Onesies

I don’t think the word “weird” suits us anymore. We’ve reached the boundaries of “crazy,” “freaks,” and maybe even “special needs.”

Yes, that’s right. The girls and I are back!

The night started off relatively normal. We had dinner at Celestino’s in Pasadena. It was a nice Italian restaurant with actual Italian employees. Very authentic feel.

So we all wore dresses/skirts which became rather uncomfortable after how much we all ate. So I joked around about buying pajamas to change into when we head over to Amy’s place. Well, it didn’t become so much a joke anymore.

I introduce you to the wonders of Target. We found onesies!

So Amy’s house became this:

And this:

I’m posting the “mild” pictures. You’ll have to check facebook for the real deal.

Anyway, I’m exhausted! Ying came over last night and we were talking til at least 230 am. Then I had to drive her home in the fog which was terrifying! I woke up early this morning to meet with one of my facilitators from training who was in town for the USC vs. Notre Dame game (his wife is a Fighting Irish alumnus). We had a nice brunch at Toast and then I was off for more 命中注定 with my language partner.

A good, restful weekend. Now the hell begins.

Thanksgiving 2008.

I need to be more careful of what I write because the little one (or should I say big?) also reads this blog.

Gotta keep things PG-13 until she gets to college. Only … how many more years Guistinna? Seven?

Anyway, thanksgiving at my house is always a scene. It’s a Cambodian buffet – beef salad, bbq beef, pickled vegetables, bbq chicken, pineapple fried rice, and, of course, chinese dessert. Delicious! I joke with my cousin that we should start changing tickets to get into the house because of the high turnout (at least 40 -50 relatives and friends!). To make it Thanksgiving, we squeeze in a turkey, some mashed potatoes, and gravy in the evening, but the beef salad is the main attraction. At least for me. : )

I must admit that it’s so nice to take a break from work and just chill in my room and be a hermit. I think I’ve been letting stress get the best of me, which is terrible, because I don’t deal with it as well as I should. The last thing I want to do is bring other people down; I haven’t been a fun person to talk to lately, so I apologize.

Recently, I’ve been finding myself in a predicament. My closest friends are still in school (or in the process of applying) and thus have a clear understanding of what their lives will be like for the next few years. I have no idea where things will take me. It’s scary to realize how much I don’t know about myself – what I want in life, what I’m good at, what I want to pursue as a career. But the one thing I absolutely know for sure is where I want to be. And most of you understand how passionate I am about making this come true in the next year.

Of course, watching 命中注定我爱你 only pushes me even harder to make that leap. I don’t know how much longer I can be patient. I don’t know if I can wait. Carpe Diem, right? I just want to seize the moment.

I think I may be overly dramatic right now. Watching four episodes hour-and-half-long of the aforementioned Taiwanese drama (in one day!) can do that to you. It’s definitely one of my favorite shows of all time! It’s dangerously addicting – I dare say more so than House or the Colbert Report (*gasp*). 好好看啊！

Anyway, I’m just grateful to be with my family and friends. Knowing that everyone is doing well makes me content. I also get to see the girls tomorrow!

So I end with a photo with me and the little little one, Anita. She said all these fantastic one liners today. If only I could recall them … I’m sure I’ll give you another update about her when we set up the Christmas tree on Saturday.

Line of the night:

“那我告诉你一秘密。 如果不因为有老公的话，我回想追你啊。”

 

加油，欣椅！

Happy Early Bday to Me

I couldn’t resist temptation. 

J.Crew has to be one of my favorite brands (The Limited is still my #1) … though all I own from the store is two dresses, one sweater, one bikini bottom, a pair of shoes, and a bra. On average, I purchase one item per year from the store; it’s just way too pricey to be a regular shopper.

But, I just bought this today:

And this

Total: $230

I’ve been wanting boots for such a long time! Boots + Skirt = Hot. Agreed? I only hope that the boots fit well and don’t hurt. Because that would just make me sad. 

Happy early birthday to me! Only 1.5 months til the real thing … TWENTY-FOUR.

 

(I apologize for the rather materialistic entry. Oh well.)

The cast

The cast of 命中注定，我爱你. No, I didn’t get to meet them. This is courtesy of google images.

But still … !!!

 

Updated

Says Gerick:

G (2:15): the guy on the right is cuter

G (2:15): don’t like that hairy shit on the left

Hahahahahaha.

And you thought nice guys finished last

Linda (1:47): im every guy’s cool girl pal

Linda (1:47): but thats it

Elaine (1:49): step off that ladder!

Linda (1:49): i know

(cursing on my behalf ensues)

So exhaustingly tired, but at least I’m in a good mood. Oh Fridays – you make my day.

Just finished watching Iron Man. Haha, I don’t care what you think of Robert Downey Jr. but he’s one talented actor! And Gwenth Paltrow is beautiful in the film!

Also had all-you-can eat shabu shabu at Kushi Shabu with the aloha boys in Little Tokyo. Delicious. 

Helluva Week

It’s been insane these past few days. I’ve been rushing to finish my errands/assignments before I head to bed, so there hasn’t been much time to update, even though I have good material!

For starters, check out wordle! It creates a collage of words based on text that you feed it. You can even send them a link to your blog and it’ll put together something sweet. Gerick sent me mine and it looks something like this:

Check out the words that pop out. Haha. Gerick says I should lay off words like “David,” “Upset,” and “Life.”

So I wrote one of my friends an email asking if he wanted to join Gerick/Brian/Neil and I for dinner tomorrow night. He replies with “does a bear like salmon?!” Of course, I was confused so I forward the email to Gerick. Gerick replies with:

And

I was laughing outloud at work for a good ten seconds. Oh friends.

