The Undateable

I've officially deemed myself "undateable." Or un-date-able. I don't know how you would write a made up word. Anyway, so you all know the story of JS, the match.com guy. And how I told him I was moving away rather than just saying I wasn't interested because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Well I've realized that no matter how much I would like to date someone or have other people set me up, I am simply a terrible person when it comes to relationships. I would say it definitely has something to do with the fact that I have little dating experience. But I really do just suck at this. 2 or less dates with a guy and I realize I don't like him because I have impossibly high standards, and rather than being nice and letting him know "it's not you, it's me" , I just ignore hiim, don't call, or tell him I'm moving. So if you catch me complaining about how I don't have a boyfriend or how I have a crush on someone, just please remind me that I am in fact "Undateable."

On the bright side, I have excellent credit! Random, I know. But my identity was stolen a few years back, and it's taken forever to clear my credit. On top of that, MBNA denied my credit card application (that they sent to me in the first place) and Nordstrom also just rejected my application after the cashier first asked if I wanted one. How can these companies do that? They practically BEG you to open a credit card with them, and then when you try to, they all of a sudden change their minds? WTF? So anyway, I began panicking, worried that I had bad credit again, but I just checked on freecreditreport.com, and it says my credit rating ranks higher than 88.93% of U.S. consumers. Ha! Take THAT, Nordstrom! With your fancy Half Yearly sale and live pianists!

And to end on a happy note, G's blog party last night was wonderful, I had such a great time getting to know ML and Y better and playing board games. Speaking of parties, VH1's got a special coming up called "Best YEAR Ever." We must have a viewing party. I offer up my apartment, and I know G has already offered his up too. Taboo rematch, anyone?

DSW, you're my hero

I realized I was getting a little bit too enthusiastic about shopping (i.e. the Barbie jeans, the rain boots, the regular boots, etc.), so I decided to start at DSW first to redeem my $25 coupon and hoped that would fix my shopping frenzy. How wrong was I! Those tricky marketing geniuses of DSW. They reel you in by waving these coupons in front of your face, so you go in thinking "Hey, $25 bucks! That's basically a free pair of shoes!" And you walk out 2 hours later with 5 pairs tucked under your arms, your head bent a little lower, and your wallet a few hundred dollars lighter. But I don't regret buying any of them, and before this weekend my "Winter collection" of shoes consisted of one pair of black boots, so really, this shoe spree was a long time coming. And I should be expecting another $25 off coupon in the mail shortly because of my large purchase. Ah, the vicious shoe-buying cycle continues.

I love SunMilk

I've only had it once so far, but it's made me so happy in the short time it has been in my refrigerator. What is SunMilk, you may ask? My roommate and I saw it last night at Albertson's. It's this new brand of skim milk, but they add sunflower oil to it so it makes it creamier and it tastes like 1% or 2% milk. Being the packaging whore that I am, I instantly bought it for the graphics. It is seriously the cutest little Japanese/Hello Kitty/I Love Eggs (KA and G will get that reference)-type package I have ever seen in a grocery aisle! Being such a rabid fan already (perhaps it has crack in it...), I emailed them and raved about how much I loved SunMilk. The VP of Sales emails me back asking for my address so he can send me free coupons to get more SunMilk. I LOVE SunMilk!!! Check out their website: www.sunmilkdairy.com . Too freakin' cute.

Speaking of shopping, after reading KA's comment about cute rain boots at Target, I couldn't wait and I rain to Target last night. No rain boots left. :( Their website shows all these adorable pink and brown rainboots but they're all sold out. Stupid Target. Now I'm still considering buying the rain boots from Zappos because even though they're 3 times the price, I'm sure they're much better quality and are more comfy. We'll see. I also have these DSW coupon for $25 that expires at the end of this month that I have to use. Such pressure!

For our Blog Buddy Party, I was thinking maybe the weekend is best so ML and Y can join us. We can do a Veronica marathon or a shopping spree...sorry, I'm no help right now, all I can think about is SunMilk. :)

I'm melting, meeeeellllllttttttiiiiinnnnggggggg.....

I've given up starting each post with "The." It's just too hard! And it's raining (or was earlier) in SoCal, and it has made me sooo ecstatic, I'm just throwing all the rules out the window. :) Seriously, though, I LOVE rain and it reminds me of the big thunderstorms and floods we get in good ol' Tejas. And my new place has this automatic fireplace that turns on with the flip of a switch, so as soon as I finish writing this post I'm going to curl up next to a warm fire and read until I fall asleep. Ahhh...what a wonderful way to end a Monday!

This weekend was great, G and I got to be models for the remodeled Getty museum, so our lovely faces might grace the cover of brochures, promotional materials, posters around the museum...who knows? In a couple shots, the photographer asked us to hold hands or have G put his arm around me. We responded by giggling hysterically and acting completely immature. But after we regained our composure, it was great. We have to ask JR for the photos, I really want to see how they turned out!! Hopefully well. The new Getty (the one in Malibu) is absolutely breathtaking by the way, and I will be the first to make my reservation 6 months in advance. Orders are starting in November. ML, you've gotta check it out and bring your camera too. Oh, the photo opportunities!

