Out of Cortex

Something Blue: Teresa's Bridal Shower!

Yesterday, we (the bridesmaids) hosted Teresa's Bridal Shower at my house.  Her wedding colors are Tiffany Blue and silver, so of course our theme was a "Something Blue"  tea-party! We all brought big hats and made it a sort of Kentucky Derby-esque tea party. I just wish we had long white gloves or something too. Anyway, Karisa and Kelly came over around 9 am so we could start making and plating the food. It turns out that Karisa made so many delicious things by hand: chocolate covered strawberries, sugar-candy sprinkled cake-pops, chewy rice-crispies treats, and brownies for the dessert table. She also made apple-tuna salad and egg salad fillings for our sandwiches. Kelly bought all the other supplies (bread which she de-crusted) and cheese and meats. I provided most of the platters and plating, in addition to table cloths and such. We got to work putting the sandwiches and finger food together (veggie plate, lox-and-cream cheese over crackers with capers, sliced fruit) and plated. 

We had croissants and cookies and other baked items to add to the mix. We also made a giant batch of lemonade and also tea, with different flavored jams on the side to sweeten the tea to our liking. Cheryl and Mary arrived later and started decorating with balloons, colored lanterns that I bought, and all these adorable table decorations. We had floating candles with vases lined in Tiffany-blue ribbons, blue flower petals, blue floating crystals, streamers, blue napkins with silverware and little fake engagement rings tied on, bags of candy, and little bottles of alcohol wrapped in blue. I had purchased a Tiffany-blue vase and several boquets of flowers, in addition to some pink potted plants. The whole thing came together really nicely and the overall effect was just adorable! We had about three hours to get it done, and we made it exactly at noon, when the first guests started to arrive. It was such a team effort, and we were all pretty beat afterward. 

Of course, Barley wanted to help us the whole time (help us clean off the plates, that is). He vaccumed the floor by inhaling any and all real and imaginary crumbs he could find. He lucked out when a croissant fell to the ground. He covered the five feet of distance between him and the croissant in one second and scarfed down that thing in another second. It was amazing (and upsetting) to behold. Anyway, when the guests started filing in, we let them eat and socialize. Then we herded them outside to play some games and enjoy the sun! We started by making bridal gowns from tissue, with Teresa as the judge for best gown, taking into consideration style and also fit and construction. Mary, Cheryle and I won the prize! Ours was definitely the most well-constructed because it was the only one that didn't seem to be falling apart when the models hit the "cat-walk." 

The sun was getting hotter, so we all crowded under the shade and sipped our lemonade while Karisa put up a poster board and had us play a wedding version of pictionary. We were divided into three teams and had to send forth an artist to draw whatever phrase or words they pulled out of a bag. We had to guess things like "til death do us part", "flower girl", "father of the bride", and "shotgun wedding". Our team, including Kelly, Mary, Janice, and Annie won. Woohoo! I can't help it. Sometimes I have a bit of a competitive streak. And the prize? The coveted little bottles of alcohol, of course.  

Then, as it was getting quite hot, we headed inside for the final game. This time, each guest got to read one question from a list of 40+ questions Karisa had asked my brother to answer. (Things like: What's your favorite color? Purple. What's the bride's best feature? Smile. What's your dream car? Aston Marten Vanquish. When was your first kiss? age 14. What was your favorite meal cooked for you by Teresa? Shrimp and angel hair pasta. Etc.) Anyway, we got through 20 questions, and Teresa got 8 right (they were hard questions.) For each question she got wrong, she had to chew a piece of her favorite gum. By the end, there was huge lump of gum in her mouth and she no longer thought it was her favorite flavor anymore.  

After this mild form of torture, we got to what probably was the bride-to-be's favorite part: opening presents! She got some sexy lingerie, pretty picture frames, cute clothes, and spa gift cards among other things. It was really cute to see the thought people put into the gifts. 

