SUNNY SEATTLE

Ciao! Hope you all had a fun and safe memorial weekend. Last week I went up to Seattle for the first time. We stayed at the Hotel Max in downtown as it was across the street from our meeting. Sadly, I was only there for one night, but I really liked it. The trip started with Alaska Air not having our luggage. They took the hotel information and said they'd deliver it as it was on the next flight. They did not deliver it. In fact, Jeff & Heath had to run out to Sea-Tac early the next morning and pick it up as we needed it for our meeting.

That night, we had dinner at Wild Ginger. Patrick had said this was his favorite place to eat when in Seattle and I can understand why. The food was great and the service was excellent. The servers really seem to know their stuff. We had the black peppered scallops, 7 flavored beef, manila clams, a lamb curry and a shrimp curry. GOOD STUFF!

Hotel Max is a trendy little boutique hotel. It reminds me a lot of European hotels. Yes, that means the rooms are small. I had a king size bed with about a foot and a half on either side of the bed to the wall. The bed itself however, is one of the best I've slept in. Not quite Heavenly Bed at the Westin, but pretty darn close, plus they have a wide variety of pillows on there. I slept smack in the middle and used all of the pillows I think. My room had a very nice view of the Space Needle, so I took picture both at night and the next day. We got lucky and got great weather. It was actually nicer in Seattle than in L.A. those days.

DREAMIN'

I have had the weirdest dreams the last two nights. Unfortunately, I can't remember the details of last night's dream, but I know it was good. The night before last, I had a dream about Nick Lachey and the Simpson sisters. Strange eh? Not like I am a huge fan that hears or reads about them a lot, so I was rather amused when I woke up and remembered my dream. It's probably why I still remember it now, unlike my dream from last night.

I've always meant to keep some sort of log of my dreams because I have rather vivid dreams, but since I'm A.D.D. I always forget. Even if I remember when I wake up, I get distracted by the t.v. and forget. I either forget to write it down or I forget the dream or both. =P

Anybody watch Dancing with the Stars last night? Wow, it's amazing how they can drag out two hours of show, when you're just watching for the last 5-10 minutes. I don't mind if they're dancing, but all the retrospective are blah. At least it gave me time to pack and do other stuff without feeling like I was missing out on anything. I'm glad Apolo won. He and his partner are so cute. They should get married. =P

GOOD TIMES

This weekend was a pretty busy one. It almost started on Thursday night, except we realized that it was the Grey's Anatomy finale and decided to stay in. Friday night, Vuong drove up and we had dinner at a wine bar called Primitivo on Abbott Kinney. I used to go here often, but now that Monette's not up in L.A., it's not worth the drive up. They had a great seared foie gras on special. We also had the braised pork which was really tender and the ceviche. All were very good. Afterwards, we went over to Main Street to check out an Irish pub. Apparently, the one I had in mind and the one Vuong was talking about were totally different. We didn't stay long at the Irish pub because the crowd was a bit younger and grungier than we expected. Anyhow, Primitivo is a tapas place, so we were hungry again, and thought we'd try Mulberry Street in BH for some pizza. We drove all the way out there and they were closed. =( So on the way home, we made a run for the border. BEST burrito supreme I've had in a long time.

On Saturday night, we tried Rooftop in Laguna, but there was actually a wedding going on, so we never made it up to the rooftop. We hung out in the lobby for a little while, then headed over to Landmark, where we met up with Valerie. When we get there, the line is probably half an hour's wait. But I gotta tell you, sometimes, its good to be a girl. The bouncer pulls us out of line and takes us through the back entrance so we don't have to wait more than 5 minutes. Now, I gotta tell you... if the Great Flood were to have happened while we were there, I would have felt more than safe, even with my limited swimming abilities. All you've gotta do is grab on to the nearest enhanced bleached blonde and you're sure to float. Really, if they just gathered all of the surgically enhanced women and had them join hands around the perimeter of the club, the whole place would have floated. Val was saying that there should be a limit on the number of enhanced women they let in, as they skew the capacity count. They clearly take up way more room than a normal person. Anyhow, we yukked it up a little, danced a lot, then headed out. Once again, Vuong and I were hungry. We tried to make another run for the border, but couldn't find it, so we headed for old Mickey D's. So much for all that exercise I got last week.