A few weeks ago there were these beautiful rain boots at a boutique in Venice. I should have bought them when I had the chance, they had these cute little kitten heels on them and everything. And the owner said she only had a few pairs left. Me, trying to be the responsible adult, decided to save my money. But every drop of rain that falls is a painful reminder that I am without the cutest rain boots in the world. :( I'm going to try to swing by that shop on Thursday to see if they have any pairs left or if she ordered any more. I'm crossing my fingers they're still there! But with all this rain, I'm sure everyone else was not as stupid as I and they're most likely sold out...:*****( Speaking of shopping, KA I HAVE to go to Fred Segal on Friday afternoon and buy those jeans!!! And the pearl necklace was pretty darling too. And those displays around work are really beautiful. Good job, I'm so proud! And jealous!!

Geez I'm giddy tonight. The rain does something funny to me. On a side note, I went on another date with JS from match.com and had a decent time. But I just don't want to date him, so now I have to give him the "let's just be friends" phone call this week, and I'm dreading it. And QK is vacationing in Europe for the rest of October, so I will have gone without seeing him for over a month. Why is dating---or lack thereof---so complicated?

The Let Down

So I had a fairly nice evening with JS on Friday night. He's funny and cute and sweet, but....well, for someone in his late twenties, don't you think you should be doing something other than working at Home Depot? I'm sorry, I had to say it! Plus, I just don't think I'm girlfriend material for him, nor is he what I'm looking for in a boyfriend. Jumping way too ahead and making several assumptions, but I think it'd be better just to "hang out" for now and "just be friends." Ugh, I hate that I have to say those words. Don't know when I'm seeing him again, I'm most likely going to blow him off this weekend with the "my friend is in town" excuse.

Work is still as tiring as ever. I'm hoping that it will slow down next week, so far it looks like it might (crossing fingers!). Toy Fair is coming up, which is the craziest time of the year with all of us struggling to design, cut, fold, and assemble packages. But this year I got everything done ahead of time because of some serious market research testing going on. So yay for KQ for being ahead of the game! And I'm going to go to San Diego on Monday to watch them do the research testing. This coming Monday is also the official day that G switches teams and will move on to bigger and better things. I'm happy for him, because I know this is a step in the right direction for him. His new boss loves him and has been fighting to get him on her team for quite awhile now, so that's already a huge advantage. Not to say that our current boss, FS, doesn't love G, but I know that they've been having creative differences lately. I know we won't be hanging out as much as before, but we'll still have lunch, pilates, and Veronica Mars.

I didn't see QK this weekend, he had to cancel our carpooling trip because of a new project he's working on. I seriously need to sit this guy down and figure out a) his sexual orientation and b) if he's even interested in me. I need to stop dwelling on him and the what-ifs, because I really would like to move on. I just need to know before I give up!

Ooh, this weekend I took this personality test and apparently I'm a beaver. Characteristics: detail-oriented, perfectionist, likes to change the environment around them, creative problem-solver, constantly busy, big dreamer. But some weaknesses: thinks my way is the right way and everyone has to do it my way, hates rushed deadlines because then it won't be as perfect as I'd like, has high expectations for self and others, gives up easily on people because of my high expectations. I'll have to find the test online and post it because it's pretty funny. I have a feeling that the other artists in our circle of blog friends are also beavers...

The Problem with Boys

Wow, it's almost been a month without posting! I'm sorry I've been MIA. Work and personal issues get in the way....And I apologize to everyone for not reading anyone else's or commenting. So I completely understand if no one reads this or comments. I won't be offended in the least.

What has been going on for the past month in KQ's life? Well, we got a new VP who is a nightmare in ways and great in others. Either way, it has meant more work for G and I. We're still in that phase, or at least I am, of trying to impress her and get on her good side. Our old design mentor, FS, is now our manager and while she's understanding and sweet, she stresses out way too easily and is always worried that we're making the VP upset. Which in turn makes her upset, and the cycle continues. It's getting better, but it has been a ROUGH month.

Last week I had a terrible scare with my family in Houston with Hurricane Rita, as G can attest. But thankfully they're doing just fine, with a few funny stories to tell from the whole experience. I will try to post another blog with just their stories, they're that good.

On to the juicy stuff: There's a guy who has started volunteering with me at church. My fellow volunteers know of my severe crush on him, and we have dubbed him Questionable K_____ (QK from now on) because we're split down the middle on his sexual orientation. I'm hoping he's straight, for obvious reasons, but some of his fashion choices have caused us to wonder. Wanting to get to know him better but not jeopardize him as a volunteer at church, I've asked QK casually if he wanted to "hang out." He said "sure." Then I invited him to a mutual friend's fondue party. He told me to email him the evite and he'd promise to email me back. So I fwded him the evite and asked if he wanted to hang out the weekend after. No response. A few days later after mass QK apologizes for not going to the party but does not mention "hanging out" whatsoever. A general consensus from everyone has been to give him one more chance, afterwhich to forget all about him. Or just flat out ask if he's gay. Because if someone isn't interested in me, he's gotta be gay. ;) He has asked if I wanted to carpool with him to a training event we have all day Saturday, so we'll see what happens on those long car rides to San Pedro...

