Hey Pssst....

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes...

TheLiteraryCrush

My apologies for letting this blog whither and die. I'm still deciding what I should do with it. But, in the meantime you got the link above. Happy New Year!

Eureka...I have found her!

After years of searching for a stylist and trying salon after salon, I've finally found a stylist that I'm in love with :) Her name is Sabrina and she works at The Den Salon in Chino Hills. If you know me, you know that I'm a sucker for signs...not like "Stop" or "Slow Down"...but signs from the powers that be that tell me I'm making the right choice or I'm headed in the right direction.

One Friday afternoon in January, after driving all over what seemed like every freeway in Southern California, I decided to go straight home after my last meeting instead of back to the office. As I was driving home, I took a look at myself in the mirror and decided that I've put up with my yucky hair for the last day. I found myself at The Shoppes in Chino Hills. I knew there were two salons there: Vicara Salon and The Den. Vicara is an Aveda salon. I used to use Aveda products but stopped a couple years ago because they weren't giving the volume I wanted. I saw that new clients get 50% off their first visit. Great. Fine. Solid. But I couldn't help but go and check out The Den.

The New Client Discount was only 25%, but they had Bumble & Bumble products everywhere and had a very cool, hip, edgy vibe to the place. I asked if anyone was available to do a short cut since I didn't have an appointment. The receptionist looked over to the girl sitting in one of their neat rattan armchairs and asked her if she wanted to take me. She took one look at me and my hair, stood up and said, "Hi! My name is Sabrina...what would you like to drink: tea....water...white wine...sangria?" I happily replied, "Sangria, please!" and have been in Hair Honeymoon ever since.

After the first cut, I was SO happy with how it turned out that I knew I would be coming back for a second appointment to make sure she can cut it just how she did the first time (I'm also a sucker for consistency). I went back 2 weeks ago. She was running late, but called to let me know so I had some time to go shopping. You think she cut my hair just how I want it twice in a row? HELL YES!

Those are pics taken a couple hours after the second cut and it looks just like the first cut. SO happy I finally found someone who can actually do an awesome short cut. I told her I'm thinking of doing some color for the Summer. I usually go red, which she said would be cute but I feel like I should step out of the box a little more and play with other colors (other than black and red). Sabrina suggested lightening my hair a bit and then adding some blond in. I've always wanted blond highlights...but with black hair, so I gotta think about going light. I'm not a very light-colored person...although I've been using a lot more pinks lately - I'll probably get over that soon.

Anyways...it costs a lot to see Sabrina...as it would for any good stylist, but I'm happy to fork out the money. One thing I've learned about myself, if my hair doesn't look good, I don't feel as confident about my look in general. A good stylist that you get along with is definitely a worthwhile investment.

Crime Fiction at its Finest.

It's been a couple weeks since I finished this book, but I definitely wanted to share it with you as a "must-read" if you're a book worm...who is into thrillers or crime mysteries or sex or sexual deviance because this book definitely has all of that and more.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo centers around two main characters, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Salander is a young Private Investigator often hired to dig up dirt on high-profile executives. Blomkvist is a veteran financial reporter who was recently found guilty of libel and sentenced to three months in prison. The two characters cross paths when Blomkvist is hired by a very rich, very old business man to investigate the disappearance of his niece over 40 years ago.

This is also the first book in the trilogy written by Stieg Larsson, referred to as the "Millenium series". The book was originally written in Swedish and translated into English. At first, it's a little difficult to get past all the Swedish names and locations, but you eventually get used to it since the story is so engaging. We follow Blomkvist as he and Salander uncover the ugly truth behind one of Sweden's most powerful families. There's a healthy dose of crime and sex in the story, which definitely grabbed my attention, but the way the story is written just grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. Every page seemed to raise more questions about the mystery at hand, but also gave you just enough clues to keep you satisfied until you reach the end of the book.

An interesting tid-bit about Stieg Larsson...these books were written to express his disgust for sex crimes and violence against women. Apparently, he had witnessed the gang rape of young girl (also named Lisbeth) when he was a teen, but failed to stop the crime. He spent the rest of his life living in guilt from that experience and it essentially became the inspiration for this series.

I would highly recommend reading this book, especially since it's being made into an American movie (the Swedish adaptation was released in 2009). Rooney Mara plays Salander and Daniel Craig plays Blomkvist in the American adaptation, which is set to be released in December of this year. I'm hoping to read the second book this month so you can bet I'll be posting my reviews of that in a couple weeks. As a tiny warning, I read part of this book while I was in Tampa...alone...in a hotel room...very late at night...it pretty much freaked me out.

Losing My Bearings

Yesterday, I concluded  two things: 1) I am probably not cut out to be an FBI agent or do any type of work that would require discretion or guarding of top-secret information and 2) I think God likes sending my signs because it's comic relief. Why, you ask? Well because I've been leaving important crap everywhere.

