I Act Five Years Older???

You Act Like You Are 32 Years Old

You are a thirty-something at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! You're responsible, wise, and have enough experience to understand a lot of the world. You're at the point in your life where you understand yourself pretty well. You are figuring out what you want... and how to get it!

What Age Do You Act?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

I feel so old...

Happy B'Day, LOST!!!

Six years ago today, LOST's "Pilot, Part 1" aired. I took one look at Jack Shephard's eye and then I was hooked. Of course, the amazing writing and magnificent acting, among all the other awesomeness, kept me hooked until "The End".

I wish I could time travel to September 22, 2004, and get lost in LOST all over again.

Twenty-seven Is Clearly Better Than 26

The best gift I could get on my 27th B'Day?

A day off!

I had a great B'Day on my Work Share Day. I woke up at around 2 PM (I slept at around 3 AM, so don't judge me! Hehe...) and saw a B'Day card from my mom. Then when my sister came home from work and from picking up her kids, she handed me a red envelope containing a gift card from Spa Utopia!!! Hehehe... I've been giving my family hints like, "I need a freaking spa day," or the like. Well, after all the crap I've gone through - and probably will go through in the next few months - I do need a spa day. Heck, I need a spa year! I haven't looked at the service directory, but I will definitely schedule a spa appointment soon.

Then we had an Italian dinner - i.e. spaghetti that my mom cooked and meat lover's and Hawaiian pizzas from Pizza Hut - at home at 4 PM, because the Cs needed to leave at 5 PM for Miss KC's awards assembly. My nephew/godson prayed before we ate and we all had a great chat over dinner. Then we took out a small chocolate cake with small Oreos on top (that my mom bought) and a medium-sized cheese cake from Costco. Everyone under 30 years old loved the chocolate cake and everyone above 21 years old loved the cheese cake.

After dinner, I settled in front of the living room TV to watch three of the four Glee episodes I had missed. My niece convinced me to open the pink gift-wrapped box that the Cs gave me during the "Laryngitis" episode. The Cs gave me the Pretty as a Picture Fragrance Value set from Elizabeth Arden!!! The box contains a Pretty Eau de Parfum Spray, a Pretty Body Lotion, and a Limited Edition Elizabeth Arden Charm Bracelet. It's sooooooooo pretty! There was also a letter from Miss KC. Very sweet and sincere.

I ate some more pizza and went back to my room after the "Dream On" episode to watch the FlashForward series finale. It was amazing, explosive, and mind-blowing. It's a shame that ABC cancelled the show. And that the finale had to air on my B'Day.

Thanks to everyone who sent B'Day greetings on Facebook and Twitter. I felt the love because a lot of people I haven't talked to actually greeted me.

The other best thing about my 27th B'Day? I wasn't sick! I got sick two weeks ago and I did my best to get better before the LOST series finale. I got better, but all the crying I did during "The End" made me cough again. But I wasn't coughing yesterday so it's all good.

Thank You, Lord, for the past 27 years. I raise a glass of Canada Dry ginger ale for the next 27 or 54 years (at least).

Fifty-four Days

There are 54 days before my 27th B'Day and I've been thinking about what I want. My sister already gave me another Coach purse and I have way too many books to read. Aside from getting at least $1 million from the lottery or an unknown mega-rich relative - so I can get my own place, quit my job, get Daniel Faraday's journal at the LOST auction, go to Europe, or any combination of the previous - there's nothing that I really, really, really want right now.

It'd be nice to get any of these, though:

• Digital camera - My old Nikon camera's broken so I need a new one. Either that or I'd just take videos from my Flip Video Ultra.
• DVR - The 2009-2010 primetime TV season is so awesome because there are so many great new shows. My current favourite new shows are FlashForward, V, The Good Wife, Glee, Modern Family, The Middle, The Vampire Diaries, and even Cougar Town, not to mention my usual favourites (LOST even if it's not coming back next season, Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and Criminal Minds). I've had to give up some shows because they're aired directly against another favourite show (e.g. House M.D. vs. How I Met Your Mother, The Vampire Diaries vs. FlashForward, Glee vs. Modern Family vs. Criminal Minds, Glee vs. LOST, The Good Wife vs. V, etc.). Thank God for Much Music, because it airs the new The Vampire Diaries episode every Friday at 5 PM and 8 PM PST. For the rest, I'd have to stream them online, like CTV.ca or GlobalTV.com. So I need a DVR to record my other favourite shows and watch them whenever I want. 
• Whatever I didn't get last Christmas - Out of the 16 items on my Christmas wish list, I only got two DVDs (Inglourious Basterds and He's Just Not That Into You) and two books (Under The Dome and Best Friends Forever). I've also seen Angels & Demons and Public Enemies. And I still want the rest of the items on my Christmas wish list! 
• Other DVDs/Blu-Ray:
• The Informant!
• The Men Who Stare at Goats
• Precious
• District 9
• Paranormal Activity
• Gran Torino
• Up
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Julie and Julia
• Changeling
• I Sell the Dead
• Bedside lamp - My mom took my bedside lamp. I need a new one.
• Cocktail shaker and mixer set - There are times when a girl needs an apple martini or a margarita. 'Nuff said. I even got the Drinks iPhone/iPod Touch app.
• Quill & Quire or Writer's Digest Subscription - I kinda gave up my Writer's Digest subscription this year because I'm trying to cut costs. I checked out the Quill & Quire, but a 1-year subscription costs twice than a WD 1-year subscription. I need either to help me improve my writing.

I'd just like to emphasize that any Twilight-related merchandise (books, DVDs, etc.) that I get will immediately be sold on eBay. The Vampire Diaries books or DVDs will be cherished forever.

If anyone would like to give me $1 million, I will love that person forever. Yuk yuk yuk...

Buon Natale!!!

That's MERRY CHRISTMAS in Italian!

So, Christmas has come and gone. It`s one of the quietest Christmas I've had. 'Twas neither too exciting nor too boring.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the encore presentation of our church's Children's Ministry Christmas play entitled The Best Christmas Present Ever. It was a hit, just like last Sunday's presentation. My niece sang in the choir and spoke a bit towards the end of the play.

Then we went to our churchmate's - and family dentist's - house for a Christmas dinner party. The C's came with us and I mostly hung out with them. Other churchmates attended the shindig and we wished each other a merry Christmas. I missed MuchMoreMusic's broadcast of VH1 Divas 2009, featuring Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Jordin Sparks, and Jennifer Hudson for this party.

We left with Christmas gifts - mine was suspiciously shaped like Purdy's chocolates - at around 11 PM. We stopped by Shoppers Drug Mart for about half an hour so my sister could get the antibiotics that our dentist prescribed. Then we went home.

We opened the presents just after midnight, after a couple of Kodak moments (i.e. picture-taking sessions). I gave my nephew the Casio watch (a.k.a. Usher's watch) that he wanted, a $50 iTunes gift card, and $100. I gave my niece a copy of Rhythm Heaven Nintendo DS Game and $100. I gave Miss KC a $50 iTunes gift card and $100, because she only asked for money. I gave Little Mr. JC a Rex the Dinosaur collectible figure from Toy Story and $40.

And what did I get?

Aside from my mom's early Christmas gifts during Black Friday, she also gave me Ferrero Rocher. Yum! As I guessed, my dentist gave me Purdy's Hedgehog chocolates. Double yum! The C's gave me the Inglourious Basterds DVD and He's Just Not That Into You Blu-Ray disc. Then the A's gave me Stephen King's Under The Dome and Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever. Yippee!!!

At least I got four items from my updated wish list. Hehehehehe... Didn't get the BlackBerry Curve 8520 or the first issue of Y: The Last Man, though. Oh, well. Maybe I can get these on my 27th B'Day? Hehehehehe...

After all the excitement from the gift-opening, we sat down for a bit of eggnog and coffee for the grown-ups and hot chocolate for the kids. Then I brought my Blu-Ray player to the living room so my bro-in-law could hook it up to his Bose system. Then we watched the He's Just Not That Into You disc. We finished the movie at about 3:40 AM and they went to bed. I stayed up until 4:30 or 5 AM, then I fell asleep.

I woke up at noon on Christmas Day and stayed in bed until about 1 PM. Then I went upstairs to eat. I went back to my room to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and the rest of the trilogy. However, partway through Disc 2, I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until 10:30 PM. I was hungry, so I went upstairs to get some food to bring to my room. I  continued the trilogy; it's now 5 AM and I'm watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Disc 1.

I must finish the movie, and maybe get some sleep before tonight's party.

Buon Natale! And Happy Boxing Day!!!

Happy 142nd Birthday, Canada!!!

I am spending my Canada Day working on my freelance editorial services website. But I have to do something in honour of my country's B'Day!

