Today is Kristin's photoshoot. She is having her friend Stephanie take them. I've seen her portfolio a year ago and I wasn't particularly impressed, unfortunately. She graduated from Bridgewater studying Photography. I do have hope though, because a year is a good time frame for someone to improve exponentially (I cite rowing and skating). Kristin is taking a shoot because she needs shots for modeling. I found an ad the other day for a position that did not require much experience, and it called for a front, back and profile shot.
Throughout the week my mom and her boyfriend said a dozen things that should happen at the shoot. Athletic clothes, since they're looking for an athletic model... jeans and a tank top... flip-flops.. sneakers... heels, but not too tall since she already has some height. It was also discussed between mom's boyfriend and me about the importance of the photographer's ability to share/have the vision of the shoot: to take good (well, duh) photos of Kristin that show off her body well (double duh); including posing and background. Photography is an angles game. It should be the first thing you notice about photographing and photography. Stephanie's portfolio is a bit "meh" in that department. A lot of very straight-ahead, level shots. I wonder though, if her portfolio is strictly school assignments.
I don't really show too much interest in that stuff. I remember in high school the kids that were applying to art schools, a lot of them had... the. same. portfolios. WHY? Because they were all art class assignments. Everybody had the same study in still life (pencil sketches of a sphere, a cube, and one of those posing figurines), three drafts of the same thing, one in pencil, two in colour pencil. They were ALL THE SAME! Nobody really had pieces they did outside of class. And you want to go to ART SCHOOL? Sorry kid, maybe try different mediums. A large pencil drawing on drafting paper and a small pencil drawing on heavier paper... IS STILL A PENCIL DRAWING ON PAPER! Ever heard of oil on canvas? Pastels? WATER COLORS? If I was reviewing portfolios at an art school and all I saw were pencil and marker pieces, I'd just more onto the next person. This person isn't versatile enough. Stick to your bad persepective and even worse shading skills. Ever heard of "one fluid line", not "80 small lines resulting in an awfully awkward (and usually fuzzy) curve"? Sorry for the rant.
Kristin told me later that her shoot took 2 to 3, and it was Stephanie's longest shoot yet. Facepalm. How long are her usual shoots? And also she's never taken pictures of someone who WANTS to have their picture taken? UHHHH.... okay at least she's exercising her first amendment rights... I think. I told Kristin to have Stephanie send me all the raws. 3 hours must mean a lot of shots. And there must be SOME good ones in there. Right? RIGHT?
On Craigslist today I found a Modell's ad. Modell's is a sporting goods store (not my fave... they always have a sickly ambiance and they never seem to have any floor staff...) Apparently they're opening a new location in midtown and is having open interviews in Brooklyn. Interviews are open till 4PM weekdays and its 2:30, enough to shower, get ready and get there. As I'm printing the application... I realize that my suit is at the cleaners! And my interview shoes (remember the blisters?) are packed away SOMEWHERE. So I make an urgent call to my mom. SHE DOESN'T PICK UP! OH NOOO! She calls back 15 min later and doesn't know where my shoes are. Awwww mannnnn.
Turns out she was having some lengthy interview process with corporate at Alice + Olivia. Pretty cool. Mom says she'll help me put together an interview outfit when she comes home. I ended up brewing 2 pots of gunpowder green between the time I realized I couldn't go to the interviews and dinnertime.
I packed for the weekend trip to the Cape and set aside my clothes for tomorrow's practice. I drank a cup of Celestial Seasoning's Vanilla Honey Chamomile with some extra honey to help me go to bed. Long day tomorrow!
+7
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Day 45
I wake up and make a pot of gunpowder green. What I do is leave the leaves in the pot (overnight sometimes, it fits only first flush) until I decide to boil the water for the next flush. I wonder if that's bad... I know I definitely don't follow proper etiquette... I don't warm the pot before I brew. And I mostly do "and one for the pot" when I'm dealing with black teas, because I like my black teas strong for when I add milk (half&half.. do people consider it... cream? Chinese bakeries use... *gasp* light cream! No wonder HK style milk tea is SO delicious... which elads me to wonder if heavy cream is ever used... oh my haha. The only use for heavy cream I can think of is for good ol' Southern-style mac and cheese. Though caramel sauce requires one to reduce a simple syrup and then add... er... milk? Half&half? Light cream? Heavy crea?) I haven't been drinking black tea recently because well.. we're out of half&half and my mom hasn't decided to go grocery shopping in some time now.
In the morning I skyped with Kristin to help her with her resume (nicely). I helped her with consistency, grammar and (something I'm ridiculously anal about...) her skill section. She's happy that I was able to help her calmly and I am too.
I stay home all day and work on the website transfer and make another pot of tea. At some point in the morning I call my cousin and ask her about the Landy Stout. She says she got it and she loves it! Phew. She also invites me to her birthday party this Sunday. I tell her I'll ask. This way I can go back down to NYC with Kristin! I'll leave Saturday after crew practice and come back on Monday in time for practice on Tuesday morning.
Mom and her boyfriend come home later at night and he asks:
"Did you go out with your dad?"
"No."
"That sucks!"
Indeed it does.
I get an email reply to my inquiry about a personal assistant position on Craigslist. Apparently its from a guy in Estonia that runs an art store and needs someone to receive packages for him Stateside. I'd also need to do some personal shopping for hi, clothing and other goods. I'll need to receive packages and forward them to him elsewhere. He asks for my address and phone#. I get a fishy feeling about it (my address & # is on my resume) but I send the requested info anywhay. What's the worst that could happen, he has my contact info. So does anybody that is looking for me and knows how to use Google.
+6
In the morning I skyped with Kristin to help her with her resume (nicely). I helped her with consistency, grammar and (something I'm ridiculously anal about...) her skill section. She's happy that I was able to help her calmly and I am too.
I stay home all day and work on the website transfer and make another pot of tea. At some point in the morning I call my cousin and ask her about the Landy Stout. She says she got it and she loves it! Phew. She also invites me to her birthday party this Sunday. I tell her I'll ask. This way I can go back down to NYC with Kristin! I'll leave Saturday after crew practice and come back on Monday in time for practice on Tuesday morning.
Mom and her boyfriend come home later at night and he asks:
"Did you go out with your dad?"
"No."
"That sucks!"
Indeed it does.
I get an email reply to my inquiry about a personal assistant position on Craigslist. Apparently its from a guy in Estonia that runs an art store and needs someone to receive packages for him Stateside. I'd also need to do some personal shopping for hi, clothing and other goods. I'll need to receive packages and forward them to him elsewhere. He asks for my address and phone#. I get a fishy feeling about it (my address & # is on my resume) but I send the requested info anywhay. What's the worst that could happen, he has my contact info. So does anybody that is looking for me and knows how to use Google.
+6
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Day 44
This morning my dad called me to have dim sum and to meet him at noon in Brooklyn. Kristin sent me her resume to look over and because I was in a hurry, I said some critical things to her without explaining and left on a bad note. I ended up leaving the apartment at noon.
After I got out of the train station and started walking towards the dim sum place, I noticed that basically EVERY Chinese person walks duck-footed! Now, I don't know if I do that because it's kind of like trying to figure out if you pronounce the second 'a' in caramel. BUT it does seem to be mhat I would not be comfortable if I pointed my toes outward. Nevertheless, my feet point forward when I look down. I noticed this mostly because my cousin pushes duck-footed. I commented on it and asked if she normally walks that way and she said yes! Personally I think walking that way is UGLY!
So anyway, we make our way over to dim sum and one of the things we order is some sort of pastry... filled with durian paste! BLEH. Durian is a big spiky fruit with a very distinct smell and with an equally distinct (and acquired, of course) taste. My dad and grandpa enjoyed it. I also know that my two uncles on my dad's side enjoy it too. No idea about my aunt or my cousin,,, so it leaves me to believe that the men on my father's side enjoy durian, and maybe even everybody on my father's side! My mom on the other hand... HATES durian. She hates the taste, the smell, even the IMAGE of it. I don't really like it though I manage to stomach the pastry. I downed 3 cups of tea.
