I'm a total sucker for award shows. Love 'em. Judge 'em. Dissect 'em.
Random thoughts:
January Jones' hair was amazing. I don't think a single strand was out of place.
Chris Colfer's speech was more coherent and to the point than De Niro's "stand-up" disguised as a speech.
I am super duper happy that Jim Parsons won!!
I wonder what Matt Zuckerberg is thinking right now.
Claire Danes should stop using the word "awesome" and "cool" in her speeches...she's in her 30s now. At least the rest of her speech redeemed her a bit.
Natalie Portman was beautiful and glowing...but I cringed at the fabric choice of her dress. It draped lovely in the front but the back was super wrinkled!
I think I like Emma Stone better as a red head or brunette.
Johnny Depp looks greasy. I want to hand him a blotting sheet.
Jerry has no idea why I like these shows so much, and apparently my infatuation confuses him:
"You are the only person I know who doesn't watch updated movies and TV shows and knows more about them than the people who actually watch them!"
He pretty much hit that on the mark. I haven't seen a movie in the theaters since summer 2009 (500 Days of Summer), and we cut our cable so I'm not up to date on a lot of shows (plus the best ones that get nominated are always on Showtime/HBO/etc). But I'm a voracious reader of gossip & fashion blogs, wikipedia, E!, news outlets such as LAT, NYT, CNN, and USA Today, etc, and they do a great job of injecting me with a steady stream of useless information.
Golden Globes tonight:
Jerry: Who's that guy talking? He sounds like Jamie Oliver.
Me:British Office guy!
I've never seen the British version of The Office, but Ricky Gervais has been around for a while, and I've always enjoyed his humor. Plus he's hosted before (not that I expect Jerry to remember).
Jerry: Hey there's Mila Kunis! (he only recognized her because we just saw Couples Retreat and Date Night, he's never seen That 70s Show)
Me: Yeah she's in Black Swan
Jerry: Oh she is?
Me: (thinking) OMG husband what hole have you been hiding under
I probably won't watch Black Swan until it comes out on DVD, but I already know so much about it, the press for the movie is unavoidable if you spend any time on the internet!
Me: Wow, Michael Douglas seems thin
Jerry: He looks fine to me.
Me: Well, he had cancer
Jerry: His voice sounds weird.
Me: He had THROAT CANCER!
Jerry: Oh
The last Michael Douglas movie I saw was Traffic (2000). But you don't have to watch any of his movies to know who he is!
Me: Ooh I'm so glad Katy Sagal won! She was snubbed for the Emmys!
Jerry: Who's that?
Me: You know- Peggy...Married with Children
Jerry: Never watched it. Is she married to Steven Seagal?
Me: Where were you in the 90s?!?!
Jerry is the only person I know in my generation who has probably seen less than a handful of episodes of Married with Children, Friends, That 70s Show, and the Simpsons. Homeboy has missed out on a lot of TV pop culture references int he last couple decades! But he still probably has more brain cells than the rest of us. :P
Finally Jerry gave up and left the room. He didn't even come downstairs when Justin Beiber came on stage to present an award. Sad.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Not My (Work)Week
Recently:
My laptop was locked up during shutdown, so I had to wait until the ED showed up so she could unlock it. I show up at work about an hour before anyone else does. Luckily, we have remote access and desktops for general use that weren't locked up, so I was able to get some work done while I waited.
The cleaning people are pretty random- sometimes they'll do a super cleaning where they throw stuff away on my desk that I didn't really want/need them to, and other times the trash doesn't even get emptied. So once in a while, random doors in our office will be closed after they vacuum (which is also randomly done). And my door happens to be the only office with a lock. So when they closed our doors, they accidentally locked mine! And no one had a key. So I had to wait until our admin person came in so we could look up the phone number for the bldg management.
We recently got a new all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax. No one could print for a day. After they were able to, I still couldn't print.
I tried to manually install the printer but the matching printer driver didn't show up. Finally I asked our tech people to do it for me remotely. Since I had a big print job to do and they couldn't get to it right away, I found a flash drive in my purse and just used my co-worker's comp to print for the time being.
I tried to fax something to myself and I wasn't even in the directory. Boo. Need to take care of that too.
Man, it's like someone is telling me that I'm not needed at work :P
My laptop was locked up during shutdown, so I had to wait until the ED showed up so she could unlock it. I show up at work about an hour before anyone else does. Luckily, we have remote access and desktops for general use that weren't locked up, so I was able to get some work done while I waited.
The cleaning people are pretty random- sometimes they'll do a super cleaning where they throw stuff away on my desk that I didn't really want/need them to, and other times the trash doesn't even get emptied. So once in a while, random doors in our office will be closed after they vacuum (which is also randomly done). And my door happens to be the only office with a lock. So when they closed our doors, they accidentally locked mine! And no one had a key. So I had to wait until our admin person came in so we could look up the phone number for the bldg management.
We recently got a new all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax. No one could print for a day. After they were able to, I still couldn't print.
I tried to manually install the printer but the matching printer driver didn't show up. Finally I asked our tech people to do it for me remotely. Since I had a big print job to do and they couldn't get to it right away, I found a flash drive in my purse and just used my co-worker's comp to print for the time being.
