How was your Memorial Day weekend?

I love three day weekends. They give you the chance to really enjoy your surroundings, try new things, go new places--and that's exactly what I did.


Los Angeles National Cemetery by Boyan

On Friday I went to the Magic Castle with Ivelina, Nancy and Boyan. I don't have any photos except this one before we left as they don't allow photos inside the establishment.

We had a great time, and I got to participate in our first show (although the magician was kind of a perv. he also called me a "suburban brat" which isn't a way to win hearts and minds). I got well drunk and saw some fun magic. I can't wait to go back for dinner! Thanks Nancy for bringing us with you.

On Saturday Boyan, Heidi and I went down to Newport to visit the Moms and George, and on Sunday we saw Janea and Jon off before their flight back to the Big Apple.

On Sunday night Boyan and I watched the BEST MOVIE EVER MADE. I don't say this lightly, but honestly, Starter for 10 has to be the best movie I've seen in a long time. It was brilliant and cheesy and brilliantly cheesy. The British equivalent of a coming of age college movie. Amazing. I happened to catch it because I have "James McAvoy" as a keyword on my TiVo (I know you aren't surprised). And Catherine Tate is in it! Come on!



On Monday Boyan and I lazed about. I started re-reading Jane Eyre despite myself, and I got about 20 pages of editing done. I figure I'll do 10 pages a day, and it should only take me about eight days to finish editing the entire piece before I start writing again. Thank.God.

That's it. My update for now. I had to post something quickly after that last post about RPatz's abs. It was too embarrassing to pull up my blog and be confronted with a half-naked picture of Edward Cullen.

Until next time, here is some Regina Spektor and Beirut for you, because right now I'm not listening to anything else.

I can see Russia from my house

*note to self, buy this copy of the New Yorker



There are a couple reasons why I decided to post this New Yorker cover. Can you guess them?

Lent Begins

Today is Ash Wednesday, also the first day of Lent. Every year I have given up something substantial, from alcohol to meat. This year I decided to give up something that I feel I have been hooked on for awhile--something I know will be extremely difficult for me to face.

Gossip blogs.



That's right. No more Perez, no more Pink is the New Blog, etc. I will continue to read Jezebel but only those blogs non-celebrity related.

It's going to be really hard! Don't laugh! It's almost an automatic response--I turn on the computer open a browser and type "gmail.com crtl+T, jezebel.com crtl+t, perezhilton.com crtl+T" and on and on and on. I'm truly going to have to train myself to not visit the blogs or pick up a mag at the grocery store.

Please wish me luck with this difficult endeavor.

I was also thinking of giving up carbs, but I like to be realistic.

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Tomorrow is the first day of Chinese New Year!

We will say 'Goodbye' to the Year of the Pig and 'Hello!' to the Year of the Rat.

It's my year bitches!

Hello, 2008!

Please excuse the blogging hiatus. My mother-in-law Mariana has been staying with Boyan and I for the past month, and we have been spending every waking hour with her--playing cards, visiting various locations in Southern California, and overall having a swell time. The good news is I have tons to write about.

Mariana flew in from Bulgaria through London on Virgin Air. We picked her up at LAX December 14th.

We spent our first weekend in Pasadena at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, one of our favorite places to visit in Los Angeles. I'll spare you pictures from the trip seeing as we have to many as it is.

The weekend after that we went to San Diego to the San Diego Zoo. We got to see all kinds of animals. I particularly enjoyed the Puma's and the MeerKats.

"Is Jodi with you?"

After the Zoo we met up with Britta and Peter in Old Town, San Diego
for what was supposed to be scrumptious Mexican food. That was hardly
the case. You can read my review of the restaurant on Yelp.

So after Old Town was Christmas and New Years. We had tons of fun with friends and family. We had a few people over for New Years Eve and enjoyed drinks, Karaoke Revolution and Banista.

Most of the group stayed until around 4 a.m. I was completely zonked and passed out. The next day we had planned to head to Newport Beach to visit the parents when walking out to my car, I noticed this.

Sometime very early in the morning someone broke my window and stole my ancient pink iPod. They also took my FM transmitter/charger. It wasn't the greatest way to start the new year, but there wasn't much I could do besides calling the police and filing a report.

It was quite a shock. I was more pissed that they had broken into my car and ONLY stole my old broken iPod that doesn't even work unless it's connected to a power source. I hope they enjoyed listening to the 1:00 min of Broadway it would be able to play. Fuckers.

