6 mouths and 1 chocolate sundae

For one of my last meals in the Bay Area, the Boy and I had dinner with some of his family at the Elephant Bar (the website is not very informative, I must add).

The Boy had the Chicken Tenders meal. His father and step-mom had the Steak Tips. His sister and nephew shared a chicken dish and I had no idea what kind of meat was on his sister's boyfriend's plate but it looked like beef. I had the ribs, of course, and only half a rack this time. Plus you have to throw in a few drinks in there. The drinks arrived before the food so I immediately got tipsy after drinking half of my Tropitini (the Boy's sister had to finish the rest for me).

Anyhow, dinner was really good, and everyone was too full for dessert. Everyone but the Boy's father. So he ordered a Chocolate Sundae, which kinda looks like the picture below but you have to add a giant brownie slice to get the full effect. And someone at the table told the waitress to bring "lots of spoons" with the dessert order.

The ice-cream came and it's only natural that that a grandfather would share his ice-cream sundae with his grandson. But when the grandson starts going "Oh, yummy, ice-cream sundae, yummy," others at the table would want to make use fo those extra spoons and have a little taste test of the sundae too.

So, there we were, one Chocolate Brownie Ice-Cream Sundae, and six people with spoons scooping ice-cream into his/her mouth. Since no one at the table likes brownies (the horror of that!), I had the pleasure of eating the entire brownie slice, and of course had to wash that down with a few spoons of ice-cream. I tell you, that sundae was gone in about three seconds flat.

The only one who didn't take part in this testing madness was the Boy's sister's boyfriend. I wonder if it's because he doesn't feel like he's that close to "The Family" yet. Or maybe he knew better and that he didn't want to risk catching any disease that either one of the six mouths were carrying.

Well, I'm still alive and kicking over here.

I love Chinatown

Cingular charges me $29.99 for a new phone charger.

I find a phone charger in Chinatown for $4.99. And I got to see a Lion Dance show.

Whoo hoo. How can anyone not love Chinatown?

dinner

What my friend and I had for dinner while catching up on the events in our separate lives:

--Marinated, braised short ribs.
--Chili style crab
--Whole lobster with shrimp pad thai
--Expresso Creme Brulee

Courtesy of the new Straits Restaurant at the newly opened Bloomingdales Shopping Center.



What The Boy had for dinner while I was out with my friend:

-Pad Thai

Courtesy of Lean Cuisine



yeah, absolutely no equality there, but hey, I enjoyed the free dinner.

colorful commentary

"Three teenage boys are going to be living in that house? Your virgin house is going to be f**ked over backwards."

-------

"Well, that's a f**king miracle."

-------

"I got a big fat f**king nothing for Christmas."

-------

"I f**king hate Christmas. The kids nowadays get too f**king much."

"My girls got another f**king Barbie Doll for Christmas. They have about 30 different Barbie dolls! There's like a f**king Barbie convention going on at my house. And that's not including all the other f**king dolls, like the American Girl dolls, or the Dolls of the World, or the Doll dolls. And weirdest of all, each f**king Barbie has a different name and they know it all by heart. 'Don't let Sarah go into the corner.' How the hell can you tell that one is Sarah and the other one isn't when all the f**king Barbie dolls look the same?"

"Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year. It's the day that I get to get rid of the f**king Christmas Tree."

-------

ah yes, the Scrooges of San Francisco.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Merry Monday

Merry Christmas to Me

Meet the new baby that is my laptop. It's so shiny and new, and best of all, it's only three pounds.

Must go play with the new baby.

O Christmas Tree, Part Duex

Here is The Boy's Christmas tree.

(I can't say "Our" Christmas Tree because it would totally freak out The Boy and I would rather not spend the rest of my winter vacation with him being all weirded out by a single word)

It doesn't amount to Macy's $2,000 trees, but it was decorated with lots of tender loving care. The tender coming from The Boy and the loving care coming from me. hee hee

And below is our attempt at decorating the mantel over the fireplace.

