jo conquers the world(!).

adventures. travelogues. stupid commentary and an unhealthy obsession with old crap.















Monday, March 03, 2008
a sad, thoughtful entry for once

Today will be a sad, thoughtful blog. The month of February has been extremely trying for me, and I’m at the point where I’m just trying to get through each day without just losing it and starting to scream at the top of my lungs. Nowadays I seem to feel like doing that a lot. Either that or crawling into bed and sleeping as much as possible, just so I don’t have to be awake thinking about things.

I finally got so fed up with things at work and after one extremely hard week where everyday I went home crying about how much I hated my life and everything in it, I decided to quit. Very quickly thereafter I decided that I was going to move and have spent the last two weeks taking care of loose ends at work and selling off my larger items on craigslist. It’s an exhilarating feeling getting to change everything in your life to hopefully something better, but it’s a whole other type of stress to feel like you’re not in control of what’s going to happen next (especially the job hunting part). It’s even a really nice feeling to purge yourself of all your junk that you don’t need. I’m moving to such a tiny place, but I like that I’m forced to prioritize which things are most important to me and then getting rid of the rest of it. It makes me feel like I’m leaving again, packing up only what I need in a backpack and heading off on another adventure.

More importantly and tragically, my grandmother passed away last Friday night. She was 88 y.o., and passed away peacefully in her sleep. And I miss her. A lot. I know that she was in pain and had already led an extremely full life, but those types of condolences don’t really do much when you simply miss somebody. She was such a wonderful, talented woman and, like my brother and sister, I have extremely fond memories of growing up with her. I’ve been trying hard to remember my specific favorite memory of her, but have had trouble pinpointing one specifically. Instead I remember random snippets of her…like how as a child I would look at her hand and think it looked so old and wrinkly but when I touched it the hand would feel so soft and silky ...or how we stayed with her in taiwan and she taught us how to play mah jong, insisting that we say each tile in chinese before we were allowed to throw it out. or even how she constantly gave me these hideous sweaters that I would take and lie "i love it! thanks!". I sort of wish I had kept all those ugly sweaters now.

I had my last day of work on Friday and I didn’t even finish the day. As soon as I found out that my grandmother probably wouldn’t make it through the day, I literally ran out of the office and drove straightaway to Fremont Kaiser. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see her while she was still vaguely alert…by the time I was there the toxins and morphine had already taken over and she looked peacefully asleep. Still, I sat there and watched over her with the rest of my family for her last 7 hours. It’s such a weird feeling to watch somebody die in that way. She looked like she would wake up at any moment, but her breath eventually became labored, then shallow, a then with long gaps in between…and finally at 11:15 she just took one last breath. So odd…to just see somebody not take their next breath.

Even odder is the type of camaraderie you feel with these other people waiting there with you. Even for a family like mine where personal things aren’t discussed, where emotions are rarely shown, where hugs are rarely given…we all embraced and cried together when it was time to say goodbye. I’ve seen my Aunt maybe two or three times in the past 10 years, and when she left she was clinging to me harder than anyone else.

Naturally as we all sat there people would discuss little details about my grandma’s life, things I had never heard before. Like how she was an extremely modern woman, how she won a dance contest once, how she couldn’t breastfeed my father when he was born because she was too malnutritioned during the war. I found myself staring at her and wishing that I could have heard all the little details about her life. What was it like for her to have fled China due to the communist regime? What was she thinking the first time she met my grandpa? How did she feel when my dad was born? Just so many thoughts that nobody would know except for her. I wish she could have told me these things. With our language and cultural barrier it was never possible, but even so I’m amazed at how strongly I felt for her. If you think about it...we’ve never even had a real conversation in my entire life, yet we unquestionably doted on each other. I just hope I've become the type of person she hoped I would be.

It has been an utterly surreal experience watching how everybody else in my family has coped. Talking to my father especially, has made me feel extremely emotionally confused. It’s been hard to see my father, a person I’ve come to realize that I respect and depend on in so many ways, in such a vulnerable state . Actually have him to talk to me about his feelings of being confused and lonely made me realize that he was hit harder than any of us grandkids. I found myself hunting fruitlessly for something to comfort him, but this is unchartered emotional territory for my family, and I just wasn’t sure what I should say or how to help him cope.

I miss my Nai Nai.

Forgive me if I’m out of the picture for awhile.
 posted by jo @ 12:33 PM 0 comments

Monday, February 04, 2008
dying

life is beating the crap out of me. posts will be delayed for now, but I will get around to talking about mexico city soon..
 posted by jo @ 9:17 AM 0 comments


AHHH!

omgomgomg i NEED THIS BAG

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2008/01/working_class_h.php
 posted by jo @ 9:14 AM 0 comments

Friday, January 25, 2008
is this...?

is $300 too much for a coat that looks supremely cool but could potentially make me look really bulky and fat?

linky link link
 posted by jo @ 12:48 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 08, 2008
so stylish

so chemistry chic. no really, i like it! I want 2!
 posted by jo @ 9:27 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 02, 2008
someday I want this

http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6365
 posted by jo @ 1:09 PM 0 comments


disturbing sleep incidents and resolutions

v. odd incident last night. woke up in the middle of the night to take some asthma medicine...and as I walked down the hallway back to my bed I must have passed out/ fallen asleep whilst walking. I woke up a little later to find myself on the floor outside of my bathroom, my head hurting from [presumably] hitting the floor. geeze, what is up with me these days? first chewing on my earplugs and now falling asleep 6 feet from my bed. this must be why some people are afraid to live by themselves..like, what if something happened to me? who would find me? what if I chopped off my finger while cooking and needed somebody to find my finger, put it in a bag with ice, and then rush me to the hospital? i'm pretty sure my neighbor doris doesn't have a car. hrm.