The year got better from there. I mean, how can it be bad when you visit the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!!!

It was Boyan's first time at Disneyland and he really, really loved it!

Mariana had a great time as well. She went on every ride with us and had a blast.

Mariana left on January 14th, Boyan and I were very sad to see her go. Although the last month was hectic and crazy we had so much fun. We'd stay up playing cards, watching Michael Palin and made several trips to Friscos for $2 beers and fries with feta. I can't wait for her to come back again.

So sorry for the long awaited update and to all friends and family I haven't seen in the past month. We've been busy! I hope you all had a Happy Happy Christmas and a fun New Y ears Eve!

I'm excited for 2008, so many things are going to happen this year I just know its going to be loads better than 2007. Look for more updates to come!

All I want for Christmas...

Is this coat.

I think I may have to stay away from NotCouture for a while. For although the items on there are...not couture, they are still extremely expensive.

This coat isn't so bad though, it's on sale! 30% off for $675.50!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

That's right folks, I'm going outta town for Thanksgiving. I don't know how I am going to fulfill my NaBloPoMo obligations but I am bringing my laptop just in case.

I'll be heading up to Turlock, California later today where they boast, "... the second largest city in Stanislaus County with a population which has grown steadily from 13,992 in 1970 to over 69,000 today. Home of California State University Stanislaus (CSUS), Turlock provides an unusual opportunity to combine a quality learning environment with relaxed rural living."

I'm just hoping the hotel has wireless, but I'm not counting on it. If you don't hear from me in the interim have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Family Reunion!!!

Last night was an exciting night. After I cooked dinner (or...heated dinner) Boyan and I passed out at the ripe hour of 10 p.m. only to wake up at 2 a.m., 3, 4, 5, 6 and finally 7:30 when my alarm went off.

But if you think THAT was exciting, even more thrilling is the trip I'll be making up to Turloc, CA on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. Turkey, stuffing and around 20 + Uncles, Aunts, Cousins and Second Cousins of my huge Filipino family will be there!

Are YOU doing anything exciting for Thanksgiving?

Happy Halloween!

Send me pics of your costume and I'll post them! I hope you have a spOoky day!

Halloween Costumes by Steve Jobs

Underwire posted this tidbit. Isn't it genius?

It's an i-Pup.

I would totally dress Heidi like this for Halloween, but she's a PC user...

Updates

I know, I know I've been absent--but I'm very excited to be back and excited that people responded to my Lurkers post! Here is what has been happening since last I wrote:

The Decemberists and LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl
Overall I think they did a really good job. The LA Phil was a little overpowering--it was hard to hear the rest of the band with such a loud accompaniment but they played "The Tain," and "Los Angeles, I'm Yours," so I was happy. I got video of the latter but the quality is really poor (because our seats were so far away)











Dress Fitting
Yay! I finally had my first fitting for my wedding dress--which turned out magnificently. I am so excited and I have my second fitting next Saturday. I took a few pictures but obviously I can't share them here because A. That would ruin the element of surprise and B. Boyan might stumble upon it and we all know that's bad luck! I will tell you that it turned out exactly how I wanted and even better. Now I just have to buy the gloves and shoes and other fun stuffs. Oh! and I'm thinking of renting some jewelry, any suggestions of where to start?

Biggest Loser Almost Over

Our final weigh-in is on Friday and although I could have done a better job during the past eight weeks of going to the gym and eating healthy I don't think i'll fare that bad. I already have plans of going to Meltdown on friday to celebrate with a big grilled cheese sandwich. Mmm....cheese.




Mom's horseback riding adventure
I took my Mom horseback riding for her birthday at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center and had a grand old time. Apparently the Equestrian center is open to the public--so if you are a horse lover you can walk around and visit the different horses in the stable whenever you want. Afterwards we went to Alice's Breakfast in the Park--a very small very quaint little restaurant on the lake in Huntington. I didn't even know they HAD a central park but they do and it's very large. They have tons of land for people to walk their dogs, go fishing etc. The restaurant itself was cluttered with fun ornaments, dolls, and unique wall hangings--just my kind of eccentric atmosphere. To top it all off the pancakes were absolutely delicious (this coming from someone who doesn't like pancakes).

























Bulgaria or Bust!
It's almost about time for me to hop across the pond for my big fat Bulgarian wedding and I am so excited! It looks as if I'm going to have a few friends there as well as Joan, Britta, Ruth and Louis are all planning on heading over to celebrate with me. My goals before I go to Bulgaria are as follows: 1. Save money for shopping 2. Buy presents for Boyan's family 3. Learn more Bulgarian or Oshte Bulgarski!

