Mark and Janine's party didn't happen, and BART back to the city would have been crazy so Nicole and I ended up going to Foxes, a bar near them. The place was practically empty when we got there; it was just after 10 and there were maybe 5 others inside. There were 30-40 people by the time midnight approached though.



Our drinks came with a side of condoms (lolwut), and I won a stuffie out of the claw machine. I didn't think I would, since I've never been able to before. Maybe I just needed to be drunk first. I thought it'd be weird to be carrying around a stuffed animal all night, at a bar, on New Year's Eve, but everybody loved it and was impressed I got it out of the machine. Even the security guard. Some guy named it Billy. ( more pics )

It was a fun night, and there was free champagne. Also, I can shake it! A black chick complimented me and danced with me so it must be true. Also also, my outfit was awesome.

Happy 2009!

I can post these now that (almost) everyone has received theirs. Originally, I was only going to make a few and send store-bought ones... but ended up making all of them. And some envelopes too, since I ran out. I can't measure or glue properly, but I can cut straight! Hopefully not many of them got smushed or fell apart too badly.





[x] 006. handmade cards

007/101 completed

Also, thanks deadmantalks, maidenus, and ferrell for your cards!

Thanks dawna, androshd, amoristique, enigma_lab, and danceinacircle!

I also got a card from scaryjeff, but it wont fit on my desk. It's huge and has duct tape & penguins <3

@ Janine, Mark, and Nicole's. & I contributed! I made cranberry sauce, with orange juice. I thought I was going to completely screw it up, that maybe I should have stuck to water. But it came out well :D

( +3 )

There was also much Mirror's Edge (with uh, lots of falling) and Rock Band 2 (my character got 'fitted with roller skates before I left). Thanks for having me over!

愉快的感恩 is Happy Thanksgiving in Chinese. The last character is part of my given name. It means gracious(ness) or something.

I am grateful for my friends, my family, you. I am thankful for my health and having a place to live that I quite enjoy, and a job I still enjoy. (oh god, at Thanksgiving with my family earlier, I kept thinking about how I needed to check the comments so I don't fall behind.)

We went to a gay bar/club for Halloween, and were pretty much the only real girls there. GGs, or Genetic Girls, as we learned from the woman who took this photo of us. Lots of people wanted pictures of us. (& why wouldn't they? Hello, totally adorable!)


( eat me. )

My Alice costume. You can't see in the picture, but I'm wearing a necklace with a bottle labeled "drink me", a black headband with a bow, and Alice BPAL. It's all about the details. The shoes will be swapped out for those 5 inch Mary Janes tonight.

Also, I found a theme song.

And she's lost like Alice
In a painted past
In a looking glass
I see me looking back

Nicole forced us to start planning our Halloween costumes and now we're all super excited and it's not even October yet! Originally, I had been thinking of going as McGee's Alice. The other day, that evolved into "modern day Alice in Wonderland" which would be punk/emo/scene Alice.

I'm going to have a pleated plaid skirt with chains and D-rings, and safety pin on card suit shapes cut from felt. I'll be wearing a little bottle that says "drink me" as a necklace, and carrying a stuffed white rabbit with its eyes pulled out and maybe his head torn off a little too. And of course, Converse sneakers with card suits drawn on with Sharpie, and either arm warmers or a wrist cuff.

My emo/punk/scene Alice is going to be So Awesome. That, or I'm just going to look like I dressed like a 14 year old.

We spent 7 hours shopping today for material for our costumes. Then, when we were at Target and passing by the kids section, Nicole spotted a plaid skirt in blue. I felt totally ridiculous going to the dressing room with something sized Girls 10/12, but it fit! There weren't enough pleats though, and I already bought fabric and buttons and wanted to make my skirt.

I have never been so excited for Halloween, or started on a costume so early. Come on (end of) October!

After indulging in chocolate ice cream cake (co-worker's birthday), gorman, kazwell, and I went to Harvest & Rowe where they were giving away free cookies in celebration of their 5th year. They were out of cookies, but gave us their last two (organic) carrot cupcakes and banana bread. ( nom nom )

Then it was off to find more parks in parking spaces. Including the two from lunch, we found a total of 5. I was hoping to come across one with a pirate ship or something else pirate-themed, something that merged TLAPD with PARK(ing) Day, but no such luck. The one on Mission (between 1st and 2nd) was pretty nice though.
( &me. )

I need to start carrying around a real camera again.

We were looking at Edible Arrangements the other day, which led to my brilliant idea of making my own fruit bouquet as my Christmas contribution (since I didn't have any presents). It looked easy enough; I could de-construct how it was done from looking at the catalog pictures. I also have experience with floral arrangements, and I'm naturally creative – so how hard can it be? My first one will come out awesome.

( gather supplies ) ( cut to shape ) ( assemble onto skewers ) ( insert into 'vase', and... )


Start to finish was about 3 hours, and most of that was the cantaloupe. I am quite happy with the results. ( and so was everyone else :D ) Another merry Christmas this year.

Stress, guilt, running around fighting through throes of people – remind me again why this is supposed to be a happy lovely fun time? And oh yeah, I'm also getting sick the day before Christmas (Eve, which is Christmas with J's family).

( The Originals )
( The Photoshops )
( The Photoshopped )
( The 7 Things )
( The People )
( Some Trivia )
( And a Poll )

Ok, v-gifting time. Thanks for playing! :)

Let's play a game.

(click to enlarge)

There are 7 things here that are different from the original photo. Correctly identify at least 4 and I'll send you a v-gift. The border decorations do not count (that means the lights, tree, text, and pants scrap in Frank's mouth).

Bonus points for getting names correct. Here is a numbered version for referencing.

3 months of paid time to the first person to get all 7.

Answers will be revealed in a new post tomorrow, and comments will be unscreened then.

(v-gifts will be sent out when I get home tonight, or tomorrow.)

• the things I take for granted – being able to walk everyday, having all my limbs intact, that I can still see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel
  
• all the people who care about me so much, including you guys <3
  
• that I still have my mom and my brother, my bf and second family
  
• the roof over my head, and the abundance of great food I've been having (and will be having more of shortly)
  
• having a job I actually enjoy, and co-workers & bosses that are cool

I decided that I am going to do holiday cards this year, because it's been a while. They're going to be handmade and personalized, like the ones I did in 2002.



I've been trying to fill out all the address for cards posts on my friends list, but I think I missed a few. If so, here is my address. You can also send it to the office, since afaik, I'm not going anywhere (far) for the holidays.

also, new userpic.
(it's okay if you don't get it)

This is what I was for Halloween:

same dress, + sword and ninja stars
Photo taken after I got home. I think there are better pictures on other peoples' cameras.

This was the first 4th of July we spent together without fireworks – didn't have our own, didn't watch the city's. But we did see explosions and loud noises – on the movie screen.

I wanted to see Ratatouille, since we still hadn't and there'd be less people, but I was outvoted and Transformers it was. And as expected, it was packed.

( Transformers was awesome. A day out with Mike, not so much. )

I didn't like the end scene though, where Sam and Mikaela are groping each other on the hood of Sam's car, aka Bumblebee. Hello, you're going at it on top of your new friend who is completely aware of it!