After dim sum, I had my dad rush me back to Manhattan because my mom's boyfriend texted me before I left for dim sum in the morning to get his shorts steam pressed and returned the same day. The dry cleaning lady put in a rush order for me. She is soo nice. She's funny too, she comments that my mom is "Ooooh, so fashionable!" with hand gestures that remind me of some of Gaga's moves from Alejandro.
I'm not needed for coxing tomorrow so I get to sleep in! My dad said he'd call me tomorrow for dimsum again.
+3
After I got out of the train station and started walking towards the dim sum place, I noticed that basically EVERY Chinese person walks duck-footed! Now, I don't know if I do that because it's kind of like trying to figure out if you pronounce the second 'a' in caramel. BUT it does seem to be mhat I would not be comfortable if I pointed my toes outward. Nevertheless, my feet point forward when I look down. I noticed this mostly because my cousin pushes duck-footed. I commented on it and asked if she normally walks that way and she said yes! Personally I think walking that way is UGLY!
So anyway, we make our way over to dim sum and one of the things we order is some sort of pastry... filled with durian paste! BLEH. Durian is a big spiky fruit with a very distinct smell and with an equally distinct (and acquired, of course) taste. My dad and grandpa enjoyed it. I also know that my two uncles on my dad's side enjoy it too. No idea about my aunt or my cousin,,, so it leaves me to believe that the men on my father's side enjoy durian, and maybe even everybody on my father's side! My mom on the other hand... HATES durian. She hates the taste, the smell, even the IMAGE of it. I don't really like it though I manage to stomach the pastry. I downed 3 cups of tea.
After dim sum, I had my dad rush me back to Manhattan because my mom's boyfriend texted me before I left for dim sum in the morning to get his shorts steam pressed and returned the same day. The dry cleaning lady put in a rush order for me. She is soo nice. She's funny too, she comments that my mom is "Ooooh, so fashionable!" with hand gestures that remind me of some of Gaga's moves from Alejandro.
I'm not needed for coxing tomorrow so I get to sleep in! My dad said he'd call me tomorrow for dimsum again.
+3
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Day 43
Today was my first morning coxing! I had to wake up at 4am to wash my face/brush and then changed into my Adidas wind pants and the rain jacket from this year's A10s. I never thought it would come in handy.
Before I headed out the door, my dad told me to grab a flashlight. They made it sound so scary, like some hobo was going to get me and stick me up for all my college funds (pffft yeah right). So I headed up the street and went down into the station. I had to take the 1 all the way up. The train took a little bit of a wait. The train had more people than I expected. And they weren't homeless, or very drunk. The train got stuck at like every station after we got out of the undergrounds. But the sun was rising and I managed to take a really bad picture of it all:
I finally got there and I met the masters head coach. He was a lot younger than I expected (Sorry!) and he had a big black dog named Argos. Argos is cute, I think he's a great dane? No maybe not, his lips aren't saggy enough lol. I also expected him to have a bigger truck. He drives a little red pickup truck. It was funny because he said that the truck handles different with a passenger. I hope he didn't mean that I'm fat!
I coxed the mens 4+ and it was nice. They were used to rowing in a quad and 4- (straight 4) so my bow person kept yelling stuff. It's a tidal course, so the course changes when it's low tide vs when it's high tide. Low tide is scary because you it's like, a 2k head race. And there's a BROKEN BUOY you're supposed to go around that is hard to see for first time coxswains :( Oh, and low tide stinks. Literally. The NYAC's boathouse is just across the lake/river/inlet/outlet/whateveryoucallit. And the equpment was pretty up-to-date! They had the newer coxboxes and the 4+ had the new Vespoli steering. (The side stick thing) It's stupid.
So we were done and some super nice ladies gave me a ride to the Pelham MetroNorth station. Apparently everybody at the rowing club knows Chelsea on my school's team. She's super fameous! Anyway, OH JEEZ THE TRAIN WAS EXPENSIVE. $8.50 for a one way! HOLY COW! So I ended up at Grand Central and took the 6 back to Union Square to take the L home. I caught my mom before she left for work. Goes to show how much crew people do before most "normal" people!
So obviously... I WENT TO SLEEP. Then I woke up and worked a little on my dad's website. We're trying to do a registrar/host transfer and it's a bit of a nightmare. I had 2 pots of gunpowder green. That stuff is so good. It doesn't need anything the texture is so smooth and the aroma is great.
My parents came home later and my dad ate some of my meatloaf from last night and we ordered it again tonight because he thought it was so good! So we had meatloaf again. We got the tomato&cheddar soup and the tomato alphabet soup tonight, but we didn't drink it so we stuck it in the fridge. Staying up late because I took a huge nap in the middle of the day.
+6
Before I headed out the door, my dad told me to grab a flashlight. They made it sound so scary, like some hobo was going to get me and stick me up for all my college funds (pffft yeah right). So I headed up the street and went down into the station. I had to take the 1 all the way up. The train took a little bit of a wait. The train had more people than I expected. And they weren't homeless, or very drunk. The train got stuck at like every station after we got out of the undergrounds. But the sun was rising and I managed to take a really bad picture of it all:
I finally got there and I met the masters head coach. He was a lot younger than I expected (Sorry!) and he had a big black dog named Argos. Argos is cute, I think he's a great dane? No maybe not, his lips aren't saggy enough lol. I also expected him to have a bigger truck. He drives a little red pickup truck. It was funny because he said that the truck handles different with a passenger. I hope he didn't mean that I'm fat!
I coxed the mens 4+ and it was nice. They were used to rowing in a quad and 4- (straight 4) so my bow person kept yelling stuff. It's a tidal course, so the course changes when it's low tide vs when it's high tide. Low tide is scary because you it's like, a 2k head race. And there's a BROKEN BUOY you're supposed to go around that is hard to see for first time coxswains :( Oh, and low tide stinks. Literally. The NYAC's boathouse is just across the lake/river/inlet/outlet/whateveryoucallit. And the equpment was pretty up-to-date! They had the newer coxboxes and the 4+ had the new Vespoli steering. (The side stick thing) It's stupid.
So we were done and some super nice ladies gave me a ride to the Pelham MetroNorth station. Apparently everybody at the rowing club knows Chelsea on my school's team. She's super fameous! Anyway, OH JEEZ THE TRAIN WAS EXPENSIVE. $8.50 for a one way! HOLY COW! So I ended up at Grand Central and took the 6 back to Union Square to take the L home. I caught my mom before she left for work. Goes to show how much crew people do before most "normal" people!
So obviously... I WENT TO SLEEP. Then I woke up and worked a little on my dad's website. We're trying to do a registrar/host transfer and it's a bit of a nightmare. I had 2 pots of gunpowder green. That stuff is so good. It doesn't need anything the texture is so smooth and the aroma is great.
My parents came home later and my dad ate some of my meatloaf from last night and we ordered it again tonight because he thought it was so good! So we had meatloaf again. We got the tomato&cheddar soup and the tomato alphabet soup tonight, but we didn't drink it so we stuck it in the fridge. Staying up late because I took a huge nap in the middle of the day.
+6
Monday, July 12, 2010
Day 42
This morning was the fumigation, so I had to wake up early. Their arrival time was "9am to noon". ARE YOU SERIOUS? You are arriving ANYTIME in a THREE HOUR WINDOW. Slick, fumigation people, SLICK. So I run downstairs to throw the bedding into the washers and go back upstairs to get ready for my day. After I get kicked out by fumigation, I'm supposed to chill out at my mom's work. I get upstairs to drink the Dirty Bird peach tea in the fridge, and the exterminators are in. It's only 9.
There is a stout black woman and tall European man. The lady tells me that they aren't contracted to treat everything in the bags soooooo we have to close them all up, because my parents opened them all up thinking they would fumigate the bags. So we close up everything. We proceed to have the following conversation; she starts:
"Your re-entry time is 4 hours after 1 hour from now."
"You mean.... in 5 hours?"
"Yeah."
Should I really be entrusting them with the apartment? Eh. I get packed and get the crap out.
Of course, as always, I get lost trying to get to my mom's office. It really is stupid how building numbers go on Broadway. REALLY stupid. And it doesn't help that most of them look the same.