I guess the whole sleeping disorder-like incidents could be because my sleep schedule has been so crazy with the holidays and having random days during the week off. tuesday was my last day off for the holidays until the end of january, so I can hopefully get back to my normal schedule: going to the gym and having a diet that does not consist of only bread, chocolate, and peanut butter.

New Year's was fun...Cherry, Mike(squared), Mo and I (and very briefly christina ha) had a good ol' time, although we unfortunately never found Jacquelyn and her crew. Bootie had the same good music and I saw a man with a fake parrot on his shoulder. Mo also made me convince some girls to take pictures with him. yeah, i guess it was bit of a random night.

Usually I don't do new year's resolutions, but this year I'm feeling festive (and slightly goal oriented). and they always say if you make your resolutions public you'll be more likely to stick with them, so here I go, in order of difficulty:

1. Drink one cup of green tea a day.
2. Take my vitamins everyday.
3. Buy a subscription to The Week and actually read up on what's going on in the world.
4. Do my situps and handstands at least 4 times a week.
5. Quit chocolate!

there, that's not too many, right? I actually think the first 3 aren't too bad, and even the fourth if I'm determined. I'm almost definite that the last one is a lost cause, but a girl's gotta try, right?

happy new years to you all, i hope 2008 will be a good one.
 posted by jo @ 9:48 AM 0 comments

Monday, December 31, 2007
happy new year's eve

I have discovered pattern heaven.
 posted by jo @ 3:31 PM 0 comments


crazy man strikes again!

it's 9:14 am, December 31, 2007. Today was supposed to be a nice, quiet day at the office with nobody in but me and a few of the bosses. to my "delight" i walked in this morning that nobody is in the back corner but me and the crazy man! so far I've overheard....

@ 9:03 am: "It's fucking JACK we're talking about. knowing him we'll be lucky if he even gets in by noon!"
@ 9:10 am: "Fucking, fuck fuck, fucking fucking fuck."
@ 9:13 am: "I HATE THIS PLACE."

me too. get me out of here. please?
 posted by jo @ 9:09 AM 0 comments

Thursday, December 27, 2007
omg, how fab was my mom?

i sooo wish she kept her old clothing so I could dig through them!

i'm totally on a mid-century kick these days. I've redone my bedroom with clean lines and geometric prints, bought myself an old rotary phone, and I'm trying to score a milo baughman couch tonight. cross your fingers! i told myself I wouldn't invest anymore into my apartment because I don't know how much longer I'll live here, but ..it's a milo baughman couch! and it's only $200! Plus I have red envelope money burning in my pocket! ugh, i'm totally a child of consumerism these days. I've also already told my dad that I get first dibs on grandma and grandpa's old mid-century furniture when they go. those pieces will be SUCH a score when they're mine. not that my sister and brother will care that I'm taking them...i think I'm the only one in my family obsessed with "old shit".

sadly I'm also back at work. This month has been pretty hellish schedule wise, so I was ecstatic to go home and have nothing pressing to do besides sleep, read, and watch TV for an entire 5 days. Christmas with the fam was lovely as well. I received the cake stand I wanted from Elaine and Andy, a set of "grown up" suitcases from my parents, and a $25 amazon gift card from my brother which I haven't actually seen yet. On Christmas day I went on a long walk with my parents around Lake Elizabeth and then we caught a showing of The Golden Compass. I didn't expect much since, from my understanding, this is a "kiddie" movie, but I was totally drawn into the story and am now jumping on the bandwagon about wanting to read the books. Can anybody lend them to me to read? I checked the library..it's already waitlisted by 64 other people!

that's all for today folks...I will again leave you with a funny story, this time about my grandparents.

My grandma went and bought 3 pineapples at the store the other day. 2 days later they are nowhere to be found. After interrogating my grandpa she discovers that he has taken them and planted them in the backyard. He exclaims, "We'll have pineapple trees next year!"

best. grandpa. ever.
 posted by jo @ 2:19 PM 2 comments

Friday, December 21, 2007
btw, christmas is evil

because I keep buying stuff going "oh this is my christmas present to myself" until finally I've bought thousands of dollars of STUFF.
 posted by jo @ 3:13 PM 0 comments


i'm a mess

you guys, i feel disgusting. absolutely disgusting, for a number of reasons.

1. that cold that I thought I got over (quite smugly) last week came back and sucker punched me in the gut, turning into a terrible flu. I don't understand what happened! I even felt good enough to start going back to the gym for a week and then last saturday i again fell ill. It's been a slow recovery, although I've discovered that I have a LOT of time on my hands when I don't go to the gym. I've moved furniture around in my apartment twice already this week!

2. I attended two holiday parties last week, had a potluck at work THIS week, our holiday party toNIGHT, and the office has been buried beneath a pile of gift baskets full of chocolately goodness. can we say gluttony?

