The Martian

I just got home from seeing The Martian and boy am I amped up! This may be the coffee that I had at around 9:40 pm (the movie was at 11:30 pm so I really had no other choice but to consume the beverage obviously – it was delicious btw thank you chauchau) but I expect I behaved as an (perhaps THE) exemplary audience member. I shrieked, gasped and oh my god’ed at all the appropriate places. I’m very thankful that I chose to wear a sweater with a cowl because I used that to stretch over my face for at least 2/3 of the movie. I grabbed at and clawed at my face so many times my cowl-covered hands almost became permanent extensions of my cheeks.

Thank you, sweater cowl, for a pimple free face of tomorrow.

I also realized on the drive home in this nor’easter rain (more like mist) that my jaw is sore. I think I may have been clenching it too hard in anticipation and didn’t even notice until I asked myself, “Why do my teeth hurt?”

What a movie! Spoiler alert so do not read on if you don’t want to know any details of the movie… Matt Damon was stupendous as well as the rest of the cast. His character was much more likeable than his treacherous one in Interstellar. The thought of his character almost dying in this movie was devastating. And how great was it that they inserted a joke relating to Lord Elrond and LOTR with Sean Bean in this movie?!

I’m going to google all the goodness out of this movie now and add the book to my Goodreads list which is at least 200 something books and counting now. When am I ever going to catch up?

Practicing

I’m developing violin calluses on my fingers again – this is a good thing! The first time I picked up my instrument again after last season’s final concert and started practicing again was brutal. I felt like the strings were going to slice through my poor fingers and I kept on grimacing through rehearsal, but I think everybody else was going through the same thing because my stand partner kept on screwing up her face in pain too.

The piece that we’re playing for this December’s concert is a treacherous one. It’s a marvelous piece – all sonorous and dramatic- but it has the violins sawing in the higher registers for basically half the piece. Think of it like this – imagine if you had a long thin steel string, thinner than floss, suspended in the air between two posts and you had to press and hold it down with your bare hands without releasing tension while it vibrated intensely. Imagine if you had to do that repeatedly for 20 minutes.

The E string is not my friend in that piece, but I HAVE BUILT UP RESISTANCE AGAINST YOU NOW.

Day 1 of Training

Today I decided to start training for a half marathon without actually signing up for a half marathon… How’s that for a lofty goal, ay?

However, the Navy Air Force Half Marathon will actually take place in 3 weeks in mid-September and I could still potentially register for it, so I googled “how to train for a half marathon in 3 weeks” and there is basically zilch on Google aside from some desperate forum posts. Google, always the wise one, auto-filled my search to 4 weeks instead. And that is when I discovered that the recommendation for a minimal half marathon training period is actually 4 weeks to train. Oops. Not that I’ve ever listened to experts anyways. Why do we have them again? We’ll see how it goes and if I will be in ok enough shape to register come September. Heh.

Enter Day 1.

I went for a run today after work, fully inspired after my Google research (in my head I am telling myself that I can modify a 4 week plan to 3 weeks like it’s nothing), with a goal of at least 3 miles today. In the middle of my run, I ran to a nearby park where a girls intramural soccer team was practicing and the park had fences that were basically a series of posts connected by a low hanging chain. SUDDEN SPARK OF INSPIRATION. What better time to hurdle over it like a pro and rejoice in my misery and sweat 2 miles in?

My bambi ass thought I could prance over the chain… but my foot didn’t even end up clearing it. I walloped into the chain and bounced right off like a juiced up WWE wrestler in the ring. I’m pretty sure my body registered what was going on before my brain did. After coming to a screeching halt for a moment, I stood there stupidly and then furtively glanced around to see if anyone witnessed my shame. Nope. Coach still coaching and girls still soccer-ing. I slogged on valiantly although I have a feeling my thigh is going to have a nasty bruise tomorrow.

Day 2 tomorrow. Yippee!