See the stocking? I made that. From scratch. It took hours and hours of painstaking stitching. In the dark. Okay, that last bit was a little overkill on the exaggeration department.

O Christmas Tree

I love decorating Christmas trees. I love looking at other people's decorated trees.

Above, is the giant tree in the middle of Union Square.

This picture is just to show you how big the tree really is.

I really love how Macys decorate its trees.

The pretty "Fairy Tale Tree"

The "Let's Stick As Many Toys On Here As We Can" Tree. Not one of the better ones, but a fun one nonetheless.

"March of the Penguins" Tree.

One of two "Upside Down Tree." Yes, it's really upside down. I did not flip it over in photoshop. See, there's a guy standing right side up.

I don't understand these upside down trees. It's weird looking. Who started this fad? I bet everyone will have an upside Christmas tree in fifty years.

The Macys trees are gorgeous, and quite pricy. If the normal person attempted to duplicate one of these trees, it could easily cost $1,500...and that's a low estimate.

Q and I were wondering when Macys starts hiring people to decorate their trees. We'd totally be happy to decorate trees for $10 an hour.

tearjerker

If you go watch The Pursuit of Happyness anytime soon, bring a box of kleenex with you. Trust me, you will need it.

Well, unless you're a heartless soul like someone I know (ahem, yes, I mean you), then you will probably not need the kleenex.

Good movie, people. And the scenery of San Francisco was so pretty too.

How to get a free dessert

Step 1: Order the "Classic Cheeseburger" cooked MEDIUM WELL.

Step 2: Sit back, munch on potato skins and converse with your fellow dinner guests while waiting for your order to arrive at the table.

Step 3: When the waiter drops off your Classic Cheeseburger at your table, grab the burger with both hands and take two big bites. Chew. Wrinkle your eyebrows. Take a look at the remaining burger in your hand and raise an eyebrow while asking your friends, "Does this look like medium well to you?" Listen to each friend's shocking reply:

"That is NOT medium well."

"That looks rare."

"Really rare."

"Eww. That burger is still mooing."

"Did they even cook that?"

Step 4: Flag down waiter and show him the bleeding piece of burger. Look at the shock on waiter's face as he takes away your burger and promises you a new one.

Step 5: Look at your friends enjoying their dinner while you sit and wait for your new burger, but also thinking that you just swallowed raw meat and could possibly contract mad cow disease.

Step 6: Be surprised when the restaurant manager comes out and personally apologizes for the bleeding/mooing burger and again promises you a fully cooked burger is on its way.

Step 7: Pick off fries and chicken tenders off your friends plate while waiting for your replacement burger.

Step 8: Exclaim that you're too full to eat the new burger when the manager finally delivers the replacement burger. But take a bite of it anyway to make sure that the meat isn't mooing. Happily show everyone the burger that it is not red inside.

Step 9: Be extra surprised when the manager keeps coming back to check your happiness scale on the replacement burger. Be even more in shock when manager offers to give the table a free dessert. Browse the dessert menu and pick the most expensive one, then wait for the manager to deliver your free dessert.

Step 10: Be prepared to binge and purge after joining in with your four other friends in trying to conquer the massive "Brownie Finale" (6x6 inch block of brownie with tons of ice cream and whip cream piled on top). But also be disappointed at the same time that five full grown adults with healthy appetities could not finish the brownie madness.

Step 11: Drive home and fall into a food coma as soon as your head hits a soft spot on the friend's sofa.



Editor's Note: No, I did not eat the mooing burger. I just witnessed this event. For those of you who know me, I rarely eat hamburgers and when I do, they have to be nuked all the way through. I did, however, try really really hard to eat all of the brownie dessert but had to throw in the towel with half the giant brownie on the plate.

karma

Remember how in my last post I dared my current laptop to "go ahead and die" because I had a new laptop waiting for me in San Francisco?

Well, I received a LEMON from the stupid computer company and am currently awaiting a replacement.

