I’ve got lots of pictures, but it’ll take me a while to post them.
Unfortunately, nobody slept well. I never do the first night away from home. My dad had 6:30 tee time so he was pretty tired this afternoon. After he left, my mom and I fell back asleep, so I missed the 8:00 tennis class, but I went to the 11:00 one. Holy moly it was so hot. And it was just me and these two little boys who were getting coached by the tennis pro anyway. I guess nobody cares if the lessons are free if they’re at 11, but heck, I’m cheap, I can suck it up. (The 8 am ones are $25) He had me running drills with them. The pro told the boys, “oooh, she’s better than you...” That lasted all of 10 minutes, because after that, I was tired. And when I’m tired, I get sloppy. Lots of shots into the net. Lots of shots out. Oh well. For a while, I was kicking those 10 year old asses. =P
Anyhoo, we’re going out for steaks tonight. Yum. Then we may play again as the courts are lit until 9 pm (and they’re free after 7! $25/hour ordinarily) Woohoo.
I will no longer be the pale one after this weekend. I probably won’t ever be as tan as Gina or Cherrie can get, but darn it, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in a day. Except for the really weird tan lines I’m going to get from alternating between the tennis courts and the pool.
August 22, 2006
So I made the terrible mistake of falling asleep at 10:30 last night. TERRIBLE. I woke up at 1:30 a.m. thinking it was morning. Then I couldn’t fall asleep because I had all sorts of stuff going through my mind. Ugh! I read for a little bit, surfed the net for a little bit, and finally fell asleep around 3 I think. Pssshaw. Anyhow, I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday. Holy moly. I feel like it should be Thursday already. Or maybe I just want it to be Thursday since I’m going to La Quinta this weekend.
It’s been pretty slow for me at the firm. I’ve decided that being a lawyer is a bit like being bipolar. It’s either crazy busy or I’ve got jack to do. I was crazy busy last week. Now I’ve got jack to do. So currently, I’m an exercising machine. I played tennis from 9-2 on Saturday, then we danced a lot that night – I consider that exercise, then I ran 2 miles yesterday, and I went to spin tonight. Tomorrow I’m playing tennis again. I’m planning on taking some tennis clinics out at La Quinta as well. I may come back tanner than I’ve ever been since I also plan on chillin by the pool.
Random thought: sexual offenders and child molesters should be forced to endure regular bikini waxes. I mean the full Telly Savalas look, not even the Brazilian. That’ll make them think twice. *sigh* I wish there was something good to watch on t.v. besides food channel. I watched the football game last night. Well, parts of it. It wasn’t very interesting. Would’ve been a better game if two teams were playing rather than just one. =P College football starts Sept. 2nd! Yay! USC will be going to Arkansas, I believe. Or maybe it was ‘Bama. One of those A states in the south. Can’t wait!
August 20, 2006
Ok, so it’s been more than a day. It was busy. I had a patent that I had to do revisions on over and over and over
again. Anyhoo, I gave in and bought myself a wrist brace. Don’t want the carpal tunnel interfering with my burgeoning tennis career. =P So let’s see... Ok, going back to last weekend, we went to Corona for Caren’s bridal shower which was fun. I won a prize. I don’t think I’ve gone to a bridal shower and not won a prize at some game, although I did have Gina’s help this time. Thanks Gina! I won a gift card to Coffee Bean. Perfect. I spent the rest of that night working, same with Monday. Tuesday I had dinner with Kat and Lin after I got done revising my patent for the 849375th time. We went to Fritto Misto in Hermosa. Afterwards, we gorged on chocolate and wine at Lin’s place.
On Wednesday I was in OC, so after work, I went to visit the Ryans. It was Sean’s birthday on Thursday, so I asked him if he wanted to go to Target and pick out his birthday gift. God love him, he’s a cheap date. First he was super excited to go to Target. Then, he walks in and picks up the first toy he sees and says he wants it. I’m a bit skeptical and ask him if he’s sure... Maybe he should look around first. He says, no, he knows what he likes. Some things just “jump out at him.” His words, not mine. It’s like that time he told Weyland “to stop mocking him.” Where does he get this stuff? Anyhow, he walks around with the toy, checks things out, and he looks like he’s sticking with his decision. At the last minute, he wants to take another look and he goes up to the clearance shelf and picks up a toy and decides he wants that one instead. Woohoo. $10! Right on! Oh, Sean just earned his yellow belt in tae kwan do. He showed me his little trophy and the board he had to break to get it.
I said I wouldn’t sign up for Fantasy Football again, as it ruined last season for me, but I did it anyway. Jeff wanted me to join to fill up the league. So I’ve joined, but I’m not going to monitor it. However, I was messing around at work, and decided I’d drop my back up QB Steve McNair and pick up Matt Leinart instead. Why? Cuz he’s cuter. I will have the cutest fantasy football team in my league. (My starting QB is Tom Brady.) Our calendar will be better than the others. Hehe. I sent the guys scrambling to pick up Steve McNair. I think David ended up getting him.
Saturday night, Jenn and I took Caren out since we missed her bachelorette party. We had dinner at Mangiamo in Manhattan Beach, then we went to the little bar down the street. We had a few drinks there and moved on to Beaches to dance. We actually stayed til the very end! Yes, I know. Amazing. We’re usually too tired to stay up that late, but we didn’t even realize the time. Oh, and it was so awesome... the DJ at Beaches was 70 years old. Seriously. He was sporting his Brasil soccer jersey and playing good music. He was so cute. Today we went to brunch at Cheesecake with Kat. Well, Caren went to brunch, but she didn’t have any since she couldn’t hold anything down. =P Poor Caren. We were seated on the patio, but eventually Caren just sat at the front of the restaurant near the restrooms. I don’t think she’ll be drinking much at her reception. According to her, she’ll not be drinking ever again, but we’ve all made that promise before.
Next weekend, we are heading to La Quinta Resort and Spa with some family friends. We used to do these trips when I was in high school and they were a lot of fun. My dad and uncles will be golfing all weekend. I’m going to check out the grass tennis courts, maybe take a class, and chill by the pool. Hopefully it won’t be too stinkin hot... maybe somewhere in the low 100s.
August 14, 2006
Ciao! Oy, I’m so tired, but I refuse to sleep before 12. Why? Because if I do, I’ll wake up at some ridiculous hour when it’s still dark because I only sleep about 6-7 hours max. Hmm, so let’s see... I missed out on the hot volleyball players in Manhattan Beach. I never got a chance to go and watch. However, I did get new tennis shoes. I know, unrelated, but still, makes me happy. K-Swiss Glaciators. Umm, ok I was going to update, but the carpal tunnel is hurtin. Be back tomorrow.
August 6, 2006
Bonjour! I’m back from a week in Vegas. It’s sad when it’s actually cooler in Vegas than in L.A., which is how it was when we left on Monday. Thank goodness that heat wave has broken. Nothing much to tell about the shoe show. We didn’t have as many corporate dinners to attend which was nice. It freed up more time for relaxing and sleeping. The first night we went to Zapppos.com’s party. They rented out the Hard Rock Hotel’s pool area and it was open bar alllll night. Everything was alcoholic... the popsicles, the melon balls... they had big fat syringes filled with alcohol – SHOTS! Get it? I liked that one. They came in cosmo or appletini flavor. We had a little excitement on Thursday when some little Russian guy came in and actually had the nerve to tell Jeff’s mom to go back to China. Can you imagine the gall of this guy? He is making racist comments in our booth... and he’s not originally from America himself. Well, needless to say, that really pissed Jeff off. It’s one thing to make racist comments, another to make them to his mom. He was ready to kick some booty. Luckily, security came and escorted the guy away. The show ended on a Friday, which was nice, since we didn’t have to deal with much traffic on the way home. It sucks when the show ends on a Sunday and we have to drive back with all of the other people because we’re butt tired, have to sit in traffic, AND have to go to work on Monday. This time, I was home by 11 and got a weekend of rest.
I spent most of Saturday with the ‘rents. Played tennis with my dad and the uncles Saturday morning, then went to Laguna to visit Sean and Linley. They crack me up, those crazy kids. Especially Linley. Apparently, the kid has a Napoleon complex. She knows she’s little and she makes up for it with lots of attitude. First, she has to have her purse with her, ALL the time. Her purse and her cell phone. What an OC kid. Then, I see her pinching Sean’s face. She’s got his entire cheek in her little hand. I’m sitting there thinking, “OUCH!” Sean was thinking the same thing. Apparently, she likes to abuse her brother, so my aunt gave Sean permission to do unto Linley what Linley does to him. So he pinched her back (but not on her face) and she started bawling. WAAAAAAH. She was still forced to apologize to Sean. The other day, she tried to bite Sean. The kid is vicious.
Today is Kat’s birthday. We went to the movies and saw John Tucker Must Die. I enjoyed it. I always like movies where the girls get back at cheating boys. Afterwards we had dinner at CPK and now here I am. There’s a movie we saw a preview for – Beerfest – it’s right up my alley. Looks totally retarded and really funny. I can’t wait to see it. You are all invited to join me. We can get beers afterwards to get in the spirit. Or maybe before. It might be better if we get it before.
July 25, 2006
Yo yo yo! What’s up?!?! Today I went to spin. I currently can’t feel my legs, but never mind that. Apparently Boneshia, the instructor, had raisins today, thus breaking her no sugar diet. Therefore, she felt that she had to work it off, consequently punishing us for her transgression. Heck, I had just had a Costco hot dog and soda before the class, didn’t see me feeling guilty. I happily informed her that I had a churro waiting for me in the car. She was all, “ooooh.. you are so bad!” :D That’s me... bad to the bone... dun dun run dun dunnnnn... baaaad to the bone. Anyhow, before getting in the shower, I hopped on the scale, and it told me I was like 7 lbs heavier! Waaaaah =*( I’ve been working out four times a week. I spin on Tuesdays, play tennis on Saturdays, and run 2 miles twice a week. Okay, run-walk. Whatever. In this heat, I’m surprised I do it at all. Yeah, so what if I eat ice cream on a daily basis? It’s HOT with a capital HOT!
Hmm, ok, what else... Saturday, Shivaji and I went to a bbq in Irvine. I stood there and dripped sweat. Very attractive. Literally, I wasn’t moving, I was just standing there, but I was just dripping sweat. Afterwards, a bunch of us went to Detroit and got our groove on. It was a fun night, except I twisted my ankle while wearing my new 3” wedges that I was breaking in for the shoe show coming up. Yes, I’m going to Vegas again. Woohoo. I like the summer show. It’s a lot of fun.
Alright, I’ve got a new trashy novel calling my name. I’ll catch you all later. ;) Ciao!