This week, I'm heading up for my first trip to Seattle... and guess what? It's gonna rain. Who'da thunk it.

THE QUICK & DIRTY...

...recap for the weekend. Friday I went to Laguna to check and make sure the kids weren't torturing their grandma, as she'd been alone with them since Wednesday while my aunt and uncle went to Seattle. I brought some Goldilock's snacks, so I think they were pretty happy campers. However, we did have a scary moment when Linley fell on the stairs when she was trying to catch up to her little boyfriend Chase. She was holding her stuffed animal and rushing so she slipped on a step and went tumbling. She scared the heck out of me because I thought she might break her neck. Luckily, the kid is resilient and mostly she complained about her squashed nose. Needless to say, she spent the rest of the evening on the couch with me, but I'm sure her pain memory is short and she'll be running on the stairs soon.

Afterwards, I caught dinner with the guys at El Matador where they have this huge margarita. I ordered one, but was forbidden from drinking it, which I'm sure was a good thing. I had only had a siopao for lunch (which I didn't finish) and had at least 2 glasses of wine at the Vaj Mahal before dinner. Then there was that other glass of wine with dinner. Anyhow, I was 3 sheets to the wind before dinner was even over. I was trying to stick with my 3-2-1 drinking formula (3 wines, 2 cocktails, 1 beer) which has generally produced optimal buzz effects, but I didn't really need it. Anyhow, after dinner, we went over to Detroit and hung out there. I know, what's new.

Saturday I spent most of the day just laying on the couch. I think I also watched ALL of Rick Steve's travel journals for Europe. I feel as if I just went to Italy again. At this point, I've been in Italy a total of 3 real weeks and 3 virtual. Later that night, Kat and I went to Manhattan Beach and met up with Jenn, Jeff and Jo at the Side Door. I love that place until it gets way too packed. I love the cozy feel of it (until it gets to packed and then its just claustrophobic) and there's usually some interesting people to talk to. The bartenders and waitresses are usually pretty cool too. Try the mac and cheese with chicken. They use the good stuff... gruyere, etc.

Sunday was Mother's Day, so I took my mom out to lunch and then we went shopping. AfterwardsI was feeling a bit antsy, so I met up with Vuong at South Coast for a couple of hours and we walked around. At one point, we decided to stop for a snack and sat out on the patio at Z'Tejas, where we saw a really cute guy. He walked past and sat down at a table with his mom, grandma, and grandpa. We though, "Aww... how nice. Spending mother's day with the family." Well, "mom" wasn't his mom, or they've got an interesting incestuous relationship. Vuong and I were sitting there thinking... what the hell are we doing wrong? I'm going with my theory of "he's jobless and she's his sugar mama" even though it really didn't look that way. It makes me feel better anyhow. No, wait, not really. =P

Anyhow, after South Coast, I met up with the rest of the family (parents, Ryans, grandma) at Newport Seafood in Garden Grove where I think I consumed more lobster than I ever have before. The place was packed, so it was good we got there relatively early. However, even after I ate all that lobster, I still found my stomach growling at around 10, but I decided to just ignore it, which didn't help the fact that I couldn't sleep, so I tossed and turned and was hungry all night.

IF ONLY...

...they were always this nice to each other. =P I was just trying to clean my desk out a little and ran across my cd of the Ryan family portraits... here's what the monsters look like when they're not beating the crap out of each other. (OK, really, it's more when Linley is not beating the crap out of Sean. She is a total bruiser for someone who is such a girly-girl.)

MIA AND MIGUEL

No, they're not a new couple, but they do go well together. On Tuesday night, Gina and I ventured over to Brea to finally meet Miss Mia S. Tran and have dinner with Cherrie and Caren. Caren graciously picked up Miguel's after work and brought it over. I had the garbage burrito (everything in it - sour cream, guac, etc.) with shredded beef. Way better than the the bean, cheese and rice one that Gina and Caren went with.

Anyway, enough about the food.We finally met Mia and she is such a cutie. I think she's managed to double her weight in the last two months so she's sporting those cute baby rolls. (Yes, rolls are cute on babies. On adults, not so much.) She stayed up to play for a bit, took a nap while we ate dinner, then woke up again for her own dinner. It's hilarious watching Tom and her together because they look so much alike! Gina said, "I don't see it as much anymore." I told her to pass me an eyeliner pencil so I could draw a mustache and goatee on Mia - and maybe some glasses - and there'd be no way she could miss it.