3. I bought brie for the potluck and ended up finishing most of it off myself because apparently "chinese people don't eat cheese". Then m.poynter left me another chunk of brie in my stocking which I polished off in practically one sitting by myself. just me versus the brie and a pile of wheat crackers. oh..my..god..so..much...brie.

4. since I've been having that ugly sounding hacking cough the entire week I haven't worked out. at all. I am literally finding pockets of fat sprouting all over my body at an alarming rate. like, "wtf??? where did this love handle come from??? why the heck am i jiggling so much??" and then I start coughing again so hard that I think I'm gonna puke in my garbage can at work.

At least before this tremendous downward spiral I had a pretty good weekend. The Fremont crew came up and finally took me out for my birthday (only a month and a half late). Cherry and Debra took me on mystery drive to pac heights to get my haircut by an asian girl with the last name "Tuggle" (i'm still trying to figure that one out). The moment she lay her eyes on me she gasped and muttered "for the love of god....! when is the last time you got your hair cut?!"

well not really..but she did tell me that I had a "lot of hair going on" and she then proceeded to lop off 4 inches. I think Cherry and Debra were trying to tell me something . thanks girls, my hair has admittedly been looking pretty good the past few days. Cherry was so mesmerized at how shiny and healthy it looked that she couldn't stop petting me.

Then they marched me over to Shu Uemura where a young gay asian man applied makeup on me and I bought RIDICULOUSLY (and i mean ridiculously) expensive makeup. It's so expensive that I'm afraid to open up the package and use it! I *have* been using the eyelash curler, and Debra was right..it really is all that it's cracked up to be. oh those wonderous engineers at Shu Uemura! it LOOKS like a normal eyelash curler, i swear! but somehow it's so very different than the ones you buy at the drugstore. oh, and cherry made a bad attempt at some liquid eyeliner which will forever be another classic Cherry moment. :)

then everyone else met up with us which is when i started feeling a little run down. We dined on japanese food, gelato, and took pictures in the photobooth at japantown. I tried to pinch David's ass to try and capture a surprised look on camera, but I did it too soon. damn!

Thanks to everybody who contributed to my late late late b-day!
 posted by jo @ 1:33 PM 2 comments

Monday, December 17, 2007
earmuffs?

does anybody remember who I lent my red earmuffs to when i left for travelling? because I want them back and I can't remember who took them....
 posted by jo @ 3:01 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
breaking news: i did it!

you guys, something epic happened last night. I did my VERY FIRST round off back handspring! okay, so that's like, not the most advanced gymnastical (is that even a word?) move, but this is a huuuuge deal for me and my little tumbling class. I've come a long way from my first week, although I still haven't gotten over that bad habit of flailing into crash mats on a regular basis.

in other news, I've finally remembered to read up about the debate of the geico gecko's accent and I'd like to say "in your face" to everybody who told me that it was an australian accent, because even though it's been debated on the internet the final resounding answer is that he has a cockney BRITISH accent, just like I said. wikipedia says:

"The company's ads sometimes focus on its reptilian mascot, the GEICO gecko, a talking Day Gecko created by The Martin Agency and most recently a CGI creature generated by Framestore CFC. The gecko first appeared in 1999 during the Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the use of live actors.[5] In the original commercial, where the gecko pleads for people to stop calling him in error, mistaking gecko for geico, he was voiced by Kelsey Grammer. In the subsequent commercials, the gecko speaks with an Cockney accent, because it would be unexpected, according to Martin Agency's Steve Bassett. Jake Wood, a British actor and comedian, is the current voice of the GEICO gecko. In current commercials the gecko's accent is more working-class, perhaps in an effort to further "humanize" him."


phew. for awhile there I thought I had been in the US for too long and was losing my knack for differentiating accents. shoulda stuck to my guns!
 posted by jo @ 11:22 AM 0 comments

Monday, December 10, 2007
madama butterfly and other miscellany

Jen amazingly won tickets to the opera last thursday, so the crew and myself headed out to enjoy Madama Butterfly in our butt-munchingly amazing box seats! The view was fantaaaaastic. Absolutely perfect view (with the exception of Jen's over large noggin. geeze jen! haha, i kid i kid.) and they even provided us with fancy munchies before and during the show. Think champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles and expensive water. Emphasis on the "free champagne" which Cherry fully took advantage of. Really, who gets drunk at the opera? ;) ah, but it was quite funny watching Cherry sway in her seat and having her lean over to me in the middle of the show and giggle, "i'm soooooo drunk!" hey, i tried to stop her! The opera itself was good as well, although I didn't recognize any of the music and by the end I felt like the storyline was really familiar, only to find out later from Ha that Miss Saigon has basically the same story.

Backtracking a bit. Last weekend (beFORE I got sick) m.poynter's good friend Nevin was in town from Colorado. This meant that I had to go out TWICE that weekend, almost unheard of! But I had a good time, despite having to drive everybody all over the city and attending that really weird house party in the Mission. Not Ashley's Birthday party (that was uber fun. she had a friggin' chocolate fondue fountain!), but another house party that was so crammed that I literally walked upstairs, stood in the kitchen for 5 minutes feeling out of place because I was hardly "hipster" enough, and then left.

