Busy as usual

HOWEVER... I wouldn't have it any other way, I suppose. Actually, I think my body would go into shock should I be sedate for more than a 3 hour period...ha! People make fun of how I need a hundred things to do or my head would explode.

This week (and it's only halfway over) has already been exhausting. I have not only been trying to recover from moving this weekend - unpacking boxes, reorganizing, utilizing my creativity for storing things, cleaning my old place - but I also have had to work like a slave at work as well as get myself prepared for some social functions.

Today I have a happy hour with the Young Professionals in Energy. Although it seems like an easy gig to show up and toss a few tasty beverages back, I actually kind of "work" at these events. I am (1) the unofficial photographer for YPE - every picture on the site for Houston was more than likely courtesy of my pure Asian-ness of always carrying a camera, (2) I have to put on the "mix and mingle" face seeing as I've gotten to know quite a bit of the members and you never know if one day one of these "young guns" of the industry might come in handy if I decide to see what other employment opportunities may be out there for me, and (3) throwing a few drinks back during the week is getting tougher and tougher as I edge near the big 3-0.

In addition to today's happy hour, I have a Silent Art Auction at the Gremillion & Co. art gallery to go to tomorrow after work for the American Cancer Society Starlight Gala. Diana Banana and Single Girl, you should stop by for some free margaritas, wine, and Mexican food. You don't have to buy any art or anything, but you can come out and support a good cause just by being there. I think most people go for the socializing and the free food and drinks...haha! We got Pico's Mex-Mex restaurant, Partida Tequilla, and Barefoot Wines to donate for the event...YUM! I meant to invite you guys sooner, but kept forgetting to mention it. I think I've emailed everyone else about it though...I hope. I'll be there at 4pm through most of the event getting my fill of 'ritas ;) The artists that are being featured are all local Houston artists as well. This would be a perfect way for me to meet up with you guys and spend NOTHING...free is always a plus!

Also, I've been trying to organize Grove and my 30th birthday celebration. I think we've settled on renting a beach house in Galveston and having anyone and everyone join us. Big P-A-R-T-Y! I'll forward more details as they get confirmed.

Ok, I think I've rambled enough. I need to get back to this pile of work that I've been trying to pretend isn't here. Signing off...

Thank God for Movers

As of yesterday, all of my junk has made it to the new place. It's a bit tighter of a fit than my last place, but I got everything into the new apartment. The movers had to get creative as for how to get things through a narrow doorway and up a flight of stairs, but they did it. It was worth the $250 + tip just to have them deal with getting my stuff into my abode. Plus, they had to deal with my indecisiveness of asking them to move my dresser to opposite sides of the room 3 times, my tv twice, etc.

Unfortunately, tonight I head back to my old place to steam clean the carpets (luckily my brother has a steamer), empty the refrigerator, and clean the oven. Can you believe the last place I stayed charged me $30 because I didn't clean the oven?!?! I guess it's worth the $4 it costs to buy oven cleaner, huh? Thank goodness I already knocked out cleaning the bathroom.

Other than apartment stuff to complain about, I have little of interest to report. This week will be the adjustment period. I'm sure that the ding dong I am will occasionally find myself driving towards the old apartment at which time I will have to turn all the way around and head to my new home. Oh, well...

Moving Day

Right now I'm blogging from my blackberry while I watch my movers hall my junk out of my place. So far they're doing a great job on efficiency. I used the same guys last year seeing as they did such a quick and reliable job on moving Baby from one house to another. Hopefully they can do it in less than 3 hours. Trying to stick to my moving budget. Wish me luck!

Is America Ready?

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - Democratic Candidates for 2008 Presidential Election
(Evans/AP)

I apologize up front that this will be a post of political commentary. For my readers who have zero interest in politics (at our age, it's almost impossible not to have some stake in what these candidates' political agendas are), you can stop reading now. However, I will try to keep it to minimial bitching.

...

As we all know, living in one of the "Red States" makes it almost illegal to admit any democratic sympathy or worse yet, to out-right admit that one is a Democrat. I, personally, do not side strongly with one or the other. There are times I think that I am a liberal Republican and others I think that I am a conservative Democrat. Either way, you get my drift that I simply agree with some of each side's policies, but not all. I guess if I had to choose, I probably am a Democrat because I'm more liberal than conservative. But...shhhhh...don't tell ANYONE I work with!

...

When looking at the Democratic front-runners (i.e., the two above), I think to myself that America truly is the land of opportunity. We are now in an age where Barack Obama is getting a chance to be the first African-American Presidential candidate with valid steam to be a contender, and Hillary Clinton is the first woman Presidential candidate in America who without doubt has the largest financial backing than any of the other Democratic hopefuls.

...

Even though I think that Hillary is more than qualified, and think that her husband was by far the best President this country has had in my lifetime (even with the sordid DNA on the intern-hoochie's dress incident), I just don't see America warming up to her. I think she is amazing in the political arena, and has definitely made her own...without her husband's help. But for some reason, I can see America siding with a black MALE before they side with a WOMAN.

...

By no means am I a bra-burning feminist and declaring women always get the shaft - although I would've loved to set my polyester bra on fire for show back in the day. Just to give you why I think this is merely to take a look at voting history. The Constitution's 15th Amendment allowed the right to vote regardless of race (for men) in 1870. Women were not guaranteed the right to vote until the ratification of the 20th Amendment in August 1920. So if history repeats itself, black males will garner wider public acceptance before that of any female regardless of her race, intelligence, or qualifications.

...

Maybe I'm just rambling, but those are my thoughts. For whatever reason, I doubt a Republican will take office again this time around only because of the bad taste that "Dubya" has left in our mouths with his handling of the Iraqi war. People are ready for change. Now the question is... How big of a change?

Sophie Suite - Where we're staying in Fredericksburg

I just received a picture of the Sophie Suite. Unfortunately, they just acquired this private one-room cottage so there isn't a website link for it yet. I'm disappointed that I don't know what the outside looks like, but the inside looks romantic (and clean). They tell me it's got all the amenities - full bathroom and shower in addition to the jacuzzi tub, microwave, mini-fridge,hair dryer, etc. It's also less than 1.5 blocks from Main Street so we can walk to all the shops, restaurants, and winery on that strip. And, they bring us breakfast every morning at around 9am. I wish I could go right now!

What a disasterous morning!

So in an effort to get back on my healthy track, I got up this morning and ran 2.5 miles. I was struggling BIG TIME. Just a couple of months ago, I was running 3 miles stretches with ease 4 days a week and up to 5 miles if I felt like pushing myself. Gotta hate when slacking on your gym time takes it's toll on you! I get back to my apartment and head straight to the bathroom to turn the shower on, and then it happened - *squirt, squirt, trickle, squirt*. The water wasn't working. So I head over to the sink and try that. Again, denied.

After calling my complex for almost half an hour and getting a busy signal, I finally get the answering service at which time they confirm what I already knew. A water line had broken affecting the entire complex, and there was no estimated time as to when it would be fixed. So there I stood... mortified that I would have to go through the day a greasy, sweaty, smelly mess because we're short-staffed today, and I HAVE to be at the office and can't take a personal day. What's even more ironic is that it's the one day that every single one of my friends that normally don't have to be in for work until 8:30 a.m. or later all went to work early this morning squashing any possibility of toting my toiletries elsewhere for a shower. What are the odds?

So I kicked into resourceful gear. With the help of some bottled waters and a packet of my two-year-old niece's baby wipes left at my place on her last visit, I was able to make myself quasi-presentable for the general public. I felt like I was camping with what I had to work with. Greasy hair pulled back in a ponytail and doused with tropical body spray, I was only 30 minutes late to work. Maybe this is a sign that going to the gym is bad luck...haha.