I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday. Dinner with friends and then hours of 命中注定 like there’s no tomorrow.

Sundays are Chinese Days

Woke up at 9 am to a ringing cell phone – a call from an unknown number. A smile crept across my face. I was expecting a call from David, whom I haven’t spoken to in five months since Asian Invasion. Finally. We actually scheduled the call since we’re both rather busy these days. As David said, it felt like a conference call. Haha. Anyway, I cleared my throat and then began our two hour conversation between Los Angeles and Kuwait. Thank heavens for the new Google Voice application. Quality is great, and best of all, it’s free!

Spent my morning (his late evening) discussing my LGTA 2009 plans, his new job, and updates (or lack of) about my life. He gave helpful advice, which I’ll take into consideration as winter approaches. Of course, the best part is reconnecting. I’m grateful that we’re still great friends, no matter how much time or distance stands between us. 

All the morning discussion about China put me in a great mood when it came time to meeting my language partner, Renee, at USC. We finished watching the Chinese version of “Cellular” and started this Taiwanese series called “命中注定， 我爱你。” It’s such cute and ridiculous stuff. Plus, I find the lead actor rather handsome/hot! 

Okay, I really would like to continue with this blog but the Theraflu is kicking in. Theraflu is awesome by the way. It’s practically warm lemonade. Delicious.

Belated: College Summit/Clippers Game

I forgot to post these from last Friday:

I drove out to Sylmar again to visit my College Summit peer leaders on their Homecoming Day. Ah, I remember the drama that went down during my senior year for Homecoming. Haha, it’s no wonder that I never got asked to my senior prom. Anyway, Andrea and I caught up over pizza during lunch. It makes me happy to see her get excited over her first date in a long time … it’s very cute. Anyway, I’m trying to organize a college visit fieldtrip for the students one of these Saturdays when I’m free. Anyone interested in helping out?

Then I drove 40 miles back home to visit Ms. Boyd at Garvey. She still remembers me! I wish I took a photo but I forgot … Boo. Next time.

And to conclude my awesome Friday, I finally got to hang out with best friend Ken again. He got box seat tickets to the Clippers vs. Houston game. It was sweet like sugar, baby.

 

From the box. Whoo! I told Ken to get me Laker tickets. We shall see if he follows through!

Time?

I used to be better at juggling things. What the heck happened?!

I feel as though I’m constantly running out of time, chasing from the tail of one event to another.

Okay, I have to get back to studying. I need to finish this case study then get ready and head over to meet with my language partner in 45 minutes … oh crap. Then, case study meeting in Los Feliz. 

To add to my Christmas list:

FREE TIME.

K.I.T.

It’s quality over quantity when it comes to relationships.

I’m not a good brown noser and could use some tips on networking. Sometimes people mistaken my actions as “sucking up” to someone. Here’s an example: I like to bring donuts for my team every once in a while. I’m not trying to impress anyone here. We don’t have cops working at our firm. It’s just common sense that warm, fluffy sugary dough makes everyone happy. And hell, I like donuts too.

What I am is genuine when it comes to maintaining strong relationships. I don’t need lots of friends, but the ones that I keep are those who are stuck with me for life (suckers). Tonight, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside because of a few people.

Here are four relationships that demonstrate what keeping in touch means to me:

1. I’m taking the day off to visit my College Summit students tomorrow at their high school in Sylmar. We’re having a pizza party and I’m going to bring some material on scholarships to share with them. (I went to Target after work to buy goodies: chips and cookies!) But we’ll probably spend most of our time discussing the homecoming dance and football game since it’s tomorrow. High school gossip – can’t get enough of it. I’m excited to see Matt (my kids’ English teacher), Andrea (my student who will be profiled by my firm), and Kim (fellow writing coach).

2a. Brendan, one of my classmates who I met while studying in Beijing, finally emailed me back regarding LGTA 2009! It was incredibly encouraging to have someone understand my goals and the tough dilemma. It’s been over three years since I’ve seen him or talked to him, but it meant a great deal to have his support, even though he’s halfway around the world in Shanghai. I’m excited and pumped about executing LGTA 2009. I’m definitely not going to let anyone or thing stop me in my tracks.

2b. Speaking of Asia, David has also been keeping in better touch with me. This alone deserve praise, my old wise friend! It usually takes him a month or two to get back to me, but we’ve been pretty good about sending at least one or two emails every other week. Now, this doesn’t sound unusual, but with David working and living in Kuwait with access to regular dial-up internet, that’s pretty impressive.

3. I will also be visiting my favorite and most influential teacher of all time, Ms. Jill Boyd, at Garvey Intermediate tomorrow. It’s been almost a decade since I’ve seen her. Middle school sucked; I can’t tell you how glad I was when I finally transitioned to high school. I was your typical story of a nerd trying to fit in with the cool kids. But during this time, I had Ms. Boyd turn all my attention to two of my most important passions to date: reading & writing. I’ll never forget reading my autobiographical incident to the class and hearing their reaction. I actually felt like I had something to say that someone would listen to. And this was a huge accomplishment, especially as a former ESL student.

4. Finally, my dear Ken. Best friends for over 9 years now. One of my few high school pals still living in LA who understands the highs and lows of my career. Ken’s inviting me to a Clippers game tomorrow and we either get to sit in his company’s box or in the 10th row! I’m super stoked. Things have been drifting apart now that Ken has his lady friends, but I’m glad he remembers “bros before ho’s.” I guess that makes me a bra. 

 

Feeling content. I can’t ask for more in this circumstance. : D