mystery solved!

in the past 10 months of living in my apartment, i have never seen anyone enter or leave the apartment next door. for awhile i assumed that the neighbor is just a hermit. but lately, it's started to nag at me.

occasionally, i hear noises but never anyone coming up or down the stairs. there is a picture of the ramones next to the door.

knowing that i'm a scaredy cat, my friends like to tease me that there is a ghost living next door. . .sometimes we'd debate about whether or not anyone lives there at all. . but that wouldn't make sense since these apartments are nice, rent is not outrageous in terms of market average, and demand for apartments in williamsburg is high.

so instead, i've been imagining (or trying not to imagine) that there is a ghost or dead body residing in the apartment next to mine. all my friends told me i should just call the landlord and ask him what the deal was. . but part of me didn't want to know. . if he told me no one lived there then i would be freaked out b/c i have heard sounds coming from that apartment. for example, last night i heard the phone ringing next door, but no one picked it up. . no answering machine either. . .

today, i ran into my landlord on the way to the gym. i asked him if the apartment was empty. he said that there was a man that lived there. . . it's probably just the little, old polish man i see once and awhile leaving the building.

fighting the urge

y'know when you are a couple days away from vacation it's just impossible to movitave yourself. . i'm already in vacation mode. . . thinking of what i need to pack, etc.

greek pride

went to roosevelt island with jpan on sunday to go to her future mother-in-law's (FMIL) house for lunch. while we were waiting for the bus to come, an older greek gentleman (OGG) came up to us and asked if we were american.

V: yep

OGG: where were you born?

V: virginia.

OGG: ahh! that's where all the virgins are. it's a beautiful state, i've been there before.

V: (taking a breath, remembering to be patient, and with a fake smile) the state was named after the virgin queen elizabeth.

OGG: yes. that's where all the virgins are. . and what about you (leaning towards FMIL)?

FMIL: well it's a long story. my parents are chinese but i was born in panama.

OGG: so you are chinese.

FMIL: yes, but also panamanian by birth.

the rest of the conversation made me feel like i was in a scene from my big fat greek wedding.

OGG: i'm from greece. do you know any greek words?

FMIL: (pauses thoughtfully). . n-no. . i don't.

OGG: democracy.

FMIL: (nodding respectfully) ahh. . so that's a greek word.

OGG: philosophy. another greek word. so many words have foundation in greek.

then OGG continues to rattle off some more words and launches into a rant about war and how the greek shot down german parachuters but that greeks don't get any respect.

OGG: the olympics originated from the greeks. do you know how long ago that started? 776 BC!!! before christ!

FMIL: (playfully) see, that's why i don't know. that's before i was born.

jpan and i exchanged glances and noted that our bus had arrived. since it comes on the half hour, we started to *politely* pry ourselves from the conversation and make our way to the bus. FMIL noted that the bus ride was two dollars. i pulled out my wallet and started to pull out 2 singles.

V: (to the bus driver) so it's $2?

BD: (glancing up at me) for you? it's free. get on.

V: (surprised) thanks!

following my lead, jpan and FMIL follow me to the back of the bus without paying the fare. and that my friends, is good karma. . .

only in new york

after work on tuesday, the boy and i headed to union square to hang out for a bit before i went to the gym. we were walking from the 6 train to the exit when i heard a voice yelling "V, V".

i spun around trying to see who was calling my name. to my surprise, i saw my best friend from middle/high school, ddt.

V: DDT!!! i can't believe it's you!

DDT: i recognized you immediately. i was like, that's V!

V: that's so amazing! i was just talking to cRich about you about how we were both wondering where you were.

DDT: i live right around union square. i'm working on my MBA and working at l'oreal. do you live and work here now?

V: yep, i work in the city and live in brooklyn.

DDT: let's definately catch up!

V: definately.

we exchanged numbers. . . i have managed to run into so many old friends in ny. it's amazing how small the world is. can't wait to sit down and talk to DDT and catch up on the past 9 years of our lives!

bye bye fridays

lots of changes with work. debs is leaving the company and DJ is coming on full time... that means that my role will be expanding and i'll be facing increased responsibilities. . .which entails increased hours and saying good-bye to my fridays off. it's too bad, i had a great thing going with my 3 days off a week. . but in retrospect, i wasn't being very efficient with my extra day off. just took longer to go to the gym, run errands, relax. . not going to work on side-gigs like it was meant to.

the positives is that i'm getting more experience, there's the potential for more event planning gigs at and through my current company, and with increased duties there should be increased compensation. all good stuff.

i'll just have to be better at managing my time. . . the problem i always have is overcommitting (e.g. not being able to say no) and being too ambitious with the time i do have. . between work, the boy, friends, family, side gigs, and exercising i barely manage to catch my breath. . .of course, the first thing to go is sleep.. . thank heavens for redline.

plexing

had planned to go to central park to have coffee, read teh paper, and go row-boating with the boy. . .but with the temperature heating up to 85 degrees by 10 AM we opted to grab brunch then seek AC solace at the movie theatres.



















after brunch, we hurried to the movie theatre and made it in time to catch the matinee of "you, me, and dupree". once we got to the theatre, we saw that "scanner darkly" was playing in the adjacent theatre. . since we had been talking about seeing it for sometime, we both looked at eachother and decided to watch that first. the plan was to see "you, me, and dupree", "devil wears prada" and "little miss sunshine". instead, we made it to "scanner darkly" and "you, me, and dupree".

afterwards, we went to tops to pick up some groceries and i cooked us dinner at my place. it's been a wonderful weekend- doing whatever suited our fancy and having little adventures on the way. . the type A/planner in me has been enjoying the change of pace. 

day trip to long island city

saturday morning, the boy and i decided to check out ps1 in long island city. ps1, formerly a public school, is a contemporary art gallery that has parties with deejays and live bands on saturday afternoons in the summer. we arrived around 4:15 pm and checked out the exhibits first. as with my previous experiences with modern art, i find some of it amazing, some of it absurd, and some of it to be incomprehensible or unremarkable. nonetheless, i love the concept of ps1 and enjoyed myself immensely.

a live band started to play around 5, so we grabbed a couple seats on the stairs to listen to the band and people watch. the scene was incredible. all types of people representing all the boroughs- the preppy, frat boy types, the 80s punkish hipsters, the buff and beautiful gay men in tight shirts, and so on. it was even more fun watching the way people dance.

























the crowds fleshed out by 6:30 and the crowds and heat were starting to wear me out, so we headed to the "cooling room" which just turned out to be a room with blocks of ice. . not very cool unless you sat on it, which some ppl opted to do.

around 7 i had reached my limits so the boy and i headed over to long island city water taxi beach. . it's a totally random, surreal place. a beach in the middle of nowhere with people playing volleyball, loud reggaeton, and grills and bars set up. it's just a stone's throw away from manhatta with an unparalleled view of the manhattan skyline. . it was definately neat to see and check out. we watchd the sun set then called it a night.

subway sighting

i'm a sucker for funny t-shirts.

getting off the L at union square, i saw a guy with a t-shirt on that read "don't piss me off, i'm running out of spaces to hide the bodies". . juxtaposed against his gold bling bling catholic cross necklace, i had to snicker to myself.

local grocer

went to the local grocer sunday night after getting a drink with k-flo to pick up some milk and cereal and food to bring to work.

i have been going there a lot b/c it's open 24 hours and they have great post-work out snacks. it's a korean run place and i recognize most of the workers there. . .sunday night there was a different guy working the register.

the conversation went like this:

Old Korean Guy (OKJ): (after looking at me for a few seconds too long) you japanese?

V: nope

OKJ: what are you?

V: vietnamese

OKJ: (appreciatively) ahh!

V: (glancing around awkwardly)

OKJ: (proceeds to ring up my items. He pauses and motions to a chicken wrap.) no charge

V: onyahasayo. it's the only word i know in korean.

OKJ: how do you know korean?

V: i used to have a korean boyfriend. ok, well have a good night.

so, i am having a moral dilemma. . why was OKJ being nice to me. . after going to that grocer for 8 months, i have never received preferential treatment. . . did i remind him of his daughter/granddaugther? more likely, it is because i am a cute asian girl? was i wrong to accept something for free?

i've become increasingly aware of how it is possible for women to use their looks to their advantage. smile at a boy and he'll help you carry something, open a door, etc. i never want to be that type of woman, at the same time, i appreciate gallantry.

fun filled weekend

beatiful and thorougly satisfying but tiring weekend. . am quite happy to have the day off to recuperate. . although i'll be spending the majority of the weekend running around!

friday morning i went to go pick up my dear friend cassanova from penn station. the rest of the day was a blur as the day was devoted to looking at wedding reception sites in new york for my first official gig.

an aside- my primary interest is in wedding planning however that is not my day job (yet!). my company was involved in planning a big event in LA, a competition/reality show of sorts and i did the majority of the planning for. . although it is not a wedding- the principles of event planning are the same and i'm happy to gain any type of experience i can.

poor cassanova, i dragged her around all day from one venue to the next! first stop was the asia society to meet up with jpan and the face to check out the facilities. a nice, modern space but as with a lot of venues not solely catered to parties/weddings, there would be a lot of additional work required. and as the wedding date is looming two months ahead, it was quickly nixed.

next spot was the brooklyn botanical gardens. exquisite grounds and natural beautiful. the palm house is lovely and their event coordinator was friendly, up front, accomodating, and was willing to work within the budget. a hit all around!

tavern on the green and glen terrace were on the list for the afternoon, but jpan was pretty set on the botanical gardens. so instead, we all went to check out the marriott that the bride & groom to be had checked out earlier in the morning. it was a nice hotel, well maintained and elegant. but in my mind and the rest of the group's, there was no comparison. the brooklyn botanical garden had character and personality and was the clear winner.

