My Favorite Thing on My 22 Things List

I’m happy to say I got to accomplish one of my favorite and most looked forward to things on my 22 Things List: Visit Dawn in Charlotte!! While I’m hoping it isn’t the last time it happens before I turn 23, I’m so glad I had the chance to see my best friend and spend four lovely days with her.

After taking a red eye flight Wednesday and arriving Thursday morning, we both worked from her home for a while. I’ll admit to copping out to a quick nap in between work hours but I told myself the three hours were just making up the time difference. Because most of the jobs I’m recruiting for are on the West Coast, I could get away with a quick catnap and still be right on schedule!

The rest of Thursday we spent doing some work, heading out to a happy hour event and then grabbing some Chinese food for dinner. We were both pretty exhausted by 11:30 so it was off to bed and Friday morning was here in a blink!

We worked a little from home, as promised, and then headed out bowling. Bowling is one of those things I’m either average at or HORRIBLE. My ball pretty much looked like a raging drunk, barreling down the lanes and headed straight for the gutter. I will, however, make the point that I did not end up last in the first game. I was sandwiched between Dawn and her friend, Ivan, with a mediocre score. I also was unable to get a real strike until the last ball of the last game. I did however score three spares where the first ball was a complete gutter and then the second ball managed to hit all the pins. Strange.

Bowling shoes are both the ugliest and cutest shoes in the world.

That night, we headed to a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner. For those of you who don’t know what those are, it’s simply put: a meat buffet. The servers/cooks walk around with these HUGE skewers of meat and come and slice them for you at your table. I think I must’ve eaten a whole cow. I also took it upon myself to ask each server a unique question. Some of my favorites include: “Is that made from baby cows? HOW DID THEY FULFILL THEIR POTENTIAL?” and “Have you ever gotten in an accident with a customer and the knife?”

Why are all my photos cropped for Instagram? But I'm too lazy to find the originals.

After dinner, we spent a good amount of time playing Heads Up (BEST game ever) before heading out to a few bars. My favorite was a dueling piano bar where you could request songs from the pianists and if they knew them, they would play them! We of course requested “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” complete with dance team choreography and all.

Saturday I had to spend most of the morning….and afternoon recovering from the festivities of the night before. BUT it was also the night we were going to celebrate Halloween so it was imperative that I recover before 11:00PM. We went to a club and danced the night away. Our costumes as follows:

I tweeted Jeff Probst that night hoping he would put us on Survivor…alas, no response yet.

One of many blurry pictures of the night!

I think this was actually Friday night, but oh well.

New friends, top 40 music, and god awful toasts.

Sunday was bittersweet. We grabbed breakfast and it honestly wasn’t long before I had to head back to the airport. We did mange to squeeze in a showing of the Hunger Games though I’m sad I won’t be able to watch the next one with her.

All in all, a wonderful trip to Charlotte: saw the best friend, danced like there was no tomorrow, and drank every problem away (not in an alcoholic way I promise!). I can’t wait to see her again!!

Watching the Sunrise While Working Out

Two weeks ago, I took the plunge and tried waking up at 6:00 to take a 6:30AM cardio barre class. I’ve been meaning to do it but I really need my sleep at night so I was postponing doing it. I finally bucked up the courage and got into bed at 9:00PM and waited till the next morning.

I woke up and it was still dark outside. Not a good sign because usually I just want to go back to bed when it’s dark. But I plucked myself out of bed and got dressed (workout clothes are not the warmest) and pulled on my sweats and a jacket. I drove over to the cardio barre studio and got my dance on! It was actually kinda cool to see the sun rise while I was sweating and burning calories. The studio has these big glass windows and we watched the sky change colors while we did plies and torso twists and bar thighs.

After class, I went home to shower and get ready for work. I had plenty of time to get ready but to be honest, I spent most of it sitting in bed debating whether to go back to sleep but instead just scrolled through my Instagram. At work, I was really awake for the first part of the day but the exercise inevitably wiped me out and after lunch, I was a bit sleepy. Ice tea lemonade definitely helped me through the rest of the day but I was exhausted!

I think it’s probably a combination of not used to being up so early and being a bit out of shape but that 6:30AM class was not my favorite. It wasn’t my favorite instructor teaching either. But perhaps if I’m ever motivated again, I might rouse myself at the early hour to work out in the morning!

Another Things Off the 22 Things List

To be honest, I almost forgot that “Tailgating a Football Game” was on my 22 Things list. I just assumed that it was going to happen and didn’t think much of making it this thing that I accomplished!

It’s weird for some people to hear that I’ve never tailgated a football, especially being at a PAC 12, Division I school where football is such a big deal. Here’s my explanation: I was a spring admit at Cal, which means I didn’t officially start there until Spring 2010. My fall semester I spent traveling – I did a month in Boston and then three in Hong Kong where I interned for an outerwear clothing company. So my freshmen year, football was pretty much nonexistent. Then for the next three years of my college career, I was on the dance team so tailgating was pretty much out of the question.

I missed my fellow dance teamers so much!! So excited to be reunited with them this weekend!