Well, good job team-bridemaids! I think the whole thing was very successful. It took over a hundred back-and-forth emails, flights into San Jose from Los Angeles for several of you, quite a bit of shopping and prepping, and of course the work we put in on the day off. I'm so glad it worked out and that Teresa had a good time. I'm looking forward to the actual day of the wedding! It's going to be a blast. 

To cap off a busy day? We had a family Mother's Day dinner with my grandma and aunt, my uncle and other aunt, my cousin Veronica, Teresa and her mom, my brother, mother, and I. Then we went home to pick up all the extra food left over from the Bridal Shower to bring to Albert's house to celebrate his birthday! The last time I had been there, his backyard was just dirt. This time, he had installed a patio, a fire trough, a mini golf green (only three holes, but still!), and a basketball court (well, half-court). It was amazing, and there were these beautiful plants growing everywhere. Of course, there was some extreme mini-gold trick shotting, knock-out basketball games, beer pong, beer hockey, and birthday drinks all around. It was good seeing everyone again!

Everyone was tuckered out by the end, but it was definitely the end of a long but wonderful day. I wish Mike could have been there! It turns out that when I finally got home from work, he was still up, having worked the whole night. Poor guy. Sigh. Either way, glad the day was a success. Cheers, until next time! 

Staying Connected

The biggest struggle I face each day is trying to find time to keep my relationships going.  I tend to be consumed by my work and any time I have a moment, I usually have to fill it with family obligations. Some of those obligations are fun and some of them are not. But overall, it is a very draining thing on my other relationships. I realize I have spent very little time with non-family friends and I haven't reached out to the people I care about in the Bay Area. I was really happy when Chris suggested a happy hour get-together, but I was also saddened because he and Amanda are moving to Bakersfield where he found work. Still, it was really good seeing them! We went to Single Barrel and then headed out to Japantown for food, which ultimately led to some kareoke.  And I met some of Amanda's co-workers, who are just a riot! But then guess what? Mike texted me and told me that I had to drive myself home (Chris was going to drop me off). Why? Because he was coming for a surprise weekend visit after our rather unsatisfying and unfortunate weekend last time. It was the BEST surprise ever!

We didn't really DO much when Mike came to visit.  We actually finished playing BioShock Infinite (which was just amazing and wonderful and strange and elusive... and although I think the ending for the first BioShock was much more satisfying, Irrational Games really did a fantastic job grappling with very difficult concepts and making it come to life through the medium of video games! Just amazing).  Anyway, we decided to treat ourselves to a very fancy dinner at Dio Deka.  Mike had the filet mignon and I had the halibut, and everything was delicious. Their pita spreads were awesome, and of course Mike was really in the mood for an entire bowl of black olives (weirdo), but I have to tell you, the thing that stuck out most to me was the greek yoghurt with rhubarb and poppy-seed cake. It was tangy, sweet, complex, textured... wonderful. The next day, we spent some time just lounging in the sun and taking Barley for a walk. We also indulged in a little guilty pleasure by eating some too-sweet cupcakes from Kara's! Then, like good and responsible adults, we did work together until it was time for Mike to get on the plan for his flight home. 

It's always so sad to say goodbye, and a part of me has come to hate the airport for that very reason. But it also provides us a means of seeing each other (at a very high cost). Sigh. The more I think / thought about it, the more overwhelming the distance seems / seemed. It's immature and silly to say "Oh, no one else understands" and that's not what I mean. But I do feel like Mike and I do best when we're together. And it's special, I think, to find a best friend in your future spouse. I think it's the best kind of relationship, and there is definitely some luck involved. So despite all the factors against our favor, we found each other. Doesn't it just stink to have to be apart? 