Daydreaming of Vacation

Yes, I have a case of the Mondays. I have no focus whatsoever for work today. I keep thinking about wanting to take a vacation, but then get yanked back into reality when an email pops up with more work I need to do. Unfortunately, I finish the work so quickly that I'm back to daydreaming of being somewhere else relaxing. It's just one of those days... I think this is mainly brought on by the fact that Baby is on a plane right now on his way to warm Cancun for the week while I'm stuck in cold, rainy Houston.

All this thinking of getting away has pushed me to do a little more research on our trip to Fredericksburg, TX next month for Valentine's Day Weekend. We've decided to drive to Hill Country and visit some of the wineries out there. Considering it's something I've wanted to do for years and have never gotten around to it, we figure it's the best weekend getaway we can do since Baby is still limited on vacation time or PTO (paid time off) because he just started his job at his current company only 6 months ago.

We're staying at a bed and breakfast in one of their individual cottages called Sophie's Suite. Very romantic. I'm waiting for the booking agent to send me pics of the place because it's very new - I'll post them once I get them. The B&B also brings us breakfast to our cottage every morning...tres manifique! And of course being the most anal travel planner ever, I have already narrowed down the wineries we will visit Saturday to four locations that are within close proximity to one another and within the realm of our preferred tastes in wines according to the wineries' self-descriptions and other travelers' suggestions. We plan to visit Becker Vineyards, Torre di Pietra, Grape Creek Vineyard, and Fredericksburg Winery. There are others that I think sound really tasty, but are a bit further for us to drive to from where we are staying. We're not all too familiar with the area, so I guess we can hit those next time if we decide that we enjoyed the trip this first time around.

Weekend Update

Hmmm.... Let's see.... what did I do this weekend? Friday night, Baby and I had dinner at Willie G's. A little celebrating on an outstanding annual evaluation on his part. Excellent seafood and a great glass of pinot noir was exactly what this little phillie needed after her rough week. Afterwards, we decide to take it easy and stay in to catch up on some episodes of House that he had recorded on the DVR. Woo hoo! Partay, partay animals we are, I tell ya!

Saturday was a bit more active during the day. I was an errand running fool. After a full day of running all over town, I was too exhausted to even think about packing so I yet again procrastinated. Luckily, Sunday Baby and I spent the better part of the morning packing up my place. I think I'm about two-thirds done on the packing (maybe more), so all I've got to do now is wait for the movers to move all my stuff.

So that's it for a weekend update.

Baby is leaving today for Cancun for "work". Although he's got seminars all day, I'm still super jealous seeing as he'll be surrounded by beautiful beaches. He says the weather anticipates cloudy/rainy weather the whole time he's there through Thursday, but still... CANCUN v. HOUSTON.... I think I'll take the former any day. All he needs is one afternoon with a break of sunshine to make up for days of rain out there.

I will not be homeless at the end of the month!

It's official - I have a place I can call home once my lease at my current apartment expires. It's uber cute! It is located in the Montrose area right at the edge of where it stops being Midtown. It's fantastic. It's a privately-owned unit that is smaller than my old apartment, but has LOTS of charm. Luckily, it was built only 8 years ago, so all the paint, fixtures, and appliances are relatively new.

I decided when I planned to downgrade in my living space and expenses that I would be losing a lot of the amenities that I have become accustomed. However, what this place lacks in size and no dishwasher, more than makes up for in location, PRICE, and kitsch factor. Doing dishes by hand again will be somewhat of a challenge, but that shouldn't be a major problem with it just being me... guess there will be no major entertaining at my casa anymore.

Here are a few pics of the place:

This is the view from the living room to the dining and the kitchen. The landlord imported the stained-glass windows from London. They open out from the side... very cute. And, no, that's not my tacky table. I think it's extra furniture the landlord lets tenants use should they want to.

This is on the way to the vanity. It will take some getting use to all this girlie decor, but for the most part, I find it quaint.

This is a look into the bathroom... nothing extravagant, but nice and clean.

I guess I'm a snob

Today I went looking at an apartment complex over my lunch hour. It is one block from where I live now. I knew walking into the situation that this place would be a downgrade from where I was only because it is an older complex built in the 1960's. It was renovated in 2003, but you know that they can only do so much. But, they had an awesome price (about $110 less per month than what I'm paying righ now). So I figured I could entertain the idea of not living in a luxury apartment. WRONG. Yes, the price was even less than what I was hoping to pay, but I guess I've gotten used to the attached parking garages and not having to walk half a mile to a dumpster to take out my trash. I couldn't believe how snobby I was....but I suppose I've become a true yuppie. The unit was a good size and great price. Why oh why can't I just like it?!?!? Maybe even just deal with it?!?!?!

Here are the problems I had:

1. The MAJOR problem - the unit is located right in front of the complex's front entrance gate. So I'm guessing I will hear the thing creaking open and closed late at night or whenever some drunkass decides to plow into it...as we all know happens in EVERY complex...even the nice ones.
2. Another biggie is I'd be going to unassigned, first-come-first serve, limited covered parking. As stated above, I'm a snooty chica whose had an attached parking garage for almost 6 years. I'll actually have to use an umbrella to go to my car if it rains...wow, I really am a spoiled brat!
3. Downgrading from a garden tub to a regular tub - this I might be able to handle, but the bathroom itself is less than half the size of my current - I would consider it more of a nook rather than a bathroom...and it does NOT have a linen closet in it. Where the hell am I suppose to keep my towels? And mind you...this is me just being high-maintenance, but I'd also be going from 8 drawer spaces to ONE! Granted, I never used all 8 but still! It was one of the perks of having a double-sinked bathroom when there was only one of me :) But the extra sink was great for guests. I'm more horrified about the linen closet...
4. This will be my OCD about little things that will kill me. The little bar area that is a cutout window to the kitchen...it's counter is crooked. I mean dipping down the middle as if some elephant had been sitting in the center. Yep, that will kill me to have to stare at...kinda like broccoli in someone's teeth.

UGH! So I'm officially a high-maintenanced, snobby yuppie. Go ahead...shoot me now! At this rate, I will never find a place in the lower price range I want. I might as well just SUCK IT UP and pay what I'm paying now...

Margaritas + Spontaneity = Random Trip to NYC

On Friday, I met up with Giant and Midtowner for a jumbo margarita at Cyclone Anaya's in Midtown. Right there, that intro should scream, "Uh Oh!" After getting halfway through our jumbo and a couple of tasty quesadillas and chips, we start discussing doing something off-the-wall and exciting. We start talking about vacations seeing as Giant just got back from Rio (I'm jealous, and yes, almost hate him). At that moment, a plan was born - Let's go to Vegas tonight!!! And without hesitation, Midtowner and Giant are in it to win it. With that, we race to Midtowner's place to see how we can make it happen.

After thumbing around at our flight options online, I make the final sad call that Vegas is out of our reach :( So after some thought, we decided that we should visit Doc in NYC. Free place to stay, fun person to hang out with...why not? With luck the flights Saturday morning look good for us to arrive in NYC by 3pm, catch dinner, play in the city, crash, and get back on a plane Sunday morning. Spontaneous? Yes. Crazy? Absolutely. It was a done deal. We finish Friday night off by packing our bags hastily in our margarita hazes (yes, my clothes were a crumpled mess - I should've borrowed Single Girl's Flip Fold) , and then play the rest of the night away in Midtown. Probably still loopy from playing way too late, we get up Saturday morning and head for IAH.

Once we arrive into the city that never sleeps, we immediately went out for dinner to one of my favorite Thai restaurants in Chelsea - Spice. It's soooooo good!!! I got the chicken and shrimp pad thai - YUM! A couple of Doc's friends from his psych residency program joined us as well as one of Midtowner's old coworkers who has relocated to NY. Afterwards, we hit a couple of bars until we found our way to Beauty Bar. I had been there once on a previous visit. I love this bar. It use to be an old beauty salon that they kept all the chairs, mirrors, etc. Not only do they have a full service bar and a dance floor in the back, they also have a woman there giving manicures for $10. That includes the mani and a drink...awesome concept, n'est pas?

