The Floodgates Are Open...

if theres an asian mom with a single son thats in their 30's in san diego, theres a good chance that at some point my mom will be passing off my email or cell phone number to them. i just got back from the most surreal three hour lunch where i found myself eating with an "aunt" i just met two nights ago, her friend and their son who conveniently was home for the holidays from sf. i know its my own fault i get myself into these situations but when some random aunt i just barely met calls to invite you to lunch and wont take no for an answer (i tried i really did but quite feebly), i just dont know how to say no to them. theres only so much protesting i can do in chinese and for some reason when im in the presence of these aunts and uncles, i automatically turn into a meek kid who goes along with everything they say and these days, it seems to be introducing me to as many guys as possible in the hopes of getting me married off. it was kind of funny initially but now im a little tired of it.

and so this was how i found myself pulling up today at her house to meet this guy and as they were running late, i spent a good part of a hour just talking to the aunt which turned out to be pretty interesting. its rare that i get to sit down with an older adult these days and talk about their background and what it was like when they first came to the states and for her, shes currently in her 70's and out of 8 brothers and sisters, she was the first of them to make it out here on her own. she knew no english and had to borrow money and live off of scholarships all at the age of 23.

one of the things she did mention was that she had wanted to set up my mom at one point with this guy who was very family-oriented and very well to do but he was snatched up by another mom who was quite aggressive in chasing him. what do you even say to something like that? i could only sit and nod and thank silently to myself that it never happened. apparently setting up the female yangs is quite popular these days.

but when they finally arrived, it turned out to be the mom, the dad, and the son. it was so bizarre. the dynamic was incredibly weird because it felt like i was on a first date (blind no less) but already meeting the parents for their approval. they were asking me all the standard questions about where i grew up, what i did for a living and i could see little excited exchanges between the aunt and the mom whenever he asked me a question because that meant maybe he was interested and we were getting along. or when i spoke in chinese i could see slight nods of approval among them and the fact that i was an accountant was definitely a selling point although im not really sure why exactly.

it then got slightly more awkward when after lunch, they insisted that the two of us go walk around outside so we could enjoy the scenery and the golf course and they were so blatant about it that neither of us really knew what to do except to do that exactly. and when it had all finally come to an end, the mom had already invited me over for dinner on christmas and there was talks of me meeting their younger brother who also happens to live in sf and was driving down tomorrow. all of which i didnt quite get...i mean was i supposed to meet them both and choose?

this would be the second guy ive gone out to lunch with that has been set up by my mom and its not that theyre not nice or anything, they both are but im not exactly looking to be set up at the moment and i never know how to deal with it after. its just awkward.

some notes from a concerned brother:
as an impartial witness to this process, i feel the need to put in my two cents. first off, i've been very impressed with george's willingness to even go on these blind dates. some might chalk it up to an inability to say "no" but i believe deep down it's about respect for my mom's well-being. by agreeing to a few dates here and there, george is giving my mom a sense of empowerment and security that one of her kids will be married before the age of forty. while that has resulted in a few uncomfortable moments (okay, hours) here and there, mostly it's been a learning experience. plus george now has a rapt fan audience awaiting the results of every date. a few things i'd suggest: sneak a few photos of each date, allow one of us to tag along and sit surreptitiously at a nearby table, and provide blow by blow twitters that allow everyone to live vicariously.

we like to joke that this is a cautionary tale for anybody 30+ (especially for girls) but seriously, it is. moms love to meddle and we've been surprised at the depths/heights our mom has sunk to in order to find potential suitors. i mean, seriously, she's been leveraging all of her nascent computer skills just to get george connected to the wide world of single asian men. this coming from a woman who can barely drag and drop.

overall, i feel it's important to support george in her quest because if not her, then who? if you have any nice young single friends, please contact me and we'll fill up george's dating schedule right quick.

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan

my coworker told me about this cartoon today and im a big fan already. i love the drawings of the characters, they are adorable! and its a learning show that aims to teach kids mandarin at the same time. just based on that alone, its already a big plus in my book. the premise is described as "what it's like to be bicultural in america, as seen through the eyes of an inquisitive 5-year-old chinese american girl living within a multigenerational household. kai-lan is an empathetic playmate who lives in a fantastical world, a girl who embraces asian tradition in a contemporary milieu." i almost wish this cartoon was around when i was growing up.

the show debuted last year and was created by karen chao who is the same age as me. a bit sobering as my life is nowhere near as interesting as hers. the show is based on her childhood memories on growing up with "two overachieving brothers, a doting immigrant grandfather and a father with one foot in the old world and one in the new." she graduated from uc irvine in 2000 with a digital arts degree and had posted some of her drawings on a website where it was seen by a nickelodeon executive and it just went on from there. isnt that what everyone dreams of? to just be randomly discovered one day and land the plum job of your life.

this actually happened to one of my friends a couple years ago. she was out in colorado skiing and happened to be on the same ski lift as steve wynn and they got to talking and he asked her what her current job was (accounting) and whether it was what she wanted to do in her life. well of course nobody loves being an accountant and so her answer was that she would love to somehow be involved in the wine industry and just like that, he offered her a job as a sommelier at his soon to be opened hotel in las vegas. yes as in the wynn hotel. pretty incredible isnt it and to this day, shes still in the wine industry and has ditched accounting for good.