After moving down here to LA, I was afraid I’d never get to see my Golden Bears play again! Luckily, there’s at least one LA game every year and a bunch of fans will make the trek down to watch our team. I guess I really had two tailgates for one game. The first was set up by my friends and it was really an all booze, no food tailgate. After that liquid tailgate, we headed over to the alumni tailgate where it was an open bar and buffet style hamburgers and hot dogs. We also watched the band and dance team perform and of course I was overcome with nostalgia but I’m not complaining too much about being on the other side.

I have about 10 different versions of this photo on my phone. The memory of taking it is a bit blurry....

Football games are long when you’re just watching from the stands. I definitely miss being on the field and dancing with the band. I can’t wait to be back home in Memorial Stadium and watch Cal take on U$C! November is only a month away!

PS: I forgot to cross off “Go to a stand up comedy show” off my list. I went to the Comedy and Magic Club with my cousin two weeks ago and saw Joe Rogan. Fantastic show!

Fall Television

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And by that I mean, it’s fall television time! Fall television is the best television season of the year. New shows, returns of favorites. Here are my top ten favorites so far (new and old and in no particular order):

This has pretty much been my bible this season.

1) How I Met Your Mother: Truth be told, just tell me how the mother fits in already!! But with this how being in its final season, I’m sad to see it go. I’ll miss Barney’s Playbook antics and Robin’s Robin Sparkles performances. I’ll even miss Ted’s sappy life philosophies. This show has been one for the ages and when the season ends, I know I’ll go back to the beginning to start all over again.

2) Elementary: I’m a HUGE BBC Sherlock fan. Benedict Cumberbatch is on my list of Top 10 people I wouldn’t mind watching forever. But Jonny Lee Miller does a pretty spectacular job of being a once drug addicted Sherlock and the twist that Watson is Lucy Liu is awesome. Last season’s Moriarty surprise locked in my addiction to this show.

3) Legend of Korra: I’m usually not a big fan of adult cartoons like Family Guy and South Park but Legend of Korra isn’t really an adult cartoon. It’s really meant for preteens I think. So I was pleasantly surprised when I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Airbender and now I’m continuing to watch Korra in its second season.

4) Grey’s Anatomy: I started watching this show thanks to an old ex who’s now in med school. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle the surgeries and blood and guts but the thing I do understand is the that Meredith and Cristina are each other’s “person.” I have my very own “person” in my best friend, who now lives in Charlotte, but I totally get their special bond and it’s part of the reason why I’m so heavily invested in this show. Oh also because Dr. McDreamy, Patrick Dempsey, is in it.

5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Andy Samberg + making fun of cops? Consider me sold. Even though this series just started, I’m already waiting for the next episodes to air just so I can see Andy Samberg and his gay captain take on some more cases.

6) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Joss Whedon. Marvel. Need I say more?

7) The Mindy Project: Let’s just all take a moment to appreciate Mindy Kaling for the comedic genius she is. Pair that with a great cast (I LOVE Morgan) and doctor humor and you pretty much have a show set for success!

8) America’s Next Top Model: My not-so-guilty pleasure. I can’t help but watch these vapid human beings claw at each other’s throats in hopes of becoming America’s Next Top Model. I will respect modeling as a career but I cannot accept that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has to be a gossip-y, egomaniacal individual. Granted it’s probably scripted television, but let’s have more photo shoots and less “WASH YOUR OWN PLATES,” shall we?

9) The Big Bang Theory: I will never stop having nerd-gasms over this show. I love all things nerdy and even Penny is getting a little nerdy. Also, Raj is my absolute favorite – whether he can talk to girls or not.

10) The Crazy Ones: Robin Williams is back on television and he’s just as funny as ever! And Sarah Michelle Gellar is in a comedy that doesn’t involve her staking people. I have to say, the first episode surprised me with its humor and though the plot of the season hasn’t developed much yet, I’m excited to see where it’s going to go. It’s like a funny version of Mad Men. And much more gender equality.

Well there you have it, my top ten picks of the Fall TV schedule. What’s on your must watch list?

Book #6: Fangirl

Well that was fast: another blog post, another book review. I hope you aren’t too put off by my intermittent blog posts but working full time and tutoring on the side leaves me exhausted most days and I’m just dying to crawl into bed by the end of the day.

So for my sixth book this year, I read “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell. It’s the first book in the official Tumblr book club and though I didn’t follow the chapter guidelines exactly, I read the book in my own time and just finished it this afternoon.

I think I’m most impressed by Rainbow Rowell’s ability to write like a college freshman. She captures the anxiety of moving into a new dorm and the insecurities of reaching past what you’re comfortable with. Cath is a reliable narrator, unlike the character in the stories she writes, and her being a twin, adds a new layer to a character that is already so unique.

“Fangirl” is an easy read thought I didn’t love the interjections of fanfiction and the real “Gemma T. Leslie” text. Mostly because I have an incessant need to know the entire story and not just parts. I think the book would be able to stand on its own without those intercalary chapters. To me, they don’t add that much to the story other than proving that Rainbow Rowell is able to switch penning characters with believable skill.

All in all, a fast and easy read. I completely relate to Cath as being part of a fandom though my experiences with fanfiction are not nearly as extensive as hers. My favorite fanfic is easily the The ShoeBox Project.

What about you? What are your favorite fanfics?