcs show, second time at slim's. last night, they recorded the show on a cd that you could pre-purchase and pick up after the show. at first, we didn't really care much about it. but half way through the show and being our obnoxious girlie selves, we decided to get the cd so we can hear ourselves laughing in the background in one of the quiet slow songs.

i finally met up with eddy (aka marie) and her husband john from sacramento. see october 2004 post. betty and i met this couple at our first tcs show at the troubadour in march 2004. betty and eddy bumped into each other and was profusely apologizing to each other. then, i think it was john that said, only at a trashcan sinatras show would people be arguing about apologizing back and forth to each other. that brought on a flutter of emails back and forth on whether they or we would be at the next trashcan show. they are a very lovely couple.

then there was creepy brian. he's at every show creeping around me. he always ends up next to me or in the vicinity of my location, just staring over at me. at the first slim's show, we were downstairs and he was to the left just creeping around me, not saying hello or anything but staring at me as if he were speaking to me in esp. last night was no different. for some reason, he ended up upstairs in the opposite corner to us. he'd lost some weight and betty didn't recognize him but i knew his creepiness. then she heard his rapsy creepy voice and confirmed it was him. again, he didn't say hello but just stared. guys should know that this is NOT okay.

alex made friends with the recording guys and after a brief discussion on hippies, he took it upon himself to give us 2 extra copies of the cd, free! sometimes, it is just so cool to be us... ;)

overall, the show was good. they played freetime so we didn't have to shout it out to request it. after having met frank from the cafe du nord show, i couldn't look at him sing. so i watched john douglas the entire time.

more i love yous...

he finally said it. then he said it to me again and again... yay!!

happy one year ted! XOXO

waiting for the siren's call

venue: henry j kaiser
band: new order
who: ted, kiki, spike, linney, lou, rich, jen & anthony
when: 29 april 2005 (friday)
doors open at 7p

ted & i left to pick betty up at 4:30p. she was supposed to come over at 4p but unsurprisingly, she didn't show up. instead, she called at 4p to tell me that her car didn't start. so we ended up picking her up. sometimes, i feel like she does this on purpose? hmmm...

so, we're on 880 heading to oakland and we're actually almost there and i get this phone call. it's alex, and she says... am i driving right behind you or what? then i looked in my rear-view mirror and it's alex in her saturn. so we just caravan'd it the rest of the way.

the chemical brother's were the opening gig. they mixed it up for about an hour and a half. after the first half hour, i was chemical brother'd out! i started to fall asleep towards the end. but when new order started, i had to stand up. we all stood up at the front of the balcony and danced away. bernard sounded fantastic live. new order played for about an hour and a half and played one encore. blue monday. they added kylie minogue's vocals at the end from her 'can't get you out of my head' rendition to blue monday. it was fabulous!

lame cowboy on the caltrain

what is the deal with strangers listening in on other people's conversations? especially those with funky cowboy hats and feel at liberty to make rude comments. spike and i were on the caltrain on friday afternoon and this guy interrupts us as we were chatting amongst one another...

me: ...i was in high school when that '89 earthquake hit.

lame cowboy: wow, i was in kindergarten when that happened... boy, i feel much better about my age.

lame cowboy should know that it is not okay to say what he said. my response should have been: at least i look much younger AND better than you ...

but alas, i am too nice. ;)

everything will... or not?

after less than 3 hours of sleep, i'm not sure if i am in the right mind to post anything but i had to. because one, i had my annual body scan for my thyroid cancer and it was clear! dr. yen said that my scan looked fantastic and despite my less than 3 hours of sleep, i feel fantastic!

and two, last night was a pre-birthday celebration for betty's big 3-0 at popscene. whenever there is reason to celebrate, we try to do it at popscene, especially if it's on a thursday. louis and rich made it, finally. and alex brought her research assistant, danny, who is a very cute and fun undergrad. and thanks to danny, the everything will mystery hath been solved... and all i can say about it is... i was right! :p

oh and happy 30th betty!!

the wedding present

venue: slim's
band: the wedding present
who: spike & kiki
when: 15 april 2005 (friday)
doors open at 8p

we left shortly after 7p to get there around 8p. i called slim's to see if tix were going to sell out and slim's said it was close but to get there early.