i often wish that my chinese was better or that i had paid more attention in chinese school instead of cheating on tests all the time or maybe had the foresight to take chinese classes during college because i would definitely want my kids to be able to speak mandarin when they grow up but seeing how mine isnt that great, im sure theirs will be even worse than mine. unless of course i marry a fob but thats highly unlikely.

ni hao, kai-lan is now going to be my default gift for my friends who seem to be getting pregnant left and right these days. assuming they are chinese of course and im going to get it for my kids too. forget dora the explorer its kai-lan all the way!

now i just need to go home and set this up on my dvr so i can watch and brush up on my chinese.

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

ive been on a new night time beauty regimen lately and it is one big pain in the ass. i went to get a facial about two months ago and was told that i needed to take better care of my skin and start using makeup remover for the face and so one hour later and $200 poorer, i came back home with a bag full of skincare products and specific instructions on when i should use each and in what order. all of which i soaked up like a sponge and have been following pretty faithfully ever since.

my routine now consists of using eyemakeup remover to get rid of, you guessed it, eye makeup, then a separate gel like product to get rid of my face makeup, face wash to clean out my pores and get rid of "impurities", skin softening toner to prep my face for the lotion, night time lotion and then last but not least, eye cream. see why its such a pain? all i did prior to this was just wash my face and put on some moisturizer which apparently is a big no no once you get to my age. 30 i learned is when you need to step it up in this department and you cant just rely on mother nature to take care of everything for you. pretty soon im going to have to start buying anti-aging products which im sure ill bitch and moan about also when the time comes.

to be fair, this new regimen only adds on about an extra fifteen minutes which isnt that bad but whereas before if i was too tired or drunk, i would just go to sleep and not bother doing anything but now that ive been admonished for it and its actually having some effect on my skin, im so paranoid about it that i dont dare go to bed without washing my face nightly.

my mom always used to tell me the story about one of her friends who has pretty bad skin and that the reason why she got that way was because she never properly removed her makeup at night. i never really paid much attention and just tuned her out like i tend to do when she starts nagging and just figured i had youth on my side anyways but now that im slowly creeping up in the years, im more cognitive than ever of making sure i try to deter those wrinkle lines from showing up for as long as i can.

the most important thing i learned from this is that you MUST use eye cream. double emphasis here. if you were to do nothing else, you have to at least do this. always at night but preferably in the morning too. apparently i started ten years late and i think i do remember the makeup artists at work telling us that eye cream is the most important item to anyones beauty routine. the way to put it on is to use your fourth finger and then pat gently in an U shape around your eyes.

im supposed to go back to my facialist soon and im a little nervous to see if my diligence each night has paid off. its a bit ridiculous but i feel like im being graded on this and dont want to disappoint her so lets hope i come back from my appointment with an A+.

Home Sweet Home

i love this picture that i took using the pano iphone app! pretty cool right? and if i say so myself, i did a pretty good job and lined everything up pretty well. at least i think i did anyways.

And The Award Goes To...

i hate to admit this but i think i may have found my perfect roomate and it comes in the form of my twin, jon. if you were to have asked me this a month ago jon might have very well been towards the bottom of my list but now he is leading the pack and there isnt a close second anywhere to be seen.

its been a little over two weeks now since he got here and weve been getting along splendidly. its even better than in high school i would say since back then i was always getting in trouble with the parents and breaking curfew while jon was considered to be the "good kid" that we didnt hang out together too much but this time around we are perfectly in sync. just last night he had pizza orgasmica waiting for me when i got home and ive gotten quite used to giving him a status update everyday of what time i plan to be home and vice versa.

part of the reason why he is such a great roomate is because he doesnt take up too much space (his stuff is neatly piled in a little corner along with two cubby holes dedicated soley to him), i dont have to worry about offending him when i tell him to clean up after himself (he even took out the trash once without me saying anything), he doesnt have a significant other over all the time and he keeps my cupboards full of junk food. actually that last part isnt so great since i usually try to refrain from snacking but it is nice to have some chips or gummies laying around when i get the urge and my fridge always has a snapple or iced coffee in there.

when he initially arrived, his first order of business was setting up his computer desk except that i dont own a desk and it worried me quite a bit that he would be putting a new permanent fixture in my apartment. this was supposed to be a temporary move after all but after some rearranging of my living room, i actually have more space now and it has worked out quite nicely. weve hit a routine lately of me coming home from work to find him bundled up on the couch, eating dinner together and then either watching one of our netflix movies or playing laptops. the only real downside i can think of is that this could very well be quite detrimental to my dating life having a brother living on my couch but seeing how my dating life these days is pretty non-existent it hasnt really mattered.

its nice having someone around to put a blanket on me when i pass out on the couch or the couple times where ive fallen asleep with my glasses on while reading only to wake up the next morning to find them placed neatly on the table next to me. im even thinking of having us download the fingerpiano iphone app so we can play duets together. all this fun is set to end soon though as he will be returning back to san diego in a couple weeks which works out well since i need to get back into study mode.

but this has me thinking that maybe we are a bit more alike than i thought, at least in hanging out terms, and this only confirms why i decided to get two matching tattoos with him.

