I think I’m finally done writing about NY! The only post I had left to write was about how much Magnolia SUCKED but who wants to read more of my complaining re: crappy baked goods? NOT ME, for one. So just take my word for it, Magnolia sucks.
L & A post coming up!

We just got internet in the apartment so I will finally finish some posts that have been languishing for the last month (since NY!). Of course, given AT&T’s track record so far that may still change. But I’m hopeful that it will last now.

Today in numbers:
2 bridges
10 plates of dim sum (3 people)
4 Macy’s
2 Bloomingdales
1 Target
3 parking garages
2 returns
1 hissy shopgirl
1 complete circle around the bay

This is the 25 things meme that have been circulating through Facebook…but I didn’t want to put it up there. So it’s here! The gist is: post 25 things/goals/habits about yourself, then tag 25 people. I tag all of you readers. Sometimes I have 25!

1) I want to be on Jeopardy someday. To that end, I pull out The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy every so often to study. I also register for the online test every year. I actually got a chance to go to LA and take the test senior year of college. I didn’t go because I knew I wouldn’t do well.
2) My intellectual skills peaked in 6th grade. That was also the year my social skills were the worst. I was the district spelling champ, district math champ (individual and team), and first chair flute in honor band. I had no friends at school when the year ended. (not directly related to that)
3) When I count money I have to turn all the bills facing the same way. This goes back to the strict high school business office rules in high school.
4) I don’t eat salad dressing. It’s slimy.
5) I collect out of print children’s books, and Christian inspirational romances. (Yes, you read that correctly. They are full of cheese.)
6) My last name used to be Go. When my grandfather immigrated to the Philippines he was given a Filipino last name. When my parents became U.S. citizens they decided to go back to the Chinese version of our last name. Because of situations like that there are five different surnames within my dad’s side of the family.
7) I am a picky eater that loves food.
8 ) I have never been drunk. I plan never to get drunk. However, I am not a teetotaler.
9) I have a thing for Jason Statham movies. Death Race was !!!!!!!!!. Yeah, I know they’re almost univerally awful.
10) I have a thing for cheesy sports movies. I watched Remember the Titans every day for half of freshman year in college.
11) I am pathologically shy in new situations. It took me a year to greet people at church in college.
12) I like to cook and bake but since moving home have not cooked at all. I don’t miss it either.
13) I have lived in four states: California, Illinois, Arizona, and Washington. I wouldn’t mind living in any of them again.
14) The two greatest things I learned while in college: how to swallow pills and how to drive on the freeway. I got my license when I was 16 and spent 3 years tooling around on local roads only.
15) I’ve lived with two Heidis, one Annie, one Kim, one Amy, one Farah, one Ming, one Liz, and one Helen. I refer to them all as “my old roommate”. This confuses people when I tell stories. The Kim and Amy I lived with had also each lived with another Amy and another Kim, respectively. Things got very confusing in our apartment.
16) I can only knit one stitch. This is why I got bored with knitting. I could never figure out how to purl.
17) I’ve driven 3 different Toyota Camrys in my life. I will probably buy another Camry when Evie goes to that big junkyard in the sky.
18 ) My first car was a 1983 Honda Civic. I liked that we were the same age. I didn’t like that there was no A/C and only AM radio.
19) I point a lot when I’m talking. I didn’t realize this until GP and Lupe kindly pointed (haaaa) that out to me one day at lunch. I have been sitting on my hands since.
20) I’ve had 9 jobs in my lifetime. Old Navy slave, Barnes & Noble lackey, tutor, library assistant, digital processing assistant, receptionist, receptionist take 2, receptionist take 3, and GSI.
21) Someday I’m going to own a pair of Christian Louboutins.
22) I have 28 first cousins. I’ve only met 20 of them.
23) I don’t like my name.
24) I love bowling. I’m not good, but I still love it. I used to go with flying_emu, DocBriLove, and BB. After that intense summer of bowling (we went up to 5x/week), I hung out with some people who went on the weekend to a 24 hour bowling alley in Daly City. Then I couldn’t stay awake anymore, so I stopped hanging out with them.
25) I taught a Harry Potter class with my old roommate for 3 semesters in college. Yes, we gave college credit for it. Yes, I forgot to pass myself once.