Yesterday morning, I got to work and realized that my work laptop was not in the van I was driving. After shitting a brick and triple-checking the van, I tried to remember when I last had it with me. The day before (this past Wednesday), I was in Downtown LA at Ernst & Young Plaza doing a vanpool outreach event. I had brought my laptop with me just in case potential vanpoolers wanted to take a look at our new ridesharing online community. I wasn't even going to demo the website, but the client had requested it so I brought the laptop. Turns out, there wasn't an electrical outlet for me to use so I packed the laptop under my table. Ironically, I didn't want to leave it in the van because someone might take it since the van was on display and all kinds of people were going to be crawling in and out of it.  Long story short, someone came up to me while I was closing up shop and we started talking about public transportation. After our talk, I quickly grabbed everything else I could see and jammed out of there. I didn't even know I had left my laptop under the table until the next morning! Once I finally realized what I had done, I called my contact at the building and a couple hours later, they located my laptop and I was able to pick it up yesterday afternoon.

I thought my absent-mindedness was done for the day...but it wasn't...

Yesterday night, after getting my laptop back, I headed home and decided to join my mom and brother for the nightly Mass at our church. Everything was great: I paid attention to the readings and homily, thanked God for all my blessings, and asked for a shitload of new blessings (hahaha...NOT kidding). Feeling good about spending some quality time at church, we all headed home to get dinner started. Once I had parked my car in the garage and turned the engine off, I realized that my purse wasn't in the car. Where was it??? Back at church, under the freakin' pew. I let my mom and brother out of the car and zoomed over to church to find my purse waiting for me where I had left it.

I sat down in the empty church and just took a minute to breathe. I looked at all the pictures of the Saints surrounding me and then looked at Jesus on the crucifix (btw, my Jesus has INSANE abs! Does yours?!). Somehow, I think me losing my shit and finding it again was a sign. Of what? Not sure, exactly, but God probably wants me to calm the fuck down and refocus my energy because I'm too preoccupied on a particularly negative aspect (read: work) of my life and it's only temporary.

Got it...Messaged received....Copy that.

God sure does work in strange ways, but I'm thankful for it and it reminds me not to take things so seriously.

P.S. I HAVE been taking pictures for the blog, but getting the pictures from camera to blog is another story. I'll get pictures up this month ;)

To San Francisco and Back and then some

The other week, I drove from Diamond Bar to San Diego and back home to Diamond Bar. The following day, I drove from Diamond Bar to San Luis Obispo to Downtown LA then back home. The next week (which was last week), I drove from Diamond Bar to Downtown LA to Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc and back home. All that adds up to at least 1,033 miles driven (it's actually more because I stopped for bathroom breaks, breakfast and/or lunch, and to stretch at Vista Points) in 3 working days.

This week, I have two trips: one to Woodland Hills and the other to Pasadena. I have never looked forward to two-hour commutes during rush hour in my life...until now.

All this driving will be worth it if I can just get 20+ vans on the road this year, preferably before June...eeks!

Tampa and Talents.

Finally settled into my hotel room after a red-eye flight to Tampa. Already, I can tell you it's hard to eat healthy while on the road. Once in Tampa, I had lunch at this place called EVOS, which claims to be healthy fast food because they airbake everything instead of deep frying. This cuts the fat content in half. I orded airbaked chicken strips and airbaked fries.Still tasted unhealthy and I know it was probably loaded with carbs. I would say nothing special about this place. However, they had a wide choice of iced tea and ketchup (yes, ketchup) flavors. I, of course, had green tea. I tried all the ketchup flavors: cayenne fire, garlic gravity, mesquite, and americana (aka original flavor). The garlic ketchup was surprisingly good :) Anyways, EVOS is definitely a Floridian restaurant, but there is one located in San Luis Obispo too. Like I said, it's not anything special and I don't think it's as healthy as they want you to think. If I had to re-do lunch knowing what I know about EVOS, I probably would have gone to the Panera Bread next door...hahaha...just had to try something local.

I have about 3 hours to kill until the leadership academy officially starts. I thought it would be good to list a summary of my talent themes based on our "textbook" for this leadership program I'm participating in, that way you'll know what I'm talking about when I refer to them over the year.

This is the order that was given to me by the assessment in the book. I don't know if it means one talent theme is more predominant than the other, but it's probably best to stay consistent. By the way, Talent, as defined by the book, means "a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving."

Harmony: You look for areas of agreement...You can't quite believe how much time is wasted by people trying to impose their view on others... When others are sounding off about their goals, their claims, and their fervently held opinions, you hold your peace...In your view, we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat. There is no need to rock it just to show that you can.

Restorative: You enjoy the challenge of analyzing the symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the solution...You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal ones...Your exact preferences are determined by your other themes and experiences...You fixed it, resuscitated it, rekindled its vitality. Phasing it the way you might, you saved it. 

Deliberative: You are careful. You are vigilant. You are a private person. You know that the world is an unpredictable place...Rather than denying these risks, you draw each one out into the open. Then each risk can be identified, assessed, and ultimately reduced. Thus, you are a fairly serious person who approaches life with a certain reserve...You select your friends cautiously and keep your own counsel when the conversation turns to personal matters...If some people don't like you because you are not as effusive as others, then so be it...Life is something of a minefield...You walk with care.