So I FINALLY make it there. Mom is busy she's got to run to a meeting. I whip out my laptop, take her Ethernet cord and get connected. She comes back briefly, and I return her internet. I go over to the break room and make myself a cup of tea. They have almost exclusively Bigelow teas. Ehh. Grab 2 English Breakfast bags, throw some hot water in it, 2 Coffee Mates and somewhere between 4-8 packets of sugar. They don't have brown :( I go back to my mom's office and read a book that I brought, Mind Hacks by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb. It's kind of like my neuroscience class all over again. Not dull, but you need to be awake to read it.
Throughout the day mom goes to 4 more meetings, 1 of which lasts for 3 some-odd hours. It's because she just came back from a month-long business trip in Asia and her superior is about to go on a business trip himself, so they need to get up-to-date on their progress. Also, her umbrella company decided to merge like 4 of the other companies, hers being one of them, sooooooo the office is a real shitstorm.
We went to Hale and Hearty for lunch. It's like this soup place, that also has sandwiches and salads. Errrr... think an urban Panera Bread with no... well, pastries. I got the soup/sandwich combo with sweet tomato corn chowder and a BBQ chicken sandwich. I also grabbed some oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't usually like them, but if I see them I might want one. I just really like the oat texture in those. But sometimes they're too nasty :( Anyway, HALE AND HEARTY IS DELICIOUS AND EVERYBODY SHOULD GO THERE! GO! GOOOOO! Ahahahah.... Yeah, so it was good, and I think people should check it out sometime.
Ohohoh. Dove chocolate makes hot chocolate. I know Kristin will be jealous when she reads this. My mom's office has a Flavia machine, and that's like.... K-cups SQUARED. You have the option to make lattes. So I had a Dove hot chocolate Milky Way chocolatte-whatever. You put in the "topping" Milky Way packet in first, then the Dove hot chocolate in when it tells you to.... and TAADAAAAAA yummm. Best. Hot chocolate.. EVER.
When we went home that night, we had no idea what to expect. The house was.... the same. Except that our couch was turned on this back, and the bottom layer was ripped out. And there was a knife lying around. OUR knife. OUR KNIFE THAT WAS IN A DRAWER. THEY TOOK OUR KNIFE AND USED IT TO CUT OUR COUCH OPEN! The nerve of them.... Other than that the apartment seemed to look the same. Maybe slightly less bed-buggy. They have to come back in 2 weeks.
For dinner I ordered the turkey meatloaf from Big Daddy's. I got veggie soup with it, but I didn't really want it since I had soup earlier that day. They had veggie chili but it wasn't an option /: So it came... and it came with mashed potatoes and carrots too! WOW! Yumm. And BY GOLLY PETE, IT WAS SOOOO GOOD. I ate half and gave the rest to my mom.
Crew tomorrow morning, so I gotta go to bed. I was pretty CAPSLOCK-happy today haha.
+3
There is a stout black woman and tall European man. The lady tells me that they aren't contracted to treat everything in the bags soooooo we have to close them all up, because my parents opened them all up thinking they would fumigate the bags. So we close up everything. We proceed to have the following conversation; she starts:
"Your re-entry time is 4 hours after 1 hour from now."
"You mean.... in 5 hours?"
"Yeah."
Should I really be entrusting them with the apartment? Eh. I get packed and get the crap out.
Of course, as always, I get lost trying to get to my mom's office. It really is stupid how building numbers go on Broadway. REALLY stupid. And it doesn't help that most of them look the same.
So I FINALLY make it there. Mom is busy she's got to run to a meeting. I whip out my laptop, take her Ethernet cord and get connected. She comes back briefly, and I return her internet. I go over to the break room and make myself a cup of tea. They have almost exclusively Bigelow teas. Ehh. Grab 2 English Breakfast bags, throw some hot water in it, 2 Coffee Mates and somewhere between 4-8 packets of sugar. They don't have brown :( I go back to my mom's office and read a book that I brought, Mind Hacks by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb. It's kind of like my neuroscience class all over again. Not dull, but you need to be awake to read it.
Throughout the day mom goes to 4 more meetings, 1 of which lasts for 3 some-odd hours. It's because she just came back from a month-long business trip in Asia and her superior is about to go on a business trip himself, so they need to get up-to-date on their progress. Also, her umbrella company decided to merge like 4 of the other companies, hers being one of them, sooooooo the office is a real shitstorm.
We went to Hale and Hearty for lunch. It's like this soup place, that also has sandwiches and salads. Errrr... think an urban Panera Bread with no... well, pastries. I got the soup/sandwich combo with sweet tomato corn chowder and a BBQ chicken sandwich. I also grabbed some oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't usually like them, but if I see them I might want one. I just really like the oat texture in those. But sometimes they're too nasty :( Anyway, HALE AND HEARTY IS DELICIOUS AND EVERYBODY SHOULD GO THERE! GO! GOOOOO! Ahahahah.... Yeah, so it was good, and I think people should check it out sometime.
Ohohoh. Dove chocolate makes hot chocolate. I know Kristin will be jealous when she reads this. My mom's office has a Flavia machine, and that's like.... K-cups SQUARED. You have the option to make lattes. So I had a Dove hot chocolate Milky Way chocolatte-whatever. You put in the "topping" Milky Way packet in first, then the Dove hot chocolate in when it tells you to.... and TAADAAAAAA yummm. Best. Hot chocolate.. EVER.
When we went home that night, we had no idea what to expect. The house was.... the same. Except that our couch was turned on this back, and the bottom layer was ripped out. And there was a knife lying around. OUR knife. OUR KNIFE THAT WAS IN A DRAWER. THEY TOOK OUR KNIFE AND USED IT TO CUT OUR COUCH OPEN! The nerve of them.... Other than that the apartment seemed to look the same. Maybe slightly less bed-buggy. They have to come back in 2 weeks.
For dinner I ordered the turkey meatloaf from Big Daddy's. I got veggie soup with it, but I didn't really want it since I had soup earlier that day. They had veggie chili but it wasn't an option /: So it came... and it came with mashed potatoes and carrots too! WOW! Yumm. And BY GOLLY PETE, IT WAS SOOOO GOOD. I ate half and gave the rest to my mom.
Crew tomorrow morning, so I gotta go to bed. I was pretty CAPSLOCK-happy today haha.
+3
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Day 41
Today my parents went to have breakfast with my dad's friends (from work?). I slept in because I wasn't invited. I ended up not having breakfast and just surfing on the computer. Tomorrow is the fumigation too. I just have laundry to do but I wonder how much stuff my parents have left. I made a pot of tea when my parents came home.
We ordered delivery from Dirty Bird. We got their rotisserie chicken and it was pretty good. I'm not big on chicken so... meh. I ordered their peach iced tea, but I was saving it for last. I didn't end up drinking it because my dad pissed me off by saying that I shouldn't eat more at lunch to make up for breakfast because it stretches my stomach and I'm doubling my calorie intake (I was just having an extra side of mashed potatoes) and I definitely should watch what I eat if I'm looking to stay fit. I tried to sleep it off, but I couldn't go to sleep because he kept talking and the tv was loud, so I went out for a skate on the east side highway.
Went down to Battery City and then headed back. Practiced a little switch pushing. When I went home I brewed up a pot of gunpowder green. My mom and I then went down to the laundry room to finish drying everything else.
IT. WAS. RIDICULOUS. My mom dried my "donut" yarn (a Caron 1 pounder) and it started to unravel and TANGLE! It was horrible and I ended up needing to untangle a giant mess.
THEN she dried THE REST of my yarn and I had a GIANT tangle. I spent an hour untangling everything.
Tomorrow is the fumigation and I need to wake up early to dry all the bedding and get the hell out.
+3
We ordered delivery from Dirty Bird. We got their rotisserie chicken and it was pretty good. I'm not big on chicken so... meh. I ordered their peach iced tea, but I was saving it for last. I didn't end up drinking it because my dad pissed me off by saying that I shouldn't eat more at lunch to make up for breakfast because it stretches my stomach and I'm doubling my calorie intake (I was just having an extra side of mashed potatoes) and I definitely should watch what I eat if I'm looking to stay fit. I tried to sleep it off, but I couldn't go to sleep because he kept talking and the tv was loud, so I went out for a skate on the east side highway.