Check out this YouTube video message from Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper:



Hey, wait a minute... Canada is now 142 years old. It's the Numbers, man! Hehehe...

Happy Canada Day!!!



Time to sip some Molson Canadian...

My B'Day Wish: Extra Strength Tylenol!

I had imagined my 26th B'Day to be the same old thing that my B'Days have been. Take last year's for consideration: I woke up and my mom handed me my gift. I had breakfast and went to Metropolis at Metrotown to do a little shopping. After spending $108 on clothes and what-not (it's true, I'm not kidding), I went home and waited for everyone to come home so we could have my B'Day dinner. Boring as it was, it was fine.

Except that I'm sick this year. Actually, I've been ill since Saturday, May 23rd. I've been coughing, running a fever, and sneezing for six days now. And my co-workers are freaking out and blaming me for their little sniffles, little sneezes, and little coughs.

Seriously. Worst B'Day ever.

But all was not lost. People cared enough to greet me on Facebook - and my best friend didn't forget my B'Day this time! (Hehe.) Some are still sending me belated birthday greetings! A few people even sent cards!

I got great gifts too. My mom gave me an emerald-and-diamond ring a few weeks ago, and then she gave me clothes too. My sister gave me my very first Coach purse when they came back from Orlando, FL a couple of months ago; she said that was my early birthday gift. My niece and nephew/godson gave me Lipstick Jungle Season 2 DVD set (because The Big Bang Theory Season 2 DVD and Fringe Season 1 DVD aren't released yet) and a digital photo frame/key chain. Then the C's gave me my very first Guess purse, a Salvatore Ferragamo perfume, and a little poem/note from Miss KC.

We had spaghetti carbonara, baked chicken, two sets of pizza, and Pepsi. Then my niece took the DQ ice-cream cake for dessert.

Yes, they didn't listen to me when I said I don't want an ice-cream cake for my B'Day. No LOST-themed cake for this B'Day girl! (Humour me, it was my B'Day.)

Eh. Whatever. I was already having the worst B'Day ever.

The best B'Day gift ever? Ironically, it came in the form of a non-B'Day gift: a bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol!!!

I took one caplet and I fell asleep at around 9:30pm. When I woke up at midnight, I felt slightly better, although it still took me two hours to get back to sleep. When I woke up at 5:30am, there were less coughing fits, which lasted the whole day!

Anyway... Overall, I had a fine B'Day. It wasn't as great as my 25th or my 21st, but it will do. I'll just think of my Guess purse and Salvatore Ferragamo perfume.

What Do I Want for My B'Day?

Considering my birth month didn't start as great as I wanted, I would like something like this for my B'Day...

(Pic totally ripped from Lostpedia.)

If I'm not going to get my own place before my B'Day, then I want a LOST B'Day cake. I mean, that's the next best thing, right? Well, aside from $25,000 or a BlackBerry Storm from Rogers Wireless, it is the next best thing.

For the record, I do not want any other cake unless it's LOST-themed. And I do not want an ice-cream cake - at all.

Or you can give me $25,000 and/or a Rogers BlackBerry Storm, and we're all good.

Red Wine Made My Christmas More Interesting

It may not be politically correct, and it may piss off someone, but I'm gonna say it anyway:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!

Happy birthday to all whose birthday is 25 December too!

I just woke up (10:30!) from a night of food, red wine, singing, games, and Christian love. My mother is far away in Houston, Texas, but I still feel her love: I was not well yesterday, and she kept calling my cell phone to check up on me. (Cue "awwwwww".) Sadly, I was either asleep or busy when she called.

Anyway, we had a "formal" Christmas dinner (or noche buena). I especially liked the bottle of red wine, since I hadn't had alcohol for a while. Relax, I'm not an alcoholic. We then put the dishes and glasses in the dishwasher and proceeded to sing karaoke using our neighbour's system. I didn't have a solo - heck, I didn't want one - but I helped out with a few songs. My favourite piece that we sang was Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". Nobody could reach the high notes, but I think I did well. *Wink wink* Then, we played Guesstures, a version of charades. Ah, the red wine screwed up my ability to act out the words. Hahahahaha!

Eleven-thirty came, and we got ready to open the presents. I filmed my favourite toddler, J, as he opened my sister's present (a toy train). The C's went down to the basement to do their Christmas-present-opening tradition, and we stayed in the living room to open our presents.

I asked for either the Wanted DVD or the Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD; I got the 2-Disc Special Edition of the former. Good enough, although I was really hoping for the latter.