As the evening progresses, we decide to enlighten Midtowner to the gayer side of the city. After entering a couple of shady and even scary bars, we eventually we ended up at a bar that was muy fantastico! Great music, hot guys that could care less about me because I have the wrong plumbing, and strong drinks. The name of the place escapes me, but I'm sure I'll remember at a later time with Doc's help.

Eventually, we end up back at Chez Doc and pass out. The next morning was rough, to say the least. We eventually drag our arses out of bed, get ready, and make our way to the airport. Thankfully we were smart about our transportation and had a car service pick us up. Darn cabbies are real jerks about taking people to the airport because they hate sitting in the depot line for a fare back. Often times, the line is so long with other cabbies that they don't want to waste their time and end up coming back to the city with no one in the cab....that's why 10 cabs will drive right past you when you know they are on duty the second they see you toting a suitcase...bastards, I tell ya! Good thing is that the car service is only about $10 more than a cab, and is usually no big deal if you've got more than one person like we did.

We arrived back in Houston as of 1:30pm yesterday and for the most part have had time to recover. I, sadly, had to work a few hours last night at Job#2. But, it wasn't too bad. Surprisingly, I don't feel tired. I am a little mad at myself for not taking the time to apartment hunt instead though. Now I REALLY have to beat feet and get the search going...

How fitting...

Seeing as I'm stressed the 'f' out right now with trying to find a place to live and reflecting on 2006 and the changes I have to make for 2007, I found that my horoscope today was way too close to home:

Taurus (April 19 - May 19)
This could be a day of inner turmoil for you, dear Taurus. You will be rethinking some of your fundamental values and are unsure if they are still relevant to your life. It is clear that some soul-searching is in order for you. There are no right or wrong answers here, only what is in your heart. If your goal is to live authentically, then you will need to make some big changes in your life. But don't act rashly. Think things all the way through before taking action.

Rain is Poo

So I'm getting a case of the rainy day blues. Why you ask other than because it is, in fact, raining? I think it has something to do with that I have exactly 27 days to figure out where I'm going to live. My lease is up at my current Chez Jacky, and I refuse to spend another year living next to a nonstop freeway and paying premium for it. Does that make me high maintenance...maybe...but, think about it. If I'm paying close to $1K a month on a 1-bedroom apartment, I should be happy with it, right???? And, I am NOT happy with it...therefore, I did not renew my lease.

Anyway, the search is on... I've hit every major Houston apartment locating website, Craigslist, and called apartments that I've liked or have expressed interest in simply by seeing them. Let me tell you...living in the loop as a single person ain't cheap, my friends.

I was speaking to Midtowner the other day and we discussed the possibility of me getting a roommate to offset the living costs seeing this is the proclaimed "YEAR OF CLEARING DEBT (while at the same time not taking away from my obsession of globetrotting)". Yes, it sounds almost like an oxymoron, but seeing if I can save a bit on living expenses, it might not be too far-fetched. Let's understand that I have not had a roommate in over 5 years, and have no clue what it's like to be concerned of someone else's feelings in my place of habitation anymore. I've come to dislike every roommate I've had to the point of never speaking to them except for one - that was Doc. I think our saving grace was that he was so busy with med school and me finishing my undergrad and working all the time that kept us too busy to build too much animosity.

Here is my theory about a roommate situation. Should I choose to take one on, I think the best would be to live with someone I have never met. Maybe someone from one of those roommate finders. Hear me out. I figure, if I'm going to end up hating this person anyway, it might as well be someone I won't regret losing in the long run. And, if I end up liking this person and we become lifelong friends after it's all said and done, then it's a pleasant surprise. Kinda like finding that $10 bill in your jeans pocket when you're doing laundry ;) Is it sad that I feel this way? Oh, well...

So if anyone hears of any great deals on apartment move-ins or people who are looking for a roommate and (1) won't murder me in my sleep or (2) aren't complete weirdos...I can handle "kind of a weirdo", then let me know. Otherwise, I'll continue my search with great diligence!

Comment Instructions

This post is for my non-blog-informed readers...who are surprisingly more than I thought. Here are instructions on how to comment on a blog even if you are not signed up as having a blog yourself.

1. Click "Comments"
2. Under "Choose an Identity", Click "Other"
3. Fill in your name in the provided space, and a web address is NOT required
4. Click "Publish Your Comment," and VOILA!!!

Hope that helps you, Miss "You know who you are". Tah-tah for now, kiddos!

New blog that I love, love, love!

You must read this guy! Michael K is so friggin' hilarious!!!

http://www.dlisted.com/

Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 - What the heck happened?!?!

This post is more for Pocahontas. I wanted to express my condolences that his Sooners lost in OT last night. I fell asleep sometime in the 3rd (maybe 4th) quarter, but I know Pocahontas and J.Smith were in Glendale showing their OU loyalty and probably offended many Broncos fans sitting around them. Sorry, guys!

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Yes, I am very late with my holiday postings. I suppose I haven't had as much holiday cheer as in the past, therefore creating the lull in postings. So with a quick recap, I spent the Christmas holiday with my family and rang in the new year with some friends. Let's just say 2007 didn't start the way I wanted it, but I plan on some making a few adjustments to make 2007 exactly what I want it to be!

On a quick note of which I won't go into much detail over seeing as I don't blog much about my personal life (unless it involves me being sensually ravished by Ben Affleck), I've decided to consider a reconciliation with ex-Baby after lots of time and thought. We are still in the beginnings of determining what it is we need to do to have this work when it didn't the last time, but I'm hoping to keep a positive attitude about what the future holds. All that I ask it that you be happy for me.

Anyway, the hamster running in it's wheel that I call my brain has been doing a number since yesterday trying to come up with a few new year's resolutions. I thought I should pick 5 of them just to give me some cushion so that I can be successful on at least one of them. This is what I came up with:

1. 2 drink and 1 shot minimum (rarity of special occasions can be taken under consideration - ie., my 30th birthday in April) - As we all know that this little girlie does have a weakness for the drink, and unfortunately as of recent has taught me that it is a major influence in turning me into someone I'm not or rather someone I prefer not to become. So with that in mind, I have decided to cut my drinking to the barest I find doable in this restriction. To say I give it up altogether would be an obvious set-up for failure, so reducing consumption is more realistic...don't you think?
2. Going to the gym more regularly - Isn't this EVERYONE'S nyr (new year's resolution)??? But seriously, I do enjoy my gym time and am usually pretty good at going, but recent months have been lacking in motivation. It's time to spring back into shape and look good for my upcoming trip to the Land of Aloha in February (I plan on going to the Pro Bowl...woohoo!).
3. Less cursing - Note: I did NOT say "no cursing." Had I said that, we all know that I've already broken this by now ;) My intent is to not be such a trash-talking sailor seeing as I need to start presenting myself as the delicate, fragile flower that I am...hehe.
4. Visiting friends out of town more - This is directed more to Doc, Sparky et al, Pocahontas and J.Smith, etc. 2006 was pretty tough for me as for finding time to see my friends, but I'll make a conscious effort to not have 2007 be a repeat.
5. Giving up all things that bring me down or bring nothing positive to the table (activities, people, and stuffs) - This is just a blanket nyr that covers a number of things. I'm getting too old for senseless and/or destructive things in my life, so it's time to clean house, baby!

Well, that's all for now. I hope everyone else had a great holiday. I'm so glad I got to spend a little time with Doc while he was in town, but disappointed that Curly-haired Wonder got snowed-in while in New Mexico and couldn't ring in 2007 with us :(

PS. This posting, along with the next few upcoming ones, will not be accompanied with photos...boooooo! Due to some upsetting circumstances, my BFF Canon digital camera has sadly demised over the Christmas holiday. Now I must rely on others for timely downloads of pics from their own cameras (and we all know how that goes). Hopefully, I can buy a new one VERY soon. An Asian without a camera is just down-right blasphemous!

