12.22

Jamaican me crazy, mon!  First vacation of 2013, booked!  Yes, you guessed it, I'm headed to Jamaica.  I'm bummed that I will be missing a trip to LA because I haven't been home since end of September but I guess there's always Spring Break for that.  I can't wait to take a break from cold weather.  Yay!

Hope you guys have your vacations planned! XOXO

12.21

Reflecting on the past year.  So many things have happened in the last 12 months.  Started a new job. Bought a car. Interviewed for another job. Moved to a new place. Started a new job (yay)! Made new friends. Traveled to new places. Got a tattoo. Visited home and took care of mom. Restarted school. Survived a hurricane. Spent thanksgiving in the hospital working. Spent Christmas alone. Twelve months in a blink of an eye.

Some more highlights:

Oh the joys of street parking in New York

Barneys window display when I met Roxy

Discovered my new summer hangout (sorry Hamptons)

Found The Alamo!!

Star for a star :)

USC vs Syracuse with Club seats (coz that's how I roll, LOL)

A trip to LA is not complete without a stop at Umami burger

Mom recuperating from her surgery

Pen shopping at Muji

SUTURES!! (enough said)

Here's hoping the next 12 months will be as great as this year!  Wishing everyone a prosperous 2013!!

12.20

With finals looming over my head, I can't help but be stressed.  Acid, base, fluids, electrolytes, blah, blah, blah.  All I can think about is getting some shuteye after exams are over.  Oh, and 5 more months until bliss...

What are you thinking about this Saturday night? xoxo

12.19

Trying on my new shoes.

Madewell sweater, J Brand pants

Closeup of the #Louboutin shoes

 The shoes are not from this season but I have always wanted them.  I missed out on them when they first came out but luck happened to be on my side and I found a new pair on Ebay.  They weren't cheap BUT they were below retail and they were new - two things that I look for when doing any transactions on Ebay.

The rest of the outfit was what I wore to school - with my trusty J. Crew boots from the previous post and a grey scarf.  It wasn't cold enough for a jacket at 48 degrees so I kept it light.

Hope everyone is having a great night! XOXO

12.18

Had time to take pics before going to the mall - not to buy but to exchange something.  I hate returning stuff and have been feeling increasingly anxious.  Ugh, I really hate returning stuff.  Anyway, OOTD on this semi-cold December day.

Jeans: J Brand 811 Skinnies, Top: Forever21, Boots: J. Crew

Leather Jacket: All Saints

The boots and leather jacket are my fall/early winter staples.  The jeans are a great pop of color and you never go wrong with J Brand jeans in my opinion.  Hope everyone has a great December 5th!!

xoxo

12.17

Fun stuff at school today!  I rarely say that so it must really be awesome right???  It was.  My hands are still a bit numb but it was worth it.  What did we do?  We learned how to suture!!  Yay!

We only learned the simple running and simple interrupted sutures.  Next week, we're going to learn more complicated ones.  I think I did a good job for my first time!  I can't wait to practice some more (and maybe even on real people!!!).

*For those animal activists, try not to have a conniption fit.  The piggy feet were synthetic (they probably should've given us human hands or heads but that would be too gruesome, like Walking Dead gruesome).  No animals were harmed during this exercise.  When you think about it, it's pretty unsanitary to actually practice on piggy feet from the grocery store/butcher shop.*

12.16

I love presents and the best ones are always the ones I get myself!  For my birthday, I decided to buy Frye boots.  I bought two pairs - Dark Brown and Cognac - and it took me a while to decide which one to keep.

After about a month of asking everyone and their mom, I decided to keep the Dark Brown pair.

Not the best picture but I do like them a lot, definitely a lot more than I like the Cognac.  It does help to have two pairs of cognac-colored boots already.  I'll post a complete outfit pic next time.  I also have another pair to post but that's another post for another day.

Do you like to buy yourself presents???  XOXO

12.15

It's almost Christmas, my most favorite time of the year.  As happy as this time might be, there are some people who don't get into the holiday spirit.  I have a friend that is such and it's a shame because she doesn't seem to appreciate all she has.  It makes me kinda sad.

For me, Christmas was always the time to reflect on my life and what I have to be thankful for (I wasn't brought up celebrating Thanksgiving).  Growing up in a Catholic family, Christmas was always a time of celebration and hope.  No matter how hard life has been that year, my parents always, always, always made sure we had a great Christmas celebration.  It's not about the presents.  It's knowing that whatever is thrown your way, you will always have your family there for you.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas this year!


