Alert!

Dear Facebook,

I love you, but you kind of kill me sometimes. Okay, it might not be you; it could be me. You see, this is what happens: Sometimes I get excited and comment on or "like" another person's wall post or status update or picture or whatever. And then, like forty other people also decide they need to comment and then fb feels the need to send a message to my phone every single time.

I know what you're going to say, fb. You're going to say, "Change your settings and this problem could easily be avoided." The thing is, sometimes it's good to be in the know. Have you ever come across an untagged pic of you with an entire conversation about you by your friends? Or happened across a Wall-to-Wall with you as the main subject? It's... uncomfortable. And creepy.

So what I'm saying is: Generally, I like knowing what's going on on fb, but I kind of hate it when I get a bunch of messages on my phone about randoms responding to my comment/picture/post/whatever.

Okay, maybe what I'm really saying is: Who knew that every time my mom updates her status (and yes, this does actually happen) every single one of her friends feels the need to comment on it? None of my friends do that...

Sincerely,

j

Boat Parade!!!!

You guys!!! I went to the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade tonight and it was BOMB. Seriously. I'm pretty jazzed... STILL (the parade was like 4 hours ago).

There's something about cheesy events/activities that really gets me excited. People went all out on their boats at this parade. One boat had live singers. Another had a big movie spotlight thingy (technical term). There was even a waterskiing reindeer! The boats are so over-the-top it put a huge smile on my face.

And NOW, 4 hours later, I'm having a dance party to Madonna alone in my room. (And yes, I interrupted the dance party to write this post... and yes, Madonna is still playing). That's how good this parade was.

New Moon

Hey guys! Remember me?? I used to blog about my uber exciting life. Then I went to med school and have pretty much dropped off the face of the planet. Sorry about that. It's just that med school is actually kind of hard and keeps me pretty busy.

For example, med school forced me to see the 12:30 am showing of The Twilight Saga: New Moon last night. I was like, "I don't know, med school... that doesn't seem like the responsible thing to do." And then med school was like, "Um, yes it is. Trust me, you will not regret it. Good doctors go to see midnight showings of teeny bopper movies on opening night all the time! In fact, it is a prerequisite to becoming a good doctor." So I gave in and went to the movie.*

And it was AWESOME!!!! I was literally giddy while we were waiting in line before the movie. I skipped into the theater with glee! When Edward appeared, I squealed with delight. When Jacob took off his shirt for the first time (and then pretty much kept it off for the rest of the movie), I swooned. The sexual tension was delicious. Vampires and werewolves have never been so hot. So what if I didn't get home until 3:30 in the morning and I had class at 10? Who cares if I've been shaky and weak (and mildly retarded) all day from lack of sleep? It was TOTALLY WORTH IT.

I'm sure you're dying to know if I'm on Team Jacob or Team Edward. I'm not going to lie: after last night's feast for the eyes, I'm tempted to join Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner is HOT... so what if he's 17?). But being the Twilight fan that I am (and having read the books), I'm going to stick with Team Edward for now. But let's be honest, if this contest were based on who looks better shirtless (which might actually be the case), Taylor wins hands down - sorry Rob!

In case you got bogged down with the details of New Moon (or totally turned on by the pictures of young men with their shirts off), here is a summary of what I'm trying to say:

1) Med school is busy. Sorry for not blogging more often.

2) Even though I'm dangerously close to the "bitter years" of being 27, I saw New Moon on opening night.

3) I enjoy watching teenage boys pretend to be vampires and werewolves, especially when they are barely clothed.

*Okay, truth be told, med school did NOT convince me to see New Moon. It was my idea. And then I convinced 11 other med students to join me.

Hooked Up.

I have a problem and it's kind of weird and random: I am constantly getting hooked up with free coffee.

"WTF?!" you may scoff, "Wow, J, you lead such a difficult life full of challenges!"

But seriously, getting hooked up with free coffee is a big problem for me. And it happens all the time. Here's the thing: if I wanted a cup of caffeinated drink the size of my head, I would have ordered one. I am not ordering a small or a medium because I'm too cheap to order the large! I am ordering that size because that is the volume of beverage I would like to consume.

Of course, if someone hooks me up with a Big-Gulp size of iced coffee, I'm going to drink it. And then I'm going to be sick. This is no exaggeration. Once, I ordered an Iced Dunkaccino from Dunkin' Donuts (a mistake in and of itself - too much sugar!) and the guy hooked me up with a giant size. Several hours (and, admittedly, some munchkins) later, I puked at my sister's graduation dinner. Actually, it wasn't quite at the dinner; I managed to run outside and puke on the side of the building instead. Bottom line: that damn giant Dunkaccino made me sick!!

Last week, the guys at Starbiz gave me a large (or, excuse me, Venti? I wouldn't even know, because I never order that size) iced coffee. It took me like 3 hours to finish it and I ended up walking into a biochem review session twitching from caffeine overload.

And today, I got the biggest hookup of them all! At the Bean, I ordered a medium iced tea. In case any of you are wondering (and I know you were), my order is half Swedish Berries and half Japanese Cherry or Strawberry Cream Green Tea. This drink is BOMB (that's right, I said it was bomb. In 2009. I'm bringing "bomb" back). It also makes you feel special because it's like a secret combo or something... kind of like ordering "animal style" from In-N-Out.

Anyway, I ordered a medium and the guy makes me a large. Totally not surprising to me given my tendency to get hooked up with these things. Then, he full-on pours ANOTHER drink, looks me in the eye and goes, "Whoops! I made two! Do you want the other one, too?" Are you kidding me?! I ended up turning him down, which was kind of tough since he put up a fight. But seriously, I don't think I could have physically fit that much liquid in my body. And I was really only ordering a drink to be polite about setting up camp and studying there for a while; I wasn't even thirsty!

So here's my point: Even though it seems like it would be super sweet to constantly be given extra caffeinated drinks for free, it really is a burden and often leads to me puking on the side of a building (and by "often," I mean, once). It also makes me wonder why I'm getting these hookups. Do I look super tired (euphemism for crappy) and in need of caffeine? Or is it that I'm just so unbelievably cute and nice that people (it's always boy baristas, now that I think of it) can't help but want to hook me up? I'd like to think it's the latter. Sadly, it's probably the former.