we had been dodging in and out of rain all day and were beat from running around. so cassanova, Q2, and i ordered some appetizers from the hotel restaurant and chilled out before heading back to willie-B. we cabbed back home and rested up for a bit before getting gussied up for our fancy dinner at the modern at MOMA.

dinner was decadent- the service flawless- the setting was gorgeous- and the company was amazing. after what seemed like endless courses of delicious food beautifully presented, cassanova and i succumbed to a serious food coma and decided to call it a night. Q2 met up with her friends for some drinks and bar hopping.

saturday was perfectly relaxed. i had a solid 8 hours of sleep, woke up and went to the gym, then returned home and started some light cleaning. cassanova and i lounged around for a couple hours, watched russell peters on my laptop, then headed out. in the end, we decided to stay in williamsburg and do some shopping in the hood. i got some nice pieces for work and cassanova got some flower jewelry (petals dipped in resin then worked into necklaces, etc). we stopped by the grocery store and went back to my place to make dinner. we cooked, chatted, & drank wine- an immensely enjoyable evening! after dinner, we got some icecream and walked around the park for a bit before heading back home and watching a DVD and falling asleep.

cassanova left fairly early sunday morning and i spent the rest of the day playing catch up with friends. had brunch had five points with R, shopping with VK, then dinner/drinks with k-flo. . .

still have a lot of catching up to do this week- dinner with jb tonight, ladies night tomorrow, damien rice concert with the boy wed, movies with mikey and R thur. . .where does the time go?

first big event

as some of you may or may not know, i was in LA for a week to work on an event that my company has been planning for the past few months. . . bigB put me in charge a she knows that i want to get into event planning. . this meant being the point person for coordinating all the logistics and details. it was a major undertaking, circumstances were not ideal (changes in personnel, difficulty with financing, etc), and this was my first time planning anything on such a large scale.

luckily, i was so busy trying to plan the event and stay on top of my normal responsibilities that i didn't have time to freak out, only to plow full steam ahead.

sunday through wednesday, i worked on finalizing last minute details, overseeing the budget, handling RSVPs, working with vendors to make sure we were ready to go by friday.

wednesday, the rest of the team arrived in LA. . .or i should say they trickled in. bigB had a delayed flight and arrived wednesday morning. DJ, who has been my right-hand, arrived in the evening and i picked her up at LAX. debs and i, were supposed to arrive at the same time as DJ but their flight was delayed due to storms passing through NY. DJ and i met bigB at the sky bar for snacks and a drink. we were all exhausted though, so none of us made it to a second round of drinks, instead we headed out to city of industry. debs and I ended up arriving at 6AM the next morning.

thursday, DJ and i worked on getting the programs finalized and printed, purchasing food for the crew and VIPs, setting up the venue, etc. several set backs occurred over the following days: (1) after we already paid for the program printing, we were informed that one of the sponsor logos was incorrect and therefore we had to reprint everything, the programs, fix the banner, etc, (2) after notifying all the competitors that they had to arrive at 6-7 AM rather than the previously scheduled 8AM check in, we were told that the studio would not open its doors before 8AM!, (3) the judges changed the rules midway through, (4) the studio didn't have any water fountains, etc. .

yet despite the madness, we managed to pull it off. the competitors were amazing- there was a earnest sense of comraderie, mutual respect, and some great talent! the venue looked great and all the decorations we ordered arrived on time! we had a full house in terms of audience members. we kept everyone well fed. the vibe was upbeat and we kept things running at a fairly smoothly. the turnout for the cocktail reception was excellent and there were no major catasrophes.

i remember standing on the backstage, monitoring the audience, and seeing it all come together and feeling a huge sense of satisfaction. . . and being amazed at what our team was able to put together with such limited resources and time. . altogether, the experience reconfirmed my aspirations and excited me about the future.

barcelona here i come

Q2 and i have been dreaming about taking a trip together for awhile now- first it was miami, then vietnam, then peru/argentina. due to an unusal unfolding of circumstances, it looks like we'll be going to barcelona together in august!

i'm so excited. . .i've never travelled with a girlfriend before and we're both foodies, love to dance, shop, and appreciate culture so i think it'll be a blast!

the great thing is that i was able to apply skymiles so the only thing i had to pay for was the taxes & fees. . .now i just need to start researching barcelona!

blow dry mishap

my godsend of a roommie went out and bought an AC window unit while i was out of town. the difference has been astounding- the kitchen and living room are downright cool and the timing is perfect with this week's heat wave. the boy is going with me to pc richards after work and will install it for me. . .can't wait! too many restless and sweaty nights (not that kind!).

this morning i got up early, went to the gym, bought some juice for my out of town visitors, then went home to have breakfast and get ready for work. i was in the middle of blowdrying my hair, when suddenly, there was silence.

the fuse had blown, the blowdryer and AC stopped working.

damnit.

put my hair in a bun, grabbed my things, and headed out the door to go to work. on the way to the cleaners, i called the landlord and told him about the electric fuse and he said he'd be over in 10. called my roommate and told her he would be coming.

can't wait til this heat wave passes over!

the storm

event starts in two days.

million things to finalize.

the team flies in today.

1000 things on my plate.

sleep deprived.

need caffeine.

note to readers

some of friends have mentioned that they have to be a member of blogger to comment. i changed the settings so that anyone can post.

so let the postings begin!

conspiracy theory

in the middle of playing "hips don't lie" by shakira during my run yesterday, my ipod started giving me a sad face.

i tried resetting it but that didn't work. i tried updating it but that didn't work.

sigh, that means i won't be able to use my ipod until i have time to go to the apple store sometime next week. Q2 thinks that s-genius gave me a defective ipod so he can see me again.

i'm just frustrated that a machine i paid a lot of mulah for can give me so much trouble. . . my dreams of upgrading to a nano are being called into question.

first gig

so i landed my first official wedding consulting gig. sure i helped with my bro's wedding & helped out here and there for theng, the real mckoy, and my brother, but this is my first paid gig!

just wanted to share the good news.

sometimes you just have to laugh at life

practically everything that could possibly go wrong yesterday, did.

friday night i worked until 1:30 AM trying to finish up odds and ends before my flight saturday morning. luckily the boy stayed around to keep me company. which was a beautiful thing, otherwise i would have been a bit creeped out staying in the office all alone and responsible for locking up. i grabbed a cab and got home and started to pack.

my flight was scheduled for 7AM so i had arranged a car to come pick me up at 5:30AM. after packing and showering it was 3:30 AM. . and although i realized there was a risk of oversleeping, i decided to nap for an hour. i had major tired headaches after a week of late nights at the office. needless to say, i did oversleep and missed my flight.

i woke up with a start at 8:15AM, rushed to get my cell, and called the car service to come pick me up ASAP. i called the airline and tried to get the next flight out. unfortunately, i wouldn't be able to make the 8:45 so i decided to take the noon flight. .i had two options: (1) the airline would charge me $400 for the flight change if i wanted to make it now, or (2) i could pay $25 but had to wait until 9:15AM and risk not having a seat to make the change. i opted for the latter. washed my face, threw my things into my suitcase, and went downstairs to wait for the car.

the car was on time, i got to JFK in half an hour. the line to change tickets was ridiculous so while i waited in line i called the airline's customer service and was able to make the change fairly quickly. checked in at the e-ticket counter and went through security. got to my gate and thought everything would be fine. the flight would leave around noon and i would have enough time to meet up with my friend, get dressed at her place, and head out to the wedding. just as a precaution, i brought my dress, shoes, flat iron, and makeup onto the airplane i could get ready on the flight.

we boarded on time and i was already half asleep when i heard the flight attendant annouce that they couldn't find the pilot!!!! turns out the airline didn't notify the flight crew that they had an AM flight. a backup crew came and we didn't re-board until 3PM. all i wanted to do was get on the plane and sleep but i had to take care of logistics so i called e, eulalie, and maekre. told eulalie to go ahead to the wedding and i'd meet her there. luckily maekre agreed to pick me up and drop me off at the wedding.

we left around 4pm and by then i had resigned myself to missing the wedding ceremony. an hour before landing i went to the bathroom to change into my dress and heels only to find that my dress was wet and stained!!!! luckily i had packed a backup dress but that was in my suitcase.

after landing i got my luggage (which thankfully was not lost) and maekre picked me up. the car ride was nice and gave us a chance to catch up with one another. got to the hotel and headed for the bathroom to get ready. so more bad luck. . the zipper had broke on my backup dress!! i had three women trying to help me zip it up and ended up pinning it with safety pins. (darn cheap chinese dress)

i left my suitcase with the bellman and went to the reception. . .managed to catch the last couple courses of the chinese banquet, have some drinks, and finally relax. eulalie and i had a wonderful time and i've never seen a happier bride and groom which gave me warm fuzzy feelings! all the frustration and stress of the day subsided and it was all okay.

when just nothing goes right

the day started off beautifully. . .until i got to work.

reasons why yesterday was just a bad bad day!

1. condescending email from a client that seemed to question my competency

2. i was very excited about ordering from a new restaurant called tossed that has whole-wheat crepes, low carb high protein per my new diet. placed my order around 3pm. and waited and waited and waited for it to arrive. . .it was 4pm and i called to check on the order status. apparently it hadn't gone out for delivery yet. . .so i cancelled the order and still had no food! had to run down to guy and gulliard for a wrap. have i mentioned i become ms. cranky pants when i'm hungry?