I tried to fax something to myself and I wasn't even in the directory. Boo. Need to take care of that too.
Man, it's like someone is telling me that I'm not needed at work :P
Sunday, January 9, 2011
A Sunday in the Kitchen
We had some extra time at home today, so I decided to try cooking some new kinds of foods. Most of our weeknight meals are thrown together quickly, so when I have time on the weekends I want to attempt new recipes. That way, when I'm busy raising kids later on and I don't have time to consult a cookbook or the internet, I can refer to a wider range of recipes under my belt. Experimenting is fun, but it doesn't always turn out as expected!
I've had gazpacho at restaurants but never tried making it. I read up on it in my America's Test Kitchen book, but decided to improvise with what I had on hand. We had a can of tomato soup lying around (the original recipe called for tomato juice), so I thinned it with equal parts water. Simmered it slightly, then set it over a bowl of ice to cool down. In the meantime, I cored/deseeded a couple of cucumbers and chopped them up. I had some leftover bruschetta from TJs so that was my chunky tomato contribution. Mixed all 3 items together and stuck it in the fridge to cool down along with some cilantro. Verdict: light, refreshing, and tasty! If I had tomatoes lying around the house I'd make this again, but it's nice to know that leftover bruschetta can also work in a pinch.
I'd read about shrimp toast on food blogs but never had it myself. So I thought hmm, we just stocked up on tons of shrimp, so why not? I poked around the internet for a bit and then decided to improvise again. First I defrosted some sandwich bread. (We always have loaves of bread in the freezer for quick meals) Peeled and deveined the shrimps, and threw them in the food processor with some ginger, cilantro, cornstarch, and an egg. Pulsed until I got a nice thick paste. I spread the paste on the bread (I didn't bother cutting the crusts) and threw it in a pan with some oil, and then I finished it in the toaster oven. Verdict: I should have left the egg out or used more shrimp! I guess the egg didn't incorporate very well into the shrimp paste so when I cooked it, it was basically like eating a scrambled egg with a layer of shrimp. Oops. Most blogs also tell you to deep fry it, but I didn't feel like it. Maybe if I deep fried it the egg wouldn't have been so eggy? I don't know...
They were still alive the next morning! After Jerry boiled them for 20 minutes he spent another 2 hours with some seafood scissors, bare hands, his McDonalds apron, and tired feet. Yielded: ~1.5 lbs of sweet and fresh crab meat. Delicious!! We froze half of it and saved the rest for dinner.
After lunch, I attempted to make ciabatta bread using the recipe from America's Test Kitchen (I did the version without the sponge). I must have been out of it, because I glazed over some details. 1. I used cold water instead of warm tepid water. 2. I completely forgot the salt. 3. I forgot that my oven is pretty strong, so baking these at 500 degrees was a bad idea...4. I was sposed to let these sit for 2 hours before eating, but the rise time/frequencies caused me to finish baking these right at dinner time. Verdict: At least it rose and my yeast wasn't dead? The bread was burnt almost all over (but Jerry likes it that way too), and while the insides were soft and chewy, it tasted weird. As in, there was so taste. Because I forgot the salt!!! Sigh. So texture wise, all my mishaps didn't really affect the bread that much, but flavor-wise, what a difference! No matter. The bread was a good vessel for moping up clam chowder.
Clam chowder. Now, this is something that I cook every few months. It's not quick but it's quite easy if you have most of the ingredients on hand. It also doesn't taste all that authentic to what I've had in Boston or SF, but oh well close enough. My basic technique: cook some bacon to your desired texture in a good quality pot (I used my dutch oven). take out the bacon and some of the grease (leave behind what you feel comfortable with) and set aside. add chopped up onion to the hot bacon grease, and cook until the onion gets wrinkly. add other veggies such as celery if you would like, and cook for few minutes. then add cubed potatoes along with a bottle of clam juice. if you are making a big pot, add another bottle of clam juice or water until the potatoes are mostly covered. lower the heat, and simmer until potatoes are to your almost desired tenderness. in the meantime, mix milk and heavy cream (or half and hour, whatever you have) with some flour. when your potatoes are almost done, add your clams/crab/other seafood along with the dairy/flour mixture. let simmer until just heated through (you don't want to overcook the clam meat), add some s&p to taste. optional: top with the bacon from earlier. Tonight I didn't use bacon because we did a meal with bacon earlier this week, so I just used the reserved bacon grease.
Next time when I don't need my dutch oven, I'm going to try Mark Bittman's no-knead bread from the NYT.
That was this past weekend! Next wknd I'm going to try my hand at hainan chicken and rice. I would attempt it sooner, but I think poaching the chix takes a while, and we're so hungry when we get home from work!