Went down to Battery City and then headed back. Practiced a little switch pushing. When I went home I brewed up a pot of gunpowder green. My mom and I then went down to the laundry room to finish drying everything else.
IT. WAS. RIDICULOUS. My mom dried my "donut" yarn (a Caron 1 pounder) and it started to unravel and TANGLE! It was horrible and I ended up needing to untangle a giant mess.
THEN she dried THE REST of my yarn and I had a GIANT tangle. I spent an hour untangling everything.
Tomorrow is the fumigation and I need to wake up early to dry all the bedding and get the hell out.
+3
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Day 40
The drying and bagging continues. My mom packed away my phone charger yesterday and my phone died last night. It's been surprisingly unproductive for me. This morning was the Mini-Bomb longboard race hosted by Concrete Kings. I wanted Kristin to do it with me, but she had to go home, and Also I had a dentist appointment like RIGHT after, so I wouldn't be able to join the festivities.
We had breakfast at.... you guessed it, Elephant Castle! Hahaha. And I had...... yeah, that too! A pot of English Breakfast hahahaha. Had the Mexican omelette, sans bacon. It was still pretty heavy, and I wasn't too fond of the cheddar in it, it was too sharp. My parents' favorite server Brian was off this week.
After breakfast we went back to the apartment to chill for a little, then my mom and I went to the dentist. On the way there, we stopped at some new (looking) Vietnamese(?) place for some bubble tea. I won't be going back. 1) The staff's children seem to think the entire establishment was a playground, and one little girl even had sandals with squeakers in the sole, so she was squeaking everywhere, 2) service is REALLY slow, and they have one person only designated for drinks, 3) They gave me Vietnamese coffee, with no bubbles. The coffee was decent though. I got a cap for one of my front teeth that got chipped somehow. All my family members and close friends have been bugging me about it. I also got my teeth cleaned. My mom had the appointment right after mine, so she gave me her Blackberry so I could go on Facebook, since my phone was dead.
After the dentist, we walked towards Broadway on Canal and got a phone charger for $5 from a street vendor. I didn't have my phone on me and I was really unsure of the charger I needed, but one of the guys manning the stand was really helpful and knew that the Verizon Voyager was the VX 10000. Weird, but cool. Then we went to some bootleg-ish luggage place on Broadway and Canal. It was bootleg-ish because it had some cheap (and obviously) fake luggage in the front, and in the back they had these expensive $300+ brand name luggage, Samsonite, Burton, North Face... yeeesh. One of the Burtons looked REALLY nice, but I'll probably end up getting something cheap for $30 or so.
THENNN we started walking up Broadway, stopped at places like Muji (very cool minimalist stuff from Japan... I have a watch from them), TopShop (like an English H&M), H&M (had this AMAZING blazer. Very Gaga.), Duane Reade (found the lotion my dermatologist recommended), Rite Aid (Did not have said lotion), Old Navy (very disorienting, to say the least), and a bunch of shoe stores.
We ducked into some side street and went into a jewelery store called Versani... it was really cool. A lot of expensive things. I saw a little dachshund pendant that Kristin would like. :) I'm sure it would be $300+ though. Just for the doggy. Which is the size of my pinky fingernail.
My mom couldn't resist going into any shoe boutique we passed so it did take a little while longer than I hoped to get home. We did stop at a Starbucks to use their facilities though, and a stop at Gray's Papaya for some.. er, "Papaya Drink". I have never figured out what the hell one of those were, but they're still good and refreshing when you've walked from Chinatown back to the West Village on a 90+ day.
Got home, made a pot of tea, and finished drying the last of my clothes. Ughh this bedbug business is crazy.
+7
We had breakfast at.... you guessed it, Elephant Castle! Hahaha. And I had...... yeah, that too! A pot of English Breakfast hahahaha. Had the Mexican omelette, sans bacon. It was still pretty heavy, and I wasn't too fond of the cheddar in it, it was too sharp. My parents' favorite server Brian was off this week.
After breakfast we went back to the apartment to chill for a little, then my mom and I went to the dentist. On the way there, we stopped at some new (looking) Vietnamese(?) place for some bubble tea. I won't be going back. 1) The staff's children seem to think the entire establishment was a playground, and one little girl even had sandals with squeakers in the sole, so she was squeaking everywhere, 2) service is REALLY slow, and they have one person only designated for drinks, 3) They gave me Vietnamese coffee, with no bubbles. The coffee was decent though. I got a cap for one of my front teeth that got chipped somehow. All my family members and close friends have been bugging me about it. I also got my teeth cleaned. My mom had the appointment right after mine, so she gave me her Blackberry so I could go on Facebook, since my phone was dead.
After the dentist, we walked towards Broadway on Canal and got a phone charger for $5 from a street vendor. I didn't have my phone on me and I was really unsure of the charger I needed, but one of the guys manning the stand was really helpful and knew that the Verizon Voyager was the VX 10000. Weird, but cool. Then we went to some bootleg-ish luggage place on Broadway and Canal. It was bootleg-ish because it had some cheap (and obviously) fake luggage in the front, and in the back they had these expensive $300+ brand name luggage, Samsonite, Burton, North Face... yeeesh. One of the Burtons looked REALLY nice, but I'll probably end up getting something cheap for $30 or so.
THENNN we started walking up Broadway, stopped at places like Muji (very cool minimalist stuff from Japan... I have a watch from them), TopShop (like an English H&M), H&M (had this AMAZING blazer. Very Gaga.), Duane Reade (found the lotion my dermatologist recommended), Rite Aid (Did not have said lotion), Old Navy (very disorienting, to say the least), and a bunch of shoe stores.
We ducked into some side street and went into a jewelery store called Versani... it was really cool. A lot of expensive things. I saw a little dachshund pendant that Kristin would like. :) I'm sure it would be $300+ though. Just for the doggy. Which is the size of my pinky fingernail.
My mom couldn't resist going into any shoe boutique we passed so it did take a little while longer than I hoped to get home. We did stop at a Starbucks to use their facilities though, and a stop at Gray's Papaya for some.. er, "Papaya Drink". I have never figured out what the hell one of those were, but they're still good and refreshing when you've walked from Chinatown back to the West Village on a 90+ day.
Got home, made a pot of tea, and finished drying the last of my clothes. Ughh this bedbug business is crazy.
+7
Friday, July 9, 2010
Day 39
Kristin woke me up early today to get me to help her leave. It took me a while to start up, like a 5 year old pc running Windows XP.
I made an ironpot of gunpowder green. Ironpot is just what I call the teapot we have in the apartment. It's an iron teapot we got in Chinatown last year. It's really heavy and can brew up to 24oz. I've already been using it, but I didn't mention it last post. Oops, sorry.
I gave Kristin my rolling duffel thats a year and a half old, because it's old, we have bedbugs, and my mom wants to buy me a new one. Kristin bagged all her stuff and she'll either get it cleaned when she arrives home or throw it out. Or at least I hope she will.
Kristin and I went over to Murray's bagels to grab some food for the road. Kristin got an almond Odwalla and tuna salad on a sesame bagel. I got my favourite, lox spread on a poppy seed bagel. We had to walk over to 5th ave to hail a taxi because taxis in NYC are bitches and you need to go with the flow of traffic or else you're not getting ANYWHERE. Especially if you've got luggage, they KNOW where you're headed. So we got a taxi and a ride down to Chinatown for the Fung Wah. I got Kristin a ticket and we waited around until a bus pulled up, at which we proceeded to help form the mob that always happens on these "China-busses". I threw on Kristin's luggage onto the bus while she boarded and she was off on her way.
Got a coconut water on the way home. Paid in quarters and the guy was really happy. They're $2.50 each and I can only imagine how much $0.50 in change he needs to give out. When I got home I threw some more of my clothes into the dryer and started to open up the coconut. My mom had a doctor's appointment so she wasn't home.
