Archive: January, 2009

Cafe de Bella

January 31st, 2009 · · Austin, creative play, new thing(s) of the week, savory 3 comments

I finally tried that newish Vietnamese cafe near Lamar and 183. Cafe de Bella. I’ve been craving banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) since November 2007 (When I got lockjaw). I thought I’d torture my jaw some to quiet my craving. It’s kind of tucked away in the same shopping center as Din ho and is really charming when you walk in. Clean, cafe-ish, cute.


Cafe de Bella

Aside from the sandwiches, they also have popular American-Chinese dishes (General Tso’s, etc), hot pot, coffees, and shaved ice. I may have to come back and try the other things out. I got the Dac Biet banh mi. Delicious. Not so fat so my jaw could easily handle it. Pickled carrots, cucumber, pork, pate, butter spread, and hot peppers in toasted French bread. Delicious.


Banh Mi at Cafe de Bella

Past several weeks I’ve been slacking on the trying new places/new things. Been going to the old familiar places.

Like Chile. Had the Camaroes de Plancha?


Camarones

And Catfish Parlour. I like their decor.


tv aquarium at Catfish Parlour

Girls would make great boyfriends.

January 27th, 2009 · · Austin, love, savory, the not so single life One comment

Looking back, my most most romantic moments ever come from girlfriends. Personally, I think most girls would be SPECTACULAR boyfriends. I guess it’s cheating because we know what we want, so of course we’d have an edge over actual boys. (Which is why Alan gets a handicap. Hehe.)

Case in point. My Kim sent me cookies today. Just to spread some cheer. From TIFF’S TREATS. The best cookie (only?) delivery place EVER in Austin. I think the general consensus is that they are warm gooey heaven in a box.


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It worked out perfectly because I had chocolate milk in the work fridge today. Nothing beats chocolate milk and cookies for lunch.

She spoils me.

Ink Spots needs a website.

January 26th, 2009 · · still-frames One comment

In the meantime, I’ll steal photos from Brenda’s facebook and post it here.

Photos from last night’s meeting from Brenda’s facebook:

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Aw!

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We have a mommy/daughter pair.

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January 24th, 2009 · · Uncategorized Enter your password to view comments.

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Love

January 24th, 2009 · · love, pursuit of happiness 2 comments




My supervisor asked me what love is yesterday. Stunned, I felt a lot but as for an answer actually being formulated into speech, I had nothing to give her. As I was showering last night, I kept trying to reflect on all the love I’ve given and all the love I’ve received.

I thought about the random text reminders my brother gives me to let me know if there is extreme weather the next day. He knows I have a habit of going to Alan’s to stay overnight and hardly ever bring clothes for any dramatic change in weather. I thought about all the sacrifices my parents took to provide for my brother and me. Mary Ellen and waking up at 5am her time to wake me up for work if I haven’t been getting sleep. The laundry I do for Alan. The tickets to the Killers he got me for Christmas even though he really doesn’t like them. The calls I make to Mary Ellen sobbing because she’s the only one I really feel comfortable experiencing my ugly cry. How usually she just listens. The ice cream I shared with Kim while reflecting on our goals. The fights I have with Mary Ellen and how as they happen, I’m secretly enjoying the fact that I know that she knows that we both know, this is all going to pass and we’ll come out laughing – eventually.

I remember the tears that instantly came when I found out my dad got sick and was too worried that I’d be worried to tell me. I thought about hugs and kisses and hand holding. How sometimes just the presence of someone serves as comfort and sense of security. How I want my family and friends to be happy and successful. How I hurt when they hurt and that uneasy feeling of helplessness when they hurt REALLY badly and I’m at a lost of what to do to help. I think of Dave leaving me singing voice mails and calling me pookie when I’m down. I think of random letters in the mail box, dates (both platonic and romantic) and flowers (mostly platonic).

I thought about unrequited love and how it really does, like Charlie Brown says, take the taste out of peanut butter. I thought about falling out with a few friends and being lucky enough to salvage back a friendship. I thought about how I’ve only verbally shared my love with 2 of my 4 boyfriends. How one of them said it and never heard it back.

I thought about everything I could remember about my modest experience with love and here’s what I got on it.

Love is courtesy, respect, commitment, protectiveness, sacrifice, gift-giving, supporting, cheer leading, commiserating, gratitude, appreciation. Love can be joyful, sad, heartbreaking, interdependent, safe, scary, risky. Love is choosing to be there, after all the initial chemistry fades. Love is loyal, kind, trustworthy. Love expects the best and inspires action. Love is keeping your word and following through. Love is seeking forgiveness and forgiving. Love is valuing one another and understanding our time is limited, so let’s take care of each other.

Love is a lot of things and if I were to sum it up, I’ll just say love makes living worthwhile. Perhaps this is why we’re willing to risk a lot and hurt for the sake of it.