3. there is a problem with the 30 rooms that i had gotten blocked for my company's event in a couple weeks. people have been trying to reserve rooms but have been running into problems with the hotel. now it seems like the woman that helped me block the rooms might not have set them aside. . which means i have to get all nasty and bitchy to hotel management until i get my way. . and come up with a backup plan.

4. annoying conference call with client from #1

5. left work at 7:30 hoping to get home by 8 so i could eat a quick dinner and have time to digest before working out. . had to wait for 30 minutes before the 6 came. . . so i got home around 8:30, again hungry, tired, and stressed out.

working out helped relieve some of my tension, a good post workout snack, and reading US helped me zone out to bed by midnight.

the difference of the

riding on the L today when a funny thing struck me.

the significance of the word "the".

it's the difference between feeling like "the shit" or "feeling shitty". . two polar opposite ideas.

amazing.

a great moment

i finally figured out the exact spots to stand on the platform of the L - Manhattan bound to minimize walking to the 6 train headed uptown. . and on the platform for the 6 so that when i get out of the train and walk up stairs i am standing directly in front of my office building.

what a great feeling!

matchmaker matty

called home on sunday to chat with the fam. big sis answered the phone and i hear my brother in law pick up briefly and whisper excitedly, don't forget to tell her about chris.

turns out my brother-in-law is getting into the family spirit and joining my mom's efforts to set me up! chris is a 24 year old, midwestern boy doing an opthomology internship at the same hospital as my brother in law. . my sister chimes in that he's smart, attractive, and very metrosexual. the only downside she claims is that he's moving to michigan in a year and she knows i wouldn't move there.

i gently told her i'm not interested in dating anyone younger than me or starting a long-distance thing.

the sad thing is i can see where the next few years are heading. . right now i'm 26 and still "have my looks" (but not for long, my mom reminds me) and they are already trying to set me up with incompatible guys. . .i can only imagine what type of guy they'll set me up with in 3 or 4 years!

slumber party

jpan arrived around 4:30 saturday afternoon making our foursome was complete. we immediately went into girly mode- watching music vidoes of wang li hom and jay chou and fawning over their musical talents and cuteness. we chatted for a bit then started getting ready for dinner.

i'd forgotten how fun it can be to get dressed up with girlfriends- helping each other pick out what to wear, how to wear our hair or makeup. it felt like we were in college getting ready for a formal.

Q2 and i made dinner reservations at hearth for 7pm. i was pretty excited about dinner because i've been meaning to check out the restaurant for some time having walked by it a million times before and reading so many good reviews.

it was one of my best dining experiences in new york to date. the restaurant was intimate and rustic feeling. the service was impeccable and our server was extremely accomodating of our request to order two appetizers and four entrees to share among the three of us. we ordered the roasted quail and softshell crab to start and our entrees were grilled halibut, steamed skate, duck breast, and a rabbit papardelle dish.

every dish was excellent. the quail was unbelievably moist and flavorful, served with a medley of barley and vegetables. the softshell crab was meaty, lightly battered, and balanced with a salsa dressing. the grilled halibut was fleshy and served on top of a bed of lentils. Q2 and i marvelled over the skate that was served with an incredible pea puree. the two flavors, simple and delicate, were improved when paired together. compared to the seafood dishes, the duck, cooked medium rare, was unabashedly bold and hearty. the rabbit parpadelle was the most flavorful pasta dishes i've had.

the meal ended with two decadent desserts- a chocolate torte served with a peanut icecream and a zucchini mini bundt cake served with a zesty lemon icecream. all in all, an orgasmic dining experience. . . and my foodie friends can all relate.

of course being asian, there is always the inevitable fighting over the bill. . ."you're still a student" or "you're not working yet" or "your my guest" or "it's for hosting me". . blah blah blah. . . but Q2 and i were prepared, we gave the waitress our credit cards at the beginning of the meal to avoid the whole scene. . .

after dinner, we walked around the neighborhood hoping to ease our full bellies then headed back to Q2's place and watched "perhaps love". we got ready for bed and spent the rest of the evening chatting, reminiscing, and speculating about what the future holds for us all.

i heart s-genius

ended up working 9-5 friday. decided to take my boss's ipod and mine to the apple store in soho to get repaired.

this is the third time i've taken my ipod to the genius bar to be fixed. the first time it was corrupted. after that, it's never been the same. the last time, i struck up friendly conversation about economics and politics with my designated genius, s. . . i asked him about the likelihood of getting a new ipod and he made sure to make notes on my record so that there would be a documented history of problems with my ipod.

so this time, he actually replaced it!! i'm so excited about my new ipod. . .unfortunately i left my charger at work and will have to wait until monday to download music. . .sigh, i heart s-genius for giving me a new ipod before my warranty runs out!

after the stop at the apple store, i met up with Q2 and tang at casablanca tea room for dinner. . it's a tiny restaurant tucked amid high end shops, and a beautiful place. i felt transported. we shared a medley of mediterranean small plates, a salad, and slow roasted lamb served with cous cous. delicious meal, simple but satisfying.

then we decided to head to comedy cellar and walk off our dinner. there were five or six comedians of varying ranges of funniness. . sitting in the audience, i thought about how difficult it is to make people laugh. some of the comedians unsuccessfully tried to use crudeness and insults to be funny and it just didn't do anything for me. . . i guess the difficulty is that you have to be general enough to appeal to a wide audience but still have a flair that distinguishes you. by the end, the jokes began to sound the same and i was just ready to go home. . but all in all, i laughed a fair bit, got to try something different, and had a good time.

a blur

ever have one of those days where you are non-stop busy but don't feel like you got anything done? that's been my life at work for the past few weeks. . . it's been crazy busy and it's becoming increasingly difficult staying on top of all the tiny minutiae of this project along with my normal work duties. . . good thing for tab energy drinks and dunkin donuts coffee!!!

theng arrives tonight so Q2 and i will meet up with her and head to willie-B for din din. then i will crash and try to put in an ultra productive friday so i can relax this weekend . . . jpan gets in saturday afternoon. we'll have a nice dinner together saturday night and see where the night takes us. sunday will be brunch, feist in central park, and dinner at a japanese bbq place.

it's been awhile since the four of us have all been in new york. so much has happened in the interim: cross-country/international moves, a marriage, an engagement, job changes, etc. . .it's a beautiful thing to be able to come back together, to old friends, to reminisce and act like girls again.

running on empty

the past couple weeks and next few weeks have been/are going to kick my little yellow ass. work has been extremely busy preparing for our big event july 14th-15th. i've been working massive overtime, still waking up around 6AM (because i managed to inherit my dad's internal alarm clock) despite staying up late, and have resorted to drinking tab energy drinks and a couple cups of coffee every day. not to mention that every weekend from now til the end of july is booked solid.

this coming up weekend, tang and jpan will be visiting for our reunion and to celebrate tang's wedding and jpan's b-day. following weekend, big bro is getting hitched. the next couple weekends i'll be traveling for work. then the weekend after i have a bridal shower to go to. i think i should take a long weekend at the end of july to decompress from all the traveling. . go be a beach bum.

alas, it's a lot of exciting stuff and i can hardly complain. . . i'll just have to be extremely good with my time to balance work, keeping up with my friends, maintaining my new health routine, managing to enjoy all the fabulous free events going on in NY in the summertime, and finding time to take those salsa classes i've been talking about for ages. . .

coney island

finally go to check out coney island.it definately has. . . character. there is a game called shoot the freak and essentially there is a row of 5 or 6 paint gun machines and there is a poor guy in "armor" running around trying not to get shot. it's odd what "civilized" humans do for entertainment. . .the whole thing was quite primal. (photos to follow)got to ride the cyclone- a rickety old roller coaster, beat collins (formerly waterboy) in skee ball, and people watch. after getting our fill of coney island, we headed back to the city and grabbed dinner at union square, sat in the park and gabbed until i was too eaten up by bug bites, then got dessert at big daddy's diner. 

the beach boys

sometimes i think i want to just give up on event planning. . . by saturday morning, my big group of beach goers somehow whittled down to three boys- R, Collins (formerly known as waterboy), & LI native- and me. let me tell you, group dynamics are starkly different when the majority of a group is male. that is, conversation centers around bodily functions and sex.

the best snippets of the day.

Topic: Pick up lines

LI native: Excuse me, would you like to have some casual conversation?

Topic: What is your favorite female body part?

LI native: Midriff. . when a woman wears jeans and a t-shirt and you see just a hint, just a hint, of the midriff. Yea, man.

Collins: Hips!

and the best answer. . .

R: I look at a woman's face. If she's got a pretty face, I look further down. And if that looks good, I look even farther down.

reviving ladies night

so it feels like forever since we've done ladies night. . .and despite being home by 11pm, it was a blast!!!