Word of the day

No, the word of the past two weeks has been INSATIABLE.

In·sa·tia·ble [in-sey-shuh-buhl, -shee-uh–]

adjective

not satiable; incapable of being satisfied or appeased: insatiable hunger for knowledge.

 

That has been my approach to food. I’ve been hungry 24/7 regardless of how much I eat plus I’ve been craving cookies, cake, candy – honestly, anything sweet – as well as ramen. Lots and lots of ramen. THIS NEEDS TO STOP. I already know it’s a combination of stress, not sleeping, not working out anymore, potential PMSing, and just plain old lack of willpower. I can barely fit into my work dresses. I had dinner with my parents tonight and they’re staging an intervention. They have taken away all my M&M cookies that I baked on Saturday morning hahahaha. Self control! Get it together, lady!

BIKINI SEASON WAITS FOR NO ONE

The walls are listening (and plugging their ears)

Did I ever tell you that I can hear the neighbors using their facilities (euphemism) through the wall? Actually, I think it’s just one set of neighbors. The neighbors to the right. The Right Neighbors. Thankfully, I’ve never actually met them in person, so I don’t have the misfortune (or fortune if you’re one of those perverted fetish types?) of associating sloshing sounds with actual faces in my already deranged and overactive imagination.

I suppose the same feelings are reciprocated by said Right Neighbors since I’m almost positive the walls in this apartment complex aren’t one-way listening tunnels. Almost positive…

I’m thinking we should probably install some kind of sound system in our bathroom. I can blare some Kanye’s Bound 2 (I just saw the MV for the first time yesterday, which was just so so confusing. Mind-blown. Still gathering debris of mind-blown-confusion. Maybe I’m too stupid to get it… or maybe the MV is too stupid for me to get. I don’t know.) or some Enya when I’m doing my biz-naz.

As it stands with the lack of sound system, I will have to resort to singing at the top of my lungs. Caterwauling, rather.

Multi-tasking at its finest.

Just kidding.

HELLO 2014

What in heaven’s name should we do with a working woman (woman-child) that refuses to go to sleep on time and would rather sit on her couch, eat Costco’s oven roasted turkey slices by the plateful (it is truly delicious, I swear), and watch Big Bang Theory all night?

I’m too old for this kind of behavior! Earth to inner gluttonous child, get with the program!

This year is going to be interesting to say the least. I’m looking forward to it, friends!

Growing Up

Do you ever simultaneously wish that you were and weren’t a grown up?

I love the freedom of making my own decisions and earning my keep. But yet… I’m not really free…

I realize that these thoughts usually come to me on Sunday nights when I’m preparing myself mentally for work on Monday….

Or when I’m paying bills…

Or when I’m doing something I don’t want to do that involves the real life…

I just want to bury my nose in a book. Make myself some tea. Go for a run. Grow my own tomatoes.

Sometimes I wonder if this is how I’m going to feel like for the rest of my life… or if one day I’m going to finally grow up.

Summer and Electric Run in Philly

Current Listening to Boys ‘Round Here by Blake Shelton

Why, hello! I am finding myself with the sudden urge to blog and I think it’s marvelous. I was just thinking about how my memory is so shoddy that I can barely remember what I did a week ago.

The girls and I signed up for the Electric Run in Philly this past weekend and we stayed at the Westin. It was a grand ol’ time except for the fact that the Electric Run got cancelled this weekend due to thunderstorms and lightning. It was unbelievable… We had gotten all worked up for this run and we were about 20 yards or less from the start line since they were releasing waves of runners/walkers/joggers every 5 minutes when they announced that the race was cancelled. We ran back to our car so at least we got like a mile in… LOL then afterwards, we goofed off in the hotel room with Instagram, our glow in the dark gear from the run and our glow in the dark dance moves unrivaled by any master. Bwahahaha

I was so exhausted today though… Got home, ate the whole world a cookie at a time and napped on the couch for 2 hours. I cleaned the apartment, did my laundry (the washing machine ate my $1.75 without washing my clothes. So pissed!) and cooked dinner around 10 pm. Naps always screw over my hours.