Intellection: The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think...You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection...This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives...this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.

Consistency: Balance is important to you...you do not want to see the scales tipped too far in any one person's favor. In your view this leads to selfishness and individualism. It leads to a world where some people gain an unfair advantage because of their connections or their background or their greasing of the wheels. This is truly offensive to you...In direct contrast to this world of special favors, you believe that people function best in a consistent environment where the rules are clear and are applied to everyone equally...each person has an even chance to show his or her worth.

I obviously gave you the abridged description of each talent theme. For better or worse, I think it's fairly accurate (especially the stuff in purple). I'm kinda afraid it paints me as a more serious person than I really am, but maybe that's something about me I haven't really noticed or that's become more evident as I get older. I'm definitely introspective, but does that mean I'm an Introvert? I took the Myers-Briggs test in high school and it said I was an introvert, which would have been fine if one of my high school teachers didn't blurt out to the class that I would end up as a Librarian. That was a sad day.

So what do you think? Does that sound like an accurate description of me?

Good God, It's Tough To Be A Die-Hard Fan Sometimes

I'm not the type of person to like people or things immediately. Most people assume I fell in love with Tom Brady at first sight, but I didn't. After the Joe Montana years (Montana was my first QB crush until I started crushing on my classmates who were QBs...hahah), I actually stopped watching pro football all together. I was a cheerleader from 5th grade to about 9th grade, but gave up cheerleading for ASB. Football (and sports in general) was still very much part of my formative years since I was always at games and football players often got elected into ASB positions (that WAS a popularity contest). Fast forward to graduating from college (UCI did NOT have a football team, so I spent my time mastering the art of failing classes) and...BAM! My beloved Albert reintroduces me to pro football.

Albert thinks it's weird to call yourself a football fan without claiming a team (I think he'll give you a pass if you're a gambler because you need to stay partial). He asked what my team was and I said the 49ers, but I wasn't able to name one player on that team at the time (2007). He suggested that if I claim a team, I should probably know some players. Made sense to me, so that's how I got hooked every Sunday into watching football trying to learn teams, players, coaches, etc.

The names coming out of every sports commentator's mouth...Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots. That season, there was the whole Spygate scandal and the Patriots going undefeated in the regular season. Being the deliberative person that I am, I didn't want to claim to be a Tom Brady fan that whole season for fear of being called a band-wagoner and I didn't know much about him other than people either really loved him or really hated him. To make a long story short, the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season only to lose to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. That was a heartbreaker....but I officially became a Tom Brady fan that night. Sure, it's easy to be a fan when the team wins...not so much when they lose.

2007: Lose to the NY Giants in the Super Bowl

2008: Tom Brady has a season-ending injury in the FIRST EFFING WEEK.

2009: Patriots are one and out in the Wildcard playoffs

2010 (aka this past Sunday): Patriots are one and out in the Divisional playoffs

Fmylife. I think everyone and their momma knew how much I wanted Brady to get to the Super Bowl and win. I watched in horror as that turned to shit at the hands of (who else?) my protege Mark Sanchez. The feeling I've had all week is indescribable. I'm doing all my best to shake it off, but I feel like I'm somewhere worse than Sad & Disappointed and not as severe as Depressed. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED??? Now that I'm a couple days removed from the game, I can accept that the Jets' defense rocked the shit out of the Patriots (the Pats have a young defense who ranked 24th out of 32 teams). And, probably the hardest to admit, the Pats were out coached.

Monday morning, I got pity looks from coworkers who know about my Tom Brady obsession. I even got an email from Pam, who moved back to Louisiana, urging me to "get of bed...brush it off...life goes on". She's a Saints fan, so I knew she could genuinely relate. Monday and Tuesday I could barely eat. Yesterday, tears started welling up out of nowhere. Was I really crying over football? Yes. Well, Sunday definitely over football. Yesterday was a combination of fasting, being tired, and thinking about going to Vegas for the Super Bowl. I could barely even utter the word football or anything having to do football until this morning when my mom asked why I took my Brady jersey down (it was hanging on my door as motivation to get in shape). I didn't go to the gym at all week because all I could think was, "What's the point? Brady isn't going to be in the Super Bowl."

I took to this blog to help write this crazy sadness out of my system because I do want to be more positive this year. But I am so, so heartbroken by Tom Brady not getting to and winning a Super Bowl. 2011 will be his 12th season and he'll be 34 years old by the time the season starts. People are already questioning whether he has it in him to win another ring. My answer...hell yes he has it in him, but the rest of the team needs to get with the program...especially the defense. No more being man-handled by other teams, especially the Jets!

...and with that my friends, for better or worse, I've already put most of my football eggs in the Brady Basket for 2011.

P.S. Officially, the 49ers are still my team. I can name players and even tell you a bit about their new Head Coach. I'll put a few football eggs in that basket as well. However, until they listen to me and get a good-looking, outrageously talented poster boy of a QB, then Tom Brady will be covered more. FYI...Tom Brady is from San Mateo and was also a 49er fan :)

Social Experiments 2011 in 3....2....1!

