a special care package.

earlier this week, i came home from work to a very pleasant surprise - there was a package sitting by my apartment door (thanks to whomever put it there for me, whether it be the mailman or one of the other tenants)!  it was from christina!  i hurriedly opened my door, threw my purse and keys on the counter, and headed straight for a knife to open the package (i'd like to add that the excitement caused me to become very clumsy and i basically jabbed the tip of the knife into my thumb... haha).

what was inside, you ask?  well, let me first say that, in maine, there are not a lot of asian-cultured places/restaurants.  i have been posting on facebook how badly i'm craving all kinds of different asian foods but, of course, have no access to.  being a sweetheart that she is, she sent me a care package full of asian goodies, including egg noodles, vermicelli, seaweed sushi wrap, chinese bbq sauce seasoning, pickled leeks, sriracha, tamarind seasoning, and rice paper for wrapping up spring/summer rolls!

below are a few photos i took of the goodies from my weina!

forgot to mention that she also included some photos!

clumsy me! :(

thanks, weina! love you!

a start of a new life: bangor, maine.

yes, folks, you read it right.  i currently reside in the state of maine!  it's so.. NOT ME.. but hey, when the bright light flashes on, you can't help but move toward it, even though it might not be the fate that you wanted.  

and no, my boyfriend living in virginia is not the only reason why i say this.  there's family (of course), friends, familiar environment (although sometimes it's not a bad thing to be adventurous and wander about unknown territory), better weather (not as of late with the horrendous flooding and constant rain - mother nature has certainly not been happy this year!), cultured life (bangor has not really progressed to the present times or so i've been told by a few), and the list goes on!

regardless, i've accepted the fact that i am going to be a mainer for a little while.  it's not so bad now, but boy, when winter comes roaring up that northeast coastline, i am doomed (who wants a frozen trangsicle for dessert!?)!

i found a nice apartment in the downtown area (aahh, civilization!), close to restaurants and bars, which, i'm praying, will make my life more sane.  thanks to stan for helping me move up here (poor guy for driving from philadelphia to bangor with a uhaul and my car strapped to the ass of it).

the people here are quite friendly, though sometimes i think they look at me funny.. because.. maybe i'm asian..?  i have no clue.  i told my boss that and he laughed.. i couldn't really interpret what kind of laughter it was - either it was true or he found my way of thinking humorous.  either way, it seems alright so far.  and oh, the shopping is ridiculous.. and not ridiculous in a good sense.  the newest arrival (three months ago) to the mall is express.  REALLY?!  online shopping it is!

first day of work starts tomorrow, and i am going to husson university with the boss to speak to the students for a round table activity - a fun first day, i'd have to admit!

photos of my apartment (soon-to-be completely finished) coming soon!  and oh yes, to my friends reading.. COME VISIT ASAP! :)

grammar nazi: the "anymore" rant

for those of you who know me, you know that i am a total grammar nazi.  and if you don't like the word "nazi" then i will say that i am a huge advocate for correct grammar.  the whole than/then, their/they're/there, two/to/too, etc irk me to the point of self destruction.  ok, not really, but let's just say that it really bothers me.

my list of grammatical pet peeves has reached astronomical numbers and i know my friends get quite annoyed when i constantly correct their misuse of words.  about two weeks ago, i gained yet another pet peeve and i hope some of you share my vantage point on this issue.  the word "anymore" is constantly abused and i started recognizing it every since i've been back in carlisle.  maybe it's a carlisle thing - i don't know.  