Say Anything

Last night I watched Say Anything:

1. Say Anything might be my favorite '80s teen movie.

a. My other favorite '80s teen movie is Sixteen Candles.

i. Molly Ringwald may or may not be a natural redhead, but she rocked the ginger look for a while, so I've always liked her.

b. Breakfast Club is good, too.

2. John Cusack was super cute in 1989.

a. I totally would have made out with him.

b. Unfortunately, he did not age very well.

i. Still love him, though.

3. Loved loved LOVED the late '80s style!

a. Fluffy hair, yes please!

i. My hair was born for that look.

b. Hey John Cusack, nice trench coat.

4. Kickboxing IS the sport of the future.

5. This movie made me wish I were dating a boy like Lloyd Dobler. Or any boy.

a. Could someone please make out with me?

i. I am pathetic.

6. The scene where Lloyd stands outside of Diane's window, holding a boombox over his head, playing their "song" is kind of overrated.

a. Also overrated is The Usual Suspects, which we watched before Say Anything.

i. "Oooh! Who is Keyser Soze?" Turns out once you know, the movie is pretty boring.

7. I've been working on an outline on Amino Acid Metabolism all night and I've become a little too attached to outline format.

MS1

I started med school, you guys! So far, my life has been filled with dramatic changes. For example, I recently changed my igoogle theme from "farm animals" to "radiohead." I also changed my gmail theme from "candy" to "ninjas." This last one has been life-changing. Remember how much I used to love those cutesy little cartoon girls eating their cutesy candies? Well, the new med student version of me is way too hardcore to put up with such saccharine google themes. "Ninjas" is much better suited for my new lifestyle. Now, every time I log onto email (which is, admittedly, significantly less often than I used to), I see cutesy cartoon ninjas kickin' ass all over my emails. Kickin' ass just like I am in med school!*

Another fairly significant change in my life is that I study all the time. And it's not just me. Everyone around me is studying pretty much always. I've actually never heard of so much studying before. It's pretty much all that everyone ever talks about.

For example: It's Friday afternoon and everyone is going his/her separate way (i.e. to his/her respective study group). In parting, this conversation can frequently be overheard (I will color coordinate the speakers to avoid confusion):

"Hey! Whatcha gonna do this weekend? Study?!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much going to study all weekend."

"Me too, I have so much to do. There is just SO MUCH material. I just really need to study it all."

"Well, if you want, maybe we can study together later."

"Yeah, sounds good... maybe after I study this a little on my own first."

"Okay, well see you later! Good luck with your studying!"

WTF?! Are you kidding me?! Studying should never be the subject of conversation for longer than, let's say... um... EVER! Hopefully we'll develop personalities and start talking about important/interesting things. Like who is going to hook up at this weekend's student-faculty retreat.

*Just to clarify, my school is pass/fail and intent on fostering a non-competitive and cooperative learning environment; we are learning to be "good friends," in the words of the head of the Biochemistry department. So, when I say I'm "kickin' ass," I mean, I'm kickin' biochemistry's ass. And by "kickin' biochemistry's ass," I mean, I just want to pass.

Eurotrip 2009 pics

Hey! Remember when I went to Europe a couple months ago? Yeah, me neither. But then I found these pictures and it all came back to me:

Provence

Tuscany

Italy with the Taravellas

Yeah, I know it's been way too long since this trip to post these pictures... but, um... at least they're geotagged?

Shrimp!

The best thing EVER happened this past Saturday: Sis-T ate shrimp! So for the past 15 years(?) Sis-T's entire life(?) I don't even know, but for a long time, Sis-T has declared that she is allergic to shellfish. That's great, but none of us believed her because our mom is also allergic to shellfish (like legitimately allergic - her face swells up and stuff) and Sis-T wants to be just like our mom.

Anyway, we were sure this "allergy" was all in Sis-T's head. Sure, she had a mildly convincing "I get explosive diarrhea when I eat shellfish" argument. I mean, none of us questioned the explosive diarrhea part (and none of us will ever forget the time she almost pooped in her pants - which were actually mine - after tasting some "lobster-tainted butter"). But still, we hadn't ever actually seen her eat a shrimp and then have a reaction.

Until last Saturday! Every year after the Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race, there is a big party at our yacht club called the Shrimp Feed. Basically, you get a whole bunch of uber-delicious shrimp and beer and it's delightful. I pretty much look forward to it all year. And Sis-T pretty much complains about having to go every year.

Until now! For some reason, Sis-T's bf, J, and I decided to convince her that she should test her allergy and try some shrimp. I figured it was a long shot, because Sis-T doesn't eat any kind of fish except for canned tuna. I'm not sure if it was the 2 G&T's she had or what, but Sis-T went for it and she had the best reaction ever!! I think it went something like, "yumm yummm" while she licked her lips with joy. She actually liked it! She even wanted more! And then to top it off, she didn't get sick afterwards (HA! J and I know that she wanted to be sick so badly just to prove that she hadn't made up an allergy and then gotten people to believe her for like 15 years).

This breakthrough has opened up Sis-T's world. Think of all the delicious shrimp dishes she can eat now! J was beside himself with anticipation of all the shrimp meals in their future: "There's shrimp scampi and shrimp cocktail!" Sis-T's response was, "I've always wanted to try those mini shrimp. I like the looks of those." YES!

All this talk of shrimp reminds me of Quasimodo, my pet shrimp who died tragically about a year ago. I miss the little guy.

I'm moving to Corona Del Mar!

I moved my stuff down this weekend. Thanks to T, J, E, A, and my parents for helping me with all my stuff! Right now I'm still up at my parents' house in MB. I will be officially moved in next week.

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Pink Eye

So somewhere along my travels, I got pink eye. Gross! What am I, a small disease carrying child or something? Actually, the pink eye wasn't that bad, because I randomly already had an appointment with my ophthalmologist the morning I woke up with it (I don't really produce tears naturally... but that's a different issue altogether) and was able to nip the infection in the bud.