Last year, I applied for this Leadership Program offered by one of the transportation organizations I'm involved with. I found out before the holidays that I was accepted into the program (I'll tell you more about the program itself in another blog) and included with my acceptance letter was the first assignment.

The assignment was to read the first 30 pages, take the online assessment, and submit the results to the Director (of the organization). My guess is they're going to split the class into work groups based on our strengths.

This book is a really quick read and the assessment is just as quick, if not quicker. What the book says, in a nutshell, is that most people are SO focused on overcoming their weaknesses that they forget (or neglect) their strengths. This was particularly insightful to me because (to quote Kanye West), "I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most." The book was right...I'm definitely one of those people who give 150% into trying to compensate for a weakness that I completely overlook what I'm actually good at. In fact, if you asked me, "What are your strengths?" or "What do you think you're good at?" I would give you some smart ass answer like, "Blow jobs" or some canned answer I read in a book about how to succeed in an interview.

The "reading" part of the book is really about 30 pages, the rest of the book describes the different talent themes you would fall into based on the online assessment. After taking the assessment and reading through the descriptions, I felt that I had a better idea of what my strengths are or a better way to articulate them. If you're one of those people who like to read and like the idea of broadening your perspective through books, then StrengthsFinder 2.0 is worth the $25.

Thanks to the book, I'm going to do little social experiments throughout the year to test out the author's theories. My first social experiment is actually one of my resolutions for 2011 - Focus on what I'm good at instead of trying to make up for what I'm not so good at. This has led to a lot of reevaluating where I'm at in all aspects of my life: family, love, career. With this new perspective, I feel great about where I'm at in everything  except for career...how ironic, since this book landed on my lap because of my job. LOL.

Stay tuned...

Missing the Holidays

Happy New Year to everyone! I started a post about the New Year and my goals for 2011, but got Writer's Block since I wasn't very inspired by the topic. This morning, as I was driving into work, I suddenly realized how much I missed the holidays and how fast that time of the year seems to go. I have a feeling my January blogs will mostly be about December. Maybe I'll be ready to talk about 2011 next month. LOL.

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is bake. I bake goodies for my office, my mom's staff, the rest of my family, some of my friends, and potluck/holiday parties. When T.J. was still in school, I would bake for his class too. Usually, it's the funfetti cupcakes for whatever holiday (they sell them for July 4th, Halloween, and Christmas). This year, I've been adding to my baking repertoire (e.g. Red Velvet Cake Pops/Truffles, Cookies & Cream Cupcakes) and have been adding the new items to the funfetti cupcakes.

For the holidays, my mom asked me to try a "new" recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops/Truffles. I was game since I was somewhat familiar with the process and wanted to see if I can handle the Pop/Truffles a little better the second time around.

If you want the full recipe, let me know and I can email it to you. Otherwise, I'm giving you the abridged version. The filling for these pops is peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and rice crispies. Once you mix all that up, shape into balls the size of walnuts, then let them set in the fridge for at least an hour. You want the peanut butter to be hard enough to withstand a coating of melted chocolate, so I recommend having them sit in the fridge overnight if possible. If you have lollipop sticks, then stick those in before putting the batch into the fridge. If you don't have the sticks, you can just leave them as is (that's how you get truffles).

I haven't seen an actual walnut since I was little, so these turned out a bit bigger than they're supposed to. But, yeah, these are the peanut butter balls that are being "set" in the fridge.

After the peanut butter balls have set or hardened, you can start coating them in chocolate (I used a mixture of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate morsels). Take the ball, coat in chocolate, let the excess chocolate drip off, then coat in crushed peanuts.

Again, let the coated Pops/Truffles set, either in the fridge or at room temp. If you're leaving them out at room temp, do so overnight. And....ta-da...Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops/Truffles!

Lots o' Pops

Pretty Truffles :)

I don't know if it's because it's the peanut butter or the fact that I've already tried to make this type of treat before, but it was A LOT easier making these Pop/Truffles. I still ran into problems with mixing the inner ingredients and properly coating everything, but it's more so because of the lack of tools than anything else. Also, I've been trying cake balls from other places (both homemade and from a bakery) and the cake filling has been too moist for my liking. So the Peanut Butter filling is the kind of texture I prefer...until I find a cake ball that isn't all mushy.

For the most part, everyone that tried them liked them. Then again, I doubt people would tell me they tasted like shit to my face. I tried a couple and they were pretty good, especially with hot unsweetened/unflavored tea. If you want me to make some for the next time we get together or want the recipe to try on your own, holla at your girl :)

Holiday Treats 2010

Road Warrior

I've been on the road... A LOT. With my new position came a new territory to market our program to, including Ventura County, Kern County, Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County, and parts of Los Angeles County. I'm basically driving all over these counties trying to find new business. It's been a challenge, but I get to meet some cool people and discover more of Southern California. I also found out our Chatsworth office is about 20 minutes away from April's house (a.k.a potential sleepover location in the future...thanks Brill!).