I'd read about shrimp toast on food blogs but never had it myself. So I thought hmm, we just stocked up on tons of shrimp, so why not? I poked around the internet for a bit and then decided to improvise again. First I defrosted some sandwich bread. (We always have loaves of bread in the freezer for quick meals) Peeled and deveined the shrimps, and threw them in the food processor with some ginger, cilantro, cornstarch, and an egg. Pulsed until I got a nice thick paste. I spread the paste on the bread (I didn't bother cutting the crusts) and threw it in a pan with some oil, and then I finished it in the toaster oven. Verdict: I should have left the egg out or used more shrimp! I guess the egg didn't incorporate very well into the shrimp paste so when I cooked it, it was basically like eating a scrambled egg with a layer of shrimp. Oops. Most blogs also tell you to deep fry it, but I didn't feel like it. Maybe if I deep fried it the egg wouldn't have been so eggy? I don't know...
Last night, after dinner with my folks, we headed to our favorite market and picked up 3 crabs totaling ~5lbs.
Next time when I don't need my dutch oven, I'm going to try Mark Bittman's no-knead bread from the NYT.
That was this past weekend! Next wknd I'm going to try my hand at hainan chicken and rice. I would attempt it sooner, but I think poaching the chix takes a while, and we're so hungry when we get home from work!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
What Would Happen
If I won the lottery?
The most recent Megamillions jackpot has probably inserted this question in many folks minds. It certainly has in mine! By the way, we got 3 out of the 6 numbers last night. So we won 7 bucks...or errr we lost 13 :) If we had played the LOST numbers, we would have won $150. Besides the obvious splurging of consumer products, this is what came to my mind.
What would change:
I'd keep two homes, one in LA, one up north so that we'd always have our own place to stay wherever we are. And the kitchens in both houses would be pimped out to the max.
I'd help out more with my younger relatives' college funds (on the condition they work at least one crappy service job- none of those fancy "internships" where they don't learn the value of hard work)
I'd donate a ton of money to our LA library system, and any school/workplace that I've been associated with, you get the idea.
I'd build up a killer spice/seasonings collection, like real vanilla beans and diff kinds of sea salt! Can you imagine always cooking with the best spices and flavorings? What a luxury! For now I'll have to do with rationing my precious jar of vanilla paste from Spice Station, and the Costco sized bottle of vanilla extract.
I would treat my family and friends to fun vacations!
We probably wouldn't work full-time anymore.
We'd buy a shiba inu, husky, AND a red lab! And we'd hire someone to teach us how to take care of our dogs.
I would pay someone else to hem my pants. It's my least favorite sewing chore.
I'd buy the best and most luxurious bath towels out there.
I would fly first class on international trips, or buy the seat next to me. I'd probably still sleep crappy, but at least I wouldn't have to sit next to a super smelly or fat person.
What would not change:
We'd still make our kids work shit service jobs in HS/college. I worked in the student store in HS filling up cup of noodles and I changed rat cages in college. Jerry made McDonalds french fries in HS and pushed Food 4 Less shopping carts back to the front in college. We worked crappy jobs then so that when we got our real jobs now, we'd have a sense of appreciation and reality.
We'd still cook at home most days.
I'd still eat $1 hole in the wall tacos. Just because I'm $350 million dollars richer doesn't mean that a $12 white man fancy version of a taco is going to taste better.
I'd still borrow DVDs from the library. Most movies are not worth owning or watching in the theaters, no matter how much money or space you have.
I would still fly southwest to/from LAX to SJC/OAK. It's the most efficient airline for that type of travel! Time = money.
I still wouldn't pay someone to raise our kids. And I wouldn't pay someone to do our kids' chores.
I guess I still would have to wear contact lenses. Boo, there are just some things money can't buy.
My list is infinite, but the above things are what came to mind. What's on yours?
The most recent Megamillions jackpot has probably inserted this question in many folks minds. It certainly has in mine! By the way, we got 3 out of the 6 numbers last night. So we won 7 bucks...or errr we lost 13 :) If we had played the LOST numbers, we would have won $150. Besides the obvious splurging of consumer products, this is what came to my mind.
What would change:
I'd keep two homes, one in LA, one up north so that we'd always have our own place to stay wherever we are. And the kitchens in both houses would be pimped out to the max.
I'd help out more with my younger relatives' college funds (on the condition they work at least one crappy service job- none of those fancy "internships" where they don't learn the value of hard work)
I'd donate a ton of money to our LA library system, and any school/workplace that I've been associated with, you get the idea.
I'd build up a killer spice/seasonings collection, like real vanilla beans and diff kinds of sea salt! Can you imagine always cooking with the best spices and flavorings? What a luxury! For now I'll have to do with rationing my precious jar of vanilla paste from Spice Station, and the Costco sized bottle of vanilla extract.
I would treat my family and friends to fun vacations!
We probably wouldn't work full-time anymore.
We'd buy a shiba inu, husky, AND a red lab! And we'd hire someone to teach us how to take care of our dogs.
I would pay someone else to hem my pants. It's my least favorite sewing chore.
I'd buy the best and most luxurious bath towels out there.
I would fly first class on international trips, or buy the seat next to me. I'd probably still sleep crappy, but at least I wouldn't have to sit next to a super smelly or fat person.
What would not change:
We'd still make our kids work shit service jobs in HS/college. I worked in the student store in HS filling up cup of noodles and I changed rat cages in college. Jerry made McDonalds french fries in HS and pushed Food 4 Less shopping carts back to the front in college. We worked crappy jobs then so that when we got our real jobs now, we'd have a sense of appreciation and reality.