I crack myself up!

Check this out...

http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=cca3be8517656da8cca0f40G06121206

(For some reason I think blogger is having problems doing hyperlinks, but I still wanted to share this!)

Weekend Update

Friday was super busy after I got off work. Noodlette met me at Noodle's house to start the maniacal task of cooking and having everything done at a decent hour for dinnertime. After it was all said and done, we completed cooking the following: Dijon Baked Salmon, Garlic Pesto Chicken, Thyme-Roasted Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus and Shallots in Red Wine Vinegar, Green Bean Casserole, Rolls, and Pistachio Salad. Not to mention, we had lots of wine, liquor, and our very own margarita machine on the balcony to make all things even more entertaining.

We had a great dinner to coat our stomachs, and then the night progressed to absolute retardedness with the boys singing 80's tunes in the living room while everyone broke down in old 90's dance moves...let's just say it all started when someone played the song "Ice Ice, Baby". How is it we ALL know Vanilla's dance moves????

The rest of the weekend was basically recovery after Friday night. A few people went to another Christmas party on Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to do some work...however, I don't think my body could've gone through Round 2 anyway. Below, I've included some of the less incriminating photos.

My beautiful tablescape - yes, I had place cards for everyone's assigned seat at the table

The Grown-Ups' Table (aka The Couples' Table)

The Kids' Table (aka The Singles' Table)

We had MUCH more fun at the Kids' Table than the other table! Don't Ask...I have no idea what started the napkin hat ordeal!

The boys and their shots...

The Ladies and their shots...


Having more fun than we should staying in!

I call this "Club Living Room" - It's the place to be!

My 90's throwback to doing the "kid'n'play"

I love hanging out with these people!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Tee hee hee

Nothing like a sadist Reindeer to spread holiday cheer...

I thought this was f-ing hilarious

LMAO!!!

Holiday Gatherings

We are now officially in the last month of the year. You know...the time of year where you blow a ton of money on family and friends and squeeze in holiday parties galore almost every week until December 25th. Oh, and probably gain about 15lbs on top of all that...

This week, I have 3 dinners to go to: (1) the Lombardi Award dinner on Wednesday - a non-holiday event, but a big event for NCAA football; (2) the YPE Christmas Party on Thursday; and (3) our End-of-Year/Holiday Dinner with our close group of friends on Friday. How exhausting!

For Friday's dinner, I'm taking the helm on the cooking. So far, this is my menu:

• Salt-, peppercorn- and herb-crusted beef tenderloin with wild mushroom red wine sauce. A recipe I found in Ladies' Home Journal - yes, I read LHJ.
• Thyme-roasted baby new potatoes
• Roasted Asparagus
• Green bean casserole
• Assorted rolls and breads
• And for dessert: Pistacchio Salad - so good if you have not had it and SUPER easy to make!
• And of course lots 'o' vino - Cuz that's how we roll....haha...I love saying that!

So there you have it. I have four days to summon my chi in order to psych myself up for all the cooking. Wish me luck!

Fashion goes to hell in a handbasket

You would thinking dropping that deadbeat husband of hers would allow her to somehow win back some chic and classy brownie points. But, alas... Ms. Spears is quickly becoming another Mariah Carey - flashing way too much for our poor eyes to see.

Now if this new look she and Paris are sporting - the one-legged thigh-high fishnets - actually take off, I will personally shave my head. Ok, maybe not shave my head as I will look like a small Buddah training for Shaolin Monk school, but maybe just gouge my eyes out. Am I becoming so old that I have become appalled with the younger generations' fashions?!?! Oh, jeez...what has this world come to?!?!

(Photo is courtesy of People Magazine)

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all my loyal readers (all 4 of you...hehehe)! I hope you are all getting an opportunity to spend time with family and/or friends over this holiday. If not, I hope that you are at least enjoying the time away from work to relax and vegetate.

I've decided to use this post as my own chance to list a few things I'm thankful for this year - some profound things, others just minor things that still touched a special part of my heart.

• Family - Don't get me wrong, I want it duly noted that my family has the undeniable knack to annoy the hell out of me. However, I am thankful they are the first to stand by my side to support me and to protect me...sometimes, even when they know I'm wrong. Now that is love. My family went through a lot of tragedies and disappointments this year, but also a lot of wonderful milestones. My brother got engaged, my niece turned two and learned to say f*%$ and sh!t all in one bold statement (amusingly in public...lol), my sister has another little one on the way, and I have managed to not kill myself as I still struggle to juggle two jobs and play equally as hard as I work.
• Friends - Dealing with some major life-changing family events and also some personal emotional challenges, I realized that I'm one lucky little lady. No one will understand how thankful I am to have friends that will drop plans at the drop of a hat to console me, travel great distances just to physically be here for me, and stay up all hours of the night talking nonsense just so I don't suffer my insomnia spells alone. It's never hard to find someone willing to catch a drink with you, but it's those who just want to sit with you and do nothing that make you realize how valuable their friendship is and how you never want to experience what life would be without them.
• Work - Although I'm a constant broken record about the difficulties of keeping two jobs, I'm thankful I have them both. Some people can't even say that their one job is fulfilling, exciting, or rewarding. I, on the other hand, have two jobs that have allowed me rewards that make me quite the envy. Job #1 has allowed me to meet and interact with some major power players in the energy industry and have never let us forget how grateful they are for the work we do while Job #2 has shown me (and some of my friends) the world. Who can knock that?!?! So let me rant and bitch, but don't ever take me seriously ;)
• Love - I struggled with putting this on here simply because I make it a point not to put anything too personal in this blog. You never know who's feelings I might hurt when I vent off about how upset I am with a friend or loved one only to regret that I posted it for everyone to see. Also, it makes you pretty vulnerable...which you all know is not a color I like to wear often. However, I do want to give thanks that this year I realized something that I wasn't sure was ever possible again. I fell in love. Although things didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped or turned out how I had dreamed, I learned that I, in fact, was not dead inside - an inside joke with Sparky and myself.
• Health - I've had a few medical issues this year, but luckily nothing life-threatening. I'm thankful to say that I am as physically able as I am, and never want to take that for granted

I've decided to leave it at that. I think that I could go on about the small stuff, but I think this is enough for now. So I hope I didn't bore you with my list...I could've made it more interesting if I mentioned how thankful I was Britney FINALLY left K-Fed, but you already know that...hehehe.

So... Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and go stuff your faces!

Big Hugs and Kisses!!!

Weekend Update

Ok, folks...this weekend was "interesting" to say the very least. To save you from some of the unnecessary dramatics (which by the way is becoming so second nature in my life right now that you'd think I was making it up...but whatever), let me give you some of the finer points.

THURSDAY

BigOil arrived. We had a great Mexican dinner sprinkled with margarita goodness followed by meeting up with Blondie and some of her friends at Pub Fiction. Fun, fun. At some point I blacked out, but here is proof I had a great time...yes, I'm standing on furniture...again. My mother can only be so proud.

Prior to losing lucidity, I did get a few shots of the other ladies who joined BigOil and myself...

Here's Bartendress (i.e., my Bartender Goddess), myself, and BigOil - I just ran my crotch into the corner of Bartendress' chair...thus, the forced smile hiding my wincing pain...yes, it still hurts a girl too! (albeit, probably not as bad as for you boys)

FRIDAY

That night was a huge celebration for Midtowner's 30th birthday. The sky-diving was nixed due to Midtowner's sinus infection that wouldn't clear up. However, we are merely postponing!!! Stay tuned for that in the near future!