Twins Reunite

my twin arrives tomorrow and will be staying with me for about a month and this will be the first time that just the two of us will be in such close proximity with each other for an extended period of time without the buffer of james. i always tell people that we are polar opposites in everyway imaginable and that if you were to put our two personalities together, you would cover all eight traits of the myers briggs test. that is until i actually went to a myers briggs session and had my twin take the same test and we both came out to be extroverts which was a little surprising to me.

but im starting to get excited for his arrival and letting him stay with me isnt without its rewards i must say. he already started shipping some of his amazon orders to me which began arriving last week and in one of them was the boston celtics championship dvd which i cant wait to watch and have patiently set aside for this weekend. he even gave me his account info to netflix and ive just spent the morning picking out which movies i want and moving them to the top of his queue. sorry jon your gossip girl will just have to wait.

i started off picking sicko and blood diamond but then discovered the foreign film genre selections and thats when it started getting fun. i love watching asian movies and so far ive picked up chungking express, jet li's fearless (i have to have a jet li film), harakiri and yojimbo (starring samurais! im obsessed with them for some reason) and infernal affairs for good measure. i even emailed my two favorite fobs for some recommendations on other movies i should get but i have to be selective since i only have a couple weeks to watch all this and want to make sure i can get through them all.

i even took the liberty of rearranging some of his selections in the order i want and right now theres about ten movies in total that i really want to watch. im hoping to get through as many as i can before the end of the month since i recently decided to go for the cpa exam again (yes again but ill blog about that in another posting) so my window to goof off and watch movies all day long is pretty short.

this all fits in great with my trying to save mode and i even have two movie theatres down the street from me so we can get real popcorn instead of the microwave kind! i cant wait but i hope this doesnt mean im going to want to get my own account once he leaves. it will just be another fixed monthly expense and could potentially bring my net worth down to below zero if it hasnt reached that point already.

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned

i just spent the past hour setting up a mint account, a free personal finance website that my friend recently told me about and being bored at work, i decided to take the plunge and see just how good this site is. now i should divulge that i am an accountant and that i already have the habit of logging in all my expenses to an excel spreadsheet (by category no less) so i have a pretty good idea of where my money goes each month but this site is supposed to help you find ways to "save" which piqued my interest.

after i set up my bank and credit card accounts, it calculated that my net worth is at a whopping $112. and no i didnt leave off any zeros in case you were wondering. and this was before i even put in my fixed monthly expenses. but herein lies the problem, the net worth calculation doesnt really mean anything since it doesnt take into account your incoming paychecks so its really just a timing issue. and net worth shouldnt be based on a point in time. it should be based on your net worth overall.

and on top of that, i couldnt figure out where to put in my salary info or add in my expenses that i paid for in cash or where my rent and cable go. and the alerts that are supposed to be oh so helpful are pretty useless too. all it says for example is you have spent $600 on home improvements whereas you usually spend $100. um ok? how does that help me? and right now it shows that my monthly budget should be $800 which isnt very realistic i dont think.

finally the feature that i probably find the most annoying but was the most excited to see was how they suggest you save money. its basically one big ad space for you to sign up for a new credit with a lower APR or one that is giving rebates on gas and groceries. anyone can do that on their own if they wanted to but it just isnt practical. everyone knows that its not the best idea to just sign up for credits cards nilly willy (or is it willy nilly) like that. its horrible for your credit score.

i think this is why ive always tended to stay away from these type of personal finance sites. when people find out that i record everything manually they always want to get me to start using MS money or get a pda but ive always been very opposed to it. it sounds lame i know but i like the act of writing down my expenses in my planner and then entering it into my excel spreadsheet. its comforting in a way and while i wouldnt really call it a "budget" since i always overspend, i at least know what im spending on and thats the most important.

so for the time being, i think ill stick to my trusty planner and excel spreadsheet thank you very much although my friends have been raving about this so i should probably give it another chance and play around with it some more.

Never Forget D.Y.

it was my dad's seven year anniversay yesterday and what was i doing? having brunch with a friend, figuring out how to cook bok choy at home and going house dancing at night. not exactly what one would expect on a day of mourning. i dont know why but i always feel as if on his anniversay i should be staying home, alone and reminiscing on past memories and then when i dont, i always end up feeling guilty about it. i feel guilty that somehow im being a bad daughter and because for the other 364 days of the year, i dont really think about it or it doesnt really play a big part of my daily life and that for just one day, just 24 hours, i should pay my proper respects. i feel guilty because as the years go by, i can tell that my memories are getting more fuzzy and it scares me because i dont want to ever forget but inevitably that is what is happening and i dont know what to do about it.

each year, i have a friend who will without fail text me "Never Forget D.Y." and this year, when i received it i had to pause a little as i wasnt even aware that it was the anniversary date. how sad is that right? that i needed someone else to remind me of the date. i even went with a co-worker to church last week to light a candle in memory of her mom and not once did it ever cross my mind that my dad's anniversary date was coming up.

the thing is i know that i havent really dealt with it even after all this time and the truth is that im scared. im pretty good about keeping my emotions in check and i dont know if im ready to just completely let go of my feelings like that. i was cleaning out my closet the other day and i happened to come across the death certificate, the funeral program and the "tape". the tape that ive kept hidden away all these years and for a brief second, i thought about watching it but ultimately i put it back for another time. when that time is i dont know but im thinking about getting my twin to dig up some old family videos from our family ski trips or christmas parties and to bring them up with him because ultimately my friend is right, never forget DY.