My time on match has been quite entertaining and has garnered a couple of interesting suitors, including one who looks like an Asian Lance Armstrong. Alas, that one fell through, but I have a date this Friday with a hilarious gentleman named JS. We spoke on the phone last night and eerily enough, he lives one street over from me. Cool in one respect, but terrifying if he ends up becoming a stalker or I break his heart because I've eloped with QK. Thinking way too ahead? Yeah, I tend to f*ck myself up when I do that. And I do that a lot.

So I have a busy week ahead of me! Tomorrow evening will be devoted to preparing for Wednesday's Veronica Viewing party, Wednesday I've got an appointment with an orthodontist because I ruined my retainer whilst attempting to clean it in boiling water, Friday is my date with JS, and Saturday is the eventful car ride with QK. Wish me luck!

The Cooling Down

Wow, I haven't posted in a really long time! Sorry 'bout that. But it appears that everyone has taken a bit of a hiatus lately. So I finally moved, and I LOVE my new place! Once I finish painting the walls and decorating, I have to host a dinner party for all you lovely men and women. I've got a dining table that fits 6 and a BBQ courtesy of my friends (and previous tenants here). And this weekend I have been baking fresh apple and blueberry pies as well as mini chicken pot pies. I'm wondering if I really should try out to be Martha's next apprentice. Last week at work was HELL, and the only thing that kept me going was thinking about my mini pies. I found this awesome website called www.notmartha.org that my friend CC linked to her blog. Notmartha.org recommended making pies in your muffin tins, and so far I have not been disappointed! Although I would suggest regular muffin pans vs. mini muffin pans. WIth the mini muffin tins, you get too much crust and not enough filling. Anyhoo, as I write this, I am baking a few more mini fresh blueberry pies and I just finished off 2 apple pies that had crumbled when I was taking them out of the pan. Mmmm.... Apparently I've been losing a good amount of weight, but if I keep up with this baking, I'm going to gain it all back!

Work has been keeping me really busy, I'm pulling in 12 hour days every day, many times more than 12 hrs. Hopefully it'll wind down soon and I can take some time off. It sucks because I really want to start working on some new projects and make them really cool but I'm still stuck on damned Goldfish (code name) that keeps on getting redesigned every day that I feel like everyday I'm taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

I feel like it's been soooo long since I've posted, I feel out of touch. So I'll keep this blog short and ease my way back into a routine. Keep your eyes out for a post about QK soon....

The Ridiculous Post

Man, I'm having a really hard time coming up with post titles that begin with "The"! But I can't switch it now, I've written too many posts already. Sorry I haven't posted in a week. I wish it were because of something really exciting and life changing, or some Prince Charming came and swept me off for a romantic week of bliss. But alas, it was just work and making arrangements for my new apartment.

So it turns out that the planet Mars will be coming quite close to Earth in the coming months. In October it's supposed to be really huge. It also means, from an astrology standpoint, that since Mars is the god of war and anger, we humans are also feeling much angrier and belligerent. I don't know if I'm angry per se, but definitely stressed out and bleh--one step above meh. My mom's also going through a ton of stress at the moment and wants me to move back home within the next 6 months. She's been having heart palpitations and is going to meet with a cardiologist. Shocking in itself because my mom's the total Chinese herbs only and holistic treatments type of woman, so meeting with a Western doctor is a big deal. I know she spoke on the phone with this doctor, and he prescribed some anxiety medicine and also recommended she start seeing a psychiatrist because she's also depressed.

Work is work still. Ridiculous amounts of work to do. Off topic, I've discovered that "ridiculous" is my all time favorite word. You can add it to any adjective for that extra punch. Ridiculously expensive, ridiculously tired, ridiculously good looking. Works well with everything! And apparently I also say "Are you kidding me?" behind the wheel to people who cut me off or who are extra slow drivers. Anyhoo, so hopefully work will ease off for just a little bit to give me a breather next month. Isn't it sad when you aim for a few days of rest sometime in the next month or month after? That can't be a good working environment.

As for the apartment hunt, I finally signed a lease to a 2/2 in Culver City on Saturday evening! But then I was bummed and completely stressing myself out because that place won't be ready until Friday and my current lease runs out this Wednesday. I was feeling so bleh and depressed that I couldn't pull myself out of bed to go to ML and CS's birthday extravaganza on Sat evening. Sorry ML. I wish I had a better reason for not showing up. :( But on a more positive note, I worked it out with my current apt so I can move out on Friday directly into my new place. No having to worry about storage and crashing at SW's place! And I'm also getting revved up for major home decorating, painting, the works. After which I plan on having dinner parties and cookie nights, movie nights, you name it!

And because every post has to have some mention about the opposite sex: the match.com guy is nice and all, but I know I've been really aloof because of all the other stresses in my life. And every time I email him, it's always about how rotten my life is going. Not in those exact terms, but I know I'm unintentionally pushing him away without even meeting this guy! I think--no, I KNOW I have some weird commitment issues which I think is causing me to have 0 luck with guys. And I'm super picky. Because of the whole Mars rising thing, I decided to check out my horoscope traits:
"Aquarian women are usually beautiful with long, flowing hair. They have charming manners and are usually very proper, then suddenly they pop out with something totally shocking. She is drawn to an unconventional man who will not be possessive. It would help if he were a genius." Great. It's just in my nature to be attracted to unconventional geniuses! At this rate, I'm never going to find a man.