I also got a nice picture frame from my boss. Hmmm... What picture shall I put it in there?

The C's gave me a dark blue Ralph Lauren sweater, a small Dior Addict perfume, and Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. Ms Atkinson also wrote When Will There Be Good News? that ended up on Stephen King and Time Magazine's best fiction/books of 2008 lists (#3 and #8, respectively). Now, I really wanted that book, but I guess Case Histories is a start.

My absolute favourite gift of all is my sister's: a Columbia Sportswear Company women's jacket that I really wanted (after the BlackBerry Storm, one-way plane ticket to Zurich, and an emerald ring, anyway) and needed (the horrible Vancouver snowstorm post is coming up!)!

When I was getting K's gift at Sportchek, I also tried on a few jackets and parkas to help me brave the terrible winter. A few of them fit nicely, but they were so expensive ($150 to $200). So I returned them to the racks and went on with my day. But I swore that I would come back for one of them tomorrow (Boxing Day - huge sales all over the country and a stat holiday too!). Thank God my sister recognised my need and got it for me. Thanks, Sisteh!

I'm gonna try and upload the pics and videos later. Stay tuned!

Overall, I had a great Christmas. With the early Christmas present (wink wink) and the early Christmas bonus (woohoo!), the presents and the familial love all around made for an absolutely lovely Christmas.

Happy birthday, Jesus!!!

B'Day Pics

Finally!

I got my camera USB connector from my brother-in-law. Woohoo!

Here's a few of them:



I got those from the Metropolis @ Metrotown store of Old Navy on my birthday. Cost me $108. No, I'm not kidding. I just smiled when I saw the total bill.



My sister gave this to me. She must have realized how much I spend for my iPod media. Har-dee-har-har. It was a great gift, actually, because I spent it on my first TV episode purchase (the June 3rd episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; watch the episode too, if you want to know why I bought it) and my first movie rental (August Rush).



And my favourite: caramel highlights! I used to be a hair-colour virgin, but weeks before my birthday, I thought, "Why the heck not?" It's something different. I probably won't get highlights all the time, though. Too much chemicals.

Y'all can go to my Flickr photostream, if you want to see the other B'Day pictures, as well as the other pictures.

Post-B'Day Issues

Today sucked.

Except for the new cut/highlights and the sun and my Amazon order, most of the day sucked. I cannot transfer the new pictures in my camera to my computer. Why? Because my brother-in-law borrowed my USB connector and hasn't given it back to me. I can't upload the pics from yesterday and today (my B'Day presents and the new look) and from 29th of March (my second cousin's wedding). Argh!

As a B'Day present for myself, I bought the LOST soundtracks for Season 1 and Season 3, as well as Gladys Knight's "If I Were Your Woman" with the iTunes gift card that my sister gave me. I also burnt Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" and the LOST OSTs for Seasons 1 and 3. Unfortunately, I couldn't burn Disc 2 of the Season 3 OST! It just cancelled. I don't know why.

Crap.

5... 2... 7... B'Day

It did not rain today!

It was little cloudy and breezy in the morning, but it became very sunny and a bit breezy in the afternoon. Woohoo! God heard my prayer. Hallelujah!

I meant to go to the brand-spankin'-new Apple Retail Store in downtown Vancouver, but I got lazy. Hehe... Anyway, I got a few pairs of Capri pants, and a pair of jeans. Thank God! My waistline ain't what it used to be (yeah, it sucks), so I needed new jeans.

Then everyone (my extended family and the C's) went to Nando's Chicken and had a great meal. The server asked us a few times if we needed anything else - which is quite unusual for a server of any restaurant. Must be the 27% tip that I gave her. Haha. (Don't be so shocked; I'm generous when it's my birthday!)

I got a few gifts from my housemates. Got a necklace from my mom, an iTunes gift card and Hershey's chocolates from my sister and the kids, and a couple of shirts from the C's. I'll post the pictures that I took later.

Overall, my 25th birthday didn't surpass the awesomeness of my 21st birthday. But it's in my top three, so I guess it was pretty good.

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday greetings (The Fuselage, Lostpedia, Lost Forum, Kelly Clarkson fan community, several Facebook and Friendster pals, C. N., the Gurlash, L. D., my bro and his family, and my best friend A. G.). Got a pleasant surprise too. =)

For those who forgot... Nah, whatever. I forgive y'all. I'm generous in many aspects when it's my birthday. *Wink wink* Or I could sic Ol' Smokey on you. Hehe.