Yes We Can!

i voted for the first time in my life yesterday and it felt wonderful. ive never been very interested in politics or really bothered to pay attention since i never thought it affected my life too much but with the recent downfall of the economy, war in iraq and federal deficit, im beginning to realize just how important it is to make your voice heard. for a lot of californians, it may seem that our vote doesnt matter too much since its pretty much a sure thing that our state will be blue but just to be a part of the process and filling out my ballot gave me a sense of empowerment that i was taking part in having a say in the direction of our country. it probably didnt hurt that this was or is one of the most exciting political times in history and it was pretty near impossible to not get swept up in the movement.

i didnt always start out as an obama supporter. in fact, i was desperately hoping for hillary to win the nomination but when that didnt happen, i was undecided for a while and even considered voting for mccain. that is until he made sarah palin his running mate for vice president and while i did feel bad for her last night seeing her tear up while watching mccain give his concession speech, i have to remind myself that she would of been one step away from being our president and that was just too scary of a thought for everyone. seriously, she makes me seem qualified to run for office and i cringed everytime she spoke during her debate although i did come out of that a fervent supporter of biden.

and it all culminated last night when i attended an election party and just being around so many obama supporters when it was announced that he had won was a moment i will never forget. everyone was clapping, cheering, even crying that one couldnt help being moved. watching his victory speech gave me goosebumps and filled me with a sense of hope for the future that maybe just maybe he will be able to turn things around for the better. how can you possibly not be inspired? yes we can! out on the streets people were celebrating everywhere, cars honking left and right, firecrackers were going off and i even walked into a hailstorm of confetti although i think the girl may just have been sweeping the roof but who cares really.

the only downside to all this was that prop 8 passed which i was extremely disappointed with and yet the majority of the people had no problem with voting for more fair treatment of chickens? whats wrong with this picture? most of the other propositions went the way i had voted and it was so exciting to actually know what they were for as i spent some time reading up on them and trying to be informed. all in all it was a great night yesterday and im grateful that i was able to a part of it.

Not Too Shabby

my twin sent me a link the other day to "30 skills every woman should have before turning 30" and seeing how ive been touting how great i think my 30's will be, i thought it might be a good idea to see just how many of these skills i had learned in my twenties. it turns out i didnt do too shabby. im batting a B average which was a quite a shock to me (a good one though) as i was expecting to score much lower but the list wasnt exactly rocket science either.

out of the list below, there were five "skills" that i dont know how to do. ill let you figure out which ones but i do have to admit #26 almost got me but if you read carefully, as long as you know who to call its ok and i most certainly do. i might even have a couple of backups just in case...i wonder if that earns me any bonus points? after all, isnt it all about who you know and not what you know these days?

as for #11, does mac n' chili count? i hope so because i counted it. it only says five ingredients and theres the macaroni, cheese, butter, milk and chili. five items. and it is most delicious and would make a great dinner no doubt. bada bing badaboom. see how easy this is?

come to think of it, i really should of gotten an A on this so maybe i did fail miserably my last decade. i better go see if theres a similar list for turning forty so i can get started on that right away.

1. Hard boil an egg
2. Diplomatically tell Mom to butt-out
3. Ace a job interview
4. Ask a man out
5. Send a thoughtful thank you note
6. Listen to a friend in need
7. Ask for help
8. Effectively end an unhealthy relationship (romantic or platonic in nature)
9. Beautifully wrap a gift
10. Say “no” gracefully
11. Whip up a great dinner with the five items in her fridge
12. Forget pleasing him, by 30 a woman should be able to tell her man exactly how to please her
13. Sew a button
14. Mix a kick-ass cocktail
15. Take off her bra without removing her shirt
16. Apply lip gloss in the dark
17. Balance her checkbook
18. Create a budget
19. Find the best deal
20. Negotiate a salary and/or pay raise
21. Read a map
22. Hail a cab
23. Say something in French just for the hell of it
24. Apologize when she’s wrong
25. Dress for her body type
26. Change a flat (or know whom to call to come change it)
27. Spot a fake (handbag, diamond, potential friend…)
28. Feign interest
29. Know what to tip on a $25 dinner bill
30. Hold a baby (Hey, someone you know is bound to have one sooner or later)

Runner's High

i feel as if there is this running phenomenon going on around me and im not quite sure when all this happened or why im just noticing it for the first time now but it has inspired me to try to start up again. and by again i mean that very loosely. for a while there, i would try to run outdoors once a week and surprisingly i really liked it but for some reason or other i stopped.