July 17, 2006
Hello. So, it’s true. We didn’t go camping. :-( There were four of us planning to go and two couldn’t make it, so we didn’t bother going up. Too bad since I had all the gear ready to go. Oh well. Someone asked if I would plan another camping trip. Probably not. Anyhow, instead, that weekend I went to dinner with Vuong, then met up with Gina and Weyland to see the Asian comedy show at the Improv. They were really funny. My abs hurt the next day and I don’t think it was from tennis, but from all the laughing. On Tuesday, Shivaji, Brian, Gina, Weyland, and I checked out Two Dollar Tuesdays at Vegas in Costa Mesa. The tacos were from Baja Fresh and the Wings from Wing Stop, so the food wasn’t bad.
Oh, a funny thing I noticed last week. I had just finished a Hershey bar and I noticed on the inside of the wrapper it says, “Candy is a treat. Please eat in moderation.” Bahahaha. Okaaaay... Whatever. I like how you don’t see the warning until after you’ve already eaten the entire candy bar.
July 7, 2006
We’re not going camping. :-(
July 4, 2006
Hi there! Happy Fourth of July! I can hear the fireworks already... and I’m getting ready to call the cops on my neighbors since it’s illegal in Long Beach. Just kidding. I won’t call the cops, but I do hope they get busted. Mostly because they’ve been setting them off allllll freaking week at about bed time. I don’t know which neighbors, but hopefully the cops find out. =P Oooh.. since I’m on a little vindictive streak... Yesterday coming home, I got on the freeway behind a BMW Z4. This guy had the top down, thinking he was cool, zipping through the freeway, speeding, tailgating, constantly changing lanes. Now, if you’ve ever been in a car that I’m driving, you know I have nothing against speeding. The weaving through traffic however, is another issue. I think you just increase your chances of causing an accident, as some people forget to check their blind spots, etc. This sucks because 1) the other person you get into an accident with was minding his own business and 2) you will tie up traffic for many people. I hate traffic. OK, back to my story, so, I’ve made my way across into the fast lane and I’m cruising at a mere 70 mph because there are a lot of cars on the road. The Z4 is still zipping through, weaving from lane to lane... and mind you, he’s never more than about 3 cars away from me regardless how much he weaves through (moron)... anyhoo... I’m driving along in the fast lane and notice headlights that look like a CHP cruiser’s lights. Ah... CHP in the carpool lane. Whew. Good thing I’m not speeding too much. He passes me and he’s cruising and I can still see the Z4. Now I’m thinking, dammit, cops never see the bad drivers! But lo and behold... YES!... about a mile later, I see the CHP turn on his lights and he’s making his way across and Mr. Z4 is pulling over. They finally got it right. BTW... why is Mr. CHP cruising in the carpool lane BY HIMSELF? Don’t they have to follow the rules?
Hmm... what else... England lost to Portugal in the World Cup Quarters. I’ve never been a soccer fan, but this World Cup has reeled me in. And big nerd that I am, it all started when I looked up the rules of the game and stuff since it was such a big deal for the whole rest of the world. Really, understanding is the key to growing affection. Anyhow, since Sweden was out, I was rooting for England. I got up early, made breakfast, and settled down to watch before going out to play tennis. No score in the first half. Beckham goes out with an injury in the second. Then Wayne Rooney, England’s latest soccer golden boy or great hope or whatever steps on a Portugal player’s nuts. It might have been an accident. Might not. So Portugal’s Ronaldo (quite a hottie btw) comes up to the Ref to point it out - after all, his buddy is rolling around on the ground holding the family jewels. I would have done the same thing if one of my friends got stomped on like that. And thug that Rooney is, he pushes Ronaldo. Why? Because he’s a thug with a short temper and serious anger management issues. He’s actually known for his anger management issues. Think Ross with Rage (from Friends). It’s quite possible that had he not pushed Ronaldo, he could have said it was an accident... a foul, but an accident, and maybe the ref would have just yellow carded him. But no, he gets a red card and gets tossed out of the game. In my opinion, all Rooney’s fault. I didn’t like soccer until about a month ago and even I had heard he had a bad temper. His reputation precedes him, so there is more to lend to the idea that he got frustrated scrambling around and took it out on the other guy’s woohoos. Oh well. They would have gotten creamed in the semi’s anyway. Based on my limited soccer knowledge, they seemed to have a pretty decent defense, but I do believe you also need to score and their offense was fairly non-existed in all of the games that I watched. Next up is France v. Portugal. Winner faces Italy in the finals (which I will miss since I will be camping – that’s right – camping!).
Anyhow, moving along... after the soccer game, I went to visit Marina. Such a cutie. She crawled over and sat in my lap while she chewed on a notebook. This seriously delayed my departure for the tennis courts. By the time I got there, it was at least 11:30 and HOT. Whew. I played til about 2:30 so I ended up missing the Brazil/France game. Oh well. I needed the exercise. Afterwards, I went down to Newport with my parents to see Gina’s works, then we had dinner in Seal Beach. It was the first meal since my one pancake at 8 a.m. I was ready to die. I actually ate all my food. (well, not the green beans, but I don’t like those.) I took a nap, then went over to see Monette and Jay who were in town. Marina was in fine form once again. She laughed a lot, blew out her water, and she “sang” at the piano.
Well, I could keep going, but nobody’s going to read anything that long. I’d be surprised if anyone made it to this sentence. =P
June 29, 2006
BONJOUR! Bon anniversaire au Caren qui est trente et un aujourdhui. This morning, Monette and I tried to exchange our emails in French. It lasted for about a total of 6 exchanges before we ran out French. I had more French I could have used, but randomly bringing up that “my pen is on the table” probably would have baffled her since we were discussing tennis at Wimbledon.
Alas, it was not meant to be... Sweden was knocked out of the World Cup. Boooooo. What a bad World Cup. First, my favorite English footy, Michael Owen, tears his ACL in the early rounds. Then Sweden gets das boot by Germany. No more Freddie on t.v.
Hmm, so let’s see... last weekend was Jing’s wedding. It was 100 degrees in Arcadia. Mon dieu! And it was an outdoor wedding. It was actually overcast until the wedding began... when the clouds ruthlessly moved aside to allow the sun to beat down on the poor guests. I sat there and sweated off about 5 lbs of water. Don’t worry, I ate 10 lbs of food at the reception, so I’m ok. That was my third 10-course banquet meal of the month. I dragged my butt to spin on Monday and Tuesday in the hopes of working a few of those courses off. I’m probably still up 25 courses. Oh well. Actually, I tend to stop after the lobster course. By then, I’m full, and since it comes kind of in the middle, I’ve probably really eaten only 15 courses. I’m also not big on Shark’s Fin Soup. Give me some sizzling rice or something. Maybe some won ton soup. Oooh ahh. And how come they don’t give you noodles? Yes, I know, the seafood is the expensive stuff, so it’s the “goof stuff,” but I’d much rather have some noodles than abalone. I am just a simple person after all. =D
What else... *whistle whistle*... Not much going on really. I have a brief reprieve from weddings. YAY! I am going camping for the first time next weekend. Woo! (Shut up, i CAN too do it. And no, we’re not staying in a hotel in the woods.) I heard there are ticks out there. Yuck. I’m going to have to saran wrap myself or something to make sure none of those get under my skin. (EEWWEEE).
Hmm...I’ve sent my resume out. Once. Yes, I know, I lag. But since I won my motion to dismiss (Yay!) I have more time on my hands and I will be getting right on that endeavor. I should spam you all with my resume until someone gives me a job. =P
Umm... yeah, that’s all I’ve got for you. Oooh... there’s all that crazy stuff going on with Israel and the Hamas (not the hummus)... Margie’s suggestion was to diffuse pot in the middle east so maybe they will just chill out. Not a bad idea. You don’t hear those Jamaicans making trouble for anyone. It’s probably less destructive than my idea of leveling the middle east and re-populating the area with happy island people. I think its all that desert...makes them cranky, particularly since there isn’t a stripper or casino in sight. Island people, whatever island, I think are much happier, even if they’re poorer or less powerful. It’s the proximity to the ocean. Course, I live in Long Beach so what do I know. But my peoples are from an island and they’re a cheery bunch in general if you ask me.
June 18, 2006
Oh yes, another weekend, another wedding. This weekend it was Tracy and Tony’s wedding. The reception was at the Anaheim Crowne Plaza. Very nice. I sat a table with 8 doctors. Good time to have a heart attack. Well, maybe not a heart attack...a broken leg or some sort of gastro problem maybe. I got to recycle my dress from Gina’s wedding. Hey... if I’m buying wedding gifts every other week, I gotta recycle the clothes. I have another wedding next weekend actually, so not even every other weekend. It’ll be the last before a short hiatus and the weddings start up again in September. Anyhow, not much to tell about the last two weeks. I was sick for most the other week, so I was fairly miserable. Who gets sick in June? Me apparently. Complements of Jenn via Jung. That’s what I get for sharing drinks during our rager in Manhattan Beach. So I didn’t work out and spent most of the weekend at home just laying on the couch. I did drag my butt out to go to Jeff’s poker birthday. That was fun and I won, so I’m glad I rested up for it. This week, I felt really fat after a week on the couch so I went to spin both Monday and Tuesday. It felt really good to get all that exercise, although I think I came close to getting a butt cramp at some point on Tuesday during the spin class. Lots of isolation work. I played tennis yesterday since it’s been nice weather rather than go to kick boxing. I need to play more. My abs feel tight from all the torso rotation. Sure my back hurts and I have calluses on my hands and feet (ahh sexy eh?), but nobody holds my hands or feet, so I’m cool. I’ve been a world cup fanatic this past week. Did anyone see that Sweden game? GOOOOO FREDDIE. I luuuuuuurv him. Hehehe. I’m rooting for Sweden to go all the way. Freddie needs more face (and body) time on t.v.
June 5, 2006
Gosh darn it... my internet service has been in and out all day. More out than in. Faced with no internet, I ended up making more chocolate covered strawberries. Then I still had more time on my hands, so I made some homemade hamburger patties. =P We’ll see how they come out. I accidentally poured more red wine into it than I intended. (No, really, I didn’t mean to.) Anyhow, this weekend was a fun one. Saturday night I went out with Jenn and Lin in Manhattan Beach on a spur of the moment thing. We were just going to grab some dessert and wine but ended up getting no dessert and several cocktails. Then the bartender did us in with a free round of shots. Afterwards, we had to hang around for a while and decided to go dancing. Well, Jenn and I went dancing. - Lin sat outside. Poor guy. Eventually, he had to drive us back to his place til we were good to drive. Sunday was the day for Gina & Weyland’s LA reception. That’s right. #3. Chinese this time. I asked Weyland today when and where the next stop on the “Around the World with Gina & Weyland” tour was, but apparently they are truly done. It was a lot of fun and we ate soooo much. I ate so much last night I was starving this morning. Yes, it’s strange, but the more I eat before I sleep the hungrier I am the next day. I’m totally weird. I was so tired from Saturday night, that I crashed when I got home after the reception but woke up at 2:30. I was hot and hungry and unable to go back to sleep for a while. Anyhow, some photos from reception are posted.
