realitycheck scratch that

why is it that fall semester always seems crappier than spring (for me at least)? i mean, it's not like i'm starting something entirely new. it's the same classrooms, the same teachers, the same 28 mile trek down to costa mesa, and mostly the same people. nothing much has changed, and yet a lot of things feel entirely different, and not in a good way.

i'm fairly certain it's not just the weather.

let's rewind. GOALS FOR THIS SEMESTER:

1. MAKE FRIENDS. because i can't stand being a wallflower anymore.
   
2. GET A FUCKING JOB. because that tat ain't gonna pay for itself!!
3. ORGANIZE ALL YOUR SHIT. just because my sister's half of the room is messy doesn't give me an excuse to be messy too.
4. LOSE WEIGHT/tone up! in a healthy way, of course (unlike last semester...).
5. make going to a school 28 miles away from home WORTH THE TRIP.
   

EDIT: le sigh...

it turns out, that fabric i bought from fashion district on sunday was really, REALLY crappy. and i mean, like, unbelievably crappy, to the point where i'm almost certain i can't make anything wearable with it. so much for sewing as much as possible before school starts!! :l

on a happier note, yesterday i went to the good ol' thrift store and stocked up on some awesome sweaters for fall. sigh... i can't wait for signs of fall to show so i can start wearing them! most likely though, that won't be anytime soon: this weekend the temperatures are supposedly surpassing 100 degrees, and even though i start school next week, we all know that for some reason the first few weeks are always the hottest!!

as for food, i think the next few days i should be reviewing some basic terms i've forgotten over the summer (beurre blanc?! noisette?! MONT AU BEURRE?!!) and start cooking in more of the french style that we learned in school rather than cooking in what i call the "lazy asian" style, or basically, just stir frying everything in one pan (which is what i've been doing for most of the summer). today for lunch i made ravioli with sauteed mushrooms, julienne carrots, and pecans in a basil butter sauce. diagnosis? AWESOME (or is it prognosis? i have no idea...). anywho, there will be more deliciousness to come, as saturday is my cousin's birthday party and i shall make a cake. i'll probably post pics of that once it's done :)

yay food!

also, i just wanted to mention that i applied for a job at the Orange Julius/ Dairy Queen stand at Puente Hills mall cuz they said they were hiring. hopefully at least i will get a call from them, as this would be the EIGHTH time i've applied for a job this summer.

le sigh... (another day in the life of)

today was just filled with... well, crazy confusion/ disappointment/ anger/ holding back tears/ slight contentment/ delicious food and smells/ beating drums/ a bunch of other emotions that i really wasn't expecting to have this morning.

let's start with the crazy confusion (because sometimes i enjoy alliterations). my sister and my cousin and i were planning on going to downtown LA today for fashion district and little tokyo, so i could get some fabric and we can catch the end of nisei week there. i'll admit, i'm a terrible driver. i pretty much need step-by-step directions everywhere i go unless it's some place that at some point in my life i've driven to on an almost daily basis. so maybe me driving to LA wasn't the best idea, since i don't go there TOO often. but anyway, a lot of times, my sister can be VERY moody, to the point where she mocks/gets mad over pretty much everything i do. so when i politely ask for which freeway entrance is the closest to the bank, she literally yells at me. this is where that anger part comes in. i'm not gonna go into this too much, but let's just say that this was what half the drive there was like (a drive that is at least 20 minutes).

when we finally got there, i kinda had to drive around in circles because we wanted to find meter parking instead of the usual $5 garage parking we usually get because we didn't expect to stay a long time there. after spending a good 5 minutes trying to parallel park at a meter, we found out that the meter doesn't work, so we give up and try to find the $5 garage. while trying to find it, a pigeon comes out of nowhere and decides to just sit in the middle of the road. this is where the holding back tears part comes in. i slow down to try and give time for the pigeon to leave the middle of the street, but my sister and cousin insist i drive forward because there are cars behind me. so i continue driving, certain that the bird would at least see the tires and get out of the way. then, THUD THUD. i don't think it saw the tires... T-T