I miss reading. I find this article quite interesting: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/21/opinion/greene-rowling-author/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

Last week was insane. We had an upgrade to a system at work so I was working pretty bad hours and wasn’t sleeping well, but the implementation went well last Saturday and I got 2 comp days out of it! Let’s recap this summer so far (or at least what I remember):

• Visited Neeners with Jchau in mid-May and saw Star Trek II and fun BBQ!
• Family visited me Memorial Day Weekend
• Went camping with Jess and company to Shenandoah the first week of June. So much fun but I took a 2 hour shower when I got back home
• Went to Boston with Sarah and saw Boston Pops in concert conducted by John Williams in the beginning of June and then went to Ventnor Beach
• Did Habitat for Humanity the second week of June and it was fun! Knocked down drywall, learned how to use a recip saw and other things
• Went to NKOTB concert with 98 degrees and Boyz II Men with Jess. SO AWESOME.
• Celebrated my birthday with my lovelies in Ocean City and being gifted with alcohol and Birchboxes! YES
• Went BYOB tubing with Jchau and company through Livingsocial at Harper’s Ferry. It was fantastic… I bashed up my leg though and it got badly infected due to the water scum :-T
• Signed up for Barre3 classes with Jchau and went twice!
• Saw summer movies like Ironman3, Star Trek II (twice!), Man of Steel, Pacific Rim… So excited for the rest.
• Went blackberry and peach picking at Homestead Farm with Jchau and Wai. We were sweaty messes but the pay-off with the blackberries is so worth it. I have battle wounds all over my arms, hands and legs where the thorns scratched me though, but the blackberries were so plump and succulent.
• Went to Philly with my girls for the Electric Run! Hopefully they will set a rain date so we can prove that we can run 3 miles! 🙂
• So many more great moments this summer like meals with friends, learning how to cook, finishing Sherlock Season 1 and 2, getting fit and tan, and running along the waterfront and on trails. Looking forward to the rest of summer! Backstreet Boys, here we come!

Monday FUNDAY… Or not-so-funday

I forgot to talk about little joys in life on my last post…

Little Joys in Life: Good smelling hair products! And repeatedly smelling your hair as a consequence for the rest of the day…. lololol

Going to the gym and running after a huge FRIED dinner was the worst idea ever. I started cramping up in the first minute when I was on the treadmill because I could tell that all the junk I ate was just jostling around in my stomach so I turned into a punk and walked the rest of the time. Barely broke a sweat. But I am telling myself… at least I went to the gym. Right? Right… Or not. And being at the gym at like 10:00 pm is really depressing. I don’t like it; I’m not doing that again. I will sit on my couch and watch The Voice or Castle next time. Much happier.

Anyhow, I got my hair cut this past weekend! It’s like a layered shoulder length bob with side-swept bangs. My hairdresser also colored it like a very faint brown color but it kinda looks auburn and/or orangey in different lighting. It’s kinda confusing but it looks natural and I like it. It’s definitely quite a drastic change… Very different. I got a whole bunch of compliments at work today and people were telling me I look sophisticated. YAY! But I can definitely see why they said that because I thought I looked kind of savage before hahahahaha. I started feeling like a mermaid after a while with my long hair and it kept snagging on my bags, jackets, and scarves. And whenever I think of mermaid hair, I think of seaweed. No girl wants their hair to look like seaweed.

The reason I didn’t cut it before was because 1) I was too busy and kept forgetting to call and schedule an appointment and 2) I had recently gotten a perm in TW in Oct and 3) I really wanted to grow my hair out. However, it’s been more than a year with long hair. REALLY LONG HAIR. It was legit down to my lower back. Time for a change! I made the decision to cut it short but I forgot to mention it to my hairdresser (all I said was that I wanted it cut) so they (hairdresser and assistants) assumed it was just a trim and were getting ready to dye my hair first. I guess people with long hair usually get really attached to their long hair and only want a trim? The conversation went like this:

Me: (watching them prepare the dye) Don’t we need to cut my hair first?

