motherly concern

M: "Why does he always want to hang out with you?"

S: "I don't know, we've been friends for a long time, I guess."

M: "Doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

S: "Yeah."

M: "Won't she want to kick your ass?"

S: "I'll kick her ass right back!"

Sometimes I manage to glean enough amusement from these conversations to override my exasperation.

to zanarkand

I just spent the last 30 minutes watching the endings of FFX and FFX-2. I hate to say it because I loved X, but X-2 really was really kind of embarrassing. It took things in a...very feminine direction and most FF fans like to pretend it never existed.

The game essentially amounted to playing dress-up with virtual dolls.

Nevertheless, that did not stop me from pouring hours upon hours into all the side quests so that I could get 100% completion and unlock the Perfect Ending (I'm only slightly ashamed). But my saved file got corrupted and foiled all my efforts, so I ended up just watching it on YouTube. Fuck me sideways, as Leigh would've said.

Anyway, here's one of my favorite Final Fantasy songs.

saturday sundae

Groupons are amazing. A few months ago, I purchased one for ice cream (no surprise there) at LA Creamery Artisan Ice Cream in Glendale and finally had the chance to use it today.

Even though I'm a self-proclaimed dessert fiend, the size of my stomach is always the limiting factor in how much I can consume in one sitting. No matter how much I may have the appetite for it, I can't shouldn't eat $10 worth of ice cream by myself so I decided to share with a friend.

After much sampling and deliberation, we each went for the Fudgey Brownie Sundae. Two scoops of ice cream topped with chewy bites of crumbled brownie, dark chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, candied pecans and whipped cream for $5.95. I chose a scoop of Coffee and Milk Chocolate-Guinness while my friend got Rice Pudding and Saffron Vanilla.

It was an orgasm-inducing experience and worth every penny.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect for ice cream. Summer's on its way.

ETA:
I also attended a birthday gathering where food, alcohol, and good times were had by all. Though I normally avoid beer like the plague, I was peer-pressured into trying a Blue Moon for the first time. Garnished with a slice of orange, it was probably the best beer I've ever had.

tapas & ice cream

As luck would have it, I was brought back to Bar Celona for dinner with a visiting college friend, S. The atmosphere was just as mellow as it was from my last visit, but what else can you expect at 7pm on a weeknight?

The waitstaff were friendly and attentive, and our waiter didn't seem annoyed at all when he had to ask three times before we were finally ready to order. I settled on the chicken and herb empanadas and crispy eggplant served with spiced yogurt while S ordered the shrimp ceviche and a red sangria.

The empanadas were really good--then again, almost anything with a flaky, golden-brown exterior will win me over instantly. If I had to complain about something, I would say the eggplant was a little over-fried but having it with the yogurt tempered that issue. S let me try some of her sangria, which was sweet, strong, and came with lots of fruit. (All pluses in my book.) This is where I did battle against Temptation. Ultimately, Responsibility won out and I didn't order one for myself since, darn it, I had to drive home.

I didn't take any of these, by the way. I'm really bad at photo-documenting my life nowadays.

We walked around in search of dessert after our meal and were disappointed to discover that Dots Cupcakes had already closed. Our quest for sweets continued but when no other options presented themselves within reasonable walking distance, we ran into the welcoming arms of good ol' Baskin Robbins. It was a difficult choice between Jamoca Almond Fudge and World Class Chocolate, but in the end I chose to have a scoop of the latter. The creamy texture and rich flavor really satisfied my reason-defying craving for ice cream ('twas cold out that night)...and it actually didn't give me GERD. Happiness!

herpes...wut?

I paid a visit to the gynecologist today. As if I wasn't feeling sheepish enough, sitting there in my sans pants glory and mentally preparing myself for the unpleasantness that was about to besiege my lady bits, she took one look at my file and proceeded to reprimand me for not coming back to see her in nearly four years. Oops.

Before she went to work, I made sure to voice my concerns about possibly having a condition called vaginismus. She listened to my complaint but only asked me one question before she made her decision, which made me question how much store I should put by her prescribed line of action.

"I'm going to send you to the lab to test for herpes."

"Okay."

Wait, what?

"Would...would it have been contracted from someone else...?" I asked dumbly. She nodded.

Well, there must be a mistake. "I've only had one partner, and he's never had any partners except me..." I tried to argue.

But she sent me to the lab anyway. (This ended up inviting many questions from my mother. Why she insisted on coming with me to my appointment is beyond me and, quite frankly, really awkward. The last thing I needed was to come up with an explanation for why I needed my blood drawn while simultaneously trying to hide the implications of the test. You see, my relationship with J isn't exactly out in the open...)