My mom called when I had 10 min to go to see if I wanted some pizza..... YES! So I finished up the coconut, threw it into a little container and went downstairs to Ray's. We had a cheese slice (crispy, please! You need to order it that way in the daytime because they try to rush the pizza..... not yummy.) each and had the coconut at the end. We did a little shopping at Food Emporium and then I went to tend to my laundry.
Made some more tea after I got home. Kristin got home okay so that was good.
+6
I made an ironpot of gunpowder green. Ironpot is just what I call the teapot we have in the apartment. It's an iron teapot we got in Chinatown last year. It's really heavy and can brew up to 24oz. I've already been using it, but I didn't mention it last post. Oops, sorry.
I gave Kristin my rolling duffel thats a year and a half old, because it's old, we have bedbugs, and my mom wants to buy me a new one. Kristin bagged all her stuff and she'll either get it cleaned when she arrives home or throw it out. Or at least I hope she will.
Kristin and I went over to Murray's bagels to grab some food for the road. Kristin got an almond Odwalla and tuna salad on a sesame bagel. I got my favourite, lox spread on a poppy seed bagel. We had to walk over to 5th ave to hail a taxi because taxis in NYC are bitches and you need to go with the flow of traffic or else you're not getting ANYWHERE. Especially if you've got luggage, they KNOW where you're headed. So we got a taxi and a ride down to Chinatown for the Fung Wah. I got Kristin a ticket and we waited around until a bus pulled up, at which we proceeded to help form the mob that always happens on these "China-busses". I threw on Kristin's luggage onto the bus while she boarded and she was off on her way.
Got a coconut water on the way home. Paid in quarters and the guy was really happy. They're $2.50 each and I can only imagine how much $0.50 in change he needs to give out. When I got home I threw some more of my clothes into the dryer and started to open up the coconut. My mom had a doctor's appointment so she wasn't home.
My mom called when I had 10 min to go to see if I wanted some pizza..... YES! So I finished up the coconut, threw it into a little container and went downstairs to Ray's. We had a cheese slice (crispy, please! You need to order it that way in the daytime because they try to rush the pizza..... not yummy.) each and had the coconut at the end. We did a little shopping at Food Emporium and then I went to tend to my laundry.
Made some more tea after I got home. Kristin got home okay so that was good.
+6
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Day 38
My mom took the day off from work, today and tomorrow, so we can prepare the rest of the apartment for fumigation. We live in NYC, bedbugs live in NYC. The bedbugs are unwelcome visitors that have overstayed their (un)welcome... so we're going to gas them. Barbaric, I know. I wish there was a more organic and friendly approach to this but there isn't. We have to wash all clothing, and anything that is already clean needs to be thrown into the dryer for 30min on high to cook EVERYTHING. Over the course of the week Kristin and I have been dropping off garbagebag-fulls of dry cleaning at the cleaners. The total so far is ~$1000, but my mom's company will foot the bill because the office was found to have bedbugs. Non-clothing items like paperwork and... well anything else, needs to be put into giant plastic bags so they can be heat treated.
We decided to open up that mystery tea that my mom got for me from her travels. She said that one of the factory owners overseas gave it to her, so it's gotta be good. She read the label and said they were rolled into little balls or something, so they have to be gunpowder green. I've never had it before. It came in this vacuum packed bag:
It was cool it looked like a hunk of gold. When I cut the bag open, it made this SLUUUUUUUURRRRP sound. The tea had a really nice aroma and texture. The second infusion was definitely (and unsurprisingly) the best and smoothest. The first infusion is a little rough and the third infusion starts to get weak and bitter.
Kristin left in the afternoon to go hang out with her grandma. Her grandma was getting her hair done at some fancy hotel salon. Kristin told me it would take 15 minutes, and I was skeptical. It turned out to be more like 3 hours. Her grandma was getting her hair colored and Kristin got lots of complements on her looks. A lot of New Yorkers love Kristin's... er... exotic looks haha.
When Kristin came home, she decided it was better for her to leave on Friday. Which mean that we could see the midnight showing of Despicable Me. Went on Fandango and bought it for that night's 3D showing.
The rest of the night's events leading up to the movie was slow and aggravating. My mom's boyfriend criticized us for sitting around "doing nothing" and basically not being out. When I asked for some examples, he started talking about going out and "having a sip", and then my mom, Kristin and I all made a comment about doing something that didn't cost money, which then he said "get a job, that's free!" and continued to be obnoxious and sarcastically apologized a couple times ("WELL, SORRY! SOOOOOOORRRR-RYYYYY!") That really ticked me off and put me into a bad mood for the rest of the night. I cooled down a bit when we got a seat in the theater and the movie started.
The movie was cute. It was good, but I didn't think it was amazing. Kristin, on the other hand... she came out of that movie with her life changed. She really enjoyed it. She wants everybody to go see it. So what are you waiting for, go see it!
+6
We decided to open up that mystery tea that my mom got for me from her travels. She said that one of the factory owners overseas gave it to her, so it's gotta be good. She read the label and said they were rolled into little balls or something, so they have to be gunpowder green. I've never had it before. It came in this vacuum packed bag:
It was cool it looked like a hunk of gold. When I cut the bag open, it made this SLUUUUUUUURRRRP sound. The tea had a really nice aroma and texture. The second infusion was definitely (and unsurprisingly) the best and smoothest. The first infusion is a little rough and the third infusion starts to get weak and bitter.
Kristin left in the afternoon to go hang out with her grandma. Her grandma was getting her hair done at some fancy hotel salon. Kristin told me it would take 15 minutes, and I was skeptical. It turned out to be more like 3 hours. Her grandma was getting her hair colored and Kristin got lots of complements on her looks. A lot of New Yorkers love Kristin's... er... exotic looks haha.
When Kristin came home, she decided it was better for her to leave on Friday. Which mean that we could see the midnight showing of Despicable Me. Went on Fandango and bought it for that night's 3D showing.
The rest of the night's events leading up to the movie was slow and aggravating. My mom's boyfriend criticized us for sitting around "doing nothing" and basically not being out. When I asked for some examples, he started talking about going out and "having a sip", and then my mom, Kristin and I all made a comment about doing something that didn't cost money, which then he said "get a job, that's free!" and continued to be obnoxious and sarcastically apologized a couple times ("WELL, SORRY! SOOOOOOORRRR-RYYYYY!") That really ticked me off and put me into a bad mood for the rest of the night. I cooled down a bit when we got a seat in the theater and the movie started.
The movie was cute. It was good, but I didn't think it was amazing. Kristin, on the other hand... she came out of that movie with her life changed. She really enjoyed it. She wants everybody to go see it. So what are you waiting for, go see it!
+6
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Day 37
Kristin woke me up early in the morning with a call, James had already left to go back to PA and the magic from last night was on the clothes I sweated in that I was too tired to take off. Kristin was downstairs, so I went to get her, and we went back upstairs and finished sleeping. Then we took showers and it was already like 1pm. We set off into the city to finish the rest of the Tyra Mission. We had Pink and Gap left to hit, and there isn't a Pink in the area, so we only had to go to Gap.
The spa next to Red Mango caught my eye, and Kristin wanted to go inside and check their prices. It was a really nice looking Korean place (waaaaay better than the Indian place) and the staff was VERY friendly, and not at all pushy or offensive. The prices were also a little better, so Kristin called up the Indian place and canceled her appointment and decided to have the dermabrasion. Right there. The "menu" said that the procedure would take 70 minutes, and I just stayed until Kristin finished her paperwork. I walked home and played Skate It for 75 minutes, and went back to the spa. The treatment seemed to take something more around 90 minutes, but when Kristin came out her skin tone was more even and GLOWED! Anyway, she ended up gushing about it for the rest of the day. How she got a mask, and the lady massaged her body and everything was so great and she would really recommend it........... etc etc etc.
We went back to 5th Ave to go to the Gap. The fitting rooms were untidy with clothes left from the previous customer and the staff was pretty much not available, and when they were, they were arguing with eachother over who should be assisting who in the changing rooms.
We went to Red Mango for a little something (haha it's like Em&Kristin's staple-food). Their AC was fixed today too! It wasn't working in random parts of the place, but it was still comfortable. We had pomegranate with mango, mochi and kiwi today. It was ok.