but then i went to a charity bartending event last night for a friend who is training for the hawaii marathon in december and as i was talking to some of my friends there, it turned out that all of them were running in the nike half-marathon on sunday. and i didnt know this but there is actually a lottery system to see if you get selected to participate in the actual race or not. a lottery system? you mean there are people who get turned away from willingly wanting to run 13.1 miles? what is going on? they were all trying to tell me to just run it and for a minute there i entertained the thought but then came to my senses and realized ive never run 13 miles in my life not even half that but it did get me thinking, maybe with some training one of these days i could do it?

one of my roomates used to run in marathons all the time. he would even fly all over the place for them in fact and once even did this relay race at the grand canyon (i think) where the team drives along in vans and you run long into the night. it was a bit crazy and i never really understood what would make someone want to do that. then a friend's sister trained for the hawaii marathon a couple years ago and i was floored because she was never the active type from what i remember. then i have another friend who does a couple marathons/triathlons a year and just signed up for the ironman next year and told me about this book called the ultramarathon man so i bought it and read it and understood a little bit more on why someone might want to put themselves through that type of pain and that it was all a mental game.

my first glimpse of this running world was late last year when i signed up for the susan g komen 5k and ended up loving it. then i signed up for the pat tillman 4.2 mile race earlier this year and was hoping to do the susan g komen one again but ended up getting sick and had to pull out the morning of. but all these people around me running have really got me inspired so i think its time to get some new running shoes (at the same store where the ultramarathon man buys his!) and try to pick it up again.

Beauty Sleep

for the first time since i graduated from college, i have a boss that actually cares about what time i get into work in the mornings. i have always operated under the motto of who cares what time you get in as long as you get your work done and that mantra worked quite well in my first job in public accounting as that was pretty much the operative that everyone worked under. sure there were times when i was just starting out that my senior would want me to get in earlier but that usually only lasted a couple weeks before i rotated off to another client so it never affected me too much. and if you were late, nobody really said anything because how could they when you were already pulling in twelve plus hour days?

but now it has all changed and i have a boss, or the principal as we like to call him, that not only just cares about being punctual and setting a good example for the department but one that also mentally keeps track of when you get in each day. were also pretty sure that he makes the rounds each morning to see who is in and out which is quite unfortunate for me as my office is right next to his but despite all this, he is growing on me and i actually dont mind reporting to him as i thought i would initially.

before this, i was rolling into work around 9:30am everyday which isnt too bad in my book but now im expected to be in by 8:45am which realistically is not that much of a difference but that one extra hour of sleep is crucial. my body is just not used to getting up any earlier. when he first told us of this, i still kept coming in late everyday mainly because i had visitors and would stay up till the wee hours of the morning but just last week, he brought it up to me again so now ive been making an extra effort to get in on time.

surprisingly, i havent gotten in trouble or anything in fact we joke about it all the time. i even told him that i needed a couple extra days to get used to the new time schedule and he just laughed and encouraged me with "you can do it!" i am much more cognizant of my bedtime hours now though and have set up two alarms to make sure i get up on time. so far so good but lets see how long this lasts. corporate life is a bitch no?

Where's My Apple Juice?

i got sick over the weekend and usually when im sick i like to mope around the house and whine a bit and basically act like a big baby and have someone take care of me. the past couple times ive been sick i have been lucky enough to have someone around to bring me medicine and soup and just those two acts alone made me feel loved and lifted my spirits. its nice to know someone is around when you feel like your on your deathbed you know? back in april i believe, i was sick again and both jon and james just happened to be visiting and came home one night with a big bag of medicine full of tylenol, nyquil, theraflu and boy did my little self feel special.

but this past weekend, no one was visiting and i was stuck at home alone miserable and too tired to get any decent food to eat so i ended up eating two oranges and oatmeal with raisin (leftovers from when leslie was here). yes my refrigerator really is that bare. i did mean to order some takeout chinese but passed out on the couch and by the time i woke up everything was closed. herein lies the downfall of living on your own. im going a bit over two years now of having my own apartment and for the most part i love it but when im sick, my oh my do i wish i had a roomate. but instead here i was, stuck at home loopting my patheticness for my friends to see only to have some of them laugh at my picture!

thankfully i feel much better now after having being put on antibiotics from the doctor and im well on my way to recovery. i did go see a throat specialist today to figure out why in the hell i get sick so much and always with the same symptoms but that chapter will have to wait as i have another appointment in two weeks. but what i did learn today is that i have small veins. funny because ive had my blood drawn plenty of times without any problems but today, as soon as i sat down i felt nervous as i wasnt quite confident the guy knew what he was doing and i was correct in my presumption. imagine sitting there, rubber band tied around your arm and looking down and seeing a needle with a test tube attached poking into you with no blood coming out. and there we sat for a good one or two minutes it felt like while he kept poking around and i made little whimpering noises. finally he called for someone else to come in and using my other arm, she was able to fill up two test tubes quite quickly. last time i went in there, they gave me an apple juice at the end and i was expecting the same but this time, even after walking out with a bandage on each arm, nothing.

some things in life just arent fair.