We rang in Midtowner's big 3-0 with a stretch excursion and a number of good friends. What a night!

The Gang celebrating in style...why can't we do this every Friday night?!?!

Me and the birthday girl

Me, once again proving to my mother she raised a classy broad. In my defense, I'm multi-tasking...who else can sip-sip pass, hold her own drink, and pay the limo driver all at once????

The evening eventually ended, on a dramatic note on my personal level...BUT, nonetheless, a very fun night for Midtowner's birthday!!!

SATURDAY

This day was a whole different story. By the time I met up with BigOil and Grove, they were 5 hours into drinking. Needless to say, I became designated driver extraordinaire!!! Let's just leave it at this...This is what I woke up to the next morning in my living room....

They look so peaceful...and sweet. Why can't they always look this sweet? The rest of Sunday really didn't change from this picture. We pretty much slept the whole day away... I don't know if the boys have yet to fully recover. From what I hear, not so much...

Dear, Liver...Please forgive me...

BigOil's plane lands at approximately 5pm. Although I'm excited as one little Filipina can be, my liver has it's proverbial hands wrapped around itself, rocking back and forth in the fetal position trying to hide itself behind it's small neighbor Mr. Kidney for shelter. I think the last visit included people passed out before 9pm. Hopefully, this visit will be less "in yo face" and a little more relaxing. However....I REALLY doubt that.

Spicing up the blog

After blogging yesterday, I sought out the help of The Madame, Eurotrash!, and Pocahontas on ideas of how to give my blog that little bit of "je ne sais quoi." Some write about politics, others focus on child-rearing, while others simply use blogging as a way to chronicle the mundane trivialites of their lives. I, personally, have been using this as a documentary so that when I'm old and gray, I can look back and say, "Those were the days when my boobs didn't hang to my waist!" Or, "Wow, I can't believe I never got a staph infection from falling into a roadside ditch!" Oh, how those things sound trivial now... but when I'm 60 years old and looking back, I really will want to remember how much I actually enjoyed the men I dated, the places I had traveled, and the friends I don't speak to anymore.

Eurotrash! had long ago suggested a Cheese of the Month bit, but seeing I'm lactose intolerant...I may very well just end up writing about the effects these yummies have on my digestive system. I'm thinking that can only go so far...imagine....

"Dear Blog, Cheese of the Month will be Broccio. It is a French cheese made of goat's or ewe's milk and is unpasteurized, whey cheese of various shapes. Some broccio are salted and dried for a sharper flavor and is similar to Italian Ricotta. However, after eating said cheese, I was curled up in the fetal position within the hour praying to all that is holy for the gut-wrenching twisting of my stomach to stop, followed by frequent trips to my new porcelain best friend. Please, for the love of God, do not eat this cheese should you have a function to attend within the next 8 hours. People will start to notice the faint noises coming from your backside no matter how hard you clench!"

Hmmmm....actually, that could be pretty entertaining.

Anyway, so I'm thinking I will choose a Photo of the Month. Seeing as I am a true Asian in the sense that I almost always have my digitial camera with me, I snap pictures at just about every opportunity - major functions, evenings of debauchery, harrassing the gas station attendant on why they don't carry super glue. (Sidebar: Why doesn't the gas station by my apartment have ANYTHING???? No Visine, no Pepto Bismal, and today...no super glue. Don't ask...long story!) So, yes, I took a picture of the said gas station's shotty "supplies" section. In between the chips and the motor oil. I'm thinking Photo of the Month...maybe Photo of the Week. What do you think?

I'm alive!!!

Ok, a lot of you have called me out because I haven't blogged since September. So here I am trying to get back into blogging. We must thank Banana who reminded me most recently....like a few minutes ago via MySpace.

Just a bit of an update... a lot of my lack of desire to blog has spawned from a number of personal issues which is best summed up of as family tragedies and dramas along with my re-introduction into the single world...all in a matter of 2 months. So, yes, I decided it best I not become one of those emo-like blogs talking about being depressed/wanting to kill....something (seeing as I can't kill myself...Jeez, NO!).

Anyway, today will be a boring blog. I suppose I can re-enter the blogging community by outlining my week. Yes, I know it's pathetic, BUT it's a start until I get my momentum going. Tomorrow, I will have 2 events I have to be at all at the same time. Seeing as cloning is not legal, I must make a choice - an all-volunteer meeting for American Cancer Society Starlight Gala (of which I'm a member of the Social and Membership Committee) or dinner at the phenomenal restaurant Mark's with co-workers for a birthday. Hmmmm... I'm sure you know I lean to the latter. HOWEVER, there is another glitch to the plan....I'm still on the schedule to work at Job #2. Now, I think that I can take care of that, but errrrr....that means I have to kiss someone's butt to work for me :( After that, Wednesday is just another day of working both jobs, then comes the fun part....

BigOil gets in on Thursday!!!! WOOHOO!!! How do I miss BigOil? Let me count the ways? (1) No one allows me to throw up in the back of a cab, carries me to my apartment, cleans me up, and still loves me in the morning (2) No one talks to me at late hours just to keep me awake during the ride home from Job #2...especially when I'm dumb enough to pop a Xanax before getting behind the wheel because I'm having a freak out session, and (3) just because he's "so good-looking, he's unapproachable" (inside joke). Anyway, I guarantee there will be lots of funny pictures to post after this weekend.

Also, Friday is one of my BFF's birthdays!!! Happy birthday, Midtowner. For her big 3-0, she's making a few of us girls jump out of a plane. Yes, I might be permanently pressed to asphalt if all things go tragic...so pray for me...or cross your fingers, if you don't pray to a diety of choice. I'm still trying to convince BigOil to jump with us, but I don't think he'll budge on his stance of "HELL NO!"

Ok, that actually turned out to be a pretty long blog. Good start... Are you happy now, Banana???

Are you ready for some football?!?!?!?!?

College football season started last week...WOOHOO! And this weekend is NFL! I'm so excited. I get to watch a bunch of big sweaty men collide on top of each other. Is that badass broadcasting or what?!? Haha. Seriously though...I am quite excited.

As for this weekend the Texas v. OSU game is the big buzz. Can't wait to see what happens.

Unfortunately, I have nothing else to report right now because the info is either out of date or just not that interesting. I will try to be more captivating next time.

Damn those roadside ditches!

So I have always had this fear of ditches. Not like a diagnosed phobia or anything, but more of a paranoia that I will either slide into one in the rain or not clear one when turning into a narrow street like Baby's. Anyway, I have a funny story to tell...

Saturday night after getting off work early, I head over to Baby's. By the time I get there, the boys were 3 shots and a couple of bottles of wine into the evening...yikes! So what's a girl to do in this situation? Options only lead to one solid solution - catch up, of course. After realizing that the evening will be 'one of THOSE nights', we head over to Dark Horse to see 'Lil E. You would think that we would know better than to take this train wreck to a public arena, but alas...not so much. As the nights progressed and the alcohol flowed freely, we decided it was about time to take it back to the house. Baby, Grove, Noodle, Noodlette, and myself are thinking...wow, home by midnight...good stuff. UNTIL...

Grove pulls into Baby's driveway without pulling all the way up, so we are near the edge of the street. Poor Noodlette is beyond coherency at this point so I walk around to help her out of the car. In that instance, her dead weight brings us both toppling over in the grass. As we laugh hysterically, I begin to realize that I am slowly sliding down. "Where am I going?" I wonder. Until it dawns on me that I am not in the flat grassy area, but in fact, on the edge of the grass near the ditch in front of Baby's house. As I realize that I am only seconds away from swimming with every bacteria known to man and that none of the guys are going to get to me in time, I just start to laugh even harder. Seeing as I was a lost cause about falling into the ditch with no way of avoiding it, I try to at least save Noodlette from joining me. In my effort to push her up from my disgusting fate, I only slide myself down the slope even faster. I eventually hit the water and can do nothing but scream, "Good GOD, I'm in the f-ing ditch!" The guys are cracking up, and Grove fishes me out. Jeez!!! Baby missed the debacle entirely except to see me waist-high in ditch water. I end up shedding my jeans, running upstairs and showering immediately. These were the moments where I wish I was so wasted that I wouldn't have cared, but what can you do?