Assistants: No, your hairdresser is going to dye it first and then trim it later.

Me: (confused) But… I want to get a lot of it cut.

Assistants: (all collectively pause) Wait, how much do you want cut?

Me: (realizing that I never specified the cut) Like half.

Assistants: (shocked) Half?!

(all clamoring over my hair and one lady grabs a fistful)

Assistant Lady: (still kind of in shock) Omg, you have so much hair….

Me: Ha… Yes… Lots of hair.

Assistant Lady: Ok, we’re definitely cutting it first then and then your hairdresser will do the final trim later.

And then after asking what length I wanted, one of the hairdressers that was helping literally grabbed my hair in her first, formed it into a ponytail, and sheared half of it off with her scissors. Ha! I’ve always wanted to do that… Afterwards when I got home, I told Wendy that I should’ve just let her do that at home before I went to get my hair done at the salon. Drat! Missed opportunity for fun. Haven’t you always wanted to do that? It totally reminds me of a prank some schoolboy or schoolgirl would play. Did that happen in the Little House on a Prairie series? For some reason, it rings a bell.

I still have the blowout from the salon so my hair looks good but I’m wary about what it will look like tomorrow. I think I still have the remnants of my previous perm so it will be all discombobulated. Argh! Maintenance! How will I restore this hair to its glory of today? I want to get one of those brush blow dryer things (like two in one) so it will be easy to maintain. You girls know that I’m NOT going to wake up every day and use a boar thistled brush and a blow dryer and have any semblance of hair drying coordination. Not going to happen. I just recently graduated to using mascara so slow down, horseys! Anyhow, Irene gave me a recommendation for a Panasonic hair styler and I really want to try it but I’m struggling to find the exact Panasonic one on Amazon or any other site in the US. During my research, I also saw something from John Freida (Hot Air Brush).

http://www.panasonic.ae/EN/Pages/EHKA11.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/John-Frieda-JFHA5-Brush-inch/dp/B0056GDG90/ref=pd_sim_bt_2

What do you guys think? Any other recommendations?

Thursday Night

Holaaaaaa frands, what have I been doing? Work work work work!!! It’s ridiculous… It’s been almost 4 weeks so far on this project. For the first 2 weeks, I was working 17-20 hours days. I’m not even sure that’s legal, but they put me on a project and it’s a good opportunity for me because it’s pretty high profile. This also means that I have a lot to catch up on so that is why I was up burning the midnight oil. A typical day in the life was getting home from work around 7:30 pm, making dinner and sleeping by 8 or 8:30 pm, waking up at 12 am and then working until 7 am and going directly to work. Repeat. It was exhausting and I skipped a lot of my gym/training time. Hence, I gained a couple pounds.

But last week I took a couple days off to run some errands and unwind and this week has been less stressful. I’ve been trying to work out at least 30 min everyday…. It paid off a little I think because I finally had a body fat check with my trainer and I’m now down to 16.4% body fat! He says that this is normal now and I’m a lot healthier than I was when I first came. I have to agree. I gained a pound though… but it’s ok. I’m healthy! My goal is 15%. LOL I wonder if I can do it…. I have to start eating right though. I had Jalapeno kettle chips today and fruit snacks.

A bunch of us are going to Puerto Rico next month! I’m so excited. I bought a high waist bikini on Amazon a couple days ago so this means I have to keep on going to the gym. Hopefully it fits!

I just came back from happy hour/dinner with my co-workers. It was fun but I feel sick now. I went out this past weekend and was horribly sick afterwards so the smell of alcohol makes me nauseous…. but somehow, I cannot resist. >_<