We'd still cook at home most days.
I'd still eat $1 hole in the wall tacos. Just because I'm $350 million dollars richer doesn't mean that a $12 white man fancy version of a taco is going to taste better.
I'd still borrow DVDs from the library. Most movies are not worth owning or watching in the theaters, no matter how much money or space you have.
I would still fly southwest to/from LAX to SJC/OAK. It's the most efficient airline for that type of travel! Time = money.
I still wouldn't pay someone to raise our kids. And I wouldn't pay someone to do our kids' chores.
I guess I still would have to wear contact lenses. Boo, there are just some things money can't buy.
My list is infinite, but the above things are what came to mind. What's on yours?
Friday, December 31, 2010
Twenty Ten Recap
2010 was a great year! I'm repeating my 2009 meme for 2010.
1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Went snorkeling for the first time in Fiji! It was so beautiful. I also went cherry picking with some friends.
2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions from last year and will you make any for 2011?
My 2010 resolution was to get a haircut. I in fact got 2 haircuts, one of which was a donation. I've donated 4 or 5 times now and that was the last. I don't intend to grow my hair that long anymore. My 2011 resolutions are here.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Luckily no one
5. What countries did you visit?
We went to Canada, Fiji, and Australia
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
More time to spend on doing less things- 2010 was all about the wedding. We didn't have any free weekends!
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory...and why?
September 18, our wedding date!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
We built a photobooth from scratch.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I closed the passenger car door on my 2 month old Droid Incredible and cracked the screen. Was without my phone for a month, and cost $150 to repair. Yikes!!
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I'm feeling kinda lousy right now. I caught something up north and brought it back home. I took a Tylenol this morning and slept for 3 hours straight through lunch! I just took two more, so it's safe to say that I'll be sleeping through yet another NYE again.
11. Did you take any risks this year?
I left my stable job that I hated and took a new job that was grant funded. I really enjoy what I do though and I'm learning a lot.
12. What was something that you celebrated in 2010?
C&J's wedding in May and C&C's wedding in September
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Nothing made me feel quite extreme as the adjectives above in 2010, but I was quite annoyed with our Big Bear camping experience- it was extremely cold, we didn't catch any fish, and we went with some friends who brought people who were the least most communal folks ever.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Our wedding.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Our wedding was a labor of love, and I was so happy that our family & friends were able to be there to celebrate with us.
16. What were some of the best things you ate in 2010?
Restaurant wise- The 4 course crabby dinner at Ondal 2, the dessert buffet at Club 33, the sammies from Cook's Tortas, the roasted veggies from Wynn Buffet, shrimp tacos from Tacos Baja Ensenada, red velvet cake from Doughboys, fries with garlic sauce from Hayat's Kitchen, bread from Pomodoro Trattoria, the taro icy/smoothie from T's Boba, watermelon and mango gelato flavors from Amore Patisserie, the pineapple pancakes in Fiji, the street food (grilled shu mai is AWESOME!!!) in Sydney, the beef noodle soup broth from Chinese Noodle House in Sydney...I could go on. At home, Jerry cooked the best prime rib yet, I discovered the ease and tastiness that is green bean almondine, and I attempted really tasty chicken and dumplings from the Pioneer Woman's website in my new Le Creuset. We received the pasta attachment for our Kitchenaid, so we've been making homemade pasta quite often.
17. What fears did you conquer in 2010?
This is pretty lame- but I had to learn how to take a soft contact out of my eye. For the past 14 years, I've avoided touching my eyeball by using my eyelids to pop out my hard contacts. With soft contacts, I had to learn to pinch them out of my eye...by pretty much touching my eyeballs. SUCKS, and no I'm not used to it yet.
18. In what way were you pleasantly surprised this year?
My BMs surprised me with a lovely bridal shower and bach party!
19. What were your favorite new TV programs of 2010?
Nikita, Covert Affairs, and Pretty Little Liars.
20. What was the best book you read?
I really enjoyed The Ridiculous Race. It's probably not the best book I read this year, but I'm trying to rack my brain and that's all that comes to mind.
21. What did you want AND get?
I wanted a new job and I got it. I also wanted a new computer and got a MBP!
22. What did you want and NOT get?
I wanted LASIK. Unfortunately, my left eye was so damaged that the eye doc said that he could only repair it to 90% vision. So I decided to opt out and not do it at all. Maybe the technology will improve in 5-10 years...
23. What was your favorite film of the year?
I didn't watch any movies in the theater this year. However, we watched a lot of DVDs, and I really enjoyed Angels and Demons.
24. What was the best thing you bought?
My wedding dress. It was the most money I ever spent on myself and it's a terrible investment, but I felt very pretty in it and it gave me such lovely memories. :)
25. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying ay-oh, gotta let go.
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying ay-ooh, baby let's go.
1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Went snorkeling for the first time in Fiji! It was so beautiful. I also went cherry picking with some friends.
2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions from last year and will you make any for 2011?