VK, debs, Q2 and i met up at the east side company bar in the LES around 7:30pm. completely unmarked bar on grand and essex that is so exclusive we were the only patrons there. . managed/owned by the guys behind milk and honey. . the east side company bar is more my scene. . i.e. less pretentious, friendlier, and cheaper!!!!

i had a modern take on a gimlet, qq some cucumer drink, and vonnet i believe had the russian mule- rum molasses and ginger beer. . peter, our drink maker took good care of us. by the time we left, all the girls were feeling pretty good. . .

next stop was little giant for some comfort food. it was close to 9 and all the tables were taken, so we opted to dine at the bar. mike, our bartender/server, suggested a mild, but complex red wine that paired well with our chicken liver pate, sampler plate (meat and cheeses), roasted pork, and spinach. the food was quite good, i was especially impressed with the pate and pork! it was a very homey type environment and great for a low key night.

as girls- we dished from the mundane (i.e. how my language gets dirtier when i've been drinking) to the serious (family issues) to the scandalous. . ahhh. . i love girls nights. . .after polishing our plates, we walked to fat baby- alas, i had left my wallet at work and could get in. instead, Q2, VK, and i all grabbed cabs to our respective apartments leaving debs to hang out with jer and his crew.

early riser

crashed around 10 PM last night hoping to get a solid 8 hours of sleep and still wake up early enough to finish up my work. . . sigh, was not meant to be. . i woke up around 3:45 AM and tossed and turned for half an hour before deciding to just get up.

took a shower and did some work on the LA event, surfed the internet. in a way, it was nice to get such an early start. i was out the door by 7:30 AM and dropped off clothes at the dry cleaners. then went to whole foods to check out the selection of cut flowers. . i was shocked to see a group of people crowded at the entrance waiting for the store to open at 8 AM.

unfortunately, whole foods didn't have a great selection and the flowers were looking pretty sad. i headed off to work and decided to stop by the gourmet market that sells flowers on park & 34th. the selection and prices were much better and i bought a couple bunches of orchids. .unfortunately the cymbidiums were too old.

in any case, i spent 10 minutes this morning making a couple arrangements and put them in our waiting area at work. i'd forgotten how much i enjoy arranging flowers. . will definately have to start getting fresh flowers for the apt.

Hot Ninja Lovin

ha ha ha. . thanks for the laughs AH!!

hanging with the homey's

after hitting the gym and doing some housecleaning, i met up with Q2, R, and our new friend ronnyboy for a late lunch at the creperie on st.marks. delicious crepe with goat cheese and smoked chicken and a side of greens in a vinagrette dressing. so simple yet so satisfying.

afterwards, we went to splendor in a kettle to do some work (Q2 and i had work and R had to study for his biz class). Q2 entertained ronnyboy for awhile and showed this hilarious comedy routine on her laptop:

http://letsget.bz/fun/Russell%20Peters.wmv

russell peters is liharious!

we worked for a couple hours then went to a little japanese restaurant to buy snacks before going to watch the da vinci code (squid balls and okonomiyaki). we were all pleasantly suprised by how much we liked the movie given the poor ratings. it followed the book pretty closely though i was annoyed that sophie's character was dumbed down. afterwards, we grabbed a late dinner at a japanese bbq joint on e.9th. the food was quite tasty and surprisingly reasonably priced- $14 for the short rib sirloin set. i might start going there as an alternative to korean bbq.

sunday morning i'll wrap up my work then go meet mikey for a walk in the park and maybe go to a bbq at 1462 in the LES with ronnyboy and Q2.

the crowning of a drama queen

went into work for a few hours on friday to take care of some projects and for a meeting in the afternoon. after wrapping up a few odds and ends, i snuck out early with waterboy to grab a drink at inoteca and meet up later at verlaine with a few others from work, Q2, and VK. initially, there was supposed to be a large group from work but by the time friday hit, most of the crew had dropped out.

around 6, ms.dq arrived. she started pounding one drink after another and very quickly pretty sloshes. . . then the whirlwind began. she started by complaining that the guys she liked never liked her back (waterboy being one of them) and soon she was having outbursts of tears and rants. waterboy and i took turns trying to comfort her and she would start to get better only to start crying again. ms.dq was just a mess. . . she almost fell walking to the bathroom and at that point we thought she probably should just go home. . so waterboy tried to get her in a cab but 15 minutes later they both returned and she was ranting to me about how she was 32 years old and knew how to get home and acting outraged that he had told her she should go home.

in any case, this went on for the whole night. . .we went to suba to get a small bite to eat. by then, ms.dq was shooting nasty looks at Q2 and i and we were all getting exacerbated. waterboy tried to convince her again to go home to no avail. . .at this point, it was obvious she was just looking for attention and to ruin everyone's time. so we tried to ignore her. waterboy and i walked around the block to get some air, figure out how to deal with her. Q2 came up with an elaborate scheme to get ms.dq to leave. once no one was paying attention to her, she finally decided to leave.

we were able to enjoy the rest of the night. . and despite all the drama, it was a lot of fun. we made some new friends, ronnyboy and navidad, at verlaine. both are former FIT students and work in fashion now. we all exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up later.

hmm. . will be interesting to see what work will be like on monday!

satellites

went to go see satellites at public theater with VK. basically about a biracial couple that move to brooklyn to raise their child. a lot of timely and interesting issues were raised- identity issues, power balance between a man and woman, and the difficulties women have balancing work, raising a child, etc. sandra oh played the female lead and was excellent. the entire cast was strong and the set design was pretty cool.

after the show, we went to st. marks for japanese. over sake, grilled mackerel and quail, we talked about the show, relationships, life changes, etc. . . i told her how my sister sent me an email earlier in the day confessing how she envied my life. with few responsibilities, i am able to come and go as i please and don't have to answer to anyone. i have a fulfilling and active social life, am trying new things, etc.

i feel as though i am only beginning to embrace this wonderful place that i'm in and truly appreciate it.

office drama

on a typical day, i would say that i like my job. i get along with my boss and co-workers. we all do our work, keep to ourselves, and occasionally stop by each others desks to chat, joke around, or gossip about waterboy. one of the things i like most about the job is that the environment is pleasant. there is little bureucracy, no one really cares about titles, and we work as a team.

lately, the balance has been off. on top of the normal workload, we've been busy with a new project. . . a blessing for me, an opportunity to work and build up my event planning skills. we've hired some additional help as consultants to make the project happen. tensions and stress level are high, we are on a tight budget and even tighter schedule. . . needless to say, tempers are on the rise.

my general policy is to stay out of conflict and drama as much as possible. nevertheless, . i've found myself in the odd position of having to set the record straight on a he said she said dispute that is getting uglier and uglier. . . it's really affecting productivity and all this melodrama is just sucking up precious time. . .but the show must go on. . .

to believe or not to believe

question- if someone told you that if you get married on a certain day, then someone in your family will die, would you still do it?

this is the dilema facing my brother.

a well-respected (and yes, there is such a thing) fortune teller in the vietnamese community in NOVA was consulted to find the auspiciousness of the wedding date my brother chose. unfortunately, the fortune teller said it was a very bad day to get married. now even if you don't believe in such things, wouldn't it still bother you and ruin your ability to relax and enjoy yourself?

this is the umpteenth time the wedding date has been changed and the wedding plans have been changed. i think everyone, including the bride and groom, are frustrated and are just ready to get hitched. . . the sad thing is all the changes are taking away from the joyful nature of their wedding. . . sigh, so we sit and wait for a more auspicious date.

caught in the rain

after my morning workout, i met up with VK for lunch at aquagrill. feeling downright decadent dining on cauliflower and crabmeat soup, a half dozen oysters, and salad. over lunch, we made plans to see satellites next week, commiserated about dealing with meddling asian parents, etc.

i decided to go to the office to take care of some loose odds and ends. i ended up cancelling my salon appointment at 5:30 because the rain was slowing down the train and there was no way i could walk there in time. . . instead, i grabbed the 6 downtown to SOHO to go fix my iPod. chatted with my designated apple genius about economics and politics before making my way back home.

it was pouring by then. . .i had left my umbrella home so did what any sensible girl did, enjoyed walking in the rain and getting absolutely soaked. . so refreshing. luckily i was wearing flats and didn't have the additional stress of navigating my around the streets and subways in heels. i love nothing more than a thunderstorm and rain to bring cooler weather. . .ahhh. . the perks of living on the east coast again.

walking shoes

cassanova, megs, and i are talking about doing a Lupus walk in the fall. i've become much more aware of lupus because of the history of it in my dear friend's family. . .lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system turns against the body's own cells and tissues. women, especially asian women, are more susceptible to developing lupus and little is known about the disease.

anyone want to sponsor me?

the sorry state of my ipod

sigh. . i bought my ipod not even a year ago. it was one the fritz for awhile and it took me weeks to find the time to finally take it to the apple store in SoHo to be fixed. . i did everything they said and it was fine for a couple days. it was so great being able to listen to music to, whether it is on the subway, at work to tune out psychological counseling coversations going on in neighboring offices, or working out. . . i don't know how i survived without music for a month.

alas, my ipod is acting up again. whereas before it just wouldn't do anything, now it stalls and skips around songs.

think i'll have exhange it this weekend. . .

b-more

on a whim and without planning (i know- quite uncharacteristically of me), i decided to take a short trip to bmore to visit cassanova. she is one of my dearest friends and we go way back to grade school. we had been talking about taking a trip together in may but it had never panned out. i gave her a ring friday morning to see what her memorial weekend plans were. since she didn't have anything major planned, i decided to catch the train down to b-more on saturday and come back home on sunday afternoon.

got to penn station by 9:35 AM and was seated by 10 AM. luckily, my ipod is working again so i was able to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the view while being serenaded by ray charles.

cassanova picked me up from the train station. we met up with rdev and had lunch at paper moon. . an eccentric diner with wacky memoriabilia and random toys, antiques, and mannequins. since i was in MD, i decided to order the crabcake sandwich with a side of broccoli. it hit the spot.

after lunch, the three of us walked around johns hopkins campus, the outdoor statue exhibit, and ft. henry. it was a very pleasant afternoon of sightseeing, banter, and walking. around 5:30, rdev headed back to NOVA, cassanova and i did what we do best. talk. i love my girlfriends and being able to have those deep, philosophical conversations.

we're going to head out to dinner then regress to our college hay day and have a proper slumber party. . . cheesy chick flicks, bad for you snacks, and staying up til the wee hours talking. chicken soup for the female soul.

