bumblepug

rising with the roosters

this morning i was up at the crack of dawn!  i'm trying to get a lot done in a short amount of time.  i did 2 loads of laundry, self tanned, gave dog a quick walk, collected stuff for garage sale, kinda cleaned living room, and made a smoothie all within 2 hours.  i had to drive like a maniac to get to work at a reasonable time, and wouldn't you know it- there was a major backup on a road that has been smooth sailing forever!  ugh!

last night we bought a new self tanner by neutrogena called instant bronze, deep.  it's better than the build-a-tan but careful, this does come off in water and if you're in a pool, you'll have an embarrassing copper tint around you.

i think i'm done with my self tanning experimentation for the day...

getting greedy with the self tanner

yesterday i wrote about how much i enjoy self tanning lotion now.  well, careful who you share it with because you might start getting greedy with the bottle so you can out-brown them on the water!

last nigth ralph woke me up 30-minutes into my evening sleep to apply self tanner to his upper back.  i can't complain because i woke him up yesterday morning to do the same and he usually gets to sleep in an hour longer than me- so no gripes here.  but, since i was half asleep i wasn't able to get up and wash my hands off.  today my hands look so weird.  my right is way darker than the left!  needless to say, this stuff really works!  ralph said he wiped them off with a rag but i'm not so sure about that.  well, maybe so since it is splotchy.  well, nobody looks at my palms so who cares, the rest of my fake tan is quite smooth!

now we're bickering about which house to leave the bottle at...i'm always up first so i have a feeling i'm going to be darker since i can grab the bottle before him! ;)

wishlist

it's almost my birthday (31 days- i think!) so i decided to update my wishlist.  if you know me, you know where to find it.  if you don't know me and want to send me gifts, please feel free to do so via email!

;)

tan without the sun

who knew self tanners could be so great?!  i think the sun is going to be put out of business fairly soon.

i used one for the first time last night (i know lindsay is laughing right now!).  i never felt i needed to use them before because i'm kinda naturally tan (well, by most peoples standards) but in my opinion my less exposed areas (thighs, stomach) could use a lot of work- just to catch up with my arms and face.  i used neutrogrena's build-a-tan ("gradual sunless tanning") which allows you to control your shade based on how many applications you do.  i did an application last night before bed and i woke up a shade darker.  i did another application before work and i got another shade darker- i think i'm obsessed with this.  i'll probably continue to do 2 applications per day until we make it to the lake (this weekend).  i don't want my legs to blind anybody and i think darker legs look slimmer so that's what i'm hoping for!!!

the lotion didn't stain my clothes and it looked a little smudged where i put lots of layers on, but nothing too obvious.  it does warn not to put any on your knees, ankles, etc- but that may be the norm for all self tanners.  who knows?  they also have a version of build-a-tan specifically for the face.  i think i get that one on the way home!

i would definitely recommend going out and buying a bottle at the closest drug store, right now!

when ralph is gone

when ralph is out of town i do things like watch napolean dynamite ten times in a row, and play the notebook at insane volumes so i can hear it from the living room into the bathroom while bathing.  you know, things that would really annoy another person.

where am i going with this...

i have tons of lines stuck in my head from napolean dynamite (big surprise, huh?)but my favorite is "do chickens have large talons?"  this may have something to do with the spelling bee clip that anthony and christine showed me which i'll post soon enough so you can join my laughter!  my other favorite line is his response to how his day went..."it was the worst day of my life, what do you think?!"

as for me, today has been the most boring day of my life thus far.  i'm beginning to think i will die of boredom if a bug doesn't bite my ass or something eventful like.

my boredom is compounded by the fact that i want to vomit because i have such a throbbing headache, and to make things better i just drank a glass of milk- yuk!  hmm...what a great day. 

also i think one of my neighbor's was murdered at 2 am and they woke me up!  i was so p.o.'d that i didn't even think to call the cops.  i better be a good citizen next time instead of eating a bowl of flax seed cereal and dozing off to three's company.  who knew such great tv was on at that time?! 

dog is a flirt

my mom and i took dog to the beach today and she didn't have her usual running partner there (ralph).  i tried to do my share of running but i wasn't cutting her grade.  we sat to rest and there was a wakeboarder doing his thing and dog must've thought he needed company and/or rescuing.  she ran over to him and wanted to be pet, and she was jumping all over him, and she was crying and barking for him when he returned to the water (this must be what they call animal magnetism).  she's such a flirt!  if ralph's not there she goes for the next guy which this guy happened to be.  what have i raised?

