(13) Thirteen.. again..

Apparently 13 is a not-so-great number afterall. I had written a short post before NY last weekend, which would have been #13, but I hit "Save as Draft" instead of "Publish Post". bummer. Oh well, not much excitement going on anyway.

NY was good. The train ride was great, way better than the bus. The seats were huge, and I got to plug my computer in to do some work (unfortunately) and watch movies. Friday night, Tim's train was delayed and didn't arrive 'till almost 1:30am. Thanks Carmen for coming to Penn Station to hang out with me while we waited! We stayed at the Holiday Inn near Columbus Circle. Tim's parents arrived on Sat. morning, so we walked around Lincoln Center, had some sushi for lunch, and went shopping at the Time Warner building. We met up with Carmen, Loraine and Justin for dinner at Flor de Mayo; wouldn't be a trip to NY without Flor de Mayo patacones, ropa vieja and some yuca. :) Sunday, we had brunch in Bryant Park (after walking between Times Square and 5th Ave. for a while). I hung out with Carmen and Loraine, went to watch Russian Dolls, while the Chans went to SoHo and more shopping at Time Warner. On Monday, we actually did NY sightseeing and went to the Statue of Liberty. It actually reminded me of being in DC, the whole monument thing. Funny too 'cause my first thought of the statue was the same thought Carmen had of the Washington monument: "I thought it was bigger". :) We didn't get to stop at Ellis Island, 'cause we had to make it back to catch our respective trains to DC and Boston. Pretty exhausting, yet fun, weekend. Good news, no face break out! I tend to get zips after a trip to NY (blame it on the patacones), but not this time! Unfortunately, I probably brought back a pound or two :(

Movie reviews: Russian Dolls, good and funny, though some parts were strange. "The Vertical Ray of the Sun", a vietnamese movie about 3 sisters (though they have one brother too), pretty to watch but strange with no real ending. "God is Great, and I'm not", a french movie with Audrey Tautou, even weirder with strange plot, random flashbacks everywhere, and no ending whatsover!, it even ends with "To be Continued".. aiya, not a sequel I want to watch! So much for trying to add some international flavor to my 'queue'. I think I'm going back to sappy, romantic comedies!

Work has been not-so-exciting (to avoid saying "boring"). There haven't been any exciting projects coming my way, and for a while now, I feel "cursed" because any projects that they try to involve me in, hasn't worked out. Back in Dec., they said my next couple of months would be busy because of these projects they were bidding for, which we ended up not winning any. Then, the one that I almost got to work on, started right when I had to be out. I recently helped on a proposal, which one day they said "oh wait, don't work on it anymore, we might not bid for it now" (though we did keep working on it and it is being submitted tomorrow). Add to that another project where I thought I would play a bigger role; today, they cut my hours/contribution by more than half, with no travel (not that Connecticut is exciting, but at least it's somewhere!).

More random thoughts..

The worst thing about living alone is cooking for myself. I either cook too little and end up hungry an hour later, or I cook too much which cannot be split in two because it would be little portions for two meals. And I don't like having leftovers that last for more than one meal. Even trying to be good about saving money and not eating out, when I take my lunch to work, I end up hungry by 3pm, so I try to bring more, which ends up being too much.. I can't win. I think this (and the fact that I haven't been to the gym, shame on me) is why I've gained back the weight I lost for the wedding and post-surgery. I think I have to go back to pretending it's Lent and lay off the soda, fries and sweets (no red meat is hard and I shouldn't be too harsh). Today, I tried to eat avocado with chop-sticks.. didn't quite work.

I was reading some friends' blog. One of them is getting married in less than a month and he's been posted about how he's not as excited as he (and everyone around him) feels he should be. I feel for him, probably just nervous. But, just like another friend posted in response to his blog, I'm so excited about going to his wedding! It's my first non-family wedding, and it should be fun :) I also liked her blog post because she talks about how she's living alone in a new city, and the thought of seeing friends and even the small outings are exciting events. I must say I feel like that too. I can't wait until next Wednesday, fly to Boston and go to graduation! Not so much the whole ceremony, 'cause that's not a big deal, but I even picked out my outfit for the day, and just happy to go to Boston to see and hang out with friends. I even have plans to go visit the Booz Allen office in Boston, to meet people and see if I can get involved in the work they do. Then, Vancouver at the end of the month, super excited! Vacation time with Tim, get to dress up for two weddings, and just hang out. Even the excitement of getting shoes for the dresses got me hyped. I have to make sure I have other things planned after this one, 'cause otherwise I would be totally bummed..

Speaking of weddings, my next random thought, I went back to thinking of how much fun it would be to do a registry. Even though I'm sure money is a more practical gift to ask for, making a list of things I would love to have from places like Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma, even Target sometimes, sounds fun! I think it's because there are things that I wouldn't get even if I had the money to buy it, but think it's cool enough to have and make people buy for you :)

Think that's it. I had other random things in my head when I was cooking and eating dinner, but I can't remember anymore. Oh well, this has been a long post anyway.

Stay tune for big news this weekend.. I was just going to say "Good night, dear void", but I think I'll post the whole quote as it fits well right now:

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but circumscribed. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void."