Reading, So much Reading

This has been a summer full of books! Since my last posting on what I was reading I've read the entire Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series, the newest Jane Green book (which I am planning on writing a review of, not a very good review) The Great Gatsby and now I am reading Jane Eyre. I didn't have to read it for school--and after watching the PBS Masterpiece theatre version of the story I decided I wanted to read it. The movie is very well done and has been nominated for several emmys, I definitely suggest you watch it if you can. The book has been very enjoyable, not at all as hard to read or boring as I had imagined it would be when I was in high school. After that I am planning on re-reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, finish the Ender's game series, and reading King Lear in preparation for the arrival of the RSC and Sir Ian McKellan in October!

That is all for now, I have some reviews I want to write up--I'll try my best to get those up as soon as possible!

Did you have a booze-filled fourth?

Good for you! There is nothing more American than getting wasted to celebrate the independence of our great nation.

I, however, decided to take it easy and head down to Newport for a day of reading, laying out by the pool and spending time with the family.

I think I'm reinstating my tan which is very exciting, and I got to see some beautiful fireworks. I still contest that the best fireworks I've ever seen were in D.C. when I went with my Dad when I was 13.

Anyhow here are some photos and vids of my 4 of July experience.






Speaking of 4 of July traditions, I saw that the cheerleader from Heroes (Hayden Panettiere) sang the Star spangled banner yesterday. The girl is trying but she just isn't a singer. Perez was making fun of her but I don't think people understand what a difficult song it is to sing. So, in case you wanted to hear someone do it right I'm sharing with you Whitney Houston's version. It gives me goosebumps every time I watch it.



"This is America, and if I wanna be British, I'll be British." -- Lil' Bush

Happy Birthday Parky

It was years ago today (I don't know how many but not that long ago) that a Mr. Roger Park was born to bring happiness and humor into the world.

Today we celebrate his birth, and the movement he began.

Happy Birthday Roger

May your first child, be a masculine child.

UPdates

You know it's bad when your boss tells you that you've been neglecting your blog...so here I am with updates.

I haven't been doing much, but this is what is new.

In music, I have been listening to:
Kate Walsh
Postal Service
Emily Haines

In books I just finished reading:
Speaker for the Dead
A Crazy Little Thing Called Death

I made this shirt for boyan


...for his birthday. If you get its meaning then points for you.

The boy got TWO cakes! He doesn't even like cake. The first was red velvet (the frosting had glitter on it, I've never heard of such a thing) the second was a chocolate cookie monster from Joan.


"COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE!"

Both the BBQ my parents threw and the party we had last night were so much fun. Here are some fun pics from last night.


left: Joan spilled something in Boyan's eye. right: She's 5ft, He's 6'7"


Joan was about to beat up Efka. She's small but she's scrappy.


Boyan and me at the end of the evening...we were tired.

Beyond that next week I travel to San Francisco for the Ad:tech conference which promises to offer lots of excitement. Plus San Francisco is one of my top five favorite cities. After Newark.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

I love St. Patricks Day, not just because it's an excuse to drink Bushmills and Guinness, not because it gives me the chance to blast flogging molly or brag of my Irish ancestry. Simply because I get to wear my favorite color in abundance. That'd be green of course!

I went down to San Diego to visit with Britta, Ausra and Ruth and below are pictures of our exploits on the town.































We made t-shirts to celebrate the holiday. Mine said "Erin go Bragh," which of course no one knew the meaning of.

Britta's "Who's Yer Paddy," was definitely a hit, but Ausra's 0% Irish, 0.08% Guinness was probably the most popular of the night--Thanks to Britta's brilliant marketing mind of course.

It was really great to see the original Dykstra Hall group together again, hopefully it won't be years until the next time. We realized when we were hanging out that we'd known eachother for 5+ years! Its truly crazy to think about. Ruth, Tash, Auj don't feel excluded. I have plenty of then and now pictures of you guys as well.

left: Ausra, Britta and I at SAE's Haunted, October 2002

right: Ausra, me and Britta in front of Beach Break Cafe, San Diego March 2007

Alas another St. Patricks day has come and gone and I'll have to wait a whole year to show my Irish pride. Until then, I'll just have to dig out my copy of The Quiet Man and dream of Innisfree.

Erin go Bragh!

And remember, NO Paddy Fingers!