The Movie Plug

Wow, posting again! Forgot to mention that G and I saw "Sky High" on Friday night. We're both secretly 14 year old girls in love with the idea of superheroes, so this movie was right up our alley! And surprisingly, it did not disappoint. I actually loved it! It was cheesy but in a funny way, it didn't take itself seriously, great covers of 80s songs in the background, some pretty cool special effects, and great casting. Speaking of casting...the guy who plays Warren Peace (see? what a cute name!) is brutally hot. Too bad he's only 19. But seriously. I googled him (Steven Strait if y'all wanna look him up), my favorite past time, and it turns out he's some high fashion model-turned-actor. He's got the lead role in a new Lions Gate film called Undiscovered with Ashlee Simpson (gag), he sings, went to catholic military boarding school, is into reading american lit, geez, why can't guys like this exist in my neck of the woods? (But read previous post to see how even if they DID exist, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.) Always crushing on the impossible. That's my life story. Anyhoo, I want to see this movie again if anyone else is interested. But please forgive my drool puddle on the sticky movie theater floor. :)

The Pointless Blog

Sorry folks, nothing really new to report. But I feel bad that I haven't updated in over a week, so just to prove I'm still around, here's a little blog. Because I like sounding like a broken record, I guess I shall give an update on me and moving. Got a note on my door that said I'm not moving until 8/10. So yay! A full 9 days more to pack! I'm actually almost done, I think. All I have left is my larger furniture items (couch, bed, tv's, etc.) and some last minute kitchen, bathroom, and computer stuff. Okay, it sounds like a lot, but in all honesty it's not. So I'm happy about that! Still not 100% sure where I'm going to be living or when I'll be living there, but I've learned to accept it for what it is.

Let's see what else is going on...ah yes, block party yesterday in MB. I only stayed for a little bit but got to hang out with ML, Y, KA, and a little bit of CS. Sad that G wasn't there, but I had a nice time. I've realized, however, that I really need to work on my social/flirting skills. I didn't just notice it yesterday, it's been on my mind more recently. And not like I saw anyone yesterday that I thought was cute, but in the event I AM in a situation where I think someone's cute...How does one just walk up to a random cute guy and start chatting? How do I gain the self confidence that apparently attracts more of the opposite sex? There used to be a show called Date Patrol on TLC. I felt sorry for the people for having no skills whatsoever dealing with dating, but I am now contemplating hiring a coach of my own... Where does one find such a person? And how do I do it without feeling like a complete loser? Any tips would be most appreciated.

We've got a new VP in our department. I'm still a bit on the fence as to whether I'm in hell or not. She's some big wig from Estee Lauder in NY, although no one can find any information on her on the internet (sketchy much?). First thing she changed when she came was our cube decorations. Yes, we work in a converted warehouse with stark white walls, gray cubes, and exposed ceilings. But we try to "fun" it up by proudly displaying our best packages above our cube walls and pinning colorful posters outside our cubicle space. We also have curtains (mine was an old 1980s Smurfs bedsheet) that we pin up when we need some privacy to work, eat, sleep, whatever. VP's first order of business is to demand that we take anything that goes above or outside of our cubes down or else we will get assigned to her "task force." No joke, her "task force." She also walks the halls in the mornings to see who shows up to work at what time. Yes, work starts at 8am and most of us don't get there until 8:30 or so. But we all get our work done on time and most of us stay until after 5pm so that makes up for the time difference, right? So why should it matter if we're half an hour late? She has most recently met with one of the other teams and lectured them on how they were all lazy designers and some of them were going to be "weeded out" and everyone's on probation in her eyes for the next 3 months. On top of all of that, JS, my favorite manager (not being sarcastic), is being shipped off to HK for the next 6 months so there's no one blocking G and I from the evils of KISS AND the new VP. Guys, seriously don't know how much more I can handle...

The Neverending Story of my life

Search for a new apartment, search for a boyfriend, search for a new apartment, keep searching for that special someone. It's a vicious cycle that is consuming my life! Why can't I have both? Why can't I find either? Why is it so hard in this booming capitalistic society? ML's post has stirred up my feelings of...I don't know what, but feelings.
I keep dancing around the subject of am I going to move at the end of this month (which would be next week, yikes!!) or extend my lease 'til next month. I've finally decided to suck it up, save the cash, and pack like mad and store all my stuff somewhere and live with SW for a month. Turns out there's a storage place right down the street from me in Venice, so I think I'll be making nightly trips there to dump my junk. I've come to this conclusion (very late) because: a) I'll be saving $1500 which is a BUTT LOAD of money that I could spend on something much nicer than my shady apartment, b) I get to hang out with SW, a really cool designer who has become G's and my mentor (she got him the job at M, which then got me the job), c) I'm trying to take the reins of my life and stop procrastinating. Even though it comes at a really bad time at work, and I'll probably not sleep at all this next week, I think this is the right decision. I hope this is the right decision. And even though this means I'll have to essentially move twice (once to the storage place, once to my new place), I don't have THAT much stuff, so it shouldn't be too bad. So wish me luck! If anyone's free next weekend who wants to get a good arm workout, ring me up!