Had a cup of iced tea at home.
+1
The spa next to Red Mango caught my eye, and Kristin wanted to go inside and check their prices. It was a really nice looking Korean place (waaaaay better than the Indian place) and the staff was VERY friendly, and not at all pushy or offensive. The prices were also a little better, so Kristin called up the Indian place and canceled her appointment and decided to have the dermabrasion. Right there. The "menu" said that the procedure would take 70 minutes, and I just stayed until Kristin finished her paperwork. I walked home and played Skate It for 75 minutes, and went back to the spa. The treatment seemed to take something more around 90 minutes, but when Kristin came out her skin tone was more even and GLOWED! Anyway, she ended up gushing about it for the rest of the day. How she got a mask, and the lady massaged her body and everything was so great and she would really recommend it........... etc etc etc.
We went back to 5th Ave to go to the Gap. The fitting rooms were untidy with clothes left from the previous customer and the staff was pretty much not available, and when they were, they were arguing with eachother over who should be assisting who in the changing rooms.
We went to Red Mango for a little something (haha it's like Em&Kristin's staple-food). Their AC was fixed today too! It wasn't working in random parts of the place, but it was still comfortable. We had pomegranate with mango, mochi and kiwi today. It was ok.
Had a cup of iced tea at home.
Kristin looking very nice in a blazer. From behind. Gap's fit model is a very flat lady with no hips. Or butt. Or waist. Or boobs. Gap's fit model could very well be a very expensive cardboard box.
+1
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Day 36
Tonight is the night for LADY GAGAAAAAAA!
My aunt has been pestering me for a ticket for my cousin, so I went onto Stubhub and luckily, found tickets for the same section in the row behind us. Snatched it up for $250. We researched if cameras were allowed in MSG, and the site said only disposable ones were allowed. That's going to be hard to enforce with all the cameraphones being introduced to the market.
James arrived in the morning, and hung out in the apartment for a little bit while Kristin and I got ready. James got me honey and a teapot/cup set for my birthday, it is adorable and I love it!
My aunt has been pestering me for a ticket for my cousin, so I went onto Stubhub and luckily, found tickets for the same section in the row behind us. Snatched it up for $250. We researched if cameras were allowed in MSG, and the site said only disposable ones were allowed. That's going to be hard to enforce with all the cameraphones being introduced to the market.
James arrived in the morning, and hung out in the apartment for a little bit while Kristin and I got ready. James got me honey and a teapot/cup set for my birthday, it is adorable and I love it!
The pot nestles onto the cup!
We would have to meet Leah somehow, but she conveniently lost her phone, so I had to setup facebook mobile to forward random things to my phone while we were out.
Then we headed over to Chinatown to meet my aunt, cousins and aunt's friend for lunch. We arrived too early so we ducked into the Starbucks on Canal. It was sweltering and I wanted an iced grande passion tea lemonade, sweetened.. but they were out. Of tea. Or lemonade. Something ridiculous. Kind of like when they run out of frappuccino base and customers go ballistic. But that's okay. Kristin started to crave some Vita Coco but I couldn't think of any corner store in Chinatown.... let alone a corner store that would stock it. I eventually thought of The Coconut Lady, the affectionate term for a lady that sells young coconuts on Canal and opens them up for you, and when you finish, she wields a cleaver to chop it open for you to eat the soft, young coconut flesh. Yum. So we left the shade and cool alcove otherwise known as Starbucks, to begin our trek to The Coconut Lady. Shelled over $7.50 for 3 and we went to the underground shopping center on Elizabeth.
Kristin wanted to go check out the photobooths, because everytime we want to, it's closed. It was open today, and we decided to take some. It ended up taking FOREVER, but it was fun. My aunt & co. was already finished with eating by the time we went over to XO Kitchen after photobooth. I was in charge of ordering; James doesn't eat pork or beef, so it was a little bit challenging. I ordered curry fishballs, scallion pancakes and grilled teriyaki salmon. It wasn't half-bad. The curry sauce was thick but really good. For drinks, James ordered a red bean ice, Kristin got a sesame milk bubble tea, I got a milk bubble tea and my cousin got some weird kiwi ice cream desert thing. Kristin swapped with me because she didn't like the texture of hers. Also had a cup of tea from the establishment, because Chinese places always serve tea haha.
Afterwards we went back to the shopping center and looked around some more. Then we took my cousin along and went back towards my neighborhood. We got out at Union Square because we had banking needs at Bank of America. James went into RiteAid while Kristin, my cousin and I went into some Indian "salon" place. They did threading, and while on the Cape, my aunt was commenting about how my cousin had "Chinese brows". Soooooooo I said that my cousin could get it done there, and Kristin was like "They're Indian. They're good. Do it" hahaha. So she did it. The staff was pretty pushy about their services, trying to get me and Kristin to get our brows done, then suggesting that Kristin get all these treatments they offer, and making (what could be received as, and was) some pretty offensive comments about her face. The prices were right, so Kristin made an appointment for the next day, despite moral conflicts.
After that business was done, we waited outside on the sidewalk for Leah. She showed up and then we went to Red Mango. Leah went over to Popeye's for some food, and we went over because the AC was broken at Red Mango and Leah would be a paying customer anyway. We started on our way back to the apartment but stopped at the pet store to look at all the animals. It always smells like a public restroom in there. Pretty gross, but it's something you get used to if you stay in there long enough. We also headed over to Rite Aid to buy 2 disposable cameras for the event. My parents didn't give me permission to go into the apartment, so we stayed downstairs in the community room. James took a nap and Leah and my cousin played hackey sack. Kristin and I did... nothing. We eventually got going when there was an hour until showtime. We stopped by Rite Aid again to pick up some energy drinks and earplugs. We had a 20-block trek in muggy New York weather and needed everything we could get.
When we got there and passed the security checkpoint, they barely even did ANYTHING. They just waved us in. We could definitely have brought like 92837410984 (non-disposable) cameras. At the venue, everybody started in a mob, moving through escalators and being sifted by the staff to different escalators at random locations. We eventually got to our seats, and they weren't bad at all. We were to the right of the stage with a really good view; not too high, not too low, and not too close. Any closer and we might not have been able to see everything going on on the stage.
Here's what the stage looked like from our seats before the opening act started :)
The opening act was Semi Precious Weapons. They were in Lady Gaga's Telephone video as some of the dead people in the diner. The lead singer, Justin Tranter seemed really bitter about the fact that Lady Gaga used to open for them, and now they're opening for Lady Gaga. He also pronounced it Gawhhh-Gawhhh. Big emphasis on the "hhh". Think French. The bassist (Cole Whittle) was probably the most exciting part of the band. Justin stripped and had an onstage costume outfit change. The venue's screens didn't show him again after that lol.
Then an hour passed by. And Gaga came out. She started out with Dance In The Dark, James' favorite song, so that was cool. All of her outfits were very awesome. Seen most of them before, but some were uh, interesting, to say the least. But it's Gaga, what are you expecting haha. My favorite outfit was her White-Angel-With-A-Black-Harp-Wearing-An-Odd-Fish-Headpiece costume. I think it was for So Happy I Could Die. The Disco Stick got a revamp. It's like Disco Stick 2.0. It's huge and had a built in floodlight in it now. It is soooo sick! Also The Orbit has like, 40 horsepower in it now. It's no longer attached to her, it's a stationary piece that she stands inside now... probably because the g-forces from it spinning now would most likely transform her into HovershipGaga. The show was amazing. I would definitely want to see it again. It felt more personal than other... well, concerts. This didn't even feel like a concert. Other musical acts are just song after song after song, a little antidote about the other day and they were in the supermarket, and then more songs. I don't know how to describe it, it was just a production. It was like a musical of sorts.
After the show, we got a surprise ride from the local relatives. I made an illegal immigration comment, because we were all stuffed into the back of a minivan sitting on various boxes and the floor. After we got dropped off in front of my apartment ("America!), Leah went west to Cubbyhole to brag about being at the Lady Gaga show. James, Kristin and I went to Ray's for a some pizza. I got EATEN by mosquitos there. But the pizza was good. It's always good.
