Kel. 28. Lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduated from UC Berkeley 2001. Has a small obsession with TV. Enjoys chick lit and teen movies. Major shopaholic. Blogging since January 17, 2002.

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Date/Time: Thurs, Feb 07 @ 11:15pm
Reading: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Listening: Popular, Wicked Soundtrack

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• 2006 resolutions
• 2005 in review
• christmas gifts
• happy holidays
• brokeback mountain

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December 31, 2005

Hope everyone has a great New Year and a fabulous weekend! Rob and I have nothing planned so it looks like it's going to be a quiet weekend at home. *happy*

2006 meme stolen from Christie.

FIVE RESOLUTIONS FOR 2006
1. My most important resolution is to SAVE MONEY. Especially since Rob told me today that I should start saving money for a wedding. OMG, he's hinting... *hyperventilates* :D
2. Go to the gym more often. I pay membership fees each month and sometimes I don't even go. :/
3. Read more books. I completely failed at the 2005 Book Challenge. :(
4. Learn how to cook. I actually improved a *lot* this year and managed to make dinner a few times but I still have a long way to go.
5. Get my driver's license. I SWEAR this is going to happen in 2006.

FIVE THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2006
1. Girls' weekend out with my best friends. We're tentatively looking at May. Very, very excited!
2. 2 weddings in July (my cousin's and my friend Mike's).
3. Possible trip to Australia with my Dad in August.
4. Possible trip to Hawaii with Rob in April. (We talked about this today, though, and it looks like it might not pan out. There's still a possibility so I'm keeping my hopes up!)
5. Really shallow but the new season of 24. Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida!

FIVE TWO THINGS I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2006
1. Moving. Yes, again. Rob and I recently found out that our apartment complex is slowly being turned into condos and our building is going to be one of them. We anticipate the notice to come in March/April. We'll have to make a decision about staying in Northern CA or finally moving back to Southern CA.
2. If we move back to Southern CA, I am completely dreading looking for a new job. I'm so happy at my job and I've made really great friends there... change is so hard.
I really can't think of anything else...

FIVE MOVIES I WILL SEE IN 2006
1. Match Point (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers!!!)
2. X-Men 3
3. Superman Returns
4. Marie Antoinette
5. The DaVinci Code

FIVE BOOKS I WANT TO READ IN 2006
1. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
2. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
3. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
4. Jemima J by Jane Green
5. The Washingtonienne by Jessica Cutler

FIVE THINGS I'M GOING TO TRY TO CUT BACK ON IN 2006
1. STARBUCKS. I *must* stop drinking peppermint mochas. I wish I wasn't so addicted to them in the mornings.
2. Fast food. I can't help that I love McDonald's sausage mcmuffin with egg.
3. Buying clothes because they're on sale. I want to focus on building a wardrobe that's classic. No more buying t-shirts that I can't wear to work!
4. Eating out. This will help me save money.
5. Stress at work. I need to learn how to ask people for help when I need it.

FIVE THINGS I'M GOING TO TRY TO DO MORE OF IN 2006
1. Drink more water.
2. Eat more fruits and vegetables. (And no, Jamba Juice does not count).
3. Sleep. I have a really bad tendency to stay up late.
4. See the doctor(s) regularly. I have a bad habit of only making appointments when there's something wrong. I need to get myself a primary care physician too.
5. Bring lunch to work so I don't eat out.

EEEEKKK. I have a lot of work to do in 2006.

Posted by Kel at 01:13 AM | Comments (7)

December 28, 2005

A few more holiday cards have trickled in... thanks Nicola and Susan!

A 2005 in review meme stolen from Maz.

FIVE GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN 2005
1. Got a promotion and a raise at work
2. Moved to a new apartment
3. Went to Hawaii for a friend's wedding
4. My cousin got engaged
5. Rob spent his first Christmas with my family (if you know me in real life, this is BIG!) :P

FIVE MOVIES I REALLY ENJOYED IN 2005
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2. Batman Begins
3. Rent
4. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
5. Wedding Crashers

FIVE BOOKS I READ IN 2005 (AND SUGGEST YOU READ, TOO)
Sadly, this category is slim pickings since I didn't read very much. *sigh*
1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
3. Almost Paradise by Susan Isaacs
4. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
5. ... :/

FIVE TELEVISION SHOWS I WATCHED ON A REGULAR BASIS IN 2005
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Everwood
3. 24
4. CSI
5. Lost

FIVE THINGS I LEARNED IN/FROM 2005
1. My dad and I have a far better relationship than I thought.
2. Sometimes you just *don't* like your co-workers.
3. I'm a work Nazi. I need to learn to loosen up.
4. I care too much about what other people think of me.
5. I'm actually not a bad cook. Now if only I wasn't so lazy...