The Leak at the Con

Haha, just HAD to call it that! But I swear that it will be the only time I will refer to it as the "Con"....maybe. Such a word is only to be used by the nerdiest of nerds, those who think that it makes them cool, but really they're only enhancing their geekiness. So anyway, G and I headed excitedly to SD early Friday morning, hit a couple of patches of unexpected traffic, but on the whole we made good time. I couldn't stop the cursing and the impatience (oh, and the cramps), but G kept me sane by reading me the latest, juiciest gossip magazines. Aww, what a great friend! But everyone knows how great G is, and as to not inflate his ego any further, we shall continue. We met up with Vitatwin and Sven at their hotel and walked to the convention center a few blocks away. I won't bore you with the details, which included these poor people dressed head to toe in skin tight blue spandex unitards handing out SBC Global blue bags, a Klingon family, way too many storm troopers to count, a few SpiderMen, some scantily clad Viking women with rolls of fat bursting out of their chain mail, some more scantily clad Anime girls wearing thongs and fishnet hose, a teenage girl with the BIGGEST and most balloon-like chest I have ever seen, and mothers trying to distract their 7 year old sons to look in a different direction. The booths were, I don't know, not as great as last year. Maybe because last year was my first time going, I was caught up in the moment of toys and costumes and really fantastic displays. But this year, perhaps attribute it to my oh-so-familiar "meh"ness, I just didn't have the heart. I only bought 1 book and picked up a cute little thing for my awesome manager, Papa J (thanks for spotting it, G!), and that was it. Last year, I spent close to $400, I think. So a huge change. When I'm not spendin', I'm not happy.

Oh, I forgot to mention that all 4 of us were wearing t-shirts I designed that said "Veronica is my B.F.F." and a line-art version of Veronica. It's very cool, a la "Free Winona" and "Save Martha" with pink ink on a brown shirt. I was hesitant to wear it at first, because I always feel awkward when others are wearing the same clothes as me. But eh, it's Comic-Con, it's only once a year, and I would clearly not be the nerdiest person there. Although I did wear a jacket over my shirt for most of the day. We DID see an actor hired to dress as Willy Wonka, and I got a good picture with him. Everyone was just standing a ways in front of him and Darth Vader snapping shots, but no one had the guts to actually go up there and ask for them to pose WITH someone. I dunno, I think I got a lot gutsier because of Comic-Con. With a little nudging from G, I walked up to Willy and asked politely, and he said sure. Of course, that's what he was paid to do, so perhaps it wasn't as bold of a request as I imagined. Anyway, as we were posing, he said through the corner of his mouth "So you guys like Veronica Mars? Have you seen every episode?" "Yes! Do you watch it too?" "I'm in it." My head whipped around so fast just as G snapped the shot. Wonka laughed and we posed again. Apparently he plays one of the cops, but he only has like 1 line per episode. But it was still cool.

Things brightened more when we got to the Veronica Mars panel. As Sven and I headed to the room, he said "Let's try to sit in the very front so that the panel sees our shirts!" Great idea! Except that as we approach the room, we see a line of at least a hundred people who had already thought of the same thing. Granted, none of them had cool shirts like us, so we were not jealous. While standing in line, the poor kid in front of us--in fine Comic Book Guy form-- kept trying to chat us up about the "rules of the Con" and what-not. He held a bag of trash in his hands, and I noticed that something started to drip it. Trying to be nice, I pointed it out by apparently saying "Um, you're leaking." It doesn't sound so funny as I'm typing it, but it was funny last night as we were discussing it over dinner!

So the panel was great, consisting of VM's creator Rob Thomas, Joel Silver, Enrico (Keith Mars), Francis (Weevil), Teddy (Duncan), Jason (Logan), and Charisma Carpenter (I didn't know her, apparently she was in Buffy and Angel as Cordelia? Now she's on the cast). G took the initiative to be the first person to ask the panel a question and to show off our fabulous shirts. RT mouthed to him something to the effect of "Great shirt." I had printed a shirt for Kristen Bell (Veronica) as well as Rob Thomas and was going to give it to RT at the post-panel autograph session. But judging by the size of the crowd and fearing I wouldn't meet him then, I also went up to ask a question and give RT the shirts. He was very appreciative and was surprised that I made him a shirt too. He said "You're so sweet!" and Enrico said to me "What about me?" Already prepared, I told them I didn't know their sizes, handed him my business card, and told him to contact me. As I walked away, Weevil said (and everyone heard) "Dude, I got her number!" Teehee! Hello, self confidence now at a 10! :)

We left the panel early to try to be one of the first to get an autograph. Again, WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE COME FROM THAT THEY BEAT US AGAIN? There was a long line already formed, and the crowd controllers told us that we might not get autographs. :( They put a cut-off line a few people in front of us, and for 45 minutes it was pure torture. The line ahead of us thinned down, and I had a straight visual shot of "Logan." I made eye contact at him, and he waved at me. I gave him a pleading look to let us through and pointed down at my shirt. He gave me a sympathetic look and gave a two-handed "sorry, I can't do anything" wave. :::Sigh::: Turns out he's married, I found out today! So we DID end up squeezing by at the end, we were some of the very very last lucky fans. Of course the cast recognized us when we got to the front of the line, and Enrico (Keith Mars) knowingly brought out my business card from his coat pocket. I got them all to sign the back of my shirt, although I did offer that Francis and Jason could sign the front of my shirt. ;) And maybe I was hallucinating, but it seemed as though Francis might have fancied me a bit. I dunno, G might have a more unbiased view. They were all very sweet, but unfortunately the crowd controllers were pushing us along and wouldn't allow us to really chat or take pictures with them. Oooh, I'm mentioned in the Television Without Pity forum too! Woohoo!