So I decided I had to go down to LA. I  was in the middle of my trial, and I had SO much work to do. But part of me just felt too drained to care: I wanted to spend time, even if just at meal times, relaxing with my best friend. I told my supervisor I was going to LA to see my fiance (he thought I said "Beyonce" and got really excited for me). He told me as long as I was able to do work that I ought to go, and that was all the affirmation I needed. It was GREAT getting off the plane and seeing Mike there, although I was sleep deprived and nonsensical at times (I could barely follow conversation the night I landed, as I hadn't gotten much sleep at all in the week before, and I lost so much weight from stress and lack of food  --- I just didn't have time! So I was a wreck when I first got off the plane). Mike was so patient and laughed off my non-responsive, trailing answers to his rather simple questions. We had Pitfire Pizza with drinks and I slept for a full night for the first time in about five days. It was wonderful.  And then we spent the rest of the weekend working! We had lovely meal-breaks and tried some new food in the Sawtelle area (yum, I haven't had okonomiyaki in so long!).

Mike had to try the Seoul Sausage place on Sawtelle, after we ate dinner already! But hey, sometimes you have to indulge yourself. It was SO GOOD seeing Mike. I needed the recharge. And although my trial did not go as planned these last two days, I did the best I could. I wondered for a second if my going to LA affected the outcome of my trial and my performance. I discarded that idea. If anything, I think it helped me recharge to prepare for the fight for closing and rebuttal. And like some of my co-workers told me, if you wait to travel or enjoy life when you're less busy, then you'll never travel or enjoy life, because you will ALWAYS be busy. I need to strike this balance better, see more people outside of work, and take a moment to breathe. I hope all my friends and family are finding the time to do so as well. Cheers! 

Shake, Shake, Shake it!

Work is stressful but I am trying to find a balance. One way to do so is to remind me of things that make me happy and to find things that make me laugh. In this case, I stumbled upon... SHAKING DOGS!  I watched a National Geographic (or Animal Planet) spot on dogs and how they shake off water and they rotate their heads something like 180 degrees in the process. You can kind of see that in action here! 

Tell me that isn't adorable! Well, I think it's awesome. Dogs are so funny and the best part is they really don't mean to be (so I feel kind of evil for laughing at their unfortunate-ness, but whatever, because I LOVE them). Find more here!  Love dogs!

 

Omelette from Madeline Sharafian on Vimeo.

 Also, in random other news: Pantone has a new color of the year --- Emerald! Interesting, right? I do love green though. And orange. Just not really together... Although maybe Mike and my wedding will be a mix, because we're thinking orange bridesmaid dresses (not putrid horrible orange, but tangerine and rust) and grey suits with soft orange ties? Flowers can be a mix of orange and pale pastels, like champagne and such, with soft green succulents to accent the orange? Summer colors? Thoughts? 

 

Anyway, I am finding a way to get to LA this weekend... I really hope it happens. I am looking for affordable tickets... Let's hope it happens, and that if I go to trial, I will be ready by Monday! Cheers!

The Saddest Collision (without serious injury)

This weekend started off great. It's been tough being long-distance when we're both really stressed out and tired, and have so little time to keep in touch/talk. But this weekend, Mike decided that three weeks was high time for another visit. So he flew up late on Friday night for the weekend! Costs are crazy right now for last minute tickets...Last time, I tried to get tickets, and it was almost $500. Sadly, not the whole weekend was great. In fact, most of the weekend was subdued. We had gone to lunch in San Pedro Square and hung out by the Peralta Adobe, which is from the 1800s (one of the last vestiges of that era in San Jose). Then we went to my office to get some work so we could work together at home. I ended up doing about an hour or so of stuff in the office before grabbing files to go. Then we got some coffee at Blue Rock Shoot in Saratoga, as we were both kind of sleepy. When we got home, it was almost exactly 2:30 pm. As I'm turning into my drive way...BAM!

Someone rear-ended my beautiful brand new Volvo! I am SO heartbroken about it! And my mom keeps saying it'll never be the same, which made me even sadder, but Mike comforted me and said that it might just be cosmetic damage. I really hope so... The car is sitting in my garage right now, and I can't even bring myself to look at it (the pictures below were taken by my mom and brother, and even now I'm barely squinting at them as I write this post). At least my trusty car saved me from real serious injury, as I think it would have been worse if the Volvo wasn't such a tank. So I'm lucky, I think.