My 2010 resolution was to get a haircut. I in fact got 2 haircuts, one of which was a donation. I've donated 4 or 5 times now and that was the last. I don't intend to grow my hair that long anymore. My 2011 resolutions are here.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Luckily no one
5. What countries did you visit?
We went to Canada, Fiji, and Australia
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
More time to spend on doing less things- 2010 was all about the wedding. We didn't have any free weekends!
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory...and why?
September 18, our wedding date!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
We built a photobooth from scratch.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I closed the passenger car door on my 2 month old Droid Incredible and cracked the screen. Was without my phone for a month, and cost $150 to repair. Yikes!!
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I'm feeling kinda lousy right now. I caught something up north and brought it back home. I took a Tylenol this morning and slept for 3 hours straight through lunch! I just took two more, so it's safe to say that I'll be sleeping through yet another NYE again.
11. Did you take any risks this year?
I left my stable job that I hated and took a new job that was grant funded. I really enjoy what I do though and I'm learning a lot.
12. What was something that you celebrated in 2010?
C&J's wedding in May and C&C's wedding in September
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Nothing made me feel quite extreme as the adjectives above in 2010, but I was quite annoyed with our Big Bear camping experience- it was extremely cold, we didn't catch any fish, and we went with some friends who brought people who were the least most communal folks ever.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Our wedding.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Our wedding was a labor of love, and I was so happy that our family & friends were able to be there to celebrate with us.
16. What were some of the best things you ate in 2010?
Restaurant wise- The 4 course crabby dinner at Ondal 2, the dessert buffet at Club 33, the sammies from Cook's Tortas, the roasted veggies from Wynn Buffet, shrimp tacos from Tacos Baja Ensenada, red velvet cake from Doughboys, fries with garlic sauce from Hayat's Kitchen, bread from Pomodoro Trattoria, the taro icy/smoothie from T's Boba, watermelon and mango gelato flavors from Amore Patisserie, the pineapple pancakes in Fiji, the street food (grilled shu mai is AWESOME!!!) in Sydney, the beef noodle soup broth from Chinese Noodle House in Sydney...I could go on. At home, Jerry cooked the best prime rib yet, I discovered the ease and tastiness that is green bean almondine, and I attempted really tasty chicken and dumplings from the Pioneer Woman's website in my new Le Creuset. We received the pasta attachment for our Kitchenaid, so we've been making homemade pasta quite often.
17. What fears did you conquer in 2010?
This is pretty lame- but I had to learn how to take a soft contact out of my eye. For the past 14 years, I've avoided touching my eyeball by using my eyelids to pop out my hard contacts. With soft contacts, I had to learn to pinch them out of my eye...by pretty much touching my eyeballs. SUCKS, and no I'm not used to it yet.
18. In what way were you pleasantly surprised this year?
My BMs surprised me with a lovely bridal shower and bach party!
19. What were your favorite new TV programs of 2010?
Nikita, Covert Affairs, and Pretty Little Liars.
20. What was the best book you read?
I really enjoyed The Ridiculous Race. It's probably not the best book I read this year, but I'm trying to rack my brain and that's all that comes to mind.
21. What did you want AND get?
I wanted a new job and I got it. I also wanted a new computer and got a MBP!
22. What did you want and NOT get?
I wanted LASIK. Unfortunately, my left eye was so damaged that the eye doc said that he could only repair it to 90% vision. So I decided to opt out and not do it at all. Maybe the technology will improve in 5-10 years...
23. What was your favorite film of the year?
I didn't watch any movies in the theater this year. However, we watched a lot of DVDs, and I really enjoyed Angels and Demons.
24. What was the best thing you bought?
My wedding dress. It was the most money I ever spent on myself and it's a terrible investment, but I felt very pretty in it and it gave me such lovely memories. :)
25. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying ay-oh, gotta let go.
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying ay-ooh, baby let's go.
Sick and Sleep
We're back in LA from the bay area...which means less sleep and one of us is sick. We pretty much rotate getting sick whenever we come back from the holidays. This year is my turn. I was hoping to sleep it off last night. For some reason, whenever we're in Union City, we have no problem sleeping until 9am or 10am, even. Our first night back, Jerry woke up at 2am, I woke up at 3:30am, and I woke up again at 8am. Pretty lousy sleep. I just took a night time tylenol cold so hopefully I can get in a good nap later. Work is going to be crazy and busy come Monday, so I'm planning on laying low and making sure I fully recover, so I can be 100% at the office. These past 2 weeks of shutdown has been much needed...but I'm looking forward to the end of the holidays and to the start of 2011!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Everywhere and Nowhere
This week off so far has been amazing. A good combination of taking care of business all over town and sitting on my butt waiting for paint to dry. Literally. Case in point:
Monday:
Did not step foot outside at all.
Tuesday:
Torrance: Optometrist for soft contact lens fitting (Lasik didn't work out :( )
Gardena: Kaiser for my 3rd HPV shot (yay, I'm done with that series)
Pasadena: Target for gift cards
Arcadia: Pick up wedding albums at photog studio and catching up over shaved ice at Tasty To Go, then Claro's Italian Market for a food based white elephant gift exchange
Highland Park: 99 cent store for cellophane goody bags, Good Girl Dinette for dinner with a friend
8 places in 8 hours...whew! The best part is, I planned my entire day so that I didn't have to go too much out of the way to get anywhere. I'm all about efficiency.
