Monthly Archives: February 2009

Dinner and a show

Posted by Leaf on February 13, 2009 1 comments

Last night, I went to Ray’s the Steaks for the first time. I’ve heard so many raves about that steakhouse, it’s about time I tried it!
They give you spiced cashews at the start which I loved. Beware though, nuts are filling.

Crab BisqueThe crab bisque: Tasty, worth trying, but I wouldn’t get it again. It’s like heart attack in a cup. If you get it, go for just the cup and share it. It’s that rich.

Bacon Wrapped ScallopsBacon-wrapped scallops: Doesn’t the “bacon-wrapped” part speak for itself? The scallops were cooked just right and I have no idea what was in the yellow chutney but it went great with the scallops.

20 oz NY Strip20oz NY Strip: They will only cook this baby two ways, rare or medium rare. Something about not ruining a good piece of steak. So if you don’t like beef sashimi, it’s not for you. I liked the outer rim part because I like my meat not mooing still. It is a BIG piece of steak. That is all I have to say.

rays sidesSides: Their steaks come with complimentary creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. We also got sauteed mushrooms. All wonderful accompaniments with the steak.

After, they also give you a small cup of very rich hot cocoa. I wish I had room for dessert but that massive steak did me in.

Very good. Highly recommended.

Afterwards, we went to see Avenue Q. On our way into the parking garage across from the theater, this car in front of us was like totally confused. First, he pulled up to the gate. Then he backed up. I guess he changed his mind? It’s a city parking garage. Very tight spaces. Well, he turned slightly and scraped the right side of his car. If I remember right, I think it was a fancy sporty Infinity or something. Geez. Then he backed up and wound up scraping the left side of his car even more! Yikes. And he finally didn’t park there and left. Most expensive non-parking parking fee ever.

Avenue Q had me laughing for a good part of 2 hours. It’s a musical with Sesame Street-like puppets. There was a scene with puppet sex and songs like “The Internet is for Porn.” Suffice it to say, it’s not for right-wingers without a sense of humor! :P

Planning Ahead

Posted by Leaf on February 9, 2009 2 comments

February 25th is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I’ve decided what I’m going to give up: coffee. In the meantime, I’m downing the stuff like mad. I expect to be a mess but hopefully, after the first or second week, I will be back to normal, whatever that is.

Earring Update

Posted by Leaf on February 8, 2009 2 comments

Heart HoopsAs promised, my second earring swap. Documented. You know, I think my hole is small. I couldn’t get a pair of fish hook style earrings in. It was too thick. I wound up getting these in because the peg was flat. I wonder if the hole shrinks depending on the girth of the peg. The last pair I wore had a very thin peg. It was smaller than the piercing earrings, which made them very easy to wear. But now I realize it allowed my hole to shrink.Wheee!

Update:
The heart hoops were entirely too small. I barely noticed them. Unacceptable. These are much better. They kinda’ tickle though. Heehee… right at the top of my neck.

Second Update:
I went back to the cubic zirconium studs I had on earlier. They’re the most comfortable. As light as those flowers felt, they started to make my ears feel kinda’ weighed down/droopy.

With all this swapping and re swapping, I’m getting a little better at putting them on and taking them off.

More Wedding Dress Shopping!

Posted by Leaf on February 7, 2009 1 comments

My friend’s getting married this fall so we went dress shopping today.  I learned another new thing: if you want to order a dress, you should give them at least 6 months and then you need maybe another month or two to get it fitted and tailored.  So pretty much start dress shopping early!  This trip was more fun for me than the previous trip.

Two reasons:

  1. The bride has a body type similar to mine so I could have a mental field day of what it would look like on me. :)
  2. Her style preferences aren’t totally opposite of what I like.

DressesAlthough I did make her try one dress with a lot of floof and sparkles which she was nice enough to do to gimme my princess fix.  In fact, she even tried on a “Disney” wedding dress – Belle.  Again, I liked it, she  – not so much.  So before planning this excursion, her budget was $500.  By the time we got to the first shop, (which was also the same store where my coworker Ann finally found her dress) she budgeted for about $1k.  The next store was a consignment store with new and used dresses. Both places had great dresses but I think she is leaning more towards the first store.

