Current Obsessions.

- Toradora

(from ojay)

I have to start this post off first with an admission. Maybe the last 2 months or so, I've gotten into watching anime with oj. at first, it started off as something to do to kill time, not to mention that he really likes his anime and wanted to show me. and at first I refused, because, really, anime?!? but eventually I gave in and now I keep up with shows as much a I keep up with the real shows I watch (top chef anyone?). My current anime: Toradora. Taiga, the palmtop tiger, is tiny, underdeveloped, rash, violent, selfish, and obsessive...I love her.

-Here to Stay



Speaking of anime, I love this song from a show thats completely different: "Here to Stay." I found the piano music online and am ever so slowly working my way through it. It's lovely, sort of melancholy and tragic, and haunting enough to tug at heart strings.

-Everyday Minerals
(taken from Sheens)

I saw this posted on sheena's blog. Its like bare minerals but cheaper, and the best part is that you can get a sample kit for free (excluding shipping) that you customize yourself! you pick 3 foundations, a concealer, and a blush. And you can order as many as you want, but only one at a time. I can't wait for this to come in the mail=)

-Feminine Mystique
Every woman, every man should read this book. It's written in the 60s, at the beginning of the second wave feminist movement--even before the movement started--but its still so personal, so relevant, so important for all women and men to understand. I'm not done with it yet (its around 500 pages), but as I turn the pages I find myself nodding, and letting out an occasional hmmmm while my inner voice keeps declaring "thats so true!" Here's how the book opens:

The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night---she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question---"is this all?"

I mean, come on. It may be talking about suburban housewives of the mid-twentieth century, but it could very well speak to women today.

Tomorrow is super busy for me, in the morning I get my haircut. This is such a big deal for me because my hair is just so...unmanageable lol. I want something different and new, but I'm super nervous because if it gets screwed up then I am just fcuked. I still don't even know what I'm getting done. I have the haircut if I were brave enough, the haircut that I'm comfortable with, the haircut that's somewhere in the middle. I'll have to talk it over in the AM with the gal who cuts my hair, I trust her tons so we'll see.

After that, I have brunch with my good and dear friend Ashley, whom I have not see in ages. I'm excited to see her and catch up. Then, a birthday at chuck E. cheese! Aren't you jealous? I can already imagine the kids going ballistic!

Movie List

Lately, I haven't hardly watched any movies. not in theaters, not at home, nothing. when I get busy there just isn't time, and when the girls get together we never watch movies because nessa is so adamant that its a waste of time. but since I'm on break, I can look forward to a watching movies again. here's a couple that I want to see:

.

out in theatres today I don't want to see this so much for the story, as for the dresses and such. and yes, sometimes, I don't mind watching a movie purely for entertainment value.



out 02/06/09


out 04/24/09 the music in the trailer got me hooked. Bach's cello suites <3 I highly recommend listening to them. Yo Yo Ma released a cd not too long ago on the suites, and my favorite is the prelude.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_VBgkPNY

Gimme Gimme Gimme

Last night when we were going to the gym, I made a super fantastic discovery. My gym shoes, which I've had for about a year or so, are Nike+ shoes that can work with ipod Nano or ipod Touch (by a sensor placed in the shoe) to help monitor my workouts: distance run, calories burned etc, etc.






Pretty cool. The only thing though, is that I don't have a nano! But since apple came out with new nanos in pretty colors, I'm not opposed to getting a new ipod =)



I like the purple and teal ones.

But since I am on the subject, here's more things that I wished someone would buy for me haha:



My camera has died on me. Any slim point and shoot with at least 8.0 MP would be great!



I know, I know but I want one. you can grill on one side and make sandwiches, pancakes, on the other!

and finally...



no no I dont want someone to give my the Taj Mahal, but I would love to travel to India and South East Asia. Especially after watching the olympics and especially after reading that they may close off the Taj Mahal to visitor in the near future. I love to travel, although my funds are not anywhere near in good enough order to go anywhere...I'm actually still trying to pay off my credit card from going to Italy! But maybe I'll end up going on the cruise for nessa/chars birthday to south america--I've never been there either, and while a cruise doesnt sound too bad, heading to south america on motorcycle sounds divine ;).

San Diego Restaurant Week: January 11-16

I love Restaurant Week...its a great chance to get some great food (3 courses!) at restaurants that I've been wanting to go to, for only half the price. And I love that it happens twice a year. First up: January 11-16, then again in June. There are menus for $20, $30 and $40 bucks/person, excluding tax, tip and drinks.

