Halloween at Home

I'm sitting in my apartment right now. Just watched an episode of Gilmore Girls when I had planned on studying. Oops. HAHA I can't concentrate anymore. Maybe I should start studying outside of the apartment. :( It might also keep me from eating constantly.

Today was supposed to be a crazy study day, but instead I went out with Chrystal. HAHA We drove to Gregoire's - had a delicious grilled flank steak on a baguette. Her quiche looked even more delicious though. We sat on the barstools, where I got the wonderful sight of the cook throwing a heap of butter onto the grill. Oh well. I guess that's partly why it tastes so good. HAHA I feel like I have to go there TOMORROW to see the November menu. I think I will start making it a personal monthly tradition to eat at Gregoire's since they have a monthly menu.

I don't remember how we decided this, but we went to Andronico's. If I were to get a good job, I think I would shop there. Actually, maybe only for the desserts. $2 grapefruits still feel kind of ridiculous. Mmm ... I was able to resist buying a fruit tart. Chrystal made it VERY hard, as she kept going "just get it. You know you want it. Just get it" and after she ordered her dessert she was like "I think she wants that fruit tart" and I had to go "NO!!! I don't! But thank you." HAHA I was pretty full from Gregoire's, which was the only reason I didn't buy it. I'm certain that I would have otherwise succumbed and bought a $21 giant fruit tart, whether or not I had promised to start my week-long diet today.

I thought we would just drive back, but Chrystal must have felt SPONTANEOUS so we drove further up to northside. We didn't know what we wanted to do, but we saw a sign for Tilden Park and decided we would go there. Instead, we were driving around and saw the Berkeley Rose Gardens, which I had never even heard of before. It is AMAZINGLY beautiful. I would call it a really good date place. I never bring my camera out anymore, so I didn't take any pictures :( But the views were amazing. There's a nice view of the bay, and you can see the little mountains in the ocean. The weather was perfect too - cloudy but no fog, so you could see pretty far.


This is a decent picture, but it doesn't do the place justice. It basically looks like an amphitheater, but each aisle has roses. Apparantly it was a WPA project that was well-kept over the years. It was a wonderful, random find. I think I will attempt to jog there one day, although it's a pretty steep uphill climb.

Mmm I have the taste of hummus in my mouth. White Bean with Basil, which is not nearly as good as the Garlic hummus, but I've slowly gotten used to it. I think it kind of tastes like eating pesto sauce. When I go home, I'm going to introduce my mom to hummus. I seriously eat this like every day for breakfast, afternoon snack, and sometimes a nighttime snack. I think I should look into beginning a Mediterranean diet. I hear they are very healthy.

I need some sweatpants

I don't really have anything to blog about but I haven't blogged in a long time. It's very cold in Berkeley and I think my tolerance to cold weather has fallen because I am always FREEZING. The sweater that I always wore on cold days doesn't even feel warm anymore. I think it is because I'm always sitting next to the windows, which are poorly insulated. As a result, I end up on the couch much more often than I'd like, hiding under the blanket. I end up sitting there even when I don't want to nap, because I'm like "NO! Don't make me go out into the cold!" I've definitely gotten lazier. When my phone rings, I don't even bother picking it up. What I need are sweatpants. And some thicker sweatshirts. Maybe then I won't waste so much time.

My period bloatedness is hitting me at an unfortunate time. I feel fat, lazy, and stupid all at the same time. Also, my mouth hurts A LOT - another round of canker sores. Yesterday I was in the "I WILL NEVER EAT ANYTHING WITH CHOCOLATE AGAIN" phase, but today, while watching the Office, I ate a few candies out of boredom. As expected, my mouth is now in tremondous pain. Sigh. I HATE MY LIFE.

I want this semester to be over. I would like it to be March 2009. Or, I could just fast forward time to all the moments when I go home, and be able to skip the school part of my life.

I have done VERY little work this past week. I don't even remember what the hell I do every day. But I hung out with Paulo and Caroline basically for five hours yesterday. We spent nearly two hours at Smart Alex's, which was fun, although we all came out smelling like garlic fries.