Nevin was great, too..a really stand-up type of guy. A gigantor chemistry genius that drinks like he has a hollow leg. We even took him to go get crab at PPQ in the Sunset where I devoured garlic noodles until I felt I was going to burst. Honestly this wasn't all that important to blog about, but I enjoy this picture of Shawn and Nevin in their bibs too much to not post it, so ...uh yeah.

This past weekend was fine, and we made an appearance in the Mission on friday. M.poynter stole chocolate cake for the girls to eat and Anne jumped on Ashley and fell down in the middle of the street. It was a pretty fun night, admittedly, but I came home tired and worn out..most likely because I was still getting over my mild cold.

and so ends my catch-up post, but before I leave I shall leave you with this story.

Do any of you remember about, oh...i think 3 years ago I posted about this one amazing dream about eating orange slices (or something) and I woke up with my earplug in hand not two inches from my mouth?

yeah.

well last night I was dreaming about GRAPES...delicious, yummy, juicy grapes..and I was chewing chewing chewing and remember thinking "gosh, these grapes are extremely odd in taste and texture" and woke up with MY EARPLUG IN MY MOUTH. MY EARPLUG! fully inside my mouth and in the back having a party with my molars.

*shudder* disgusting.
 posted by jo @ 9:28 AM 2 comments

Friday, December 07, 2007
more things I love

Boot Umbrella Stand from ZGallerie ($34.95)


Know.Label Abby Wrap Scarf ($19.50)


Radiolaria Necklace ($75.00)
 posted by jo @ 4:42 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 03, 2007
kooza!



Kooza was great! Maybe not as polished or artsy as Corteo, which is the only other one I've seen (yes yes, i need to see O!), but I expected as much since Kooza's reviews said all of that. It was a really nice way to spend my Thursday evening even though I got home a little late.

In other news, I went to my lasik appointment this morning and am proud to announce that I AM a good candidate! yeeeessss! can't wait to get rid of these contacts. Now I just need $7200 dollars, or I'll just have to go somewhere else.
 posted by jo @ 1:01 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 30, 2007
piccies from atlanta

posted by jo @ 3:49 PM 0 comments


travelogue: atlanta and tennesee

Day 1:

Brother had booked an ungodly 7 am flight. He spent the night at my place so I got the responsibility of driving him to the airport at 5 am ish. I’m not sure how I managed this because I’m pretty sure I was actually asleep whilst driving. v. dangerous, good thing there was nobody on the road. Came home, fell asleep for another 2 hours, frantically (always frantically) ran for the bus so I could take BART to the airport. All is well, find parents with little to no difficulty. Delighted to find out mother has packed ham and mayo sandwiches on homemade raisin bread. And grapes! Crazy large grapes on steroids. Delish.

The flight was pretty mediocre. By the end of it I was itching to get off the plane. Normally I really enjoy flying, but I guess I was a little too tired to enjoy it and didn’t have enough good magazines. I flew through my InStyle and watched the ending to “Hot Rod” – surprisingly okay. I just couldn’t help laughing during the “raising money for step dad to get a surgery so I can kick the crap out of him later” montage…getting hit by a refrigerator is funny okay?? Can’t a girl enjoy a little toilet humor without getting flack for it?

We touched down in Atlanta at 8 or so their time and I was highly displeased to discover that it was not “San Francisco in the winter” like my sister had said but much, MUCH colder (yeah, WHATEVER Elaine!). I was happy to quickly hustle onto the hotel shuttle to our hotel. Too bad we were misinformed by my brother and went to the wrong hotel…what? What do you mean we’re at the wrong Marriott?. After much confusion, we finally ended up taking a taxi to our correct hotel. Unfortunately the only taxi driver available was the crazy macabre type that I was almost sure was about to stab us for our meager luggage. I kept quiet in the back while he started ranting about how the end was coming, that he truly believed that God was going to smote us sometime in like…the next 2 weeks or something. The entire time I couldn’t help thinking “If you really think there are only 2 weeks left, what the hell are you doing spending your last moments driving a cab for? Shouldn’t you be out, I dunno, having fun or something?”

Arrive at hotel safely…great rooms. In fact, fantastic rooms. I was stoked. Bring on the pampering! And so we did. By going to have our first southern dinner. This would be the first of about 12 HUGE meals that I would endure with my family. I swear to you, I was so sick of eating by the end of this trip. I felt like if I saw another fried chicken leg , biscuit, or tub of macaroni and cheese I was apt to saw my arm off.

Day 2:

Slept in and headed out to Stone Mountain Park. Imagine Uluru (the big rock in the middle of Australia) but smaller, not red, and with a carving on the side of it. Even though it’s pretty inferior to Uluru in every way, if you were never to make it to Australia you could at least go to Stone Mountain in Atlanta and get the same feel for that type of huge geological formation (read as: huge ass rock). We bought day passes to the park and rode the gondola up for some sightseeing. Great views. Mom commented on the changing of the leaves. She probably mentioned this at least another 200 times during the trip. Love you, Mom.

