Tuesday, May 27, 2008

a look back at my twenties ...

I thought this was appropriate, seeing as I have only three days left in my twenties ...

4 Things I was doing 10 years ago
1) Just finished my freshman year at USC, living back at home.
2) Working at Duerr Evaluation.
3) Hanging out with Miko and her neighbors at Pomona West.
4) Buying clothes for sorority rush.

4 Things I was doing 5 years ago
1) Thanking god I wasn't laid off in the budget crunch!
2) Missing Joe who was in Mexico playing baseball for the summer.
3) Interviewing potential roommates ... hello Amanda!
4) Celebrating my birthday at Sing-Sing.

4 Things I did yesterday
1) Cleaned up after our party.
2) Wondered who stole money from Allison and I (no joke!).
3) Had sushi with Amanda and planned our fall vacation - Greece or Agentina???
4) Laundry-city.

4 Shows I like to watch
1) Conan O'Brien
2) Top Chef
3) Dirty Jobs
4) Talk Soup

4 Things I Like to Do
1) Spinning!
2) Read books.
3) Travel
4) Hang out with Baby Jack.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

the euro can bite me

So my trip to Germany and Amsterdam has officially been postponed. The American dollar is so weak in comparison to the Euro, and airfare across the Atlantic is insane. But, I do have to travel so I am looking into an 11-day trip to Buenos Aires, Bariloche (mountains), Medoza (Argentinian wine country), and Santiago (Chile). The exchange rate is still in our favor, and a colleage who went a few years ago said Buenos Aires was Paris with a Latin American flare.

Hopefully I'll have this, or something else, booked within the next few weeks. This is definitely not a summer where you wait and see if you can a last-minute deal. Book early!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

mum's the word

It is Tuesday evening, and I am still exhausted from my weekend. My mom and sisters flew down from NorCal on Saturday morning for our annual Mother's Day weekend. I decided to start-off the weekend by embarrassing my sisters, one of my favorite pastimes. I've always wanted to have an emotional airport reunion a la Love Actually, so I decided to create one myself. I parked my car and waited for them near the escalator entrance to the baggage claim. When I saw them coming down, I ran toward them shouting and waving. Sadly, it did not have the desire effect - my mom was oblivious, but my sisters were embarrassed so score one for me.

We drove straight from LAX down to the California Science Center, located right next to USC. First we saw the IMAX flim Mummies 3D: Secrets of the Pharaohs. It was very interesting and renewed my desire to travel to Egypt. We then checked out the Body Worlds exhibit, which was very interesting although I didn't think it was as amazing as the version I saw a few years back. After a pit-stop at the USC bookstore, we headed home to rest up for our big evening out.

Now, for those of you who don't know my mom, you need to know that since we were little kids, she has wanted to go to Midieval Times. For one reason or another, when we visited Disneyland it never worked out. This year, I was able to score some free tickets to the show (it costs almost $50 a ticket!!!) ... thus enabling her to realize her lifelong dream. We were seated in the blue knight's section, he was kind of a bad-ass, or so he thought, but really I knew he was a harcore dungeons and dragons fan.

Anyway, my mom decided she would rather cheer for the red and gold knight, so she did. We all had a good time ... and as long as you realize it's just cheesy fun, it is a good time. Here we are, in our dorky crowns :)



On actual Mother's Day, we spent the morning walking around the Riviera Village, drinking coffee and shoppping. That afternoon we went over to Shaun and Felicia's to celebrate the day with Baby Jack!!! The week prior I was babysitting Jack and he was obsessed with my necklace and kept wanting to wear it. Being the good auntie that I am, I brought it back over with me that day and he literally wore it until we left late at night. It really added a nice splash of color to his otherwise neutral outfit.



Monday was sleeping in, more coffee and shopping ... and then I took them back to LAX for their flight home. It was a whirlwind weekend, and after cleaing up, doing laundry, and everything else, I still feel like I need a vacation from my vacation! But, I guess my mom did spend more than 24 painful hours in labor with me so a weekend of fun is a small gesture in comparison.

I love you Mutha!

Monday, May 5, 2008

we love wii


This Christmas, I got a Wii. I haven't been a big video game fan since I was 12 and my parents finally caved in and got my sisters and I a Nintendo. Having said that, I love my Wii (and my Mii above). It just got even better with the release of Mario Kart, which my roommates and I played consistently this entire weekend. To quote Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly suggest picking one up."