My biggest problem with pink eye is that I can't wear eye makeup. Here's the thing: I have blonde eyelashes and eyebrows and without eye makeup, I kind of look dead. Or sleepy or sickly... or pretty much anything but good. The morning I came down with the pink eye, I came into work with no eye makeup on. One of the high school students, VLu, commented (after I groaned about the pink eye), "Yeah, you look pretty bad. Like really tired." When I replied that actually, it's just because I'm not wearing mascara, she continued, "No, like your face looks really pale and..." "Seriously," I said. "It's because I'm not wearing eye makeup." The sad thing is that this kind of thing happens all the time. In fact, it happens every time I don't wear eye makeup.

Here is a picture of me without eye-makeup. See how bad I look?!? Actually, this picture is kind of like those fake diet adds where the before picture is particularly terrible and the after is with makeup and good lighting, etc. There's a lot going on here that probably isn't the best (lighting, angle, the frizzy hair and layer of dried sweat from spin class). But still, I think it illustrates my point.

Tomorrow I go in for my "final" eye check and hopefully I get the go-ahead to put on some eyeliner and mascara. It's been a full week; I don't know if I can take it any longer. Hopefully, I can finally go back to looking like a normal, darklashed, healthy person.

Mexico

Okay, so I'm back from Eurotrip '09. Who cares about that anyway? I'm going to Mexico this weekend! Everyone knows that a weekend booze cruise to Ensenada, Mexico is FAR more exciting than a month-long trip (with cycling tour) to Europe. Wooo! Things are going to get CRAZY!


Also, I don't know anyone in this picture. But I think it's a good example of all the crazy fun I'm going to have this weekend. Just imagine me in the middle of that pack of guys...

Attack of the Giant Saint!

I climbed up inside this guy's head, you guys! It is the Sacro Monte of Saint Charles in Arona which is on Lake Maggiore. The statue is 35 meters high and you can climb up inside his head and look through his eyes (or if you are ten years old or are named Giacomo or Jackie, you can pick his nose...from the inside).

The climb up was seriously dangerous. First of all, they make you wear a helmet. They also make children wear full climbing harnesses which is a little unsettling. Even more unsettling was how they let me climb up a tiny little ladder with flip flops on. Also there was only a metal bar to hold onto and my hands were uber clammy. I almost died! Okay, no I didn't. Overall, it was pretty fun and the view (and picking his nose... Even though he's a Saint) was totally worth it.

Also, today was my last day in Italy/on Eurotrip '09. Sad! I've had an amazing time... I can't believe it is already over!

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I saw George Clooney!

Okay, no I didn't. But I saw his house (maybe)! Yesterday I went to Lake Como and I'm happy to report that it is totally worth the hype! We mostly drove around the lake and then stopped at Villa del Balbianello, which was totally beautiful. The picture is a view across the lake from the villa's gardens. It was built in the 18th century on the site of an old monastery and was eventually owned by an Italian explorer named Guido Monzino. Guido died in the 1980's and donated the villa to the Italian National Trust. Monzino was pretty much a total badass; he led early Italian expeditions to the North Pole and Everest and then lived in this ridiculous villa filled with ridiculous collections of art (like ancient Mayan statues, reverse glass paintings, collections of Chinese art, and antique British and French furniture). You know those Dos Equis commercials about The Most Interesting Man in the World? I'm pretty sure that man is Guido Monzino.

We also stopped in Como and wandered around a bit to check out the city (and I got a little shopping done, to Giacomo and Federico's dismay). Oh, and of course it rained in the afternoon, along with the requisite thunder and lightning (though, I must say that the lighting across the lake was pretty cool). The rest of the evening, we got pizza (Yay!! I love that Italian pizzas are the size of a giant platter, but so thin that you can eat it all yourself) and gelato (double yay! I'm a pig). Gianni and Giacomo also took me on a mini tour of their town and we saw Giacomo's high school and elementary school (he wasn't too excited about this, but I thought it was fun).

Nuvola!

The Taravellas' super cute dog, Nuvola (it means cloud in Italian).
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Lake Maggiore

Yesterday I went to Lake Maggiore with Paola and Federico. We took a ferry all around the lake (well the bottom part of it... It's actually pretty big) and stopped at various places. We started in Angera and then went Santa Caterina which is an old monastery and church built into the hillside of the lake. Then we took the ferry to Stresa, a cute but touristy village along the lake.



From Stresa we went to Isola Bella, a small island on the lake. I think this was my favorite part of the day. On the island was the Palazzo Borromeo and its beautiful Italian gardens. The palazzo was so ornate and had these incredible grotto rooms on the lower level that were lined with rocks and looked out onto the lake. The gardens were beautiful too and had white peacocks walking around in them.



Next we briefly went to Isola dei Pescatori (pictured) and then back to Stresa for a gelato. And then guess what happened? We heard a clap of thunder and knew that the daily afternoon storm was on its way just as we got onto the ferry for the 45 minute ride back to Angerae. We had heard that it was raining down south where the Taravellas live and Federico pointed out that the storm clouds we saw on the lake were coming from the north. This meant that the two storms were on track to combine to create the perfect storm. And they did. While we were on the ferry. Luckily we could sit inside and watch everything from a nice dry place. At times it was raining so hard that the ferry would stop because they couldn't see where we were going. It hailed. I got a little seasick (lame).



We finally made it back to the safety of Paola's car (after Federico sacrificed himself to get the umbrella) and met Giacomo and Gianni for dinner. Yum!

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Milano

Yesterday, Paola and I went to Milano! First, we stopped at the Duomo, which was huge! We almost were rejected admission because we were both wearing tanktops (It was super hot outside - like 90 degrees). I had brought a cover-up (as an American tourist, I was trained to always bring something along, just in case), but then Paola had to wait outside for me. The guard told her, "look, she's American and she knows, but you are Italian and you don't!" which was pretty funny. Luckily, Paola found a shall at another entrance and was able to put that around her shoulders and meet me inside. The Duomo di Milano really is amazingly huge and very gothic compared to the cathedrals in Siena and Florence. Paola and I also went on the roof of the Duomo and saw views of the city from there.

Next, we went next door to La Rinascente, which is basically a big department store that carries a lot of big name designers. At first, Federico was going to come with us on the trip to Milan, but it's a good thing he didn't because we ended up doing a bit of shopping (well, window shopping). At the top of La Rinascente, there is a food court (well, it's a lot cooler than a food court and has a bunch of restaurants). We ended up having smoothies, but there was also this really cool mozzarella bar that had a terrace that looked right onto the the duomo.