I’m not sure how we managed this, but we spent the ENTIRE day at that friggin’ park. Gondola + Ride the Duck trip into the lake + crappy theme park + fake plantation = dying Joanna. Okay, I guess it was all pretty interesting…the theme park was just fun simply because it was just so crappy. It was only the 23rd of November, not even Thanksgiving yet, and Christmas looked like it had thrown up all over this park. There were enough Christmas lights to light a village twice the size of what it was. There seemed to be about 5 employees for every 1 visitor, and every single employee was costumed (and quite unhappily, I might add) as an elf or something of that nature. Pretty much every worker had a bored expression on their face and muttered “Merry Christmas” in a monotone voice as I passed by. and it was COLD, goddammit. Really, really cold! Later on in the evening was the laser show and fireworks against the rock (oooooh…ahhhhhh…) which sounded good in theory, but turned out to be disgustingly lame. Turns out the firework show equaled 2 sad fireworks at the end.

But the BEST part of Stone Mountain, the pièce de résistance, was the 4-d Polar Express show! My brother and I found this particularly fascinating, as we weren’t aware that the 4th dimension even existed. I mean I always thought the 4th dimension was hypothetical…who knew that the talented engineers at a crappy theme park in Atlanta had figured it all out? ;) hooey, turns out the 4th dimension means that while you’re watching a 3d movie they spray water all over you. Great, I’m cold and wet. Wonderful.

Day 3

Up and at ‘em early in the morning, we drove to Tennesee in search of a Cracker Barrel, a large chain restaurant all throughout Tennessee. In Georgia I felt like you couldn’t go 2 miles without seeing another Waffle House, but in Tennessee it’s all about Cracker Barrel. I pigged out (AGAIN) on blueberry waffles, hashbrown casserole (admittedly good, although I think my heart stopped beating for a second after my first bite of this), chicken livers, and heavenly biscuits. According to Andy’s father after dining here we could officially call ourselves “white trash”. Ah, it’s great sharing other cultures, isn’t it? I somehow got convinced by my mom that Tennessee is known for their peanuts so I bought some peanut brittle from here to bring home. I found out later from Andy that this is completely untrue. Thanks mom. Really, I do love you.

Afterwards we hightailed it to my sister’s other wedding reception, the TRUE purpose of this entire trip. I was still full from cracker barrel but managed to sample some deep fried meatballs while chatting with Andy’s Crazy Aunt ™. No really, this is what everybody calls her. The average age there was probably about 70 something…so I tried to look pretty, act polite, and take pictures when people asked me to. We drove home after that and had dinner at a lovely (and sort of expensive) restaurant. I don’t remember what it was called, but they had awesome food. This was probably the only time I didn’t feel like dying after I finished eating.

Day 4

Up early again since we were flying out that day. We wanted to spend our last hours doing some proper sightseeing. We headed downtown early and checked out the Coca Cola experience. My brother made me drink some horrid soda from the UK and we each left with a free bottle of coke. Oddly enough, they also had a 4-d movie experience! Oh my, the epidemic is spreading quickly!

Then we went to the CNN building. Uh, can we say “snore”? yeah, the tour sorta sucked. Skip this unless you are some crazy CNN fan. But whatever. We swept off to the airport to wait for 4 hours and finally got on our flight back home. Ahh, home.

Phew! I’d say overall my trip the South was pleasant and interesting. There were definitely a few trying moments simply from the fact that it’s been the first time I’ve spent a significant amount of continuous time with my family in…well in really quite awhile. But at least we got some good quality family time out of it and some silly pictures. I have some rockin’ pictures of my family in 3-d glasses.

Until next time!
 posted by jo @ 3:29 PM 0 comments

Thursday, November 29, 2007
no more

okay, i am seriously seriously sick of working on websites. I spent 1 month+ on my portfolio last time and this time I had to crank it out in about 3 days! but it's done and up for viewing (if that's something that interests you: www.joannachao.com). not my best work, but it includes my new stuff so I guess it's automatically "better" than the old one. I also designed some personal business cards in about an hour and hopefully they'll be arriving by mail soon-ish. freelance work, here I come!

i thought while I was on a roll that I might as well fix my blog, but it's giving me such a friggin headache (why can't I make this box around this thing go away ahhhh!!) that I finally decided I just didn't care enough to fuss anymore over it. so you guys will have to settle for a half-finished blog design..i just swapped out the back image and tweaked the text colors a bit. BUT at least you can read all the text on firefox (OK DALE!!?? stop bugging me about it!)

i know I've been missing for awhile (helen emailed me and said: "why dont u update your blog anymore? how do people keep abreast with the exciting life of joanna?") so I figured I had better get on it before people forget me all together.

so let's see, what's been going on?

1. i finished catalog season semi-successfully..everything got sent out on time but because we had so little time my coworkers all half-assed the proofing and I found out after I got back from Tennessee that there were a bunch of mistakes that they didn't catch. ugh. must not stab idiot coworkers. must not.

2. The day after catalogs were finished I went to tennessee or rather, atlanta. Andy's family is from the south east part Tennessee but it's easier to just fly into Atlanta and drive there, apparently. I had no idea about any details of the trip other than I had a ticket at so and so. Too bad I had to wake up at 5 am to drive my brother to the airport, drive back, sleep for another 2 hours, get up and then get my ass to the airport by myself via bart :P i'll post a separate blog about my trip to atlanta with some pics later.