June 2, 2006
Ciao! I’m going to do a quick update since I’m just stalling for time anyway. It’s almost happy hour time. Woohoo. Hmm... I don’t really have much to update on. On Wednesday I went to visit the Ryans since I hadn’t seen the kids since Hawaii. That was fun. Apparently all two year olds (or nearly two year olds) go through a naked thing. Linley was ready to drop her dress right there on the street when she met me at my car. We stopped her, but as soon as she got into the house, she let those shoulder straps go and ran around in nothing but a diaper. Later, she was eating blue Go-Gurt... and eventually was covered in it. She looked like a smurf. It was even the right shade of blue to achieve proper smurfiness. Hmm... what else... That was pretty much it. Went to spin on Tuesday night. I haven’t been to the gym since. I shall go to kick boxing tomorrow. This weekend is Gina’s LA reception. Woohoo. FOOOOOOD. And lots of it. Plus I get to see the girls which is always fun. I have pictures of the kids which I’ll post when after I actually download them. I’ll try and take pictures on Sunday too. Arrivaderci!
May 29, 2006
Hallooo. Hope everyone had a safe and fun memorial weekend! Hmm... it was a busy week for me... my dad’s birthday was last Wednesday, so we went to church (that’s right! I went to church) then out to dinner with the extended family. That was fun. Thursday, I went down to the OC for work and spent the night at Gina & Weyland’s since I had to be back in at the firm on Friday to pick up some documents (that a client was supposed to get to me Wednesday. Psssh.) Anyhoo, since I was staying over, I thought I’d make dinner for us, so I decided to try making Giada’s spinach lasagna with bechamel sauce. Gina said it was good. I think she was just really hungry by 9 p.m. which is when we finally ate. The next morning, I opted to run around the neighborhood rather than going to the gym. Friday night was cooking night. So much fun! Vuong made Bum Rieu, a Vietnamese dish that has noodles in broth with crab meat and eggs. I brought shrimp lumpia and regular lumpia and made some garlic fried rice. Gina made yummy chocolate cup cakes. Some were meticulously frosted by Vuong - she left no surface area unfrosted – but if you ask me... she spread it a bit thin. I prefer Gina’s more haphazard, slap it on an inch thick method. But hey, this is the girl that screamed in holy terror when Gina was about to wash the mixing bowl before I was given a chance to lick it clean. Gina was appalled... something about raw egg and salmonella. I gave her the “do I look like I care” look and proceeded to scrape the walls of the mixing bowl with a handy spatula. I love raw cake mix. And no diarrhea, so it’s allllll good.
Anyhow, back to the events... so we had dinner then chilled in front of the t.v. for a bit. We ended up watching a documentary show called “Honolulu Hookers.” Did you know that most of the hookers in downtown Honolulu were men? Yep, it’s true. Some are transgender, some transsexual. That’s right. Your hooker might have both boobies and a peepee. Really, all men should be made likes this. Maybe then they wouldn’t be so obsessed with boobs.
On Saturday, I spent the day with Kat and Lin. So fun! We haven’t done that in a while. We didn’t really do much, but it was still fun. We hung out in Manhattan Beach... we had lunch at a deli, stopped for pastries at the French bakery, stopped for ice cream at Coldstones, then coffee at Starbucks. We sat outside Starbucks for a while and did color commentary for the people walking or driving past. Very entertaining. Later that night, I had dinner with Shivaji and Brian (who graduated! Woohoo) then we headed over to Maitai’s for Tim’s birthday. I wasn’t feeling so hot, so Shivaji and I took off around 11. I totally passed out when I got home, but I slept so well, I felt good the next morning. So good I got up for the 8 a.m. spin class. I picked Monette & Jay up at Lola’s house and we went to Hermosa for spin. Unfortunately, Boneshia was sick and didn’t teach class =( Something about vomitting all night. Whatever. Wuss. Hehe. j/k. I will catch her class tomorrow night. Hopefully she’s not sick anymore. We had breakfast at Lola’s house then I went home to shower and afterwards, I promptly fell asleep reading one of my new books. When I woke up, I kept reading... and gosh darn it... there were pages missing! They were blank where there should have been text! And towards the end too! During the good parts! Grrr. So I got up , got dressed and went back to Barnes to exchange it. I get there and there’s no more. =( waaaah. Now I have to wait 3-4 days for my replacement. Patience is not one of my virtues. Afterwards, Lin and I grabbed dinner. We tried to do the loiter in Manhattan Beach thing again, but it just wasn’t as fun. There weren’t as many people walking past. Kat wasn’t there to make circus music.
Today, in my effort to procrastinate (I had work to do)... I folded laundry, cleaned room, ran random errands, made chocolate covered strawberries, and cookies... i also went over to Kat’s for a little BBQ, where I loaded up on rice crispy treats. It’s a good thing I’m going to the gym tomorrow.
May 22, 2006
OK, why is it every time it rains, some fool is in a river needing rescuing? It’s not like we’ve got the Mississippi over here. It’s the freaking L.A. River canal thingy. You weren’t fishing to eat. You weren’t transporting anything. What were you doing there? They get stuck then need LA Fire and Rescue to come and get them. I hope they make these people reimburse the city. My tax dollars shouldn’t go towards saving idiots who should have been eliminated via Darwinism.
Hmm.. so this weekend Vuong and I went down to San Diego for Gina & Weyland’s Korean reception. We were so tired on the drive down. No idea why. I didn’t even get up for kick boxing. We did go out the night before. We went to happy hour at Z’tejas then over to Kitsch, but I was home by 12:30. Anyhoo, the drive down wasn’t too bad... not too much traffic. We stopped at Mission Valley first so Vuong could check out West Elm. Nice area they have there. Lots of places to shop and eat. BevMo is right next to Coffee Bean. How perfect is that? After the reception, Gina & Weyland took us to Extraordinary Desserts where we shared three different kinds of desserts. Then we went to a nice little wine bar where we each had a flight of four wines. I think that place was called Wine Lover’s. We left around 11:30 to head back home. I was soooo tired. I was also nearly out of gas, but I was too lazy to stop for gas at 12:30.
What else... nothing much. I went on a blind date. It was alright. I came home alive. My belly was full of food and beer. What more do u need. OK, too sleepy to continue. Bonsoir.
May 19, 2006
Hi. Me again. Yeah, I’ve been up since about 3 this morning. I turned in early last night in the hopes of getting a good night sleep, but I just had too much on my mind and woke up at 3. So instead of falling back asleep, I just laid there til about 5:30. Now it’s 8:50 a.m. I’m mildly delirious, but whatever. I’m just going straight down to Irvine today. Maybe I can go to HAPPEEEE HOUR later. We’ll see.
OK, so at USC they were giving out these hanging “air fresheners” of that Tag body spray stuff. My dad loves anything that’s free, so he brings a bunch home. He puts it up around the house. I’m like, come on... it’s way too strong. I take the one down in the hall and throw it in my bathroom trash. Now my bathroom smells like a guy about to go clubbing with cheap cologne on. Damn.
May 18, 2006
My name is Kristine and I’m a foodaholic... today I’ve had 3 cupcakes and a slice of chantilly cake.
May 15, 2006
Oooh ahhh... it’s only been two days and I’m back already! You must be thinking... “Wow, she must have had an exciting two days to be writing again.” No, not really. I’m just here for the heck of it. =P Sunday I took my mom to brunch at Kincaid’s. Lots of people there for mother’s day. They even gave my mom a little plant. Very cool. After brunch, we came back home... and I promptly fell asleep. I have no idea why I was so tired. I just was. It’s not like I had a raging Saturday night to recover from. Anyhow, I napped for two hours then went to good ol’ Barnes and Nobles. I miss that place. My B&N card has lapsed even.
Hasn’t the weather been great? Admittedly, upon first returning from Hawaii, all I could think of was, “Damn it’s cold here.” However, the weather has shaped up quite nicely. It’s downright hot in the afternoons. Speaking of Hawaii... Gina and Weyland are back from their honeymoon in Kauai. Yes, apparently, “Gina’s back and she’s black.” She said we’d be really jealous of her tan. Now, I like a good tan, but I’m not trying to qualify for affirmative action. I just don’t want to glow in the dark. Have I mentioned how I was all proud of my tan, then I go to kick boxing, look in the mirror, and the white girls are still tanner than me? Bastards! And now I’m peeling. Peelings... nothing more than peelings...
Last week, I had some serious moments of boredom and insomnia due to jet lag, so I posted some stuff on myspace. That’s right, I’m on there too. Nothing much on there, but still, I have succumbed. I am a lemming. One of the things I posted on there were my pet peeves: words like CONVERSATE. That’s right. NO SUCH WORDS DAMN IT. If you look it up on dictionary.com, they kindly ask you, “do you mean CONVERSE?” Because that is what people having a conversation do... they CONVERSE.
And on the topic of made up words... lately, I have been consuming food in a manner that will one day render me a cow-like figure. For instance, today, I have had gelato three times: twice before kick boxing and once after. As such, I do believe, I am bovine-acious. It’s like being bodacious but not so good really. During the abs portion of the kick boxing class, I could have sworn my abs were going to cramp up. How sad is that? I actually had to stop crunching and just stretch out flat on my back. It’s a good thing I didn’t fall asleep right there on the mat. =P
I’m very proud to be the giver of Keoni’s favorite birthday gift. I’ll forever remember that of the gifts I gave him, he preferred the cheapo super soakers over the remote controlled dinosaur and forever get him gifts under $10. Yessssss.
Back to work! Ciao!
May 13, 2006
Hellooooo. Yes, I know, a raging Saturday night, spent at home on the computer. Well, let me tell you mister, I’ve been partying it up. That’s right. Today was Keoni’s 7th Mad Scientist Birthday Party and Auntie Kristine doesn’t miss Keoni’s parties. There’s food, booze and a mad scientist. What more do you need? Actually, I partook in lots of food, but no booze (what? I know, but it’s true). The Mad Scientist show was pretty cool. He did stuff with dry ice, flash paper which catches fire and dissolves really quick, and he made slime with the kids. (Laryna was hoping for the cleaner silly puddy making, but no such luck – hey, at least it wasn’t HER house. Hehe)
This morning, since I didn’t manage to wake up in time for kick boxing I went and played tennis instead. It’s so cute to see the little kids learning how to play. It reminds me of when Monette and I were little. I think it’s great. These kids get to spend time with their dads, the uncles, with each other, and they get out from in front of the t.v. and get some exercise.
Last night, I met up with Shivaji and Aya in Huntington Beach. We hung out at Beachfront 301 (i think that’s what it’s called) for a bit and people watched, which was very entertaining. We could’ve held up large placards that read “Real” or “Fake.” We were like the grumpy old guys in the balcony on sesame street. Hehe. I think Shivaji and I were particularly restless last night since we both came back from vacations and were accustomed to being out and about, so it’s a good thing we were all able to meet up and go out.
