I'm in Portland today---this is the first time in my life that I'm not in Kansas for Thanksgiving (my parents aren't even there). Jigna & Matt invited me & Pierre down to celebrate this holiday with Matt's family....I'm really looking forward to it as I've never had the opportunity to have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My family has always just shown up at the Wongs, around 6 or 7pm with lots of Chinese dishes. Lately, we've incorporated some sliced turkey and pumpkin pie...but for the most part, my Thanksgiving dinner has always evolved around Chinese dishes galore. This year, there's the turkey and the mashed potatoes and the stuffing....yumm...and we're eating at around 4pm! And tomorrow, we're going to wake up at an insane hour to take advantage of any 6-hour sales. I really really really want to get a plasma tv for my place---it would look so awesome in the huge space I have. Let's see....



Anyhow, Happy Turkey Day everyone!

i'm pooped. i spent much of the weekend painting my half bathroom downstairs and i'm still not done. I finally got all the walls done with at least a coat or two by this evening and i don't want to pick up the paintbrush again til tomorrow. this is so sad--it's just my puny little half bath...i thought it wouldn't be too much work. now i'm thinking why i didn't just hire a painter..especially with all the tricky pipes to paint around and my attempt at painting behind my toilet (i've got a nice little white spot that i couldn't reach) i guess it's just the thrill of painting my own place. overall, i think it's not too shabby of a job...but see, those are the chilling words: "not too shabby". it should be great! but no, i decided to paint myself..what was i thinking. i started off completely wrong, buying a roller with longer nap than i really wanted (1/2"), creating a more textured effect than desired...but now, I'm left with the look on one wall (i switched rolls). ack. although, i must say, I do love the color that i picked out. for the rest of this place, i'm hiring someone--both to pick colors for me and to do the freakin' job.



my project at work has just started going downhill. ugh..the stress.

Sorry, it's been awhile. Honestly, I hadn't really opened up my computer in awhile being in the new place...and since I sold my desk in pursuit of a much better one, I haven't really had a chance to have an "office space" to sit down and update my blog.



Most of my days have been spent figuring out how to arrange my new place and shopping around for new furniture and ideas for making my place as hip as it can be. My most exciting purchase---a queen size Tempur-Pedic bed. I'd always told myself that the minute I bought a place, the first thing I would do would be to upgrade to a queen tempur-pedic. My new mattress arrived about a week after moving in...and shortly after, I bought the Ikea Malm bed to compliment my new mattress. Love it. Today, I finally bought an area rug for my living room--it's a really cool Toulemonde "perle" colored slightly "fuzzy" rug. I got a great deal for it too...as I hopped in the store JUST as they were starting to mark up the prices..but I caught the price before they changed...and got a 15% discount since it was the floor sample. There's still so much potential for this place and so much I need to do...especially in my 2nd bedroom/office. Right now, it's just holding my old bed and random stuff.



I picked out some red paint ("red drum") to paint my half bathroom downstairs from Home Depot over the weekend--can't wait to paint! I'm such a nerd...I know absolutely nothing about where to begin and even bought two books on painting at home.



Work hasn't been too bad lately either--at least compared to Sporting Goods. The current project I'm working on has its ups and downs and hurdles to cross...but overall, I'd say that I'm working with a great project team and we definitely have less drama to deal with. Thank goodness.



I need more books. I have this MASSIVE floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and it's really sad how few books I have. Honestly, I never really had much room for books in the past and just limited myself from buying many books. Now, I can just go crazy. I already spent over a hundred dollars on some books last week. Will have to hit Twice Told Tales some time to get more.

I just took a shower for the first time in my condo. My bathroom---like, I can paint it red or change all the tile if I want to...because it's mine! What a cool feeling: ownership. I spent most of yesterday moving---thanks to Phoebe, Ray, Peter, Gilles, Rabah, Dave & Fred for helping me out! It was all done in about 4 hours. Whew. Had a lil' 10 footer from UHaul and we did it all in 2 trips. I brought Misha over last night after the move to introduce him to the new place...he's still flipping out a bit...walking everywhere, exploring, meowing a lot. He's figured out where the litterbox is. Good. Now I've got tons and tons of unpacking to do. I don't even know where to begin....



Last night, headed out to dinner with Eugene, Juli & Todd at Il Terrazo Carmine in Pioneer Square--boy, it was yummy...and boy, it was expensive. Afterwards, we headed over to the Stadium Exhibition Center to see The Strokes, this NYC punk band for some good 'ol fun music. There, I saw Gary! Random. Anyhow, it was fun to catch up with everyone--we had a lot of good laughs. The Strokes were fun to listen to also.....that's the only word I can use to describe it..fun. Y'know, music where most people around you are just nodding their head like crazy in rhythm in addition to shaking their bodies. Just pure fun.

Whoa--this is trippy. Check this out--it's a non-animated gif...just an optical illusion. A friend of mine just sent this over.



Last night, I went salsa dancing for the first time in MONTHS. It was great! I can't wait to start up classes again next week. It was pretty eventful---around midnight, some girl's nose got broken. A crowd started forming in the corner and next thing I know, there's a girl lying on the floor with blood all over her white pants. She was likely doing some insane spin and got elbowed in the face. She was kinda small and short--so vulnerable. Ugh...I felt so bad for her. What a shock. I'm not surprised though--it gets so crowded there and I've had so many close calls...spinning around, almost running into someone. Lord knows how many times my feet have been stepped on and vice versa.

Wow, my life's been eventful lately. After the craziness of all the family during the month of September, I finally got my life back together....and *finally*---bought a condo! I am now officially a homeowner. I LOVE my new place---moving in 2 weeks. It can't get any better than this: loft, deep tub, great kitchen, Capital Hill, hardwood floors...I'm absolutely ecstatic and scared at the same time. It's been crazy dealing with all the financing and the papers that I have to sign---the numbers are mind-boggling. Locking in a rate was like a big gamble: "Should I do it now? or should I bet it'll be better tomorrow?" I ended up with a 5.375% rate--not bad...still low..could've been better had I tried earlier. Ah well. Now on to the exciting world of furniture shopping--my current furniture isn't quite "hip" enough for this new place--not that I'm selling everything..but I definitely need new furniture for the extra 700 sq ft that I'm not accustomed to living in.







Vancouver was sad but wonderful at the same time. I really didn't know how I'd react at the funeral---but it was sadder than I expected. Everyone was crying...it was just so heartbreaking. The wake was the most difficult---seeing him there in that open coffin was too much. He looked nothing like the last time I saw him, full of energy and all smiles. The wonderful part of Vancouver was meeting all these relatives I'd never met--especially a first cousin, Anthony. We hung out a lot for those 2 days and it was just so nice to catch up with someone that I'm so close to in lineage yet never knew. I also met many of the "sons of the oldest brother of my grandmother--but had a different mother than my grandmother"--way complicated once you go back a few generations.......

My entire life, I've been fortunate enough to not really know anyone to pass away---either a friend or family relative that is remotely close. This past Monday, my great uncle Season in Vancouver passed away after battling cancer for months. So sad. He was such an active, healthy man for his age, running the marathon as often as he could. But this cancer hit him hard. I'm only happy that he's no longer suffering. He's one of the few relatives I have that actually spoke English...making it easier for me to converse with him and talk about things that I never have the ability to talk about with my other non-English-speaking relatives. My parents flew up here immediately, thinking that the funeral would be sooner than later...but it's not til Tuesday morning. I'll be attending the wake and funeral...both being the first of such events for me. It'll be interesting...I'm not sure how sad I may be...it may surprise me.