3. Few days at work and then it was Thanksgiving already. It was fantastic having two 3 day work weeks in a row! My parents weren't really celebrating so I spent Thanksgiving in SF. we ate a lot of food and watched Sicko -- i'm even moreso convinced I need to move somewhere with government run healthcare. I also saw some old high school friends at pepper lunch and played the new game on the block, Rock Star. The good old days of ddr are gone, it's all about fake drums and guitars combined with karaoke. yay?

tonight I see Kooza!
 posted by jo @ 11:57 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 05, 2007
oh yes.

i finally saw the darjeeling limited and positively adooooored it! it was just as wonderful as I hoped it to be, with all the beautiful details and quirkiness I've come to expect from Wes Anderson movies.
 posted by jo @ 3:40 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 02, 2007
my new fav indian dish

my new fav indian dish - saag paneer. thank you lahore karahi even though your waiter is a crazed man with a missing finger.
 posted by jo @ 10:10 AM 0 comments

Thursday, November 01, 2007
hell hath frozen over

friends, comrades...i done gone crazy and finally reactivated my facebook account. the long boring hours at work got the best of me, plus I was getting tired of people asking "why aren't you on facebook?" and missing out on all the exciting things everybody claims to happen in the facebook universe. although I feel technologically retarded..is it just me, or is this not user friendly at all?

anyway, if you find me on there go ahead and add me as I don't know how to work this thing on my own.
 posted by jo @ 2:40 PM 0 comments


no money, mo' problems



my green shoes are happily winging their way to me now...i definitely feel a little pang of guilt because I just dropped $85 to have a pair of shoes when I'm sitting here everyday going "i can't even afford to buy new bras!!", but maybe they'll show up and they won't fit or won't be comfortable or something so I'll have to return them. then I won't have to feel guilty!

and then not 2 days later I come across this ridiculously lush bag that comes with a ridiculous $540.00 price tag. geeze, when did I get such expensive tastes? oh wait, i bought 99 cent socks yesterday. no, i definitely wouldn't get so crazy that I would pay that much for a bag (unless I planned on keeping it in a box FOREVER. no way that puppy is seeing the light of day), but even then I am still seriously coveting the anna corinna brown mini city tote as well and that's ALSO $350.00+.

on the other hand, I am seriously seriously seriously considering moving out and getting some roommates. I had dismissed the idea because I just really like my place and living alone so much, but I opened a cupboard yesterday and a mouse ran out and cheerily cried "hello!" to which I screamed and stumbled backward like a git. so uh, this morning I am more seriously considering other housing options. not that I really mind the idea of mice. I think I just screamed because I was surprised..it was was really quite a cute mouse and I knew there were mice in the building, but it was the first time in 13 months that I saw it actually INside the apartment and running freely amongst my pots and pans. and it just seems..not right. unhygienic. maybe I really should sweep my kitchen floor more often and keep all my food in the fridge.

I figure I should get roommates to save up some money anyway. then I'll have an extra x-amount of dollars to buy $500+ bags and fashion accessories.
 posted by jo @ 11:07 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 31, 2007
wicked witch

She's got style...
 posted by jo @ 12:47 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
omg you guys you guys you guys!!!!

i found the green vintage frye ada pumps in my size!! eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

but wait for it...

they were on sale!

and I found a coupon for 25% off!

and free shipping!

*sigh*

it was meant to be....
 posted by jo @ 4:42 PM 0 comments


my 25th birthday: the let down

okay just kidding...i celebrated so long ago that sunday, the 28th didn't even feel like my birthday. there wasn't really much to be let down about, i just woke up and went along as usual as if nothing was different. and on my 25th birthday I even got to do one of my FAAAAVORITE activities (blech) EVER, laundry!

enh, my grandma and one of my aunts remembered at least. I got $100 bucks and a fake (hideous) louis vuitton purse, respectively. but it's the thought that counts. I actually think the LV purse is comically tacky, so I plan on keeping it around to commemorate the day. maybe I'll get a picture of it up here someday.

I did get to go out for lunch to Macaroni Grill with the crew(tm), bought some shiny flats at DSW on the cheap, and even got some gelato.
 posted by jo @ 10:42 AM 0 comments


elaine's wedding: recap

I left work a little early at 3pm on friday. I was so excited that I couldn't get any work done and ended up just fiddling for 6 hours. I finally got to leave and it took approx an hour and a half to get to the church in San Ramon, including stops at walgreens and longs drugs for some last minute supplies. we did a quick rehearsal where I felt a little teary eyed when I saw my sister and my dad walk down the aisle, but otherwise everything went smoothly.

We ran a little overtime so I rushed home to fix my makeup and headed to the chinese banquet at ABC seafood. It was so great to see and catch up with so many of my relatives that I haven't seen in such a long time. My cousin lynn was there who I haven't seen in 10 years! And my cousin's kids are HUGE now. it's just shocking how quickly time passes sometimes. My sister was really nice and got a cake for my grandmother and my birthday, so my 25th wasn't completely forgotten.

After filling our bellies full with delicious food, we were supposed to head to the hotel to get a good nights sleep before the wedding. I waited patiently in the parking lot for my sister to pick me up to finally find out later that she had completely forgotten me, gotten on to the freeway and driven off! gee, thanks elaine. you are the BEST sister EVER. luckily my cousins were still waiting there with me and dropped me off on their way home. Unfortunately I didn't sleep that great because my sister hogging the entire bed and the alarm woke us up at an awfully early 6:45 am for makeup/hair. we didn't even finish makeup and hair until 11! but they did a fantastic job with the hair..i have a bit of beef with the makeup artists for putting foundation on me that was way too light for my skin, but enh. they did me up all purdy and somehow managed to make me look more asian than I normally do, so i give them props for that. i got a lot of semi-shocked compliments, i don't think anybody thought I could actually clean up nice.