Love At First Sight

i recently purchased my first iphone (3G no less) and now that i have experienced the wonders of it firsthand, i have no idea how i survived this long without one. most of my close guy friends bought their iphone when it first came out and seeing how they have always been up to date on the latest in gadgets im used to just automatically tuning them out whenever "tech speak" enter the conversation. but when i learned that the newest iphone would have gps i knew immediately that i must own one of these. next came months of waiting for my verizon contract to end and as soon as it did on 9/10, you can bet i was at the apple store the very next day to get one. and to my luck, my twin happened to be in town visiting as for something of this importance, i dared not go it alone. besides who else was going to help me pick out the perfect case for my iphone? not jon thats for sure...it turned out to be louis! he swooped in and saved the day. ha

but in all seriousness, this iphone is amazing. and mine is looking very sleek and pretty with my white case that once you see it, you will want to run out and buy one. really, everyone should get one. you dont even know what your missing out on until you have owned one of these things. i feel quite invinsible with my trusty iphone in my purse. are you lost or want to know when the next muni bus is coming? done. feel like eating a burrito but have no idea where to go? done. want to look up the difference between a midget and a dwarf? done. everything is at the reach of my fingertips.

never before have i been part of the cool tech club but now im included on email threads with the "boys" and while most of it is me asking questions, this will surely elevate our friendships to another level. i can sense it already. my twin was even nice enough to set up everything for me while i slept including downloading all the apps i could possibly want and color coordinating them no less. he even introduced me to this new app called loopt which i have been addicted to ever since.

it basically allows you to "see" where your friends are at all times. sound scary? well of course it is but as long as you only have your close friends on there and dont be stupid enough to add any work folks or gasp your significant other (for who knows what type of trouble you could get into ha) this could be the next best thing ever. loopt shows you on a map where your friends are located and allows them to update and post different pictures of what they are doing throughout the day. a mobile moblog if you will. im probably not describing it properly but trust me on this, you too will be addicted to no end. i find myself updating it all the time (havent you always wanted to know that i saw a deer take a shit?) and just the other day, i was able to tell that ameer was only a couple blocks away and quickly sent a text to see if he wanted to meet up. see the power of this thing for happy hours and get togethers?

it hasnt even been a week of me owning this thing and already im on cloud nine and in love. i still have so many more apps to play with and as soon as victor fixes the bubble on my film screen it will be the perfect iphone and everyone else can look on green with envy.

Thirty and Hot!

i celebrated turning the big 3-0 last night and even though i had been dreading it for some time, the night turned out to be much more fun than i could have ever imagined. it was pretty much the perfect birthday celebration for me being surrounded not only with my close friends here but also the fact that i was able to spend part of the night with jon and james made it that much better. it was the perfect way to end the crazy and hectic week that ive been having since labor day weekend.

its so cliche but all the things you hear about why 30 is the new 20 is true and i say this as a newly minted 30 year old for the past forty minutes or so. this past year has been one of the toughest and held some of the most lows ive experienced in quite a while but at the same time, it has also been one of self-growth and learning that i am a lot stronger than i thought and that at the end of the day, i actually really like myself. sounds so stupid i know but there was a brief period where i felt really lost and unsure of who i was and it took me months to finally get to the point now where i am feeling comfortable in my own skin, self-confident and just happy with life in general. this is where the cliche part comes in.

through all of this, the part that i am the most grateful for is that ive been able to forge deeper and stronger friendships with old friends which have proven to be invaluable to me and provided the support system that i needed. one in particular who without him, im not quite sure i could be at the same place that i am at now and for that i will always be grateful. ive also made new friends that have only added to making my time here in sf that much more fun and the past couple of months has been filled with trips, activities and new experiences that has contributed to me going into my 30's more confident, more content and most importantly, more in tune with myself than i ever have been and am grateful to everything in the past year in getting me to where i am today.

im excited to see whats ahead for my 30's and the past week has been the perfect way to end my 20's with a bang and thats all a girl (or woman now i suppose) could ask for.

Fallin'

i have been in love with this song ever since i first heard it but it took me a while to figure out what it was but now that i have, for the past two days i have come home, pulled up the lyrics and sang my little heart out before going to bed. and now i have my officemate at work addicted to it too so we play it on repeat and somehow it just makes the week that much less stressful.

listen to it. love it.

Fall For You - by Secondhand Serenade
The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting
Could it be that we have been this way before
I know you don't think that I am trying
I know you're wearing thin down to the core

But hold your breath
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I won't live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
You're impossible to find

This is not what I intended
I always swore to you I'd never fall apart
You always thought that I was stronger
I may have failed
But I have loved you from the start
Ohhhh

But hold your breath
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I won't live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
It's impossible

So breathe in so deep
Breathe me in
I'm yours to keep
And hold onto your words
Cause talk is cheap
And remember me tonight
When you're asleep

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I won't live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I won't live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
You're impossible to find