Mosquito bite on my knee and halfway down my shin. :( It was soooo itchy!
Kristin and James left to go to her grandma's cool westside highway apartment so that James could stay the night. I went home, scratching my leg the entire time and went to bed after a loooong hot day.
+3
+3
Monday, July 5, 2010
Day 35
Kristin and I were invited to have dimsum with my aunt, my cousin and some other (local) family. I declined the invitation because it was just too much confusion trying to hammer out the details last night, DURING MY BIRTHDAY DINNER. Through next message. With my cousin. We agreed on Chinatown back in Cape Cod, so when they kept saying that they would pick us up at some subway station, I told them to just pick us up at the apartment. It took so long for them to finally reveal the fact that dimsum was going to be in Brooklyn. It was already too much hassle.
After they had their dimsum, my cousin and aunt didn't have plans, so Kristin and I got chauffeured to Central Park so that I could take my cousin and Kristin on their first lap. We were lucky and got parking right on Central Park south. It took a while before we got started because we had to find a shady spot for my aunt and the baby. My aunt forgot to bring the baby stroller, so all we had was a baby in a carseat (that probably weighed 6x the baby) to be lugged around.
The lap was okay. My cousin wanted to pick up and walk multiple times. Kristin and I didn't let her. At one point she felt faint and her ears popped and we had to walk over to the shade and take a water break. I brought the Camelbak Kristin bought me. The three of us didn't finish it until the very last stretch. We held hands for most of the downhills. We made it out of there in 2 hours. I hope my cousin practices while I'm not with her.
A longboard pileup when everybody bailed but I kept footbreaking. This is the aftermath/recreation.
We head back to my apartment and find parking right across the street. Everybody seemed to need to go to the bathroom, so we went to Red Mango. We found out the bathrooms were out of order, so we placed our orders and went back to my apartment building. We went downstairs to the community room. Which also had the community bathroom across the hall. We finished our froyo, and then went back out to Chipotle for some fine fast dining. Only Kristin and I planned on going to Chipotle, but my cousin wanted to come along, so my aunt canceled a dinner date with local family members. It was good, as always. Had a cup of iced tea with copious amounts of lemon and sugar there.
We had cake at home that night. We had this chocolate mousse cake from Citarella, the same one we had last year. It's really one of the only chocolate cakes I like, because I'm not a big chocolate, or cake fan. Call me a weird person, but that's just how I am. I was never too big on sweets, but I'll eat it. It's not like I abhor them or anything, but I like other foods more. After dinner, I got my birthday present:
LADY GAGA TICKETS! FOR TOMORROW NIGHT! And I thought my parents were coming with me and Kristin, but actually Kristin got my friends James (coming in all the way from PA) and Leah (known her since freshman year of high school) to come! Very very cooooool.
+2
After they had their dimsum, my cousin and aunt didn't have plans, so Kristin and I got chauffeured to Central Park so that I could take my cousin and Kristin on their first lap. We were lucky and got parking right on Central Park south. It took a while before we got started because we had to find a shady spot for my aunt and the baby. My aunt forgot to bring the baby stroller, so all we had was a baby in a carseat (that probably weighed 6x the baby) to be lugged around.
The lap was okay. My cousin wanted to pick up and walk multiple times. Kristin and I didn't let her. At one point she felt faint and her ears popped and we had to walk over to the shade and take a water break. I brought the Camelbak Kristin bought me. The three of us didn't finish it until the very last stretch. We held hands for most of the downhills. We made it out of there in 2 hours. I hope my cousin practices while I'm not with her.
A longboard pileup when everybody bailed but I kept footbreaking. This is the aftermath/recreation.
We head back to my apartment and find parking right across the street. Everybody seemed to need to go to the bathroom, so we went to Red Mango. We found out the bathrooms were out of order, so we placed our orders and went back to my apartment building. We went downstairs to the community room. Which also had the community bathroom across the hall. We finished our froyo, and then went back out to Chipotle for some fine fast dining. Only Kristin and I planned on going to Chipotle, but my cousin wanted to come along, so my aunt canceled a dinner date with local family members. It was good, as always. Had a cup of iced tea with copious amounts of lemon and sugar there.
We had cake at home that night. We had this chocolate mousse cake from Citarella, the same one we had last year. It's really one of the only chocolate cakes I like, because I'm not a big chocolate, or cake fan. Call me a weird person, but that's just how I am. I was never too big on sweets, but I'll eat it. It's not like I abhor them or anything, but I like other foods more. After dinner, I got my birthday present:
+2
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Day 34
Today was hot. But not nearly as hot as the upcoming week. It's going to be in the 100s this week. Ugh.
Tonight we would celebrate my birthday.
We went to Elephant Castle in the morning for breakfast, my parents, me and Kristin. We went ahead to grab seats while my parents were getting ready. We ate all the bread by the time my parents arrived. They definitely took their time. I ordered a pot of English Breakfast. Kristin thought about getting the bowl of hot chocolate, but ultimately decided on OJ. Not a bad choice. It was freshly squeezed, and pulpy!
After breakfast, we walked over to Magnolia. I had no idea we had one in the area. I only knew of the one in the Upper East Side. The didn't have any red velvet cupcakes (the best!), so we left.
My parents got talking to Kristin about fit modeling... eventually my mom took Kristin's measurements and then we were sent off on what I dubbed the "Tyra Mission": Go to Gap, Banana Republic, J.Crew and Pink to find Kristin's size in t-shirts, shirts (the [button-down] not-as-stretchy-as-a-tshirt kind), blazers, pants and jeans. We stopped at the stationary store first so I could pick up some pocket Moleskines, then we went to Red Mango to share what we call "The Usual" (Pomegranate w/ mochi, mango and blackberries). We went to Banana and J.Crew before it was time to head home to get ready for birthday celebrations.
We went to a place called Steak Frites. The specialty there was--you guessed it--steak! I ordered the rib eye. Rare-rare. When I got it, it seemed more like medium. Next time (if there is one) I'll ask for it raw.
Afterwards, we headed west to try and get stuck on the west side highway, because last year my parents got stuck there and ended up getting the best seats for the fireworks. Didn't work this year, because the police & barricades were prepared. My parents pulled over at a gas station and Kristin and I got out and watched the fireworks. It was nice. It was the closest I've ever seen fireworks.
+2
Tonight we would celebrate my birthday.
We went to Elephant Castle in the morning for breakfast, my parents, me and Kristin. We went ahead to grab seats while my parents were getting ready. We ate all the bread by the time my parents arrived. They definitely took their time. I ordered a pot of English Breakfast. Kristin thought about getting the bowl of hot chocolate, but ultimately decided on OJ. Not a bad choice. It was freshly squeezed, and pulpy!
After breakfast, we walked over to Magnolia. I had no idea we had one in the area. I only knew of the one in the Upper East Side. The didn't have any red velvet cupcakes (the best!), so we left.
My parents got talking to Kristin about fit modeling... eventually my mom took Kristin's measurements and then we were sent off on what I dubbed the "Tyra Mission": Go to Gap, Banana Republic, J.Crew and Pink to find Kristin's size in t-shirts, shirts (the [button-down] not-as-stretchy-as-a-tshirt kind), blazers, pants and jeans. We stopped at the stationary store first so I could pick up some pocket Moleskines, then we went to Red Mango to share what we call "The Usual" (Pomegranate w/ mochi, mango and blackberries). We went to Banana and J.Crew before it was time to head home to get ready for birthday celebrations.
We went to a place called Steak Frites. The specialty there was--you guessed it--steak! I ordered the rib eye. Rare-rare. When I got it, it seemed more like medium. Next time (if there is one) I'll ask for it raw.
Afterwards, we headed west to try and get stuck on the west side highway, because last year my parents got stuck there and ended up getting the best seats for the fireworks. Didn't work this year, because the police & barricades were prepared. My parents pulled over at a gas station and Kristin and I got out and watched the fireworks. It was nice. It was the closest I've ever seen fireworks.
Some crappy phone pictures of the fireworks. The streetlights are in the way, and my cameraphone has bad timing haha.
