nike free 5.0 v4

these are the best (running) shoes i have ever bought, worn, walked, run in, EVER! they simulate running barefoot, which is supposedly better for your body versus running with hard, clunky running shoes (can't imagine why), strengthens your muscles, helps with gait management and are ultra-light - ultra-flexible - ultra-breathable - ultra-ultra - ...no need to break them in. words cannot describe! you just need to buy a pair (or google them), and you'll see.

except they're selling out of these to make room for the nike free run+ which has the sensor that tells you how far you've run, at what pace, etc. and doesn't look that great... so good luck finding this style.

jury duty

when i registered to vote, i knew the summons was biding its time till it weaseled its way into my mailbox and then... it showed up. after spending 20+ minutes on a merry-go-round of an automated phone call trying to reach a real person, i finally, somehow chose the correct number option and set a date to show up to court (didn't go for the call-in option... big mistake).

i had visions of sitting, waiting (on a surprisingly comfortable plush fake leather work chair) with my laptop till 3pm and a terrible stomachache that showed up out of nowhere. instead, i got called to a courtroom before 9:30am and waited there for another 30 minutes. outside, i met a man who worked for the irvine company, right across the street from fashion island, whose son goes to UCI and whose coworker has stock in the company i work for and routinely stops by to see how they're doing... small world. or not. we got called in. my number was chosen to sit in the box.

and in the box, i sat for hours before and after the break, despite the judge questioning my criminology background, what my emphasis was, how many criminal law classes i had taken, how familiar i was with the penal code, and how fair i thought i would be as a juror, etc etc. after the first, second, third, fourth round of dismissals, i got REALLY worried that i would have to miss more work and have to sit on a trial. then, finally, during what i'm guessing was the last round of preemptory challenges, the defense decided he wanted to let me go.

i was so relieved when i left the courtroom that i almost felt guilty. in the elevator, i ran into another woman who had been in the same courtroom and asked me which side i was dismissed by. when i said, "defense," she said, "i knew they would..." with a mischievous look, "...you know too much."

really?

where in the world have i been (this past month)?

- THE hotel at the mandalay bay (where everything with THE in front is accentuated, such as THE cafe, THE store, THE tp...)
- central justice center in santa ana for my first taste of jury duty
- USC for a graduation celebration allllllllllll weekend for my brenty poo
- work, dealing with the manic and possibly misogynistic new SM (store manager).
- great park for AIDS walk

elaborations will follow, as well as a detailed review (probably consisting of three sentences, very unlike my Yelp reviews) of my new Nike Frees that i have been looking for day in and day out for weeks! spoiler alert? so, so happy. also another spoiler alert? i may or may not continue writing about "things i don't get!" and i have a really good one for those of you who have ever worked in retail.

bad habits

1. getting angry over traffic.
2. buying things online late at night.
3. sleeping in till almost noon.
4. losing track of time.
5. impatience.

with that said, i am waiting on three packages coming through the usps soon. one is from amazon containing philipp keel's simple diary (yes, i bought it in lime green, and yes, rachel mcadams and steven spielberg ARE fans), wreck this journal (a seemingly good idea for people who are wound up, uncreative, and/or live within the lines), and a car charger for my blackberry. stupid mini usbs; another is from OSNH (see my last post); and the last i cannot mention in case the birthday boy stumbles upon this, but will be explained later because i'm so excited about it.

it's gonna be a longggggggggggg week (of birthdays and work). happy 16th to stephanie today, happy 21st to amy on thursday and happy 28th to gary on saturday!

ps, visit jenni's newly created vintage garden belt shop!

old soul, new heart

as you may or may not have heard, good ol' syd mcgee's wife shea and her mother joined creative forces about a year ago to create old soul, new heart (their blog can be found here). they've gotten a bit of press online and if you look at their collection, they deserve it. the only thing i miss is the link to past seasons' collections...

now... i have been following the website and blog ever since then bc i am a modern romantic and thus am in LOVE with all of it. and ever since then, i have been eyeing a certain necklace over the seasons and tonight, with my recent promotion etc, i have finally found a reason (or excuse) to bite the bullet!


via old soul, new heart

this shall be mine in one week!

so, so, SO excited.

something i'm not as excited about? my short hair.

long hurr don't curr

this is my hair


this is how long it is


tooooo long


this is what happened to it today

before/after picture(s) to follow after i wash it, because this is the shortest and straightest my hair has been in five years! five! years! i am not the slightest bit adventurous when it comes to the hair on my head... yet today i took off six inches; that is, ONE extra inch off of my usual twice a year haircut!

next up? some very subtle color to accentuate my natural (sun damaged) reddish, orange-ish tint. maybe. we're getting allllll kinds of crazy here!

and just for vanessa:


ta daaa! short(er) hair.

a few things i am currently into:

1.
the new black keys' album, titled "brothers"

1. as a tie for first: using the PING!!! alert on people with blackberrys. my record: 40. in a row.