FIVE SONGS THAT REMAINED ON MY PLAYLIST IN 2005
1. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
2. Seasons of Love from Rent
3. Collide by Howie Day
4. Better Together by Jack Johnson
5. Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

It's time to start making some 2006 resolutions.

Posted by Kel at 10:46 PM | Comments (3)

December 27, 2005

I had a fabulous Christmas. And I hope all of you did as well! Southern CA was gorgeous. Such a nice change from the rain that's hitting the Bay Area right now. I spent a day with my best friends in LA and another few days with my dad and family in Cerritos so it was a whirlwind long weekend and I'm really sad it's over. I went back to work today and OMG, it was rough. I want to be back on vacation. *sob*

Before the holidays are officially behind us, I want to share 1 more great Christmas song I found.

Please right click and save target as...

username: cookie
password: monster

Jack Johnson - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

I LOVE JACK JOHNSON. :D

Posting my annual Christmas haul so I have this on record somewhere. I must have been very good this year (this is very questionable) because Santa was SO AWESOME to me.

-- $175 Southwest Airlines gift card. The most awesome present from my best friends -- it's for me to travel back to SoCal for a girls' weekend. SQUEE, so exciting. :D
-- $450 worth of Nordstrom gift cards (this seemed to be the gift of choice from all my male managers)
-- $55 Bliss Spa gift card (YaY! I'm going to get a pedicure! Mmmm)
-- $50 iTunes gift card
-- $50 Banana Republic gift card
-- $50 Macy's gift card
-- $25 Best Buy gift card
-- $10 Starbucks gift card
-- black pants for work from Banana Republic (my dad is so practical)
-- baby blue goose down jacket
-- bright pink cashmere scarf
-- holiday socks
-- Care Bears pajama pants
-- green hoodie and pink/white striped scarf from the GAP
-- silver necklace with pink pearls (SO gorgeous)
-- silver zodiac (Libra) necklace
-- dangly bronze earrings
-- goose down comforter
-- The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
-- Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell
-- Everyday Food magazine subscription
-- iPod travel case
-- lotions -- CO Bigelow Lemon body lotion, Mango Mandarin healing hand cream from BBW, Bliss body butters
-- DKNY Be Delicious eau de toilette
-- toys - stuffed holiday Nemo and M&Ms/Star Wars figurines
-- garlic press and potato peeler (hehehe, I really needed these!)

I am so spoiled. :/

Now I still have to get a present for Rob... we have this weird tradition of not exchanging Christmas presents until after the New Year. Too bad it's just an excuse for me to procrastinate even longer!

Posted by Kel at 10:46 PM | Comments (3)

December 21, 2005

My flight leaves for Southern CA at 6:30 (!!!) tomorrow morning and I'm not sure if I'll be able to go online during the next few days so I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday!

:)

Posted by Kel at 09:58 PM | Comments (11)

December 20, 2005

First off, I want to say THANKS to Marianne, Sarah, Mandy, Alie, and Becca for the great holiday cards! I LOVE THEM. :)

My holiday cards, unfortunately, went out today. :/ I know, I'm horrible! No excuses. I just seriously procrastinated in writing and getting them mailed out. So sorry.

I saw Brokeback Mountain over the weekend (Oakland happens to be one of the limited engagement cities, yay) and I really, really liked it. It's an extraordinarily sad story of love and how it doesn't always conquer all. It deserves all the recognition it's been receiving. All the principal actors (Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams) are amazing. They all really blew me away. Is it silly that I'm so proud of Michelle Williams and her supporting actress Golden Globe nomination? It's little Jennifer from the Creek! Aww.