After La Rinascente, we went to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (pictured), which had more fancy shops. This is said to be one of the first shopping malls. We walked through this to the Teatro Alla Scalla, or the the theater. From here, we walked to via Montenapoleone, which also had a lot of fancy shops (Paola described this to be similar to Rodeo Drive).

From the window shopping extravaganza, we took the underground to Castello Sforzesco, an old castle. Now, there are a bunch of museums there. Sadly, we weren't able to go in any, because they closed right as we got there (this was totally fine, since we were both pretty tired from so much walking around in the heat). Outside of the castle is a fountain where a bunch of tourists were dipping their feet. Paola said to me, "If you want, you can go in the fountain since you're American... I can't because I'm Italian." HAHA. I decided not to embrace my role as a tourist.

We cruised home in Paola's sweet new BMW convertable with the top down and went straight to mass (good thing I still had my cover-up!). Catholic mass is definitely something new for me (especially when I can't understand what's going on at all), but it was fine and I just followed what everyone around me was doing. After, I met one of Giacomo's cousins and Paola's sister. At home, we had spaggheti with tomatoes for dinner and homemade gelato for dessert!! Paola's cooking is delicious (and I'm kind of getting fat from eating it all... oh well, I think I'll survive).

And then guess what?! It started to rain! I've been in Italy for about a week and a half and it has rained in some way every single day.

Sacro Monte

I made it to the Taravella's in northern Italy! Basically, I've been hanging out with the boys (Giacomo and Federico) in the morning and then sightseeing with Paola in the afternoon. On Monday, we went to Varese, which is known as the green or garden city because there are tons of trees and gardens all around. Paola and I did a little shopping in the town and then met up with her friend who lives nearby. Her friend has a swimming pool, which is nice because it is HOT and pretty humid here. I didn't end up going swimming, but it was nice hanging out by the pool.

After that, we met up with Gianni and went up to Sacro Monte di Varese (the sacred mountain of Varese). The trip was very winding, but so so green and beautiful! We also saw a few cyclists on the way up the mountain and I empathized with them. Along the mountain, there are churches and people make pilgrimages up the mountain, stopping at each church. When we got to the top, the view was amazing! We could see some lakes (not sure which ones... even though I asked Paola and Gianni and they told me) and the town below. We stopped at a cafe for an aperitif and sat on the terrace, which overlooked everything. The picture is of Paola and Gianni on the terrace.

As you may notice from the picture, it was kind of foggy/cloudy that day. Actually, not even five minutes after this picture was taken, it started raining. And not just a little rain. We're talking a torrential downpour. Luckily, we were on our way back to the car and only got a few drops on us. The ride home, however, was a different story; at times, we could barely see the road it was raining so hard. The roads quickly flooded. Gianni said, "now you know why it's so green here!" We also saw some cyclists stuck in the storm and I totally felt for them.

Giacomo is a Rock Star!

Check out Giacomo on the bass!

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Florence

So my cycling trip ended yesterday in Florence. *tear* It was definitely sad to say goodbye to people and now I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I won't be cycling anytime too soon. I'm pretty sure I've been bit by the cycling bug and I do see myself purchasing a bike in the future (I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of time for stuff like cycling during med school, right?).



But anyway, back to Florence. It was pretty fun! In the evening, I walked around with Ben the law student (who also happened to take art history in college, which was helpful as we wandered around the city) and checked out the sites (Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, blah blah blah... I've actually been to Florence before and had seen these already). This pic is a view of the Duomo from down the street. Then I met up with Thai and Tara for dinner. We crossed the river and hung out where all the real Florentines go (according to our guide). The town really livened up past 11:30! Even moms/grannies were out with their babies! There were tons of people in the streets and a bunch of cool little concerts going on (and they were definitely concerts and not just street performers). We ended the night at the retarded bar under my hotel. The entertainment consisted of a drunk guy playing songs on his ipod and singing along to them on a microphone. Oh and he was kind of crouched on the bar as he was doing it. So special.



Today I walked around a little more and got some cheesy souvenirs before hopping on a train to Milan to see the Taravellas. Yay! I'm so excited to see my little Italian brother, Giacomo! Only about an hour or so to go!





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Storm Watch 2009

Remember when I wrote a post about how hardcore I am because I cycled through a huge storm? It happened again!! Only this time it was even more hardcore because it was raining HARDER and we had to go uphill and we thought we were going to die. Actually, I thought it was funny. But I'm pretty sure Ben the law student actually thought he was going to die. I'm pretty sure the words, "I can't see anything! We're going to die!" came out of his mouth. Later he also mentioned the possibility of being kidnapped by trolls in the forest we were riding through... So I'm not sure how reliable his grip on reality is :)

But seriously, it rained every effing day at some point/way during my time cycling through Tuscany. So unlucky! The perfect storm hit on our second to last day while we were cycling through Chianti. It really was so beautiful until we had to ride straight into the dark black clouds and rolling thunder that was just chilling over our destination. Before the storm, we even stopped in a small town and got a picnic of buffala mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, olives, and bread. Sooo yummy! At the end of the ride (more or less on the other side of the storm), we had the choice of cycling up to Radda, a cute hilltop town that had yummy gelato (according to the route sheet). Soaking wet, we decided to make the climb, which was ROUGH. The whole time we were chanting "chocolate!" and "gelato!" as our inspiration to make it up the hill. Luckily, Radda was totally worth it. It had spectacular views of vineyards and farmland all around it (oh! So that's why you make towns on top of hills...haha). It also used to be the seat of Chianti so we did a little wine tasting and walked around town.

That night we stayed at a beautiful inn (pictured) just outside of a small town called Lucarelli. This place was super cute AND comfy. It also had two things I look for in european hotels : a shower with a shower curtain AND its own stall and fluffy towels. These two things (shower and towel situation) are two areas where Europeans can make vast improvements. For one, haven't they figured out that simply leaving a slope in the floor where the shower is will result in the entire bathroom getting wet?! Also, sheets are not as absorbent as towels. Which is why so many people like to dry off with towels and not sheets. Wow, sorry guys... I got really worked up about that. But these are serious issues.