We finished makeup at 11, did wedding photos at the hotel (where I blinked or was looking in the wrong direction in almost every photo. i apologize to andy and elaine if all their wedding photos are ruined), and strategically climbed into a limo to get us to the ceremony. I was starting to get pretty nervous at that point, my stomach was turning little flips but when I looked at elaine she was like...totally calm. brought her game face and everything. i was distresesd because I was the first one to walk in and there these little steps at the beginning of the aisle. I kept having horrifying images of me tripping and face-planting in front of everyone, flowers flying, skirt inappropriately upturned. i kept thinking "oh please please please lord don't let that happen to me!" but everything went perfectly.

the ceremony was even shorter than I expected, so there was no struggling to stand up straight or straining in my heels. again I teared up a bit when I saw Elaine and my dad come down the aisle but I pulled it together until later on. elaine and andy put their heads together during communion and i started sniffling and crying (quietly though), ruining my makeup, damn! afterwards there were more photos and yummy snacks which I didn't get to eat, and sending the bride and groom off in a cloud of bubbles.

We drove back to the hotel after that and sat in my sister's bridal suite for an hour. We were all looking a bit droopy by then..i know I felt exhausted. but we only had a short hour to rest and then we headed down to the evening reception again. the fremont marriott was a great location and the reception was beautifully decorated. Dinner was yum with a combo of steak, salmon, and veggies all on one plate, plus an assortment of desserts. the cousins got a little rowdy with the wine, my nephew nearly started a fire when he beelined for a table full of candles, but I think the general feeling was cheery and celebratory, exactly the way a wedding reception should be.

despite feeling completely exhausted the entire day, I thought everything went extremely well. and elaine and andy looked so happy! congratulations to the new couple!
 posted by jo @ 10:20 AM 0 comments


elaine's wedding: photos

posted by jo @ 10:07 AM 0 comments

Thursday, October 25, 2007
okay, i'm ridiculous

okay I know I'm ridiculous but I'm really depressed because I can't find those frye green heels in anything but a size 9.5! oh well...I shouldn't even consider buying a 100+ dollar pair of shoes unless I plan on wearing them EVERYDAY with EVERYTHING anyway.
 posted by jo @ 3:39 PM 0 comments


stumpy heel for me!



omg(!), these heels from frye are adoooooorable! oof, how can I turn away from such a cute, stumpy heel?
 posted by jo @ 3:26 PM 0 comments

Monday, October 22, 2007
a relaxing weekend

t-minus 5 days until my sister gets married. For her last hurrah there were no strippers, no drunken shenanigans, just a lovely day at the spa with the bridesmaids. After much debate we finally settled on SenSpa in the Presidio.

I've never gotten a massage in the US so I can't really compare, but I know I went in feeling sore and stressed out and came out feeling happy and glowing, so I think this place gets a huge thumbs up! It's a little on the expensive side, but it's a luxury I don't get to experience very often. The massage was great, surroundings were beautifully decorated, and they gave us nummy nuts/dried fruits/chocolates/tea for snacks. I secretly entertained the idea of stealing one of the plush robes, but I resisted and instead enjoyed a long relax in the steam room, a wash in one of the most technologically advanced showers I've ever seen (so..many..spouts! eeeee!), and the $24 lotions they left out for us to use. ahhhhh...the bliiiiiissssss!

on Saturday I also got to see one of my favorite people, Dale. He had come down to support katy in the Nike Women's Marathon, so we all went out to see Rendition. It was okay...i got a little excited when I understood some arabic in the movie, but beyond that I could probably have gone witout seeing this one. Definitely would have preferred to see The Darjeeling Limited. I was just happy to spend some time with Dale, i never really get to see him enough.

Sunday checked out the Da Vinci exhibit at the Metreon. If you guys go, i thought the audio tour was informative, but you could do without.

so i've had a few people ask what I want for my birthday...this always makes me feel awkward because I secretly like gifts to be a surprise, but then I hate receiving stuff I don't really want! so again, here's my wishlist

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=yourlists_pop_1/002-3013147-5255216

but I'm jonesing for a heart rate monitor if you really must know :)
 posted by jo @ 8:08 PM 0 comments

Friday, October 19, 2007
gorgeous

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=37894&pid=539490&scid=539490012
 posted by jo @ 2:25 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 16, 2007
happy early birthday, you hag

Due to some scheduling conflicts with my sister's wedding and work, I don't have time to celebrate my birthday anytime close to my ACTUAL birthday, so I went out this past saturday to do some partying at Bootie, my very first mashup party. thank goodness it didn't let me down! i had a suuuuuch a great time. everybody who came out was in an awesome, silly mood (big ups to all my buddies who made it out. you all rock big time and I love all of you). The vibe of the club and the diverse crowd seemed perfect to me, as this is my number one complaint about having to go to homogenous "asian" clubs or any club based on ethnicity. I can't really imagine having gone to anywhere else to celebrate the big two-five..it was like bootie was created specifically for me and my enjoyment!