Wednesday:
Watched Definitely, Maybe.
Painted my nails. Waited for them to dry.
Finished wrapping up presents. (My list of people topped 40 this year, yikes)
Watched many episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians while throwing a football around the living room with Jerry.
Did a Turbo Kickboxing class at 24 Hour Fitness.
Started reading The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed
Unfortunately, Christmas eve is going to be one of those jam packed days. My mom asked me to take some OOT visitors around LA, so I've planned the itinerary below.
P/U visitors and go to Dim Sum in SGV
DTLA Fashion District/Chinatown
The Grove
Hollywood and Highland
3rd St Promenade
Back south to pick up Jerry for dinner
Dinner in SGV...cus everywhere else will be closed.
Possibly hanging out with Jerry's friend from college.
I better enjoy my last few moments of peace until the craziness starts again.
Monday:
Did not step foot outside at all.
Tuesday:
Torrance: Optometrist for soft contact lens fitting (Lasik didn't work out :( )
Gardena: Kaiser for my 3rd HPV shot (yay, I'm done with that series)
Pasadena: Target for gift cards
Arcadia: Pick up wedding albums at photog studio and catching up over shaved ice at Tasty To Go, then Claro's Italian Market for a food based white elephant gift exchange
Highland Park: 99 cent store for cellophane goody bags, Good Girl Dinette for dinner with a friend
8 places in 8 hours...whew! The best part is, I planned my entire day so that I didn't have to go too much out of the way to get anywhere. I'm all about efficiency.
Wednesday:
Watched Definitely, Maybe.
Painted my nails. Waited for them to dry.
Finished wrapping up presents. (My list of people topped 40 this year, yikes)
Watched many episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians while throwing a football around the living room with Jerry.
Did a Turbo Kickboxing class at 24 Hour Fitness.
Started reading The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed
Unfortunately, Christmas eve is going to be one of those jam packed days. My mom asked me to take some OOT visitors around LA, so I've planned the itinerary below.
P/U visitors and go to Dim Sum in SGV
DTLA Fashion District/Chinatown
The Grove
Hollywood and Highland
3rd St Promenade
Back south to pick up Jerry for dinner
Dinner in SGV...cus everywhere else will be closed.
Possibly hanging out with Jerry's friend from college.
I better enjoy my last few moments of peace until the craziness starts again.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
20 Financial Milestones for Your 20s
This list has also been going around the blogs too. It is very interesting to see how other bloggers measure their financial security, and what they consider to be financial milestones. For me, this list would look a little differently if I wasn't married, but there'd be crossover even if I wasn't. Marriage might have shifted my priorities, but it didn't change my core values.
# 1 – Finance a dream vacation…in cash Done. If our honeymoon wasn't a dream vacation...I don't know what would be! :) However, even if I wasn't married, I don't think I'd plan a trip w/o being able to afford it.
# 2 – Pay off your student loans
I paid off both of my undergraduate and graduate loans with no interest within 6 months of graduation. I did the former on my own, and Jerry helped me with the latter. If I had paid off my graduate one on my own, it would have taken me longer than 6 months to do it, but I probably could have done it within a year. I would have owed interest, which I hate, but it would have been minimal. My graduate education has already paid for itself, so in the long run, any interest I would have owed I would have just counted as an investment.
# 3 – Automate paying your credit card bill in full
I don't assign my bill to be paid automatically, but I do pay in full every month. I will automate payments made to my account...but I prefer to control payments that come out of my account.
# 4 – Get rid of all bad debt
I have zero bad debt, since I don't believing in shopping for something that I can't afford. I never understood why people borrow money to get married. Things like weddings and cars depreciate. A house doesn't, and nor does an education. There aren't that many things that can be considered "good debt" but I consider the latter two to be.
# 5 – Build an adequate emergency fund
Done. This was not my priority when I was in my early 20s. But after seeing our economy tank in 2008 it was a wake up call that we all could lose our jobs, homes, etc at any given time with no warning.
# 6 – Make your first, and last, investment mistake
I did some dumb things with my money after college. I had my savings all over the place- in a Wachovia account, in a Charles Schwab fund, and I don't even remember the name of where my first 403b was (the second was ING, and that was a big mess too). I wasn't properly managing all my accounts or keeping track of them. Here's something especially dumb: I filed all the paperwork to contribute to my 403b, but it never got approved due to some communication confusion with ING. I completely forgot about it for nearly a year when I then realized that crap, how come my paycheck doesn't have any 403b deductions? It turned out that I wasn't contributing that whole, and therefore my old company was not matching. So I lost many months worth of investing. Yes, very irresponsible! My retirement funds were pretty much a mess up until Jerry finally decided to overhaul everything a few months ago. And someday he's going to sit me down and explain my retirement funds to me because this investment stuff really confuses me.