after the beach we went downtown for some sweets and i saw one of the sweetest pugs ever- a black pug pup (my favorites!).  i also saw a cute pug/beagle mix yesterday at santana row.  it had a pug face, pug shaped longer ears, and a beagle body.  it was a rusty-chocolate color- what a sweetheart!  i wanted to steal it when the owner looked away but that's just asking for bad karma. 

would somebody please buy me a ranch so i can buy 10 more dogs, please?!

can i just say...

i officially hate tom cruise.  he's such a bugger and just by association katie holmes is starting to get under my skin.  all of his recent comments are over the top and he's totally obnoxious!  his top gun days are definitely coming to an end because he's shooting himself in the foot left and right lately.

btw, if i haven't mentioned it already, i slept through batman begins.  sidenote: i saw mr. & mrs. smith and loved it!  they're such a great duo and possibly two of the most attractive people in the world, yup, world.

(ok, back to tom cruise and katie holmes) how is it possible for 2 people who i don't know to annoy me so badly?  i'm sure it'll get even better when the media comes up with some stupid name for them like the oh-so-clever benifer (sp?).  i'm sure i'll find the answer to my loathing for them at the next hr meeting, and more than likely it is rooted with me.  yay!

week of rejection

this week has been a week of rejection!  i was rejected from the rt program (which i was waitlisted for last year), and i had 2 job rejections.  what's going on here?!  i think my luck is running out.  but i like the way ralph puts it, better.  he says that it's all part of the course of finding my path.  so buddha, huh?  he's sweet to make me feel better.

so, it looks like i'm going to esthetician school.  i'm excited, i just had to pursue all paths so i wouldn't have regrets.  i'm going to try to start in september though technically i'm not supposed to start until december.  i'll see if i can talk myself in to an earlier class- wish me luck.  this is good because i'll still be able to do my nine to five and then class in the evenings.

if anybody needs makeup done let me know because now is a good time for me to play around on willing guinea pigs!  a, i'm talking to you!  we can do some really wild looks! ;)

and can i please put fake lashes on somebody?!

whale's hell!

this is funny (well, not in the haha sense) because ralph and i were just talking about whales for an hour on the way home from the beach last night.  here's an interesting story about a fast food chain in japan that is serving whale burgers-this is truly the whale's hell...

random memory to share-

i went whale watching in maui a few years ago and it is one of my best memories because it was so amazing and they were so enormous!  when i went into the water to snorkel, i could hear the whale songs!  how cool is that?!!!  they were eerie yet beautiful.  it felt so peaceful!

i hate personality tests!

it's official---i hate personality tests.  now i know hate is a strong word to use but i truly hate personality tests.  do i need to repeat myself?!

i had to take the myers-briggs and the kolbe test:

myers-briggs says: extrovert, intuitive, thinking, judge (whatever that means!)

kolbe says: i'm a quick starter with great follow-thru

wonderluc: who knows?  but i had to take this too!

ug, who cares?!  in the end can we really define a person by their answers to some stupid tests that will have variable results depnding on the day and the testing enironment!

anyways, my point here is that if an employer asks me to take one of these tests...it's likely i won't get it because i just have too much personality- at least this is my theory!

if another company wants to personality test me, i'm running the other way!

dog's allergic reaction :(

today ralph called me at work and said, "there's an emergency with (dog)."  boy, is that the wrong thing to tell a pet owner or a parent!

turns out dog had an allergic reaction to a yellow jacket sting (we think, the exact cause still remains a mystery!) and started having little seizure-like things happen to her.  my mom was walking her when it happened and she suddenly collapsed and her tongue was going pale.

as soon as i heard the news i made my 35 minute drive home in a record time of 10 minutes!  i was trying to call my mom at home to tell her "benadryl is the answer for most allergic reactions- even in pets."  well, now she knows that but when you're cheap and don't pay for call waiting, it takes a while to get that piece of info.

ralph and i left work to take dog to the pet er and they ran some labs and gave her the shots.  the cause is unknown though my mom thinks it was a sting of some sort since she collapsed in the grass near flowers.  i'm ruling out heat stroke because she's been in hotter temps for longer and been a champ.