I should do work. I will probably not though. :D Maybe tomorrow!

It's my favorite time of the year!

CHRISTMAS AT COSTCO!

I'm pretty certain I blogged about this last year. But I LOVE going to Costco and discovering that they've rolled out the holiday aisles. I don't buy any of the giant toys that they sell, or any of the bulk holiday items like cards, wrapping paper, and gift bows, but I love it all! There's always that same light up reindeer, and every year, it's joined by something new, like a light-up Santa or a light-up snowman. And the holiday chocolate aisle! So many delicious looking candies at a Costco price!

Caroline once commented that our living room table had a ton of sweets. Jon said that his mom came into the apartment and was like "why do you guys have so much candy?" and that was her only comment about the apartment. Today I came home and plopped down two new bags of M&Ms, and a giant box of European biscuits from Costco. The living room table is total temptation central, and the only barrier between me and it is the couch. In addition to what I bought today, there's two tubs of Asian jellies, a Harry & David mint chocolate thing (also from Costco and probably THE BEST BUY in my opinion), some fruit & nut candies (also from Costco but not that great because I don't like 2/3 of the flavors), leftover M&Ms that Jon bought, and Trader Joe's Peppermint Cremes. I really don't know why I keep buying sweets. I can't really distinguish when I have period cravings anymore, because I'm just eating chocolate ALL THE TIME now. Today's buys weren't my fault though. It's impossible to NOT buy candy when shopping at Target and Costco before Halloween/Christmas.

Anyway, Christmas at Costco! I realized that I love it because it makes me feel like people all over the world are going to Christmas parties and buying Christmas gifts for one another. If I were throwing a party, it would be catered by Costco. And as I get older, I'm sure more and more of my gifts will be bought at Costco. HAHA I'm looking forward for the years when I can buy alcohol in bulk, for apartment parties! I think this Christmas is going to be AWESOME. Despite the fact that consumer spending will be down and TMV will probably never have a full meeting

Number of times I wrote Christmas in this entry: 6
Number of times I wrote Costco in this entry: 10

Keeping myself happy

This week has pretty much been a punch in the face for me. I wish I had something more meaningful going on in my life besides studying. Especially because it seems like studying is not paying off that well. I'm already counting down the weeks until the semester ends. Although it's technically in six weeks (not including finals time), I subtract three weeks: Veteran's day week, Thanksgiving week, and the last week before finals. So in my mind, I have three weeks of school left! It's just going to feel like three very long weeks.

I guess I need to focus on the few good things going on in my life

1) I downloaded this super happy song!



Listening to this and Lenka's "The Show," which Danny sent to me, makes me FEEL happier, if only for three minutes at a time. I just found that fan video, which combines my new favorite song and one the shows I watch, Life! I guess it's better than staring at a picture. Sometimes my roommate Jon whistles along to my songs which always makes me happy for some reason. HAHA

2) If I stopped eating for two days, I'd probably be at my desired weight.
Not that I plan on doing it, but it's nice to know that I'm ALMOSTTT there!

3) After this semester, I will be taking ONLY FUN classes
And by fun, I mean finance, managerial accounting, intermediate accounting, advanced accounting, auditing, and federal income tax classes! They are all classes that are basically study and get the grade, no class participation needed, and hopefully no stupid presentations. It only took me five semesters to get to this point, but FINALLY. Classes that actually have a direct connection to my career.

4) Socal for Veteran's Day!
How fun. I really enjoy visiting SD. Generally because it actually feels like a vacation to me. My family doesn't go on vacations, and if I did go on vacations with them, it would probably be more painful than relaxing. Planning outings with TMV to Lake Tahoe or whatever is kind of stressful sometimes, since I have to figure out logistics and everything. But going to SD is like, figure out the dates, and then just go! I always have lots of fun, especially because Connie is such a good host! HAHA I am excited already

5) Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Hummus
SOOOO GOOD. I've been eating it for breakfast for the past three days.

Random thought

There must have been a better way to word this: