I Love Home

Driving south on the 405 improves my disposition much more than it should. Not that driving north on the 405 makes me unhappy, per se, but driving south - boy what a wonderful feeling.

This Thanksgiving weekend was a much needed break from the stress and frustration of not-home. It was spent in the company of family and much-missed friends. Lots of delicious food was devoured, and lots of conversation and laughter ensued. Activities included: Bang!, late night Del Taco, Mario Kart, reuniting with Mr. Snow, Thanksgiving dinner, meeting a new cousin, watching Disneyland fireworks from my Uncle's living room, midnight L4D, handball, pool/Taboo/Catchphrase, Claim Jumper, game watching, phone calling, Snatch watching, Laguna visiting, chai drinking, random hanging out, and plenty of relaxation.

Right now I'm fiddling around with myheritage, curious to see how much of my family tree I actually know. I know a decent amount, but not very much. I think I'm going to start researching a bit, though!

I Have Nice Friends

After hearing about my stressful week, Anhkhoa decided to turn coffee/lunch into ABRA DAY! And it was really fun! We went to Porto's in which I was instructed to eat a (DELICIOUS) sandwich and try (10?!) pastries. We also explored Anhkhoa's hometown NoHo (which, to my surprise, is actually called NoHo haha). And then we took the long way back to the freeway via Mulholland Drive complete with a quick pit stop to check out an AWESOME view. All of this was a surprise to me. I'm still smiling :)

Still Procrastinating

I need to finish writing a paper today. Instead, I've been paying bills, registering and writing postcards, and staring at my two dozen flowers (roses and tiger lilys!) for hours on end.

I also need to make mini cheesecakes, but that shouldn't be too much of a chore.

On the plus side, pumpkin ice cream is super tasty and I appreciate the amazing effort that was made to get it :)

Changes

This was kind of a stressful week. I was sick for the first half of it, and the day I started feeling better I was hit with the worst cramps ever. I'm sorry, TMI, but it's true. Ow.

Anyway, the terrifying thought of adding more stress to my already stressful week influenced my last minute decision to not fight my speeding ticket. Even though I wasn't speeding and yadda yadda yadda. I regret this a little bit, because I think people should do what they think is right. In this case, the right thing to do would've been fight my ticket BUT the right thing happened to be the most stressful/time consuming thing and therefore I went with the arguably wrong but easy thing and just paid the ticket, and paid for driving school. And now I'm poor and a bit regretful.

I tried Wurstkuche with Jimmy and I liked it more than I thought it would. I don't think it's as fabulous as some Yelpers proclaim it to be, and I don't think it's as hipster as others complain it to be. It was just a restaurant with a nice vibe that serves TASTY German beer. Why do I like it? Because I love love love beer. Mmmmm.

Thursday was way too f'ing long (back to back meeting, Project ReMiX and LSA event...) but it ended really fun. And then I was sick again (this time of my own doing...) and after crashing at Yvette's place I felt dehydrated and tired for the entirety of Friday. Which was kind of a bummer, because Friday was the APASA Winter Formal... but eh the dance itself wasn't that great. Beforehand, Hapa got vegan Ethiopian food as a group... and the service was some of the slowest I've ever experienced, although the food was pretty tasty. Although they didn't give me what I ordered? But whatever.

While at the dance, I ditched for a little while and took a short walk (finally! Me time!) and ended up having a nice (?) conversation with some guy who was working security that night haha. And then I headed over with friends to Devin's place where the Pinot-ish party was taking place... but by the time we got there the keg was empty. And then DPS came. But I'm still glad I stopped by because I got to see a lot of my friends that I hardly ever get to see!

And then it was a mellower repeat of Thursday night.

And now it's Saturday? And one year. And how things change.

One More Time

I've done it again. I've gone and created another "me" site without a drop of rhyme or reason. Actually, that's a lie. The story behind this one is that I wanted to post a song here... but was having a really hard time figuring out a simple way to do it with blogger. There might not be a simple way. Anyway, word on the street is that tumblr is simple and lo and behold, it is. So I've created a tumblr (that I have yet to edit to my liking) where I can post things that I like. Not just things that I've been doing, which is what this blog has turned into.

Originally (and you can check my first post on mynameisabra if you doubt me), this was supposed to be a blog about the "many things that interest me, as well as the little things that make me smile." I also noted that I'd be writing about what I find fun and interesting in my own life... but the focus was supposed to be the former, not the latter. myonesmile was a failed attempt to focus on that again... and so now I'm going to try and split it up a bit. This tumblr that I've made will be updated, hopefully on a regular (daily??) basis, with things that I like. Period. Nothing fancy. No words. (I tend to get carried away with words). Just THINGS.

One day I'll start writing about the little things that make me smile again... but as for now, this blog will remain things that I've been doing (and a few little things that make me smile), and that tumblr will be things that I like. Because apparently/recently, the majority of what I do isn't little/doesn't make me smile/whatever.