Hmm... what else... ooh, on Tuesday I went to spin and it was intense... and unbelievably hot in the spin room. Sheesh. Sweat was pouring in buckets. From now on, I’m going to bring a full sized towel. Afterwards, I mooched dinner from Lin who made spaghetti.
Tomorrow is MOTHERS’ DAY. I hope you didn’t forget. I’m taking my mom to brunch at Kincaid’s. I don’t know if they have a buffet brunch, a special brunch menu, or if they just happen to be open at the time and call it “brunch.” =P Speaking of Mothers’ Day... Congrats to Terri (and Joe) on their new baby Olivia, who arrived on May 1st at 6 lbs, 14 oz.
May 8, 2006
Hi! We are back. We had lots and lots of fun. It started at the airport. We got there two hours early – you never know what the security lines will be like – so we had some time to kill. We parked ourselves at the restaurant, had these big strawberry margaritas, and did some people watching. Unfortunately the Virgin flight had already boarded so we didn’t get a chance to see if there were any hot British guys going to London. We got in late Sunday Hawaii time and went straight to Zippy’s. When we got to Laryna’s, her niece Jolie (and her sis and bro-in-law) were over. Jolie is SO CUTE! And such a good baby too. We hung out for a bit, ate, then crashed.
Monday we got up and went to the gym. That’s right. Such dedication. Well, I only went cuz Laryna wanted to go. I was running on the treadmill looking out over Waikiki thinking, “why am i indoors?” Afterwards, we got some jamba juice then went back to shower and change. We got our nails done, then picked up some food and headed over to Sandy Beach. They had that whole sewage problem in Waikiki, so we weren’t about to go there and get some nasty bacteria. By the time we got to Sandy’s it was already 1 or 2 and we were starving. We picked our spot and dug into our food. Big mistake. SUNBLOCK FIRST. Oh well. We learned our lesson after coming home all nice and charred. Laryna’s dad too a look at me and kindly handed me the aloe gel. =P That night we went to Duke’s in Waikiki and met up with Jenn and Jeff. We had drinks at the bar, then dinner. Then we all ended up on standing on a street corner talking. I saw two hookers. How do I know they were hookers? They had those platform plastic high heels that Chris Rock talks about. We also make them at NYLA for strippers. Since there were no poles nearby and they were on the street – I deduced hookers.
Tuesday we picked up breakfast at L&L, malasadas at Leonard’s, and leis at Le Flower. Then we got the rental, a cute little black convertible PT cruiser. From there, we headed up towards the Ihilani. When we got there, we had a few drinks by the pool and laid out for a bit with Gina. Then around 3 we had to start getting ready for the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony. I loved all the flowers. After the ceremony, we had cocktails, then dinner and dancing. We probably shocked the bartender at the amount of alcohol we consumed, since there were really only 3 guys drinking and the rest were girls. =P Sean and Linley were so well behaved they had everyone fooled into thinking they were little angels. Hehehe. Well, except for when Gina’s dad was saying his prayer before dinner and Linley whips out her play cell phone and starts babbling to her imaginary friend. So hilarious. She looked like she had a business deal going down. So we drank and we danced. There was some talk of going swimming in the lagoons but that never happened. Since I hadn’t adjusted time yet, I was beat by midnight.
Wednesday we were all a little hung over. Weyland was a LOT hung over. Heeheehee. (Can you say yakker?) I woke up at 6:30 and I was starving. Laryna decided to go running. I decided to go eating. I ran into Gina on my way out to breakfast so she and Weyland decided to join me. I had the all you can eat breakfast buffet. Oh Yeah. Weyland had a smoothie and couldn’t hang, so he went back up to their room . :-P Gina stayed and had pancakes and whatever she stole off my plate. Eventually Laryna showed up, starving as well. We hung out at the restaurant til breakfast was over then walked over to Ko’olina to visit with the kids. Later that day, we went up to North Shore and had burgers and shaved ice, then over to Turtle Bay to visit Jenn and Jeff. I was so exhausted, I could barely stay awake. I crashed by before 10 I think.
Thursday we went to the gym again. (Laryna’s idea). Afterwards, we went looking for Liliha Bakery so I could pick up the chantilly cakes. We drove with the top down and it was HOT. My a rms are very tan. After we shoved those in the freezer, we packed up to meet with Gina and them at Hanauma. Here’s a tip. Put the sunblock on before you even leave the house. Once again, we drove with the top down and now I have a lovely farmer’s tan. =( While we were at Hanauma, this threesome park their towels nearby. So wrong. It was two japanese tourist girls and this white guy. I don’t think they understood a word of what the other was saying. But whatever. The guy starts off putting suntan lotion on one girl’s back. Fine. Normal. She turns over. He’s putting it on her front too. I’m like, umm.. I think she can manage that. Then later, he’s all nibbling on her belly and her neck. I’m like, HELLO, there are children here. They totally had to get a room. The fact that they weren’t very attractive didn’t help at all either. That night I drove up to Ko’olina to have dinner with the relatives. Patrick and Leslie and bought some food and then Patrick barbequed ribs. I brought chantilly cake and cocoa puffs. I was starving when I got there, ate really fast, and felt like vomitting because I ate so much. I seem to do that a lot.
Friday, Laryna and I went to Kailua for macadamia nut pancakes. So good. The syrup is the best. If you gave it to me in a jar, I’d just drink it straight. We drove on the Pali and talked about ghost stories, effectively freaking ourselves out. That afternoon, my cousin picked me up, we went to Ala Moana, got dinner and she took me to the airport.
April 30, 2006
Alooooooha! Laryna and I are going to Hawaii today. Yipeeee! Can’t wait. Gina & Weyland and Jenn & Jeff are already out there. Leslie, Patrick and the monsters come out tomorrow, then the wedding is on Tuesday. Our plan is to spend all day at Sandy then meet up with J&J at Duke’s for drinks and hula pie. Good thing today is my third day in a row of working out. Monette is coming over to go to kick boxing with me. Yeah, I know, almost like she never moved away. I see her nearly just as often. Heck, I think I see her more now than when I lived with her in L.A. I guess the Skadden office in Palo Alto is better about letting her have weekends off than the L.A. one was. Speaking of work, it looks like the laptop goes on vacation too. =( Although that’s not as bad as Laryna, who has to bring laptop, testing boards, wireless junk with her. =P
Umm, let’s see... else... there wasn’t much going on during the week except work and making sure I got as much stuff done as possible before leaving. So nothing interesting to tell. Gina and I went to Ling & Louie’s at the Spectrum for happy hour. Food is good and only $1-3, but no drink specials! What the heck! I would have to say that Yard House has best food and drink deal at happy hour, but happy hour ends way too early. Which leaves trusty old Z’Tejas for a decent food selection, drink specials, and happy hour til 7. Shivaji and I tried Agorra Churascaria (sp?) for happy hour. Cheap food, but again, no drink specials.
So, I’m realizing that last week, I was thinking, cool, my luggage has so much space. Well, I was so wrong. Once you put in the hair curlers (yes, necessary for wedding), shoes, toiletries, and big beach towel... it’s full. So full, I’m wondering if should bring the bigger luggage, but I don’t want Laryna’s parents to freak out and think I’m moving in. =P
April 23, 2006
Only one more week... then alooooooha. Wooohooo. I can’t wait. I’m actually packed already. =P It was a nice relaxing weekend after a very hectic week. Friday night, I met up with the girls at Mastro’s in Costa Mesa. It’s a steak house across from South Coast Plaza. I didn’t actually have dinner there since I had a late lunch, but it looked good. Vuong had called and was on her way into OC, so we met at the mall and headed over to Mastro’s and joined them for drinks and dessert. The Chocolate Sin Cake is good. The Butter Cake feels like a heart attack on a dish. The Berry Creme Bruele is OK. Afterwards, Vuong and I went over to Banderas for a drink, but it was kind of dead so we left. We were going to go to Kitsch but got too lazy.
On Saturday, all I did was go to kick boxing in the morning, come home, eat, nap, and watch t.v. Awesome. My cousin Edgar called and he happened to be in town. I guess he got sick of being in Seattle and came down, so he came over and we got dinner at Yard House. We watched VH1’s top 100 teen stars. It was amazing to see the change in some people. Like Corey Haim and that guy Bruno from Fame. Wow.
(I’m watching Family Guy and they’re spoofing Dawson’s Creek)
Anyhow, today I decided to clean up since everything becomes a big mess when I get really busy at work. There were documents and folders everywhere. I also had lots of laundry to put away and tons of dust layered on my table tops. Then I decided to organize the shoes in my closet and get rid of all of the shoe boxes. (I filled the recycling dumpster with my shoe boxes!) Since I was getting organized, I figured I’d also get my luggage out and I’d start tossing things in there for the trip. In the end, I ended up packing up all the clothes that I’d need for the trip. It’s awesome packing for warm weather. I’m only taking the little carry on and it’s still only half filled. Of course, I still have to wait for the dress I’m wearing to the wedding. That may take up more room. Heck, I hope it fits.
April 13, 2006
Woohoo. Sunshine, high 70s. THIS is what I’m talking about. Sure, it’s all supposed to end... oh... tomorrow, but it has been awfully nice the last few days. I’ll take it, being that I’m solar powered. I’m just going to make this a quickie since I really need to get back to work, but I realized I’ve let nearly two weeks go by without saying HELLOOOO. Last weekend we had Gina Weekend. Eight of us girls got together and had dinner at Sutra Lounge in Costa Mesa. We stuck around for some dancing. I had only been there once before, and it seemed like a cool place to go. And I guess as far as the OC Scene, it is a nicer place to go. You don’t run across too many kids or ghetto people. But let me tell you... that place is SUCH a RIP OFF. Barbie (our waitress was Barbie come to life. Made of plastic and everything) picked up our check, asked if we were set, which we interpreted as “Yes, we’ve all put in money.” She interpreted, however, as “Keep the freaking change.” Yeah, she really deserved an extra $15 on top of the included $50. Not. Nobody danced in my lap thank you very much. Anyhow, if you ask the people who work there for something, make some sort of request, they’ll tell you “yeah, sure” to your face then quickly forget about you. I guess they just want to appease your for the moment and hope you get drunk enough to forget you requested something. But HOW, do I ask, will one get drunk when there is no alcohol in the drinks? I had FIVE drinks. Three raspberry kamikazies, a purple hooter, and a regular kami. Not even a slight buzz! (*hands in the air in disbelief*) How is that possible? I can have a glass of wine and feel it. Five drinks and nothing? I hadn’t eaten beforehand either, because I was busy running errands. Anyhoooo, moving right along... the food wasn’t bad, by the way... or at least, the appetizers weren’t bad. We just ordered one of each appetizer and shared. We all had to eat off a coffee table, so it’s a good thing we didn’t have very big dishes. (*rolling the eyes*) And the music... oh, the music... the previous time I went, I really liked the music. But that was a Friday night. They obviously have someone else on Saturday nights, because he was, to quote Tiger Woods, “a spaz.” (Did you hear about the Tiger Woods “spaz” controversy?) So, there we are.. sober, dancing to somewhat bad music... but hey... we were all together and that in itself makes it a good time.