In optometry school we have a big sib-little sib line that has been going on at least since 1997. One of our professors updates the excel file every year and sends it out. My big sib Jellybn is someone I’ve known since undergrad. She’s wonderful, especially in terms of providing support, a listening ear, and good advice. I hoped that I’d be able to build the same kind of relationship with my little sib. Once I met EF I knew it was going to be great. She is incredibly sweet and fun to spend time with. One of my few regrets about optometry school is that we haven’t hung out that much! The rest of my line is lovely too. I got to meet my great grandsib (now known as baby sib) at a dinner my little sib hosted. Of course, my grandsib was there too! We had a great time eating EF’s delicious homemade dinner (down to the crockpot brownie dessert!) and bonding. I hope we have another fun sib hangout before I leave. Whoever joins my line will be in good hands with these three big sibs to look after her/him.

Jellybn hosted a party with her boyfriend in SF while she was back from NYC for the holidays. It’s always great to see her!
I insisted on a picture with my lovely line. Aren’t they gorgeous? (And yeah, again, my head is the biggest. I don’t know why I have such a melon head)

L to R: Me (the old lady!), EF (my little sib), AO (grandsib), AW (baby sib).

Wenza Bronica, Garrpaccio, & I spent an afternoon in Half Moon Bay last week. Before undertaking the treacherous (ok, mildly winding) road there, we stopped for a late brunch at A Good Morning in Los Altos. We had meant to try another place, but it was closed…so was the second one we tried, and then we ended up at A Good Morning because it was next to the second place and most importantly, open.
I had a Popeye omelet with spinach, mushrooms, and provolone. The vegetables were cooked well but I don’t think they cleaned the mushrooms very well. I realized there was muddy grit pooling on my plate after I had eaten almost the whole thing and felt a little gross. Since they were serving breakfast and lunch I decided to get fries instead of hash browns or country potatoes. The fries were straight out of the freezer and undersalted.

Garrpaccio had the chicken apple sausage breakfast. He seemed pleased. The bite of sausage I stole was tasty.

WB ordered the “First Class” grilled cheese but added bacon to make it a “First Class Wen” sandwich.

They have a machine to squeeze fresh orange juice right in the middle of the restaurant. They also had a lot of doughnuts and pastries but we stuck to regular food.
Overall impressions?
food: 4 Simple good dineresque dishes
ambience: 4 It’s a clean little coffee shop/restaurant/bakery with lots of windows and a good bathroom.
why I’d go back? I don’t know if I would since there are so many other places around there I haven’t been to, but if it was suggested I wouldn’t veto.

Half Moon Bay was gorgeous!

We ran into a lot of traffic on the way back so we stopped at a little seafood place that WB found on Yelp. It was definitely good timing on our part because we got the last free table before a waiting list got started. Their specialty is something called crabby cheezy bread and so we got an order of that to start.

Unfortunately it only lived up to its name because I got crabby after trying it. There’s crab on top, but not much, and you can’t really taste it. You can’t taste the cheese either. It’s just like a piece of garlic bread. And since it’s $8 an order, it’s expensive garlic bread. Wenza & I also ordered clam chowder. WB liked it, but I prefer a thicker chowder. I think this one was made with milk and a lot of clam juice. GP thought it was good with the addition of a LOT of hot sauce.

WB also got a fish taco that I have no good pictures of, but it looked like (and was reported to be) a good fish taco. This same fish appeared in G’s fish & chips, but in GIANT FORM. He ordered two pieces, but together they would cover a regular dinner plate. A tiny old lady at another table ordered a 3 piece plate, which was a veritable mountain of fish. We saw her shock when it arrived, but she gamely stepped up and worked away at it. The fish was fresh and the batter was pretty good.

I ordered a salmon wrapp (yep, with two “p”s!) that was quite tasty. The fish was moist and the rice, cabbage, and pineapple salsa all worked together nicely.