The inn also had a pool (too bad the sky opened up and dumped on us as soon as we arrived) and provided a delicious dinner. The only bad thing about this place was that I'm pretty sure it is haunted by a creepy old lady who watches you while you sleep. I had a nightmare about this the night we slept there and it was totally one of those "is this dream or reality?" moments and I couldn't decide and I freaked out. The next morning, I found out that everyone else in our group slept fitfully and Thai even felt a presence in his bathroom! That place was TOTALLY haunted!

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Siena

Last night, we rode into Siena, our home for three nights. Getting into the city (which is walled and thus has limited access) was exciting/possibly dangerous. Nothing like sharing the roads with crazy Italian drivers while you're on a bike. Actually, it was fine and we all survived :)

The day of cycling was a little long and marred with more bad weather. Luckily the morning was beautiful and it didn't start to sprinkle until later (when we were all tired and cranky). We had a long (18k) climb up a mountain to Castellina in Chianti, which was actually kinda fun (and the views of the countryside were amazing). We also stopped at a castle in Monteriggione (okay, I'm not going to lie... The castle was a little boring). Other exciting things along the way included our guide getting a flat tire and us not seeing her again until Siena and a locked chain on one of our group's bikes. This turned into a dirty challenge (think bike grease extravaganza) that required all four of us to work on it on the side of the road.

Today we had a free day and I wandered around Siena checking everything out. Twice a year, the city has a big horse race called the "Palio della Contrade" in the Piazza del Campo, which is their huge square. Siena is made up of different sub-districts called contrade and they compete in this crazy race. The race is coming up soon and they're just starting to get things ready. They cover the piazzo with sand and decorate the city. Also, everyone is getting excited about it and there are contrade flags everywhere. Each contrada (there are 17 total) is represented by an animal... My favorites are the caterpillar, the she-wolf, the wave (aka fish), and the unicorn.

I also went to the Duomo (the Cathedral) and it was ridiculous! It is so ornate and beautiful - I love all of the art, too. This picture is looking towards the sanctuary... You can also see some contrade flags, which lined the interior of the Cathedral.

On kind of a sad note, I spilled some water in my purse (smooth... I thought the waterbottle was closed but the cap leaked water EVERYWHERE). The water got on my camera and phone. Luckily, I've been able to revive the phone (obviously since I'm using it now.. Though it is working in "safe mode") but the camera is in critical condition with a fogged screen and it stopped turning on... Yikes! I think the memory card is still good so at least I still have the 300+ pics I've taken so far but I'm not sure if i'll be able to dry out the camera to get it working again. Fingers crossed!


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Stormy Weather

I'm so hardcore, you guys. Today we went to San Gimignano AKA the Manhattan of Italy because of its stone towers which are early versions of skyscrapers. But whatever, the town was cool and the ride there was beautiful blah blah blah.



After lunch, we got gelato (yes! I love gelato... This could be one of the best parts of Italy) and noticed that the sky had turned black with scary storm clouds. Since we had already spent some time checking out the city and Certaldo (where we are staying) was only 14k away, we decided to make a run for it and try to get home before the storm hit. Of course, we were totally too late and got hit by the storm like 30 seconds after leaving (for those of you who remember the perfect storm that hit Galveston, TX during sailing spring break '03, this was a total "maybe we should head in now" moment). So anyway, I'm like racing down this huge hill, the rain is pouring - I think there may have even been some hail, the wind is howling and gusting, cars are rushing by, and lightning is striking right in front of me. It was so hardcore. Once we got back, we had to cut the rest of our riding day short and now I'm just chilling in the hotel (boring). But the ride earlier was super exciting!

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Tuscany Day One

So I've started the second week of my cycling trip, which goes around Tuscany. We had a pretty easy day - only about 40k, but there were some intense hills! Sadly, I had to walk my bike twice (weak). The beginning of the trip kinda sucked because it was cold and really really windy. It was actually so windy that at one point I was worried that my bike and I would be blown over. Luckily, the weather improved after lunch and for the rest of the ride. Really, I'm just glad it wasn't raining; last night, we had a HUGE thunderstorm and I was afraid it would continue through the day.



With this new tour, I get a new group and guide. Again, we're a super small group - only 4 of us plus a guide. So far, everyone seems cool. There is a 23 year old guy who is about to start law school at UC Irvine (I told him we could be besties next year at school... Haha) and a young couple (early 30's?) who are also from Cali. Our guide is Catherine, who just moved to Italy from New York. I think it'll be a good group (at least there are girls in this one... No more sausage-fest like last week... Okay, who am I kidding? The s-fest was fun).



Okay, well it's about time for dinner. I wonder what kind of feast we have before us! Good thing I cycle all day or I would end up obese from all the food I've been eating :) My life is so hard.



Oh, as for the picture: I'm sitting right next to this archway looking out at this view as I blog (I am in the small town of Certaldo).



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Pirates in Pisa!

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Provence

Hey guys!
Sorry I've been out of touch... It's hard work being a cyclist! But seriously, we usually get in with just enough time to shower before having an amazing feast of a dinner, followed by drinks and/or walking around town and/or a crazy game of Uno. With all of that, I usually don't get to my room (and to bed) until after midnight. Then we get up around 9 or so to get breakfast and start all over again! So, like I said, being a cyclist is hard work.

Anyways, today we cycled into Aix-en-Provence, which is the final destination of the Provence portion of my cycling trip. Since I pretty much didn't update during most of the trip, I'll now give you a summary. I think when I left off (in terms of text) was the day before our trip through Les Apilles. So I'll start there:

I climbed the mini Alps, you guys! I was pretty nervous about the day because it had been rather hyped up. The hills were hard but I think we paced ourselves well. Some highlights include : Les Baux, an old fort on top of a mountain; a coffee at a lovely cafe by a fountain; and fresh apricot juice at a local organic vineyard. Overall, I think the trip was 63k. That night, we ended up in Cavaillon (known for their melons) where we stayed two nights.

The next day we rode around a bit in the morning through beautiful countryside to a touristy town along a river to see the Vaucluse Fountain. We also stopped at a local fruit stand along the side of the road (pictured) and bought a bunch of cherries. Like a lot of cherries. As the day went on people were pushing cherries like no other.