So It Begins

Wow, so I had just finished typing up my post when my computer shut off for no reason (low battery without warning? I don't know). Anyway. What I had written went something like this:

I'm sick :(

Even though I've been trying really hard to take good care of myself, I woke up sick sick sick on Sunday. It's given the boy an excuse to show off his boyfriend skills, though. For example, yesterday (before he knew I was sick sick sick), he called to see if I wanted to meet him for lunch. As soon as he found out I was sick, however, the offer to bring me lunch was on the table. He then used the last of his cash (unbeknownst to me) to get me a Subway sandwich (meatball) and some Subway soup (chicken noodle) - both surprisingly good. The catch is, he didn't get anything for himself O.o He just brought everything by the apartment, and soon went to work on a big project. Aww, how sweet :)

Before I was sick, I had a really fun Saturday: Akiko and Trevor came up to hang out! At one point we swung by the Grove (they had never been!). We did a lot of wandering, and a tiny bit of window shopping, but most of our visit was at the Farmer's Market in which we browsed all our dinner options before finally settling on jambalaya (and a really delicious lula plate for Trevor).

I really like the Farmer's Market. It has a nice vibe, and while not all the food is the bees knees (I think the Brazillian place is overrated... in a "I'm not waiting in line for 30 minutes to get this BBQ" kind of way), there are some pretty delicious places. The crepe place is fantastic, for example. Anyway, many conversations and Chinese car crash tests later, I was completely exhausted but quite satisfied with my day.

Has anyone else noticed that the Christmas season began particularly early this year? Like, before Halloween was over in some stores? The Grove had most (if not all) their beautiful Christmas decorations up already... and on the patio of the Coffee Bean they were subtly playing Christmas music the other day. Most years I feel bad skipping over Thanksgiving, but this year the early anticipation comes as a relief. I'm really excited for the holidays (and the end of this semester)! :D

Two Highlights

Besides an overload of class, meetings, rehearsals, and a midterm... this week was quite fun. Highlights include Thursday, in which I made cupcakes for our General Meeting (in celebration of our members' birthdays that fall in November). Afterwards, I was planning on working on my recording project BUT I decided to grab some free Coffee Bean holiday lattes with friends, first. Which resulted in a 3+ hour long conversation. Followed by Indian food at Manas, in which we were their last customers and the second we walked out the door they shut the lights off in the restaurant haha. Followed by karaoke at Ding Dong Dang, which was a lot of fun, but man I was exhausted by the end of it.

Ding Dong Dang deserves some back story. See, Ding Dong Dang is about five minutes away from school, and has been there for at least as long as I'VE been living here. It was something we always laughed at when we drove by, because Ding Dong Dang was situated RIGHT next to a shop called "Pornomania." It was pretty classic. Well, Pornomania has since closed... but Ding Dong Dang is still there. I'm really glad to have gone at least once during my stay here!

Anyway. That was all Thursday. Friday was also awesome: the highlight was seeing Ann! She was in Century City on business (visiting from San Francisco). After I picked her up from her hotel, we grabbed a snack and caught up before meeting her parents at this cute little Italian restaurant in Venice. Ann had a connection to the restaurant (the owners were friends of a friend, or something), so our meal was comped, which was really nice! Had some tasty bruschetta with proscuitto and mozarella, and we tried two of their soups. Everyone got specials, except for me; I got gnocchi in a pesto sauce. Tasty, but SUPER filling. Which ultimately meant that everyone cleaned their plates, and I had an entire meal to take home, basically. And the toothpick incident, in which everyone grabbed a toothpick, but I politely declined. I was definitely the odd one out! But it was great to see Ann and her family. They're such fabulous people :)

Played a bit of L4D with the boy... and now we're going to watch another episode of SVU. But then it's sleepy time, because I know tomorrow's going to be a fun day as well!

Studying-Ish

San Clemente, CA. I want summer to get here faster.
So I'm at Emilie's at the moment, where I'm supposed to be studying for my midterm which is on Wednesday. Which I really need to study for, since I've missed a couple of classes. And because I don't think I'm doing that well in the class. Even though I think the topic (abnormal psychology) is fascinating, and I actually know the material pretty well? I'm just failing at thoroughly preparing myself for these exams.

It's one of those classes where I know the information well enough to talk about the topics in a broad sense (and thus am not motivated to study hard for the midterms), but not well enough to answer 100 very specific (albeit multiple choice) questions... and thus don't do incredibly well on the midterms :/ I get half of them right away, and the other half I get down to two possibilities, and apparently I suck at choosing between the two because I'm just not doing that well. Enough on that, though.

I had a delicious homemade meal tonight. It was a classy fish sandwich: seasoned red snapper with sauteed mushrooms and green onions topped with tomatoes and healthy mayo on a perfectly toasted baguette. SO tasty! Which makes today a good day :)

Weekend Roundup

Uploaded a ton of pictures to Facebook today. Came across this one of a cute little Caterpillar Roll from a Little Tokyo visit a few weeks back.