I know it looks scary just by looking at the other party's car. And yes, I got strecher-ed to the hospital (the firemen were comforting and making me laugh...they were AMAZING.) But to be fair, I think the guy's car is worse off than mine. He's just some kid who just turned 18 and got his first (used) car. He drove poorly and probably wasn't paying attention to where he was going. I was signaling for about 20-30 feet away. I probably didn't even see me. Anyway, right after he slammed into us (maybe going 30 mph?), I told Mike my neck hurt. I had tried to turn over my left shoulder and had a sharp shooting pain. So Mike told me to stop moving and he jumped out of the car, yelled at the kid to provide insurance information / and id, and got things moving on that end. As I was right outside my house and my brother was visiting, I called my brother and he came out. He called 911, and the rest is history. And like I said, the firemen/EMTs were so nice! But the stretcher, not so much.  They had to strap me to it, and it was an awful, horrible, painfully stiff board in case I had some sort of spinal injury. They were so nice and professional though. The police man was a little gruffer, but  I didn't deal with him as I was being interviewed for me injury. The ER was similarly horrible and uncomfortable, despite all the nice staff. Titus took my X-rays and Dr. Mello prescribed me some Valium (didn't take it, because Valium incapacitates me and makes me too drowsy). What bad luck! This is the second time Mike and I have been in an accident together, and it's always with some good news (in this case Mike's visit) and bad news (the accident). Ugh. (Wait, I just realized, it was 4-20...do you think the kid was high?! Marijuana DUI!) Anyway, we had to tie up my exhaust with a string because it was hanging low. I am SO SAD!!!

Anyway, later that night, we just stayed at home and Mike played some Bioshock. We were totally unproductive with work. The next day, we just rested and tried to get some work done. My neck and shoulders were aching the whole time (it's getting increasingly painful). Sigh. Work is so stressful already, I really didn't need this accident to happen either. Sometimes I can't even eat! I've been skipping meals because there is so much to do and I just forget to eat lunch. There really are not enough hours in the day. I think I should make some of these treats-made-in-mugs for lunch?!  But what I want most isn't food but rest. I saw this photo of this cat that my friend took and I am SO jealous...Either way, Mike is amazing and despite all the work he could have been doing, he stopped working partway through the early evening and took me on a mini-date to Los Gatos where we ate a leisurely dinner and walked around the cute little town. Of course we made a stop at Powell's, where Mike bought some candy as we relished in the nostalgia of old school packaging (which era do you think had the best candy?!). The flowers were blooming, the romantic lights were lit, and the night was mild. I felt a wee bit better... until I took Mike to the airport. Then everything seemed crappy again! 

Oh well. At least there are good things to look forward to, as long as I can make them happen! Like Cinqo de Mayo and weddings! I wish I can make it to Maggie's shin-dig, as I might have trial. And I definitely hope I can make it to Bri and Mark's wedding! 

Anyway, despite a sadly wasted weekend when I could otherwise have had some amazing quality time with Mike, at least no one is really hurt. I am sore and strained my neck/back, and Mike's left shoulder back is also sore, but we're safe and that's what counts. Obviously, no matter how stressful our jobs are, at least they aren't hazardness in the traditional sense...although, I guess Mike is really getting strained by his hours and the high-pressure environment. I've never seen him actually depressed and persistently sad before, so this is taking some getting used to. And then I find myself asking, why do we need to get used to this?! Hopefully things get better soon, or we get accustomed to our schedules, because never seeing each other doesn't help. Thanks for coming to visit, Mike. I know it wasn't fun and actually the events may have caused you more anxiety than had you stayed in LA, but I really loved seeing you, despite everything. Here's hoping that it all works out...Until next time! 