dining with clients

returning home from the gym, i was greeted with an email from bigB. she had forgotten to tell me about an assignment and needed me to take care of it this week. . .note: this email was send at 4:33 AM on friday morning, my day off. being the busy bee that i am, i called the temp and worked with her via phone to get the project taken care of. around noon, debs calls and pleads with me to go to dinner with clients. . .sigh, and the grad student mentality that hasn't completely been forsaken in me was won over by her last point "free dinner".

so i got dressed in my business attire, stopped at the apple store to fix my ipod, then headed to the the westside. dinner reservations were at churascarria plataforma, an upscale brazilian all you can eat steakhouse. the evening consisted of the CEO and CFO forcing us to drink lots of wine, ganbei ganbei, eating a delicious meal with top quality meats, and trying to keep up with the conversation that was 70% chinese 30% english. i really need to work on my chinese. having I's and debs company made the dinner quite pleasant, and the CEO and CFO were quite affable.

after dinner, I, debs, and i headed to union square and helped I find a dress for a wedding she was attending. around 9:30 i went to cafe spice to meet up with pintobean for drinks as it was her last night in nyc. . tear to see her go.

pisco sour, wild boar pate, oh my!

after weeks of talking about it, i finally got the chance to check out freemans with q2.

pretty difficult to find-nestled in freemans alleyway off of rivington in the LES. great effect though. walking down that alley made me feel like i was escaping from the city into a low-key (but fancy) country lodge. stepping inside the restaurant, i noticed animal heads with antlers decorating the walls and sitting at the bar up front was q2 nursing a glass of red wine.

i ordered the pisco sour (salud e!) and watched as the cute waitress in a dapper hat expertly prepared the frothy drink using pisco (national liquor of peru), lemon, egg white, and sugar. luckily, q2 and i had a lot to catch up on so the long long wait for our table (no reservations for parties under 6) passed by relatively quickly.

we were finally seated in a dimly lit alcove. three or four tables fit snugly in the space. the restaurant's set up was very intimate, booths in the back and another bar area near the restrooms.

q2 and i ordered everything to share starting with the wild boar appetizer served with crusty slices of a baguette, a fruity and tart relish, small pickles, and a side of greens. starved, we devoured the dish. while some might be offset by the hardiness of the pate, we both enjoyed the meatiness and flavor of the pate. next, came the fennel and endive salad paired with broiled trout seasoned with lemon and rosemary. while these were good selections, i was not so impressed. i like my restaurant dining to consist of meals that i could not recreate easily at home. the trout was delicious, simply prepared, but very similar to what i have cooked in the past. for dessert, we ordered the rhubarb crumble. it was exquisite. there was a tantalizing balance of crunchiness from the crust, smoothness from the base, tartness from the rhubarb, and rich creaminess from the homestyle icecream.

all in all a wonderful dining experience. but next time, i think i'll order the pork chops!

what do i look like

went to the bank this morning. . .

teller: hi ma'am, i can help you here.

V: thanks. . do i look like a ma'am?

teller: um, no?

V: ha ha ha. i'm just giving you a hard time.

inside, i'm freaking out that i am starting to look old. . i hardly get carded anymore. . even though i feel like i look pretty much the same way that i did in high school- albeit better sense of style and changes in my hair color! sigh. . 30 is just a hop skip and a jump away.

nothing as annoying as. . .

the people that work at kinkos!

if anyone is a dave chapelle fan, they will know how on the mark the skit on these type of places are. . i really believe that their philosophy is to be sufficiently (insanely) incompetent until you get so annoyed with them you don't go back. . now, i rarely lose my temper, but i somehow find myself yelling everytime i go there or am on the phone with them. . .sigh. . the little angry asian girl in me comes out.

serenity now.

pomp and circumstance

lately, it seems i blog a lot about going back to VA. well. . . here's another post about a trip home. my brother in law was graduating from med school- being such an important moment, and representing a pivotal time in his and therefore my sister's life, i thought i should be there.

graduation was saturday morning. . very long very boring. . as all graduations go. . .but there is something very majestic about the pomp and circumstance song. . . in the middle of the song, my niece burst into tears, uncontrollable tears. . she was so moved by the melancholy nature of the song that she couldn't control herself. i was astounded. . my mom and sister had told me that tj doesn't like sad songs but i had never witnessed it myself. even when we tried to tell her the song was for a happy occasion, she was inconsolable.

i'm telling you . . besides being beautiful, intelligent, and good natured, my niece is going to be an artist/genius!

cab ride conversations

it's interesting how much personal information an individual is willing to share with a complete stranger. . .but perhaps it is that anonymity that makes an individual unhibited about sharing their personal story.

after grabbing a few drinks with debs and Q2 at our favorite LES watering hole, i got into a cab back to williamsburg. having heard a report earlier in the day about cab drivers wanting a fare hike to compensate for rising gas prices. the cab driver and i discussed gas prices and how it's crazy how the US government doesn't tax gasoline consumption more. the cab driver explained how he was from turkey. . .that he wanted to go back there but was trapped in marriage. he told me i was young and i should avoid marriage as long as possible.

his wife was american and they were going to get a divorce. she had pressured him into getting married after dating for two years. the marriage has been a failure and though he wants to be happy, he is wracked with guilt at the thought of leaving his near 60 year old soon to be ex-wife. no matter how hard he tried he couldn't make her happy, their joint business ventures had failed, and she had never been able to have children. he spoke highly of his wife, stating that she is one of the nicest people he knows and he loved her as a person but their marriage was only getting worse. he complained that his problem was always dating women that wanted to marry him.

i reflect on that conversation with some sadness. it's always disappointing to see relationships and especially marriages that don't work out. i suppose in this case, the cabbie married for the wrong reasons. . a bad way to start a marriage.

earlier in the evening, debs had talked about how she wanted to take the non-traditional route and never marry, instead having boyfriends the rest of her life. we joked about how she would have one in every city. then she would tell Q2 and i how it is. is it normal to be so young and be so skeptical of marriage? yet, for me in spite of all the unhappy, bad marriages i have seen, the romantic in me still retains the belief that truly happy marriages exist. so i'm rooting for all my friends that are in them, because they help me keep the hope alive!

falling in and out of love

lately i've found myself thinking a lot about the past. triggered partially by a question posed by nels. . . what caused me or when did i fall out of love with my ex? in the midst of sorting through old photos that i could submit for nels and george's party, i realize how much of my adult life was spent with the ex. i forget sometimes, that life that we shared and the path i chose not to take, somehow it seems like something i've read in a book or seen in a movie.

so what went wrong?

certainly there was a period when i was in love with the ex. in fact, i remember the beginning as being fairytale like. a strong emotional connection from early on. after the honeymoon period, i remained content- able to rationalize our differences, afterall, the ex treated me well and we got along fine.

i guess the hard thing to pinpoint is how one can go from being in love to falling out of love.

i think i feel for the ex because he was the opposite of my previous boyfriend, and was what i needed at that particular time in my life. my previous ex had been noncommital/standoffish, selfish, immature, and unkind. (not to say he was a bad guy, we were very young and he had family issues) in comparison, the ex was a breath of fresh air- loving, giving, caring, sweet, affectionate, etc. so the beginning was great- neither of us held back, didn't question anything, and put a lot of energy into the relationship. nevertheless, it wasn't enough in the end.

i think the differences- in interests, life goals, styles, personalities, etc became impossible for me to ignore. in the course of our dating, i had somehow lost sight of what i wanted and who i was. the failure of that relationship taught me that it is absolutely non-negotiable to know who you are, what you are looking for, and to find that someone that loves you exactly the way you are. (btw, this is a problem with all the asian mothers out there pressuring their daughters to marry young- how many 20 year olds know who they really are?)

that all being said, does that mean relationships with passionate uninhibited beginnings are destined to fail? does the alternative- taking it slow and holding back, work any better? in reality, there is probably no right or wrong answer. . . and falling in love and staying in love is just a matter of circumstance, luck, hard work, and faith.

oversleeping

i overslept again. sunday night i didn't fall asleep until after 11 and that threw a wrench in getting up at 5:45 AM to get to the gym by 6:15, back home by 7:30 and on my way to work by 8:20. . . hmm. . oddly this sounds close to my undergrad morning routine!!!

instead, i woke up monday morning at 7AM, ate breakfast, showered and got to work early to get a head start. i rushed home after work to eat quick dinner before heading to the gym around 8pm. i finished up around 10pm. so the downside to exercising at night is that while i'm physically tired my mind is wide awake and i couldn't fall asleep until after 11 PM, thus leading to a cycle of "oversleeping".

missed my workout this morning and feeling bummed about that. . . i have dinner plans with debs, canton girl, and Q2 so unless i flake completely or leave directly after dinner, i won't be able to fit in a workout today.

i've always preferred morning workouts immediately after waking up so i'm not hungry yet, i get a good start to the day and am less likely to skip my workouts, the gym is less crowded, and i have my nights free to hang out with my friends/do work/relax, etc.

regardless, i just need to settle into a routine so i can be consistent about it.

brain fuzz

friday night was having dinner at the burmese restaurant on e7th between 2nd and 3rd ave with nels, aub, and baabs. baabs is getting ready to move to florida for her husband's work. she was talking about all the great, diverse ethnic foods that she would be missing once she moved to gainesville.

when she mentioned dim sum, i suggested that we all go on sunday. so i offered to organize a group to go on sunday. dim sum is best enjoyed with chinese friends and adventurous eaters. so i sent a quick email out inviting Q2, tchan, R, debs, cantongirl, george, nels, k, baabs, and her hubby for dim sum on sunday. tchan had suggested dim sum go go and while their food is tasty, i feel like without the carts being pushed around, loud chinese eaters, and rude waiters, it's just not dim sum.

so sunday a little after noon, nels and i arrive at golden bridge. we were running a bit late and were suprised to see that we were the first to arrive there. i called R and asked him where he was. he said the second floor but he was no where to be seen. nels called baabs and went downstairs to look for them. right about then, R and i realized we had mixed up restaurants.

i had emailed everyone to meet at golden unicorn!!! while i like the food at golden bridge much better, everyone was already planning to meet at golden unicorn. of course, i was horribly embarrassed but nels reassured me it was fine and we hustled to get to golden unicorn. . luckily they are only 3 or 4 blocks away from one another.

