1. daily QT
2. Finish reading the Bible
3. Exercise
4. Save money
5. Learn to play the guitar
6. Learn to cook
7. Learn to apply make up
8. Read one book per month
9. Wake up earlier
10. Take better care of myself!
Happy new year!
happy new years eve!!!
we meant to get breakfast at normas and pick up some levain, but we didnt wake up until 11. eek.
we ate leftover halal for lunch, and then wasted an hour or two taking silly polaroid pictures. we made our way to times square to line up with the best of them. by 4pm, we were situated on the corner of broadway and 48th, ready to ring in the new year.. only 8 hours to go….!
at 6pm, they raised the ball. and every so often, the performers practiced their numbers, and guest hosts would share their new years resolutions. grayson chance, kesha, taio cruz, backstreet boys, and new kids on the block! me, sun, haej, and a million other crazy people celebrated the new year watching the ball drop from one times square. it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.. it was fun, im glad i went, but i would never do it again :)
after midnight, we went to get a well deserved chicken and rice. we ate halal for 4 meals in a row. hahaha ahhh yum. we took the food back to my apartment. right when we got off the bus in front of my apartment, we saw a girl yelling at a guy, saying “you were with another girl!” all of a sudden, another guy ran past us, toward trhe group of people sanding in front of the entrance to my building, and pushed a girl down. then, another guy went after that guy. then a cop ran and broke up the party. we rushed past the crowd and pushed the “close door” button on the elevator several time, way more than necessary. we ate our halal in delight, and partied it up.
to a happy 2011 :)
i successfully wrote an entry for every day of 2010! that would be one of my resolutions completed!! i guess that brings an end to my xanga days.. happy new year!
i thought that i would be getting a half day at work, but…. i didnt. sad face. i went shopping during lunch and bought myself some flats. 2/3 of my coworkers were gone by 2pm, and the other 1/3 were drinking behind closed doors. from 5-6 i sat at my desk waiting. i didnt even have any work to do, but i couldnt leave until 6. so, i sat there and played angry birds. at 6, i ran out the door and met jenny sun and haej at uniqlo in soho. we parted ways with zenny and went uptown to serendipity. we got there at 730, and there was a 3-4 hour wait. they told us to come back at 1030.
we stopped by dylans candy store to take mandatory tourist pictures, took more pictures at rockefeller, and ate dinner at bill’s bar and burger.
we returned to serendipity, ordered the frozen hot chocolate, forbidden broadway sundae, and earl grey.
then we stopped by the empire state building, 230 5th rooftop bar, the ace hotel, halal cart, and then back home after a long, fun, eventful day!
went to work. jenny met me at my office at 6. we went to gap, which was having a sale, 50% off all sale items. yay! then we went to penn station, bought popcorn from garrett’s, and picked up sun and haejin!! they dropped off their luggage at my office, and then we went for dinner at lombardis.
the bartender fell in love with haejin, offered to take our picture for us, called her a princess, gave her a free drink, visited her at our table in the middle of dinner, and gave her a free keychain. whoa. work it haej! after dinner, we went back to my apartment to pick up their luggage. i almost fell in the slush 3 times. sun saved my life each time. thanks! we went back to my apartment, and sun gave me presents!!
from sun
from euni
from lxo jane gina
thanks friends!!!! <3
i found out that yesterday was a snow day. meaning that i got paid for my day off :) huzzah! my coworker wasnt there that day, so i had to get some things done without her, which meant the attorneys actually acknowledged my existence. im also incredibly annoyed with 2 coworkers who are always not working and speaking loudly about their newborn babies, at what time they breastfeed, and why you need to feed babies yellow vegetables before green ones. ughhh. id rather listen to raggaetone. ughhhhh! after work i went to a ups store to get fingerprinted for my volunteer mentoring program that is starting in february. i bought myself cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. la la la la.
best sleep of my life. i woke up around 11am. i had requested work off because i thought friends were flying in, but their flights had been canceled because of the blizzard. so, i slept in, and then left to meet jenny in soho around 1. i had the most difficult time walking around… the snow was insane, the wind was ridiculous, and basically, all natural elements were insane asylum status.
cafe habana, like most other stores, was closed. so we ended up eating lunch at the closest available restaurant with an open sign. we ate at peels, on bowery, and it was just nice to get out of the snow.
we went back towards soho and spent a few hours, it felt like, at topshop.
went to madewell, ate tea and scones at alices tea cup, stopped by levain, and met jennys brother charles, for dinner at pio pio on the upper west side. we split a bottle of pinot noir, and embarrassingly enough, i was significantly buzzed and super red after just one glass. meh.
happy birthday to me!
hannah came downstairs again to wake me up. we were wearing near matching pjs! they were both red, hers with white snowflakes, and mine with white stars.