After our giddiness subsided, G and I went to visit our coworker DK who was selling his comic book. He hired us a few months ago to design the cover of his book, and it looks great. He took a break from his booth and we walked around a bit to a few of the toy companies' displays. Sven and Vitatwin met up with us again (they were in line for Elvira's autograph), at which point I was beyond pooped. I ended up taking a break at one of the eating areas and let the others walk around until the convention was closing up. We ate back at the hotel's cafe and drove back home. By that time, it was 11:00pm and G agreed to come with me to pick up my copy of Harry Potter. We were exhausted and completely irritated by the excited and extremely annoying children and parents, but I got my copy! I started reading it last night and picked it up this morning right where I had left off. I finished it by 4pm, and now I'm kinda sad that it's already over. I might start reading it again tonight. :) I read through it so quickly the first time that now I might go back to savor all the little details and hints I probably missed during the first go-round.

And this post is a lot longer than I expected it to be. So sorry for that. But yay for Nerd Weekend 2005!

The Mehness Continues

Not as much as before, but still a little bit. And I realized that I was PMSing, so hopefully the mehness will end soon. Harry Potter comes out this weekend, and I'm hoping to see Charlie & The Chocolate Factory with G, and I'm checking out another house in ES on Saturday as well as my friends' 2/2 on Sunday, so I do have an action-packed weekend to look forward to. Another thing that isn't going to well these past 2 weeks is WW. Sounds like everyone's falling off the band wagon, or at least "taking a break", so I don't feel too bad. But at the same time, everyone else has lost more weight than I, so while they're off, I should try to catch up and stay vigilent, right? Tonight was especially bad. Potato chips, soda, 2 cheeseburgers and a hot dog. Lickity split during lunch and a piece of birthday cake this afternoon too. Oooh, not good.

The Unexpected Company

Sorry, my life hasn't been very exciting lately, no big romantic links, fashion themes, or words of the day whenever I feel like it. :) But a little quirk that broke up the monotony of my usual work week: my cousin MC with whom I haven't had an actual conversation with in over 5 years called me yesterday after lunch. He was on his way to HK for a mission trip but had forgotten his passport back in TX. Poor kid. First time traveling abroad. So he had a delayed layover at LAX until midnight, got my number from his mom and rang me up. I picked him up, fed him some In N Out, and let him crash at my place until I was done with work. Then we went out to dinner and I showed him around the beach towns a little bit. We also watched the season premiere of The Surreal Life which was REALLY GOOD, and I dropped him back off at the airport at 10pm. Point to my story was I don't know if it was "fate," as KA has recently experienced, but it was actually a really nice evening and it turns out he and I had a lot more in common than I realized. He IS a blood relative, so I guess it's a given that we would share some common interests, but anyhoo. Good thing I live so close to the airport and that I was free to hang out with him.

Still haven't settled upon a new apartment, 2 weeks left, starting to get really nervous. I can extend the lease of my current place and pay week to week, so I definitely think I'll have to do that. Even if I can find a place in time, at least I'll be able to move progressly rather than having to clear out my entire place in a day or two.

So I have started talking to this guy from match, it's still very new so I don't want to dwell on it too much, but so far we seem to be interested in the same sort of things. But he asked the same thing that all of us single girls hate: "So why are you single?" I mean, it was veiled in a nicer way, but still...I was itching to say "stupid boys," but I restrained myself. :) Will keep you posted.

G, Vitatwin, Sven, and I head out to Comic Con this weekend. G and I are only going for Friday, but I'm getting excited. A paid vacation away from work! And I get to hang out with a convention center full of smelly nerds who only come out of their rooms once a year. Woohoo! But seriously, it's bound to be a ton of fun. Hanging out with G+V+S=12 hours of hilarity.