So the moral of the story is: If you ever feel like you had a crappy weekend...just rememer that you were NEVER in a ditch!

(Man, I wish I had pictures to go with this post!)

Could I be anymore half-assed about updating this thing?

Lately, I've been really busy. Work has been insane on both fronts. My day job just made a major business announcement that has apparently made us the talk of our industry, and my evening job just suffered a major national security issue that has us bogged down with more work than ever! It's always funny how I spend 8 hours of my day amazed at how well my company is doing, and then spend the last 4 hours of my evening watching the company I work for part-time be in such dismay. Oh, well...enough about that!

Let's see...what's happened since my last post? Well...a lot. But the condensed version is:

• My brother is now officially engaged! Yay!!!! Picture below is from my parents' house at their engagement dinner :)

My brother and his fiancee holding an overly-priced bottle of Christal
that Baby and I bought them for their engagement gift

• My friend Wanderer was in town to visit from London on business and squeezed in a little beer-drinking with me

I wish he'd visit more!!!

• I helped out with a Young Professionals in Energy event that was an absolute success - the mayor was there...see my cheesy picture below ;)

I find it ironic that two days after his daughter gets arrested for a DWI,
he speaks at a cocktail reception...priceless.

• My great-aunt just completed successful life-threatening surgery that will allow her to continue her dialysis treatment - big sigh of relief! :)
• Sparky & his wife just gave birth to their first child - a healthy baby boy!!!! Sparky is oh-so excited! Poor kid looks just like his proud papa...heehee!!!
• My mother is en route to the Philippines as I type this to say her final good-byes to my aunt who is in hospice care :(

I guess that's about it. Like I said, busy! Oh, and I've also been on this crazy health kick lately with working out, running, and eating healthy. I'm trying to see if this will alleviate any of this growing stress. If not, I may very well end up back on a leather couch staring at the ceiling and telling a shrink how my otherwise mundane problems have been stacking up all at once and driving me to rip all my hair out...including my eyebrows...not pretty in the least. I don't want to look surprised all the time like Whoopi Goldberg.

As for this weekend, tonight I'm meeting up with Banana and her new dating-type person. I haven't seen Banana since probably high school so it'll be fun to catch up. We're going to see a guy we also went to high school with perform in some rock band he's a part of. Wow, I haven't gone to see a specific live band play at a bar since college...how nostalgic. I would say retro, but apparently "retro" is anything 7-yrs or older. That's according some article I read some years ago. I've still got a couple of years before I can say my college days were "retro." ;)

Other than that, I'm trying to figure how I'll squeeze in relaxing. I have to work the entire weekend, but I'm trying to maneuver around that. I have to check on my great aunt at some point as well. You would think my schedule would have some kind of break at some point or another, but alas...not so much.

Until next time, dear readers...

What does it mean?

Last night I had a strange evening. I went to bed relatively early (for me, that is) sometime after 11pm. In the course of the evening, Baby tossed and turned seeing as he's been nervous about going into work and giving his answer to not accept a counter-offer from his present company because it falls short of what the new company is proposing. So, yes, Baby is on to better and brighter things.

Anyway, other than dealing with his sleep issues....around 5am this morning we heard about six or seven gunshots. His neighbors have this obsession with shooting firearms in the middle of the night. In the past, Baby and his other neighbor have disregarded these noises as firecrackers. But last night was absolutely NOT firecrackers!!! I told Baby to call the police to complain. It's such a pain for Baby and Noodle to live next to such thugs, but they are one of two houses left on his street that have not been bought out to tear down and build luxury townhomes. Although, I'm sure it's ONLY a matter of time. I think it's such a great idea that Baby has chosen to buy in an up and coming neighborhood like he did with his previous home in Midtown seeing as he profited so well when he finally sold it, but I am so glad that I don't live there on a daily basis.

On top of that...when I finally fell asleep, I had this strange dream. This part of my night is more about the title of this post. I dreamt that it was raining really badly and flooding everywhere. In my dream, I lived by a big bridge. It was night time, and still a bit drizzling. I was driving a school bus (yes, a bus again...for those who don't know, I use to have reoccuring dreams about all kinds of different buses - driving them, riding on them, waiting for them...so bizzare). I go to take the bridge to get to the next town since we and my passengers are evacuating, but when we get through the fog, there's no bridge. But, it's too late. I can't stop, so the bus goes off the bridge into mud...not water, mud. The mud proceeds to envelop us like quicksand. Somehow, I must've survived because we flash to me doing something else. Or maybe I went to another dream. Almost if I were having a new dream sharing the similarity of the rain, flooding, and evacuating.

In this new dream I was trying to evacuate an office-like environment with a bunch of older people (maybe coworkers?). We packed our personal items and were trying to escape out the window...don't ask...to get to the evacation buses. I threw my bag out the window so that I can follow right after it, then something made me stop as I threw my legs over the windowsill. I actually waited for the cloud of fog to move so that I got a better look at the ground I was going to land on (it was only the first floor window, but still high). The next thing you know, I'm staring down on that same muddy mess hundreds of miles below me as if I were on the bridge from the previous dream...or earlier in the dream...whatever it was. I watched as my bag was sinking into the mud. Then, that's when I woke up to the alarm. So strange! I'm thinking I need to go to some dream interpreter to figure out what that all means.

Au Revoir, Pocahontas and J.Smith

This past Saturday was busy as usual... I had two places to be, so of course, I did what I do best...spread myself thin. Saturday night, I had to go to a purse party at Blondie's and then to a going away party for Pocahontas and J.Smith.

Midtowner and I went to the purse party with all intentions of not buying anything seeing as I'm trying to save money and all, but that plan wasn't as successful as I had intended. I ended up buying the cutest green-ish colored clutch purse! I couldn't say no to $30 when it was originally over $100. C'mon...now you see that I was backed into a corner. I blow $30 doing nothing a majority of the time...at least now I have something tangible to show for it.

Anyway, I headed back to Baby's to pick him and Grove up on the way to the going away shindig. So off we were on our way to the party...eggroll appetizers and bottle of champagne in hand. The Madame, Eurotrash!, and Egypt were already there. As always, I try to arrive fashionably late...actually, I was busy frying the eggrolls, but fashionably late sounds so much better. Pocahontas and J.Smith had a phenomenal tablescape (landscape of food on the table) as usual...such the great hostesses! I did the standard pigging out, and then imbibed a bit more than I should've. Those at the party are probably all scorning a hideous bottle of booze called 99 Bananas - 99-proof of banana-flavored hell.






Pocahontas and Me...this will be the last picture of us partying at their house :(










You know Baby loves me when he entertains my snap-happiness after a few drinks








Eurotrash!, Egypt, and Grove...and the kitchen island of booze











The Madame and Me - she taught me everything I needed to know about working the street...heehee









You know it's time to go when we look like this on the way home... Baby is such a good DD





I had a great time that night saying adios to mis agimas as they move to Denver. However, I look forward to visiting them seeing as I've never been to Colorado. I wish them so much luck in their new city....Although, they will never find as colorful friends as the ones from "The Dungeon."

As some of you know, I went to Acapulco for the holiday weekend. It wasn't the absolute best destination I've been to, but it had its charms. Baby and I had spent the 4 days sitting on the beach, drinking Coronas and frozen drinks, and taking in all the local flair.