R called and said he was there and on the 2nd floor and would ask for a table. when nels and i arrived at golden unicorn, baabs and her hubby were waiting in the lobby. we took the elevator to the 2nd floor and since i didn't see R i went ahead and got a table.

i called R back and told him we already got a table on the 2nd floor and to look for us. when he didn't come, i called him again and realized that he had gone to golden bridge to meet us!!! i felt terrible and after apologizing profusely asked him to come back to golden unicorn. we started to order some food and when R finally came, i put a few items on his dish. . .i could tell he was a bit peeved but by the time he got a few pieces of shumai and dumplings in, he was his usual happy go lucky self.

Q2 and tchan arrived shortly after R. we stayed for an hour and a half, enjoying a relaxing dim sum and chatting. i still think golden bridge is the best dim sum place i've been to in c-town. . think i'll have to start exploring flushing's chinatown.

after dim sum, R, nels and i walked to union square, stopping at a shoe store and beard papa on the way there. nels headed to campus to do some lab work and R and i went to whole foods and trader joes. spent the rest of the afternoon doing some work, catching up on phone calls and cooking sweet & sour soup.

getting my ass kicked

my gym includes a free workout session with a personal trainer. so wednesday morning i asked the guy at the front desk how to sign up for that. turns out that big P, is one of the gym's personal trainers and so we scheduled a workout for friday at 2pm.

he asked me what i wanted to work on so he could tailor the workout. um. . everything? i told him lower body fat, tone my arms and abs, & make my butt more shapely (fyi, 99.9% of asian girls have flat asses). i have an aversion to working out with weights. put me on a treadmill, stair master, bike, elliptical machine, etc with a good playlist or movie and i'm happy as a clam. put me in a weight room and i'm just at a loss at what to do.

so needless to say, my workout friday afternoon kicked my ass, in the best sense. it was a full body workout and two days later i'm still sore all over! i learned how to do lunges, squats, all sorts of weight machines. . .

i definately want to incorporate weights into my workout regimen. . .let's just see how long i can keep it up!

strange encounter

the scene
eden wok on E34th and park.

the scenario
i was meeting up with mbear for dinner. i picked eden wok cuz it's close to my workplace and kosher- the latter a must for eating out with mbear- an orthodox jew. we placed our orders and grabbed a table. i was in the middle of telling mbear about work when this dark haired, middle aged woman motioned me over.

V: yes?

DHMAW: you can't marry him!!

V: (speechless)

DHMAW: he's religious. it's a sin in the eyes of our god. it's wrong.

V: (recovering ever so slightly) um, we are just friends.

DHMAW: (ignoring what i said) it's very wrong. you'll go to hell. blah blah blah.

Mbear: look, we've been friends since the 7th grade! there's nothing going on.

DHMAW: i see how you look at her. you like her. this is wrong.

dumfounded i step back while mbear and crazy continue to argue. after a minute, mbear left and we started chatting again. when our food came out, he went up and got it. then crazy starts muttering craziness again. finally tired of it, mbear goes over and talks to the woman. tries to explain that we've been friends for over 13 years, his family knows me, etc. she said that she meant the discussion to be for me since i don't know jewish law. frustrated, he sat back down again.

he had wanted her to apologize for making me uncomfortable. . which i definately was. moreover, i was irritated. not only had crazy assumed way too much about my relationship with mbear, but also about his principles and mine. i always try to be respectful of other people's beliefs. once mbear began practicing judaism more strictly and observing its customs and rules, i became mindful of what i wore (long sleeve shirts and pants) around him and waves good-bye and hello replaced hugs. . . but crazy just assumes because i am not jewish i am amoral?

closed minded, judgemental folk bother me tremendously. i typically surround myself with liberal thinkers and free spirits so it was somewhat shocking to realize that most of the world is not that way. . .

peruvian food in billyburg

went to chimu last night with the billyburg crew- nels, george, & debs.

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/41379989/

i'd been curious about the place for awhile but have been waiting to get more feedback on it. (come on, good peruvian food in williamsburg?) chimu had finally accumulated a respectable number of reviews and they are all pretty positive. . so given the position to coordinate dinner, i decided to go for it.

debs and i headed straight there from work and beat the boys. there were only a few parties there so we had our pick of tables. the restaurant is nice & dimly lit (but not too dim) and the restaurant was on the small side. the decor was nothing impressive, but that's not something that i look for in an authentic, ethnic restaurant.

after we sat down at a table near the fountain, the waitress brought out a small dish of salted corn kernals to snack on. once the boys came, i ordered a malbec from argentina and looked over the menu. we decided to order two appetizers and two entrees and a side to eat family style.

we started with a lightly fried mashed potato patty stuffed with chopped meat, black olives, eggs, topped with a spicy green creole sauce. i think i've found the peruvian equivalent to comfort food! the second ap was ceviche mixto and the restaurant was quite generous with its portion size and array of seafood- mussels, shrimp, white fish, calamari, and crab. the ceviche was fresh and well seasoned but not exceptional.

the entrees included one meat and one seafood dish. grilled steak served on a bed of rice and bean risotto sounds basic but was probably the best dish of the evening. the steak was succulent and perfectly cooked to medium rare. crispy calamari, shrimp, white fish, mussels topped with bermuda onions, yellow peppers, juilane, and lime juice was fried with a little too much batter to my liking. although the creole sauce was meant for the steak, i felt it was a bettter sauce for the fried seafood. the fried sweet plaintain would have been improved by more crispness.

while chimu does not beat the peruvian restaurants of LA (thanks e), it provided us with a plentiful and tasty meal enjoyed among good friends and conversation.

mountain patrol

went and saw a movie sunday afternoon with some friends.

kekexili: moutain patrol, like many chinese movies, was actually previously released in china a couple years ago. further, like many mainland chinese movie, it was thoroughly depressing and almost everyone dies at the end. nonetheless, while it was slow at times, the movie was quite good and exposed me to a part of china i'm not very familiar with. . namely the northwestern region of tibet that borders xinjiang.

in the movie, there is a civilian group that has formed the mountain patrol. their main purpose is to stop the poaching of tibetan antelope, a species that was being quickly decimated by hunters for their fur. harsh weather conditions- snow, high altitude, and deserts don't make for a great environment for farming let alone living. i appreciated how the director did not stereotype the characters into "good" and "bad" guys. instead, we see how individuals are motivated by the need to survive, greed, pride, etc.

check it out, although it's definately a downer, it's worth watching!

going outside the comfort zone

decided to stay in last night and relax. asleep by midnight and had a glorious 9 hours of sleep. . haven't felt so refreshed in awhile. . . i remembered that the spinning class at my gym starts at 10 AM. . so i threw on my gym clothes and rushed to the gym. this my friends, was a milestone for me. . . an attempt to step outside my comfort zone.

you see, i've never taken exercise classes before. . . while i love the gym, i've always shied away from the aerobics/kickboxing/jazzercise/yoga, etc classes. i am not the most coordinated person and get way too self-conscious in front of groups. i'd much rather hop on a treadmill, elliptical, or row machine and pound away. . . but spinning had always sounded appealing and doesn't involve tricky footwork, lunges, etc.

the class was pretty full, only one bike was remaining by the time everyone was settled. there i picked a bike in the far back corner-where i wouldn't be too conspicuous. the next hour consisted of alternating between spinning rapidly and recovery and climbs at various intensities to loud, heart thumping music. . .the work out was incredible and kicked my ass . . .though i made the mistake of wearing running shorts opposed to biking shorts-luckily i didn't end up with chafed thighs. the only downside of spinning is that my lack of a bondunkadunk left me somewhat sore from the hard seat.

nevertheless, i am a spinning convert!!! and who knows, maybe i'll finally try yoga

compliments

last night vk came over for dinner. she brought the groceries and helped me cook. an old standby- broiled trout stuffed with lemon and bay leaves served with aioli sauce which we paired with an endive and pear salad. . yummy. .

in any case, the discussion turned to compliments. more specifically, what does it mean when a boy does not give his girl enough compliments. i know a girl who is simply gorgeous, stunning actually, always turns heads when she's out. yet her boy never acknowledges her appearance, rarely tells her she's pretty/beautiful/etc. is this because he is insecure and doesn't want her to realize that she is hot and then go out and find someone else? perhaps she will cling to him more because she's insecure. . regardless, it creates an unhealthy cycle. the girl feels unsure about her desirability, afterall, shouldn't the boy who she's with- who claims to love and adore her, affirm his attraction and interest in her? so then, not being able to get this attention at home, it creates a need to get noticed and praised by others outside the relationship.

vk then proposed that on the flip side, being overly complimentary can get annoying or seem desperate. . . i don't know if i agree. i think as long as it is sincere, girls appreciate being complimented. . .