Edit:
me: I mentioned you in a blog about love.
dave: Oh. I don’t know much about it.
me: You know a lot about it! You have love out the butt
dave: haha that’s a first… maybe i should start the morning each day w/ that phrase. “i have to love out the butt today”
me: LOL no. You HAVE love out the butt. You can’t LOVE out the butt. That just sounds like anal….
dave: yes yes, my bad

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January 20th, 2009 · · love Enter your password to view comments.

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Ten Honest Things about Me

January 18th, 2009 · · love, memory, pursuit of happiness, the not so single life, the single life, Uncategorized 2 comments

Selina tagged me on her blog and I’m supposed to share ten honest things about me.

Here’s my list.

Ten Honest Things about Me

1. I think home school kids are kind of weird and socially awkward. I last talked about this with Alan, his roomie, and his roomie’s girlfriend. Roomie was worried about society and all the possible negative and scary influences it could have on your child, he wanted to home school. The rest of us tried to discourage him. I used to work in a indoor playground in college, and I couldn’t help but notice the home school kids were usually socially awkward. So I have this stereotype I’m not proud of, but it’s there. Home school kids are kind of weird. I guess ‘unsocialized’ is a more diplomatic word.

2. I love Oprah. I have an inside joke with my buddies but mostly with myself that starts with “Oprah says to…” Actually, as I’m typing this I’m watching Disc 4 of the 20th Anniversary Collection of Oprah. I borrowed this from Jamie ages ago.

3. I love PostSecret.com. Love. I’ve been going for years. I remember when he didn’t erase postcards weekly and you can just flip back and back into the past entries. I have all four books. One of my favorite memories is going in February (my favorite month) a couple of years ago to Frank Warren’s book signing with Kim and Si Nae.

4. Some crushes for you. Some of these are childhood crushes so you must forgive me for odd/poor taste: Captain Planet, Ralphael the Ninja Turtle, Jim Carrey, Ted Danson a la Cheers, Tu Pac, Jamie Foxx, Fifty Cent, Brad Pitt before affair a la Meet Joe Black, and Cary Grant. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Just to name a few.

5. I have a deep love affair with food. Deep! Love! I think it’s a little apparent through this blog. This reminds me I haven’t had dinner today.

6. I notice girls with pretty backs. Because I have a scarred, marred up back, I envy and notice girls with pretty backs. I also wistfully admire backless gowns.

7. I wish the Ally McBeal show would go on DVD for me to buy and rewatch over and over again. I’ve rewatched Sex & the City at least 8 times in its entirety but I’m sure I can easily beat that with Ally McBeal. I think this is one reason why I know I can keep Kim in my life forever. Since she loves Ally McBeal. It says something about her that I can completely relate to. (That’s just one reason of many why I love Kim.)

8. Some of my favorite bonding time with Alan involves TV shows. We each have our regular TV shows we follow but I love the shows we both equally enjoy. Briefly we had Moment of Truth. Now it’s Lost and Desperate Housewives. One of my favorite memories of him is “sharing” a pint of Bluebell’s Pistachio Almond while watching Desperate Housewives.

9. My daddy is my hero. We have a few similarities that I cherish and wear like a badge of honor. Our love for reading. We’re very prideful. We both think we’re funny even if most would disagree with our cheesy humor. We’re a little stoic. Actually, he’s a lot better at that than me. Seriously, everything that I can see passed on through me that comes from him, I cherish and keep with so much love.

10. I talk to Mary Ellen/best friend/FFB (friend from Boston) every single day. She lives in Boston. We talk for hours on average every single day. Hours. When I’m not at work and online, she leaves me voice mails and I respond when I can. I wonder how many words we’ve exchanged? Crazy amount for sure. I can retrace half my life through her. That’s amazing.

I go to more of these things ever since I graduated college.

January 16th, 2009 · · still-frames, the grind 3 comments

Went to a Diaper Shower today at work. I go to more of these type of things more and more lately.


diaper cake
A lady at work actually made that diaper cake. I was impressed.


diaper cake
Apparently, you do need some minimal spelling skills to do cake decorating.

Forrest Gump

January 13th, 2009 · · on the nightstand, silver screen One comment

Finished first book of 2009. Forrest Gump was light and easy reading. I liked it okay. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars on my goodreads account. Some interesting differences between book and movie.

- He becomes a professional wrestler in the book, called The Dunce
- He and Jenny have substantial relationship in the book. He screwed it up twice. HIM not Jenny.
- He smokes pot in the book.
- Goes to space in the book.
- Befriends an orangutan in book.
- Jenny does not get sick and die.
- She gets married to someone else while pregnant with Forrest’s baby.
- He met Bubba in college on football team.
- Forrest never says “Stupid is as Stupid does.”
- Never says “Life is a box of chocolates….”
- Does say “I got to pee.” 9320532095 times in the book.
- Plays chess in book.
- Football got him into school, not his mom whoring herself out.
- Jenny does not get molested by her father. You never meet her father. Her mother is as far as we know, a wholesome figure in both Jenny’s and Forrest’s life.

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January 12th, 2009 · · pursuit of happiness, the grind, the not so single life, wanderlust Enter your password to view comments.

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