Before: After: (Don't expect me in Home & Garden magazine - Englewood, NJ)
I'm an incredibly independent person. My mom came over yesterday to help me pack up my apartment to make the big move.
The morning was filled with, "What's this?" and "What's this?" and "What's this?". "Go home," I told my mom.
Packing in general is a rather chaotic experience, organizing things into boxes, figuring out what goes where. The past two weeks have been extremely stressful so my patience was cut short with my temper under a constant simmer on the burner. I couldn't stand to answer another question and yet another Korean mom statement. It's easier and a lot less complicated if I do things myself.
She surveyed the room, "Oh it looks like you're almost done. You just need to throw out the garbage you haven't done yet." "That's not garbage," I said.
If it were up to my mother, she'd throw out EVERYTHING I own because she considers it rubbish. Everything I own is garbage to her. Granted I do have a lot of random odds and ends. What my mom doesn't understand is they all serve a certain purpose I can't explain in Korean. I have to carefully look over everything to determine if something is chuckable or not. To my mother, this is time consuming. She'd gather everything up, dump it into a black Hefty bag and call it a day. *brushes hands*
I have what people call an organized mess: a stack of foreign currency, a pile of bills I've paid and yet to file away, a crochet project I started, letter to Sebastian, membership savings cards from Borders, Aveda, Stop & Shop, Shop Rite, Aerie. My desk is a disaster area but I know exactly where everything is. The problem begins after I clean and I can't remember where I put things.
After I let my mom pack up the kitchen and left, I turned up my music and continued packing.
(The room with the giant whale, a.k.a. The Hall of Oceans @ The Museum of Natural History - Upper West Side, NY)
9:30pm and I'm walking barefoot around the Upper West Side. Wish I could say I lost my shoes in a high stake poker bet but sadly, that isn't the case. I had to relieve my blister ridden feet from the high heels causing my toes so much pain. This is the price I have to pay for being of the short legged breed after walking amongst towering models at a fashion show. I finally decided to embrace my meager 5 foot stature and save my poor feet from any further possible permanent damage. It's not worth it. My personality is big enough and should make up for what I lack in physical verticality. Flats will be my new best friend. No longer will I choose to teeter totter in skinny heels that get caught in subway grates. I don't care how little I will look. My feet are my most reliable and cheapest form of transportation. I must learn to take good care of them.
(Jo commentating the Eco Chic fashion show - Upper West Side, NY)
Jo, Grace, and I made up Laura's fashion entourage. She was kind enough to invite us along to the Be Eco Chic fashion show at the Museum of Natural History. I told her I'd be her "Turtle". Funny because we walked in to see none other than Adrian Grenier having his photo taken by flash popping paparazzi.
"Yo Vince!" I wanted to yell out, "Vincent Chase! Dude! I saw you in 'Aquaman'! You were awesome! Hey man, when's the sequel comin' out? Wutchu workin' on these days? Yo I was born in Queens too!"
But no, I didn't want my shameless antics to embarrass Laura as she was debuting herself as a jewelry designer. I was on my best behavior. Otherwise, I'd have pretended to be her PR lady and lead her through the pit of photographers to have her picture taken for Elle, Vogue, and AP with a caption reading "Some Asian chick being dragged by another Asian chick". One day, I believe and hope the tiny metal "Prismera" tag on her necklaces will have as much significance as a blue Tiffany's box.
Laura has just launched her new Noctiflora collection. You can view the pretties at: www.prismeradesign.com
The celebrity/famous designer/model lifestyle ain't for me. I find it exhausting socializing with regular people. Schmoozing with celebrities is a whole other ballgame. If I ever find myself become a celebrity, I'd most likely be the recluse very private kind. It doesn't seem very ideal having a stylist tell you what to wear and a PR person telling you who to say hello to. It's quite overwhelming. Although, I must say it was fun to be star struck in the midst of Chevy Chase, Laura Bennett (the red haired finalist from Project Runway), and Justin from "Ugly Betty".
Now I will pamper the tired feets. My poor poor feets.
Looks like ALEX should look into making doggy toys. Rain has taken the role of foster care giver through a Shiba rescue organization. Kit here is product testing a squeaky toy from the new Alex Jr. baby line. Now I wonder what ALEX would name a pet toy line should they ever decide to launch one:
Puppy Einstein by ALEX K9 for Canine by ALEX Last But Not Leash by ALEX Plush Puppies by ALEX
Speaking of babies, went to a (No)Labor Day BBQ hosted by Andrew and Jen where rolls of baby fat was on the menu. This is the only time in a person's life where this many rolls of pudge is socially acceptable and deemed utterly cute. Otherwise, others would highly encourage to call Jenny Craig.
(The hell you lookin' at? - Hudson River Park, NY)
Nalini, Josh, and I decided to take advantage of a rather gorgeous Saturday and took a romp around the city. I had arrived early to stand in line for Shake Shack burgers where a couple tourists from Dallas were standing in front of me.
"Have you eaten here before?" asked the lady with big Texan hair. "Yeah, a few times." "So tell me, is it worth it? Waiting in line this long?" Her accent was distracting me from her question. I wanted so badly to answer with a southern accent.
'This here line sure may be long but I'll tell ya ma'am, they got one of the best burgers in town.'
I blinked.
She must've thought I didn't speak English.
"My son lives around here and told me he's always walked by past it but never actually tried it." "Yeah, it's pretty good," I said, "The longest I've waited was about an hour and fifteen minutes." Aren't I just the most charming conversationalist?
Nalini and Josh made it just in time as I was approaching the front of the line. I noticed many of my friends use pizza names, names you use when ordering food.
A typical scenario may go like this: "Can I get your name please?" "Nalini." "Excuse me?" "Nalini." "What?" "Nalini." "Come again?" "Janet." "Alrighty Janet, your order will be ready at the next window when the buzzer vibrates."
"You ever say it with a straight face?" I asked.
Usually when choosing a pizza name, you try to find something that's kinda generic and easy to spell. Sebastian (whose real name is Jae) got lucky and chose a rather cool name which was easy to spell. There's only one way to spell 'Sebastian'. Pizza names are usually reserved for people with somewhat odd names other people can't catch the first time they hear it. You'd think with a short and simple name such as mine, I wouldn't have the need for a pizza name. I can't tell you how many times the spelling of my name has been botched. "Jina" "Jeana" "Gena" "Jinah" "Gallina"
Aw, come on! It's not that hard! Must say though, these people are rather inventive.
I overheard this one guy on the Shake Shack line go by "Spider". Now that's just too much. Granted, it's New York, you could be named "Tuesday" and people wouldn't do so much as to turn a head but this guy didn't even bother to say it convincingly.
"Can I get your name please, sir?" "Uh...." shrugs, "Spider."