so lesson to all the boys, if you've got a woman you love and you want to keep her, treat her like a princess and let her know you appreciate her. not just in the looks department but in other areas too. . it's really that simple, yet not enough guys do it. at the end of the day, most women are insecure at worst and have moments of insecurity at best and need to be told that we are beautiful.

trying too hard

on the 6 uptown to work, there was an asian guy wearing a plaid vest, jeans, carrying an army green messenger bag, and sunglasses. sunglasses. inside. in the subway. where no light comes in.

i never understood why people where sunglasses inside buildings or when it's dark out. are they hiding something? bags? a black eye? my guess is they (1) spent a shitload of money on them and want to get their money's worth outta them or (2) they think it looks cool.

i think it's a turn off.

i remember once in my freshman or sophomore year of highschool there was this guy that i was crushing on. we met through a literary group that i was co-editor of. the boy was very tall, cute, intense, and a poet. things were going well- he was digging me and i was digging him. until he came into a meeting wearing sunglasses. inside. where it was dimly lit. needless to say, that was the end of my crush.

fire in the hood

on my way home from the gym i noticed that there were thick gray clouds of smoke in the sky. helicopters were flying around. people were standing outside their doors pointing upwards and talking about the fire nearby.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/02/nyregion/02cnd-fire.html?hp&ex=1146628800&en=3d10e024967f191e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

a little too close to home. . .

memory lane

saturday q2, tchan, and i took a stroll down memory lane. after parking across the street from my old apartment, we made our way to the cheese shop on dog street. i ordered my usual veggie sandwich (lentils, diced tomatoes, onions, capers on foccacia with aspen mustard). q2 got the combo (turkey and VA ham) and her boy got the smoked salmon. . .in all my travels and hoods, i've never found a place that serves better sandwiches. . .hmmm. good thing it's only 30 minutes away from my folks home and i can still visit a few times a year:)

next stop was the bookstore where q2 and i bought w&m gear for ourselves, jpan, and theng. (i'm obsesses with college logo shorts!) after loading up on various gifts from the wine cellar and the peanut shop, we stopped at the university center. sitting down in the lobby, we reminisced over the many hours spent there preparing for taste of asia performances, wmap meetings, late night studying, etc. next we walked through the sunken gardens where q2 recounted her experiences streaking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_William_and_Mary).

after a quick visit to her old dorm it was time to head up to richmond for the bbq to celebrate the marriage of one group's member, tang, and the newlyweds return to the u.s. *q2, jpan, tang, and i had all been close friends in college- brought close by starting and executing a study-abroad program in china.* their marriage is truly a beautiful thing- rarely does one find two people more in love, compatible, and passionate about one another. . q2 hit in on the mark when she said their story gives one hope and a relationship to aspire to.

the bbq was essentially a cso reunion. it was a wonderful evening, catching up with peeps i hadn't seen in 5 years, looking at wedding photos, and playing taboo. sunday morning, tang met up with us at our hotel to have some girl talk time. there was both happy and heavy conversation. good stuff. we vowed to meet up at least once a year- no matter how busy and crazy our lives get. i'm feeling all warm and fuzzy and thanking my lucky stars for being blessed with friends and family that love me so much. . .

back in the nn

am beat. just rolled back to my folks house in nn with Q2 and her boy. my parents picked us up at RIC and we went to mekong restaurant- their current favorite restaurant.

excellent vietnamese food.

to start- we each had bi cuon- shredded pork wrapped with rice paper, goi cuon- shrimp & pork wrapped with rice paper, banh xeo - vietnamese crepe, and an incredible vietnamese salad with lotus root, shrimp, pork, and other delicious things that i couldn't place. as main dishes, my mom ordered canh chua- a tamarind based sour soup with lots of veggies and seafood, stewed fish in a clay pot, and beef stir fried with lemon grass.

after disappointing ventures to ny vietnamese restaurants, it was nice to have an authentic vietnamese meal. the bi cuon and stewed fish tasted just like my mom's.

despite drinking a very strong vietnamese ice coffee, sleep deficiency and my full belly are lulling me to bed. must rest up for tomorrow- a trek through w&m, visiting old college hangouts, and a bbq/college reunion/wedding celebration in richmond.

moving on up

so we brought in a temp this afternoon to help me with some mass mailings. kind of weird cuz i was in that position only a few months ago. . . i remember the mindless printing, stuffing, & internet research.

she seems like a nice girl and she worked pretty steadily. . couldn't really assess any of her skills given that she was only stuffing envelopes and putting labels on them. bb said that if there is a need then we can start having her come in on fridays to help put together kits, filing, etc. which would be great, allow me to focus on the new project we landed and get my first real taste of large-scale event planning.

better than tea leaves

http://www.xanga.com/supanova1000/477211544/so-true.html

thanks again maekre for a l'harious link!

muy bien

met up with blondie last night at mercadito in the LES (Ave B b/n E 11th and 12th). the restaurant was very cozy and seemed to be just a tiny hole in the wall type place with only six or so tables and a bar area. but then the host led us back past the bar and for a second i thought we were going to go through the kitchen, but lo and behold we were steered down a small set of stairs to a more open and lovely dining area.

the waitress was friendly- offered her suggestions and listed the specials. of note- the restaurant had a serious collection of fine tequilas (something my friend conroy would appreciate) and she pointed out that they served "mexican tapas" and that dishes were to be shared. after a few minutes of deliberation, we ordered the mango guacamole, red snapper ceviche and mahi mahi ceviche, skirt steak tacos, and the battered/deep fried fish.

perhaps the festive atmosphere of the restaurant, our laid back mood, or the quality of the food allowed us to overlook the few mishaps from the wait staff with bringing out our orders. the guacamole was excellent. although i generally like guacamole, i'm not an enthusiast so i was surprised at how much i enjoyed it. very flavorful, hints of sweetness, smoothness, and smokiness. the ceviche was only so-so, although i appreciated the presentation. it was served on chilled on ice with a side of flat clay colored crackers. the tacos were the best part of the meal. blondie and i debated which was better and finally settled on the fish. it was lightly fried and balanced well with diced vegetables.

definately a wonderful dining experience and i'll certainly go back when i want to splurge on gourmet mexican.

best part of the afternoon

around 4:30 PM when BB wants me to go for a coffee run and pays for my tall vanilla soy latte. yumm. otherwise i'm too cheap for starbuckus. double bonus when the weather is gorgeous and i haven't had a break all day. . .

joining the gym

i finally broke down and joined the local gym on sunday. in efforts to save money, i've been trying to run outside instead with the end result being inconsistent workouts, deteriorating knees, and a developing farmer's tan.

i can't tell you what a difference it has made. the gym is 3 blocks from my apartment, the facilities are all pretty new, good range of cardio (some with tv/dvd players) and weight machines, early hours (opens at 5am m-f), sauna in the ladies' locker room, etc. . the big plus, seeing hipsters work out!!!

i worked out sunday afternoon and watched the tail end of "sleepless in seattle" and the beginning of "fools rush in" (gotta love tbs on a sunday). the past two mornings i've gotten to the gym by 6:30 AM, been out by 7:30, and to work by 9AM. i'd forgotten how much i love morning workouts and catching the today show.

transitioning to a new office culture

i like my company's officue culture. very low-key. we do our work, keep late hours, and tend to keep to ourselves. all of us have ipods and crank it up when it's time to get down to serious work. dress requirements are pretty lax as long as you look presentable and fashionable. and we all have occasional days of rolling in looking like slobs.

moreover, we take care of ourselves- especially because we are a start-up with only four employees (in the NY branch). for example. . .the president makes her own travel plans, gets her own lunch, etc. our vp makes an occasional coffee run. etc.

moving into a new office space, i'm discovering some interesting habits and rules of the company we are subletting from.

1. people like to sing and play music in their office
i love jazz, but if i have to hear smooth jazz 4 days a week for years, i'm going to lose it.


2. there is serious lock down and security (i'm talking oceans 11 style with infrared motion detectors and stuff).
the first full week of being here, the pres and vp somehow contributed to setting of the alarm which alerted NYC police and key people from our subletter company. now we have to

3. they love committees!
they have a kitchen committee!! that decides when to clean out the fridge, what coffee to order, and everyone votes on it. and after we set off the alarm (see 2), some committee decided we will have a sign in sheet/sign out sheet to make sure no one has been locked in.

4. they love to talk and gossip
after we ordered our own water cooler, i had two people come ask me about it. .

Office Worker: ooo, i heard you guys got your own water!!! how nice!!

V: um, yea.

translation: how did you hear that? are you spying on us?

seriously though, everyone is super duper friendly and going out of their way to make us feel at home. . it's just that we sometimes prefer to not talk to anyone and hole up behind our office doors. . . in any case, it's a million steps up from maddyM at the last office. . tales of her to follow!!!

switching things up

ever since i ran a marathon last year, i've been plagued by knee problems. runner's knee where my leg would buckle in the middle of running. . and not sore knees which i recently found was from too much track running. so i've been experimenting with my routine (alternating directions every 2-4 laps which gets kind of annoying b/c i lose my pace), taking ibuprofen before my run, stretching a little afterwards, and icing down myknees.

this morning i got up on the early side and decided to run across the williamsburg bridge. oy vey! it was a good 40 minute run from my apt to the LES and back so i ran to mcarren park and did another lap to tack on a few minutes. it was a fun run, got some variation in elevation, views of the NY skyline, and change of routine albeit annoying catcalls from construction workers.

quickly showered and got ready for work and even managed to stop by whole foods and chat with biggie-S in the flower section. picked up a bunch of sunflowers for the office and was done with the arrangement and answering the phone by 9AM. sweetness.

u know u are looking ruff when. . .

had the following delightful conversation with my boss today.

boss: is something the matter?

v: nope, everything is cool.

boss: you look tired and you aren't wearing any make-up.

translation: you look like shit. damn, you musta had a rough night.

v: um, actually, i'm wearing everything.

only consolation is that my boss is a woman and acts chinese and noticing (and pointing out) that kind of stuff is normal. . . sigh. . must get sleep.

dining disappointment

saturday morning had plans to meet up with VK and Q2 for a tea tasting at sympathy in a kettle on astor place. . .VK got a little sidetracked and so i sat outside waiting. sitting there in the sun and gradually feeling more and more dehydrated and hungover, i was feeling pretty miserable. by the time VK actually met up with me, i was dying to get some food and h20 in my system to balance out all the alchohol. a yummy ham and cheese crepe and a couple glasses of water helped a bit.