Super Seventeen

game 6 celtics vs lakers. the 17th championship on june 17th no less and it has to rank up there as one of the best nights of my life. for the past couple weeks ive been obsessed with the playoffs and the celtics as ive never been before. i was like a giddy little schoolgirl yesterday and had butterflies and knots in my stomache and a nervous feeling all day and promptly at 5:30pm i shut down my computer and was off to an irish bar to watch. with a stranger who i met for the first time no less which is my biggest regret of the night. yes thats right, a stranger because out of obligation i went out on a date with a friend of a friend and while i badly wanted to cancel, i just couldnt bring myself to do it especially after weeks of trying to find a date that worked but in retrospect i should of just said to hell with feeling bad, i should of just done what i wanted. lesson learned i suppose. i need to be more of a bitch but what a hell of a time to be learning it.

but it couldnt take away from the joy and excitement i was experiencing as each quarter went by and the celtics were still leading but i didnt dare get my hopes up too high until it was in the bag. i so badly had wanted them to win on fathers day and had convinced myself that it was a sign and that it was going to happen that when it didnt, i was crushed and moped about it the entire night. one of my fondest memories when i was growing up was watching the celtics with my dad and twin during the larry bird era and rooting for them and from what i remember it was always a celtics vs lakers matchup and my dad's enthusiam for them rubbed off on me because while i cant say i even knew who the big three were until the playoffs, i just have the fondest memories of time spent watching them with my dad from my childhood.

and seeing them win last night i literally teared up and just thinking about it now i want to tear up again. i cant even do justice to what i was feeling but it was just this pure joy and all these memories that ive either buried away or have lain dormant for a while now came rushing back and at that moment, my only wish was that i was watching it in san diego where i properly belonged and i couldnt even savor or appreciate it the way i wanted to because i was out at a bar with a stranger out of obligation. stupid right? albeit my only saving grace was that i was pretty much texting throughout the entire time and i felt like i was there in spirit.

i know its kind of silly to feel this way about a basketball game but to me, last night meant so much to me and already in this year of self-discovery and personal growth, it only added that much more sweetness to the year i turn 30.

pat tillman. ive blogged about him before and if i knew where my archive posts went i would link to it here but ive always admired him for what he did and what he stood for so it would only be hypocritical of me to have never participated in pat's run after years of talking about him and telling people about him when the race is right here in san jose and just a hour drive away.

yesterday was the third annual 4.2 mile pat's run so i found myself getting up bright and early at 6am to make it there on time since i had missed the online registration deadline and having missed the past two years i was very excited to finally be a part of it. the whole event was inspiring as hell. starting from the singing of the star spangled banner to seeing marie tillman, pat's wife up on the tower watching everyone to the quotes and pictures of pat put up all throughout the route and seeing the little kids sitting out on their driveway waving american flags to the cars honking while driving by. it was all so energizing. if this doesnt make you proud to be participating, then i dont know what will.

if someone had told me a year ago that i would be signing up voluntarily for 4 mile runs when i could barely run a block or two back then without stopping i would of thought they were crazy. im still not the greatest now but i was so proud of myself when i finished. my official time was 48:53 which translated into 11:39 a mile which isnt all that fast i know but im a pretty slow runner to begin with. the fastest male finished in 20 min and the fastest women finished in 25 min to give you some perspective but hey rome wasnt built in a day. hopefully my time will only get better from here on.

this was definitely one of the highlights of my week, the other being my kickboxing class on wednesday when three of my favorite teachers of all time showed up to the same class and my head nearly exploded at my excitement. one of them was wearing these nike camouflage high-tops that i loved but it was pretty much the all star kickboxing class of 24 fitness if such a thing exists. but all in all a very good active week and cant wait to try bikram yoga coming up hopefully.

ive been a bit behind on my tv shows recently and i was thisclose to just deleting this episode in an attempt to catch up but boy am i glad i didnt. and its all because of this performance. i loved loved loved it. im such a sap i know his performance made me tear up a bit but i dont care. to think he is only 17 and the best part is he auditioned in san diego. wow. as an extra added bonus, one of the contestants sang killer queen and while the performance itself wasnt great any song by queen will make me happy.

i did it. after five long years i made the last payment on my car this month and the title documents are on its way in the mail. this is the first car ive been paying for on my own with a loan entirely in my own name. whether i should consider that an accomplishment in that i was able to pay it off before turning 30 or if i should consider it a failure that it took me this long to pay it off im still not quite sure yet.

i was one of those spoiled teens who received a car upon turning sixteen. a red ford contour that was shared with my twin and then after that and all throughout high school, we drove whatever car my dad happened to have on lease at the time. my favorite being our green pathfinder since it was nice to be a bit higher than everyone else on the roads although that was short lived when my twin managed to crash it into a tree. exactly. i still havent quite figured that one out either.

then for my high school graduation present, my dad purchased for me a white with gray interior honda accord. my dream car. it had two doors and as it was during my racing years, i got tinted windows, changed out my headlights to clear and was even going to go so far as to get it lowered along with a new exhaust and chip to make it faster but thankfully i came to my senses and decided to save my money for better things. like a monkey decal on the back window instead.

fast foward to six years later and due to some circumstances that lead me to have to give up the accord, i was left with three weeks to research, test drive and purchase myself a new car. while i found it daunting at first since i really had no idea what i wanted, at the end, i came away with a car that had all the options that i wanted except for maybe a gps system. it was four doors and yup you guessed it, white with light gray interior. even after five years, i still smile everytime i see my car right after a car wash or parked in the garage.