Our first day, we arrived at the hotel around 1pm - after our airport driver was harassed by police on the way to dropping us off. Apparently, he was looking for a nice little bribe, but our driver was having none of it...so we sat there as the went back and forth for about 15 minutes before the cop gives up and lets us go. So, Baby and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon dividing our time between one of the many pools at our hotel and vegetating on the beach.





View of Acapulco Beach from our balcony












View of the Adult Pool at the Emporio Hotel









The view we woke up to every morning












Baby and me relaxing on the beach...we even had guys bringing us coolers filled with frosty goodies whenever we needed. Nice, huh?


The next day, we headed over to a local Mexican restaurant close to our hotel that was suggested to me at the Maria Hacienda Eugenia for breakfast. The buffet was really good...lots of different foods. I gave Matt props for trying things he had no clue what they were. Overall, a good place. We even squeezed in watching some World Cup action there. Afterwards, we headed to the beach and rented an umbrella, two chairs, and a table for $3 and stayed on the beach all day for the most part. There were vendors coming by every 2 minutes trying to sell us everything from fans, massages, and sunglasses to henna tatoos, barbecued oysters, and hammocks. Sad to see people being so desperate, but you got use to it after awhile. Baby got great use out of the phrase, "No, pero gracias."

Friday night, we went to La Quebrada which is the awesome cliff diving. These guys jump up to 10 stories into a crevice in the mountain only 20 feet wide and 12 feet deep. Can you believe how insane that is?!?!?! Afterwards we headed to El Amigo Miguel for some more authentic Mexican food. It was in a shady part of town that made Baby a bit nervous, but the food was definitely tasty. Afterwards, we headed to the hotel zone strip to try a few bars. We ended up at Paradise and some pirate bar. We had a few drinks and decided it was time to go home and turn in.







The sunset at La Quebrada












Here we are stopping at Paradise for a cool beverage on the way back to the hotel





On Saturday, we did pretty much the same thing except we rented a palapa (thatched-roof hut looking things on the beach) and some loungers. This was spectacular. People brought us food and drinks nonstop onto the beach while we dozed in and out between vendors trying to sell us stuff. We headed over to Mango's that night for dinner and some undercover drinking as most places were already taking effect of serving no alcohol on election day, which was that next day on Sunday.

On Sunday, we went to go Pie de la Cuesta which is a beautiful beach about 30 minutes outside of the hotel zone. We were literally the first people on the beach that morning. We secured our hammocks and did absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, it was election day so they weren't serving alcohol...and these people at Tres Marias were actually law-abiding citizens...ugh! Who ever heard of laying in a hammock on the beach without a beer or some other frosty alcoholic beverage???? Eventually, our driver came back and got us and took us back to our hotel. Although alcohol was prohibited to be sold...Baby convinced a bartender at one of the pool's bars to be a rebel and pour us a few cold ones ;) And, yes, that's why I love him...Baby shows up on his white horse to save the day when my hopes were shattered by sobriety...lol.






Pie de la Cuesta - we were literally the first people that showed up














Don't I look like a happy, round-faced Asian?!?!? Hahaha










Anyway, that last night (mind you the night no alcohol is to be sold), Baby and I partied like it was 1999. We even took a horse-drawn buggy down a major avenue because it was the closest thing to us to ask for a ride rather than wait for a taxi. Now that was hilarious...clip clopping all the way down say a street like Westheimer next to all these cars as we're going a mile down the road for an illegal margarita....CLASSIC. We ended up at Carlos'n'Charlie's and that's all she wrote. (Smart move that I didn't bring my camera to take pictures of the evening's events)

The next day, Baby and I were struggling to make our way to the airport...but we got there and even got first class on the way home. Yipee!!! All and all our trip was another success. I survived, rode a horse to a bar, and lived to tell about it.

Luckily, I won't be traveling for a while. It's about time I stayed in Houston for a change. Poor Baby has to fly this weekend to a wedding in Tampa. Better him than me ;)

What do you think?

My horoscope today:

Taurus (April 19 - May 19)
A big decision may need to be made in your professional life, dear Taurus. You are eager to use your capacities fully and are casting about for ways to do so. If your company has a relationship with countries abroad, can you take advantage of this to expand your professional role? There is no question that you are in a phase of expansion, and that includes your confidence! Even so, keep an eye on your finances.

I broke down...but mainly out of principal

I know everyone and they're grandma has heard of MySpace. For years, I've protested getting on that site for the sheer reason that I don't like the idea of people reading about you without you knowing they're looking at your profile. Plus, I'm a firm believer that you're exposing yourself way too easily for the masses to look into your life. By no means am I an introvert or super secretive person, but I also know how some things you write/type on the internet can come back to haunt you...personally and mainly professionally.

Yes, I know it sounds hypocritical for me to say that seeing as I have a blog, but my blog is not set to be openly viewed. Only those who have the direct address can access it, meaning there's no way to just search it via a search engine or search through my blog host Blogger...thank goodness! I accidently dropped that security feature for one day, and my profile views went from 13 to 173. Wow....never gonna do that again!

Anyway, I finally broke down and set up a MySpace account Friday. My reason: anger at ridiculous parents. I heard on the news how a mother from Austin was suing MySpace because her teenage daughter was raped by someone she met on the website. I ask: When does a parent start blaming others for either neglected parenting or for their bad parenting skills altogether? Granted no girl should be forced against her will, but can a mother blame a website for her allowing her child to play on the internet unmonitored for hours on end? Is she so busy she can't check on what her child is doing every once in awhile...maybe take 5 minutes out to pull up the history of what her child's been doing on the computer? Come one, people! We're in a technologically advanced world here...this is just the new age version of teaching your kids not to open the door for strangers, not to get into cars with strangers, and not taking candy from strangers. How can you blame a website for not enforcing your authority to teach your kids these basic rules or for laziness as a parent to check on your teen? Too busy? Whatever, then you shouldn't have had kids to begin with if you couldn't make time for them. I know I don't have time for kids and that's why I make every precaution to not have any right now.

So yes, there is my rant. I enrolled on MySpace as a "stick it to the man/bad parent." I know it sounds retarded, but hey...it made me feel like I was getting back at bad parenting skills...sue me.

Finally!

Baby and I have FINALLY decided on a place to jet away for the July 4th holiday - ACAPULCO! Back in the day (I love that saying), Acapulco was supposedly "the place to be" but had suffered some downslide in tourism in the last few decades. It still ranks as a big spring break destination (as ALL Mexico cities tend to be), but seems to be picking up more general tourism steam lately from what I've been reading. So far, our flights look good (so cross your fingers for us), and I'm hoping the rain clears away by then. Yes, it's been raining like gatos y perros out there the past few days (like that spanglish?).

As I've been doing my standard OCD routine of scouring for all destination info and insider info on the location, I was able to come up with some great things. I decided not go with an all-inclusive (AI) plan as it was strongly suggested not to do one by locals, frequent visitors, and Aca aficianadoes. Apparently, unlike Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, there is more to do and see in Aca outside of your hotel/resort so hiding out at your hotel loading up on drinks and not-so-good food is a waste of your vacation. I was a little nervous about the decision not to go AI in Mexico, but the other travelers from Tripadvisor's Acapulco discussion forums were quick to ease every concern by telling me where to go and what to expect. My log-in is "travelflip" if you ever go on there.

I was told where we are staying, Emporio Hotel Acapulco, is right in the center of everything and a walk away from really good cheap restaurants and all the beachfront bars. Now that's what I want to hear! The more and more I thought about doing the AI, the more I thought it wasn't going to be the best bang for our buck seeing that one day we'd be away from the hotel at a gorgeous beach/village 30 minutes away from the hotel so that would be a waste of lunch, dinner, and drinks for the day. We're also not big drinkers except for maybe one night of our trip when it's just me and Baby (occassional beer here and there, but no typical weekends in Houston...haha), so the boozing it up wouldn't be beneficial. And I forgot to mention, we're a 50-cent and 5-minute bus ride away from the Wal-Mart there if we want to buy snacks and stuff we would actually like rather than whatever we'd be limited to at the hotel. Wal-Mart is taking over the world, I tell ya!

