word on the street is that taz is officially dr.taz!
congrats my friend. . i have been rooting for you. i have met few others that the econ phD is such a perfect fit. . i still plan on sending my kids to you one of these days when you are professor taz.
uh and when/if i ever have kids. . .
my parents are visiting this weekend. . .i'm quite looking forward to it- actually hoping i can get out promptly and meet them at home.
they were in DC when i called around 12:30PM and on route to philly to pick up the bro and his wifey. tonight we are going to churasscaria plataforma in meatpacking to eat some obscene amounts of meat. would be fun to go out with my brother, his wife, and blondie but feel bad leaving my parents alone at home.
tomorrow morning is dim sum at ping's seafood. . a new place for me, i've heard they are just as good as golden bridge but much cheaper. . haven't had dim sum in quite some time. maybe mosey around chinatown for a bit.
after the fam leaves will meet up with mr.ct in willie-b for a concert at mccarren pool- i'm really interested in seeing dengue fever perform live. they are a cool band i heard about years ago on NPR- a 70's sounding rock band whose lead singer is cambodian. should be lots of fun. plus, i haven't hung out in willie-b in AGES! will do the bar hop thing for sure, larry lawrence, sputyn dyvil. . .see where the night leads. . .
despite being able to fall asleep instantaneously upon head hitting the pillow, i woke up several times throughout the night due to the stifling heat.
i've been very lucky thus far in the summer and have been fine without AC. my huge windows actually let in a good flow of air from outside and have kept my tiny studio cool for the most part. . but last night, the air was completely thick and it was difficult to breathe.
don't think i'll be able to make it through the summer without breaking down and buying a new window unit. . .
grabbed dinner with shim at cho dang gol. nice atmosphere. all wood decor and almost a romantic, cozy feel to it. shim and i split a tasty seafood pajun (tho i think han bat's is still #1) and i ordered a tofu & kim chi stew for my entree. pretty good. not the best i've had.
after dinner, we went to gama at st.marks for watermelon soju (following the korean theme). Q2 met up with us there. very refreshing. afterwards, i wanted to take shim to death & co so we went there for a drink while Q2 headed home to finish up some work.
a round of sazeracs and we were both ready for bed. shim grabbed a cab and i headed for the bus. a little old lady grasping onto a cane and a railing asked me if i could help her cross the street.
my first thought, "is this a scam?" as i surveyed the scene for a partner in crime. seeing no one and grabbing onto my bag with my left hand, i extended my right arm.
old lady: we should wait for the light to turn green. . can't take any chances!
v: sure thing. i really hope this is not a scam
old lady: we should wait for the light to turn green
v: yep. why is this woman stalling. . what's going on? i hope this isn't a scam
i help the old lady across the street.
v: have a good night and get home safely
old lady: thank you so much, God bless you.
v: no problem.
looking around and seeing no one suspicious, i am filled with a sense of guilt for suspecting the little old lady of being a scam artist. . .i have been living in new york too long!!!
Q2: mommy are we there yet?
sunday morning, Q2, VK, VK's fiancee, and i found ourselves in a minivan driven by our "rents" kev and theng, headed east to robert moses beach. we joked about the three daughters- Q2, VK, and myself- being too expensive. VK was the eldest, responsible one, i was the middle child, and Q2 was the rebellious teenager.
it was a beautiful day. warm but not too warm. sunshiney. the beach was perfect- the water a dark, blue, clean, and most importantly, not too crowded.
we staked out a little area and spread out our assortment of bed sheets, towels, and beach mats. the girls lathered up in sunblock and i found a nice patch to lay down on. i had a stack of magazines, my ipod, a bag of snack food, and my girlfriends to chat the day away with. after half an hour, the rest of our crew arrived- rickitintin, phil, mittens, and jus. we were all impressed with their "beach preparedness"- coolers, umbrella, football, volleyball, cards, etc.
for me, the beach is one of the few places were i can just be a complete bum and do absolutely nothing. i don't go into the water (unless it's so hot i really need to cool off). i don't play frisbee, volleyball, or cards. i sunbathe. i hang out. i actually relax.
after a very long long week at work, a relaxing day at the beach spending quality time with my friends is what i really needed.
by tomorrow's end, it'll have been 10 days since i've had a full day's break from work. . . ahh. . can't wait. wednesday was supposed to be my day off but we had a big corporate visit and i was asked to come in during the morning. . . have yet to see if it was worth it, but i think it was. . more on that later. in any case, looks like i'll get to leave work a bit early tomorrow because of it and start my 3 day weekend off early!!
in typical V style- i have a big, event filled weekend planned.
fri night i'm going out with my girl QQ and getting dinner at kura sushi. . we'll see where the night leads. . death & co? wine bar? dancing on top of bars? jk. maybe.
saturday will hopefully be able to squeeze in a run at central park and test drive my new asics. meeting up with mr. CT in the afternoon- hmm- the options. mermaid parade at coney island, hip hop festival in brooklyn? dinner in k-town for an early b-day celebration. . .
sunday i'm rallying up the troops to check out robert moses beach. get my tan on, catch up with my girls, read some mindless zines, and snooze in the sun. . bliss. dinner with mikey in the evening.
monday i hope to sleep in. maybe lunch with nels and dinner with shim. then back to the daily grind. . .
left work around 7:15 sunday night and didn't get home until 9. luckily, got to catch up on some phone calls on my way home and didn't mind the traffic jam. went to bed around 10 and didn't wake up until 7.