so, we got in and it was very early so there were seats available upstairs. the opening band was called the crystal skulls. they made me think of the 80's. bad 80's music. and bored us out of our minds. there are these guys sitting in the table next to ours. there are five of them (we thought they were gay) and one guy (let's call him glory) kept staring at betty. he was so obvious about it, that alex started giving him dirty looks. finally, as i stepped away for a bathroom break, he took it upon himself to approach betty. with his wedding ring fitting very snug on his ring finger, he claims that he was trying to hook his single friend up. likely story. jerk.

after i returned to my seat, glory comes up to me and puts his slimy arm around me. he proceeds to ask my name. then i tell him to buzz off because we didn't want to talk to him. he finally leaves and his single friend comes up to us to apologize profusely and offers us a round of drinks. sounds like a plan... beligerent, annoying, drunk married guy bothering some ladies and his nice, single buddy comes to the rescue with a round of drinks. hmmm... sounds like they've teamed up before.

all this happened during the wedding present's set. damn that glory. anyway, david gedge played some cinerama songs too. which were the only songs i recognized! they did health & efficiency which he didn't do last year at bimbo's for the cinerama show. despite glory and his antics, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the show. i picked up a couple of cds after the show for myself.

next came the crepe guy missing teeth. across the street from slim's is the crepes-a-go-go truck. betty and i have had crepes there after a show and it always hits the spot. so we go and the older crepe guy making the crepes is talking to alex. then he asks her name and the next thing i see is him making these gestures for her to give him her number and call him. ewwwww!! i couldn't help but burst out with laughter and yell out no no no! then began to walk away and had alex follow me. what a comical end to the night!

kelly's bridal shower

kelly & me (plus paigey)

my best friend kelly is getting hitched at the end of may. today, the other bride's maids & i threw her bay area bridal shower. it was hosted at my apartment. thanks to the help of all the bride's maids, including the matron of honor (kelly's sister joy), it was a huge success!! the party started at 1p. the last party goers left at 5p. it was 4 hours of non-stop fun. i'm so glad that i was able to contribute and participate in such a happy ocassion for kelly...

the theme was hawaiian (hence the lei around my neck). if you look closely, the cake also has a hawaiian theme to it. the food was delicious and plenty. the games were in groups of laughter and creativity. all in all, we had a lovely crowd...

i can't wait for the wedding...

krafty

the many covers of new order

tickets for the new order show on april 29th at the henry j kaiser arena go on sale today. right now, as a matter of fact. but i'm not stressing. even though new order is my most favorite band in the world since i was in the 7th grade. that's because i got the password for the presale from a fellow fan (thanks jen!). so i passed the love (password) around to friends and even random people on craig's list. i put up a post desperately looking for that love. i got my 2 tix on thursday, shortly after the presale started. am i totally ahead of my game or am i totally ahead of my game? ;p

sick for days

it started last thursday and i was feeling spacey at work. so i called my doctor and spoke with her nurse about coming in to be seen. since my doctor wasn't available, she suggested i go to acute care, their walk-in clinic that closes at 8p. so i went, saw a doctor after an hour's wait, has chest x-rays done and left with an allergy diagnosis and prescriptions.

friday morning, i felt 10x worse. i couldn't even speak and my throat hurt like hell. well, i was able to speak albeit i sounded like a frog. ted had planned to drive up that weekend but since i wasn't feeling good, i told him he probably shouldn't come. so i called my doctor's nurse again and having recognized me but not really recognizing me due to the frog i turned into, she squeezed me in at 3p with my doctor. i got there at about 2:45p, got in and out before 3p! she prescribed an antibiotic for a bacterial infection and my cough. she also recommended that ted not come up. but he persisted and decided against my doctor's recommendation that he would come up as planned and take care of me. which was just so sweet of him so i did not dissuade him.

come sunday, i was feeling about 80% back to my normal self. he left sunday night to drive back to LA. i wanted him to stay so badly or go with him, well minus the drive, and it confirmed how much i want to move down to be with him. so i took an extra day off to rest up. since i was able to stay up through the day, i decided i was well enough to go back to work.