2.
enameled bangles (specifically these)

3.
sally hansen nail polish in "rockstar pink" (DISCLAIMER: no, this is not my hand - did you know people have entire blogs dedicated to nail polish, lipstick, etc?)

4.
documents to go for blackberry. bc i have a mac without the newest microsoft office, i can't open my company's expense reports bc they're in a new excel format that can't be read by any other version of office before 2007/8 (STOOPID). but with this program, i can open, edit, save AND send my forms without a computer! genius.

5. netflix streaming for the wii! even though the resolution is only 480p and looks like poo on a 1080p HD widescreen, i can now watch the movies and tv shows gary doesn't want to watch with me at his house on his HD xbox 360! guilty pleasures at my leisure = pure satisfaction... kind of, bc at the end of the day it still looks pretty crappy.

6. the new nordstrom at fashion island. before, there was only a snooty neiman marcus, a bare bloomingdale's and a faraway macy's... now, there's a bright and shiny new nordstrom with a fountain and courtyard in front perfect for break time! ahhh, we are so spoiled in orange county.

7.
round coke bottles. i got really excited when i saw the american idol edition today (i don't even watch AI) but now i feel a bit duped bc i thought it was a brand new concept that i just got wind of, but really, i'm a few years too late bc when i googled "round coke bottles," a bunch of pictures popped up, including this holiday version. man, that was a long sentence.

but to round off this gratuitous post, i have one thing i neither like nor dislike bc both extreme reactions balance each other out.

8. jet blue's $9 fares from LB --> or <--- SFO. you'd think this was a really exciting offer, and it would influence a normally cautious person to throw it to the wind and just go for it. well, it was and it did. i was so excited that i thought about booking a flight for me and G$ to go for his birthday (may 8) as soon as i heard about the deal. but when i went to the website, i slowly deflated. "$9/way..." "must travel on tues/wed april 27/28, may 4/5, 11/12, ...?" "depart mid-late afternoon one day and return early afternoon the next day?" "prices do not include fees totaling up to $30/person?!" "WHAT KIND OF A DEAL IS THIS?" and then i dropped the idea.

OH! another thing i like:

9. veggie grill's comment cards. when your birthday rolls around, they send you a postcard for a free entree... which means i am taking the VG virgin to nom nom on the meatless goodness soon bc i totally forgot i signed him up. besides jan's, mother's and a handful of vietnamese places, i really can't think of any other vegetarian place i would choose to dine at. big step.

just a moment!

there are a few things in life that i am certain of:

i love my parents,
i love my boyfriend,
i love my friends,
i must go to coachella next yr,

and THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE.

1000s of wedding photos

looking through the photos of weddings i have been closely affiliated with (robert + alex [refer to this entry for photos], jenni + phil [no entry yet]), it makes me nostalgic for the beautiful, pure and unadulterated FUN that weddings were/are. well, that is, until i came across a photo where jenni tried to fix the bouquet toss by handing it to me but didn't quite think it through and threw it down and at my legs. to the far left of the group, one girl can be seen giving me what can only be defined as "a look;" one of a few i received that weekend, with a backstory that could make your eyes roll so far back into your head they would never return to their original position. but i digress.

promptly after their september wedding, robert + alex received their wedding photos and declared me "the perfect guest." why, i had no idea up until a week ago. going through their photos, it drummed up so many forgotten memories and events and frustrations and excitement that i had for that day/weekend i had been waiting on for months. and then i came across one photo that made me literally laugh out loud bc i knew exactly why i was LOLing in the picture... the musician groomsmen (the others were dancers/men of other crafts) and i were rapping lil wayne from memory w veuve cliquot in hand while alex's uncle or grandpa or some other male relative was giving a lullaby of a speech. another was right after i got sick and missed the slow dance to frank sinatra (leaving my poor boyfriend hanging), the garter toss AND the bouquet toss. i think. but my favorite? stolen straight off of the bride's laptop, in stealth mode:



THE POINT IS, weddings are great, and i would love to attend more. so, unmarried friends, let's get on with it, shall we?

things i need more of in my life:

- inspiration
- motivation
- lots of -'tions
- adventure
- ideas for design
- blogging