Pig's First Video

Screen Test. Take #1. Pardon my "talking to animals" voice - I had no idea it sounds so awful!!!

The Most Awesome Day of the Year

Is today - Happy Birthday to Plumb & me!!! We are both 28 today, on April 28th!!!

My birthday celebrations actually started yesterday. Even though we are going out to eat tonight, Max wanted to make a special birthday dinner. So when I got home, he was busy at prepping what turned out to be the best meal he's ever made, and one of the best meals I've ever had in my entire life. He wouldn't tell me what he was making at first, but then I learned he was making something that was ridiculously fancy and delicious - Crab-Stuffed Filet Mignon with Whiskey Peppercorn Sauce with a side of asparagus sauteed in garlic, butter and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.









Yes, that's bacon wrapped around the steaks!! After frying them, he finished them on the grill - ridiculous!



Yum!!!

Afterwards, I opened his present to me which was a digital camera!! Now I can take lots and lots of pics and post them online. It also takes video and I have some really cute clips of Pig, but I don't know how to post them on blogger yet, so I'll have to do some research. Here are few of my first pics:






I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday but there was a thunderstorm Wednesday night. As usual Pig decided the safest place to hide was in the closet.

Pig in Shirt Pics - A Series

Um...why did you put this stupid shirt on me?



Oh great - is that your camera???? I hate getting my picture taken.



Seriously, put the camera down, woman. The flash is bothering me.



Fine. I'm just not going to look at you.



This is me ignoring you.


Is it safe to turn my head? Nope.


Oh great, now they're making me dance on camera. The humiliation never ends.

Grasshopper Pie Recipe

So here is Max's Grandma E's recipe for Grasshopper Pie. I've added a few notes here and there in bold.

Sorry I have taken so long to answer your email. I don't go on the computer every day so I hadn't seen your message. Of course it is alright to share this receipe. It is at least 50 years old. When I first had it, we didn't even have Cool Whip, but had to whip cream with the beater. The Cool Whip seems to work just as well however Lynn mentioned that you had a few problems with it (mine turned out sort of soft - more like a mousse texture) so I will write it down again for you along with af ew hints that may help.

Creme de Menthe Pie.--

Use a pretty good sized pie dish 9 to 10 inch. I always used a glass one that had been around for years-Lynn has it now. You can buy the oreo pie crust already made, but it is not near as good nor the right size.The pie filling should come almost to the top of the crust edge when you pour it in.

Crust-26 whole oreo cookies crushed finely. Use rolling pin on wax paper (makes easy pouring into bowl) or a food processor. Be sure the crumbs are very fine. Save a few crumbs to sprinkle on top of pie - less than 1/4 of a cup. Pour the rest into a bowl and mix with 2 and 1/2 Tbl. melted butter - or Fleishman oleo - the kind that comes in a stick. Mix well and press into bottom and up sides of pie pan. Set aside while you do the rest of the receipe. It gives
it a chance to sort of firm up.

Filling - Melt 34 regular size marshmellows that have been cut into quarters. (I used minimarshmallows) Keep the hot water running and put your scissors under the water every few minutes so they don't get so sticky. Shake off excess water. I much prefer scissors to a knife. Melt the marshmellow in 8 0z. Half and Half (I was lazy and didn't measure it and eyeballed instead, which might have been part of the problem). Use a low fire and a small whisk to help melt. Cool to the point where you can stick your finger in it and it is not hot. You can put in the fridge for this but watch it doesn't get set. When cool, fold (not stir) I use a 2in. rubber spatula for this-fold in 8 oz. carton Cool Whip and 2 to 3 oz. creme de menthe. (I used about half a bottle, which is also possibly why it didn't solidify - Max said he likes his pie very minty, and it took several shots to get it very minty) Sprinkle with left over crumbs and put in freezer. This has to freeze unlike jello that sets up. I have always made it the day or even two before I need it. I put toothpicks here and there (not alot) over it and then spread plastic wrap over it so the top stays nice. It should set level in the freezer. This sounds like I have made it very complicated and it is really quite simple, I just added these few hints to make it easy for you.

I've also included Max's Grandma T's recipe, which I found highly amusing. I can see where Max got his sense of humor. I got the Grandmas mixed up, so she had no idea what I was talking about when I emailed her asking for her grasshopper pie recipe.

First you have to run through a field that contains Grasshoppers with a bushel basket so you can catch them. Then you have to have some kind of a cover so they don't jump out, When you get them home, you have to take each one out individually and pull their legs off. Then you place them in a precooked pie shell, add a half cup of brown sugar, with a tablespoon of cornstarch, mixed in the sugar and pour over the grasshoppers. Dot with butter sprinkle with cinnamon, and place in 350 degree oven for one hour. Let cool and eat.
They are absolutely delicious.

