Highlight of my weekend: we made ice cream from scratch (save milking cows and harvesting eggs from chickens)! But first, my favorite shot of the weekend:

Yes, Sammy the pomeranian got a "lion cut" for the first time. This dog is incredibly cute, and is still incredibly cute, but his new haircut made me laugh out loud. And then for some reason watching him poo just made me crack up uncontrollably. Sorry Sammy! :)

After a lot of hard work in the blazing heat (mostly thanks to Uncle Charlie and Jason!), we finally got our ice cream. It was SOOOOO good!!!!

[ see the rest of the pictures! ]

Oh, and let's not forget the video clips. This is the first of the short series of videos that we took, from the Round Top parade, from ice cream making, and from playing with sparklers at night. By putting your mouse over the video you can click on the thumbnail on the right to go to the next video.

Congratulations, Violeta and Karthik!

So, instead of the regular ol' rehearsal dinner, we were instead asked to come out for a dance rehearsal. For what? A surprise short dance routine that interrupted their first dance:

(link)

My date to the wedding was pretty cool. He accompanied me the whole day (I'm talkin' 15 hrs here) and he even slow danced with me in the middle of the room while there was a mass exodus going on behind us.

Wedding by Violeta + Karthik
Makeup by Jen Ma
Hair by Andrea Schutter
Dress by David's Bridal
Pleasant Companionship by Tree Frog
Attitude by me. :)

I've gotten back into table tennis recently, and on top of that I've just met someone who went to college with Whitney Ping, and so I thought I'd bring back this poll from 2001 since I was reminded me how I was once mistaken for her. If you do a quick search for her online, you'll learn she's an Olympic table tennis player (I enjoyed this article). For anyone who ever thought I was decently good, let me put this in perspective: I know without a doubt she could whump my rump left-handed and possibly blindfolded. She says she practiced 5 hours a day while training full-time in Sweden; I can barely get through 2 hours playing recreationally without feeling like I'm 70 and have knocked my back out.

[ vote ] [ see results ]

Personally, I don't think I look like her, even after scanning through more recent pictures.

(Today's blog post title was brought to you by the AllLookSame.com. I was forwarded this site a long time ago and never took the test, but the name of the site just stuck in my head.)

... a total stranger takes a picture of you without your knowledge almost 10 years ago and then posts it on a website with other weird photos that are made fun of.

I'd never heard of AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com until Henry pointed it out to me (um, thanks?!). HAHahhahah oh man. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this on the website. Not exactly work safe (depends on your industry, I guess), so beware when you click through the photo to the site.

So I guess I should explain what is going on here. :) Old Calgary buds Reema and Winnie were showing me around San Francisco - had to be between 1999 and 2002, while I was an acupuncture student in Cali - and took me to the Palace of Fine Arts. So we were walking around taking pictures and there, on the green, was this dude posing for a professional photographer. Before my friends could stop me, I ran over and asked if I could have a pic with this guy, thinking that this was too hilarious! I still have the original pic where me and this dude are facing the camera; it's a bit strange to know that someone secretly took a pic of us from the side, and has hoarded it until now!

I remember asking him why he was taking pics there; I can't for the life of me remember his answer. I believe he said his name was "Blaire"; I never remembered to look for him on the internet after that.

Not that this REALLY explains anything except for my penchant for wanting to take pictures of everything I encounter. Be sure to read the caption and the comments underneath; so funny! Man. Yep. The Internet "big-time". Thanks(?!?!) AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com!

Tree Frog updated our California album with a couple of videos, and I just had to share the one of my nephew (or technically my 1st cousin once removed, but that sounds so ... distant and drawn out). Apologies for my shrill and explosive goat-like laughter, so please watch your volume dials. :)

 
(Translation: "Is this Connor? Is this Connor? Yes, this is Connor! This is Connor!")

Man, I love that goofy grin of his. :D

There was massive raining last night. This morning, friends' status updates indicated that many were staying home from work / school due to flooding. I opened my door, looked outside, and everything looked fine to me. I saw some people in the parking lot with car trouble, and some shaking out their car mats. I thought to myself, "Wow. They must've left their windows open last night. That sucks!" Then I got to my car and saw this behind the driver's seat:

D'oh! And my windows were not accidentally left open last night!!

Driving to work, all the water sloshed forward. Yippee. At least my car still works.

Eddy has offered to go with me to find a carwash with a wetvac. My first time using a wetvac, hooray!