Let's just say that I am currently making love to my old laptop in hopes that it won't be angered and break down on me again. I will never again wish any more ill will towards it. I am going to be on my best laptop user behavior until the new baby laptop arrives and is in good working condition.

DONE! DONE! DONE!

I AM DONE WITH FIRST SEMESTER! WHOO HOO!

I finished my last final exam exactly 1.6 hours ago. I even finished early, just so I can make it to the airport on time to check in my luggage. But of course, the flight is delayed and so here I sit, blogging about the end of the semester. I should have learned from experience. I have yet to see a Southwest flight depart on time.

So, my year end thoughts about the complete of my first semester of law school:

--Yes, first year of law school is hard, but not hard as in "what the f are they talking about?" but hard as in "I have so many things to do and not enough time to do it." Well, the most "work" I did was for my legal writing class, which involved a lot of research, writing and re-writing towards the middle of the semester. I guess I put a lot of work into my outlines for my finals too, but most of that started after Thanksgiving, which really counts towards studying for finals and not really work throughout the semester.

--Now that I'm done with finals, there's nothing else to worry about for the rest of the year. Well, nothing to worry about but how I did on the exams. I still can't come to grasp the concept that my entire semester grade comes down to the moment of how the professor is feeling while he/she is grading my final exam. I say this because I seriously think my Contracts grade will depend on whether my professor is in a good mood because no one has any idea how he came up with the points he gave us on our "practice" midterm (where if you did well, it will count towards your final grade, but if you bombed the practice midterm, then it won't hurt your final grade). Yes, it's just an odd feeling to have to sit around and just wait and see if my destiny will definitely be in the legal profession (because for all I know, I could have flunked all my exams and they'll kick me out of law school next semester and that's that).

--I have to go through five more semesters of this???

--I think the majority of my classmates are out drinking right now, as I sit here in the airport waiting for a plane to arrive and take me away. I kinda want to join my classmates in celebratory drinks, but I have eager to get on that plane and finally see The Boy. I thought maybe the icky feeling in my stomach was due to being nervous about the Contracts final, but now I think I'm actually nervous about seeing my boyfriend again. I mean, it's been FOUR months since I last kissed him goodbye. Would it be weird if I gave him a running hug as soon as I see him at the airport, while at the same time knocking him to the ground that might cause him to suffer a concussion and then not realize who the hell I was??? Okay, imagination gone wild there. The Boy is having the onset of a cold, therefore I will refrain myself from causing any injuries due to my happiness of seeing him.

Okay, I think I'm blabbing and there is no point to this blog. I am done. End of story. And plus, the battery on my laptop is dying so I must turn it off in order to avoid this disaster again (but I have a brand new slimmer laptop waiting for me in SF, so go ahead and die, you old heavy piece of metal/plastic/whatever the heck you're made of!).

the curse of the hiccups

I just bought a bottle of Mr. Pibb, opened it and took a quick chug when my phone rang and showed that The Boy was calling.

(An aside: I don't know why the vending machines are not stocked with Dr. Pepper, this is the midwest, home of Dr. Pepper is it not?)

Me: **hiccup** Hi Honey.

BF: Hi there....did you just hiccup?

Me: **hiccup** um yeah, **giggling** I just took **hiccup** a swig of **hiccup** Dr. Pepper **giggle, hiccup hiccup** and now I have the **hiccup** hiccups.

BF: Oh gosh, are you drinking already?

Me: Nooo **hiccup hiccup hiccup** I'm **hiccup** studying. **hiccup**

BF: Yeah right. You can't handle the pressure anymore so you're downing vodka. I know. It's okay honey, drink your stress away.

Me: **hiccup hiccup** I'm not drinking! **giggles, hiccup hiccup**

BF: How cute, my drunken little mouse hiccuping her way through law school finals.