This trip, I was prepared for the no photos rule and was a lot more surreptitious about taking pictures.  “HURRY!!  Stand over there.”  “OH LOOK HOW GORGEOUS IT IS” *snap* “Turn around.” *snap* “BUT I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE COLOR” “Back up” *snap* “IS THIS TOO SPARKLY FOR YOU?” *snap*

Signs it’s time to upgrade the computer

Posted by Leaf on February 5, 2009 5 comments

I’d say this post Xmas shopping season, I’ve spent the equivalent of a new computer just on clothes alone. Way to exercise self control in this dismal economy. But for some reason, whenever my sister tries to get me to buy a new computer every 5 years or so, it’s like pulling a stubborn cow. Moo! I won’t move. She starts on me at about year 3 so that by the time year 5 rolls around, I’m finally ready to start maybe thinking about it a little. Maybe.

And I’ve started thinking about it a little. Are we coming up on year 5 or something? So a week or so ago I started noticing myself doing the following which may be hints that maybe I need to start thinking about upgrading. Maybe.

  • I turn on the pc and walk away to do something else as it boots up.
  • I come back to log in and walk away to do something else.
  • I click on the browser to open it and walk away as it starts up.
  • As I’m surfing, I open another browser tab.  It takes so long to start up, I forget why I even opened it in the first place. 
  • You can imagine what Sims2 is like.

The Familiar Grind

Posted by Leaf on February 3, 2009 None comments

First day back at work from vacation. I was glad to catch up with everyone. Seems nothing changed except the boss is a year older, my plant looked kinda’ droopy, and the inbox reached capacity. I’m kinda’ glad to be back in my usual routine again though. I’ve quickly readjusted to the going to bed late, waking up late deal. The only bad thing about it is the traffic. My parents were really glad to be back at work too. Guess we’re all creatures of habit.

So this weekend, on a random trip to Best Buy, I found Ever After in a movie bargain bin for $5!! As of today, I’ve watched it 2.5 times. Great movie.

Earrings

Posted by Leaf on February 2, 2009 5 comments

holey earlobe Batman! I couldn’t resist! 10 pairs of earrings sitting in my room all calling out to me at once. I was supposed to wait 6 weeks but being the rebel that I am, I took them out a week early! See? I swapped them out with these different posts!
new earrings!
How on earth do people get the little back thingie onto the tiny post?! It was a bit tricky for me. And then for my left ear, I had to use my uncoordinated left hand which took me even longer. I ended up taking photos of the back of my ears to make sure I got them in right. Needless to say, I’m keeping these babies in for a while! Maybe a day or so. And henceforth, I will blog about every earring swap as if it were a life altering event. Ha!! You think I’m kidding, but I’m not!

Back from vacation

Posted by Leaf on February 1, 2009 4 comments

My parents just came back from their vacation to Taiwan and of course, the first thing I do is bust open their luggage and start eating the goodies they brought back. The next thing I do is go through all their photos!!

bian dang
This is a bian dang (bento box) that you can get on trains in Taiwan. They haven’t changed since I was a kid. I asked my parents to get them if they take the train, for sentimental reasons.

stinky tofu
Stinky Tofu!! It stinks. It tastes awesome; spicy and flavorful! Need I say more?

ba wan
ba wan
The two photos above are meat dumplings. The first is steamed and the second is a fried variety.

lamb rice
The restaurant that serves this lamb rice has been around since I was a kid. It’s SOOOoo incredibly good and the place is always packed! The soup is made with lamb slices and ginger. Basically, this is all they sell and it’s all they need to sell apparently.

beansprout noodles
A simple dish that’s very easy to make and very tasty. Just bean sprouts and noodles with dressing.

shekya
What are these? Only my favorite fruit in the world! It’s called “shekya” or however you phoneticize it. I’ve heard it referred to as a Buddha’s Head. They’re incredibly sweet, fragrant, and mushy on the inside with lots of hard black seeds about the size of jelly beans. They grow on trees that are not very tall. When they’re in season, about this time of year, you buy the super ripe ones from the market because 1)they’re cheaper since they don’t keep well once they’re ripe and mushy and 2) instant gratification, you can eat them as soon as you get home, if you can even wait that long.

sugar cane
Sugar canes! There are varieties for making sugar and varieties for eating. Obviously these are the eatin’ kind. You just take a bite and chew and suck the juices and then spit out the pulp. So good!

Chicken
You know what this is. Yes. They’re animals, so they come with heads.

Duck Heads
Speaking of heads, these are just the heads. Of ducks. And wings too. They have these simmering in a pot of flavored sauce and when you order it they fish them out and fry them before serving.

And look! They brought me earrings. This bumps up my collection to 10 pairs. I’ll be able to start wearing them in a week.
IMG_1640earrings