i try to cheer myself up by thinking about all the fabric that i'm gonna buy from my favorite fabric store, Michael Levine Loft. my plan was to stock up on a load of fabric so i can make some more clothes for fall semester. this is where the disappointment part comes in. guess what? it's closed on sundays, even though their business card says OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK. lamesauce. we end up just walking around all the random fabric stores around fashion district, looking for all the $1/yard places. guess what else? most of these places require you to buy 3 yards per fabric roll. the ones that don't require it are pretty much just selling crap. 3 yards is WAYY too much for me to buy of one single fabric that i only plan on making one thing with, so i try to be sensible with my spending and the whole time there i end up only buying 2 different fabrics, whereas in Michael Levine, i could have bought 2 AND A HALF LBS of fabric with the same amount of money i spent. le sigh...

we head out to little tokyo, which i have to say is where my day started turning up (maybe because i wasn't expecting much?). anywho, this is where the slight contentment part comes in. we go around the JACCC to see some of the japanese exhibits, including ones on painting, dolls, and some awesome bonsai trees (with tiny fruit! it was like someone had taken a piece of my dreams and placed it in a museum...). there were also japanese drum shows on a number of stages around the area, which was also pretty cool. the local stores had food and gift stands around, and we got a hold of some okonomiyaki and some mochi ice cream (:p). we also bought a takoyaki pan, which i expect to be eating a lot of in the near future :)

after the long drive home, we ended up going to the Puente Hills Mall, and i finally bought nice black leggings (because i've pretty much given up on tights... they rip too easily!!).

as for stuff i've been making, last week i knit a cable messenger bag, but i think i'll just post pics of that along with other stuff i make this week before school starts.

also, sorry this post was so long! i just had to tell SOMEONE about my day...

WTF fish (aka, a day in the life of elaine)

for lunch today, my mom cooked fish soup, and half-way through eating i at a fish bone. this is where my day starts to go downhill... the majority of the day i actually spent trying to remove the bone that was lodged in my throat. after about an hour or so of struggling to do this (apparently i have a really STRONG gag reflex) i eventually gave up because i had to go out and run some errands (damn groceries!).

when i got back home i decided that i should give it a go one more time, mostly because it was starting to hurt A LOT and it was really really stuck in there. after spending the LONGEST time in the restroom just looking down my throat in the mirror and trying to reach it, i finally get to it with a pair of tweezers, with which i had to actually YANK the bone out.

once i was done with that, i was able to continue my day with just a slight sore throat, but i had to suck it up anyway cuz i had to cook dinner. today wasn't a total loss though; i did get to buy a nice pair of jean shorts while i was out :)

the moral of the story: i have to watch out with whatever i eat, because this is the SECOND time this has happened with fish (hence the title of this entry).

summer breeze, makes me feel fine...

the past few weeks have been kind of slow, but it seems so fast when i realize that school starts in a couple of weeks :l also, my birthday is this weekend! 19! woot...? i've decided that i'm not gonna have a party/get-together thing this time around; the little fambam and i are just gonna eat lunch somewhere and i guess i'll bake something haha :)

as for me making stuff, recently i've been going to a lot of thrift stores around the area and found some pretty neato things like bags, tops, and shoes (mmmm...), but so far i've only made 1 thing out of that stuff. a few days ago i made an awesome cropped navy vest out of a dress i bought at a thrift store in La Mirada, but sorry, no actual pics this time :/ for a visual though (and to make the blog look more interesting), i'll give you somewhat of a mental picture of what it looks like:

it looks like kind of a cross between these 2 vests

so if you could just use a little imagination, you can probably picture what it looks like :D

also, i've been trying to find some nice (and cheap) shoes on ebay, so hopefully my sister will win those bids for meee... a couple weeks ago i got a pair of vintage Doc Martens which i have been drooling over for a while now, especially since it wasn't $180! woot! can't wait for fall to come just so i have a reason to wear them (boots just seem to be a no-no in this hot weather).