Presently all I can say is, how can this even be? I was as un-promiscuous as college students could come (haha, "come"). Instead of getting some answers, I'm left more confused than ever and for the next three weeks I will be worried (needlessly, I hope) about possibly having contracted an incurable STD.

Isn't that just dandy?

ménage à trois

Apologies for the misleading title, but actually I did not end up in one. There was a club called Ménage and there were three of us, but alas...no sexy time. Sigh, it's been six months...

A proper girls' night out was long overdue, so I headed out to Pasadena with Leigh and Elise yesterday. Now, being the cheapskates that we were, we drove three blocks past our first destination to park in a lot where we wouldn't have to pay. And being the cheapskates that we were, this meant we had to walk those three blocks back to our first stop. Making that trek in 4-inch heels wouldn't have been bad if it hadn't been for the group of super creepy high school boys leering at us and literally following us up the street. Not even trying to be subtle. Really, what is the point of that? It's not gonna get you laid, that's for damn sure. We made our loud and hasty escape by running a red light, laughing hysterically and ducking into the safety of LIV Lounge while leaving the creepers behind on the other side of the street.

We arrived at 10:30pm, barely in time to catch their 2-for-1 drink special. The friendly bartender told us that we'd be the last ones to get the deal for the night, so Leigh and I each happily ordered our go-to girly drink--Sex on the Beach. I must say, it was really delicious there. I definitely recommend giving it a taste. We met up with an old acquaintance who was DJing that night, and he promptly ordered a round of Kamikazes for all of us, which were also quite easy on the taste buds. Never has alcohol at a bar been so easy to come by. Fuck yeah.

After some dancing, we decided it was time to move elsewhere. We hopped on over to Club Ménage where the promoters practically begged us to go in (as they did with everyone else who was passing by), so naturally we felt a bit skeptical about the quality of this place but we went in anyway. The crowd was a bit eclectic and generally a bit older...late 20s, early 30s. The upstairs dance floor came complete with its own bar, DJ and stripper poles. (Let me just say, never have I seen a MAN dance on a pole so enthusiastically!) Most of our time was spent here and it ended up being pretty fun.

Bar Celona, a Spanish tapas bar, was our final stop for the night. It turned out to be more like a lounge than anything else, with plenty of sitting space and music videos projected onto a central screen for those with a wandering eye. By the time we got there we were more or less ready to go home, so we didn't take advantage of the dining options it offered. Ah well, something to do next time.

All in all, a pretty good night. Too bad I offered to be DD!

level up

So it would appear that I was promoted a few months ago--one level up from Office Bitch. Funny thing is, I don't think I would've found this out if I hadn't explicitly requested a title change. Can you tell our company is a little lacking in the communication department?

It's been less than a month and dissent has already been incited in the newest addition to our team. But it was only a matter of time, after all.

I wonder if either of us will be able to make it to year's end with our sanity intact. Too bad that's not something you can put on a résumé.

inefficiency

Boss spent quite some time this morning telling me how disappointing I was after not being able to complete my given task on time. Never mind that sifting through the company's electronic files to find the documents I needed was like assembling rocks scattered across the seven continents. Trying to explain this would have only been digging myself into a deeper hole.

That incident, unfortunately, set the tone for the rest of the day. I did not hear the end of it until twenty minutes before I was due to leave, after having spent the previous hour listening to a protracted lecture that could have been easily condensed into ten minutes. Despite my insistence that I understood Boss's points and after my suggestion to "move forward in the interest of time," Boss looked at me like I was the one who had wasted the day and continued to "teach me" what I already knew (I mean, did I not just spend the last hour chained to that seat?).

Consequently, I was punished with unnecessary overtime which was apparently supposed to teach me some kind of lesson. Am I supposed to be grateful now?

Fuck you, Boss.

om nom nom

In an uncharacteristic fit of spontaneity, I attended the LA Food Truck Festival today with Greg and Elise to satisfy our gastronomic appetites.

However, I had to steel my heart against what I saw there--and I'm not even talking about the plethora of food trucks! No, what I was unprepared to see was how many couples were there enjoying their delectable delights together. I've always been a huge sap, but for once in my life the sight of it stirred up a bitter brew of jealousy that was surprisingly difficult to stomach. What once was one of my greatest sources of joy has suddenly become a double-edged sword. I know, so emo.

And as for the food...well, it all looked good. The lines were quite long since we got there kind of late, so Elise and I only managed to get a small sampling of treats at The Sweets Truck (chocolate cake bite and s'mores cake "sandwich" sufficiently satisfied our sweet tooth!) while Greg stood in line for his lobster roll (lobster was quite fresh, btw). We spent a lot of time walking around to check out what kind of trucks were there, but many of the more popular ones had sold out early. By the time we decided that we wanted fries, that truck had closed up shop for the day. Booooo.

Lesson learned: must get there earlier next time!