A Day Off

My dad is visiting from Shanghai again! He was in New York for a conference, and while he's all the way State-side, he also made an appointment to do a follow-up check up about his heart condition. (Everything looks fine, but his doctor emphasized --- he MUST quit smoking. Don't get me started on how many years I've told him that. Ok, I'll just say ever since I learned he smoked when I was maybe three years old. But he seems rather earnest now about quitting...so we'll see.) Anyway, one of the things he craved was to eat at Crawdaddy. I know, it's not the best for his heart but I think I wouldn't mind him eating more sodium to get his mind off the cigarettes. I also decided I would take the whole day off on Saturday and not do any work. I had wanted to try to fly to LA, even though my dad was here, to see Mike. But the tickets ended up being about $500! So we decided it wasn't worth it, in conjunction with my dad being here. Ah, a mini-vacation (sort of...)! 

Because it was my day off, I decided to really do NOTHING. After dinner, my parents and grandma ran some errands, and my brother and Teresa did as well. What did I do? Oh, you know, I sat in the sun in my yard with Barley and bee-watched. No, it's a thing. Trust me. And if it wasn't before, it is now! The bees were awesome. Ever since I watched that documentary on vanishing bees, I've been worried about bees dying off. But I saw something to spark some hope in that bees were just flourishing in my backyard, especially around this lilac bush! It was great to hear them buzzing busily around and pollenating the flowers diligently. They're so fuzzy and cute! And scary...because I am terrified of being stung. So I gave them respectful distance while still trying to get some closeups. Not too bad, right? And look how lovely our flowers are now! Thank you, bees.

 

Later that night, all I did was eat dinner and hang out with family. Quite the contrast to the busy bees...But it was fine with me. This whole stressful week (ugh, potential trials that didn't end up going!) through to Friday night, when I went to this APALSA networking event with all these Asian lawyers, I've just been tuckered out. So I was completely unproductive on Saturday! This morning, I took a hike with my Dad, Barley, Teresa and my brother. It's been awhile since my dad exerted himself physically, but I think it was good for him. He was panting more than Barley in his fur coat when we were going uphill, but by the end of the uphill parts, he was quite enjoying himself, what with the shade and all that. The weather was just GLORIOUS. 

For once my dad didn't (jokingly) say Barley was useless. Instead, he kept praising Barley for helping my dad make it up the uphill parts! Barley dragged my dad most of the way up and my dad really relied on the extra help. So we ended up making it without any problems, and Barley got quite the work out. I also checked him for ticks and.... victory! No ticks to be seen. I hope I didn't just miss them because they haven't gorged on his blood yet. Ick. We had lunch at Sweet Tomato with the rest of the family, and then I picked up two tubs of files from work. I worked the rest of the afternoon while my brother and Teresa worked on filling out / sending their invitations to their wedding. I opened the window in Mike's guest room in the front of our house to let in the breeze and to work there in the peace and quiet. And the breeze brought in the sweet, beautiful smell of orange blossoms. I went outside to soak in it and I saw...MORE BEES! They were awesome, and the blossoms were so fragrant! I love spring so much.

After working the rest of the day, we had dinner at a Korean restaurant. The food was great, but I am experiencing quite the food coma right now. But hey, it's good to splurge every so often. Health is a concern for my parents, but we tried to watch their food intake while still letting them try a little of everything. I can tell my dad misses these dinners and being around family. He told me he wants to come home during the first quarter of next year...after his company (SMIC) hits a big milestone (28 Nanometers!). I hope he doesn't stay to try to work on 14 nanometers...but either way, I think it's nearly time for him to really retire...

Well, it was great seeing my dad. He is flying back to Shanghai tomorrow, after spending about 5 or 6 days at home. It was good seeing him!!  I am going to go spend some more itme with him tonight but... I have to say: I'll miss you, Dad! Be safe and take care of yourself. See you next time! ...and it's off to work tomorrow again. Sigh. Have a nice week everyone! Cheers.