After the short ride, we were supposed to take a train to Avignon. The train was down so somehow we ended up on a bus. To Aix-en-Provence. Which is in the other direction. Luckily we noticed fairly early-on and the bus driver was kind enough to drop us off and the next train station. This would have been great except that the station had been closed for five years and we had no idea where we were (Provence? Maybe?). We found a cafe and an unhelpful tourist office where we got directions back to Cavaillon and started the ride back. This ride was kinda long, was on a busy road, and had a head wind. Sweet! At one point, we were cycling across a bridge on the sidewalk as winds were gusting at us. Scary! Luckily we survived :) Overall, I think we went about 50k. That night we had couscous for dinner in Cavaillon. Yum!

I think Wednesday was my favorite day of cycling. We went through the Luberon, which is where Peter Mayle lives/writes. We went from hillside town to hillside town (Oppède-le-Vieux, Ménerbes, Lacoste, and Bonnieux), stopping in each one for a picnic lunch, a café, and icecream. Overall, it was super hilly but the views of the Luberon valley below us were spectacular! The distance was about 40k. For the next two nights, we stayed at a country inn that was nestled in a gorge. The setting was amazing though the climb out the next day was a daunting task.

I like to think of Thursday as my "hardcore day." I went on a ride with Lyn (guide) and Darwin (father of father and son team) through the Luberon (I think). Basically, we climbed a bunch of mountains (or maybe hills... And I guess it was really just 3 major climbs). It was also about 90 degrees outside. I'm not even sure how far we went... But I think it was far :) Even though it was hard, I kind of liked/loved the sense of accomplishment at the end. Hmmm what else? Darwin was wearing socks with sperm on them (apparently they're called "survival of the fittest") and my life was saved by two melons bought and consumed at a roadside stand just before starting a huge climb.

Also something amazing happened to John (son of the father and son team) while we were out. He had decided to stay at the inn and hike around instead of going for a ride. While he was walking through the woods, he disrupted a nest of insects (he claims they are bees but were probably just flies or something) and they chased him for a while. Isn't the just hilarious? I mean, who knew that kind of stuff actually happened?!

Our final day of cycling brought us through the market at Loumarin into Aix. The market was pretty bustling and had everything from produce to arts and crafts to clothes. Aix-en-Provence is actually kind of big and a cute university town. At night, we wandered around trying to act like college kids. We ended up at this club called Scat and it was pretty cool! The whole place was underground and had different caves with different music. Well they mostly had a bar cave, a dance party cave, and a rock music cave with a french band playing covers of songs like "Sweet Home Alabama." Somehow the french accent doesn't quite cut it :) Overall, it was a good ending to the first half of my trip.

Now I'm on the train to Italy (we're actually about to stop in Nice) for the next portion. I'll try to keep you all more updated as I go along.

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View from the other side of the table...

Guide Lyn says, "Just living the dream" as he receives his icecream.
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This is REAL.

Just enjoying a café in the hill town of Ménerbes. Check out the view in the background.

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I'm a cyclist!

Okay. Maybe not... But today was the first cycling day of the trip. We cycled 42k from Nimes to Arles. I was a little worried about the who cycling thing at first but I think I'm getting the hang of it. That being said, we have a long hilly day tomorrow and I'm totally freaking out about it. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to be sore everywhere (especially, you know, down there...haha).



Today we spent the morning in Nimes, which is an Roman town. With a fellow group member, Peter (who is a professor at Catholic U. In DC!), I visited the old Roman Arena (complete with audio guide!) which was pretty cool (The pic is of me in front of the Arena). The only other two people on the trip are a father and son team, Darwin and John. When we got back, Peter went off with Darwin (father) to go on the long route (I passed). Then J and I sat at a cafe for a while waiting for Lyn, our guide, to come in.



The trip was beautiful! We rode through the countryside and there were tons of wildflowers and it smelled so good! At one point, we stopped along the side of the road and snuck a couple of apricots out of an orchard. They were delicious. We also stopped in the Medieval towns of Beaucaire and Tarascon, which are twin towns on either side of the Rhône. We briefly checked out each of the castles before finishing up with the rest of the ride... Which was a little rough for me: it was about an hour with a little bit of a head wind.



Finally we made it back to Arles where we had stayed the night before (we had taken the train to Nimes earlier in the morning). Arles is als an old Roman town and has its own amphitheater. We all ate a delicious meal together... I started with a salad with warm chevre, lamb as my entree and and dessert called nougat glacé which was basically icecream and nuts (yummy). After dinner we had a drink in this super cute square where Van Gogh painted Café de la Nuit.



Now I'm super tired and need to rest up for the big scary hill day tomorrow. Ah!

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I made it to Provence!

After a trip on the TGV (first time... We should definitely get one in Cali) I made it to Arles. Although my bike trip technically starts tomorrow morning in Nimes, I got a little biking in early. It was ridiculous! I had no idea I'd be doing this (I happened to be on the train with the bike coordinator on our trip). We got into the station, it is pretty warm (thinking would just walk to the hotel, I had a rolley suitcase, a big purse and I'm wearing jeans). Next thing I know, we're biking through the streets of Arles! Nicolas, the guide, had bungeed my rolley to the back of his bike and was cruising down the street with my suitcase in tow and another bike alongside him(the picture is of the bungee/rolley set up). Meanwhile I have my big purse over my head but it has fallen around my neck leaving me totally off-balance. So I'm swerving around and trying not to crash/die. It was hilarious. And we totally made it okay so yay!

I still need to update you all about my amazing time with Francois but for now I need to go to bed. I have a big day tomorrow!

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Aaaand I'm back on the 'feine!

Life is so wonderful.
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Aaaand I'm back on the 'feine!

Life is so wonderful.
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Yay! Sun!

Finally, the rain stopped and I was able to get out and see some of Paris. Today I went to the Catacombs, the Rodin Museum, and Notre Dame.

It took me forever to find the Catacombs. As in I literally walked around the same square for an hour getting super frustrated. At one point, I was standing with my back to the entrance wondering how to get it (there were several conflicting signs pointing in different directions). Anyway, once I finally got in I found the Catacombs totally creepy. Basically there are piles and piles of bones that are stacked to make designs along the pathways of an old quarry. The creepiest part is that the bones are real! And human! Oh and also, they check your purse after you leave to make sure you haven't stolen any bones. Really?!