+2
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Day 33
Today was pretty crazy. My uncle decided early in the morning that the baby was fine and that he would drive my aunt and two cousins down to NY. This didn't really make a difference for me because I was traveling with Kristin, and since my uncle was driving, there wouldn't be room for Kristin. No big deal. I had the chance to make a quart of tea for the road. I didn't. I would come to realize that this was a horrible decision as the day unfolded.
Managed to catch the express to Boston, so I got to South Station early. Kristin still left on schedule since she couldn't really do anything about it. I stood on a long line for the bathroom. Traveling with a longboard, a duffel, and a backpack was more challenging than I thought it would be, but I'm not sure what I thought it would be. I bought tickets for the Fung Wah afterwards and proceeded to wait for Kristin. She texted me to say that she had arrived when in fact the train was just pulling into the platform, and not actually stopped yet, so I thought we would make the next train. We didn't. Oh well. She arrived minutes after the bus left. She stood on the long bathroom line as well. I checked out Kristin's board, because she had just gotten new bushings (after much pestering from me). She put the washer under the bottom bushing and didn't have another bushing on top, so the top bushing actually started to stretch around the nut. We couldn't fix it there, but I told her and she really didn't know that would happen and thought that she put the wrong bushing on top.
The workers had us stow our longboards underneath the bus, but I was able to keep it in the overhead compartment on the way up. It was a little annoying, but we did end up getting seats right behind the driver so we could be the first ones out.
The driver was talking on his cellphone for a good amount of the trip. We made a rest stop at a McDonalds on the I-95 I think. We went to the bathroom and bought cracker-cheddar Combos and wild berry LifeSavers.
When we got to Chinatown, my parents said they were coming, but took a while to arrive. My mom handed me a bottle of tea, I don't know what its called in English but in Chinese it is "Haa Gu Cha", on the bottle it said something like "fruit spike drink" which sounds pretty ominous. Shared it with Kristin. We drove through Little Italy and Soho to eventually get back to the apartment. We weren't hungry so we brought our luggage up while my parents went to lunch. I fixed Kristin's bushings with pliers and a skate tool when we got home.
We tried the limeade in the fridge (Simply Limeade or something like that?) and then had a mug of iced tea (Gold Peak ick). They were both a bit too sweet.
Later we skated around the city and went to Hyline Park. It was cool. I'm so tired and dehydrated.
+3
Managed to catch the express to Boston, so I got to South Station early. Kristin still left on schedule since she couldn't really do anything about it. I stood on a long line for the bathroom. Traveling with a longboard, a duffel, and a backpack was more challenging than I thought it would be, but I'm not sure what I thought it would be. I bought tickets for the Fung Wah afterwards and proceeded to wait for Kristin. She texted me to say that she had arrived when in fact the train was just pulling into the platform, and not actually stopped yet, so I thought we would make the next train. We didn't. Oh well. She arrived minutes after the bus left. She stood on the long bathroom line as well. I checked out Kristin's board, because she had just gotten new bushings (after much pestering from me). She put the washer under the bottom bushing and didn't have another bushing on top, so the top bushing actually started to stretch around the nut. We couldn't fix it there, but I told her and she really didn't know that would happen and thought that she put the wrong bushing on top.
What's wrong with this picture?
The workers had us stow our longboards underneath the bus, but I was able to keep it in the overhead compartment on the way up. It was a little annoying, but we did end up getting seats right behind the driver so we could be the first ones out.
The driver was talking on his cellphone for a good amount of the trip. We made a rest stop at a McDonalds on the I-95 I think. We went to the bathroom and bought cracker-cheddar Combos and wild berry LifeSavers.
When we got to Chinatown, my parents said they were coming, but took a while to arrive. My mom handed me a bottle of tea, I don't know what its called in English but in Chinese it is "Haa Gu Cha", on the bottle it said something like "fruit spike drink" which sounds pretty ominous. Shared it with Kristin. We drove through Little Italy and Soho to eventually get back to the apartment. We weren't hungry so we brought our luggage up while my parents went to lunch. I fixed Kristin's bushings with pliers and a skate tool when we got home.
We tried the limeade in the fridge (Simply Limeade or something like that?) and then had a mug of iced tea (Gold Peak ick). They were both a bit too sweet.
Later we skated around the city and went to Hyline Park. It was cool. I'm so tired and dehydrated.
+3
Friday, July 2, 2010
Day 32
Today is my last day in Cape Cod! And my birthday!
The baby was being sick today so my aunt thinks they shouldn't go to NY. So I can't get a ride /:
Aunt was out in the morning so we couldn't go skate.
Uncle came back to take my me and my cousin to Keilar's Bakery, where my friend Marie works. We took the baby with us, because we had to. My uncle dropped me and my cousin off at the bakery and he drove off (to do work? he always thinks that his time is too precious and if he takes time out of his busy schedule he has to make it up by working later.) My cousin has never had a cream puff before, so we got three. She had one and she liked it. I had one too, not bad. Cream was a bit firm. They have a lot of things there for only having 2 glass cases; they had pastries, baked goods and... morning baked goods? hahaha like baked goods being cupcakes and cookies, morning baked goods being bagels and muffins.
I traded 3 crochet cupcakes for an apple turnover, a whoopie pie, a Cape Cod cupcake, a blondie and 3 cream puffs. Not bad. Plus, it was my birthday :)
I had a quart of dragon well when I got home. Nothing much to do. My aunt came home, then my cousin had to go to "work". She volunteers at my uncle's brother-in-law's and the library.
+4
The baby was being sick today so my aunt thinks they shouldn't go to NY. So I can't get a ride /:
Aunt was out in the morning so we couldn't go skate.
Uncle came back to take my me and my cousin to Keilar's Bakery, where my friend Marie works. We took the baby with us, because we had to. My uncle dropped me and my cousin off at the bakery and he drove off (to do work? he always thinks that his time is too precious and if he takes time out of his busy schedule he has to make it up by working later.) My cousin has never had a cream puff before, so we got three. She had one and she liked it. I had one too, not bad. Cream was a bit firm. They have a lot of things there for only having 2 glass cases; they had pastries, baked goods and... morning baked goods? hahaha like baked goods being cupcakes and cookies, morning baked goods being bagels and muffins.
I traded 3 crochet cupcakes for an apple turnover, a whoopie pie, a Cape Cod cupcake, a blondie and 3 cream puffs. Not bad. Plus, it was my birthday :)
I had a quart of dragon well when I got home. Nothing much to do. My aunt came home, then my cousin had to go to "work". She volunteers at my uncle's brother-in-law's and the library.
The Goods. ;)
+4
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Day 31
Today my aunt was out of the house in the morning, she was in Boston for something. I think she goes to Boston every Thursday and Sunday I'm not sure.
I brewed a quart of tea in the morning. Today wasn't too warm; I was pretty cold that night. The temps have been in the 70s and even lows in the 60s.
Didn't do much today. Played Sims 2 until my aunt came home, because we had to watch the baby. Then my cousin immediately asked to go skate. I was super surprised. I was Skype IMing with Kristin and I said "Maybe I was too aggressive with my stoke" haha.
We went to a new place today, we went to the bike trail near the golf courses. My cousin forgot her helmet (can't believe I didn't catch that) so I made her wear mine. I taught her how to footbreak, sorta. She doesn't really do it because she thinks she'll fall. She needs to practice.
I ended up getting a light sunburn on my face because I didn't have my helmet on. :(
+4
I brewed a quart of tea in the morning. Today wasn't too warm; I was pretty cold that night. The temps have been in the 70s and even lows in the 60s.
Didn't do much today. Played Sims 2 until my aunt came home, because we had to watch the baby. Then my cousin immediately asked to go skate. I was super surprised. I was Skype IMing with Kristin and I said "Maybe I was too aggressive with my stoke" haha.
We went to a new place today, we went to the bike trail near the golf courses. My cousin forgot her helmet (can't believe I didn't catch that) so I made her wear mine. I taught her how to footbreak, sorta. She doesn't really do it because she thinks she'll fall. She needs to practice.
I ended up getting a light sunburn on my face because I didn't have my helmet on. :(
+4
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