Sunday was the bridal shower. That was really nice. Very pretty. Lots of good eats. By 7 p.m. I could barely stay awake since we hadn’t gone to bed until after 3 and I regretfully automatically woke up at 6:30 a.m. Not much else since that. I did go visit Marina again yesterday. I tried to teach her to throw her arms up in the air and say, “Yahhoooooo.” But I have to manually throw her arms up for her, and she can only manage the “ooooooo” part. Still super cute. She also tries to snap her fingers.
OK, back to work. Only 17 more days til Hawaii. As Marina would say, “oooooo.” Have a Happy Easter!
March 31, 2006
Ciao! It’s another rainy weekend in California. Booooo. On top of it, I feel as if I’m coming down with a cold. I stayed home all afternoon in hopes of fighting it off so I can go out and play tomorrow. Tomorrow the UCLA Bruins face LSU in the Final Four. Ooooh ahhh. We shall gather at Yard House to yell and scream and cheer them on. Go Bruins! Last night I went with Gina to pick up her wedding dress. Pretty dress... you know, the kind that only people as skinny as Gina can wear. She had some shoe issues, but we have resolved those. (Yes, she had stolen some grandma’s shoes and was going to wear them on her wedding day, but we have since gotten her some nice sandals) Anyway, I figured since I was home all day, I’d get around to posting my pictures from last weekend.
March 28, 2006
Today, on the freeway, I saw: one teal impala and a pepto bismol pink nissan sentra. What is wrong with these people and why is this not a crime?
March 26, 2006
Hi there. So, it was another busy week. Lots of work to do, but I managed to get to the gym Tuesday after work. I went to kick boxing – the most ghetto kick boxing class I’ve ever been to. It was a combination of the instructor and some of the people in the class... I was quite surprised, as I hardly ever expect ghetto in Irvine. (Spectrum 24 Hour) They also had a horrible sound system which was at full blast with extra treble, compounded by the instructor’s high pitched voice... when I got home, my ears were actually ringing. You’d think I went and danced on top of a speaker or something. On top of it, I lost my pashmina in the parking lot. =( I just shoved my work clothes in my gym backpack, and it must have fallen out as I was walking back to my car. What a bummer. Thursday after work, Gina and I went running. I have no idea how far we went. We ran in the park by her house, did four laps around the baseball field, then over the bridge and onto a trail that went along the ravine or whatever. I told her we HAD to be back before 7 for the game, so we picked up food and watched UCLA play Gonzaga at her house. OMG, I nearly had a heart attack. I was jumping around the kitchen and I just couldn’t watch. What a crazy game. Friday, I didn’t do much. Just some work and some cleaning since it was going to be a busy weekend. Marina and Jamina stopped by, so that was a nice surprise. I have a great picture of Marina. I will post soon.
Saturday morning, I got up early, did some work for NYLA, then got ready to go out. I stopped at the firm for a little bit before heading to Terri’s baby shower in Newport Beach. She is SOOOOO big! Well, her belly is. She’s pretty much the same tiny thing everywhere else except her belly. She is due May 7th. I had to leave the shower a little early since I had to go to Shashi’s wedding. By the time we got to the wedding, I think it was about 4:15. The wedding was at 3:30, so we just went straight to there reception, even though it wasn’t until 6:30. We got there just in time to catch the end of UCLA’s first half against Memphis. We sat and watched at the hotel bar until the game was over. The wedding guests didn’t start showing up until the game was nearly over, so it was quite a long ceremony. The reception was fun. It is my first Indian wedding, so it was interesting to see the little different cultural things. There were some dance performances after dinner. Food was really good. I LOVED that tandoori chicken. Yum! The cake was also really good. I don’t know where she got it, but I’ll have to look it up. I was actually scraping my plate. I contemplated taking the extra slice at the table, but decided against it since I never went to the gym this weekend. We stayed and danced for a little bit then left. Today I went to brunch with my parents. Yesterday was their 34th anniversary, but since I was busy, we went out today instead. Apparently, my dad thought it was their 35th anniversary and was invited all sorts of people out yesterday. Bahahaha. My mom was like, what are you doing? We can just get a small dinner with the three of us. Hehehehe. So busted. Oh well. He also doesn’t know how old I am. =P But then again.. neither do I... I’ve been 29 for so long now. I have pictures from the shower and the wedding, but I haven’t had a chance to download yet. I’ll post soon.
March 20, 2006
Ciao bebe! I wish I had something interesting to post, but alas... nothing really... just work, work, and more work! Hmm... let me think... Oh, yes, Wanga is back in town so we had dinner on Tuesday night. It was nice to see him again. Then on Thursday, I went to happy hour with Shivaji, Bobby, and Wayne. Yes, just me and my b*^@#&s. bahahaha. I think we may start playing tennis together. I’m supposed to start running with Gina this Thursday. We are attempting to get in shape for Hawaii. I hate it when I’m on the beach and they come after me with harpoons, so I’ll have to get my act together. Since I have decided to start eating healthy again, it’s a good thing I’ve already eaten all 9 World’s Finest Chocolate bars. (I did it for charity!) Yes, and there’s only one row of Thin Mints left. (Charity!) oh.. and Samoas... (Charity! Giving! Sisterhood! Umm... yeah =P) I did go to kick boxing again on Saturday. No drama, as apparently there was last week. They have started limiting the weekend classes to 55 as they get too crowded and it becomes difficult to move. Some people have no rhythm, so it’s actually scary since they might accidentally kick you when you least expect it. Friday night I worked... Saturday night I worked... but I did take time out to watch the UCLA game. They scared me! Cuttin it close boys! Sunday, I got up early to work, then went out for a few hours to get out of the house. Kat, Lin and I hung out in Manhattan Beach... grabbed some lunch, hung out at the book store... I came home and did more work. Then when that was all done with, I decided I’d try to tackle my taxes and I was up until about 1:30 doing them. So it was very tough to wake up at 6:30 (which is why I actually got up at 7:45). Did I mention that I have decided I would start waking at 6:30 rather than 7? There is actually a marked improvement in how I feel by doing this. I have no idea way. Maybe I am making more of an effort to get to bed earlier because “6:30” sounds just way too early (to me anyway), but really, I think I would have felt worse today if I had woken up at 7.
Oooh.. its raining hard now... and weather.com says showers. Saturday it was supposed to thunderstorm and it was just slightly cloudy. HELLOOOO! I know we don’t get much weather going on here, but let’s get it right, since that’s the case.
OK, so in my parallel exciting life (the one that doesn’t exist): on Friday night, hot guy with hot body and winning personality and cute puppy picks me up from my house by the beach... so we can have dinner in.. umm... Paris... yes... Paris... yeah, if you leave Friday night on his private jet... 12 hours later you land in Paris... take a nap and get up in 3 hours for dinner... sounds good... After dinner a short walk by the Seine, then stop for some dancing... get up the next day, have a crepe, maybe a gaufre, some brunch, shop, dinner, pastries, then fly back at around 8 and you’re in LA on Sunday night! Woohooo. Ahhh. If only.
Alright... I need to scrounge up some food... maybe some nice red wine to go with the rain outside.
March 13, 2006
Alright, I’ve got like an hour and a half to do something not work related. Woohoo. Party time. Yes, I will spend it posting an update. What an exciting life I lead. So, last time on this bat channel, I was going to leave for St. Louis. My flight was at 6:45 a.m. I missed it. I have never missed a flight before in my life. Anyhow, how did I miss the flight you ask? Well, I was up by 4 a.m. I even had time to chill. I figure, I can leave at 5:30 – there couldn’t be any traffic. I was so wrong. This is LA – of course there was traffic. Lots of it at the airport too. Then I couldn’t get the bag out of my trunk (a 40 lb bag of shoe samples) because it was 40 lbs and my cd changer was in the way. By the time I run to the terminal, they’re telling me it’s too late. I’m sure if I didn’t have to check luggage in, I could’ve made it, but with check in and security (which was longer than I’ve ever seen it before) – it wasn’t going to happen. So, they put me on the next flight to St. Louis, which has a stop over in Dallas. I get lucky and get an aisle seat on this completely full flight. Yay! Unfortunately, there are high winds, so we are stuck in a holding pattern and unable to land. We are delayed. Heck, we left late to begin with. Then from Dallas to St. Louis, there is some intense turbulence. It was like a roller coaster ride… and they told us they even changed routes to take the less rocky route. I finally land and grab a cab to the hotel. In NY, they have the cabbie’s i.d. posted on the divider window. This cab doesn’t have a divider window or i.d. visible from the back. All I can see are mini license plates that say “CRAZY.” Lovely. He also has this nervous tick, where he occasionally jerks his head to the right. Or maybe he’s just waking up from his nap. Great. I’m gonna die in St. Louis. I finally make it to the Westin and it’s a very nice hotel right across from the new Busch Stadium. The room is great and I get about an hour or so to check email before we grab dinner with the Bakers crew. On Friday, we’re in meetings from 9 til about 2. Since we’ve got some time, we check out the mall before heading over to the airport.
The weekend was pretty uneventful. Saturday night, Lin and I tried Asian Fuzion in Manhattan Beach. Probably won’t be going back there. We should have stuck with Mama D’s as planned. I also went to kick boxing on Sunday, which is good since I’m still an eating machine. I did manage to sort through my receipts. Now I just have to go through them again to figure out which ones were for work so I can do my taxes. Blah. Now it’s just work work work!
March 8, 2006
Halllooo… oh my gosh, it’s just been so darned busy lately. I have more pics from the wedding I wanted to post, courtesy of Debbie’s camera, but I probably won’t get around to it until this weekend. I have to get up at the super early time of 4:45 tomorrow so I can get to the airport on time for my 6:45 flight to St. Louis. Yes, 36 hours in St. Louis. But let me do a quick re-cap of the past week or so… Hmm… yeah, can’t remember.
Oh, wait... last Wednesday, I went down to San Diego for a meeting with Nordy’s. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to hang out and visit Laryna or Endo. Thursday night, Shivaji and I took his friend Daniel up to LA to check out some clubs. We went to the Rainbow Room (not a gay bar), the Whiskey, and Viper Room… listened to some bands, had a few drinks, and yes, hurled on the side walk. It was probably a bad thing to book end the raspberry kamikazes with beers. =P But hey, I even made big ol’ Daniel hurl, so I am proud… especially since he took pictures of me chucking on the sidewalk. I pretty much worked all weekend. Saturday night we had Jo’s going away dinner. She’ll be moving up to Bend, Oregon after she gets married. I couldn’t stay out too late Saturday night, however, since I had work to do on Sunday. I actually got up and started working at 8 am! Oh, I messed up my cornea on Thursday night. I had fallen asleep with my contacts on, then woke up and thought, ooh, I had better take out my contacts. Unfortunately, my eyes were dry, and when I took out my right contact, I also took a layer of cornea with it. Luckily, it rained on Friday so my dad was around to drive me to Tracy’s office. (If you need an optometrist, Tracy is in Santa Ana on Main St!) That’s pretty much it. Just lots of work this past week. I did manage to get myself to the gym last night for kick boxing. It was a “best of” rounds 17-21 night, so it was a lot of fun. The music was really good, so it made it a little less painful. This morning I was surprised I wasn’t too sore, but it’s setting in right now as I type. Anyhow, I have to go to bed. Hope to post some stuff this weekend.