Me: **hiccup hiccup hiccup** okay, go away now **hiccup hiccup** can't talk **hiccup hiccup** must stop **hiccup** this **hiccup**



And what do you know? As soon as I hang up with The Boy, the hiccups go away.

playing hooky

9am this Friday morning

Friend: Are you sure you want to go see a movie? I don't want to cut into your study time.

Me: Sure, no problem. I'll study until noon, go to the movies and then study afterwards.

-----

Eight hours later after a round at Oak Park Mall and watching The Holiday...

Friend: I don't want to take up any more of your time, but do you want to go to Old Navy real quick?

Me: Sure, what the hell. If I'm going to be at play today, might as well make the most of it. I'll punish myself later.

-----

And now I'm punishing myself with a dinner and then possibly a nap. I still have two days until my Property final. PLENTY of time to study...

halfway there

Two finals down, two more to go.

But first, some much needed sleep.

Good night y'all.

Bitch of the Day

"I'm sorry to kick you out, but you all need to leave this study room because your time is up and I have to study."

Yeah, and like we don't?!

Look at the pretty pictures while I prepare for my Torts final.

Day 1: Ice Storm

Day Two: Snow

Day Three: Sun on snow.

The football field. I really wanted to jump the fence to roll in the fresh snow and build a snowman.

The lights at the Plaza.

Standing in the middle of traffic.

crisis avoided

I just nearly had a heart attack and seriously thought my life was over.

I was quite productive today. I started the morning with a half hour run on the treadmill, followed by several hours of studying at the library. Then, I dropped off my books and laptop at home, grabbed the yummy food my mommy prepared and froze for me over turkey break and went over to CC's place for dinner and walk around the Plaza.

Dinner was good. Outing at plaza was fun. Then I got home and decided to upload the pictures to my laptop. I took the laptop out of my bag and placed it on my desk. Plugged it in. Hooked up the wireless mouse. Pressed the "ON" button and nothing happened. I thought it was odd, so I pushed the button again. And again. And again. And again. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED.

ohmygod what the hell ohmygod what the hell why isn't this turning on ohmygod my laptop is dead ohmygod all of my notes ohmygod my outlines ohmygod how the hell am i supposed to take my finals? ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod don't panic don't panic maybe the battery is dead and just needs charging ohmygod my notes my outlines ohmygod I have to handwrite my exam? what the hell goodness why me ohmygod laptop, please just turn on for mommy please please please mommy is sorry that she is looking at buying another laptop please just turn on I don't know what I did but I'm sorry if I angered you but pretty please just turn on OH SHIT MY LIFE IS OVER!!!

So after the panic attack and some sense took over, I hoped that the reason my laptop wouldn't turn on was because I drained the battery by leaving the laptop on standby without plugging it in when I dropped it off at home. So I left the laptop plugged into the wall and just let the battery recharge while I watched a couple of hours of TV and prayed really hard that that would be the solution. After what I thought would be enough time for the battery to be charged, I pushed the "ON" button and nothing happened. I pushed it again and again and again, and still nothing happened.

OH
SHIT
LAPTOP
IS
DEAD
AND
I
HAVE
FINAL
EXAMS
IN
TWO
DAYS
WHAT
THE
FUCK

Yes. Panic was so bad I didn't bother censoring any of that. I was almost in tears trying to figure out why the laptop wouldn't turn on. The battery had two hours to charge, so why is it not showing any signs of life? I even noticed that the little green light next to the picture of the battery wasn't even on. As a final effort to resolve this problem without completely losing my mind and calling the Boy to start crying about how my laptop has failed me, I searched for the reset button on my laptop and pushed it about a gazillion times. Then I pushed the "ON" button again and IT FINALLY TURNED ON! OH MY GOD IT WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!

I opened every program to make sure it still worked. I opened up every document to make sure it was still there. I really did shed tears of happiness to finally have the laptop breathing life again.

Thank goodness my laptop is not dead. I seriously would not have been able to go to sleep tonight if that were the case. My hand is still cramping from the thought that I might have had to hand write all of my final exams.