Anyway, here are a few things I'm looking forward to:

• Pie de la Cuesta - the beach/village mentioned above
• La Quebrada - Infamous cliff diving
• A massage at the hotel spa
• Just lounging by the pool with Baby and doing nothing!!!!

I'll be sure to tell you peeps exactly how it all turns out. I'm sure I'll love it, but if I don't... I'll be sure to tell you how much I hated it. Luckily, I have a few more days to fine-tune my itinerary ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG SISTAH

Lauren's been practicing saying "Happy Birthday" all week. Although, all mom could manage out of her was "Happy Happy" it's still an awesome display.

Weekend Update

I don't think a Monday has felt this exhausting in a while. The rain isn't helping, but I can probably blame the fact that I feel like I need another 10 hours of sleep on too much of...well, everything over the weekend.

BigOil showed up on Friday raring to go. We met up with the guys at Kentucky Club and then headed to 702. Baby, Grove, Noodle, Noodle's g/f, Aussie, and Aussette were all in attendance. The following day we (sans Noodle's g/f) continued by starting out at BW3 for some World Cup action, then to Brian O's and Twelve Spot for some nostalgia. You'll never believe this...but we were actually kicked out of Twelve Spot. Alba would be so proud. Sunday ended up being a lazy day of falling in and out of sleep on the couch before taking BigOil to the airport.

It was definitely great seeing BigOil again, but I'm so glad these visits are few and far between. My poor body feels like it was beaten within an inch of it's life.

Surprise!

Luckily, NONE of the guys this pertains to (even my Baby) reads my blog - which is very good since I can talk/vent about them on this website, so I will tell my loyal readers the surprise I have in store for them. For those of you who remember BigOil (the guy who left us to go back to Ft. Lauderdale in pursuit of internet domain brokering success), I convinced him to FINALLY come back and visit us for the weekend. The guys don't know this, and this may very well backfire. I'm hoping that they don't all have distinct plans this weekend I don't know about that would prevent them from seeing BigOil during his visit. Oh, well...we'll see.

The major hurdle I'm coming across is that I need to be at two places at once. I'll be at the YPE HH around the time his flight comes in today, and can't ask anyone else to pick him up...Hellllloooo, it's a surprise, remember? I decided that I would send a car to pick him up to meet me at this HH. I guess the post after the weekend will recount some crazy stories. Stay tuned....

Break out the bubbly

Congrats to J.Smith on getting the new job in Denver!!! (insert my favorite old-school twink dance move here - the one where you have your arms raised and spinning around wildly to the the song "Ah Rin Tin Tin Tin") I can't believe you and Pocahontas will be leaving H-Town, but I wish you all the great successes in Colorado.

So does this mean one of you are going to teach me how to snowboard when I come out to visit in the winter???? If not, you can at least scout out cute instructors for me...just don't tell Baby ;)

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Deville...

My beautiful little niece has already mastered her "I'm the most adorable 20-month-old you've ever seen" look.

Happy Birthday, The Madame!

Today I must also send birthday wishes to The Madame!!!! She shares this wonderful birthday with my awesome pooch Duchess...The Madame can only be so proud. Hehe. If only I had taken that picture of you clawing the sands of the North Shore to place in this blog entry...

Happy Happy Birthday to My Baby

Yesterday was Baby's birthday....woohoo! Happy Birthday!!! Unfortunately over the weekend, we didn't do anything grand or spectacular...same ole shit of hanging out. No big to-do was put into motion because mainly Baby didn't want anything. Oh, well...

However, I did get Baby this fabulous white micro-terry bathrobe. He's been looking for one for quite some time, but has not been successful. With some internet savvy, I was able to track down a spa-soft robe that is a full-length version of my super soft bathrobe. It was actually less expensive than I thought I would spend, so that was a plus. And of course, Baby LOVED it! Score...one point for me!

Vegas Pictures

Here are just a few of the pictures from our weekend...







Baby in front of The Wynn Waterfalls











Here we are at The Light at Bellagio. A little tipsy, but we're still so cute...dontcha think????







This is what my black girlfriends enlightened me to as a "hot mess". That means they're so drunk that they think they're sexy hot, but are really just a mess. Fitting.

Sadness

I received an email from Pocahontas today informing me that J.Smith just received a job opportunity in Denver he couldn't refuse (wow, how The Godfather), and they will soon be relocating. How sad! How can they leave Houston?!?!?! I mean, you'd think the humidity and sweltering heat was enough to keep anyone here, right? Although I did tease Pocahontas that they will soon be the ski season hook-up of a lifetime...lol!!!

Oh, well...I guess this means it's time to plan a HUMONGOUS going away party...

Vegas Baby

Updating a Vegas trip is usually the same story over and over. The short version of ANYONE'S recap would be: posh hotel, awesome food, great nightlife partying, and loss of money. Sound about right?

As for more detail, Baby and I spent two nights at the very nice Bellagio Hotel...courtesy of my generous boss. Our whole office met for dinner the first night at Prime Steakhouse, which by the way is excellent. We started off with oysters, and I had ginger shredded tuna for an appetizer while Baby had these delecatable crab spring rolls - YUM! As we all know, I'm not that fond of beef, but I decided to try the filet mignon seeing that steaks are what they are famous for. I really can't remember what Baby had, but I know he wasn't disappointed in the least.

After dinner, the group headed for the craps tables and milled about until we all decided to call it a night around 2am. I suppose that was relatively tame for a night in Vegas.

The next day, Baby and I decided to do some unsuccessful shopping. I was reminded why I hate that I'm not 5'10" and a size 0. Damn cute clothes being made for stick figures!!! Anyway, I called it quits on the shopping so we headed for the Bellagio pool. It was super packed and hotter than Hades, but a frozen pina colada helped ease the heat.

After the pool, Baby and I leisurely got ready for our dinner reservations at Tao. The dinner was spectacular!!! The food was some of the best seafood we had ever had...and that's saying a lot! For dessert, we had...what else? Sake flights. I found a sake that was so smooth it went down like water. Good thing I don't remember the name as that could become very dangerous on my next sushi outing.

Following dinner, we headed over to The Wynn to lose more money on the tables as we waited for our 10:30pm showing of Le Reve . We stopped into one of their lounges Lure for a quick drink. It was about pretty early (9pm-ish), so there weren't very many people. To tell you the truth, it reminded me a lot of M Bar here in Houston.

Le Reve (meaning "the dream") was like nothing Baby and I had ever seen. The sets were amazing and done completely in water. My coworker didn't enjoy it as much as we did and called it "O"-Part 2, but seeing we never saw "O" it was still a great performance for us. I highly recommend seeing this if you are ever in Vegas. Tickets aren't cheap, but definitely worth every penny!

After the show, we headed back to Bellagio so that Baby could get sucked into the evil he calls 4-Card Poker. A few hands and stout drinks later, I convinced Baby to go to Light for some dancing. We had such a great time. There were strippers everywhere (according to Baby) and all kinds of craziness. Eventually, the night became morning and Baby and I headed upstairs for some shut-eye.

The next morning was slow and painful. We were able to get packed up, cashed out on my minimal winnings after betting on the Dallas v. Phoenix game, and headed to the airport.

Thank GOD we were going home... Any more than two nights of this rock'n'roll lifestyle is even too much for me to handle. How does Paris Hilton do it?!?!?!

Star sightings: The Donald, his super model wife Melania, and his six humongous bodyguards walking through The Wynn around midnight; Senator John McCain at Bellagio's crap tables

PS. Pictures to be added once I get my camera back from Baby...

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

Woo Hoo....par-tay!