Pictures of Mia:

Whew! Auntie Gina has some stinky pits! hehe. j/k!

Who ARE you?

Mia chills in her swing. She LOVES her swing. It's a happy place.

WEEEEE

Or should I say Wiiiiiii? That's right. I finally scored a Wii. On Friday, I was meeting Vuong for lunch at Claim Jumper in South Coast and just happened to walk by Game Stop. I figured, heck, why not pop in and check and VOILA! They had it in stock! Woohooo. So Friday night, after we (and by we I mean me and me, as Brian sat on the couch and watched) helped Shivaji packed, we headed over to Bill's to give it a try. It's a lot of fun! It's also lot more fun when you have more than one controller. =P

On Saturday night, Shivaji moved into his place so he invited a few of us to come over for some pizza. I brought the Wii of course and everybody took turns playing against each other (I picked up another controller)... it was great watching Shivaji's dad play. I thought he got a kick out of it.

On Sunday morning, Kat, Paul, Lin and I went out to brunch for Lin's birthday. We tried this new place Venezia in Redondo Beach. They just had their grand opening on Wednesday. The next restaurant that will be at that location will probably have their grand opening in September. =P We sit down and the waitress asks if we plan to have the buffet brunch. I said, "Oh, may I see the menu please?" She comes back to tell us that there is no menu for the day, only the buffet. Then asks, "So you'll be having the buffet then?" I'm thinking... do we have a choice? Aside from that, the selection wasn't that good (not $20 good), they were short on serving utensils, and the service was a bit slow. On the upside, they have bottomles mimosas and bloody mary's for $7. Of course, with service being a bit slow, you'll probably only get 2. I think they are trying to focus more on being a "trendy and happening" place than being known for their food.

On Sunday night, my dad and I played with the Wii and that was a lot of fun. There was a lot of trash talking, from tennis to golf to bowling. You should have seen us boxing. hehe. I was like, uh... dad, don't hit the t.v. by accident. I knocked his guy out about 3 times and absolutely rubbed it in. Please, not like you thought I wouldn't. =P

THE INTIMIDATOR

I had lunch with my friend Val yesterday and at one point, I told her that really, nobody ever comes up to talk me in bars and stuff. It's very rare. She says it's probably because I'm intimidating. WTH? I'm a total goofball and so freaking friendly. =D So I take a poll of some of the friends that are online and they concur. I'm thinking, I'm such a dork, how can I be intimidating?

One person suggested that maybe my default face is mean looking. (You know, the expression on your face when you're just zoning out and not really trying to make a facial expression.) Just great. He suggests a 10% smile to look more friendly. Of course, now I picture myself walking around with a full blown smile and looking crazy and I'm sitting in my office laughing by myself. (So I actually am crazy and don't just look it.)

Another says it has something to do with the way I walk, dress, and generally carry myself. I'm like, what? The gut hanging over the jeans is intimidating? I suppose maybe a little bit, but I'm trying to get rid of that. I can't help the way I walk. I could try the crip walk maybe. Wassup homey! Or a waddle, but walking is one of those things you don't think about. When I was younger, one of my older cousins decided I should walk around with a book on my head, so that's why I walk the way I walk. She had modelling aspirations and found me a pliable guinea pig. (It was a boring summer for her apparently.) And hey, I was so pliable, I was playdoh. Heck, I have another cousin who made me write "Ain't isn't a word" 100 times and I actually stopped using the word until recently when I decided to rebel. I apparently have so much respect for my elders that I'll do whatever they tell me, even if they're only a couple of years older. What a sucker. =P

Anyhow, I'm sitting here, dorking out to my new favorite song, Enrique Iglesias' Ping Pong Song, thinking how can I be intimidating. I'm wearing my totally hot and sexy CVS reading glasses (bahaha) over my -6.50 powered contacts. I'm sporting at least two bruises on me because I keep walking into stuff. (The other week, I actually shut the car door on my own leg.) Oh, and let's not forget the very attractive wrist guard , which totally grossed the Jungs out when I accidentally left it on their kitchen counter. =P Indimidating, schmintimdating. What's a girl to do? (real question, not rhetorical)