it is now friday and i'm about 95% recovered. i haven't gone to the gym in so long, i'm dying to go!! i have a feeling i will be sore for days after my step class tomorrow morning...

hot hot heat

i've decided to write about the gigs i go to in case something exciting happens and i forget all about it...

venue: popscene @ 330 ritch
band: hot hot heat
who: alex, betty (& will)
when: 17 february 2005 (thursday)
doors supposedly open at 9p

we (me, alex & betty), actually got there at 9:30 rather than our usual 1hour+ tardiness. we picked alex up in menlo park on the way. it was her first time at popscene and i promised her freaks, not to mention hot hot heat.

we get there and the line was around the corner. the doors don't open until 10p and good old jorge wouldn't let us in. so we got to the end of the line and it began to rain. i decided i didn't want to wait, so as we went to say good bye to jorge, our friend will magically appears. he's a regular there. he's a really good dancer. i've never seen a white guy groove the way he does. we're still deciding whether it's because he's gay. i just don't get the gay vibe from him. and as a fag hag, i too have gaydar. so will says to us, come back in a couple of hours, jorge will let you guys in. we still decide to leave. we actually head over, around and across the block to a bar by pac bell park called the park. we have a drink each and head back to the club. there's a pizza place inside the club with a window facing the outside. i met some nice aussies cutting in for the pizza. it was their first time too. we get pizza and see if jessica, the coat check chick, is there and if she'd let us in. no such luck, she wasn't there that night. we decide to watch the freaks inside through the window (i promised alex freaks!) and jorge catches us, then he shakes his head and gives us a nod towards the door. score! we get in with time to spare. and time to shake it up.

there was a first that night, we actually spent the whole time dancing during the gig. usually, people just stand and stare, there's hardly any room to dance... it was a good night. and alex saw the ninja guy...

superbowl sunday

so breakfast in tokyo played last sunday at this place called club good hurt. it was a small cozy sort of club. there were 3 bands, bit, the transmissions, and the james-brown-singer band (aka i forgot their name). i know i sound biased but i really thought bit was the best band there. they had the right amount of stage presence, melody, and diverse sound. i really enjoyed the show. i especially enjoyed being able to see the band. normally, in these small venues and since i'm so petite, all i can do is hear the music and see the tops of the crowds' heads.

my first BIT show

ted's band is playing on sunday, in west la at club good hurt. i think it's their 5th gig but it'll be my first time seeing them play. i'm kinda nervous about it. what if they suck? haha. i know, that's mean. i'm sure they'll rock.
my partner-in-crime betty is coming with me. she & i know the singer of their band. it'll be fun to see them with her. i've even got my white go-go dress packed ;)
i can't wait!!

13 year old prom dress

last night, my sister lisa and i went to our brother david's house to drop off some painting tarps and ended up picking up old boxes we'd had stored in his garage. so when we got home, we looked through these boxes and lisa found her old high school prom dress! i'd had mine in our apartment. we decided to try them on to see if they still fit. and they did!! so, we pranced around our apartment with them on. i had to take mine off because of the homemade petticoat was making me itchy. i'm too embarrassed to take a picture and put it online. especially of mine. i sort of went through this renaissance-ish phase. my dress is more like a costume. lisa's dress, on the other hand, is something she can still wear now. but to my credit despite the lack of style, i made both dresses myself. thanks.

mice problem

right, so that's mice as in more than one. my brother helped me catch one a couple of weeks ago (it was as big as a rat!) but there's another one in my apartment not quite as big. how did i find out? i found droppings. apparently, this mouse likes to leave it's droppings on beds. i stayed up past midnight washing my sheets. that was wednesday. i found the mouse and tried to catch it but it quickly ran out of my room (i left the door open) and unfortunately, into my sister's room. good thing she's my part-time roommate and has an alternate bed to sleep in that's NOT in our apartment. last night, i found droppings in her bed and set a trap in her room. i cleaned it before she got home, otherwise, i imagine she'd freak out like i did. now we just have to wait.

tick tock tick tock...

and keeping all the doors closed from now on.

there's three of me!

me photostitched from may 2004