# 7 – Develop a statement of cash flows
I do this in my head. Kudos to those who keep spreadsheets though!
# 8 & 9 Max out a Roth & Contribute to your 401(k)
Doing and done.
# 10 – Get a degree or certification that increases your earning power
Done. It's already paid for itself.
# 11 – Take a career risk
I'm pretty risk adverse when it comes to many things. I've never jumped to a totally different career. And now that that husbands and children are in the equation, I'm not sure if I will either...
# 12 – Negotiate something
Jerry and I negotiate for better deals all the time! Jerry will even go as far as to send in hand typed letters instead of emails.
# 13 – Earn your first side grand
I don't know if this is for me. I enjoy my job but I like to keep it separate from my personal life. If I start spending my personal time trying to do more work, I'm not sure if I'll stay mentally happy or healthy.
# 14 – Start a sub-savings account for an upcoming financial goal
I do this in my head, but not physically.
# 15 – Set a target retirement date
2040 thereabouts!
# 16 – Monitor your credit
I went through a situation where a couple of people with my name with bad credit had been getting their credit mixed up with mine. It was an absolute nightmare to fix, but I think it was finally done. Jerry also really helped me out immensely by writing letters and faxing them to the 3 bureaus.
# 17 – Say no to a financial salesman
We say no all the time.
# 18 – Give just enough to make it hurt
I don't feel like I'm in a position to give financially to people that I don't know. Maybe when I'm older?
# 19 – Invest $1 for every $1 you spend
I'm not sure about this one.
# 20 – Start a 529 College Savings Plan
Done. Probably something I wouldn't have done if I wasn't married.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
11 Goals for 2011
Since I loooooooove making lists, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and start another one. 11 things for 2011 has been going around the blogs and reading about others' goals have made excited to set new ones for myself. Here goes!
1. Visit a different state
2. Beat my old 10k official best of 1:16:12 (I know, I'm so slow!)
3. Fly a kite (seriously, I've been saying this for years)
4. Buy a new-to-me vegetable to cook
5. Find a place to play badminton (or sneak into my old HS gym :P)
6. Find a volunteer opportunity
7. Attend a musical performance
8. Buy a new board game for our home collection (I've got my eye on Quelf or Foodie Fight)
9. Watch a movie on the big screen (the last movie I saw was summer 2009)
10. Go to a sporting event
11. Camp in a new place (I've been to 4 unique campsites in the last 2.75 years)
I'm very excited for 2011!
1. Visit a different state
2. Beat my old 10k official best of 1:16:12 (I know, I'm so slow!)
3. Fly a kite (seriously, I've been saying this for years)
4. Buy a new-to-me vegetable to cook
5. Find a place to play badminton (or sneak into my old HS gym :P)
6. Find a volunteer opportunity
7. Attend a musical performance
8. Buy a new board game for our home collection (I've got my eye on Quelf or Foodie Fight)
9. Watch a movie on the big screen (the last movie I saw was summer 2009)
10. Go to a sporting event
11. Camp in a new place (I've been to 4 unique campsites in the last 2.75 years)
I'm very excited for 2011!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Peeps from the Past
A couple things prompted me to write this:
Last week, I was on my way to a meeting in Claremont and decided to take a rarely used shortcut to skip part of the freeway. I passed by my mom's old manager's office and it was the first time I thought about him in over a decade.
Last night, Jerry ran into an old childhood friend that he hadn't seen since 6th grade...make that 20 years!
Both instances made me think about people during the pre-Facebook years that were part of my life and how I have no clue what happened to them now. In some instances I don't even know their names but I remember things about them that have stayed with me until today.
Sodani Ung:
My best friend in 2nd/3rd grade at El Portrero ES in Moreno Valley. We were one of the only few Asians in our school! You would think with a name spelled like that...I'd be able to facebook her, huh? Nope. Since I moved to El Monte in 1991, we completely lost touch of each other.
Derek Brown:
Yep, I had crushes as early as 2nd grade. (Which makes me feel like a late bloomer, given that kids nowadays are engaged by kindergarten.) He was a cute white boy that went to the same school as me and Sodani. That's all I remember. He probably isn't that cute now...(Remember the taxi scene from 13 Going on 30- Chris Grandy?)
Eddie (no last name):
As a single mom my mom was pretty handy and did as much as she could around the house, but there were some things she couldn't do, so she paid Eddie, our neighbor in our cul de sac, to take care of odd jobs like mowing the lawn or mounting large frames to the wall. He was always so nice, quiet, and laidback. I remember that his wife had a very strong personality, and they had a lot of daughters, so he was probably overruled all the time. :)
Thao Vuong Quang:
We were neighbors (in the same cul de sac as Eddie) and used to walk to school together. I was actually about 3 years older so we were able to play with each other for a while (pogs and bikes- not dolls and tea cups type playing), but we didn't really see each other that much since we both moved to different parts of El Monte and never overlapped in school again. Now, I might have a shot at getting in contact with her again, as our moms used to be friends. I went to her brother's wedding many years and we exchanged contact info...but that's all I remember. I probably lost the slip of paper. I don't know if our moms keep in touch anymore...I'll have to ask one of the days. I totally wouldn't mind catching up with her now, 3 years isn't a big deal when you're older. Again, she's not Facebook-able. But then again, neither am I, as of September 18, 2010. :)
David Onsurez:
Another crush from 5th grade. Seriously, that's all I remember.