February 26, 2006
Hi. I’m alive. I’ve survived. Barely. I have to say, I feel like @$$ today. I am so tired. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since Wednesday night. On Thursday everyone got together at Monette’s parents’ house for a little bit since everyone had just flown in. Andrew and Evelyn are so adorable. Later that evening, my parents, Margie and I got to work on the place cards/favors. You could’ve called us Monette’s Little Sweat Shop. We had a little assembly line going while we watched Dancing with the Stars. Goooo Drew! We finished those then went to bed. We left Jay and Monette working on the programs. On Friday, we had a bridesmaid luncheon at the Yard House. This was the first time we had met the other two bridesmaids. Mai (aka Dr. Mai Tai) is a pediatrician and Jeanne is a pastry chef. We had a good time, but had to run more errands, and I had some work things come up that I had to take care of before the rehearsal. Friday evening we went to the rehearsal and half of the group was late, so forged on without them. Rehearsal dinner afterwards was at El Torito where the bridal party and out of town guests gathered. After dinner, Margie and I picked up snacks and drinks then packed up to go to the hotel. We stayed in the suite with Monette Friday night.
Saturday morning, the hair and make up people showed up bright and early at 8:45. I had actually slept on the couch and awoken at 6:30. We got dressed then headed to the church in the limo. We had some time to kill before the ceremony, so Monette and I played a couple games of foozball in the church’s rec center where they stored us away. After the ceremony, everyone piled into the limo where we started the drinks. The girls had started with the champagne before everyone else managed to even get in the limo. We were pretty buzzed since we had any food or drink in hours. When we drank all the champagne, we moved on to vodka and Sierra Mist. The guys drank scotch. We stopped at Shoreline Village to take some photos which I’m sure will be quite lively since we were all pretty tipsy. After the photos, we went back to the hotel to join in the festivities…(more drinks) I tried to taper off since I’d have to give my speech and I hadn’t written one down. I’ve since had moments of terror wondering what it was I said since I honestly can’t remember it all. I’m afraid to watch the video.
So there was lots of drinking and dancing. It was a fun night. Monette only fell down three times. That’s right…
she fell down three times… I think a result of a combination of drinking, 4” platform flip flops, and the long white dress. Fletch even got a good look at her big granny blues. Heehee. I think he is traumatized. Heck, I’m traumatized and I saw her in them before she got into the dress. =P
Today, was primarily a day for recovery. I’ve napped on and off all day. I just took Margie to the airport, so I’ve got my bed all to myself again. Woohoo. And on that note… I’m going to sleep. I didn’t take very many pictures, but I will post soon.
February 23, 2006
The countdown to Monette’s wedding continues. I can’t wait until this thing is over. I need to rest. I am so freaking tired. I’ve worked two weeks straight, then baby sat, and have been up late doing wedding stuff every night this week so far. (At this rate, I may never want to get married or have kids.) Although there was a perk to all this indentured servitude… Monette and I went to the spa yesterday and got massages. Ahhh… I LOVE massages. It did occur to me though at one point that the masseuse probably thought… “Hey…this is like kneading dough…” since I’ve got all that flab she was moving around. If only you could massage fat into more appropriate places. Before the massage, we actually dragged our butts into the gym, which felt nice… yesterday… today it hurts like hell. At least my abs do. So much for that massage eh? I can barely roll out of bed. After the massage we picked up the programs we had printed at Staples, stopped at the Galleria to pick up my aunt’s shoes, then went to Michael’s. We finally had dinner at around 8. I was starving. My tmj is driving me nuts. It hurts to chew. My back teeth haven’t come into contact with each other in days. Since it hurts so much to chew, I get tired, and I don’t eat as much. I guess it’s good since I’ll lose weight, but then I’m also always hungry. I got Robek’s yesterday to supplement, but then I had to pee about 80 times. =P
Everyone flew in today. I think some are at the hotel and Margie is at our grandmother’s. There are more errands to run, so I guess I’ll go and fetch Margie and drag her around. I’ll call it “bonding.”
February 20, 2006
Bonjour! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was quite tiring. No, not a lot of partying. Quite the opposite, in fact. My schedule was a little off last week because of the Vegas trip, so I went down to the OC office on Wednesday and Friday instead. So on Wednesday, Shivaji and I met up for happy hour, then I walked around the mall a bit. Papyrus was closing in South Coast since they are to undergo remodeling and they had items on sale for 50% off! Woohoo. I was there for an hour trying to pick out invitations for Gina’s bridal shower. Thursday, I woke up coughing. I coughed all day. My abs hurt from coughing. All I could think of was, “Noooooo…I can’t get sick now. Not with Monette’s wedding only a week away!” I took a nap when I got home and that helped a bit. I think being seriously sleep deprived and working so many consecutive days was just taking its toll. After work on Friday, I went straight to the Ryans. I was to baby sit Sean and Linley the whole weekend. That’s right. Alllll weekend. Auntie Leslie picked up some food and we had a couple of glasses of wine on Friday night, so it was pretty chill. But I had to get up bright and early on Saturday morning and take her to the airport. The kids and I dropped her off at around 9. From there, we went straight to Mommy & Me. That’s right. I’ve now been to Mommy & Me as the Mommy. It wasn’t too bad. Linley had a make up class, so this wasn’t her usual crowd. I could tell by how everyone was much bigger than she was. I’m sure you’re all dying to know what goes on at this Mommy & Me deal… You sit in a circle with the kids, then you sing songs (e.g. the wheels on the bus, etc.) Then they have all sorts of equipment kids can play with or climb on. It’s supposed to help develop their motor skills or something. Linley’s problem is she’s too nosy. She gets on this balancing bridge, takes a couple of steps, then gets caught up in watching other kids. Before you know it, she’s taking a step where there is nothing to step on since she’s not paying attention to her own business. Anyhow, Mommy & Me wasn’t so bad. It felt longer than an hour though. After that, we went back home, and Linley went down for a nap. Sean and I were starving so we had a big breakfast and waited for Auntie Vuong to show up. The deal was, if Sean 1) did not whine, 2) did not cry, 3) did as he was told… I would take him to Chuck E. Cheese. A great incentive to keep kids in line. The only problem is, you actually have to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Please be aware that Chuck E. Cheese requires a 1:1 ratio of child to adult. Not a restaurant rule, but a good rule of thumb for those considering going there. Thank goodness Vuong came along. The place is a mad house. I told Sean we would go for two hours. (It’s always good to set these things in advance, so they know and can’t complain as much.) He was actually very good. I doled out the tokens a little at a time. Eventually, I gave him everything I had and told him that it was all I had and that we would leave when he finished them. Sean was really good at the kiddie version of Grand Prix. He got a few time extensions, which is good, because most of those games don’t last very long, especially when a four year old is playing. He was also partial to skee ball, but he had a tough time getting enough power behind the ball. It often came back, but I figure that was a good thing since he got a few extra rolls in thereby extending the value of his token. After he used his last token, he was very good. He did not whine or cry. He said, Ok, I’m done, let’s go home. I was proud to call him my cousin. Actually, both kids were pretty good throughout the day. There was a point when Sean got antsy waiting for Auntie Vuong, but all I’d have to say was that he was really close to going, so he shouldn’t mess that up by irritating me, and he would stop his nagging.
Later that night, Gina and Weyland came over to give me adult company and help me out with the kids. While they played with the kids, I made dinner. Bruschetta, salad, steak with red wine sauce and asparagus. First, I realized on Sunday that I forgot to put the mozzarella on my bruschetta. Darn. I love mozzarella. Then, I realize I got the wrong cut of meat. I thought it was that skinny flat cut. It wasn’t. It was a huge one inch thick cut of meat. The sauce turned out well, but since I had just grilled the meat on one of those cool pans, it was way too tough to chew. So… we put the meat in to a sauce pan with all of the sauce and slow simmered until it was tender… then it was good. It also absorbed even more of the red wine sauce’s flavor. After dinner, Gina and Weyland hung out for a bit and we watched the Olympics speed skating. That night, I moved the baby monitor into the hall near the guest room. I didn’t need to hear every sound Linley made, but I wanted to know if she was up and crying. At 1:30 a.m. I hear “MAMA! MAMA!” I sit bolt upright in bed, thinking, WTF??? I listen a little while and realize it’s not even Linley, it’s Sean and it’s not coming from the monitor. It’s stereo sound crying echoing off the walls. I go up to his room and find him sitting on the floor, hugging his dog Sparky and crying. He tells me he heard a noise that woke him up and he couldn’t go back to sleep, then he went to his mom’s room and she wasn’t there, so she got scared. Poor guy. So I take him to sleep with me. BIG FREAKING MISTAKE. First, the kid snores louder than his mom. Second, he’s been kind of sick, so he’s got this cough. Third, he does karate in his sleep. I didn’t sleep at all that night. Eventually, I got so frustrated, I turned on the light, woke him up and told him he had to move back to his side of the bed, seeing as he had made his way over to the middle and was jabbing me with his foot. He looks at me like he’s thinking, “B*#)%” but I don’t care. He moves, but eventually makes his way back across. Eventually, I’m just shoving his scrawny butt over as needed. Needless to say, Sunday morning, I am CRANKY. I have just worked 12 days straight and baby sat at least 24 hours. Now, I am even further sleep deprived. If you know me… there are two things you do not want me to be… very hungry and/or very tired. Linley wakes up at 8, so that’s when EVERYBODY wakes up. She’s rather cheery, however, so it’s hard to be mad. Not with that toothless grin coming at you. By the time I walk into the family room, Sean is already waiting, DVD in hand. I tell him he’ll have to wait, seeing as I haven’t had a chance to use the bathroom yet. Then of course, I have to make breakfast. I make French toast with strawberries. Sean doesn’t want the strawberries. Tells me to pick them off. I’m like, fine, I’m not in the mood to teach a lesson, I pick them off. After breakfast, I hop in the shower… and consider not coming out again until noon, when the baby sitter arrives. Fortunately, it isn’t too long before the sitter shows up to free me, I mean, relieve me.