I just have to get through 1 more day of work this week... then I'm off to Southern CA on Thursday morning for the holiday. :D Can't wait.

Posted by Kel at 11:40 PM | Comments (1)

December 16, 2005

ARGH. I am SO SORRY if you tried to visit my site on Thursday and it was trying to make you download some evil trojan virus. I didn't do it... I SWEAR! I think someone hacked into my blog archives and remotely tried to execute some code. I took the entire Movable Type installation down, re-installed it, and also had my host do a search for any other malicious files that might be lurking about... the site has been given the all clear. PHEW. Again, so sorry. :(

So... I need some help. I went shopping ALL DAY on Wednesday and did not find a single thing for my dad. He's absolutely the hardest person to shop for EVER cause he doesn't *need* anything and offers no help whatsoever. For every other holiday (birthday, Father's Day), I usually get him some sort of clothing item. But that's getting a little tired, you know? So... I'm wondering what all of you get your dads for the holidays? Any suggestions?

And I've been meaning to do this meme...

Christmas Wishlist

* Make a post to your blog. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for [insert seasonal celebration here] is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

* If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

* Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your blog so that the holiday joy will spread.

* Surf around to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

* If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it.

* You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.

* There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

1. Holiday cards!
2. A tutorial on how the heck to customize the layout for a Coppermine gallery. I just DON'T. GET. IT.
3. Wallpapers of my 'ships (Pacey/Joey, Harry/Hermione, Ephram/Amy, Nathan/Haley, etc). I prefer 1600x1200 (that's the optimal resolution for my laptop) but anything 1024x768 and higher works too.
4. Music recs. I listen to pretty much everything but country (sorry). Some favorite artists are NSync, Britney, The Postal Service, Kanye West, Jack Johnson, Death Cab...
5. On that note, an iTunes gift card/certificate.
6. Starbucks gift card.
7. Your favorite quotes from TV shows, movies, songs, people.
8. A Pacey/Joey mood theme. I know I don't ever post on LJ but maybe I can figure out a way to use it here.
9. Anything from my Amazon wishlist.
10. Suprise me. :D

Send me an email if you need my address. And if anyone has also posted a wishlist on their blog/LJ/mySpace, please let me know in the comments so I can be sure to take a look. ;)

Posted by Kel at 10:32 PM | Comments (6)

December 13, 2005

Mmmm, Christmas meme! Stolen from Nicola...

1.What is your favorite Christmas carol/song?
Surprisingly, I don't have a favorite Christmas carol. I just love holiday music in general. However, hearing Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker score *always* reminds me of this time of year.

2.White lights or multicolored?
White lights. When I was growing up, I liked multicolored lights better but now, they're just too much. White lights are far more elegant.

3. Do you have a cut tree, live tree or an artificial tree?
Live tree. Bought from Home Depot.

4. Eggnog, mulled cider, or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate, definitely. With a shot of peppermint. YUM. I also like cider but eggnog? ICK.

5. Do you decorate your house with lights?
I live in an apartment so... no. I wish I had a house to decorate. *sigh*

6. Do you write a Christmas letter?
Like to Santa? No. I'm old.

7. Do you like receiving Christmas letters/photos?
Of course! :P I enjoy receiving any kind of mail actually.

8. What is your favorite Christmas story/movie?
I really love How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A Christmas Carol is another good story.

9. Have you ever made a gingerbread house?
My mom and I used to make them together and we used to put them out on the Christmas buffet table. Haven't made one in forever though.

10. Poinsettias or holly?
Poinsettias.

11. Do you display a nativity scene?
My family used to have a nativity scene that we would place on top of our piano during the holidays but it hasn't been out of the box in years. (My dad is lazy when it comes to Christmas decorations -- the horror!)

12. Do you bake Christmas cookies?
Yes! I always make sugar cookies to bring to work. Decorating them with frosting and sprinkles is the BEST.

13. Ham or turkey?
Ham. Especially when it's honey glazed. *drools*

14. In what languages can you wish someone a Merry Christmas (without cheating)?
3. English, Spanish (Feliz Navidad), and Tagalog (Maligayang Pasko).