Anyways, being on the road so much has opened the door to some weird/interesting sightings on my way to meetings or while stuck in traffic. For example, on my way to Edwards AFB (the same day I discovered that California has a 14 freeway), I saw a dog that looked like a mini horse, or maybe it was a mini horse that looked like a dog. Whatever it was, it was weird. I wish I had the guts to pull over and take a picture of it, but I was in the middle of nowhere and afraid I would be captured by some mutant freak out of a horror movie.

Last Friday while on my way to Pasadena, I saw some more interesting things on the road. And, since I was stuck in morning rush hour traffic, I decided to be reckless and snap a couple pictures for you:

I know I should have zoomed in a bit, but I was driving 30mph so it was tricky. You can kinda see it in this picture...the lady in the car has a face mask AND gloves on. Not to mention, she also has her seats covered by some linen (I'm assuming it's anti-allergen/anti-bacteria fabric or something). I felt bad for her because she doesn't even trust the air in her personal vehicle. Maybe she's sick and doesn't want to spread her germs, but I like the idea of someone out there being (WAY) more afraid of bacteria than I am - makes me look like less of a freak :)

Okay, when I saw this one, I immediately thought of Albert because he likes Math and I think if he were into tagging he would spray paint math equations.This picture is of a freight truck with a math equation scribbled on the side of it in white. I kinda wanna keep a piece of chalk with me from now on and write random equations on trucks. It's not vandalism if it's taught in school, right? Hahaha.

That's all I got for now, but I have quite a bit of road trips happening this week so I hope I have more to share with you. I may not have the most glamorous job, but it does have its perks :)

Hip Fractures Suck

...no, I don't have one. But Frank Gore does, which is why I was horrified watching the game the other night. This also means I'm without my star Running Back going into "qualifying" weekend for our fantasy football league (aka I need a significant win to clinch a spot in the playoffs next weekend). Sad Face. Major Sad Face. I'm a bit anxious going into this weekend's game, especially since I'm matched up against Albert, who apparently has been rooting against me the whole season (thanks for that beb :P).

In any case, the following is long overdue...

To: bestniner2010@yahoo.com
From: OCWordSlinger
Re: Until Next Season

Dear Frank,
I've only heard the nicest, most respectful things about you - how you're a great team player, how you're going to be one of the best RBs of all time, how you work hard and love what you do. So, I can only imagine how much you must HATE finishing this season on the sidelines. Although the injury has ended your season, it's not the end of your career. That's one silver lining. The team does have a chance to win the division this season, but it's going to be tough and most of the fans want a coaching change so maybe it's a good thing for you to have a chance to observe the rest of the team. Basically I want to say, yeah it sucks you got injured but there's next year to look forward to. I'm sure you've already heard that a hundred times today, so I'll stop there.


I also want to thank you for being the most consistent player on my Fantasy team. I know I don't have the best record in the league, but I could always count on you to get me points and give my opponents a run for their money. You were one of the main reasons that I kept up with the 49ers  this season even though the team fell short of fan expectations. Although I am biased toward quarterbacks, you've made an argument that I need to watch other players - not just for looks but talent as well. You've made a fan out of me.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

P.S. You may want to suggest that the team draft a sexy QB. My theory is, if a team has a well-mannered, handsome quarterback with a sense of humor, then they're gonna win games. Just a theory, but look at the top teams in the league...QBs are pretty good looking and/or have a great personality that makes them wildly popular which can also be perceived as "sexy".

Countdown to Monday

I have never looked forward to a Monday because of sports so much in my life...

For the record, I don't know who these guys are and I don't know if they still play for their respective teams. I just needed a picture that illustrated the rivalry and this worked.

Well, I was looking forward to the 49ers playing Arizona too, but the 49ers aren't doing that great this season and the Cards are doing worse so I lost some of my interest in that game mid-season. I still watched...and was horrified. I'll explain that later.

Anyway...the Jets play the Patriots this coming Monday! AND they play at Gillette Stadium (aka Patriots' field). It doesn't help that I keep SportsCenter on in the background while I'm at home and listen to sports talk radio any time I'm in my car. They are hyping this game up like crazy and I'm TOTALLY buying into it. Besides, it's Tom Brady going head-to-head against Mark Sanchez - how can I NOT be into it?!

For those of you who don't follow football, The Patriots and The Jets are division rivals. The Head Coach on each team have wildly different coaching philosophies from the other and its reflected in their players. Both teams have a 9-2 record. And, let's not forget, they arguably have the hottest QBs in the league. This week's game is basically a battle for first place in the division and spot in the playoffs. The two teams have already played each other once this season (in September) and the Jets won.

In case you're wondering who I'm going to be cheering for...

...I've loved him longer :) Beat the Jets!