I make my way home, half-conscious and try to take a nap. However, for some reason, I just can’t do it. I finally get up after two hours of pretending to nap and start working on the place cards for Monette’s wedding. That’s right… about FOUR hours later, I’m done printing, cutting, and alphabetizing all 320 place cards. Monette comes over for a bit, takes a look at the favors and the place cards. Watches what I have of the slide show. She is impressed. I tell her it’ll cost her $1500. hehe. I now know why people charge so much for those damn slide shows. They take a lot of work. Anyhoo… afterwards, I’m feeling a bit obsessive compulsive and start in on Gina’s bridal shower invitations.
Today, I put more of Gina’s invitations together, then Monette picked me up and we went shopping at Michael’s for more last minute wedding stuff. Afterwards we went for sushi, where I had a lot of sake since my throat was starting to hurt, and we concluded in the car that alcohol was the best way to kill the germs. Anyway, now I shall go to bed, since I am still sleep deprived and don’t want to get sick.
Au revoir!
February 14, 2006
Hi! I’m baaaack and butt tired. I got in at around 11 last night. I got a good 7 hours of sleep and I’m still ready to conk out. Let me see… Thursday, I woke up at the ungodly hour of 5:15 a.m. We do our usual stop in Barstow for gas, potty and snacks. I buy lotto since it’s huge and I get carded. J I am a happy camper. I tell the lady, thank you, I feel as if I’ve already won. She’s my new best friend. Hehe. First thing we notice when we arrive at the Las Vegas Convention Center is that there is a HUGE gun show in the North Hall. I saw a cowboy standing on the corner. That’s right… a real cowboy. Cowboy boots, cowboy hat, and belt buckle the size of my head. It was kind of redneck central. There was a giant camouflage truck that was all raised up, a NASCAR racing car parked out front, and an old crop-dusting looking plane. I had said that they probably had better food at their show since they probably had some sort of BBQ stand… and I was right! Damn shoe people just want to eat salads and stuff. Bah. Anyhow, after all the set up stuff, we checked into the Aladdin. I don’t like the Aladdin. The set up is funky, although I guess that’s attributable to the construction they are currently doing. The rooms are not that great. It was so freaking dark in our room, even with all of the lights turned up. The closet was also too small. This generally doesn’t matter if you’re only there for a weekend, because I usually don’t even bother unpacking, but if you’re there for 5 days for business, it matters – particularly if you are sharing the room with another girl. We generally try to look our best while we’re out there, so the clothes have to be hung and ironed and all that garbage. Even the Luxor has better rooms. The upside to the Aladdin: they have coffee bean, some useful stores in their shopping area, and a good buffet. Do not even try their “ultra lounge” Curve. It’s crap.
OK, so after checking in, we shower and change and head over to the Palms where we are having dinner with Nordstrom. Our reservations are at 7:30. I told them 7:15. They have meetings that run late and show up at around 8:30. We had breakfast at Jack in the Box (yummy sourdough jack) at 10 am. We skipped lunch. I am ready to pass out. On top of it, I had made bets with Heath on the Super Bowl, so he has to take two shots, but he asks me to be a good sport and take one with him so I do. Eventually, I had to sneak one of the rolls that were set on the table so I wouldn’t be completely buzzed when they got there. We have our dinner and I’m scarfing it down like a man just free from prison. The shrimp cocktail was VERY good. So was the grilled shrimp that came with my entrée. My petit filet was a little on the salty side, however, but a good size. Since there was a gun show in town and the place is a steakhouse, the whole restaurant was packed with guys. One of my friends actually found it a little unnerving. One of the other girls thought it was great. I tend to agree with her. After dinner, we were beat, so we all just went back to the hotel. However, I had been hungry the entire day and then shoveled such a large quantity of food in in such a short amount of time, I felt a little ill. So did Jing. She actually hurled because something didn’t agree with her. I was actually tossing and turning in bed and at one point flopped onto my stomach and I think I nearly made my food come back up for a visit. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well that night, although I generally don’t sleep the first night in a new place.
Friday I felt like poo. I didn’t sleep well, had to get up at 6:30. Had to work til 7. We had lunch, but that’s at around noon. You don’t get out til 7. I can’t go that long without food, so by the time dinner rolled around, I was starving. That night we had dinner at the Aladdin Buffet. Yes… a good news/bad news situation again. I suppose if I had some self control, there would be no bad news, but self control has never been my forte. Even though I JUST had petit filet the night before, I started with steak again, then piled on the potatoes (because I looooove mashed potatoes). After that, it’s all a blur. There was just food, food and more food. Then when I thought I couldn’t eat anymore… They mentioned chocolate covered strawberries at the dessert bar, and I went back for two. Afterwards, I was supposed to go to the Earth, Wind and Fire/Chicago concert with the rest of the gang, but I could barely move. I just booked it back to the hotel room. I got to chill for a bit, then at around 10:15 I walked over to Paris to meet up with Jeff, Young-mi, Dennis and Patricia for drinks. That was a lot of fun, because strangely, I haven’t seen them in years, even though we all live in SoCal, so it was nice to catch up and make fun of each other again. We had drinks for a couple of hours then I went to sleep since I didn’t sleep well the night before.
Saturday I felt much better. I slept like the dead, so I woke up feeling nice and refreshed. Yay! Nice to not feel like booty when working an 11 hour day. Saturday night, we all had Chinese food for dinner in Chinatown. It was so good and a nice change after all that steak. Afterwards, some people went shopping. Connie and I decided we were going to party it up since it was Saturday night. At first we were going to go to Tao since I still have my VIP passes, but as time went on, we just got lazy and decided to try the Curve Ultra Lounge downstairs. We get dressed, we go down and talk to the bouncer-looking guy. He’s all, it’s kinda lame, but you can check it out if you want. It’s not really a club. They have this band performing and there are a bunch of chairs and couches around. It’s kind of what everyone has in their hotel lobby area except they try to make theirs sound cool. I guess they had a club, but it has since closed. We decide our best options are Light at Bellagio or Risque at Paris since we didn’t want to have to take a cab anywhere since we’d need coats and were too lazy to go back and get them. We opted for Risque. When we get there, it’s a little after 10:30 and there’s a line. I ask the bouncer how long, he says 20 minutes, because they’re not even open yet. Fine, we’ll go to one of the bars and have drinks. Connie and I grab a couple of drinks and run into our new southeast rep and meet her husband who buys us another round. We are happy people. It’s been a while now, so we decide to get going. First we try to find a machine to put our quarters in. Nothing actually lets us put real quarters in. They have blocked off the little slot, so you have to use bills. Greedy bastards. We keep our quarters and decide to try Risque again. We ask how much cover is because we don’t want to pay (and when we previously asked earlier in the night, we asked a girl and she said $10)… this time we ask a guy… so we don’t pay and we don’t wait in line. We go upstairs and just start dancing. Eventually, we take a break, and while we’re having drinks at the bar, we meet a bachelor party. Well, first we met one guy, then the rest. They were from Texas and all very nice and lots of fun. Apparently there were two bachelors… one who behaved as a girl would want her fiancé to behave in Vegas… and the other who asked me if I wanted to lick his titty. =P (he actually pulled his shirt open to show it to me) However, nobody was too yucky grabby, just nice and friendly, so a good time was had. At around 1:30, we head back to the hotel because we’ve got to get up early again.
Sunday night, we have company poker night. Well, not everyone, but quite a few of us. Buy in was $20. We were just going to play until we had to head over to the Hard Rock to party with the Nordy’s people at 11. I was actually doing OK, but eventually I started to get kind of bored. I was in 3rd place and 3rd gets you nothing, so I just went all in. They were like, you have nothing! I said, I know, I don’t wanna play anymore… and we’re gonna leave in 15 minutes… Then we get a call… don’t have to go to Hard Rock. Oops. Instead, we opt for a second round of Hold “Em. This time I get second place. Buy in was less, but it’s always nice to leave with your money still in your pocket. We were up until around 3 a.m. We got hungry at one point and decided to order pizza and chicken wings. Nothing like pizza and chicken wings at 1:30 in the morning. I have gained nearly 5 lbs in 5 days. It’s very disturbing.
It’s nice to be back. The air is so dry out there that my whole entire body felt like sand paper. Everything was cracking… my knuckles had little cuts in them. Even my legs. It even hurt to shower. Everyone was pretty much suffering. I wondered what the hotel would have done if I just ran the shower all night just to have some moisture. Eventually my lotion wasn’t cutting it, so Connie lent me her super powered lotion… which made me smell like a stripper. How appropriate for Vegas.
February 8, 2006
Hallloooo! Since Mako has been complaining that he’s tired of reading about Vegas, I am finally updating. I know… I was on a roll for a little while there, but it has gotten busy. What can I say? Hmm… so let me think… nothing much during the week… just the usual. Two weeks ago, Shivaji decided he wanted to go big on a Tuesday. We went to Yard House and Avalon. It was originally just going to be dinner and then home. We were out til about midnight or something close to that. Needless to say, I was butt-a$$ tired on Wednesday. Then that Saturday, a bunch of us went to Detroit to see the Crown City Rockers. I actually don’t remember what they sang or anything like that, but I did have a good time! I think our weekend in Vegas was relatively tame, so I still had a lot of energy left over which I had saved up for Vegas. Then the following Tuesday, I went to happy hour with Xaypra whom I haven’t seen in years! It was good to catch up after all this time. For Super Bowl Sunday, Lin and I went down to Gina and Weyland’s to watch. I stuffed myself with all sorts of food. Good thing I went to kick boxing that morning. I also had a beer, two glasses of wine and two mimosas. I had the weirdest dreams that night. I don’t think I’ll be repeating that combo again. So tomorrow I head to Vegas for work. Five days in Vegas. That’s about 3 days too many to be in Vegas, but since we are working, it goes by a little faster.
Monette’s wedding is only 17 days away! Woohoo… it’s almost party time. I’m also very excited to see some of the relatives again, Evelyn and Andrew in particular. They are too cute. I need to work on the slide show since we only have two weeks left, but I’ll be to busy for the next 5 days. That means less than two weeks to get it done. Yikes!
January 23, 2006
Hi there! So this weekend was Vegas. Woohoo. Lots of fun. Not as wild and crazy as you might think, however. By the time we got to the hotel, it was nearly 10:30 or 11, then we had to change. We also had to have dinner so we went to Cheesecake in the forum shops. Dinner didn’t finish until about 12:30 or 1, so when we walked over to PURE it was pretty crowded already. I went up to one of the bouncers and asked if there was a line for hotel guests. There wasn’t one, but he was nice enough to let us in anyway. We also go lucky since someone had given us VIP passes when we were walking to dinner, so we didn’t have to pay cover either. When we got in, one of the bouncers asked if we’d like to go into the VIP lounge. We said, sure, why not. He lets us in to this little space and I’m thinking… oookay… this doesn’t look all that fun. I think it was a (guys’) private party and they were doing their best to supply them with chicks. We took off and went to find a bar. When we found one, we all got a drink then tried to find a place to dance. The place was so packed. One guy just stopped in front of me and started dancing… and I’m thinking… this is the walkway… keep moving buddy. Had he been cute, I might have danced with him, but he wasn’t, so I just kept going. Anyhow, we gave it our best shot for about 45 minutes… squeezing into tiny little spaces to dance. Eventually it was just too much work and we took off.