Find participating Restaurants here

And some places are even featuring Girl Scout Cookies as part of the menu.

Some of my pics so far are: 94th Aero Squardron, the Prado (they are doing a 3 course meal Jan. 22-28 for only $20.09 to celebrate their anniversary, more info here) Tom Ham's Lighthouse, Coronado Boathouse to name a few. Hopefully I can recover quick from holidays to be able to eat out!!

2009.

this time of year i'm always in retrospective mode. every once in a while, its good to take a good look at my life to see whats working, whats not, and what I can improve on. for me, 2008 was all about learning experiences: learning balance and knowing my limits. so what's in store for the new year? I feel like 2009 will be a time of good change for my life, so i'm pretty damn excited.

the year has started out pretty well: new years eve was better and more fun than i expected, since on NYE i still had no idea what i would be doing that night. we started out at the girls' house party in pq--I always wonder why they put in so much effort for other people. it looked nice though, good job nessa and rach! we got there a little late (but still early bc no one we knew was there yet!) and had to leave even earlier so i didnt spend a lot of time with the girls, but at least i got to see them all before heading out to HOB. I even got to "carry" baby mason for the first time on wednesday night--hold him in his baby carrier that is! haha trust me, no one wants me holding their newborn baby. i'd be worse than nessa, who looks like this:


on friday was juices birthday (25?! holy cow!) and the whole day he was bumming bc hes old now haha. the morning started off hectic bc i said i would make his family brunch (his family is freaking huge through!). so I got up bright and early to start cooking: corned beef hash with poached eggs and hollandaise, crustless spinach quiche, blueberry cream cheese muffins, peach cream tart, and my favorite, peach and strawberry bellinis! it was a lot of work but i think (most) things turned out ok--except for the stupid hollandaise. i had a bad experience once when i tried to make it from scratch, and so i bought the powder packets to make sure that it would turn out perfect, except it turned out even worse than before!! one day, i will make good hollandaise. thats my resolution for 2009 hahaha. there were casualities, however, in making brunch: my two thumbs. I lost a good chunk from peeling potatoes (it was a brand new peeler too!) and the other i sliced on the rim of a can i had just opened. i never knew how much i depend on my thumbs until now when i have lost range of motion =(

lastly, i should mention that i've decided to give school a break. i'm not going to pressure myself into trying to finish by the end of spring, and will stay an extra semester. i'm much more comfortable in that decision bc it will give me breathing room to take my classes, and realistically speaking, theres just no way i could finish in time. im a little upset bc i spent so much time and money on taking the GRE and getting transcripts and recs etc etc etc that now mean nothing. but whatever, I can have a life experience while i'm trying to get my shit together. who knows, maybe that means I can finally go abroad for a semester!!

I'm sending out internship applications NOW to get a head start. I'm looking outside of san diego this time, bc the opportunities here are scare and highly competitive. a big part of me is aching for a change of pace and a change of scenery so I'm looking at this as the prime time to make a change for the better.

It's chilly and rainy outside

and I love it. it makes me feel like I'm experiencing the season.

so with only a few days left before Christmas, I still have some shopping to do, and a whole lot of baking. Where has the time gone? I'm baking pies, and cakes, and tarts, and cookies, cookies, cookies galore. BUT I need to do that wednesday morning so I can get them out that day--talk about procrastination!

now that I'm on break, I'm determined to be productive:

1) reading list--I haven't picked up a book that wasn't required for school in a dang long time, and I need to fix that:
+ the feminine mystique
+ some hemmingway, mostly because I've only read 2 of his books, and neither of them were the heavy hitters, For Whom the Bell Tolls or The Sun Also Rises. Plus, this is perfect hemmingway reading weather.

2) college aps--I want to get this out of the way now, because I don't want to be bogged down by it in february when I'll have tons of other stuff to do. left on the list: SFSU, UW, GWU

3) G.Y.M. 'nuff said.

right now I'm in the middle of grading exams. I've got grades to turn in before Xmas--actually due tomorrow--but its just so long and time consuming, that I can't bring myself to finish it. hopefully i can get them done in the next 2 hours .O.O.

The Things I learned on the First of December:

+ the signature salted carmel hot chocolate from starbucks is NOT made with milk. ( o.o ) I'm not quite sure how I feel about that...

+ socks made from bamboo, despite how comfortable they are, simply can not stand up to wear quite that same way as cotton socks. I am, at this very moment, shedding panda socks all over this chair.