who knows?!  we're just so happy that the bebe is doing well and back to her normal playful self!

time to buy more benadryl!

summer is the season of the pitbull- i guess

wtf is going on with the pitbulls in the bay area?!  i typically listen to the news in the am while i get ready for work and there have been 4 very serious pitbull attacks during the past 3 weeks.  what's up pits?!  i should also ask the owners (and breeders) what's up because bad behavior usually starts with the owner or the breeder, but i guess there's that animal instinct in all creatures!

who knows?!  i hope the victims recover well and that the young boy who was mauled is in a better place.

please spay or neuter and train your pets!

asia sf

last night i went to asia sf as an informal gathering for amanda's going away.  it was a lot of fun, very entertaining, and they know a thing or two about how to mix a sidecar right (which believe it or not, is very rare!).  the food was better than i expected and i was bummed to see that so many men could look so much better than actual women.  the shows were great and i loved their outfits and their dance routines.  we went downstairs to dance after eating and the music was fairly good. 

vandy accidentally punched a girl in the face.  some weirdo from one of the bachelorette parties was dancing with a huge inflatable penis (her fiance must be so proud!).  i saw a cheesy male stripper (dressed as a "cop") bust in on a private party- but i'm sure this was part of their plan!  and the highlight was watching the bachelor (yes, there was a bachelor party there!) being seranaded by "britney spears"'s asian counterpart.  you know he loved it! 

i love the shoes i bough for the evening and my top matched it perfectly.  i flet like a drag queen, too, but i'm sure we all have those days.  i love big heels, lots of makeup, and glitter.  het, they should consider giving me a job! ;)

i applied amanda's makeup and her eyes looked so cool!  i love doing other peoples' makeup because it lets me learn how to work on different eyes shapes, colors, and styles!

yay makeup!  yay drag queens!  i'll be seeing you soon!  maybe for my bday?!

e.t. phone home

this post has nothing to do with e.t. but i felt like naming it that.

ralph is spending the weekend down south to visit the channel islands.  i was invited but i was a bum and passed because of $ and too much to get organized at home.  the current status of my house is chaos.  it looks like hurricane hugo swept through it (at least 5 times!) because all the clothes are piled in the middle of my room and the living room has misc. crap all over it (in prep for a future garage sale).  poor dog- she's really scared and takes her steps ever so delicately and cautiously!  what's ironic is that i've been working so hard and it looks worse than when i started!  what's going on here?!  will i ever be clean and orderly?  probably not so don't hold your breath.  hm, i used to be so maybe there's hope for me yet- just keep praying!

i worked out for 2.5 hours in an attempt to lose twenty pounds in 7 days.  it's a great plan...you eat salmon, salads, and fruit and workout like you're on speed.  i'm scared to step on the scale though because if i have dropped like 5 pounds (in the lat 2 days), i fear what i might do with that scale!

we're going boating on a lake in arizona so i need to wear a swimsuit.  good thing i love water, i'll just hide out in it all day and come back as dark as my shoes.

beantown

ralph and i went to beantown (boston) to attend grant and sav's wedding (in cambridge).  we had such a great time and i'm so glad that ralph is a great travel companion as well as the sweetest boyfriend, ever!

aside from the wedding, the highlights were being leisurely in the city and walking until my feet bled (literally), eating ice cream at jp licks several nights in a row, the pride parade, and breakfast at charley's on newbury!  we stayed with mike, wenli, and lee for a few nights then we stayed at the hotel @ mit the last evening.  lee hung out with us and we had lots of fun together.  after riding the t all weekend, i'm saddened to come home to my car and shitty public transportation.

we also ate at union oyster house, which is the oldest restaurant in the u.s.  the food was delicious, as were all the other meals we enjoyed.  for sav's rehearsal dinner we ate chinese buffet at a joint in china town.  it was delicious!  i also ate lobster for the first time this trip!  i'm so deprived!  ;)  as for the bubble teas, don't ever go to the place in cambridge next to urban outfitters- it sucked.  quite honestly, dog could've brewed better tea and softer pearls.  mike had made a tea rec. but it was too far to travel to during our time constrained trip.  boo hoo- maybe next time!