Shades of Love went pretty well. I've decided that the best way to describe it is small, but successful. Our moderator and panelists were great; a lot of interesting discussion occurred. Speed Dating worked out well, too, and we miraculously ended up with an even number of ladies and men participating! Fun stuff.

The highlight of Saturday was a kick back at Emilie's. Riley was visiting her from Arizona, and as tradition when I, or Emilie, or whoever is visiting someone... a party is thrown so friends can gaze in wonder and meet the visiting person. And it was no different for Riley! I brought lemon bars and some Kona Longboard. Lemon bars were a hit (yay!) and the Kona was mainly enjoyed by RC and me. Some epic Catch Phrase ensued. For hours O.o Which reminds me: I really need to get that game - it's one of my favorites, but it and Taboo are both pretty expensive and I just have never gotten around to it since I know people who own it.

Today was the relaxing, clean-up day of the weekend. I can't say I'm the neatest person in the world, but I'm not the messiest and I actually HATE living in mess. It stresses me out. So while it's hard to clean during the middle of the week, I try to make it a point to clean one day on the weekend.

And then I had dinner at La Barca because we had a coupon. Tasty stuff! Better than I remembered it to be, and super (over-)filling.

Also this weekend I played through the new L4D demo. It's fun. Can't really make an opinion on it yet... but I think I'll enjoy the game at the very least. Might not obsess over this one, though, which isn't a bad thing, really :P

Watched the most disturbing SVU episode last night. Second to last episode of the second season, I think, if you're interested. Really. Really. Disturbing. Not even horribly sad. Just disturbing. Ugh.

But anyway. Four weeks of school left! I'm so excited... :D

A Fuzzy Week

Nearly a week has gone by. What have I been doing? I can't seem to recall...

I do remember last Sunday though. The boy took me to Salo-Salo for dinner in Glendale... and then surprised me by extending the date, eventually including a movie at a nearby theatre. Law Abiding Citizen, to be exact. It was pretty interesting. Not as good as the previews suggested it might be. There were some plot issues and I'm just not a fan of torture/gore scenes... but beyond that, it was entertaining.

I also roasted pumpkin seeds at some point. Those actually came out really good! Nice and buttery toasty :)

Checked out Maitreya for Marissa's birthday. They have a pretty good Happy Hour menu... which the car I was in missed by 1 minute. Literally. (Darn LA traffic). Shared some Carbonara, which was good. Other dishes looked good as well and I liked the atmosphere, at least for dinner. Either way, I'm planning on going back. Plus, there's a multitude of dessert places to choose from in the area. (Of course, even with the many options, the boy and I grabbed another Pumpkin Pie Shake from Jack in the Box, haha).

Tonight is HapaSC presents: Shades of Love. It's an Interracial Dating Forum (something we've done in the past, but not last year), followed by Speed Dating (something new for us). It should be interesting! We've got four diverse, guest panelists with incredibly different backgrounds, and the Assistant Director of APASS at USC is moderating for us. I have to introduce and close the forum... and will have to, at some point today, sit down and think about what I plan to say. Esther and I are also running the Speed Dating session. I'm so curious to see how that will turn out...

I keep telling myself I should update this more often. Since my memory seems to be failing me, maybe it's time I actually listen to myself!

Happy HallowEEEeen

Happy (Day-After) Halloween! Hope everyone else is having a good weekend :) Halloween started on Thursday for me... although it didn't go exactly as planned. I was supposed to go to the Hapa/Troy Phi Halloween party, but because I (and RC, since he came with) was the designated Hapa rep for getting drinks, I didn't start getting ready until 10 something - AFTER the party started. Which is not a big deal, normally (I'm all about the fashionably late entrances), except JUST when RC and I were about to head over, I started getting calls/texts that the party had been shut down. Instead of going to the relocated party (I've never been to a relocated party that's lived up to the original), we decided to mess around with our costumes. We were dressed up as "Scene Kids" (HAHA) so we began our fooling around by taking "Myspace Pictures" :P Not putting any up here... but a few will probably go up on Facebook. And then we decided that we looked more like Rockstars so the night digressed in that direction, hehe :)

We spontaneously switched our Friday/Saturday plans, and ended up carving pumpkins and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas on Friday instead of Saturday. Which was an adventure on it's own, simply because we do things last minute sometimes and had some time trying to find pumpkins to carve!

And on SATURDAY, we drove out to Six Flags for some good ole coaster fun... plus Fright Fest! Which was actually a lot of fun. We went through all the mazes (only 6), and ironically our favorite was the first one we went through: Jokesters Hideout. And of course we went on one of my most favoritest thrill rides of all time... Colossus BACKWARDS!!! Such a trip. Scares the shit out of me every time hahaha.

We got back really late (we kept indulging in Jack in the Box's Pumpkin Shake)... but it was definitely worth it. And today is promising to be a day of relaxation, which to me, is a fantastic way to round out a busy weekend. In addition to the time change (yay for one more hour!), the boy is taking me out to dinner tonight. I'm looking forward to it! :)