hopefully this car will last me for a couple more years so i can reap the benefits of not having to have to make car payments for a while and in the meantime, i can start saving for my bmw.

a sure sign that im getting old and turning thirty this year. i just spent the past hour cleaning my apartment. i swiffered, vacuumned and even *gasp* cleaned my bathroom. toilet, shower, sink the whole works. something that i usually rely on my housekeeper to do but for whatever reason, i couldnt get a hold of him this week so rather than risk my visitors thinking badly of me, i got out my scrubbing bubbles and windex and cleaned away. even if those visitors are only my twin and sagging monk.

i even turned down an invitation to a wine bar tonight just so i had time to clean. something that the old me would never have done. the old me wouldnt have given a second thought about tidying up the place or making sure all of the towels were clean or putting everything away in their proper place. or at least piling it neatly in a corner. and its only january. who knows what other revelations might be in store for me as i make my way towards the big 3-0.

for all i know i could be hosting a dinner party for ten next although i wouldnt be holding my breath for it.

ive been introduced to the world of yelp recently even though ive had an account since july 2006 but in this time, ive only written a whopping total of 7 reviews. i never really knew there was this entire yelp community out there complete with its own acronyms "rotd" (review of the day) which i couldnt figure out for the life of me and finally had to ask someone or that people could send you "compliments" or more importantly that there is such a thing as a yelp elite member. what is a yelp elite member you ask? i mean honestly when i first heard about it i couldnt figure out why anyone would want to be a yelp elite member since what benefits could there actually be until i found out that there were yelp elite parties. with free drinks and food. now that sounds like my kind of party so ive convinced my friend to take me to the next one and will have to report back. it cant be too bad right, a party with no cover, free drinks and filled with fellow food lovers.

when i first created my account last year, i remember sending out invites to my sf neighbors and some joined, others ignored me but no one was very consistent in writing any reviews and it kind of just fell to the wayside. little did i know that some "elite" members yelp about every single place that they visit right on down to the local coffee shop. me on the other hand, i usually dont get the urge to write anything unless i really love it or hate it which would explain my lack of reviews. i have enough trouble trying to update this blog on a consistent basis as it is but i do love it when my friends write reviews.

part of the fun of living in a city is that there are so many different options for everything. two of my favorite eating places were recommended to me by a friend that i probably would have never discovered on my own. another friend uses yelp to help keep track of where hes been which actually makes a lot of sense. i mean anytime we go out anywhere the questions asked are always, whats the dress code? is there cover? and whats the music like? one can usually find the answers to all these questions with one quick search on yelp and even better if one of your friends has already reviewed and tried it.

i find myself on yelp a lot more often these days reading different reviews and coming up with my list of places i want to try. maybe this will replace what friendster was to me before because "friendster is so old school" i was informed by a stranger this past weekend who then went on to exclaim disbelief that i didnt have a myspace or facebook account. is it really that odd? although he was impressed that i knew what twitter was. so thanks twin for keeping me up to date on these things. i wouldnt want to date myself with my friendster knowledge now.

my last week and a half were spent in sunny (or not so sunny i should say) san diego home for the holidays. its been a while since ive been back for that length of time but what made it that much more special was that it seemed everyone else was back for the entire time too. my mom obviously but then there was my twin who has now moved back home, sagging monk the one who actually still lives there, des and victor i pretty much saw almost everyday and put in a smattering of the nose, hong, lilly, even grace and aubrey, it turned out to be just what i was needing and looking forward to for ending 2007 with a bang.

its amazing how fast a whole week of doing nothing can go by. my first couple days back i was bored out of my mind and was itching to get back up to sf but after a couple days, i was right back to my old break schedule of going to sleep at 3 or 4am and not waking up until 11am or so. surprisingly, in looking back i felt as if i accomplished pretty much everything that i had wanted. ate burritos with horchata and carne asada fries, boba and yogurt world up the ying yang, dumpling inn and on the hanging out front, saw everyone and anyone including old family friends that i hadnt seen at least since college, grace and aubrey, caught up with college friends, my godsister, frank and jennifer made an appearance, its amazing how busy i felt even with no schedule. finally tried persian food at ameer's house and of course, guitar hero dominated most of my break as well. i started off as an easy player and by the end of the week, i am now a full fledged hard bass player although the jump from hard bass to hard guitar is just too much of a gap, its going to take me a while.

i capped off the end of the year and break with a 1989 theme prom party for new years eve at lilly's and in a rare occurrence, all of us got into the spirit and foraged the thrift/vintage shops of san diego in search of the best outfit. mine was quite charming i assure you and the party didnt disappoint with its own bartender to boot. theres nothing like dancing to songs from your past where each and every song is dance worthy and the countdown was spent among close friends and well thats all one can really ask for these days.

this is probably the longest time that my twin and i have spent together and we got along beautifully, or at least i think we did. while being dropped off at the airport, i was quite sad to have to head home but looking forward to it at the same time. but he will be coming along with james to stay with me for a couple weeks soon and as i have been telling everyone, it will either turn out to be a great load of fun or a big potential disaster. well see but if its anything like my xmas break, im all set and ready for it.