The Rodin Museum was a lot better (and a lot less creepy) than the Catacombs. There is a beautiful garden filled with Rodin's sculptures (like The Thinker... Sadly I couldn't work up the nerve to ask someone take a picture of me sitting at the base of The Thinker doing the pose... Like literally everyone else did). There was also an inside museum part with more of his work. Overall it was pretty cool. Oh and I was the cool kid listening to the hand-held audio guide.

After the museum I walked along the Seine all the way to Notre Dame. Now that the sun is out, Paris is teeming with tourists! Tourists are funny sometimes because they do disgusting things like pay someone to put birdfood on them so that a bunch of pigeons will land on them (barf). Also tourists do things like go into a famous cathedral when a mass is starting and then instead of leaving, taking pictures of "Notre Dame in action." Okay, I may have done that, too... But I was with 100 of my closest tourist friends!

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Holy Da Vinci Code!

It's the "Rose Line" at the church of St-Sulpice. Next to it is a sassy note about how what was written about the "meridian line" in a certain "best selling novel" is not in any way true. heehee.
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I made it!

Okay, so I've only made it to Paris, but still, I consider this quite an accomplishment.  

My two flights were rather uneventful, but the fun really started once I got off the plane!  As soon as I landed, I checked my phone to call François (whom I'm staying with) to let him know that I have arrived.  For whatever reason, my phone isn't working (it's in perpetual SOS mode... grrr).  No phone means I have no way of contacting F to let him know 1) I've arrived, 2) I'm on my way, and 3) where we are going to meet.  No big deal for the first two, but the last one could be a little sketchy.  Luckily, I did have his address and general directions to his flat.

So to cope with my minor problem/freakout, I did what any American would do; I made friends with another American (can you say blind leading the blind?).  J was on my flight, about my age, looking for the same train, and just as confused/out of it as I was (woah, that Tylenol PM hit me hard!).  Perfect!  

Actually, we had no problems finding the train (well, we did stop at the info desk to ask for directions, to which we recieved the reply "follow the signs."  sweet).  Buying tickets for the train was slightly more difficult.  We easily found the ticket kiosk and could follow the directions for purchasing, but then our credit cards kept being rejected once we swiped them through the machine!  "Don't worry," I reply, "I have Euros."  Rejected!  The machine only takes coins and I only had paper.  OMG! WHAT ARE WE TO DO?!?!  This is about the point when a nice French guy stepped in and helped us/was probably impatient about waiting in line and wanted his ticket.  It turns out, you have to leave your card IN the swiper thing for it to work.  AH HA!  How sneaky those French are!  We got our tickets, got on the train, and made it to our stops without further problems.

From the train station, I began walking in the direction I thought F's place was and miraculously ran into him along the way.  "Your phone is dead. I was freaking out!" (yeah me, too).  Anyway, now I'm chillin at his place and trying to fix my phone (no luck so far).  I'm tempted to go outside to explore the area (he lives near Luxembourg gardens and it is really beautiful), but it is raining on and off.  hmmm we'll see.

LAMe! Goes Global!

I have a very exciting announcement: Tomorrow morning, I'm taking LAMe! Global.  And by "global" I mean to Europe and by "Europe" I mean France and Italy.

Anyway, tomorrow I embark on Eurotrip '09!  As my boss put it: "Europe?!  What, did you just graduate from high school?"  Yes.  In case you didn't know, I'm a late-bloomer and I just graduated from high school.  Or maybe I wanted to travel before going to med school, but didn't have anyone to go with and I felt safer going to Europe on my own.

Okay, but I need to focus because I have an early flight tomorrow and it's getting late.

I'm going to Europe for a month and I'm going to try to keep everyone updated through LAMe!  So check it out and hopefully I'll get a chance to let you know what I'm up to (most likely it will be making out with cute European boys... just kidding, mom!).

Here is my itinerary (roughly):

June 8-9: LA-Paris

June 9-13: Paris

June 14-20: Cycling trip around Provence

June 21: Provence-Tuscany

June 22-27: Cycling trip around Tuscany

June 28-July 5: Northern Italy

July 6: Milan-LA

Spirit Fingers/Wardrobe

The NBA Playoffs are really cramping my style.  Literally.  As in I have a hard time deciding what to wear on a daily basis because I'm afraid of supporting the wrong team through my style choices.  Let me lay it out for you:

1.  I'm a Lakers fan (holla!).  I can't say that I've been a fan since I was little (honestly, I didn't really get into basketball until high school).  However, I have been a fan since around the turn of the century.  I even went through college in New England as a Lakers fan - I was that kid updating ESPN.com in the computer lab while everyone else was trash talking the Lake Show.  I even stuck with my Lakers during their dry spell a few years ago... seriously, I love them.  

Also, since we're on the topic, I played bocce ball with Sasha at Knob Hill last summer!!  He totally wanted to make out with me (umm, it's kind of the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me and I completely feel the need to share it with anyone who will listen.  Okay, and the make out part may or may not have happened... but the bocci ball is true!).  Sorry, back to the matter at hand.

2.  The Celtics are my sworn enemy.  I effing hate Boston sports teams, and the Celtics, with their whiny Paul Pierce, are little bitches.  Okay, so that may be a little strong, but after four years of living in New England and then moving back to my beloved California, I can't help it.  Everyone knows that the Lakers-Celtics rivalry is epic.  Also, I am well aware that the Celtics are out of the playoffs, but it still affects me.

3.  Now that I've moved back home, I live with uber sportsfan/Lakers-Nazi, Sis-T.  She is the authority on all things Lakers Spirit.  She is also the enforcer of all things Lakers Spirit.  And she's kinda scary.

So here's my problem: As much as I love the Lakers and Lakers colors, I just don't have that much purple and gold!  And I look really good in green.  It's really tough for me to support my team as much as the Lakers-Nazi would like!!  Plus, to make matters worse, I am tempted to wear green on a near-daily basis.

