Tired. Broke. Full. Happy. LIFE IS GOOD.

My birthday month-long celebration has finally commenced. I believe I started celebrating a week before my actual birthday, starting with lunches, then dinners and brunches came up along the way, until finally I finished with a 2-hour clean up of my apt from all the celebrations and neglect from going out to dinners/lunches/brunches.

So lets start:
Nov. 6 - Japanese lunch w/ coworkers (also Nina's bday)
Nov. 7 - Belgium restaurant "Markt" for dinner and drinks w/ Nov bday celebrants in the office
Nov. 8 - Ethiopian brunch @ meat-packing district w/ Aggie
Nov. 9 - Family lunch/dinner @ my apt
Nov. 12 - coworkers got me an oreo ice cream cake as a suprise :]
Nov. 13 - day off! Birthday girl gets breakfast, her "personal driver", lunch @ our favorite Irish pub w/ the best beer/burgers. Free shot of Petron! SHOOTING RANGE! WOo! I'm ready for my gun license!
Nov. 15 - Lunch w/ old school roomies: Kay and Agatha @ Juniors
Nov. 16 - Girls and their hubbies/significant others came over my apt where I cooked BBQ spare ribs, and Joaquin made some amazing shrimp ceviche. Beers (for the men) and sangria (for the women) were plentiful. I got drunk quick and prayed at night that I wouldn't throw up.

Now, back to normal.. boo.. ;P

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING! FROM EMAIL/PHONE/TEXT/MYSPACE/FACEBOOK BDAY WISHES TO ACTUALLY CELEBRATING W/ ME IN YOUR OWN SPECIAL WAY (bc of me you are broke. ;] sorry!!)

So now that I can reflect on being 26 years old, all I can say is: I don't feel 26 (I try to keep my health in check), I have ppl in my life who care about me, I have ppl in my life who love me and I love them back. So the economy is falling apart, everything is expensive, Wall St is doing more layoffs, I have a bit of a knee pain, but LIFE IS SO DAMN GOOD. Whatever will come my way, BRING IT! because I've gotten this far SANE, can't wait to see how much farther I can go...
As you get older, you just see the "bigger picture" and its much more gratifying than the little things.

:]

HER again...

When I find myself thinking and over-analyzing and trying to come up w/ life's conclusions, I found out that once I start listening to Alicia Keys, I forget about my disorganization and for some reason, her words and/or her melody puts things into perspective, whether just temporarily for that moment or for the rest of my day. However long this temporary sanity is, to me, she's THAT good.

Almost there....

• Markt bday dinner w/ fresh seafood and Belgium beer = $65
• Merkato (Ethiopian) bday brunch = $50
• 3 lbs. pork spare ribs from butcher = $6
• Tray of Indonesian fried beef = $50
• It's not yet my Birthday, but my Birthday month-long celebration continues = priceless

"Tired. Broke. Full. Happy. LIFE IS GOOD."
I think that should be the quote for the month of November.


Ready? ...
Happy Birthday, Nina! (Nov. 6)
Happy Birthday, Ate Alena! (Nov. 12)
Happy Birthday, Din! (Nov. 12)
Happy Birthday to Me! (Nov. 13)
Happy Birthday, Mimi! (Nov. 15)
Happy Birthday, Pris! (Nov. 23)
Happy Birthday, Baby! (Nov. 24)
Happy Birthday, Titus! (Nov. 24)
Happy Birthday, to the rest of the names I will not type out anymore! :]

Election Day '08

Today I voted for the first time in my life as an American Citizen. People died trying to give us this choice to vote so that we have a choice and have a voice in who leads our country (just ask some Communist countries about which side has the greener grass). We should honor the past efforts by exercising our rights. We proudly (and sometimes loudly) claim we live in a country of civil rights and opportunity, yet we do little to exercise these opportunities, and abuse more of these rights.

At least that's how I look at voting: You can be a believer that your vote won't count. But WHAT IF it does? Show that you care! Show that you care about a country's future. Show that you care for a country where YOU use its resources, occupy its land, brood over its economy and how it impacts our individual lives, complain (which isn't always a bad thing) about living standards (which, btw, we're blessed compared to the living standards of a 3rd world country). If you don't even like any of the candidates and what they stand for, then vote for the reason I just explained in the first paragraph.


Too bad I didn't realize the importance of voting when I turned 18. Oh well, better late than never.

I Get It! (LOTR)

I get it! I get all this hype about Lord of the Rings. The trilogy is an amazing story with even more amazing graphics on-screen. It only took me about 7 years to finally watch it (and 5 months to unwrap the mistakenly-purchased DVD trilogy). I've had the DVDs since June, and I just thought I would not be that into it. But at the end of every day, I look forward to watching it - all 6 (Extended Versions) DVDs, just not in one sitting.

It puts me in this constant suspense, with scared, hopeful, and angry feelings creeping up on me by just watching this movie. There are so many things going on that I'm worrying about each character, each situation... I find myself anxious!! It's crazy how an 18-hour trilogy can capture my attention this long, and this much.

I want to read the book now. I'm SURE it'll be even better (as if it could get any better).