VK and i had some success with shopping. . .i got two pencil skirts for work. VK got a nice top and dress for work.

afterwards, nels and i met up at pearl river mart to buy fabric and miscellaneous stuff. after agonizing for an hour of what fabrics to pick, looking at knives and woks, and picking up a few vases for work, we headed out to chinatown for dinner.

i have been hearing good things about doyer, a vietnamese restaurant on doyer street. i was immediately thrown off when all i heard was cantonese coming from the wait staff and manager and the fact that most of the diners were non-vietnamese. we ordered goi cuon, canh chua- sweet and sour soup with fish, and squid stirfried with lemongrass. all in all, the food was decent but not spectacular. . . but i might have to give the restaurant a second chance and try ordering some of their other dishes. . sigh, i do miss san gabriel. . .

sunday i enjoyed the nice weather and did a 7 mile run. in the afternoon i fought my way through trader joes. damn that place is a zoo. . i had to channel my inner buddha to not get angry with the other customers. . they really need to do something about the lines. it's impossible to shop there because the check out line wraps around half the store.

my dinner plans with Q2 got postponed for sunday night so i called up george to see what he was up to. we decided to grab dinner at the lodge on grand and havemeyer then go to zebulon, a jazz/live music venue in willie-b that i've been meaning to check out for ages. lodge, designed like an alpine ski loft, seemed promising. george ordered the fried chicken and i ordered the hanger steak. we chatted and waited for what seemed like ages. one by one, the tables around us were served their food before us. after forty five minutes of waiting, george called a waiter over and asked what was taking so long. the waiter explained that the fried chicken normally takes half an hour as they make it from scratch. they bring us some bread with olive oil. our waitress finally comes over and offers to give us an appetizer on the house. another fifteen minutes go by and george calls another server over and asks when our order was placed in the kitchen. the server says that it was places ten minutes ago. . . by now, both george and i are pretty upset and decide to walk out. the waitress offers to comp our meal but we leave any way to make our point. this was the first time in my life that i've ever walked out of a restaurant. the situation could have been handled a lot better by the wait staff. i normally try to be laid back when it comes to eating out in a restaurant, i've worked in a restaurant before and i know it is a tough job. . . but our waitress made two mistakes, she did not check on us and our order to make sure everything was okay. and once she did, she avoided dealing with us rather than stepping in and apologizing early on.

needless to say, i will never go back to the lodge again.

taking out the trash

Damn passive aggressive men. My company has a great IT guy, pmonkey. We were rescheduled to move on Tuesday, April 11th. Unfortunately, pmonkey would be out of town and insisted that we should wait a day so that he could do the move for us. B didn’t want to postpone the move any later than we’d have to. Unwillingly, pmonkey offered to have his partner come in and do the move for us as an alternative. B decided to go with that option and pmonkey did not look happy.

Everything was set to go. I triple confirmed all the vendors and tech peeps assisting with the move. Tuesday morning, pmonkey’s stand in called to cancel, saying that he was tied up with something else and wouldn’t be able to make it. Needless to say, we were not happy and B had some choice words for the guy. Fortunately for us, our phone guy was able to help us out and spent the entire day getting our phones and DSL up and running. Catastrophe averted.

This morning I got a call from pmonkey and what followed was a highly frustrating conversation:

Pmonkey: I heard about what happened.

Translation: I told you so

V: We need you to help us get our printers and the other computers connected to the network.

Pmonkey: The earliest I can come in is on Friday.

Translation: If you aren’t going to have me do your work in the first place, then I’m not going to go out of my way to accommodate you.

V: Well, it was your partner that bailed on us so one of you should be doing something to help us get out of this mess.

Pmonkey: Well if I cancel on one of my other clients, that is no different from what my partner did to you.

Translation: I told you so.

V: There is absolutely no way you can come earlier?

Pmonkey: I gave B many many opportunities to wait one day and have me do it.

Translaltion: I told you so. That’s what you bitches get.

V: We were paying double rent and couldn’t delay moving.

Pmonkey: I understand that. But I can’t help you.

Now, I really hate how he’s being so passive aggressive. He doesn’t have the balls to say this shit to B but keeps on throwing it at me. I don’t want to deal with this so we start looking for a new tech guy that can help ASAP. I get another call.

Pmonkey: So I found some friends that can come and fix things up tonight.

V: That’s okay, we got it covered.

Pmonkey: So does that mean you don’t need anyone.

V: Yup. We found someone that can come tonight.

Pmonkey: Is that just for this job? Or are you replacing me.

V: You’ll have to speak to B about that.

Pmonkey: okay.

Click.

B calls me later and asks if I spoke with Paul. She says that he can get someone to cover for him tonight. I told her about our conversation. She was surprised that he hadn’t mentioned being replaced to her. Say it with me: passive aggressive. Boys better watch out. I may be nice and polite but that doesn't mean I am a pushover.

in all fairness

male or female- i guess there's just a lot of psychos, weirdos, cheaters, and liars out there.

http://www.rudegirlfriend.com/

thanks maekre for the link!

cheaters beware

gotta love the internet.

www.dontdatehimgirl.com

econ speak: lowering the cost of information sharing

friday highlights

dinner with george was long overdue. having missed his big birthday party last month, i wanted to treat him to a nice meal out. so we settled on dokebi on grand in willie-b. i had been so excited not to have to trek all the way out to k-town for good korean food.

we met up around 7pm and there were only a couple groups sitting down- no wait. the decor was a bit off. the floor tiles and the small square tables were reminscint of a cafeteria. there were cutesy cartoon prints on the walls. but this was all offset by the nice wooden tables with grills in the center. the music ranged from hip hop to soulful korean pop. we ordered a kim chi sampler and a single order of bulgolgi and a single order of steak cubes (marinated ribeye dipped in olive oil). the waitress mixed our order up and brought two orders of the bulgogi. the meat was pretty good. however, i felt the food was watered down korean- despite having lettuce leaves to wrap the rice, veggies, and meat in, the rice was mixed with red bean and the kim chi and side dishes were subpar.

over dinner, i was telling george about my conversation with my mom earlier in the afternoon.

momma V: so what are you doing tonight?

translation: do you have a date?

V: oh, just going to hang out with george. i'm taking him out for his birthday dinner.

momma V: that sounds nice. which friend is that again?

translation: hmm, are you interested in him. is he a potential boyfriend?

V: you remember. we had dinner with him back in october. he's one of nels' best friends.

momma V: (blurting out in desperation/confusion) Does anyone like you?

translation: what's wrong with you? why doesn't anyone like you? why aren't you looking for a husband? you aren't getting younger. . .

V: um, no mom, i guess not.

trial by water

last night, VK and i went to the culture project to see trial by water a play about two vietnamese brothers who are fleeing to america by boat. what was supposed to be a one-two week trip becomes a tragedy as the boat gets stranded at sea, passengers begin to fall ill and die, and people resort to cannibalism. while the script itself was well written and the story was certainly compelling, haunting, and at times gory (i won't be eating sushi for at least a week), i felt some of the actors were overacting/reaching and a little more restraint would have created a deeper impact.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930037?categoryid=33&cs=1&nid=2562

after the play, VK i went to taisho on astor place and feasted on various skewers, japanese pancake, and grilled rice mound. delicious and simple food. i felt like i could have been in some tiny bar/restaurant in tokyo.

adjustments

i started working full time this week- 4, 10 hour days. it's a sweet arrangement as i get fridays off and can use that time to work on the whole event planning thing. but i'm not used to working 10 hour days and am exhausted. it's also been getting busy with earnings season beginning. i imagine i'll get used to it after a couple of weeks.

hopefully our office move will go through smoothly next tuesday and we'll be in a much bigger space and i won't have to share an office with my boss. it's been working out fine, but can be kind of stressful at times.

debs leaves for spain on saturday. . .i think it'll be a tame couple weeks while she's gone. but, i'm looking forward to some down time and getting back into a routine. would like to fit more reading, exercise, and exploring the city into my schedule.

trying to look at the bright side

last night i went with k-flo to a sports bar called still to watch the UCLA-Florida basketball game. her company was sponsoring free diet mt. dew drinks, $1 draft beer, and free wings. i was excited, there were nice flat screen t.v.'s and they actually turn the volume of the game and play music only during the commercial breaks. moreover, we got prime seats despite a crowded bar.

oh so quickly were my hopes dashed. florida pulled ahead of ucla by over ten points fairly early on and ucla simply couldn't catch up. florida was just outplaying ucla.

i know i should just be happy that ucla has made it as far as they had considering the bad shape they were during the lavin era. . .but i believe that howland has worked some miracles considering its only been a couple years since he's taken over. . and the same boys are playing much more consistently then they used to and are stronger overall. i imagine a championship win is in the near future. . .

hmm. . . i don't think k-flo will invite me to another office party again. . i was so entrenched in the game that i barely made small talk.