baby mani

I went to the local nail salon to get a mani/pedi before my trip to Vegas, and saw the CUTEST thing. This woman came in to get her nails done, and decided to get her granddaughter a mani/pedi as well!



The little girl couldn't have been more than 5 or 6. It was seriously the cutest thing I'd ever seen. Her feet could barely reach the water from the chair!

pick up lines and dinner dates

I was treated to the best pickup line/situation ever when I had to drive to Milpitas to deposit a check at my bank.

I was tired. Frustrated. Feeling queasy from a dinner consisting of popcorn and Sour Patch Kids. And sick of being broke. I'd already gotten lost on my way to Milpitas and back.

Which might explain what possessed me to walk into a Panda Express today.

In the state that I was in, greasy Chinese food looked like just the thing. On my way in, I accidentally bumped into a guy with the door, so I smiled and apologized. Somehow, my instinct to be polite was interpreted as a "hi-I'm-interested" gesture.

"So, do you come here often?" he inquired as we moved up to the fried noodle section.

"Actually, no," I replied. "I live in San Francisco."

"Oh, there are some fiiiiine Panda Expresses up in the city! We should hit it up sometime."

Um. No.

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as I got back to the office I im'd Miriam in a state of panic, and luckily, she suggested an early dinner.Desperate to become a real human being again after a week of poverty and ramen noodles, we actually went to a real restaurant - 2223 - rather than our usual dive ethnic joints. And it was truly a memorable occasion. Not only was it (a) before 9 pm, (b) at a real restaurant and (c) one of the few times where I was wearing real clothes, I was actually early. Miriam wasn't even ready when I came in the cab to pick her up.

2223 was heavenly. I wouldn't say that its the best restaurant in the city (that title is reserved for Panda Express, of course), but it has fantastic comfort food. We started off with appetizers - a homemade mushroom soup with creme fraiche for me, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto for Miriam - and each tried a variation of syrah for wines.

Then came our main courses. Miriam got her favorite roast chicken, while I had a half-order of roasted mussels with andouille sausage and polenta, accompanied by rosemary grilled artichoke with aioli sauce. The mussels were suprisingly good, and the polenta was the creamiest, most delicious blend to ever touch my tongue. Dinner was topped off with a shared caramel latte panna cotta... almost as orgasmic as the molten chocolate cake at Aziza. Almost.

It was a good reintroduction to being a real person, plus it was nice to catch up with Mi. I realized today that she's truly my soul sister. Not only do we have similar perspectives, similar childhood backgrounds, and similar attitudes, but she wears the same shoe size AND looks good in the same shades of lipstick. Plus, I like that she gets the Asian flush (even though she's only half) and I don't.

riding the bus with the big kids

Believe it or not, I actually woke up at 6 and made it to the 7:11 Baby Bullet this morning. It was my first ride on CalTrain, and I have to admit - I was pleasantly surprised! It was very exciting... kind of like the first time you get to take the bus to school with the big kids.

Brian was nice enough to induct me into CalTrain ridership by meeting me for coffee at 7am. Because he was sitting across from me, I managed not to fall asleep and drool all over myself on the way to work. He even drew a nice picture of me on the train, with a timestamp as proof that I made it this morning.


Original artwork by Brian

I made it in to work by 8:30. My boss almost toppled over when she saw me in the office that early, and Rahul is still wishing that he took Leslie's bet that I'd never be in before 9. That's $15 he coulda won.

I hope that more people start riding the train, especially now that they've expanded the Baby Bullet service. Its a risky (and innovative) step for CalTrain to take - to add more trains, rather than cutting back on service in face of the budget crisis.

no. more. gmats. please.

The other night, I had a nightmare that they added three new sections to the GMAT. I literally woke up in a cold sweat. I also no longer know how to add when I'm at the supermarket - instead, I ask myself, "What information do I need to know whether or not I can sufficiently answer this problem?"

This is bad. June 4th cannot come soon enough.

the joys of sheep herding

I just had a rather long phone conversation with Miriam about herding sheep. Apparently, it was on her and her ex-boyfriend's list of breakup activities when they were in Wales.

Sez Ms. Warren:

"Its actually quite a lot of fun. Its kind of like chasing them - its very relaxing, and great exercise. They're such nice, docile creatures."

"Maybe because they're dumb," I replied.

"No," she countered in defense of sheepkind. "I think people give them a lot less credit than they deserve."

Apparently, I am a typical Virgo with weird quirks, like only being able to sleep well in my own bed. Which has nothing to do with sheep herding, but I thought I'd mention it.