Whoa ... who are these hardcore fans of iHaTePiNk.com who were spotted in California last weekend ... ?

Yup, I cut my hair short right before I went. That 10" will be off to Locks of Love shortly. I'd been wanting to chop it off for some time now, and I finally had enough hair! :D If you can't tell, I'm the one in the light pink shirt, and with the bluetooth headset in my ear (D'oh! Forgot it was even in there!!). :P To my left is my lovely cousin Min; she and hubby Peter (and adorable son Connor) were so kind to have us at their beautiful home for the weekend. The shirts were her idea, a random gift she totally surprised me with one day in the mail.

Thanks to Tree Frog for doing a fabulous job of sifting thru the tons of pics and coming up with a summary of our brief time in California. [ see the photos! ]

Being at a kiddie birthday party usually makes me almost want to have my own kid. Until one of 'em poops in a diaper or gets fussy and starts bawling. THEN I leave the premises feelin' pretty good that I get to leave it. Will I ever be a parent? Time will only tell. SHOULD I be a parent? Er, I think most people would resoundingly vote no. :)

Slices of the day:

Me with the birthday girls and their lovely mum 'n dad. I'm making a face - as usual - but this time very much unintentional. But no one will believe that. :)

[ more photos ] (beware of cuteness overload!!)

Hooray! Thanks T for the bday present! Here is the requisite emo shot with random prop (coincidentally also from T, hehe):

Got 'em online. In the process did a bunch of research about purchasing glasses online - if you're in the market, read this and this.

I am so lovin' my updated look!! :D

The other night at HEB and passing through the international food aisle, I saw this and just had to snap a photo of it with my cell phone:

I just now realize that it costs 69 cents. [ more immature snickering ]

Finally got to see Iris perform live for the first time. I'd been wanting to, had only heard about her wonderful voice, but my schedule never permitted 'til now.

One of the songs off her new album:
 

Iris likes to jam with her shoes off:

Iris hamming it up with an interviewer afterwards:

[ more pics ] [ more sounds of Iris ]

Was glad to catch up with Iris briefly, and saw a buncha people I hadn't seen in a long while!

So through some gratuitous connections I got to watch Gladys Knight perform at the Rodeo Friday night, from the PRESS BOX!! Well, technically it was Gladys Knight and Beyonce's little sister. I didn't know her name until I got there, man have I been totally out of the loop with the popular music these days (old fogey alert!).

We did have to watch some of the pre-performance rodeo. I recall going a year or two ago and not liking the feeling of man asserting himself over animal using violent (and what I deem to be unfair) means as if to prove superiority, nor did I like the encouragement of little kids to do the same. I remember it feeling like a very testosterone-driven event that simply used animals for sport. I felt the same way this time.

Anyway! Solange and Gladys were really fun to watch! Here's Gladys in her heyday singing my two favorite songs of the night:

It's so fun to watch those Pips get their dance on. :D

And a more recent performance by Gladys. This is pretty much what she looked like at the Rodeo. What a darling woman, so self-assured and so in love with her craft. I totally understand why she is the "Empress of Soul". Her performance brought tears to my eyes (old fogey alert the second!!). I hope I can be as self-assured at her age when I get there!

We decided to wine, dine, and Coraline. 'Twas divine. :)

Tree Frog bravely took me to get my favorite: STINKY TOFU!

The "wine" was taken care of by a couple of dudes imbibing Chinese hard liquor behind me, who got progressively louder throughout the meal.

Coraline, in 3D! Behold Four-Eyes and Six-Eyes.

Detour adventures: trying out cute travel pillows, then flirting with broken necks at Target (video).

Not a single chocolate was consumed, not a single flower was bought for the occasion, and I had fun. Gasp! :)

Thanks for all the birthday well-wishes!! And hope all is well for everyone in this new year!

As if to alert me to my +1 status, my body protested at 9pm to go to bed. It's now 4 am, and I am strangely wide awake, and awfully sentimental.

I think I've become more aware in my "adulthood" of patterns engrained in me that I don't necessarily like, but are undeniably part of my being. I suppose I could just say "that's just how I am", but I refuse to just BE that way.

To all of my friends: each and every one of you inspires me to be a better person. And that is the best birthday present I could have.

My homeboy EnVaDoR has been up to no good as usual with his modding antics. His latest: getting noted on lifehacker (with a mention on gizmodo) for his DIY iPhone Paper Clip Stand!

