pancakes

I'm pretty sure that my boyfriend has made me breakfast more than the rest of my ex-boyfriends combined. I love waking up and being told to keep snoozing in bed until the pancakes are ready.

unmanic sunday

Perfect weather on a Sunday, lazy picnic in a park, lazy TV at home, and Monday is a holiday.

forecast

Dare I say that summer has made it to California, just in time for Memorial Day weekend (and a random picnic tomorrow)? It's a little bit late this year, but today was absolutely gorgeous.

number three

Also, my sister had her third kid today. I'm happy for her, since she wanted one more kid and also wanted to stop being pregnant, and I'm even happier for myself, because I don't want to be pregnant or have a kid, and so far, so good.

tmi

There's nothing quite like a good zit pop.

yay

It's a holiday weekend, I bought new flip flops that replace a pair I loved that I thought could never be replaced, the sun is out, and I'm going to get a pedicure and finish reading a brainless fluff novel.

date night

Meeting a couple of law school friends for drinks after work tonight, and we're going to a tapas place where I always order lots of datiles endiablados -- "devilled" dates: filled with chorizo and wrapped in bacon. Yum.

Also, I decided to return all but one pair of the shoes that showed up yesterday, but I ended up ordering another thirteen pairs to try out. They'll come in the next day or two, and even though I'll return almost all of them, that still means that there will be more exciting packages and shoe parties.

shoe party

In anticipation of a friend's wedding, in which I am a bridesmaid, I went online to shop for shoes that will go with the dress I'll be wearing (wearing jeans and sneakers to work every day is awesome, but it means that I'm often woefully under-equipped for fancier occasions). Zappos and Endless both do overnight shipping and free returns, so twelve (yes, twelve) pairs of shoes showed up at my office today, and a few of my female coworkers (and a couple of male coworkers who probably wouldn't admit to it) and I took a few minutes out of our day to have a little shoe party to judge the contenders and make a first-pass thinning of the herd from twelve pairs down to four. I'm limiting myself to keeping two pairs, so there are two more eliminations to go. I am also having a small personal celebration, because it turns out that one of the styles I picked is a near twin for a Jimmy Choo shoe that costs ten times as much as what I paid. 

This shoe party was brought to you by cheap shoes, online shopping, overnight shipping, and fun coworkers.

recommendation

Today, I got to look at a recommendation a friend is writing for a college student who is applying for a scholarship for medical school. I remember reading the recommendations I got from teachers and professors when I was applying for college and law school, and hearing some of the things my mentors and bosses said when I was applying for jobs, and it's such a warm, fuzzy feeling to read or hear someone list out all of the reasons they believe you will succeed. This is the first time I've been on the other end of the recommendation (although only indirectly), and it really was a pleasure to read through all these wonderful things that my friend wrote about the student, and try to come up with ways to make them sound even better.

sunny sunday

I slept in this morning, after having a shockingly good dinner at a nearby restaurant last night (who knew that they could do molecular gastronomy in the suburbs??). We arranged to have lunch with a good friend, and while we were waiting for him to come over, I had a brief chat with a couple of my best friends about possible plans to get together this summer. Lunch was at a nearby cafe where everyone goes when the sun comes out, and we immediately scored a great table, which was completely unexpected. We ate and basked in the sun for two hours, and then I came home and took a long and satisfying nap. This is what Sundays were made for.

jasmine

A friend from Zurich stayed with me last night, on her way through California, and we went out to dinner and then came back to my place to have some people over for cocktails and Rock Band. This morning, we woke up early (for me), so I could drop her off at the train station. I got home and took a nap that felt even better than if I had slept straight through the morning. Then I took my dog on a walk (which I rarely do, but it was sunny out, and I thought we might enjoy it).

I forgot that it's jasmine season! I love the smell of jasmine, and it proliferates here, so as you walk down the street, you might get a sudden whiff of fresh jasmine if the sun is warming the flowers and the breeze is blowing the the right direction.

surprise

I'm usually a planner, in that I like having a general idea of what my schedule is going to look like, so that I can mentally prepare myself for the tough things, and look forward to the good things. Even so, a good surprise is fun every now and then. I was on a call this morning, and my sister pinged me to see if I was free for lunch -- she'll be bringing my niece down to my office, and we'll have lunch. She's about 14 months pregnant, and we've both been really busy lately, so this may be the last time I hang out with her outside of her house for a while, so it's a happy surprise. It's a gorgeous day, and my sister is coming to lunch :)

recovering

safe

I took my dog to the vet to get his teeth cleaned today. Dogs have to go under general anesthesia to get their teeth cleaned, and you leave the dog there all day. I was a little bit anxious, and felt his absence under my desk all day, especially after the vet called to say two teeth had to come out. I've never been so happy to see my dog after a short separation as when I went to pick him up today. He's groggy and gap-toothed, but he got a clean bill of health and much better breath. Even a few hours' absence makes the heart grow fonder.

closer

I love when lots of work pays off at the same time. Fourteen of my deals closed today. Fourteen! Weeks of work all came together in one day.

monday morning

I mentioned before that there were some exciting new snacks at work. I didn't see them again for some time, so a week or so ago, when I ran into the guy who stocks our snacks, I asked him if there were anymore. He said he'd keep an eye out for them, and then I promptly forgot about it.

This morning, he stopped by my desk with a box of cashews made by the same brand, which was super-nice and completely unexpected. I asked if I could take a few before he stocked the kitchen, and he said they were all for me! All fifteen bags!

It was so nice of him, and I'm looking forward to trying them out. They aren't the exact same snack, but I'm sure they'll be tasty, and it totally made my day.

tipang

My favorite dish of all time is my mom's Chinese pork roast. I'm trying to make it tonight. The pork has to simmer for a few hours, so the whole house smells of pork and memories of all of the pork I've had in the past. Yum.

junk in the trunk

Because we get free meals and snacks at work, I rarely go to the grocery store to buy things, but once in a while, I'll go to the store to pick up a few things, and I'll buy some random junk food that they don't stock at work, and it somehow becomes very exciting. Cheetos and Pepperidge Farms cookies (especially the Brussels variety) have never found such a loving home as in my belly.

quack attack

When my dog gets excited, like when we're getting ready to go to work, or I'm getting a treat for him, he runs around in fast, ecstatic circles.When he's really excited, like when my boyfriend comes over, he starts making an odd little quacking noise and waving his front paws in the air while doing his happy circle dance. When he is so excited that he's about to explode, like when my boyfriend comes and brings his dog, he starts yelping and quacking and whining like some sort of alien duck in distress, and his circle dance is so punctuated with paw-waving that he looks like he's doing a bad impression of a rearing stallion. It's pretty awesome.

food folks and fun

It was girls' night last night. We had fourteen people out for sushi for dinner, and then fifteen people came over to my place for wine, snacks, and games, and six people stayed for a sleepover and breakfast. Even though we're all grown up with real jobs, it's still so much fun to play goofy games like Cranium and Celebrity.