Seriously, I have never made a grasshopper pie in my life. Max is pulling your leg. But tell him to have a Happy Birthday without the pie.

Friday Disappointments

Myspace really pisses me off sometimes. I get all excited that I have a new friend request (yay! a new friend!!) and then it turns out to be some piece of spam mail. Usually a porn star, or a rock band, or for some reason, once it was Jim Gaffigan.

In other news, Jergens tanning glow lotion crap comes off on your towel after you shower. Methinks there will a trip to the mall this weekend to return my shorts - even if they are like, SO, in.

Sweet Ass Dream

I dreamt last night that I filming a movie playing opposite of Steve Carell. He was hysterical to work with, and it was all very improv and best of all, I was funny too! We'd rehearse our lines together, and then do a couple takes, and ad lib a bunch of stuff and it was AWESOME.

Hump Day

So along with the cute but ridiculous high-heeled sandals I bought last Saturday, I also bought a pair of shorts. Yes, shorts. I haven't worn shorts in years but the 15 year old store clerk insisted that shorts are IN. They are like, SO, in. And assured me that they are supposed to THAT short. Hmm. Okay.

This is what happens when I go shopping by myself, and go into stores that are manned by teenage girls. Stores like Charlotte Russe, Rampage, or the greatest offender - Forever 21. Why I have not outgrown this habit, I don't know.

Anyway, I have the shorts, and face another problem. Now, being Asian, I'm naturally tan, and when I get some sun, I tan really quickly. And I rarely burn, so that's good. Unfortunately my legs haven't seen the light of day in several months, so while my legs aren't "white girl pale" (sorry for the white girls out there, but you know what I'm talking about), they are several shades paler than my arms.

So I find myself standing in front of the self-tanning aisle at Long's drugstore. I've never tried this self-tanning stuff, but I figured it beats sitting out on the balcony, tanning my legs (which I try every year - which never works - which makes no sense to me since my face and upper body tan really quickly). Anyway, I skip the spray stuff, and the hard core self tanning stuff, and opt for Jergen's daily glow moisturizer stuff which seems like it won't be too severe and in all liklihood will probably not work. It's supposed to take a week before you get the full effect, so I figure it's nothing too strong.

I was wrong.

I slather the stuff on absentmindly after my shower, while eating dinner and watching American Idol. I figure, it's really just going to shimmer so I don't really pay attention to what I'm doing.

This morning, I get out of bed and notice my legsare definitely tanner but I also have 1.) significantly darker knees than rest of legs 2.) random finger streak marks all over my thighs 3.) pale feet - having absentmindedly stopped at the ankles.

Sigh.

Weekend Recap

Poor poor bloggie. Totally neglected while I spend countless hours on the internet, feeding my mahjong addiction...

Anyway, just to catch everyone up - Max is back! For good. I made him a grasshopper pie for his bday, all without him noticing, even though he was in the apartment the whole time. I have no idea how he didn't see or hear me crushing 26 oreo cookies with a rolling pin, or smell the creme de menthe in the air, but he didn't. He also never opened the freezer the whole evening, even though he insists on putting ice cubes into everything he drinks. So I was very lucky and that turned out to be a nice surprise for him.

Sat night we had a big party at AD's to celebrate his bday, Lypstykgirl's bday (also the 15th), and Thode's upcoming bday on the 18th. It was super fun, all except for the embarassing moment when I fell over backwards on my ass. There I was standing there, and the next thing I knew, I was on my ass. It was really that quick. What had happened was I was trying to slip out of these very uncomfortable BUT VERY CUTE espadrille sandals with a wedge heel (a must have for the season if you're a sucker like me) but due to the four inch heel and three of Thode's homemade schpecial mojitos, I lost my balance and fell smack on my ass. Embarassing. Max was sweet and immediately "fell" too so I wasn't the only who had fallen that night, but yea...kind of wish that didn't happen. Oh well. I've consoled myself that at least according to romantic comedies, falling is charming...


These should have come with a warning label!




But they are cute, aren't they??












As for the Pig, she is okay. I had to take her in again, because she threw up last week, has had soft poop for two weeks, and lost a total of 4 lbs since the whole IBD thing started. The vet's suggestion - feed her more. Thank god he didn't charge me for the visit.

Mahjong Mania

I have a new obsession:

www.mahjongtime.net

So much fun. I spent much of the weekend playing online against the rest of my family. My mom, Aunt Marilyn, and my brother all took turns on the laptops (there were 3 available) and we even played against my relatives in Hong Kong.

If you want to learn how to play - let me know! It's so much fun and I will gladly explain the basics on my blog.