"that happens anymore."  what is wrong with that statement?  does that sound funny to anyone else, or is it just me?  i hear SO MANY people use it in that positive polarity and it sounds so wrong to me; my sixth sense for grammatical errors picks it up right away and i cringe as if i just heard nails on a chalkboard.  people need to understand that when they use "anymore" in that sense, it should be used in a negative polarity, as in, "it DOES NOT happen anymore."  are some people just wrongly educated or what?

well, that was my rant for the day (honestly, it's been a couple times that i've ranted about this subject on facebook).  may it be a lesson to those who use "anymore" in a positive polarity.  

alright, i'm with with this anymore! (ugh, how it sounds so terrible!)

nomnomnom: the amazing food race in nyc!

before i begin, i'd like to give a shoutout to alison and pat for arranging this event and putting everything together!  it was a huge success and so much fun!  so, thank you again, you two!

anyway, you might be wondering, "what is this amazing food race?"  alison had put this event together for pat's (her boyfriend) birthday and it involved us running around new york city and eating all day!  although i feel obese (and i still do even though two days have passed), my taste buds and tummy were satisfied (very satisfied). 

there were seven teams, all with different colored shirts (stan and i were TEAM BLUE!).  we were given a set of rules and a list of twelve restaurants/pitstops with challenges for each location, in which we had to choose five (not to mention doing three non-food challenges as well).  we were also given maps to help us navigate the city (it really wasn't that hard, i guess, because we cabbed to our pitstops - lol).  

our food challenges:

1) dirty bird to-go (eat three pieces of chicken fingers)

2) gray's papaya (each team eats two hotdogs and drinks a 14 oz. drink)

3) pomme frites (eat a large order of fries - it was huge!)

4) chickalicious (eat a dessert, such as ice cream or shaved ice)

5) artichoke (each player eats a slice of pizza)

there were other restaurants that i would have preferred to go to, but oh well.  there is always next time.  

our non-food challenges:

1) taking a picture with the gay street sign

2) taking a picture with the smallest house in nyc (75 1/2 bedford st)

3) taking a picture with the alamo aka astor place cube

the first team to finish all the challenges and get to the end point won! it was a tie (or something like that - it was confusing) between three teams.  the winning teams got "new york city" t-shirts (thanks alison and pat!).

stan and i had formed an alliance with TEAM BROWN after seeing them at our first pit stop.  it was a good thing we did because we had loads of fun taking shots in between every restaurant (i bet all the other teams thought we were crazy).  stan had forgot the video camera so i wasn't able to document any of the fun in video, but i do have some photos to share!

i'm thinking we should do a DC food race next!  now, that's a plan!!

adrenaline rush: skydiving!

what's the craziest thing you have ever done?  and i mean, the absolute craziest thing?  i did my wildest thing tuesday, july 5, 2011.  and what was that, you ask?  well, i'm pretty sure you wouldn't even have to ask based on the title of this post.  haha.  but, yes, folks, i jumped out of a perfectly working airplane at an altitude of 11,000 feet (a little over 2 miles), and i loved it!!

for those of you who have not been skydiving yet and want to check it off your bucket list but are a bit hesitant, my word of advice is, "DO IT!"  you will be glad you did.  i am telling you, it was such a rush and such an amazing feeling as i was jumping out of the plane.  the first few seconds, i couldn't even scream or make any noise because i was so taken aback by the beauty of everything.  i was incomplete awe.  i was snapped back to reality when my tandem-jump instructor, who was tightly strapped onto me from behind, tapped me on the shoulder and motioned me to look at the videographer.  i gave him a good show, screaming "woo hoo's" and giving the "thumbs up" and "peace" signs.  

if you're an adrenaline junkie and a thrill seeker, go skydiving.  yes, i know that things don't always go as smoothly as you want when it comes to parachuting, but that's the whole point - that's why it's such a rush.  freefalling from an altitude of 11,000+ feet with an approximate speed of 120mph was an incredible feeling.  it went by so quickly that i have to constantly relive the moment in my head to remember everything.  

the view from 2 miles up was so gorgeous.  it was a beautiful day on tuesday, with lots of sun and hardly any clouds in sight.  down below, i saw trees, small bodies of water, and buildings - everything was so tiny.  it was about 6:30pm when we jumped, so the sun casting it's light at that particular angle made everything so much more amazing.  

so, again, for those of you who have always wanted to try skydiving, what are you waiting for?!  DO IT!