False Start

Definitely didn't want to get out of bed and go to work this morning. My alarm went off at 4:45am. Snoozed all the way until 5:25am. Finally dragged myself out of bed to get ready for the day. Finished getting ready, feeding Pepper (my pet rabbit), letting my mom know about all the goodies from Albert's family, and was out the door by 6:25am. Being quite proud of myself for getting ready and getting all my morning chores done in record time, I decided to reward myself with some Starbucks for breakfast.

I arrived at the Starbucks near my work at precisely 6:55am (beat rush hour traffic!). As I stepped out of my car, I made a mental note that I should check my Starbucks Rewards Membership account once I get into the office...that's when I realized that I had left home without my work laptop. I sat in my car with my head hung low and sighed to myself, "What a fucking idiot!"

I passed on the Starbucks and went straight to the office. Dropped all my other stuff off and told the other manager what had happened and said I had to go back home to get my laptop. Unfortunately, rush hour traffic was well underway and the commute that took me 30 minutes to do less than an hour before turned into a 45-minute commute both ways.

Monday Morning: 1

Michelle: 0

Done with designing...

...so it seems all I've been wanting to do with this blog is change the design. There's a lot I've been wanting to write about for this blog, but I've been writing posts for our corporate blog at work so that's kept me pretty busy. Now, I'm having writer's block for the other blog so I'm back here, where I can just write whatever without having to worry about being "corporate" or not. Plus, I think I've finally found a design that suits me.

Fantasy Football Update: I'm sucking. I've officially dropped to 8th place (4th place in the other league, but that one doesn't have money involved). I do want to give a shout out to Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills.

I have no idea who this guy is, but he scored me 34 freakin' fantasy points this past weekend. I still lost my game, BUT I'm glad I picked this guy up because Hakeem Nicks got injured during his game against the Eagles and will be out for a couple weeks.

I also cheated on Tom Brady by playing Mark Sanchez one week. Both QBs are punishing me. Brady does fantastic the week I play Sanchez, then Sanchez does awesome the following week when I play Brady. It's like they both know. It'd be crazy if they are actually reading this and coordinating when the other one plays well. It's highly unlikely since Tom Brady could give two shits about what the Jets do, but it's just a thought. Well, since there are no more Bye Weeks, it's Tom Brady all the way (sorry Mark!) until the season is finished. 

Work Update: Good news, I was promoted last month. My new title is REALLY fancy: Business Development Executive. Unfortunately, I do NOT make an executive salary BUT it'll be really pretty on a resume (hahah). Bad news, one of my favorite coworkers of all time, Pam,  resigned from the company and move back to her home town of New Iberia in Louisiana. Luckily, she got a Facebook account so we've been keeping in touch that way. With those two changes, work has been VERY different from what it was just two months ago. New boss, new project office to work with, new territory - all of which I'm trying to get used to without Pam to provide the comic relief or a lunchtime bitching session. I'll write more about all of that in separate blogs, but that's a quick summary of what's been going on at work.

Home Update: My mom and brother moved back into the condo in Diamond Bar. For a while my grandpa and his wife were staying with us too, but they moved in with other relatives in Garden Grove. So, in a matter of weeks I've went from living by myself, to living with four other people, to now living with two other people. It's been quite a challenge for all of us to get used to each other and the living habits we've developed over the past year and a half. I do think about moving our EVERY day, but I figure I have to stay put for now and try to save a down payment for something. It'd be nice to move into a place I own instead of one that I'm renting.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope to post more stuff up soon. Thanks for reading!!

Saved By A Giant

I've been trying to avoid writing this particular post, but after this week in football it's unavoidable and well-deserved...and since he was drafted by the Giants in 2009, I'm a little more okay with doing this.

To: ItsMyNicksInABox@gmail.com
From: OCWordSlinger
Subject: Diamond in the Rough


Dear Hakeem,
There have been very few bright spots to look to this season in football. All the teams and players that I thought would be doing amazing have been falling short of expectations or a bit lackluster. You, however, have been the saving grace of my Fantasy Team and I thought it would only be fair to write my first Fan Email of the season to you.


This past week I was down about 18 points going into Monday's game and you were the last player to get on the field for me. It was a pretty important game to me because I was playing against Victor who had the same record as I did (3-3-0), so I needed a win to have any kind of hope of getting to the playoffs and it all relied on you. Victor has also had MONSTER games, where a lot of his players put up double-digit numbers, so I was nervous. Did you buckle under pressure or decide to take a vacation day?? 9 receptions, 112 yards, and 2 touchdowns tells me, "Nope!"


Anyways, thanks for being my awesome player this week! I know this is long overdue since you also saved me in more than a couple games so far this season, but you're a New York Giant and as a Tom Brady fan it's hard for me to be thankful for a Giant. I've tried to delay it as much as possible, but you've been really stellar when it matters. Keep up the great work!

Toilet paper isn't the only thing lacking in there...

Maybe I'm old school when it comes to bathroom etiquette, but people really need to learn proper manners for a public bathroom. There are some things that are obvious: replacing toilet paper or notifying the next girl coming in if toilet paper is out, avoid drenching the counter with excess water while washing your hands, courtesy flushes, etc. Others aren't so obvious, but this one should be:

If you're already on the pot and your phone rings, DON'T ANSWER.

