Thanksgiving, Oink!
Craig and I cooked up a feast enough for 15-20 people. It took a lot of time and effort, but it was completely worth it. Mom, Mush Kara and Judy joined us for the festivities. The menu: roast turkey, mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, fresh whole cranberry sauce, sausage stuffing, green beans, gravy, jalapeno cheddar cornbread, brownies, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Kara brought over the pretty flowers and some dinner rolls. Mom brought a (huge) cheesecake, rainbow cookies, bagels and apple turnovers. Yum. Oink. We're going to live off the leftovers for the next week.
And my personal favorite:
Happy Thanksgiving!
New Car (kinda)
After the fantabulous Xterra we had in San Fran, I was going to trade in my Xterra for a new one, but having car payments (again) doesn't sound like much fun. Instead, I bought a junk-mobile from eBay for $200 to use as a commuter car. It gets great gas mileage! Yeah, it'll probably die soon, but it'll be fun for a little while. Hopefully this will preserve the life of my real car, at least for the short run.
In case you're wondering, it's a vintage (yes, vintage!) 1982 Honda Prelude. It has 250k miles on it, and no semblance of an exhaust system whatsoever, but it drives just fine without it. Need to email Dad about this new arrangement since he was a big advocate of the trade. I like the work-around solution better.
I (heart) SF, Part II
After the gorgeous sunset, we slowly headed back to the city. It took a good hour to get back, especially since it was pitch black out. The road was difficult to navigate in the dark, and for the most part, we were the only car around for miles. There were deer everywhere, so Craig had to be extra careful driving. We went to Fisherman's Wharf, and it was very crowded on Saturday night. The street was punctuated with street performers creating cheesy CG-looking airbrushed landscapes, street vendors selling silly LED lit glasses and bracelets, and a homeless guy pretending to be a bush. He would draw the branches close to him, then jump out at people from behind a garbage can. The souvenirs were overpriced and the merchandise was cheesy in general, so we glossed over the area and headed back to the hotel after an hour. We did see the following cool things at the Boudin bread factory though:
Then on the way out we saw these cute ducks carved out of teak. Each one was unique and named. These two were together. Kind of ironic. Jess is Craig's sister, and Roger is her fiancee.
We got burgers and fries at In-n-out which is a drive through burger joint. You can order four things from the menu. Hamburger, cheeseburger, fries, and soda.
The next day, we went back down to Chinatown to stroll about and came across a weird park bordered by this:
Then Ten Ren again (yum!) and then a late lunch at a very good and inexpensive Thai restaurant that was modern and yuppie on the inside. We then rolled ourselves back to Golden Gate Park to feed the ducks and wander around.
On the way out, I managed to grab a few photos while there was still a little bit of light.
After sunset, we went to Casto, which is the gay district in the city. We had a slice of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a soy latte for dessert. Craig was definitely the only straight guy for miles, and I was the only real girl in the diner. There was a transexual who reminded me of Chandler's dad. She was cute. Not.
Then, we headed up to Twin Peaks for a view of the city at night. Again, another breathtaking view. I love my camera.
We made it to the airport with an hour to spare. Our flight left on time, but we were starting to feel the effects of it since it was 3:30am EST. We looked really good.
We landed at 7:00am EST and headed to work immediately after. I was pretty delirious that whole entire day, but it was worth it.
I had a wonderful time. Making memories, and loving every single second of it! :)
I (heart) SF
We're finally back after a short (but awesome) vacation in San Francisco. Here's a photo recap to make up for all the recent text-heavy posts.
Our trip started out with an uneventful 5 hour flight and a car upgrade since Hertz was out of economy vehicles. It was hard not to giggle when the clerk asked, "Is a Nissan Xterra OK with you?" Oh my god. I need I need I need. I want I want I want. It looks pretty much the same as my Xterra but the engine is so much better. As in, when you push down on the gas, the car actually moves.
