home is where the heart is

i have the best friends and family a girl could ask for. i know a million people say that it sounds super lame, but its true. in the span of 48 hours, i was able to spend time with the majority of the people that i care most about...including qt.

highlights: 1) friday night sai told me that "you know you are friends if you are friends even after being mad at each other" truuueee

2) learning the "i got a feeling" dance with meeks, recording ourselves, then giggling like two little school girls

3) getting driven to the airport with 2/3 of my best friends

travel destinations

there are so many places that i want to go and i think its time to start seriously planning this out! here is my top 5 list of places i need to go to STAT (in no particular order)

1) Costa Rica

2) Burma

3) Greece

4) Eastern Europe

5) Iceland

the nyc marathon

i experienced my first new york marathon today. no i didnt run....i was merely a spectator. carol and i met up at 96th and columbus and walked on the traverse to 97th and 5th ave where a bunch of spectators were (this was at about mile 23). the whole time i tried to track koo's number online but the site wasn't loading but carol said he was on mile 21 when we first left so we would probably see him.

it was pretty amazing to see all of the runners and all of the spectators who were so into it and so excited to see the runners go by. when we arrived we saw the runners at a 4 hour pace (6.5 mph pace) and i was surprised to see that the majority of them were not young and there were SO many countries that were represented. a few people were dressed up in costumes, and as some ran by, they tried to get us to cheer, or cheered themselves....remember this was at mile 23! so awesome. other memorable people we saw: a blind man running with two of his friends who led him while all holding a walking stick, a man running and pushing his friend in a wheelchair, a couple holding hands while running, and a man with no arms. i was so so inspired by these people i think i got choked up a few times. again.. AMAZING.

on the downside, i saw some sad things such as an older woman who was bleeding down her leg and a man with blood spots on his nipple area from chaffing.

carol and i finally decided to head down to the meeting point on 70th and central park west in hopes of seeing koo. the whole street was blocked off and there were people walking around everywhere! there was an announcer on the speaker talking in several different languages. there was actually a lot of foot traffic (of course) and we finally were able to spot our friends!

poor koo looked so tired and was just munching on a nasty looking bagel. keep in mind while during his marathon training he has lost so much weight! regardless, he needed two of his friends to help him up and couldnt walk very fast at all.

the cutest part of the event was when one of his friends fed him some almonds. koo had those post marathon capes around him so his hands weren't free and his friend just opened up the bag and popped a handful into his mouth. ok i guess describing it it doesnt sound very cute but i guess you had to be there.

the way out was pretty crowded...there was tons of foot traffic but no one seemed to be caring. it must have been the runners high! i definitely need my injury to go away so i can run a few halves next year. super inspired!

halloween in nyc = nye in vegas

i heard that halloween in new york was crazy. i heard about the parade and how it was impossible to get anywhere in the city. i didnt worry about it at all because i was headed to tavern on the green which is only 15 blocks from my house. lucky me! NOT. i should have listened to everyone and not thought i was invincible to the hell this city throws out at people.

8:30 pm - i leave the house to go to stuy town to meet connie (she has my cowboy hat and cowboy boots). i take the M11 bus down 9th ave and get off on 14th street. it seems pretty crowded in the area for me to take the crosstown bus so i decide to walk. first of all, it started raining and then at 7th ave it started to get crowded. by the time i hit the subway stop, i am stuck in shoulder to shoulder foot traffic. by the end of the block, i turn into a back grazing skank as i am so close to the people around me that as i push past from person to person my boobs graze everyone's back. as i try to walk closer to 6th ave i realize that the parade is on 6th ave so i try to turn around and it gets even more crowded! there was no way for me to turn a right and go south so i tried to turn around and back track. the way back was even worse and people kept pushing me to the point that i almost fell over. i was so close to people that i couldnt even breathe. at one point a large woman yelled at everyone to stop pushing or else i was going to get squished! bless her heart.

9:30 pm - is the time im finally able to get out of the crowd. i was so traumatized that i yelled to all the people walking towards 6th to turn around because theyll regret the experience. i then thought that it would be smart to walk around the parade. every street was basically blocked off by the parade UNTIL HOUSTON. keep in mind it was really coming down now and i was soaked and i made the decision to try the subway. luckily the station gave me access to the red line or to the L. i tried to get to the L but it was so crowded that i just got on the 1 train and went straight back home. i was drenched and had to change the shirt from my costume and was so stressed that i had a glass of jack on the rocks. (yes, pregamed alone)

11:30 pm - i finally head to tavern on the green. this place is FULL of people in some pretty awesome costumes. only problem was that all those people were headed to the tavern. ok well no that wasn't the only problem. the first was that we couldnt find the rest of our friends for the longest time. the second problem was that there were SO many people trying to get into the party. the third and worse was that new yorkers are new yorkers. let me elaborate....the party ended up getting shut down because a few over eager and impatient partygo-ers decided to whack the tent entrance and tear it because the party doors wouldnt open.

ok thats enough because the night just ended up getting bad and worse then finally at 4 am it got better.

start to start

i am very much a starter. i have a million projects that i want to do in my head. once i start them, ill get SUPER into it for a short period of time, and then my interest will fizzle.

example 1 - drawing/painting - when james first came to visit me in ny in april, we decided to draw and paint on canvases which i eventually put up in my room. soon after, i bought a sketchbook and more canvases to paint on. i had sketches of my additional paintings that i would do, and now, six months later, i still haven't gotten to it

example 2 - baking - this is what im currently on and i think it has gotten a little obsessive. i started last friday and since then have used at least 6 sticks of butter and an entire bag of flour and bought tons of other ingredients to make cookies with. ive made so far 6 different types of cookies and tried several recipes for granola. i even bought posterboard and put together my own handmade boxes and decorated them to send to people. i wonder when ill get over this phase?

my one year anniversary....with the concrete jungle

its hard to believe that ive been here almost a year. i feel like while in new york, i have spent a lot of money on accessories, clothing blah blah. starting december 1 (or maybe sooner) i am going to take a picture of myself everytime i leave the house to see how often i wear all the clothes i have purchased while living here. if i find that i haven't worn an item in over 6 months.....ITS GOING BACK TO CALIFORNIA!!!!

dark chocolate hierarchy

i went on a dark chocolate purchasing binge the other day because im not a huge fan of milk chocolate and the generic candy bars out there and i also heard dark chocolate is better for your chocolate cravings.

i buoght a bag of hersheys individually wrapped sugar free chocolates, a bar of cadburry, and a bar of dove.

id have to say that the hersheys sucked and cadburry is creamier than the dove and came to the conclusion that

cadburry > dove > hersheys

last week jan's sister elaine brought us a box of chocolates that jan had purchased in belgium. dark chocolate, apparently all cocoa, very little if any sugar and it was awesome!! how can i get my hands on some of that stuff??