Last week, I went to use the restroom which is shared by other tenants in our building. After I did my business, I went to go wash my hands. While I was singing the ABCs in my head (because that IS how long you should be soaping your hands), I heard a cell phone start to ring from one of the occupied stalls. I fully expected it to keep ringing so you can imagine my surprise when SHE PICKED UP THE PHONE AND ANSWERED, "HELLO?" EWW. There are several things wrong with that situation since I'm a germ-a-phobe, but isn't there some kind of rule or commandment where you are not supposed to answer the phone while you're sitting on the pot? I guess it would be okay in the privacy of your own home (I don't do it because it's just too weird for me), but in the public restroom of an office building? She even picked up the phone mid-stream. I know she was sitting there literally butt-naked talking on the phone about her plans for the night.  It obviously wasn't anything urgent. She could have simply finished what she was doing, wiped, washed her hands, and called the person back. FUCKING EW.

This one is a little bit different, but still has to do with cell phone/bathroom etiquette. This morning, I was in the restroom again. Just as I was finishing, one of my coworkers comes in while she was ON THE PHONE already. She gets in her stall, sits, and starts peeing all while advising her friend on the phone about what she should do about some lame ass she went out on a date with this past weekend. OMG people...is it that serious that you need to talk to people while relieving yourself?! FUCKING EW. I flushed the toilet with the hopes of it being overheard by the person she was talking to and maybe that person would have enough decency to ask my coworker to call her back. My coworker actually stopped talking and started again once the flush was done. So I guess whoever she was talking to was okay with the whole thing.

I know people use their phone to have reading material or play games while in the bathroom. For some reason, that's more okay in my head than actually having a conversation while you're peeing. But, to pick up the phone while in the act of using the bathroom or continue your conversation while using the bathroom is dirrty, dirrty , dirrty! Being drunk and doing the above is more excusable because your judgment is impaired and people might be calling to look for your drunk ass, but my coworker and the other lady have no excuse.  I'm going to say it one more time so you know how truly grossed out I am by people carrying on  phone conversations while sitting on a toilet in a public bathroom...FUCKING EW!

News Flash: T.J. gets Michelle on water rides...multiple times!

I took a day off the other week to spend some time with T.J. (my brother). Since I didn’t get him an actual birthday present and he isn’t working yet, I thought it would be fun for us to head to Knott’s Berry Farm for the day. I invited my mom and Albert to join us, but they were both swamped at work so, it was just the two of us and it worked out great in the end. T.J. and I have loved riding roller coasters together since he was finally tall enough to ride them. Knott’s was the perfect place for us to spend the day because they have pretty decent coasters, it’s not a long drive, and the tickets are pretty cheap ($30 a pop). I was really looking forward to getting on some coasters and yelling until my voice was gone. I was especially looking forward to riding Supreme Scream.

We got to the park a couple minutes after it had opened and the first ride we got on is Silver Bullet – it’s probably one of the premier coasters at Knott’s. I was a little apprehensive about taking T.J. on such a “daring” coaster for the first ride, but he handled it like a champ and I think it set a good energy for him to keep riding throughout the day.  After a couple more rides we decided to grab lunch. As we sat and ate our lunch, I pulled out the map of the park and showed him what our last ride was going to be…Supreme Scream. I was so excited about it and thought he would be too, but I think I did too good of a job describing the drop/free fall that he stopped me and said, “No, I’m too tired.” That should have been my first sign, but I didn’t think anything of it and said we’ll go on more rides before Supreme Scream. Well, we went on every coaster in the park (except for Accelerator because it was closed)…twice. We found ourselves in front of the entrance to Supreme Scream and I figured now was a better time than any to ride it. I told T.J. to follow me as I practically ran to get in line (yes, I was running, that was how much I wanted to ride this thing. I reached back to grab T.J.’s hand so we can be in line together and that’s when I noticed he was about 15 steps away from me. He wouldn’t budge and just kept shaking his head. Turns out, my brother doesn’t like rides with really high free falls, which is one of my favorites (of course). After spending 15 minutes trying to convince him to get on the ride with me, he won. I figured it’s his day, so I should do whatever he wants to do. 

Do you want to know what T.J.’s favorite ride is? Water rides…icky, wet, bacteria-ridden water rides. Do you know that you can contract Legionnaires’ Disease from inhaling particles of the bacteria that originate from infected WATER sources?? ICK. Yeah, I realize this is my mysophobia getting the best of me, but that’s really all I think of when it comes to water rides. And, I’m sure Knott’s does a great job of making sure the water is clean, but still. Regardless of my little quirk with water rides, I am happy to say I rode the Log Ride 3 times and Perilous Plunge twice, all thanks to my brother…who doesn’t seem to care about the potential bacteria on those rides (I even tried to explain it to him, but I think he stopped listening to me). T.J. was happy, so I was happy…soaked in water ride water (makes me shudder thinking about it).