Then we checked into our hotel. I started to get nervous when we saw motel after motel after cheap motel on the strip our hotel was on. The hotel was ranked highly in the Days Inn world (whatever that means), probably by Serbian refugees who are now hotel critics. We were there for a total of ten minutes. "Hello? Hampton Inn? Do you have any rooms available? Great, we'll be there in 10 minutes." We checked in at 12:30 SF time which was 3:30am for us, so you can imagine after a full day of work + Craig's mishap with the car + travel + hotel screw up, we passed out.
We woke up Friday morning a little groggy, but ready to explore the city. We went to the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park. It was an interesting space with a very eclectic collection of pieces covering all periods. The museum opened on Oct 15th, so it was pretty crowded still, even a month later! I don't have any photos because I forgot my stupid camera battery in my luggage. Craig had his camera, but it was running out of batteries. He did manage to snap this photo in the park though:
It was overcast and misting that whole day. Despite this, the park was still very serene and beautiful. There weren't very many people out in the park so we had it to ourselves. We made a mental note to return to the park on a nicer day if we had time. Then, we went back to the car to go for a drive around the neighborhoods to scout out what we wanted to do later. At least, that was the plan. Leaving Golden Gate Park, we headed to Haight-Ashbury, which is the same thing as St.Marks Place/8th Street in NYC, but in a single uninterrupted strip. It looked OK, nothing to scream about. We were going to skip it altogether but at a 4-way stop, I noticed a Prelude like Craig's so made a left even though he suggested the opposite. We parked in front of someone's driveway for a second to jump out and take a quick photo. Turns out the Prelude was the same exact one that Craig saw last year when he was in SF. Go figure!
When we returned to the car, the legally parked car behind us pulled out. Hooray for parking! We then took a quick walk up the strip and had supposedly authentic pizza at Escape from NY (pizzeria) and guess what- it was pretty authentic! Then, we headed to Chinatown. Again, we intended for it to be a drive-by, but we found a meter, and since it was a holiday, parking was free! It turns out that we were right around the corner from where my great-grandmother used to live. She passed away in 1995 at the ripe old age of 95. Even though she was old, she was sharp as a tack, and slightly eccentric. She was in fair health, but then decided that she didn't want to live anymore and it went downhill from there. She threw a huge banquet for the family in '95 because she "wasn't going to be around for much longer" and she was right. It was sad to see her go since my grandmother had passed away in 1989, so the old-school chinese lineage was no more. It was very weird to be there again. Time moves on. It was like she never existed.
SF Chinatown is very different from NYC Chinatown. The streets are NOT lined with fake merchandise. The fakes I did manage to find were 3x the price of the (same) ones found on Canal Street. This Chinatown was big on upscale junk shops for the more distinguished yuppified consumer. If you thought Pearl River was fancy on Broadway, you should see some of these "boutiques" with the same junk. I found a Ten Ren so I was happy. I bought xmas gifts for some friends and they're going to LOVE it! (I was pretty excited.) Craig bought a Mercedes, unfortunately it's 1/200 scale or something like that. After walking that stretch, we went back to the hotel. Yawn.
Later that evening, we met up with a high school friend of mine. More details on that later.
The next day, we slept in and woke up finally feeling refreshed. We opted for the scenic tour and went to a viewpoint for the Golden Gate, then continued to Muir Woods then Point Reyes. That day was amazing. California really is a beautiful place, and better yet, to experience all of it with Craig was simply incredible. At certain moments, I wished time could stand still.
Continuing up the coast, we headed to Muir Woods. The drive up Hwy 1 was very scenic. Muir Woods is a gigantic forest of redwoods. I've never seen a redwood up close before. They are so massive you feel like an extra in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It was weird to think about just how old the trees were. If you think about it long enough, you start feeling small and insignificant.
By this point, it was already 3:30pm. We left and made our way to Point Reyes. One thing we forgot is that Hwy 1 is so curvy that even though it's only say, 20 miles away, driving that distance in a giant SUV takes an hour. We made it just in time for sunset. Words don't do it justice.
On the way back, we saw a banana slug. My hand is in the photo for scale. One word can sum it up: Ew.
The next installment coming soon. Gotta get back upstairs!