The In Between

Today, actually for a few weeks now, I've had this feeling of "meh." G introduced me to this word, apparently from the Simpsons. So everything that's just so-so is just meh. I don't know what's wrong with me. Am I just PMSing? Possibly. Still burnt out from work even though I was gone from the office for 8 days? Perhaps. It's so weird. Usually I'm emotional about SOMETHING, optimistic about who-knows-what, but lately I've felt so blah. Just meh. There's a lot of things transitioning in my life. I have to find an apartment and move and change my address and cancel my bills and all that stuff in just 3 measly weeks, and I'm really worried about that. Today I vowed I would find a place, but after only 2 hours of driving around the south bay, I feel like giving up. I went to Lickity Split and cheered myself up a little with a root beer float, but the feeling of euphoria didn't last too long. I begin my search again tomorrow, hopefully with higher spirits. At work, 7 people have given their resignation in, like, 2 weeks, and there's supposedly a round of layoffs coming up, so that doesn't make one feel very good about their employment either. I'm not worried about being laid off or anything. I'm actually more worried about the increase of work that will be thrown on us. And my stupid boss KISS just blew the rest of our budget for the year (mind you, it's only mid-July), so we can't do any more fun "team outings" or expense "trend shopping" items, I'm guessing. And for one of the projects I work on, we hire an outside illustrator to do all the drawings. He isn't too expensive, but he ain't free, so I don't know how we're going to continue paying him...Well, actually, maybe going over our budget isn't such a bad thing. We'll just keep having to go over our budget and then maybe, MAYBE, the company will realize that KISS is a bad boss and fire him.

Sorry this post isn't very fun or happy, I wish I had something more entertaining to write about. Maybe next time!

The Long Weekend

Just got back-literally-from the airport. Finally I'm back at my apartment! Ate WAY too much this weekend, and don't want to bore you nice people by listing all my meals, but needless to say I need to get my butt to the gym PRONTO. And I think I got my southern accent back while in H-town, but we'll see what KA and G say when I'm at work. Crossing my fingers again about a potential roommate. This time it's a girl named AN who is a marketing girl. She also lives in MB and hates her roommates so she heard about me, and we're going to meet up for lunch tomorrow. This blog is short, as I need to shower and head into the office for a bit. I've been keeping tabs on my work email and it sounds like I'm going to have a fun weekend ahead of me. Woohoo. *Note the sarcasm.*

So besides ML, y'all need to start postin' again! Y' hear???

The Best Drunk Ever

So I am sooooooooo exhausted from my brainstorming trip to Catalina. Loads of fun, not a lot of brainstorming. And even though I'm so tired, I know that if I don't write now, then I'll forget all the fun little tidbits. So sit back kiddies and enjoy the ride, because when I'm tired, I tend to ramble. So this post will go on for a looong time. (and apparently when I'm tired I like to begin sentences with the word "so")

Yesterday morning started off early, since G and I had to be on the ferry by 8:30am. For he and I, this feat was difficult. We started out a little late, and then G had to run into work because he was working on a super secret project that he wanted to present on the trip. Racing and cursing down the freeways going way over the speed limit, we actually made it to the dock in plenty of time. The hour long boat ride was surprisingly fun. Very windy and cold, but overall a nice time. In the middle of the trip, the captain slowed the boat down so the dolphins could play in the wake of the ship. There were literally hundreds of dolphins "surfing" behind us. It was awesome! I have never seen so many dolphins before. The best were the baby dolphins that would jump up every once in awhile. G and I and the rest of the marketing girls were squealing like little kids.

As soon as we landed, we walked to the (very beautiful) hotel and started "working." By 4:30, we headed to the beachhouse the company rented and did some more "team bonding" by having a mixed drinks contest. Each table had to create a drink and serve it to 3 of our bosses. One group found an old fish bowl complete with shells under a bathroom sink and filled it with their turquoise alcohol. Another melted marshmallows on top and called it "floam." Neither won the contest. After the results, it became an open bar. Imagine over 50 toy ranch professionals in the middle of the afternoon drinking shots after shots toasting them "To the new plant in China!" It also escalated into thunderous chants of various people's names to do Kahlua body shots. Nice. But not so nice for KQ, as I proceeded to head back to my room, bright red, and feeling really sick. That would be hugging the toilet #1.

Made it back in time for dinner, sat down with everyone, but ran up to the restroom soon after. Porcelain rollercoaster ride #2. I thought it wise to head back to the hotel for some R&R. G said that after dinner they would head back to the beach house for some good 'ole karaoke and he would call me. #3. By now I'm wondering if I actually have a severe case of bulemia. I fall asleep, 10:30pm I wake up. No phone call from G! Turns out, they never left the restaurant because there was a karaoke bar there too. In the 3 hours I was away, G has turned into the drunkest, most hilarious gay man alive. And he found a new best friend and found it necessary to scream her name every 2 seconds. I also missed his lively solo rendition of "Like a Virgin" which apparently had everyone wetting themselves. I swear, I have never seen a man get so much action in an hour. Both the ladies and the men couldn't get enough G-love! Unfortunately, in my groggy, hungover state I couldn't remember all the memorable quotes, but I do remember G holding a drink in each hand up to his face and squealing with delight and him picking a new best friend (the VP of design) because she had a "bigger rack."

We eventually made it back to the hotel and the group decided it was time to get into the jacuzzi. But it was locked, so everyone had to scale the gate (that was 2 feet away from a 40 foot drop to the ground) to get in. I tried to pull G away and get him to rest, but he couldn't resist the "man soup" on the other side. Seriously, it came down to 4 guys in their skivvies with all of us girls just watching from the other side of the gate. Eventually BR came with fries, which taunted the girls to scale the gate. I was too tired and felt another wave of nausea coming on, so I had to miss out on all the fun. From what I hear, G had a great time "window shopping." :) Hellooo #4, said I, before finally getting some rest.