15. Do you know all the words to Jingle Bells?
Erm... no.

16. Do you put presents under the tree?
Of course I do.

17. How do you eat a candy cane?
What?

18. What is your biggest holidays pet peeve?
Crowded malls/shopping centers. Argh. People become INSANE during this time of year... pushing and grabbing toys from people's hands... EEK.

19. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
Just being with my family and EATING. :D Also, buying presents for others. I love receiving presents, don't get me wrong, but making other people happy makes *me* happy.

20. What was the best present you ever got for Christmas?
When I was about 9 or 10, I got a huge Barbie dream house for Christmas from my aunt. I remember being completely ecstatic. Nothing since then has really come close.

Taking the day off tomorrow to do some Christmas shopping in San Francisco. YAY! :D

Posted by Kel at 10:29 PM | Comments (2)

I HATE COMMENT SPAM.

I thought I was immune but NO. The evil robots have decided to hit me this week.

So much HATE.

Posted by Kel at 07:01 PM | Comments (1)

December 11, 2005

Got the Harry Potter track jacket! *dork*

:D

Last chance for holiday cards! :D I really should have written them this weekend but I got lazy. Anyway, if you'd like to receive a card from me, please send me an email! They're going out by the end of this week, I promise.

I got the chance to see Memoirs of a Geisha last Friday and I really, really liked it (it's playing in select cities and yay, San Francisco is one of them). I read the book months ago but from what I remember, they kept all the major storylines and characterizations true to the source.

The young actress who played Chiyo in the beginning was so great. But I felt like I had no sense of the timeline. I know they had to cut out much of her childhood for length but it distracted me to not know how much time had passed and how old she was at certain parts of the movie.

Michelle Yeoh as Mameha and Gong Li as Hatsumomo (OMG, she's EVIL) were phenomenal. Easily the 2 best performances of the movie for me. Sadly, I was disappointed with Ziyi Zhang. Maybe it was intentional but there were a few times where she had a very blank look on her face, like she didn't really know what she was supposed to be feeling. As a whole, though, the acting was excellent -- but I wonder how the film would have been had actual Japanese actors been cast. (Yes, I know they needed bankable "names" for the main characters and most of the movie-going public wouldn't be able to tell the difference between various Asian actors but I'm still curious).

But the BEST thing about the movie to me was the music. There were times when I was just listening to the score. Not because the movie was boring or I couldn't connect to it but because the music was that good. Really.

Go see this movie! And read the book!

Posted by Kel at 11:47 PM | Comments (3)

December 8, 2005

It's only typical that after a solid episode of Everwood, I would find out that the show is on hiatus until March. MARCH. !!! And all because the WB wants to air Beauty and the Geek 2. YUP.

Anyway. This episode totally revived my Ephram/Amy love. They're still IT for me.

When Ephram said "Amy? I still love you," my heart wanted to burst. GUH. Just such a sweet, sweet scene. And Gregory Smith's delivery was spot on. It was a perfect mix of vulnerability and hope. I'm definitely keeping this episode saved on the Tivo for that scene alone. And the POSTCARDS! I'm SO back on the Ephram love train. SQUEE.

Also? Bright just might be one of the very BEST TV boyfriends. Like, EVER.

Posted by Kel at 11:22 PM | Comments (5)

December 6, 2005

An I the only person who has no idea what MySpace is all about? Is it like Live Journal?

I don't get it. *scratches head*

Posted by Kel at 07:18 PM | Comments (4)

December 3, 2005

I've been listening to lots and lots of holiday music lately (I ADORE this time of year -- holiday shopping makes me ridiculously happy) so I thought I would share some of the songs that I have on constant repeat...

Please right click and save target as...

username: cookie
password: monster

NSYNC - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
Britney Spears - My Only Wish (This Year)
Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Love Actually OST - Billy Mack - Christmas Is All Around
Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

Songs deleted!

If anyone has any holiday recs for me, please comment! I love finding new songs to download. :)

Speaking of music, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to Sarah for sending me the Rent movie soundtrack. YOU'RE THE BEST!!!

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of my teddy bear Bub (he's on the left) and his cousin Tiger (Rob's sister-in-law's bear) under my gold/cream-themed Christmas tree...

SO CUTE. :D

Posted by Kel at 11:27 PM | Comments (4)