at sav's wedding i did surprisingly well with the reading - no stutters- yay!  she chose awesome food for the wedding dinner, and what do you know...i caught the bouquet!

we have lots of nice photos that we'll post later once we catch our breathes and some winks of sleep.

congratulations to grant and sav on the beautiful and enjoyable wedding!  you did such a great job and your families are wonderful!

my blooming bday list

things i want for my bday now, even though its about 55 days away.  trust me, if i don't type it here, 2 days before my bday this list will magically disappear from my memory as people ask "what do you want for your birthday?"

updated 7/18/05

red sox coat in navy (medium)

photo (with long-lasting color photos) and black/white computer printer

beach chair

beach towel (solid or stripes)

small portable boom box with cd player (is there a more tech savvy solution?)

multi-speed cruiser bike with a basket and a horn/bell: links to some that i like...

http://www.calabazas.com/index.htm

http://www.hylandbikes.com/

http://www.wheelaway.com/

kryptonite lock trunk bike rack

dvd storage wallet

large floor mirror for the bedroom from z gallerie or something similar (not a wall hanging type)

astronaut ice cream

livestrong visor

everyday italian cookbook by giada de laurentiis

eyeshadows from bare escentuals

healthy tropical plants (costco has lush ones)

durable sleeping bag for cold weather

chance by chanel

small black swiss army knife keychain (like the one i have that broke)

sm- large coke-bottle glass lemonade dispenser (pier 1, costco)

marble or silicone rolling pin (hmm...which is better?  marble is heavy but silicone is nonstick)

silicone mat for baking and rolling

popover pan

grill brush

meat tenderizing mallot

corn tortilla press

tortilla warmer/storer

metal teaspoon/tablespoon measuring set

extra-large wooden cutting board

a thin cotton floral robe from anthropolgie

misc. items from anthropologie

sonicare elite electric toothbrush

juicy couture charm bracelet

juicy couture cherry charm (to go on the bracelet) and/or juicy couture 4-leaf clover charm

viola straw tote (purse) by brighton

ipex bra (neutral and black- if you're buying this you should know my size)

suit case with wheels (that would be allowed on the airplane) and/or duffel bag with wheels (target has some nice eddie bauer ones- i like the slate blue and black)

water shoes (size 8)

running shoes (size 8.5- the same ones i have now by brooks/adrenaline model)

black low converse with gray pinstripe (at o'neil's on 41st)

bubble tea supplies (mainly the pearls and straws) and/or fantasia tea & coffee gift certificates

massage with maria at wcw

manicure and pedicure at lavande in s row

congratulations, irene & ben!

congratulations on your engagement and cheers to a happy future together!  now, go eat some belgian chocolate for me!

team bus dust

team bus dust is the name i have chosen for the (our) loosely formed "hiking group."  i'm sure the others don't consider us a "team" but whenever you add the word "team" to an event, it makes it more appealing and snowballs with participants.  yesterday's hike included me, ralph, anthony, christine, shannon, and amanda.  ralph, anthony, and christine ran half of it while the rest of us hiked.  it was a lot of fun despite almost spraigning my ankle again.

we followed the hike with some wahoo's food and i had a tea for dessert.  later, they came to my place to see the dress i bought for sav's wedding.  i guess shannon wasn't wrong when she said it made me look pregnant.  ralph said it was unflattering.  with all the comments...this dress is driving itself back to nordstrom as we speak!

at home: christine did some pt on me because my right hip was acting up from the hike,  amanda gave me a quickie massage (after my mercy pleas!), and shannon gave me a quick shine manicure.  i love my friends!  can you come over more often?! ;)

yay for consistent hiking, team bus dust!

crashed cars and cold eggs

my commute to work is my least favorite part of my day- on all days.  it was especially not fun today because nearly every car had serious body damage and many of them were bad drivers- big surprise here!  when you start seeing a lot of cars that are side swiped and dented like that, it makes me think that they are going to randonly crash into me.  it's like they are magnetized to other cars and must hit.  oh well, made it safe this time.

when i got to work my scrambled eggs were cold.  there was no way i was going to try eating them while i was driving considering the cars around me (i had to be on my best defense).  i have to say, there's nothing worse than 3 cold egg whites with 1.5 yolks.  no flavor whatsoever.