The day ended with him passing out on the ride back to Corona. I may have been covered in sweat, dirty water, and who knows what else, but it was worth it to spend some quality time with T.J. (aka “Butthead”).

On a side note, I highly recommend ditching work to go to an amusement park. Spending the day outside while everyone else is in an office…eating funnel cake at 3pm instead of heading to the office kitchen to search for a little pick-me-up….screaming your head off on roller coasters instead of catering to customers all day long…it felt more liberating that I thought it would be. Plus, the longest we had to wait in line for a ride was 10 minutes. I don’t know if it’s because of the recession or because Halloween Haunt was opening the following week, but it was perfect timing and we definitely got our money’s worth.

I heart football...

Football is finally back in session! We're about to enter Week 4 of the regular season and Tom Brady is 2-1, while the Niners are 0-3. It's off to a bit of a rocky start for me being a Brady fan and a Niner fan, but it's still early in the season. If the 2007 Patriots taught me anything, winning in the post-season is what matters the most.

The beginning of football season also means the start of Fantasy Football. I'm in 2 leagues this year, but one has money involved, so that's the one I'm paying really close attention to and I'm currently ranked 2nd in that league (yay!). The other league is just for fun with Albert's cousins. I'm ranked 9th in that league (boo!), but it's okay since Tom Brady was snatched from me (double boo!) - No Brady, No Point. I'm still playing actively, but it's just so that I don't finish last. I'll be starting Fan Emails to my best players from my Fantasy teams in the next week or so...and I promise they won't all be to Mr. Brady.

Speaking of which, the above-mentioned Quarterback has been in the league for 11 years so his retirement is something I have to consider. Not now, of course, but eventually. After watching HBO's Hard Knocks and being somewhat familiar with his college career, I'm considering Mark Sanchez as my replacement for Tom Brady when Brady retires. Sanchez went to USC (a school I've always wanted to go to despite the alleged corruption that goes on), he's from Orange County, and, if you've watched Hard Knocks, he's a funny guy. I don't think he's as hot as Tom Brady, but he's only 24 so maybe he'll get hotter with age. Thanks to Wikipedia, I also know that Sanchez is a Scorpio...I almost always get along with any Scorpio I meet! It's almost a match made in heaven....almost. Well, at least I have my eyes on him, so I can try to establish that I have dibs on him in the future. LOL!

Anyways, I'm just super excited the season is here and in full swing! There's something about watching football and the fall weather (once it actually gets here) that is irresistible to me! Hoping to watch the Niners when they come down to face the Chargers, but we'll see...YAY FOOTBALL!

So Bad, But SO good.

One Friday afternoon, while winding down after a busy work week I stumbled upon a crazy little show on TLC called Four Weddings.

The show is a competition between 4 soon-to-be brides. The prize is an exotic honeymoon vacation for the couple that wins the competition. Each bride is scored by the other three brides based on food, venue, dress, originality, and overall experience. If you're thinking there's no point to this show because each bride is going to think her wedding was the best and sabotage her scores for the other brides' weddings, then you're partially right. The winning score for the episode I watched was 69%...that's an "F", if I remember correctly. And, the stereotypical brides are always contenders: over-the-top bride, drunk/ghetto bride, trying-too-hard-to-be-different bride, low-budget bride, etc. But, there is a point to the show and it's what pretty much reeled me in...

Personal touches always makes the difference. The winner in the episode was the one that had the best overall experience and originality. For example, instead of having a regular guest book, the couple made a wooden sign post and painted the cities of where their guests were coming from. Guests were then invited to leave a message on their sign and that was going to be something the bride and group would use as decor at their own house. The most common factor among the losers was that it was too "cookie-cutter".

Moral of the story: each couple has its own personality and that should show at the wedding...because it'll win you a honeymoon on a private island in Tahiti...hahah! That last part is if you're on Four Weddings, of course. It wasn't until I saw that show that I realized how important it is to know your "couple personality" when it comes to wedding planning. In retrospect, all the best weddings I've been to have been for couples that truly wanted to celebrate who they were as a couple and successfully combined their individual personalities.

Playing Catch Up

I created this blog so that I would have something to do during my down time at work. Ironically, September has been INSANELY busy...and I've been a little bit uninspired/lazy in the way of what to blog about. I have a couple posts that I started during the month, but haven't had a chance to finish them. I do want to keep up with my goal of writing at least 4 posts a month (a.k.a. 1 post a week), so get ready for a rapid fire of posts that I've been working on this month just so I can keep up with that goal.

Here are teasers for upcoming posts (hahah!):

* Reunited and it feels so good...the return of FOOTBALL!

* 4 weeks, 3 weddings, GREAT examples of couple personalities

* Indulging in lame reality TV

* Ditch day with my brother :)

* Ongoing experimentation in fashion/makeup (might not make it for September, cuz I really need a camera for this one, but yeah...I'm really digging retro looks and LOVE, LOVE pearl necklaces to tie it all together).

Okay...that's all I've got for now. Rapid fire of posts begins in T minus 16 hours....