(PS - that is my friend Eddie's tree.  Pretty, huh?)

12.14

QOTD:

"Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools."   -Napoleon Bonaparte

I have to remind myself of this from time to time.  Have a great day folks!

12.13

Haven't posted in a while because of my busy schedule.  And I also just realized that my other blog is no more. *tear* Probably because the email associated with is it never used.  Whatever the reason, I'm kind of sad because I spent some hours on that blog.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to revamp this one.  Not yet.  Maybe soon. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm back in LA for about 10 days and I already have a hankering for new shoes.  I really want a new pair of sneakers.  I should probably stop browsing online.

Serafini Manhattan Limited Edition Studded Wedge Sneakers

Serafini Manhattan Fluoro Wedge Sneakers

Ash Cool Wedge Sneakers

Serafini Manhattan Limited Edition Fringe Wedge Sneakers

I think these are too trendy for me but I love sneakers and new sneakers are even better!  I haven't decided whether I should take the plunge just yet.  These are perfect for all the walking I do - comfy yet stylish.  The Ash ones are probably the most "practical" and most wearable. The Fringe ones are my fave but my size is sold out. But the ultimate dream pair and the sneakers that probably started the wedge sneaker trend (and is also sold out almost everywhere) are these:

Isabel Marant Bekett Leather & Suede Sneakers

Images from Shopbop and Net-A-Porter.

12.12

Work is better but then again my patients were relatively easy.  Still, some improvements so the future doesn't seem to be so bleak.  I'm getting the hang of it.

Went to the doctor for my cough, apparently I have asthma.  I only use my inhaler once in a while but I have noticed a change when I do use it.  Strange.  When I told my mom about it, she mentioned I've had asthma since I was little.  It would've been good to know that.  Oh well.  It's manageable right now.

I found a great coffee place by work.  Well, I didn't find it.  My new work friends (girls from my orientations group) told me about it.  They have really great coffee.  And the people that work there are SUPER nice.  It's almost as if I wasn't in New York.

I just found out this guy I like is single.  Too bad he's all the way in SoCal.  Story of my life.

12.11

<-- This is probably how my preceptor felt last Friday.  Sigh.  It was my first day on the floor and she apparently thought she was precepting someone with bone marrow transplant experience and not a new grad.  G-r-eee-aaa-ttt... and on top of that, she seemed to be having a bad day.  What does all this mean for me?  That I felt stupid and I felt like I was disappointing her.  Sigh.

1. I do not have experience with IVs. 
2. It doesn't help that you talk too fast.
3. I am not a question-asker by nature.  I just don't ask questions.  I ruminate.  It's how I learn.
4. I'm nervous.  It's my first day doing stuff. 
5. You can't expect me to remember nursing school.  I graduated a year ago.

I hate feeling incompetent.  I hope I sturvive my next 3 shifts.  Three back-to-back 12-hour shifts.  That should be fun.  God help me.

12.10

I've been sick for the past month and a half.  I figured out that the culprit is not just cooties at work (I work with kid's with respiratory issues), it's my lifestyle -- takeout and fast food + night shift + no exercise = one f'd up immune system.  I'm sorry body. I promise I'll be restoring you to your full glory soon. 

On the other hand, I just realized today that one of my childhood dreams actually came true.  When I was little (like maybe 3rd grade little), I always wanted to go to an Ivy League university.  I didn't really remember it until today when my train stopped at the Columbia University stop.  I actually realized one of my childhood dreams by graduating from Columbia University (I'm still in school for my masters).  How amazing is that?  I feel extremely blessed to be able to say that so people, never let go of your dreams.  You never know where life will lead you.  xoxo

12.09

1. I quit my job.

2. I haven't lost my mind.  I got a better offer.  Yay!

3. I've moved.  The new place looks/feels like I'm living in a hotel.  Nice.

4.  I wish my dog would stay still for photos.

12.08

1. Stress is killer.  Job is cray cray and I'm also looking for an apartment since my lease is up soon (like 3 weeks soon).

2. As I take stock of my life, I realize that I don't stay in once place for too long.  I went to 3 different schools in grade school, 2 high schools, a community college, university and again another university in a different state.  Apartment-wise, the longest I've been in one place is 5 years (same goes for work).  This makes me wonder where I'll end up in the next few years or maybe I'll finally settle down somewhere (ha!).

3. It's 6am and I'm blogging and starving.  I have to switch back to night schedule soon which is tough for my body since I've been flip-flopping sleep schedules these last few days.