A couple of weeks ago, I even wore green to a Lakers playoffs game.  "Shame on you!" Sis-T chided.  In my defense, I didn't know we were going to the game when I left the house that morning.  Luckily, I was wearing a yellow tank-top underneath and Sis-T had brought along a purple headband "just in case."  Unfortunately, it was like 30 degrees in the Staples Center and I thought I was going to die of hypothermia (I stuck it out, though).

Basically, I live each day in fear of choosing the wrong colored outfit.  Green is out; Sis-T will not tolerate any signs of Celtics support during the playoffs, even if they are no longer playing.  Red was out for a little bit, because of the Rockets.  Now, blue is out!  On Monday, I was forced to change out of my blue-ish t-shirt into a Lakers shirt to watch the game at home.

Seriously, people.  Pretty soon I won't be allowed to wear anything!!  Except for purple and gold, which makes up approximately 2% of my wardrobe.  Sweet.

Earthquake!!

You guys, earthquakes are so fun. Obviously, I'm really only talking about the baby earthquakes that don't cause very much damage but still shake things up a bit - I'm not exactly sitting around waiting for the hilarious and amazing times the "Big One" will bring. But really, they provide so much entertainment for years to come. I mean it. Years.

Here are some of my favorite earthquake memories:

1. 2009, Hawthorne, CA: Magnitude 4.1

Okay, so this one just happened about an hour ago. But since everyone is recapping the events of what happened when the quake hit using every possible form of communication (personal, telephone, gchat, twitter), I think it's fair to record this in LAMe! as well. There are two hilarious things that happened during and directly after the earthquake. First, I made an unintentional, yet somehow perfect, horrified jizz in my pants face as the quake hit. And I was staring right at V when I did it. Even as it was happening, I thought, "wow, that was pretty awkward/embarassing" and then she called me out on it. Thanks, V! And thanks, earthquake for making it possible! And while we're at it, thanks Lonely Island for your super catchy JIMP song. But that was only the beginning. Directly after the quake, my boss (who told us at lunch that he's the earthquake safety officer of our building) came running into the lab with his bright orange safety vest on, waiving his arms and screaming, "Evacuate! Evacuate! America is not safe!!"

2. 1906, San Francisco, CA: Magnitude 7.7

As many of you know, I went to farm camp. Well, farm camp is in Northern California and happens to lie right on the San Andreas Fault. During the first couple of days of camp, we have to do an earthquake drill and it's pretty boring and lame. My favorite part of it is when Dave Brown (yes, the then director of the camp was Farmer Brown) would tell us all that the 100+ year-old wood buildings, which survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, would be "totally safe" because they aren't actually stationed to the ground. He would then do this weird mojo dance as if to simulate the buildings floating over the ground. Sorry Dave, but I'm going to have to call BS on your "the 100 year-old buildings that are falling apart are totally safe for when the big one hits" argument. Sweet dance moves, though.

3. 1994, Northridge, CA: Magnitude 6.6

Okay, so this earthquake was actually pretty effing scary. However, during the quake, all 50 of my stuffed animals flew off of the loft they were displayed on and it looked like my Care-Bears could actually fly! I thought it was cool (aaaand I was 12).

4. 1997, Southern California: Magnitude unknown

Okay, so my next quake memory goes back to 8th grade when I was super cool and took zero-period Latin at the high school. Well screw you guys for laughing at me (I know you are), because zero-period Latin was filled with upper classmen hotties (an 8th grade girl's dream). But anyway, back to the quake. It was morning, we're all sitting in class studying when one of the hotties yelled, "earthquake!!" out of nowhere. As the rest of his hot friends were making fun of him, the room started to shake. It was as if this guy could sense the quake coming... and the crude comments from the hotties that ensued afterwards were priceless.

5. 2009, Lennox, CA: Magnitude 4.7

The hottie who cried quake story reminds me of the weird psychic-factor of earthquakes. For every quake, someone thinks they felt it first or knew it was coming. For example, every time I drive over the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, I think of the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989... and I tell everyone in the car about it. I drove over the bridge last Sunday and made my same comment. LATER THAT NIGHT THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE IN LOS ANGELES!!! OMG you guys, I'm totally psychic!!

Sooo... there you have it. There are my top 5 earthquake memories (feel free to leave some of your own. I'm sure you all have them!). Also, sorry for being MIA (as in absent, not impersonating the singer) for the past month. My life is uber busy/I'm kinda a big deal.

Mini Sirloin Burgers!

I effing love Jack in the Box's new Mini Sirloin Burgers ad campaign.  I love it so much that when the commercial where the lady asks Jack to sing the "Mini Sirloin Burgers" song comes on in the car, I turn up the radio and sing along.  I have the timing down perfectly, including the "ha!" at the end.  It's brilliant.

It turns out I'm not the only one who likes these commercials.  Yesterday, my sisters and I had a pool party.  Since the Lakers had their first playoff game, we had the TV on, too.  All of a sudden, Sis-T squeals and runs to the TV.  "I LOVE this commercial!" she shouts, causing me to look up, squeal too and join her.  

The two of us stood in front of the TV, in our bathing suits, dancing and singing to the Mini Sirloin Burgers song.  It's just so effing catchy.  And great.  Sis-T loves the "cows the size of schnauzers... but they're cattle."  Ha.  She would.

Of course, my first thought was "Isn't this offensive to Little People?"  (Okay, this was my second thought.  My first thought was, "I effing love this commercial and want to watch it over and over again).  I decided to do a little research in the form of a google search.  I searched "mini sirloin burgers jack in the box offensive?"  Here are some results:

• "The new Jack n' the Box commercial about mini sirloin burgers is offensive to little people and hilarious at the same time!"
  
• Jack-in-the-Box commercial thread on DISboards.com
• But here was the best: 

Which commercial is more offensive?

The jack in the box commercial with the mini sirloin burgers and singing midgets on miniature ponies, or the quiznoe's commercial where they insinuate that the guys, well... you know, is one foot long and he had sex with the oven.

Additional Details: Sorry, midgets isn't politically correct. I mean dwarves.

Because here's thing: the Quiznos commercial IS ridiculous!  RIDICULOUSLY FUNNY! (okay, and a little creepy)

PS, if you happen to like Jack in the Box commercials in general (I do), you may enjoy this.