Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My babies


So I have two babies. One is a little lemon basil plant named Gennifer (for Gennifer Flowers, Bill Clinton's ex-lovah) that was born with a crooked back. She has always been sickly, and I'm not sure why. I've been feeding her a diet of water and eggshells, which means she should be pretty healthy. There are fewer and fewer green leaves on her and it worries me.

The newest addition is an arugula plant named Bammy because it started sprouting on the day Obama officially became the Democratic presidential candidate. I am so excited about my newborn because i just planted the seeds on Saturday, and 3 days later, I have sprouts!!

Although, i have been this excited before. 2 years ago, i decided to start an herb garden, and i did get sprouts, but then everything molded over a few weeks later. I'm not sure what went wrong. If all goes smoothly, I'll plant a second arugula baby next month. This is special because neither Albertson's (although no surprise) or the Farmers' Market sells arugula.

Here is a photo. Isn't he cuuuuuute?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Don't worry, I'm back

I know all of you have been wondering where I've been. And by all of you, I mean the one person who asked me about the blog this past weekend. Anyhow, lots of happy Dallas things have happened in the last week.

1. While recycling my paper products, a car pulled up and a guy got out with tons of cardboard boxes. I felt a kinship with this guy because we both had one goal in mind - saving the earth!!! We exchanged smiles and it made me feel like there are people who care about the environment here in the Big D.

2. My friend from NYC came to visit and we had the BEST BEST BEST weekend! We had lots of drinks and caught up on the last 6 months of our lives, hung out by the pool and drank free beer, went to the rodeo and honky tonk in Ft. Worth, watched the new Woody Allen movie, and made a totally fresh and yummy meal made from ingredients from the farmers market.

3. The rodeo and honky tonk was so amazing! OK, not totally true, but totally ridiculous. The rodeo was a little bit shocking because there was quite a bit of calf torture. Then there was the part where 50+ little kids got to run out in the middle of the ring, and chase a sheep that was scared sh*tless. There were way too many guys wearing Wranglers and cowboy hats.

4. My Ft. Worth rodeo outfit was very appropo. I channeled Daisy Duke and wore a vintage plaid shirt tied at the waist and denim booty shorts. No cowboys asked me to dance though :(. My friend from work took pity on me and *kinda* taught me how to two step. We ended up elbowing a lot of people in the face.

5. OK, this is not a great thing, but while driving home from Ft. Worth, I encountered a car driving on the wrong side of the road while a train came rolling towards me. Freaky, especially with a car full of people, but glad it wasn't my fault!

Hummer count: waaaaaaaaaay too many to count. The best place to see a Hummer line-up is valet parking at the mall. I saw four in a row! Incredible and barfy!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

What do I do with all my plastics?!

Being from California, recycling is in my blood. I've been recycling since the womb. These days, every household is given a composting bin to reuse food waste. The City actually picks up your compost bins weekly, along with your other garbage and recyclables.

When I moved to NYC, every apartment building had recycling bins. When I lived in the dorms, every FLOOR had recycling bins. In one apartment building, I put some recyclables in the wrong bin and the super actually knocked on my door and reprimanded me (i have no idea how he found out it was me).

When I moved to Carrboro, NC, I was annoyed that there weren't recycling bins next to every garbage bin. I had to carry (or drive if i had just had a party) my recyclables to the middle of the complex to dispose of them. But at least there were bins, so i dealt with the inconvenience.

When was in Cincinnati for 3 months last year, I was SHOCKED to find that the apartment complex I lived in did not do recycling. However, there were easy to find drop off centers that accepted glass, plastic, and paper. I simply saved up all my recyclables for the summer and on the last weekend, drove everything over and dropped it off.

Now that I'm in Dallas, I am struggling to recycle anything!!! The city really makes it difficult to do so. My apartment building claims it is trying to work with the city to offer recycling here. I read on the Dallas City Hall site that recycling is only offered to residential homes, and not offered at apartment complexes as of yet, and that they understand that 60% of people here live in apartment complexes. I don't understand why it is currently not feasible for the city to pick up recyclables from apartment buildings - they just need bigger bins!

I searched online for a list of recycling drop off points. I went to one yesterday - about 2 miles away, but they only take "brown glass", "clear glass", and "aluminum cans". I did more research and found that there is a paper recycling bin at a high school half a mile away. That leaves me with my plastics. What do i do with them?! I've searched and searched and searched, and i cannot find one location that will take my plastics within a 20 mile radius!!! There is a location 20 miles away with a plastics recycling "igloo" but is it worth the gas and fumes that I emit driving there and back?

The Albertsons across the street only recycles plastic bags. The church down the street takes newspapers, but not cardboard or books. Why is it so hard to recycle around here?! I think I might just take plastics to work, where there are recycling bins in the cafeteria. People will start calling me the crazy lady who brings her trash to work.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Making friends

This is my first real weekend here in the city as I was in Chapel Hill 2 weekends ago, and Jim was here last weekend. I was a little anxious on Monday because i didn't want to be a total loser and watch 48 hours of Olympics this coming weekend because i didn't know anyone. SO, I made a point to contact everyone I knew in Dallas.

Monday: emailed 3 people from the MBA class at the company that I had met last week who live in Uptown Dallas (the other ~25 live in the suburbs. boo!) to hang out this weekend. Got one response and we set up happy hour for Friday after work.

Tuesday: Called up the girl from hip hop class last week and invited her to brunch this weekend. She accepted, and we confirmed 11am at La Duni.

Wednesday: Facebooked a guy that I met recruiting for another company in Dallas who had invited me to play beach volleyball the previous week. He sent me another invitation to play volleyball this coming weekend in Addison. I RSVP'd yes!

Thursday: Texted the one guy I know in my building who is also new to the area to grab a drink after work. He texted back that he had a biz dinner but could meet later. I texted back that was an Olympics junkie and asked about Friday after work. He texted to say yes and ask if it was a date or just friends. I texted back to say I had a boyfriend and that we're just friends. He texted back to say it was cool. I texted back to say we were meeting up with new people at work that I didn't really know but they were nice. He didn't text back.

So, now it turns out i have a pretty full weekend and I am looking forward to getting to know some new people! I am relieved and glad that people like me!! At least enough to spend a couple hours with me this weekend.

I guess when it rains it pours - this week, a woman at work approached me in the cafeteria saying she had never seen me before in the building. She was Asian, and I think it was an Asian connection thing. She emailed me later and invited me to lunch. Then I had lunch with someone who happened to sit next to the guy who interviewed me last year! The guy who interviewed me then emailed me to invite me to lunch in the near future. It looks like I am going to lunch it up!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Some finer moments

So i've had quite a few successes in recent days.

1. I took a hip hop class from Dallas Power House of Dance, which is the studio where the Dallas Maverick dancers do their training. Not only did I meet a very sweet girl who just moved here from Houston, and is a really good hip hop-er (we exchanged numbers!), but I had such a good time learning a routine to Estelle and Kanye's new song "American Boy". Also, the students were young, but they weren't in high school, so I didn't look like Sharon Stone among a class full of Mylie Cyruses. I am so excited to take classes in the fall because they have an advanced class and I am ready for the video vixen in me to come out.


2. My special male friend came to watch the Olympics with me this weekend, and during a break, we ventured out to Plano to the Asia World Market, supposedly the mecca of all sorts of Asian groceries in the DFW area. Woo - it sure was! I stocked up on noodles (ramen, egg, rice, thin, wide and flat, and more), cans of Mr. Brown coffees, frozen dumplings, pickled veggies, chili sauce and more. It's kind of further than I'd like to travel for grocery shopping, but I'll allow a big trip once in awhile. It was very nice to be among Asian people again and smell a whole lot of soy sauce everywhere.


3. I know it's cliche, but I am really feeling Taco Diner as my local place! It is such a scene-y place, especially on the weekends, but the tacos (corn tortillas, very important) and margs are very yummy and affordable, and it's just an easy place to go for a bite.


I also got my Texas drivers license and look at how ridiculous i look in the photo! I look ridiculously tan, and I have a huge stripe down the middle of the forehead like a skunk. I'm sure my parents would die of embarrassment if they knew I was posting this photo (as you know, snowy white skin is preferred in Asian cultures).

Hummer count: 2

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The most beautiful woman in Dallas

I purchased a copy of D Magazine at the airport because it was the annual "Best of" issue. I have a friend from NYC coming towards the end of the Aug, and I wanted some good restaurants and bars to take her to. I'm also considering a subscription - I think it's the New York Magazine of Dallas - kind of quirky, high brow, and practical for the Dallas-er. (for some reason, that doesn't sound right).

On the inside cover of the magazine was a full page ad that whispered, "The Choice is Yours...the 10 most beautiful women in Dallas 2008" with a photo of Hilary Kennedy, the 2007 winner of the Most Beautiful Woman in Dallas competition.

DBeauty, the beauty/fashion arm of DMagazine, is the sponsor of this competition and there is an open nomination process! There is a questionnaire to fill out, including the following:

1. Please tell us about the candidate’s charitable contributions or community activism:
2. Please tell us about the candidate’s hobbies:
3. Please describe the candidate’s personality:
4. Please tell us why this person loves living in Dallas:
5. Please tell us why this person is beautiful:
6. Attach 3 photos of the candidate.

Voting begins on September 1st, 2008, but all nominations had to be in by July 31st. The winners will be featured in the Winter issue of DBeauty AND the January 2009 issue of DMagazine.

Miss Hilary is an attractive and well spoken woman, but not overly young, gorgeous, or big breasted (see her video here). So, I came to the conclusion that I could be one of the most beautiful women in Dallas for 2009!! I don't know why I love living in Dallas (yet), but I'm sure I could come up with a very compelling answer. Also, I haven't done any community service in the area, but because it is a requirement for the competition, I would be motivated engage in it over the next year. Plus, I think I need some time to do a little bit of body sculpting for the photos that need to be submitted.

It would also be awesome to be the 1st Asian winner!! I think it would be monumental, and maybe I would be casted to be in some local tv commercials, or be on the billboard for the Texas lottery (for education!). I would also be a role model to all young women in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and I have always wanted to be a role model.

Here is the link to see the winners from 2007. I think if I put my mind to it, I can definitely crack the top 10 for 2009. I'll send you all reminders to nominate me next summer!

Hummer Count: 2