Weekend Plans

So Pig and I have tentative plans to drive up north to San Francisco tomorrow. There was a bit of a family emergency earlier this week - Grandpa had extreme vertigo Monday night, and had to take the ambulance to the emergency room. After a few days of testing, the docs concluded that maybe he had a very very minor stroke in the back of his neck. But he's all better now, can speak English again (apparently on Monday night, he lost the ability to speak English - how weird is that?), can walk again without feeling dizzy, and decided yesterday that the new nurse they gave him wasn't very cute (apparently his previous ones were all hotties) and therefore it was to time to check out of the hospital.

The docs expect a full recovery, and I had planned to go up and visit. My mom flew into SF yesterday, so I'd like to catch up with her too. The only hesitation I have is that I was beginning to feel a little sick yesterday, but after three doses of Oscillo and a million Vitamin C drops, I feel better and expect to be able to make the trip. I'm going to decide later tonight - give myself some extra time to observe myself. Heh. Mainly, I need to make sure I don't come down with strep throat, which one of my colleagues has been sick at home with all week.

So tonight I plan on hitting the gym with Amol (I have been such a good gym go-er this week...although I have totally abandoned the training for Bay to Breakers...) , maybe grabbing a cheap sushi meal at Kabuki, throwing Pig in the bathtub and giving her a bath and a stern lecture about how she is absolutely not to pee on Grandma's living room carpet again, and getting a good night's sleep. I've already downloaded several audiobooks into my Ipod, and bought a new tape deck adapter thing so I can listen to David Sedaris and Sue Grafton on my drive up!

Hump Day

I only feel like posting super fluffy things today, so here it goes...

I went to my weight lifting class last night so I missed the first half of American Idol, and also, my butt hurts now from all the leg lifts and squats we did. Can anyone tell me how the first five contestants did? Was Ace gross? Did he pantomine the lyrics again?

This morning I actually made it the gym and was hoping to take the Latin Impact class, but I guess I misread the schedule and Latin Impact is on TUESDAY mornings, not Wednesdays. So instead I ran FOUR MILES on the treadmill!! That's a lot for me. It took forever since I was running pretty slowly, but I was proud of myself.

The rain has been keeping Pig indoors. To cheer her up, I bought her a new Wilbur (stuffed animal - a "pig" obviously). She chewed off its ear within 5 minutes but loves it and has completely forgotten about her old Wilbur. She totally ignores him. (*sigh* - sometimes I wonder if this is what it's like when I drop her off with Thode!)

I also bought her this really cute dog t-shirt from American Apparel - here's a pic from the catalogue:



I got it in red with with a black trim. And SHE HATED IT!! Surprise. Guess dogs don't like to wear baby tees. She was a good sport about letting me put it on her, but it didn't fit her well at all - it make her walk funny, like she was in a body cast or something. It was hysterical though. I think I'll put it on her one more time after Max gets back so he can take some pics of her in it!

Weekend Recap

I've been getting a ton of spam email at my office account lately. Out of the 135 new emails I received over the weekend, 130 of them were spam. My favorite so far? An email sent from one "Verminous Q. Sebaceous."

So. Excellent weekend. Laid back but fun. Friday night I headed over to AD's place for some homemade sloppy joe's, compliments of Thode. They were excellent - really good. I finally got a chance to get rid of the chocolate silk pie I've had in the freezer (I bought it for Red Lobster Night/Project Runway Finale night a few weeks ago, but didn't get around to serving it) which was also really good. Benjamin came over as well and we spent much of the night just sitting around chatting. We had hoped to hang out in the hot tub, but since it was raining outside, that was a no go.

Saturday I cleaned out my closet, and tidied around the apartment, in anticipation of Max moving back in. I got rid of about three gigantic bags of cloths and managed to reorganize the closet so hopefully all his stuff will fit again. Saturday night Jessie and I headed back to AD's again, where a few had already gathered. I played pool (very poorly) and even basketball (very poorly). Okay technically it wasn't basketball - I just played P-I-G, which is a shorter version of H-O-R-S-E. I tied with Tyler (we both got to P-I) before we left for Boardwalk, which isn't really saying much about my skills since the man was ridiculously drunk and falling all over the place. At Boardwalk, it was the usual nonsense. Except the toilet in the girl's bathroom flooded, and I had to use the boy's bathroom, which was really gross. The whole experience was made worse by the fact that some guy walked in while I was washing my hands (I guess the lock wasn't working!!!!???? - thank god I was only washing my hands at the point) and either didn't notice me or didn't care and started to unzip his pants to pee when I shouted "HEY ASSHOLE, WAIT UNTIL I LEAVE!!" The nerve.

Sunday morning I headed back to Boardwalk to play an extra in a short AD is directing. Sunday afternoon I took a three hour nap, and then watched about 5 hours of crime dramas on TV. Sunday night, I couldn't sleep since I had taken a three hour nap, and was all wound up from watching hours and hours of Law & Order, so I didn't make it into work until 11:00 a.m today. I blame Pig actually. She wakes me up every morning, but forgot to reset her inner clock so we got up an hour late!