The aforementioned boss:
I don't even know his name, and right now I can't even remember the Vietnamese name that I used to call him by! I do remember my mom would ask him how's dating life, and he would tell us that his trick in screening girls on dates was to pick them up in his really ugly white van, instead of a regular car. If the girls didn't seem to care, then he knew they weren't as superficial...but if they didn't like it, then he wouldn't even bother with a second date. Now with Facebook, it's pretty easy to pre-screen a date, and not just go off the model and make of a car. :)
The Ly family:
Most of my family tree stays in contact with each other. It's pretty easy because we all live in So Cal, with the exception of some folks in Germany, Canada, and Vietnam. But there's one branch of my family that I haven't seen or heard from in nearly a decade, and they still live in So Cal. The family feud happened the generation before mine, so I stayed out of it. And hence, I don't know exactly what happened. But cousins that I had celebrated birthdays with, that I had gone on road trips with- I don't know what's going on with them now. The last time I saw any of them was when they came to visit me at UCLA during my freshman year. Since the family feud involved the adults, I think we kept in touch via AIM and yahoo mail anyway, but as you know, something called gmail came along...
I wonder what happened to these folks. I hope where ever they are, they're content and happy with their lives!
Do you have people like that from your past? Ungoogleable, unfacebookable, unsearchable?
Last week, I was on my way to a meeting in Claremont and decided to take a rarely used shortcut to skip part of the freeway. I passed by my mom's old manager's office and it was the first time I thought about him in over a decade.
Last night, Jerry ran into an old childhood friend that he hadn't seen since 6th grade...make that 20 years!
Both instances made me think about people during the pre-Facebook years that were part of my life and how I have no clue what happened to them now. In some instances I don't even know their names but I remember things about them that have stayed with me until today.
Sodani Ung:
My best friend in 2nd/3rd grade at El Portrero ES in Moreno Valley. We were one of the only few Asians in our school! You would think with a name spelled like that...I'd be able to facebook her, huh? Nope. Since I moved to El Monte in 1991, we completely lost touch of each other.
Derek Brown:
Yep, I had crushes as early as 2nd grade. (Which makes me feel like a late bloomer, given that kids nowadays are engaged by kindergarten.) He was a cute white boy that went to the same school as me and Sodani. That's all I remember. He probably isn't that cute now...(Remember the taxi scene from 13 Going on 30- Chris Grandy?)
Eddie (no last name):
As a single mom my mom was pretty handy and did as much as she could around the house, but there were some things she couldn't do, so she paid Eddie, our neighbor in our cul de sac, to take care of odd jobs like mowing the lawn or mounting large frames to the wall. He was always so nice, quiet, and laidback. I remember that his wife had a very strong personality, and they had a lot of daughters, so he was probably overruled all the time. :)
Thao Vuong Quang:
We were neighbors (in the same cul de sac as Eddie) and used to walk to school together. I was actually about 3 years older so we were able to play with each other for a while (pogs and bikes- not dolls and tea cups type playing), but we didn't really see each other that much since we both moved to different parts of El Monte and never overlapped in school again. Now, I might have a shot at getting in contact with her again, as our moms used to be friends. I went to her brother's wedding many years and we exchanged contact info...but that's all I remember. I probably lost the slip of paper. I don't know if our moms keep in touch anymore...I'll have to ask one of the days. I totally wouldn't mind catching up with her now, 3 years isn't a big deal when you're older. Again, she's not Facebook-able. But then again, neither am I, as of September 18, 2010. :)
David Onsurez:
Another crush from 5th grade. Seriously, that's all I remember.
The aforementioned boss:
I don't even know his name, and right now I can't even remember the Vietnamese name that I used to call him by! I do remember my mom would ask him how's dating life, and he would tell us that his trick in screening girls on dates was to pick them up in his really ugly white van, instead of a regular car. If the girls didn't seem to care, then he knew they weren't as superficial...but if they didn't like it, then he wouldn't even bother with a second date. Now with Facebook, it's pretty easy to pre-screen a date, and not just go off the model and make of a car. :)
The Ly family:
Most of my family tree stays in contact with each other. It's pretty easy because we all live in So Cal, with the exception of some folks in Germany, Canada, and Vietnam. But there's one branch of my family that I haven't seen or heard from in nearly a decade, and they still live in So Cal. The family feud happened the generation before mine, so I stayed out of it. And hence, I don't know exactly what happened. But cousins that I had celebrated birthdays with, that I had gone on road trips with- I don't know what's going on with them now. The last time I saw any of them was when they came to visit me at UCLA during my freshman year. Since the family feud involved the adults, I think we kept in touch via AIM and yahoo mail anyway, but as you know, something called gmail came along...
I wonder what happened to these folks. I hope where ever they are, they're content and happy with their lives!
Do you have people like that from your past? Ungoogleable, unfacebookable, unsearchable?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)