4.  Work politics sucks and no one ever wins.  Makes me wish sometimes that my job is unionized.

12.07

Finally got a job.  Paycheck doesn't seem to make a dent on the bills.  Still, I'm glad I have a job.

12.06

I almost died from cuteness overload.

12.05

2012 is going to be an awesome year.  I just know it.  I can feel it in my bones.  My plans for the year?  Nothing too crazy but definitely a trip somewhere overseas. Not sure where yet.  I'll know it when I figure it out (or when I find cheap tickets, HA).  No new shoes this year (at least not the expensive kind).  I also promised myself a new black handbag when I finally get a job - that should be soon and surprise, surprise...I already know which handbag I want (not an easy feat narrowing down my choices - again, nothing too expensive).

Sigh,  can't you just feel how awesome 2012 is going to be???

12.04

I've been so busy this week that I can hardly catch my breath.  I've got a full schedule until the end of next week and then nothing.  I hope I get a job soon because I like being busy. 

12.03

I'm super annoyed right now because the other day, I downloaded the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.  And since then, every time I open Firefox, it still tells me that I don't have the latest version.  WTF? 

I know that's not enough to make anyone "super annoyed" but I am PMS-ing so everything is worse.  TMI, sorry.

12.02

The other night I had a weird dream - weird in a creepy sort of way.  I wasn't even in the dream.  It was like I was watching a movie or a tv show (prob an episode of Criminal Minds or something).  It went like this...

A young couple were in an apartment talking to an older couple.  (This is really not the way the conversation went.  I think they were miming or something because I don't remember anyone speaking.  Maybe they were conversing telepathically.)

Older People: You shouldn't be here.
Young Couple: Why not?
OP: It's not safe.
YC: You're weird.
OP: Well, just don't look in the closet.

Of course, if someone says something like that, it invites the other party to actually do it.  I can't explain it.  It's just human nature.  Anyway, YC opens the closet and see the dead bodies of the OP in the closet.  They both look posed - naked sitting on chairs, with eyes gouged out and knife gashes on their forehead (told you it was like an episode of Criminal Minds).  So of course, YC are surprised and bewildered and scared (and whatever emotion people feel when they see dead bodies).

OP: Told you not to look in there.  (Look at each other.)  And try not to look in the suitcases as well.

Again, like robots, as soon as the OP say that the YC immediately notice the suitcases and look at each other.  Without hesitation, they both go to the suitcases.  And surprise, surprise...each suitcase had a dead body - the dead bodies of the younger couple!  Their bodies were like weirdly folded to fit in the suitcases (And you didn't believe me when I mentioned that this is like an episode of Criminal Minds??  Ok, how about American Horror Story?).  So, the younger people freak out and had more questions.

YC: How did this happen?  Are we dead? (DUH!)
OP: (long story short) The guy that lives in this apartment did this to us.
YC: Why?  Who is he?

And of course, as soon as they ask that, the guy that lives in the apartment who also happens to have killled everyone in my dream, walks in with a new victim (looks like an older Hispanic guy wearing all white - like a painter or something).

YC: Is that the guy that killed us?

Older people turn to look at the young couple.  The killer guy (who is the actor that plays Gus on Breaking Bad) turns to the "ghosts".

Killer: Yup.  And he's next.

***********************************************************************************
OMG right?  How would you feel if you had that dream???  Cray cray.

12.01

Chinese New Year is coming up soon.  2012 is the year of the Water Dragon.  Every year when Christmas is over, my mom drags me to Chinatown to buy Feng Shui books for the coming year.  We then take said books home and make a list of all the feng shui amulets and enhancers that we'll need to make the coming year better.

For those of us born on the Year of the Sheep (also Ram or Goat - different calendars call it by different names), this year will give us financial stability but we need to watch our health particularly our stomach or intestines -- almost verbatim from my book. 

Also, this year we need to watch our tempers.  The aggressive sword is upon us so we will be more impatient and intolerant of others.  Knowing this bit of information should help us if we keep reminding ourselves to keep our tempers in check.

For those who are married, this year might also be a year of infidelities.  So be mindful of your relationships.

Cures:
1. Wu Lou - to stave off illnesses/health problems
2. Image of Dog and Rabbit - for harmony in relationships

This is just a brief summary of the more important aspects of 2012 for us born in the Sheep year.  For more information, click here or better yet buy the 2012 book. 

Have a great 2012 everyone!!  Remember, above everything else, always remain positive and live your life with love and laughter in your hearts.  Also, never forget your prayers.