A search turns up a whole lotta hits where he gets mentioned, but true 6334dom is appearing on lh and gizmodo, right? :) From one geek to another, here's to you Dean: the King o' Geeks!

[ his original post ]

How's this for a Saturday morning cartoon-ish blog post title? :)

Inspiration struck only the day before Eda and Yusuke's Hallowe'en party when I heard that oddly endearing song "Anyone Else But You". I was instantly reminded how friends, one by one, near and far, insisted that I needed to watch this movie called Juno that apparently starred me. And Tree Frog was said to have co-starred, even though he really looks NOTHING like Bleeker other than sharing skin color and sometimes possessing a similar clueless look.

And so I present to you the slightly dyslexic but adequately presentable Juno and Bleeker, the Hallowe'en 2008 Edition! :)

Cuteness, grossness, and chillness were all present at this lovely party. Thanks to our wonderful host and hostess for letting us destroy their home with stinky tofu and pumpkin innards!

Also, special thanks to the Tree Frog for driving down from Austin to be my date for the party. Even if your shorts weren't short enough. :)

[ all pics from the party ]

Elaine and I survived the Dallas Muddy Buddy 6-mi run/bike! (Well, to be very clear, *I* merely survived it - Elaine's in really good shape so I'm sure this was not too bad for her.) To commemorate this accomplishment, I've put together a slideshow to cheesy music, as I am often prone to doing. Enjoy!

 
Muddy Buddy 2008 from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

My personal goals were to seriously 1) complete without dying, and 2) to not stop. I had to walk the bike a few times over rough / steep terrain, but otherwise, I did it! WE did it! :)

Thanks to those who came out to share our "last meal", to those who trained the last 3 months with my Royal Slowness, and for all the well-wishes!

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Training equipment / tools:
- Champion running shoes, 4+ years old, were thrown out after the race
- Hella-old Walmart special mountain bike (Elaine's nice bike was used for the race)
- MapMyRun.com, a great way to track your workouts and provide motivation for the days you just don't want to run
- fear of dying on the day of the race

There have been a few adventures with the Tree Frog in the last little bit. A midnight hurricane curfew ever-so-slightly cramped our style for Huong's and Wendy's birthday celebrations, both being pretty soon after Hurricane Ike blew through. Carol's birthday was a nice girls-only brunch at Backstreet Cafe, a nice midtown eatery where the whole table got carded when we ordered pitchers of sangria, hahahah. I am now super determined to learn to make French toast. It was SOO good!

We tried to get off our lazy butts and go for walks around the neighborhood, some of which ended up at Target and the local Shoe Carnival. I was in a silly picture-taking mood, and Tree Frog was enabling me, so there we were! We also had a weekend where he accompanied me to David's Bridal to try on some bridesmaids dresses for a friend's wedding next year.

We also arranged a nice little "date night" at Houston's. We both put some effort into getting slightly dressed up and headed out. The booths there were quite cozy, and the music not too loud, just the way I like it - I hate yelling over the music just to chat with someone sitting right next to me. After dinner we headed to the Raven Grill for his favorite dessert. (Thank you Google for helping me find this place: "peanut butter chocolate pie houston tx"!)

This would all be complete gluttony except that I'd been training hard for the Muddy Buddy run/bike event in Dallas. Tree Frog had been good enough to accompany me on workouts in Houston and had arranged for a big band of friends to run together when I visited Austin (which ensued in gluttony also, hahaha). Was the training good enough??? Stay tuned for the next installment ...

Wei invited us over for a little BBQ. Oscar graciously prepared tons of food. Everyone brought a little something and before long we were totally stuffed.

The night ended on a perfect note with Carlos' soon-to-be world-famous rum cake, paired with some Costa Rican coffee. MMMMMmmmmm. (I was stuffed but there's always room for dessert, haha!)

And no set of pics would be complete without pics of the doggies!

[ see all photos ]

The conclusion to my little four-part series.

And so, the storm hit us almost exactly one month ago today. And today, there are 4 men on my roof banging loudly away, making me fear that at any moment the ceiling might cave in and a construction worker complete with hammer, hardhat, and neon vest might fall into my bedroom. Hahaha and no, that would not be a turn on.

Apologies to those who can't get my abysmal singing voice out of their heads. Muahahahaha. Soon all will be ihatepink.com zombies! World domination is imminent!! :)

 
Ike Mockumentary, Day 4 (FINAL): Waiting from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.