I didn't jump on any cowboys this year, much to everybody's disappointment, but I did take a picture with a woman in a banana suit! and while I didn't fall asleep in front of my kitchen or have any other silly things happen to me, I think this year was equally fun. It was still a better night than over last year overall.

moments of note:


definitely some other good moments, but those are best saved for my own memory. thank you again to all my friends who somehow still love me year after year and come out to celebrate. These past two birthdays have been the best yet.

Just 12 more days before I become an old hag, so I will be off now to go cling to my last vestiges of youth.
 posted by jo @ 8:52 AM 1 comments


i wonder of my insurance covers this place?

this dentist's office sounds like the place to be...a 20 minute foot massage spa-like appointment for your teeth cleaning? sounds good to me!

http://www.transcendentist.com/
 posted by jo @ 8:50 AM 0 comments

Friday, October 12, 2007
another t-bar to love


so i never got around to wearing my first t-bar purchase (the heel was too high) but that doesn't stop me from loving these and the little heel cutout.
 posted by jo @ 9:21 AM 0 comments

Thursday, October 04, 2007
quick half assed travelogue: vegas

thanks for the pics, jacquelyn. I'm retarded and didn't have any batteries for my camera :P

vegas is vegas is vegas. and vegas is always fun. I'm really happy that I got to do a quick weekend getaway with the girls, because vegas is infinitely more fun with only girls and girls only lines into clubs! we got free entry into everything with minimal wait times.

I flew in late on friday night, got dressed straight away and headed for the newest (i think) club in vegas, LAX. Supposedly DJ AM was supposed to be spinning but I don't remember them ever announcing him...although I was also an entire 4 drinks in(go joanna!) and "making friends" with many a stranger, so I could be wrong.

saturday we lazily got up and headed for caesar's for lunch and a small splurge for me at anthropologie. We followed this up with some of the BIGGEST scoops of gelato I have ever had and 3(!) viewings of the Bellagio fountain show. i think I've had my fill of fountains to tide me over until I get back there again.

I was pretty warped at this point and went back for a nap, but dragged myself up again so we could go to Pure. Finally! I feel like we've been trying to go to this club for ages. unfortunately it was a big disappointment for me. i thought the music sucked, the crowd was lame, the format of the club was weird with not even any really nice decor. although I did get to see frankie muniz (random. he is a very wee man), jack osbourne (even more random) and a extremely piss poor vanilla ice look alike (circa the early 90s) who thought he was the shit. we left early.

sunday I awoke and had some food and then flew back to sf!

okay, so it doesn't really sound like I did THAT much stuff. all the other girls got to see a show (celine dion and ka, natch) and eat a few nice dinners, but I'm glad my time there was short. Like I said, vegas is always fun, but I find it hard for me to keep up with that type of energy for more than a day. I'm old and fragile, i get tired easily! good fun, good company, let's do it again next year, girls!
 posted by jo @ 11:17 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 03, 2007
it's been a long day

a very long day. a long week, month, year even. but this craigslist post makes me smile.
 posted by jo @ 4:35 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 02, 2007
i need help

my apartment has ever so slowly become a pigsty, despite weekly cleanings. I tidy up but get really lazy with the vacuuming (number 3 most hated chore, behind dishes and laundry) and have decided that after a year here it's time to hire a maid! anybody want to buy me a once over by a maid for my birthday?
 posted by jo @ 3:42 PM 0 comments

Friday, September 28, 2007
i hope i win big

...so I can afford this ridiculously priced dress. just kidding, i don't know how I would win since I don't gamble, but it's a pretty dress nonetheless.
 posted by jo @ 12:45 PM 0 comments


bummer

i'm a little bummed out that I'm going to be missing my first chance to get my fill of leather and love at the Folsom Street Fair/Love Parade buuuut....

i'm leaving for vegas in 6.5 hours! hurrah!
 posted by jo @ 12:36 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 27, 2007
knocked up: a generic movie review

I finally saw this movie yesterday via DVD. I was thinking it wouldn't be that great considering I don't normally enjoy these types of movies that much and how much it was hyped up over the summertime, but I found myself (surprisingly) really enjoying it! enjoying it so much that I have to actually blog about it, a rare occurrence, for sure. Parts of it I found to be completely unrealistic (ie. why would she sleep with him in the FIRST place? how does she say I love you so quickly?) while other parts I found to be extremely realistic. Like how in the scenes where the women and men are fighting and just can't seem to communicate to the other sex why they're feeling hurt. Or how the women throw fits that seem so irrational to the men and it ends in a huge blowout. Or how even after a big fight when you're feeling vulnerable your s.o. is the first person you feel like calling for help. I felt like it was all the fights i've had in my relationships being played back to me, except I'm not a pregnant blonde woman with big breasts and my exes were not schlubby potheads with impressive jewfros. It all just seemed so familiar.

but really, besides having characters and dialogue that really resonate with me, the movie is just plain hilarious. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are so perfect together as a screen couple and I think I am now secretly (or not so secretly) in love with Seth Rogan now. Homeboy is rocking his 'fro and man boobs! although I probably won't buy the DVD, it was plenty good fun for a wednesday night.
 posted by jo @ 9:16 AM 0 comments