When all was said and done, I woke up feeling just fine and G was great after a shower. AND he remembers all the events of the night (I have pictures in case he forgets...). I swear, it must be the German/Norwegian in him because there is no way any normal person could handle all that liquor. And despite all the partying, we actually came away with a LOT of new ideas and a ton of new friends. And no more drinking for KQ ever again.

I can't believe we were only gone for a day and a half because it seriously feels like weeks since I've been in my apartment. And now my head is beginning to spin a little, I feel like I'm still on the ferry on the way back home, so with that I must bid you adieu. Tomorrow I'm off to Tejas, yeehaw!

A little plug to help out a fellow blogger. Since his own BROTHER won't even do it. ;) Check out G's brother's blog too, aka Vitatwin. http://5by5-b-5by5.blogspot.com/

The Vacation Begins!

So tomorrow morning G and I begin our endeavor to Catalina Island for 2 days of fun and brainstorming. We're rooming together, so I'm anticipating lots of girl talk and pillow fights. ;) The rumor that's been going around is that they're renting golf carts and we're having a scavenger hunt around the island. Can't wait! Then right after we return, I'm off to Houston for 6 days with the Q family. I've been pretty good keeping up with Weight Watchers, but I have a feeling that I will succumb to the tasty goodies cooked by the Fattest City in the U.S. Goodbye flex points, hellooo brunch buffets, fried chicken, and crawfish!

I'm finally caught up with all my projects at work, and KISS is in England, so this week has been great so far. I know that as soon as I get back from vacation, it'll be crazy deadlines again and late nights, but at least I'll be somewhat refreshed and ready to jump right in. In addition to work, I also need to SERIOUSLY start looking for a new place. It dawned on me that I only have a month left to find a place, pack up all my crap and move, so I've got to start hustling. Speaking of apartments, DB never emailed or called me back (re: The Brave Little Email). Oh well, his loss. But maybe it's really my loss. I googled him and found this article about him written in college. He won a grant to study at Cambridge, was a Rhodes scholar finalist, was the president of his class 3 out of the 4 yrs, volunteered in Africa, sang in the gospel choir, and he also dabbles in oil painting and photography. Damn. There's a few more acheivements I didn't include too. At least it gives me hope that there are still a few overacheiving, nice single guys out in the world. But it'd be nice if I could actually nab one!

So I'm off. Am leaving work now to drive around MB and HB to find some rent signs. Hopefully I'll still post whilst I'm away, but if not, have a great 4th!

The Brave Little E-mail

So I didn't get the apartment. DB was nice enough to email me back today and say that another guy "threw money at them" so they couldn't resist. It's fine. I think it's easier to find an apartment than a quality singl guy anyway. So with some help from G, I emailed him back:

"Hey D (I put his real name here, but for the sake of anonymity),
Thanks for getting back with me so quickly. I can't say I'm not a tad disappointed because your place was really nice. But no problem, I've still got time before my lease ends. It was nice meeting you last night, and if you ever want to hang out sometime, give me a call. My number's on my business card. ;)

Have fun in Vegas and good luck with your toy company!"

It was Vitamin G approved, and he actually hit "Send" for me because I was too nervous. D's probably in Vegas so he won't get this until later. We'll see if he responds!

In other news, we had a huge, long ass presentation today. It was the boys and girls pkg groups presenting their new projects to each other. But the boys went first and took forever and a day, so by the time it got to the girls group, we had already been sitting in the room for 2 hrs. KISS and his puppet went first and KISS bombed, as usual. We were supposed to talk for 3 minutes each. He talked for at least 10, I would say. But it's not just that he took too long, it's that he basically squeezed 15 bullet points (with about 3 sentences under each bullet point) onto 1 ppt page and read the entire thing out loud. And it was stuff that everyone already knew. It was painful. Oh, and he gets really nervous when he speaks (which shouldn't happen when he's an art director!), so as one of my co-workers so eloquently said, "I couldn't tell if he was going to faint or have an orgasm." So of course, guess who gets to present after him? Yours truly! Fortunately I had my shit together and ran through my 2 brands in the alotted 6 minutes. Might have gone over a little bit...But everyone afterward said I did a great job (yay, doing well in front of all the bosses!), was confident, really had passion about my brands, and revived the presentations. Woohoo! (Giving self pat on the back.) There was also a little cutie who works on the boys side (KA, it's not the phantom hottie. No idea what happened to him). This guy is a copywriter, looks pretty young, not a hottie per se, but I dunno, he was kinda cute! G says he has a big nose, which is true, but it's not as bad as PH's hawk nose (and french tipped teeth)! So anyhoo, I was glad that I didn't bomb in front of him either. And who know's? Maybe I made an impression on him... On another happy note, KISS is gone on vacation for an entire week and a half! It's time to par-tay!!!

"Kept" is on VH1 tonight. If you guys haven't seen this show, definitely check it out! It's about all these guys competing to be JH's boy toy. I know it sounds like just another reality show, but really, she teaches them about etiquette and manners and how to deal with the paparazzi and the life of a celebrity. Grace under pressure, fashion, everything. It's great! And JH is actually much cooler than I thought she'd be. So if you're home on a Thursday night like I am, watch it!