On Saturday, we were all up relatively early. Margie was still on NY time and I just automatically wake up, so we were up by 8:30. Sick isn’t it? We took our time getting up, though, so we still didn’t get out of there until just before noon. We had stopped in the shops and had lunch at Sushi Roku, then walked over to the Bellagio to look around and play a little “Wheel of Fortune.” We also checked out the water show. Afterwards, we headed over to the Venetian. Loved our room. Margie wishes her apartment in NY was that big. We walked around the Venetian, picked up a huge 1.5 L bottle of wine and brought it up to our room so we could get ready for dinner. We had dinner at Pinot Brasserie. We had a really good Riesling there that went great with the foie gras. Good stuff! I’m going to try and find that Riesling. After dinner we went over to Tao. While I was at Banana Republic, some guy had given me VIP passes for free entry, then we got a few more before dinner, so we didn’t have to pay. They didn’t have a line for hotel guests either, but Peter the bouncer was nice and let us in, too. (Go figure… I know Rum Jungle and Ra have separate lines for hotel guests!) We were there a little early, so it was cool because we had room to move around and get our groove on. ;-) Later on, we danced up on the stage where the go-go dancers had been. (Yes, I’m slowly transitioning careers. =P) Eventually, it was again super crowded AND smoky. Yuck. We took off and went back to our hotel room where we drank a little more and hung out, then we went over to the Wynn. While we were there, we saw that little Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao (sp?). He’s really small. Who knew!? Anyhow, he had just won his fight which was held in that hotel by knock out. Goooo little Filipino guy. Hehehe.
On Sunday, we just got up and packed. Monette had to leave first since she had an earlier flight. Margie and I were leaving after 2, so we picked up food and brought it back up to the room where Amy and Ameera were going to meet us. They showed up just a couple of minutes after we got back from the food court. Ameera is so big now and super cute. She’s a happy, friendly baby. And those cheeks! I just wanna squeeze them all the time. After we finished our lunch, Amy and Ameera took us to the airport. Ameera impressed Margie with her groovin’ rhythm. The kid really gets down with the beat.
January 17, 2006
Hey peeps! Hoowee… what a weekend. I partied like a rock star. Hehehe. OK, like an old rock star, but still. So I went out Friday night with the girls. On Saturday I went to the gym, then to Monette’s bridal shower. That night, the two of us went down to Shivaji’s for a little casual get-together with Aya, Carter, Fletch, Yohan and Brian. We had a few drinks there and looked through old photos. After Ali, Mona, and Hetal got there, we headed over to Avalon, where it was about 95 degrees inside and somebody had some crazy funk going on. Deodorant people! Learn it, buy it, and apply it. The music was questionable and it was crowded, but we stuck around til the end. Afterwards, Fletch and I went for some Alejandro’s while everyone else went for donuts. Pssh. I’ll take my taquitos over a donut any day. Anyhoo, we chilled at Vaj’s for a bit, which was good, as Monette got a bit sick. I’m thinking she had some bad alcohol. We ate the same food that day and she can out-drink me on any day ending in “Y.” But she hurled then curled up in Vaj’s bed in the same exact spot that I took after my happy hour debacle. Seems as if there may be pattern. So, we finally get home at 5 a.m. I had planned to go to kick boxing but it wasn’t going to happen. I got up, watched some football, had some lunch then headed into the office in Irvine. Booooo. It had to be done though. Afterwards, I stopped in Laguna to see the rugrats and bum some wine and dinner off Auntie Leslie. Sean was feeling a little under the weather and Linley was just nuts. That kid cracks me up. Afterwards I ended up going for drinks with Jason in some bar in Huntington Beach. I am a party animal. This weekend… VEGAS baby.
January 14, 2006
Ciao! Wow, it’s been a whole week already. Hmm… let me see… I finally saw Wedding Crashers. Funny movie, but I thought the ending was kinda weak. Nothing too exciting during the week. Just the usual. Last night was Girls Night Out. OMG, we had so much fun. We met up at Jenn’s then went on to dinner at C&O Cucina. We all just shared a salad, an appetizer, and one pasta dish. We’re thinking, yeah, this will be a totally cheap dinner. Well, the food was cheap. The problem is they leave that big bottle of chianti on the table that they charge based on the honor system. We nearly drained the whole bottle. So when the bill came, it was actually about $86. Only about $30 worth of food though. =P After dinner we cross the street to Beechwood where we get raspberry lemon drop martinis. GOOOD stuff. From there, we decide to try the Brig. We head over and the place is packed. Wall to wall people. We use their facilities then leave. We’re in the mood to dance so we go to More in Santa Monica, where I took one for the team. I just happen to be first in line, so I get my i.d. checked first. The bouncer, a huge guy seems to take a liking to me. He tells me I don’t have to pay cover. I ask him, “what about my friends?” He’s like, “Well, I can’t let you all in for free.” So I tell him, “Never mind then, just take my $10. I’ll feel bad if I don’t have to pay and they do.” Long story short, I let him think I’m actually going to go out with him later and he lets us all in for free. As soon as we get in, we’re settling in on the dance floor, a different bouncer literally picks me up and sets me on the stage. He does the same with Kat. So now Kat and I are dancing on stage. There’s this huge fan aimed toward the stage, I guess to keep the dancers cool. I feel like Beyonce in a video. I’m dancing, the hair is blowing around… I should have just been a go-go dancer. Much more fun than being a lawyer, I think. I probably wouldn’t even need to work out because I’d be doing lots of cardio. We stay and dance for a bit then decide to leave. I want to go out the back exit, but they won’t let us, so Jenn and I power through the front door and head straight across the street. Kat and Gina tell us later that the bouncer at the door gave us the dirtiest look. Apparently he really thought I’d give him my number afterwards. Oh well. We make our Del Taco stop and head back to Jenn’s to chill and chow down. Surprisingly enough, I had no trouble getting up for my kick boxing class this morning, considering I didn’t get home until 3. Maybe I’m becoming accustomed to not sleeping much.
January 7, 2006
Hi! It’s me reporting in again. Friday night, we decided we were going to try not to spend any money. So, I picked up Vuong and we went to South Coast where she returned a bunch of stuff. Then we went to Gina and Weyland’s where they fed us lumpias. The four of us continued on to Patrick & Leslie’s where Weyland played a board game with Sean (Sean’s words: “I like him.”) Anyhow, they plied us with beer, wine, lasagna and cheese the whole evening while Vuong ripped on Patrick and we teased Andy for his prolific breeding abilities (he just had his 3rd kid… a year and 2 months after his 2nd). It was a lot of fun doing nothing. We’ll have to do nothing again soon.
January 5, 2006 – part deux
My public service announcement for the day: be careful using your ATM card, particularly at gas stations on the way to or in Vegas. My parents drove out to Vegas just before New Year’s and they stopped for gas in Barstow. Well, my mom is checking her statement, and she sees charges for food and gas in Vegas… like yesterday and the day before. Someone put gas six times in one day using their ATM info. The very same thing happened to my co-worker when he drove out to Vegas. They managed to use up $2000 in his checking account before he even bothered to check since he rarely ever used his ATM card. They don’t even need your ARM card anymore. They just take the info from your magnetic stripe. Someone went to Outback Steakhouse, Smiths Foods, Shell Oil – all in Vegas- all on my parents dough. =P So, beware!
January 5, 2006
I don’t want to talk about it. =*(
January 3, 2006
Go Joe! Go Joe! What the heck am I talking about you may ask? I just watched the Penn State/FSU football game. Triple overtime. The kickers kept missing, I thought maybe they’d call in the Rockettes to kick for them. But in the end, PSU pulled it off. Anyhoo… today started off kinda icky. I chalk it up to PMS. It ain’t easy being a girl folks. I got some work done, then decided I’d go to kick boxing to work the funk off. However, as I was driving to the gym, I started to get hungry, so I went to Starbucks to and picked up a mocha before class. Good move. Totally got me going. There was a sub today. Chun Li. No, wait. Wan Yu. She just reminded me of the Street Fighter chick. She was crazy. Tried to kill us all. But I managed to live through it. Afterwards, I stopped at Trader Joe’s. (My gym is in the same plaza as Baskin Robbins, Trader Joe’s, Islands, and Kelly’s Coffee and Fudge – a true test of will power). The guy at the check out counter actually said, “I hope you just came from the gym, or I’m going to have to call an ambulance.” Why? Oh… because I was probably bright purple at this point. That’s what happens to me when I run or do a cardio class. I do breathe, but I say it’s due to my good circulation that I turn bright red/purple.
Anyway… I got home and I sit down to finish watching the game with my dad. I’m having dinner at the same time, so I pour myself a glass of wine. They go into TRIPLE overtime. So of course, I had a second glass of wine. Anyhow, it was an exciting game in its own lame way. Really, it came down to the kickers who kept missing. I feel so bad for that FSU kicker. He hadn’t missed all season, then the poor guy misses 3 today. Hey buddy… I probably couldn’t hit a building from 10 feet with a kick, so don’t feel so bad. You’re good at what you do. Oh, by the way, for you girls out there… let me tell you, there’s nothing cooler than just chillin with your dad and watching a game. Learn the rules. It can be fun.
USC v. Texas tomorrow. I’m nervous. I want USC to win. Not only because I bet money on them, but because I’ve been following them for the last 3 years and have become emotionally involved. =P Everyone’s been ripping on the defense, saying they will be the difference, Texas’ defense is much better, so on and so forth. I hope the defense has been hearing this and has been encouraged to show them what they’ve got. Go Trojans!
January 1, 2006
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fun and safe new year’s eve. I myself had a good time. Aya picked me up and we headed over to Yohan and Nadine’s place in Redondo Beach. We had hot pot and lots of champagne, so needless to say, I over-ate once again. It didn’t help that Aya brought Monterey jack cheese and brie. You know I was all over that. It’s a good thing I had gone to kickboxing in the morning. Sure, I can barely move today, but it was a good work out. It was a lot of fun actually. The music was good, the instructor was fun. I think I may start going to kick boxing instead of Pilates on Saturday mornings. This way, if I can’t get myself out of bed on a Saturday morning, I won’t have to worry about paying for a class I’m not attending. =P Plus, I need the cardio. Monette’s wedding is only a month and three weeks away! Thursday night, I made dinner and Brian and Shivaji came over. The plan was to go out to the Irish bar at the Pike, but we ended up hanging out here and having our own little raging party. OK, not quite raging, but fun, nonetheless. That’s pretty much it!
*Note: this page is meant to be viewed at a resolution of 1024x768 and you need the Flash 7.0 plug in to see the welcome roll in (not that it's a big deal, but i am damn proud of myself =P)