Charlotte.
Went to see Charlotte Martin at the same venue where I play open mic. I love that place. There was a show before hers, so the line outside was forever long. Even the local police stopped by to see what the commotion was outside of the local coffee shop! We were supposed to filter in after her sound check. I wondered what was taking so long, since we waited 40 minutes past doors to be let in.
Finally, we file in after 10pm and I notice a merchandise table on the right. They had all of Charlotte's CDs, a poster for this tour, stickers and pins. Best of all, there was a note stating that Charlotte was going to stick around after the show for a signing!
The stage had a digital piano in the center, so Charlotte was facing stage right which is opposite of pretty much everybody else. I was surprised to see a mixing console and several other synthesizers arranged on top of the digital. She plays the piano, but also messes around with pre-recorded tracks turning them off and on when she needs them. Some people compare her to Tori Amos, but she's almost like a Tori/Howie Day kind of hybrid. When it was showtime, the lights went dim and an instrumental track played. And then, Charlotte pops out from the door onstage. She was tiny with a river of blonde hair. She was energetic, and launched into her set. She was terrific! Reminded me of a young Tori with a lot of fire and passion. The weird thing were the pained faces she makes while she's singing. It kind of makes it a little awkward to watch. Despite this, I was enthralled for an hour and fifteen minutes.
She seemed surprised that the audience was so warm and supportive, and at the end, when she got a standing encore, she sat there in front of the piano and you could see the tears streaming down her face. She played a short encore. At this point, I snuck to the back to get in line for the signing. I don't know how Charlotte snuck past all of us to get into the merch booth, but she did! She took her time with each fan, and allowed photos and would sign multiple things. I got her new CD signed, along with the CD booklet and a tour poster. That's definitely going to get framed and put on the wall.
Can't wait for her to come by again.
Work.
Hey, what day is it today?
It's groundhog day. It's groundhog day. It's groundhog day.
(I think I need a new job.)
Apartment
T came over last night to sort through some shenanigans. While we're chatting, I bring up the email my friend sent me about her new apartment, scroll to the bottom of it where there are 4 photos of it, and push the laptop across the table.
"Look, it's the place my friend is getting!"
T looks at the photos, and is puzzled for a moment trying to make them bigger.
A few seconds later:
"Ohhh, it's the SAME room?!?"
Hehe, the joy of living in suburbia. Manhattan? No thanks.
*Yawn*
Is it time for hibernation yet?
Happy November, everybody! I'm ready for another month of shenanigans (read: nothingness) at work. To kill time last week, I spent half the day talking to Mr.Wendell, and don't pretend like you don't know the song. He's a pretty big black dude married to a white woman. So we start chatting for a while, and somehow it comes up that similar to a gaydar, he can tell when "chicks dig the brothas".
I had no idea such an instinct existed. I probed more, and he wasn't able to elaborate but insisted that he could "just tell". So I'm bringing in photos of my girlfriends, and we're going to play a game later this week. I'll let you know how it goes.
So continuing on, I ask him if he's ever noticed a correlation between fat white chicks and black dudes. His eyes bulge out as he nods enthusiastically. I ask him why that's the case, and before he answers, he spins around in the office chair, closes the door gently and says, "Because those fat white chicks aren't getting any dick from white guys, and black guys will hit up just about anything. Black guys love sex!"
Thank you for your insight, Mr.Wendell.
Onto more palatable news, one of my longtime friends contacted me to let me know that she's gotten herself an apartment! This is a big deal, for her especially, so I'm hoping that this launches her headfirst into the real world, and with a little luck, adulthood too. I plan on stopping by in a couple of months with a studio sized housewarming gift since the fridge doubles as a coat closet. This is Manhattan, folks!
Last Saturday was the last co-ed outdoor soccer game of the season, so Craig and I are sad. Our team won. The other team had an average age of 45 and were missing half their team, so we lent them some people and it made it a little better but not much. It was fun while it lasted!
Need to go back upstairs now and stare absentmindedly at my assessment. Anyone got any ideas on how to itemize nothingness?