Overall impressions?
food: 3 The fish & chips was truly impressive. The crabby cheezy bread was overrated.
ambience: 4 The restaurant is really colorful but it’s small so you should be prepared to wait or get there early.
why I’d go back? I wouldn’t. Fish & chips are good at plenty of other restaurants, and nothing else stood out to me.

LB asked us to wear black shoes for the wedding. I think she meant to save us money since we all most likely had nice black shoes. I…took it to mean “buy some new black shoes!” First I wanted to find the black version of these light blue peeptoe pumps I have that I got over the summer…but thanks to Nine West’s annoying policy of renaming shoes that go to their outlet store, I can’t find them anywhere in the stores or online. They are the most comfortable dress shoes I’ve ever worn. When I gave up that idea, then I just started clicking around. I knew I wanted another peeptoe pump, and I became hooked on shoes with ribbon roses. I don’t know why, I just really really wanted a pair of pumps with flowers.

I saw these shoes in late December but the price tag ($94) held me back. It’s definitely a lot more than I usually pay for shoes (I AM THE BARGAIN QUEEN!) and the regular price is a bit of a stretch. However, when I poked around online, they weren’t being sold at many sites or major stores. Also, whenever I visited them at Zappos the stock seemed to be dwindling very fast. So I bit the bullet and ordered them. I really love them, but they are awfully high. Now, I’ve still periodically been checking other sites and google to see if they go on sale, but everywhere that had them seemed to be out of stock in my size and color, and the price hasn’t gone down.

During my search I found a pair of black peeptoe pumps from Ann Taylor Loft that seemed to fit a lot of my criteria and were much cheaper. I had a coupon, so I think I only paid about $25 for them. Unfortunately when I tried them on the difference in quality was very clear. They aren’t terrible, but the soles of the Seychelles shoes are much more padded and the fabric of the shoe seems better too. Also, despite ATL’s claim that the heel is 2.5″ and Seychelles says the shoes have a 3.25″ heel, the heels are very similar in height. The Seychelles shoes have a wider, more stable heel. Also, the peeptoe opening is more comfortable.
Looking back on the last paragraph, the first pair really jumps out as the forerunner. But is it $75 better than the ATL pair? Or should I dig out some of my other black dress shoes?
None of my other shoes are jumping out at me as being extremely comfortable and great for an all day on your feet extravaganza, so I’m not really concerned about the heel height since I figure I’ll keep a pair of flip flops in my purse for off time use.

Today was my first vision screening day. The kids are SO CUTE. I had to get up when it was wayyyy too dark & cold (5:30) because I wasn’t sure how 680 traffic would be, so that part was terrible. We finished at 11:30 though, so it balances out.
I was busily working my way down the line doing near cover tests when I noticed a new scent in the library…Consuela had warned me about how much the little boys love farts, but I’d forgotten until that moment. Of course, no one denied or claimed it. Instead, the entire line collapsed into giggles. If it weren’t for the pungent aroma, I’d find their reaction super cute indeed.
SC & I spent a few minutes oohing and aahing over one little second grader’s beauuuuutiful eyes. Centimeter long lashes, pale grey-brown color…and he says they turn blue or green too. I know it’s not cool to call boys “pretty”, but this kid’s eyes definitely qualified.

I went to Ryowa Ramen last night with Zombie Hunter, Garrpaccio, and Al. It’s a tiny restaurant that doesn’t seat more than 20 people at 2 u-shaped bars. And yet, I managed to see three people I know. We weren’t even at the Berkeley location! This was Mountain View! I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised, but I am, anyhow.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. At first the movie seemed to be a knockoff of The Time Traveler’s Wife. I didn’t know it was based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. I also wasn’t really into seeing it because of my semi Brad Pitt boycott. I like Cate Blanchett though, so that balanced it out. That, and everyone else wanted to see it. I also really liked that they used two actors that are actually close in age. Overall, it was better than I expected. Slumdog Millionaire is still my favorite movie so far this season.