i went upstairs and saw that valerie had decorated for my birthday! (thanks!) hannah gave me a birthday princess headband, and ray made me a special latte that read “25.” i also got a breakfast cupcake and a carebear candle to blow out. well, to watch being blown out by josh, charlotte, and then hannah. i packed up my things, said farewell to the kiddies, and my brother took me to the bus stop. it started snowing a tiny bit on the way to the bus station, and jenny called me to say that the blizzard was in full effect in ny. the bus was once again packed, but this time i wasnt crammed next to an oversized person with no sense of personal space. so, big improvement there! the 4 hour bus ride consisted of listening to my ipod, reading my current book “kafka on the shore”, and eating the adorable lunch that my brother had packed for me! the bus ride took an extra 2 hours due to the blizzard. im just grateful that my bus made it back to ny at all, and safely too! when i got off the bus, i was only outside for about 45 seconds before going into penn station. i was covered in snow!!!! ahhh wonderful!!! for now, this blizzard is amazing!!! i went home to unpack and check my mail. more goodies for me!
thanks for the cards and presents!
i rushed out to meet jenny at columbus circle for dinner. we ate at landmarc, played in the snow, and said farewell by 10pm. this was by far, the most tame birthday i have possibly ever had. hmmm… cant help but think how different it would have been if i had still been in LA.
though it took some nudging, i decided to look at this from a positive angle. i am grateful that i have family close enough to depend on, friends who remain close (despite distance), parents who love me more and more every year, a brother who looks out for me, a God that provides, and an opportunity to explore a new city, with new friends and new challenges.
oh, and of course, wise words of encouragement from my dear brother.
so, happy 25th birthday to me! i am blessed 
merry christmas! hannah came downstairs to wake me up bright and early and told me that santa had brought them presents. i went upstairs with her and everyone was around the tree, ready to rip open their presents.
josh asked me which pirate this belonged to. i had no idea.. i was wondering which pirate had a hook. duh. captain hook. completely slipped my mind. and then of course sent this to sepideh, because thats the kind of thing she would appreciate :) the kids opened their presents from santa and it was a battlefield. there was so much wrapping paper, the floor has disappeared. hannah and charlotte got a go go my waking puppy, and josh got a bug making kit. when they got to opening the presents that i had gotten for them, i was nervous. i got them books…. yeah, im that kind of aunt. i had watched a youtube video the night before, about a 3 year old who gets a book for christmas. his response? “what the heck is this, a book for christmas?” ahhhh. at best, i was hoping the kids would look at the book and toss it aside and make their wayt to the next pile of gifts. at worst i was expecting them to cry and tell me i was their least favorite aunt. luckily, my nieces and nephews are little smarties and happen to like books :) hannah got a rapunzel look and find book, charlotte got a rapunzel sticker book, and josh got a lego sticker book. they seemed pretty happy with them, so yay! after the present opening event, i went back to sleep… for 3 hours. when i woke up around noon , i found out that it had been snowing, and i had completely missed it. sad face. the next few hours consisted of a little bit of cleaning up, dressing the kids up real cute, and my brother cooking a christmas feast. we also skyped with chris abnd jung to check in on their first christmas tree. their decorations are even worse than mine!! ahaha. so so sad. around 5, i watched the first quarter of the lakers heat game. again, sad face. ugh and those shoes!!! i blame the shoes for their miserable performance! i went upstairs and saw that valeries parents and sister had arrived. we were waiting on valeries brother, his wife, and two kids to arrive for dinner. dinner was delicious! (thanks brother!)
i sat between hannah and charlotte, the best seat in the house. hannah made us all adorable name tags to enforce the seating assignments. we ate prime rib, sweet potatoes, potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, salad, fried shrimp, and spanish wine. yum!
we played games with the kids, and after all their sugar, they started going a little nuts. everyone left, the kids went to sleep, and i went downstairs to the basement. i watched elf. i love love elf. then… i made a bad decision and watched that awful nicholas cage movie, knowing. gahh. so terrible! i got really scared. so scared, i had to call sarah to distract myself from the creatures i thought were lurking in the shadows. and then… i went to sleep.
Merry christmas eve! Woken up by hannah and charlotte as they were jumping on my bed. Valerie made me pancakes for breakfast and ray made me coffee :) thanks!
The kids got to open the presents that uncle chris bought them, so we played with squinkies, mighty beanz, and a teacup pig!
We went to a christmas eve service at grace community and the kiddies sat with us during service. Hannah sat next to me, and covered my mouth when I was singing. That’s just how tone deaf I am. Sad but true. We came back from church, played with more toys, and did a little prep work for christmas.
We opened the presents in our stockings, I got candy and a dvd! Given the super short notice that I would be joining them for christmas, I think valerie made me an amazing stocking! Then we ate dinner while watching charlie brown christmas. I wrapped presents, watched the holiday on tv, and that was pretty much it! Quite a difference from christmas eve last year. I forget what I did during the day, but I remember going to watch the midnight screening of sherlock holmes with some church friends :)
good tines 