woke up feeling like a new woman, refreshed and ready to conquer the world.
ok. hopefully i can stop posting so much about sleep!!
fun week ahead.
tonight meeting up with j for steak dinner. wed having a girl's day with VK- gym, chinatown, etc. wed night meet up with mikey for take-out and opera performance of faust in central park. thur night might try to run with the harriet running club unless i have a dinner date with qq or theng. meet up with mr.ct over the weekend and sunday is the beach. then monday will be a blissful day of doing whatever the hell i want.
that i've beat my alarm clock. . .thur morning woke up an hour before the alarm, fri woke up at 4:30 AM, and this morning i woke up at 2 something. friday i actually went to the gym and got an early start to the day. but this morning, i organized a bit and then forced myself to go back to sleep.
looking forward to this evening, going with mr.ct to the blue note for the first time to see a friend's band perform. the group doesn't go on until 12:30 so i have to find some places to hang out before hand. . unfortunately, the west village is outside of my usual stomping grounds so i have been researching some options:
employees only, little branch, blind tiger ale house, the otheroom. . .
i've already taken mr.ct to a handful of bars with great mixologists. . .so the first two are kind of redundant though i've heard great places. am thinking a winebar would be a nice change from routine.
two days in a row i beat my alarm clock. which is normally i love but when i'm feeling tired and cranky and have a headache, is a bad thing.
eesh. i wake up. lay in bed. try to go back to sleep. then start thinking about all the things i'm supposed to get done.
at that point, might as well stop fighting it and get out of bed.
i suppose i've never been a great "sleeper". i use to resist naps like a plague. in college, i adopted the philosophy that i could get more work done in a day if i slept less. as an adult, while i've gained some balance and appreciate sleep for it's funcitonal purpose, however, i'm still not good at it! noise. light. being too cold. being too hot. etc. can all ruin it for me. then i'm up and up.
which is why it's 6:42 and i've washed my dishes, done a load of laundry, and caught up on emails and blogging.
accompanied my sis & her family on her drive from VA to Gainesville, FL. the trip was a bit bittersweet- as i'm happy that my sister's husband is furthering his career and they get to try living in a new place, but i'm sad for myself that i won't get to see my nephew and niece as frequently.
nonetheless, the first roadtrip for the girls- vern, tj, and i was wonderful and i haven't spent so much quality time with my sis in a very long while. since vern gets carsick if anyone else is driving, i got to be passenger and babysitter for the duration of the drive. though i must say that my niece is very good at long road trips. set her up with her portable dvd player, gave her some candy and snacks, and she was all set.
so what did i learn about the south on my road trip?
1. southerners really are super duper friendly
2. fireworks, guns, and babydolls are all popular items to purchase along the highway. (in fact, you can get your guns and jewelry all in one convenient location in gainesville)
3. you are never more than a stone's throw away from a crackerbarrel
4. a suburb in VA feels like a suburb in NC feels like a suburb in SC feels like a suburb in GA feels like a suburb in FL
5. FL has some damn good bbq
a little secret about myself- a few times a year- i like to go through my closet and refold/organize everything. i especially like to fold t-shirts. . i remember working at the polo outlet and we had these great boards that made t-shirts look crisp and were perfectly shaped. . . i would love to get my hands on one of those boards!!!
in any case, on my day off. . i got into a little bit of a cleanin frenzy- trying to clean the brown burn stains off of my pots & pans (VK the ajax works but it's still not pre-burn state), clean the stove top, then tackle some of my closet drawers.
i had done a good portion a few weeks ago when it was time to put winter clothes towards the back and bring the spring/summer duds front and forward. inevitably, and why this habit is so great, is that i rediscover what i do have and this squelches the feelin that "i have nothing to wear" and my need to shop for more clothes.
today was "shirt day". as i was folding all my tops, i counted 20 t-shirts. 20. yes, i love t-shirts. t-shirts with funny slogans.
"my eyes are up here" with arrows pointing up
"i may be short but i'm a genius"
"look but don't touch"
"little miss fun"
" good girls go to heaven bad girls go to montreal"
"let's focus on me"
"hip hop and ya don't stop"
"i love nerds"
"ucla girls rock"
so 20 t-shirts in counting. . but i know it's getting to be a problem. .there are only so many days in a week and most of mine are at work where i can't wear my funny t-shirts. . . but i find them irresistable.
went into work in the lousiest mood (see previous post)- the minute i walked in there was one customer problem after the next. lori told me i was being a b***h and should take a comp day so i can relax and get back to my normal self. . then she proceeded to call our boss and tell her i needed a day off. i had been having a streak of bridezillas and momzillas, wasn't sleeping well, and overly stressed.
ack!
my boss called me in to see if everything was ok. she talked me into taking a day off, gave me some good advice, and chatted for awhile. .
there are days that i question my career/job choices- but there's days like today. . where i realize i have some pretty amazing co-workers and boss, and that is very rare. . . .so i'll swallow my pride and take a personal day wed. . . and i know it's goin to be a beautiful day.
have you ever been so tired you have trouble falling asleep. work and outings with friends have been kicking my butt!
i was excited to go to sleep last night- settled under my down comforter and the sound of rain coming down- i was sure i would get a solid 8 hours. . sadly, that did not happen. sleep alluded me and i drifted in and out of sleep all night. woke up at 7 and have had a headache that won't go away.
doesn't help that i have four days before i get a break from work. . really dislike these long stretches. . .makes me cranky. . .
